Prologue

Athos stepped outside the house he and Sylvie had been living in for nearly a year.

He looked up to the sky as the sun was just going down and walked over to the little bench that sat in front of the house. He pulled out his pipe and sat down.

He fiddled with the pipe for a minute letting its familiar weight in his hand soothe him. It had been a long day and a long night the previous night. In fact it had been a long week of many sleepless nights. He supposed it was inevitable with an infant.

Sylvie was in the house doing her best to settle their one month old son.

He had tried to offer to take him for a little while, but Sylvie had insisted she was fine. She wasn't though, not really.

She wasn't exactly sad, but she wasn't exactly happy either. Regardless, she promised a couple they had met not so long ago she would watch their four children for the day.

The wife was a seamstress and the husband did really any work he could find.

He lit his pipe and took a puff sighing. He heard footsteps behind him, but stayed relaxed knowing them anywhere. Besides, a crying baby accompanied the footsteps.

Sylvie pressed a kiss to Athos' temple and walked around the bench sitting next to him.

Athos set his pipe down beside him and reached out towards Sylvie. Finally she relented and released her hold on their son into his arms.

"Sshhh," Athos soothed holding Raoul upright against his chest. He bounced him lightly in his arms.

"I want to go back to Paris," Sylvie said.

Athos breathed out heavily. Finally she said what was on her mind. He could feel some of the tension that had been coming off her in waves begin to slowly recede.

He missed his brothers and he knew Sylvie still had many friends in the refugee camp she missed.

"All right," he said. "How about the day after tomorrow we leave," he knew she wouldn't be able to leave tomorrow given her promise to Alain and Grace to watch their children.

Finally Raoul was beginning to settle in Athos' arms and he could feel the weight of the boy leaning more into him as he fell asleep. Sylvie leaned over resting her head against Athos' shoulder sitting just for a few more minutes before putting Raoul to bed.

TBC