Hi everyone! Welcome to my new story :)

A few things I have to mention before you read this:

This is a continuation to my fic "Such Sweet Sorrow" and a possible prequel to the other story I'm writing at the moment (Unpublished so far) "Ross Girls with Hathaway Curls".

The idea for this fic goes to DieHardBrendan, who wrote to me and suggested I write it. The idea for ome of the events during this story might also be credited to DieHardBrendan (It will say at the top of a chapter if it is). Other than that, all content belongs to me, meaning I am the sole author of this fic.

And just to clear up my last sentence, any known characters (Doug, Carol, the twins, Mark, Elizabeth, Susan...etc) do not belong to me. Any storylines that took place before this story do not belong to me. However, unknown characters (Erin, Tom, Luke...etc) do belong to me, as well as events not credited to DieHardBrendan.

Also, I'm aware Mercer Island is a bigger place than I'm protraying it, just go with me on this. I'm a small town girl and therefore just find it disconcerting to write about big cities, having never lived in one, or visited one even near to the size of Seattle. Plus, this is a line up for my next fic, in which small town life is a big part of it for the twins.

Now, that's the boring stuff out of the way...So here we go :) Enjoy The Missing Years!

April 23rd, 2000, Part One

The wind howled and the rain lashed outside but inside, a couple lay snug in bed, wrapped in each other's arms and tangled bed sheets. The room was lit only by moonlight, which fell across the couple and allowed them to see each other clearly.

All the walls were down now. The story of their year apart had been told, emotions unveiled, passion reignited. They had both made the promise to stay, for more time apart would not do any good for either of them.

The happiness that glowed inside of Carol now, matched only her joy when she had given birth to her daughters. And with the thought of her daughters, she broke from her sleepy daze, her eyes focusing on the man in front of her once more, the love of her life, her soul mate.

'We'll have to send for the girls' she murmured.

Doug smiled. His daughters. He would finally get to meet the little lives he'd helped create. He would have gone to Chicago, had she told him not to. He would have being there in a heartbeat, to hold her hand as she gave birth, to do night feeds so she could sleep, to do anything, be anything that she wanted him to be. But she had said not to come. And how could he refuse? He had already broken her heart, chose a new life alone when she had begged him to stay. He knew she wanted to prove she could do it alone, so he respected her wishes and stayed away.

But now, she was here. She had come to be with him, stay with him forever and they could finally be a family. He could make it up to all of them for not being there.

'I can't wait to meet them' he whispered back.

'They look like you, you know. But I can tell they will have my hair' Carol replied, smiling.

'Tell me about them' Doug requested, pulling her even closer.

'They are only five months old, there's not much to tell.'

'Of course there is. I want to know everything.'

Carol smiled, leaned in and pressed her lips to the hollow of Doug's neck. 'Tess is the quiet one. She's pretty content to sit and watch everything and anything around her. She has great focus, like she knows exactly what's going on and understands it. I think she'll be really smart, determined-'

'Like her mom' Doug added, interrupting her. Carol smiled.

'Kate is the troublesome one. She's more easily distracted and much more active. She's friendly, she doesn't mind staying with my mom during the day while I work. That's the only time Tess cries, when I go to work. Their personalities are so different, even now. But they look exactly alike, I've had to dress them differently to make sure I don't mix them up.'

Doug chuckled, trying to picture his daughters. Of course he had seen photographs, but that was different. Photographs didn't show their personalities, he couldn't hear their laughter, see the twinkle in their eyes, all the stuff that was most important. And he couldn't wait to finally hold them.

'Will we go get them, or will your mom bring them here?' he asked.

'My mom can bring them here. You know we can't deprive her of the opportunity to murder you for leaving' Carol said with a giggle.

She didn't mean any harm by it, but Doug felt the guilt, knowing he had let her down, let his daughters down. Carol nudged him.

'She'll want to see where her daughter and granddaughters are going to be living anyway' she added.

Doug smiled. 'It's not Chicago' he warned her.

'No, but it's where you are and where I belong. Plus, I like it. It's smaller, quieter. I can see us living here, the girls going to school and everything...' she let the sentence hang and Doug knew she was picturing the future.

He had chosen Mercer Island because of the difference between it and Chicago. It had that small town feel, the neighbours were friendly, it was right on the water, and Seattle was just forty minutes away. He liked the time he had to sit in the car though, clear his thoughts, get ready for the day ahead. His work at the University of Washington Medical Centre was demanding. He was no longer worked in the ER, just on the paediatric wards now. The things he saw made him want to protect his daughters even more.

The sun was rising now. Beams of light were slowly stretching across the room. The wind had died down and the rain had stopped. Birds could be heard chirping outside the window. It would be a beautiful day, and not just because of the weather.

'I guess I'll have to start looking for a job too' Carol said then. Her eyes were closed, a faint smile on her lips.

'I'll talk to the Chief of Staff at my hospital, see if there's any nursing positions open' Doug assured her.

'And it can be just like old times, us working together again.' Doug chuckled again.

'Just like old times' he repeated, then pressed his lips to Carol's forehead.

Just then, the still morning was interrupted by three sharp, loud knocks on the front door.

'Crap, I totally forgot' Doug groaned and sat up.

'Who is it?' Carol asked.

'My next door neighbour, Tom Henderson. We were meant to be going fishing this morning' Doug explained.

'Well, go. I don't mind. I'll call my mom, set up everything, get settled here' she told him with a smile.

'No, it's fine. I want to stay with you' Doug replied, brushing her hair back from her face.

Three more knocks on the door sounded, along with a shout of 'C'mon Doug, get up!'

Carol giggled. 'You better go let him in.'

Doug sighed and detangled himself from both Carol and the bed sheets. Once he had left the bedroom, Carol got out of the bed, pulled on her jeans and a sweatshirt belonging to Doug that lay over the chair. She pulled back her hair and tied it up. Then she made her way into the bathroom to wash. She could hear voices below her and once she was presentable, she followed them downstairs and into the kitchen.

A tall, slender man stood leaning against the breakfast bar. His hair was dark blond, his eyes bright blue. His face was prematurely lined, but he had a friendly smile and an easy presence. He wore jeans and a check shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

'Hi' Carol said brightly, 'I'm Carol.' She offered him her hand.

She saw the sudden recognition in his face and knew Doug had talked about her to this man.

He took her hand and shook it firmly, his smile growing wider. 'Nice to meet you. I'm Tom, I live next door' he said, then he looked up at Doug. 'You never said she was this beautiful.'

Carol blushed while Doug chucked. 'I'm sure I mentioned it, once or twice' he replied.

'Or a million times' Tom teased and Carol smiled. 'So, will you be moving in here, Carol?' he asked her.

'Looks that way. If my mom doesn't refuse to bring the girls out here' Carol answered, going to Doug's side and leaning against him.

'Oh that's right, you're daughters. Tess and Kate, right?' he asked.

'Let me guess, Doug told you about them too?' Carol said, smiling.

'Just once or twice...or a million times' Tom replied. Carol laughed.

'We'll have to get together. I'm sure the wife would love to meet you and I've a little rugrat around the same age as your girls' Tom informed her.

'That sounds great' Carol said, meaning it. She really wanted to fit in well with the life Doug had built for himself here and this seemed like the right way to go about it.

'Right so, I'll leave you two lovebirds to it. Nice to finally meet you, Carol. Talk to you soon, Doug' Tom said. He waved and exited through the already open back door.

'He seems nice' Carol commented, moving towards the sink and moving the mess they created from their midnight feast the night before.

'Yeah, he's been a good friend. Listened to me droning on and on after I arrived here. Knocked a bit of life back into me.'

Carol thought back to their conversation they had the night before. She had told Doug everything, even about Luka, and in return he had told her about his time in Seattle, how depressed he had been in those first few months, constantly drinking, missing work. She was glad he had a friend like Tom now. Someone he could talk to, and it looked like Tom had done him good.

Carol smiled. 'Well, I'm glad he did. Now are you ready?' she asked.

'Ready for what?' Doug asked.

Carol walked across the kitchen and picked up the phone. 'To ring my mom.'

Doug bit his lip and raised his hands to show that they were shaking. Carol laughed, knowing he was faking it. Doug chuckled too and came to her side.

'Go for it' he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.