Same Time, Every Year

Madolyn Hayes was cold. It was not a pleasing - nor was it a familiar - feeling. Odd, because she'd been quite warm when she'd gone to sleep the night before. She remembered this well, for, at the time, she'd been irritated at the warmth of the November night. Wasn't it supposed to be cold this time of year?

Pushing back a shiver, Maddie sat up and ran a hand through her hair, confused to find it without tangles. Shaking her head, she got out of bed, the sheet still wrapped around her, only to find that she was actually dressed. Now thoroughly confused, Maddie turned back to the bed and allowed a small smile to flit across her features as she took in the sight.

The right side of the bed was in complete disarray. The pillow showed an indention where someone's head had been recently, the sheets were tangled at the foot; the blankets actually on the floor. No wonder she'd been cold. The left side of the bed, however, held no hint of habitation save a small, beige cocker spaniel curled atop the pillow.

Maddie couldn't hold back a smile as she shook her head. No wonder she'd been cold. She had totally forgotten that last night had been her and David's 'away' night. 'Away' being away from each other, both able to do their own thing and not have to worry if the other was having a good time. For Maddie, it meant a warm bath, a trashy novel; a bowl of Haagen-Dazs' finest - vanilla Swiss almond, then, of course, there was the cold bed - the only part of the 'away' night that Maddie really loathed.

At her mistress' sigh, Miss me bounded up off of the pillow and launched herself at Maddie with unnatural speed. Laughing, Maddie scooped up the lap-sized dog and resigned herself to a lick right on her nose. "Good morning, girl....how about some breakfast?" Taking the dog's happy yip for one of approval, Maddie set her on her feet and started out of the room.

The office was completely silent when David walked through the door. Stopping, he surveyed the scene before him in quiet dismay. All of the employees were at their desks, each working with a chilling sort of devotion.

Placing his briefcase atop the front wall of Agnes' cubicle, David rubbed his eyes and once again looked Placing his briefcase atop the front wall of Agnes' cubicle, David rubbed his eyes and once again looked over the staff.

Managing to type with her left hand, Agnes reached with her right and handed David a piece of paper from the side of her desk. "The bill for the water-cooler refills came this morning," she whispered, as if this explained everything.

Agnes glanced around the room and then pointed to the total at the bottom of the bill. David's eyes widened and he whistled. "Well, I can't get you out of this one, kids. You're on your own."

Maddie jerked her head up from the file she had been studying. A smile found its way to her face as she saw him. "Good morning." Getting up , she sat the file on her desk and perched on the edge. "Sleep well?" she asked him, not bothering to hide the grin that spread across her face.

David looked wounded. "Ouch," he muttered, walking over and sitting on the corner of her desk, he sniffed the air. "Is something burning?" Gripping her forearm, he yanked her out of the chair, saying, "Stand up."

A knock sounded at the door as Maddie finished and Agnes poked her head in. "Ms. Hayes, your nine thirty is here." She looked back and forth from employer to employer, a smile on her face and said, "I can tell her to come back later."

David and Maddie exchanged glances before each nodded at Agnes. Both laughing slightly at the woman's behavior, they took their normal places in front of Maddie's desk as Agnes showed the client in.

Tip-toeing around to lean over Agnes' shoulder, David watched her type for a few moments. "Good morning, Mr. AdDavid set his wine glass on the coffee table and reclined on the couch. "Do you realize that this will be our first open and shut case this season?" he called to Maddie.

Sticking her head out of the kitchen, she smiled at him, "I thought the cat case was pretty open and shut. The cat was lost, we found it. Open, shut." She ducked back into the kitchen without waiting for his reply.

Getting up with a groan, David retrieved his wine glass and made his way to the kitchen, "That's because you weren't the one whose life was being threatened," he muttered. "And besides, that was last season."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Please. They were morons who would have shot themselves before they realized they had the gun turned the wrong way." She said this without turning around, but David could tell by the tone of her voice that she wore a small smile.

"Ah, I didn't think that Edgar was that bad....kind of reminded me of a little lost puppy." He slowly sauntered over to where Maddie stood before the stove. "Something smells good," he breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

He trailed kisses up and down her neck, slowly running his fingers through her hair as he did so. Maddie dropped the spoon twice before giving up and leaving it where it dropped the third. She turned in his embrace and for the first time that day, their lips met for more than a brief moment.

A few moments later, they parted, each breathing heavier than before. Without thinking, Maddie pulled him back to her roughly. "Upstairs. Let the dog in and take the chicken off before you come...Got it?" she whispered, smiling seductively.

There was a sudden scratching on the back door and a series of tiny yips could be heard from outside. Maddie's smile widened. "No longer than five minutes, Addison." She walked out of the kitchen with a flirty backwards glance.

"Yeow," David muttered as he hurried over to the back door and yanked it open. A small, blonde dog raced into the room, running around the kitchen table before arriving back at David's feet, "Well, if the other blonde is half as excited as you are," he paused, leaning down to scratch Miss me behind her ears, "what am I still doing down here?"

Winking at the dog, he hurried up the stairs, all the while undressing. His sweater landed in a heap on the potted plant next to the stairs, his undershirt on the railing, his pants on the stairs, etc. The bedroom door opened, then slammed shut, and all was quiet.

He turned when Maddie called his name. She was now standing by the bed, calmly putting on her robe, "Careful, Adonis, wouldn't want to damage the goods." As she strode past David, she placed a light kiss on his shoulder. "Get dressed, will you?"

As Maddie descended the stairs, she was alarmed to realize that David had been right; there was indeed something burning. With images of a burnt, crispy, black Cocker Spaniel flitting through her head, Maddie ran the rest of the way to the kitchen.

Miss me sat in the middle of the rug in front of the sink, barking in frenzied little half-yips. Scooping the little dog up in her arms, Maddie opened the back door and sat her on the ground, then closed the door again. About this time, David rushed into the kitchen, fire extinguisher in hand. He stopped and stared at the stove for a second before bursting into fits of laughter.

The pan of chicken sat on a burner, forgotten in the moment of passion, and flames about a foot tall rose from it. Maddie glared at him and rushed to the stove. Not thinking, she reached out and pulled the pan back from the burner. Screaming from the pain of her hand, she yanked it back and turned her glare on the chicken, which caused David to laugh even harder.

He composed himself and calmly walked to the stove, slipped on an oven mitt, and pulled the pan from the burner. He then gently pushed Maddie away and turned the fire extinguisher on the pan of offending chicken.

Afterwards, they stood in the smoke filled kitchen, just staring at each other. David shifted from foot to foot, the tile floor sending little shivers up his spine, dressed in only a pair of boxers. Maddie coughed and winced as she bumped her burned hand on her mouth. This one action seemed to motivate both of them, David walked over and gently took her hand, examining it. He brought it to his lips and pressed a light kiss to it before leading her to the sink and running it under cold water.

"Hey, how's it going?" David's voice in the quiet room made her jump, and she laughed at herself. Stretching out on the couch, she propped her feet in his lap and continued her perusal of the magazine.

"Yeah, the number is 555-3971. Hayes, Madolyn. What do you mean you've never delivered here before?" He cast a look at her, and Maddie shrugged. Shaking his head, he continued, "Well, I'm sure there will be more pizza delivered here from now on.....No, the name's David........Yeah, I guess you could say that.....Medium pepperoni. Uh...." He looked down at her again, "Maddie, do we want a bottle of Pepsi with this?"

David grinned. "Yeah, sure, why not?" He gave the address. ".....Actually, Ben, may I call you Ben?....Oh, Alicia, my mistake.....I like to think so, yes.....There is something else you can bring me, if you don't mind, that is......Great, Alicia, what I really want is a pint...." He looked down at Maddie again. "Scratch that, make it a quart of ice cream."

Maddie's eyes widened with curiosity as he went on: "Yes, a quart. Preference?" Maddie shook her head. "No, just any kind of ice cream you can find that comes in a quart.....Yes, I realize how large a quart is....If you can't find one, just bring me two pints." He laughed. "Yes...exactly. What does that total to? Thank you." He hung up the phone and lifted Maddie's feet from his lap. "You're an expensive lady, you know that?"

"It's going to be about forty-five minutes." David informed her as she set the glasses and plates on the coffee table. He eyed the china with a bemused smile. "I don't think I've ever eaten pizza off of fine china before. Don't you have paper?"

Maddie was reclining on the couch when David reentered the room, Miss me close behind him. She had a file from their most recent case in her lap, her legs tucked underneath her and a wine glass in her hand. He just stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her. Her short blonde hair was pulled back in a pony tail, loose wisps of hair hanging down and just barely touching her skin.

David was almost positive he was one of the only people that had ever seen this side of Maddie Hayes. The relaxed side, the side that wasn't afraid to let her hair down and have a good time. He was pleased- if a bit shocked - that he was one of the privileged few.

David was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. He glanced at his watch, then back at Maddie. "You expecting someone?" She shook her head and he looked at his watch again. "It's too early for the pizza...."

The doorbell rang again and David shrugged, getting up and walking to the door. He opened it to find himself face to face with the biggest bouquet of Babies Breath and Daffodils he had ever seen. "Madolyn Hayes?" the tiny yellow and white flowers shook with the rumble of the deep voice.

The flowers were shoved into David's arms, revealing a little man behind them. "I'll need you to sign for those, sir," he said, pushing his wiry glasses further up on his nose and sniffing disdainfully. He leaned down and picked up the clipboard he must have set down on the porch, holding it out to David impatiently.

Maddie got up from the couch as she saw David struggling with the humongous bunch of flowers. "My God, David," she said, taking them from him and setting them on the floor with a grunt and a thump, "did they run out of pizza?"

David walked back to the door and signed the clipboard. "Have a wonderfully stupendous night, now," he said with too much cheer, causing the little man to glare and stomp away. David shook his head and smiled, closing the door.

Walking back to where he'd left Maddie and The Flowers (there were so many of them, he decided, that they deserved to be thought of as proper nouns), David peeked over her shoulder at the card. "Who's the sender?"

Curious now, David sat up and studied her. "You like stuff like that?" he asked in disbelief. "You? You who once threw roses into the trashcan?" He stood up and walked back to her, once again snatching the card from her hand. "You really like stuff like this?" he asked again, studying the card carefully.

Maddie yanked her hand out of his grasp and shook her head, but didn't say anything. She merely picked up the vase full of flowers and carried it back out to the living room, setting it in the middle of the coffee table.

The pizza arrived ten minutes later, catching Maddie and David curled up on a pile of blankets in front of the fireplace, watching the flames dance. Carefully setting his wine glass to the side, David got up and hurried on bare feet to the door.

Pulling it open, David exposed a tall gangly teenager awkwardly balancing a box of pizza, a liter of Coca-Cola, and a huge tub of ice cream. "Um....hi," the teen said, glancing down at the receipt on the top of the cardboard pizza box, "that'll be....$20.43."

"Later" found Maddie and David once again curled in front of the fire, both rather drowsy from the combination of the heat and the wine. When David began to nuzzle the back of Maddie's neck, she merely tilted her head for him to have better access.

He appeared a moment later, tub of ice cream in hand, and they moved up the stairs together. The bedroom door slammed closed a moment later; all was silent except for the occasional noise from behind aforementioned door. (Use your imaginations, people, because we all know you have them!!!)

Maddie stepped from the shower, careful to step onto the towel and not soak the rug, and reached for the towel she had hung earlier. Wrapping it around herself, she took another and started drying her hair.

Making her way into the bedroom, Maddie picked up the earlier discarded clothing. A shirt here, a sock there; she smiled. Opening her mouth to say something to David, she snapped it shut again when she saw that he was not in the bed where she'd left him.

Against her will, she felt herself softening and a smile bloomed on her face. "Ice cream is messy business," she kissed him, "Mr. Addison." When she draped her arms around his neck, Maddie once again pulled away. "David, you're sticky."

Tuesday passed uneventfully for David and Maddie, filling itself up with follow ups on the current cases and a couple of leads on the not so current ones. Five o'clock slowly became six; six slowly became seven, then seven had the audacity to turn into eight.

"Hey, boss lady, you ready to blow this joint?" David asked, coming into Maddie's office shortly after discovering the time. "The staff finally got bored and left; it's just you and me, kid."

Maddie nodded. "I know, Mr. Viola informed me." Closing the file on her desk in obvious disgust, Maddie stood and stretched. "I'm going home, I've had enough of," she made a rude gesture to the file, "that."

"Anyway, there we were, in the middle of a graveyard, when it suddenly started pouring down rain." Maddie took a sip of her wine and smiled at the memory. "Everyone was older than me - and therefore had longer legs - so when they began running home, I fell behind. The rain was falling in sheets; blinding me, and I stumbled...."

There was comfortable silence for a time, broken only by the soft music floating from the stereo. Maddie got to her feet a second after another song began and pulled David to his. "Dance with me," she whispered, taking his wine glass and setting it beside her own on the coffee table.

Their lovemaking was slow and gentle that night....unusual for them, but it just didn't seem to be much of a priority at that moment in time. Instead, they talked. About anything from first memories to worst nightmares. It lasted all night long, until the sun was just peeking from the horizon, and it only ended when they simultaneously fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

As beautiful and unforgettable as Tuesday night through Wednesday morning had been, when Maddie's alarm went off at seven AM, the two occupants of the Hayes' residence both groaned and had to drag themselves from bed.

Grumpier than usual, they fought over the shower, what to eat for breakfast; even what kind of coffee to get. Neither admitted it, but both were glad to be rid of the other when they reached the office.

Maddie went on as if she hadn't heard, "My parents are going to fly in this evening; you'll pick your dad, Stephanie, and Richie up at the airport tonight, and Walter and Terri will be here Thursday afternoon."

Not amused, Maddie quirked an eyebrow at him. "You live in an apartment, Addison." She waved off his answer and stood, stretching. "Don't worry about my cooking, David, there will be three other women there....I'm sure we'll be fine."

Slumping back in her chair, Maddie sighed. "I hadn't really thought about it, tell the truth." She picked up a pen and scribbled something down on a note pad. "Well, the more the merrier, I suppose."

The words that were about to come out of David's mouth were cut off by a knocking on the office door. Maddie called out a quick 'come in' and Agnes opened the door, pushing it as wide as it would go.

Shaking her head, Maddie stood, watching as two of the staff carried in a box. Though, Maddie thought, box wasn't exactly the right word for it. This thing was the size of her desk, she thought with alarmed amusement.

The five occupants of the room stared at the misplaced item sitting placidly in the office with a kind of fascination. David finally cleared his throat, causing the others to jump, and gestured with his head to the door. Agnes and the other two nodded and left the room, each with a small backwards glance.

Maddie shrugged and approached the rectangular object. "Here goes nothing," she murmured, more to herself than to David. Pulling at the ribbon of the bow on the top, Maddie gave it a hard tug and the box's sides fell away, revealing a teddy bear.

Rolling her eyes, Maddie snatched the card from his fingers and carefully opened the flap of the envelope. She took such a long time that David poked her in the side impatiently. "Come on, Maddie, if it were going to explode, it would have done so already."

She shushed him and finally pulled the little card from its holding. David peeked over her shoulder, leaning his chin upon it, to read. Their voices made an interesting contrast as they both read aloud:

She lay the card - almost lovingly, David thought to himself - down on her desk and walked over to where the monster of a bear was seated. She stroked his ear, enjoying the feel of the soft fur. "I wonder who sent it," she questioned. "It wasn't signed again this time."

"I know exactly what you meant, David," Maddie said, glaring at him. She stopped abruptly, suddenly looking tired. "Look," she said, rubbing her forehead, "neither of us got enough sleep last night.....why don't we just go home--"

"Thank you, Agnes," Maddie said with a forced smile. She waited until the woman nodded and closed the door before turning back to David. "This conversation," she said quietly, warranting no argument, "is over. I want you to go home and get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow morning, OK?"

David kissed her quickly on the lips before heading to the door. Maddie held one finger up to tell him to wait a minute and picked up the phone. "Hi, Mom," she greeted. "Can you hang on just a second?" Covering the mouthpiece with her hand, Maddie spoke softly to David, "Don't forget, your Dad, your brother, and Stephanie are flying in tonight at nine-thirty."

There was no more calling out and David once again turned in a circle, searching for the tall form of his older brother. "Richie?" he called once again. Hands suddenly clapped David on the shoulders, making him jump and whirl around.

Shaking his head, David shrugged. "I've asked myself the same question." Noticing the woman standing off to the side, looking rather uncomfortable and out of place, David lowered his voice and asked, "You gonna introduce me?"

"Huh?" Richie followed his brother's eyes to where the young woman stood. "Oh! Oh, yeah." He pulled her over to where they were and casually put his arm around her waist. "Dave, this is Amalia Roberts. Ames, this is my brother, David."

David laughed and was about to speak when Amalia pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and the glint of a diamond caught his eye. Mentally groaning, David scanned the crowd. "Where are Dad and Stephanie?" he asked.

Any further conversation was cut off by the arrival of David Addison, Sr. and his wife, Stephanie. David greeted his father and step-mother with real enthusiasm; in the back of his mind, he wondered just what Richie had gotten himself into this time.....

Thursday dawned bright and cheerful, promising a beautiful, crisp Fall day. Maddie frowned as she examined the turkey, poking it with a fork. When her mother came into the kitchen, Maddie straightened up and turned her frown to her. "Is it supposed to look like that?"

The doorbell rang in the middle of little Walter's speech of gibberish and Maddie reluctantly handed him to Terri. When he protested, she tapped his nose, making him giggle. "I'll be right back," she promised.

"OK," Maddie said. "My father and Walter Bishop are in the den watching the game," she told David Sr.. As he wandered off in the direction that Maddie pointed him, she turned to Stephanie. "Everyone else is in the kitchen...."

Kissing her again, Richie walked back to the bathroom. Amalia sighed, watching him go, and then shook her head and pasted a smile on her face before turning to open the door. "David, hi," she greeted cheerily.

Amalia nodded. "I actually wanted to be an FBI agent, but I guess you can't always get what you want." She smiled. "What about you? Richie tells me you're a detective, that must be pretty interesting and exciting."

Maddie smiled against her will and excused herself from the kitchen, hurrying to the living room. "Hi," she greeted David, kissing him quickly before turning to Richie. "You're a sight for sore eyes," she commented, hugging him.

Amy giggled and nodded. "He walked in, looked at me and said, 'Hello, Ms. Roberts, my name's Richard Addison, and you're fired.'" Giggling again, Amy looked up at Richie with such an expression of love that Maddie found herself having to look away.

David shook his head and followed his brother out of the living room to the back of the house, leaving Maddie alone with Amalia. The timer in the kitchen dinged and Maddie silently breathed a sigh of relief, she started to leave the room, then turned back. "Amalia--"

The two women walked into the kitchen and were met with laughter. Maddie felt her own lips curving as she took in the scene before her. Virginia Hayes, Stephanie Addison, and Terri Bishop were all doubled over, laughing hysterically, while Baby Walter sat on the floor, literally ghost white. He stared at the three women and then down at the now empty bag of all purpose flour on the floor.

"My mother, Virginia, and my...." Maddie stopped, not too sure what Terri was to her, if anything at all. She shrugged mentally and continued, "David's best friend Terri Bishop." After all, she couldn't very well introduce her as 'My ex-husband's wife', could she?

Walter's wails cut off anything that Amy had been about to say; when Maddie saw that Terri was more liable to drop him were she to make an attempt at comforting, she shook her head and walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. Bending down, Maddie pulled the shrieking child into her arms and cradled him.

As the adult's laughter tapered off, Walter's cries quieted to occasional sniffles. Maddie continued to rock the still upset toddler back and forth, holding him close, not totally oblivious to the white powder that was rubbing from the child onto one of her favorite blouses, but enjoying the feel of him in her arms too much to care.

Terri made her way over and shot Maddie an apologetic glance before taking Walter from her. Murmuring words of comfort, mingled with the occasional snort of laughter, Terri walked out of the kitchen. Maddie merely shook her head and turned to her mother and Stephanie. "Mom, this is Amalia--"

Maddie watched as her mother set Amy about making what appeared to be an apple pie. Taking the time when Amy was otherwise occupied, Maddie studied her. Her brown hair was pulled back in a careful bun, a few stray wisps hanging down and fanning the back of her neck. She looked to be about thirty, thirty-three years old, definitely younger than Richie, but not by much. She was pretty - not beautiful - but pretty nonetheless; she had a kind of uniqueness about her that most men found to be intimidating.

Maddie smiled and took the pouting child from his mother. "Sure, I'll watch him," she replied, settling the boy on her hip. "Actually, it looks like everything's covered in here, while you're gone do you want me to get him cleaned up?"

She set Walter on the toilet seat and started the water, making sure it wasn't too hot nor too cold, and plugged the drain. "Come here, you," she said to the squirming boy as she reached for him. "Let's get these clothes off, Casper."

Adding a capful of bubble bath to the running water with a shrug, Maddie then picked Walter up and sat him in the tub, where he proceeded to splash her. "Well then," she said with a good natured laugh, "I guess this blouse we can kiss bye-bye."

As an answer, Walter giggled and splashed her once more. Maddie laughed and ran her hand through the boy's hair. "Two can play at this game, you know. And I'm much bigger than you are." She splashed at him, careful to keep it away from his eyes.

As Walter alternated splashing and trying to stick the soap in his mouth, Maddie's thoughts wandered. She couldn't help but feel sadness at the sight of the little boy. After all, he could have been hers. Hers and David's.

A fresh wave of a pain she'd thought long passed shot through Maddie and she shook her head, trying to get the images of David playing with a brown haired blue eyed child out of her mind. She only succeeded when Walter splashed her in the face.

Most of the time, she kept thoughts of what might have been out of her head, but there were times (like this one) that the contemplations just wouldn't be held at bay. Shaking her head again, Maddie took the soap and began to wash the white powder from Walter's skin. "Well would you look at that," she murmured, "there is a little boy under there after all."

Making his way up the stairs, David thought he heard giggles and the splashing of water from the bathroom. He walked down the hall and was about to speak when he stopped in the doorway of the bathroom.

There was nothing but silence around the table for the next moment or two, then all hell broke loose. Everyone began talking at once, offering both congratulations and exclamations of surprise.

While the brothers had this little exchange, everyone had gone to the living room, chattering happily. With his arm slung around his brother's shoulder, David lead Richie in and they sat on the couch.

David nodded and walked them out to the cab. He watched until the tail lights faded into the darkness before he went back in to search for Maddie. He found her in the backyard, sitting on the wicker table, her elbows resting on her knees.

Maddie walked into Blue Moon the next day with a sense of sadness. She answered Ms. DiPesto's "Good morning" with a wave and hurried to her office, closing the door behind her and leaning up against it.

"Love is all I can offer, no treasures can I see; no pot of gold or silver threads, to tie you close to me. No paintings that hang in halls so grand, no jewels that sparkle bright, but I give to you my heart and soul and my love to hold you tight. I give my tears that fall for you, when we must be apart, and when we're both together I'll offer you my heart, I'll give the world a miss and leave the moon to the night, and when I hold you close to me I'll kiss your lips so light. Love is all I can offer, the love I have for you, and never will it fade away, for without you I'll be blue. To never hold you close to me or to stroke your silken skin would kill my heart and soul for sure; it would be a mortal sin. Love is what I give to you, a love that's given free, a love that grows each passing day wherever we may be, and when that special day it comes, when we will never part, as we hold each other close, you can give me back my heart.

Glancing up at her, David smiled. "Really?" When she nodded, he returned it. "Yeah, yeah you're right." He pulled her to him, so that they were lying together, and kissed the top of her head. "We're pretty damn good, aren't we?"

"--but we did the Christmas thing last year. And besides, your parents are going on that cruise, my dad and Stephanie are going to her sister's house, Richie and Amalia are going to Amalia's parents.....and I think the Bishop's can find somewhere if they look hard enough." He took a deep breath and finished with, "Let's just go solo this Christmas."

Thanks go to too many people to count, but particularly to Heather, Adina, and Aubrey - I shudder to think what this would be like without your help - and the sixth season staff (or should we be the seventh season staff now?) - Good lord, I never dreamed this would go on for so long. Three cheers for us! Thank you everyone and Happy Holidays (however belated they may be!) --- Sarah