They met in a dreamscape of flowers and rolling hills, on the anniversary of The Leaving.

They all came from different directions, though in this dreamworld, direction was meaningless. But they did it anyway-- it made the coming together all the more powerful. They formed a circle, seven points in a circumference: Max, Liz, Isabelle, Alex, Michael, Maria, and, standing slightly back, Kyle. For a moment, there was silence.

Eventually, Liz broke the stillness. "Is that her?" she cooed, breaking the circle and crossing to Maria, bending down to peer and mew at the tiny pink bundle in her friend's arms.

Maria's smile was more radiant than ever. "Meet Madeleine," she said proudly. "Madeleine, this is your Aunty Liz." The infant gurgled and reached a tiny pink hand up to touch Liz's nose. There was a brief glow, and the baby giggled.

Liz looked at Maria in puzzlement. The blonde girl just laughed. "She does that to get to know people," she explained. "Luckily, she seems to recognize people who do and don't know about her parentage, so she hasn't gone all glowy on some stranger yet. I don't know how she knows, but I'm not going to question."

Michael leaned over from his position beside his petite wife and smiled at his baby daughter. "It's in the genes, isn't it, kiddo?" he said, grinning like any proud father. "You're going to grow up to be a whiz, just like your dad, ain't you?"

Maria elbowed him gently. "If you want her to grow up to be such a 'whiz,' how about you start using proper GRAMMAR in front of her? Like not using 'ain't', for example."

Michael faked a hurt expression. "Are you saying I don't speak good?" he teased, and Maria giggled.

"Michael, Maria, and Madeleine?" Isabelle chimed in as she joined the trio-- or rather, the quartet. "A little 'M' happy, don't you think?" She hugged Michael tightly. "Hey, Michael," she greeted him. "Long time no see."

Michael hugged her back. "Hey, Izzy. Looking good."

"Don't I always?" she replied, straightfaced, as she pulled back and moved to embrace Maria.

Maria let herself be hugged, even though she couldn't embrace the taller girl back due to her precious bundle. "We don't go by Michael and Maria in Denver," she answered Isabelle's earlier question, smiling as the tall blonde bent down to be 'greeted' by Madeleine. "We're Adrian and Gabrielle Smith." She chuckled. "But we figured someone had to carry on the tradition."

Everyone laughed at that, and some unseen wall of tension seemed to collapse amongst the group. They began milling together, each person stopping by to "Oooh" and "Aaah" over little Madeleine, and be summarily Glowed. Maria couldn't stop beaming as each of her friends complimented her on the beautiful baby in her arms. Michael stood behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, his chin switching from resting on the crown of her head to her shoulder and back again. It felt so right-- as if the past year had all been a fantasy. Except for the conception and birth of the miracle in her arms, of course. That couldn't have been more real.

She tore her eyes from Madeleine's cherubic face and watched her friends interact. Liz and Max stood slightly to one side, chatting softly, closer in proximity than Maria had ever seen them in the true world. Almost as close as she was to Michael. The brunette had told her in a letter to their PO Box in Denver that she was applying to graduate school at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire-- an hour north of Keene. "It's a really prestigious school," she'd claimed, but Maria knew the real reasoning. The same reasoning that explained why every graduate school her friend had chosen to apply to was in New England.

"Looks like Max and Lizzy are getting closer," she told her husband, tilting her chin slightly up and to the side to look over her shoulder at him.

His eyes watched the couple, and a cheeky smile crossed his face. "Finally," he chuckled. "God, the sexual tension between those two drove me nuts for years. I just kept wanting to grab Max and yell, 'Kiss her! Kiss her, dammit!'"

Maria bumped back against him, and he looked down into her eyes. "Then why'd it take so long for you to follow your own advice?" she teased.

He shrugged and pulled her closer, swinging her gently from side to side as he rested his chin on the crown of her head. Maria let her eyes drift closed as he spoke. "What can I say? I'm a dimwit."

She nodded. "A definite numbskull."

"Total loser."

"Freak beyond belief."

"But you love me anyway."

"Yeah, I guess I have to." He mocked a hurt whimper, and she giggled. "Just kidding, rocket jockey!" she assured him.

Her eyes wandered back to the chatting couples. Alex and Isabelle were talking nearby. Or rather, Isabelle was talking. Alex just watched with rapt attention, his eyes glued to the statuesque blonde before him, as she described her life in New York. Maria pointed them out to Michael. "He's totally stuck on her," she whispered conspiratorily. "She could be talking about the grout in her tile, and he'd be glued there."

Michael chuckled. "And where'd you learn this bit of juicy gossip?"

"When you're friends with someone for as long as I've been with Alex, you get to the point where you know EVERYTHING about them. Up to the point that you know the color of the socks they're going to wear the next day."

"Oh? And what shade of footwear does this intuition tell you he's going to wear tomorrow?"

"Blue."

"Blue?"

"Yep."

"Maybe they'll be black." Michael and Maria turned as one to acknowledge the voice at their shoulder. Michael held out his hand to Kyle.

"Kyle," he greeted the other young man.

The football player accepted his hand with a firm grip. "Michael," he said, smiling.

"Hey, Kyle," Maria added on, grinning. She'd never expected to see the brooding man behind her ever become friends with the 'jock' next to her. Wonders really DID seem to never cease.

There was a brief silence between the three adults, before Michael began again. "Kyle," he said, "I..I never got to thank you. For...you know, for giving Liz my address." His arm tightened around Maria's waist again, and she felt that familiar warm glow that always accompanied his touch flow through her. "I mean, if you hadn't...." He trailed off.

Kyle shook his head. "Don't worry about it, buddy," he told Michael honestly. "I wanted to help. If she hadn't come to me, I would have gone to her. Or straight to you."

Michael smiled.

"Everyone!"

Maria looked back to the center of their little gathering and towards the sound of the voice. Max stood beside a small table loaded down with crackers, cheese, chocolate, and a bottle of champagne in an ice-filled silver serving bowl. Seven tulip glasses of the sparkling beverage lined the edge of the table. "Ah, the wonders of Dreamland," she thought happily.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Max continued, picking up two of the wine glasses and handing one to Liz. The others gathered around and took up their respective glasses, Maria balancing Madeleine tenderly against her body with one arm. "To friendship," Max finished, raising his glass.

The others did likewise. "To friendship!" they chimed in unison. The musical sound of crystal meeting crystal followed. Maria only took a sip of her champagne-- she didn't like to drink now that she had Madeleine to take care of. But it was the ceremony that mattered. So she sipped.

"I must admit I feel a bit left out," Kyle told the group as his eyes scanned the three couples around him. "I see four fellas and three ladies, and little ole me all left alone." He shook his head. "I would never live this down at Notre Dame."

Maria chuckled. "You're NOT alone, Kyle!" she replied. Slipping from Michael's hold, she turned to face the broad-shouldered young man, and held Madeleine out to him. "There are FOUR 'ladies' here, in case you hadn't noticed," she said with a little smile.

The others laughed at Kyle's obvious discomfort. "Umm, I'd better not, Maria," he protested. "I might, I dunno, drop her."

"That's what HE said," Maria said, jerking her head back to indicate Michael. "But he didn't. And you won't either. Madeleine won't let you."

Shushing his further protests, she laid the tiny infant in his arms. He stood stiff and unmoving for a moment; then, his shoulders began to loosen, and a foolish grin spread across his face. He glanced around the group. "I think she likes me," he said happily, before looking back to the tiny baby. "Don't you, Maddy?" he asked. "Don't you like your Uncle Kyle? Huh? Don't you, you wittle schmoosie-woosie baby sweetie?"

He seemed oblivious to everyone's laughter as the King of Manliness degenerated into baby talk. Maria felt Michael pull her back into his arms, and she leaned against his chest, folding her hands over his on her stomach. "I think she's just been adopted," she told him.

She could hear the smile on his face when he replied, "Well, then we'll just have to get another one."

Maria cocked an eyebrow, and looked over her shoulder at him. "Is that implying something, Mr. Guerin?" she asked, grinning impishly.

His smile was just as cocky. "Hell yes."

"Perhaps we ought to wake up then?"

"I'm ready when you are."

She chuckled and looked back to her friends. Kyle was still cooing over Madeleine. Liz and Max were holding hands and staring deeply into one another's eyes, neither one speaking. Isabelle was now the quiet one of her duet. She wore a broad smile on her face, as Alex gestured and leapt around wildly, presumably telling some terribly amusing story. Maria couldn't resist a pleased sigh.

"Let's wait a bit," she told Michael. "I think I want to dream a little longer."