“You really know?” Diego questioned under his breath seeing Heather nod slowly as he let out a small sigh. He tried to think of some way he could explain things to her, to make things seem less hard, but there was truly one question on his mind. “How did you find out?”

“It’s just the way you have been dealing with your actions lately. You and Sarah,” Heather pointed out with a small shrug as she saw Diego take a step back from her. “I don’t understand why this is bothering you so much Diego. Why does it get to you so much?”

“I just don’t know what happened,” Diego tried to explain, watching Heather over carefully feeling a small bit of guilt overcoming him. “I mean it just happened so sudden and I didn’t know it would hurt you and Kyle like this.”

“You think it hurts us Diego?” Heather muttered with a small laugh shaking her head slowly. She looked backed towards the kitchen door hearing Kyle’s low voice. “This kind of thing doesn’t hurt Kyle and me. Sarah has been like this for years, it doesn’t hurt us. She has been doing this for years Diego.”

“Years? You mean this isn’t the only time Sarah has done it?” Diego’s eyebrows tensed as he saw Heather nod before him. Here he was thinking that Sarah was so sweet and innocent, but she had done all of this before. “You mean Kyle has still taken her back after all of this? It doesn’t bother him?”

“Well, Sarah has always been like that,” she replied with a small shrug, taking a step in closer to Diego. “She’s always been the jealous type. I get a nice guy and then she gets jealous because she doesn’t like happiness unless she is getting all of it.”

“Wait a second, you mean you think she is just jealous? That’s all?” he watched Heather nod slowly before rolling his eyes at himself knowing he shouldn’t have been thinking like that. “I don’t really think that’s the case Heather.”

“Diego, you really don’t know what Sarah is like. During my whole life and Kyle’s she always got angry when the both of us had a good person in our life. Always with me though,” Heather shrugged remembering how things always turned out in the past with Sarah. “She gets jealous of the smallest things. I don’t care though, no matter how jealous she is, she can’t change how I feel about certain people.”

“I really don’t think jealousy is what she is feeling towards me and you Heather,” Diego let out a small laugh, leaning back against the cabinet as Heather looked up at him with her piercing green eyes. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t really talking about you Diego, I was just saying in general,” she pointed out with a small shake of her head before walking over towards Diego. “I mean even it was about me and you. She would be jealous to the fact that you spent the night here with me, I don’t care if that upset her. She ruined true love for me in the past--I won’t let her hold me back anymore Diego.”

“Ruined true love? I think that may be going a little far Heather,” Diego sighed seeing Heather look up at him with a saddened expression. He reached out to touch Heather’s shoulder before she pulled away from him. “Heather, what do you mean by ruined true love?”

“Just forget about it, Sarah just always wasn’t the good person you may think she is,” Heather informed Diego with a small glance before pointing back towards the door. “You know, a while back I asked her to put in a good word for me, but I guess she was shocked that I just did it myself. In her being so jealous she might actually be in trouble.”

“In trouble? What kind of trouble?” Diego muttered watching Heather walk towards the kitchen door before he called back out to her. “Heather, what kind of trouble are you talking about?”

“Just forget I even said it Diego, I’m wrong. It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Heather hushed as she opened the kitchen door and looked out into the living room. “Just leave it be, I have to go check on Charles.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What is it exactly you and Heather know?” Sarah watched Kyle over worriedly as Kyle took a step in towards her, holding Charles in his arms tightly. “How did you find out?”

“Sarah, it’s obvious you and Diego are a little bit uncomfortable around each other lately,” Kyle pointed out thinking back to how the both of them had fled the scene earlier. “I mean come on, every time you get the chance you are always running off. You want to answer to me why that keeps happening?”

“Kyle, if you would just give me a minute to explain,” Sarah took in a deep breath watching Kyle walk over to the couch and sit down. She watched his dark eyes follow her every move as he held on tightly to Charles. “I think I can tell you why everything happened.”

“I don’t think you have to explain Sarah, I’ve known you my whole life. Most of my life you have always acted like this,” Kyle pointed out, shifting positions on the couch to make it more comfortable for Charles. “There hasn’t been a day in my life where I ever thought of you a different way. The Sarah I knew when I was a teenager. The one I thought I was head over heels in love with.”

“Thought?” Sarah muttered watching Kyle nod as Charles let out a small noise. Kyle held Charles closer into his chest as he looked back up at Sarah with a small smirk. “Thought you loved?”

“Well yeah, I mean thought. There was a point in time where Mr. Houston here couldn’t live up to what he thought he fully wanted. I thought I was in love with you when the truth of the matter is, I couldn’t read what love was. Then I thought I found it in life and everything was perfect, but them something happened to stop that. I don’t know what it was,” Kyle paused for a moment, letting out a deep sigh as he looked up into Sarah’s eyes. “You see love is a delicate thing and if you take it for granted the best thing you’ve ever had walks out on you. You think you’re going to have a life and you think you are going to be happy with the one person you love. You can say the smallest thing and the person you love will be on the run. Gone from the world you had set up for you and the person you loved. Love is something only certain people get to have, like Russ and Avery. They’ve been meant for each other their whole lives, I know that from watching them grow up together with me. Sarah, love is something true. The question is, are you true?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sarah gulped watching Kyle eye her over as she sat down on the couch across from him. She leaned back before letting out a long sigh. “What do you want to know Kyle?”

“How about, why don’t you ever give Heather a chance?” Kyle questioned hearing a noise coming from the kitchen, making him look back over his shoulder to see that no one was there. “Or how about why I really wanted to talk to you. Why is it that Diego is uncomfortable with being around Heather? Is it because you two are good friends? Is that it?”

“I guess you could say that,” Sarah paused watching Kyle whisper something to Charles before looking back up at her. “I don’t know what to tell you Kyle.”

“What Heather told me is that she asked you to put in a good word for her and that you agreed to it,” Kyle informed Sarah seeing the way her eyes widened when she looked up at him. “I know you want to keep Diego safe and all, but if Heather thinks this is the real guy I want her to be happy. I think that if Diego is good enough for Heather, then she deserves happiness. Diego is your friend and Heather is your sister, I think they can make a relationship work. They might be able to help each other in only ways they can only imagine. We shouldn’t make our worries step in the way. I mean sure, I‘m always worrying about Heather. There isn’t a day that has gone by in my life where she hasn’t crossed my mind. You know, with me wanting to make sure she is okay.”

“Kyle, that‘s not what this is all about,” Sarah watched the kitchen door open as Heather and Diego walked out from the kitchen, making her explanation come to a pause. “Just forget about it.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brooke sat in her hospital bed thinking about the turn of events that just played out right before her very eyes. Remembering the way that Richard and Guy walked out the door in anger only heightened her concerns about what would happen next. She had never seen her son so upset with her--or her husband for that matter.

“You can fix this,” Brooke thought aloud reaching out to grab the phone at her bedside. She wasn’t sure how or why things had played out like they did, but she wasn’t out. She could be down, but she would bounce back again. She had to especially now that shades of the truth were coming into light. Richard only knew the half of it and if he knew the rest, then there was no telling what…

“Stop!” she instructed herself managing to pull the phone off of it’s base and she started to dial the number she’d called in the past when a situation arose. She awaited an answer, but instead she was delivered a recorded message alerting her that the number had been disconnected. Furiously she slammed the phone back down on the base knowing full well what was happening.

“He’s setting me up,” Brook mouthed to herself, “He’s expecting me to take the fall, but I won’t do it. If I go down, then he’s going with me. He’s going to have to…”

“Right now I think you should be more worried about yourself Mrs. Morrison as it seems that you’re in hot water,” a voice roused her from her worries. She looked up to see a tall, professional looking man before her. Behind him were two men in matching tailored suits.

“Who the hell are you?” Brooke snapped at the man in front of her.

“Why I’m Assistant Director Travis Callaway from the FBI and I’ve come here to tell you that your luck has run out Mrs. Morrison,” Travis motioned to the two men with him, “These gentlemen have come here with me to inform you that you’re under arrest.”

“That’s preposterous!” Brooke huffed impatiently trying to keep her head clear with the men in front of her, “What for?”

“Do you really need to ask?” Travis shook his head at her and frowned before motioning to the men along side of him. “Read her rights to her.”

“Of course,” one man stepped forward as Brooke let out a small, pinched sound.

“Wait you don’t want to do that. You don’t know the whole story. I’m sure you’ve heard some silly rumors, but…” she stammered seeing the way that one man started to approach her.

“Rumors with fact behind them it would seem,” Travis noted eyeing her intently.

“Wait,” Brooke held her hands out in the air before motioning to her legs, “You can’t take me in. I can’t walk.”

“Get her wheelchair,” Travis motioned to the other man in the suit who crossed the room.

“Wait a minute! You don’t know the half of it. I’m innocent,” Brooke shouted feeling a moment of panic sweeping over her until a thought occurred to her, “You can’t take me in without telling me why.”

“Oh I’ll tell you why and we’ll get into that down at the station so to speak,” Travis assured her with a small smirk knowing that today would mark a victory for him among other things now that he was close to cracking one of the biggest cases to ever hit Coral Valley. Taking Brooke down was just the start of it as there were far greater things to come once he had her into custody. He was sure of it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Feeling better?” Avery questioned turning her attention to her husband after Elliot and Cheryl had left the room.

“Do you have any doubts?” Russ couldn’t help but reveal with a smile thinking about how it had been nice to share time with his daughter and his parents, “I guess once again you knew what it was that I needed even though I was being stubborn about it.”

“Russ, I’m not going to lie to you and pretend that I can understand what it is you’re going through, but what I can tell you is that I love you and I know what your family means to you,” she replied a seriousness in her tone. Her dark eyes fell upon him and she watched him closely, “Russ, I realize that you have a lot to deal with considering what you learned today, but that doesn’t change who you are.”

“That man tried to murder me Avery,” Russ reminded her with a tiny shudder, “so when Shannon came in telling me that he was my father…”

“I know it has to be hard,” Avery tried to be sympathetic as she saw the sadness behind his eyes.

“My parents have known all this time, yet…” he trailed off closing his eyes for a brief moment, “I don’t know how it was that my mother went to Nicholas, but it happened and all these years I’ve been a painful reminder of that for my father--Elliot.”

“Russ, he loves you like you’ve always been his son and in his heart I know that you’re his son and you’ll always be only his son,” Avery added reaching out to touch his cheek lightly as Erin started to coo. “See daddy, she agrees with me on this one.”

“Well if that’s the way Erin sees it, then that’s the way it’ll always be,” Russ promised feeling Erin’s hand tapping on his stomach, “because I swear to you Avery, I’m not going to ever let her be touched by the Ashford family. I don’t care what I learned. My daughter is never, ever going to be an Ashford!”

“Russ,” Avery started again seeing a darkness behind his eyes, “look maybe we should just forget about that now considering that…”

“Avery, I don’t care what you had with Brant while I was gone. I don’t care what he wants to do or say about this situation because you and I both know in our hearts that the only ones we were meant for is each other. I love you and I’m not about to let Brant get in the way of that.”

“Russ, I’m not trying to say that you don’t, but with Brant things have happened and this situation is difficult. I’m not going to lie to you about what happened, but I do need you to be level headed about this. We need to talk about everything Russ. I need you to know the way things were and how…” Avery started to explain hearing the door to her hospital room open. She turned to see Barbara coming into the room.

“Hey you two,” Barbara began interrupting the both of them, “I don’t mean to intrude, but I thought that you’d both like to hear the update on Brant.”

“Let me guess. He’s spouting off about how he’d like me removed from the hospital,” Russ rolled his eyes keeping Erin in his arms protectively, “Well you can tell him that it’s not going to happen.”

“Actually, he’s not really saying anything at this point,” Barbara paused with obvious hesitation, “He’s gone into a cationic state and he’s not responding to anything.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Avery questioned giving her a strange look, “He was fine before he fell and…”

“And according to all the tests the doctors have run, he should be fine, but he’s not making any connection with the rest of the world. It’s like he’s lost inside himself,” Barbara continued with a heavy sigh, “and given what he’s been through, well I suppose this should come as no surprise.”

“What he’s been through?” Russ let out an ironic laugh, “You’ve got to be kidding me right. This man has been doing his best to tear my family apart, yet you’re all acting as if he’s a victim.”

“Russ please,” Avery started still trying to process what Barbara was saying.

“Avery, if he’s unresponsive it’s because he’s faking. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past him at all,” Russ continued with a heavy scowl.

“Russ come on. You have no idea what Brant has been through and…” Avery tried to defend Brant.

“I have plenty of idea what he’s been through and if nothing is physically wrong with him, then I’m sure it’s an act. I mean that is what you said Barbara. That he should be fine, right?” Russ challenged once more.

“Well yes, but…” Barbara stammered a bit.

“But nothing,” Russ shook his head with a heavy frown, “In fact…”

“Russ, what are you doing?” Avery questioned watching him move beside her, “Russ, where are you going?”

“Take care of Erin,” Russ explained carefully placing Erin in Avery’s arms.

“But Russ where…” Avery stammered watching him move out of bed, “Russ, where are you going?”

“To see Brant for myself and prove to you that my instincts are dead on about him,” Russ announced giving her one last look before leaving the hospital room ready to confront the man who stood between him and his happiness once and for all.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“There is my handsome little man,” Heather walked over towards the couch and sat down next to Kyle. She leaned in against Kyle, looking at the way Charles’s big eyes looked up at Kyle.

“I knew you thought I was handsome Heather, but little did I know you couldn‘t take your eyes off of me,” Kyle muttered with a small smirk as he felt Heather nudge him in the ribs with her elbow gently. “Hey, watch it--I can make him spit up on you.”

“I’ve been there already,” Heather replied with a serious expression, reaching out to fix Charles’s bottle. “You can’t threaten me with something I have already had happen.”

“I bet he can threaten you with something alright,” Kellen came up from behind them, jumping over the back of the couch and sitting down in the seat next to Heather. “I can think of a lot of things he could use on you.”

“Kellen, if you are thinking what I think you’re thinking,” Kyle paused before shaking his head slowly and looking down at Charles. “Can you believe how crazy Kellen is? He has to be the craziest person I have ever met.”

“Thank you, I know I’m crazy and I love that about myself,” Kellen smiled widely before looking over at Sarah who seemed to be sitting there quietly. A noise caught Kellen’s attention as he looked back at Diego who seemed to have the same expressions over his face that Sarah did. “What’s wrong with the two quiet people? Sarah and Diego look like they are going to die.”

“I’m just watching Charles, that‘s all,” Sarah pointed out quickly, looking into Kellen’s wide blue eyes. Kellen slowly nodded before looking back over towards Heather and Kyle. “Kyle, maybe we should get going, I‘m not feeling too good.”

“Already?” Kyle laughed looking up at Sarah with his dark eyes, seeing her nod once his glance met hers. He looked over at Kellen and Heather before shrugging his shoulders. “You can take the truck and go where you want if you’d like. I’m sure Kellen would be willing to take me home.”

“Boy would I,” Kellen piped in with a small chuckle as Kyle looked over towards Heather with a small smirk. “I think Charles would love it if Kyle stayed a little longer. You know, so Kyle and Heather could play with him a little longer.”

“Maybe Sarah is right, Kyle you should probably get going. I have some business to attend to anyways,” Heather glance back over the couch at Diego, a small smile appearing over her lips.

“I understand,” Kyle gulped down before shrugging his shoulders and looking over towards Kipp with a small frown. “Kipp, you could you help me with the little guy here?”

“Sure,” Kipp walked over towards Kyle, gently grabbing Charles from Kyle’s arms. Kyle stood up and let out a small sigh before leaning down and kissing Charles on the forehead gently. “I’m sure Charles will want you back here soon Uncle Kyle. He really likes you.”

“Well, I really like him too,” Kyle grinned giving Charles one last smile before walking over towards the door with Sarah at his side. Kyle came to a stop when he felt someone tug on his hand gently.

“Kyle, it was really great seeing you today, I’m glad you’re okay,” Heather sighed watching Kyle turn around to face her, his dark eyes looking into hers. “I hope I can see you more often.”

“Yeah, me too,” Kyle reached out to hug Heather in his arms tightly before leaning down and pressing a small kiss against Heather’s cheek. “Call me if you need me.”

“Will do,” Heather waved goodbye watching Kyle and Sarah walk down to driveway before she looked back at Diego. “Diego, do you mind taking me and Charles back to my place? I need some help carrying some things to my place.”

“Sure, no problem,” Diego shrugged walking over to the door where he saw a few bags placed and he picked them up. “Are these it?”

“Yeah, that’s all,” Heather nodded watching Diego walk out the front door before she turned around to face Kipp. Kipp let out a long sigh before finally placing Charles in her arms carefully. “I hope to see you tomorrow. Charles will do just fine.”

“I hope so, just be careful with him. This is his first time away from home and he might get nervous,” Kipp began feeling Kellen’s hand rest against his shoulder gently. “Just be careful and make sure to call me with updates.”

“I have it all set,” Heather assured Kipp with a small nod before looking over towards the door, a frown appearing over her lips. “Can one of you get the door?”

“I got it,” Kellen offered up running over towards the door and holding it open for Heather. Heather stopped to give Kellen a small kiss on the cheek before stepping out the door. “Goodnight Heather babes, I’m sure you will be hearing from us later.”

“Wait a second,” Kipp called out after Kellen shut the door as he took a step forward in close to Kellen. “Maybe this isn’t the best idea Kellen, me being away from Charles may not be the best thing to do right now.”

“It will be okay sweetheart, Heather needs some time to spend to herself being mommy,” Kellen gripped onto Kipp’s hand tightly, pulling him over towards the couch to sit down. “Anyways, I have some good gossip that might brighten your day--it did to mine.”

“They say half the time gossip is wrong. The facts are always scrambled,” Kipp pointed out feeling Kellen’s arm wrap around his shoulders, making Kipp feel a little bit more comfortable. “Coming from you, I would say you might have read something a little too much.”

“If I read something too much, I would have made it more juicy,” Kellen announced with a small frown, wiggling his eyebrows up and down in a proud way. “Now, you wouldn’t believe what I saw going on in the kitchen between Diego and Sarah.”

“Diego and Sarah?” Kipp questioned with a small laugh seeing the way that Kellen’s expression seemed to stay serious. Kipp shook his head watching Kellen’s blue eyes search his as Kipp tried to listen. “Okay, I just have to say if this--if you’re about to say what I think you are, you’re crazy. I mean sure Kyle and Sarah, maybe Heather and Diego.”

“No Kipp, this was full on contact with Diego and Sarah. He had his arm wrapped around her and they looked like they would be having each other for dinner right on your kitchen table,” Kellen got up off the couch and paced back and forth in front of Kipp. “That must mean those two are up to something and watching Kyle and Heather today, that could really help their relationship. Kyle and Heather could…”

“Okay, I think you had too much coffee today Kellen,” Kipp chuckled reaching out to grab Kellen’s hand in his so Kellen would stop pacing. Kipp got off the couch slowly before reaching out to touch the side of Kellen’s face, watching Kellen’s eyebrows tense. “Kyle and Heather would never work, they are two completely different people. Sarah would never do something like that and neither would Diego. You should know that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Kellen whispered watching Kipp walk away from him and over towards the window. Kellen shook his head slowly deciding that maybe it was just an idea that popped into his head and he led things a little too far. “You still worried about Charles?”

“Of course,” Kipp let out a deep breath feeling Kellen step in behind him as he looked outside. There was a nervous feeling he was getting just being there without Charles, it wasn’t normal for him.

“Don’t worry about it sugar baby,” Kellen whispered in Kipp’s ear, wrapping his arms around Kipp’s waist tightly. There was no way that he was going to allow the rest of Kipp’s night to go down, he was going to make the night better some way. “I know just what will take your mind off everything.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kevin stood outside Cameron’s estate hoping that he would be able to track Angela down here. While he’d hated to say good-bye to Ria, once she was called into work, Kevin decided it was time to do his job and check in on Angela whether she liked it or not. He’d gone to Chris’s place and found that no one was there, so he hoped that rather than Angela being out getting into a world of trouble with Chris that he’d find her with her brother. Of course he knew if she was here, it was going to get ugly between them. He could almost sense that given that she’d kept her pregnancy a secret from him for so very long.

“Here goes nothing,” Kevin sighed heavily reaching out to ring the bell to Cameron’s estate. He waited for a moment before a butler arrived at the door. The man raised his head leaning back to take a good look at Kevin. Kevin stood there dressed in all black and dark, mirrored sunglasses and he could see that it made the man uneasy, but at this point Kevin really didn’t care. He cleared his throat before speaking up to the man in a gruff voice, “Is Cameron here?”

“Mr. Stone is busy,” the man replied in a snotty tone.

“Not too busy to see me,” Kevin pushed his way inside despite the man’s hesitance to allow him inside.

“Sir, you can’t come in here,” the man chased after Kevin paranoid by his being there. “Mr. Stone isn’t taking any visitors and…”

“And I’m sure he’ll be happy to see me,” Kevin grinned laughing lightly at the way the smaller man seemed intimidated by his presence.

“Sir please,” the butler started again in time for Kevin to see Cameron emerging from one of the rooms. Cameron turned to face the two men and his dark eyes widened.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Cameron addressed Kevin marching towards him with a determined stride, “You were just the man I wanted to talk to.”

“Is that right?” Kevin replied with a doubtful expression.

“That’s right because the way I see it, you’re the man of the moment right now--the man that had better be planning on marrying my sister or else he’s a dead man,” Cameron continued marching up to him, “So Kevin, please delight us all and tell me you’ve come here to ask for my sister’s hand in marriage.”

“Say what?” Kevin’s jaw practically dropped, “Why in the world would I be doing that?”

“Because as I said before if you don’t, well Adonis, you might find yourself on the same side of things as Cary Meloni did if you catch my drift,” Cameron warned firmly, his dark eyes narrowing up at Kevin, “The way I see it, you have one of two options and given that you’ve gotten my sister pregnant, I’m assuming that you care about her, so why not give us both what we’re hoping for with Angela and offer her that happily ever after that life hasn’t given her until now?”

“Cameron, I realize that…” Kevin stammered a bit.

“Look, I know that you loved Angel once and I’m sure you still do given the situation she’s in, so I’ll take the time to be the better man and apologize for acting like a jerk in our last meeting if and only if you tell me you’re going to do right by my sister--that you’re going to ask her to be your wife,” Cameron held his hand out hoping that Kevin wouldn’t refuse the only option he had left right around now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seth walked out of the kitchen hearing a rustling sound from the living room area. He walked out to see Blake approaching with bags in her arms, her head barely popping over the top of the paper bags in her arms. He watched her push past him into the kitchen depositing one of the two bags before returning to the living room to set the other bag on the coffee table.

“I take it they were having a sale at the grocery store today,” Seth questioned with an arched brow.

“No, not even close,” she shook her head reaching into the bag and pulling out it’s contents. Carefully she lined up the various boxes in front of her before motioning to him. “What do you think?”

“What is it?” he couldn’t help but ask stepping in to take a closer look. His eyes swept over the table top curiously, “Blake?”

“This my dear is our way of making sure that we are right on top of everything,” Blake explained with a casual shrug of her shoulders, “While I was at the store today I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get in touch with some of this.”

Seth leaned over picking up one of the boxes and then another seeing that they were both pregnancy tests. He glanced over at her curiously, “Um Blake, honey, don’t you think that this is just a tad bit excessive? I mean I really don’t think that we need all these here given that if we’re pregnant, then…”

“You can never be too sure,” she replied rising to her feet and pulling one of the boxes from his hand, “This one says it’s ninety-nine percent accurate and this one says it’s ninety-nine point nine percent and this over here is going to keep track of my ovulation cycle and…”

“Hey, maybe you should slow down,” Seth curled his arms around her waist, “I’m sure that we’ll be doing just fine. The way I see it when it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. We don’t need all the extras.”

“They aren’t really extras,” she replied wiggling out of his arms and bending down to pick up one of the other boxes, “This one here says it’ll get us the results the fastest. It’s supposed to be the best pregnancy test on the market there for early detection and…”

“Breathe Blake,” Seth reached for her again drawing her into his arms, “I’m sure that we’ve got all the bases covered like you’re hoping for.”

“I don’t know. I mean there were a few more things that I wanted to…” she started only to feel him lean in and kiss her abruptly. She felt the strength of his arm slide comfortably around her slender waist drawing her closer to him yet.

“There are plenty of things that I wanted too,” Seth murmured his words buzzing off of her lips, sending tiny jolts of electricity rushing over her, “Starting with holding you in my arms just like this.”

“This is rather nice,” she agreed hugging him closer to her, “I missed you while I was gone.”

“I missed you too although you weren’t really gone all that long,” he paused for a moment, “Well okay actually you were a while, but still…”

“What did you do while I was gone,” she questioned taking a step back.

“Well I was thinking about finishing up with breakfast given that I’d started working on it when you left to get juice and…” Seth reminded her with a simple smile, “Of course in the time you were gone I could’ve made breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

“Oh please,” she patted his chest lightly, “I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Close enough,” he teased with a small wink, “So tell me, you ready to get in there and have some breakfast? I’m pretty much finished in there..”

“Actually,” Blake felt him pull away from her. She tugged on his arm pulling him back to her, “I suppose we can get to breakfast, but first, well first I think we have some baby making to work on.”

“Blake,” Seth glanced over his shoulder at her watching her take a step away from him. Her fingers traced the lapels of the long jacket she was still wearing. She grinned up at him with a slow, seductive purr.

“There was more than one reason why I was gone that long,” she explained unknotting the sash on her jacket and letting the material fall from her shoulders. Seconds later the jacket was on the floor and she stood before him clad only in the tiny red lingerie she’d also purchased on the way home. Tossing her long, blonde hair back behind her shoulders she issued him a sexy smile that was as explicit as they came. “So Seth, are you just going to stand there or will you just cut to the chase and ravish me right now?”

Seth watched her with obvious interest before a crooked grin touched over the corners of his lips. He took a small step forward, “Well, you know what they say, there’s just something about a woman who knows what she wants. I happen to find it incredibly sexy.”

“Just wait until you see what else I have in store for us,” Blake mouthed throwing her arms around him as she vowed to spend the rest of the morning working on the project they had laid out before them. One way or another they would find a way to get pregnant. It was only a matter of time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I can’t believe I did that,” Cori let out a small groan as she walked out of the coffee shop with Chris standing right next to her. She glanced over towards the Chief of Staff where she saw him getting some help with his car.

“I can’t believe you did that either, I mean Diego was once your boyfriend. You would think you would know what his car looked like,” Chris pointed out before feeling her elbow him in the ribs, making him let out a small gasp. He looked down at her with his dark eyes before letting out a small laugh. “I was just playing with you brown eyes. It may have been a good plan if you got the right car.”

“It was a mistake that a lot of people could have made, I mean their cars look a lot alike,” Cori informed Chris with a small shake of her head as she saw the Chief of Staff look over in her direction. She quickly hid behind Chris as Chris let out a small gulp. “Is he still looking at me?”

“No, he was looking at me, but now he isn’t,” he let out a small sigh moving away from her as he held his hands up in the air. “Brown eyes, don’t hide behind me because I don’t want to be the one that gets in trouble for this. I had nothing to do with it. Well, I kind of did, but not fully.”

“Lets just start walking,” Cori pushed against the center of his back, making him move forward quickly and around the corner away from the Chief of Staff’s sight. “Well, I guess I should get going and come up with another plan because that plan didn’t work.”

“Clearly,” Chris noted, letting out another small laugh thinking of the event that had just happened right in front of him. Even though things may have seemed a little scary, it was kind of really funny. “You know, look me up if you ever need a hand on making your next plan. I would love to help you with anything you need.”

“Really?” Cori watched Chris nod slowly as she reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders gently. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek gently, seeing the smile that spread over his features when she pulled away. “Thanks for everything Chris.”

“Yeah, no problem. Just try and stay out of trouble brown eyes because I know you like it,” Chris joked feeling Cori hit him in the center of the chest gently. “All I’m saying is that you may be want to be careful with the next set of tires you slash, they may end up belonging to someone who will catch you.”

“I think I am going to skip over the whole tire thing next time, that may not work too well,” she let out a small sigh, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke. There was a small disappointment in her mind that kept growing as she thought about everything a little bit longer. Earlier, she didn’t have a doubt in her mind that this idea wouldn’t work, but it didn’t go the way she planned. That meant she was going to need to pay attention to more things clearly. “I guess I should get going, I have some things that I have to get done before the end of the night. I’ll see you later Chris.”

“Bye brown eyes,” Chris waved watching Cori walking down the street back towards the hospital where her car had obviously been parked close to. “I like her, she’s cool.”

Chris shook his head watching her get into her car as he thought about what it was she was trying to accomplish. Sure, he might not agree with why she was doing it, but she really impressed him for some reason today. It was really interesting to know that some people knew how to take control in this town, even if it was aimed at a different person.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are we at the right place?” Diego questioned as Heather walked up to her apartment door, pulling out her keys. He took a quick glance around the place before letting out a small frown, the place looked really expensive.

“Of course we’re at the right place, you don’t think I know where I live?” Heather glanced back over at Diego with a small laugh, holding onto Charles tighter in her arms. “It’s my new place, come in and tell me what you think.”

“Well, I think I should at least set all this stuff down for Charles,” Diego nodded following Heather around the apartment before letting out a small gasp as he looked around her new home. “Oh my Heather, this is huge.”

“I know, I like it,” Heather smiled motioning Diego to wait a moment as she walked over towards the couch and set Charles’s carrier down on the couch for a moment making sure he was safe before going back towards the kitchen.

“This is beautiful,” he muttered to himself walking over to her window, looking out into the day before him. It was crazy that Heather had a place like this. How in the world did she afford this?

“Sorry about all this Diego, I just needed to get a few things fixed up now that he is here with me,” Heather informed Diego, walking into her kitchen and pulling a few bottles out of the bag before placing them in the refrigerator. “You want to come in here and help me a second?”

“Sure,” Diego nodded walking into the kitchen after taking one last glance around the living room. “Heather, this place is amazing. How did you manage to get a place like this?”

“It really is great isn’t it?” Heather grinned widely, grabbing a few more things from the bag and handing them to Diego. She pointed towards one of the cabinets to show him where the things went. “It was easy to get a place like this with me getting a jump start on things.”

“A start on things?” he glanced over his shoulder to look at Heather as she nodded slowly. He shrugged his shoulders, walking over to the cabinet and pulling it open. “Okay, I’ll bite--what kind of jump start did you get?”

“I don’t know if I want to tell you, I don’t like biters,” Heather announced wiggling her eyebrows up and down in a joking manner before turning her attention back to some of the things she brought for Charles.

“Very funny Heather,” he frowned putting the things away in the almost empty cabinet before turning his attention back towards Heather who was pulling out a few things. “I’m being serious, I really want to know what is going on with this. What kind of start are you talking about?”

“It’s just a new job I got, that’s all,” Heather explained with a small frown looking over towards the door where Diego had left the boxed up crib. “So, could I use you for a little bit longer? I think I may need help with that crib over there. They are like a puzzle to me.”

“Sure, I would love to help you,” Diego went over towards the door and picked up the box before looking back at Heather. “How about you go get Charles and I will get a start on things.”

“Sounds good,” Heather nodded slowly before letting out a small laugh watching Diego walk back towards the bedroom. Things might actually turn out to be pretty good tonight.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Where are we going Kyle?” Sarah finally spoke up and asked after noticing Kyle had been driving in a totally different direction then her place. “I thought you said we were going home.”

“I know you said you felt sick honey, but I have to check in on something real quick,” Kyle informed Sarah with a small smirk before reaching over and turning the music up on the radio, remembering the song that was playing. “You know, it was nice seeing Heather on her feet. She’s a great mother you know.”

“Great mother Kyle? Please, she cares more about what she is going to get in bed then her son,” Sarah muttered seeing the way that Kyle’s dark eyes seem to narrow as he looked over at her. “I’m serious Kyle. You should see the way she is all over Diego.”

“You know, I really don’t understand what is going on with you lately,” Kyle shook his head slowly, putting his attention back on the road as he heard Sarah let out a small sigh. “You act like everything is handed to Heather on a silver platter when you don’t realize how hard she has worked to get to where she is in life now. How dare you judge her on being a mother when you haven’t been around her long enough to care. She is your sister Sarah, start treating her like it.”

“Kyle, come on. Why do you continue to stand up for her like this lately?” Sarah watched a muscle tense in Kyle’s jaw as he looked over at her with a dark expression.

“I have always stood up for her, from the age of six when no one else wanted to be there for her. I was the one that understood her the most when people like you were always treating her like she was nothing,” Kyle pointed out with a small shake of his head, seeing the way that Sarah’s eyes seemed to widen. “Back then you never gave her a chance because you thought she was a mistake. She’s your sister, your own flesh in blood. Treat her like she should be treated. Don’t you tell me that I shouldn’t be standing up for her because no one else does in this world and I am getting tired of it. She deserves someone to be by her side forever and always, you would think her sister would at least be one of those people.”

“I’m sorry Kyle,” Sarah blurted out in an apologetic tone as she saw him look away from her and back towards the road again. She reached her hand over and set in on his thigh gently, watching him look down towards her hand. “You just have to understand that it has been hard with everything that has gone on with her lately. She was pushing me away my whole life and it’s hard. I try to know her…”

“Then open yourself up to knowing her Sarah. I mean, even like this song,” Kyle muttered pointing towards the radio as Sarah listened to it carefully. “This was your sister’s favorite song when we were kids, sure it was an older version, but it’s the same thing. It’s the little things that count, you just aren’t letting yourself open up to those little things.”

“I’ll try Kyle, I promise,” Sarah whispered, knowing that she was lying to herself as of right now, but Kyle wouldn’t know that. She would never be able to let Heather in, not now--not ever. “So, where are we going?”

“Well, does this place look familiar?” Kyle questioned giving Sarah a small glance as he looked around the area before them. “I mean, does it bring back memories.”

“It looks like the place we grew up in,” Sarah replied with a small frown as they pulled into a lot. She took a glance at the place in front of her before letting out a small chuckle. “This is the area we grew up in. Why are we at the club house right by the hill top?”

“That’s the thing,” Kyle got out of the car and walked over towards her door and opened it up for her. Sarah got out and he pulled his other keys out of his pocket. “This place was old and it was being used, so the owner was about to sell it, but I bought it. Before you yell at me for getting this, I wanted to get it because it brought back old memories. It’s something special and I plan on fixing it up quite a little bit. You know it’s going to be okay because I can afford pretty much anything.”

“Right,” Sarah nodded slowly watching Kyle walk over towards the front door and opening the place up. He let her in first before he walked in behind her, a wide smile appearing over his lips. “Wow, he even let you keep the games.”

“Well, yeah,” Kyle smirked before pointing towards the back door, "and the hill is out there and everything."

He grabbed onto her hand tightly, walking her out the back door and walking across the back lot to the park right next door with the hill top he always hung out at when he was younger. “See, the water is down there and everything.”

“Wow Kyle, this is really great,” Sarah could tell Kyle was excited from what he got as she let out a small smile. Kyle looked down at the area below them as she let out a small sigh. “It’s cold out here, I’m going to go warm up inside. You want to come with?”

“No, I’m going to stay out here a little while. I’ll be there in a couple minutes,” Kyle promised watching Sarah walk back over towards the clubhouse, leaving him alone to himself for a moment. “Obviously you don’t like this idea.”

Kyle shook his head slowly knowing that Sarah was going to act like this. She didn’t hold things close to her heart like he did. Though, of course Sarah wasn’t the one he spent most of his time with here.

“I wonder,” Kyle walked around the big tree to look at the spot he had stuck in his mind. A smile appeared over his lips as he reached out to outline the carved initials with his fingertips. He could still hear her breath against his skin as he remembered the day they had put the initials in the tree.

“Go ahead,” Kyle whispered in her ear wrapping his arms around her waist tightly before pressing a small kiss in against her cheek. “Carve them good.”

“Kyle, what are we doing?” she laughed feeling him kissing at her neck gently before she elbowed him in the chest lightly. His deep laugh filled her ears as he grabbed her hand in his, helping her carve her name in against the bark. “Everyone is going to see it.”

“I think that’s kind of the point, I want everyone to know I love you,” Kyle whispered in her ear, feeling her lean back into his. “I want this to be here for eternity, so you know how much you mean to me.”

“I think I like you telling me how much I mean to you,” she watched Kyle carve his initials into the tree before him. A small sigh escaped her lips as she felt Kyle’s warm breath against her ear. “How about you tell me right now how much I mean to you.”

“Well, I think I should start by saying that I would be absolutely lost if you ever left me,” he whispered lightly in her ear, finishing up with the carving with a heart around their initials before placing the item he was using back in his pocket. He turned her around in his arms, placing his hands on her hips as she looked up at him with her light eyes. “I think I would go insane if you ever left me. In fact, I don’t think--I know.”

“Is that so?” she questioned wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her before gently pressing her lips in against his. “I feel the same exact way about you. I love you Kyle Leigh Houston.”

“Kyle,” Sarah voice called out to Kyle as he came out from behind the tree after shaking his memory off. Sarah saw Kyle come out from behind the tree as she shrugged her shoulders. “You think you could come in here and show me how one of these games work. I kind of forgot how to play.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” Kyle agreed to coming inside watching her walk back into the club house. Kyle spotted a rock down beside his foot as he picked it up and walked back over towards the initials.

When he was with this one girl, he knew that Sarah would never be his number one again, but there was no chance he would ever get back with the one he truly believe to be his only true love in life. She had left him, these initials would no longer be special because what they had ran away.

“It was a ridiculous thought anyways,” Kyle breathed out deeply reaching out to scratch away the initials before pausing and looking them over once more. The rock dropped from his hand as he shook his head slowly and let out a long sigh. “I couldn’t ruin something that was so perfect. Maybe there really might be a second chance.”

“Kyle,” Kyle heard Sarah’s voice calling out to him once more as he let out a small frown hearing her call out his name at least two more times.

“I’m coming Sarah,” Kyle yelled out walking over towards the club house, giving the tree one last glance. He was with Sarah now, he had to forget the past and try to give Sarah a chance at making up for what she did.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Blake snuggled into the warmth beside her loving the feel of Seth’s arms wrapped generously around her keeping her at complete ease long after the fire behind their lovemaking had come to a close. Even now she could remember every incredible inch of his perfect body--every soft, sensual touch of his hands over her skin--of his kisses dropping tender tokens of love over her. It was like heaven being in his arms and now as they lay with one another beneath the blankets still holding onto the mood between them, she couldn’t help but smile lost in a world of love.

“Do you think we did it,” she questioned groggily teasing her fingers over the warmth of his muscled chest, “Do you think that this time we made a baby Seth?”

“I don’t know Blake,” he kissed the top of her head gently, “but I do know that this was incredible. Every minute I spend with you is incredible.”

“I love you so much,” she mouthed pressing a tiny, butterfly kiss over his chest, “and I know that when we have a baby, you’re going to make the best father.”

“I hope so,” Seth sighed heavily closing his eyes and trying to picture himself as a father, “I didn’t have much of a role model in that department, but my mom, oh she was great.”

“What was she like,” Blake couldn’t help but ask watching the way his face seemed to light up at his mother’s memory.

“She was amazing. She was the most wonderful, warm woman I’ve ever met. If anyone ever needed anything, even though we didn’t have much, she was always the first person there to help you. She had the spirit of a fighter and even to the end she was someone who was so strong. I wish I had half of her strength,” he paused closing his eyes once again, “Jade had her strength. They were a lot alike--both very determined and stubborn when they wanted to be. I guess that’s what I loved about the both of them.”

“She sounds like a wonderful woman,” Blake added with a small smile, “and Jade was too.”

“I know,” Seth nodded focusing on Blake once more, “and if nothing else at least I know that they are together again. I hate the fact that I’ve lost Jade, but I know in my heart that she’s safe with our mother. I know she’s looking out after Jade even though it hurts like hell to think about what’s gone down.”

“I’m so sorry that things happened like they did,” Blake massaged her fingers over his body gently, “I know how much it hurts to lose those you love.”

“I know you do,” he replied with a small sigh, “and I realize that this isn’t any easier for you to be surrounded by all of this misery given your history in losing your parents.”

“When my father died, I felt like my world was crashing down around me. It was really this numbness that overtook me. It hurt, but it wasn’t anything like when I lost my mother,” she snuggled into him further, “She was always so amazing to me. I remember when I was five we used to bake these silly little cookies with one another for Halloween. Most people made pumpkins or ghosts or witches, but we made zebras.”

“Zebras?” Seth repeated giving her a strange look.

She let out a small laugh, “I was pretty much afraid of anything associated with the darker side of Halloween. At that point in my life, I was really a bit of a shy one…”

“You shy?” Seth arched a curious brow thinking about her in-your-face seduction she’d laid on him not so long ago, “Somehow I find that hard to believe…”

“Well it was true,” Blake explained dramatically, “and I didn’t have many friends. Ben was my pal, but other than Ben and my brothers I didn’t really mesh with other people. I couldn’t go to public school like everyone else that I’d encountered so I made up a lot of stories about my friends. One of them being that I could talk to animals and they could talk to me. Anyways, to make a long story short, one year on Halloween Brant and Ken were away at a friend’s place trick-or-treating and I was by myself. My father felt I was too little to tag along and I was pretty upset about it. My mom, well, she decided to do something special for me and she took me to the zoo. While we were there I kind of bonded with the zebra and later that night we came back and made zebra cookies. Then after we were finished she let me go trick-or-treating through the mansion. Of course looking back on it now I have to laugh because she took turns with Annie going from room to room waiting for me to knock on the door and get some candy and cookies from them.”

“It sounds like it was a memorable moment,” Seth tapered his fingers down over her spine.

“It was and I thought it was the greatest Halloween ever,” Blake tipped her eyes up towards him to see his warm brown eyes upon her, “In some ways it truly was the best Halloween for me. I’ve always kept a part of that with me and every year when Halloween rolls around, I find the time to make zebra cookies kind of as my way of honoring and remembering mom.”

“It sounds wonderful and you know when we have a son or daughter, we’ll make sure that we do that with them,” Seth promised kissing her gently, “As long as we can throw a few other things into the mix.”

“I’m sure we can work on it,” she smiled up at him leaning in to kiss him again as the phone rang. She pulled her head up enough to eye the phone for a moment before dropping her head down once again. “I’m not here.”

Seth couldn’t help but laugh, “You felt like you were here a few minutes ago and you feel like you’re here right now.”

“I know, but still…” she shook her head, “Though it’s your apartment so chances are that they are calling for you.”

“Do you want me to ignore it?” he questioned searching her eyes.

“No,” she shook her head, “Just answer it. Maybe it’s Kevin checking in.”

“Maybe,” Seth shrugged his shoulders wondering how his cousin was doing. He reached for the phone bringing it to his ear. He opened his mouth to greet the caller, but it didn’t take long for him to figure out it wasn’t for him. He held the phone out towards Blake, “It’s for you.”

“I said I wasn’t here,” she curled her lip in a frown looking to the phone.

“It sounds kind of important,” he urged further watching her reach for the phone and take in a small breath.

She cleared her throat before holding the phone to her ear and speaking into it, “Hello.”

Seth watched her carefully transform from mild agitation to bright and bubbly with the woman on the other end of the line. Even if Blake hadn’t been interested in chatting, she was doing a phenomenal job of faking it with the caller. She just had a knack for dealing with people and being beyond pleasant. Come to think of it, the more he watched her talking to the woman on the phone, the more he felt like she was truly warming up to their conversation.

“Excellent Brenda,” Blake finished with a bright grin, “I’ll call you tomorrow and maybe we can set up something for next week. Yes, I’m glad you called too.”

Seth watched her finish her call before she handed him the phone. He set it back on the base giving her a curious look, “That went well.”

“Really well actually,” Blake boasted with a wide grin, “It seems like everything is going good today after all. That was Brenda Smith from the planning committee for the community center. Remember how you and I talked about putting that together after, well after everything that’s happened?”

Seth nodded, “I remember we’d talked about it, but…”

“Brenda’s been looking into locations and she thinks she found something. There have also been a number of people interested in the project especially since I announced I was taking part in it,” Blake continued to explain to him, “so much so that she thinks if we are interested in taking a look at a place she spotted not that long ago, we could get it up and running in a few months tops.”

“Blake, that’s wonderful. I’m so excited for you,” Seth reached out to embrace her.

“Be excited for us. This is something I want us to both be involved in,” she continued enthusiastically, “especially now that Jade…”

Seth watched her smile fade away and he nodded understanding, “I know Blake and I think it’s a wonderful idea. I would want to find a way to help those that need someone there for them. I know growing up it would’ve been a lot easier to have a place to go and this community center project, well it could be a good thing.”

“I really hope so,” Blake replied her voice full of hope, “because I want to be able to give those who didn’t have what I did a chance to feel like they have somewhere that they belong. I want to be able to reach out to those who feel like they don’t have anyone else.”

“And I think you can do that,” Seth smiled down at her, “Maybe we could get Sarah involved as well given that she’s got links to the press. It couldn’t hurt right?”

“No it couldn’t. I think that’s a wonderful idea,” she decided with a smile realizing that this project couldn’t come at a better time. She was truly changing her life around in ways she always hoped for, but never thought possible. Things were most certainly looking up.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Don’t you even bother dignifying that with a response Kevin,” Angela stalked out of the room Cameron had previously occupied, her eyes narrowing up at her brother as it was clear Kevin had just interrupted some kind of family feud. “You don’t owe him any answers about anything.”

“Like hell he doesn’t. If he was the one who got you pregnant, then he’d better damn well be giving me answers to this,” Cameron snapped back at her, his frustrations mounting.

“You mean just like you gave me answers about your time in jail or about how you went off and got married without bothering to mention it to me there Cameron?” she folded her arms in front of her chest, her brown eyes staring right through him as she stood face to face with him.

“I think I’m um, I’m going to go outside and let you two clear this all up,” Kevin waved his hand in the air in front of him with a small gulp.

“No you aren’t going anywhere,” Cameron’s voice snapped back at Kevin, “because you and I are going to have a talk.”

“No, you aren’t,” Angela marched past him directing her attention to Kevin, “Go outside I’ll be out there in a few minutes.”

“No problem,” Kevin turned towards the door ready to make a quick exit.

“I said I wasn’t finished speaking with him Angel. I understand you’re upset, but,” Cameron started refusing to let her control the situation that was unfolding before them.

“But nothing Cam,” Angela shook her head at him, her words coming out bitter and tight with anger, “I’m not a child anymore and you can’t dictate the direction that my life takes. Clearly you don’t believe I’m important enough to be in your circle of knowledge there, so don’t presume that you have any kind of hold over me. You don’t run my life.”

“Maybe if I did, you wouldn’t have wound up this way. You might’ve been married before you decided to get pregnant,” Cameron chortled in response, “You know dad would be beside himself to see what you have gotten yourself into.”

“Oh right,” she rolled her eyes at her brother, “as if he wouldn’t be upset with you. Hell I bet he’s turning in his grave right now at what you’ve done. You were supposed to be all about family. We promised each other that we would be there whenever the other person needed them, but look at where we’ve been. I haven’t seen you in months and rather than your acting like a brother, you just deal with me like I’m one of your employees, but guess what Cameron? I don’t work that way. I never have and I never will.”

“Angel, I’m trying to talk some sense into you. What has happened with me is irrelevant and…” Cameron explained in an agitated fashion.

“And until you start to see it like it should be considering that I hardly believe your being in jail and married without telling me is irrelevant, well then don’t bother wasting your breath trying to explain yourself. I’m your sister not a little peon that you can boss around and until you start acting like my brother, then don’t even bother trying to contact me. I’ve had enough pig-headedness in my life already from daddy and I won’t tolerate it from you!” she snapped marching past Kevin out of the estate without so much as another word.

Cameron and Kevin exchanged glances and Kevin felt a long moment of tension between them. Cameron seemed to be at a loss, not really sure how to respond to his sister, but given what Cameron had confronted Kevin with earlier, Kevin knew that now was not the time to spend any alone time with Cameron. Sure, if it got into a fist fight, Kevin could take Cameron, but right now Kevin really didn’t want to get into any kind of debate with Angela’s older brother especially when Cameron was making all the wrong assumptions about him.

“Kevin I…” Cameron began clearing his throat uneasily.

“Um, I have to go Cameron,” Kevin replied making a quick exit in the hopes of finding Angela again before Cameron decided to send someone after him for doing something he hadn’t done.

Kevin was half way out the door and down the first two steps leading to the front porch when he heard Angela’s tires skid out of the drive. He looked up to see her pulling out of the circular drive far too fast for his liking and suddenly Kevin felt like he was back on the job again dealing with an impossible seventeen year old Angela all over again. Boy, was it going to be a rough day. He could feel it now!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Avery’s gaze fell upon Erin and while she had been hoping that Russ would come back in through the hospital doors and come to his senses with each passing moment Avery feared that just wasn’t going to be happening. A worried expression creased in over her brow as she kissed her daughter’s head gently.

“I think your daddy is about to get into some trouble and we can’t let that happen,” Avery whispered feeling a tiny shiver race over her. She looked around the hospital room contemplating calling for a nurse when the door opened. She felt a moment of relief wash over her hoping that it was Russ, but instead she saw Jenna standing before her.

“Avery, hey girlfriend,” Jenna smiled over at Avery, her eyes widening with obvious interest upon seeing Erin, “Hey is that the little princess I’ve been hearing all about?”

“Jenna,” Avery smiled up at her best friend, “What are you doing here?”

“You really didn’t believe that you could just run off and have a baby and not expect a visit from me, did you?” Jenna questioned shaking her head at her, “What kind of best friend would that make me?”

“It wouldn’t be you,” Avery nodded in agreement seeing Jenna now taking a good, long look at Erin.

“Oh Avery, she’s beautiful,” Jenna gushed seeing Erin snuggling in Avery’s arms, “She’s incredible.”

“I happen to think so as well,” Avery couldn’t help but smile at her daughter lovingly. “She had one heck of an entrance into this world, but with her father, Grady and Kyle there, it went smoother than expected.”

“I heard that Russ is alive,” Jenna nodded searching her friend’s eyes, “You must be beyond thrilled.”

“I am, but…” Avery stopped herself worry sweeping in over her again, “I’m concerned about him. He’s had a lot to deal with already…”

“You mean with Brant,” Jenna offered up with a knowing expression.

“Among other things,” Avery nodded thinking about all that had been thrown on Russell’s lap already, “First Bruce tried to kill Erin and I, then Russ discovers that I’m somehow still married to Brant and not him. I can’t for the life of me figure out how that one happened, but if it ended on that we’d still have a lot to deal with, but it didn’t. Russ also just learned that he’s an Ashford.”

“Say what?” Jenna’s jaw practically dropped, “How?”

“I’m not sure on the details, but Shannon came in here with DNA tests confirming it. Russ talked to Cheryl and Elliot and it appears that Brant and Russ are brothers. Nicholas Ashford is Russell’s father…” Avery explained worriedly.

“Which means Russ is fit to be tied given what I’ve heard about that man,” Jenna frowned wondering how Russ was dealing with the news.

“He’s beyond worked up about it. I don’t really blame him considering that I worked for Nicholas and learned what kind of person he was,” Avery shuddered at the thought, “He’s hurt a lot of people…”

“And for Russ to think that he’s part of that man,” Jenna shook her head, “Although you know just because someone’s father is a jerk, doesn’t mean that person is evil themselves. I mean look at my father. He’s got creep written all over him, yet I’d like to think I haven’t followed in his footsteps.”

“You haven’t,” Avery offered up reassuringly, “but what really makes matters worse is that Russ is saying that Nicholas is still alive--that he’s the one who was responsible for Russ disappearing in the first place. I don’t know whether or not it’s the truth, but Russ believes it is. He claims that my mother and Nicholas teamed up to tear Russ and I apart so that Brant and I would be together.”

“I can understand that from Brooke, but why would Nicholas do that,” Jenna couldn’t help but ask, “From what Hart has told me Brant and Nicholas had a horrible relationship with one another. Why would he do something like that to Brant?”

“Maybe he did it knowing that Brant and I would get together and then he would spring Russ back to life. Perhaps it was his way of hurting Brant by bringing back Russ after Brant thought we had a future together or maybe it was just his way of manipulating everyone all over again,” Avery shrugged her shoulders a tiny shudder pressing over her, “I honestly don’t know what angle he was working Jen, but I don’t think he was banking on Russ being his son. Even if he was, the fact that my mother played a hand in this--that she tried to take Erin’s father away from her…”

Jenna watched Avery trail off overcome by her emotions. Tears burned at her eyes as Avery held Erin tighter than before.

“I don’t understand how a mother could hurt their child like this Jen,” Avery confessed broken by her small sobs, “When I look at Erin all I can think about is being there for her--helping her have the best life possible, not hurting her. I would never dream of stealing her chance at happily ever after away from her. I would never do what she’s done to me. Jen, she killed my baby before. When Russ and I were supposed to be married remember my miscarriage?”

Jenna nodded, “You made me swear not to tell anyone about it and I didn’t even though I didn’t agree with it. I always felt you should’ve told Russ…”

“I did eventually,” Avery revealed thinking back to her reunion with Russ, “I told him everything around the time I learned I was pregnant with Erin, but it wasn’t until he left that the truth came out. Russ discovered that my mother was the one who contacted Bruce in the first place. She had him help her drug me--she was the one who caused my miscarriage in doing so…”

“Oh my God,” Jenna’s jaw dropped in astonishment, “Avery, honey I’m so sorry.”

“I just wish that…” Avery’s gaze fell upon her newborn daughter, “Jen, I’ll never know what might’ve been. Erin could’ve had a big brother or sister right now, but instead my mother murdered my child and invited evil into all of our lives. I let her do it by my ignorance and…”

“No Avery, this is not your fault. None of it was,” Jenna offered up her support. “Brooke crossed one too many lines and maybe now that she’s in the condition she’s in justice is finally falling upon her. Maybe now she’ll see she was wrong--even though that doesn’t erase the hurt.”

“It’ll be even harder when this all comes out Jen. There are so many things that happened and even in knowing it,” Avery felt another chill sweep over her, “I mean I’ve tried to very long to keep all of the horrible things my mother had done away from Guy. He thinks the world of her and if he ever found out that she…”

“Too late,” Guy’s voice interrupted as Avery looked up to see her brother standing there in front of her looking very upset.

“Guy,” Avery’s jaw dropped fearing that he’d overheard too much from her.

“I know all about mom. I heard her admit to what she did to you,” Guy rushed over to her side, “I heard what she did to Russ, to you and to Erin.”

“Guy I…” Avery tried to find some words of comfort for him.

“I’m so sorry she hurt you. I’m so sorry for all of this,” Guy reached out to embrace her shoulders as he thought about all the lies and hurt their mother had inflicted upon the both of them over the years. Now that he knew the truth about Brooke, he vowed there would be no turning back!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hart walked back into Brant’s hospital room hearing the sounds of the television that one of the nurse’s had left on for him, but much to Hart’s dismay Brant hadn’t moved since he’d stepped out a moment ago to get some air. Looking up to the television, Hart let out a shudder as he witnessed some campy vampire story unfolding on the scream with some girl who looked a lot like Jade Alexander screaming for someone named Caleb.

“Most certainly not what we want to have on right now,” Hart shuddered before reaching up to turn the television off. He spun around to face Brant again seeing that there had been no progress since the moment he’d first stepped out. Brant still lay before him looking blankly at the wall ahead of him.

“Brant come on buddy,” Hart moved in beside his friend, “If this is about Avery, she’s still your wife. I don’t know what Russ might’ve done or said, but he can’t change that. He has no legal ties to her. She’s your wife still.”

Brant remained silent, his gaze unwavering.

“Come on Brant. Snap out of it. I know you’ve had a lot on your plate today with everything that’s happened, but we can get through this,” Hart spoke up encouragingly, “I mean think of all the things you, Don and I have gotten into before with one another. There were plenty of times when it seemed like we were in over our heads, but we managed to get out of it. Hell, remember that time we were in the women’s dorm at that private college and…well, okay Don got the worst of it that time, but man it was great running from the police chief like that especially after you had hooked up with his daughter. And then there was that time in Canada when…well, maybe that’s not an appropriate story either, but buddy I want you to snap out of this. I know that hearing about your father was bad, but trust me if he’s still alive we’ll find a way to make sure that he can’t screw up all you’ve done since he left. We won’t let him get near BBK or near anything else that matters to you. You just have to work with me buddy. You have to say something so that I know how to help--how to fix this…Brant please.”

Brant’s silence grew suffocating as the doors opened and Russell burst into the room.

“I know you’re faking this you son of a bitch, so now it’s time to stop with the act and start owning up to what you’re doing to torture Avery,” Russell marched towards Brant’s bed only to be cut off by Hart.

“You’re not coming anywhere near him,” Hart warned sharply standing taller to face down Russ, “You have no business being in here.”

“The hell I don’t. He’s trying to destroy my family and I’m not about to let it happen. I can’t let him hurt my wife,” Russ declared with an icy glare over at Brant who hadn’t made a move since long before his arrival.

“His wife,” Hart corrected stepping in the line of vision in front of Russ, “and the way I see it, he’s well within his rights to protect what’s his. Avery didn’t have her arm twisted when they got married and up until you popped back into town, she seemed perfectly content to be Mrs. Brant Ashford. Hell she was beyond content. She was happy, satisfied and well taken care of, so why don’t you just do her a favor and back off?”

“He’s not going to take my wife and my daughter away from me,” Russ blurted out sharply.

“She’s not your wife and as for Erin, well hey let’s face it buddy Brant can give her and Avery things that you couldn’t even begin to dream about providing them with. Why don’t you just do the right thing and back off? Let them have the life they deserve with Brant,” Hart suggested with a tight scowl.

“The hell I will,” Russ shoved Hart aside taking a leap towards Brant, but before he could make any forward movement Hart grabbed him by the back of his collar pulling him back.

“Big mistake buddy,” Hart shoved Russ across the room launching him into the wall at the far end of the room. Russ seemed surprised for a moment before pressing forward shoving at Hart. Before long the two men were hitting at one another each trying to stand up for their own beliefs and it wasn’t until Ken rushed into the room seeing what was taking place that things came to a conclusion.

“Stop it both of you!” Ken shouted worming his way in between Hart and Russ. He shoved Russ back before doing the same to Hart. He watched Russ move to hit him and it was then that Ken stood in a sudden moment of shock in actually seeing Russell Denton before him.

“Russ?” Ken’s jaw dropped and in that moment Ken realized he couldn’t ask anything further when he felt Russell’s fist connect with his chin sending him to the ground.

“Good job idiot,” Hart replied breathlessly looking over at Russ, “While I’m sure you thought you were aiming at Brant, you hit Ken.”

“I what…” Russell’s gaze shifted between Brant, who was still in bed and Ken, who was now on the ground. While he’d thought he was hitting Brant, now it seemed irrelevant as Ken tried to pull himself unsuccessfully.

“I don’t know what’s going on in here, but I’m telling everyone that it stops right now,” Ken announced with a shake of his head knowing that this was going to be a very, very long day!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

...to be continued...