Seth sat down at Ria’s table trying to make sense of the pieces of the intricate puzzle that had been laid out before him. Sure, he got that Ria was seeing some mystery man and yes he knew that Kevin obviously had someone, but to have each other? Well that was something that Seth still couldn’t get a grasp on. He looked up when he heard the sound of someone approaching from the hallway. Seeing Ria step into the kitchen now wearing a robe, he couldn’t help but feel a bit on edge over the situation.

Sitting up straighter in the kitchen chair Seth looked beyond her entrance with a curious expression, “What no Kevin?”

“He’s getting dressed,” Ria explained in a small voice as she looked around her kitchen, “Um, can I like get you a drink or something?”

“No, I’m fine although I would like a healthy dose of the truth--that is if you and Kevin are up for it,” Seth raised a curious brow seeing how uneasy his best friend was about the situation, “So tell me Ria, how long has this been going on? Was my cousin the guy you were meeting in the seedy hotel simply because you weren’t up to telling me the truth about the two of you?”

“It wasn’t like that Seth,” Ria replied nervously still unable to face him after she thought about the expression on his face upon learning about her and Kevin like he had.

“Really?” Seth leaned back further in the chair, “Then what was it like Ria? Were you afraid to tell me that Kevin was the jerk you were seeing who wasn’t allowing you to be with your friends? I mean were you two really that afraid of me knowing you were together that you had to carry on like that?”

“Ria wasn’t with me back then because if she was, then she sure as hell wouldn’t be hiding it from her friends,” Kevin’s voice rose through the room. Seth looked up to see his cousin standing in the doorway wearing a pair of low-riding crimson colored jogging pants, “She wouldn’t have had to do that if I was the one she was with.”

“Really? I find that a bit hard to believe considering that you two are sneaking around like this,” Seth shook his head at the both of them, “So seriously how long has this been going on?”

“Officially not long, but unofficially,” Kevin shrugged his shoulders walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of orange juice, “well unofficially it’s been a while.”

“How long is a while?” Seth raised a curious brow.

“Since that one birthday party you had for Jade on the beach way back when,” Kevin mouthed before pulling the lid off of the orange juice and taking a long swig of his drink. “But still…”

“You two have been together that long,” Seth’s jaw practically dropped.

“No, we haven’t been together that long, but we liked one another back then,” Ria corrected shooting Kevin a small glare before stepping forward, “We didn’t really get together until after Kevin came back to Coral Valley. It was around the time that we lost Jade and we didn’t want to let everyone know about it just in case things didn’t work out…”

“Right and we were planning on saying something, but not right away,” Kevin ran his fingers through his still damp, dark hair, “We just didn’t want to jinx things since we were both getting out of dead end relationships.”

“Dead end relationships?” Seth’s curious eyes fell upon Ria.

“Yeah the creep you mentioned before,” Ria nodded rubbing her palms together, “well you were right about him and it took Kevin coming to town for me to finally open my eyes to that. I finally saw what it was that I didn’t want in my life thanks to him.”

Seth noticed the way that Ria and Kevin kept watching one another. He saw the small longing looks they delivered to one another and now he realized there was no mistaking it. They were in love. It was something that anyone with eyes could see between them, yet somehow he’d completely overlooked it in all the chaos.

“So you’re saying Kevin finally got you to realize what a creep you were seeing huh?” Seth scratched his chin lightly as Ria watched him with a worried expression.

Ria nodded again, “That he did and you have no idea how lucky I am for that. If I hadn’t had Kevin come back to town, then I might’ve been stuck in something that was leading nowhere for me.”

“And I would’ve always been wishing for someone else’s dream to be mine,” Kevin stepped forward unable to resist the urge to reach out and pull Ria into his arms, “but now, well now I don’t have to spend my time dreaming about my happily ever after considering that I have her right here in my arms and I’m never letting her go.”

“Oh Kevin,” Ria felt her face grow flushed with the warmth his arms created around her, “I love you so much.”

“I love you,” Kevin leaned forward to rub his nose against hers in a tender movement.

“Okay, now I swear I think I have leapt into the twilight zone,” Seth blurted out as they were about to kiss, “I mean okay maybe I could see why you two would be perfect together in your own strange way, but um, why didn’t either one of you even think about maybe mentioning it to me considering that…”

“You had enough on your mind cuz,” Kevin glanced over at Seth for a brief moment, “It’s not like we wanted to bother you with whatever was happening with us. I mean if it went sour…”

“Then we didn’t want you to have to choose sides,” Ria explained placing her hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “but now, well now you won’t have to do that considering that Kevin and I just made it official between us.”

“What do you mean made it official?” Seth couldn’t help but ask seeing the smirks on both of their faces.

“Why I just asked Ria to marry me and she said yes,” Kevin boasted proudly as Ria dangled her ring at Seth to show it off and Seth realized in that particular moment that yes indeed he had stepped into the Twilight Zone without a doubt.

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

“So are you going to start talking or am I going to have to find out from Blake over here?” Kyle motioned over towards Blake, looking back over his shoulder at her. Kyle gave his attention back to Sarah before letting out a small sigh. “So, are you going to be telling me or what?”

“Listen Kyle,” Sarah gulped down trying to think of something to say, trying to come up with something that he would believe. She didn’t know how long he was out there or how long he was waiting and listening, so she couldn’t just lie very easily to him.

“You know, the seconds are passing before I just give up on you and ask Blake,” Kyle stated with a small nod, folding his arms out in front of his broad chest. Kyle looked down at his watch before turning towards Blake and shrugging his shoulders. “So, Blake--what are you going to tell me? If you don’t tell me Blake, I’m just going to have to take assumptions into my own hands.”

“You see Kyle,” Blake took a step forward from the window to try and explain things to him. She saw the way his hazel eyes looked into hers and she let out a small sigh, shrugging her shoulders. “The truth is that…”

“I was telling Blake I didn’t feel to well lately,” Sarah stepped in front of Blake cutting her off and taking a step towards Kyle to grab his hand in hers gently. “You see, I haven’t been feeling too good lately.”

“Is that true Blake?” Kyle questioned sliding his other hand into Sarah’s, gripping both of her hands in his tightly. Kyle’s dark eyes glanced over at Blake seeing her pause to think things over for a second. “Blake?”

“Yeah, that’s what we were talking about,” Blake agreed walking past Kyle, towards the bookshelf before shooting Sarah a small glare. “That’s all we were talking about and she didn’t want you to worry about her.”

“Oh, okay. That’s really too bad,” Kyle shrugged his shoulders letting go of Sarah’s hand before letting out a small sigh. He walked over towards Blake, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as he motioned over towards the bed. “How about we sit so I can tell you some good news.”

“Okay,” Blake nodded eyeing Kyle over slowly before following him over towards the bed to sit on the edge of it. Blake looked up into Kyle’s hazel eyes before catching the glance that Sarah was giving Kyle while he was turned facing her. “What’s on your mind.”

“Actually, I was going to tell you that I am actually surprised because I just talked to your grandfather,” Kyle informed her with a small nod, sliding his hand in over her shoulder and glancing back at Sarah for a moment. “He was actually a very pleasant man.”

“What did you two talk about?” Sarah couldn’t help but ask, seeing Kyle shrug and look back in Blake’s direction. She heard the silence coming from him as she waited for his answer. “Kyle?”

“We just talked about men stuff,” Kyle replied with a small smirk, seeing the way that Blake let out a small smirk before covering it up knowing that Sarah would be mad. “Like I was saying though, he is actually a pretty civilized man. You know, he even fixed my baby ouch.”

“Your what?” Blake laughed seeing the look Sarah was giving her as she stopped laughing trying to look more serious. “What did he fix?”

“I hurt myself earlier,” he rolled up the sleeve of his black t-shirt, showing the bandage that was over his upper arm. He saw Blake’s blue eyes look up into his hazel eyes as he nodded slowly. “He was pleasant enough to fix it for me.”

“Where did you get hurt? Most likely from this ridiculous party that the low life is running,” Blake muttered slowly shaking her head slowly and looking away from Kyle. “I can’t believe Russell Denton would go so low…”

“Hey now, that’s no way to talk about your big brother,” Kyle hushed Blake placing his index finger over Blake’s lips gently. A frown developed over his features as he looked back at Sarah who was watching him intently. “You should know that.”

“My what?” Blake questioned seeing Kyle’s eyes return back to her, a small smirk appearing over his lips. “Did you just call Russell Denton my brother?”

“Oh man, I thought you knew,” Kyle frowned reaching out to give Blake’s shoulder a small squeeze. “I guess I should tell you about this shouldn’t I?”

“Kyle, don’t,” Sarah touched his shoulder as he shook his head slowly after glancing back at her. Kyle looked back to Blake as he grabbed Blake’s hand in his gently.

“I have to tell you this,” Kyle muttered with a small frown, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. “I’m sorry to be the one telling you this Blake, but Russ is your brother.”

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

“Hey beautiful,” Russell leaned over to pull Erin out of her crib and into his arms, “I missed you.”

“She missed you too daddy,” Avery stepped in behind him placing her hand on his shoulder as he held their daughter closer to him. “She was hoping to see you earlier before you started throwing a party downstairs.”

“I’m sorry about that sweetheart,” Russell kissed the top of Erin’s head gently, “Daddy didn’t mean to cause so much trouble for you, but he was just trying to convince mommy that we have our own special family that belongs in our own special home far away from here. Of course your mother wound up being the one to do all of the convincing in her own way…”

“Russ,” Avery gave him a firm look, her cheeks growing red at the memory of Annie walking in on the two of them together.

“Your mommy has the hots for me still Erin,” Russ explained in a small whisper to his daughter, “and I couldn’t be happier about it than I am right now.”

“Well good, then maybe it will get you thinking about what it is we have to stay focused upon,” Avery offered up unable to keep from admiring the way that Erin looked in her father’s arms. This was a dream that she’d had night after night once she’d thought Russ had died, but now that he was back again it was as if someone out there had given her everything she could’ve ever hoped for.

“Tell mommy that it’s story time,” Russell continued to speak with Erin, watching the way her eyes were focused entirely upon him, “Tell her that we want to read the story about the princess and her prince that rescues her from the castle she’s being locked up in by the wicked king.”

“Russ,” Avery shot him a warning look before she heard a noise from behind them. She turned around to see Don standing in the doorway looking less than thrilled to be there.

“Avery, I’ve been looking all over for you. It’s Brant and it’s not good,” Don began just in time for a crashing sound to rock through the hallway, “Oh no.”

“What was that?” Avery questioned worriedly watching Don retreat from the nursery. She threw an apologetic look over at Russ, “I’ll be right back.”

“Avery wait,” Russ watched her flee from the nursery with a frown on his face. He saw her leave and he turned to Erin with a small frown, “Something tells me Brant is doing his best to bait mommy in once again.”

“Russ I’m sorry,” Avery muttered under her breath following Don back to Brant’s room. She pushed the door open just in time to see Hart trying to pull Brant up off of the ground while the wheelchair was tipped over. She gasped in horror seeing Don rush over to help Brant off of the ground in a haste. “Don, what’s going on?”

“You know I can’t believe you just walked out on him like this especially when he needs you,” Hart glared over at her, “I mean really Avery what were you doing? Trying to make nice with Russ when your husband is in here hurting and needing your attention. What the hell kind of wife are you?”

“I was just…I…” Avery found herself at a loss feeling guilty as hell now that she saw Brant in such a state. He’d seemed fine when she was in with him earlier, but now, well now she worried that he was taking a turn for the worse now that she’d neglected him and suddenly she felt horrible about the entire situation!

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

Chris stood in the foyer of Cameron’s estate thinking to himself how much more fantastic it looked on the inside than it did on the outside, which was saying a lot considering that Cameron’s home in Coral Valley looked like a palace. He was just about to inspect a piece of art on the wall when he spotted Angela approaching from the corner of his eye.

“Hey Angel babe, what’s up,” he asked pulling her into an embrace almost immediately. He tipped down to kiss her on the cheek before noticing the strain behind her dark eyes.

“I called you because Cameron is being impossible,” she explained in a small whisper, “I tried to be rational and reasonable with him, but he’s so not getting it. He’s being a jerk and…”

“Slow down,” Chris saw the anger bubbling behind her eyes, “Start from the beginning.”

“I asked him about my mother and he’s not giving up anything,” she curled her lip in a pout, “He gave me the same stoic dismissal that my father always used to do, which means it’s up to you and I to find out what I want to know.”

“Hey, we can do that, but you know if Cameron doesn’t want us to…” he began a bit uneasily.

“He’s too busy dealing with JT to care,” she rolled her eyes at his brother’s obvious dismissal of her, “I mean don’t get me wrong I feel really bad for him, but…”

“Bad for him,” Chris repeated curiously, “Why? What happened?”

“JT lost a child,” she sighed heavily thinking about Cameron’s retreat, “It turns out he got someone pregnant and she lost their baby. It’s lead him to drinking and…”

“Poor guy,” Chris frowned at the thought, “I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going through right now.”

“Well I can and I know how horrible it is, but I also know how JT is. Chances are it was someone he met at a bar and they had one night together and now he’s built his hopes and dreams around a future with some random stranger who will only let him down,” she continued pausing as she thought about her own situation. Suddenly she felt very uncomfortable in her brother’s home, “Chris, I need to get out of here. I mean I’m getting nothing accomplished here and if I stay here…”

“Say no more,” Chris wrapped his arm around her, “Not only will I be able to show you what you need to know about your mother one way or another, but I can promise you a night that you shall never forget. I was thinking maybe a little dinner, dancing and then some fun much like we had the other night. Are you game?”

“Unfortunately given my options around here,” she looked around the foyer for a moment, “I have to admit I’m more than game.”

“Gee, you say this like it’s horrible to spend time with me. Like you’d rather be pulling teeth than sharing your time with a wonderful, amazing guy like myself. I mean okay so I know I’m a little rough around the edges, but…” Chris began with a small frown.

“Chris, you’re wonderful and you know it,” Angela reached out to touch his cheek gently before leaning up on her toes to kiss him quickly, “Just let me get my purse and we’ll be on your way.”

“In that case, you’re in for a night you’ll never forget Angel Babe. One that is sure to bring you thrills beyond your wildest dreams,” he waved at her with an enthusiastic smile.

“In that case, I can’t wait,” she replied waving back at him before disappearing down the hallway to leave him alone in the foyer. Chris took one last look around before shrugging his shoulders knowing that the longer Angel stayed in Coral Valley, the harder it would be in letting her leave again. Granted he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, but remembering how she’d slipped out of his life for so very long left him less than thrilled about things. Here he was enjoying her company and spending as much free time as possible with her, yet he feared it would all come to an end again much like it had when he’d asked her to marry him so long ago.

“I can’t lose you again Angel,” he mouthed under his breath seeing her return before he held his arm out to her, “Ready for a night of adventure and shocking new twists sure to keep you smiling all night long.”

“I’m all yours Chris,” he replied taking her arm in his as Chris found himself wishing that statement was entirely truth, but for now he would just settle for the sheer enjoyment that being with her brought out in him. Life was undoubtedly giving him a fun spin on things for a change and he intended to hold onto it for a while--at least until she pushed him away again, which he was sure would undeniably happen sooner or later.

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

Cameron walked into the living room area to discover his brother laying face down one the sofa looking as if he’d been through a war. Then again given what JT had been going through it was no surprise that he was in such a state. However, even knowing what JT was going through Cameron couldn’t help but worry about his brother. Moving forward Cameron decided to see if JT was still breathing as it was hard to tell from where Cameron stood. Reaching out to nudge JT’s arm lightly he heard JT groan.

“Just let me die,” JT muttered in a muffled voice his words muted by the sofa cushion beneath him. “I’m already in hell…”

“And you’re going to continue to stay there if you keep moping,” Cameron reached for one of the pillows and tossed it at JT’s head eliciting another groan from him. “You can’t let that woman destroy you.”

“Cameron, I just lost my child,” JT picked his head up to glare at his brother, “You have no idea what it feels like. It’s like having your heart ripped out of your chest and stomped into the ground over and over again.”

“JT, I know this is hard for you and I’m not trying to downplay what you’re going through by any means, but what you need to do right now is focus on your future--one what’s ahead of you,” Cameron let out a long sigh wishing he could get through to his brother again.

“You mean like the fact that I’ll never be able to spend the time I wanted with my child before the baby left this world,” JT muttered again and dropped his head further into the couch cushion, “I just want to die.”

“Stop,” Cameron marched over to him using his strength to push JT off of the couch and onto the floor, “Didn’t I teach you better than this?”

“I’m upset Cameron,” JT tipped his head up from where he lay on the ground in front of his brother, “I’m hurting all over and…”

“And you’re not going to just take it JT. You have hit rock bottom time and time again, so I know you can pull through this. If you start moping and let Diane break you, then she has succeeded in her mission to destroy you. You can’t let her win. You can’t let her get away with this,” Cameron explained in an impassioned tone. “You can’t give her the power over you that she believes she has.”

“My baby is dead Cam and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t save my child when all I wanted was to be a father,” JT shouted up at his brother frustration and misery in his tone.

“Then I suggest that you do what you must in order to keep pushing on. Prove to your child that you won’t just lay down and die because of this. Show Diane that she can’t get away with what she’s done,” Cameron paused contemplating his words, “or better yet let me do it for you. I will seek justice for what has happened to our family. I’ll make sure that she will pay. Then you’ll find the peace you need.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever find that,” JT replied staring off into the distance as Cameron vowed to take care of the woman who had hurt his brother. Oh yes, Diane would pay!

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

Ben sat at Diane’s bedside thinking about what Valerie had told him. While he hadn’t wanted to hear what she was saying, he couldn’t help but feel her words echo in his mind over and over again. Before he’d always wondered about JT, but now that he knew…

“No,” he tried to warn himself knowing that he couldn’t let his friend’s admission tear him to pieces especially now that Diane was needing him more than ever. He looked to her again noticing how pale she was and he reached for her hand lacing their fingers together.

“Hey,” she smiled at him, her eyes opening to see him at her side, “Ben…”

“Hey beautiful,” he smiled down at her, trying to ignore the thoughts that burned in the back of his mind about her and JT--about what would’ve happened should she have had JT’s son or daughter. Would it have meant that they would’ve been split apart by the baby or would their love had survived? Would Diane have chosen to be with Ben over JT or…?

“Ben, what it is,” she frowned, her tired eyes fixed upon him with a sudden worry, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he lied not wanting to let his thoughts and insecurities get the best of him, “it’s just that I…I’m worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said with a small sigh, her eyes tapering off across the room for a brief minute, “I mean as fine as I can be considering what happened.”

“I’m so sorry about that Diane,” he replied squeezing her hand in his, “I wish that things would’ve turned out differently--that we could’ve…”

“I wish I hadn’t lost your baby,” she explained her sad eyes returning to his, “More than anything I wished that we could’ve had that family that we talked about. Ben, you have no idea how much I feel like I let you down in losing our child…”

“Hey,” Ben reached out to her pulling her into an embrace, “It’s okay Diane. We’ll have other chances to be parents…”

“I know that, but still…” she sobbed into his chest feeling the warmth of his arms around her, “I wanted to make this happen for you so bad. I wanted for us to have what we both were wishing for. When I think about how you were with the baby already--with the stories you were telling our child…”

“We’ll have another chance for that Diane,” Ben replied unable to mask the tears of frustration and pain he’d felt at a time like this when they’d come so close to sharing their dreams with one another--only it had been JT’s dream instead of his. That thought in itself had him twisted in knots, lost in a turmoil about what might have happened, but the longer he held Diane the more he realized that none of that was relevant. As far as she was concerned it was their child that had been taken from him and regardless of who the father was, it was Diane who ultimately had suffered the greatest loss. That was what Ben had to keep in mind and as he held her whispering words of comfort to her while smoothing his fingers through her hair, he vowed not to ever let her know the truth that Valerie had delivered him about the baby. From here on out, he promised himself that he was going to do everything in his power to protect Diane from the one mistake that had turned both of their lives around in ways that neither one of them had ever anticipated.

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

“Come here,” Wendy grabbed Ken’s hands in her as she led him out towards the back doors of the kitchen. Ken followed her close behind as he looked around at all the people around them. “Let’s get some peace and quiet to ourselves.”

“Sounds good,” Ken tried to yell over the music behind them, hearing the noise fading off as they walked out into the backyard, back towards the garden. “That house is crazy.”

“That’s why I brought you out here, the craziness in there was starting to get to me,” Wendy informed him with a small shake of her head before sitting down on the grass next to the tree in front of them. “Sit down.”

“Oh great, more bending,” Ken chuckled slowly sitting down on the grass before leaning back against the tree behind him. “I’m sorry about the whole party thing. Russ and Kyle started this party and they are so…”

“Don’t say something bad about them,” Wendy hushed him by placing her finger over his lips, silencing him as he gave her a confused expression. “They obviously had a reason on why they did everything. Don’t say something about them that is bad because when you do, you look like the bad one and truth be told--Kyle, Russ, and you Ken will never be bad guys.”

“You might want to take me off that list there Wendy,” Ken pointed out giving her a small frown glancing at her for a moment. He saw the frown that developed over her features as he turned away and looked up towards the sky. “I have been a bad guy, many times in my life. So, I don’t think I really fit into that category.”

“You fit in that category Ken,” Wendy informed him with a small shake of her head watching Ken look back over at her. She extended her hand out to his resting her hand on top of his, seeing the look he was giving her right now. “Ken, you have always been a good guy. You just have had some problems in the past, but everyone has. You aren’t the only person in this world that has a tough past.”

“Now you sound like Caitlin, always trying to make me believe I was one of the greatest people that walked this Earth,” Ken blurted out before realizing what he said. As he sat there he began to feel a bit uncomfortable with the conversation he was having with Wendy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring her up in front of you--I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Of course you should have,” she held onto his hand supportively before giving it a small squeeze. “Actually, I would like to know more about you and Caitlin. I want you to talk about her, you did love her and that gives you the full right to talk about her. So, tell me about her. Tell me something good that happened in the past.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Ken paused a second thinking of all the moments he spent with Caitlin. There were so many good things they shared together, in fact--everything they had together was great to him. There was only one moment he wanted to forget for the rest of his life and that was seeing her die. “The two of us sat here like we are at one point in time. I was so confused sometimes that the only time I would feel more safe and controlled was right in this spot with her. The same way I feel about you Wendy.”

“Ken, I know I can never take Caitlin’s spot and I can accept that. She was the one you loved,” she slid her hand in over his back gently, seeing him lean his head back before giving her a small glance. “You can’t let go of your first love.”

“You’re right, I can’t because my first love was you,” Ken replied shaking his head slowly, reaching out to grab her free hand in his. Her dark eyes looked into his as he sought for words to say, something that would make more sense than what he was planning on saying to her. “Wendy, I was a bad guy for a while, but when I’m around you--I want to be nothing but a good guy. A guy that stays with the woman he loves forever and that’s what I plan on doing with you. I love you Wendy and I don’t care what you think--you were always the one that was the most important to me.”

“Ken, I don’t…” Wendy paused hearing a slam come from the kitchen, looking back at Ken that had obviously heard the same crash. Ken got up off the ground quickly reaching out to help her off the ground before they started walking back towards the house. “Do you think someone is fighting.”

“With a party going on like the one Kyle is having--anything is possible,” Ken nodded slowly opening the back door and walking inside of the kitchen. He took a look around before shrugging his shoulders. “Where did the noise come from?”

“Uh Ken,” Wendy gasped from the corner, backing up so that she was behind him and away from something. She bent down, pointing towards something as Ken let out a small gasp, ducking down as a monkey jumped past them on a counter that was on the other side of the kitchen. “What in the world is going on here Ken?”

“I have no idea,” Ken replied taking a step back and away from the monkey that jumped down from the counter and ran through the kitchen door into the living room. Hopefully this party would come to an end before everything in the house turned into some kind of awkward dream.

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

“You just hold it like this,” Chase grabbed Trisha’s hand in his tightly as he tried teaching her how to skip rocks in the water. He fixed her fingers in the right position and helped her throw it, seeing the rock skip a couple of times as he clapped his hands. “Alright now you try yourself.”

“You know I can’t do it myself Chase,” Trisha whined in a small whisper seeing him frown out at her as she picked up another rock. “I know I am going to screw up, I have the last one hundred times.”

“You’ll do fine sweetheart, just don’t think about it,” Chase hushed her in a small whisper, letting out a small laugh seeing her practicing on throwing it. “You need to make sure to remember what I told you.”

“Now what is it, I thought you just told me not to think about anything,” Trisha restated his words glancing back at him, hearing another laugh escape his lips as she rested her hands on her hips. “Chase?”

“Just do it honey,” Chase motioned her to go on as Trisha stood in closer to the lake and reared back throwing her rock in the air. As soon as the rock started to fly, Chase knew something wrong was going to happen. The rock landed right in some guy’s lap as Chase quickly reached out and grabbed Trisha, pulling her behind a tree as he let out a small laugh. “Well, you got the strength I think.”

“I told you I would screw up,” Trisha pointed out with a small shake of her head as she looked to the side of the tree, seeing the bigger man looking around for the person that threw the rock. “It’s not funny Chase, stop laughing.”

“You’re right, I need to stop laughing so the guy doesn’t find you,” Chase agreed reaching out to pull her in closer to him so the guy couldn’t see Trisha looking suspicious. “He will come looking for you and will want to…”

“I don’t care if he looks for me,” Trisha blurted out seeing his blue eyes look into hers, making her shrug her shoulders as she spoke up in a small whisper. “If he finds me, I will show him who is boss.”

“Hey you,” a male voice came up from behind her as she jumped forward towards Chase, raising her hand up to point her finger at him. “I believe there is a rock that belongs to you.”

“He did it, he threw the rock,” Trisha blurted out looking up at Chase as his blue eyes got wide with shock from her trying to blame him. “Please don’t…”

“Calm down,” Chase inched his finger in underneath her chin, raising it up for her to see Hunt and Mindy before her. Hunt let out a small laugh before shaking his head slowly and shrugging his shoulders.

“Sorry, I just felt the need to say something because I saw that guy get hammered with the rock,” Hunt informed her with a wide smile, reaching out and wrapping his arm around Mindy’s shoulders tightly. “Nice throw though, I think you got a direct hit.”

“Yeah, if she was throwing at the guy,” Chase chuckled wrapping his arm around Trisha’s shoulders and letting out a small laugh. “She was supposed to aim about twenty feet to the right.”

“Hey, we all have our bad days,” Mindy shrugged with a small laugh before looking out at Trisha. “So, what are you two up to today? You feel up to hanging out for a while?”

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

“Now you have to be good,” Shannon warned pulling into the subdivision, watching Nate lean forward and turn up radio. Shannon reached out turning it down, watching Nate lean forward to turn it back up again. “Nate?”

“What?” Nate shrugged leaning back into the seat of Shannon’s car. He heard her turn the music back down as he let out a small groan. Nate leaned forward to turn the music up again, “leave the music alone.”

“It’s my car,” Shannon pointed out, feeling Nate smack her hand away from radio as she smacked him back in the nose. Nate let out a small groan before smacking her in the shoulder roughly. “Stop it.”

“If you touch that radio, I swear I will bite you,” Nate warned with a small shake of his head, seeing her reach out to touch the radio. “Remember that time when your friend was over and I bit you when I was three? I swear I will do it again, just harder and longer.”

“I remember why I beat you up all the time when we were kids,” Shannon shook her head slowly, letting out a deep breath before looking over at him. “Okay, when we get there you have to act like a grown up. I know it’s a hard concept for you to grasp, but you are going to have to do it.”

“I think I can handle it,” Nate pointed out before shaking his head slowly. He held his finger up in the air slowly, glancing over at Shannon, letting out a long breath. “You never beat me up, I just pretended you hurt me. That’s just how nice I was.”

“Wow, you must have been really nice when we were younger if I do recall,” Shannon thought back to when they were kids and the way she was with Nate. “Why Nathan, I think you cried for me a couple of times. You really were nice enough to cry after we wrestled.”

“I never cried, that was acting,” he snapped once they pulled into a driveway and he threw his seatbelt off. “Don’t call me Nathan, my name is Nate.”

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes knowing that having Nate here was going to cause some problems. He could never just stay serious, he always had to act like a kid. Shannon walked up to the porch where she figured she would find Nate whining there waiting for her, but she saw no sign of him. A long sigh escaped her lips as she could think of the places that Nate could be right now. Shannon reached into her pocket to grab the keys to Don’s house, jumping back in surprise as the door opened before her.

“You sure took long enough sis,” Nate smirked holding the door open for her as she smacked him in the chest. “Hey, what was that for?”

“How in the world did you get in here?” Shannon couldn’t help but question seeing Nate simply shrug his shoulders and not give her a proper answer. She felt a small chill in the room, looking over towards the window seeing that it was wide open. Walking over towards the window, she shut it and let out a small frown. “I should have known, don’t try and break anything.”

“You should have known what?” Nate questioned with a small frown backing up slowly and hitting something with his back, letting out a small gasp as the vase shattered against the ground. “Can we start that not break anything rule now and not earlier than just now?”

“Nate,” Shannon yelled seeing him shrug his shoulders as he watched her with a small laugh. A small groan passed her lips when she stepped forward seeing the mess that Nate had already made being in the house only ten seconds. “ I’ll just make Don clean it up.”

“That’s right sister, always make the men do the jobs,” Nate replied watching Shannon walk off into the living room and Nate followed her in. A small laugh passed his lips as he looked around the large room before shrugging his shoulders. “What’s with the Leave it to Beaver house? This place looks ridiculous I hope you know.”

“And so will you if you don’t shut up soon,” Shannon warned sitting back on the couch as Nate followed her and jumped over the table onto the couch, landing on his back. Nate put his feet in her lap, making her push them away from her. “I swear, I will knock your teeth in if you try and pull something.”

“You can’t do that because you can ask mom,” he warned bringing up the mention of their mother, making Shannon roll her eyes and look over at him, “I just went to the dentist the other day. I have perfect and healthy teeth.”

“Forget about your teeth,” Shannon rolled her eyes looking out at her brother and seeing him shrug his shoulders, “What in the world around you doing in town?”

“I figured I would come and see my favorite sister of all time,” Nate perked up sitting straight in his seat before letting out a small laugh. He saw the glance her blue eyes were giving him as he shook is head. “I guess that one isn’t going to work, huh?”

“How about the truth little bro?” Shannon offered up seeing him lean back into the seat before shrugging his shoulders. Knowing Nate, he was going to come up with some wild and crazy story about why he was here. There were only certain things that could pass a person’s mind, but it seemed like everything in the book was stuck inside of Nate’s head as he thought of something to tell her. Hopefully, it was the truth.

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

“You’re getting married?” Seth’s eyes widened further as he looked between Kevin and Ria, “Are you both insane?”

“Um, that wasn’t exactly the reaction we were hoping for cuz,” Kevin frowned down at Seth before releasing Ria from his arms, “I would’ve thought that you might’ve been just a tad bit happier for the both of us considering that…”

“That what? That you two were just going to keep everyone in the dark about this until when? Until after you were married?” Seth blurted out with a frown, “I mean hey why bother telling me when I’m just family and her best friend?”

“Seth it wasn’t like that,” Ria began to try to explain herself to him, “and besides it wasn’t like we were trying to hide it from you. We just weren’t able to find the right time to tell you that we were together. I mean Blake figured it out and I was sure she’d say something, but…”

“Wait a second. Blake knows too?” Seth shook his head at the both of them, “Unbelievable. Here I thought that we were all close enough to trust one another with everything and now it’s like you two have this double life going on that you didn’t feel compelled to even bother sharing with me, which is something I can’t quite get a grasp on considering that you would think that I of all people might be happy about this given how close you both are to me.”

“Seth it’s not like we were trying to go out of our way to be overly secretive, but,” Ria began finding herself at a loss as she fought to remember what it was about her relationship with Kevin that had made her want to believe that she should keep the world in the dark about it.

“But what? I mean did you think I was going to go off of the deep end and forbid it or something? I mean really what was the motive behind your keeping quiet?” Seth shook his head at them before letting out a small groan, “Do you have any idea how stupid you two look for keeping such a dumb piece of information from me?”

“About as stupid as you look right now in getting all worked up,” Kevin suggested catching Seth’s icy glare. He raised his hands up in the air defensively, “I’m just saying.”

“Well don’t,” Seth shook his head at him, “because really if you’re going to keep something this silly from me, what else aren’t you telling me?”

“Well you know that time in fifth grade when you were all worried about Megan Morgan going out with you? Remember how you asked me to see what she thought about you since you figured she might like you as much as you liked her?” Kevin questioned with a sheepish expression, “Well I kind of tried to ask her, but then she said that she liked me, so she and I went out for a week or so, but then I totally broke it off given how much you liked her.”

“I don’t believe this,” Seth threw his hands up in the air, “have you no shame?”

“Hey, I’m just getting it off my chest. Besides, don’t you think you should tell Ria about the time you stole her bra and hung it up the flagpole at camp?” Kevin defended with a frown.

“No Kevin that was all you, not me,” Seth shook his head at his cousin, “but for what it’s worth I think I have to say something to the both of you for the way you decided to keep me in the dark about this.”

“I suppose we both deserve that,” Ria nodded preparing to take whatever lecture Seth had planned for them.

“You’re right you do,” Seth replied taking a step forward. “I think it was completely juvenile for you both to sneak around behind my back like you were doing something wrong. It was even sillier to stand there and try to justify the previously mentioned actions, but beyond that, well beyond that I have to say that I couldn’t be happier about the two of you finding one another. You have no idea what a relief it is for me to see two people I care a great deal about in this world happy with one another.”

“Seriously?” Ria’s eyes widened in response.

“That’s right. I’m really happy for the both of you,” Seth leaned forward to embrace the both of them, “but I do have to say you two should really try to keep your door closed when you’re getting all hot and heavy like that. I really could’ve gone without seeing my cousin all ready to get his mojo on there.”

“Point taken,” Kevin nodded with a tiny laugh feeling as if a huge relief had carried over him now that he and Ria were finally able to share their wonderful news with Seth. Things were finally looking up after all!

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

“Where did that monkey go?” Ken looked around the kitchen, looking under the table before getting back on his knees. A sharp pain ran through his head as he hit it against the table and let out a small groan. “This is ridiculous.”

“Did you find it?” Wendy questioned crawling on the ground and coming over towards Ken as he shook his head slowly. “It probably left the room for good since we were in here.”

“We have to find it before it makes an even bigger mess,” Ken declared standing up slowly and turning around only to have someone standing before him. He jumped back feeling Wendy grip his arm gently when he noticed who it was before him. “You scared me Blake, don’t walk up on people like that.”

“I better be scaring you Ken, I have something I need to set straight between us,” Blake declared watching Ken gulp down before nodding slowly. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me what has been going on right in front of me.”

“The monkey? How did you know about the monkey?” Ken pointed out towards the kitchen door that led to the family room. He snapped his fingers before shaking his head slowly. “If you want to know which way he went, he went out that door right there.”

“Ken, what in the world are you talking about?” Blake shook her head slowly, wondering why in the world her brother was talking about a monkey in the mansion. “Just never mind about the monkey, how come you didn’t tell me that Russ was our brother. I had to have Kyle tell me about Russ before you and Brant. Why would you wait so long to tell me?”

“I didn’t tell you about Russell?” Ken muttered seeing her shake her head slowly before stepping in closer to him. “I thought I told you about it, I’m sorry Blake. I really thought I told you.”

“Well, you didn’t tell me,” Blake shook her head slowly, leaning back against the counter and letting out a small sigh. “I swear, sometimes I feel like the outcast in this family. I hate being left out of the loop.”

“Don’t worry about it Blake, it’s always like that with my family too,” Wendy piped in seeing Blake’s blue eyes look over in her direction before feeling Blake wrap her arms around her tightly. “Wow, it’s nice to see you too Blake.”

“Wow, once again I was left out of the loop about you being back Wendy,” Blake frowned backing away slowly and letting out a small frown. “It’s very nice seeing you again, I’m glad to see you here after all this while.”

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

“I’m sorry,” Avery held Brant’s hand squeezing it gently after Hart and Don had managed to help Brant back into bed. Seeing the lost expression on his face, she felt guilt pour out over her causing her to feel even worse about the situation that was taking place. “I didn’t know that he’d be out of bed and…”

“And it didn’t matter for even a minute did it Avery?” Hart snapped over at her, “I mean honestly what kind of woman are you if you have to go chase after your lover instead of being here for your husband?”

“A pretty trashy one if you ask me,” Don piped in giving Avery a very long once over, “One who needs to keep her libido in check and start focusing on the important things in life.”

“I am focusing on the important things,” Avery frowned hating to hear it not only from Don, but Hart as well. She puffed her chest out and held her head higher trying not to let them get to her, but deep down she could feel guilt harboring inside of her. Bringing her fingers through Brant’s dark hair, she spoke up again in a low whisper, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you needed me, but I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere.”

Don and Hart exchanged glances and Don couldn’t help but smirk.

“Finally you get your priorities in order,” Hart noted folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Her priorities are in order,” Russ sneered watching the two men in front of him suspiciously. “She’s doing absolutely everything I’ve come to expect from a woman as incredible as Avery.”

“Yeah I’ll bet,” Don rolled his eyes making a small movement with his hand before groaning outwardly, “You’re really good at provoking her and motivating her to walk away from her responsibilities aren’t you?”

“Her responsibility is to me and our daughter,” Russ took a step forward, a sneer sweeping over his otherwise handsome features. He opened his mouth to say something more when another sound filled the room.

“I heard a banging noise and I thought I would see what’s going on,” Kyle announced joining the group in Brant’s room. Sensing the tension in the air, he took a quick look around before focusing on Russ, “So what’s going on?”

“That’s what I would like to know,” Russ admitted glaring over at Don and Hart.

“Avery said she would be in here with Brant and we figured that she was. He was still in the wheelchair when we stepped out and as you heard, he fell out of it,” Hart shook his finger in the air at Russ and Kyle, “As if he doesn’t have enough on his mind to have to endure the torture you’re inflicting. What’s the meaning of this party you’re having?”

“It’s coming to an end,” Kyle corrected catching the glare Don shot over at him, “Oh come on Shorty. You know what it’s like when you feel like partying.”

“I wouldn’t party with you if you paid me,” Don curled his lip in a frown still glaring over at Kyle.

“You’re just saying that because you know any party I’m having, well you won’t be invited to it,” Kyle mused with a small grin catching Don’s irritation. “That’s beside the point however since it looks like everything is under control in here.”

“Just as long as Avery does what she promised to do,” Don glanced over at Avery, who was now the sole focus of Russell’s attention.

“Brant looks fine,” Russ pointed out taking a small step forward only to see Hart move in front of him. He frowned at Hart, “What are you doing?”

“Giving my best friend some peace. Avery said she would stay in here for a while and the last thing Brant needs is to listen to you or your nonsense. It isn’t helping him at all in his condition,” Hart defended his pal with an angry scowl.

“Yeah well in his condition he shouldn’t give a damn what’s going on. He isn’t aware of it, remember?” Kyle mouthed glaring over at Don.

“He isn’t responsive, but I’m sure he’s quite aware of the situation taking place out there. It’s chaos and it’s not going to help him what so ever on the road to recovery,” Don countered standing taller and balling his fists at his side. “Brant needs rest.”

“And he’ll get that,” Avery broke through his lecture. “I’ll make sure that he is taken care of. As for the party, it’s over, right guys?”

“Yeah sure,” Kyle shrugged seeing how agitated Avery looked, “Unless of course Brant would like to take another tumble out of that bed and go down and join the festivities.”

“Why don’t you just get a life and leave him alone Houston?” Don blurted out making a small step towards Kyle in order to keep him away from Brant. “No one asked you to put your two cents in on this situation.”

“I did and the last time I checked I have every bit a right to be here as you do,” Russ pushed Hart out of his way in order to get closer to Avery, “even more I would think since I am after all an Ashford.”

“A blunder on the part of genetics,” Hart scoffed in response.

“Blunder or not, the fact to the matter is that I’m not leaving Avery’s side and nothing you two idiots can come up with to make that happen is going work,” Russ vowed knowing full well whatever scheme Brant had cooked up with Hart and Don it didn’t matter. He wasn’t about to let them or anyone destroy the hopes of a future he had ahead of him with Erin and Avery. Not now, not ever!

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

“Where in the world did Kyle go?” Sarah asked herself in a deep breath thinking back to how Kyle had left earlier after hearing a crash in another room.

The thought of how Kyle had walked in on her and Blake earlier talking about Diego scared Sarah to death. She thought that Kyle had seriously heard everything that had happened earlier and she thought Kyle would leave her all together right then and there.

Even though Blake warned her about Diego, she couldn’t help but think about him. She couldn’t help, but think about the time they made love and how he spoke all those words to her.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Diego confessed reaching up to touch her face, to memorize everything about being with her before his left hand curled around her body, holding onto her waist securely before joining them as one. Sarah arched her head back, a cry escaping her kiss-swelled lips and with each movement they made, he felt his secret feelings for her surfacing again and again. He captured her hips, guiding her movements before spinning her beneath him on the bed, their bodies joined in complete passion, their rhythm threatening to tear apart everything that existed for them outside of this room, but as their eyes met, he felt her legs wrap around him. He watched her eyes glazed over with passion, her lips pursed in soft, raspy cries of pleasure and their hearts pounded with one another, it didn’t take long for Diego to realize that this was as good as it would ever get for him. “I love you.”

A small sigh escaped her lips as she thought about all the things that had happened with her and Diego, but she still couldn’t help but find herself thinking back to Kyle and all the amazing times she had with him. Kyle was both sweet and a wild ride at the same time. She could remember the last time they were together just like it was yesterday and deep down inside she couldn’t help, but feel bad remembering the words he said to her in the past.

“Kyle,” Sarah rested her head against his chest that rose and fell with the rapid sounds of his breathing. She listened to the steady, rapid beating of his heart while his hand ran along the small of her back gently. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Kyle replied, kissing her forehead gently before looking up towards the ceiling. “I wish I could just hold you forever and never let go.”

“You never have to let go,” she lifted her head up to kiss him once again, tasting the passion behind his kisses. “I will always be here for you.”

“I hope so,” he whispered, wrapping his arm around her waist tightly. “I hope you will always be here for me and never turn your back on me. I’m going to always be here for you until you feel like turning away. I’ll only leave if you turn away.”

Sarah couldn’t let Kyle go, she couldn’t let Diego ruin something that Kyle had promised her for so long. There was something Sarah felt inside for Diego, but there was something that was stronger between her and Kyle.

A banging noise caught her attention as she turned to see a monkey running down the hallway in the opposite direction. Sarah stood there for a second before letting out a small groan. She ran her hand over her stomach and reached her right hand up over her forehead.

“I don’t feel so good,” Sarah declared letting out a small hiss in pain, feeling her stomach start to tie up in knots as she began to feel very dizzy. What was happening?”

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

Augustus pushed open the door to Erin’s nursery finding her in her crib with a small toy in hand. Smiling down at her he closed the door behind himself before walking over to her crib. He saw the way she was looking at him with wide, curious eyes and as her small lips curled in a pout he couldn’t help but reach out for her.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he began with a small smile, “you’re probably wondering who I am and why this old guy here isn’t giving you your bottle, right? Well Erin, I’m your great-grandfather and I have to tell you that I thought it was time that you and I had a talk about our family as twisted as it may be.”

Augustus carried her over to the chair that was setup in the far corner of the room. Taking a seat he held her in his arms unable to believe just how beautiful she was. In a lot of ways she reminded him of his son Bradley when he was first born. There was a lot of him and his memory that had been haunting Augustus more and more lately and he hadn’t really realized how much the loss still upset him until he was here with Erin. Even now as he held her, his failures as a father came rushing to the surface.

“I’m so sorry that your grandmother and your grandfather tried to make your life difficult for you,” Augustus sighed thinking about the news he’d heard about Nicholas and Brooke’s attempts on Erin’s young life even before she’d been born. He felt Erin reach for his finger in an attempt to nibble on it and he smiled down at her, “They really thought that they were serving their own agendas in trying to hurt you, but what they didn’t realize is that someone so precious as you really didn’t deserve that. They didn’t see how important you truly were to their agenda because they were still too selfish to pay attention. Even your father doesn’t truly understand how special you are yet, but he will. Soon they’ll all see just how far Nicholas and Brooke set themselves behind because you are everything they ever could’ve dreamt of and more.”

Erin cooed clearly oblivious to what he was saying to her, but at that moment in time it didn’t matter because Augustus knew exactly what her birth would mean to the Ashford Empire and he was fully prepared to follow through on his promise to Nicholas. Closing his eyes he thought back to that fateful confrontation he’d had with his son shortly before his assumed demise.

“You can’t do this to me. You can’t cut me off like this!” Nicholas had charged at Augustus, “You know full well that every cent of that is mine.”

“Was yours but not any longer,” Augustus replied in a terse tone remembering how enraged he’d been at learning of his son’s nefarious practices, “As far as I’m concerned in your lifetime you will never see another dime of my money from here on out. Your children will be provided for, but what you felt was yours, well I’ve found a way to ensure that it will never come to you. None of your children will allow you access to that money and I can assure you that when the time arises it will fall in the right hands, which are most certainly not yours.”

Now looking back on the moment Augustus felt a tiny shiver race over him knowing what Nicholas and Brooke had done to try to make things spin in their favor. Remembering the news Augustus had learned about Brooke playing a hand in Avery’s first miscarriage a few years back, Augustus felt further justified by what it was he must do. Looking at Erin, he knew full well that the time had finally arisen and whether or not Russell was prepared for it, it was time for Erin to take her proper place in the Ashford Empire to prove to Nicholas once and for all that he would not have the legacy that he’d longed for. It was time for the wrongs to be righted at long last!

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

...to be continued...