Episode 342

“So are you going to answer my question or just stand there all night thinking about what it is you want to be doing right now instead of standing here?” Chris challenged seeing the way that Heather’s eyes were drawn to the clock at the opposite end of the bar they had been seated at while waiting for a table for dinner. He’d asked her if she’d wanted to cancel the date they had made, but she’d been insistent about going out and pushing the past behind her. However as Chris watched her closely, he wasn’t quite so convinced. “Heather?”

“What?” she questioned her gaze shifting from the clock to his face in a weak attempt to pretend that she wasn’t obsessed with the thought of Kyle marrying Sarah at any minute.

“What are you doing here? I mean really. What is it that’s on your mind right now because it most certainly isn’t me or this date we’re on,” Chris frowned ever so slightly. “Something’s bothering you, isn’t it?”

“Of course something is bothering me, but it’s not like it’s something that I can really change,” Heather sighed heavily stirring her drink in her hand, “I mean the damage has already been done and he’s made his choice.”

“Is he even aware that he still has one?” Chris arched a curious brow seeing something behind Heather’s green eyes. “You know when I first met you I would have said that you were one of the most ruthless, violent and crazy woman I have ever met and believe me I have known a lot of them, but now…”

“Now what,” she frowned giving him a long look.

“Now I see that while I was right about you being sexy as ever, I realize that I was wrong about some things where you are concerned,” Chris fessed up with an ironic laugh, “Here I had you pegged as a no strings kind of girl, but when it gets down to it you are really the hopeless romantic at heart, aren’t you?”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes in response, “I don’t believe in romance. I loathe the thought actually.”

“Then tell me, why are your eyes glued to that clock over my head?” he tossed back at her in a suggestive tone, “Or better yet if you don’t believe in love, then why are you sitting here thinking about the one man that you can’t seem to get out of your head or your heart?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Heather shook her head quickly, “It’s not like that. I don’t believe in romance and all that stupid stuff. I’m not all mushy over the idea of being in love and…”

“Yet you can’t stop thinking about Kyle and wondering why he would marry your sister when it’s clear that you’re the one who is completely devoted to him. You can’t help but focus on that kiss you told me about,” Chris added with a pointed expression.

“I never told you about the kiss except for the fact that it happened,” she curled her lip in a frown, “It doesn’t matter though because it’s the past and it’s over.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” he wiggled his brow at her, “You know last time I checked it wasn’t too late for love. I’m sure if you get a jump start on the situation now, you could easily make it to the church in time to talk some sense into him.”

“No, I couldn’t do that,” she shook her head adamantly, “Kyle made his choice and I have to accept that. I have to face the fact that he and I were never meant to be. We aren’t going to be together and that’s all there is to it. It’s not going to happen for us.”

“Simply because you’re not going to do anything about it,” Chris shrugged his shoulders before turning to reach for his drink again, “Though it’s your loss. You could’ve had the man of your dreams and the happiness you have been hoping for, but instead you’ll just settle for some lackluster life constantly denying yourself all that you’ve craved. You’ll find yourself alone and miserable and…”

“You’re right,” Heather decided feeling a fleeting moment of panic rush over her. She stood up abruptly pushing her drink aside, “You’re absolutely right Chris. If I do nothing it’ll be like I practically handed Kyle over to Sarah. It would be like it was when Kyle and I were separated in the past. He didn’t run after me when I wanted him to. He didn’t fight for what I thought we had when I was too afraid to be honest with myself. He let me leave and I made a mistake. If I let him do the same thing, then he’ll be making an even bigger mistake then I did. I have to stop this wedding.”

“There’s the spirit,” Chris cheered her on waving his hand around in the air, “You go get that man and you make him see that you’re the woman he’s meant to spend the rest of his life with.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right,” Heather decided with a wide grin, “I’m going to prove to Kyle that there is no way he should marry Sarah when I’m the one he should be with. I’m the one that can love him like he deserves to be loved, not her.”

“That’s it. Preach it my sister,” Chris further encouraged her seeing that spirit he’d first recognized in Heather when he’d met her back in her eyes again, “You go to him and don’t take anything less than a yes for an answer.”

“I promise you I won’t,” Heather leaned in to embrace him placing a quick kiss on his cheek, “Thanks for everything Chris.”

“Don’t mention it,” he hugged her in response before releasing her, “Now shoo! Go get your man and have that happy ending that you’re hoping for.”

“I will,” Heather promised rushing out of the restaurant and leaving Chris alone at the bar.

“You go get him kid,” Chris encouraged her in a small whisper of a tone before realizing that he was alone at the bar. Somehow in his moment of motivating Heather, he’d also managed to lose his date for the evening. With Heather gone he found himself on his own again and that in itself was a bit of a disappointment.

“Oh well, you win some, you lose some,” Chris shrugged his shoulders again reaching for his drink as he decided to finish it and then call it a night.

“If you hang out with the right people you could very easily win them all,” a voice from behind called out to him causing him to practically choke on his drink.

Setting the glass down Chris turned around to find Michelle standing behind him with a smile on her face. He frowned before pointing to the bruising on the side of his cheek.

“Does this look like I won some to you?” he scoffed back at her shaking his head, “Last time I checked your little action got me in over my head when your ex-husband kicked my butt.”

“Yeah well Kevin is no fun,” Michelle sauntered up to the bar stool beside him, “but if you buy me a drink I can tell you all about the fun I have in store for the both of us. Your luck could be changing starting now.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Chris mouthed under his breath wondering what else Michelle had planned in her nefarious little mind to cause Chris to get in over his head yet again.

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

“I can’t actually believe I am here,” Sarah boasted holding her hands together as she saw Blake walk over toward the door to take a look out at the people before smiling widely. “What does it look like out there?”

“It looks like a lot of people,” Blake replied seeing Sarah smile and stand up from the seat to walk across the room and over toward the window. “I can’t believe you are actually getting married.”

“Me either,” Sarah smiled widely rubbing at her shoulders gently before inhaling deeply thinking about her future and what she was going to do with it. “Now that I know I am going to have Kyle forever, I don’t know where to start my life off with him.”

“All you have to do is worry about that baby,” Blake pointed out seeing Sarah smile and look down toward her stomach placing her hand over her abdomen softly. “Which is Kyle’s baby, right”

“I thought,” Sarah began looking up to see the worried looking behind Blake’s eyes as she tried to come up with an answer before choking on her words. Turning away from her friend she realized that she didn’t even know yet who the father of the baby was. Not wanting Blake to rail into her any further Sarah threw her hands up in the air and turned toward Blake nodding slowly. “Of course the baby belongs to Kyle. You should know that already.”

“I just had to double check,” Blake came over and wrapped her arms around Sarah’s shoulders and pulled her best friend in for a big hug. Feeling Sarah pat her on the back gently Blake pulled back slowly looking into her friend’s dark eyes. “Hopefully one day me and Seth can have something like you guys have.”

“And what’s that?” Sarah questioned walking over toward the window to take a look outside to try and clear her head. Feeling a bit guilty she wished she would have been actually more like Blake. “Getting married?”

“Well, partially that,” Blake nodded not quite knowing what else to say as she moved forward and sat down in one of the chairs pulling her dress in closer to her body. “Just the fact that you two are going to get to be one big happy family. That’s something I want for me and Seth. I want us to have a child that we can share together and live happily ever after. Kind of like how you and Kyle are about to.”

“I wouldn’t call it happily ever after,” Sarah placed her hand over her stomach knowing that she never truly knew who the baby belonged to and she wished she knew. Deep down she wished more than anything that the baby belonged to Kyle, but she knew there was another possible chance that it belonged to the other options. “But you will have a baby one day Blake. You and Seth make an amazing couple and two are absolutely meant to be. You two are perfect together.”

“Well today is not about me,” Blake took in a deep breath thinking about her and Seth together and she thought about all the possibilities of other men in her life and she couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than Seth now. “I do love Seth and I’m never going to screw up what we have together because I love him with everything that I am. I would never do anything that would screw up what we have. I never want to lose him and I will never risk what we have together.”

“And that’s the best thing about you Blake,” Sarah muttered turning around and throwing her hands up in the air as she thought about how her friend took a hold of something she wanted and never let go of it. She wished she could have been that strong when it came to her life. “You knew what you had and you didn’t let anything else get to you. You just saw it and held onto it like you would never let go.”

“Well, I guess that’s how you can put it,” Blake agreed taking in a small breath and standing up from where she was standing before walking over toward the door. “I just think that if a woman loves a man so much, they should never give up. They should make sure with everything that they are that they never lose the man they love never leaves them. That’s what I plan on doing. I plan on having Seth in my life for a very long time.”

“As do I with Kyle,” Sarah proudly replied stepping in front of the mirror and taking a look at herself, pushing her hand in over stomach slowly turning and taking a look at herself in the mirror. “We’ll get married today and then go and share our life together forever with this little child. Our baby.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Blake half whispered opening the door for a moment to take a look around the room before turning back toward Sarah. “It looks pretty full out there you know. You have a lot of people here. You aren’t nervous or anything are you?”

“No, of course not,” Sarah blurted out moving forward interested in the people that showed up as she took in a deep breath. “Move over a second, I want to see.”

“Wait a second,” Blake put her index finger up in the air motioning Sarah to wait for a moment as she looked around hearing Sarah let out an angered breath. “I just want to make sure there is no Kyle around here.”

“Well, let me just see,” Sarah muttered as Blake held her hands up in the air and backed away slowly letting Sarah take the look she wanted. “I don’t care about that whole seeing the groom thing.”

“Fine, but if you see him and you get bad luck,” Blake took in a deep breath walking away from Sarah and over toward the mirror to look at herself. “Don’t blame me because I tried to warn you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sarah whispered looking back at Blake for a moment seeing her fixing up her hair a bit before Sarah looked back out the door to look at all the people. “Where are you?”

Looking over the people Sarah finally stopped toward the back and saw the person she had been looking for. Seeing his dark eyes meet hers she saw Cameron half smile at her as she went back into the room.

“Yes,” Sarah whispered to herself low enough for Blake not to hear her as she closed the door and rested her head back against it. Seeing Cameron here with Valerie she let out a small breath knowing that everything was going to be okay. “He’s getting rid of Heather.”

“What was that?” Blake asked half paying attention giving Sarah a small look before seeing her look over toward her with her brown eyes. “I’m sorry, I must have not been paying attention.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sarah walked over toward the mirror sharing it with Blake before taking in a deep breath and smiling widely. “This is amazing, we look so great Blake. I can’t wait until I am standing up at your wedding for you.”

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

“I can’t believe you made me come here,” Diego frowned looking over to Gabriella as they walked into the church and he fixed his tie carefully realizing that right now--this was the last place he wanted to be. “I don’t understand why I have to be here. You came to my house, you hardly even know these people and…,”

“You complain too much,” Gabriella pointed out trying to get him to quiet down as he frowned and turned away from her and took in a deep breath. Reaching out to pat her brother on the back she led him toward the corner of the room. “You need to shut it and go through with all of this.”

“I don’t want to be here,” Diego once again added seeing her frown up at him as he threw his hands up in the air. Seeing her fold her arms in front of her chest he shook his head not understanding why she was trying to baby him. “I don’t want to be here and I really don’t need to be here.”

“Well, I’m here and I drove,” she pointed out motioning him to follow her only to see him stand still, not wanting to take a further step closer into the room he knew that Kyle and Sarah would soon be getting married in. “Which means, you have no way home.”

“I don’t care,” Diego rolled his eyes trying to prove a point to his sister, but there would be no use because she wasn’t in his position so she wouldn’t know. If she would have felt the same way about someone then she would have understood. “I don’t understand why you are making me do this.”

“Do you want to screw up this Kyle guy? You want to ruin everything he planned in his future?” Gabrielle questioned her dark eyes staring up into his as he looked away from her and shook his head slowly. “From what you told me he loves her and wants to be with her. How are you going to let one mistake take you into ruining this guy’s dream?”

“What if I said it was my dream too?” Diego muttered seeing the frustrations build up behind her eyes as she turned to look away from him. “Would it be so bad that if I said this was my dream too, that’s why I don’t want to be here? Honestly, I don’t want to see this Gabriella. What if I overreact and do something that will hurt the wedding.”

“You won’t because I won’t let you do that,” she added seeing him close his eyes for a moment and rest his head back against the wall and she shook her head slowly. “Maybe if you go in there you might come back as the old Diego when you walk out. You might be my brother and not someone that you aren’t.”

Listening to her rambling on Diego couldn’t help but realize that maybe she was right about all of this. Before Diego had found what he believed to be love in Sarah, he was a different person. Someone who would focus on others feelings and wants--not his own feelings. It might be for the best considering everyone wanted him their own special way. It was hard to take on all the pressures of the world always tied up into Sarah and maybe if he let her go, he could move on.

“If you go in there and see her get married to someone else,” she began in a small whisper looking around seeing all the other people talking to each other as she reached up to caress his shoulder gently. “If you go and see this--you can probably pull your head out of your ass so to speak.”

“You’re right,” Diego agreed with her in a small whisper seeing her look up at him almost confused by his admission before moving forward and fixing his suit jacket. “If I go in there and try to go through with this, I can move on. I hope I can move on because I’m tired of living this kind of life. I’m tired of always be stuck in the wrong when I was just following my heart. Well now, my heart is telling me that I have to be the person I used to be. I have to change and today is the day to start because I can’t put up with myself anymore.”

“Alright,” Gabriella reaching out to wrap her arm around his as they walked over toward the doors. She didn’t expect him to agree so quickly, but maybe he was seeing himself for what he was truly supposed to do. Reaching over she gave his arm a small squeeze with her other hand, seeing his eyes look down at her. “Everything will be okay.”

“I hope so,” Diego inhaled deeply walking into the room only to run straight into someone feeling them place their hands on his shoulders as he slightly jumped back. “Kellen, what in the world was that for?”

“Did I scare you?” Kellen laughed seeing the way that Diego placed his hand over his chest before shaking his head slowly and moving in closer to his sister again. “I’m sorry I noticed that you weren’t really paying attention and I couldn’t help myself.”

“That’s funny,” Diego half laughed fixing his jacket once more before taking a look around the room letting out a deep sigh seeing the people before him. “So, we should probably find a seat and I…,”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kellen hushed grabbing a hold of Diego’s arm seeing the way Diego’s dark eyes stared out into his. Tugging him toward the front Kellen looked back over his shoulder at Diego and his companion. “I definitely want you in the front because I know Sarah will love seeing you.”

“Thanks a bunch Kellen,” Diego felt Kellen nearly push him into his seat before he let out a hesitant laugh. Looking over to Gabriella he offered up a small smile. “Kellen, this is my sister Gabriella.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kellen smiled reaching his hand out to hers as she accepted it and he pressed a small kiss in over the back of her hand. “I’m Kellen Meloni--it’s great to meet you.”

“So,” Diego took in a sharp breath seeing Kellen pull his hand away from hers gently before looking down at Diego. “Thanks a bunch Kellen, this is a great spot.”

“Oh sure, no problem,” Kellen eyed Diego over slowly before taking in a deep breath and thinking about Kyle. Not even Kyle, more Heather the fact that Diego played with his best friends heart like he did and he didn’t like it at all. Rolling his eyes he went to walk away taking one last glance. “Jerk.”

“Did he just saying something?” Diego questioned turning around in his seat to see if he could see what Kellen was doing only to see him walking up the isle to greet someone else. Looking over at Gabriella he went to say something else before shaking his head slowly. “I must be going crazy.”

“Maybe,” she looked back toward Kellen again seeing the way Diego did the same before turning back to look at her. “He was very polite. It’s nice to see that around here and he was kind of cute. A guy like that wouldn’t be nice back where we live.”

“Well, I don’t think you want a guy like that,” Diego stated with a small nod before shaking his head slowly. Letting out a small laugh he thought about Kellen and Kipp’s relationship before looking over at his sister. “Unless you like the people that have it out for another man. He is already taken and what him and his boyfriend have are pretty strong.”

“Oh, that’s why he was so hot,” she chuckled seeing Diego frown before shrugging his shoulders and looking away from her for a minute. Looking him over she could see the obvious nervousness behind his body as she shook her head slowly. “Diego--you need to calm down or you will never be able to pull this off.”

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

“Oh wow,” Deana walked into the church feeling Don’s arm wrap tighter around hers before leading her over toward some of the seats. Pausing she took a moment to look around the area before taking in a deep breath, seeing Don’s blue eyes staring down at her. “This looks really cool.”

“Yeah, it looks amazing,” Don agreed staring out at all the candles that were set up and the way it brightened up the room. Nodding over toward an empty corner Don let out a nervous breath and led her away from the ground of people. “I don’t like being in the middle of crowds.”

“You don’t? You could have fooled me all these years,” she chuckled seeing him shrug his shoulders before looking up toward the ceiling to look at the painting that’s were up there. Reaching out to gently hit him in the shoulder playfully she saw his gaze meet hers. “I know you love to be in the center of a big group, so why are you getting worried now?”

“I don’t know,” Don shook off the feeling he was having looking around the room carefully. Placing his hand over his stomach he looked into her brown eyes and took in a deep breath. “Something just doesn’t feel right today. I feel like something big is going to happen.”

“Did you ever think that maybe you were thinking about Shannon?” she questioned standing in next to him to look out at the people and giving him a small nudge to the ribs. Seeing him shrug his shoulders she reached out to give his hand a small squeeze. “Do you remember what your wedding was like to her?”

“I honestly have no idea, I was drunk. Sometimes I will remember a little blurb of everything that happened, but currently I still have no idea what it was like,” Don admitted truthfully before leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. Just at the thought of Shannon Don couldn’t help but feel a little bad considering he promised her everything and ended up with nothing in response. “Enough about me, what about you? What do you want your wedding to be like?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders seeing his blue eyes open back up and stare out at her. Thinking about it for a bit she still couldn’t think of something. “I don’t know Don, it’s something that I’m kind of unclear about. I don’t think I’ve found the perfect guy yet, so that makes it a little hard.”

“You haven’t found the perfect guy yet?” Don eyed her over carefully before biting down on his bottom lip and inhaling deeply. Reaching out to nudge her gently she shrugged her shoulders and looked away from him for a moment. “I bet you thought Grady was the perfect guy until recently.”

“Well to tell you the truth, the first time I met him--I thought he was a complete jerk. I actually thought Kyle was really cute,” Deana looked over to Don seeing him roll his eyes before shaking his head slowly. “Honestly, there is nothing wrong with having a crush on a cute and polite guy.”

“Polite? Kyle Houston, polite?” Don chuckled to himself thinking about all the times they had faced off in the past and Don placed his hand in over his chest. “He has a very polite fist if you know what I mean.”

“Don,” Deana half chuckled seeing his blue eyes stare down at hers as she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Seeing him frown she turned away from him knowing that he must have meant something else, but the way he said it made it sound so dirty. “You have no idea how bad that sounded.”

“Wait, what?” Don thought about it for a moment before his lip wrinkled in disgust and he shook his head over and over again holding his hands up in the air. “No. No, no. I would never ever--no. You are so gross kid, honestly. What I meant is he hits you really hard and of course I come right back and…don’t you dare take that wrong. I swear.”

“Hey,” Deana held her hands up in the air holding in the feeling of laughing as she took in a sharp breath. Seeing him frowning before her she bit down on her bottom lip and closed her eyes trying to avoid laughing. “Okay, I’m done.”

“Yeah, right,” Don let out a small laugh of his own before seeing her look up at him and nod slowly before letting out a small chuckle. “So, you were telling me the story about Grady before you turned completely disgusting.”

“Oh right. I was just saying I thought he was a jerk and then I got to know him--well I thought I got to know him better. I really thought he was different than the rest,” she took in a sharp breath looking down toward the ground before shaking her head slowly. “I guess I was wrong.”

“You weren’t the one at fault kiddo,” Don hushed her reaching out to wrap his arms around her tightly, pressing a small kiss against her forehead. His eyes looked up for a moment as he caught the angry glance of a pair of green eyes staring out at him as he held Deana. “Speaking of Grady.”

“What?” Deana moved away slowly taking a look over at Grady seeing the angered glance behind his eyes as he shook his head slowly and clenched his fists at his sides. “Oh, that figures.”

“He doesn’t look too happy,” Don pointed out seeing the anger build up behind Grady’s expressions before he looked down to Deana seeing her almost looking upset. “You should go talk to him.”

“No,” she shook her head reaching out to grab his hand leading him over toward the seats. Feeling his hand give hers a small squeeze she shrugged her shoulders not knowing what to say. “I just want to go to our seats.”

“Then we’ll go to our seats,” Don once again hushed her nodding toward the place they had planned on sitting. Seeing her look back at him hesitantly he took in a sharp breath. “Don’t worry about it, I understand.”

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

“So what happened with you and Kevin?” Brant questioned looking over at Angela as he drove seeing her look out the window before he reached out to turn the radio off. “Did he do something to you? If he did, I swear to god…,”

“He didn’t do anything wrong, Brant it’s okay,” Angela replied looking over at him with her dark eyes as she let out a small sigh. “We just talked a little bit and then he got a little worked up over some of the things. I’m sorry he threw you out like that.”

“It just scared me,” Brant reached out and placed his hand in over her knee before giving it a small rub. Looking back toward the road he shrugged his shoulders and watched her look back away from him. “I honestly thought with the way he was acting he could have hurt you.”

“I think the only person he hurt was himself,” Angela added into the conversation when she thought to how he was talking about their daughter that had passed away. There were so many times that she thought about what it would be like to have her, but yet she didn't know that Kevin thought about it way more than she ever did. “I guess I kind of feel bad for him that’s all.”

“I would have felt bad for him too if he did something more with you,” he pointed out with a small nod seeing her frown over at him as he shrugged his shoulders reaching out to turn the radio back on. “I’m just saying honey, I didn’t trust him alone with you while he was drunk. It just didn’t seem right to let him in there when he seemed so upset.”

“He’ll be alright. Are we almost there?” she questioned seeing Brant look over at her before nodding slowly. Taking in a small breath she looked back out the window and thought back to the past when her and Kevin were still together.

“Oh, what about moving this here?” Kevin’s voice echoed through her ears as she remembered the day they were setting up the nursery for the baby. “I want to be able to see her when she is sleeping, but I don’t want this to be in the way of the closet.”

“Kevin, I’m sure we can always move the chair,” she pointed out seeing him frown and set the chair down before shrugging his shoulders. “Honestly Kev, we have people that are going to help us out with all of this. You know Cameron knows about this, so why don’t you trust him while we set all of this up at your house.”

“Angie, I know I’m young, but I still know I want to make some decisions on my own here. Anyway, we need to look like we know what we‘re doing when we tell your father,” Kevin smirked running his fingers through his short hair as he took in a deep breath. Motioning her to follow him he walked back into the bedroom and he sat down on the edge of the bed reaching his hands out to hers as she came and sat next to him. “You know, have you thought about the future yet?”

“Of course,” she nodded feeling him squeeze her hand in his as she reached out to touch his soft cheek feeling him leaning into her touch. “I think about it all the time, every chance I have in fact.”

“So have you thought about this whole school thing and you wanting to be a doctor?” Kevin questioned reaching out to push a piece of hair behind her ear as Angela’s dark eyes met his and he simply shrugged his shoulders. “I can stay home with her and I’m sure your dad would give me some time off you know once we tell him about everything. While you go to school, I don’t mind staying home.”

“Let’s just not worry about it right now,” she placed her fingers in over his lips seeing him smirk before grabbing her hand in his. “We have some more important things to think about right now. You know, things like the name of the baby.”

“Oh man, that’s the hardest part,” he pointed out seeing Angela shrug her shoulders before he took in a deep breath and turned more on the bed to look out at her. “Well, I don’t know. I’m not very good with these whole names thing. I want her to have a good name, not one that she is going to hate me for her whole life because we gave her the name. I want it to be out of the ordinary you know. Nothing like Ashley or Nicole. Something that could have a couple of nicknames when it gets down to it.”

“So, what do you have in mind?” Angela watched him shrug his shoulders and look down at the bed as she frowned and moved in closer to him. Curling her fingers in over the back of his neck she saw his brown eyes meet hers as she moved forward to press a small kiss up against his lips. “You have to have something picked out in that sexy head of yours.”

“I want you to be able to choose too,” Kevin stated with a small smile as he moved his hand in over her stomach caressing it gently. Feeling a small movement against his hand Kevin smiled widely, looking up into Angela’s dark glance. “I think I’m getting used to this whole thing Angie, I know you are probably going to want to kill me when you are going to be in labor, but I can’t wait to be a father. I don’t care if people think I’m too young and I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I’m just really excited.”

“Me too honey because I know I am going to spend the rest of my life with the father of my child,” Angela smiled moving in for another kiss as Kevin moved forward and wrapped his arm around her waist tightly. “We just really have to work on that name.”

“I know,” Kevin whispered against her lips before feeling her tugging at the bottom of his shirt and he lifted his arms up and let her pull if off of him. Feeling her fingers moving in over his abdomen he let out a small hiss feeling her touching his bruised rib. “That still kind of hurts.”

“I honestly don’t know why you are still boxing for my father,” she frowned moving forward to kiss him again as Kevin’s hand grabbed a hold of hers. “Once we have this baby, you are never doing that again.”

“I know honey, I promise I will be done with it. Your dad is just counting on me when I’m the champ and…,” Kevin went to say more only to feel her press her index finger over his lips to silence him. Feeling her arms move in around his neck Kevin let out a small breath and frowned. “I’m sorry, I promise. Once this baby is born, I promise I will never box again.”

“Good,” she smiled moving in to steal another kiss from his lips before moving her hands in over his chest and caressing his skin gently. Looking down between them she bit down on her bottom lip as he reached out to caress her cheek gently. “If you think about even continuing I’ll have to punish you for it.”

“Punish me? Well then I guess it’s the right time to tell you that I’m thinking I’m really going to miss it,” Kevin added his eyebrows arching up waiting for her response as she moved her fingers in over the strings in his pajama pants and pulled out the knots. Feeling her move in to kiss him again making him lean back against the bed he couldn’t help but tease, moving his arm in around her bottom. “What do you think about Agnes? I think it sounds like an interesting name that no one else would use often.”

“Agnes? Okay Kevin, no way,” she poked him in the center of the chest hearing him let out a small laugh before she moved her hand in over the elastic of his navy blue pajama pants. “Maybe would should name her after your mother or something. Maybe her middle name--we could always do something like that.”

“I love my mother Angie,” Kevin began taking in a deep breath and thinking it over before shaking his head slowly. Seeing Angela stand up from the bed he rested his weight up on his elbows as he shook his head slowly. “But rest her soul, I don’t think any teenager would want a name like that. It might have some nice nicknames, but…,”

“Well I like it,” she silenced him seeing him nod slowly before taking in a deep breath. Gently tugging the material down his body she grabbed a hold of it and threw it to the side seeing his dark eyes staring out into hers. “It’s something to think about.”

“If it will make you feel better, I’ll think about it,” Kevin smirked reaching out to grab her hand and pull her down to the bed gently. Getting in over her he pushed back her long, dark hair moving in for another kiss as he felt her arch up into him. “Right now, I just want to think about you.”


“What are you thinking about?” Brant questioned catching Angela out of the daze as he reached out with his right hand to grasp hers gently. “You look upset about something. What is it?”

“No, I was just thinking about Kevin that’s all,” Angela informed him with a deep sigh seeing the way his dark eyes glanced over at her as she shrugged her shoulders. “I was just thinking about him and when he gets upset. You never know what he is going to do.”

“Want to tell me about it?” Brant offered up seeing her shrug her shoulders before taking in a deep breath. “If not, I’m okay with that. Just let me know if there is anything you want to talk about because I will be right here.”

“I know and I appreciate that,” Angela squeezed Brant’s hand in hers a little harder as she took in a deep breath and looked down to her stomach. She wanted to so much to have this family with Brant now that it hurt her to even think that this could happen to her newfound family. Just seeing Kevin made her feel bad about everything thing that had happened between them and their baby. She was about to have the family she always wanted while Kevin was alone and hurting.

“Kevin?” Angela yawned turning over in the bed reaching out to where she thought she would find Kevin only to feel the cool sheets next to her as she slowly moved up and looked around the room. Stepping out of the bed Angela looked down the hallway wondering where he went as she took in a deep breath. “Kevin?”

Looking down the hallway she saw that the door to the nursery was open and a small light was flickered on as she moved over toward the room and looked inside.

“Kevin,” she whispered his name seeing him motionless before her and he wouldn’t even look her in the eyes. Watching him closely she saw that he was holding the teddy bear he first bought for his daughter when he found out she had gotten pregnant. His chin was resting against it‘s head as his chocolate eyes stared out blankly. “Kevin honey, it’s late.”

“I’m not tired,” Kevin replied still not even looking up at her as he stared out at the crib they had set up not long ago before she lost the baby. “Just go to bed Angie, you need your rest.”

“And so do you Kevin,” she moved in closer to him and getting down on her knees. Reaching out to touch his bare arm she looked at the bandage that was over his chest and frowned. “Kevin, you’re bleeding again. The doctors said you needed rest and…,”

“I got a bullet in my chest Angela, I don’t have the flu,” Kevin snapped seeing her look away from him as he frowned and held on more tightly to the bear. “Listen, I’m sorry it’s just...”

“Just what?” she questioned sitting in closer to him as he shook his head and closed his eyes leaning his chin more in against the teddy bear. Reaching out she touched his rough cheek and she saw the way he still didn’t move. “Kevin, we need to talk about this. You can’t stay locked up and away from me all the time.”

“I’m sorry, I just…,” Kevin went to say something more before feeling a lump catch in his throat and he shook his head slowly feeling his eyes burn over. “I’m so sorry Angie, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I failed you and I never meant to. Our daughter is gone now because of my dumb mistake and I’m sorry. I should have stayed home, but now because of me she is gone and there is nothing I can do about it. I want her back so bad Angie, I want her back.”

“This wasn’t your fault Kevin, it just happened,” she whispered seeing him look over at her with tears behind his eyes as he shook his head slowly. “Craven tricked you and tried to kill you--you should be thankful the bullet didn’t hit your heart and that you are okay.”

“Why should I be thankful? I would rather be dead than not have my daughter here with me?” Kevin muttered shaking his head over and over again before taking in a sharp breath. “I can’t believe she’s gone Angie--there were so many things…,”

“Come here,” Angela reached out to Kevin wrapping her arms around him tightly as he rested his head against her shoulder. She felt his body shaking in her arms and heard his sobs as she bit back her own tears. “It wasn’t your fault Kevin, it wasn’t your fault.”


Shaking her head slowly Angela tried to believe that somehow that memory didn’t affect her anymore but it did. The thoughts of what her daughter would have ended up like always haunted her and she wished she could go back in time and try to change the way things ended up, but she knew she couldn’t.

“Hey you,” Brant pulled into a parking spot pulling out his keys before turning in his seat to look at her. Reaching out to grab her hands in his he offered up a small nod. “I just want to let you know that we might run into my ex and if that does happen, I just want you to take it easy. Are you going to be okay with everything?”

“Of course I am,” Angela took in a sharp breath moving forward to place a quick kiss over his lips. Moving her hands up in the air she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m ready for this you have nothing to worry about.”

“Good,” Brant half smiled looking over at Angela before thinking back to Avery and shaking his head slowly. There were so many ways he wanted to warn her about Avery, but somehow he couldn’t. It was a good thing she was ready because he knew he sure as hell wasn’t. “I’m glad you’re ready.”

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

“So how are you feeling?” Avery couldn’t help but ask looking over to Kevin once they were seated inside the church. She looked around at all the decorations and thought back to her own wedding to Russ remembering how beautiful and magical it seemed. This time of year was always something that had her thinking about romance and the joys she felt in becoming his wife--only the wedding hadn’t been legal. However, that wasn’t the issue at hand today, she reminded herself thinking about the pain Kevin had been in when he’d arrived at her home. No doubt he was stewing over his break up with Ria and being in such an environment couldn’t be helping the way he felt.

“I’m okay,” he admitted in a low, smooth tone while Erin was seated on his lap, “I guess being here is helping.”

“Is it really?” Avery questioned her warm brown eyes turning to face him fully all the while knowing that he had to be thinking about Ria.

“Okay, so maybe it’s not as good as being here with Ria, but I adore Erin,” Kevin turned his attention to the little girl in his lap, “She’s beautiful you know.”

“I know,” Avery couldn’t help but smile down at Erin, “She takes after her father in so many ways.”

“Oh I don’t know. I see a lot of you in her,” Kevin confessed with a thoughtful expression, “She’s got your nose and your smile and…”

“You really think so?” Avery leaned in closer to him turning her attention to her daughter, “I just see so much of Russ in her.”

“Yeah I can see it too, but she’s beautiful just like you are,” he tipped his head to the side realizing that her hand was on his shoulder as she watched her daughter. She was reaching out for Erin, using Kevin to stabilize her in her lean. Kevin felt a moment of heat rush over him before he corrected himself, “I mean you’re both beautiful.”

“Well thank you,” Avery glanced up at him with a warm, welcoming expression, “We both think you’re pretty beautiful yourself.”

“Thanks,” Kevin offered up a goofy grin before his thoughts returned to Ria, “though I have to tell you I wish Ria thought half as highly of me today as Erin does. I just don’t know how I’m going to get through to her.”

“You’ll be able to do it,” Avery patted his shoulder gently, “I’m sure of it. All you have to do is just talk to her. Explain what really happened and I’m sure she’ll come around.”

“Would you?” Kevin questioned curiously seeing surprise behind her eyes. “Would you come around if it was Russ?”

“You mean if I saw Russ kissing another woman?” she replied giving him a look.

“Yeah, I mean how would you feel,” Kevin tossed out at her casually realizing that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea considering what he knew about Russ and Angela.

“Honestly,” Avery sucked in a small breath tearing her eyes away from him, “I would be upset for a while, but sooner or later I would talk to Russ and see what was really going on.”

“But you’d never get over it, would you?” he searched her features for a reaction, “Even if he told you it was innocent it would still eat away at you. Even if the circumstances were beyond his control…”

“You say that like you’re preparing me for something,” she couldn’t help but give him a strange look, “Kevin, is there something you want me to know?”

“No, but I’m just saying,” he shrugged his shoulders, “Ria just saw what she perceived to be the worst and it really wasn’t like that.”

“Well,” Avery paused contemplating her words for a long moment, “Russ and I had a situation a long time ago where I thought the worst and I acted a lot like Ria. I ran off and did some really stupid things. I made some bad choices and it wound up causing Russ and I to lose some time with one another.”

“How so?” Kevin couldn’t help but ask her.

“Let’s just say it was something where I don’t know how I would have felt had I not wound up pregnant with Erin,” Avery admitted shifting on her seat. “I mean looking back it wasn’t at all what I thought it was once I learned the truth about my mother, but at the time I was so hurt. I hated what I thought happened and I probably would have left Russ and not looked back if I wasn’t pregnant.”

“So you’re saying that when you found out you were pregnant it changed what you were feeling?” Kevin noted seeing something pass over her face.

“Yeah it changed everything for me,” she nodded in confession reaching out to touch Erin’s tiny fingers, “but she saved us in so many ways. My mother did so many things to try to make me leave Russ. She put so many obstacles in front of us and they almost worked, but somehow we were able to get beyond the lies she put in front of us at the time. If I had let go of Russ back then it would’ve been the biggest mistake of my life because he’s the only man I have ever truly loved in my life. Yes, I mean I was married to Brant, but what I had with him was nothing like I have with Russ. He’s everything to me and I can’t imagine my life without him. I love him.”

“And he loves you,” Kevin added thinking about how Russ and Avery were obviously able to overcome the odds that were thrown at him. Sitting up straighter in his chair he wondered if he and Ria would be able to have the same kind of fate ahead of them. He could only hope it would turn out with a happy ending for him and Ria now that Chris had done his best to take their future away from them.

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

“So you ready for this,” Russ questioned walking up to stand beside his brother near the front of the church. “This is a pretty big day isn’t it?”

“Bigger than you know,” Grady admitted with a nervous grin looking around the church knowing full well he couldn’t ignore the fact that he’d just seen Deana arrive with Don.

“Hey, you know it’s going to be okay,” Russ patted his brother on the back, “You know I’m sure you can go over there and talk to her if you feel like it might help.”

“I don’t think it’s going to help especially not now,” Grady sighed heavily, “I mean after everything, I just don’t think she’s going to listen to what I have to say.”

“That seems to be going around a lot today,” Russ noted thinking about the situation Kevin had found himself in. “But you know maybe you might find that things won’t turn out how you expect.”

“Believe me I can think of a few thousand scenarios that would take place after I walk over there,” Grady noted with an air of skepticism carrying over him.

“Yes and knowing you they are all the worst case that won’t happen anyways,” Russ tried to encourage his brother once again, “Go and talk with her. The worst that could happen is that she tells you to get lost and even then I highly doubt that’s going to happen. In fact from where I stand it looks like she wants to talk to you.”

“I highly doubt that,” Grady eyed Deana once again seeing her look away upon their making eye contact with one another, “I think I blew it big time with her Russ.”

“Why?” Russ couldn’t help but ask, “What could you have possibly done that was so awful that you two would break up like you have?”

“It’s a very long story and one I really don’t want to get into today,” Grady tried to deflect his brother’s question without adding any further deceptions into the situation than he already had. “Let’s just say she has pretty good reason to be mad at me right now.”

“So why not give her an even bigger reason to want to make up with you again,” Russ nudged his brother in the ribs, “Come on. You know you want to.”

“So what if I do,” Grady shrugged once more, “Right now I have a job to do and in being the best man I can’t walk away from that responsibility.”

“I’m sure Kyle would forgive you for taking a few minutes to pull your personal life back together,” Russ added glancing around the church, “Speaking of Kyle, where did he drift off to?”

“Honestly you don’t want to know,” Grady muttered under his breath thinking about the show that was about to take place in front of Kyle and Sarah’s friends and family so to speak.

“What?” Russ replied looking over to his brother once again.

“Nothing,” Grady shrugged his shoulders, “let’s just say that today is going to be one day that no one will ever forget--especially not Sarah. That much I‘m sure of!”

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

“So I gave Ria the tape and I’m assuming things worked out just like I was hoping for,” Michelle purred, a smile licking over her lips as she looked across the table at Chris.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered with a heavy air of sarcasm, “it worked out great considering that Kevin came over to my place to beat my face in because of it.”

“Oh Kevin will get worked up,” Michelle waved her hand at him dismissively, “He always does when things don’t work out his way, but sooner or later he’ll see that he was making a mistake in thinking that he could just move on with a little twit like Ria. She has no idea just what kind of man he really is and she doesn’t know the first thing about treating him right.”

“This coming from a woman that gave him more grief than any man should’ve deserved,” Chris noted taking a sip of his beer. He set it back down on the table top to look at her with a weary expression.

“You had better watch your words wisely or else you might find yourself on the receiving end of my wrath Chris,” she leaned in across the table tapping her nails on the table top, “and believe me that’s something that I am certain you will wish you hadn’t had happen to you. It could get ugly, very ugly, but then again I’m sure you know where I could go considering you’re well aware of my, how should I put this, tortured relationship with Kevin.”

“Hey, he was dumb enough to marry you,” Chris shuddered at the thought, “but I on the other hand have other goals in mind.”

“Like destroying Brant Ashford,” she nodded feeling a small laugh build up in the back of her throat. She sipped her drink again and sighed, “It’s amazing to see what a pain someone like that can be considering that he seems so irrelevant. His brother on the other hand was an incredible push over and I came so close to having him where I wanted him.”

“Where would that be exactly? In the ground in a coffin or in the poor house when you cleaned out his bank account?” Chris questioned feeling his old sarcastic nature still bursting from the surface.

Michelle shrugged, “Either option would’ve worked for me because I would’ve ended up with millions upon millions of dollars, but now, well now I’m going to have to find a new way to get what I deserve.”

“You’d better watch how you put that. If the wrong person hears you talking like that they are going to have an entirely different notion about what you deserve from what it is that you think you deserve,” Chris added with a tiny chuckle, “Although it would be interesting to see what someone else has in mind for you considering that…”

“That you’re in this one with me,” she cut him off abruptly, her dark eyes narrowing at him with malicious intent, “You helped to put the wheels in motion here and if we get things turning in our favor, then we will both get what we want. I’ll be able to pay Brant back for ruining my life and you…”

“Will find a way to keep Angel from ruining her life with a loser like Brant,” Chris noted leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs out. “Of course naturally Angel won’t be happy at first, but when she realizes how I rescued her and saved her from a lifetime of misery…”

“What is it with you men?” Michelle wrinkled her nose at him, “What is it exactly that makes Angela Stone such a hot topic for you?” her frown intensified bringing out the small lines in her face that she’d fought against time to contain. “I mean with the way you all chase her around, you’d think that she would be something special, but there isn’t anything I have seen about her that leads me to believe there is any truth in that idea where she is concerned.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Chris explained with a matter of fact tone.

“Why?” she questioned.

“Because, well it’s hard to explain,” Chris struggled to find the words.

“And just why is that?” she arched a curious brow.

“Well it’s because you’re…well you’re,” Chris stammered again waving his hand around in the air in front of her motioning in her general direction.

“Bored?” she offered up trying to help him with an answer, “Not a member of her fan club?”

“Because you’re a woman,” Chris finally blurted out, “It’s not easy to explain these things to a woman simply because women don’t understand.”

“Ah, so it’s all about sex,” Michelle noted with a small chuckle. She shook her head causing her long, blonde hair to frame her face again with the movement, “Yeah that’s usually what it comes down to with men these days. It’s unfortunate, but you just don’t have the ability to think with both the heads that God gave you.”

“I’ll have you know that I can think quite clearly with both heads at the same time,” Chris corrected with a huff before catching her look of disbelief. He shifted in his chair uneasily, “It’s just when Angel is around I happen to find one is dictating the other around a bit more passionately than at most times.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she groaned inwardly before finishing off her drink, “though I have to be honest when I tell you that I really don’t believe that she’s that great. I mean if she was so wonderful, then her husband wouldn’t have been so bored with her and Kevin, well hey he’s a sucker for a lost cause.”

“That explains a lot,” he quipped under his breath watching her glare at him, “I mean with everything he’s got going on now. Not with you--never with you…no not at all.”

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes before waving her hand at him dismissively, “quite honestly right now I don’t even want to talk about Angela unless of course it’s about our next step in our plan to annihilate Brant and ruin his life piece by piece.”

“Now that is certainly one plan that I could easily find myself latching onto,” Chris perked up at the mention of destroying Brant. He rubbed his hands together and leaned in over the table, “So tell me what’s next on the agenda? Hopefully it doesn’t include my getting beat up by Kevin again because I really wasn’t too fond of that one considering that…”

“Oh no this time we’ll go straight for the kill. This time Brant will be the target and by the time we’re finished with him, he won’t know what hit him,” Michelle promised ready to unleash her anger on the one man who had kept her from reaching her ultimate goal of the high life of fame and fortune. Oh yes no matter what it took Michelle was certain that she was about to tear Brant’s world apart in ways he never dreamt possible.

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

“I really don’t think Kyle will be that upset if I didn’t show up,” Ria pointed out knowing that in coming here she would most likely have to face Kevin. Moving in behind Seth she heard him let out a small laugh and turn to face her grabbing her hands in his. “I’m serious, I don’t need to be here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Seth hushed her reaching out to place his right hand over her lips gently before seeing her dark eyes looking up into his. “Blake is standing up in the wedding and I need someone to keep me company. Don’t leave me now.”

“Okay, but I am only staying for you,” Ria stated clearly as he nodded slowly and smiled grabbing her hand in his tightly before motioning her to follow him in toward the people. “Remember this is just for you.”

“I know,” he nodded slowly motioning her to step in closer to only see her stop in the middle of the isle. Looking toward the spot her brown eyes were staring at he saw Kevin holding Erin in his arms talking to Avery. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” she watched Kevin laughed and lean in closer to her before pressing a small kiss in over Erin’s forehead. She watched Kevin smile and nudge Avery gently before she went to turn away and leave before Seth grabbed a hold of her and tugged her over toward a seat to the left. “I can’t be here right now Seth. He is obviously here with Avery having a good time. I don’t need to be here.”

“Yes you do,” Seth pulled her back down to the seat placing his hand over her knee seeing the way she looked over at Kevin as he motioned her to look up at him. “I know my cousin.”

“Your cousin is a player,” she pointed out seeing the way he looked down at her with his brown eyes. Ria covered her eyes uneasily before taking in a deep breath. “Kevin isn’t a good guy Seth. He takes a woman’s heart and crushes it into pieces when he finally has a strong grip on it.”

“I really don’t see that as the truth at all Ria,” Seth pointed out seeing her look over at him with a small frown as he shook his head slowly and placed his hand in over hers lightly. “I know my cousin loves you. Kevin loves you and only you. Look at that ring Ria, you should know that he loves you.”

“Seth…,” she took in a deep breath seeing him look down at her with his dark eyes almost begging her to try and think about it as she pushed her long dark hair back slowly. “I’ve tried to think about that.”

Looking over at Kevin sitting with Avery she took in a deep breath and saw the way he smiled. Every time she saw him smile she couldn’t help but smile herself seeing his dimples appear and his nose wrinkle every time something made him laugh. There were so many moments she spent with him where she thought forever meant something to them.

“I can’t believe you brought me back here,” Ria could still remember the way her and Kevin sat out on the beach they had once spent a lot of their time at when they were younger. “I don’t think I would have ever come back here if not for you.”

“Well it’s a good thing I brought you back here then,” Kevin whispered gently nudging her in the arm as she smiled reaching out to grab his hand in hers tightly. “You actually want to know why I brought you back here?”

“Yeah,” she nodded seeing him smile as he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a small kiss in over back of her hand gently before squeezing her fingers in his. “I want to hear what you are going to come up with.”

“You think it’s going to end up turning out pathetic, don’t you?” Kevin half smiled seeing the way that she looked over at him as he shrugged his shoulders and looked down toward the sand pushing at some of it with his work boots. “I came here because this is the place my heart was always full.”

Turning to face her slowly Kevin reached out to grab both of her hands in hers giving them a small squeeze before reaching up with his right hand to push a piece of hair behind her ear gently.

“From when I was younger, I could always remember loving this place. Starting from the first time you tried to drown me in this water,” Kevin let out a small laugh as she chuckled and looked down toward the ground. “I believe that was because you thought I cheated at the race or something like that--which I did not do by the way.”

“Yes you did, but that’s okay,” she chuckled seeing him frown before offering up a bright wide smile and shake his head slowly. “You so did cheat Kevin, I could always beat you and some how you won.”

“I was just lucky, I figured that maybe if I won you might give me a prize kiss,” he pointed out his eyebrows tensing together as he shrugged his shoulders and looked down toward the ground. “Which I never got, but that push under the water was strong enough to send my heart into a whirlwind making me fall even harder for you.”

Moving his thumb in over the side of her face he saw her look out at him, her eyes reflecting from the stars that were shining brightly around them. Moving in closer to her he took in a deep breath and looked down between them.

“What I guess I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry,” Kevin saw her stare out at him like she was almost confused and he took in a deep breath shaking his head slowly. “I took you for granted you were my everything Ria and I never really let you know that. I would have never given you up for anything, but I was so stupid the day before I left.”

“What are you talking about?” Ria questioned placing her hand over his as he took in a deep breath and looked down toward the ground. “If you are talking about my mother, that wasn’t you. You were young and…,”

“And I was stupid,” Kevin blurted out seeing her dark eyes staring out into his as he shook his head. Moving his hands back he rested them against the back of his neck. “You meant so much to me, but when we almost made love and she walked in. I believed the words you said, but I was stupid because you were my everything. This will sound kind of tacky, but every day when I was younger I would think about you every night. You were the reason I wanted to wake up because I knew I would see your face. When I moved away and heard from Seth that you left for college, my heart was broken. Not because you were growing up but more because I was too dumb to try and stop you. I knew you were leaving and I should have come back and told you how much I loved you. I was just an idiot and I was too scared. Too scared to be in love, but you were my everything and you are the only one who makes me whole. I’m a broken man without you and I know now that you are actually the person worth waking up for.”

Feeling her reach out to grab his hand in hers tightly she saw him bite down on his bottom lip before taking in a deep breath and shaking his head slowly.

“When I lost my daughter, I thought I would be stuck in the dark my whole life, but with you--I have a whole new light. You pulled me out of the darkness and I don’t know what I would do without you,” Kevin moved forward curling his fingers in around the back of her neck, pressing a small kiss in over her lips. “I love you Ria Merhan with everything that I am and that is never going to change. I don’t even think I deserve you. I feel lucky that I even have you.”

“I feel lucky to have you too,” she whispered leaning into another kiss from him, feeling a bit of urgency behind his kiss as she gently pushed at the center of his chest. Seeing the confusion behind his eyes as he stared out at her she took in a deep breath and smiled. “I still think I could beat you in that race though.”

“Oh you so can’t,” Kevin shook his head moving in to kiss her again before feeling her push him back as his eyebrows tensed together. “Honestly Ria, come on. I won that race fair and square.”

“I still think I can beat you,” she shook her head slowly standing up from the sand seeing the way he looked up at her with a small frown. “I think that was just a fluke and I want a rematch.”

“A rematch?” Kevin chuckled getting up slowly before looking down at himself and shaking his head slowly. Tugging at his jersey lightly he shook his head slowly. “Somehow I don’t think I am in the proper clothing for a rematch. I’m in jeans and a baseball jersey and somehow…,”

“Take them off,” she started to unbutton her shirt slowly before seeing his eyes widen as she motioned him to do the same. “I am not leaving this beach until we have a rematch.”

“If you are so worried about doing this,” Kevin grabbed a hold of his jersey and pulled it over his head before folding it up carefully and setting it down on the sand. Pulling apart the buckle on his belt he slowly undid it and threw his belt to the ground. “You seriously want to do this.”

“Of course I do,” she nodded quickly setting her pants down on the ground seeing the way that Kevin was staring out at her as she poked him in the chest roughly seeing the way he let out a small laugh. “Don’t get any bad thoughts, we are going to have this race.”

“I never said we weren’t,” Kevin held his hands up in the air for a moment before letting out a small laugh kicking off his work boots and then pulling the zipper down on his jeans. Seeing her eyes watch him carefully he turned away from her looking over his shoulder at her. “You told me not to have bad thoughts, so why are you?”

“I am so not having bad thoughts,” Ria blurted out seeing Kevin pull his jeans down slowly before kicking out of them. Turning toward her Kevin fixed the waistband of his boxers before letting out a tight breath. “Are you ready to race or are you going to hold out longer and make more excuses”

“I’m ready,” Kevin nodded motioning her to wait a second as he pulled his necklace off and threw it on top of his clothes before nodding slowly. “So where are the boundaries.”

“The shore and down to the deck like always,” she informed him seeing him smile and nod slowly as they started off at the spot they did when they were younger. “Count of three. One, two, three.”

Seeing Kevin take off she tried to catch up with him diving into the water and taking a look over at him swimming before she ducked her head down and paid attention to her speed and tried to win the race. Looking up she saw the deck and moved faster kicking her feet a bit quicker before reaching out and grabbing the deck.

“Yes, I beat you Kevin,” Ria boasted looking out in the water ready to shove her defeat in Kevin’s face as she stared out to look for Kevin seeing no movement at all. “Kevin, come on where are you? This isn’t funny.”

Seeing no movement in the water still she began to worry knowing that no one could stay under water that whole time she had been looking for him. Maybe he got hurt or got pulled down by something.

“Kevin, can you hear me?” Ria called out looking around the area before her, feeling her heart skip a beat as she looked out at the water again. A gasp fell from her lips as she felt a sharp tug at her legs making her go underneath the water and she was ready to kick to the top until she felt a pair of lips press in over hers underneath the water. Once rising back to the top she brought her palm forward and hit Kevin in the chest hearing him let out a small laugh. “You scared me you jerk.”

“I’m sorry baby,” Kevin moved forward pushing back his wet hair as he swam out a little away from her as she followed him and he let out a small laugh. “I guess you beat me which means I’m not worthy of you. You’re better than me and…,”

“You’re damn right I’m better than you,” Ria moved forward quickly pressing her hands in over his head making him dunk beneath the water as she felt his hand grab a hold of her hips as she held him down before letting him back up. “You deserved that.”

“What was that for?” Kevin chuckled before shaking his head slowly and taking in a deep breath splashing some water at her and she splashed him back. “You know, I let you win and that’s how you treat me?”

“You so did not let me win,” she splashed water back at him again seeing him block his face and let out a small laugh. Swimming closer to him in the water she pushed into his shoulders letting out a small breath. “I won fair and square.”

“Baby, I was waiting underneath the deck when you got here,” Kevin swam in closer to her leaning in to kiss her before she placed her hand over his face and shook her head slowly. “Baby come on. I was born in Hawaii and I lived there for eight years. I was born in the water--it’s not your fault.”

“Kevin, no,” she ordered seeing him go in for a kiss again before she turned away from him hearing him swim in closer to her. “I don’t believe you now.”

“Ria,” Kevin frowned moving in behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist, pressing a small kiss in over her shoulder gently. “If you want to have like a rematch or something we can. Like, the lets see who can hold their breath the longest under water or something.”

“Fine, you’re on,” she saw Kevin laugh when she turned to look at him seeing the way his brown eyes stared out at her. She motioned him to go underneath and when she did she felt him grab a hold of her and pull her back up. He cupped her face in his hands as he moved in for a quick kiss, wrapping his arm around her slender waist and pulling her in against him. “What are you doing?”

“The only thing I want to be with right now is you,” Kevin leaned back long enough to run his fingers in through her wet hair. He moved back in closer to her teasing his lips in over hers before kissing her more hungrily, feeling her fingers tugging at his wet hair. Moving his hand in over her back Kevin struggled to find the clip in her bra before finally reaching it and pulling it apart. Pulling away from Ria for a moment his lips pressed in over her shoulder gently, the tender caress slowly moving down her arm as he pulled down the straps slowly. “I love you so much baby.”

“I love you too,” she muttered against his lips as he kissed her again and she let out a small breath feeling his tongue slip between her parted lips teasing her gently while he threw the rest of her clothing out of the away. “What if someone actually finds the clothes.”

“They will feel like they found a treasure,” Kevin whispered with a small laugh feeling her fingers start to push his boxers down his hips and her toes finished tugging them off before she grabbed them and threw them to the side. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Of course you do,” Ria let out a small gasp feeling his arm wrap around her waist and pull her in over his hips, bringing her legs in over his thighs. “I’m the one that doesn’t deserve you.”

“No,” Kevin pulled away taking in a sharp breath as he took in the feeling of their union and he pressed his lips in over the side of her neck. “You have no idea how wonderful you are Ria. You’re perfect and you need to see that.”

“I love you Kevin,” she pressed her lips in over his feeling his hands guiding her movements over him as she tugged at his thick hair gently. Taking in a sharp breath she bit down on her bottom lip and scratched up his back and over his shoulders. “You’re everything I want.”

“And you’re everything I need,” Kevin muttered against her lips before pulling away gently and closing his eyes tightly biting down on his bottom lip. Feeling her fingers digging into his shoulders he moved forward and pressed his lips in over hers, wrapping his right arm around her waist tightly he kept his left hand pressed in against her hips. “If I got to have you in my arms like this all the time, I would always let you win.”


“Ria?” Seth snapped his fingers noticing that she had been ignoring everything he said for the last few minutes and he saw her look down and cover her eyes. A blush developed over her features as he frowned and reached out to touch her shoulders. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Ria began taking in a deep breath still feeling a bit heated at the memory of the night her and Kevin spent together and the passion they shared. That night he told her he couldn’t live without her and now she wasn’t so sure. “I just don’t want to get hurt Seth.”

“You will only stay hurt if you don’t go tell him you love him too,” Seth began in a small smirk seeing the way she looked out at him before he nodded slowly. “I know he loves you and you sure as hell love him. Why don’t you go up there and show him that?”

“Okay, give me a minute, I just need to take a small breath and think about everything,” Ria almost brought her strength up to go talk to him until something caught her eyes. Brant and Angela walking in together and she took in a deep breath and shook her head slowly. “Never mind, now that she is here--I have no chance at catching his attention.”

“Ria come on,” Seth frowned reaching out to touch her seeing her shake her head as Seth looked between Angela and Kevin seeing Kevin playing with Erin. “That’s not even going to happen if you just talked to him…,”

“I’m not going to talk to him and that’s final,” Ria blurted out seeing Seth throw his hands up in the air and shake his head slowly before looking away from her. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, but it’s just not going to happen.”

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

Sarah took a long look at herself in the full length mirror in front of her admiring the way that her dress just seemed to make this moment all the more incredible for her. Turning to the side she took in her appearance from a new angle as she hummed the bridal march to herself. Oh yes today was going to be the day for new beginnings for sure. She would find herself married to Kyle and have finally gotten absolutely everything she deserved. Nothing was going to take away from that.

“Today all of your dreams come true,” Sarah mused to herself, a proud smile sweeping in over her when she heard a knock on the door. Spinning around she half expected to see Blake with her bouquet that she’d been waiting for, but instead she saw Diego standing before her with an astonished expression on his face.

“Hey,” he couldn’t help but smile at her appreciatively. His warm brown eyes cascaded over her and in an instant she felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. There was no denying what was happening inside of his head and though seeing him brought forth a whirlwind of sensations, she fought to contain herself.

“What are you doing here?” she questioned a bit uneasy as he took a step forward closing the gap between them ever so slightly.

“Kyle invited me,” he confessed dipping his hands into his pants pockets before looking away, “I know I probably shouldn’t be here, but I felt like we had so much left unsaid between us.”

“Diego don’t do this,” she warned a bit of worry trembling through her. She took a small step back uneasiness settling in the pit of her stomach, “Today is the day that every one of my dreams are coming true and I can’t let you take that away from me. I’ve waited my whole life for this…”

“I know you have and I’m not here to try to talk you out of doing this. It’s just I’m…” Diego’s gaze dropped to her abdomen, “I mean we’ve just got so much that we need to talk about--so many things that…”

“Diego, it’s over,” she pushed her hands to the front of her dress blocking his gaze. Her dark eyes lashed out at him as she stood taller forcing herself to do what needed to be done, “What we had never should’ve been and I’m sorry that I lead you on. The fact to the matter was that I was hurting and Kyle left me. I was lonely and…”

“And we took things too far,” he nodded in agreement bringing his hand out before thinking twice and pushing it into his pocket again. “I miss that you know.”

“Miss what?” she questioned wearily.

“Our being friends,” he openly admitted to her, “We had a really good thing going back when we used to be able to trust one another and talk to one another. I guess we kind of blew that when we…”

“We need space and distance away from one another,” she corrected her voice firm and authoritative. “I’m going to marry Kyle today and once I’m his wife I need to dedicate myself to him and our family.”

“Sarah, we both know that…” Diego started again another crease forming in his brow.

“That it was a mistake and we’re leaving it at that,” Sarah cleared her throat again before looking away from him. She focused on the mirror in front of her and started to pick at a loose strand of hair, “It’s over Diego. I hope you understand.”

“I do,” he nodded, his eyes still drawn to her. She could see him looking at her from where she stood, but she refused to acknowledge it. “I just…well, I guess I just wanted to wish you all the happiness that you deserve. That’s really all I ever wanted for you Sarah.”

“I’ll have that today when I’m Mrs. Kyle Houston,” she explained matter of fact her gaze meeting his for one lingering moment from the mirror before she focused on her own reflection once again, “You need to leave.”

“Of course,” Diego nodded opening his mouth to say something more before thinking twice of it. He walked over to the door, paused and turned to look at her one last time before walking out of the room and vowing not to let their past with one another ruin the chance at happiness that she had with Kyle.

“Good-bye Diego,” Sarah mouthed hearing him close the door behind his exit. She closed her eyes before reminding herself to stay focused again. This was what she worked so hard to have in her life and there was no way in hell that anyone was going to take it from her. Not Diego or anyone else for that matter!

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

Cameron stood outside the church thinking about the wedding that was about to take place. While he wasn’t normally one to enjoy the festivities of this town, he couldn’t help but opt to follow the curiosity that was leading him to see Sarah and Kyle become husband and wife. It was an amusing thought considering how much Cameron knew about the woman Sarah truly was. Had she not been so misguided and lost in her own direction to woo Kyle, she might’ve been someone Cameron could’ve found himself settling down with. She was cryptic, cunning, venomous--a femme fatale to the core and that was something that Cameron found exciting about her--very exciting. Sure, she had some hang ups, but she had that same determination and spirit about her that Cameron had felt himself over the years. Yes, they would’ve made a perfect match indeed.

“Tell me again why we’re here,” Valerie huffed from her place at his side. She tugged on his arm before groaning once again, “You know I really don’t like these boring weddings. They are no fun at all and you promised me a good time.”

“Something tells me that this particular wedding will be a good time,” Cameron promised, his gaze traveling across the church to where he spotted his sister on Brant’s arm.

Immediately he tensed up seeing Angela lean into Brant and whisper something into his ear. He frowned, feeling his blood boil and it was then that he made the final decision that Brant wouldn’t be able to have the opportunity to destroy Angela. It was going to end and soon because there was no way in hell that an Ashford would destroy his family. The Ashfords had taken far too much from Cameron and he’d be damned if he let them have Angela too.

“Hey,” Valerie pouted poking him in the ribs, “what is your problem? You look like you’re ready to strangle someone.”

“The thought wasn’t that far from my mind,” Cameron replied in a smooth tone trying to be casual about the war that was waging inside of him.

“Yeah well I generally feel that way in these little low class adventures,” Valerie rolled her eyes and pointed to the crowd when her eyes fixed on Seth. Immediately she perked up and a grin grew wide over her face, “On second thought maybe things aren’t so bad.”

“Is that right?” Cameron tipped his head down to see her watching Seth like a hawk. “Ah, I see your husband is here.”

“Yes he is and that bitch isn’t with him,” she noted proudly, adjusting the straps of her sexy dress before looking over at Cameron, “Perhaps I should say hello.”

“And start a fight,” Cameron shook his head, “I don’t think that is a smart idea…at least not yet.”

“He’s my husband. You can’t tell me what to do,” Valerie curled her lip at him, “You don’t own me.”

“I never claimed to,” Cameron mouthed his lip curling in a slight frown, “nor would I want to at this point.”

“That’s it. I’m going over there,” Valerie decided taking a big step forward.

“No, you aren’t,” Cameron warned her sharply, tugging on her arm and pulling her closer to him, “I have plans for today’s outcome and the last thing I need is you going over there and changing them for me. You’ll stay here until I tell you that you can leave.”

“You can’t keep me here,” she snarled up at him, agitation flashing behind her eyes.

“No, but I would strongly suggest you keep accompanying me or else you might find your cause to get back in your husband’s good graces will be futile,” Cameron warned cryptically seeing any protest she’d had planned evaporate from behind her eyes.

“Fine,” she huffed curling her arm in his, “but you’d better have something good planned for me right around the corner or else I’m going to be very upset in the future.”

“Oh trust me Valerie what I have planned,” he grinned widely leading her to a seat near the back of the church, “It’s good--very good!”

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

“You okay?” Don questioned reaching out to place his hand in over Deana’s knee as her hand moved in over his. Taking in the place around him he tried to see if he could see Grady anywhere in sight and he shook his head slowly. “I can’t see him anymore if that’s what you are worried about.”

“I don’t care if he sees me,” Deana pointed out in a sharp breath looking up to meet Don’s worried gaze as he reached out to caress her cheek gently. “I just don’t want to talk to him because I don’t even want to face him.”

“And you don’t have to,” Don hushed giving her fingers a small squeeze before looking down at his watch and inhaling deeply. Knowing what it must be like to be that uncomfortable he wasn’t going to push her toward him in any way. “Listen, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Just ignore him.”

“That’s what I plan on doing,” she informed him with a small nod closing her eyes and inhaling deeply feeling a bit confused at just thinking about Grady. Something inside of her earlier when she saw him told her to go talk to him and see him, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to doing so. “What time was this wedding supposed to start?”

“I swore it was supposed to start a little while ago,” Don answered quickly wondering the same exact thing as he glanced down on his watch pondering what it was that was making this take so long--it was just a wedding. Looking up toward the crowd he could see that it was pretty full, they couldn’t be waiting for people to arrive. He was going to mention something else until he felt a vibration going on in his pocket and he reached inside it to pull out his pager seeing that it was a hospital number. “Deana, I got to go call these people. Are you going to be okay alone for a moment?”

“Sure,” she nodded slowly taking in a deep breath seeing his blue eyes stare out at her as if he was too nervous to even think about leaving. “Work is work. That’s all that matters, I’m not going to move.”

Seeing Don nod she watched him walk away carefully and walk out of the room to go and make the call he needed to. Closing her eyes tightly she thought about the look Grady was giving her before feeling a warmth move in next to her.

“You know, if it was anyone else I would have been a little bit worried that someone was going to steal my girl,” Grady’s voice muttered as she opened her eyes and looked to the side seeing him sitting next to her a frown spread out over his features. “Since it was Don, I know you wouldn’t go for someone like that.”

“How do you know,” she questioned with a small frown leaning up more in the seat before shaking her head slowly. “I could have been with him and you would have never known. He’s a lot better looking than you are.”

“Yeah, right,” Grady rolled his eyes letting out a small laugh before reaching out to touch her seeing her pull away from him as he frowned. “I know you love me Deana--you wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Why don’t you just leave,” she suggested in an angered tone seeing the way his green eyes stared out at hers and he shook his head slowly. “I don’t want anything to do with you and you should just leave.”

“Grady,” Kellen’s voice caught his attention before Grady could say anything else and Grady closed his eyes almost hating the comment he made to Deana as Deana turned away from him. “Kyle is ready.”

“Okay,” Grady nodded standing up slowly before reaching out to Deana seeing her pull away from him and he took in a deep breath. “I love you and I’m sorry.”

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

“This can’t be happening,” Heather pounded on her steering wheel seeing the rows of tail lights shining in front of her. She looked to the time seeing that she had less than ten minutes to make it to the church and stop this farce of a wedding Kyle was putting himself into. There was no way that she could lose him. Chris was right. She had to fight for the man that she loved before she lost him forever.

“Come on,” Heather slammed her palm flat on the top of the steering wheel finding her patience slipping away as the traffic posed yet another threat to the happiness that she had so close to having in her life. Frustrated and eager to get over to the church Heather began to tap out a drumbeat on the top of the steering wheel before she reached for the radio dial. She started to move it around, playing with the different buttons until a song played over the radio causing her to sit up straighter.


“When a man loves a woman can’t keep his mind on nothin' else. He'd trade the world for a good thing he's found. If she is bad, he can't see it. She can do no wrong. Turn his back on his best friend if he puts her down…”


Finding herself trapped in the traffic that surrounded her, Heather leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes thinking back to another time and place.


“When a man loves a woman, spend his very last dime
Trying to hold on to what he needs. He'd give up all his comforts and sleep out in the rain if she said that's the way it ought to be…”



“Ok I think it’s time for a channel change,” Heather announced reaching out to turn off the radio in front of her once the up beat sounds of the time were replaced by the old remake of a classic song. After the day she and Kyle had spent joking around with one another washing his beat up old pick up truck, the last thing she wanted to do was feel down and out. She moved to turn the song to shift the mood from sappy and romantic to something lighter and carefree after she’d spent most of the day listening to Kyle talk about Sarah. Right now the last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a situation where he was swooning over her sister when deep down all she could think about was him.

“Don’t even think about it,” Kyle’s hand pressed in over hers stopping her from changing the channel. “I like that song.”

“You do?” Heather’s eyes widened as she spun around to face him.

“Yeah,” he confessed with a sheepish grin, setting down the dirty rag he’d been working with earlier, “got a problem with that?”

“Well no, but…” she gave him a strange look, “It’s a far cry from the metal music you are into.”

“Yeah, well I have a secret,” Kyle stepped in closer to her, his hazel eyes meeting hers with a newfound mischief, “I can be romantic too if I want to. I have it in me you know.”

“Whatever you say,” Heather started to turn away only to feel him wrap his arm around her waist and draw her nearer to him in a dance.

“Oh come on Heather. Lighten up,” Kyle urged hugging her closer to him as the music continued and he started to sing to her in a soft, slur, “When a man loves a woman. I give you everything I got. Trying to hold on to your precious love. Baby, baby please don't treat me bad…”

“Kyle stop,” she swatted at his chest playfully before feeling him spin her around the old garage out back.

“I’m just warming up,” he promised twirling her around to the slow rhythm of the music, pulling her away only to draw her close to him again. She placed her hand on his shoulder tentatively, before dropping her head to his chest. She felt his words vibrate against her hair as he continued to sing, “When a man loves a woman deep down in his soul she can bring him such misery. If she is playing him for a fool he's the last one to know. Loving eyes can never see. Yes when a man loves a woman I know exactly how he feels ‘cause baby, baby…”

“Kyle,” Heather felt a breath escape her lips as he curled his finger underneath her chin lifting her gaze to his.

“Heather, I know exactly how it feels…” he whispered, his lips drawing nearer to hers, the anticipation of the moment growing close when…

A honking horn brought Heather back to the present keeping her from reliving that painful moment when Sarah had walked into the garage and stopped Heather and Kyle from sharing a moment that should’ve rightfully been theirs. She’d come in and distracted the both of them, sweeping Kyle off into another room with her to help her change a light bulb when all the while Heather was waiting and wanting a second chance at that kiss--at that moment that could’ve changed things forever.

Hearing the honking of the car behind her that alerted her that traffic was starting to move, Heather made the conscious decision that she wanted that moment back. She wanted that moment and many more. She wasn’t going to let Sarah steal Kyle away from her ever again. She couldn’t let that happen especially not when in her heart she knew that she and Kyle were meant to be with one another.

“I’m going to stop that wedding,” Heather vowed clenching her fingers onto the steering wheel and moving with the flow of traffic ready to make all of her dreams of happily ever a reality once and for all!

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

“So everything is set up?” Grady turned around in the empty room to see Kellen flipping out searching through the bags throwing some things back in the air. “I take that as a no.”

“Grady, this isn’t funny,” Kellen blurted out seeing the way that Grady looked out at him as Kellen searched through the bag over and over again. “I think I lost it.”

“Lost what?” Grady eyed Kellen over carefully seeing Kellen throw the bag back also toward the other side of the room and stand up from the ground walking to the other side of the room. “Kellen don’t give yourself a heart attack.”

“I’m going to have a heart attack,” Kellen muttered angrily throwing his hands up in the air and running them through his gelled up hair worriedly. “I can’t find it Grady. I can’t find the thing that we need. This is so stupid, what did I do with it? I swore it was here.”

“Kellen,” Grady called out to him again seeing Kellen go over to his other bag and start throwing things around again as Grady pulled something out of his pocket. “Is this what you are looking for?”

“You stupid jerk,” Kellen stood up walking over and grabbing it from his fingers before letting out a small scowl seeing the way that Grady laughed when Kellen reached down for his small bag picking it up slowly. “I was looking everywhere.”

“Well about two minutes before you started looking everywhere you told me to hold onto it so you didn’t lose it,” Grady pointed out seeing Kellen frown and put it into his pocket slowly. “Obviously that was a good thing I did that.”

“Yeah, right,” Kellen took in a small breath looking over toward the television they had asked for the waiter to help wheel into the church area. “We’re ready if you would just follow us and put that in the corner. Kind of in an area where no one is really going to notice it.”

“Nice choice,” Grady patted Kellen shoulder gently before seeing Kellen nod and take in a deep breath walking out of the room and into the church. “Kyle will be making an appearance very soon.”

“And what an appearance it’s going to be,” Kellen muttered standing up at the front and inhaling deeply feeling Grady place his hand over Kellen’s shoulders. “Excuse me everyone.”

“Speak up louder,” Grady ordered seeing Kellen look over at him with a small frown and Grady rolled his eyes taking a step forward and looking over at Kellen. “Excuse me everyone.”

“Thanks,” Kellen smiled widely stepping forward noticing the voice change in Grady as he did the same speaking up louder. “If everyone could have a seat--we’re about to begin.”

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

...to be continued...