“This really is weird right now and I would appreciate if you would say something,” Shannon begged seeing the way that Don’s blue eyes looked up at her as she threw her hands up in the air angrily. “I’m being honest with you Don, this is really bugging me. Why aren’t you talking?”

“Well, I thought you said to stay quiet,” Don muttered shrugging his shoulders seeming to be speechless as he looked up at Shannon who seemed to be full of tension as she stared down at him. “If you want me to talk now, I’ll talk.”

“Well that would be very much appreciated,” she admitted seeing the look he gave her as she paced back and forth before letting out a small groan and sitting down on the other side of the couch. “I don’t know what you’re thinking and it’s driving me crazy. I’ve never said what I just did to someone before and I hoping you have something to say. I’m hoping it's something good but if it happens to be bad I understand after what I put you through.”

“You honestly want to know what I’m thinking? You are really ready for what I am about to say to you?” Don eyed her over carefully seeing the way her brown eyes widened as he stood up and looked over at her with a small frown. “I don’t know what you are expecting me to say, so—okay.”

“Okay?” she muttered with a small hiss as she stood up from the couch throwing her hands in the air. Looking around the room she shook her head slowly trying to keep her temper down. “I spill my heart out to you and all you can say is okay?”

“You complain way too much,” Don shook his head slowly reaching out to grab her hand in his and pull her in closer. Feeling her hand move in over the center of his chest he offered up a small smile dipping down to press a small kiss against her lips. “It’s a good okay Shannon, just make sure you never hurt me like you did again.”

“I promise,” she muttered against his lips feeling his right arm tighten around her waist and her fingers tugged softly at his thick hair before feeling him move back a minute. “I won’t try to hurt you, I care so much about you Don. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Do you know how long I've waited for you to say that?” Don questioned seeing her smile as his thumb caressed her cheek softly, his blue eyes staring into hers. “I’m so glad I finally got to hear you say that.”

“I’ve been waiting to say that,” Shannon tipped up on her toes again to kiss Don feeling him pick her up in his arms and spin her around slowly before setting her back down on the floor. “I love you.”

“This figures,” Matt let out a long breath walking into the room to see Don and Shannon kissing and he walked over toward the side of the couch. “I should really start charging for my services you know because I knew you two would be back together in a matter of time.”

“Yes, you should be,” Don agreed reaching out to run his fingers through his son’s hair before letting out a small laugh seeing the way that Matt shook his head slowly. “You really are perfect, I hope you know.”

“I know, I hear it all the time,” Matt let out a small breath before looking back toward Nate’s room and shrugged his shoulders after hearing Shannon and Don laugh. “I think Nate is going to be okay, but he just really needs the love his family right now. All of his family that is, which means Shannon you shouldn’t be leaving right now because that would be really bad for a big sister to do.”

“You’re right, that would be a horrible thing for me to do if I left,” Shannon agreed reaching forward to grab her keys and hand them to Matt seeing the look he gave her as if he was confused. “I want to be here for my little brother.”

“Good,” Matt simply nodded before letting out a long breath and looking back toward Nate’s room. “I’m going to go check on Nate right now, I think that he really needs to be with someone right now. So I’ll be in there if you need me.”

“Okay,” Shannon nodded watching Matt put the keys in his pocket and walk off down the hall as she saw Don smile widely at the thought of his son being so protective of Nate. “Do you think he is trying to keep me here?”

“I think so,” Don moved forward wrapping his arm around her waist tightly hearing her let out a small breath as a smile moved in over his features and he pressed a small kiss against her lips. “If you won’t listen to him, maybe you will listen to me.”

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

“You know you really didn’t have to drag me along with you,” Stacy mouthed looking around the various stores beyond where she, Lindsay and Zane stood in the center of the mall. Zane was occupied with the pretzel bites that they’d picked up on the way inside and Stacy and Lindsay were now sitting by a water fountain just beyond the food court. She turned to her friend again and let out a long sigh, “I just hate being a third wheel for you right now.”

“You’re not a third wheel,” Lindsay assured her with a bright smile, “Considering that I know full well that you wanted to murder your mom I think this is certainly a better outlet then letting you sit at home plotting ways to get back at her for upsetting you.”

“I think she thrives on upsetting me,” Stacy groaned shaking her head at the thought of her mother, “I mean I don’t understand what the hell her problem is where she thinks that she has to have everything her way all the time. All she cares about is her stupid television show and the fact that people think she’s so great. The thing is she’s not great at all though. She isn’t even remotely close to being great and the whole world is going to figure it out sooner or later.”

“What about your dad?” Lindsay questioned thinking about the issues her friend was going through at the moment. “Have you spoken with him lately?”

“The last time I called him his new secretary Yvette said that he couldn’t be interrupted because he was in an important business meeting which probably means he was trying to forget my mom with some new intern in his company,” Stacy rolled her eyes and groaned, “I just wish that my mom would stop being so stuck on herself and start thinking about my dad and our family. He still loves her you know. I mean she treats him like crap, but he still would be with her in a heartbeat if she would just grow up.”

“It sounds like they have a lot to work out between them,” Lindsay nodded listening to her friend talk about what was bothering her.

“My mom is just so selfish that she won’t do it. She would rather get divorced so that she can tell the world that she is single and unattached,” Stacy rolled her eyes again thinking about her mother’s newfound media popularity, “In fact I heard her talking to one of the producers on her show the other day. They didn’t think that I was there, but when they got to talking he actually had the nerve to tell her that it would probably be better for her ratings if she didn’t advertise the fact that she has a teenage daughter. As if having me around is such a horrible thing. I mean so what if she was a skank when she was younger? She’s still a mom and really who cares if her male audience would like her better if she wasn’t tied down with a family? That shouldn’t matter.”

“No it shouldn’t,” Lindsay nodded in agreement hating to hear what her friend was going through, “but hey why don’t we just enjoy being here since we’re not with your mom?”

“Thank heaven for small miracles,” Stacy sighed shaking her head again before turning to Lindsay, “You honestly don’t know how lucky you are.”

“Well actually there was a moment in time when I didn’t feel all that lucky. I became friends with someone who only wanted to tear my parents apart. I didn’t see that she was using me to get close to my dad, but…” Lindsay stopped herself realizing that it probably wasn’t a good idea to start trash talking Cori to Stacy considering that Stacy was Cori’s niece. “Let’s just say that not everything in my life is totally perfect either.”

“It’s sure as hell a lot better than mine,” Stacy noted before shaking her head, “So tell me about this friend we’re meeting today. Do I know him?”

“You might,” Lindsay started clearing her throat before noticing that Daniel was approaching them. She suddenly felt on edge and forced herself to smile, “He’s over there.”

“Where?” Stacy questioned her gaze lingering over towards the direction where Daniel was walking towards them, “Danny Ashford?”

“Yeah,” Lindsay nodded taking in a calming breath, “He wanted to meet up since we were both babysitting and…”

“And I don’t see a little kid with him,” Stacy noted giving Daniel a long once over, “which implies that maybe he wanted to see just you.”

“I doubt it. I mean we’re just friends and,” Lindsay stopped herself once Daniel was in hearing range. Instead she just waved her hand at him, “Hey how’s it going?”

“It’s going good,” Daniel smiled down at her, “How are you Lindsay?”

“I’m good,” she replied with a wide grin before nodding towards Stacy, “This is my friend Stacy Warner…”

“Yeah, we’ve met before,” Daniel smiled over at Stacy before giving Stacy a long look, “You’ve gotten taller since the last time I saw you.”

“So have you,” Stacy replied with a small laugh, “but I think that’s what happens when you spend a few years away from summer camp.”

“You went to summer camp together?” Lindsay arched a curious brow before looking between them.

“Yeah, it was the rich kids vacation spot or rather our nightmare while our parents were off enjoying the world,” Stacy explained turning to Lindsay once again, “My mom thought it would build character, but all it did was serve as extreme boredom.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Daniel replied with a shake of his head. “Really it wasn’t.”

“That’s because you liked living it up with arts and crafts and all your friends,” Stacy tossed out at him with wrinkled expression, “You all loved pulling pranks on everyone else especially with my cabin. This joker over here decided he was going to put together his own slasher horror film that he was shooting on his hand held camera and it scared the life out of me because no one mentioned that they were filming one day when I got back to my cabin. I found all of my roommates covered in fake blood and looking like they were killed…”

“And you screamed better than anyone else that I shot footage of,” Daniel piped in with a small chuckle, “even though I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Yeah right,” Stacy shook her head at him, “You knew full well what you all were doing by leaving me out of the loop.”

“I honestly did not mean to get you worked up,” Daniel placed his hand over his heart, “I swear.”

“Right,” Stacy wrinkled her nose again before turning to Lindsay, “You’d better watch out for this one because he’s trouble.”

“I am not,” Daniel attempted to defend himself.

“That’s what he tells all the girls,” Stacy stuck her tongue out at him before looking over at Zane. “You know I think I’m going to take Zane for that ride on the carousal right now. We’ll be back in a bit. You two have…fun.”

“But…” Lindsay started watching her friend walk off with Zane and suddenly leave her alone with Daniel.

“I guess it’s just you and me,” Daniel cleared his throat uneasily, “Sorry I’m late.”

“I thought you were bringing Charles,” she replied wearily feeling a bit on edge after he’d sat down next to her on the bench.

“I tried to, but I couldn’t get a hold of Kipp. He must be at work or something, so I figured it might be okay if I just brought myself instead,” he paused before meeting her blue eyes, “I hope that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat again, “I mean sure it’s great with me. I don’t mind at all because you’re still here.”

“I’m glad to hear that because I’m happy that you’re here,” he confessed leaning in closer to her as her eyes widened.

“You know I think Zane would probably like for us to join him over there on the carousal. You interested?”

“Yeah sure,” Daniel finally smiled back at her causing her stomach to get tied in knots. “It sounds pretty fun.”

“Great,” she replied springing up onto her feet. She started to rush off over towards where Stacy and Zane were, but slowed down enough to pace herself. She waited for Daniel to catch up before throwing out a small smile in the hopes that she would stop being so nervous and just find a way to enjoy her day with her friends. She glanced over at Daniel again and reminded herself that this was just two friends hanging out and not a date. She couldn’t like him like that just yet because she had to stay focused on school and her future. Of course a boyfriend might be able to be a part of that, she heard a voice in the back of her mind saying to her. Shaking the thought she stepped forward reminding herself that right now she was just going to enjoy hanging out with everyone. There was no way she was going to read anything more into what was happening. It was just a day of fun with friends and nothing more.

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

“I’ll be right back,” JT promised pulling up to his apartment once again after he realized that he’d forgotten something he’d wanted to take with him and Evie on their day out with one another. He turned to face her in the car and smiled gently, “I won’t be more than a few minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she smiled at him seeing him slip into his apartment once again while she looked around the area. While she and JT had planned on spending the day out with one another, he’d realized half way down the road that he’d left something important inside. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but while he was gone she decided to take advantage of the summer day. Reaching for the door handle, Evie stepped out to sit on the hood of his car and enjoy the warmth.

“Well I see you won’t go away,” Valerie scowled walking down the sidewalk with her mirrored sunglasses on. She was carrying a bag in her hands and her expression was tight with obvious animosity towards Evie. “I thought that JT would get smart and get rid of you while he was out.”

“Last time I checked you were the one he told to get lost,” Evie mouthed in response, a frown touching over her lips. “I just don’t understand how someone with half a brain like you can’t get that JT just doesn’t want you around.”

“Listen you,” Valerie pulled her sunglasses off of her face, “While you might think that you’re something special the fact to the matter is that you’re not. I’ve seen plenty of women come and go and you’re no better than they were. JT will get tired of you and toss you like he did the rest.”

“Right now it looks like the one he’s tossing is you,” Evie stepped down from the hood of the car to stand face to face with Valerie, “and while I know you feel threatened by me, the fact to the matter is that JT doesn’t want you around.”

“You know I don’t get where you think you’re so special,” Valerie glared down at Evie, “because you’re not. I know full well that you’ve been working an angle with JT since you met him and it’s only a matter of time before he figures it out. Sure, he might be a sucker for a pretty face, but sooner or later he opens his eyes and realizes trash when he sees it.”

“Which would explain him throwing you out,” Evie remarked smugly, a proud smirk crossing over her lips.

“Do you honestly think I mean that little to JT honey?” Valerie arched a curious brow, “Because I have to tell you that I was the one giving him more pleasure than you can even imagine possible before you came into the picture. Sure, we might not be friends, but we are certainly roommates with benefits that he’s taken to enjoying again and again.”

“You’re such a liar,” Evie placed her hands on her hips and glared at Valerie, “He wouldn’t touch you.”

“No?” Valerie laughed lightly bringing her fingers up over her lips, “Well, you might think that, but I have to tell you there’s just something about a man who knows what he wants sexually. Sure, JT’s not exactly my type, but it is fun to watch him squirm and lose control when he’s getting some action. Of course given what I’ve seen from you it’s clear he’s not having it from you. I mean that’s obviously the only reason you’re still around and he’s still having his fun with me.”

“You bitch!” Evie lunged forward reaching out to squeeze Valerie’s throat in a rage. “You lie!”

“You wish,” Valerie pushed her back shoving Evie back onto the hood of JT’s car and pulling at her hair while JT rushed out of the apartment catching the fight between them.

“Damn it!” JT ran over to the two women and pried Valerie off of Evie. “Leave her alone.”

“Oh come on. Your little girlfriend can’t stand some healthy competition from the looks of things,” Valerie ran her fingers over the center of JT’s chest, “and I’m surprised you never told her about the two of us considering how much you enjoyed my attention on the couch not so long ago.”

“Get away from me,” JT pushed her out of his reach as he turned to Evie making a small step towards her.

“Mark my words sweetheart he’ll get tired of you very soon,” Valerie laughed wickedly before heading off towards her car and ignoring the tirade that Evie was still on.

“I’m going to kill her,” Evie shouted ready to go off and attack Valerie while JT held her back.

“She’s not worth it,” JT tried to reason with Evie holding her as Valerie got into her car and sped off. “She’s less than worth your anger.”

“She’s such a bitch and with the things she was saying,” Evie paused finding herself in a moment of contemplation before she met JT’s eyes again, “JT are you sleeping with her? She said that you two had been together and…”

“Evie, I really don’t think that now is the time to…” JT began clearing his throat uneasily as he saw something behind Evie’s eyes. Finally he let out a small groan, “No, I’m not sleeping with her, but there was one time when…”

“When what?” Evie questioned her eyes growing wide with disbelief. “JT, what did you do with her?”

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

“I love you so much,” Kevin’s thick voice whispered against her skin as his lips pressed in over the side of her neck while her fingers pressed in against his chest softly. Feeling her fingers gently tugging at his thick hair, he moved back to look her in the eyes, his palm moving in against her cheek. “I’m so sorry Ria.”

“Kevin,” she breathed feeling him move forward to kiss her again as she placed her hand firmly over the center of his massive chest, seeing him frown as his fingers caressed her skin tenderly. Tipping up on her toes she moved forward to kiss him, gently nibbling at his bottom lip as she felt his arm tighten around her waist pulling her in closer to him. “I need to know this is real.”

“What?” Kevin chuckled seeing the way her brown eyes looked into his as he dipped down to press a small kiss in over her lips before smiling widely, his forehead pressing in against hers. “I love you baby.”

“No, something more. Something where I know it’s you and not just a dream,” she looked up at him feeling him move forward and turn her so she was pressed in against the wall. Reaching his index finger in underneath her chin he moved forward kissing her hungrily as she sighed against his lips feeling him grab a gentle hold of her hand, leading it to the center of his jeans. “Okay, that’s enough proof.”

“You believe me now?” Kevin smiled leaning in to kiss her again feeling her softly push him back and thinking quickly he saw her body tense up, showing him that he was probably going to get smacked. He was going to let her hit him until he saw her leg start to move up and he caught her foot before she could kick him in the destination she wanted. “Why do you always go to kick me there? Honestly, punching me, slapping me--those are good ways to make me hurt, but why take me down like that? That‘s the spot you always go for first.”

“Because that seems like the only place you even care about,” she felt him let go of her foot as she stared into his chocolate eyes seeing him frown and she threw her hands up in the air. “What are you even doing here anyways? You’re an asshole.”

“Okay, fine go ahead an kick me there Ria,” Kevin stood out spreading his feet out enough, holding his arms up in the air waiting for her to make her move as she stared at him like he was crazy. “If that’s going to make you start forgiving me in the least bit, kick me as hard as you want. I’m willing to take the risk, just know that I will be stuck on your floor for about twenty minutes. So go ahead and just kick me.”

“Fine,” Ria watched his eyebrows tense together when he closed his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip like he was trying to brace himself for her hit. Rolling her eyes she stepped back and grabbed a pillow from the couch seeing him standing there silent. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Kevin felt something hit him and it just made him jump a bit in shock as he looked down to see the pillow she threw at him. Letting out a long breath of relief he saw her going over toward the couch to sit down, resting her head in her hands as he spoke up. “I have something.”

Seeing Ria look up at him he motioned her to wait as he walked over toward the door that was still open and bent down to pick up what he set down on the floor. Picking them up and rising slowly he felt a mass run into him from behind causing him to drop the things as he quickly rushed to pick them up seeing the other hand doing the same as Kevin grabbed a hold of something.

“Sorry about that,” Kevin apologized not knowing if he was the one that got in the guys way or if the guy just wasn’t looking or what, but whoever he was had to have quite some muscle to take him down like that. Kevin’s eyes met the pair of eyes before him as he felt his heart stop and he fell back on his behind in the hotel room stumbling to grab his stuff. Seeing the person stand up he quickly moved into the room before shutting the door in a moment of quickness. Feeling Ria’s hand touch his shoulder he jumped making sure he kept his body weight pressed against the door. “I’m sorry, I was just seeing things.”

“Are you okay?” Ria questioned worried by the way the color drained from Kevin’s face as he stood up to look out to see if anyone was at the door before turning back to face her. “Kevin, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it was nothing,” Kevin cleared his throat uneasily knowing that his mind must have been playing games with him as he moved forward into the room more and he handed over the roses that he had brought her. “I have some things I really need to show you.”

“Okay,” Ria wasn’t quite sure how to react after seeing him flip out a minute ago, holding the roses in close to her she looked to see that there were two dozen of them for her. Setting her flowers down she saw Kevin motion her to sit down for a moment and he smiled widely rubbing his hands together and bent forward to cup her face in his hands lovingly. “What is it?”

“I heard about our baby Ria,” Kevin informed her seeing the way she stared out at him as he moved forward to kiss her only feeling her press her hand in against his chest to stop him from coming any closer. “Ria, don’t you realize how great this is? We’re going to have a family.”

“I’m going to guess that Trisha told you I thought I was pregnant,” Ria rolled her eyes seeing Kevin nod slowly as she rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t tell that little girl anything, she has such a big mouth and can never keep something silent.”

“If she wouldn’t have told me Ria, I wouldn’t have been here right now knowing what kind of life is ahead of us,” Kevin knew that trying to kiss her right now might be a bad thing as he moved back and reached out for the large bag he brought with him. “When I found out where you were, I went and got a plane ticket to come straight here, but while I was waiting they had this really great store Ria and I was having the time of my life.”

Feeling Kevin’s hand reach out to hers she grabbed it softly feeling him squeeze her fingers in his tightly before moving down to press a small kiss against the back of her hand. Watching as he got to his knees and reached inside the bag she eyed him over slowly.

“Ria, I’ve wanted to be a father for so long and I’ve loved you since I was very young. You know, the time you always used to beat the crap out of me,” he tried reminding her seeing the way she laughed before nodding slowly and he smirked looking up at her with pure happiness. “All I could think about was you when I was waiting and how much I wanted to get to you--share my life with you forever, with our baby. So this is one of the things I got.”

Seeing Kevin pull out a book she saw him come over and sit down next to her on the couch, motioning her to move in closer to him as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders.

“A name book?” she chuckled seeing him open the book before flipping through the pages, reaching forward to grab it she looked it over seeing how big it was. “This thing is huge.”

“Well we have nine months to chose and I don’t want to give my son or daughter a name that they hate me for you know. I want them to have a name that isn’t that popular either, you know I want to give them something that does stand out,” Kevin informed Ria with a wide smile seeing the way she looked over at him and he simply shrugged his shoulders pointing at a few names. “They say picking the name is the most important thing so I figured this could help us out.”

“Right,” Ria muttered seeing him set down the book and stand up quickly moving forward for the bag again before pulling out a teddy bear that was holding a heart in it’s hands that said the words ‘daddy loves you’ in the center of the heart. “Kevin, that’s adorable.”

“I thought so, it was something that they could never really get old of you know. I still sleep with stuffed animals,” he replied hearing her let out a small laugh as he shrugged his shoulders, reaching for something else. “Of course though, you can’t do great with just daddy, so I had to get a mommy one too. They connect and hold hands, look at this.”

Feeling a smile press in over her lips she saw Kevin playing with the bears before getting them to the position where the two bears were holding hands with the hearts right next to each other. She saw the excitement behind his brown eyes as he turned to look at her.

“It’s pretty cool Kevin,” she nodded seeing him smile and reach for the teddy bears handing them over toward her so she could hold onto them while he pulled out more stuff. “How much more did you get?”

“Well, I know this is tacky, but I fell in love with it,” Kevin pulled out a baby outfit for the New York Yankees and smiled widely turning it around showing her that it said player to be named later and he nodded slowly. “I thought this would be the cutest thing ever and I realized, well what if I had a precious little girl? So I looked and they had a little dress with the cutest little bow to go with it and as soon as they are born we can put the name on it. Just go somewhere and get their name on the back. Then I got to looking for other clothes and I thought these were so cute for pajamas.”

“Kevin,” she laughed feeling her eyes start to tear over at how happy he was to hear that she may be pregnant and she saw him look over at her and smile as he held up the duck pajamas. They were all yellow and had a duck on the front and duck feet at the bottom. “Those are so cute.”

“I know, I love the ducky slippers and can you imagine the baby with them on?” Kevin muttered before reaching inside the bag one last time reaching for the item he thought would be the most important. Coming over and sitting next to her on the couch he kept it behind his back for a moment. “Then after a while of buying all of this, I realized there is one thing you have to hold onto forever. Memories. Something you can never let go of.”

“What’s this?” she felt him carefully set something in her lap as she looked down to see the large photo album that had the words ‘My family’ in big letters on the top. Feeling him nudge her to go ahead and open it she smiled opening it to the first page. Letting out a small laugh she already saw a picture of the two of them together when they weren’t even ten years old yet. Looking through the pictures she saw a couple of them as they got older until coming to the last picture of her and Kevin at the party Blake had thrown back in the day. Frowning as she flipped through the empty pages she looked up at Kevin for a moment. “Why does it end?”

“It ends because we have to make our own future from here on out,” Kevin muttered reaching to caress her cheek softly feeling her lean into his touch. “Ria, I swear that if you still want to be with me, I’ll give you the sun, the moon, and the stars. Just please, forgive me.”

“Kevin,” she breathed in deeply feeling him moving in closer to her to press a small kiss against her lips as her fingers slid into his thick hair, her mind going back to thinking why she had originally been upset with him in the first place. “If this is supposed to be the book of our future we might as well put a picture of Angela as the next photo.”

“Ria,” Kevin frowned feeling her push him back away from her and he stood up folding his arms out in front of his chest shaking his head slowly. “I’ve done nothing wrong, I swear. Angela is nothing to me Ria, you’re my everything. Angela has been my best friend, was my best friend, but she’s nothing more than that. I love you and only you.”

“That’s bull Kevin,” she blurted out seeing the sadness behind his chocolate eyes when he looked down toward the ground and shook his head slowly. “I know that’s not true, what about the woman that was with you when you answered the phone? The one that was playing with you, your big weird looking thing.”

Hearing Kevin laugh out and stare out at her he turned away from her trying not to seem rude as he started to laugh louder as she stood up and pushed at the center of his back, seeing him turn to face her.

“What’s so funny?” Ria yelled seeing the way Kevin tried not laughing any louder as she pushed him back again seeing the way he held his hands up in the air. “You find it funny breaking the heart of the person you love by sleeping with some other girl?”

“I’ll tell you who it was, it was the only girl in my life that I love so much,” Kevin informed her with a small nod seeing the way that Ria stared out at him and he shrugged his shoulders. Knowing that look on her face, he could tell he was about get that swift kick he was asking for earlier. “It was Erin, she was playing with my nose. I’m not quite sure what big, weird looking thing you thought I was talking about, but she was pulling on my nose. The whole time you left me, I was trying to get Russ and Avery back together because I thought two people who desperately belong together, should be together. Especially when there is a baby involved Ria. I would have never cheated on you, I love you and I never want to lose you again.”

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

“You get down here!” Cameron shouted chasing Brant up the stairs and rushing after him in the hopes of keeping him from Angela. “You’re not going near her.”

“You can’t keep her here,” Brant argued with him scanning the long hallway before speaking out again, “Angela, where are you?”

“That’s enough Brant. I want you out of here,” Cameron shouted in response reaching out to seize Brant’s arm.

“Back off,” Brant tried to shake Cameron from him, but Cameron’s grip intensified. He pushed Cameron away again before calling out to Angela, “Angela, where are you?”

“Brant, is that you?” Angela knocked on the door to the room she was locked in. “Brant, what are you doing here?”

“Getting you out of here,” Brant promised turning around to deck Cameron and send him to the floor. He rushed over to where he heard Angela knocking and tried to open the door.

“Brant, what’s going on,” she questioned in a worried voice as Brant tried the door again.

“Angela, it’s locked. Can you open up and let me in?” Brant questioned listening to hear her voice.

“I’m locked in here. It locks from the outside. There’s a key and,” she started to explain to him thinking about her earlier fight with Cameron.

“Forget the key,” Brant decided taking a visual assessment of the door, “Back away from the door Angela.”

“What?” she questioned in a confused tone hearing a sound on the other side of the door.

“Move away from the door!” Brant shouted again hearing some shuffling from behind the door, “Are you away from it?”

“Yes, but…” she started to explain hearing a knocking noise followed by an even louder sound of Brant pushing himself into the door. A gasp fell from her lips when the sound continued until the door came open with a splintering crash and Brant pushed his way into the room.

“I’m getting you out of here,” Brant explained reaching out to pull her into his arms and embrace her tightly, “You’re coming home with me.”

“But…” she looked up at him confusion settling in over her dark eyes, “Brant, what’s going on? I heard shouting and…”

“Your brother wants you to believe his lies, but that’s all that they are,” Brant touched her cheek gently, “Angela I love you and I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. You mean the world to me and I realize that you aren’t sure about anything, but I swear to you that I love you and I would lay down my life for you if it meant that we could be together. You are everything to me and if I lost you it would be the end of me.”

“Brant, I hear what you’re saying, but when Cameron told me…” she started to argue with him feeling a tension creeping in over her.

“Cameron lied to you. That’s what he’s been doing since he found out that you and I were in love with one another. He hates my family so bad that he’s willing to lie to you and turn me into a villain so that you leave me. He wants to hurt me by using you to do it.”

“He’s full of lies Angela,” Cameron staggered into the bedroom wiping blood from his lower lip, “He’s ready to destroy our family at any cost and he knows full well that if you listen to him, he will succeed in burying our family.”

“No that’s not true and you know it,” Brant snapped back at Cameron turning around to place himself between Cameron and Angela, “I love her and you hate the fact that she loves me too.”

“She was taken in by your manipulations, but when she opens her eyes and sees you as you truly are my sister won’t be fooled any longer. She’ll see you as the monster you truly are,” Cameron shouted in response lunging towards Brant.

“Cameron stop!” Angela cried out watching her brother plummet onto Brant and start pounding away at him. “Cameron please.”

“He’s not going to tear you away from me Angela. He isn’t going to take away all that we have left of our family,” Cameron explained pounding his fist into Brant’s jaw line before Brant punched him in the stomach causing Cameron to topple over onto the ground.

“I didn’t do anything to destroy your family even though you want to destroy mine,” Brant punched Cameron one time then again for good measure before pushing back. “I don’t manipulate people for my bidding Cameron. That’s your role in all of this.”

“Brant stop,” Angela cried out seeing Brant ready to strike Cameron again. He had his fist raised in the air, but at Angela’s urgings he lowered it and pushed Cameron aside.

“You’re not worth it,” Brant spat out staggering up from the ground again and moving towards Angela. He wiped at the blood on his own face trying to clear it as he spoke to Angela again. “I came here for you because I want to be with you. I love you and I know that if you just hear me out we can be happy together. You and the babies are everything to me and I want for us to have what we should have had before Cameron lied to you. Angela, I didn’t hurt your father and I never would do anything to…”

“Liar,” Cameron sneered rushing towards Brant and charging at him. He pushed Brant out into the hall again, limbs flying everywhere as Angela watched in horror fearing that her brother and the man she loved were going to tear one another apart!

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

“I think it’s that time of the month for Kellen,” Kyle closed the door as he walked back into the house seeing Heather glare at him for a moment before letting out a small laugh and going over to sit down on the couch. “Honestly, or he has his panties in a bunch, I’m not quite sure what it is with him lately.”

“I don’t blame him though, he just feels intimidated,” Heather added seeing Kyle roll his eyes before walking over to the coffee table to pick up the bottled water, taking a sip of it before holding the bottle tightly in his hands. “If someone was all over me, I would hope you would feel the same way.”

“Well right,” he agreed tugging at the top of the bottle slowly, letting out a long breath as he spoke up about what was going on through his head at the very idea of someone all over Heather. “But I know I would be worried because I know I’m all the man you need.”

“Gee, no ego there,” Heather rolled her eyes seeing him shrug his shoulders and slide his hands into his pockets when Heather stood up from the couch. “You honestly wouldn’t get jealous if Kipp was all over me?”

“No,” Kyle answered truthfully shaking his head slowly before biting down on his bottom lip seeing the look in Heather’s green eyes and he let out a small laugh. “I know you wouldn’t let it happen because I know Kellen is your best friend and you love him. You wouldn’t let something like that happen.”

“Okay, what about Diego?” Heather mentioned seeing Kyle pause from pacing back and forth in the room, his grip tightening around the top of the bottle. “You wouldn’t at least be jealous of him? Or maybe Kevin?”

“Stop,” Kyle blurted out feeling a heat move in over his body as he felt the anger building up inside of him and he let out a small laugh. “I know that Diego and Kevin aren’t your type.”

“You sure about that Kyle? You seem to be getting worked up about those two, I mean Kevin is a good looking guy and Diego is a smart one,” she moved in closer to Kyle pressing her hand in over the center of Kyle’s chest seeing his hazel eyes looking into hers. “Though, you are right, I have absolutely no interest in Kevin or Diego because I’m had over heels in love with you.”

“Well, in that case,” Kyle snaked his arm around her waist tightly hearing her let out a small gasp as he rested his forehead against hers, seeing her green eyes staring into his. “I should let you know, I guess I could be a bit of a jealous guy once in a while. I won’t lie to you.”

“That’s a very good thing, I don’t want a liar for a husband. I just want you,” she tipped up on her toes to press a small kiss against his lips feeling him move in closer to kiss her as she moved back. “I am becoming a liar to Kellen though and I know he is going to hate it.”

“I guess you feel really bad about him not being there, right?” Kyle’s eyebrow perked up at Heather seeing the way she looked out at him and nodded slowly. “Keeping your best friend in the dark doesn’t feel too great, does it?”

“I don't want to right now, I mean I want to tell him soon,” Heather paused stepping away from Kyle, just holding his hands in hers and giving them a tight squeeze. “Just right now it might be for the best if we keep silent about it because he just might murder us.”

“I don’t know if we would be the first on his hit list,” he teased further seeing Heather shrug her shoulders and he could tell that she felt bad about keeping Kellen out of this whole situation. “What’s up with this Becca girl anyway? Why is Kellen so worried about her anyway? You think it’s something I should look into for him considering that is kind of my job.”

“No, it’s really okay,” Heather tried to assure him moving over toward the window to glance out into the world around her and she let out a long breath. “Honestly, Kellen just doesn’t trust her, but of course, who else does he trust that’s a woman?”

“He trusts you,” Kyle breathed against her neck after moving her hair back and wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. Feeling her lean back into him, Kyle smiled widely before pressing a small kiss against her temple, picking her up in his arms tightly. “Just right now, I’d rather not think about Kellen and start off where we were that time Kellen called.”

“Really?” Heather eyed him over slowly as he set her down against the top of the couch and moved in over her carefully, feeling her hands move up and over his muscular back. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

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

“Wow that was incredible,” Becca squealed excitedly after she and Kipp returned to his office, “That was amazing.”

“It only gets better,” Kipp assured her with a proud grin tucking all of the contracts he’d been working on earlier into his filing cabinet. “The first rush is great, but once you get into the swing of things around here, I promise you’re going to really enjoy everything that is involved in working here.”

“I already do,” Becca explained stepping in behind Kipp. He spun around to see her standing in front of him and he smiled back at her politely.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he nodded brushing past her only to feel her reach for his wrist.

“I’m enjoying everything about this place and it has everything to do with you Kipp,” she informed him honestly, her voice softening to a low, sultry tone, “You’re one of a kind. I hope you realize that.”

“Yeah, well what can I say? They broke the mold with me,” he teased back facing her again.

“They sure did,” Becca reached out to touch his shoulder lightly, “and I’m so lucky that you hired me in like you did. With you taking me in under your wing it’s turned my life around.”

Kipp’s gaze dropped to where she’d placed her hand on his shoulder and he cleared his throat uneasily, “It’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for anyone else here.”

“I realize that, but I just wanted to say,” she paused reaching out to touch the side of his face smoothly, urging him to meet her eyes again, “thank you. It means a lot that you believe in me Kipp.”

“As I said before it’s not anything that I wouldn’t do for anyone else here,” Kipp cleared his throat again taking a small, uncomfortable step back before motioning to the door, “I have to go. I promised Kellen I would meet him for a late dinner and…”

“Of course,” she waved at him and smiled, “I’ll just see you tomorrow then. I‘m going to finish a few things around here and then I‘ll be heading out too.”

“Sure,” Kipp nodded taking another look around, “Just make sure you lock everything up when you leave.”

“Sure,” she waved at him seeing him make his way to the elevators and leave the offices. Once he stepped into the elevators Becca took a long look around his office taking in everything inside of it that spoke of Kipp and the man he was. Smiling to herself she walked over to his desk and picked up a paperweight. She held it in her hand before taking a seat on the corner of his desk.

“Yes, this is nice. Very nice indeed,” Becca mused to herself sliding onto his desk to check things out further when a thought carried over her.

“A little look around couldn’t hurt anything,” she popped open the top drawer to his desk and spotted a set of keys inside. Reaching for them she shuffled through the key ring until one in particular caught her eye. “Bingo.”

Hopping off of the desk Becca made her way down to Heather’s office and slipped the key into the door. It opened without protest and as she walked into the center of the office, she couldn’t help but smile.

“So this is what the high life is all about,” she mused to herself circling around the office and thinking about everything that she had ahead of her at the company. She walked over to Heather’s desk and took a look at the things on top of it. She thumbed through a couple of papers before sinking into the chair.

“This is very nice indeed,” Becca thought aloud reaching out to open the top drawer. She spotted a photo of Heather and Kyle from what was clearly a few years ago and her grin expanded. She traced her fingers over their faces thinking about what it was she saw between them in the photo especially after what she‘d learned about Heather and Kyle, “Very nice if I do say so myself.”

“What are you doing in here?” a voice roused her from her contemplation as she looked up to see Kellen standing in the doorway.

“Well I um…” Becca started a worried expression on her face.

“Yeah you um better start explaining,” Kellen warned sharply, his blue eyes glaring in over at her, “because you have absolutely no business being in here like this especially after hours!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Seth. Blake. Sorry we’re late,” Grady began apologetically approaching the table where Blake and Seth were seated. He motioned to Deana and smiled at the both of them, “This is Deana. She’s a friend of mine and…”

“You’re a nurse at the hospital, right?” Blake noted with a warm, welcoming smile, “Jason’s sister, yes?”

“That’s right,” Deana nodded in response, “and you’re Blake Ashford, Brant’s sister.”

“Unfortunately it’s true,” Blake teased lightly welcoming Deana to the table, “Sorry that we bothered you.”

“Oh it’s not a bother at all,” Grady explained reaching into his pocket and pulling out some of the papers that he’d drawn up for Seth, “I know that you said that you wanted this to be quick and painless, but it doesn’t look like Valerie is going to give you that. Granted what you told me about her, well it makes me believe that any judge won’t force you to stay married to Valerie, but it might take a little while.”

“The sooner it’s over the better,” Seth noted eyeing Deana curiously, “So what about you? What prompted you to spend time with this loser?”

“Oh well you know he’s just…” Deana felt her face grow red with embarrassment.

“Ignore him. He’s just being nosy,” Blake waved her hand dismissively before motioning over towards the bar area, “Why don’t we get a couple of drinks while they talk legal stuff?”

“Okay,” Deana nodded opting to leave Grady and Seth alone for a few minutes. She followed Blake over to the bar and felt a bit of relief as she saw Blake smiling at her.

“So how long have you been dating Grady?” Blake questioned point blank catching Deana off guard.

“What?” Deana blinked back at her.

“I didn’t buy the whole friend thing, so really, how long has it been,” Blake questioned curiously.

“Not too long,” Deana admitted with a nervous laugh, “We’re taking things well…I don’t know…it’s been interesting.”

“I’ll bet,” Blake nodded motioning for the bartender to get them a round of drinks, “but rest assured you have nothing to worry about in dating Grady. You don’t have to be nervous because Seth wants him to be happy.”

“Well that’s good,” Deana gave her a strange look before Blake explained.

“He’s Jade’s brother,” Blake informed her surprised that Deana didn’t know.

“Oh you mean as in Grady’s Jade,” realization dawned in on Deana, “Oh right. I had no idea that Seth was…I mean if I would have known, then I never would have come over here with him and…”

“I’m glad that you did,” Blake insisted with a warm and welcoming smile, “This is good for everyone because well there has just been so much misery in town lately that it’s good to see things are finally on track again.”

“I heard about Seth’s sister and I’m sorry for what happened,” Deana offered up apologetically, “I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going through.”

“It’s been hard on him and with Valerie bothering him, she’s only complicating things further. Then with this jackass I used to date back in town it’s been a real trip,” Blake groaned further, “Maybe you’ve met him. His name is Zack Vaughn.”

“You dated Zack Vaughn?” Deana’s eyes widened before she let out a groan, “Oh I’m so sorry. He is such a creep that I can’t see how any woman would willingly go out with him.”

“Call it temporary insanity,” Blake admitted with a winkled expression, “but fortunately I came to my senses and found Seth. Life has a funny way of working itself out from time to time.”

“So I’m seeing,” Deana nodded in agreement watching Grady and Seth with one another.

“But hey as I said before I’m glad you’re here. You’ll find that we’re a little bit screwed up from time to time, but we always welcome someone new into the scene especially someone related to Jason,” Blake added with a hint of a smile, “Did I tell you when I was younger I had the biggest crush on him?”

“Really?” Deana’s eyes widened in response.

“Yeah, it sounds silly because it was only a few years ago when I first met him at that party Don was having, but I thought he was so cute. A little too young for me, but cute nonetheless,” Blake laughed lightly.

“Meaning he probably did something disgusting to turn you off right away, which is typical for Jason,” Deana offered up in response thinking about her brother and letting out a small laugh as she and Blake got to know one another a little bit better.

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

Valerie stepped off of the hospital elevators and made her way over to Zack’s office knowing full well she would find him inside no doubt wasting his time as usual. She knocked on the door and listened hearing a bit of shuffling from within until the door opened and a cheap looking blonde woman walked out almost into her.

“Oh I’m sorry,” the woman replied apologetically adjusting her clothing before scurrying off.

“Figures,” Valerie frowned marching into Zack’s office and finding him readjusting his tie, “Having fun?”

“I was until you showed up,” he frowned back at her shaking his head, “You have horrible timing you know that, don’t you?”

“I really don’t care considering that you, Michelle and I all talked about how we were going to get what we wanted. I thought that we had this great plan, yet Michelle is off doing who knows what and you clearly aren’t working on Blake,” Valerie threw her hands in the air before approaching him, “If your interests have tapered off, then let me know because I need someone who is going to help me get what I want with Seth. This waiting is beyond ridiculous.”

“So was your coming over unannounced,” Zack frowned back at her, “Can’t you see I’m working?”

“Yeah on obviously feeding into your libido which isn’t bringing me any closer to being with Seth. I thought we all had an arrangement, but obviously I’m the only one who is serious about what she wants,” Valerie huffed stomping her foot on the ground again, “I mean really what did you two think that you were going to accomplish in doing nothing? Do you not want Blake back?”

“Of course I want Blake back, but I’m a man with needs and I can’t ignore them just because you haven’t done a good enough job in persuading Seth into wanting you again. It’s not my fault that you can’t hold his attention long enough to cause a rift between Blake and Seth,” he tossed back at her icily.

“I can hold his attention, but I need you to hold back his little pit bull since she never leaves his side,” she hissed in response glaring down at him, “and if you weren’t busy with every other woman in town Blake just might find you worth her time. At this rate however she is never going to want you back.”

“Spoken like a true loser,” Zack rolled his eyes at her, “Did you ever think that maybe just maybe Seth no longer has any interest in you?”

“Oh he has interest in me. Every man does,” Valerie puffed out her chest noticing the Zack watched the movement.

“I’ll admit you do have some finer qualities, but Blake is innocent and pure and that’s a real turn on for a guy like Seth,” Zack wrinkled his nose at her, “That’s something you fall short on every time.”

“Yeah well why don’t you do us all a favor and stop worrying about me and start thinking about what you can do to help me get what I want before I get angry,” Valerie snarled at him before spinning on her heel and marching out of his office. Half way in the hall she found herself pressed into a wall of muscled man before her.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke up before she felt him touch her arm as she looked up to see a man with blue eyes in front of her.

“Don’t be,” she grinned up at him, “It was my mistake.”

“No, your mistake was thinking that a jerk like that could help you get what you want,” he pointed back to Zack’s office, “He’s not good for anything more than a headache. I on the other hand am a man of action and I couldn’t help but overhear your dilemma.”

“Is that right?” she arched a curious brow watching him nod.

“That’s right,” he nodded once more, “and if you really want someone to help you get what you want, look no further because I’m your guy.”

“And why is that?” she couldn’t help but ask wondering what he’d heard of her fight with Zack.

“Because unlike Zack in there I guarantee results in ways that you never thought possible,” he offered his arm to her, “So what do you say? How about a drink?”

“You buying,” she questioned curiously.

“But of course,” he nodded in response seeing her eye his nametag.

“Then you’re on Dr. Byrne,” she decided accepting his arm with a smile wondering just what he could do to help her get what she wanted at long last.

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

“I think this is enough for me to stay,” Shannon let out a small laugh pulling away from Don’s kiss for a moment, feeling him wrap his arms around her tightly and she rest her head against the center of his chest. “I am so sorry that it took me this long to realize how much you meant to me Don.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Don hushed with a small smile curling his finger in underneath her chin, urging her to look up at him as he moved forward rubbing his nose in against hers. “I’m just so happy you finally realized you did love me. I was worried for so long that you would never feel the way I felt about you.”

“Don, you were amazing and I treated you so bad,” she muttered feeling him grab her hand in his softly and bring it up to his lips to press a small kiss against it. “I just was blind for so long that I could never see how truly wonderful you really were. I think it’s obvious to every person in this town how great you are.”

“I wouldn’t say everyone in town agrees with you,” Don let out a small laugh realizing that Shannon was just trying to convince him that he was great enough for her. Reaching out to press her blonde hair back behind her ear he moved forward to press a small kiss against her forehead. “I’m not really that great either.”

“Don, my little brother fell in love with you and your family. Your son came from your genes and he is the smartest little boy I’ve ever met. In fact, he makes me feel stupid,” Shannon pointed out seeing Don laugh before nodding in agreement because she knew that he agreed with her. “You’re a great dad and everything you do is to help someone else, you never doing anything for yourself and that shows how much of a caring guy you are Don. You’re great.”

“While I know my father is great,” Matt’s voice interrupted them once more as Don let out a loud laugh and turned to his son seeing the way that Matt carried a big jug of ice-cream and two spoons. “You two should probably come see Nate for a while. I thought some ice-cream would work since all of you adults seem to think that is the miracle cure.”

“Okay kiddo,” Don nodded slowly letting go of Shannon for a moment and pressing his hand in against his son’s back leading him toward the hallway so they could go see Nate, with Shannon following them not far behind. Knocking on the door he saw Nate’s green eyes look up as he set down the remote for a moment, reaching out to help Matt back up on the bed with him. “You okay with us coming in here?”

“I think we have enough room,” Nate decided scooting in toward the middle with Matt as Don sat next to Nate and Shannon sat next to Matt. Feeling Matt set the ice-cream down in his lap Nate let out a sharp exhale before letting out a small laugh. “What are you trying to do? Get fat and feel better about myself as I roll myself down the hallway with all this ice-cream.”

“Well, I know you like the ice-cream,” Matt started handing out all the spoons to everyone, showing that he brought four for all of them so they could all share it. “Right now though, this is all we have--it may not be much, but it’s all we can hold onto. We have to be a family, no matter how torn it is. We all have to stick together.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself kiddo,” Don motioned everyone to move in closer to Nate as they all reached out and gave him a hug making him let out a small groan. “Group hug.”

“Oh no,” Nate gasped letting out a small laugh as he felt Matt’s arm squeezing around his abdomen and he couldn’t help, but still laugh. “Thank you guys, I would be so lost without you. I love all of you.”

“And we love you too little brother,” Shannon muttered seeing her brother's green eyes look up into hers as Don and Matt moved back for a minute, Matt crawling into Don’s lap as they watched Shannon and Nate together. Reaching out for her little brother she wrapped her arms around him tightly, resting her chin on the top of his head. “I love you kiddo and I always have. I’m always going to be here for you.”

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

“Thanks for picking Kayla up,” Zane mouthed excitedly now that his friend was able to hang out with him, Lindsay, Stacy and Daniel. “You’re the coolest.”

“Thanks buddy,” Daniel smiled rubbing his hand over Zane’s head before motioning over to where Kayla was inspecting one of the tubes in the children’s play zone area at the restaurant the group was at, “Now go have fun.”

“Oh boy will I ever,” Zane squealed excitedly before rushing off to join Kayla. He was halfway to where Kayla was standing when he tripped over his feet and fell to the ground.

“Oh my God,” Lindsay gasped opening her mouth to say something more and go over to help him, but Zane just dusted himself off and rushed up to his feet again. He raced over to Kayla clearly unaffected by the fall.

“Obviously nothing is going to stop him,” Stacy joked with a small laugh seeing how Zane leapt into the tube head first not giving it the thought or caution that Kayla clearly did before leaning in to inspect it again. “He’s kind of a wild kid.”

“Reminds me of Don,” Lindsay couldn’t help but laugh shaking her head at Zane again, “He just leaps into the world around him and doesn’t think about what will happen next until it’s already happened and trouble follows.”

Stacy laughed thinking it over, “Don doesn’t seem wild and crazy.”

“He is,” Lindsay replied as she took a seat at the table watching Kayla and Zane interact, “though from what I’ve heard he was worse before I was born.”

“It must be pretty cool having had your big brother around growing up,” Daniel noted thinking about his own brother, “I only recently learned Kipp was my brother and it’s clear we missed out on a lot with one another. Of course we’re trying to get close now.”

“Don’s been a fun brother,” Lindsay confessed thinking about her relationship with her brother, “When we were younger everyone used to think that he was my dad, which was kind of embarrassing, but he had fun with it I guess.”

“Really?” Stacy’s eyes widened with curiosity, “People thought he was your father?”

“Yeah,” Lindsay laughed lightly, “I mean I guess it’s because we have such a huge age gap between us where it might seem like he’s a parent to me, but…”

“Wow, that sounds crazy,” Daniel noted with a shake of his head, “Like Don could be old enough to be your father.”

“He could be old enough,” Stacy piped in catching a look from both Lindsay and Daniel, “I mean you did say that he was wilder when he was younger, right Lindsay?”

“Well I suppose, but I really don’t want to think about the idea of my brother having a kid around the time I was born. I mean he’s older than me, but still,” Lindsay wrinkled her nose at the thought, “I can’t even begin to imagine what Don would’ve been like as a dad back then.”

“He’s really good with Matt now,” Stacy noted with a thoughtful expression, “I bet he would’ve been an awesome dad back then too.”

“He was way too young to be a father,” Lindsay corrected with a wrinkled expression, “Just like us. We’re all way too young to even consider the thought of having our own kids.”

“For sure,” Daniel nodded in response, “I mean babies are cute and all, but I want to wait a long time before I get into that. I have my whole movie career in front of me.”

“And what a fine start you have on it now don’t you?” Stacy couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the thought. “Scaring the hell out of campers really makes for great fun.”

“Hey, it was the whole basis of the Friday the Thirteenth series and besides, I’ve evolved as a filmmaker,” Daniel played with the collar on his shirt before winking over at Lindsay. “I’m far more mature now.”

“You mean you don’t video record your own burps?” Stacy challenged with an arched brow, “Or have farting contests on film?”

“Oh please, that wasn’t me,” Daniel objected with a frown, “I’ll have you know that I didn’t ever do that kind of stuff on film.”

“No of course not. You just bribed your friends to do it so that they looked like the morons instead of you,” Stacy scoffed folding her arms in front of her chest and rolling her eyes again.

“Exactly,” Daniel grinned proudly thinking about his younger accomplishments before remembering that they were with Lindsay. Clearing his throat he sat up straighter and turned to Lindsay once again, “but it was when I was way younger.”

“Of course,” Lindsay nodded with a laugh of her own noticing the color that grew in Daniel’s face. His cheeks were red with obvious embarrassment as he tried to ignore his conversation with Stacy.

“You weren’t that much younger,” Stacy noticed glancing over at the children again, “Hey, where did Zane go?”

“Huh?” Lindsay snapped out of her daze to see Kayla playing in the center of the tube, but Zane was nowhere to be found.

“He couldn’t have gone far,” Daniel offered up ready to go look for him when he heard Zane let out a loud squeal.

“Help! Help this thing is trying to eat me alive!” Zane shouted as it was clear he was stuck in one of the tubes at the end of the play area. His head was out, but the rest of his tiny body was wedged between the tube and some kind of toy that he’d been carrying with him, “Help me!”

“I’m on it,” Daniel announced rushing forward to help Zane with the predicament he was in.

“It’s killing me,” Zane sighed with an exaggerated groan waving his hand around in the air, “It’s killing me!”

“It’s not going to kill you,” Daniel promised as Lindsay and Stacy followed.

“I don’t think he can go anywhere without getting into trouble,” Lindsay noted thinking about how Zane always seemed to find his way into a situation that required help.

“He must get that from his parents,” Stacy laughed lightly before shaking her head, “I mean Deana seems cool, but his dad might’ve been a bit out there.”

“I guess,” Lindsay shrugged her shoulders before watching Daniel ‘rescue’ Zane from the tube. She watched Zane throw his arms around Daniel’s neck relieved at what had happened.

“Thanks man. You’re a life saver,” Zane let out an exaggerated breath before rushing off to rejoin Kayla in the tubes again.

“Five bucks says he’s stuck before the end of the hour,” Daniel couldn’t help but tease rejoining Stacy and Lindsay once again. He wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders and gave them a quick squeeze, “But rest assured I’m here to save the day as always.”

“Oh please,” Stacy rolled her eyes tossing Daniel’s arm off of her before wrinkling her nose at him, “I’m going to get a drink now. Want one Linds?”

“Sure,” Lindsay nodded in response.

“Bring me back something too,” Daniel called off after Stacy.

“If you’re lucky,” Stacy tossed out a glare before leaving Daniel and Lindsay alone with one another.

“She really hates me, doesn’t she?” Daniel couldn’t help but ask thinking about the way Stacy was with him.

“She doesn’t hate you,” Lindsay began trying to keep the peace, “I think she just remembers the not so great things right now.”

“I wasn’t that bad to her,” Daniel blurted out in his own defense.

“I’m sure you weren’t, but she’s having a rough time with her mom and dad getting divorced,” Lindsay paused for a moment, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s okay,” Daniel started again, “I mean I’m glad that you felt that you could share with me. Not that I’m glad that Stacy’s having problems, but…”

“I knew what you meant,” Lindsay smiled over at him, “She’s just been a friend of mine for a long time even if we haven’t talked in a while.”

“I like her,” Daniel explained with a hint of a smile, “I always did. She’s really cool.”

“You do?” Lindsay fought to hide the disappointment in her voice, “You mean you like her, like her?”

“Yeah, I’ve always considered her a friend,” he nodded before giving her a once over, “What did you think I meant?”

“Just that,” she turned away trying to hide the heat that rose over her features at the thought of him having a thing for Stacy. “I mean it’s cool. Stacy could use all the friends she could get right now.”

“It sounds like it,” he noted seeing her step away from him, “But what about you? Are you looking for another friend or maybe something more?”

“More?” she turned around to face him again, her blue eyes widening with shock and embarrassment with his question. She watched him step forward reaching out to touch her shoulder gently.

“I really like you Lindsay,” he began in a timid tone ready to say something more when the sound of Stacy approaching broke the moment.

“I got you a Sprite and I got Daniel a Coke,” Stacy announced before looking between the two of them, “What? Did I miss something?”

“No not at all,” Lindsay lied ducking out of the moment as she wondered if she could really think about having a boyfriend at a time when a boyfriend should be the last thing on her mind. Still as she thought of how much she enjoyed being around Daniel she wondered if perhaps she would find it in herself to break her father’s strict no dating rule that he had for her. Perhaps Daniel was worth the risk after all.

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

“I don’t believe this,” Evie threw her hands up in the air before stepping away from JT. “You actually let her do that.”

“It’s not like I wanted it,” JT tried to defend himself bringing his fingers through his own hair as he wondered why he’d felt compelled to deliver Evie with complete and total honesty. “She caught me by surprise and one thing lead to another and…”

“And you didn’t tell her to stop?” Evie shuddered at the thought of what JT had told her.

“I was afraid she was going to hurt me,” JT offered up in his own defense knowing how pathetic it sounded, “Look, I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s the truth. It was before I met you and I’ve never lied to you about the kind of person I was. I wasn’t exactly a nice guy and yes, what she’s been saying about me is true. I was someone who went through women like nothing, but it was before we hooked up. Evie, you have to believe me when I tell you that I’m not that person anymore.”

“How can I believe you when you have been completely misleading me about her,” Evie questioned in a pinched squeal, “You’ve lead me to believe that she was this annoyance that simply wouldn’t go away!”

“She is an annoyance that wouldn’t go away. She came around when I was still hung up on Diane and yes I did some pretty awful things. I don’t deny that, but that changed when I met you,” he stepped in towards her softening his voice a bit as he reached out to her. “Evie, you’re not like anyone else I’ve been with before. You’re special.”

“Special or not special enough?” she asked arching a curious brow. “Considering that each and every time I try to touch you, you bolt like it’s a bad thing I’m starting to wonder if you really like me or you’re just thinking of me as some charity case that you can fix to make up for the fact that you feel you made mistakes in your life.”

“No, that’s not how I see you,” he shook his head at her trying to reach out to her again. He touched the side of her face gently before meeting her dark eyes, “Evie I like you--a lot. Hell, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before because yes I was all about using women for what I needed from them until I moved onto the next one, but with you it’s so different.”

“Different how,” she questioned with a disbelieving stare trying not to respond to the way his fingers felt against her cheek.

“When I’m with you, I can’t help but think about what it would be like to make love to you. To not just have sex with you, but to really be with you in every sense of the word,” JT admitted his thumb brushing over her now quivering bottom lip. “I’ve never felt that way about any other woman, but with you…well there’s just something about the way you make me feel that I can’t ignore.”

“You’ve been doing a pretty good job of holding back with me,” she admitted thinking about her frustrations in their relationship.

“That’s because if I acted upon what I was feeling it wouldn’t be nearly as special as I want it to be for us,” he explained sliding his fingers into her dark hair, “When I make love to you I want it to be something to remember--something that we can both keep with us, not just some random shag in the backseat of a car or something tacky like that.”

“We’ve had plenty of opportunity to make it special JT,” she stepped in closer to him, sliding her arm around his waist, “Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?”

“I want you too, but if we screw this up and things don’t go as they should,” JT felt her tremble in his arms, “Damn it I don’t want to lose you because in all honesty the smartest thing you could ever do is walk away from a loser like me and never look back. I’m no good for anyone especially someone as special as you.”

“Would you stop saying that?” she huffed shaking her head at him, “You’re exactly everything I ever could have wanted in my life. No one has ever cared about me the way you do. Hell, not even my parents wanted me around when I was a kid. My father was always off doing his own things and only came around when he wanted to use me to pull off some kind of scam and my mother, well she’s always so high and strung out that she doesn’t have five minutes to see what’s going on with me. I grew up alone and on the streets and I’d still be there if you hadn’t tried to help me.”

“Evie I…” he stopped himself thinking about the admission she’d made to him. He paused giving her a sideways glance, “Is that what you were doing before I found you?”

“No, I was living it up on the hill with all of the other rich people,” she rolled her eyes at his question, “I just stole for kicks and fun.”

“Evie, I’m being serious,” he frowned searching her eyes again.

“And I’m being serious when I tell you that all my life everyone has disappointed me. I haven’t found anyone who cares about me like you do. Each and every guy I’ve met has had an agenda and they are all about their own needs, but with you, I can see that you feel something for me. I feel it too and when I’m with you, well I think that maybe there is hope for all of that sappy romance crap that I’ve been trying to avoid all of my life,” she blurted with a heavy sigh.

“That makes two of us,” he confessed leaning in to kiss her tenderly, “which is why tonight I have something very special planned for us--that is if you’re interested.”

“If you’re involved, I’m always interested,” she replied squeezing her arms around his shoulders and kissing him again, “because you’re all that I need and want JT.”

“I want you too,” JT whispered warmly, his words buzzing against her lips, “which is why tonight I promise you that you’re going to have magic in front of you. Believe me on that.”

“I do,” she replied kissing him once again as JT vowed not to ruin the good thing he had with Evie by acting like his usual jerk self.

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

“If you would just open your eyes and look at me right now,” Kevin reached out, sliding his fingers in underneath her chin to get her to look him in the eyes. “You’d see that I’m just a desperate man completely in love with you, wanting to start a life with you and just you.”

“That’s hard to believe,” Ria went to turn away from him feeling him cup her face in his large, rough hands making her look him in the eyes as she shook her head slowly. “I’m being honest Kevin, the last thing I see is you making out with the woman that used to be the love of your life.”

“That’s complicated Ria, like a final goodbye. Something that happened so long ago,” he tried to explain thinking back to the moment when he kissed Angie at Chris’s house and should have realized that something bad would become of that. “I swear, I love you Ria and the thing I want the most in life is just to be a father. To know what it’s like to have a family and share it with the woman that you love the most in your life. Ria, you are that woman for me and I want to have a ton of children with you. I want to have a big family, a baseball team or a basketball team. Anything, whatever you’d like because I want to spend the rest of my life revolving around you.”

Hearing the buzzer to the pregnancy test she had set the timer for go off, they both looked over to it sitting on top of the coffee table. She went to move before feeling Kevin pulling her back down to the couch, his body moving in closer to her while his warm breath skimmed in over the side of her neck.

“I want to wake up every morning with you in my arms for the rest of my life,” Kevin’s voice filled her ears as she closed her eyes, feeling his lips pressing in against the side of her neck gingerly, his tongue slowly caressing her skin. “You’re everything to me Ria.”

“I have to check that Kevin,” she pulled away from him for a minute seeing the way he looked up at her with his chocolate brown eyes. Watching the way he nodded and pushed back his thick, dark hair slowly she saw him reach for the name book again. “What are you doing?”

“Not sure,” Kevin bit down on his bottom lip seeing her look him over as he flipped through the pages looking through the names. “If we had a girl--there is Amanda, no. Kelly, reminds me of Kellen so no way. Ashley, that would be horrible. Erin, I like that one, but of course I think it’s obvious why. What if we had a boy though? There are names like Cody, Kurt, Jared--I want something that sticks out. Something that doesn’t…,”

“Kevin, stop,” Ria blurted out looking over the pregnancy test as he reached for the Yankees jersey he bought pressing it out against the table before looking her in the eyes. “Kevin?”

“Cody Adonis,” Kevin pondered looking over the jersey before shaking his head slowly and looking to the skirted jersey of the Yankees he got if it was a little girl. Deciding that he wanted to tease a bit Kevin looked out at her while standing up and shrugging his shoulders. “What about Ria junior for a girl, that would be cute, but of course then the both of you would…,”

“Why don’t you just go back to planning things out with Angie in your life and what you want to with her,” Ria snapped seeing the look behind his brown eyes as he held onto the Yankee costumes in his hands tightly. “I’m not pregnant Kevin so you can stop all of this right now, I don’t need your bull.”

“You’re not…,” Kevin began seeing her shake her head as he dropped the pajamas to the floor, running his fingers through his hair shakily as he walked over toward the other side of the room trying find a way to calm himself down. Tensing his hands he bit down on his bottom lip before hitting the wall and hearing Ria let out a small gasp as he slid down to the ground and rested his head in his hands. “Damn it.”

“Kevin,” she moved over toward him kneeling down to reach out to him feeling him pull away from her as he stood up shaking his head slowly, wiping at his eyes as he walked over toward the test. “Kevin, what are you doing?”

“It has to be wrong,” Kevin reached for the test, looking it over before reaching for the box to read what everything meant before he threw the box behind him. “You have to take another test, this one isn’t right.”

“Kevin, they are all going to say the same thing,” Ria tried to get him to calm down seeing the way he tried to hold back his emotions from her seeing him cry as he turned away from her pressing his arms up against the wall, hitting it with a balled up fist. “Kevin, please.”

“It’s not fair,” he blurted out sliding back to the ground feeling his emotions overtake him as he started to cry, his heart breaking with every second of knowing his dream and hopes were crashing in around him knowing that his wish wasn’t coming true. “Why does everyone else get to be happy and have a family and I don’t? I was so excited, so happy to hear that I was going to have son or daughter and then this--I keep losing every dream I have. Having hopes like that--is exactly like losing my daughter all over again. I just want a family, I want a complete family that I was never able to have. I want a child to call my own, I want someone to love me and…,”

“Kevin, I do love you,” she got to her knees seeing the way he stared out at her and she moved forward reaching out to push his dark hair out of his eyes, her fingers pressing in against his damp cheek. “You will have a family, I promise. You have to look at the good in life, see that you can still have a family.”

“I try to see the good in life Ria, but sometimes it is so hard to find. This is all my fault anyways, if I wouldn’t have been an asshole,” Kevin bit down on his bottom lip roughly looking away from her and shaking his head slowly. “We would have never had to gone through this, I can’t keep pushing you to do it over and over with me. I try to do it right every time, but I always end up screwing up and digging myself in the ground more and more. You’re my only one Ria and I keep screwing my life, losing my dreams. I’m losing the one woman that ever loved me for me and…,”

“You’re not losing me,” Ria hushed moving forward quickly pressing her lips in against his feeling his muscles shaking against her fingertips as she tried to get him to calm down. Caressing his damp cheek, she felt him not respond to her kiss, just sat there. “Kevin please, it’s not over yet.”

“It will be, I always screw myself over,” he went to say more feeling her press small kisses in against his cheeks, her lips moving in against the side of his neck making him tilt his head up a bit while she gently nipped at his neck. Feeling her fingers pushing the material of his black t-shirt up his abdomen he shook his head slowly not budging his arms. “Ria, no.”

“Kevin, please?” she begged wanting to prove to him that she loved him as he slowly lifted his arms for her to tug it up and over his muscular abdomen before dropping it to the ground. “I want to be with you, I want to start over because I love you.”

“I don’t deserve you Ria, don’t you see that?” he felt her pull him in close to her, her lips pressing in against his in a loving manner as her fingers slid in through his dark hair, this time getting him to kiss her back. “I always hurt you and I’m never going to change. I don’t deserve what I’ve always wanted because I always let you down. I’m just like the rest, I’m not better than the ones before me.”

“Yes you are Kevin,” she reached out for his belt seeing the way he looked down as she pulled it apart slowly, his gaze meeting hers when she finished. “You’re better because I love you and I always have. I was wrong to get mad at you because you’re wonderful Kevin and I love you.”

“I’m not wonderful enough to have a family with, I’m always going to stay the same Ria. Battered and bruised, always confused with my next moves. I can’t stop what happens, I’m always trying to ruin everything good in my life,” he was soon interrupted by the way her mouth roughly pressed in against his and he kissed her back, feeling her fingers caressing the muscles in his abdomen over and over again. “Ria.”

“Stand up,” she ordered seeing him stare up at her when she got up from the ground in front of him and she reached for his hands, seeing him stand up by himself. Reaching forward she unzipped his jeans, tugging at them as she watched the material drop around his ankles. “I’ve always loved you, I don’t know how you think I can’t.”

“I’m not lucky enough to deserve you,” Kevin stated with a small shake of his head seeing the way she pulled off her shirt and moved forward to kiss him again. “From the moment you walked into my life, you showed me what was right and I’ve been trying so hard to get to that place.”

“Just tell me you love me,” Ria begged quickly getting out of the rest of her clothes as she made him sit down on the couch, pressing him against the couch as she moved in over him. “That’s all I’m ever going to need to hear the rest of my life because I don’t want to lose you.”

“I love you,” Kevin whispered kissing her slowly, letting out a small breath as she lowered herself in over him and he rested his head back against the couch for a moment before moving up to kiss her again. “So very much.”

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

“Stop it both of you!” Angela rushed out into the hallway in the hopes of keeping Cameron and Brant from tearing one another apart. She watched in horror as Cameron held Brant by the neck of his collar and held him over the banister ready to throw him off of the ledge. She rushed forward seizing her brother by the shoulders, “Cameron stop it! Let go of him!”

“I can’t let him destroy us Angela. He’s taken too much from us already and I refuse to let him poison you as well,” Cameron shook Brant ready to shove him further off of the ledge when Angela leapt onto Cameron’s back and squeezed her arms around Cameron’s neck.

“Cameron stop it! Cameron, I love him. Don’t hurt him!” Angela shouted tugging on her brother’s throat in an attempt to get him to ease up on Brant.

“You don’t know what you’re saying Angela,” Cameron released Brant, bringing his hand up over Angela’s in an attempt to get her off of him. “He’s manipulated you and…”

“I love her. I’ve always loved her from the day that I first met her. She’s been everything to me and I want to share forever with her,” Brant added in an impassioned tone seeing Cameron stop moving long enough to stand still and stare blankly at Brant.

“I love you too. I know that I might not know everything, but my heart is telling me that we belong together,” Angela released Cameron and stepped down from his shoulders. She moved in between both men and her dark eyes fixed on Brant’s again, “I know that someone is lying, but my heart keeps telling me that you and I are the ones who clearly are meant for one another. Brant I do love you and I know that you would never hurt me.”

“No Angela, he’s just saying all of this so that you will blindly put your faith in him and trust in his lies,” Cameron shook his head stubbornly, “He’s trying to use you to get his ultimate revenge on me.”

“No Cam,” she shook her head spinning around to face her brother, “He does love me. I’m sure of it.”

“He’s only fooling you like Cary did. He doesn’t mean any of it Angela,” Cameron shot back at her watching her shudder at the mention of her late husband.

“Would you stop trying to keep her from finding happiness?” Brant marched forward pushing himself between Cameron and Angela. “She loves me so get it through your head that we’re going to be together whether you like it or not.”

“The hell you are,” Cameron sneered reaching out for Brant again and shoving him over to the ledge once more. “I’ll kill you before I let it happen.”

“Cameron stop it!” Angela rushed forward trying to keep her brother from making the biggest mistake of his life. “Leave him alone.”

“This is the only way you’ll ever see. The only way we’ll finally be free of him,” Cameron explained choking Brant with his hands as he fought to get rid of Brant once and for all. His grip on Brant’s throat constricted and as Brant tried to pry Cameron’s hands off of him, Angela moved forward in an attempt to intervene.

“Cameron stop it. Cameron please!” Angela’s voice squealed with horror as she reached for her brother again.

“Angela let go of me,” Cameron pushed back in an attempt to steer her clear of the situation when he heard a loud, thumping sound from behind him. She made a pinched noise before Cameron spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He released Brant and spun around just in time to see Angela fall to the lower landing of the staircase.

“Oh God, what have you done,” Brant gasped horrified as Angela lay on the ground before them after Cameron had inadvertently pushed her down the stairs. Without waiting for a response Brant pushed Cameron aside and rushed down to Angela praying that she was alright as it was clear that the situation had spun out of control in such a way that everything was about to change forever!

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

...to be continued...