“I don’t think I can get used to all this quiet in the house,” Dave admitted stepping into the kitchen to find Carly pouring herself a mug of coffee before they started their day. He looked around the room realizing that the television wasn’t on and it was empty other than his wife filling up her mug. She reached for another one instinctively pouring him a mug of coffee as well before he spoke up once again, “Where is everyone anyways? Doesn’t Kayla usually watch cartoons right about now?”

“On a normal day she would, but today you told her that it was okay if Jewel took her shopping at the toy store. Remember they worked out that little deal,” Carly arched her brow over at her husband before handing him his mug.

“That’s right,” Dave couldn’t help but frown, “What was I thinking in saying yes?”

“I’m presuming you figured Kayla might enjoy a day out while you and I were working,” Carly replied crossing the room to pull a bagel out of the refrigerator. She walked over to the toaster and began to break apart the halves. “Do you want some of this?”

“No thanks,” Dave shook his head as he crossed the room and took a seat at the table, “The coffee is more than plenty.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged her shoulders once again, “I wasn’t exactly big on the idea of Jewel taking Kayla out all on her own, but you told me last night that it would be fine. Even with everything that’s been going on with Stacy, you felt our daughter would be in good hands.”

“That was because I was planning on putting a tracker in on Jewel’s rental car,” Dave admitted with a small frown, “but I overslept and now I’m thinking maybe I should call the station and have a few men on the lookout just in case.”

“Gee Dave, that’s refreshing,” Carly groaned pulling her toasted bagel out of the toaster and putting it onto a plate. She walked back over to the refrigerator and grabbed the tub of cream cheese before looking over at him once again. “Now you’re going to have me paranoid all day about your sister having Kayla. I’m going to think Jewel dropped her off to be kidnapped.”

“I don’t think she would be that careless,” Dave paused for a moment thinking it over, “At least I hope not.”

“That’s it,” Carly decided pushing her thoughts of breakfast aside as she made her way over to the telephone that was hanging on the wall, “I’m calling them and telling Jewel to bring her back right now.”

“No, I’m sure that’s not necessary,” Dave finally decided standing up and walking over to her. He placed his hand over Carly’s helping her put the phone back down on the base, “I am positive that Kayla will be okay. She knows enough to call us if something is going down.”

“I realize that, but still,” Carly turned around to face him concern behind her dark eyes, “When I think about everything that’s going on with Stacy and Jewel, it doesn’t instill confidence in me.”

“Yeah I know,” Dave shook his head and sighed before reaching out to embrace his wife for a brief moment, “I’m worried about that too. I hate seeing Stacy so upset. I don’t know how I’m going to help those two reach some kind of middle ground with one another.”

“It shouldn’t be our place to make that happen,” Carly sighed thinking about the tension in the Warner home lately, “Jewel and Paul should both be here trying to help Stacy.”

“Getting Paul to do anything responsible is a joke in itself,” Dave groaned thinking about his brother-in-law, “He’s about as useless as that bagel you’re about to eat.”

“I hardly consider a bagel useless,” Carly tipped her head to the side giving him a strange look.

“What I mean is that Paul isn’t going to lift a finger to do anything unless it is to tell Jewel where to stick it,” Dave shook his head before running his fingers through his own dark hair, “Those two have been at it for years and poor Stacy had just been caught up in the crossfire. It isn’t fair.”

“No it’s not,” she agreed joining him over at the table, “but if you have any ideas on what we can do to help, you know I’m there for you.”

“I appreciate that,” he reached out to squeeze her hand gently, “but I’m stumped at this point. Then with Cori and her issues I just don’t know when it’s going to end.”

“Have you heard anything more from her doctor?” she asked thinking about his younger sister.

“There hasn’t been any change,” Dave replied with a groan, “and I’m starting to worry about her. I know she’s been obsessive in the past, but never like this before.”

“I’m sure she’ll be okay once she gets the help she needs,” Carly reached out to squeeze his hand gently.

“I hope so, but I can’t help but wonder how in the world our family went to hell so fast. I mean you, Kayla and I are fine, but the rest of the world, well I just don’t know anymore,” he admitted with worry creasing his brow. “I never thought that both of my sisters would lose their minds right around the same time. Cori was ready to kill a man and Jewel, well I don’t know if she’s ever going to grow up.”

“Dave, we’ll get through this,” Carly paused for a moment, “You know I can call into the office and say I’ll be late today if you want to talk for a while.”

“No, I have to get in and do some things,” Dave sighed heavily, “Plus I know you’ve got a lot going right now.”

“Nothing’s more important than our family Dave,” she squeezed his hand gently, “and anything you need I hope you realize I’m there for you.”

“I know and I love you all the more for it,” he admitted with a small smile, “At least with us we did something right, huh?”

“I’d say we did,” she squeezed his hand gently, “and maybe tonight after work we can both rehash the day we had among other things.”

“Other things?” Dave arched a curious brow noting the smile on her face.

“Yeah other things,” she nodded with a small smirk of her own, “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Jewel with have a date tonight.”

“And Stacy will be with Lindsay?” Dave perked up at the thought.

“Something like that,” she nodded before leaning in to kiss him, “I love you.”

“I love you too. Good luck today,” he gave her one last kiss before watching her get up to leave.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” she couldn’t help but questioned worriedly about her husband.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he promised with a small smile knowing full well that he was about to have a very long day ahead of him. That much he was sure of.

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

“This is your punishment Nate,” Matt decided walking into the store from the mall hallway as him and Zane held onto his hands. Leading him into the center of the store he heard Nate laugh and saw Nate’s green eyes looking around his surroundings. “What are you laughing at Mr. Pryce?”

“You take me to a toy store and this is my punishment for scaring you guys?” Nate questioned with a small laugh seeing the way that Matt nodded slowly and Nate let out a sigh. “Guys, you know me, this is like heaven to me just as much as it is to you if not more.”

“Well, you have to buy us whatever we want,” Zane informed Nate with a firm nod seeing Nate shrug his shoulders and nod slowly before Zane let out a small gasp. “You mean you really will do that?”

“If that’s what you guys would like,” Nate nodded slowly looking around the store and letting out a small laugh seeing them run forward as he followed looking at the toys as he went. “You guys usually have some fun taste, it might be worth the buy.”

“You better keep that promise,” Matt gently hit Nate’s leg before pulling out a few action figures and looking them over. Dropping one of the boxes he kicked it aside before seeing Nate staring down at him confused. “I hate that guy, he got me in trouble a while back.”

“John Cena?” Nate laughed seeing Matt rolls his eyes before going back to looking through the things and Nate let out small laugh when he picked the toy up and set it back on the rack. “Yeah, I believe Don told me about that. You broke some kids CD didn’t you?”

“Yeah, well we shouldn’t even be listening to that this early in our ages,” Matt pointed out pulling out one to show it to Nate seeing Nate look it over slowly. “Hey Uncle Nate, this looks a lot like you except you’re uglier.”

“Yeah, you’re kind of right,” Nate replied looking at the doll before hearing Zane start laughing out loud as Matt shook his head slowly and Nate let out a small gasp realizing what Matt just said. “Hey, that wasn’t nice.”

“What can I say?” Matt looked into Nate’s green eyes for a moment before seeing Nate let out a small laugh and they walked down another isle as Matt pulled out a moon bounce. “I never understood this thing. You put your feet on it and jump, but how do you stop from falling?”

“It’s easy little guys,” Nate watched Matt and Zane look back at him as Nate grabbed a foam cowboy hat and put it in over his head before shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll show you, look at this.”

“Be my guest,” Matt handed Nate over the toy seeing Nate set it down and slowly get on top of it as Matt folded his arms out in front of his small chest. Leaning in closer to Zane he was quiet enough for only Zane to hear. “It is going to be so funny when he falls on his face.”

“You’re going to fall on your face Nate,” Zane blurted out seeing Nate smile and Matt glared at Zane for a minute before covering his eyes, shaking his head slowly. Zane let out a small confused laugh before looking down the isle. “And it’s going to be funny, yeah.”

“Look all you do, is just keep your feet around the ball right here,” Nate explained starting to bounce a bit before seeing Matt watching him carefully. Knowing that Matt was expecting to see him fall, Nate thought he would shock him once and started jumping knee high before seeing Matt’s eyes grow wide. Knowing what he was expecting Nate acted like he slipped on the moon bounce and fell back on his butt letting out a small laugh seeing Matt and Zane burst out with laughter. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.”

“It’s okay Uncle Nate, you’re still my best friend ever and I still love you,” Matt came over and patted Nate on the shoulder lightly seeing Nate smile and quickly stand up before pulling him into his arms. “I’m getting Nate sick again, I swear you swing me around and I feel like I’m going to puke and one day I’m going to do it all over you.”

“Well, I’m your best friend, best friends let other best friends puke all over them,” Nate reached for Zane pulling him up into his other arm hearing the boys let out a small laugh and he simply shrugged his shoulders. “I think.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Nathan,” Matt gently hit at Nate’s shoulder hearing Nate let out a small laugh before Nate led them over toward the video games. “Oh my goodness, they have the new pirates of the Caribbean game. I told my dad I wanted that so bad, but we never got a chance to get it.”

“No way,” Zane blurted out as Nate slowly set them down and let them pull the game off the shelf and Nate saw that they were excited about it. “They have all three of them.”

“You so need to buy us these Nate,” Matt looked back seeing Nate looking over the back of the case and nodding slowly before handing the box back over. “This is the only thing I want, I only want this.”

“Sounds good to…,” Nate let out a small gasp as he stepped on the moon bounce that he forgot to pick up and lost his footing, falling back flat on his back on the hard floor letting out a small groan. “Me.”

“He is funny,” Nate looked to the side to see a little girl standing between Zane and Matt before he let out a small groan and shook his head slowly. “I didn’t really think he would be that funny.”

“Well Kayla, he’s the king of being a comedian,” Matt informed Kayla with a small laugh before seeing a hand placed against Kayla’s shoulder and Matt shrugged his shoulders. “Uncle Nate, this is Kayla and her Aunt Jewel.”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Kayla and,” Nate got to his knees glancing up as he spotted what Jewel really looked like and he gulped down slightly smiling. “Aunt Jewel.”

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

Russ stepped into his office and took a look around wondering what he could do to get things rolling with the newspaper once again after the shock tactics that Chris Foley had been using to make a statement in Coral Valley the last couple of weeks. He was going to shoot a few ideas off with Kevin and bounce them around, but he’d noticed that Kevin wasn’t in his office, which was a surprise. Now that Russ was in his own office, he took a seat in his chair and realized just how abnormally quiet things had been in the office.

“Here are your messages,” a girl from the temp agency explained walking into his office with her headphones on. “Sorry I didn’t bring them in earlier.”

“Thank you,” Russ replied accepting the messages before giving her a look, “Hey, where’s Mindy?”

“You mean you don’t know…” the girl blinked back at him incredulously. “You run this newspaper, yet you aren’t very in tune with the world around you, are you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he frowned in response already wishing that he hadn’t been dealing with a temp when he had wanted to touch base with Mindy about the office happenings.

“Her boyfriend just died,” the girl rolled her eyes at him as if he’d insulted her, “You would think that her own boss would care enough to think about that especially since he’s in the news business.”

“You mean…” Russell’s jaw dropped as he realized how insensitive he must’ve looked, “I’m sorry. I didn’t have any idea that…”

“And you wonder why all of the other papers are climbing in the sales while yours is going down the toilet,” she rolled her eyes again before snapping on the gum she was chewing. “It’s a wonder that you haven’t hit bankruptcy yet at this point.”

“That’ll be all,” Russ frowned watching the woman leave his office before his thoughts turned to Mindy. He had spent so long caught up in what was happening in his own life that he hadn’t given a second thought to what might be happening with Mindy. Thinking about what she must be going through, Russ picked up his phone ready to call her and speak with her when something caught his attention from where it sat on his desk. Reaching for it, Russ skimmed over the message that had been left for him.

“Angela’s been in an accident. She’s at the hospital and things don’t look good. Talk to you later. Kevin,” Russ mouthed to himself hanging up the phone and vowing to call Mindy later. Right now he needed to get over to the hospital and see what was happening with Angela, he realized. Reaching for his jacket, Russ hoped that nothing was too serious because he knew full well if something happened to Angela Kevin would never be able to live with himself.

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

Avery opened the front door and greeted Jenna with a smile before looking around the living room. She stepped back and waved for her friend to come inside and join her.

“Sorry about the mess,” Avery offered up apologetically as Jenna stepped inside, “We’ve got a lot going on and it’s been kind of an uproar with moving and everything else.”

“I take it things with you and Russ are good again then, huh?” Jenna noted curiously spotting one of Russell’s shirts draped over the back of the sofa.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Avery admitted reaching for the shirt and pulling it up in a quick movement. “It took a little while to get on track again, but I think we’re finally working things out at last.”

“That’s good to hear considering that I know you both had a lot to deal with this past year,” Jenna added moving around the living room. “The new house is really starting to look great by the way. Not that it wasn‘t great before, but…”

“Thanks,” Avery smiled over at her friend, “I wish I could take credit for all of this, but it’s all Russ. You should see the back. We have this sunroom out off of the porch and the yard, well it’s really fantastic. Erin is going to love playing out there when she starts running around. I know last time you were over we hadn‘t fleshed everything out yet, but well we‘re getting there. Russ is talking about getting a swimming pool, but I‘m not so sure yet with Erin being so small and…”

“Speaking of Erin,” Jenna eyed the room curiously, “Where is the little princess?”

“Sleeping,” Avery admitted with a heavy sigh, “She woke up really early this morning and was ready to start her day just around the time that I was ready to call it quits. Russ stayed up with her for a little while, but she still wasn’t ready to go to sleep when he went to work this morning. She and I were playing around the house, watching one of those shows on the Disney Channel and that finally exhausted her.”

“Sounds like she keeps you on your toes,” Jenna noted with a small laugh.

“You don’t know the half of it, but you will,” Avery laughed lightly motioning to her friend’s abdomen, “So tell me how are things going with that? You ready for what comes next?”

“I think I can handle it,” Jenna nodded placing her hand over her abdomen, “Whether or not we’re actually ready for it is another story altogether, but we’re getting there. We talked about working on the nursery, but we’re kind of at a standstill with that one.”

“Why is that?” Avery couldn’t help but ask circling her finger for Jenna to follow her into the kitchen for tea.

“We would like to be surprised,” Jenna admitted with a small laugh following her friend into the other room. “I know it sounds horribly outdated considering that it is probably smarter to know what you’re having so that you can plan clothes and the nursery and the such, but still…”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be surprised,” Avery reached for a couple of mugs. She dropped a tea bag in each one before reaching for the hot kettle of water. “I have to admit though that I couldn’t do it myself because I can’t bear the thought of having to wait that long to know the truth. I’m horrible with surprises.”

“Yes, you are,” Jenna agreed with a hearty laugh, “but on the other hand there are so many things in this world that don’t surprise me anymore given my line of work that I think I’m ready for a good surprise.”

“I can’t say I blame you,” Avery nodded in response.

“But it’s hell on nursery planning as I said before. Hart wants to go with something generic--something that isn’t too feminine or too masculine, but as it stands there isn’t really a lot on the market to accommodate that at this point. It’s either pink and frills or sports and blues,” Jenna pointed out with a small sigh.

“I would have loved a sports room when I was younger,” Avery moved over to the table to join her best friend.

“Yeah, you and me both, but of course what we would’ve liked doesn’t mean the next generation would like it and if we made the wrong decision and we have a girl who hates it,” Jenna shook her head, “I don’t think I could live with the conflict that early on in being a parent.”

“Conflict is the name of the game. Besides,” Avery shrugged her shoulders, “You could always change it before the little one is too old to complain about it.”

“Maybe, but it’s not just that,” Jenna sighed in response reaching for her mug, “Hart and I have talked about moving too, but I’m not sure that’s the best idea either.”

“You mean to somewhere else? Like a house or something?” Avery questioned curiously.

Jenna nodded, “Which is a big step. I don’t know if I’m ready to take that kind of leap.”

“Considering you’re about to have a baby maybe it is time to give up your apartment. It is kind of small and…” Avery paused giving her a long look, “What about Hart’s place?”

“He’s still trying to get rid of it, but in all honesty that’s made for a single man who is looking to keep entertaining the notion of single life,” Jenna confessed thinking about the home Hart left behind. She shifted on her chair uncomfortably before speaking up again, “Actually it’s not so much moving that bothers me, but the idea of what else will change should Hart and I take that leap with one another. I mean he’s already asking about marriage and…”

“Marriage,” Avery’s eyes widened in response, “Oh Jenna that’s great. I think you two could have a beautiful wedding and…”

“Slow down,” Jenna held her hand up in the air to silence her friend’s gushing, “Avery I don’t want to get married.”

“What?” Avery’s jaw practically dropped, “Why not? I mean you and Hart seem so good together and you’re going to have a baby and…”

“And I’m not arguing that. I think that it’s wonderful that we have one another and I love him, but I’m just not ready for that,” Jenna admitted with a long sigh, “Marriage works for some people, but I don’t think I’m one of them.”

“Of course you are,” Avery added supportively, “You would really like being married.”

“Just like you’ve liked being married?” Jenna arched a speculative brow seeing Avery frown. “No offense Avery, but you’ve done it twice and you know how much chaos came from it.”

“Those were completely out of the normal circumstances in both situations. Russ and I should still be married and with Brant, well that never should’ve taken place,” Avery added with a frown of her own.

“Yes, but when it was over things got ugly. You and Brant stopped being friends, you lost your job and your whole world was turned upside down,” Jenna continued to explain to her.

“Well for starters you don’t work for Hart. That won’t be a problem for you and two you and Hart are in love with one another. I wasn’t in love with Brant. Yes, I cared about him and I may have loved him on some level, but I was never in love with him. Russ was who I wanted to be with and that was the problem. Jenna, you can’t base your future on your friends and their mistakes,” Avery continued to offer to Jenna.

“I realize that, but at the same time it’s not just what happened with you. I mean look at my mother and Preston. They aren’t married and they are completely happy together,” Jenna tossed out at her.

“Right, but Preston would be even happier if your mom would just marry him. He’s been trying for years and if I do recall correctly you’ve been one of the biggest supporters of them getting married,” Avery wiggled her brow at Jenna.

“I know I have, but…” Jenna stopped herself shaking her head decidedly, “I just don’t know if it is right for me. I mean what if I think it is, but then I see that it’s not and it turns into this situation where Hart and I hate one another. We start off great, but somehow it falls to pieces and then we’re left to end it and we bring our family into all of this and…”

“Jenna no relationship is perfect. Married or not we all go through rough patches,” Avery cut her off abruptly, “We all have something happen that puts us in that turning point where we can look away or fight for what we love. Not marrying Hart isn’t going to change that. Anything could happen at any time.”

“That’s what Hart keeps saying, but still…” Jenna trailed off with another sigh, “I just don’t know if I’m ready for that step. He said he understood that and that he was okay with my decision, but now he’s pushing for us to get married again. He keeps bringing it up offering me a list of all the reasons why it would be right for us, but right now, I just don’t know.”

“It’s really not that bad,” Avery placed her hand on top of Jenna’s, “You might find that you actually like it. I mean hey I’ll be honest and tell you that I plan on doing it again with Russ and this time, well this time it’ll be forever.”

“This from the person who called me saying it was over between the two of you not so long ago,” Jenna eyed her suspiciously.

“I was jumping the gun like always and yeah, I was upset, but we love one another and we worked it out,” Avery continued to remind her friend. “This last year has been one nightmare after another for us and if we didn’t have Erin, well I would say that I wish everything was different, but with her, it makes us ignore the bad. She’s the good that we needed and that’s made all of this nonsense worth it.”

A small sound rose from the kitchen and Avery couldn’t help but smile hearing Erin talking over the baby monitor. She let out a laugh before pointing to it.

“So much for napping,” Avery laughed lightly getting up and out of her chair, “Want to go see Erin with me?”

“I would love to,” Jenna nodded in agreement wondering if perhaps she would ever be ready for the wedded bliss that Avery had seemingly found with Russ. Sure, there were a lot of perks, but at the same time Jenna knew full well about people who had been deeply in love with one another and lost that once their picture perfect romance fell to pieces in divorce. That in itself made her shudder as she vowed not to let her and Hart’s relationship become another statistic.

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

“Coming,” Mindy called out hearing a small knock on the door as she got up from the couch after waiting a few for Jason to show up and she quickly walked to the door to pull it open. Seeing his blue eyes meet hers she smiled looking down to his arms seeing a huge white teddy bear in his arms. “Who is this?”

“Well,” Jason slightly laughed slowly handing her over the teddy bear seeing her blue eyes looking over slowly and he shrugged his shoulders. “I bought that for you considering when I was little stuffed animals always made me feel better. I know it’s tacky, but I was trying to…,”

“Jason, it’s great. He’s adorable,” Mindy motioned for him to come into the apartment and Jason shrugged his lips slowly curled into a smile and he nervously shrugged his shoulders. “I think I’ll name him Jay after the great guy that got him for me. It’s funny stuffed animals always made me feel better when I was younger too.”

“No kidding?” he questioned with a small sigh seeing her nod slowly and he let out long breath before nodding too. “I mean, I know it helps a lot of people, but I just figured that you might need a buddy and I know if I needed a bubby to lie with, I would have chosen him. To this day I still sleep with this one bear I got when I was little. I can’t believe I just told you that.”

“It’s okay,” she laughed seeing the red brush in over his cheeks after he got embarrassed after telling her that and she reached out for his arm after setting the bear down on the chair. Leading him toward the door she saw him fix his baseball cap with his free hand before following her out. “Trust me, I’m going to be having him as a sleepy buddy later too. I love to cuddle.”

“Me too,” Jason blurted out before rolling his eyes at his quickness and pulling his hat further down to block his eyes so she couldn’t see him. “So, where are we going? I didn’t know what to wear considering I didn’t know what you wanted to do today, so I just look like this. Maybe it’s a bit too casual, but I didn’t know and…,”

“Jason,” Mindy laughed seeing him let out a hesitant laugh before nodding slowly and she motioned him to follow her down the stairs and outside. “We’re just going to go for a walk over there and talk. By the park, it’s really nice and the water is over there so it looks really cool. You’re dressed perfectly fine for that.”

“Thanks, sorry,” Jason cleared his throat before moving in beside her and walking at the same speed she was going. Glancing over at her he took in a long breath before sliding his hands into his pockets. “So how have you been?”

“Well, I’m living,” Mindy teased seeing Jason glance over at her and she frowned taking in a small breath and shaking her head slowly. “Okay, that was a bad answer. I’m okay, I’ve been better is all I can say though.”

“I know how you feel,” he watched as they came up to the park and she stopped at the monkey bars and he saw her start to climb up slowly before pulling herself up on top of them. Seeing her position herself right, his blue eyes widened when he saw her motion him to come up with her. “Don’t you think that is kind of dangerous. I mean these monkey bars are kind of high up and my goodness.”

“Jason, just come on up, it’s the one place where I find it the easiest to just be myself and be comfortable,” Mindy reached her hand out to him seeing him start to climb up before looking down toward the ground. “I take it you’re afraid of heights.”

“No, I’m a risk taker, it’s just the falling on my butt that scares me,” Jason muttered pulling himself up on top and resting his legs over on each side before letting out a long breath. “This is nice and comfortably hard.”

“You’ll get used to it or your butt will go numb, one of the two,” Mindy teased seeing him slightly laugh as she reached for his hat seeing him stare out at her as she dropped it to the grass. “I’d like to see your eyes. I feel like I’m just talking to a hat.”

“Sorry about that,” Jason half laughed seeing her shrug her shoulders before Jason positioned himself differently trying to find a better way to sit more comfortably. “So you like it up here?”

“It was something I’ve done my whole life, I have something on my mind, I just go on up here to think,” she informed him seeing his blue eyes staring out into hers showing her that he was listening. “You know, it’s easier to talk to you you’re like one buddy I know I can count on after what happened. If only you knew I wasn’t as great as I seem to be.”

“What do you mean?” Jason questioned seeing her trying to avoid looking him in the eye as he shrugged his shoulders and looked to the ground again to see his hat. “I mean if you really don’t want to tell me anything I understand, but I’m not going to run off and tell anyone what you tell me. I hardly know anyone in Coral Valley, I just got here.”

“I can’t really explain myself,” Mindy tried to tell him about how she felt toward Hunt, but took in a long breath and shook her head slowly. “With Hunt, I realize now that after he is gone, I’ve always used him as like my back up and I feel like I’ve always treated him horribly.”

“I’m sure that was never the case, the way he talked to me about you,” he was thinking of something to say when he saw her frown and look away and gently pressed his hand against her knee. “Mindy, he never doubted you for a second, he knew that you loved him. That’s all that matters. The past is the past you know, you don’t have to keep letting this thing eat away at you.”

“Well, I just think about it,” Mindy sighed remembering what it was like to be with Hunt and to really be thinking about what it would be like if Guy would ever come back to her. “Maybe I think that sometimes Hunt was just my biggest mistake.”

“I doubt that Mindy,” Jason pointed out seeing her blue eyes stare out into his and he felt her hand move in over his and he shook his head slowly. “A thing I always hear and believe firmly is that everything happens for a reason. No matter how sad it is or no matter how happy a thing can make you, it always happens for a reason. It takes time to realize it and it’s not fair sometimes, but it’s something that’s been a known fact.”

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

Trisha stepped off of the elevators ready to do whatever was necessary to get Ria to agree to let her borrow the slinky red dress that Ria had tucked away in her closet. While Trisha could very well easily go over and take the dress on her own, she couldn’t help but find herself attempting to do things the right way in asking this time. Of course that was probably due to the fact that the last time Trisha had tried to ‘borrow’ the dress Ria had a fit and warned her against doing so. However, Trisha was confident that she would find a way to get her sister to agree to the terms now that Trisha knew that Ria was back home again.

“Where are you?” Trisha tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking around the hallway for a moment before spotting her sister near the nurse’s station. Taking in a breath Trisha held her head up higher and put on her best bargaining face. She would get a yes out of Ria. She was sure of it. Quickly Trisha walked across the hall ready to pull out all the stops including offering Ria tickets to a concert that was coming to town if Ria would agree to the terms of the dress loan.

“Ria,” Trisha called out to her sister brightly in the hopes that she would catch Ria in a good mood. However, when Ria turned around, Trisha realized that perhaps this was not the time to get into the semantics of why Ria should loan her the dress. The lines on Ria’s face spoke for themselves as did her tired eyes. Feeling her own smile fading Trisha gave her sister another once over before speaking up again. “Why do I get the feeling that whatever it is that you’re about to tell me isn’t good news? Please don’t tell me that you found out what happened to your silk blouse because I can totally explain that…”

“This isn’t about my blouse,” Ria paused for a moment before giving her sister a sideways glance, “unless of course there is something to tell me.”

“No of course not,” Trisha lied before shifting on her toes, “I was just testing you. Seriously, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Everything,” Ria shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know.”

“That’s rather vague, don’t you think,” Trisha noted with a shake of her head, “Surely you aren’t wearing the I’m upset face unless of course it has something to do with perhaps Kevin? Oh man, what has he done now?”

“Nothing this time,” Ria rubbed her palms together before her eyes cast out across the hallway.

“Then why are you so upset?” Trisha questioned worriedly. She reached out to touch her sister’s arm gently, “Ria, you know that you can talk to me.”

“It’s just that,” Ria paused as Trisha realized Ria was straining for the right words, “I mean you know how I said that I wanted Angela out of his life forever?”

“Well, duh,” Trisha nodded before an eerie thought occurred to her, “Oh Ria, please don’t tell me that you finally had enough and just killed her?”

“Of course not,” Ria frowned before a sigh fell from her lips, “Although maybe in a way I’m responsible for this because I always kept saying that I wished Angela would get out of his life once and for all. Maybe in some subliminal way my wishing wound up causing all of this and…”

“Hold on. Back up,” Trisha blurted out seeing that her sister was about to take a turn down a path that she was certain Ria wouldn’t want to go down. “What happened to Angela? You never specified when we talked before.”

“She was injured. There was an accident at Cameron’s house and she fell down the stairs and…” Ria began to recount the details to a confused Trisha.

“Oh my God,” Trisha gasped horrified, “What about her children? Are they…?”

“From what I’ve heard they are going to be alright, but with Angela,” Ria shook her head again and turned to look at the floor away from Trisha, “They don’t know what’s going to happen to her.”

Trisha waited a moment for her sister to continue before a though occurred to her, “And let me guess Kevin is tore up about this.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Ria glanced up again. “He spent more than half of his life loving her and I’m sure the idea of losing her is killing him.”

“He’s not going to lose her,” Trisha offered up hoping to alleviate her sister’s worries, “and when she gets better he’s not going to be wrapped up in all of her drama anymore.”

“We can’t ever escape it Trisha. It’s like no matter how far we come together, there will always be this pull that she has on him. There will always be this hold she has over him. Just when I think that,” Ria threw her arms up in the air alerting Trisha to her inner struggle, “What am I saying? Let’s face it Trisha this shouldn’t be about Kevin and I, but rather about Angela pulling through what’s happened to her.”

“I’m sure she will,” Trisha noted watching Ria circle around the table beside them, “and so will you and Kevin.”

“I want to believe that, but if she dies or worse…” Ria trailed off a lost expression on her face.

“She’ll make it through this Ria. I’m sure that she will be just fine and you and Kevin can pick up where you left off before,” Trisha continued refusing to allow her sister to slip into her worries. “Things will fall into place now that you’re talking about a family and…”

“I’m not pregnant Trisha,” Ria blurted out quickly, “I never was. Kevin and I aren’t having a baby.”

“But I thought you said…” Trisha saw the sadness behind her sister’s eyes.

“I was wrong,” Ria’s shoulders slumped. “I made a mistake and…”

“I know you’re not pregnant Ria, but you said you and Kevin still wanted to keep trying,” Trisha added thinking about what her sister had briefly mentioned to her in passing. “I thought that you both agreed that it was what you wanted together.”

“It is, but how can we really have that when he’s always rushing to her aid? I know that this time we couldn’t avoid it, but think about it Trisha. I’m always going to be his second choice because his first choice is in a hospital bed fighting for her life,” Ria dropped her head and sighed. “It’s never going to be like Kevin and I hoped for it to be with us.”

“It won’t be if you give up on what you have going for you. Think about it Ria. Kevin flew all the way out to be with you even after you two broke up. He loves you so much that he was willing to drop everything to be with you,” Trisha added brightly hoping to talk some sense into her sister.

“That’s because he thought I was pregnant,” Ria tossed out at her.

“He was missing you long before he thought there was a baby in the picture,” Trisha insisted with a heavy frown, “I mean yeah sure I know you and Kevin are pretty kinky together to the point that you put Chase and I to shame, but it’s more than that. You have a love thing going on and anyone with eyes can tell that you’re it for Kevin.”

“That’s because anyone with eyes isn’t seeing how much he cares about Angela. She’s his first love and…” Ria protested much to Trisha’s dismay.

“About to have twins with someone who isn’t Kevin? Ria, in case you haven’t noticed no matter what her issue is, Angela is in love with another man. She isn’t going to want Kevin, which by the way proves she’s an idiot because he truly is an Adonis, but still,” Trisha explained pointedly, “Angela isn’t going to be back in his life again.”

“Because she doesn’t want to be, but who knows when that will change?” Ria explained dejectedly as she brought her hands together again, “I feel like my relationship is on borrowed time lately.”

“Then it’s time for you to let everyone know that you’re not going to back down from a fight. If you think that Angela has a hold on Kevin, then you remind him that you’re the one he loves. You let him know point blank that there is no way in hell that you’re letting him walk away again. He’s your man and you need to prove it to him even if it involves trying him down and teaching him a very vital lesson about love,” Trisha tossed back at her with a wicked smirk, “I’ll even supply the rope.”

Ria cracked a grin at the thought, “What you’re talking about borders on perversion Trisha.”

“Even if it does, it got you intrigued by the thought,” Trisha let out a relieved smile, “Plus it got you to laugh.”

“Yes it did,” Ria nodded.

“And for what it’s worth I think you’re underestimating Kevin’s love for you. He was miserable when you were gone and I don’t see him moving away from that with you gone,” Trisha reached out to embrace her sister, “Face it he’s got it bad where you are concerned and neither one of you will be happy until you’re together.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Ria hugged Trisha in response.

“I know I’m right,” Trisha added brightly before taking a step back and meeting her sister’s eyes again, “I’m great at giving advice.”

“You’re okay,” Ria smiled again.

“I’m better than okay. I’m so good at it in fact that you will let me borrow that really hot red dress that you have tucked away in your closet for a rainy day,” Trisha began searching for the opening that she’d hoped for when she’d arrived at the hospital.

“You’re not that good at it,” Ria cut back shooting down Trisha’s idea.

“Oh come on. You know I won’t do anything to destroy it,” Trisha pleaded again hoping to persuade her sister to let her borrow it. “I’ll even have it dry cleaned after I finish with it.”

“Hmm, just like the silk blouse you were worried about before?” Ria’s eyebrow tipped with doubt causing Trisha to shift uneasily on her feet. “Speaking of which, what was it you wanted to say to me about that before?”

“Nothing,” Trisha gulped knowing full well that her sister was about to prod for answers. However, she was saved by a man approaching the two of them with an oversized bouquet of roses.

“Dr. Merhan?” the man questioned from behind the bright crimson colored buds.

“Yes?” Ria replied turning to face him as Trisha immediately found herself curious about the delivery boy in front of them.

“These are for you,” the man explained offering the roses out to Ria before following up with a clip board. “Sign here.”

“I’ll do it,” Trisha announced reaching for the clip board and jotting down her signature before handing it to him.

“Have a great day,” the man tipped his head before returning to the elevators that he’d come from.

“See, I told you that Kevin loves you,” Trisha boasted proudly watching Ria carry the roses over to the table. “He’s just full of surprises.”

“Yes he is,” Ria added with a sudden color in her cheeks. She reached for the card and began to open it.

“Well, what does it say?” Trisha leaned over the desk snatching the card from Ria’s hands.

“Hey, I didn’t get to see it yet,” Ria protested, but it fell upon deaf ears as Trisha read the words aloud.

“I’ve been thinking about you since our last encounter. My mind has been swirling with fantasies of the two of us together in an intimate setting lost in one another,” Trisha paused her eyes darting over to Ria again, “See the ropes weren’t a bad idea after all.”

“Give me that,” Ria reached out across the desk to snatch the card back.

“Come on. That was getting good,” Trisha attempted to pull it away from her sister once more without any luck. “Come on, what does it say?”

“It’s for me, not you.” Ria pointed out as Trisha watched her skim the card over.

“That’s so not fair,” Trisha reached for it again only to discover the color had drained from Ria’s face. “What is it? Ria?”

“It’s nothing,” Ria replied tearing up the card and walking over to the trash can. She shoved it inside as Trisha started to follow.

“Don’t tell me it’s nothing,” Trisha demanded thinking about the racy message in the card. “What was it?”

“These aren’t from Kevin,” Ria explained in a cryptic tone before reaching for the vase on the table top.

“Wait, what,” Trisha watched her sister walk over to the trash can once again and deposit the flowers. “Ria, hold on. What are you doing?”

“Putting these where they belong,” Ria announced breezing by Trisha while clearly flustered. Trisha started to go after her, but paused for a second as she found herself wondering just what it was that had Ria so worked up. Turning to the trash can once more, Trisha rushed over to it and pulled the flowers out. She set the vase on the desk before reaching for the pieces of card that Trisha had deposited inside of the can. They were scattered, but Trisha was able to pull out the bottom of the card with three words clearly printed on the bottom.

“Your Secret Lover,” Trisha mouthed to herself wondering who in the hell would be sending her sister such a personal, intimate message if not Kevin. Suddenly Trisha found herself wondering if there was more going on than her sister had mentioned before. With about a million and one questions in her mind Trisha followed after the direction Ria went in while wondering just what it was that was happening with Ria. Something told Trisha that Ria’s complications went well beyond Kevin’s fixation with Angela and Trisha found herself wanting to get to the bottom of it.

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

“I want them out of here,” Cameron pointed towards Brant and Kevin, waving at the guards to do what was necessary to get rid of both men. The guards stepped further into Angela’s hospital room and Brant stepped up to face down Cameron.

“I’m not going anywhere. You can’t make me leave her even if you wish you could,” Brant snarled in response clenching his fists at his sides. “Regardless of what you want to do to control her life, you heard it right from Angela’s lips that she wants to be with me Cameron. She loves me and those are my children she’s carrying.”

“She’s my sister and I’m her power of attorney. I have no clue whose children she is having, but I’m certain they aren’t yours,” Cameron remarked sourly, glaring down at his enemy. “You have no rights to be in here bothering my sister when her health and future is on the line.”

“Bothering her?” Brant repeated in astonishment. “Cameron I love her and I’m not leaving her. No one is going to make me leave her.”

One of the guards approached Brant, who swiftly tossed out a glare at them. The man seemed to be a bit intimidated and took a small step back.

“Did you hear what I said?” Cameron chastised the man, “I told you to get them out of here. I want my sister to be able to rest and have peace and quiet. She doesn’t need either one of them in here trying to harm her.”

“The only one trying to harm her is you Cameron. You’re just so full of rage and jealousy that she found someone who makes her happy. Unlike you, she isn’t a miserable, evil person who lies and manipulates their way through the world to get what they want,” Brant shot out further, “She saw through your lies Cameron and she knows that we belong together.”

“What my sister knows is that you’re a very persuasive man. You may have fooled her, but I know full well that you murdered our father and if you think for one second that I’m going to let you ruin her life as well, then you’re sadly mistaken,” Cameron informed him bluntly snapping his fingers again and motioning to one of the guards. “Why don’t you stop wasting my time and start doing what you were hired to do?”

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Brant questioned glaring at the man in front of him. “I’m Brant Ashford and if you even think about pushing me out of here, then so help me God you won’t have a job by the end of the day.”

“There you go again throwing around the Ashford weight,” Cameron rolled his eyes in response taking a small step closer to Brant. “It might’ve worked in this town thus far, but it’s not going to work with my sister Brant. I won’t let you destroy her just like your family has destroyed everything in ours.”

“This is ridiculous. Even for you,” Brant huffed pushing past the guard and glaring directly at Cameron. “If you have a problem with me, then let’s deal with this one on one. Forget about all of the muscle Cameron because we can settle this once and for all right now.”

“No one is settling anything,” Kevin announced moving in between the two men, “because this isn’t happening. We aren’t leaving and if you don’ like that Cameron, then tough. You’ll have to learn to deal with it.”

“The hell I will. I’m not about to let either one of you hurt Angel anymore than you already have,” Cameron snapped his fingers again as the taller of the two men stepped towards Kevin and Brant.

“If you even touch me, you’ll lose a finger,” Kevin warned with a snarl watching the guy move back to his corner in the room. Taking advantage of the momentum shift Kevin looked to Cameron with a snarl. “While you might think that you’re calling the shots on this one Cameron, you’re wrong. As it stands you’re just about the last person in the world that would have any kind of control over Angie and I can prove it.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cameron glared over at Kevin watching Kevin move in closer to him.

“It means that you’re getting out of here right now and don’t even think about trying to stop me from making it happen,” Kevin warned vowing to clear up some of the negativity that was in the room with Angela because all of the fighting was the last thing she needed at a time like this!

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

Carly looked around her office knowing that she would have to put a lot more together to make this place truly feel like hers as it still had traces of Hart Steiner in it. Yes, she’d taken Ken up on his generous offer, but even now she couldn’t help but wonder how Dave was going to take the news. Yes, he would support her, but to what degree she would soon find out. Still she was hoping to make a fresh start in this place.

“Hey beautiful,” she heard a voice call out to her. She spun around to find Andy standing the doorway giving her a long once over, “This place looks like it will suit you just fine.”

“It’s a start,” Carly smiled over at him curling her finger to invite him into her office, “Take a seat. You mentioned that you wanted to talk about the divorce.”

“I do,” Andy nodded in response surveying her office for a moment. He walked over to one of the shelves and pulled a photo off of one of them. He pointed to Dave and Kayla, “The perfect family, huh?”

“I’d like to think we have our own happiness to us,” she nodded in response reaching for her photo. “Getting married was a great thing for us.”

“It’s nice that it can be for some people,” Andy reached for her wrist capturing it gently between his fingers before his eyes searched hers for a long moment. “Though I have to tell you that I would’ve been a hell of a lot happier if I would’ve left Deidra to Dave and took a chance at having you.”

Carly cleared her throat uneasily. “Well, um how about we get back to what you called me about? I’ve already drawn up the papers and…”

“I won’t need them,” Andy stepped back sensing her uneasiness about the situation.

“What?” Carly blinked back at him confusion carrying over her, “But I thought you agreed to the terms and…”

“I’ve been thinking lately,” Andy circled around the office to take a seat in one of the chairs as she’d instructed him to do earlier. “The truth to the matter is that I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on the whole marriage thing. You see Deidra and I have been separated for a while and it’s got me thinking about my vows. Now that I see her with someone else, I realize that maybe I blew it.”

“You do?” Carly couldn’t help but question with a puzzled expression, “But I thought that you said that…”

“I know what I said, but I was wrong,” Andy shrugged his shoulders simply, “If she wants to move on with her lover and get out of our marriage without any opposition, then she’s got another thing coming to her.”

“Wait a second,” Carly blinked back at him, “You are the one that’s been cheating on her, yet you aren’t going to give her the divorce because she’s found someone else.”

“Pretty much,” he nodded in response before letting out a small laugh, “I mean she is my wife after all and now that it’s clear we’ve both made mistakes I think the playing field is more even. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I don’t know if I would go that far Andy considering that it’s probably best if you just end things now,” Carly offered up not really knowing what to say to him as she took a seat on the edge of her desk. “I thought that you were just ready to get past this point in your life.”

“I was, but then something hit me,” he admitted standing up from the chair he’d been seated in and moving in towards her. “I got to thinking about the real meaning of marriage. I vowed to share the rest of my life with her and I think it’s only fitting that we spend the rest of our lives together. She made the to death do us part vow right along with me, so I can’t see going back on that.”

“I understand, but…” Carly blinked back at him, “You were so insistent upon ending things before.”

“I know, but I was wrong,” Andy admitted his blue eyes narrowing in on Carly. He stepped forward, a smirk touching over the corners of his lips. “Though maybe I really wasn’t all that interested in a divorce to begin with.”

“That’s not what you said before when you asked me to help you. I invested a lot of time into this and…” she started with a small frown finding herself completely thrown by his news.

“Maybe I used it as an excuse to get closer to you,” Andy mouthed casually reaching out to brush his fingers against her shoulder gently. His gaze dropped down to the neckline on her blouse and a grin widened over his lips. “After all I always did enjoy the spoils that Dave had to offer. Deidra was nice, but I’m sure you’re a whole lot better.”

“I beg your pardon,” Carly’s dark eyes widened up at him. “Andy you’re out of line.”

“So,” he shrugged sliding his hand down over her arm before stepping in closer to her, “You can’t tell me that Dave does it for you. You can’t tell me that you don’t find yourself craving a walk on the wild side. Dave is a nice guy and nice men only go so far in this world. Guys like me on the other hand…”

“Need to get your ego in check as you walk out the door,” a voice interrupted causing Carly to leap up and away from Andy. Her dark eyes darted over to where Ken was standing in the doorway glaring at Andy.

“Maybe you didn’t pick up on the ring on her finger or the fact that unlike you marriage means something to her,” Ken’s eyes narrowed at Andy as he entered the office, “but let me make it clear to you Andy. She’s not interested and she’s never going to be.”

“And just why is that Brant?” Andy questioned with an amused expression, “Because you’re going to claim her too?”

“Brant,” Ken repeated tipping his head to the side and giving Andy a strange look, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that…” Andy stopped himself a moment of panic flashing over him before he cleared his throat. He quickly covered. “It means that you’re acting like your brother Ken thinking that you can sweep in and tell the world what to do.”

“From what I gathered a few minutes ago you won’t be needing Carly’s services, so why don’t you just pack it up and call it a day? She has real work to do around here and since you’re wasting her time, obviously you don’t need to stay around, now do you?” Ken added with a small glare.

“I suppose not,” Andy took a step back offering up a shrug before turning to Carly. “Thanks for your time and trust me when I tell you that I will be sending you your fee in the mail.”

“Yeah, sounds great,” Carly nodded quickly finding herself at a loss as Andy pushed past Ken without so much as a good-bye. Once Andy was gone, she caught the way that Ken was looking at her.

“Care to tell me what that was all about?” Ken couldn’t help but ask curiosity getting the best of him.

“I have no idea,” Carly brought her hand up through her hair and sighed. “One minute he’s telling me that he can’t get divorced fast enough and now, well I’m assuming what you saw.”

Ken nodded a frown touching over the corners of his mouth, “And I didn’t like it which means I’m sure Dave will feel the same way. Look Carly, I know I don’t have any business telling you what to do with your life, but Andy’s trouble. He’s not exactly the kind of guy you want to spend any alone time with considering that you’re a beautiful woman and…”

“And what?” she folded her arms in front of her chest stubbornly. “You think that I would actually throw away what Dave and I have to be with him?”

“I wasn’t saying that, but I know he can be persuasive,” Ken offered up in response, his brown eyes sweeping over her.

“Persuasive or not, I’m happily married and nothing is going to take me from that,” she countered firmly making her point clear in the moment.

“I understand that, but there are times when,” something flashed behind his brown eyes before he looked away. “I just don’t want you to get in over your head and lose the ground that you’ve made with your husband. I know how much you love him.”

“Then you know I would never cheat on him. Just like you would never cheat on Wendy,” she added catching his eyes for a brief moment before she circled around to her desk avoiding any further exchanges between them.

“Look all I’m saying is something is strange about Andy,” Ken began again before finally sighing. “You know what. Forget about Andy. Let’s talk about this--about our work situation. How does Dave feel about it?”

“I thought we already went over this Ken,” she finally faced him, a frown carrying over her. “He supports my career.”

“But what about this,” he motioned between them taking a small step towards her desk. “What about us?”

“There is no us Ken,” she stated plainly dropping down into her chair. “I thought we already covered that one when we ended things.”

“We did, but…” Ken paused not sure how to respond to where the conversation was heading. “It’s just I haven’t forgotten…”

Carly remained silent for a long time before speaking up again, “Neither have I, but that also means I remember why we split up. It was something that we both needed at the time and now it’s over. I don’t have a problem with it unless you know you can’t work with me and ignore what we shared.”

“I’m not going to say I can ignore it, but I do love Wendy. She’s the world to me,” Ken glanced over to the framed photo Carly had of Dave and Kayla.

“And they are everything to me, so I really don’t see myself going out of my way to do something to lose all of what I worked so hard to have in my life,” she added their eyes meeting once again, “And I sincerely doubt that you’re going to risk the time you have with Wendy to try to jump into bed with me again.”

“I love her too much for that,” he nodded solemnly. “I lost her once and I’m not going to go through that again especially now.”

“Then we’re fine,” she added with a thoughtful expression, “Once we make that clear to the world around us, we can be friends again. Who knows? Maybe even you and Dave might mend fences.”

“If he slept with the woman I love, I don’t know if I could be able to get over that,” Ken admitted guilt riding over him at the memory of what he’d done to his former best friend. “But for what it’s worth I hope you’re right.”

“Yeah me too,” Carly sighed glancing over at the photograph again in the hopes that her husband would truly support this latest decision she’d made with her career.

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

Dave took in a breath and looked around the visitor’s room thinking about how many times in the past he’d come to this particular hospital to check in on someone that was brought in on charges. Never in a million years did he think that his sister would be one of the patients that would be here seeking out an alternative to what jail would provide her with. Even now as he thought about how Cori had gone off the deep end, he couldn’t help but worry about her wishing there was more he could do to help her.

“Well, look who decided to remember he had family,” Cori’s voice snapped at him. He tipped his head up to see her glaring at him with angry brown eyes. “Let me guess you’ve decided to let them throw me in the gas chamber since that might be more humane.”

“Cori, I’m sure it’s not that bad in here,” Dave began trying to keep his voice neutral. “They are trying to help you…”

“Trying to make me crazy is more like it. Dave, what did I ever do to you to cause me to be in this situation,” she questioned staggering over to the table and taking a seat across from him. “Why are you so eager to hurt me like this?”

“I’m not trying to hurt you Cori. I’m trying to help you get back on your feet again,” he explained reaching for her hand only to feel her pull away from him.

“You’re a liar. You don’t care about me,” she hissed in response glaring over at him, “All you care about is your reputation and keeping the news about your ‘crazy’ sister out of your life.”

“Cori, you shot a man,” Dave reminded her with a groan.

“A man who deserved worse than that,” she shot back icily, “Diego ruined my life.”

“When you tried to kill him you almost ruined your life Cori. Diego didn’t make you do that,” Dave pointed out with a small groan, “You made that choice to go into that church and do what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she argued with him with a huff, “Diego was asking for it and I did the world a favor. I helped other women he would hurt.”

“Cori, you could’ve killed him. Don’t you understand how wrong that was?” he searched her eyes for a long moment seeing that there was nothing even remotely close to remorse behind her eyes. He leaned forward and lowered his voice, “Cori you can’t just behave that way.”

“Everyone keeps talking about the way I behaved, but what about Diego? What about the things he did to me? He told me that he loved me--that he wanted to share his future with me, but then at the last second he decided that being with Sarah was so much better,” she let out a small laugh, “Only she didn’t want him. She never loved him like I did.”

“The best thing that you can do right now Cori is forget about Diego. You need to let go of what it was that you thought you had and focus on getting better,” Dave suggested hating to see her so upset.

“What I need to do is find someone who will listen to me when I say I’m not crazy. I don’t belong here,” she stood up and began to pace around the room nervously, “Do you have any idea what kind of people are in here? Last night I watched a woman try to eat her hand. Her own hand Dave! And another man was convinced that aliens were rotting his brain through the television. He tried to throw himself through the television set to make it stop.”

“Cori, I’m sorry that you have to be in this place, but…” Dave began again.

“But nothing. You were the one who put me here. You were the one that said this was okay. I thought you loved me Dave. I thought you of all people would understand what it was like to lose absolutely everything. When Carly cheated on you with Ken everyone in this town knew it--they knew how she tore your heart out, but you dealt with it. You kicked her to the curb and made her crawl before taking her back,” Cori informed him with a sudden seriousness, “You made her see that she needed you and that she was nothing without you. You showed her just like I was trying to show Diego.”

“First of all Carly never cheated on me and second of all I didn’t try to shoot her Cori. That’s the big issue here. You could have killed him,” Dave insisted once again, “That’s something that you can’t just ignore.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him. Castrate him perhaps, but not kill him,” she shrugged her shoulders simply, “That would’ve been far too easy of an out for him.”

“Cori, it’s that kind of talk that is going to keep you here. You have to try to help yourself,” Dave began in a desperate attempt to get his sister being logical.

“I want you to help me. You’re the chief of police. You can make a few phone calls and get me out of here,” she informed him point blank.

“No, Cori I can’t do that,” he shook his head firmly.

“Why not? I know you can pull a few strings,” she curled her lip in a pout, “You can just phone in a favor or two and…”

“The only other alternative at this point is jail because you shot Diego. Cori, I’m sorry but this is the best that we can do right now,” Dave reached out to take her hand again, “I love you and I want to find a way to help you pull through this.”

“Screw you Dave,” she swatted at his hand before glaring at him, “I hate you.”

“Cori,” he watched her push away from the table and walk over to the door to pound on it. “I know you don’t mean that.”

“As long as I’m stuck here and you aren’t going to help me, then yes I do. As far as I’m concerned I don’t have a brother anymore,” she snubbed her nose at him as the man in white opened up the door. “Take me back to my room please.”

“Cori,” Dave started once again realizing his words were falling upon deaf ears now that it was clear his sister wasn’t about to listen to logic or reason. He just prayed that sooner or later she would come to her senses and try to help herself before it was too late.

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

“Nice fall,” Jewel teased seeing Nate slowly get to his feet and shrug his shoulders before shoving his hands back into his pockets, biting down on his bottom lip. “It looked like it really hurt.”

“Well yeah, but,” Nate shrugged his shoulders taking a step forward seeing her blue eyes staring into his as he reached his right hand up and pushed back his blonde hair. “I’m sure it hurt more for you.”

“Oh no,” Matt rolled his eyes grabbing a hold of Zane and Kayla’s hands before tugging them forward and toward the toys. “This is the point where we need to leave and give Nate his time to be an idiot.”

“He’s cute,” Nate felt a blush rise up in his features before he cleared his throat uneasily and shrugged his shoulders, resting his elbow against this wall. “I mean it must of hurt when you fell from heaven honey because you look just like an angel.”

“Very nice,” Jewel let out a small laugh seeing Nate smile, his dimples showing nicely as he shook his head slowly and she reached out to press her hand against the center of his chest. “You seem to be quite the cutie.”

“The cutie?” Nate smirked seeing her looking him over and he stood up straight offering up a bright smile before shrugging his shoulders. “I’m that and then some if you get what I’m saying sweetheart.”

“Is that so?” she eyed him over once more as Nate nodded slowly and reached up to press his fingers in through his hair to push it pack. “I guess I would just have to believe your word on that then.”

“You don’t have to just trust what I’m saying you know,” Nate straightened up before clearing his throat and stepping in closer to her seeing her blue eyes staring into his as he offered up a wide smile. “I could show you if you would like. I’ve got quite the package if you want to see.”

“Well,” Jewel glanced over at Matt, Zane and Kayla playing with the toys and she fluttered eyelashes at Nate seeing another cocky smile move in over his lips and she slid her fingers in over his shoulder. “I think I would really like that.”

“You would?” Nate questioned bluntly seeing her smile and he cleared his throat trying to act cooler and laid back as he shrugged his shoulders. “You could come over my house if you like, it’s not far from here.”

“Sounds good,” Jewel smirked seeing Nate smile widely before looking down at his watch as she curled her fingers in down his back and pressing her fingers against his bottom feeling him arch forward. “I’ll just follow you back.”

“That sounds absolutely great,” Nate nodded over toward Matt and Zane before grabbing the video games and everything he wanted to buy as Matt walked in behind him. “We’re just going to buy this stuff quickly guys.”

“Fine Nathan,” Matt rolled his eyes before looking back at Jewel and letting out a small sigh. Seeing Nate pull out his wallet and pull out some money he began to speak up again. “Just thought I would let you know that Kayla is coming with us.”

“Sounds good to me kiddo, just hold hands until we get to the parking lot,” Nate grabbed the bag and threw it in over his shoulder before grabbing a hold of Zane’s hand and Matt’s hand while Matt held onto Kayla’s hand. Stopping at the car he helped the three get in properly before feeling Jewel step in behind him. “We’re just going to go home and play those new video games you wanted kiddo.”

“Hey,” Jewel smiled seeing Nate close the back door slowly and she saw Kayla sitting between Zane and Matt. “I’ll follow you, just make sure you drive slowly.”

Nodding slowly Nate showed off another cocky smile before getting in the car and checking in the mirror to make sure that Jewel was ready to follow them as he looked back at Matt.

“He is such a teenager sometimes, I swear,” Matt shook his head slowly at Nate realizing what was going on as he held tightly onto Kayla’s hand seeing her roll her eyes. “I swear, adults can be so absent minded sometimes.”

“Absent what?” Zane muttered itching his head in confusion as they pulled out of the parking lot of the mall and back onto the road. “What does that mean?”

“It means, well, to make it easy for you Zane,” Kayla spoke up before looking over at Matt seeing Matt shrug his shoulders and let out a small sigh. “It just describes Matt’s Uncle Nate and my Aunt Jewel.”

“So absent something another means Nate,” Zane played it out in his head before smiling widely and nodding as he spoke. “And your aunt, I got it. That’s easy, I knew that.”

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

“Yeah, well sometimes you can feel like a total jerk in doing so,” Mindy blurted out seeing Jason’s light blue eyes staring into hers and she shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, if everything happens for a reason, it should end correctly, right?”

“Sometimes it doesn’t,” Jason cleared his throat uneasily shifting on the bars before shaking his head slowly. Fighting to say what he wanted he shook his head again thinking of something to tell her. “You see, when I was little I was a twin obviously, I told you that and our father was always at work. Well as we grew up I found out that he had another family and I was a teenager when I found out and the last thing I ever told him was that I hated him. After that, he died and you wish you can change something, but you never can. As I’ve said though, it takes a while to realize, but everything happens for a reason. No matter how it ends.”

“Boy, I thought I had it bad,” Mindy frowned seeing Jason frown and look away from her for a moment and Mindy bit down on her bottom lip looking for something to say. “I guess this means that we were meant for each other. Two people just needing a friend to lean on, I’m glad I found you.”

“Well, I’m glad I found you too and it’s nice to have a real friend,” he nodded slowly before offering up a small smile and shaking his head slowly. “I know how people sometimes feel about things and honestly, I know I can trust you. You seem like a person I can tell everything to.”

“Hey,” a voice startled Jason as he jumped and heard Mindy laugh as Jason looked down to see a teenage kid staring up at him and Jason let out a small breath. “I saw the two of you sitting over here, you looked kind of bored. Do you two want to come play some baseball or something? We’d love to have you play with us.”

“Jason?” Mindy glanced over at him wiggling her eyebrows up and down hearing him let out a small laugh and cover his eyes for a moment before taking in a deep breath. “Do you want to go and play some ball?”

“Sure,” Jason agreed to it seeing the kid nod over the field and slowly started to move off the bars before hearing the kid tell them to just come over when they are ready. Jason watched as Mindy just jumped from the top to her feet and his jaw dropped. “What did you just do?”

“It’s how I get down, just come on down,” Mindy motioned for him to jump as he gulped down and nodded slowly faking a smile before jumping hesitantly from the top. Landing on his feet he slipped on the gravel and fell back on his butt letting out a small groan. “We’ll have to work on that together.”

“I might need some ice if we keep going up there,” Jason slowly got up from the gravel and wiped at the back of his pants, dusting himself off before reaching for his baseball cap. “I’m going to have some serious burning on the booty later if you get my point.”

“I’m sure we can ice it when we get back to apartment,” Mindy motioned him to follow her over toward to the field where the kids were already waiting for them. Rubbing her hands together she saw Jason fix his hat and put in on backwards. “Alright, so where do you want us to go?”

“Hey dude,” the kid looked over at Jason seeing his blue eyes widen before nodding slowly when the kid threw a glove over at him. “Do you think you could be the catcher? You look like you could be okay with it.”

“Sure, no problem,” Jason easily agreed before going over to home plate and looking over at Mindy, winking over at her as he saw her laugh. “So where does the girl go?”

“Well if you want to be on your boyfriend’s team, you can be,” the kid offered up seeing Mindy’s eyes widen as she let out a small laugh and saw the kid shrug his shoulders. “Or you can be on the opposite team and go up to bat first.”

“Well since I think my boyfriend needs to feel what it’s like to be a real ball player,” Mindy walked over to home plate picking up her bat and seeing Jason smile before shaking his head slowly. “I’ll be on the other team, isn’t that right boyfriend?”

“Sure is girlfriend,” Jason teased back seeing the kids run out to their positions and Jason got into position seeing that Mindy was ready for the first hit, but missed when the kid threw it. Throwing the ball back Jason shook his head slowly before laughing. “I thought you were showing me how to be a real ball player.”

“Watch this,” Mindy bit down on her bottom lip hitting the ball as it came, watching it fly out into the grass as she let out a small laugh. “That baby is going far Jay.”

“Run,” Jason urged her as she flung the bat back and it bounced off the ground as Jason watched her start to run only to feel a strong force hit him right in the center of the head as he fell back to the ground in a thud. Hearing the gasps of the kids around him he saw the circle around him and Mindy moved between the kids before letting out a small laugh.

“You clobbered him with that bat,” the kid informed Mindy seeing her blue eyes staring down at him worriedly as the kid let out a small laugh before seeing Jason trying to shake it off. Holding his fingers up in the air he watched Mindy get to her knees and caress his cheek softly. “How many fingers do I have up?”

“I have no idea,” Jason groaned feeling Mindy’s fingers caressing his cheek slowly as he let out a small breath trying to shake it off as he started to sit up only to fall back again. “I’m alright, it’s all good.”

“Here, I’m just going to take him back to the apartment,” Mindy laughed pulling Jason up carefully, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, but waited to make sure he could walk with her. “Come on big guy, just slow steps. We’ll get you some ice for real, just stay with me Jason.”

“I’m okay,” Jason lied feeling a pain in his head before letting out a long breath and a small laugh. “Remember? I said everything happens for a reason, no matter how much it hurts. It’s okay, I’m good.”

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

“So tell me Avery, now that you and Russ are finally where you were hoping to be with one another with this little girl, what’s next?” Jenna questioned looking to Avery who was holding Erin in her arms. Erin was holding one of the little bunny rabbit stuffed toys that Kevin had bought for her and she seemed to be mesmerized by the ears bringing them to her mouth to chew them.

“Honestly,” Avery couldn’t help but smile trying to distract her daughter from eating the toy. “I think we’re ready to take it one day at a time. Though I guess you could say there are a few things that I would like to figure out along the way.”

“Such as?” Jenna couldn’t help but ask seeing something flash behind Avery’s eyes.

“There’s this woman,” Avery hesitated not sure she wanted to bring up the one subject that still bothered her where Russ was concerned. “She’s the one that Russ was with on the island and…”

“I thought you two worked past that,” Jenna frowned almost wishing she hadn’t started this conversation with her friend.

“We have…I mean we’re trying to, but you see Jen there’s something I didn’t tell you about her. I told you how Russ slept with her and almost married her,” Avery glanced down at Erin again before contemplating her next word. “What I didn’t tell you is that she’s with Brant now. Apparently she’s having his babies and…”

“What?” Jenna’s jaw practically dropped, “How in the hell did that happen?”

“I’m not sure,” Avery replied honestly, “but Jen there’s more than that. This woman looks just like me.”

“Wait a second,” Jenna’s eyes widened in response, “Are you telling me that Russ and Brant were both with this woman that looks a lot like you?”

“No I’m telling you they both found their way to this woman who could be my sister--my twin sister,” Avery hesitated once again, “and while I don’t give a damn what she does with Brant at this point, something about her bothers me a bit.”

“I can see why,” Jenna added with a small shudder, “I don’t know how I would feel if Hart was seeing someone who could’ve passed as my double if he was in the situation Russ had been in.”

“I think she’s related to me Jen,” Avery blurted out her concerns remembering the confrontation she’d had with Cameron not so long ago. “I think that she’s more than related to me in a distant sense. Jen, I think she might be my sister.”

“What?” Jenna shook her head before letting out a small laugh. “Just because you two look alike doesn’t mean that…”

“Cameron said something to me a long time ago. When he was in jail he talked about my birthday and a birthmark I had that he couldn’t possibly know that I had. He said things that he couldn’t have known unless…” Avery trailed off before taking in a long breath, “And then when he told me about Russ and Angela, well there was something else. He said that I was his sister. That she and I were sisters and…”

“Cameron’s a liar. He’s a manipulative creep and…” Jenna frowned at the mention of a man she’d grown to be leery of. “Anything he says is fiction and…”

“Jen, if you ran into her you would think she was me. You would think that she and I were twins. I’m telling you that I don’t think he’s lying,” Avery stopped herself again, a tiny shiver racing over her, “but if he’s telling the truth--that I’m really her sister and she is mine, then…”

“Then what?” Jenna couldn’t help but ask seeing Avery’s face drain of all color.

“Then that means that I’m Cameron’s sister,” Avery finished with another shudder.

“That can’t be possible because you have been with your parents your whole life and…” Jenna tried to reason with her friend.

“Think about my mother--about the things that Brooke has done. I’ve heard that she tried to keep Judy and my dad apart for years, so who is to say that she didn’t get pregnant with someone else and try to pin it on my father so that he would marry her?” Avery tossed out at her friend. “What would’ve stopped her from lying to him to get what she wanted when she knew full well that I wasn’t his daughter?”

“Avery, now you’re just talking crazy,” Jenna shook her head at her friend, “You and your father have the same blood type. Remember?”

“Jen, half the world probably has the same blood type as me,” Avery added with a small frown. “You of all people should know that means nothing.”

“You really think that there’s a chance that Richard isn’t…” Jenna shook her head, “No, never mind. This is just a game Cameron is playing. He probably hired that girl to come in and screw with your head. She probably had some reconstructive surgery or something as this is his latest scam to get us all worked up. He’s always working an angle and…”

“And I’m not so convinced this time,” Avery let out an ironic laugh, “Of course given that Russ just learned Elliot isn’t his father, it would be poetic for me to learn that my father isn’t mine. That my mother truly ruined his life all of these years in forcing him into a marriage he never wanted with a child he never wanted either…”

“Avery, if I know one thing about your father it’s that he’s always put you first in his life. He loves you more than anything and I know he’s always wanted you,” Jenna could see something in her friend’s eyes. “You’re his world.”

“But maybe I wasn’t meant to be. Maybe that’s what Brooke wanted him to believe. Maybe she tried to cover up her lies and…” Avery started again, another shudder passing over her.

“Avery, if this girl was your sister, then how could your mother not know about her? How could she just go undetected by your mother or by your father? I know Brooke well enough to know that she would never willingly give up her child. She’s very selfish and if she thought she was having twins, it would help her hold onto Richard even more,” Jenna continued to ponder with her friend.

“Maybe she didn’t know. Maybe she had no idea that she was having twins. Maybe my real father--Cameron’s father,” Avery shuddered at the thought, “Maybe he knew what she was doing and he wouldn’t stand for it. Maybe he wanted revenge on her for what she did or hell maybe she did give one of us up willingly. Heaven knows she wasn’t above killing my baby or trying to kill Erin, so maybe she was offering up some kind of consolation prize to Cameron’s father by giving him one of us while she got my father and his money.”

“Avery, do you know how ridiculous all of this sounds? I mean I’m sure this woman isn’t at all related to you. Cameron is probably just preying on your fears right now and…” Jenna offered up again when she felt her pager go off. She paused reaching for it and frowning. “I have to take this.”

“Go ahead,” Avery nodded motioning over to the phone for Jenna to take her call. As her friend walked away Avery thought about all the things that had happened in her life. She knew full well what her mother was capable of first hand and that thought in itself had her wondering if her entire life had been a lie. Brooke was desperate to have Richard marry her back in the day, so Avery knew full well that her mother would lie to get what she wanted. The question was, how far had her lies gone? How many times had Brooke done the nefarious thing and lied to the world around her? There was only one way Avery would have her answers and with a tiny shudder, she pondered what she would have to do to learn the truth.

“I don’t want to see her again, but I may have no choice,” Avery whispered to a now sleeping Erin. She felt another chill sweep over her when she heard Jenna returning.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jenna whispered to her friend, “It’s work. They are having some issues finding some paperwork that I left for my replacement and…”

“It’s okay,” Avery nodded thoughtfully before motioning to Erin, “I think I’m going to put her down and then call Russ.”

“I hate to leave you like this,” Jenna began again worried about her pal.

“I’ll be okay,” Avery offered up a small smile, “I mean regardless of what’s going in in my head right now, I know it’s going to be a while before I have answers. Besides, it’s not like this Angela person is in my life. Russ swore to me that everything was over--that it was a mistake and knowing that I’m convinced that I don’t have to deal with her for a long time if ever at this point.”

“I don’t know if I would go that far Avery especially if Cameron is trying to mess with your head,” Jenna frowned in response. “I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but if he’s working a new angle…”

“Then it means that there’s more around the corner,” Avery finished for her friend hoping that was as far from the truth as ever. Still with the way that the year had gone, Avery found herself wondering if she would ever truly find a way out of the craziness that had surrounded her life lately.

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

Chris whistled a tune to himself while walking through the news offices. Sure, he knew he was in hot water lately with some of his antics he’d pulled, but right about now he didn’t care. Right about now he knew full well that he needed to stick around the offices especially after he’d learned about Russ and Angela being an item. Sure, he knew that Angela wasn’t interested in Russ and that Russ was no where near thinking about a reunion with Angela, but it would work to help Chris put his plans into motion to get Angela back in his life. If Chris could spin some doubt, then he was sure Brant would bail on Angela and then she would see full well that the only man she was meant to be with was Chris.

“It’s almost too perfect,” Chris mused to himself walking by Russell’s office only to discover that the lights were off. He glanced down at the blonde who sat at Mindy’s deck snapping on her gum incessantly. He watched her playing with the pencil sharpener assaulting each pencil on the desk in front of her--drilling it to a small point and then tossing it aside. After watching her going through half a dozen pencils, Chris decided that he had enough and he cleared his throat to catch her attention. “Excuse me?”

“Huh?” she looked up at him with a bored expression.

“Where’s Mr. Denton?” he pointed to the office door and waited for her response. She snapped her gum a few times before shrugging.

“How the hell should I know? Do I look like his secretary,” she scoffed in response reaching for the headphones she’d had on earlier. She placed them over her ears before going back to the pencil sharpening.

“Of course not,” Chris rolled his eyes giving her one last look and seeing that she wasn’t at all interested in what was going on at the office.

Yet again another score for the temp agency, Chris thought to himself rolling his eyes and walking past her into Russell’s office. He shut the door behind him before looking around wondering what he could get his hands on to put his plans into motion. Moving in over towards Russell’s desk he searched through his messages until one caught his attention.

“What’s this?” he thought aloud pulling it up to read the message from Kevin. Once he’d finished he felt a moment of worry and panic sweep over him at the idea that something had happened to Angela. That was the last thing he’d been hoping to discover, yet when he noticed the time of the message, he realized that had to be where Russ had drifted off to. Hell, right now Russ was probably at the hospital trying to find out what was going on.

“Which could work in my favor,” Chris decided realizing that he was going to drop down to the hospital to check on his favorite girl in her time of need.

He folded the message and tucked it into his shirt pocket getting ready to leave Russell’s office when the phone on the desk rang. Chris stood up taller, looking around the room and contemplating just leaving to go check in on Angela when a thought struck him. He eyed the temp sitting outside of the office with her headphones on and decided it wouldn’t hurt to see what else Russ had going on.

“Hello,” Chris answered the phone in a thick, disguised voice, “Russ Denton’s office, how may I help you?”

“Hi this is his…,” Avery’s unmistakable voice began with a moment of hesitation, “Um, is Russ there?”

“Actually he just stepped out of the office,” Chris confessed taking a seat on the corner of the desk and reaching for the message in his pocket. He unfolded it thinking of how he could use this news to his advantage as Avery spoke up again.

“Oh, well do you know when he’ll be back in?” she couldn’t help but ask with disappointment in her tone.

“I’m not sure. His girlfriend was rushed to the hospital in an accident,” Chris explained into the phone hoping to push all the right buttons. “I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be at the hospital with her all day.”

“His what?” Avery’s voice cracked before she tried to cover. “I’m sorry, but I think you’re mistaken.”

“No, I was here when he got the message. His girlfriend Angela was rushed to the hospital and he left just as soon as they called him. She was asking for him and pretty upset from the sound of things, but if you would like I can take a message and…” Chris didn’t have to finish as the other end of the phone clicked alerting him to the fact that Avery had hung up. Smiling he hung up the phone as well realizing that his plans were now falling perfectly into place and soon it would only be a matter of time before he had Angel back where he wanted her with him.

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

“What do you think you can do to stop me from getting rid of the both of you?” Cameron challenged seeing Kevin’s defiant stare. “As it stand I’m holding all of the cards in this situation with my sister. I’m not about to let the two of you destroy her. She needs to recover, not to be bothered by the likes of you two…”

“I love her and I’m not leaving,” Brant stepped forward ready to take on Cameron if necessary. “Nothing you can say or do is going to change that for me. Whether you like it or not, she loves me and I love her. We’re going to have a family together and…”

“Enough of this,” Cameron snapped his fingers at the security guards he brought into the room with him. “I want them out of here now.”

“No,” Kevin moved in between Brant and Cameron. “We’re not going anywhere. You can’t make us leave.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Kevin. I can do whatever I please in this situation,” Cameron argued further his dark eyes narrowing in at Kevin, “Just because you think you have earned some place in my sister’s heart doesn’t mean that your thoughts and opinions overrule mine.”

“In this particular situation yes they do,” Kevin hesitated before reaching into his pocket and pulling out an envelope. He held it up in the air and waved it in front of Cameron. “According to these I’m the one who has complete control of this situation.”

“And just what are those?” Cameron questioned with a small laugh, “What could you possibly have that could outweigh what I think is best for my sister?”

“Papers that Angela had me sign giving me power of attorney of the twins in the event something happened to her,” Kevin blurted out watching Brant’s face drain of all color.

“What?” Brant reached for the envelope tearing it open to get a look at it himself.

“Brant, it was before you two found one another again,” Kevin started watching Brant’s eyes scan over the legal documents in his hand. Kevin glanced over at Cameron again, “I’m sure she did it because she was afraid of what could happen should Cameron have an opportunity like this to throw his weight around. She knew that I would have the twins best interest in mind if she wasn’t around to make decisions for them. I gave her my word that I would do whatever was necessary to ensure that they were okay when she wasn’t able to do so herself.”

“But…” Brant tipped his head up to see the smirk that now crossed over Cameron’s features.

“Gee and even then my sister was smart enough to see that you weren’t good enough for her. I knew she would come to her senses sooner or later,” Cameron eyed Kevin with a wide smirk, “I guess that means that you’re staying, but with Brant, well he’s out of here whether he likes it or not!”

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

...to be continued...