Rusty just closed the balcony door when the dark sky opened, and torrential rain started pouring all over town. Sharon liked rain, he knew, but on days like this, all he could think about was the ones who didn't have a roof over their heads. His first winter in the street was brutal and the memories it brought often made him nauseous. Thunder rolled, and the walls around him shuddered. He wondered if the noisy storm woke Sharon and Andy up or if they were still asleep. He decided to turn in as well when he heard an incessant knock on the door. Throwing a glance at his watch, he sighed. It was late, and he couldn't imagine who would knock on the door at such a time.

"Who is it?" he asked through the closed door and heard a muffled response. "I can't hear you."

"Is this the Raydor residence?" he heard a girl's voice.

"Yeah, who are you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Jackson Raydor," she responded. Rusty sighed and opened the door. The girl who stood in front of him seemed about his age, give or take a few years. She had deep blue eyes, and some dark strands of long wet hair were stuck to her face. Her clothes have been thoroughly soaked.

"Jack doesn't live here," Rusty replied.

"His brother said that I might be able to get his address here. Do you know it?" the girl looked desperate. Rusty shook his head and could tell the way the girl's eyes began filling with tears. "Do you have his phone number?"

"No, I'm sorry," Rusty replied. "You look too young to be one of his girlfriends," he added as she turned to leave.

"I'm not his… I'm his daughter," she replied. Rusty's eyes widened. "I just arrived in LA, and I've been hoping to meet him, but I don't know how to find him."

"This is weird," Rusty mumbled and then looked at the girl again. Her eyes were very reminiscent of Jack's, and she did resemble Emily a little bit, although she was at least five years younger than her, if not more. "Look, why don't you come in and I'll go wake my mother? She may know how to find him." The girl stepped into the apartment and looked around her.

"This place looks nice," she said.

"It is. Uh, what's your name?" Rusty wondered.

"Lacey," she replied.

"Okay, Lacey. Let me go get my mother," Rusty said and walked down the hall, gently knocking on Sharon's bedroom door. He heard a soft 'come in' and entered the room. "Umm, Mom? I… I don't know how to say this really, but there's a girl named Lacey who's looking for Jack and…" he watched his mother for a moment, trying to find the right words when he realized that there weren't any. "She says that she is his daughter." He heard Sharon's deep intake of air before she got up and put on her cashmere robe. She threw a glance at Andy who was still asleep before she followed Rusty to the living room, where Lacey stood, looking like a miserable little cat that barely escaped the rain.

"Hi," Lacey looked up at her, and she was clearly shaking. "I'm sorry that you had to wake up for this. I… I just really need to meet my father, and I'm not sure where to find him." Sharon turned to Rusty and gave him a meaningful look. He nodded silently and excused himself, wishing them good night before going to his room and closing the door behind him.

"Jack is your father?" Sharon turned towards Lacey, and her eyes raked over the young girl from top to bottom, trying to find physical similarities between her and Jack. Lacey nodded slowly.

"I know this may be strange, but Jack is my only living relative, and I really need to talk to him."

"Jack is currently visiting our daughter in the East Coast, and he's not expected to return for a couple of weeks, as far as I know," Sharon said. Lacey's face fell, and Sharon could tell that she was fighting tears. "How old are you?"

"Almost 19," Lacey replied. Sharon sighed. She knew that Jack has not been faithful to her throughout their marriage, but she's never imagined that he got another woman pregnant. The fact that the girl was younger than Rusty somehow made sense, considering the fact that she was born a couple of years after Sharon filed for a legal separation.

"Are you Jack's wife?"

"I'm his ex-wife," Sharon responded. "If I may ask, how do you know that Jack is your father?"

"He signed my termination of parental rights forms after my mother died, seventeen years ago," Lacey said. "But nobody wanted to adopt a two-year-old, so I ended up in foster care." Sharon felt the anger in her rising as she thought of another child that Jack has neglected.

"I'm sorry to hear that," was all she could say.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. Most of the houses I've been in were okay," Lacey said. Sharon could tell that the girl was aware of the foster system's bad reputation. "But having a real parent is better, I think. I mean, if he wants to get to know me at all. Is there a way I can contact Jack?" Lacey asked.

"I can give you his phone number, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to call him because of the time difference," Sharon said. Lacey nodded excitedly. Sharon went to the bedroom to grab her iPhone and gave Lacey the number.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Raydor," Lacey replied, her hands shaking as she typed Jack's phone number into her mobile phone.

"You can call me Sharon."

"Sorry. Thank you, Sharon. I appreciate the time you took to help me out," Lacey said. Sharon smiled at her. "So, um, it's my first night in LA, and I'm wondering if you happen to know a cheap hostel or motel where I can spend the night?"

"Oh, you're not local?" Sharon asked.

"No, I'm from Portland. I pawned my mother's watch to afford the trip here, and I'm afraid it wasn't worth much, so I only have about forty dollars left." Lacey rubbed her forehead. "It's gonna be enough for one night at a hostel, right?"

"I'm afraid not," Sharon said. "You can stay here tonight." Sharon knew it was a little reckless letting a stranger into her home, but the hour was late, and if the girl really was Jack's daughter, as she claimed, then it made her Emily and Ricky's half-sister. Sharon couldn't help but feel responsible for her safety, at least until Lacey could talk to Jack and find a proper living arrangement. "Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," Lacey replied.

"We had pasta for dinner, do you want me to warm up some leftovers for you?" Sharon offered.

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you," Lacey said, and the way her lips curved up reminded Sharon of Jack's smile. She began walking towards the kitchen when she realized the girl's clothes were drenched.

"If you want to change your clothes, the bathroom is right down the hall," she said.

"Yeah, that's an excellent idea," Lacey replied and for the first time since she arrived at the condo, put down her backpack. Sharon noticed that it wasn't very big and it somewhat reminded her of Rusty's bag when he came to live with her. "Oh no!" she heard Lacey's frustrated moan. Sharon walked out of the kitchen and threw a quick glance at the clothes Lacey pulled out of her backpack. It appeared everything in it was wet.

"Let me get you something dry to wear," Sharon said and walked to the bedroom again, returning with a Dodgers T-shirt, yoga pants and a pair of gray wool socks. She handed the clothes to Lacey and sent her to get changed, inviting her to hang her clothes to dry in the bathroom. Lacey returned a few minutes later, and Sharon has placed a pasta plate in front of her, along with a cup of tea. She made a cup for herself as well, and took a seat in front of the younger woman, watching her eat.

"I know it's late, but can you tell me a bit about my father?" Lacey requested. Sharon took a moment to consider the girl's request. There were many things that she could tell about Jack, but most of them were not positive.

"Well, he is a lawyer," she started. "He has a great sense of humor, and he enjoys history and art."

"You said that he was visiting your daughter, right?" Lacey asked, barely swallowing her pasta between bites. Sharon nodded slowly. "Do you have any other children together?"

"Yes, we have two kids. Emily is the oldest. She is almost 30 years old, and she is a dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. She lives in New York. Our youngest, Ricky just turned 26, and he is a software engineer, and he lives in San Francisco." Sharon couldn't help but feel deep pride as she spoke about Emily and Ricky.

"And the blond guy who let me in here?" Lacey wondered.

"It's Rusty, I adopted him after the divorce," Sharon replied.

"Do I look like them?" Lacey wondered.

"You remind me of Emily a little bit," Sharon said with a smile. She looked up a photo of Emily on her phone and showed it to Lacey.

"Wow, yeah. We have the same nose and cheekbones." The excitement in her voice was apparent. "It's so weird knowing that there's someone out there who looks a lot like me." Sharon only smiled. She was unsure of Lacey's intentions, but for the time being, she gave her the benefit of the doubt.

"Are you done?" she asked when Lacey put her fork down. The young woman nodded, and Sharon picked her place and took it to the kitchen, giving it a quick rinse before she put it in the dishwasher. Then she went to the bedroom and brought pillows and linen. Lacey held the pillows to Lacey while Sharon made the couch for her. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I think I'm okay," Lacey replied.

"Alright, then. I'll head back to bed. Goodnight, Lacey," Sharon said. Lacey's wished her goodnight and Sharon turned around and began walking back to the bedroom. She closed the door silently and settled back in bed next to Andy.

"What was that?" he murmured sleepily.

"Jack's daughter," Sharon replied.

"Huh?" was Andy's confused response.

"Seems like he got another woman pregnant while we were married," Sharon sighed. "He gave her up for adoption when she was very young, now she's here, wanting to meet him, but she didn't know where to find him. I let her sleep here tonight."

"Did you know about her?" Andy asked as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"No," Sharon snuggled close to him. "But I've learned to live with Jack's secrets a long time ago. Nothing he's done surprises me anymore."

"Still must be tough," Andy wondered.

"I'll dissect my feelings about it tomorrow if you don't mind," Sharon planted a soft kiss on his lips before she wished him goodnight. There were aspects of her marriage that she didn't like to discuss with Andy. Sharon was sure that as one of Jack's old drinking buddies, Andy was aware of his indiscretions. Admitting to him that she has known of it all along and still chose to stay with him despite it was not something she was willing to do. Sometimes it still stung to think of Jack's infidelity, but what hurt the most was all the time she spent attached to him. As Sharon listened to Andy's breaths evening out, Sharon came to the uncomfortable conclusion that she would have to ponder about her feelings towards Jack now that she's met Lacey, and possibly talk to her priest about it. But delving into those emotions would have to wait for tomorrow. Now, all she wanted was to get some sleep in the arms of the man who loved and adored her.

-To Be Continued-

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