Chapter 1

Blaze peeked over Matt's newspaper. He was not one to read it often. Matt looked up at his partner taking a break from the article he was reading. Blaze hooked a leg over the arm of the couch.

"Watcha readin'?"

"Look, they nailed the bastard. They finally got him and he confessed to everything."

Blaze smiled seeing the article. That ass-hole's face was posted on the front page. He had confessed to raping Kody along with other rapes and the stabbing of Shannon nearly a year ago.

"Rot in hell fuck-face!" Blaze flipped off the growling man in the photo. Matt folded up the paper and tossed it onto the coffee table. He pulled Blaze into his lap and kissed him.

"You make me feel special!" Blaze kidded in a silly falsetto.

"Special Ed." Matt teased back and brushed some of Blaze's blonde hair away from his amazing eyes.

"I am not special ed…I'm gifted and talented." He kissed Matt fiercely. "See?"

"Uh-huh…" Matt's pocket started to buzz. "Hey, move a minute."

Blaze moved to the cushion next to Matt as Matt dug his phone out. A perplexed look crossed his features when he looked down at the number. He answered reluctantly with a questioning: "Hello?" Blaze retrieved the folded paper and started to read the article about the arrest and confessions of the boogey-man who had hurt his friends. After a few minutes Matt hung up and sighed loudly.

"What?"

"That was my ex Jillanna. For some reason she's in North Carolina and she wants to stop by for a visit." Matt's eyebrows furrowed together making him look annoyed.

"Can I be mean to her?" Blaze pleaded. "Please, can I please?"

"We'll see…" Matt's expression softened a bit and a smile curved his lips. "Get back over here, we were in the middle of something."

Kody had gotten the call from the police that the man, Ramone Perez, had finally been tracked down. He had confessed to everything. For some time she had been horrified at the thought of having to go to court and face him as the only witness who knew his face. It had taken nearly a year but he had finally goofed up enough that the police had caught him and he had confessed. Kody was saved from going to court. She sighed and spread the newspaper with the man's photo onto a part of the floor near the French doors which sported a newly installed doggy door. Harley had just turned five and he got a puppy for his birthday. It was still learning where to piddle and where not to. The little dog barked and yipped at Kody's bare feet. She scooped it up and sat it right on the picture of the man who had raped her nearly a year ago.

"That's where you go, right there." She gave the dog a scratch behind its ears and it thumped its back leg enjoying.

"Mom, I'm ta-akin' Eddie out to play." Harley picked up the wiggling little creature and tucked it under his arm and bounded out onto the deck where he let the puppy down. It shook itself making its ears flop around and then bounced off clumsily with Harley chasing after it. Kody smiled and turned to the little girl who was banging her chubby hands onto her highchair tray. Kody dropped a kiss atop the baby's head which sported dirty blonde hair like her father. She looked up at her mommy with dark eyes and she gave her mother a big grin, showing off her teeth which poked out of her pink gums here and there. She giggled and smeared smooshed peas on her face and in her hair. Kody cleaned her face and hair as she fussed and squabbled. The baby wrinkled up her Hardy nose and made her cheeks turn red.

"Miss Shawna Cheyenne Hardy, I'm just making you nice and pretty. You don't have the right skin tone for a pea-green color my love."

The baby scowled back at her unhappy with her face washing.

"No." She slammed her little fists onto the tray splattering Kody with the squashed vegetables. "Momma, no!"

Kody hoisted her out of the highchair and wiped her hands off before putting her down to totter around to see what she could get into. Kody set out to clean the tray and the spatters that had made their way to the floor.

She had finished and was just standing up when Eddie charged through the doggy door in a slipping, sliding, flurry of paws, fur, and mud. Her eyes widened as the dog skittered across the tile kitchen floor and bolted for the living room.

"No!" She shrieked.

Harley ran in behind the dog yelling its name scolding it. His clothes dawned dirty little paw prints as he ran through the kitchen further smearing the mud the dog had traipsed in.

Kody chased after the dog and her son and managed to grab the puppy before it leaped up to the couch and destroyed it. The puppy looked up at Kody with big innocent brown eyes and it yapped at her.

"You, my four-legged foe, are in trouble."

The dog whined up at her and then buried his dirty face into her chest trying to rub his muzzle clean.

"You little beast!" Kody scolded the dog rather playfully. It was too cute to get seriously mad at. She shut it up in a little crate they had for it and it whimpered and scratched at the door. Kody looked around at the mess and sighed.

"Sorry Mom." Harley offered looking down at the ruined floor. "Want me to mo-op the floor?"

"It's okay Big H, just go put those clothes in the laundry and wash up."

"Ha-ree!" Shawna shouted at her brother as he pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it into a pink clothes basket. She padded over to him and clapped her hands. "Ha-ree!"

"Shawna, I don't got ti-ime for ba-aby stuff." He stripped down to his underwear then went into the bathroom to wash up a bit. Shawna followed him curiously. Her eyes widened when she spied the wash cloth in his hand. She screeched at the top of her lungs.

"No! No wash!" She waddled out of the bathroom leaving her brother to himself.

Jeff came in to find his wife scowling down at Eddie. The little dog cowered up at her with his ears drawn back sorrowfully and his little brows slanted together ruefully. Her expression wobbled between a scowl and a look of amusement. The dog was so cute she would never stay mad at it. She finally sighed and bent sweeping the pup into her arms and cuddling it.

"Cuddle me, cuddle me!" Jeff begged playfully. He dropped a couple of grocery bags onto the table.

"This little mongrel made a big mess today." She grinned and let the puppy lick her nose. She put him down and he ran to Jeff and waggled his tail happily. Jeff stooped and scratched the dogs ears as Kody started to stash the groceries away. She kept the chicken out and opened the package dumping the meat onto a cutting board. She started to cut it in to cubes and she felt Jeff close behind her snaking his arms around her waist as she chopped.

"Mmm…you're so sexy." His hot breath tickled her neck. His lips brushed and pressed against her skin softly.

"Jeff…I'm still in my pajama's, my hair is not washed or brushed, and I smell like baby wipes, peas, and dog."

"Perfect." He said running the tip of his tongue up her neck and behind her ear. She squirmed and giggled.

"Jeff…ouch!" She drew her hand away from the cutting board and looked down at her finger which was beading with a small drop of blood. "Alas, I fear I have been mortally wounded!" She dramatized pretending to swoon. Jeff took her hand gently and kissed her fingers one by one and then he turned her around and kissed her lips. They were getting lost in their moment. His lips pushed at hers and she parted hers to allow his tongue to invade. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he moved his kisses down over her bottom lip, her chin, down her neck, she let out a pleased sigh. Jeff hoisted her up and sat her on the counter and started to take her shirt up over her head.

"Jeff…"

"Yeah?" He stopped with her shirt pushed up to her bra. She started to giggle and he blinked at her perplexed.

"Baby, you sat me on our dinner."

She slid off the counter and turned around showing him a few chicken chunks stuck to the ass of her pajamas. A couple of them fell off and landed on the floor. Eddie magically appeared out of nowhere and slurped the treats up eagerly. Jeff pressed Kody to his chest and they both burst out laughing so hard they were starting to cry.

Harley pulled out a chair and sat at the table looking over at his parents and raising an eyebrow at them. They were hugging each other and laughing and snorting at what appeared to be nothing.

"Dad? Mo-om?"

The two turned and looked at their son who had a questioning look on his face. Kody wiped at her eyes.

"Hey H."

"What a-are we havin' for dinner?"

Jeff and Kody turned and locked eyes for a moment before rupturing with laughter again.

Kody cleaned up the chicken feeling kind of bad that it was wasted. She dumped it into Eddie's bowl and he gorged himself on it and then curled up under the table to sleep it off. Jeff ordered pizza to the joy of Harley who would live on the stuff alone if Kody allowed him to.

The little family sat around the table eating pizza. Shawna was banging on her tray and making a new mess, this time with Spaghetti-O's. Harley told his mom and dad all about school and about his cute little girl friend Izzy. Jeff smiled over at his son. He was already a little ladies man. Jeff grabbed another piece of pizza and turned to Kody who was trying unsuccessfully to wipe her daughters face off.

"Hey Babe, guess who's going to be in the area for a visit?"

Kody shrugged her shoulders and struggled with Shawna who banged loudly on her tray.

"No no no!" She picked up her bowl in her grubby hands and tossed it to the floor and then laughed at it. "Oops…mess."

"Shawna…" Kody grumbled to her daughter.

"Jilly." Said Jeff over a mouthful of pizza. Kody looked up at him surprised.

"Mom, can I-I go play with Eddie in my roo-oom?"

Kody nodded letting her son be excused from the table. She bent and picked up Shawna's discarded bowl.

"The bitch is back." Kody quipped and sniffed. "Ew, stinky Shawna." She smirked at Jeff. "Wanna change her?"

"I'm eating…"

"You're making excuses."

"Yeah."

She found his leg under the table and prodded at it with her toes. He ignored her footsy.

"Can you believe it? Matt called and told me earlier." Jeff said avoiding being drafted into diaper duty. Shawna started to bawl and Kody lifted her out of her highchair and bobbed the little girl up and down on her hip.

"Wonder what she wants with Matt?" Kody said as she disappeared in the other room to change Shawna.

Blaze was making spaghetti in the kitchen and Matt kept hovering around teasing and flirting. Even the news that his ex fiancée was coming around hadn't bothered him as much as he had expected it too. He was so happy in his life with Blaze that he had become much more relaxed and easy going over the five years their relatioship had now spanned. It sounded hellishly corny to say, but it was kind of like the part of the story that reads "and they lived happily ever after". He knew it was really goofy but that's what he felt like living here with Blaze, his soul mate. He felt he was living his happily ever after.

"Taste this." Blaze cupped his hand under the wooden spoon to make sure to catch any drips. Matt tasted the sauce and gave a thumbs up.

"Tastes awesome, just like you." Matt left a kiss on his lips and Blaze pretended to be embarrassed.

"Aw, you're so cute." He said stirring the sauce.

Matt wrapped his arms around Blaze's waist. Matt turned when there was a knock at the door. Blaze eyed Matt over his shoulder to sneak a glance at his backside as he left the kitchen to answer the door.

Matt opened the door to see her standing there. He didn't feel anger or sadness at seeing her face once again. He felt contentment because her face didn't matter to him anymore. She squinted at him with her harsh green eyes. Her red hair caught the sunlight making it look like crazy fire.

"Matthew." She was mad because he had such a placid look on his face. He had a happy look on his face, God, the man was smiling at her. What was wrong with him? "Are you going to let me in or leave me on the doormat?"

She was sharp, succinct, to the point as usual. She expected some smart remark from him but what she received was a kind gesture for her to enter his home. It looked closely the same as she had remembered it from five years prior, but there were small differences here and there. It had a different vibe to it. Someone else was living here with him. She looked around the room before sitting on the couch.

"So, do you have a girlfriend now?"

She doesn't know. How could she not know? Jeeze it was everywhere when people discovered Blaze and I were together. Matt thought back remembering the chaos. People come out everyday but when you're a well-known face it's kind of weird for everyone involved. There had been many jokes and sideways glances in the locker room for a while. On the other hand, a lot of their friends and colleagues didn't care. Matt Hardy was still Matt Hardy as far as they were concerned. You always have the people who will stick by no matter what. Then you have the ones who will stick their noses in no matter what. But things of course settled down and there was little stigma surrounding the couple these days. How could she honestly not know? Oh yeah, she's Jilly, she's in her own selfish little world and all she pays attention to is herself, thought Matt. He wasn't bitter, that was just the truth. He sat down next to her.

"I don't have a girlfriend." He answered casually but Jilly still squinted at him as if she was trying to zap him with heat vision.

"Well, I'm engaged." She held up her ring and smirked at him. She was hoping for some reaction but once again he put a damper on things when he just smiled and congratulated her. She was becoming completely flummoxed at his behavior.

She's never seen me really happy before, Matt realized. His smile widened. This was kind of fun. She's pissed because I'm happy and I'm not reacting to her.

"The thing is…" Jilly went on holding her hand at a distance and examining how her ring reflected the light. "Brock and I want to start our lives out fresh and clean with just us. No strings attached."

Matt's dark eyebrows drew together a bit. What did all this have to do with him? Maybe she was just making small talk. Blaze appeared next to the couch where Matt sat. He had on an apron that said 'kiss the cook'. Who is this? Jilly wondered. He looked like he was probably a wrestler but she hadn't followed wrestling after she and Matt parted ways. He had the body for it, she could tell. He was built similar to Matt but a little more defined from the look of his arms which she could see because his pink shirt sleeves were rolled up. Despite his build he seemed a bit feminine. It had to be his face and hair. He was kind of baby faced with lips that were not masculine but pretty. His eyes were big and blue and long lashes fluttered when he blinked. His hair was a soft blonde and long and it fell over his face in a girlish sort of way. She wrinkled her nose slightly. He seemed gay.

"You must be Jillanna." Blaze extended his hand and she took it reluctantly. She noted his left hand was holding a wooden spoon with some sort sauce on it. From the nice aromas drifting through the house she deduced it was something Italian. On that hand was also a gold band. Her eyes danced first to Blaze and then to Matt as she was putting two and two together. Matt likewise wore a gold band. Are you kidding me? She wasn't sure what to say. Matt chuckled at the expression on her face as she started to understand. He decided to make it cut and dry for her.

"Jilly, this is my partner Blaze."

Her mouth fell open a bit but she quickly shut it with a click.

"Well…okay."

Blaze felt a bit awkward so he retreated to the kitchen to check on the food. This is not fair, thought Jilly. He's thrown me off balance. I am the one who was supposed to throw him. I am supposed to be in control of this situation. She gathered herself and spoke.

"Matt, I have someone I would like you to meet too. Since we're coming out with secrets…" She added and left the house to go out to her car. Matt figured she was bringing in her fiancée. Instead she re-entered half dragging a little red-headed freckle-faced boy who looked a hell of a lot like Jilly. She said nothing. It was Matt's turn to feel uncomfortable and squirm. She watched as her ex looked from the little boy then up to her comparing the resemblance. So what, she has a kid, thought Matt. But that wasn't it. Matt took in the child next to his mother. Jilly watched as he figured the boy's approximate age. Matt got up and walked closer and stopped. He was piecing it together. Yes, thought Jilly. He's seeing it. She ruffled the little boys' crazy curls and he glared up at her.

"Stop it Mom!" He barked and wiggled his hand loose of hers. The boy turned his scowl from Jilly to Matt. "So, is that the dick-face that's supposed to be my Dad?" The little boy questioned.

"Matthew, this is Morgan." She smiled, pleased with the look on Matt's face. "Morgan Hardy." She added with a glint in her emerald eyes. "He's your son."