Hey! Thanks to all who reviewed. Someone asked me to say how old they were so here it goes: Everyone except Johnny and Frankie are 45 while Johnny and Frankie are 44.

Please review when done and enjoy!

Chapter Two

When the kids came in full view, Susan frowned at the sight of only two of them. She asked her daughter, "Where's the others?"

Valeria Richards, a beautiful, tall, twenty-year-old with blonde hair and blue eyes, identical to her mothers, just sighed, "Mary and Ryan are out on a date."

Johnny raised his eyebrow, "Really and why would they do that?" Ben snickered behind his back which caused him to turn around, "What?"

Ben just laughed, "Just to think you know your daughter well enough. Ryan's been crushing on Mary ever since Mary was born, Matchstick."

Johnny scrunched his eyes and mumbled something that no one understood. Alicia rolled her eyes and asked, "Daniel is still here, right?"

Daniel Grimm, a muscular, attractive, twenty-one-year-old with black hair and brown eyes, identical to his mother, piped in, "Yes, mom."

Reed just laughed as he gave his daughter a bear hug. When they finished hugging, Valeria asked, "Hey, did Franklin call yet? Rachel is due any time now."

Reed sighed knowing that his daughter was right. His son, who was twenty-three with blonde hair and blue eyes, was married to Rachel Summers, and they were expecting their second child. Their first child had to be aborted because Franklin found out through time travel that his son, Hyperstorm, was to be a very infamous and notorious criminal. Because this was their first child, Rachel and Franklin were very careful with their daughter. "No, not yet. Your brother will phone you when it is time, Valeria."

Susan smiled at her daughter's concern about her future niece. However, there was something bothering her mind. Valeria seemed paler than usual, and every morning, she swears that she could hear vomiting from her bedroom. She asked, "Val, are you going out with Jacob again today?"

Both Valeria and Daniel's heads shot up when she said that. Valeria tried to find an answer, while Daniel kept his eyes and attention on her. "Yeah, we are going out after five. And if you will excuse me, until then, I will be in my lab." With that, Valeria rushed out the kitchen, only leaving seven astonished faces.

Silence had befallen them before Frankie commented, "Well, that sure was swift. You'd think that she would want breakfast. And if any of you guys want, there is breakfast on the table. I'm going to the living room to see if my favourite show is on." She took off her apron and walked in the direction of the living room.

Susan couldn't believe that Valeria could have gone to her lab without a reason, even though both her and her brother were exactly like her father when it comes to science. She asked, "Daniel, do you think you can go and talk to her? I think there's something wrong with Valeria."

Daniel stared at Sue and simply shook his head, "I tried to ask her about it, but she always evaded the question. I'm the last person she would want to meet." He left the room in such haste that it made Ben think that his son was disturbed.

"Well, you don't see that everyday," Ben commented as he stuffed another toast into his mouth.

Reed nodded when he looked at his wife. Sue knew what he was thinking and she left the room, leaving only the four of them there. Alicia said that she was going to continue on sculpting while Johnny said that he would join Frankie. Reed left the room to go into his lab, which left Ben by himself. He shrugged, "At least I get all this food." He started gorging right after that.

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It had been three hours since anyone step foot into the kitchen, and now everyone were in the kitchen except Valeria and Daniel who were both in their room, to have some lunch. When Sue and Frankie were making mashed potatoes and Alicia was making salad, the elevator door opened. All of them looked at the door and saw a tall, beautiful blonde hair and blue eyed around the age of eighteen woman with a man, almost three inches taller than her with red hair yet brown eyes around the age of nineteen.

Johnny frowned but Frankie smiled at the sight, "Hello, Mary, Ryan, how was your date?"

Mary Storm smiled at her mother, "Great, mom! We went to a movie, and then we went to a restaurant for brunch. It was sooooo romantic!" Ryan Grimm, beside her, blushed when he heard Mary say those words.

"Hey, where are Danny and Val?" Ryan asked as he looked around.

Ben just shook his head, "Both of them had a very bad morning. Both of them are stuck in their room; Val with her lab, Dan with his book. You'd think that they broke up or something."

Mary and Ryan exchanged glances which made Susan frown. "Do you know something?"

Mary looked at her aunt and shook her head, "All I know that for the past few days, Val would always be so…conservative when it comes to Danny. I reckon something happened between them."

Ben raised an eyebrow, "Why would something happen between them?" Everyone looked at him in shock, even Alicia.

"Don't tell me, honey, that you don't know," Alicia frowned.

"Know what?" Ben still was puzzled.

Johnny smacked his hand over his head, "That Danny loves Val. I thought that you knew that. God, and to think that I was the oblivious parent around here."

Ben looked shocked and embarrassed. He grunted, "I so knew that."

Johnny grinned, "Yeah, right, Benjie."

Susan shut the two of them up when she said, "You guys just shut it, and I'm going to check on Valeria. If you both can't live in this loft without fighting, take it somewhere else." With that, Susan left the room to check on Valeria.

Everyone looked at Reed for an explanation. He shrugged, "Mother-daughter talk?"

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Valeria typed furiously into the computer of the lab that she and her brother used to share. She wanted to stop and have a break, but she knew that working would help her to take things off her mind.

When she was about to look up something, she heard a knock and looked up. There standing in the doorway was her mother. She widened her eyes but tried not to show her shock, "Hey…uh…mom. What are you doing in here?"

Susan looked offended but said, "Can we talk?"

Valeria looked hesitant but agreed, "OK." Susan went to sit on the couch that was adjacent to the lab where Valeria was sitting in.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Susan asked right away.

"What's wrong? What do you mean what's wrong? Do I look like something's wrong? Nothing's wrong." Valeria kept on going like she was nervous.

Sue sighed, "Val, there's definitely something wrong. I hear you vomit every morning."

Valeria's eyes widened but she calmly said, "Yes, there is something wrong." She looked at her mother whose look told her to continue. "I---I'm pregnant."

Sue felt as if her world was smashed down hard on her head. "Is it Dan's?"

Valeria looked surprised, "No, it's---Jake's. He---raped me, Mom."

Sue immediately knew why Valeria was acting the way she was. She felt unprotected when she was around Daniel, because she expected him to be there whenever she needed him. She expected him because she loved him. All this time she was just trying to get away from a male. She walked to her daughter and hugged her and allowed her to sob into her chest. She soothed, "Cry. Cry all you want, Val. You need to let your emotions out."

It stayed like that for a few minutes until Valeria thanked, "Thanks, Mom. I just want---Danny to love me, and to help me get through. But he always shrugs me off and I think he hates me."

Sue laughed which made Valeria look up, "Dan loves you, Valeria. He just wants you to confide in him. The only reason he didn't ask you out all these years is because he's like your dad, even though Ben is his dad."

Valeria sunk deeper into the embrace, "Thank you, mom."

When Sue was about to ask how many weeks she was pregnant, Reed came rushing into the door. Both of them looked up and listened.

Reed exclaimed with deep pants in between, "Sorry to interrupt, but Franklin just called. Rachel's in the hospital!"

Like it? Next chapter you will meet Franklin and his wife, Rachel. Can't wait?

Thanks to all who reviewed. I hope you like the story so far.

Please review and until then…

Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it.

-Rosefire