Chapter Seven

The doors slid open while Rupert walked inside and held onto the handle of the suitcase in his left hand. The strap of the overnight bag was over his right shoulder and he removed the sunglasses when he walked toward the listing of flights. Once he picked a destination, he headed for the ticket desk, placed the suitcase down and the young woman with blonde hair smiled at him.

"May I help you?" she asked as he removed the passport out of his jean jacket pocket and placed the passport on the counter.

"Yes, I would like to purchase a ticket," he said.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she started typing on the keyboard.

"I am going to Sydney."

"Is this for business or holiday?"

"Business. I am starting a new job."

"May I see your passport?" she asked and he slid the passport toward her. She opened the passport when she looked at the name and the photograph. She typed on the keyboard then slid the passport to him and Rupert placed the passport back in his pocket. "We have a Qantas flight leaving at Gate Two. Is that alright?"

"Yes," he said with a nod.

"Would you like a first-class ticket?"

"No," Rupert said while she typed on the keyboard then told him how much the ticket cost and he removed the credit card from his wallet. He handed her the credit card when she scanned the credit card then handed the credit card back to him. Placing the credit card away, he gave her a nod then turned and walked away.

Sitting in the boarding lounge, Rupert looked at the passport in his hands when he closed the passport then placed the passport in the pocket of his jean jacket. The flight attendant made the boarding announcement as he got up and went to stand in the queue. He smiled at the flight attendant when she told him where his seat was as he went to sit down, placed the seatbelt on and waited for the plane to take off.

"Would you like a drink, Sir?" the flight attendant asked, but he shook his head and, a few minutes later, watched the clouds going by the window. Sighing, he leaned back against the seat when he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Will made a soft sigh when he opened his eyes and glanced to his right. Louisa wasn't in bed and he glanced over to the doorway while a sense of fear and worry moved through him. He was about to call out her name when she appeared in the doorway and gave him a small smile.

"Hi," she said as she walked to the bed then sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Where did you go?" he asked with a sleepy tone to his voice.

"I went to check on Alec," she said as she looked at the digital clock and opened the drawer.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes," she said, getting out the medical equipment. "But he did wake up and wanted a glass of water."

"Did he go right back to sleep afterwards?"

"Yes," she said with a nod and started the early morning routine. After she finished, she put the medical equipment away, wrote the information in the medical file then moved Will onto his right side and placed the support pillow behind his back. She slid under the covers after turning the lights off and snuggled next to him. She could just see him smile as she smiled back and he wanted to reach out and take her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to tell you something."

"What was it?"

"I forgot to say thank you."

"Thank you?"

"Yes," he said, barely nodding his head. "Even though we don't know for sure Alec is mine, you are willing to take on the responsibility of taking care of him as well as take care of me."

"Oh, well, you're welcome," Louisa said, stroking his cheek with her fingers. He enjoyed feeling her fingers moving over his skin as a small cool tingle moved through him and she moved her finger along the edge of his bottom lip. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Well, I am wondering who, in their right mind, would want to harm a child?"

"I don't know," she said with a sigh, moved the covers up and snuggled closer. She heard him make a little moan as she closed her eyes and, after hearing his breathing evening out, drifted off to sleep.

The soft ping sounded as the lift doors opened and Devon walked down the hallway. Her heels clicked on the tile flooring while she headed for the door and she opened the door.

"Hey, I was about to call you!" Sam said with a grin and pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Please tell me it's good news," Devon said, walking closer and Sam gave her an annoyed look while folding his arms over his chest.

"No, it's bad news," he said and she laughed, rolling her eyes. He shrugged when he slid the envelope toward her and she picked up the envelope.

"Thanks," she said as she gave him a little nod and headed for the door.

"Anytime," he said and she left the room then closed the door behind her.

Nathan walked down the hallway when he stopped in the doorway and looked at Louisa and Will sleeping. He was about to walk in the room when he felt someone pulling on his fingers and looked down to see Alec looking up at him.

"Morning, Little Mate," Nathan said in a soft voice when he picked Alec up and held him in his arms. They walked toward the bed while Will made a small sigh and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked his eyes a few times then looked at Nathan and Alec and Nathan adjusted his hold on Alec. "Hey."

"Morning," Will said, watching Nathan put Alec next to Will then Nathan reached over to light shake Louisa's shoulder.

"What's wrong!?" Louisa asked as she quickly woke up then saw Alec sitting next to Will. She watched as the tears in Alec' eyes rolled down his cheeks as he snuggled against Will and Louisa felt her heart hurting. "Oh, Sweetie, did I scare you?"

Alec nodded as Nathan moved Will's arm so he was holding Alec and Alec placed his face against Will's chest.

"I'm sorry," she said, gently carding the top of Alec' head and Will hushed him. Alec glanced at her while Louisa held her arms out and he moved to cuddle with her. She kissed the top of his head as Will smiled and Alec made a little sniff. Nathan handed Louisa a tissue from the box on the night table and Louisa wiped Alec's nose.

"Why don't you and Lou go get you dressed so Nathan can examine me," Will said and Alec frowned.

"Why do you have to do that?" Alec asked, looking at Nathan.

"I have to do this to make sure Will isn't getting sick," Nathan said.

"You won't hurt him?" Alec asked and they were a little stunned he would ask something like that.

"I would never hurt him." Nathan said and Alec saw the truth in his eyes. Moving the bedding back, Louisa got out of bed when she picked Alec up, left the room and Will noticed the look on Nathan's face.

"What's the matter?" Will asked.

"I'm worried," Nathan said while removing the medical equipment from the drawer and opened the medical file.

"About what?"

"About what is going to happen if it turns out he's not your son," Nathan said then started examining him.

"I'm going to fight for custody."

"Even if he's not yours?"

"Even if he's not mine."

"You've gotten really attached to him, haven't you?"

"Haven't you?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod of his head, examined him and gave Will his morning medications.

"How's he doing?" Louisa asked as she came back in the room and Alec was wearing a white t-shirt with cartoon bears on the front, jeans, white socks and white trainers. She placed Alec down next to Will as Nathan placed the medical equipment and the medical file away and Alec started playing with Will's fingers.

"He's good," Nathan said, walking to the dresser and picked up Will's clothes.

"Get up," Alec said, lightly pulling on Will's finger and Will smiled.

"I have to get dressed first," Will said, grinning as his eyes widened and Alec giggled.

"How about you and I help Nathan get him dressed then we can have breakfast?" Louisa asked.

"Can we have pancakes?!" Alec asked and she saw the same deep dimples that dented Will's cheeks.

"I wouldn't mind having pancakes for breakfast," Will said with a smug look on his face.

"Pancakes it is!" Louisa said, picking up Alec and Nathan went to get Will's clothes.

Devon walked down the hallway while tapping the envelope against her fingertips and the sound of her heels clicked on the tile flooring echoed down the hallway. She placed the palm of her hand on her office door when she heard loud voices coming from her employer' office and became curious when she heard her name. She walked to the door when she looked at Benjamin Trask and he was talking to a stern looking man, who was standing in front of his desk.

"For the last time, I demand her resignation!" the man shouted and Benjamin leaned his lower arms on the desk.

"You seriously can't blame her for what your son-in-law did," Benjamin said and Devon frowned.

"Hello," she said, walking in the office as Colonel Timothy and Jane Dewar turned to look at her and she saw Alicia sitting on the leather couch to her right.

"You!" Colonel Dewar growled as he stormed toward her and Devon placed her shoulders back while she gave him a blank look. "This is all your doing!"

"What is going on?" Devon asked, ignoring him and looked at Benjamin.

"It appears Mister Freshwell did a runner," Benjamin said and her eyes widened.

"He left the country!?"

"Yes."

"Do the police know where he went?"

"Not yet, but they're checking the airports, train stations and the tube stations."

"But he's on the No Flight list."

"Which means he had to change his appearance and is using false identification."

"He wouldn't have done this if you hadn't been hounding us!" Alicia said, glaring at Devon and Devon arched her eyebrows up.

"Well, we wouldn't have been hounding you if you hadn't been harming an innocent child," she said and Alicia glared at her.

"Are you going to allow her to talk to my daughter like this?!" Colonel Dewar demanded.

"Yes, I am," Benjamin said.

"How dare you! I am going to have this agency shut down and…!"

"Timothy, please, remember your blood pressure," Jane said and he sighed, snorting a breath of air. "What will they do once they find Rupert?"

"He will be arrested, brought back here and placed in prison until the trial," Benjamin said and she nodded. He looked at Devon when he nodded and she turned, walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. She looked at the envelope when she started walking faster and the sounds of her heels clicking on the tile flooring echoed down the hallway.

"Open," Alec said while sitting on Will's lap and Will opened his mouth so Alec could feed him small bites of the pancake. Both of them had spots of maple syrup on their shirts and faces as they smiled at each other, but neither of them noticed Nathan using the video camera to film what they were doing.

"Do you need a drink of milk?" Louisa asked and Will barely nodded his head. She handed Alec the glass as he held the glass in both hands and Louisa slid the end of the straw in Will's mouth. Will took a few sips of milk then she moved the straw away and Alec smiled.

"Do you want more?" Alec asked, looking at the pancakes sitting on the plate.

"No thank you. You can finish them," Will said and Alec poked the pancake bites with the fork, nearly stuffing all of them in his mouth.

"Not that much," Louisa said with a smile and Alec giggled. The buzz from the intercom caused Will to flick the joystick with his finger to turn the wheelchair and Nathan got up, walking to the intercom.

"Hello?" Nathan asked, letting go of the button.

"Has my son woken up yet?" Camilla asked.

"Yes, Mother, I'm awake," Will said.

"Ah, well, I just want you to know Miss Sharpe has arrived," she said and they looked at each other.

"We'll be there as soon as we finish breakfast," Louisa said.

"Alright," Camilla said and Nathan walked to the table.

"Which one do you want to clean off?" Nathan asked, looking at Will and Alec.

"You take the big kid and I'll take the little one," Louisa teased while Will and Alec arched an eyebrow while scowling and both Louisa and Nathan laughed.

Devon sat on the couch while she watched Will, Nathan, Louisa and Alec came in the room and she placed her hands on her lap.

"Hello," Devon said as Will parked the wheelchair next to the couch and Louisa sat next to Camilla.

"Good morning," Louisa said.

"Hello," Will said as Alec gave her a little wave.

"Good morning," Nathan said.

"How did things go last night?" Devon asked, looking at Alec.

"Things went very well," Louisa said.

"We had pizza!" Alec said as he looked up at Will.

"Yes, we had pizza for dinner," Will said.

"Well, we had pizza. You had a salad," Nathan said.

"That's because we had pepperoni on the pizza," Louisa said.

"That's bad," Alec said, lightly poking Will in the stomach.

"Right, pepperoni isn't good for my stomach," Will said

"Anything else?" Devon asked, trying hard not to smile.

"We were able to talk Alec into taking a shower before bedtime," Louisa said.

"He didn't want a bath?"

"Baths are for babies," Alec said with a smug look.

"I see," she said then looked at Louisa. "How did that go?"

"It went very well once we convinced him the water wasn't hot," Louisa said.

"Why would that matter?" Nathan asked.

"I'll tell you later," Louisa said and he nodded.

"How did he sleep?" Devon asked.

"He slept fine," Will said. "I, on the other hand, had a problem."

"What sort of problem?" Camilla asked as she gave him a worried look.

"It appears my Daddy Radar kicked in and I couldn't sleep."

"What is Daddy Radar?" Devon asked and Louisa explained what it was, making her smile. "Did you finally fall asleep?"

"Yes," Will said with a small nod.

"Well, I guess we better get to why I am here," Devon said as she removed the envelope from her purse and Louisa saw the look in Will's eyes. She knew he was tensing up as she reached over and placed her hand on top of his hand. Devon removed the piece of paper as she looked at the results, but her face was blank.

"Miss Sharpe?" Camilla asked and Devon placed the piece of paper down.

"It appears Mister Freshwell wasn't lying."

"He wasn't?" Will asked, feeling a little breathless. Louisa looked at Will when she got up and lightly kissed his cheek. She picked Alec off his lap when she hugged Alec and Alec gave her a puzzled look.

"Congratulations," Devon said, but Will remained silent and Nathan quickly checked his vitals. "Is he alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine," Will said while a large smile caused the dimples to leave large dents in his cheeks and he glanced up at Louisa and Alec.

"I guess the next thing we have to discuss is what you want to do. Do you want to keep Alec?"

"That's a stupid question," Will muttered and Louisa lightly tapped her fingers on the back of his head.

"Be nice," Louisa whispered and he arched his eyebrows up while slightly widened his eyes.

"Yes, I want to keep Alec."

"I can stay?" Alec asked, looking at Louisa.

"Yes, you get to stay with us," she said and Alec smiled. Louisa placed Alec down on his feet when Alec went to Devon and held his arms up. Devon picked him off the floor as he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. She smiled as he got off her lap and walked back to Will and Louisa placed him on Will's lap.

"Well, the next thing we need to do is figure out what is a good time for my weekly visits," Devon said.

"You want to be our caseworker?" Louisa asked.

"Yes."

"Will's appointment schedule is back at the annex. I can show you if you'd like to follow me," Nathan said while Devon stood up and followed him out of the room. She noticed how far from the house the annex was as she frowned and Nathan opened the sliding doors. They headed for the kitchen when she looked at the breakfast dishes, silverware and glasses sitting on the table and she smiled. "Sorry about the mess."

"That's alright," she said, looking at the remains of the pancake breakfast. "Mister Traynor can eat pancakes?"

"He can eat nearly anything as long as it's not too spicy or too binding," Nathan said when he walked to the refrigerator door and she followed him. "Now, this is his schedule."

Devon looked at the calendar when she saw Will didn't have any appointments on Fridays then looked at Nathan.

"Fridays look good," she said and he looked at the calendar.

"Do you have a specific time you want to drop by?"

"I can come around two."

"Ah, no, that's naptime."

"For Mister Traynor or for Alec?" she asked and he smiled.

"Both. How about coming around four? It's a bit late, but Lou would be home then."

"That'll be fine," Devon said as she removed her phone, put the time on the calendar, put the phone away and they left the room.

"Well, I guess I better go get some of William's clothes and toys out of the attic," Camilla said with a small grin.

"Mother….," Will said, glaring at her.

"I know you would want to buy him new clothes and toys, but why bother when we have perfectly good ones?" Camilla asked as she stood up and headed for the stairs. They watched her going upstairs when Louisa looked at Will and he had his head against the headrest.

"Are you ok?" Louisa asked, lightly carding the top of his head.

"Yes, I'm fine." Will said then looked at Alec. "Anyone want to go watch cartoons?"

"Yes!" Alec said as he sat up straighter.

"I'll have to pass. I have a lecture to go to."

"Oh, Poor Lou," Will teased with a pout and Louisa laughed, rolling her eyes. Louisa followed him as Will steered the wheelchair out of the room and Alec leaned back against his chest.

Camilla watched them leaving when she removed the phone from her suit jacket pocket and she looked at the screen. She pushed the buttons then held the phone to her right ear and tapped her fingernails on the railing.

"This is Doctor Samuel Walsh's office," Sam said.

"This is Judge Traynor," Camilla said.

"Hello, Milady. How may I help you?"

"You recently did a paternity test for a Miss Devon Sharpe."

Camilla has seen Sam's name and phone number on the top of the paternity test and she folded her arm across her stomach.

"Yes, I did."

"Is the information one hundred percent accurate?"

"I assure you it is."

"And I have your word you will not say anything about the results?"

"No offense, Auntie, but do you think I'm that stupid?!" Sam asked as he sighed and Camilla smiled. She knew her sister's step-son was an honest young man as well as reliable and she softly laughed, shaking her head. "Anyway, you should have seen my face when I found out the father was Will. How is he handling it?"

"He is handling it very well."

"Still can't believe he had a baby with…her."

Sam, like most of the family, did not like Alicia and Camilla sighed, thinking about how things would have been different if Will had known about Alicia having his child.

"I can't believe it either."

"Has Will met him?"

"Yes."

"Is he going to keep him?"

"Yes."

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how is Will going to be able to take care of him?"

"He has a companion who's willing to take care of both of them."

"Do you trust this person?"

"Considering how much she's helped him accept his condition, I trust her completely."

"What about her? Does she know where his son is?"

"No, and we're going to keep it that way."

"You do know she and her husband are under investigation for child abuse and neglect, don't you?" Sam asked and Camilla sighed, pinching her eyes closed.

"Yes, I do. As for your next question, I am quite certain I can handle things if she or her parents find out or gets too demanding," she said and he heard the anger in her voice.

"Well, tell my cousin to call me if he needs some parenting advice."

"I will. Thank you, Samuel."

"You're welcome," Sam said then ended the call and Camilla smiled, placing the phone back in her suit jacket pocket.

A/N: Hope you liked the little surprise about Sam. And please review.