Best of You
By Didi
Disclaimer: Same as before… The Young and the Restless is owned by CBS Broadcasting Inc., CBS Corporation and Bell Dramatic Serial Inc. and probably a host of other companies but definitely not by me. No malice or infringement of copyrights are intended by this writing and I will stop if someone just tells me to. Suing me isn't going to get your anything excite maybe a chuckle or two.
Summery: Katherine worries, Cane asks a question and Adam surprises someone with a request.
Author's Note: Wow, I was really surprised by the number of reviews for the last chapter. I honestly hadn't expected that many people to be reading this story. It's kind of nice to know that someone out there is entertained by this. I'm really enjoying writing this story right now though I'm having some trouble resolving some of what I had set up. And I hadn't plan on bringing so many people into the story, it was originally going to be a short and easy tale with only a few people playing along but stuff happened and I couldn't help myself. Okay, moving on…
Chapter 7
Amber rubbed the bottoms of her shoes on the doormat with a sigh. Her feet hurt, swollen despite her salt-free diet; her back hurt from accidentally running into the piano cover at the end of her last set and her throat hurt for having to force it on the last song when her dizzy spell made a reappearance. It was unlike her morning sickness to make this many appearances in one night; it was too suspicious. She had already decided that if she didn't feel better by morning, she was going to the doctor's again. No chances this time around…
Esther had the door opened before Amber could even knock. She smiled widely and ushered Amber out of the cold night air. "Come in, come in, you need a warmer coat; winter is coming and the autumn isn't too kind either."
"I've got nicer stuff at home," Amber smiled and grabbed the doorframe with her free hand just in case while the other carried articles she wanted to go over with Katherine. Esther didn't miss a beat and helped her through the threshold. "Stupid shoes has like no traction whatsoever."
"You need to be more careful," Esther advised with great significance. "You can't afford to take a fall, not now." Her eyes went to her belly and she made a face.
Grinning, Amber gave Esther an impulsive hug of affection. "Thank you."
"Come on now," she helped Amber out of her coat and scarf. "Mrs. C. is waiting and my lamb is to die for." She grinned wide and decided that she needed to say something more. "I'm going to give you a heads up now because I don't want you to be startled."
"What?" looking over her shoulder as she made for the parlor.
Esther gave a grimace, feeling like she's betraying someone – she just wasn't sure who. "Mrs. Chancellor's grandson is here."
Surprised by the news, Amber's foot caught the runner in the hall and her arms wind-milled before she crashed into the wall sending a full vase to the ground.
"Oh my god," Esther hurried over and knelt beside her, "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Ignoring all that (mostly because she wasn't hurt at all just terribly embarrassed), "Cane is here? Right now, here?"
Esther gave her a guilty look. "Yeah… he dropped by."
She gave a helpless groan. Her mind was already reliving the scene at the club. "What the heck is he doing here? Why isn't he with Lily right now?"
"Amber?" Kay came in a hurry. "Are you all right? We heard a crash." She saw Amber on the ground and the broken vase scattered cross the foyer and waved a hand behind her through the parlor entryway. "Call an ambulance. Amber's hurt."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Amber called out as she got to her feet awkwardly with the overflowing folder she wanted to show Mrs. Chancellor in hand. "It's just me being a klutz. No need to worry."
"Are you all right child?" Kay demanded to know as picked her way cross the floor and checked Amber over quickly.
"I'm okay," Amber assured her, patting the older woman on the arm and avoiding the gaze of the man standing in the doorway watching them. "Just a little clumsy."
"Well we can't have that," Kay announced with a frown. "Come sit down, have some tea while we wait for dinner. Esther, can you serve in ten minutes?"
"I can serve in five," Esther countered with a quick smile. "But give me ten, I'll clean this up first."
"Oh I'll do it," Amber offered quickly, hoping that it would give Cane enough time to leave the house since she couldn't. "I made the mess."
"Nonsense," Esther shook her head and waved them toward the parlor. "Sit down, you're a guest and you've been on your feet all day. This will take no time." She pushed them off and went to the broom closet. Truth be told, she's rather be cleaning the floor than have to sit through what was going to happen in the parlor. Poor Amber…
"Sit down, sit down," Kay said as she helped Amber into the room and motioned for Cane to pour tea; a drink he didn't particularly care for but drank without complaint for his grandmother's sake. "You look exhausted."
"You feeling better now?" Cane asked as he handed her a cup and saucer and examined her face. "You look a little better."
"Better?" Kay's gazed went from one to the other. Amber looked annoyed beyond belief. "What's happened?" she demanded in no uncertain term.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Amber replied patting Kay's hand with her free one and glared at Cane for worrying his grandmother for no reason. "I'm healthy as a horse."
Cane rolled his eyes. "Then what's with the dizzy spell on the stage tonight?"
"You had another dizzy spell?" Katherine's hand went to Amber's, spilling tea on the table. "On the stage? You could have fallen and hurt yourself."
"Another?" Cane asked quietly.
"I didn't and I'm fine," Amber assured Mrs. Chancellor with a smile. The concern the grand dame showed for her relaxed and warmed her. She didn't have many family and she had even fewer real friends, it was nice to know that the great Katherine Chancellor was on her side. "Low blood sugar, that's all it was. I was stupid and I was wrong, it won't happen again."
"It had better not," Kay warned with a determined glint in her eyes. The blue-eyed dragon from the old days was rearing her ugly and protective head. "You'll come here every afternoon for me to feed you before you go into Indigo from now on. Keep me company too. I'm starting to talk to walls these days."
Amber laughed as she was intended to. "Thank you Mrs. C., but I'm doing all right for now. In a few months…" she shrugged carelessly.
"Low blood sugar?" Kay pointed out. "We can't have that."
"No worries, it's a one time deal. I promise." She held up two fingers in a Scout's Honor homage.
Silent and observant, Cane watched the two women speak without saying much more than what's on the surface. The quiet force between them was strangely mesmerizing and difficult to swallow. His grandmother's growing relationship with Amber was both a source of quiet relief and stressful frustration. It was good that they were keeping an eye on each other (prone to trouble that they both are) but he also secretly harbor that fear that they're egging each other on as well. They were both such troubled souls with good hearts… though at one point Cane would never have even allowed himself to think that of Amber much less believe it.
"You have got to eat more, child," Kay reprimanded as she got up and led the way to the dining room. "You're losing more weight than you're gaining and that's just not natural. Mother nature did not intend it to be this way."
"I eat," Amber said defensively, glancing quickly at Cane as if just remembering that he was still in the room. "I eat plenty."
"Not enough," Kay declared and waited for Cane to seat her. "And that's got to change my dear. You cannot keep up this pace and not get enough food to replenish your energy. Now if you're staying with me…"
"Let's not having this conversation again," Amber pleaded with a quick uncomfortable laugh as she seated herself by Mrs. Chancellor's left side. She didn't want to discuss anything in front of Cane. "I'm doing really good and the little apartment is perfect for my needs."
Kay nodded her head and drop the subject for now as food was served. She gave them all a few moments of silence as the tasted the delicious meal that Esther had prepared for the occasion. "And how was your day, my darling?" she asked the silent Cane. "Do anything interesting?"
"Just the usual," Cane replied, more intent on the women in the room than the food before him. Besides, he's already picked at one dinner tonight. "Nothing of much interest. We are going to have to revisit that shelter you opened up on the east side, we're running into some problems with the management there. But that can wait."
The conversation lagged again. "Did you enjoy Amber's singing?" Kay asked then ignored the choking girl by her side. Amber was being suspiciously silent through out the evening. Obviously, she was still happy to keep Cane in the dark about… everything; what that means for Cane remains to be seen. But Kay wasn't quite on the same page tonight, nor did she intend to be.
"It was lovely," Cane said faintly. He didn't want to revisit some of the less clear thoughts that had rushed its way through his mind as he listened. But he will admit to himself that he would give just about anything to know who Amber had been singing that last song to. The question gnawed at him.
"I'm going to have to come down there and listen to you sing," Kay announced as she touched her napkin to the corner of her mouth, "While you're still working there."
"Oh, I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon." Amber laughed and nibbled on bread. "I kind of need the money and I pretty much get a free meal there every night. The chef likes me." She dimpled happily at Katherine. "It's a win-win situation."
"You don't make it hard not to like you when you want to," Katherine pointed out with a laugh. "But you must not over work yourself. Don't think I don't know about those extra shifts you've been pulling."
Amber coughed delicately into her napkin again, her eyes averted from Cane's as she subtly kicked Kay under the table. She really didn't want to talk about this in front of Cane.
"Oww," Cane reached down and rubbed his shin.
Wincing, Amber gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry."
"Why did you just do that?" Cane asked, more curious than annoyed. Something was running just below the surface of the conversation that it was driving him a little nuts not knowing.
"My foot slipped," she replied.
He gave her a quelling look. "All the way across the table?" he eyed the width of the long table.
Amber has long since learned to deal with awkward situations like this; she smiled and shrugged and moved on. "So Mrs. C., I heard that Chancellor has just purchased a new building on the East side. What's it going to be for?"
"How did you hear about that?" Katherine asked conversationally as she silently laughed at Cane's silent brooding. Her grandson was obviously getting more to digest here than the excellent food placed in front of him. Cane was not slow by any means but he was still conflicted where Amber was concerned. "Well, we'll just have to see about un-conflicting him."
"Nick mentioned it at the office in passing," Amber replied, wishing she hadn't brought it up. Cane's face looked carved from stone; he evidently didn't like that fact that she knew anything about his family business. She made a mental note to herself to just stop listening. "I think he was just thinking about the office space issue. We've been busier lately and there really isn't enough room at the loft for some of the post production stuff. Nick and Jack has been considering moving the post production crew into another space, which is a pretty wise precaution."
"Eggs and baskets," Katherine grinned and sipped the sweet apple cider from the goblet that Esther had placed before them. "The new building is actually for an upcoming community project Chancellor will be participating it. It's a youth center."
"Oh my god, that's fantastic," Amber gushed, placing her fork on her plate with a clang. "Youth centers are so important. I practically grew up in the one near my house."
"You grew up at a youth center?" Cane asked quietly, his fork scrapping along his plate, "I didn't know that."
"No reason you should."
"How come you grew up there?" Cane asked, more curious than anything, "Where were your parents?" A child should not have to grow up without its parents, he had first hand experience in that.
"There was never a Dad and Mom was busy," Amber explained with a shrug and elected not to go into details about her colorful mother and why Tawny Moore had been lacking in during her more formative years. That was the past and she was determined to make a future for herself. "The youth center was what kept most of us off the streets in that two-bit town. It made some great contributions, provided some much needed childcare for people on welfare and stuff."
"Well then I'm so much happier that we can provide one for Genoa City," Katherine said as Esther pour tea for them. "There are substantial number of single mothers around that would certainly benefit from some easy access childcare. Dessert?"
Choking on her tea, Amber flashed Katherine a warning look that didn't go unnoticed. "Oh I can't possibly, not after such a huge meal," Amber answered as she gently rubbed her soft tummy. Her mind naturally wondered to the child that rest silently within, her ire at Mrs. Chancellor's indirect clues forgotten, and her whole posture softened in response. Her baby was currently enjoying the delicious and nutritious meal Esther had loving prepared for them. "Got to thank Esther… and get the recipe." She grinned at the thought of her actually cooking… it was too funny of a picture.
"And what amusements are you not sharing with us?" Katherine asked as the dessert plate was placed in front of her. She looked down, then up again and frowned mightily. "Why is mine so much smaller than theirs?"
"Your cholesterol is twice theirs," Esther reminded her with a sweet smile as she placed the sweet raspberry tart in front of Amber and winked at the laugher gleaming from her fellow health-conspirator's eyes. "Cream?"
"No thanks," Amber answered, taking pity on a disappointed Kay.
"Mr. Ashby?" Esther asked, hoping the cream pot and silver ladle.
"No, thank you Esther," Cane answered just as politely, his troubled eyes watching the hand that still rested on the curve of Amber's stomach. From where he was seated and his superior height, Cane could see that soft and gentle swell of a barely-there tummy beneath her hand that hadn't been here during his marriage to her. His eyes danced up to Amber's face again. Her hollow cheeks and razor thin collarbone attested to the continual weight loss he keeps suspecting but the stomach…
Amber had always been fanatic about keeping her weight down, said it made for better designs, but never to the point of starvation. Cane knew that starving people often had protruding tummies: the body's natural way of conserving as much protein, fat and water as it can hold. And Amber had always been quite proud of her toned and healthy body, one that included flat abs and muscled arms. Cane couldn't imagine that she would let herself go due to unhappiness over her breakup with Daniel. Which only leads him to believe that she was either sick or…
Or…
The thought flashed across Cane's mind so fast and so clearly that he literally felt a physical blow from it.
"Cane?" Katherine looked up as the tiny dessert fork in her grandson's hand clattered against the fine bone china. "Are you all right?" reaching out to catch his attention.
Blue eyes met blue eyes and understanding dawned. Katherine sighed. "Finally, we're going to get some answers now."
"Cane?" Amber asked quietly, concerned by the paling of his face. "Are you all right? Should I get Esther?"
He shook his head, both in answer to her question and in denial to where his mind had gone. "No, it can't be… She can't be…" But his denial couldn't argue with his logical mind. All the signs point toward one coherent conclusion and he was actually a little surprised at himself for not having thought of it before. "Amber?"
She had gotten up, worried by his strange reaction to the wonderful tart. But she wasn't stupid, "Maybe you're allergic to something in the dessert? I'll call the…"
"Amber?" he called out again. He didn't need a damn doctor, he needed to know that truth.
"What is it?" she said, ready pulling her cell phone from her purse. "Are you feeling dizzy? Maybe a little hot as well? Nauseous? Is your throat feeling swollen or…"
He shook his head again in answer to her rapid fired questions and wished she would just stop and look at him so he could see her face, see the truth in her eyes when she answered him. And by god, she was going to answer him. If there wasn't a massive dining room table between them…. "Amber, are you pregnant?"
Stunned, she froze and her cell phone hit the floor at her feet with a loud clatter in the shocked silent room. No one else said a word, no one so much as breathed; they were too afraid of what might happen next.
"Amber," Cane got up slowly, carefully, he didn't want to startle her.
She backed away anyways.
"Amber, answer me."
The room closed in on her a little and she felt herself beginning to panic. This wasn't how she had envision tonight… or any other night for that matters. He wasn't suppose to know… not yet, not until she's ready to tell the rest of her acquaintances… and find a way to leave Genoa City and go back to Los Angeles or something. She didn't want to have to answer any questions from people. Having Adam at her back was bad enough and now… "I've gotta go." She turned and bolted for the door.
"Amber!" Cane moved to stop her but found himself held back by a firm grip on his arm. He looked down at perfectly manicured hand of his grandmother.
"Let her go," Kay advised quietly, watching with calm eyes as Esther hurried after Amber. The worried maid scooped up the dropped cell phone, grabbed Amber's coat and purse from the rack as she passed. "You'll only frighten her now and the last thing Amber needs now is more stress."
"Grandmother…"
"You'll get another chance," Katherine said, holding on tight when Cane would have pulled away. "She's not going anywhere."
"You knew," he whispered softly.
"I guessed and she confirmed it; she trusted me," Kay frowned, wondering if she's done some irrevocable damage to her friendship with the girl and if Amber would stop coming to her now.
"Is that why you've been keeping her close? Why you agreed to arrange this dinner for me?"
"I didn't know you were a possible candidate for paternity," she explained quietly, thoughtfully, "not until you confessed your indiscretion the other day."
He had to grace to blush. "She didn't tell you?"
"She didn't want to, if fact she made no mention of a father for that child," Kay replied with a shake of her head. "I told you that Amber wanted to turn her life around, to make a go of it on her own. She's doing exactly that."
He mulled that over for a moment. "Grandmother…"
"Give her time," she said quietly, "and for god sakes stop being stupid around her."
Accepting that tart advice he nodded and sighed, thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think it's mine?" Cane asked with growing concern. He wasn't worried that the baby was his; he was more worried that it wasn't. Well actually, right now, he was just worried about her. His eyes went to the doorway again. "Is she getting enough rest? Is she eating okay? She's lost so much weight. Was it morning sickness? Is she seeing a doctor? Does she have insurance? Should I get…"
"Stop, stop, stop," Kay yanked hard on the arm she was still clinging to. The boy was stronger than he looks. "These are all questions you have to ask her. And my boy, you're going to have to work hard to get back into her good graces with the way you've been acting."
Cane winced remembering the reason for this dinner in the first place. "Grandma…"
Katherine smiled. "Don't worry my darling, I'm always here to help."
"A little late for business don't you think?" Nick said as he sat down across the table from his half-brother out of sheer curiosity. The late night phone call had been cryptic to say the least and Nick was just glad it had been to his cell phone and hadn't awaken his daughter. Phyllis had asked him not to come but Nick understood family obligations: a family member calls, you do what you can to oblige even if they're not your favorite person.
"This isn't about business," Adam explained as he motioned to the patiently waiting staff, "It's family. Order something," he suggested quietly.
Nick frowned and ordered a non-alcoholic drink and a light appetizer, following Adam's lead in this. Now his curiosity was definitely peeked. He and Victoria had talked about the strange conversation she had with Adam a few days back and he had been meaning to look into it with Adam… but looks like it found him instead. "What's going on? Is it Dad?"
"No," shaking his head quickly, "And I would really appreciate it if this doesn't get back to him right away. I'm not sure how he'd react." Adam can still hearing his father's icy cold voice taking him to carpet over his short-lived but eye-opening relationship with Heather.
He may not know his brother very well but Nick knew his father all too well; the kind of wrath and pain Victor Newman can bring down upon his family in the name of love can be something terrible to behold. "Sure, I can keep it quiet for now… if you give me a reason to."
"Fair enough. I know that you'd probably talk to Victoria and Phyllis about it, and I'm okay with that," Adam assured him and sipped his soda thoughtfully working up the nerve to spill the beans. "In fact, it might actually be better if you do."
Surprised by this candidness, "Should… should I call them and have them come?"
"No," shaking his head with a sigh, "I'm not really ready for that big of an audience yet. Though I suppose I could have told Victoria, owe her at least that much."
The tiny smile crept onto Nick's face. "I heard about the midnight binge."
"Not my shiniest moment," Adam admitted with a ruthful grin. "But I learned something useful and found a little peace from that." He didn't need to tell Nick about the calm that came after storm when he had woken up on the couch the morning after with a stern Victor glaring at him and a concerned Victoria trying to mitigate the fallout. His sister had even gone so far as to pull Victor aside while Adam put himself back together then ushered Sabrina and Victor out the door before Adam came down with a hang over the size of the Grand Canyon. As far as brother-sister moments goes, that had been a warm and fuzzy, if somewhat awkward, one.
"Vicky said that you were pretty upset," Nick replied watching the peace that stole over Adam for a moment. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"
"Yes… partly," Adam nodded his thanks to the waiter that brought the food. "And partly to ask you pull back on Amber's hours. She's working too hard and her health is being affected."
"I didn't realize you and Amber were…"
He cut in before Nick could just to conclusions… though he wanted him to. "We're friends and I'm worried about her."
Nodding his head in agreement, "She has been losing a lot of weight lately, some of the staff has mentioned it once or twice."
"Did you know she's been working two jobs?" Adam asked just to feel things out a little.
Nick nodded, "Yeah, I heard." And he had felt bad about it too but the magazine budget simply won't allow for a bigger salary for their receptionist. "Caught her at the club once too… she's got a great voice."
"Yeah and she's working really hard at nights on her clothing designs and on the weekends with Mrs. Chancellor on her memoirs. Amber does nothing but work these days."
That was obvious by the weight loss and the increasing pallor. "Daniel hinted at moving Amber to a position with less stress. The traffic in the reception area is getting to be a little more that she can handle on her own but…" he shook his head. Restless Styles was still a new magazine and still struggling to find its standing among the readership and they couldn't afford more help at the moment. "What do you know about what's going on with Amber? Daniel is being real cryptic about it," which wasn't like his stepson.
Adam struggled for a moment. "It doesn't beyond this table for now… I need it to stay that way until Amber says okay but someone's got to watch out for that girl."
Straightening in his chair, Nick regarded his half-brother with growing concern. "What's going on?"
"Promise me you won't say anything? Especially not your wife, not yet."
"Just tell me," a little exasperated by the run around.
"Amber is pregnant."
Whatever it had been that Nick was expecting, that wasn't anywhere close.
"And before you ask: no, it's not Daniel's."
Nick blinked in reaction. There was only one reason Adam would be coming to him with this… A horrible image of what Christmas dinner is going to look like flashed across his mind. He liked Amber – really he did – but she was kind of an acquired taste. "Dad is going to blow a gasket." That, in itself, made Nick laugh.
Adam could definitely see the humor in this and allowed Nick's assumption to stand. "And I thought dating Heather was rough."
"Well," Nick mused, still kind of perversely enjoying this, "At least Amber has never attempted to put dear old dad in jail. She's got that going in her favor at least."
Laughing despite the gravity of the situation, Adam slouched in his seat and looked up at the ornate ceiling above. Telling someone elevated the pressure on his chest. He'll handle things one step at a time, one of the more important steps being to get Amber alone for a half hour of uninterrupted face time – which may be the hardest part. "There's another reason to keep this quiet."
"Go ahead."
He searched around for the best method to say it. "Amber has been place under a specialist's care… this isn't going to be an easy carry."
That sobered up Nick faster than anything else in the world can. Moments from his children's life, when there was a struggle, when there was a hardship in those innocence, flashed before his eyes. "High risk?"
"Very. She lost the two before this one."
Nick thought of Noah and Summer… and Cassie. "Geeze."
"Yeah."
Nodding his head and swallowing the sick feeling of seeing a life without his kids, Nick took a breath and let it out slow. "I'll make sure she sticks to her regular hours and get light stuff. Can I assume you're doing this without Amber's knowledge?"
"She's got pride and will probably skin me alive if she found out I'm going behind her back to make things easier for her." He grinned rather ruthful at the thought.
Snickering, "I guess I'll just have to make sure I don't slip up then."
Adam rolled his eyes at the semi-teasing threat. "Much obliged."
Nick laughed reluctantly and then sighed. "Oh this… this isn't going to be easy, Adam. You…" he laughed again, a little more sympathetic now. Somehow, this doesn't really surprise him much. "You don't do anything half way, do you?"
"I'm not sure I know how," Adam admitted with a sigh. "Look, I know she's under a little pressure right now and thinks that she's got to do this all on her own. But I want to help."
"As you should," Nick pointed out and nodded to himself. "Okay, I'll see what I can do at the office. You might want to work on playing nice with Dad for a while. Vicky can be a strong ally if you give her reasons to be; she's first born so Dad's got a real soft spot for her."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Hey Adam," Nick played wish his glass for a moment, not sure why he was asking this. "Are you going to do right by Amber?"
"I'm trying," he replied rather defensively, "But Amber isn't exactly making it easy for me."
"Does Daniel know?"
"About me and Amber? Or about the baby?"
"Both."
That brought a frown, "Is Daniel involved with Amber?"
"Was."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you didn't know?"
The wheels were already turning in Adam's head. "Amber and I don't talk about our past relationships much." He made a face, "Actually, we didn't talk much at all."
"What was that?" Nick asked, seeing the troubled look.
He sighed and nodded to himself. He needed to understand Amber better if he was going to take care of her and the baby. And what's going to start… now.
To be continued…
Comments? Thoughts?
Second Author's Note: I've got a pretty good idea now how I want this story go. (Besides Ignoring everything on the show right now….) Thanks everyone for your reviews, thoughts and suggestions. This story may or may not end up to everyone's liking but the muse calls me and I must obey. (I am only a humble servant here.) Okay, onwards and forward.
