Greg held the door open as Phyllis stepped inside. "Why don't you go ahead and go feed her and I'll get the salads ready." He set the large bag of takeout lunch containers on the table as he tried to avoid her gaze.

"Okay." Libby fussed in her arms as she held her. The tension that gripped her body was obviously being felt by her daughter as well. "She'll probably go down for a nap too so we might actually be able to eat without a guest." She forced her lips into a taut smile before heading upstairs. "It's okay, baby," she whispered as she struggled to soothe her. The door closed softly behind as they stepped into the nursery as she finally felt free to let her own tears fall. "I know," she sighed. "I miss him too."


Between the traffic and his own distraction, it was nothing short of a miracle that he'd made it to his hotel in tact. Now, as he sat staring at the computer screen in front of him, he tried to formulate some sort of plan. His entire body yearned to simply stand up, the scribbled address now clenched in his hand, and race out of the room. He wanted to go find Phyllis, find his daughter, and let them know how much he'd missed them even without knowing they were his to miss. He needed to tell her that not a day had gone by without thinking of her, that if he'd known, that if he'd had any idea at all, nothing and no one would have been able to keep him away.

But doing that, rushing into her home, into her life and ripping everything apart … how fair was that? How loving was that? He'd hurt her so deeply. That pain had been the reason she'd left Genoa City in the first place and the memory of those wounds had no doubt played a large part in her decision to keep him in the dark about all of this. Every bit of information seemed to lead to even more questions and he needed the answers. Knowing that she'd been through all of this without him broke him a way he couldn't even completely process and while there was a part of him that was grateful she hadn't been alone, there was another part of him that felt impossibly protective of them. Greg wasn't supposed to be the one. They weren't his family. He couldn't fathom living one more day without his daughter in his life. She was a part of him and so was Phyllis.

The best part. And one way or another, he had to find a way to bring them home.


Her footsteps were hesitant as she moved into the kitchen and sat the baby monitor on the table. "This looks great," she said with a smile. "Thanks for getting everything ready."

"Not a problem." He still stood with his back to her busying himself with the disposal of trash.

"Sorry it took so long. You've probably got to get back to work now, don't you?" She was surprised to see him finally look at her then, his eyes widening a bit.

"Is that what you were hoping?"

"What?" She took a step towards him. "Of course not. Why would you say that?"

He shook his head before reaching for her hand. "I just … You were so quiet on the ride home. It's obvious you weren't exactly anxious to talk about what happened at Cuppa."

"It's not that. I just … I was trying to keep Libby from pitching an absolute fit. You know how she can get and that makes for a miserable car ride for everyone and …" She watched as his eyes continued to narrow.

"Phyllis. I know better than that. You were taking care of Libby, but you were doing it to keep from talking to me, not because you thought you had to. We've both endured Libby's fits before. We could have done it again."

She sighed. "I just didn't feel like it was the time to … I guess I thought …" She stopped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was trying to avoid you."

"It's okay," he said softly as he brushed the hair behind her ear. "I called the office and double checked my calendar. I don't have anything else scheduled for today, so I'm just going to take the rest of the day. Start the weekend early. It'll be nice."

"That's great," she beamed as she sat down and began to dig into the salad. "Maybe after Libby wakes up we can go out to the park for a little bit. It's a little bit warmer out there this afternoon and …"

"I think we need to talk about some things first." He waited to see the acceptance on her face. She nodded silently. "That's him isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you really going to try this? With me, Phyllis? You know what I'm talking about? The man? The one you've never wanted to tell me anything about? Libby's father. It's Billy, isn't it?"

And there it was – said out loud. The truth. The facts. The part of her life she'd tried so hard to put in the back of her mind, not because she wanted to forget but because it hurt too much to remember. "How did you know?" she managed to whisper. "How could you tell?"

The pain on her face made any anger impossible and he simply wanted to somehow make it easier. "His face. His eyes. It's Libby through and through, but more than that …" He looked at her for a long moment before continuing. "It was the look on your face. You were always honest with me about how you felt. You always told me that Libby's father was someone you would always love and today, when I looked at you, that's exactly what I saw."