Chapter 10

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I actually created some of them, so I do own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as for the ones I did create, who they are is up to me, so...

Both of the conversations that Cody and Bailey had were still weighing heavily on their minds, but both did their best to try to forget them or at the least push them to the back. Soon enough, Zack was gone for his date leaving Cody and Bailey alone again in the suite. Of course, it was getting late, and Carey's show was in a couple of hours.

"You getting hungry?"

Bailey nodded. "A little, yeah..." She grinned. "Am I going to see your culinary skills finally?"

Cody laughed. "Well, actually, I was thinking we'd head downstairs and hit the hotel's restaurant. That way, we'd be there for Mom's show when it started."

"Good idea...But can we afford it?"

Cody grinned. "Yeah...Like I said, I know the head chef pretty well. It has its perks."

"Is that so? Well, lead the way then."

So, they headed downstairs. And instead of going into the restaurant, Cody lead her in the back way into the hotel's kitchen. When they walked in, Bailey could see a larger man leering hungrily at a chocolate cake.

"I thought you were cutting down on the sweets?"

The man turned realizing he had been busted. But when he saw who it was, he grinned.

"Cody! My little protege! You're home!"

Cody smiled. "Yeah, home for Thanksgiving break. Chef Paulo, this is my friend, Bailey. Bails, this is my teacher, Chef Paulo."

Bailey smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, Chef Paulo. Cody speaks very highly of you."

Chef Paulo smiled back at her. "Nice to meet you too..." He turned and pulled Cody in to a hug and whispered to him. "Well done..."

Cody blushed but continued smiling. "We're going to take in Mom's show in a bit, but we were hoping you might be able to fit us in before we go."

"But of course! I would be honored if you would both be my special guests this evening."

And so they were. Chef Paulo set them up with a special table in the dining area, and told them not to worry about ordering as he had just the thing for them. And did he ever. He had a meal specially created for them that both found delicious.

Bailey smiled. "I don't think we'll ever find anything like this in the dining hall..."

Cody laughed. "Probably not. Though, if they did, I'd easily find my freshman fifteen."

Bailey laughed too. "I think a lot of people would."

"Well, don't go thinking Thanksgiving dinner will be anything like this. I'm good, but I'm not in the same league as Chef Paulo."

"I'm sure it will be excellent. I bet you're just trying to lower my expectations right now."

Cody grinned. "Great. No pressure then."

"Hey, if it weren't for you, I'd still be back in the dorms and looking forward to whatever the dining hall served that they dared to call turkey."

"Well, I'm glad you're here. Sorry its been so...action packed so far."

Bailey smiled. "Don't worry about it." She teased him. "As long as you make sure the rest of the week is more relaxing."

"I'll try. But, no guarantees." Cody checked his watch. "We have fifteen minutes before Mom goes on. You ready to go?"

"Sure. Lets get moving."

They headed over to the cabaret and found a table in the front off to the left of the stage. And as they were sitting there before the show, Cody noticed someone else come into the lounge and waved him over to them. The man smiled and came over and sat with them.

"Bailey, I'd like you to meet Arwin. Arwin, this is my friend from Yale, Bailey Pickett."

Arwin smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Bailey."

Bailey nodded. "You too. Cody has told me a lot about you."

Arwin paused. "Oh?"

Bailey smiled. "Yeah. I believe there was a laser you helped him build once?"

Arwin laughed. "Oh yeah...Moseby still gets on me for us burning a hole in the wall."

"And I believe some kind of robot you built that almost terrorized the hotel. He says you are a brilliant inventor and an excellent bowler."

Arwin grinned. "Thanks, Cody."

Bailey leaned in and whispered. "He's also the one in love with your Mom, right?"

Cody just nodded.

Bailey was about to say something else when the lights dimmed, and Carey Martin came out on stage. And immediately, Bailey noticed Arwin was looking at her and had a goofy expression on his face. She just shook her head and sat back and enjoyed the show. And Cody had been right – his mother was very talented. Bailey immensely enjoyed the show, and she was one of many who gave a standing ovation when Carey was done.

After it was over, Cody and Bailey waited around for Carey to be done. And they weren't the only ones as Arwin was too. Carey came back out and found the three waiting on her.

"So, how was I?"

Bailey smiled. "That was amazing, Mrs. Martin."

Carey smiled back. "Thank you, but I already told you...call me Carey."

Arwin grinned. "She's right...You were wonderful as always, Carey."

Carey sighed and nodded. "Thank you, Arwin."

"Would you maybe like to go get a drink to celebrate?"

Carey paused trying to figure out how to turn him down gently, but Cody spoke up. "She'd love to. Wouldn't you, Mom?"

Carey glared at her son. "Well...Sure I suppose." She turned to Arwin. "Tell you what. Let me change, and I'll meet you in the hotel bar in twenty minutes."

Arwin had the biggest grin on his face. "I'll go get us the best table they have!" And with that, he was off.

Carey turned back to her youngest son. "Cody..."

"Come on, Mom. Arwin is a good guy. You could and have done a lot worse."

Carey frowned and sighed. "Fine..." She turned to Bailey. "I know exactly what you mean about him being a pain sometimes."

Bailey smiled. "Yet, we both keep him around for some reason."

Carey laughed. "Very true. So, what did London want anyways?"

Cody shook his head. "You don't want to know..."

"Oh?"

Cody paused. "And before you hear it anywhere else, I broke up with Barbara today..."

Carey's eyes went wide and she pulled Cody into a hug. "Are you okay, Honey?"

Cody nodded. "I'm fine, Mom. Actually, I'm very relieved."

"What happened?"

Cody pulled back. "Well, I realized we had grown apart...And then I found out she had been seeing Bob since this past summer."

Carey could feel her anger building. "She was doing what?" She shook her head. "I never did like her!"

Cody smirked. "Gee...Thanks for telling me."

"Cody...How many times did she get mad and hit you or stomp your foot? Instead of celebrating your full ride to Yale, we spent that night in the emergency room!"

"Well, its over now. And I got my revenge thanks to Bailey..."

Carey turned to Bailey. "Oh really? How did you do that?"

Briefly, Cody and Bailey told her of the scheme they had devised. And when they were done, Carey was laughing so hard, she was almost crying.

"Wow..." She turned to Bailey. "I really, really like you now. Thank you for helping my baby boy."

Bailey smiled. "It was my pleasure. If it weren't for him on our first day at Yale, I'd probably still be trying to figure out how to get all of my bags inside. But, he came to my rescue. I was just repaying the favor."

Carey smiled. "Good to see Cody is still the gentleman I raised him to be..." She paused. "I don't know if you've met Zack yet, but I swear, I tried with him too.."

Bailey laughed. "Well, you should be proud of the way Cody turned out."

"I am. Are you sure you're okay though, Cody? I'm sure Arwin would understand if you needed to talk about it."

Cody smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, I promise. Now, you better go change. You have a date waiting on you."

Carey shook her head. "Fine...I just hope he doesn't faint on me again..."

"He only does that when you kiss him. But don't worry, Mom. We won't wait up."

Cody and Bailey headed back up to the 24th floor and decided to just hang out in the suite. Of course, both were surprised to find Zack was home already too.

"I thought you had a date..."

Zack sighed. "I did. This Maya girl was wise to all of my tricks and ideas. I was totally thrown off of my game all night."

Cody smiled. "Back to the drawing board, huh?"

Zack paused. "I don't know. There was something different about this Maya girl. I can't figure out what it is though..."

Cody and Bailey turned to each other and just shared a look.

"Well, good luck with that." Cody smirked. "But don't over think it or try to over analyze it too much..."

Zack glared back at his brother. "I won't...In fact, I think I'm going to bed." And with that, he got up and headed into the twins' bedroom.

Cody turned to Bailey. "It is getting kind of late. If you want, you can change in my Mom's room. While you're doing that, I'll pull the sofa bed out for you."

"Thanks."

Bailey grabbed her bag and went to change. Cody pulled the sofa bed out and then put sheets, a blanket and a couple of pillows on it. When Bailey came out, she walked over to Cody. He turned to her.

"I can't guarantee its the most comfortable thing in the world, but..."

Bailey smiled. "It'll be fine."

Cody nodded. "Okay then...Hey, you like pancakes, right? I'll make some in the morning."

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright, well I guess I should bid you a goodnight then. Sweet dreams, Bails."

Bailey nodded. "You too...Codykins."

Cody just stared at her before laughing. "I'm going to pay for that, aren't I?"

Bailey laughed too. "Oh yeah...That's just too good to pass up."

"Well, after what you did for me today, I won't complain. Thank you again for everything."

"My pleasure." She grinned. "Just be prepared for me to call in the favor one day..."

"Just tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do it. You can count on me."

To be Continued...

AN: I'd figure I'd post an extra chapter today in honor of Mother's Day. And to all of those who post positive reviews to my stories, I thank you.