*Disclaimer: I do not own the signalized dialogue. It was taken from Episode 16 - Forgive and Forget. All the rights belong to FOX Studios.
Adam opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. Flashes of the night before started to pop up in his mind. A horrible taste of vomit came to his mouth, he tried to get up but his body had no strenght. A little effort and he was able to sit, leaning his back against the headboard.
"Lauren," he called, his voice was weak.
He noticed it wasn't his bedroom, actually he had no idea where he was.
"Thank God, I was about to call the doctor again," Victoria said, entering the room.
"Lauren. I need to see her."
"Not now, Adam. You're not okay."
"W-what happened?" He asked, confused, "Where am I?"
"We were drugged," Victoria told. "Remember Mr. Zane's whiskey? It was spiked."
Adam started to remember, he was getting dressed to go after his wife when he suddently collapsed. Victoria called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital where the doctor performed some exams, this was probably how Victoria found out they were drugged.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, you drank way more than I did of that whiskey so I had no major side effects."
His mind clicked.
"So it's possible we didn't..."
"Maybe."
The bedroom's door opened again, this time was Michael bringing Adam some food.
"Hey man, I thought you'd like something to eat when you woke up."
"Thanks, Michael. Where am I?"
"My apartment, you can stay here until..."
"I'm pretty sure that once I explain everything, Lauren will believe me."
Michael and Victoria exchanged glances.
˜*˜*˜* One week later ˜*˜*˜*
Lauren took a deep breath as she parked her car at the grocery store.
It had been a week since she and Adam split up. The kids didn't know the truth yet, she told them their father had to travel to London to finish a deal he was closing. Lucas, being the most naive of the three, believed it blindly. Serenity was still affected by her incident, so she didn't even realize what was really going on. She spent most of the time on her iPad. And there was David. Lauren could swear that kid could read her mind. For days he was acting suspicious, she had no doubt he was investigating.
She looked at her left hand, the wedding band was still there, like it had been for the last 9 years when they renewed their vows. She felt she was about to cry but she couldn't, the kids would notice when she was back home. She slowly slipped the ring out of her finger, ready or not she'd need to get used to that. She'd wear it back before entering home anyways.
Inside the store she started to grab the items from her list, that was when she automatically grabbed it, Adam's favorite cereal. She placed the box back in the shelf, feeling a lump in her throat as she thought that item was no longer needed at her house.
Lauren start to walk to the checkout stand proud of herself, she didn't cry. It was her first time alone in public and she was successful. She smiled. Then she saw their chocolate bar. Adam gave her that same chocolate right after they met, when she helped him to study for a test while waiting for Michael at their dorm. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down and walked away.
"Hey, pretty!" Right behind her, she heard that unwanted voice.
"Hello, Josh," she said, turning around, "tell me you're not stalking me."
"Of course not, I came here to buy some beer," this time he was really telling the truth.
Lauren quickly hid her hand on her jeans' pocket, she couldn't let him see that she was single. Then she remembered she looked like a mess, her clothes, her hair, her face, that was enough for him and everybody else to notice something had changed in her life. To worse.
"How's Serenity?" He asked.
"She's fine."
"I bought her a gift, I took it to your office and asked your husband if he could give it to her but he treated me like crap."
What did you expect? Lauren thought.
"He was too entertained with his assistant... that Victoria woman. I really don't like her."
Lauren cringed.
"I'm so stupid..." she said to herself. How didn't she notice it earlier?
"Everything alright?" Josh asked.
Lauren nodded in agreement and in a sudden impulse, she suggested:
"Maybe you should drop by some time, you know... To give Serenity the gift."
She also got her hand out of her pocket, making it visible she had no ring on her third finger.
"I'd love to," Josh grinned, fixing his eyes on her hand.
"Tomorrow night?" Lauren asked.
"Of course, but are you sure there's no problem?" No Adam, he meant.
"Not at all," Lauren smiled.
After crying for a while during her morning shower, Lauren got dressed and got outside to check the mail box, thing she had forgotten to do since Adam left. He was the one who got the mail everyday. For her surprise there was a small package inside with the bills and junk, she prayed it was nothing her husband had ordered or she'd have to see him sooner than she planned. No, it was addressed to her.
Lauren took the package to the living room and placed it on the coffee table. Opening it carefully, she found a picture of Adam and Victoria dated February, 2004, on the back side was a message: "they used to date before". She felt her stomach twisting. Along the picture was a CD, without knowing what could be seen, Lauren took it to her bedroom to play on her laptop.
She closed her eyes for a moment after clicking the play button. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see whatever was on her screen. She slowly started to look. It was a video of Victoria, Michael and Adam playing bowling, when Kate was about to play Adam's voice could be heard in the background:
"I think the battery died."
"Aw!" Kate shouted, "Right on my turn?"
Adam placed the camera he supposed to be turned off on their table. After Kate played they engaged in a conversation:
*"I'm afraid you do suck after all," Adam teased.
"I'm having an awful night. I think Lauren put some kind of curse on me today."
"It's 45 minutes without talking about Lauren," Michael joked. "It's a new record."
"When my DNA test come back negative, I pledge to maintain a Lauren-free existence for all eternity."
"So, who do you think the father is?" Kate asked.
"Knowing Lauren," Adam laughed, "could be one of the San Francisco 49ers!"
He and Victoria high fived.*
The video was cut. Lauren replayed the last part of the video over and over again. How dared Adam to talk that way about her and especially, their child? That was so disrespectful and cruel, what made her hate him even more.
Tears started to roll from her eyes, she was about to call Adam when David interrupted her.
"Good morning, mom," he said entering her room.
"Oh, good morning buddy," she quickly wiped her tears, "I'm gonna prepare the breakfast, ok?"
The young boy jumped on the bed, sitting next to her.
"You guys should try counseling," David suggested, "it worked for my friend's parents."
"W-what?!" Lauren asked in disbelief.
"You're not a good liar, mom. You and dad are getting divorced."
"I-I don't know where it came from," she still tried to lie, "your father is in London."
"For over a week?" David raised his eyebrow. "He's in LA, I called the office the other day and he answered."
Lauren realized there was no escape, the kid was smart, very smart, he wouldn't believe anything else she invented. Sometimes she couldn't believe there was traces of Josh's DNA in that brain.
"David... I... Errr... can you keep your mouth shut to your siblings? At least for a few more days?"
"That's ok, mom," the boy agreed. "I won't tell them."
It was 1 p.m when Michael called Victoria to come at his apartment. He was pretty sure Adam was dead, or at least in coma. He tried to call Lauren first, but she wouldn't answer. His friend was in a really bad place, he wouldn't go to work, he spent most of the time like a zombie in front of the TV and in the last few days, he had started to drink to forget his sorrow.
"Come on!" she said as she sniffed him, "He's only drunk, very drunk."
"We gotta do something, you know once he tried..." Michael started.
"Time to wake up, party boy!" Victoria yelled on Adam's left ear.
"Maybe you should try the other one," Michael suggested, "he's deaf in this one."
"There's no need," Adam muttered, "my head hurts enough, thank you."
He sat down on the couch, wearing his pajamas. His hair was a mess and a scruff was starting to show.
"Adam, we have no time for this," Victoria scolded. "Do you want your wife back or not?"
More than anything. He thought, being unable to answer. He felt dizzy and tired.
"Did you call the lab?" Victoria insisted.
"I don't feel like playing CSI: Los Angeles right now, sorry."
Adam got so desperate and lost that he didn't know what to do to get his wife back. He didn't react well to moments of crisis. Luckly, he had Victoria on his side. After finding out about the spiked whiskey, she collected the condom they found on the hotel's bed and sent it to a laboratory to compare the material with Adam's. If the test came back negative it was proved they were being framed.
There was a whiteboard on Michael's living room with all the evidence they had so far, a timeline, the events they remembered and the profiles of the possible suspects. One of the suspects was Abel Zane, the guy Adam was supposed to meet. He was now threatening to file a lawsuit against Mother Earth Footwear, because of Adam's negligence he lost time and money and he wanted to be refunded. The other suspect was Josh, nothing could make Adam forget the words he said the day he came to his office. I'll make you pay for that. Pushing him out of the way was also the easiest way for Josh to get his wife and kids.
"You need to react, man," Michael suggested. "You haven't showed up at the company for three days now."
"Thank you, Michael," Adam said, in a sarcastic mode. "It's easy to talk, isn't it?"
A few months earlier Michael was in the same miserable situation as his friend was.
"Enough with the Broken Hearts Club. I have something else," Victoria announced. "Here's a sample of Kate's daughter hair, we could also compare it with the condom's material and if it come back positive, it's proved Josh is the one who framed us."
"You're a genius!" Adam exclaimed. "You should definitely be a detective."
"But I can't do all the job alone, you know? Get out of this couch and let's go back to our #SaveLauradam operation."
"I'll be right back," Adam announced as he ran to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. He had a new idea in mind.
"It was such a noble thing you did," Victoria said from the passenger sit of Adam's car, "not many guys would've done the same."
It was the first time they talked about Josh being the children's father after Adam told her.
"Since the first moment I put my eyes on David I felt the same thing I did for Lucas, there was no difference, you know?" Adam told, "And Serenity? Not a single person in this world could tell that kid isn't mine."
Victoria noticed Adam looked sad, he missed his family a lot.
"Hey, heads up. If we manage to get the video footage from the hotel we'll prove nothing happened and you'll get your wife back tonight."
"You're right," Adam smiled as he parked the car.
In his mind he kept planning what he'd do or say when he finally showed Lauren the proof he was innocent.
At the hotel's reception he and Victoria waited until an employee came to assist them. The young male confirmed they used a camera circuit in every floor and also in the elevator.
"Can we take a look at the footage?" Adam asked, impatient.
"I'm afraid you can't, sir. Unless you're from the police and have a warrant."
Adam scratched his hair in dismay.
"Look... uhhh... "Billy", isn't it?"
The employee confirmed his name.
"I'm not from the police. But it's VERY important, my marriage is at stake here."
"Sir, not doubt your marriage is important," Billy said, "but there are rules and..."
"Screw the rules, Billy," Adam insisted, "I have money. I can pay."
"Sir, are you trying to bribe me?"
The employee started to dial to call the security.
"Yes, I am," Adam angered. "I'm willing to do anything to have my wife back."
Victoria, that watched everything in silence, decided to intervene.
"Adam, stop," she whispered. "There must be another way."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Huh... listen, Billy," she said in a seductive voice, "you're a very, very handsome young man, if you do us a favor maybe I could consider... err... doing you a little favor in trade..."
Billy blushed. After a moment of extreme doubt, he finished dialing to the security. If he lost his job he'd never be able to leave his mother's house.
"Adam, let's get out of here," Victoria suggested grabbing him by the arm.
"No, I won't get out of here without the video footage."
"Sir?" Billy spoke, "I'm gonna be honest here, you're going to jail."
"Hello, Mr. guard. All I need is a small favor," Adam tried, "I'm asking... I'm desperatly asking, to take a glimpse at the camera's footage, that's all. Done that, I go home and everything's solved."
"Sir, maybe you'd like to follow me to the precinct?"
"No, thank you," Adam wouldn't like having trouble with the police again.
He and Victoria walked a few steps escorted by the guard.
"And thank you for nothing, Billy," Adam yelled from the front door. "When I get my wife back I'll stay in this hotel and there'll be no tips for you. You don't know who I am, I'm the owner of..."
The guard interrupted him by dragging him outside.
At Lauren's house, Serenity cried and claimed to be in a lot of pain. It wasn't the first time, a couple of days earlier Lauren took her to the doctor, who, after examination, concluded the pain was psychosomatic. Together with the trauma from the incident, she was now suffering with Adam's absence, what aggravated her condition.
Lauren was so busy trying to assist her that she had no time to cancel Josh's visit, she only realized that when she heard the bell ringing.
"Who's it?" Serenity asked in the middle of sobs, "Is it dad?"
"I don't know," Lauren smiled, "maybe it's a special visit for you."
Her daughter was the only motivation she found to open that door and face Joshua's annoying grin. She knew his visit would make her feel better.
"Hi, pretty," he greeted.
"Hi," Lauren replied, "before you enter this house I must tell you..."
She was interrupted by her two curious boys, who were also expecting their father's comeback.
"Errr... boys, this is Josh," she introduced. "The guy who saved Serenity."
"Hey!" David smiled, "You're the man who helped me with my homework that day on the beach."
Lauren gave him a look of disapproval for stalking her children.
"That's such a coincidence." Josh nervously said. "So, how did that go?"
"I got the highest grade. I also finished the year as the first one of my class."
"Stop bragging," Lucas teased, "everyone already knows you're the smartass."
Josh laughed and left the boys roughhousing to follow Lauren to Serenity's bedroom. After explaining the situation, she stopped him on the way.
"Wait," she asked, "I'm letting you visit her but it'll be on my terms."
"Ok," he agreed.
"You'll NOT tell her anything about... you know. She's going through a really hard time and it'll only make her worse."
"You don't need to worry, I'd never do anything to hurt her."
Lauren gave him a sarcastic look as she opened the door.
The young girl, who was lying in her bed looking poorly, sat down in a hurry as she saw him on her door.
"Josh! You're here!"
"Hey princess," he approached her, "your mom said you're not doing good."
"I feel so much better now," she grinned.
Lauren went downstairs to give them some privacy, even though it didn't please her.
"Remember the surprise I told you?" Josh announced, showing her a small package. "I hope you like it."
Serenity grabbed the little box from Josh's hand and opened it, it was a bracelet. Her eyes glowed in happiness.
"Oh my God! I love it."
Josh helped her to wear it around her wrist. It fit perfectly.
"To remind you I'll always be there for you, ok?"
The girl nodded yes.
"Why weren't you online these last few days? I really wanted to talk to you."
"I'm sorry, pretty girl. I've been busy."
Although Josh enjoyed talking to his daughter through the internet he decided to take a break, if Lauren found out he could get in trouble.
"That's ok, I'm just glad you're here."
"So why don't we go downstairs with your mom and brothers, huh?" Josh asked. "Piggyback ride?"
In the living room, Lauren was about to start biting her nails in anxiety when Josh appeared, bringing Serenity on his back.
"Mom, look what Josh gave me!" She showed her the bracelet.
"That's beautiful, baby," Lauren agreed.
"Hey Josh," David called, "come play a game with me and Luke."
For minutes Lauren sat still, only observing her kids bonding with Josh, for her surprise he was very good with them. When it wasn't his turn to play they'd exchange looks, what caused Lauren some embarrassment.
"So, Josh," she tried to invent an excuse to make him go away, "I'd ask if you'd like to stay for dinner but I had no time to prepare anything. I was so busy with Serenity and..."
"There's no problem," Josh said, "I could buy us something. What do you kids would like to eat?"
"A cheeseburger!" Serenity said. "With french fries."
"And ice cream too?" he asked.
The girl and both of her brothers agreed. Then Josh remembered the issues he had with Kate when trying to grant his kids wishes and he wondered if Lauren was ok with that.
"Only if you agree, of course," he told her.
Lauren agreed, her kids were having a tough time without Adam around, especially Serenity. She didn't want to ruin their night.
After dinner, Josh was finally alone with Lauren in the kitchen, helping with the dishes. He knew, through his mother, what happened between she and Adam but decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Thank you for letting me spend time with them tonight," he said. "It's more than I deserved."
"That's ok, you saved Serenity's life after all," Lauren smiled. "You earned yourself a trust credit."
"She'll be fine, you know. She's a tough girl, like you."
"She definitely is!"
"Now tell me, where did David got the brains from?"
"No idea," Lauren laughed, "none of us I guess."
"Let's be honest, we're good at making kids," Josh joked.
He noticed Lauren stopped breathing and her cheeks turned red. She suddently started to hit him multiple times with the dish towel.
"D-Don't you ever say that again!"
"Sorry."
David came to the kitchen looking for Josh.
"Josh, come with me," he asked. "I wanna show you something."
"Go, I'm finishing," Lauren ordered.
"What do you wanna show me?" Josh questioned David while following him.
"My airplane miniatures collection."Josh was surprised he shared an interest with his son. After the boy was a little far away he turned around and told Lauren:
"We're really good at making kids!"
She smiled. Maybe she was taking too hard on Josh. Contrary to what Kate told her, he was being lovely and attentive with the children.
"Mom?" Lucas called, noticing she was distracted.
"Oh, hey."
"I can't turn my computer on," he complained, "I think David did one of his nerdy stuff again."
"You can use mine, sweetie," she said, "just don't delete anything, okay?"
The boy agreed.
"This one is pretty hard to get," Josh commented, holding one of David miniatures, "where did you buy it?"
"I don't know," David answered, "my dad bought me a couple of years ago during a trip we made."
Josh noticed the boy looked a little upset.
"My parents are getting divorced," he told.
"I'm sorry, buddy," Josh consoled him. "Family stuff is complicated."
"Are your parents divorced too?"
"Errr... no, they... uhhh... I don't have a father."
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss," David assumed Josh's father was dead.
"He isn't... Err..." Josh felt his hands starting to sweat. "No problem. I was too young, I don't remember him anyways."
The anxiety started to take control of his body, his heart was beating fast and he couldn't breathe. He just wanted it to stop.
"Josh? I have something for you," David got one of the miniatures from one of his shelves. "Take this one, for helping me that day and for saving my sister's life."
"A-are you sure?"
David nodded positively.
Josh finally started to calm down. The young boy's smile was enough for him to forget that dark part of his past. That was when he realized, he knew how to make it go away. He needed to call his therapist. He smiled, relieved and happy.
"What the fuck?!" Lucas yelled from the room next to them. "Mom, come here!"
"Wow, somebody is pissed," David joked, making Josh laugh.
Lauren came through the corridor scolding her eldest son.
"Lucas Matthew Logan, how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying this word at home?"
At this point, both David and Serenity were sneaking out to see what was going on.
"He cheated on you!" Lucas screamed. "This is why he isn't home, right? You two are getting divorced."
"Lucas, I..." Lauren tried to open her mouth but her son showed the picture she received earlier.
"I saw that video too, mom," the boy cried in anger, "it was about me he was talking about! I always knew he didn't like me, he never wanted me!"
He entered his room, slamming the door and locking it from the inside.
"Lucas? Open this door right now!" Lauren demanded.
When she turned around she saw Serenity running to her bedroom sobbing.
"I didn't know it was that bad," David said grabbing the picture Lucas threw on the floor. "I really liked Victoria... and dad. I can't believe they've done this to us."
Lauren asked him to wait because she'd like to have a conversation with all the three of them. Noticing what was going on Josh decided it was time for him to go.
"I'm sorry about that," he said in the living room, "my mother told me but I had no idea he..."
"Go ahead," Lauren said with tears rolling from her eyes, "tell me you always warned me. You must be so happy, aren't you?"
"Of course not, I always hoped I was wrong and he'd make you happy, like you deserve."
"I keep trying and trying to figure out where I did wrong but I..."
Josh interrupted her with a hug. Feeling vulnerable, Lauren couldn't help but hug him back.
"Everything will be ok, pretty. I promise."
He kissed her forehead.
Adam woke up in the morning with the phone call he had been expecting for days, the laboratory informed him the results of the test were ready to be picked up. He wore his best outfit and bought Lauren some flowers. Victoria texted him good luck and asked him to tell her how things had gone later.
In his car, he opened the envelope with his head spinning so intensely as a Crazy Ivan. Even if he was sure he never slept with Victoria, he was afraid to be wrong. In the end, the results were really negative. The material found in that condom wasn't his. He celebrated and drove home, ready to get his wife back.
As soon as Lauren put her eyes on him, she closed the door on his face.
"Lauren? Babe?" Adam called. "We need to talk."
"What do you want?" She asked, opening the door again.
"Here," Adam took the envelope out of his pocket. "Here's the proof I've never cheated on you."
"And here's the proof of the jerk you are!"
Lauren threw the package she received at him.
"What is that?"
Adam took a better look and observed it was an old picture of him and Victoria.
"There's more," she played the video on her cell phone. "How dared you to joke that way around Kate, Michael and that... you suggested I had slept with so many men I didn't even know who was Lucas' father."
She started to cry again.
"So it was really him," Adam told himself with a sarcastic smile.
"What are you talking about?"
"Lauren, this picture and the video you're talking about, they were taken from Kate's house... so think with me, who'd have a better access than her husband?"
"Could you please stop blaming Joshua for your own mistakes?" Lauren shouted. "I don't know where it came from, otherwise I'd sent them a thank you note for showing me the real you."
"It was twelve years ago!" Adam argued, "I was young and stupid... can we talk about now? Take a look at this..." he handed her the envelope, "I've sent a sample of the material we found in that condom to the lab, they compared with mine and it came back negative."
"How am I supposed to know you didn't collected it from some random trash can only to fool me?"
Adam ran his hand through his hair in desperation. He wondered if there was anything he still could do to prove his innocence. It was just like when he went to prison, but worse.
"I-I'm starting to remember things, you know?" He tried, with tears in his eyes. "I remember I was there in the bar... Victoria was with me but waiting for her date, it started to get hot and..."
"And you two decided to get naked together!" Lauren laughed in an ironic mode.
"I won't give up, I..."
Adam was interrupted by Serenity who came running to his arms. She hugged him tightly and sobbed.
"Daddy... I miss you so much... Come back home..."
"I really miss you too, baby girl. I just want you to know that daddy would never do anything to hurt you, I'm going to clean up this mess and we'll be together again, ok?"
"Dad," Serenity told, "I felt really bad yesterday."
"Really? And how are you feeling now?"
"I'm better, my friend Josh came visit me. We had so much fun that I even forgot about the pain."
Adam was burning in rage. He barely left the house and Lauren was already getting close to that man again and letting him approach their children.
"Hey sweetie, why don't you go to your room?" He asked. "I'll be there in a second."
Serenity understood her parents needed to talk so she walked away from them. Lauren was terrified of what Adam was probably thinking of her right now.
"This is not what you're thinking... he..."
"You couldn't wait a month, could you?" Adam asked in anger. "All you needed was an excuse to get rid of me and go back to him."
"Go back to him? Do you think I..."
"Yes. And more, I'm really starting to suspect he divorced Kate because of you, it's not a coincidence that you both ended your marriages only a few weeks apart."
"Adam, you know I'd never do anything with him again," Lauren cried.
"This is not what it seems..." Adam said, "I guess we're really over this time."
Author's Note: Ok, you can hate me a little now :P