AN: I only own Kara. Thank you for the reviews and enjoy!

Kara went to shower and change. Spending the night on the couch in her clothes left her feeling achy and dingy. Erin went in search of her husband and found him still in the kitchen, looking out the back window and sipping his coffee. She slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He turned into her and greeted her with a deep kiss.

"That girl of yours is something," he said when they separated.

"She certainly got you unnerved,"she said.

"Mmmmm . . . what did you tell her?"

"The truth, of course," her back was to him as she reached for her own cup of coffee.

Incredulous and raising an eyebrow he said, "Really?"

She turned and smiled, "Yes, really. I told her some things are just not her business. She doesn't need to know everything. That's the truth."

Clearly relieved he said, "Oh, good. We can still have some secrets?"

"Of course, love." She stood across from where he had sat at the counter.

"Well, it was nice to hear her laugh, even if it was at my expense. Now can we talk about something serious?"

"No. Not yet. Let's talk some more about how cute you are when you blush," her smile radiated and it was difficult for him to ignore. He stood and rounded the counter to kiss her some more. When his hands started to wander, she tried to pull back.

"You cannot take me on the kitchen counter," she said as he started kissing her neck.

He disconnected for a moment to whisper, "The hell I can't," before he continued his adoration. They had both been too physically and emotionally drained last night to do anything more than drop into slumber.

Erin enjoyed it for another minute before she pushed back a little more forcefully. "Let me put it another way: I won't let you take me on the counter."

He closed her mouth with his for one more crushing kiss before he finally pulled back. With a playful slap to her ass he walked back to his original post on the other side of the counter. "You started it," he said and took a long drink from his coffee in an effort to slow his beating pulse.

"I know," Erin mused as she attempted to straighten her hair, "I'll let you finish it tonight."

"Well, that's good because I wasn't going to let you have much of a say in the matter," his love and desire for her was never quenched.

"Alright, I guess we need to get serious now," Erin said having thwarted this conversation long enough. "But don't tell me that you think he has hit her because I don't want to talk about that."

"One, I don't think he hit her, I know he did -"

Erin eyes widened at this proclamation, "Did she tell you something?"

David shook his head and continued talking, "Two, why is Roger coming here?"

"What do you mean? He is coming here to see Kara."

"But why? Why does he want to see her now?"

Erin did not like the direction this conversation was taking and was desperate to find an answer that would satisfy her overly suspicious husband. "He misses her."

"No, he doesn't."

"He's worried about her."

"No, he's not."

"He's mad at her."

"Bingo!"

"Bingo? So, he's coming here because he's mad at her? David, I don't get what you're trying to tell me."

"He's not coming here. He's mad at her."

Erin's stomach dropped and she felt anger and confusion mixing together. "He said he is coming here. Why are you saying that he's not?"

"Because it doesn't make any sense. He is mad at her for not responding to him the way he feels she should have. He wants to punish her. He can't come here and yell at her, or punish her, or hit her because we won't let him. And he can't do any of those things in a restaurant because that would make him look bad. God forbid he look bad! What is the ultimate punishment?"

Erin's head was spinning, "I don't know," she whispered.

David hated the hurt this was going to cause her and Kara, but it was better that he figure it out now then he wait and let it play out before them. "Withdrawal of love."

"Noooo," Erin's pain was heard in her voice and displayed on her face. David approached her and held her.

"He is going to get her all hyped up with excitement, or fear, or whatever feeling she has, and then abandon her again. He is trying to teach her that he will have the last say about their relationship, not her."

"How can he be so cruel? I swear he wasn't like that when I married him." She pulled back from and grabbed a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"Maybe he wasn't cruel when you met him, but he was always a prick." David couldn't help himself, he never liked Roger.

"What do we do now? What if you're wrong? You could be wrong."

"I'm going to go call Penelope and see if she can find any airline or hotel information on Roger. If he is coming in today or not, she will know."

"What do I do?"

"Stay here. Wait for Kara and wait for me. If I'm right, we will tell her together," he kissed and hurried to his office.

CMCMCMCMCM

Erin busied herself in the kitchen while she waited to see what fresh hell would be dumped into her lap. She thought about cooking a big breakfast to occupy her time, but figured no one would want it and it would be thrown in the trash. She settled for making more coffee.

Kara, finally, walked into the room looking fresh faced with jeans, a sweatshirt, and a ponytail. She accepted the coffee her mother handed her and said, "Where's Dave?"

"He had to make a phone call," Erin said, her eyes shying away from her daughter's.

Suspicious of her mother's tone, Kara said, "Is everything ok? I mean, everything other than the millions of things that are definitely not ok?"

"Kara, I have a question for you. And I want you to be honest with me."

Kara's shoulders slumped in anticipation and she took a sip from her mug.

Erin did not want to ask this question because she did not want to know the answer, even though she really already knew it. She took a breath, cognizant of the fact that it was her last breath before knowing the truth and asked, "Has your father ever hit you?"

Kara's mouth twitched and she said, "It's not a big deal."

"Oh, sweetheart!" Erin walked around the kitchen island and wrapped her daughter in a hug from behind. "It most certainly is a big deal."

Kara's feelings were mixed. She was relieved that she didn't have to hold onto this secret and that she would probably now get some comfort and sympathy for what she had been through. But she also felt selfish for burdening her mother with this information. She wanted to be stronger than she was.

"It wasn't a lot," she said, "and it wasn't that bad. Dad just would get impatient sometimes. He didn't like it when I talked back."

"Well, none of us like it when you talk back, but no one has the right to hit you," Erin said, still holding her child. "I'm so sorry he did that, and I'm so sorry I wasn't here to stop him. I won't ever let him hurt you again." She finally released Kara and turned her to see her face.

"I know, Mom," Kara said. She was curious about the fact that she wasn't crying. This moment had been imagined by her before, and in her fantasies, she was always crying.

Any further conversation in regards to this matter was stalled by the arrival of David entering through the doorway, a downward expression on his face. He looked at his wife first and conveyed his message with his eyes.

"You were right I take it?" Erin asked.

"Yes."

Kara looked between her two parents and asked, "What now?"

Erin took the lead, "Your father's not coming, honey."

Stunned, Kara was silent for a moment. She was torn between feeling relief and sorrow. "What?" she asked, "Why?"

"Because he's an ass," Dave had poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and could not keep his feelings to himself.

She took another moment to try to decipher how she felt about this latest development and then looked between both of her parents again, "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel?"

"Well, your father would like you to feel deflated, and chastened, and sorry for having ignored him for so long. I would like to feel relieved that you are free to go on and do with your life whatever you would like without worry of any retribution from him. You, my dear, are allowed to feel anything you'd like."

David was listening to all of this and while he was proud of his wife for her wise words, his own feelings had successfully culminated. "Well, I'll tell you what I feel," he placed his coffee cup in the sink, "anger," and started to walk from the kitchen.

"Stop!" Erin called, "Where are you going?"

"California," he said, not stopping at all.

Erin and Kara shared a wide-eyed look and then yelled in unison, "What?" as they scampered after him to his office.

Once they got there they saw David pressing buttons on his phone and then waiting impatiently for someone to answer. Erin said, "David what are you doing?"

He held a finger up to her and spoke into the phone, "Penelope? I need one round trip ticket to LAX. Leaving as soon as I can and coming home tomorrow."

"Make that two," Erin said.

"Make that three," Kara said.

David turned away from them and continued speaking into the phone, "No, you didn't hear anything, Penelope, it's still one ticket. Call me when you have details." He hung up the phone and, moving around the ladies he was trying to ignore, rushed up the stairs to pack. .

When Erin and Kara had reached the master suite, David was already throwing drawers open and resupplying his go bag. Kara threw herself onto the bed and Erin started in on her husband, "David, please stop. At least slow down and talk to me."

Never one to ignore his wife, he stopped and stood in front of her. "Erin, honey, it's ok. I'm just going to go out and have a little talk with Roger and tell him that what he did is deplorable and he doesn't deserve Kara and that when and if she ever wants to see him, she will contact him. Then I'll come home,"

"Wow," was all Kara could say from her perch on the bed. Any love she felt for Dave increased tenfold at that moment.

Dave looked at her and started to say something, but was distracted by the beep of his phone. He glanced down on it and beamed, "Perfect! She got me a flight, but I have to hurry." He rushed into the bathroom and could be heard rustling about. Tossing the last items into his bag, he turned to Kara, "Everything will be fine, sweetheart." He put her face in his hands and kissed her cheeks before looking into her eyes and solemnly saying, "I love you."

Not waiting for a response, he turned to his wife and, though kissing her more passionately, did the same thing. He yelled a final, "I'll call when I land," and left the room leaving both women stunned.

"Wow," Kara said again, looking at her mother.

"Yeah, wow," Erin shook herself out of her daze then and reached into her pocket for her phone.

Kara's, "What are you doing?" was ignored as she pressed the buttons.

"I hope David forgives me for this."