Elizabeth hung outside of the emergency room, circling the nurses' counter nervously, hoping and praying to catch wind of any changes in her daughter's condition.
As much as she loved watching Caleb suffer, her heart still throbbed achingly for her daughter's pain.
Clasping her hands together, she swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. Everything had gotten so far out of hand. NEVER in a million years did she EVER expect that Alison would confront Andrei like she did at the Manor that night with Livvie. Alison was never EVER supposed to even SEE him again.
Elizabeth had everything PERFECTLY planned out, down to the last detail.
She never meant for ANY of this to happen . . . ok, ok. Maybe the Livvie part, yes. But never Alison . . . No. Not her sweet baby girl. She would never have agreed to help Andrei if she knew that there was even a tangible chance that Alison would ever come face-to-face with that monster ever again.
She could only imagine the sick, sadistic things Andrei did to her little girl . . . God what if he- No! No! She screwed her eyes shut and brought her hands to her mouth, stifling a dry sob. No. He didn't. He couldn't have . . . Elizabeth shook her head violently, her eyes flying open as the truth hit her square in the face. Yes. Yes, he could. He had PLENTY of time to do whatever he wished to both Alison and Livvie. 12 hours. 12 HOURS. Her precious little girl was trapped at that THAT MONSTER'S mercy for over 12 hours. He had more than ENOUGH time to disarm the two beauties and do whatever he wanted with both of them.
And after all she did to keep Alison safe . . . all that work down the drain. And all because of that stupid bitch Livvie. What a time to develop a backbone!
Alison shouldn't be here . . . she didn't belong in the hospital, fighting for her life. It should have been Livvie! Livvie!!! Not Alison!!!!!!!!!!!
The stupid little bitch ALWAYS ruined everything!!!!! ALWAYS!!!
The stupid little vampire slut has taken away everything from her . . . EVERYTHING-her dreams of a happy ETERNAL life with Caleb, TWO promising relationships with both Kevin and Chris respectively, and now . . .
She swallowed again, chewing her thumbnail worriedly. NOW even Alison's affection.
Livvie DESERVED this!! ALL OF IT!! NOT ALISON!
Not Alison! Elizabeth sniffled, whimpering softly. Dropping her head mournfully, she buried her face into her hands. Not her little girl, she sniffled again silently to herself.
In her brainstorming sessions, she never even considered the possibility that Alison would remember the things Matthew had made her do- depositing a few items of Elizabeth's garments in the villa for the police to find, performing little pranks on her friends . . . such as hiding Ian's little stash of blood, "innocently" feeding Ian self-doubt on his relationship with Lucy, informing Ryan of Livvie's daily activities so that Caleb would find them together at the most inappropriate moments and positions, and WORSE of all sabotaging her own gym with Rafe.
Rafe never even suspected sabotage.
Alison unnecessarily "fixed" machines that didn't need any fixing, she cancelled classes in Rafe's name, and called the investors and banks, feeding them false negative information about Rafe's credit record so that they wouldn't invest or appropriate funds to the gym's expansion.
It didn't even cross Elizabeth's mind that Alison would be so determined and so angry enough once she found out the truth that she would seek Livvie out and use the little tramp's knowledge of the vampire world and lore to locate Andrei.
Elizabeth did love Alison. With all her heart. And now her daughter was behind those very doors she stood outside of, lying on a gurney being operated on by a team of surgeons. (Or so she thought)
This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't!
Rafe was supposed to put all the pieces together and FINALLY get rid of the vampire before Andrei ever had the chance of hurting Alison again. What kind of slayer was he any way?!
THE IDIOT!!!!!!!
She had everything planned out so PERFECTLY! Livvie was supposed to take the fall for everything Alison had done, and leave town with Ryan so Andrei could depose of her later at a more opportune time.
With Elizabeth's rival gone, and Livvie's "betrayals" exposed, Rafe would find Andrei and destroy him once for all, while leaving Caleb ALONE and very much in need of some comfort.
Unfortunately, Rafe and Caleb figured every thing out TOO LATE! By THEN, the WHOLE truth came tumbling free, including her own involvement. And by the time the men had realized the extent of the deceit they had been living in for the better part of the last three months, Livvie and Alison had also already pieced together the truth and set off to deal with Andrei themselves.
Rafe and Caleb had no clue what was going on behind their backs . . . and Elizabeth had to wonder how in HELL they had ever managed to defeat Andrei in the first place.
God, they were so THICK-HEADED, they couldn't look past Alison's sweet angelic smile to see the manipulation she was under.
What were they thinking? Alison told Rafe point-blank that she was in love with some one else and he just let her go? Instead of stopping her like he should have, he got himself stinking drunk. And he only sobered up long enough to spill the story to every one at the breakfast table at the villa just as the police arrived to arrest Caleb.
Elizabeth could only guess what happened next. Livvie somehow must have met Alison after her confrontation with Elizabeth and Caleb at the jail and then SOME HOW managed to take Alison to Romania.
God, every thing was so messed up!!!! Why did Alison have to confront Andrei? Why? Couldn't she just have let it go and go running back to Rafe? It would have everything so much SIMPLER, EASIER! Now instead, she was here in the hospital, suffering. And when Alison woke up, she'll probably blame HER for everything!!
And it wasn't even HER fault! It was Livvie's!!!
That damn slut RUINED every thing. She just couldn't have gone off with Ryan like planned. No. No. She had to choose the VERY moment she was embarking the train to have a change of heart and discover her stupid FREAKING conscience.
Then she had the NERVE to decide that she needed to tell Caleb the truth!
The IDIOT!!!!!!!! The stupid little twit.
NOW???!!! NOW, she decided to be HONEST?! When Elizabeth's plan was so close to fruitation!!!!!!! Dammit, she should have known that Livvie would f+ck it all up. She should have expected something like that and planned for it. Dammit! And now everything was ruined! Everything! Now everyone would blame her! Even Alison. For some strange reason, she instinctively knew that this time, Alison would choose Livvie over her . . . just like Caleb and Kevin had done three years ago. Dammit! Damn her! DAMN HER TO HELL!
She had been so sure in the beginning that her plan had been infallible. Andrei's instructions were so simple. All she had do was instill doubt in everyone about each other, fan the flames so to speak, and lead them into distrust. And she would watch over Alison and help her in any task that she was having trouble completing.
And mostly, all Elizabeth really had to do was enjoy herself. Because whispering little doubts in Kevin's ears about his son-in-law's commitment to his daughter certainly was fun. Oh, and wondering out loud about Ian's self-control to both Ian himself and Kevin was extraordinary fun, a very nice touch if she did say so herself.
And although, she felt guilty about her daughter, just a tad, Elizabeth still provoked Rafe's wrath just so Alison would wonder about his sanity.
Everything else . . . it was up to Ryan, Matthew, and Andrei.
If only she knew then what she knew now . . . may be she wouldn't have put her third act into motion.
Flashback
Elizabeth was pacing in Kevin's office when she heard the familiar voices in the foyer. They were here. She could hear Lucy joyously greeting them at the door.
Inhaling, she smoothed down her cleavage-baring dress. It was show time. Time to instigate problems.
Although, this was the very reason she came here tonight, she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. A lot was at stake tonight. It was the beginning of the final phase and she couldn't afford to mess it up. No. Not for her or for Alison.
No matter what happened, Alison had to remain safe.
That was her goal . . . but hurting Caleb and Livvie and getting revenge on Rafe was and will always be her priority.
So Elizabeth chose her most (or what she thought was her most) ALLURING bust-enhancing dress and headed out to the lighthouse under the pretense of wanting to make an appointment to speak with Kevin about a special session to evaluate her past relationships and to discern a pattern in her choice of men. Though of course that was the excuse she gave Lucy. Kevin … well they both knew she was there to stroke his fragile ego . . . and "soothe" his frayed nerves.
While there, she would accidentally "overhear" Lucy in full swing preparations of her dinner festivities- flurrying about like a busy, buzzing little bee, like she usually is. And when the slayer was at full throttle, Elizabeth would innocently ask, "Alison is coming?"
It worked too. Truth be told (if not "modest"), she was brilliant.
Just as she predicted . . . Elizabeth was "sobbing out her story on Kevin's shoulder" (we all know what they were really doing) when Lucy burst inside of her ex-husband's study, spouting off about some last-minute emergency. Though, it has to be said, that woman seemed to have a knack of setting off fire alarms in the most inconvenient moments.
Ok, so maybe this time it was a real emergency . . . but still it had been a useful interruption.
Any way, point was the slayer was in midst of a full ramble at 100 words per second, rattling on about Alison and Rafe and dinner, and how she ruined every thing when she finally spotted a slightly soaked Elizabeth and Kevin in a clinch on the sofa.
After explaining their position as relative innocence, Kevin set off to the kitchen to fix whatever Lucy had done. That is when Elizabeth continued on the waterworks about her recently frayed relationship with her daughter and her personal doubts of being a good role model to her child . . . simply put, she laid on the guilt so thickly that they had to invite her to dinner unless they wanted to be pointedly rude.
And now her first victim had arrived. Time to set the engines in motion. Inhaling deeply, she moved out into the living room with a bright smile plastered on her face.
Elizabeth had warned them. She did. She told Alison and Rafe again and again how wrong it would be to allow Caleb and his band to play their brand-new unreleased album in Alison's latest fashion show in December.
If it wasn't for this event, she may have been able to delay Andrei's schedule a bit longer . . .
But when she had gotten wind of the slayer and vampire's recent newfound partnership, she had to draw the line.
No. No. It was way too risky. Caleb and Rafe were already suspicious of Livvie's unusual behavior of late. If they some how put their heads together and found out Alison was the reason behind Caleb's bride's idiosyncrasies . . . they might discover the truth a little too soon.
Elizabeth knew Caleb wouldn't be the one to confront his back-stabbing slut of a wife. Man-handling her or even raising his voice to his darling wife wasn't even an option for him . . . not since the event of the last year. But he wasn't averse to the idea of "coaxing" information from her.
And Livvie already knew Alison was the one behind all the strange and funny "behaviors" going around town. If pushed, Livvie might blab. So any time the four of them ever came into contact together had to be severely curtailed, just in case, Alison's and Livvie's husbands some how got a "wrong" impression from one or both of their wives. Except for tonight of course.
Tonight, she will fan their doubts, their suspicions of one another. Destroy the tenuous hold of "trust" they all shared with another. And most of all, guarantee that no one, especially Caleb, will take Livvie's word about anything without taking it with a grain of salt.
"I am NOT crazy!" Rafe grumbled to Lucy as she hugged and kissed her cousin warmly. She hustled him, Alison, and their three children inside the lighthouse.
Lucy shared a knowing look with Alison. "Is he still on what happened last week?" She asked with an amused smile as they paused in the foyer to take off their coats, shake off the heavy dusting of snow they received just from walking from the car to the door, and remove all of the extra unnecessary layers of clothing they had piled on earlier at home for protection against the stinging cold.
Alison rolled her eyes. She began to unbutton Emma's white fur coat (not real of course) as her daughter wriggled around, trying to look past the adults for any sign of a prospective playmate.
If only she was a little bigger, then she could see into the living room, Emma thought with a pout as she squirmed in anticipation, moving to her tippy-toes despite her mother's ministrations.
"He's like a broken record." Alison teased, reaching up to kiss Rafe's cheek affectionately.
Lucy grinned. She crouched down to Emma's eye level and pulled the heavy wool scarf away from the child's face. "Look at you." She crooned delightedly, tweaking the child's button nose. "You're getting so grown-up."
Emma nodded. "I am a big girl now." Squirming in Lucy's tight embrace, she looked up expectantly at her father. "Daddy said I can have a pony."
"Is that, right, 'Daddy'?" Lucy smirked, laughing at the glare she saw Alison send Rafe's way.
Rafe cleared his throat, shifting his weight to foot to foot. "I said we'll see, honey." He amended quickly, smiling innocently at his wife.
Emma's lower lip dropped and her bouncing stopped, giving Lucy the opportunity to easily unknot and unwind the itchy scarf from her "niece's" throat. "No pony?" She whimpered softly, pouting.
Lucy tugged the gloves off the child's small fingers. "You know, Emma, we have a stable right here in Port Charles. It is near your Mommy and Daddy's favorite barn. How about I take you to ride one of the ponies there some time? Huh?" She tweaked the child's nose once more with one hand while handing Alison the gloves with the other. "How about that?"
"Lucy, you don't have to-"Rafe began.
Lucy waved her hand dismissively. "It would be my pleasure." She looked into Emma's bright blue eyes. "How about it, pumpkin-head? We'll bring along your cousins and make a party of it?"
Emma beamed, her eyes wide with excitement. "Yes!" She threw her arms excitedly about Lucy's neck, hugging the slayer tightly.
Alison stretched out her hand to her daughter. "What do you say, sweetie?" She prompted, bringing her daughter back to her side to finish unbuttoning her child's coat.
"Thank you." Emma replied obediently as Alison slipped the coat off the child's tiny shoulders.
Lucy stood, smoothing her skirt. "You're very welcome." She laughed. She then glanced toward the living room. "Christina and Brianna are playing inside." With her head, she gestured toward the next room, giving the little girl a surreptious wink. "Why don't you go play with them?"
Finally free of her mother's grasp, Emma eluded both of her parent's hands and managed to squeeze by them and scamper off into the living room, her blond curls bouncing, to where Christina and Briana played with dolls. After a total month of seclusion at home after school, she was eager to spend some time with her older cousins.
Alison blew out a breath, hanging up her child's coat. "Impatient just like her father." She exclaimed, laughing as she leaned over to unbuckle Bryce out of his car seat.
"And beautiful and stubborn like her mother." Rafe added, chiming in as he un-strapped a second car seat from the stroller to carry a sleeping Eddie inside.
Lucy laughed. She threw her arms about Rafe and Alison's shoulders, squeezing them tightly. "Thank God you are here! I don't think I could have survived the night without you!"
Alison smiled quizzically. "Why is that?" She asked curiously as she lifted Bryce out of his car seat.
Lucy didn't need to qualify that with an answer when a shrilly high-pitched voice resounded in the room. "Alison!"
Alison's face instinctively fell.
Rafe stifled a groan as Lucy whimpered, covering her ears with her hands, a pitiful attempt to block out the grating voice.
Alison immediately recovered with a bright smile. "Mom." She placed her hands haltingly on her mother's back when Elizabeth enveloped her in a bone-crushing embrace, sweeping past Emma and the other children without even sparing them a glance. She wrinkled her nose, touching the back of her mother's hair lightly. "Mom, you're wet."
Elizabeth laughed. "It's nothing. We just had a little accident." She gave Alison a little extra squeeze for emphasis.
Alison raised her eyebrows at Rafe over her mother's shoulder. "You did?"
Rafe shrugged as if telling her, "What can you do?"
"Elizabeth just dropped by to see Kevin a few minutes ago." Lucy replied, cowering behind her cousin.
"I wanted to make an appointment." Elizabeth interjected, as if she needed to explain her actions.
"And when she found out you were coming, she got so excited at the thought of seeing you that Kevin invited her to stay." Lucy explained, wringing her hands together.
Elizabeth stepped back beaming as she caught her daughter's face in her hands. "I am SO HAPPY to see you!" She gushed, pressing a wet kiss to Alison's cheek. "I was SO WORRIED that we wouldn't be able to talk before you left for Tahiti!" She exclaimed, giving her daughter another affectionate squeeze.
Alison's eyes lost a bit of their brilliance at her mother's words. She looked down at Bryce's face, whose cheeks were becoming red from all the unnecessary pressure of squeezing. "Yeah. About that." She bit her lip fretfully. "Well, with every thing that has happened in the last month, Rafe and I have decided to postpone our trip." She explained, pulling herself out of Elizabeth's grip and moving to stand beside her husband, their son balanced on one hip.
Rafe shifted their youngest son to his shoulder, touching his wife's shoulder. An obvious gesture meant to soothe.
Elizabeth frowned on cue. "What is every thing?" She furrowed her brow inquisitively. "Did something happen?"
Rafe's hand tightened as Alison lifted a hand to cover his. Besides you threatening to destroy our marriage, he asked her silently. "Nothing for you to worry about." He replied curtly. He was not about to give any more information than she needed to know because God knows that knowledge in her hands was a dangerous weapon.
Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest, feigning insult. "Well, I AM worried." She snapped indignantly. "Alison is the most important person in my life." She countered, scowling darkly.
Rafe chuckled. "You mean besides yourself?"
Alison glanced up quickly into her husband's angry face. "Rafe, please." She gasped, surprised by the venom she glimpsed in his eyes. She knew that the tentative relationship between her husband and mother had deteriorated recently. But what she didn't know it was that it had gotten this bad. What could have happened? What weren't they saying? She knew something was wrong. She KNEW.
Every since that night she found them in Rafe's office that morning three weeks ago. The tension level in the room was so thick you cut it with a knife. Then, she just had attributed to the stress they had been under. Rafe was so focused on expanding the gym and Elizabeth was still angry with Caleb for refusing to help her financially. But this . . . this certainly couldn't' be accounted for by the above-mentioned reasons. There was something else. If only she could put her finger on it.
Lucy clapped her hands together, drawing all eyes to her, eager to dissolve the obvious tension in the room. She gestured toward the living room. "Ok. Why don't we move this into the living room? I think we could all use a drink or two." She bubbled with a forced smile. "Or in Elizabeth's case, five." She mumbled.
"What was that, Lucy?" Elizabeth demanded.
Lucy blinked, smiling innocently. "Nothing. I-I was just talking to myself."
Elizabeth pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "Some times I wonder why I even TRY." She moaned her lower lip out and trembling. "No matter what I do, it is never enough for
him. I just want us to be a family." She whimpered. "That's all I have ever wanted." She lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes brimming with fresh tears.
Alison handed Bryce off to Lucy and moved forward to embrace her mother. "Oh, Mom. Rafe didn't mean it. He's just a little stressed out right now." She looked back at her husband expectantly. "Aren't you, Rafe?"
Rafe rolled his eyes, barely able to disguise his contempt. "Alison's right. I am sorry, Elizabeth." He bit out, choking on his words. "Things have been a little crazy around here and I just took my frustration out on you. I am sorry." He apologized, his expression as insincere as his words. "I just want us to be a family too." He lied.
Elizabeth sniffed, swiping at the tears underneath her eyes. "Apology accepted." She grudgingly replied as Alison pulled away to smile brightly at her.
Lucy shifted Bryce, glancing worriedly at her watch. With her foot, she pushed the two-car seat stroller into a corner. Scurrying about, she urged Elizabeth and Alison and Rafe further into the house. "Now that we got that taken care of. Why don't we move into the living room?" She suggested, desperately nudging Rafe toward the stairs. She knew the tension level in the room was about to rise to an all-time high any second now and she would prefer to avoid it if possible. But just as the words left her mouth, just as she feared, the doorbell rang. She hesitated briefly, her hand falling from Rafe's back.
Elizabeth smiled knowingly. Right on time. Her plan was progressing just as Andrei described. "Aren't you going to answer that, Lucy?" She asked innocently in a sugary-sweet tone, fluttering her eyelashes.
Rafe narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting from Elizabeth to Lucy. He didn't like the way Elizabeth was grinning. She looked just like the cat that swallowed the canary. "Are you expecting any one else, cousin?"
Lucy returned Bryce to Alison. "Uh, I-I . . ." Her voice trailed off. With both hands, she pushed her hair behind her ears. "Well, you see . . . the girls . . . Serena, Christina, and Brianna . . . they wanted to play with the babies . . . and we-we . . ." She gestured between the three of them. "We haven't sat down and shared a meal like a real family in so long that . . . well . . .
Kevin and I both decided to share the evening with all the people we love. And it just so happens that . . ." Her voice trailed off weakly.
Lucy didn't need to finish her sentence, Rafe and Alison immediately knew what was coming next.
"Caleb is coming." Rafe finished for her.
Lucy nodded meekly. "Livvie is Kevin's daughter." She offered weakly as if she needed an excuse to explain away the Morleys' presence at a family activity.
Alison smiled brightly. "That's fine, Lucy. In fact, I think it is great." She glanced at her husband. "Isn't that right, Rafe?"
"The more the merrier." Rafe agreed to Lucy's surprise. However, he was agreeing for entire different reason than his tone implied. He wasn't looking to build "bridges" with Dracula and his bride. His reason for wanting Caleb's company tonight had nothing to do with his new perverse legal relationship to Lucy or even a willingness to throw out all the hatred and resentment from the past, but to forge a new type of alliance between their two respective families. One that preferably kept the vampire out of their lives as much as possible, but at the same time laying inroads in case an occurrence requires them to forge a new alliance.
Alison and Livvie will just have to accept the way things have to be- his children, slayers by birthright, CANNOT, repeat CANNOT be friends with a vampire's spawn. They can be civil, yes. But not FRIENDS. And he was sure that Caleb felt the same way about Rafe and his children.
Unfortunately, Caleb, being ever so careful with his bride's feelings since the R-A-P-E, hasn't lifted a finger to stop any of it. Alison, not in so many words, agreed with Rafe's assessment of the Morleys' present state of marriage and has said the same and more. She accidentally had let it slip that Livvie was tired of being handled with kid gloves and was actually trying to provoke her husband into arguing with her.
Nothing seemed to be working. Until recently that is. According to Lucy, based on information gathered by Kevin who was there briefly, Ryan had been found wandering around Caleb's apartment a few days ago . . . while Livvie was in the shower. If Lucy's information was accurate, Caleb lost it. Some thing about Livvie disregarding her own safety . . . being careless . . . whatever. Certainly, Caleb wasn't jealous or even a bit threatened by this "new" guy who SUPPOSEDLY knew Livvie "so well," but Rafe knew the vampire believed the annoying intruder was a very real threat to this family's safety. And Rafe hated to agree, but he did. This Ryan character was not only a very real threat to Caleb's family but some how to his as well. If only he could put his finger on HOW.
But right now, all Rafe cared about was that Livvie had finally gotten the reaction she wanted from her husband. After the incident, she continued to push Caleb's patience to the limit until he snapped . . . which meant now Caleb was perhaps a bit more willing to draw the line on what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior from his wife.
But first thing first, he needed to secure Caleb's cooperation in helping him dispose of that guy who was in his house two weeks ago. The same man who Rafe could have sworn he saw dance with Livvie the night of Lucy's Halloween Ball.
He NEEDED to know if this guy was tied in with Andrei. And if he was, how? He hadn't had the chance to talk to Caleb since the night the vampire came by under Rafe's orders to pick up his wife and child because of the suspicious activity he had seen lurking outside of Livvie's car . . . basically the night when every one all decided that he had lost his mind and was just imagining things.
He just needed a few minutes alone with the vampire to convince him that their wives were in danger . . . and that they had been that night.
Rafe did SEE someone that night. He knew it. He felt it in his gut. It wasn't just his imagination. And now he has got PROOF!!!!! What he just couldn't figure out was how the man got into his house and then out without attracting any attention.
Caleb had been standing right outside the house when Rafe found him. The vampire insisted that he didn't see anyone leaving or entering. And the girls- Alison and Livvie swear they didn't see or speak to anyone but each other the whole time. And why would they lie? Alison has NEVER ever lied to him before, so why now? Ok, he swore he thought he heard Livvie arguing with some one but both women insist that he had been hearing things. So maybe he had imagined that- but he did NOT imagine seeing that man. And he would get to the bottom of this mystery . . . one way or another.
Lucy watched her cousin warily. She furrowed her brow. "Right." She shrugged, smiling uneasily, drawing Rafe out of his reverie.
The door bell rang then, again, louder, drowning out Lucy's last word. Sighing heavily, she squared her shoulders, bracing herself. She was about to walk to the door when Kevin strode past her, beating her to the door.
He glanced at her questioningly over his shoulder, as if asking what was with the hold-up. "I got it." He reached for the knob and threw open the door. A wide smile broke out across his face. "Livvie, I am SO glad you could come." He exclaimed, drawing his daughter into a hug.
Livvie looked back at her husband standing behind her, their eldest daughter in his arms. "We wouldn't have missed it for the world." She smiled as she squeezed her father's hand, her gaze shifting back to his face.
Kevin glanced over Livvie's shoulder, to where Caleb stood just behind her. Although his smile wavered, he nodded an acknowledgement to his son-in-law. "Caleb." He greeted coolly.
"Dad." Caleb responded with equal warmth, a slight smile curving his lips.
Glaring slightly at his son-in-law, Kevin's attention returned to his daughter. He smiled more easily at her. "Come in, come in. You must be freezing." He ushered them inside, pleased to see that they had brought the twins with them too.
Livvie was surprised to see Rafe and Alison, and especially Elizabeth, crowded in the foyer. "Are you busy?" She glanced back at Caleb again, immediately sensing his displeasure. She felt his hand tighten over her shoulder. "We could always come back later." She instinctively reached up, closing her hand over his, squeezing it as she started to turn her head, to look up, as if to ask if he wanted to leave. But when their eyes met, Caleb shook his head. He didn't like this, but he wouldn't deny his wife some thing so small that made her so happy . . . and in this case, unfortunately, it meant enduring a "family" meal with his DARLING father-in-law and the slayers.
Kevin saw Caleb lay his hand on Livvie's shoulder and he watched how she lifted her hand to cover her husband's, but he ignored the gesture, preferring to forget about the unyielding power the vampire held over his daughter even with just one touch. He waved his hand as if brushing her concerns away. "Nonsense." He closed the door shut. "Lucy and I just wanted to have a dinner party with the people we love. She invited Rafe and I invited you." His eyes darted back to his vampire son-in-law. "I haven't heard from you in a few days." His lips tightened in a line as he looked back at Caleb, almost accusingly. "I was worried."
Caleb caught Lauren's small hands in one hand as she impatiently tugged at the hat covering her head. Although the door was closed, he could still feel the draft seeping inside through the cracks. When they got further inside into the house, he'll allow her to free herself from her itchy restraints but until then the hat stayed on. "We have been busy." He replied shortly. He didn't feel the need to explain any further. His family's safety was his priority, not protecting his father-in-law's frail ego.
"I'll say." Kevin remarked. "You have been promoting your new CD, right?"
Caleb raised his eyebrows. He didn't think his father-in-law cared much for his music, much less him . . . so why would he be keeping apprise of the latest developments of his career? Although curious, he remained silent as the good psychiatrist continued, waiting for him to divulge the point of this conversation.
"Funny thing is that Livvie hasn't attended ANY of those events with you." Kevin continued, his gaze once again finding his daughter's. "How do you explain that?"
Livvie hesitated. She felt Caleb behind her, leaning into her.
Caleb lowered his head, his cheek brushing against hers lightly. His soft lips brushed at her ear, as if silently urging her to sidestep her father's inopportune questioning.
Livvie swallowed. "It's complicated, Dad." She hedged, her hands tightening over the stroller.
Elizabeth humphed. She tossed her head, lifting her chin. "It seems to me that both our daughters are hiding things from us because of their respective husband's commands."
Rafe snorted. Did she ever think before she opened that big stupid mouth of hers? "Now where would you get an idea like that?" He asked wryly, frowning in annoyance.
Elizabeth gestured toward the dark-haired couple as Caleb lifted his head from Livvie, his gaze shifting to his ex. "He's manipulating her." Ignoring Caleb's heated glare, she turned to poke a painted nail into Rafe's chest. "And you-"Angry tears leapt to her eyes. "YOU take some kind of PERVESRSE joy in alienating me from my daughter."
Alison sighed. "Mom, please."
"What?" Elizabeth cried defensively. "I am only worried about you. And he-" She glared pointedly at her son-in-law as she spoke. "He keeps trying to poison your mind against me."
"For Christ's sake." Rafe groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead as he shifted Bryce to his other hip. "Not this again."
Suddenly, a cold wind blasted through the small room, prompting a welcome reprieve from the hostility emanating from the room.
Ian emerged from the snow, his brown overcoat giving him the appearance of a grizzly bear streaked with a heavy coating of sugar.
Ian paused in the doorway, staring around at everyone. "Why are we standing in the bloody doorway?" He asked lightheartedly with an amused smile. He moved inside, directly behind Caleb and Livvie who haven't really moved a step or two since their own entrance. "What?" He rubbed his hands together for emphasis. "No takers? Well, suit yourself." He shrugged. "No one enjoys a crackling fire and hot chocolate better than me." He chuckled, sidestepping the strollers and slipping past the Collins'/Morleys' and Coes'/Kovichs' into the living room.
Lauren whimpered again, tugging furiously at her hat. The sound gave Lucy an opportunity for the final push. The foyer was getting way too crowded and steamy for her taste. "Ok, everyone into the living room." She urged. "Ian's right. What are we standing around here for?"
Thankfully, she managed to get the Barrington and Kovich clan into the living room without any further delay. Caleb and Livvie stayed behind to get out of their own wet coats and settle in their children.
Kevin reached for his eldest granddaughter. "Let me have her." He lifted Lauren out of Caleb's arms and into his own so that his son-in-law could take off his coat and help Livvie with the twins.
Livvie loosened the scarf around her throat, glancing at her husband as she did so. "I am sorry, Dad." She apologized, allowing Caleb to unbutton and gently remove her coat. "I should have called you more often."
Kevin sighed heavily as Caleb hung up his and Livvie's coats. "No. It's ok. You don't have to apologize, honey."
Livvie unattached Michael's car seat from the stroller. Leaning over, she tucked the blanket more securely around her son. "No, Dad. It's not. You're right. You're my father- and we are family. I should have made more of an effort to talk to you." Caleb took the car seat from her as she moved on to their youngest daughter who by then had begun to fuss, straining against the cocoon of blankets wrapped securely around her tiny squirming body.
Livvie lifted her daughter up, softly crooning to her youngest child, cradling the tiny babe close to her chest. She looked up briefly at her father. "I wish I could explain- but Caleb and I haven't really had the time lately to drop by."
Kevin sighed again, shaking his head. "No, no. I was wrong. I shouldn't have jumped at you like that. I know you have been busy- with Caleb working and being home alone with three babies and all." He smiled uneasily. "I guess it is just the tension in the room." He explained as he tugged the itchy fabric off of his granddaughter's head, finally releasing Lauren from her hat.
Lauren shook her head gleefully, rubbing her small hand over her hair and face. "No hat!" She squealed happily, causing every one in the foyer to smile.
Lucy came right back up to the foyer, passing Caleb by as he strode into the living room to deposit Michael's car seat into a play pen by the sofa. "Well, she's talking." She smiled, reaching up to unbutton Lauren's coat.
Livvie smiled as she rocked her youngest daughter. "Some times she won't stop." She replied.
Back in the living room, Rafe held on to a wriggling Bryce as he attempted to slide unto the floor and crawl away. "Maybe she just likes the sound of her own voice." He smirked, glancing at his enemy. "Sound familiar, Caleb?"
Caleb raised his brows, setting Michael's carseat down in a play pen. "Yeah. Unfortunately, it seems like she has picked up on a trait common in self-righteous go-doers." He returned with a smirk.
Alison waved a hand, nudging her husband sharply in the ribs. "Oh, you two." She scolded. "Stop, please. Babies talk, they babble." She made a face at Rafe and then at Caleb, as if ordering them both to behave. "All right? Don't use innocent children as vehicles to insult each other."
Tara whimpered again, her arms flailing.
Livvie shifted her daughter to her shoulder and attempted a smile. "Ssh. It's ok, Bella. Ssh. It's ok."
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Bella?" She repeated slowly. She drew up a second sweater over Lauren's head.
"Yeah. Lauren couldn't pronounce Tara Isabella so she just started calling Tara Bella . . . and I just sorta fell into the habit of calling Tara Bella as well." Livvie explained. "Caleb doesn't like it." She continued, glancing pointedly at her husband as he returned to her side. "He thinks nicknames are too much of a human trait."
"Oh, really? And what does he think they are?" Lucy laughed. "Little bats?" She deadpanned. She switched gears automatically once she saw Kevin's expression darken. Apparently her innocent joke proved to be a looming prophecy that her soon to be ex-husband didn't care to be reminded of. "Well, I so happen to like it. Bella." She quickly moved on, trying the name out on her tongue. "It's cute."
Caleb touched the top of Tara's head softly with one hand as he slipped his other arm securely around Livvie's waist. "She already has a name. She doesn't need another one."
Lucy's grin widened. "Well, LIV-VIE likes the nickname. Don't you?"
"Olivia can like whatever she wants." Caleb remarked, cutting Livvie off before she could open her mouth to speak. "Doesn't mean I am going to follow in her example." He kissed
Livvie's temple. "Nice try, sweetheart." He told his wife.
Livvie shook her head, lifting her shoulders. "Fine. I admit defeat."
"See?" Lucy said to Alison as she helped Kevin pull off "their" granddaughter's extra layers of clothing. "Rafe is not the only neurotic male here . . . all of them are." She joked. She hung up Lauren's coat.
Tara let out another mournful wail, squirming. Michael seemingly agreed with his twin sister and whimpered mournfully. Caleb left Livvie's side to soothe their son.
Livvie shifted her daughter again, smiling sadly at her father as she spoke. "They got their second set of shots today so they're a little cranky." She explained. She looked back down at her child, gazing into her daughter's face. She had fed the two youngest before they left the loft and she had hoped that the twins wouldn't make a peep until they were hungry again which by then she hoped they would be home again. Unfortunately it seemed like the shots had taken more out of them than she had thought. Good thing that she brought a few extra bottles and diapers. You never could be too prepared with three infants.
"Maybe we should put them down for a nap upstairs where it is quieter." She suggested to her husband as Caleb walked back up, cradling a fussing Michael.
"Go ahead." Kevin gestured to the stairs with his head, shifting Lauren to his hip. "This is still your home, you will always have a room here."
"Thanks, Daddy." Livvie kissed Kevin's cheek. She touched Lauren's hair lightly with her fingertips. "Be good for Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy will be right back." She instructed to her daughter before heading upstairs with Caleb.
Lauren twisted around in Kevin's arms to watch her parents disappear from her sight. "No." She whimpered.
"Ssh. It's ok, sweetie. Mommy will be right back." Kevin soothed his whimpering granddaughter, carrying the child downstairs into the living room.
Lucy bustled past him, scurrying into the kitchen. "That's right." She chimed in as she brought out a tray of cookies and milk for the children.
Emma's eyes lit up. "Cookies!"
Christina, Brianna, and Emma each took a handful of cookies and a glass of milk.
"No, no. Here-" Alison quickly grabbed hold of Emma's already crumby hands. She took a small plastic plate and a few napkins from the tray and pried her child's hand open so the cookies would fall onto the utensils Lucy had provided.
Lucy waved a hand. "It's ok, Alison. I don't care if she makes a mess." She looked at her own girls who were already covered in crumbs and chocolate smears across their mouths, cheeks, and shirts. She raised an eyebrow, smiling broadly. "I am actually QUITE use to it." She grabbed a few napkins and began to wipe up her own children's chocolate- covered faces.
Alison smiled as she lifted Eddie back onto to her lap despite his furious little clamors to get down. "I don't know how you do it- You have what . . . some times seven children living here at once- and I have only three and I feel like there isn't enough time I can spend with them."
Rafe drew his mouth into a thin line as he gripped Bryce's hands tightly as he allowed his son to toddle a few steps away and back to him again with his help. "You're a wonderful mother, Alison. With the family, the gym, and the house- You do all you can."
Ian wrapped a strong arm around Lucy's shoulders as she rose from the floor to sit beside him. "I actually think we are all pretty lucky." He kissed her head.
Lucy laughed. "Well, I do believe you are giving me a little too much credit- let's see." She gestured upstairs. "Livvie is not the innocent, naive seventeen year girl I first met. She has matured into a strong woman with her own family." She smiled down at the girls on the floor, forgetting how odd it was that she considered Livvie to be her daughter. "And Christina is a GREAT help to me with her younger siblings." She nodded. "Yes, Zack and Briana are quick a bit of handfuls with all their enthusiasm and energy for life, but I get by. And tonight, Danny and Britney are with-" She made a face. "Eve."
Alison cocked her head. "And Serena?" She questioned, allowing Eddie to lean forward to play with the socks on his own feet. She couldn't help but notice Lucy had left her out.
Bryce's fingers tightened over Rafe's as he see-sawed on his feet. Rafe laughed and lifted his son back onto his lap. Alison reached over and kissed Bryce's forehead affectionately.
Lucy sighed, closing her eyes. "Serena-" She sighed again, re-opening her eyes. "Serena is giving us a little trouble."
"How so?" Rafe wondered.
"And why?" Alison added, sharing a worried smile with her husband. They loved Lucy and they would hate to see her so upset.
Kevin shrugged in his armchair, Lauren sitting on his lap. He ran a hand over Lauren's soft hair and glared out meaningfully at Ian. "I wonder why." He reached for a cookie when
Lauren twisted in his arms again to look back at the staircase. Lauren reluctantly settled down and leaned back against him to accept the cookie.
Lucy shot her "husband" a warning look. "Kevin."
Elizabeth who had been watching the drama unfold with eager eyes, sat forward beside her daughter. "She doesn't like Ian?"
"She-she's just going through a rebellious stage." Lucy defended, her hand instinctively reaching out for Ian's.
Ian kissed her head again and rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "That is the reason why we are still living here together- to help Serena adjust. She needs her Mum and Dad."
"That doesn't explain why you are living here." Elizabeth pointed out gleefully.
Alison turned her head to look at her mother. "Mom!"
"What? It is a reasonable question." Elizabeth defended.
Kevin closed his eyes, blowing out a breath before re-opening his eyes. "He makes Lucy happy." He explained.
"And you don't?"
Kevin bristled. He reopened his mouth to respond but then just ultimately decided to let that dig pass by so he closed his mouth.
Rafe groaned as Alison's head fell against his shoulder. "Elizabeth."
Elizabeth sat back, crossing her arms across her chest. "What?"
Thankfully, relief came in the form of Caleb and Livvie as they returned to the living room, a baby monitor clasped tightly in Livvie's hand.
Livvie led Caleb by the hand over to the sofa across from Alison and Rafe and beside her father's armchair. "Did we miss something?" She asked tentatively, wondering why everyone fell so silent when she and Caleb walked into the room.
Lauren immediately sat forward in Kevin's arms and reached out for her mother. Livvie leaned forward to set the baby monitor aside on the coffee table so she could comfort her daughter. She lifted Lauren up into her lap and kissed her child's head affectionately. When Lauren continued to fidget and fuss, Livvie lowered her daughter to the floor at her and Caleb's feet and gave her a toy from the baby bag to play with. The toddler happily settled down with her doll.
"Just Elizabeth putting both feet first into her mouth." Rafe explained.
Caleb smirked. He lifted up one arm to the back of the sofa to curl around Livvie possessively. "It seems like your mother has retained that unique way of annoying people." He remarked to Alison.
"Hey." Elizabeth bristled indignantly. "You didn't find me so annoying when you-"
Alison immediately sat forward, covering her mother's mouth with her hand. "Ok. That's enough. We REALLY don't need to go there." She made a face, grimacing in disgust for emphasis. She has never been too keen on listening to her mother's sexual escapades. Unfortunately, her mother always seemed overeager to share them with her.
Livvie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She laid her head back against Caleb's shoulder, looking down at their daughter who played on the floor. Caleb's arm tightened around his wife, pulling her close to comfort.
All the children seemingly seemed to pick up on the tension in the room because all of them fell silent and still in their respective parent's vicinity. The childish babble and incoherent phrasings died away.
Uncomfortable silence rang "loudly" in the air.
Kevin leaned back into his armchair, sharing an uneasy look with Lucy. This wasn't exactly how they expected or hoped the evening would turn out.
Yes, they knew it wouldn't be easy for their respective families to get along with all the history and bad blood among them all . . . but they just hoped that with every thing that has happened recently, they all could start over fresh and new . . . a new beginning of sorts.
Of course, they weren't kidding themselves to believe that every one could just let go of the past and be one big happy family . . . but they did want to move in the right direction.
And they just thought that this dinner could be the first step. Unfortunately all their hard work was going down the drain thanks to Elizabeth. He really did have to say that that woman was beginning to get on his nerves. She knew he wanted to keep their "relationship" a secret.
But please, some times she was as discreet as a fire-breathing dragon. And he certainly did not want Livvie to know he was dating her husband's ex-mistress.
Ok, so maybe dating wasn't exactly the appropriate word . . . but any way you define it, Livvie would not be pleased. And he didn't want to upset her. He knew how she felt about Elizabeth and some how he had the bad feeling that Caleb suspected what was really going on. But thankfully so far, it seems like he hasn't breathed a word about his suspicions to Livvie.
It was not like he really had anything to be ashamed of- but still he didn't want ANY ONE to know. Elizabeth was just there to "help" him move on from Lucy. Of course, he didn't want Lucy to know what he was doing any more than he wanted Livvie to. He still hoped that one day Lucy would come to her senses and realize that they were meant to be. That what she shared with Ian will no day ever measure up to what she feels for him.
Elizabeth knew this of course. And Kevin couldn't help but believe it gave the contrived woman a secret little thrill to know that she was sleeping with her former rival's father. Like she was "sticking it" (for lack of a better phrase) to Livvie for taking Caleb away from her.
Lucy had her suspicions too. But Kevin thought that Lucy believed she was imagining some ting that wasn't there. That she was being paranoid and Kevin hoped she would stick to that line of reasoning. Even though he had to admit that Elizabeth's continual midnight visits were a bit of a clue. He told her not to come by so much- but the woman was insatiable. And after seeing Ian fawn all over HIS wife all day, some times Kevin needed the distraction. And he made no apologies for it.
If Lucy wanted to run around with someone who didn't deserve her, he could do the same. Lucy had no room to judge. After all, it was just sex. She was the one who had been emotionally committing herself to another man while he was in the hospital for Christ's' sake. She was the one who should be ashamed of herself. This was her decision. She broke their family apart. It wasn't him. It was her. She chose this life and if she wanted to complain, the blame was fully on her shoulders. Though, of course, he didn't have the guts to say that to her face . . .
Which was one of the many reasons he hoped Elizabeth would tone down her antics a little. She was not suppose to be there in the first place . . . she had stopped by for a "quickie" but then Lucy of course had to talk before thinking and now they got themselves an unwelcome guest who seemed intent on stirring up trouble among all the guests.
But luckily, Kevin did have to admit that Caleb and Rafe seemed to be oddly ok with this situation.
They were actually behaving better than SOME people. Which had to mean that they were both up to some thing. Otherwise, they would be at each other's . . . excuse the pun . . . throats. Might not be the same thing, but boy were they up to some thing. And some thing BIG.
For one thing, Kevin couldn't actually believe that Caleb agreed to come to dinner that night. He just assumed Caleb would send Livvie by herself, if at all, while he stayed home with the children . . . but there they all were. He knew that spending time with him and Lucy and Rafe wasn't exactly the vampire's favorite pastime. And it probably wasn't thrilling to Rafe either to spend the evening with his arch-enemy. But the slayer seemed awfully glad to see Caleb- freaky. So Kevin definitely knew some thing was up. Sure, they did exchange a few barbs earlier, but that was relatively innocent for them. So what were they up to?
Lucy looked at Ian. She didn't like this. Not at all. Elizabeth was making every thing so much worse than they had to be. She wanted every thing to be perfect. Not that she was EXACTLY thrilled to have Caleb and Livvie there- they were vampires after all. But still she couldn't just quell that stupid suffocating need to protect and mother the young runaway she took off the streets and offered a home to so many years ago.
Damn Caleb and his stupid wish. Despite her sincerest of tries, she still couldn't stop thinking Livvie as her daughter . . .
. . . and she knew this bothered Ian greatly. But he bore it with little complaints. He loved her and he was trying his best to understand that and she loved him even more for that.
She glanced then at Kevin. He seemed unusually tense, she noted with a grimace. But she couldn't exactly tell if was because of "their" darling son-in-law's presence or the fact that Elizabeth was broadcasting a come-hither look to every man in the room.
Why Elizabeth couldn't keep her horny hands to herself was beyond Lucy. The woman was obviously disturbed and needed help. But not help from Kevin. Help from a female, someone she could not bed. She knew Elizabeth was Alison's mother but still some time she couldn't help but wish Rafe could just a drive a stake into the woman's black heart and put THEM ALL out of their misery.
After all, she still couldn't forgive the selfish woman for what she did to Ian. AND how dare she comment on their current living situation. What was she trying to do? Rile Kevin up, make him feel bad? That was horrible. The poor man was already suffering- yes, she still couldn't help but feel guilty for how her marriage had ended.
Technically, she could blame this on Caleb's wish on the ring as well, however, she had to admit that she could have been a little more accommodating and patient with transitioning Kevin to the REAL reality. Maybe then Serena would also have been a bit better now too.
Unfortunately, nothing could solve Ian's pain until he could find that cure- which he was working on alone. And it was all that woman's fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lucy exhaled noisily. She glared darkly at the woman who shrank behind Alison.
Ian rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, leaning in close to press a kiss to her cheek again. "It's all right, love. Forget about her." God bless her, but he could "read" everything she was thinking. She just wasn't skilled at masking her emotions. And now, she seemed a little too eager to pounce on Elizabeth. Which Ian knew could only lead to more trouble. SO instead he held her tight against him and stroked her hair gently, trying to quell the angry energy bouncing off his lover in waves. He felt calm despite the odd situation they found themselves in. He was close to finding a cure and this knowledge had a soothing effect on him. Soon he'll be human again and he will be able to have a happy and normal life with Lucy just as they envisioned it. And nothing could ever take that away from him . . . not even Elizabeth or Kevin or EVEN SERENA tonight.
Caleb absentmindedly stroked Livvie's hair, his arm draped carelessly about his wife's shoulders.
He really didn't mind the silence. He had enough on his mind. He was still amazed he agreed to come to this ridiculous dinner. It wasn't like he didn't already know how this evening was going to end. Disaster being the proper word for it.
Not that he didn't enjoy watching these train wrecks of fragile human relationships tug and fray at the seams, because he did. Unfortunately this wasn't the time to sit back and enjoy their antics. He was leaving for Romania tomorrow and he still had a few scores to settle before he left . . . particularly with Kevin and Lucy. It was fortuitous that the slayer was present as well. He was going to stop by and pay Rafe a visit before he left any way. And now he was saved a trip.
But despite his sincerest efforts to withstand a "family" dinner with his father-in-law, he wasn't quite sure he was quite up to the task. He was tempted to just pack up Olivia and the children and just go home. A good night's sleep was the only cure for the aching visions that haunted his every waking moment.
He didn't have the energy to deal with "everyone" right now. Kevin and Lucy sure. But the two with Ian, Rafe, Alison, and Elizabeth. They weren't exactly his favorite people. And he didn't appreciate being tricked into sharing a night with his persecutors. Although, he did have his suspicions when he allowed Olivia to accept her father's invitation to dinner. He just hoped for once, he'll be wrong. He wasn't.
But then again, he might not have to deal with them for much longer. After tomorrow, hopefully every thing will be clear. He could stop "this" pretense. Forget about all his "responsibilities" and finally just be. Tomorrow. But until then, he had to continue playing his role- the role that had trapped him in this mess in the first place. But no more. No more.
Caleb drew in a deep breath, still unable to quell his doubts and settle his stomach.
Luckily the quiet provided him a welcome reprieve from every thing swirling in his mind.
Her touch on his knee brought him back to reality. He looked down into Livvie's concerned face. She gazed at him, her brown eyes wide and questioning. He knew she sensed his unease. With every thing that has been going on lately, he didn't even bother to mask his emotions from her. He was usually so careful to conceal his thoughts and concerns from her. But at the present time, he was sure she would just as easily dismiss any of her worries, just assuming he was worried in general about their safety. However, those were really not the only things he was worried about. And yet, every thing was going according to plan. There hasn't been one misstep . . . not one flaw . . . But still he felt the knot growing tighter in his stomach. He looked down again at his wife and child. Livvie turned her face up to his, smiling weakly. He leaned into her, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.
Livvie laid back against Caleb's arm, snuggling into his touch. She leaned in to him, sliding her hand sensuously up his chest. If she knew Elizabeth, Alison, and Rafe were going to be there tonight, she wouldn't have begged Caleb to come. Although, now that she thought about it . . . he had caved in a little too easily. Her husband was acting uncharacteristically agreeable to her father, Lucy, and Rafe tonight. She tilted her head up to look at him. She wished she knew what he was thinking.
He was always so in control of his thoughts and emotions, and ever so careful to conceal them from her. But lately, she has sensed a change. Accidentally, she has been catching broken bits of his thoughts and feelings. And mostly none of them were of any concern. She had no reason to question or to doubt him . . . but the very fact that she was able to catch these thoughts bothered her. From the very beginning, Caleb had always made it clear to her that he doesn't share everything with her. He has own motives and reasons for the things he does and it wasn't her place to question him on them. That has always been clear. But now . . . he didn't seem to care. Why?
She bit her lip. Maybe he was still angry with her over Ryan? No. That couldn't be it. If he was still angry with her, he would be more careful with protecting his thoughts from her. She just didn't understand. Why couldn't he just let her in? He gets so angry when she keeps things from him, but when the shoe is on the other foot . . . it doesn't matter? She just wanted them to be closer.
She knew he was under a lot of pressure right now with Andrei's return to vampirism and the release date of his band's new cd only days away.
Understandably, he came home late every night, exhausted, but some thing was wrong, she could feel it. She could hear it in his voice and FEEL it in his touch and kiss.
She has kept quiet on the changes she has discerned in her husband's behavior, hoping he would confide in her . . . but nothing. He just won't let her in. And frankly, she didn't know what else to do.
She just wished he could make her understand. She was close to agreeing to a nanny just so Caleb would have to spend more time at home helping her choose some one to help her with the children. She didn't want one. She didn't. She enjoyed taking care of her children despite the sleepless nights and "loud" days. But she had to admit that she and Caleb hardly spend any time together ALONE any more.
Whenever one twin cried, the other would join in, making it difficult for her to give Lauren the same amount of attention . . . which made Lauren cling to both her and Caleb, whenever he was around. The past few weeks, Lauren refused to go to sleep in her own crib. Some times Livvie allowed her to sleep with her until Caleb came home and put the sleeping babe back into her bed.
Otherwise one of them stayed in the nursery or living room, rocking her to sleep. Lauren was jealous of the time they spent caring for the newborns . . . and that along with hours the twins cried during the day and Caleb's long hours at the "studio" (where he always says he is) . . . and the housework that needed to be done . . . tired Livvie out greatly. So she wasn't particularly eager to confront her husband on anything. If there was a nanny . . . just to help around the loft, maybe she could spend some time alone with Caleb and discuss the things that were bothering her.
She sighed lightly, resting her cheek once more against his chest. Her fingers curled tightly into Caleb's shirt as she felt his lips touch her temple. She guessed only time will tell what he has in store in for them and their children.
Alison hated her mother's knack for saying the MOST INAPPROPRIATE things. She just wanted to have a night of relaxment. With every thing going on lately with Andrei's sudden jail break and Matthew's appearance in her life, she just wanted to be with her family and every one she loved. But then again, as usual, her mother had to screw things up some how. She loved her mother. She really did. But some times it was hard.
Boy, was it hard. Especially when she attacked Rafe- which was suddenly one of her favorite pastimes now along with bashing Caleb and Livvie. But that was expected. Elizabeth's sudden disdain for Alison's husband made Alison sad.
Why couldn't they just be a normal family for once? A family who loved and cared for each other. Rafe was TRYING. He was. He hadn't kicked Elizabeth out of their house yet and she has been there for almost two months now. He had lasted a lot longer than she expected. And she had to give him credit for that. He really was trying for her sake. And she couldn't love him more for that. He was in every sense of the concept, the perfect husband. Alison just wished her mother loved her enough to put aside her differences with her husband and get along . . . for her sake. She didn't have to love Rafe- but she could at least stand him. That's all she wanted.
Alison reached for Rafe's hand. Rafe smiled, squeezing her hand soothingly. He sensed her unhappiness. It was not the first time Elizabeth had disappointed Alison. And Rafe hated her for that. How could she continually hurt her daughter like that? Despite all the trouble she had caused for her daughter, Alison still loved her and stood at her side. And now Elizabeth couldn't even spare the tiniest amount of effort to put aside her hatred and just enjoy the evening. Ok, so it was hard to enjoy the night with Dracula and his bride there, but please, they were behaving better than she was. They weren't stirring up trouble. She was. Why couldn't she put Alison first for once? Why not?
He was. He was trying. Not only with Elizabeth. But with Caleb and Livvie as well. He was avoiding falling into his age-old fight with Caleb whenever they bumped into each other while out on the town and he wasn't being overtly hostile to Livvie any more when she called to speak to Alison. Ok? He was playing nice.
But apparently, Elizabeth didn't understand the concept of being nice. Well, if she wanted trouble. Rafe was only too happy to give it to her. He cleared his throat. "So, Elizabeth, what EXACTLY did you come here to talk to Kevin about?" He questioned suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.
"An appointment." Elizabeth answered evasively.
"After office hours? In his home? Couldn't you have waited until morning to I don't know call his secretary?" Rafe persisted.
Kevin sat forward. "Doctor-patient confidentiality, Rafe." He reminded him. "Elizabeth doesn't have to answer any of your questions if she doesn't want to. But I will just say that Alison should be proud of her mother and the risk she is taking in confronting her very real demons. It just so happens that Elizabeth's treatment tend to occur when they occur. She can't control when she needs counseling." He explained, nervously.
Lucy frowned. "She has been here at least five times after midnight in the last week." She was a bit curious herself to see what was going on. But she was too afraid to voice her own suspicions. "You act like it is normal for a patient to see a psychiatrist on her own schedule."
"I did for Livvie." Kevin pointed out. "Before I knew she was my daughter, I would come over to your hotel room almost every night when she was suffering from those horrible nightmares." He looked at his daughter. "Some times at two or three in the morning. Isn't that right, Livvie?"
Livvie didn't answer at first. Her slender frame began to tremble. She didn't want to remember the awful nights and the terrible nightmares that plagued her every night for years and left her paralyzed with fear.
Caleb's arm tightened about her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest. He lifted his other hand to cover hers at his chest, his thumb rubbing across the back of her hand comfortingly.
She shook her head furiously to push the horrifying images from her mind. She looked back up at her father. "That was different, Dad."
"How so?" Kevin demanded.
"Elizabeth's not having any nightmares." Rafe interjected.
Alison crinkled her face in worry. "Are you sure?" She shifted in her seat, turning to her mother. "Mom, are you having nightmares?" She peered worriedly into her mother's face.
"Please." Rafe scoffed, shifting a wriggling Bryce. "DO you see her when she leaves the house? All dolled up and dressed to the nines? If I didn't know any better, I would say she is going out to solicit-"
"That's enough!" Kevin declared, cutting the slayer off sharply. "She doesn't have to explain anything to you."
Livvie's eyes widened. "Are you sleeping with Elizabeth, Dad?" Her voice betrayed her horror.
"Mom? Are you sleeping with Kevin?" Alison followed.
"Not that this is any of my business, but do you really think it is appropriate for you to question your parents on their sex lives?" Ian asked Alison and Livvie.
Lucy clapped her hands together, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "Ok, let's all just relax? Ok?" She automatically decided they were all jumping to conclusions a bit too quick. "They are NOT together." She forced a wide smile. "Because I would know if something is going on. And nothing is going on- Elizabeth never stays for long. And you know what? She always looks the same when she leaves. So why don't we just talk about something a bit more pleasant?"
"Sorry, Dad." Livvie apologized. "Ian's right. I have no right asking you . . . about your love life." She chose her words carefully.
"Especially considering who you are with."
"Mom, please." Alison groaned.
Elizabeth chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, sweetie. I already have started on my new year's resolution for next year. I am going to remain celibate. No more men. I am giving them up."
Lucy choked on her cookie. Ian patted her back.
Elizabeth glared.
"Sorry. Went down the wrong pipe." Lucy feebly muttered, her voice scratchy. She took the napkin from Alison's hand and hid her laughter behind it as she wiped her mouth.
"It's true." Elizabeth defended. "I-I am just through with men."
"I am afraid to ask why." Rafe muttered. "Just save it for therapy, ok?"
Elizabeth jumped to her feet. "FINE. I will." She began to march back toward the foyer.
"Mom, where are you going?" Alison asked worriedly.
Elizabeth angrily pulled on her coat. "I think I may have worn out my welcome here. I am going home."
Alison sighed lightly. "Mom, Rafe didn't mean it that way." She explained. She stood up, handing Eddie to Lucy. She moved around the sofa. "He just meant it wasn't an appropriate topic to discuss."
Elizabeth shook her head wildly. "This whole dinner idea is INAPPRORAITE! When have you ever seen vampires sharing a meal with vampire SLAYERS? Huh? You can't tell me that's normal."
"We're not NORMAL." Alison pointed out. "The fact that we have angels, vampires, slayers . . ." She sighed again. "Mom, this is our world. And we are just trying to deal with it the best we can. Ok?"
"Because of them." Elizabeth jutted her chin out, glaring at Caleb and then at Rafe. "They CHANGED everything. Alison, haven't you ever considered that all our lives will have been better if the both of them had never come to Port Charles?"
Alison stared at her mother as Lucy gasped.
"Elizabeth- I think it is time you left." Lucy surged to her feet, handed Eddie to Kevin, and began to stomp her way toward them. Ian followed suit, intent on holding his lover back.
Apparently, Elizabeth had changed her mind. She pulled off her coat. "No. You know what? I think it is time all of you know how I feel."
"Oh, boy." Kevin groaned. He handed Eddie off to Livvie and dropped his face into his hands. Here they go . . . AGAIN. Hasn't he suffered enough in actual sessions with her?
"You had to provoke her, didn't you?" Caleb hissed under his breath to Rafe.
Rafe closed his eyes, regretting his words. "I didn't mean to."
"I think we all know how you feel." Lucy remarked, her lips pursed. She was practically seething. Her hands itched to curl around Alison's mother's throat."
"Lucy." Ian warned quietly, his grip tight on his fiancée's arm.
Alison began to tremble. "How can you say that, Mom? You know how much I love Rafe!"
"You would have been better off without him." Elizabeth insisted, her hands flying wildly in the air. "He DESTROYED every thing. You should have married Jamal like you were supposed to. It's because of him all these bad things have been happening to you? Don't you understand, Alison? Don't you see, honey? He's responsible for-"
"Making me happy." Alison cut in.
"No, honey. You could have been happy with Jamal too. Don't you remember?" Her eyes seemed to pleading with her daughter. "You were so excited. You would have married him if HE hadn't come in and crashed the wedding." Elizabeth declared, shooting another lethal glare Rafe's way.
"What are you talking about? She was terrified. She didn't want to marry Jamal." Livvie interjected, shaking her head. "She only was going to marry him because she thought Emma was his."
"Shut up!" Elizabeth snarled. "You know what? I will leave and it is because all of you have LOST your minds!" She turned on her heel and stalked right outside. The door slammed shut behind her.
Rafe had no other choice but to hand Bryce over to Caleb (with great reluctance) so he could go and comfort his wife. He walked up to Alison and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Alison's eyes swam with tears. "No, I-"
Suddenly, the squeal of tires and a high-pitched scream resounded from outside.
Alison turned absolutely pale. "Mom!" Pushing Rafe's restraining hand away, she threw open the door and raced outside.