He woke the next morning to the feel of her hands on his chest and shoulders, gently caressing him. As he became more aware, he realized that she was straddling him, her thighs on either side of his hips. He opened his eyes to look into her blue ones, "molesting me in my sleep now?" he teased.

She chuckled. "Awake…asleep….always."

He reached up to her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. "As much as I would like to be taken advantage of, we promised Lindsey that we would be there this morning."

Leaning down, she kissed him. "I know. Just charging my batteries for the day."

Huskily he commented. "We'll finish this later, I promise."

They showered and ate a quick breakfast before heading to the hospital. Lindsey seemed happy to see them together. "Have a nice sleepover?" she asked her mother. Gil overheard and blushed. Catherine chuckled. "Lindsey, you are embarrassing Gil."

"And you are avoiding my question," the teenager shot back.

Catherine smirked. "I slept very well last night, thank you. How about you?"

"Okay, I guess. I woke up in pain but the nurse gave me something. It was kind of weird though because she thought Gil was my father. I tried to explain, but she was insistent. Then she just left. You'd think she'd believe me about who my father is…."

"Well, I guess that she's been seeing him around so much…she just assumed." This was making Catherine nervous. She felt Gil's hand on her shoulder, supporting her. Turning she looked into his eyes and saw that he wanted to tell Lindsey the truth. Thinking for a moment, she sighed and nodded in agreement.

With Gil still standing next to her, Catherine turned back to her daughter. "Honey, I, um…was going to wait until you got home to tell you this, but…now seems like the time."

"Tell me what Mom? I mean, I'm going to be okay, aren't I?"

"Oh, yeah…yes, you are, honey. The doctor talked to me downstairs about releasing you in a couple of days. This…isn't about that." Catherine's nervousness was palpable.

"Then what? You're scaring me…"

"Well, um…in trying to make sure you were okay, we …ah, found out something we didn't know." Catherine paused to gather her courage. Looking into her daughter's eyes, she knew she had to continue because Lindsey was frightened. Glancing at Gil, she swallowed and continued. "Honey….back before you were born, well…you know, Eddie and I were already having problems. One night, he…ah…well, he'd been pretty rough and I had to leave, get away until he sobered up. So I went to Gil, like I did so often in those days. He let me stay at his place, like so many other times. But,um…that night it was different. I was feeling so …hurt, unlovable. And Gil…I could tell how much he was hurting for me. It was then that I realized he loved me. And I needed so much to feel love; so I …well, I kind of…well, we slept together."

Lindsey looked from her mother to Gil and then back at her mother. "You slept together while you were still married to Dad. You always made such a big deal out of him cheating on you! But you cheated too."

Catherine couldn't decide if she was seeing disgust or anger in her daughter's face. Probably both. "Yeah, that one night…I just needed to be held and to feel love so much."

"She was in bad shape Lindsey," interjected Gil. "Eddie had done a number on her. I only intended to hold her, take care of her….but things kind of got out of hand. I couldn't stand that she was hurting so much and I wanted her to know how much I loved her. She was married and it was wrong of me to come between that, but …."

"But you slept with her," Lindsey interrupted.

"Honey," continued Catherine. "The thing is, when they thought you might need a kidney transplant, Gil volunteered one of his. They tested to see if he was compatible and it turns out…he's your father, Lindsey."

Lindsey looked in horror at her mother. "What? No. Eddie Willows is my Dad….was my Dad. He's….he's my Uncle Gil….honorary uncle. He can't be my father."

Catherine reached to hug Lindsey but she shook her mother off. Glaring at Gil, she snapped. "So, you think you can be my father now? After all this time? Where were you all these years? "

"Lindsey, that's not fair," exclaimed Catherine. "You know Gil has been there for us, even though he had given up on me as anything but a friend."

"Yeah, he was there until …until Sara," she spat.

"Lindsey," began Gil. "I had no idea about you. If I had, things would have been so different. There's no way I would have let your Mom go back to Eddie. But I thought you were his daughter and so, he had rights that I didn't. And …." Gil swallowed hard as he realized something, "as for Sara; I held her at arms length until I knew you and your Mother were okay. As long as I thought Catherine might need me, I remained available. But then she…seemed to want to move on, so I let her but that meant I needed to look elsewhere."

"You think that makes me feel any better. I've grown up with Eddie Willows as my Dad, a real loser but he loved me and I loved him. And suddenly, you're telling me that no, he wasn't my father, Supergeek is." Tears were falling now as her emotions finally spilled out.

Gil stood like a statue, visibly upset. Catherine was stunned by Lindsey's vehemence. She had known that her daughter would be upset, but this was a much stronger reaction that she had thought. "Honey, I'm sorry. I know this is a lot, especially right now. But it is on your chart that Gil is your father. The nurse came very close to telling you last night. I thought it was better if you heard it from us."

Lindsey waved her mother off. "Just…leave me alone."

Sighing, Catherine turned to leave the room. Gil looked from Lindsey to Catherine, a question on his face. "Let's give her some space," said Catherine. Gil frowned, not sure that he wanted to leave Lindsey by herself. But he trusted Catherine's instincts better than his own, so he followed her out of the room, glancing back at his daughter as they walked out.

In the hall, Gil stopped Catherine. "Are you sure we should leave her like that?"

"Trust me, she needs her space, a trait I think you might recognize."

"So…now what?"

"Cafeteria." They headed to the elevator and then down to the hospital cafeteria. As they walked through the hall downstairs, Gil spotted a gift shop. "Hey, let's go in here," he said.

A few minutes later, one of the hospital volunteers made a delivery to Lindsey's room. The teen looked at the plush teddy bear with a heart shape balloon tied to it. Attached to its paws was a card. Carefully she removed it and opened it to read.

Dear Lindsey,

There were so many things I wanted to say to you, feelings for which I could find no voice. Our news has changed your life and for my desire to tell you now, I apologize. Your mother wanted to wait until you were settled at home.

From the first time I held you on the day you were born, you have held a special place in my heart; a place uniquely yours. Had I known then what I know today you would have captured my heart entirely, because as I gazed into your tiny blue eyes, I dreamt you were mine. Imagine my joy at hearing that my dream is reality.

Also, please allow me to tell you that you were conceived in love. It must seem wrong to you that I allowed myself to love your mother so completely while she was married but for me, on that night, it was the most perfect love this side of heaven. If you must blame someone for betraying Eddie, then blame me. Your mother came to me wounded and vulnerable and I allowed what followed.

Right now it seems too much to ask that you think of me as your father. Even if you are never able to think of me in that way, know that you are and always have been the daughter of my heart.

Love, Gil

Tears welled up in Lindsey's eyes as she tried to reconcile what she was feeling with what she thought she should feel.

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Okay, the cat's out of the bag. I appreciate your suggestions and comments. Believe me, I keep them in mind as I type. Thank you in advance for the reviews that you are about to post:-)