The fire in BillyJo's living room was crackling ever so lightly. Dinner had been nice. Ikey had brought some wine and here they are. Sitting on the sofa watching the fire, and talking. Ikey could talk to her all day long. He was crazy about her. She was really getting under his skin. Those blue eyes, the sound of her voice. Being with her was making him want to anchor deep. Settle in. Come home to this house and her every night. He didn't understand that at all. They had only been seeing each other for a couple of months, yet he was feeling like this. He knew she was feeling it too, but they had to take it slow. Ikey didn't want to rush her into anything. Losing Lance had been so hard. He didn't want to take his place with her or the kids. He was listening to her talk about her day. BillyJo was sitting next to him and had turned to face him while drinking her wine. She was so animated when she talked. He was fascinated. He stopped her with a kiss. A long, slow kiss. "What was that for?" she said with a smile. "No reason. No reason at all." The moment was still and Ikey was looking deep into her eyes."I think I'm falling in love with you BillyJo." She looked into his eyes. That had to be the sweetest thing she had ever heard. She started to speak. "Don't …don't say anything…..I know you had this already with Lance, but think about it. See if there's room in your heart to love him...and me." They sat there a while longer talking. When he left they made plans to see each other the next night.
Janet walked out the door of the cafeteria practically gasping for air. The smell of today's lunch was making her nauseous. Luckily another teacher had agreed to watch her class, so she went back to her class room. She couldn't believe what was going on with her body. She had a sick feeling all the time, and she was so tired. Her clothes weren't fitting anymore. She'd lost weight from being sick, but her boobs were already growing! What's up with that?. Her cell phone rang. It was the doctor's office returning her call from this morning. "The at home test are pretty accurate. We should be able to fit you in next week. When was your last cycle?" She thought for a minute. "I don't know, around the first part of November. I'm not sure. We were under a lot of stress around the holidays" For a minute she thought of everything that went on with Lee. Then she pushed it from her mind. "Ok, then I would assume you are close to seven weeks along. We will do an ultrasound at twelve weeks and be able to give you a due date." Janet was in awe of the conversation she was having. "Ok Janet, we'll see you next Tuesday at ten thirty." Janet wrote the appointment on her calendar. "Oh and Janet, be sure and bring your husband. The doctor likes to meet expectant fathers as well." Janet got off the phone feeling guilty. She had known for almost a week and not told Eddie. She had wanted to, but let all the drama with the paternity test get in the way. At this point it didn't matter if he was Sam's father or not. She was still pregnant.
Eddie came in from work that night and she could tell something was up. He was quiet. Nick had come to the office the other day and they had talked, but he had not been back. "Nick stopped by the office today and told me he was going away for a while." She could tell that it bothered him. "What like a mini vacation or something?" Janet was bringing dinner to the table and trying not to let on how sick it was making her to look at the chicken that had been cooking for the past hour. "Not a vacation, he is going away for about six weeks." Janet couldn't believe it. She sat at the table with Eddie. "But Eddie, none of the test results are back yet. How could he leave? He could be Sam's father and he will not be here when Sam finds out?" Eddie just shook his head. "I don't know Janet, I think he is just so angry and he doesn't want to deal with it. He does this you know." They talked throughout dinner, but didn't solve anything. Nick had taken a temporary assignment writing for New York City magazine. It was an opportunity to write and it was time away from the Ridge. Eddie and Nick had resolved a lot when they spoke earlier that week, but Nick was having a hard time with the whole Ray and Hannah thing. Eddie felt that he would be really disappointed if Ray ended up being Sam's father. "You know…Nick said something to me that made me realize….I wasn't exactly fair to you during the whole Rooster incident." She stopped pretending to eat and looked at him. "What do you mean Eddie?" She took a sip of her water. "I'm sorry, for the way I treated you. When you came to my hospital room that day, I was hateful to you and then..." She stopped him. Placing her hand on his. "Eddie, there is no need to apologize. You were hurt. I had hurt you terribly and you were just reacting." She could tell Eddie was dealing with a lot. "Janet, I was hateful to you and held a grudge for something I was guilty of. I had just never confessed it." She was shocked. Not knowing what to say, she leaned over and kissed him. "You look beautiful tonight." He said out of the blue. She was glowing and he couldn't take his eyes off her. She kissed him again and gathered their plates. As they cleaned the kitchen he kept hugging her and kissing her neck. He couldn't keep his hands off of her. They soon took it to the bedroom and made it an early evening.
Nick waited till he knew Ray would have left for work before he knocked on the door. "Nick…what brings you by?" Nick took in a deep breath. "Can I come in Hannah? I promise not to make you late for work." She let him in. Both Sam and Ray were gone so she knew it was the only time they could talk privately. "I just came by to let you know that I am going to leave the Ridge for a few weeks." He heart sank and she stumbled over her words. "Leave…why...what are you going to do?" Nick gathered his thoughts. It was killing him to be standing in the same room with her. He hated her. He loved her. "I was offered a writing assignment with a magazine in New York. I decided to take the opportunity to get away for a while." A lump formed in Hannah's throat. "New York." She said, and then suddenly put on a brave face. "The test results are not back yet. Have you thought about what you want to do about that?" She was being strong, but felt like her legs would give way. Leaving. He is leaving again. "Well, you had told me that you had not told Sam any of this, so I was hoping that if it turns out that Sam is mine, you would not tell him until I get back. I should be back here by May." She thought about what he had said. Wait till May. "Yeah Nick, I don't see where that would be a problem." They both nodded and then Nick turned to leave. She walked him to the door and as she was seeing him out, he turned to her. "Don't worry Hannah Jane. I will come back to the Ridge. No matter what the outcome of the test." He left and Hannah watched him walk away. She shut the door behind him. Falling apart on the inside, she gathered her purse and left for work.