Disclaimer: see chapter one.

AN: Right now, Jeff is not very happy with me. After I posted the last chapter, there was a bit of off-screen violence (me slapping him hard across the face.) Now the red slap mark refuses to disappear. Oh well, he deserved it. And he won't forget why the mark is there.

Chapter Twenty Five- Patching Things Up

Scott stormed out of the villa, and barged into Virgil on the way out.

"Who spat in your cornflakes this morning?" Virgil asked rhetorically, slightly annoyed at Scott.

"Sorry." Scott grunted back, as he slammed the door behind him.

Virgil blinked, and moved into the kitchen, where he saw John sitting at the table. "Morning, John."

"Morning." John scooped some cornflakes into his mouth.

"What's up with Scott this morning?"

John chewed his food, and swallowed before he answered the question. "He was fine when I saw him. Dad wanted to talk to him, and he asked me to go and get him."

"Right. Well, something happened, because he's not fine now." Virgil said slowly.

John finished off his cornflakes, and placed his bowl in the sink. "I think we need to have a word with Dad."

"You did what?!" Virgil asked dangerously.

Jeff had the grace to lower his head in shame. "I shouted at him, I called him irresponsible and," Jeff closed his eyes, not wanting to see the anger in his sons eyes. "I called his baby a mistake."

"How could you be so thoughtless?! And heartless?!" Virgil exploded at Jeff.

"I know what I did was wrong." Jeff muttered quietly.

"Then you need to fix it." John said.

"I know that. But I need your help."

"Dad, you need to do this yourself. We," John gestured to Virgil and himself. "Can't do this for you."

"I never asked you to do this for me. I just need you to make sure that he is OK."

John nodded.

Virgil sighed. "Fine, but I'm doing this for Scott, not for you. I still can't believe that you said that to him."

"Thank you."

Virgil and John decided that the best plan of action was to split up and look for Scott. John headed down the beaches of the island, and Virgil went down to the gym. Virgil knew that if Scott was in the gym, he would be beating a punch bag into a pulp.

True to Virgil's prediction, Scott was in the gym.

"What did the punch bag ever do to you?" Virgil asked as he approached Scott.

"Nothing."

"Then why are you punching that bag like there's no tomorrow?"

"No reason."

Virgil knew that he wouldn't get much more out of Scott, so he left the gym.

"He's in the gym, and pretty angry." Virgil told his dad. "Not that I blame him, though."

"Right." Jeff stood up and left his office, thinking about what he would say to Scott.

"And Dad, you'd better fix this, otherwise it might drive you and Scott apart."

"Scott, we need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Well then, you'd better listen. Because I have a lot of things I want to say to you."

Scott stopped punching the bag, turned around and faced Jeff. "What did you want to say?"

"It's about your child."

"You know what, Dad?" Scott interrupted. "I don't want to hear it. I think you've made your feelings pretty clear." Scott moved towards the door.

"Scott, I haven't finished talking to you. Get back here." Jeff demanded.

"Make me."

Virgil and John were lounging around on the sofa, when they saw an angry Scott fly past them, and an irate Jeff tailing him.

"Did your talk not go so well?" John asked.

"That obvious, is it, John?" Jeff responded dryly.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "What did you say to him?"

"Not much- I just wanted to tell him that I didn't mean to call his child a mistake and I didn't mean to call his irresponsible."

"But the moment you mentioned the baby, he exploded." Virgil surmised.

Jeff nodded. John and Virgil looked at each other. They nodded. Jeff really did need their help.

John stood up, and placed an arm around his dad's shoulders. "You and I need to have a talk about what you want to say to Scott."

Virgil stood up, and headed to the beach. Since Scott wasn't there earlier, Virgil was sure Scott would have gone there now.

Scott was on the beach, throwing pebbles into the ocean, hoping that would relieve some of his frustration and anger.

"You know, throwing pebbles into the ocean won't sort out the issue between you and Dad. It won't make anyone feel any better."

"Is that so, Virgil? Because it seems to help me feel better."

"Right now, you would feel better. But the moment you see Dad, this problem will resurface, and your anger will simmer and both of you will explode like pyroclastic volcanoes. John and I feel that both of you need a translator, so that you hear what the other person is trying to tell you."

Scott turned his head, so that he faced Virgil. "He called my baby a mistake. How could he do that? How could he call his own grandchild a mistake?"

Virgil drew in a deep breath. This was eating Scott up. "You know Dad didn't mean that."

"Didn't he?"

"No, he didn't." Virgil enforced his point. "After you left Dad's office, he told us what he had said. We suggested that he should talk to you again. It didn't work. Now, John and I are trying to translate the messages for both of you. When he wanted to talk to you again, he was coming down to apologise to you. All you have to do is start listening."

John sat down on Jeff's desk. "In this situation, you need to approach the subject subtly. That was your major flaw in your last attempt. You were too direct."

"So, what do I do?"

John remained quiet for a moment. "Sit down with him. Try and remain calm, and start off with an apology. If he tries to interrupt you, tell him that you want him to hear you out."

Jeff nodded in agreement. This sounded simple enough.

"Then, you need to tell Scott that you never meant to insinuate that he was irresponsible. And finally, you need to let him know that his baby is not a mistake, and that you want to be a part of your grand-child's life." John's ice-blue eyes met with Jeff's stormy grey ones. "You do want to be a grand-dad to his child, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Jeff wanted to be a grand-dad more then anything in the world.

"Then let Scott know that. He's down on the beach. Go tell him now."

Jeff stood up. He understood what he had to do now. "When did you become so smart, John?"

"One of us had to take after Mum." John replied.

Jeff sat down on the grainy sand beside Scott. "Scott, I'm sorry. I am truly sorry for what I said back then."

Scott opened his mouth, ready to interrupt, but Jeff stopped him. "Just hear me out."

Scott nodded grimly.

"You are the most responsible person I know, and I never meant to imply that you were irresponsible. That is definitely not true. Also, your baby is not a mistake. I'm so very sorry for implying that it was. It's not a very nice thing for a grand-parent to say about their grand-child. And I know this is yours and Tash's call, but I would really like to be a part of your child's life."

Jeff waited on tenterhooks for Scott's reply.

"You didn't mean those things, Dad? Then why did you say them?"

Jeff ran a hand through his hair. Yes, why did he say them?

"It was my way of dealing with the shock. Your brothers and you had three months to get used to the idea that you were going to be a dad. Your brothers knew that you and Tash were together for four months. I didn't. I found out that you had a girlfriend, from a newspaper, I might add, and you were going to become a dad in the matter of ten minutes. It's not one of the easiest things to absorb."

Scott just swallowed.

Jeff placed his hand on Scott's shoulder. He was relieved when Scott didn't shrug it off. "Would you mind if I saw the three month scan?"

"No, but it is back at the villa." Scott stood up. "And Dad, I'm sorry for not listening earlier."

Scott pulled the scan out of photo album that contained his most treasured pictures. "There it is. Three months."

Jeff had a small smile as he looked at the scan. He remembered what it was like when Lucy was pregnant with Scott. "What did you think when you saw the scan for the first time?"

Scott smiled. "I thought wow- this is amazing. And listening to the heartbeat was incredible."

Jeff nodded in agreement. "When's the next scan?"

"Three weeks."

He handed the scan back to Scott. "You're going to be a great dad, Scott."

Jeff walked out of the room, feeling content. He felt lighter hearted, now that he had sorted things out with Scott. He was certain that things were right again between him and Scott.

AN: So Jeff made things right with Scott. Thanks to Cimba, as she helped me figure out this chapter.

And Lissysue- I was meant to write this in the reply, but I forgot, so here it is- you're right about John. I think of him as a cookie- hard and crunchy on the outside, but soft and squishy on the inside.

Sorry for such a bad comparison for John. Anyway, please review.