Beginning of the End

He braced himself as the mass of red curls hurled themselves at him with a cry of "Ryaaannnnnn!" She was her mother. Ryan often wondered if he'd had any genetic input at all, but the less there was to indicate he was her father, the safer she'd be.

"I thought Calleigh would be with you" said Barbara

"We had a fight. Well not exactly a fight, she yelled, I listened. She said she couldn't trust me any more" He sat down and Cathy jumped on his knee, causing the all to familiar burning pain in his shoulder.

"Why is that?" Barbara asked

"Because I didn't tell her. She said …really doesn't matter, Barbara. If it can't work with Calleigh, it's never going to work with anyone. Just have to get used to being on my own again." there was a depth of sadness in his voice, a resignation, a realisation that he had to accept the inevitable. "If it's the price I have to pay to protect her" he glanced at Cathy, "then I'll pay it - a dozen times over. She's the innocent one in all of this, she deserves her chance" He gave Cathy a hug and she responded by throwing her arms around his neck. "Is it OK if I take her outside for a bit?"

"Of course it is Ryan. And what should I tell Calleigh if she turns up?"

"She isn't going to. I had a day all planned, but guess my plans have been changed. I'll be about an hour. I'm sorry, Barbara. I didn't mean to let you down like this…but.."

"You aren't letting anyone down, Ryan. There are many, many times when I wonder why you have to make it so difficult for yourself. I don't suppose you've recovered from the events of the last few months, and you're still pushing yourself. Give it some time, go do something childish with Cathy" he looked at her with gratitude, "Go! She ordered." with a smile on her face.

She watched as they walked away, grateful that Ryan was still playing a big part in all their lives, but regretting that it was costing him so much.

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She was sitting with Lauren when she saw Calleigh, she knew it was Calleigh, Ryan's description had been so accurate. Quickly she left Lauren's side and the room.

"Calleigh? It is Calleigh, isn't it? "

"Yes, are you Barbara? Is Ryan here?"

"Yes, I'm Barbara, no he isn't. He's taken Cathy out - I told him to do something childish." she smiled. "He was worried he'd ruined everything and you wouldn't forgive him."

"So…what did he tell you happened?"

"Not much, just that you'd yelled and he'd listened. He's spent so many years keeping everything to himself, he finds it difficult to let go now. He's a most remarkable young man - but I suppose you know that. He could have turned his back on us, walked away. It would have been so much easier on him, especially in the beginning when I hated him for surviving." Calleigh looked at her in surprise, "Come to the rest area, I'll get you a coffee and we can talk." Barbara linked arms with Calleigh and steered her in the direction she wanted to go.

"Here" she said, having sat Calleigh down and thrust a cup in her hand. "Now what did he tell you about me, and I'll tell you what he said about you"

"He said you were a lovely lady and that you wanted to meet me" Calleigh answered.

"Typical Ryan! He didn't tell you how evil I was to him, how I resented the fact that David's son should survive when he had four other children at home, and one a Ryan clone."

"No."

"Lauren is our only child, no-one had any idea she was pregnant when the accident happened. I refused to let Ryan see Lauren to begin with, but he just kept coming back. When he discovered he was to become a father, his first thoughts were for Lauren and then the child. He wanted to make sure that David could never get his hands on her. You know, when he said he'd met someone, I was so happy for him, after the incident with Kelly, I didn't think he'd ever find the courage to try again."

"He hasn't told me about Kelly either" Calleigh's tone was decidedly frosty

"He would do just about anything to forget it! It was in his second year at college. He met Kelly, they got on well until she saw the scars. She called him a freak, said he should be in a horror movie and had no right to mix with normal people. Then she told all her friends who told theirs. After that, he cut himself off from everyone. Well, everyone except us and his uncle."

"Ron, I've met him." Calleigh understood a lot more now, and cursed Ryan for being so secretive.

"Calleigh, I want to be honest with you. Lauren is very ill, she isn't responding to treatment and she isn't going to live much longer. Ryan doesn't know, we're not sure if we should tell him."

"You and your husband?"

Barbara nodded, "Ryan will be devastated. We've been expecting it for years, but Ryan has always held onto the hope that she would awake from her coma as he did from his. He is going to need you to an extent you may not be able to give. If you're going to leave him, it's best you do it now. Don't let him think you'll always be there for him only to let him down at the crucial time. John and I will help him, the way he did us."

"Do you really think I'd do that to him?" Calleigh protested.

"Not intentionally. You may honestly believe you're in love with him - and I'm not suggesting you aren't. What I am trying to point out is shortly he's going to really need his friends. Whatever you give him, he'll repay a hundred times, but make no mistake - he is going to need us."

"Calleigh!" she recognised the voice, there was hope and fear.

"Hi Ryan. I've thought, I'm staying."

"Thank you." they embraced, after a few moments, he pulled away, "I'd like you to meet a young lady who is very important to me. Two deep brown eyes looked at her through impossibly long lashes. A riot of red curls framed the child's face, her hand held Ryan's possessively.

"Are you a princess?" Cathy asked, "You have long golden hair, so you could be Rapunzel."

Calleigh smiled, "No I'm not a princess, and my name's Calleigh."

"Hmm. You a friend of Ryan's?"

"Yes"

"You going to marry him?"

"He hasn't asked me yet." Calleigh was a little unnerved by the child's questioning.

"You like her, don't you Ryan" Cathy said, she knew, it wasn't a question.

"Yes." Ryan replied.

"If you marry her, will you still love me?"

"Of course I will, nothing and no-one can ever change that." Ryan answered.

"But you wont be able to marry me!" Cathy pouted.

"I think by the time you're old enough to get married, you will have found someone more to your liking."

"But I love you Ryan."

"I know you do darling, and I love you too, but I'm really much too old for you. Don't you like Calleigh?"

"Yes. She's pretty and she talks pretty too. You going to ask her to marry you?"

"In time" Ryan looked across at Calleigh, she returned his gaze. He knew that although she hadn't forgiven him for keeping Cathy a secret from her, she was beginning to accept why he'd done it.

There was still hope.