Debwood-1999: This Mark is pretty much a hybrid of my Mark and her Mark. The history of the two is pretty much combined, although I do agree that this Mark is pretty dark and twisted. The story where Vermi covers Mark raping Mindy isn't posted yet but it is written and will be eventually put up. But I totally recommend going through her stuff because she is just totally awesome (cheap plug ftw!). DarkMage6: lol That's the way James wants it to work out. He's a sucker for happy endings. Souless666: Cooper's always doubted Mark's love for James. In his eyes, Mark going around and marrying other women and fucking them and lying about it all stopping proved that he hasn't ever given a shit about James. Cooper hated Mark for hurting his father long before he ever hated Mark for being a shitty ass absentee father and there's really nothing that Mark can do to prove him wrong. Mindy herself has serious trust issues when it comes to Mark so her being skeptical is pretty much to be expected. NeroAnne: Cooper and Mindy are really adorable together. Them together always makes me go "awe". lol Yeah, it's easy to see why anyone would be greedy over James. As nuts as he is, he's quite the prize worth having. Yup, Mark did indeed rape Mindy and James will NOT be happy when he finds out about it. That's for sure. In retrospect, that comment of Cooper's is kind of creepy…damn it, now I'm almost tempted to go there. I don't think Connor is annoying either, but Cooper's his brother. By law, he has to find Connor annoying. It's only natural. lol glad you think so. Esha Napoleon: LOL! That would be funny as hell. Nooks: Mark is pretty much on one of his sabbaticals all through this story, so he's really not going anywhere. And Mark participating in any kind of kidnapping plot with Glen would result in the major kicking of his ass by James and then his untimely death by Cooper. If the Lawsons have anything to say about it, Mindy is not going anywhere. slashdite: James is working on the timing with Mark. Maybe it would be better if he just came clean right away but he's a little bit wrapped up in newfound love.

…

After breakfast was over, James took Cooper into another room so they could talk privately. "So what's been up with you lately?" he asked, keeping his tone as casual as he could.

Cooper frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well you've been really cozy with Mindy-"

"And that's a crime?"

"No, but it's unusual for you." James leaned back against the wall and studied his boy carefully. Cooper wasn't the type to take to anyone this easily. He had been when he had been a little kid, but after Annabelle died, he had changed dramatically. James never tried to change him back, knowing that some things were better left alone.

Cooper shrugged. "I'll admit it, I had my doubts about her at first. But after my littler interrogation of her-"

"You interrogated her?" James wasn't really shocked by that news. Cooper had a tendency to grill people about their intentions if he felt like it was needed.

"Yeah," Cooper confirmed. "Come on Dad, I had to. She's only a half a year older than I am! Plus, she's a woman. You haven't even so much as looked at a woman since Mom died."

James nodded, acknowledging the truth in that statement. "So I'm assuming since you've been cozying up to her every chance you get that the interrogation went well?" He almost asked if he needed to be worried about some competition for Mindy's heart but he stopped himself at the last second. Cooper's very first crush had been Mr. White, his elementary school P.E. teacher. The boy had been out of the closet from the get go and James didn't see him switching teams now.

"You need to get Uncle Glen taken care of, kick Mark to the curb and marry her so we can live happily ever after," Cooper said without hesitation.

James raised his eyebrows. "…Well I'm with you on the first and the last part of that," he said.

Cooper twitched violently. "Of course you are."

James sighed. Cooper's tone was spelling trouble already.

"Dad, I love you to death," Cooper stated, getting started whether James liked it or not. "I really do. That's why I'm telling you to ditch Mark for good."

"You know, I really don't want to have this conversation right now," James said, trying to shut Cooper up before he really got going. It wasn't that he didn't care what his boy had to say; he cared more than he could ever admit. But pretty much every conversation they had about Mark turned into a fight, which was something James wanted to avoid right now.

"Well I do," Cooper snapped. "Mindy fucking loves you-"

"And I love her," James said, hoping for a way out before a fight started. "But I still love Mark-"

"For the love of God why?" Cooper asked incredulously.

"Because I do."

"That's a terrible reason."

"It's the only one I can give you," James said with a shrug. "It's not like you want to hear it all anyway. You've always made your feelings about Mark perfectly clear."

"Because he's an asshole!" Cooper said, the volume of his voice rising quite a bit. "You say you don't put up with shit yet you ALWAYS allow Mark to run right over you."

"I do not!" James denied.

"You do too! He's cheated on you with his wives, McSlut, Mindy and only God knows how many other women…and probably a few guys as well. He treated Mom like shit, he's treated me and Connor like we shouldn't exist and now he's treating Mindy like shit. And besides from that, he's been acting all pissy because you actually had the nerve to be in love with someone that isn't him, even though he-"

"Alright alright! I do put up with a lot of his shit," James admitted, hating that he was being lectured like a little kid. He knew that Mark wasn't the best person in the world but he hated Cooper trying to break them up all the time. He was a grown man and he was perfectly capable of making handling Mark on his own. "But-"

"What if he doesn't get over his jealousy and hurts Mindy?" Cooper asked suddenly, catching James off guard.

"He wouldn't do that," James said, automatically coming to Mark's defense.

"Oh yeah? He's choked me before-"

"He's not like that anymore though," James interrupted, not bothering to bring up the fact that Cooper had punched Mark a whole bunch of times before the choking had ensued in that one incident. Cooper would get absolutely furious if he thought he was defending that action. "He's not drinking and-"

"He was drinking last night," Cooper said, looking smug because James was wrong about Mark. "He got all loopy on Jack Daniels while you and Mindy were out…now if that's not a sign of things to come, I don't know what is."

James sighed and rubbed his eyes. Mark on Jack Daniels was a very bad thing. He turned into a nasty son of a bitch when he started drinking that shit. "I'll sort him out," he said, which didn't appease Cooper one little bit. "Alright? I'll sort him out myself before he gets out of hand."

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better," Cooper said sarcastically. He shook his head before getting in James's face and turning deadly serious. "Listen to me and listen to me good," he growled. "If that asshole harms one hair on Mindy's head, I will END him in a way I wish he had ended years ago and then I will kick your ass for letting it happen."

"Are you really threatening me right now?" James asked, doing what he could not get to riled up by Cooper's statement.

"No, I'm not threatening you," Cooper said. "I'm making a promise." He turned around and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind him that the windows rattled.

James sighed heavily and shook his head. "Well fuck…that could have gone a fuck of a lot better."