Stephanie pulled into her space at work and turned off the engine before resting her head back on the headrest of her seat.

Slowly she opened her car door before climbing out slamming it shut behind her before retrieving her things from the back seat locking the doors before heading over to the elevator to go to her office.

Paul had arrived at work to be greeted by Shawn, "well somebody is here early. I thought living with the boss would have its perks."

Rolling his eyes Paul playfully brushed past Shawn, "oh yeah it has its perks alright, I will never be late for work."

Shawn laughing and got in step with Paul, "how was the first night?"

Nodding Paul thought back to it and smiled, "it was good thanks. No drama so it was quite pleasant. However saying that this morning was fun, we nearly had multiple collisions in the kitchen trying to get ready."

Reaching the office Shawn stepped back allowing Paul to walk in first before he took a seat in front of his desk as he had a few minutes before he had to be at work himself, "at least you all got out of the house safe."

Paul laughed, "that is always a positive."

Shawn was about to respond when Stephanie came breezing into the office behind him, "morning Steph. Don't worry, I'm not stalking you."

Putting a brave face on as she walked off the elevator Stephanie headed towards her office. Walking through the door she stopped seeing Shawn sat in front of the desk and was about to speak to Shawn when he spoke first.

As she listened to the words come out of his mouth she was taken back to what her Mom had said to her and feeling her brave front crumble she walked straight through to her office swinging the door shut behind her wincing as it slammed before she took a seat at her desk and rested her head in her hands as a solitary tear ran down her cheek.

The two men could only watch on as Stephanie breezed silently into her office leaving them to mirror each others facial expression.

Shawn was the first of the two to talk, "so, umm what just happened?"

Paul looked between the door and Shawn, "I have no idea but I'm going to find out."

Standing up Shawn nodded his head, "sure, call me if there are any problems."

"Will do, thanks Shawn."

Paul then got up and walked around the desk before walking over to Stephanie's office door and knocking gently waiting for an answer as Shawn waved walking out of the door.

Stephanie heard the knock at the door but she didn't want to be bothered, she just wanted to be left alone so ignored it and hoped whoever it was went away.

Paul wasn't to be deterred though and just pushed the door open slightly so he could slip inside then shut it quietly behind him before sneaking over to the desk and perching on the edge of it before putting a hand on her back lightly, "care to tell me what's going on?"

Shaking her head she just moved her head from her hands to rest on his thigh allowing him to stroke her hair gently, "talk to me Steph, it'll make you feel better."

Lifting her head she looked him deep in the eyes, "nothing will make me feel better today."

Standing up she walked over to the windows and started pacing in front of them as he turned to look at her. Before he spoke Stephanie started to talk again, "I know she didn't mean to but she made me feel guilty, she made me feel like such a failure as a daughter and as a mother."

Paul stood up and took a few small steps towards her, "Steph just relax, I'm sure she didn't mean it."

It was as if she hadn't even heard though as she just kept talking, "I want to tell them the truth, I want to get it all out in the open but I don't know how to say it. She makes it so hard by jumping to conclusions and talking before I finish that it gets me so annoyed and so frustrated I end up unable to tell them because my anger at that takes over. Why is it so hard to just say that Luke is back in the picture?"

Stepping behind her as she turned to stare out of the window he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist from behind, "just take a deep breath and relax. I'm sure your Mom didn't mean anything by it because you are a fantastic Mother to Alex and he couldn't ask for anybody better."

Turning around in his arms she played with the lapels of his jacket, "you're just saying that because you're my boyfriend."

He couldn't help himself and his face broke out into a broad grin hearing her say the word 'boyfriend' which just confused her, "what the hell is so amusing about that?"

Biting down on his lip he averted his gaze to the floor, "you called me your boyfriend."

Tilting her head to the side she looked at him oddly, "so me calling you my boyfriend made you this happy?"

Nodding his head he took a small step back not sure if he'd done something wrong, "that would be correct."

Stepping forward and closing the gap between them again she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down a little before pressing a soft kiss to his lips, "your unbelievable cuteness has relaxed me a little so thank you, I'm still worried about it all though."

Wrapping his arms back around her waist he kissed the top of her head, "I know which is why I am even more convinced you need to just get tough and tell them to be quiet as you want to speak and just get it out."

"You clearly don't know my parents well, the only time they would be completely quiet is if you tied them up and gagged them."

Laughing softly he smirked, "that could always be arranged."

Slapping his chest gently she shook her head, "now now, that is not very nice. The short term solution is just to avoid them."

"And you are going to do this how? They watch Alex for you so it is impossible for you not to see them twice a day."

Pulling back slightly she tilted her head down slightly before lifting just her eyes to look at him with a pout on her face, "you could do it for me, please?"

"No, no way Steph." He shook his head adamant that he wasn't going to let her avoid her parents, "I am not going to allow you to avoid them."

"Please Paul, just for tonight. I will pick Lucy up from your parents and you can get Alex from mine and then all will be right with the world."

Raising his eyebrow he looked at her curiously, "all will be right with the world?"

As much as she was hoping he would tell her parents about Luke she wasn't going to tell him that, "yeah. I avoid my parents, Alex sees you, I see Lucy and everything is right with the world. Please Paul."

She pouted even more to tug even further on his heart strings and nearly jumped for joy when he let out a heavy sigh, "okay okay. Just this one time I will pick Alex up for you."

Hugging him tightly she smiled genuinely, "thank you, that's taken a load off of my mind."

Paul just nodded, she was soon going to have him wrapped around her little finger, "I should go back to work, I will see you at lunch."

Stephanie nodded, "thank you Paul . . . for everything."

He just smiled and nodded before turning to leave her office allowing her to go back to her desk and take a seat, with any luck her parents would have Luke's appearance confirmed by Paul and she could avoid the third degree.