It was almost two in the morning and the three occupants of Laura's apartment sat still and silent, mesmerised by a made for TV movie that really didn't deserve such attention. No one knew what to say. After the discussion earlier, any subsequent conversation was small talk; choosing from a pizza menu, choosing a movie, choosing to do anything but get closer to each other.

Laura listened for the phone to ring, or the doorbell or the news report that the police had promised to put together in order to help find her son. No one seemed to be doing anything and sitting there was really beginning to get to her. She bit her nails to the quick, trembled constantly and her left eye occasionally twitched with a will of its own. Her worst nightmares were coming true and yet she still felt the routine concerns absorb her. Right now her thoughts were lost in etiquette.

'What if Jack wouldn't like this boyfriend of hers? I can't let them sleep together in my bed… in our bed; if he would hate him. But I can't really tell her I disagree; as she and I both know and have stated very clearly; I am not her mother.'

"I am pretty tired; I think I might need to go to sleep soon." Laura remarked without meeting her guests' eyes at all. Thankfully Eddie seemed like a good man; he was eager to keep the peace and to find compromise between their two equally strong personalities.

"Yes, I'm quite tired myself, after all that driving; Kim?" the way he spoke to her, it was as though he himself wasn't completely sure what protocol to follow when making sleeping arrangements. "I'll be quite happy to sleep on the couch."

Somehow Laura felt more reluctant to share that than her own bed. She and Jack had a lot of 'firsts' on that couch and she remembered the comfort of his arms so much more clearly with the accompanied smell of old leather that emanated from it.

"No, you two can have my bed; I'll change the sheets and sleep out here." Eddie was about to protest but she silenced him with a pat on the arm. "I'd rather be near the phone anyway. It's no problem… I mean if it's okay with the both of you?" She met Kim's glance for the first real time since their rather impassioned conversation, and was pleased to see a slight smile.

"I don't think that my Dad would really approve…" Kim was trying to build a few bridges; it was clear Laura wasn't going anywhere and insulting her for no good reason, would only make her father angrier when he eventually came back. It was time to button her lip and get on with making friends. Okay, she didn't really want to be friends with Laura, but it couldn't hurt to go through the motions until she could get Jack back to his old self again.

"Well it did cross my mind, but I can do little about it… all I can say for sure is that he wanted you to be happy… you seem happy with Eddie and Jack mentioned you two getting along well at one time…"

"Did he?" Eddie said, with a barely restrained excitement. Kim sighed and smiled at Laura while shaking her head at her boyfriend.

"I'd think you had competition, Laura; but apparently he just thinks of him like a father figure!" Laura laughed. It was the first time since all this happened that she had felt even a moment of cheer. The guilt crept into her quickly and she nodded before making some comment about Jack being a good father figure to Alfie too.

"Anyway, I'll make up the bed… is there anything you need?" Laura seemed distracted and Kim felt a wave of pity for the woman that she hadn't expected to feel at all.

"No, we are okay, I have my toothbrush and…" She watched an awkward expression grow on Laura's face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure I should ask this… it doesn't feel like my place, but I know Jack…" Kim looked confused but Eddie picked up on the meaning quickly and countered it before any further embarrassment was caused.

"We aren't actually sleeping together… you know… it's still pretty new and… thank you for the concern though, Laura." Kim suddenly realised what Laura was talking about and gave an almost silent gasp of surprise.

"Do you have any?" she said without showing any shyness at all. Laura was taken aback by this frank attitude, but didn't think it her place to make judgement… other than the fact that she was at least a fairly sensible girl.

"I think so…" Laura began, going to the bedroom dresser. "I think Jack bought some…" Kim was relieved to find the packet unopened and smiled a rather superior looking smile. Which Eddie seemed to think inappropriate and frowned at Kim. "Not that I'm encouraging anything… I don't think Jack would be keen on being a grandpa just yet…"

She was trying hard to appeal to Kim's heart. It seemed to be having little effect.

"So you and Dad haven't had sex yet, either?" Kim said, turning the cellophane wrapped carton in her hand. Laura felt her cheeks flush red at the question and wished she had never brought the subject up. She only just found out they were going to get married and now she had to explain that she and Jack had decided on other major things in their lives, seemingly over night.

"Yes, we have….err… we decided that we didn't want to take precautions… I mean we are both healthy and all that; well at least in regards to…" It was beginning to get a little embarrassing for her and she knew that with each word she was digging a deeper hole for herself.

"So you are planning to have kids together? Are you trying to trap him here with you?" Kim said snidely.

"Kim!" Eddie chastised. "You shouldn't speak to Laura like that." Kim turned on him with such a rage that Laura actually thought she'd strike the young man.

"Ed, don't tell me what to do. You want Jack to be your Dad, you can call her Mom if you want, but I'm not! I don't have to do anything for her…" She was losing the power in her voice as she watched Laura's expression change. Somehow she knew not to push too hard, however angry and hurt she felt.

"No, Kim, you don't… you are an adult… you can do what you wish. You don't have to respect my wishes… hell, you're old enough now, that you could ignore your father's wishes too. You don't need him to tell you how to live your life…" Kim felt like this was another way for Laura to take Jack from her, and her anger and spite built up once more.

"Yes I do! He's my Dad, stop trying to take him from me. You don't know what I need; you can't steal him away, you know; you can't take him just like that. I won't let you!"

"Kimberly, you're right. I can't take your father from you. He isn't a seven year old child… I can't kidnap him and keep him hidden away as my own." The reality of her pain made her angry too, and with that anger, came a desire to get her own back. Laura was stubborn, more so than Jack in fact, and she wasn't going to take anymore of this whining. She wouldn't let her own son speak to her that way and she wasn't going to let her fiancé's daughter do it either. Eddie and Kim had both acquired guilty looks with her words, and Laura thought it time to put all this to bed, once and for all.

"Thing is Kim, no matter how you take someone physically, you can never take their heart. Your father gave that to me willingly. I didn't take him from you. He left LA a broken man and I've been putting him back together. He's found out a lot about himself over the last few months and he knows what he wants." She paused more for affect than anything else.

"You know him as well as I do; he's not a man to be indecisive about his desires… he chose me, Kim. He chose me and Alfie, and when you see him again you'll understand why he made that decision."

Laura left it at that and silently prepared the bed; taking the pillow and quilt, that smelt of Jack, with her to the couch. Okay she did want to steal him away… that part of him she needed right now, more than anything.

Kim and Eddie went to bed and never spoke a word to each other until ten minutes after the light went out.

"Eddie, he's not decisive about what he wants, at all. At least he never was with me… he put all that aside. Do you think he has changed that much?" But no answer came. Eddie had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Kim lay in the darkness wondering what Jack might be, when or if he returned. All this time she wanted her Daddy back, but something was becoming very clear to her. He was gone. He wasn't the same man anymore and they didn't have the same lives… What would he be like when she saw him again? Would he still be her Dad, the way she knew him? Laura talked of him like he was a loving, affectionate and sharing man. He'd tried to be that with his daughter but never enough with his wife. Teri couldn't bring that out of him, even after eighteen years of marriage! As she drifted to a restless sleep, she wondered what power Laura had over her father. How could someone change another person like that?

Her answer came all too easily. He wanted to change. He hated the man he was and he hated his life… He wants this and he wants her… one question remained.

"Does he still want me?"