AN: jram: I'm back! Sorry it took so long. Looks like I've got some free time ahead though :DD

"Hey!' Brenda greeted Dylan once he got in the door, "Thought you weren't coming home at all." She joked. Dylan remained silent as he noticed her, James and Pamela all cozy in the living room. He was met with Hellos from his son and Pam.

"Listen..." Dylan began, "Pam, would you mind going home, sweetheart? I need to talk to my family." His words were warm but his tone wasn't. "Your mother is probably wondering where you are too."

"Dad." James huffed

"No, no." Pamela chimed in, "He's right. I should get going. Call me later?" She kissed his cheek before grabbing her bag and heading out.

"Seriously?" James groaned, "Again?"

Dylan exhaled loudly in response.

"Well, I guess now we have time to talk about Palm Springs." James insisted

"Not now, Jim." Dylan said sternly

"But dad-" James pleaded

"-Dammit Jimmy not now!" Dylan growled, causing Brenda's eyes to widen. "I need to talk to your mother right now." James scoffed and went off to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Dylan." Brenda warned, "What is the matter with you?"

Dylan made his way over to the couch and rested his head back. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "Bren..." He whispered, not knowing where to start

"What is it?" She encouraged

Dylan cleared his throat and looked down at the floor, "...Kelly ...had a kid 17 years ago. Gave the baby up for adoption. I was with her just now."

Brenda pursed her lips and closed her eyes, "Is it-?"

"Mine? Yeah..." He sighed, watching Brenda put her hand over her mouth. "He found me..."

"Oh... my god." Brenda let out an exasperated sigh. "Why didn't she mention this before? She can't just drop this bomb on us 17 years later!"

"Hey..." Dylan soothed, rubbing her knee, "She tried... It's no one's fault."

Brenda paused, seeing Dylan attempt to grabble with the news as positively as he could. "How are you?"

"I'm... better. I guess I just want to figure out what to do now. How do I tell Jim?"

"Oh god!" Brenda shook her head, "What about him and Pamela? This will crush him."

"I know..." Dylan held his head in his hands

"Hey..." She assured, "We've got this. We'll make it work out... for everyone."

"Can we not tell him yet? Give me a chance to ease the process with Cameron... you know, get to know my other son?"

"Of course." Brenda kissed him

"Hey, you're home!" Kelly greeted Pam as she walked through the door. She wanted to remain as upbeat as possible before dropping the bomb about Cameron on her daughter. She felt Pamela had already been through a lot with the divorce and all. "How was your night?"

"It was... nice." Pamela let out a smile.

"You really like James, huh?"

"I do." She grinned, joining her mother on the couch.

"Listen..." Kelly began, "I know things haven't been easy, but I promise you, me and your dad will make this as comfortable as possible. You know there will always be a lot of love there, you don't have to worry about that."

"I know." Pamela nodded

"And I know I may not be the most hands-on mother, or the most efficient right now. And in some way, you may feel like life has been a bit materialistic. Because you're right, I have struggled to let myself be present. Half the time I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to do better from now on."

"Mum, you're rambling." Pamela sighed, getting up from the couch. She then turned to her mother, "...The fact that you're rambling on, worrying about the right thing to do... means you're doing better than you think you are." She shot her a smile before heading up to her bedroom.

"Wow." Kelly thought to herself. "She gave me a compliment! Must be getting good at this in my old age."

"You gonna eat that?" Thomas asked as James had barely touched his sandwich

"No, take it." James handed it over, slouching onto a tree in the school quad

"What's the matter, man?" Thomas asked

"My dad won't let me take Pam to Palm Springs. He won't even discuss it." James scoffed, "I mean... Since when is he so..."

"Brandon-esque?" Thomas joked, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I don't know, man. He and I just aren't seeing eye to eye right now." James rubbed his eyes, "And I was really looking forward to a weekend alone with her."

"So go." Thomas insisted

"What?" James turned to face him

"Go anyway." Thomas shrugged

"I can't do that."

"Sure you can. Just say you're staying at a friend's. Choosing one won't be hard since your parents don't really talk to anyone here besides well, my parents."

"You think?" James sat upright, "But... how will I go?"

"Take my new wheels." Thomas grinned. James finally let out a smirk.

"Thanks man. You're the best brother I never had." He grinned as Thomas began rattling the car keys. "...How did you get the car anyway?"

"A bribe from my mum." Thomas sighed, "'Don't make your dad look bad in front of his associates. Quit smoking before your dad finds out and I'll get you the car.'" Thomas mocks his mother's tone.

"Wow, aunt Val and Uncle Brandon have very different parenting styles." James chuckled

"Look, as long as I do what my mother says and don't affect dad's business, she doesn't pay attention to what I'm doing."

"Hi." Kelly breathed out as Brenda opened her front door.

"Hi Kelly, come in." Brenda and Kelly quietly made their way to the kitchen table.

"How do you feel?" She asked

"Nervous." Kelly replied, "I mean, I barely know what I'm doing with Pammy. Now I've got a whole new kid and time to make up for."

"Yeah..." Brenda nodded, pouring coffee.

"I'm just so scared to mess this up and make things worse than they already are." Kelly brushed her hair back

"Wow." Brenda whispered to herself.

"What?" Kelly looked up at her.

"...You're still the same." Brenda seemed surprised. "You... you still don't have any faith in yourself."

"Well... I don't know." Kelly sighed

"You're here. As awkward as it is, you're here. Making an effort with Cameron. That's all we can do. It's a start."

"You don't think it'll be too much? Having this dinner?"

"Look it's just going to be us, him and Dylan. Baby steps."

"Yeah..." Kelly paused, "Dylan... is lucky to have someone like you at this time."

They both felt a little awkward once his name came up.

"Hey!" Dylan entered the house.

"Speak of the devil." Brenda drawled

"Oh, hi!" Dylan said once he saw Kelly in the kitchen. "You're early. That's not like you."

"Well, this is a big thing." Kelly said anxiously.

"I think maybe we went about this the wrong way..." Kelly said once they realized it had been 20 minutes and still no sign of Cameron.

"Must you over think everything?" Dylan sighed

"Well... maybe we should have reached out to his parents first." Kelly fiddled with her fingers

"Why? Do you think they'd mind?" Brenda asked

"Maybe..." Kelly shrugged

"Well, he's almost 18 now isn't he? His choice." Brenda added

"I don't know. This... feels like an ambush. Maybe we're all not ready to give him what he needs."

"Hey..." Dylan soothed, "Relax. We'll figure out the pace along the way." He gave her hand a little squeeze. Kelly quickly pulled away. She didn't need sparks flying right now.

"I'm gonna go..." Kelly stood up

"Sure?" He asked

"Yeah... He's not coming." Kelly turned to Brenda, "Thank you for all this."

Brenda shot her faint smile, but was preoccupied with the thought of Kelly's connection with Dylan, that Kelly was clearly avoiding. Brenda hadn't seen them in the same room for years, she had almost forgotten what their connection was like.

She then decided to follow Kelly to the door. "Kelly." She called out

"Yeah?" Kelly turned to face her. Brenda stepped outside and held the door slightly ajar.

"Try not to think so much. Cameron will come around."

"How do you know?" She asked

"Everyone just wants to know where they belong..."

Kelly remained silent. She had been so preoccupied with how hard it was to have Dylan and their history back, she'd almost forgotten about her relationship with Brenda and what it used to be.

As Brenda was about to turn back into the house, Kelly finally spoke:

"...How come, after everything that happened between Brandon and Dylan, they still found a way to work it out... And we never could." She breathed out

"I don't know..." Brenda paused, contemplating that thought, "I think, maybe... at least one, or both of us, has to no longer be in love with the person in the middle."

The tone shifted in that moment. Kelly exhaled through the tension. Was Brenda calling her out for still being in love with Dylan. Or perhaps it was because she was right that Kelly was thrown off. She bit her lip, before subtly whispering:

"...I hear ya."

"...Do you?" Brenda asked, causing Kelly to nod and head into her car silently.