Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, except the ones that you don't recognize. Disney and Alliance Atlantis and so forth own them all.

Note: *~*~* means a switch from present time to the time in the book and vice versa; ~~~~~ means a switch between different scenes; and ***** means a switch from past to present in the book or flashbacks. The italics are mostly when someone's thoughts.

Realization of Fate

The Much Anticipated Reunion

Kingsport. Despite the few changes on the landscapes and the abundance of newly built houses, it was still the same place as she had last remembered. It was still her home. Surprisingly, all of her close friends, as well as her family, remained in this peaceful little town. Of course, they all went on their separate paths during their college years, but they all came back. It was only her that went away. Farther than she had ever imagined herself go.

It might have been a rational decision then, for she hoped the great gap the Atlantic Ocean would serve would isolate her from the problems she purposely left. She now realized that she was mistaken. It took her five long years to realize that the past can catch up to you in the long run. And now she was back again to Kingsport. The place that started everything.

Val looked around Caitie and Jamie's house. The Waites. She liked calling them that. Jamie was a year younger than Caitie. Their lasting romance started on Caitie's senior year. After Caitie graduated, she never thought that they would get through all the obstacles and stay together. The biggest surprise was when the two got married. And now here they are in a nice cozy house with their two little kids, looking as happy as they had been almost ten years ago.

"Val?" Jamie asked as he entered a room where Val was standing. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just looking around. You have a really nice place. Is this your office?"

"Nope. It's my dear wife's."

"Caitie's a lawyer, right?"

"The toughest in the business," Jamie smiled. "And as you know, she's also a writer or author. Whatever you want to call it."

"I remember. I love her novels. I have copies of them at home…in England. Well, how about you, Jamie? What do you do?"

"I do what I do best," he said proudly.

"You race?"

"Well, I'm good at that, too, but I'm actually a doctor. An emergency medical physician and proud member of the ACEP organization."

"That's great. Congratulations. No wonder you two have such a nice house. I'm just a pediatrician."

"That makes two of you. Hank is one as well."

"And that makes two lawyers: Caitie and Tyler."

"If you think we have a nice house, you should take a look at Tyler's. That guy has a mansion. And I'm not exaggerating. Of course, he owns his own firm. Caitie works at his firm. Did she tell you that?"

"No, but at least they're getting along," Val smiled. "Wait, Brooke has the same job as you."

"So I heard. She's actually taking over Alex's job at the station. I think she'll make a good Alex."

"Definitely."

Val and Jamie headed to the living room where the kids are. Suddenly the front door opened and steady footsteps entered the house.

"I'm here," the individual called out.

Instantly, the three kids, sans the newcomer, ran and headed for the door to meet the visitor. Alyssa was left sitting on the floor, still surprised and equally confused as Val to what had just happened.

"Uncle Tyler! /What took you so long? /Let's play football!" yelled Malcolm, Chrissy, and Kyle, respectively.

Tyler kneeled down on one knee as the three kids threw themselves at him. His briefcase fell forgotten to the floor.

"Hey munchkins!" Tyler greeted as he gave each one of them a kiss as they greeted him in return. "Hey guys!"

Caitie waved at him as she emerged from the kitchen. Hank also greeted him as he came from upstairs. The kids still clung to him. Tyler loved his nephews and niece, even though they're not really his nephews and niece. The kids loved him equally the same. Val stood from afar as she watched the displays of affection shown between the kids and the lone adult in a suit.

"The kids love him," Jamie whispered from behind. "I don't know why but he's like their big playmate."

Val nodded and looked at Alyssa, who was still playing with the toys.

"I'll go get her," Jamie offered as she approached Alyssa.

Meanwhile, Tyler's attention was still focused on the other children.

"I'm sorry I was late, kids. I was busy at work. We'll play football later, okay? Why don't you go back and play."

The three all nodded and smiled in glee. Tyler watched the three run to the living room and smiled to himself. As he was about to pick up his briefcase, the image of a blond little girl came to his view.

"Daddy!" she cried happily as she saw and ran towards Tyler.

"Oh my God…Alyssa," he muttered softly as he engulfed her in a tight embrace. "How are you, sweetie?"

Val looked at the two and almost came into tears at the sight. It might have been because of the happiness she felt, or maybe because Tyler's eyes were starting to water and his voice cracked.

"Good, the guy in the plane let me see the pilot's room!"

"Really? That's great!" Tyler said as he looked at his daughter once again. "I miss you so much, you know that?"

"Daddy, you're hurting me," Alyssa said in referral to Tyler's tight hug.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I mean, I can't believe you're here. What are you doing here?"

"I miss you too, Daddy," Alyssa said before embracing Tyler once again and putting her head on his shoulders.

Tyler, my ex-boyfriend, was a really dedicated father. Even though we didn't live in Kingsport anymore, he was always in England to see her. Of course, it was an easy task for him. His law firm, Connell Law, which he inherited from his late father, had a division in England. He was very sweet and understanding, but my biggest fear by then was to fall in love with him again.

Tyler stood up with Alyssa still in his arms. It was then that he saw Val. It was only a few weeks ago that he last saw her and Alyssa. And now here she was, standing right in front of him with a smile on her face.

"Hey!" Val greeted.

"Thank you," Tyler said as he hugged Val, who was thoroughly caught off guard. "I missed this little angel."

"You're welcome."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Didn't you like the surprise?"

"I did, but you should have told me still. Well, it's great to see you again."

"Same here. I never knew you were so popular with the kids."

Tyler laughed.

"Where's Seth?"

"Seth…well…Seth stayed in England. We're staying her for a while."

When I moved in England, I met this stockbroker/psychiatrist, Seth. He was a very sweet guy, and he respected me. We were very lonely, and after a short while, we decided to get married. Just after a while we started seeing that love was in fact the most important factor to make a marriage work.

"So where are you two staying then?"

"We're staying at a nearby hotel downtown."

"Whoa…I get to see my daughter for this long in Kingsport for the first time and you're staying in a hotel?" asked Tyler. "I don't think so."

"I want to stay with Daddy," exclaimed Alyssa.

Val kept looking at both of them, who are looking at her with puppy eyes, still holding each other.

"Okay," Val said after finally giving up. "You win."

"Daddy? What's your age?"

Tyler first held up two fingers on his one hand, and then raised eight fingers using both his hands.

"That's twenty-eight."

"That's right."

"Is that more than ten?" she asked curiously.

"It's way more than ten, honey."

"But Uncle Hank said that you can't say your age with your fingers if you're age is more than ten."

"That's because Uncle Hank is no fun," Tyler joked.

Alyssa laughed as Tyler put her down. She quickly ran back to play.

"That wasn't very nice," Val kidded.

"Well, now that this little reunion is over, let's eat," Jamie said as they lead the two to the dining table.

The door opened once again. Val headed towards the door to see the new visitor. The kids, Alyssa now included, ran to the door and greeted the visitor. Val laughed at the sight. She was glad her daughter was getting along with the other kids.

The visitor was none other than Brooke Lanier, who was four years Val's junior. Brooke greeted the kids in a much calmer manner than Tyler, but like him, the new face also surprised her.

"Aly!" she cried as she lifted her niece, her real niece, to her arms. "I missed you."

"Aunt Brooke!" she cried. "The guy in the plane let me see the pilot's room."

"It's called 'cabin,' dear," Brooke told her.

"That's what Mommy said, but I like 'room' best."

"It's better, sweetie," Brooke corrected her once again.

"Brooke! Lay off the kid," said Val with a laugh. "She's only four."

"Hey sis!" she greeted as she hugged the person she hadn't seen for over six months. "You look great."

"Same to you. Come on. We're just starting dinner."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is really good," exclaimed Val as she took a bite off of the food she had never encountered before. "What is this called?"

"Bœuf à la Gardiane," Jamie said with pride in a French accent. "A Waite family classic dish. It's basically a beef and wine stew, with the obvious black olives."

"You cooked this?" Val asked. "You never strike me as the cooking type."

"Me neither," Caitie called out, who was attending to the children.

"I have my secrets," Jamie flashed them a smile.

"So, do you guys eat here all the time?" inquired Val.

"Well, only on Fridays," Brooke started to explain. "On Saturdays, we eat at Hank's place. On alternating Saturdays, it's either Hank or I cook, but it's still in his place because my apartment is not that big."

"What about Sunday?"

"You dine at Chez Connell," said Tyler in a true chef fashion.

"You cook as well?"

"How come you're surprised about Jamie and I cooking, and not Hank or Brooke?" complained Tyler, but smiled to hint he was just playing around.

"Well, I know Brooke can cook, and Hank is good at everything, right Hank?"

"Damn straight!" Hank replied.

Everyone at the table laugh until Caitie came over.

"As much as I hate to ruin the fun, I prefer you not to use any cuss words when children are around, Dr. Beecham," Caitie said in a prim tone. "You should know better. Shame on you."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my darling wife," Jamie stood up and pointed to Caitie as he got a bunch of claps from the rest of the gang who decided to play along.

The night went on with laughs and jokes as the group reminisced on the old days as well as the present.

It was probably the best dinner of my life. The best night to simply put it. It felt great to be back again with such great company. For a moment, all the worries and problems in my head disappeared. Nothing seemed to exist. It was just my best friends, our children, and I. For the first time in months, maybe in years in fact, I could finally say that I was content.

The dinner was finally over and all the games were played. After everything was said and done, they all said their good byes as another gathering came to an end.

"Bye Hank!" called out Val. "Bye Malcolm! It was nice meeting you. See you tomorrow."

Hank held Malcolm's hand as they waved goodbye and went in Hank's car. In a jiffy, the car left the driveway. Brooke left next after saying goodbye to the kids and everyone. Jamie helped Tyler in putting Alyssa and Val's luggage into Tyler's car.

"Thanks Jamie," Val said as she gave him one last hug. "And take care of Caitie and the kids."

"Of course," Jamie said.

"Is she coming out?"

"She's putting the kids to bed right now. It's a hard task."

"I can only imagine. Bye Jamie. See you tomorrow."

"See ya!" Jamie said as Val got in the car.

"Until next time, Jamie," said Tyler.

"Bye man. Take care."

After everyone left, Jamie returned inside his house.

"Jamie!" yelled Caitie. "Can you help me out here?"

"Coming!" he said as he ran up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they parked on Tyler's driveway, Val could only stare at the enormous sight in front of her.

"Wow…Jamie wasn't kidding."

"Kidding? About what?"

"About your house being big."

Tyler smiled and woke Alyssa up.

"Alyssa, we're home."

Alyssa woke up and blink three times before everything came into focus.

"You live in a castle?" she asked Tyler.

"Sure," he said. "Do you want to be my princess?"

"Can I, Mommy?" she looked at Val with pleading eyes.

"Certainly."

The three got out of the car after Tyler parked his auto in the garage, which donned six more vehicles.

"You're garage is a lot bigger than Seth's room and I," Val said in amazement. "And you live here all by yourself."

"Technically, no," replied Tyler. "I have people come once in a while to help me clean and all."

"But still, they don't leave here. So that makes you alone."

"Well, not really," Tyler said once again as they approached. "Aly, would you like to meet somebody?"

"Who?"

"Well, she's very special to me as well."

"Oh, it's a girl," Val said but mentally slapped herself for sounding a bit jealous. 'So she lives with him. He did mention he was dating somebody. But still…Still what? You're married…well, at least you're still married, but then…Then what? I need help.'

Tyler looked at her weirdly.

"Are you all right, Val? You just zoned out a while ago."

"I'm fun, I mean, I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Okay, so we can come in now."

"Where…oh right…let's go."

As they entered the house, well, the outside portion of it does not compare to what was inside. It was just like a mansion like Jamie mentioned. A house fit for a king. Out of the blue, Tyler whistled some kind of tune.

"What was that?" asked Val.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet Jessica."

In a flash, Val heard a barking from a distance. 'OK, that doesn't sound like a girl…or does it?'

"You have a dog!" cried Alyssa as a golden retriever appeared and headed towards Tyler.

Val couldn't help but recall the sight of Tyler with the kids at the Waites' house.

"This is Jessica or Jessie. My dog."

Alyssa kept giggling as the dog instantly played with her.

"You didn't tell me you had a dog," Val said.

"Well, you didn't tell me you were coming either," countered Tyler, but smiled all the same. "Don't worry. She won't bite. See, the two of them are getting along."

Val looked at her daughter and a smile came to her face as well. She went over the dog and patted its head. To her surprise, the dog didn't seem to flinch.

"She never went near or was this kind to strangers this quickly before," Tyler said. "Not even to me."

"Maybe she likes us better," Val said as she looked at the dog. "She's cute."

"She's only two years old."

"Really? Where does she sleep? Outside?"

"She has her own room."

"Really? Oh, that reminds me, where are we sleeping? How many rooms do you have anyway?"

"There are plenty of rooms around, but I never counted," Tyler smiled. "Pick one. In the meantime, I'll get your luggage."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Val just picked the closest room she could find. Tyler and Alyssa went upstairs later on as Tyler carried the last batch of the luggage.

"Okay, now you go brush your teeth and let's go to bed, Missy. Mommy has to rest over here."

"Can I sleep with Daddy tonight?"

"Ah, but then who's going to sleep with me?" she said while jokingly hugging her.

"We all sleep together! Everyone!"

Tyler and Val exchanged looks and laughed.

"All right, you can sleep with him. Now go brush your teeth, okay? I'll be right there to help you."

"Oh, it's okay. If she uses my bathroom, there's a little stool I use whenever the kids are around."

Tyler took Alyssa in his arms and led her to his bathroom. A few minutes later, he came out and talked to Val.

"So, how long are you two going to stay over? I want to enjoy this little girl as much as I can."

"Oh, don't worry. We won't bother you here for much longer."

"What?!?"

"No, I mean, here in your house."

"You're not bothering me. I told you already. You can stay for as long as you're staying over in Kingsport. I need some time with her."

"Yeah, but…Oh God, this is so hard to say."

"What is it?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm…The thing is…I'm thinking about moving back in here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that took me long enough. I'm really thankful to all of those who reviewed the first chapter. I'm glad you liked it. There will be more. This one was a bit longer than the other was, but I hope you like this as well. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182.