The next morning, Alistair sat in the den, reeling at last night's events.  Everything he had laid out so carefully had been destroyed, all with the return of the one Crane over whom he had no control.  He briefly toyed with the idea of having her killed, but quickly scrapped that approach as too risky.  She was much too powerful to safely do away with, and besides, she seemed to know everything that was going on.  No, the only hope he had of regaining some semblance of power was to do what she says and hope that she'll become satisfied and leave. 

            As if he didn't already have enough on his mind, he'd also just gotten the news that his granddaughter Laura wasn't really his granddaughter at all!  He'd never been particularly fond of the girl, but it made his blood boil to think that not one, but two Bennetts had been raised on Crane money!  That would of course stop right now, though he'd pay her hospital bills in order to avoid even more bad publicity.  What really bothered him, though, was the fact that his real granddaughter had been raised by that disgustingly middle class family.  Who knows how much she had absorbed from them, and whether or not the damage could be undone?  God knows he didn't need another do-gooder like Sheridan to contend with, and Julian oafishly had to suggest she move in as soon as her parentage was confirmed, before he even had a chance to assess her!

            Normally, Alistair would have bawled Julian out for such an action, but he now had to clear every move he made with that impossible vampiress.  At least they agreed upon one issue: that the new infant Crane's education must be given the utmost attention, and that it would be permissible for Theresa to remain in the picture as his son's trophy wife.

            As Alistair was contemplating his next move, Julian entered the study. "Uh, Father, I think we need to discuss what to do about Theresa..."

*****    

            A knock on her door yanked Theresa out of the dream world she was enjoying.  It was such a good dream too; Ethan had taken her back and proposed again.  It seemed so real, as if—

            "Theresa?  Are you up?"

            Ethan!  She remembered everything now.  It had really happened!  Beaming, Theresa practically jumped out of bed, and ran to open the door.  Facing her was Ethan, holding a dozen long-stemmed roses.

            "Oh, Ethan!  Thank you so much.  They're beautiful!"  Placing the flowers carefully on the table, she embraced him joyously.

            "How are my two favorite people this morning?"

            "Absolutely wonderful!  I couldn't be better, and Little Ethan is sleeping soundly."

            Ethan walked over to the cradle in her room, gazing fondly at the sleeping baby.  "He's such a sweet little fellow."

            "An angel," Theresa agreed.  "I've always dreamt of this moment, though I thought you'd be my baby's father."  A frown darkened her features.

            Ethan caressed his beloved tenderly.  "I will be, I promise.  I'll be a father to him, and nothing will ever tear the three of us apart."

            Theresa looked up at him, slightly alarmed.  "I hope so, Ethan.  All of a sudden, I got this really bad feeling.  Whenever it seems that things are finally going right, something horrible always happens to us."
            Ethan held her tightly, reassuring her.  "But that was always because of a secret.  We haven't got any between us now.  We don't, do we?"

            Theresa laughed.  "No, that's one thing I can honestly promise now, I'm not keeping anything from you anymore."

            "Well, then, everything's going to be all right.  All that's left now is for you to get a divorce from Julian."

            "That's right!  I'd better go talk to him right now!  I want to be able to marry you as soon possible."

            "Do you want me to come with and help in the negotiation?" Ethan asked, concerned.

            "No, I can do this myself.  Besides, I don't want anything from him anymore.  I've learned my lesson, and all I want is my baby and a life with you." 

            After a quick kiss, Theresa ran off to get dressed and find Julian.

*****

            Alistair and Julian's conversation was cut short when an urgent Theresa stormed in.  "Julian, we need to talk.  Now that you're alive and everything, I need a div—"

            Suddenly, she noticed that he was not alone in the room.  "Uh, Alistair, I didn't realize you were here."

            "Oh, don't mind me.  Go ahead with whatever you were saying."

            Though Theresa was feeling very uncomfortable about the whole situation, she braced herself and continued.  "Well, Julian, I want a divorce immediately!"

            Remembering his father's word only minutes ago, Julian immediately objected.  "Absolutely out of the question!"

            But Alistair had another approach in mind.  "Nonsense, Julian, Theresa is free to get a divorce if she so desires."

            But, Father!  You said—"

            Alistair shut his son up with a look that clearly showed he knew exactly what he was doing.  "That's enough!"  He then turned to Theresa, saying, "I'm sure we can come to an arrangement suitable for everyone concerned."

            Theresa couldn't believe it.  This was going better than she ever could have imagined!  Still, she was determined to be careful, and not sabotage everything through greed.  "I don't want anything, except to not be married to Julian."

            "Well, then, this won't be difficult at all!  The papers can be arranged in no time whatsoever, and we can get this unpleasant matter resolved.  Oh, there's just one little matter left to discuss."

            "Yes?"

            Alistair now smiled coldly.  "Your son will, of course remain at the mansion, to be brought up in the proper manner for a young man of his station.  If you'd like, you may visit him one weekend a month and on holidays."

Alistair's words struck Theresa like a blow to the chest.  "You can't mean you're taking custody of him?" she gasped.

            "Of course I am.  He is, after all, my legitimate grandson, and will grow up as such."

            "I'll fight you, Alistair, I swear to God I will," Theresa shook as she spoke.

            Alistair laughed derisively.  "And you'll lose.  If I can arrange a whole phony execution, I can certainly beat you in court for custody of Ethan-Martin."

            "Please, Alistair, I'll do anything!  You can't take away my baby, you just can't!"

            "I'm sorry, Theresa, the Cranes will have custody.  The only way you can be with him is to remain at the mansion as Mrs. Crane."

            Theresa's gaze met Alistair's, her expression conveying a certain purity of hatred.  "Damn you, Alistair, God damn you," she said in a low but even tone.  The only thing she could think about was how completely she despised this man who could and would so thoughtlessly take away anyone and everyone she cared about.

            Before the billionaire could reply, the phone rang.  Alistair took it, listening intently.  "Hello...Really?...Will be there...Yes, most anxious..."

            "That was the hospital.  The results of the blood test will be in soon.  Julian, you should go.  Ivy never left the hospital."  Nodding brusquely, Julian left the room.  "As for me, I have some business to attend to, so Theresa, you might want to get some air, think everything over.  There's no rush after all."  With that, he directed the girl out of his study and allowed himself the quiet satisfaction of a job well done.

*****

            Laura Crane opened her eyes, and immediately wished that she hadn't.  The bright light in the white room hurt her eyes, and she realized that her body ached badly all over.  When it sank in that she was in a hospital room, she became slightly panicked.  Why was she here?  What had happened to her?  Finally, she remembered being near Harmony, when that stupid kid on his bike darted out right in front of her, and she'd swerved, crashing head-on into a tree trunk.  Thank God she'd been in that Mercedes; it had surely saved her life.

            Glancing around the room, she noticed something else: her mother, looking as if she had been up all night, sitting by the bed in her wheelchair, dozing off a bit.  From what Laura could tell, it seemed to be late morning, and it surprised her that her mother had sat up with her for so long.  Instinctively, her heart softened a bit towards her, momentarily forgiving her mother, before remembering that one gesture of concern doesn't make up for years of near neglect.

            Laura and her sisters had long ago learned to do without the full attention of their parents, accepting bitterly that Ethan would always come first.  They had understood that the simple fact that he was male made him more important to Julian and Alistair, but they always wondered why he took such priority with Ivy.  Finally, when the tabloid came out saying Ethan wasn't a Crane it all made sense: Ethan had been conceived with their mother's true love, while they were fathered by a man she loathed intensely.  The knowledge hurt a great deal, and the sisters had been too angry to come home since.  The only reason Laura had even come home was that her sisters had decided that she should return and help claim whatever assets she could for the three from the estate that had been so unstable since their father's murder.  Since she had just graduated from her boarding high school, they figured that she would be freest to do so, plus she was considered to be the least likely to cheat the other two out of their share of the money.

            Slowly, Ivy began to stir, and realized that Laura was staring back at her.  "Honey!  You're awake!  Are you feeling okay?"  Ivy made a fuss over her, and in an uneasy manner that perplexed the girl.  It felt strange to be her mother's center of attention, and she had never seen her act nervous at all, but now she carried on like she had no idea what to do.

            "Mother, I remember smashing the car, but then it all went black.  How badly was I injured, and why are you here?"

            "It was touch and go for a while, but Dr. Russell says you'll be fine soon, maybe even able to check out in as little as a week.  As for your other question, I'm here because I care about you, and I was worried."

            Laura stifled the urge to point out that Ivy had never before shown much concern for her, and instead asked another question that was on her mind.  "What happened with the execution?  Was the housekeeper's daughter executed for Father's murder?"

            Ivy laughed ruefully.  "That's a long story I don't want to really go into right now.  Let's just say that, yes, she was executed, but no, she's not dead.  Nor, for that matter, is Julian.  Turns out, he was in hiding the entire time and only resurfaced last night."

            Laura stared at her mother incredulously.  "Geesh, what else did I miss while I was out?"

            This was the part Ivy had been dreading.  She had spent hours trying to devise a good way to break the news, but had come up empty.  Taking a deep breath, she decided to just say it.  "I know this will be very shocking and extremely hard for you, but I want you to know that I still love you.  The truth is, it's just come out that, I don't know how to say this, that you're not a Crane!"

            "Oh no, Mother!  Don't tell me you had another affair with that Chief Bennett, and I'm the result!" Laura replied, wondering why, if this was the case, Ivy had not paid more attention to her, like she had to Ethan.

            "No I didn't!  Why does everybody keep jumping to that conclusion?" Ivy protested in indignation.  "It does have to do with Sam though.  You see, you were given a blood test while you were unconscious, and it revealed that it's genetically impossible for Julian and I to be your parents.  Ironically, the doctor believes that you were switched at birth, and that you're actually the daughter of Sam Bennett and his wife."

            Laura was initially rendered incapable of any speech.  It was as if her entire existence had been taken away and rendered meaningless.  Her identity was gone, and she was nobody and nothing at all.  Before, she'd at least had a place in the world.  True, it was a place that she often wasn't happy with, but for better or for worse, she had known who she was.  But now, she wasn't really the girl she had portrayed for the past eighteen years; it was all an illusion, a role she had usurped from somebody else.  Worse, she didn't even know what kind of person she was meant to be, or what kind of family she should have had.  "I'm nothing," she whispered absently.

            "No, you're not, Laura, and I love you."

            "Love me?  You don't even know me!  Not really, anyway.  You never took the time, not with me or my other sis-, well, not my sisters, but your daughters!"

            Ivy broke down at this point.  "And I'm sorry!  I can't tell you how sorry I am for everything.  I was wrong to ignore you, and I just want a chance to make things right with us."

            Seeing Ivy let down her guard made Laura relent a little, but it didn't change anything.  Laura realized what was going on: the car crash had caused Ivy to feel guilty about her past actions, and the blood test had only heightened her remorse, compelling her to try to forge a relationship.  Although Laura could understand the motivations, and even pity her former mother a bit, she knew that certain things could never be fixed.  "I'm sorry, but after all this time it's just too late.  I don't even completely blame you for anything.  I can't know what it was like for you all these years, and I can't be sure I would have acted any differently.  It's just a lot of bad circumstances, but it's too much.  We've never been close before, and now we never can be.  Maybe you can make up for everything with your real daughter.  Now, please, I'm really tired and I'd like to be left alone."

*****

            On her way out of Laura's room, Ivy bumped into Julian marching purposefully towards Dr. Eve's office.  "She hates me," Ivy muttered emptily.

            "Who exactly are you talking about, my sweet?  There are simply too many possibilities for me to guess."

            Ivy was in no mood for banter.  "Laura.  She woke up, I told her everything, and she wants nothing to do with me."

            "And you're what, surprised at this?  You've ignored the girl her entire life in favor of your precious Ethan, then you tell her she's not even your daughter.  What did you expect, that the two of you would bond, do each other's nails, and talk about boys?"

            "Not funny," Ivy replied testily.  "And if she hates me, she must absolutely loathe you.  In fact, she didn't even seem to care very much when I mentioned that you were alive.  Why are you here?  I'm sure you didn't drag yourself out of bed at this early hour of a quarter 'till noon just to see her."

            "As a matter of fact, the Bennett blood test results should be in now.  You're welcome to come with me, if you'd like to know if that Kay girl is yet another daughter for you to overlook."

            Too exhausted, physically and mentally, to reply, Ivy followed Julian into the office.  Already present were the Bennetts and Kay, and Dr. Russell, who cleared her throat and began speaking.  "Now that you're all here, I can give you the results.  I wish it wasn't so, but, Kay, Ivy and Julian are indeed your parents."

            In the midst of everything, Ivy noticed that, although Sam and Grace were beside themselves, Kay did not seem terribly upset at the news.  In fact, the closest description of her expression was...relief.  Perhaps she really did have a chance with this daughter!  She knew that Laura had spoken truthfully, and she had lost her for good.  As for the other two, they would almost certainly be even less receptive towards any gestures of reconciliation than Laura had been.  Ivy had to face the facts: she had screwed up royally, and now had to deal with the consequences.  Her only hope for any sort of redemption was now with Kay.  It was as if she had a second chance to do right by one of her daughters, at least, and she was not going to waste it!