Chapter 76
"Luis took the news better than I expected," Ethan mused, cupping his hands around the steaming mug of coffee Beth had just presented to him, "he didn't hit me." "Lucky for you," Beth told him, hoping the twinkle in her eyes wasn't completely visible, "I still think she should have told him from the beginning though, Ethan. The look in his eyes." she trailed off with a sigh as she took the seat opposite him. "It was Aunt Sheridan's." Ethan's spoon clinked against the ceramic mug as he stirred his coffee, and his blue eyes narrowed when the bells at the front of the Book Café tinkled, "decision. Mother didn't come home last night before I fell asleep. She's always at the cottage. Do you think they're sleeping together?" Beth gave Ivy and Shane a friendly wave then turned back to Ethan to find him pouting like a child. "It's their business, Ethan. What do you care? Your mother seems happy. I think Shane's good for her. God, you're so territorial about the women in your life. You may want to rethink your ideas that you and Luis don't have anything in common," Beth rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat and meeting Shane and Ivy halfway. "Territorial? I'm not territorial. I do not urinate on Mother's leg," Ethan muttered to himself, thinking it best to hide his gnashing teeth behind his coffee mug as Shane approached. And he used to like the man. "Morning, Ethan," Shane nodded, "mind if I.?" "Take it. Make yourself welcome," Ethan added under his breath. "Good morning, Darling," Ivy descended on them, giving Shane a special smile that had Ethan seeing red while Beth just groaned softly beside him. She expected a 'Mother, what about me?' to spill from Ethan's frowning mouth any minute now. "How was your dinner last night, Dear?" Ivy asked distractedly, smiling at something Shane whispered in her ear. "Dinner was fine until Luis nearly killed me for helping Aunt Sheridan keep a secret from him," Ethan answered her, pleased with the realization he now had her full attention. "Ethan!" Beth hissed, "Ivy, he's exaggerating. Luis was upset. That's all." "It's the money, isn't it?" Ivy surmised. "No matter how much they love each other, Sheridan's money-Crane money, has always been an issue with Luis because of his feelings toward Julian and Alistar," Ivy explained to Shane. "But his hate for Sheridan's Crane money pales in comparison to his love for her and the children. I hope he remembers that."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "I can't do it. Names are hard, Daddy," Ali sighed, dropping her pencil and notepad to her lap and crossing her arms about her chest. "Names ARE hard, AliCat," Luis agreed, perching on the edge of Ali's bed and cupping her stubbornly set jaw in the palm of his hand. "Your mommy and I didn't know what we were going to name you either, but from the moment we laid eyes on you, we knew you were definitely an 'Ali'." "Daddy," Ali giggled, helpless to hide the blush on her cheeks under Luis's intent gaze. "But it's Aunt Theresa's store. Store names are different." "The store will name itself. Now your new baby sister." Luis teased, "that's another story. Got any suggestions, AliCat?" Ali's blue eyes twinkled with excitement. "You mean I get to name the new baby too? What about Cristian? She's his baby too." A gentle smile graced Sheridan's lips at Ali's newfound energy and hopefulness, and her sleep-heavy lids fluttered open at Ali's comment. "She's everybody's baby," she answered, easing herself into a sitting position carefully, "and maybe we should meet her first before we give her a name. We don't want to name her Esmeralda if she's really more of an Ariel, do we?" Ali giggled, "What if she's a Jasmine?" "Or a Pocahontas?" Sheridan responded, causing Ali to giggle even harder and flash Luis a brilliant smile. "Pocahontas Lopez-Fitzgerald," Ali tried it out, her button nose scrunching up, "Mommy, that sounds." "Weird?" Sheridan laughed, standing up and taking a seat on Ali's free side. Ali gladly accepted her kiss good morning, wrapping her arms around her neck and smiling into her eyes. "Ms. Kinsay'd have to give her two sheets of paper to write her name on." "Are you two making fun of my name?" Luis's tone was teasing, but the humor didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Sort of," Ali admitted with a sheepish smile, "but it's my name too, Daddy, and I like it." "Who? Me? I LOVE my name," Sheridan went one step further than Ali, her bright smile freezing with Luis's "Which one?" "Mommy?" Ali's blue eyes welled with concern as an awkward silence descended on the room, and her parents seemed to stare at each other for several minutes without saying anything. She didn't understand what was going on, and it scared her. "Lopez-Fitzgerald, Daddy," Ali answered for her mother. "Mommy, is something wrong?" Ali whispered worriedly. She gripped her daddy's forearms are he cupped his big hands around her face and kissed her on the forehead. "Nothing's wrong, AliCat." Ali looked to her mommy for confirmation, and her relief was only minimal when Sheridan answered her by nodding her head and telling her nothing was wrong. If nothing was wrong, why did she sound like something was? "Mommy, do you want to see the new cards Daddy brought me?" Ali asked, hoping to bring the beautiful smile back to her mommy's face, "You got some mail too. It's in this really big envelope. Daddy won't tell me what it is, but it looks really important. Here," Ali handed over the manila envelope, watching her mommy's face expectantly as she carefully drew a bunch of papers out and scanned over them. "These are.Luis. Luis, wait. Luis, don't." "Good morning, Ali.Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," Dr. Matthews greeted with a smile as he entered the room on the heels of her daddy's departure, adding to Ali's already mounting confusion, "There's been a slight change of plans. Dr. Taylor's been called out of town, and he asked me to oversee your treatment for the next couple of days. Provided there are no objections. Are there any?"
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"You're lucky I love you more than my luggage," Abby winked at Miguel as she dumped the load of clothes in her arms into the washer, "I don't get all domestic for anybody." "Abby, you didn't have to." Miguel protested half-heartedly before Abby cut him off. "Things are crazy. From the looks of MJ's and Joshua's not-so-white clothes, you need the expertise of someone that knows how to wash colors. You need a woman like me," she told him with a teasing grin as she patted his cheek affectionately, "I promise. That wasn't a come-on." Miguel laughed, a sound so foreign from his lips these past few months Abby wasn't sure she'd really heard it. "Good. You still know how to do it. Have you eaten, Miguel? I'm not the cook Pilar is, but I'm not too shabby. Kay taught me how to make Joshua's favorite omelet.I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.She's been on my mind a lot lately," Abby divulged with a shaky sigh, grateful as Miguel opened his arms to her, and she felt them wrap around her tightly, "I miss her." "It's okay," Miguel reassured her, "Everybody's been so careful not to mention her name lately, but all I really want to do is talk about her with someone else that was close to her. That knew the same Kay I knew." Abby offered Miguel a watery smile when his arms fell away from her. "You know what? An omelet sounds nice. I'll go wake Joshua." "Joshua.quiet," Miguel raised a finger to his lips during one of his son's infrequent pauses in making a royal racket with the various pots and pans at his feet. Abby waved him off as she dried the last dish and placed it back in the cupboard, "He's just making up for lost time, Dad. Seriously, Miguel.he's not bothering me. Sit down. Talk. We can spill our guts to each other, and I won't tell a soul. We're not actually engaging in 'girl' talk. Although I don't know what you'd call it if.well, anyway.I'll go first." Abby reached for Miguel's hand, giving it a friendly squeeze. "Something happened last night, something completely unexpected, and I freaked out. And. naturally.I called her," Abby's voice was thick with emotion, "I called Kay, and your voice came over the telephone. Just your voice on the answering machine. And it hit me. Right here." Miguel's dark eyes lowered to his and Abby's joined hands resting over her heart, and he looked back up to find her hazel eyes filled with tears. "I mean really hit me. Her absence was suddenly so REAL to me. And you don't want to listen to this because it IS real to you and the boys. It's BEEN real. Miguel, I'm sorry. I'm being selfish and insensitive." Abby cried as Miguel pulled her into his arms again, burying her face in the crook of his neck and holding onto him for dear life. "No, you're being honest, Abby," Miguel murmured, stroking her tawny hair somewhat awkwardly, "You're being you." "Yeah," Abby sniffed, pulling away from him and wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, "a blubbering big mouth. Your turn, Miguel. And the whole gratuitous boob grabbage? Still not a come-on. I swear. I'm in love with a man in love with an illusion, and I don't know what the hell to do about it. Point is I'm taken. Whether I can help it or not. Anytime now, Miguel. Geez.when I said spill our guts, I didn't mean for things to get so messy. Talk. Please." "I was counting to 50," Miguel teased her gently, "it was a trick Kay always used when she was waiting to get a word in edgewise." "Again.you're lucky I love you and yours more than my luggage. Your ass would have been so kicked," Abby laughed softly as she got up to refill their coffee mugs, "Look at me. Like I need more caffeine. You're fresh out of juice. Hell. You're fresh out of everything. When's the last time you went shopping?" "I thought it was my turn to talk," Miguel grinned, lifting his impatient son up and perching him on the edge of the kitchen counter. "Hi, Joshua," Abby crooned, stroking the sunny cheeks with the pads of her fingers as the two of them shared a smile, "how would you like if it I took you and your daddy shopping?" Joshua answered her with a giggle, looping his arms around her neck and twining his short legs around her waist. He patted her tawny hair softly as she hitched him onto her hip and turned to Miguel. "Actions speak louder than words. Grab your wallet, Miguel." "He loves women," Miguel chuckled, shrugging on his jacket and stuffing his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. "All Lopez-Fitzgerald men do," Abby treated him to another roll of her hazel eyes, "Come on. You know you'll have more fun with me than Pilar or Grace. I'll even let you buy junk food." "Don't you have to work?" Miguel asked with a tiny smirk. "Work? Shame on you for saying four-letter words in front of your young, impressionable son. This is Harmony. Nobody works in this town," Abby winked as she draped Joshua's heavy jacket around his tiny shoulders, "They all canceled. It seems nobody, including Nick, wants my company today so you understand why you can't refuse me, don't you? I'll be crushed." "Okay, but I'm driving," Miguel told her, "and I'm buying as much junk food as I want." "You've got a deal," Abby grinned.
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It was windier on the rooftop, and the air seemed colder. Crisper somehow. She knew, looking at his strong profile, that he probably regretted his actions earlier in Ali's hospital room, but that thought brought her little comfort. Luis's strange behavior along with Nick's mysterious absence had really thrown Ali, and it hadn't been much of a surprise to Sheridan when Ali burst into tears just seconds after Dr. Matthews's harmless enough question. After all, she'd felt much the same way. One minute they'd been laughing together. The next minute she'd felt like her heart was in her throat. "I'm not sorry I did it, Luis. I'm just sorry I didn't tell you from the beginning," she told him, taking careful steps toward him across the slippery surface. "Dammit, Sheridan! I came up here because." ".you thought I'd be a good girl and not take the stairs? Luis, you know me better than that," Sheridan scoffed, tugging the edges of her coat tighter around her rounded belly. "Sometimes you make me doubt myself," Luis answered, staring at her so hard she fought the urge to flinch. Instead she shivered as a particularly bone-chilling wind swirled around them, and she could see the struggle within Luis not to step forward and play her protector. To wrap his own heavy coat around her shoulders and lead her back inside to the relative warmth of the stairwell. "You know me, Luis," she sighed, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth, "you know I wouldn't use the Crane money to hurt you. Dammit, Luis. Something has to give. Something has to turn the tide in our favor, and I may not have used the best judgment or gone about it the right way, but you know hurting you was never my intention. I just wanted to take some of the pressure off of you." "And bear it on your own shoulders? I know that, Sheridan. Don't you think I know that?" Luis admitted with a weary sigh, his proud stance worn down by disappointment, "that's why, no matter how hard I try, I can't be angry at you. I'm just frustrated. Disappointed that you felt it had to be this way when it didn't. You could have come to me. We could have decided to do this together. No secrets between us." "I'm being honest with you now, Luis," Sheridan promised solemnly, taking one of his hands between both of hers and placing it over their child, "I won't make anymore decisions without you, and I won't ever give you reason to doubt yourself or me again. I love you too much for that, Luis." Her cheeks were damp with their mingled tears and the moisture of melting snowflakes as he pulled away from their tender kiss of reaffirmation and placed a supporting arm around her waist, leading her out of the cold. "I should have known you were stubborn enough to follow me up here."
Chapter 77 Theresa chewed on the end of her pencil in thought, dark brows creased. Coming up with the guest list for her and Chad's wedding had seemed like a fun alternative to watching the weather forecaster prattle on about the possibility of snow and sleet in the evening and night hours earlier, but now.she wasn't so sure. Her head ached as she scanned the list for the hundredth time, hoping to come up with at least one name she could cross off of the list to make room for Chad's guests. It was simply too hard. "Maybe you should have an outdoor wedding, Sis," Miguel teased, shrugging his coat off and draping it across the back of the sofa before he took a seat beside her. Theresa leaned forward to place her notepad on the coffee table then turned to hug her brother, "Miguel, I didn't even hear you come in." "That's because Jake and MJ are still outside playing with Max," Miguel smirked. "Where's Cristian? I thought you knew I was picking him up." "Cristian's with Mama and Papa, and they should be back any minute. **I** should be the one asking you questions," Theresa giggled, "like do you think you can handle Jake, MJ, and Cristian all on your own? Admit it. You're scared, Little Brother." Miguel was prevented from making a response by Max's excited barking and the sound of two breathless little boys stomping the mixture of mud and ice from their boots just outside the front door.. Theresa's dark eyes sparkled when the door opened and Jake strutted over to them with a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. For a boy who claimed he couldn't stand girls, he sure was becoming more and more of a shameless little flirt every day. Just like his dad. "Hi, Jake. MJ," she greeted, tugging her reluctant nephew forward for a hug. Miguel chuckled beside her when MJ made a show of wiping her kiss off of his cheek. "What about you, Jake? Can I have a kiss?" Theresa teased, biting her lip when Jake's cheeks flushed a deep pink, and his gaze dropped to his feet. "I can't," Jake muttered. "I'm sorry, Jake," Theresa prodded gently, noticing Miguel's smile out of the corner of her eyes and fighting to keep her own smile under wraps, "What did you say?" "I can't," Jake repeated, shuffling his feet back and forth on the carpet as he crammed his hands into his jeans pockets. "I already got a girl," he mumbled while MJ looked on in shock. "Is she pretty?" Theresa questioned, tucking her legs beneath her body and making herself more comfortable against Miguel's side. "Yeah," Jake admitted reluctantly, "she's real pretty." He looked so cute and uncomfortable at that moment, Theresa didn't have the heart to torture him any longer so she changed the subject. "I have a problem, Jake. See that list on the coffee table?" MJ's brown eyes widened when he saw all the names on the list, and Jake snatched the notepad out of MJ's hands with a scowl. Theresa ducked her head in embarrassment when Jake's mouth fell open in shocked amazement for a second. "Miguel.stop it," she grumbled, elbowing her brother in the ribs when he started to laugh heartily beside her. "I have a lot of friends, and you know what our family is like. You remember what happened when you and Kay didn't invite.well, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings," Theresa broke off awkwardly, "Miguel." "You can say her name, Aunt Theresa," MJ told her matter-of-factly, "me and Dad can handle it, right Dad?" "It's okay," Miguel reassured her, his smile transforming into a genuine grin with one look at Jake. He could see the wheels turning in that brain of his already. "You want my advice?" Jake questioned, handing the notepad back over to MJ. "It's good advice. REALLY good advice. But.there's a minimum fee of five dollars. A guy's gotta score some cash for his mom's birthday present somehow, and the economy and two annoying kid sisters haven't been good to his weekly allowance." "Miguel, give me five dollars," Theresa requested, dark eyes sparkling, "I'll pay you back." She handed over the money despite the sneaking suspicion that she was being conned by one of the masters. Jake folded the bill neatly in half and stuffed it in his back pocket for safekeeping with a grin. "You have to listen to me 'cause these are the words of a very, very wise man. That many people," he motioned to the list in MJ's hands, "won't even fit in my school auditorium. I haven't even met that many people, and I'm ten years old-practically an adult," Jake proclaimed, puffing his chest out proudly. "Jake," Theresa stifled a giggle, "the wise man's words?" "You have to invite only the people that'll send the best presents. It doesn't take a wise man to know that. Geez," Jake rolled his brown eyes at them, "And grown-ups say kids are slow." "A very, very wise man, huh?" Theresa giggled as Jake and MJ left them to greet Cristian at the door and drag him to his room to gather his things together. The corners of Miguel's mouth turned up, and together they chorused "Hank."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Miguel said Tink flew out of Harmony like a bat out of hell after her mysterious phone call," Hank revealed conversationally as he placed Joshua in his booster seat and scooted him closer to the table's edge. "What do you think that bastard's up to?" he hissed low in disgust, but apparently not low enough "Who's a bastard, Daddy?" Emily asked sweetly as she climbed into the seat beside her cousin, her favorite doll tucked close to her heart. Gwen's brown eyes widened in horror as several gasps of surprise from the patrons at the tables around them reached her ears. Emmy's voice carried just a little too well it seemed, and everyone in the Lobster Shack had undoubtedly heard her innocent question. "Bennett," Gwen frowned, pinching the tender inside of her husband's arm as she took her seat and lifted her menu to hide the embarrassed flush of her cheeks. "OW! Uh.well, Emmy.I don't ever want to hear you say that word again. It's one of those ugly words your mom doesn't like, and Daddy's in big trouble right now." he trailed off to the sound of Sara's naughty laughter as he took the vacant seat beside his wife. "What are YOU laughing at? I thought you were still mad at us." "I AM," Sara scowled, kicking her feet back and forth angrily, "Serves you right you got in trouble 'cause you wouldn't let me spend the night with MJ." "I'm sure we'll do have the Great Kid Swap again, Sar.and if we don't," Hank added when his wife AND his daughter looked at him skeptically, "we'll just have MJ stay the night with us." "I'm worried about you, Bennett. Are you sure you're in your right mind?" Gwen smirked later between bites of her dinner, "Miguel'd have to be certifiable to actually volunteer to have a repeat of tonight." Hank grinned, "You know what, Babe? You got a point there. You're talking to me again. Does that mean I'm out of the doghouse?" "I wouldn't say that," Gwen said slowly, fighting the smile that wanted to break free when she looked into her husband's wickedly twinkling brown eyes and saw their son staring right back at her, "but I'm not really that mad at you for being worried about Abby. She's our friend, and Nick's whole disappearance is a little on the strange side, considering how much Ali needs him right now." "Exactly," Hank agreed, "Luis said Katie had to give Ali something to calm her down. Katie's even pissed, Babe, and it takes a lot to get Katie pissed. Don't tell me Taylor has a good reason for scaring Ali half to death. When he gets back to Harmony, he's going to answer to me." Gwen was blind-sided by the sudden image of a tiny chihuahua raising a leg to pee on a giant St. Bernard and getting its head snapped off, and she could barely restrain herself from laughing out loud. Hank noticed, but he let it slide, choosing instead to continue his rant while Sara thumped French fries at Emily and Joshua across the table when she thought no one was looking. Her family, Gwen thought with a sigh. She was SO proud.
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"Hey, Gray Eyes. I know you told me not to come, but I'm in a bad place right now, and I just realized.I know you don't want me here, but.Listen, I have a mind of my own, and.DAMMIT!" Abby swore, hitting the steering wheel with the heel of her hand as a jallopie on par with her piece of crap rental car pulled out in front of her, and she barely escaped a rear-end collision. "I just hopped on a plane to Boston to tell you I love you.Like he wants to hear THAT, Abby. He doesn't want the golly scared out of him," she muttered, maneuvering the car carefully along the winding road. Oh God, she thought as her hazel eyes were drawn to the black waters of the river traveling parallel to the road. The river where Sheridan.Abby sighed as her hands tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles white with tension. Sheridan didn't belong in this place. Hadn't Nick realized that? Hadn't he somehow known in the back of his mind that Luis was out there waiting for her? What the hell was she thinking? Hopping a plane to Boston and driving to THIS place-the place where Nick loved Sheridan.Jenny-in this yucky weather when she didn't have a clue where she was going? You were thinking.no, you were hoping he might need you, the annoying, always right voice inside her head nagged her. Molly's daughter said.Molly.Molly loved Nick like a son. Molly loved Sheridan too. Molly's fading away, and she's the closest thing to a mother he's really ever known, and he needs you.what the hell did Molly's daughter know about her, Abby wondered. "Come on!" Abby yelled, slamming her hand down on the horn when the jallopie slowed to a crawl in front of her. Strange how she'd never realized it before. The three of them.they were all orphans. It was the unspoken common thread in their separate and curiously intertwined lives. Sheridan had Luis and Ali and Cristian, not to mention Pilar and Martin and the rest of her family and friends. She was far from the lost, lonely little girl she had been. She had Shane. Infuriating as he could be sometimes-especially when he was right and she was wrong-he had always been her one constant in life. Nick was losing his only semblance of family, and he had no one. It scared Abby to realize how much she wanted to be his someone. This whole damn thing was too much, Abby thought distractedly as she watched the jallopie make a painstaking right turn and accelerated with an exaggerated sigh of relief. Her hazel gaze shifted just in time to see the car coming straight at her, careening out of control on the ice-slicked road, and her hands flew to the steering wheel as a scream tore from her throat.
Chapter 78 "And it never occurred to you that hitting the dog was the lesser of the two evils?" Abby asked the fidgety teen-aged girl in front of her, glancing over her shoulder worriedly like she expected her father to appear from out of nowhere to give her the 3rd degree. Abby winced at the unpleasant stinging sensation as the paramedic dabbed at the tiny abrasions on her forehead and cheek, swatting his hand away in annoyance. "Look. I'm sorry, okay. I didn't see you coming, and the dog looked just like Toto from the Wizard of Oz, and who can kill Toto?" the girl told her with a shrug of her shoulders. "Are you going to press charges or something? My dad's got no insurance, and I'll be grounded for like two years." Abby took one look at her beaten-up rental and decided to hell with it. The car wasn't worth it, and she could definitely identify with the teen in front of her, questionable piercings notwithstanding. "No. I'm not going to 'press charges'," she sighed, ignoring the hand the medic offered her and hopping down from the back of the ambulance unassisted, "not if I can catch a ride to the hospital." The girl blanched, her voice coming out in a scared stammer when she asked, "You're.you're hurt? Oh God, you're hurt. That's it. I'm dead. My dad is so going to kill me." "I'm fine," Abby smirked, taking pity on the girl before she started to hyperventilate, "there's someone I need to see at the hospital." "Thank God!" the girl exclaimed, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Hey.you can ride with me. I know the way to the hospital. It's only like 5 minutes from here.well, **I** can get there in 5 minutes." Some might say she was certifiable, Abby thought, but the one thing she wasn't was crazy enough to hitch a ride with this little NASCAR wannabe. "I hope you can understand why I'm going to have to turn down your kind offer," Abby told her, "but I think I'm going to catch a ride with Joe here. Is that okay, Joe?" Abby asked, turning to the young man standing beside her and imploring him with her eyes to say yes, nod, do SOMETHING. "Yeah. Sure. It's on my way," 'Joe' smirked. "Go home, Vic, and stay off these roads. You're even more dangerous behind the wheel than usual." "Sister?" Abby asked, breathing deeply and attempting to make a little conversation to ward off the disturbing flashes of memory of her last ride in an ambulance. "Cousin," the young man answered her with a lopsided smile, "By the way.the name's John. What about you, Ma'am? Do you have a name?" What the hell kind of question was THAT, Abby wondered, staring outside the passenger window at the darkening sky so he wouldn't notice her reflexive eye roll. OF COURSE, she had a name. EVERYBODY had a name. Geez. John could also stand to pick up a couple pointers on flirting. His 'Ma'am,' while polite, was SUCH a turn-off. Damn. She HATED the sound of that word and how old it made her feel. "Abby," she answered him with a sigh. "Do you think maybe we could hold off on the conversation, John? I think I'm getting a migraine, and." "Sure, sure," John apologized, "it's not much further to the hospital. Maybe you can get something for your headache there." Not something, Abby corrected him silently. Someone. Nick.
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"What do you mean she has an infection? She was perfectly.she was fine this morning," Luis said, his anger at Taylor's apparent abandonment of his daughter seeping into his voice as he talked to Dr. Matthews. "What does this mean for her transplant?" "We'll have to fight the infection before Ali can undergo the transplant, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. She's not strong enough.The infection can become very serious if we are not able to get it under control and treat it," Dr. Matthews told him regretfully. Luis rest his forehead against Ali's hospital door wearily, his arms braced on either side of his head. Just this morning.He shook his head. Ali's energy and hope had seemed to wane as the day progressed, and Luis couldn't help but feel partly responsible. "Have you been able to reach Taylor?" Luis grit out, staring at Dr. Matthews with intense dark eyes. "I've called the number he left repeatedly, but there hasn't been an answer. We're doing everything we can for your daughter, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. Ali's a favorite around here. We all want to see her happy and healthy again." "I know you do, Dr. Matthews. I'm sorry.I'm not doubting you're doing the best you can. Thank you," Luis said sincerely, "I need to." "Go to your daughter, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. I'll keep trying Dr. Taylor." Luis nodded and stepped inside Ali's room, leaving Dr. Matthews alone. "You just rest, Sweetie, and let this medicine do all the work," Katie told Ali softly, brushing a gentle hand across his daughter's forehead. "Look who's back," Katie smiled at him over her shoulder, "It's your daddy, Doll." "Daddy," Ali's blue eyes shone with love as Luis took her little hand between both of his larger ones and brought it to his cheek. "C'mere, AliCat," he whispered, carefully scooping her tiny frame up into his arms as he slid onto the bed beside her, "is this okay?" Katie gave him a quick nod, momentarily unable to speak she was so touched by the scene. She blinked back the sting of tears and cleared her throat, "If you need anything." She wasn't going anywhere. She was staying until she knew Ali's infection was gone, and she knew Noah would understand. "Thanks, Katie," Luis answered her gratefully, "Could you." "I'll find her, Luis," Katie promised, pulling the door shut behind her. Luis pressed his warm lips against Ali's temple, cradling her even closer. He felt his heart swell to bursting with Ali's whisper. "I love holding you like this, Daddy." "Me too, AliCat. Me too."
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The candles in the chapel flickered, casting eerie shadows around the room and Sheridan's upturned face. Her blue eyes were wet and pleading, much like her voice as she prayed to a God she no longer understood. "Why? I don't understand. Help me understand why. You gave me more than I ever thought I deserved when you gave me Ali, and now you're trying to take her away from me. I know life isn't supposed to be fair, and maybe I'm being selfish because I haven't had enough time with her, but this.this isn't right. It doesn't make sense to me why you would give her back to me only to take her away again." The accident. She'd missed Ali's baby years, and the pictures were there, but it wasn't the same. She wasn't in any of them. She wasn't holding her baby. She hadn't existed. For three long years she hadn't existed. Ali's baby years had been taken away from her. Then there was the kidnapping. Ali's kidnapping. It seemed that every time they started to really be happy, to really enjoy being a family, something always tried to rip away what she loved most. Her sweet little daughter. And this cancer.it was the cruelest method of all because she was losing her baby little by little and try as she might, there was nothing she could physically do to stop it. She felt so helpless. She felt so angry, she realized, and the emotion seeped into her tired bones, taking over as she climbed to her feet and turned to meet Katie halfway. "I'm not going to let you have her," she vowed, resisting the desire to wince at the dull, throb of pain in her lower back in front of Katie. She really shouldn't let her stubbornness blind her to the fact that Luis WAS right sometimes. Those stairs HADN'T been such a good idea.
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"I guess that explains why she's not answering her phone," Shane sighed, turning his sister's ringing cell phone off and putting it back on the kitchen counter where he and Ivy had found it. "Ethan'd forget his own head if it weren't attached," Ivy smirked, handing his cell phone back to him as her blue-green eyes perused their surroundings. "Nice place." "Yeah, it is," Shane answered her, hazel eyes twinkling at her comment about Ethan, "I think this is more of a case of my kid sister avoiding my nagging than it is a case of forgetfulness. Ivy, do you mind waiting a little longer? I'm going to check the disaster-zone that's Abby's room for clues to where she's gone. If you're thirsty, I'm sure there's something in the fridge. Oh, and Abby keeps the alcohol well-stocked if you."
Shane trailed off, grinning at Ivy's amused smile. "I won't be long." "Don't worry about me," Ivy called after him, arching a brow at the scattered photographs all over the sofa, "I'm sure I can find something interesting to do." She picked up a photo of a teen-aged Shane and a very young, completely adorable Abby in blond pigtails and smiled at the protective arm Shane had wrapped around his sister's tiny shoulders. Another picture, Abby all decked out as a clown, struck her as so appropriate she burst into helpless laughter. "Runt was born a clown," Shane chuckled, startling Ivy enough to make her drop all the photos in her hands. "She didn't take her suitcase so she must not be planning to be gone long. Are you ready? We can still make our reservation if we hurry." "Just a minute," Ivy smiled, "let me straighten things up a bit." "Are you kidding?" Shane teased, kneeling on the floor beside her to help, "Abby's going to know I broke into her apartment like the worried, overprotective big brother I am if we don't leave it in the mess we found it. Ivy?" Ivy's fingers curled around the picture in her hand, and she shook off the momentary shock of recognition that had coursed through her with the first glance at the dark, piercing eyes and somber, handsome face. "Then we should leave it a mess," she agreed, slipping the picture inside her purse when Shane wasn't looking. "What are we waiting for? I'm starving."
Chapter 79 "She's interested, but not in moving to Harmony? Chad, what are you going to do? I know she was your first choice.But this is your dream.You can't give up so easily," Theresa sighed, moving the receiver to her other ear as she scribbled Chad's flight information down on a sheet of paper and tacked it on the fridge with a magnet "Yes.it's right beside Cristian's wonderful rendition of Smoky.No, it wasn't a blissful family reunion.Let's just say I'm gaining a whole new understanding of Luis's name for her.Well, yeah. She HAS been a pain in the.Chad, if you don't come home soon, Smoky's going to forget what you look like.All right," Theresa giggled, "she's NOT going to forget, but she DOES miss you. Not as much as **I** miss you, but still.I love you. You're my fiance, and I want to see you now. Not two days from now.I was working on the guest list for the wedding today, and Chad, I was thinking.yes, I do that sometimes," Theresa huffed into the receiver as she made her way into the living room and turned on the television, channel- surfing until she found an old romantic comedy. She curled up on the sofa, pulling Cristian's favorite quilt over her knees and endured Chad's teasing with a smile and a roll of her dark eyes. "How do you know I'm rolling my eyes? You can't see me.Oh, you know me, do you? What am I doing right now?" she inquired between bites of ice cream. "No, I'm not eating ice cream.it's too cold out, and besides.that's Sheridan's and Luis's MO, not mine. Fuuuunnnyyy.Well, then.you'll just have to come home before I start looking suspiciously like the Goodyear blimp.You're going to help me with the guest list.Yes, you are, and that's that. You know you can't say no to me.Why? Because you love me. That's why.You're going to have to do it yourself, Chad, 'cause I'm not hanging up.Love you. Bye.Two days is too long," Theresa whined as her spoon clinked against the bottom of her empty bowl, and the phone disconnected with Chad's amused laughter ringing in her ears. So she hadn't told him about Ali's infection. He would have dropped everything to come home, and Sheridan hadn't wanted him to do that. Neither did she, Theresa realized. No matter how much she missed him. She placed her bowl on the coffee table, promising herself she'd take it to the kitchen later, and pulled the quilt up over her shoulders as she settled deeper into the mountain of pillows for maximum enjoyment of Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant at their best, her eyelids already drooping with fatigue. The fire crackled in the fireplace a few feet away, and Max curled up in front of her, resting his golden head on his front paws as his brown eyes watched Miss Priss lap greedily from the abandoned bowl unnoticed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Katie wrapped her arms tighter around herself, letting her tears fall freely as she walked aimlessly down the main hall of the pediatric oncology ward. There were times when she hated her job and questioned her commitment to it. Tonight was definitely one of those times, she thought numbly, passing Ellie without acknowledging her expression of pity. The death of a child was something NO mother should have to live through, yet it happened every day, and Katie had witnessed the death of too many innocents to expect life to be fair anymore. Her own hope was at its lowest point, and she didn't know what to do about it. She didn't know how to grasp onto faith any harder. She tried to steel herself to the anguished cries echoing in the halls, but it was impossible, and she couldn't fight the urge to run away any longer. So she turned and ran. Straight into a pair of strong arms. Katie sobbed against Noah's broad chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and letting him hold her up when her knees felt weak and useless. She concentrated on the way his breath stirred her hair, and the way his heart thumped reassuringly inside his chest. The clean, masculine scent of him, the feel of him around her comforted her, and her fingers dug into his back as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. When she felt the gentle brush of tiny fingers through her hair and kisses of the faintest pressure on her cheek, her green eyes blinked open, and she found herself staring into Kendall's guileless green eyes. Kendall whimpered in protest when she crushed him to her, but Katie just held him tighter, needing, for the moment, to have him as close to her as she could. "Thank you," she cried, cupping Noah's strong jaw with one hand as the other cradled Kendall's sandy blond head, her lips pressed against his temple. "Not necessary," Noah whispered, taking her hand and pulling her and Kendall back into his arms without another word.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It'd been hours since she'd heard the sound of his voice, Abby realized as the car slowed to a stop in front of an old Colonial. Molly's Colonial, Abby guessed. Nick's now. Molly's daughter and her family lived someplace warm and sunny. The memories and the cold in Massachusetts were more than they could handle. Abby joined Nick on the front steps, hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket, as she waited for him to find the right key. Rain and sleet fell around them, and Abby felt a painful flutter in her chest as she watched Nick's unsteady hands struggle with the key. She felt his gray eyes on her as her hands covered his, and they turned the key in the lock together. "See?" she forced a note of lightness into her voice, "I'm good for something. How do you like the sound of 'Wonder Abby'?" Nick's hand warmed her cheek almost as much as the gratitude and fleeting sparkle of humor in his gray eyes, and Abby was on the verge of spilling the contents of her heart to him when she heard his soft whisper. "Inside. You're freezing." "Geez.it feels like the mor." Abby's words froze awkwardly in her throat, and she whirled around in embarrassment, hoping Nick hadn't heard her. Dammit. Feels like the morgue in here, Abby? Open mouth. Jam foot WAY back. Choke to death on own stupidity. She winced. Rotten choice of words. "Okay.I'm not some helpless little maiden," she grumbled in mock-offense as she watched Nick coax the logs in the fireplace to actually burn, filling the open living room with a soft orange glow, "Mr. Scout Leader. What can I do?" Nick stood up slowly and crossed the short distance to her with a small smile on his lips-his first smile of the night, "Candles. It's getting worse outside, and I don't think we'll have electricity much longer. Think you can handle it, Wonder Abby?" Abby rolled her hazel eyes at his gentle teasing, and she turned, ready to set out on her mission when he caught her hand in his own. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk at the hospital earlier. I made a big deal about you coming when I asked you not to, but the truth is I'm glad you're here. Thank you for coming," Nick punctuated his words with a squeeze of her hand. "Admit it. You weren't surprised to see me at all, were you?" Abby asked him with sparkling hazel eyes. "Uh huh," she smiled as she backed away, reluctant to let go of his hand, "I knew it. Look for me in a little while if you don't hear anymore of my inane babbling, okay?" "To think I was actually worried." Abby's hazel eyes fluttered open, and she wore a sheepish smile as she shifted to a sitting position in the old clawfoot tub. "What can I say?" she shrugged her shoulders, making bubbles splash over the porcelain sides onto the cold tile floor below. "I wandered in here looking for candles. Calgon moment waiting to happen if you ask me. Besides.not that I've seen any, but I don't think frostbitten asses are too attractive, do you?" Nick shook his head at her unique sense of humor as he stepped further into the room, his hands going to the row of buttons down the front of his shirt. Abby eyed each newly revealed patch of golden skin appreciatively, opening her arms to welcome him when he stood completely naked before her with stormy gray eyes. Oh, Gray Eyes, Abby thought silently. She wanted to hug him and make the pain go away. The water and bubbles surged upward with his additional weight, spilling over the sides of the tub and further soaking the floor. Nick settled back against the soft pillow of Abby's breasts, his dark head resting on her shoulder as her arms snaked around his neck, hugging him close to her. "Molly must have been something special," she murmured, each word brushing her lips against his earlobe. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her," Abby told him sincerely, nuzzling his cheek and placing a tender kiss there, her lips following the invisible trail of his salty tears. "Shh.just hold onto me, Gray Eyes.I won't let go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ His wife's blue eyes glittered in the darkness, and Luis saw the reflection of his own pain in them. The cries of anguish were haunting. Almost too familiar. They replayed over and over again in his nightmares each night when he could no longer fight to keep his eyes open to watch every breath Ali takes. He wanted to reach out, take Sheridan's hand in his, and make pretty promises he couldn't possibly keep, but he didn't. His dark eyes shifted to the still figure on the hospital bed, and he pushed the heel of hand against his lips to stifle his own rising sob, fumbling with his other hand for the tiny radio he knows is on the small table beside the bed. A half-empty glass and his keychain topple to the floor below when the pitiful wails reach his ears again, and a frightened gasp tells him he has woken her. Soft music fills the room, but its melancholy melody still sounds like tears to his ears. "Daddy?" "Sleep, AliCat," he whispers to her as he holds her little hand tightly, "Go back to sleep." Chapter 80
"So Molly was your first Katie," Abby speculated. "Your first favorite nurse," she explained when Nick looked at her with confused gray eyes and the hint of an amused smirk on his lips as he watched her fork wave in the air with each unconscious hand gesture. "I've never actually thought of it that way, but yes," Nick answered her, his fingers closing around her wrist and bringing her fork to his mouth. Abby's mouth fell open in protest as he ate her last bite of cheesecake. "Cheesecake's fattening, and you had more of my sandwich than I did. And you stole my clothes," Nick told her, chuckling in surprise when he suddenly found his arms full of live, breathing, ultimately crazy woman. He swept his hands up and down her back gently, unconsciously counting each breath she took as her arms wound tightly around his neck, and they held each other for several long minutes. Her hazel eyes were soft with compassion as she stroked her fingers through the dark hair at the nape of his neck, and Nick felt his heart twist inside his chest at the unexpected rush of affection he experienced just looking into her eyes. "Tell me about her," Abby whispered, turning around in his embrace and covering his arms with her own. "I met Molly when I was twelve years old," Nick revealed as he watched Abby's smaller fingers slide through his, "My mother had just died, and my new foster parents lived next door to Molly and her family." "Do they still live next door?" Abby questioned, "Maybe they have some food. And a generator," she added. Nick didn't have to see her eyes to know they were twinkling. He smiled, rubbing his cheek against her silky tawny hair before continuing, "Mr. Prescott ran off with his secretary two days before my fourteenth birthday. Mrs. Prescott tried to keep things the same after he'd gone, but over time she just fell apart. That Christmas, I woke up to an empty house. Instead of presents under the tree, I got a letter and worthless check." "What a bitch," Abby muttered indignantly, nuzzling his arm with her cheek, "Molly took you in, didn't she?" "And she was my favorite nurse after med school," Nick told her with a smile in his voice, "My first Katie." The flames flickered low in the fireplace, their shadows dancing across Abby's face, and Nick tucked her more firmly in his arms when she shivered against him. "Cold?" "I can't feel my little toe," Abby complained, "First it's the little toe. Then the whole foot. Before you know it, I won't be able to feel my own ass." Nick dropped his chin to her shoulder and laughed, slipping his arms from her waist and climbing to his feet to add another log to the fire. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a true original?" "Once or twice," Abby smirked, pounding her pillow into a desirable shape. She stretched out along the mattress she'd helped him bring in from one of the downstairs bedrooms, raising up on one elbow to gaze at him unnoticed as he crouched in front of the glowing fire. She sucked in a deep, startled breath when their eyes connected across the short distance, and she felt the remaining wall around her heart start to crumble to dust. Dammit, she thought with an inward sigh. She loved those gray eyes, and God help her, she loved the man they belonged to. How the hell had she let this happen, she wondered as Nick slipped beneath the blankets with her and rest his dark head next to hers against the snowy white pillow. She really was crazy. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Luis was slumped in the chair beside Ali's bed, long legs sprawled in front of him and his left arm dangling over the chair's side when Katie made her second trip to Ali's room sometime in the early morning hours. Luis's elbow rest on the edge of Ali's mattress, and his chin was propped in his right palm as he finally slept, exhausted from the strain of constantly worrying about Ali and his family. Katie reached around him carefully to turn the radio off, the mournful crying of earlier only an echoing memory, and touched the backs of her fingers against Ali's forehead, careful not wake the little girl as she checked her temperature and her vitals. Katie jumped, nearly bumping Luis when Sheridan's soft voice startled her in stillness of room. "I think the medicine's working. She seems more peaceful."
"Sheridan," Katie admonished gently, walking around the foot of Ali's bed, "it's almost three in the morning. You should be." "Katie." Even in the pale shaft of moonlight shining in through the lone window in the room, Sheridan's indulgent smile was still visible. "Not you, too. Sleep's an impossibility these days," she murmured, rubbing her hands over her rounded belly, "With the baby, and Ali.Sometimes I can't bring myself to close my eyes. I don't want to.just in case." Katie reached out and covered Sheridan's restless hands with her own, hoping Sheridan could see the understanding in her own eyes, "Working with children like Ali has taught me to appreciate every moment I have with Kendall. I know it's not really the same, but." "Thank you, Katie," Sheridan whispered, giving Katie's hand a grateful squeeze, "The crying? Earlier." "We lost Patrick," Katie told her, tears in her voice, "He was just so tired, and his mother...she refused to let him go. It's always hard. Not as hard as it is for the families, but you grow attached to these beautiful little people. And it's hard to understand how God could put them through so much and take them from us so early." Tears glistened on Sheridan's cheeks, and Katie swallowed past the lump rising in her own throat to offer Sheridan some words of comfort, "But you never stop fighting or loving. Someone told me there's no joy in a life without hope, and I really believe that to be true. There's hope everywhere. In Ali's beautiful smile and Luis's love for you and your children. And this baby, Sheridan," Katie smiled as she rest her hand over the restless baby girl in Sheridan's womb, "well, she may just be the greatest hope of all." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Pale ribbons of light-not quite moonlight, not quite sunlight-filtered in through the frosted windows, casting an almost otherworldly glow on Nick's peaceful face, and Abby smiled as she traced the features of that handsome face with the pads of her fingers reflectively. She followed the line of one dark brow, letting her fingers comb through the sprinkling of gray at his temple. His jaw was smooth and strong, and she felt laughter bubbling up within herself as she traced the lines of his sleepy grin with the nail of her index finger down to his mouth. His voice was deep and rumbling, sexy and rough from sleep, and her thumb played over his full bottom lip as he spoke. "Katie says the gray is so George Clooney." "Katie says, does she?" Abby leaned down to press a tiny kiss to the corner of his mouth, making his gray eyes blink open, "Should I be jealous?" Nick slid his hand around the back of her neck when she tried to pull away, and his face started the swim out of focus, his intense gray eyes suddenly the only thing Abby could see as their mouths hovered inches apart. "You're here," Nick murmured, letting his lips linger on the mole on her upper lip before trailing them across her cheek to her ear. "Not Katie," he smirked as he slid one muscular thigh between her legs and rolled them both over, "Or anyone else." Abby's hazel eyes fluttered shut at the first gentle touch of his fingertips to the tiny butterfly bandages on her forehead and the hollow of her cheek, and she sighed when his lips followed the same path of his fingertips a moment later. Her brow, eyelids, nose, and chin got the same tender treatment, but Nick avoided kissing her on the mouth, and Abby wanted to groan with frustration until she felt Nick's hands at her waist, slowly inching the bulky material of her confiscated sweatshirt up her body. Nick sat back on his heels, bringing Abby with him, and the heat of his hand at the small of her back burned her even as he swept the sweatshirt over her tawny head and exposed her bare skin to the chilly morning air. Nick's shirt added to the growing pile of clothes, and Abby could feel the thrumming of Nick's heart and the increasingly rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath her mouth, and she raised her head to meet his eyes when he softly whispered her name in question. Their hands met and clasped, and Abby lay back, never breaking the intense gaze.
There was a difference, Abby realized, between giving your heart to someone and giving them your body. It was a feeling much more frightening than facing forty, millions of teen-aged NASCAR wannabes, and endless years of Britney on the radio. As Nick mapped out the planes and valleys of her body with his hands and lips, making her tremble with need and cry out in pleasure, Abby felt like she was free-falling. Nick's strong arms held her close as they danced the fine line between sex and love, and Abby knew she was fighting a losing battle when he brushed her damp, tawny hair away from her face and kissed her mouth sweetly and thoroughly. Gray Eyes had finally rendered her speechless.
"Luis took the news better than I expected," Ethan mused, cupping his hands around the steaming mug of coffee Beth had just presented to him, "he didn't hit me." "Lucky for you," Beth told him, hoping the twinkle in her eyes wasn't completely visible, "I still think she should have told him from the beginning though, Ethan. The look in his eyes." she trailed off with a sigh as she took the seat opposite him. "It was Aunt Sheridan's." Ethan's spoon clinked against the ceramic mug as he stirred his coffee, and his blue eyes narrowed when the bells at the front of the Book Café tinkled, "decision. Mother didn't come home last night before I fell asleep. She's always at the cottage. Do you think they're sleeping together?" Beth gave Ivy and Shane a friendly wave then turned back to Ethan to find him pouting like a child. "It's their business, Ethan. What do you care? Your mother seems happy. I think Shane's good for her. God, you're so territorial about the women in your life. You may want to rethink your ideas that you and Luis don't have anything in common," Beth rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat and meeting Shane and Ivy halfway. "Territorial? I'm not territorial. I do not urinate on Mother's leg," Ethan muttered to himself, thinking it best to hide his gnashing teeth behind his coffee mug as Shane approached. And he used to like the man. "Morning, Ethan," Shane nodded, "mind if I.?" "Take it. Make yourself welcome," Ethan added under his breath. "Good morning, Darling," Ivy descended on them, giving Shane a special smile that had Ethan seeing red while Beth just groaned softly beside him. She expected a 'Mother, what about me?' to spill from Ethan's frowning mouth any minute now. "How was your dinner last night, Dear?" Ivy asked distractedly, smiling at something Shane whispered in her ear. "Dinner was fine until Luis nearly killed me for helping Aunt Sheridan keep a secret from him," Ethan answered her, pleased with the realization he now had her full attention. "Ethan!" Beth hissed, "Ivy, he's exaggerating. Luis was upset. That's all." "It's the money, isn't it?" Ivy surmised. "No matter how much they love each other, Sheridan's money-Crane money, has always been an issue with Luis because of his feelings toward Julian and Alistar," Ivy explained to Shane. "But his hate for Sheridan's Crane money pales in comparison to his love for her and the children. I hope he remembers that."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "I can't do it. Names are hard, Daddy," Ali sighed, dropping her pencil and notepad to her lap and crossing her arms about her chest. "Names ARE hard, AliCat," Luis agreed, perching on the edge of Ali's bed and cupping her stubbornly set jaw in the palm of his hand. "Your mommy and I didn't know what we were going to name you either, but from the moment we laid eyes on you, we knew you were definitely an 'Ali'." "Daddy," Ali giggled, helpless to hide the blush on her cheeks under Luis's intent gaze. "But it's Aunt Theresa's store. Store names are different." "The store will name itself. Now your new baby sister." Luis teased, "that's another story. Got any suggestions, AliCat?" Ali's blue eyes twinkled with excitement. "You mean I get to name the new baby too? What about Cristian? She's his baby too." A gentle smile graced Sheridan's lips at Ali's newfound energy and hopefulness, and her sleep-heavy lids fluttered open at Ali's comment. "She's everybody's baby," she answered, easing herself into a sitting position carefully, "and maybe we should meet her first before we give her a name. We don't want to name her Esmeralda if she's really more of an Ariel, do we?" Ali giggled, "What if she's a Jasmine?" "Or a Pocahontas?" Sheridan responded, causing Ali to giggle even harder and flash Luis a brilliant smile. "Pocahontas Lopez-Fitzgerald," Ali tried it out, her button nose scrunching up, "Mommy, that sounds." "Weird?" Sheridan laughed, standing up and taking a seat on Ali's free side. Ali gladly accepted her kiss good morning, wrapping her arms around her neck and smiling into her eyes. "Ms. Kinsay'd have to give her two sheets of paper to write her name on." "Are you two making fun of my name?" Luis's tone was teasing, but the humor didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Sort of," Ali admitted with a sheepish smile, "but it's my name too, Daddy, and I like it." "Who? Me? I LOVE my name," Sheridan went one step further than Ali, her bright smile freezing with Luis's "Which one?" "Mommy?" Ali's blue eyes welled with concern as an awkward silence descended on the room, and her parents seemed to stare at each other for several minutes without saying anything. She didn't understand what was going on, and it scared her. "Lopez-Fitzgerald, Daddy," Ali answered for her mother. "Mommy, is something wrong?" Ali whispered worriedly. She gripped her daddy's forearms are he cupped his big hands around her face and kissed her on the forehead. "Nothing's wrong, AliCat." Ali looked to her mommy for confirmation, and her relief was only minimal when Sheridan answered her by nodding her head and telling her nothing was wrong. If nothing was wrong, why did she sound like something was? "Mommy, do you want to see the new cards Daddy brought me?" Ali asked, hoping to bring the beautiful smile back to her mommy's face, "You got some mail too. It's in this really big envelope. Daddy won't tell me what it is, but it looks really important. Here," Ali handed over the manila envelope, watching her mommy's face expectantly as she carefully drew a bunch of papers out and scanned over them. "These are.Luis. Luis, wait. Luis, don't." "Good morning, Ali.Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," Dr. Matthews greeted with a smile as he entered the room on the heels of her daddy's departure, adding to Ali's already mounting confusion, "There's been a slight change of plans. Dr. Taylor's been called out of town, and he asked me to oversee your treatment for the next couple of days. Provided there are no objections. Are there any?"
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"You're lucky I love you more than my luggage," Abby winked at Miguel as she dumped the load of clothes in her arms into the washer, "I don't get all domestic for anybody." "Abby, you didn't have to." Miguel protested half-heartedly before Abby cut him off. "Things are crazy. From the looks of MJ's and Joshua's not-so-white clothes, you need the expertise of someone that knows how to wash colors. You need a woman like me," she told him with a teasing grin as she patted his cheek affectionately, "I promise. That wasn't a come-on." Miguel laughed, a sound so foreign from his lips these past few months Abby wasn't sure she'd really heard it. "Good. You still know how to do it. Have you eaten, Miguel? I'm not the cook Pilar is, but I'm not too shabby. Kay taught me how to make Joshua's favorite omelet.I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.She's been on my mind a lot lately," Abby divulged with a shaky sigh, grateful as Miguel opened his arms to her, and she felt them wrap around her tightly, "I miss her." "It's okay," Miguel reassured her, "Everybody's been so careful not to mention her name lately, but all I really want to do is talk about her with someone else that was close to her. That knew the same Kay I knew." Abby offered Miguel a watery smile when his arms fell away from her. "You know what? An omelet sounds nice. I'll go wake Joshua." "Joshua.quiet," Miguel raised a finger to his lips during one of his son's infrequent pauses in making a royal racket with the various pots and pans at his feet. Abby waved him off as she dried the last dish and placed it back in the cupboard, "He's just making up for lost time, Dad. Seriously, Miguel.he's not bothering me. Sit down. Talk. We can spill our guts to each other, and I won't tell a soul. We're not actually engaging in 'girl' talk. Although I don't know what you'd call it if.well, anyway.I'll go first." Abby reached for Miguel's hand, giving it a friendly squeeze. "Something happened last night, something completely unexpected, and I freaked out. And. naturally.I called her," Abby's voice was thick with emotion, "I called Kay, and your voice came over the telephone. Just your voice on the answering machine. And it hit me. Right here." Miguel's dark eyes lowered to his and Abby's joined hands resting over her heart, and he looked back up to find her hazel eyes filled with tears. "I mean really hit me. Her absence was suddenly so REAL to me. And you don't want to listen to this because it IS real to you and the boys. It's BEEN real. Miguel, I'm sorry. I'm being selfish and insensitive." Abby cried as Miguel pulled her into his arms again, burying her face in the crook of his neck and holding onto him for dear life. "No, you're being honest, Abby," Miguel murmured, stroking her tawny hair somewhat awkwardly, "You're being you." "Yeah," Abby sniffed, pulling away from him and wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, "a blubbering big mouth. Your turn, Miguel. And the whole gratuitous boob grabbage? Still not a come-on. I swear. I'm in love with a man in love with an illusion, and I don't know what the hell to do about it. Point is I'm taken. Whether I can help it or not. Anytime now, Miguel. Geez.when I said spill our guts, I didn't mean for things to get so messy. Talk. Please." "I was counting to 50," Miguel teased her gently, "it was a trick Kay always used when she was waiting to get a word in edgewise." "Again.you're lucky I love you and yours more than my luggage. Your ass would have been so kicked," Abby laughed softly as she got up to refill their coffee mugs, "Look at me. Like I need more caffeine. You're fresh out of juice. Hell. You're fresh out of everything. When's the last time you went shopping?" "I thought it was my turn to talk," Miguel grinned, lifting his impatient son up and perching him on the edge of the kitchen counter. "Hi, Joshua," Abby crooned, stroking the sunny cheeks with the pads of her fingers as the two of them shared a smile, "how would you like if it I took you and your daddy shopping?" Joshua answered her with a giggle, looping his arms around her neck and twining his short legs around her waist. He patted her tawny hair softly as she hitched him onto her hip and turned to Miguel. "Actions speak louder than words. Grab your wallet, Miguel." "He loves women," Miguel chuckled, shrugging on his jacket and stuffing his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. "All Lopez-Fitzgerald men do," Abby treated him to another roll of her hazel eyes, "Come on. You know you'll have more fun with me than Pilar or Grace. I'll even let you buy junk food." "Don't you have to work?" Miguel asked with a tiny smirk. "Work? Shame on you for saying four-letter words in front of your young, impressionable son. This is Harmony. Nobody works in this town," Abby winked as she draped Joshua's heavy jacket around his tiny shoulders, "They all canceled. It seems nobody, including Nick, wants my company today so you understand why you can't refuse me, don't you? I'll be crushed." "Okay, but I'm driving," Miguel told her, "and I'm buying as much junk food as I want." "You've got a deal," Abby grinned.
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It was windier on the rooftop, and the air seemed colder. Crisper somehow. She knew, looking at his strong profile, that he probably regretted his actions earlier in Ali's hospital room, but that thought brought her little comfort. Luis's strange behavior along with Nick's mysterious absence had really thrown Ali, and it hadn't been much of a surprise to Sheridan when Ali burst into tears just seconds after Dr. Matthews's harmless enough question. After all, she'd felt much the same way. One minute they'd been laughing together. The next minute she'd felt like her heart was in her throat. "I'm not sorry I did it, Luis. I'm just sorry I didn't tell you from the beginning," she told him, taking careful steps toward him across the slippery surface. "Dammit, Sheridan! I came up here because." ".you thought I'd be a good girl and not take the stairs? Luis, you know me better than that," Sheridan scoffed, tugging the edges of her coat tighter around her rounded belly. "Sometimes you make me doubt myself," Luis answered, staring at her so hard she fought the urge to flinch. Instead she shivered as a particularly bone-chilling wind swirled around them, and she could see the struggle within Luis not to step forward and play her protector. To wrap his own heavy coat around her shoulders and lead her back inside to the relative warmth of the stairwell. "You know me, Luis," she sighed, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth, "you know I wouldn't use the Crane money to hurt you. Dammit, Luis. Something has to give. Something has to turn the tide in our favor, and I may not have used the best judgment or gone about it the right way, but you know hurting you was never my intention. I just wanted to take some of the pressure off of you." "And bear it on your own shoulders? I know that, Sheridan. Don't you think I know that?" Luis admitted with a weary sigh, his proud stance worn down by disappointment, "that's why, no matter how hard I try, I can't be angry at you. I'm just frustrated. Disappointed that you felt it had to be this way when it didn't. You could have come to me. We could have decided to do this together. No secrets between us." "I'm being honest with you now, Luis," Sheridan promised solemnly, taking one of his hands between both of hers and placing it over their child, "I won't make anymore decisions without you, and I won't ever give you reason to doubt yourself or me again. I love you too much for that, Luis." Her cheeks were damp with their mingled tears and the moisture of melting snowflakes as he pulled away from their tender kiss of reaffirmation and placed a supporting arm around her waist, leading her out of the cold. "I should have known you were stubborn enough to follow me up here."
Chapter 77 Theresa chewed on the end of her pencil in thought, dark brows creased. Coming up with the guest list for her and Chad's wedding had seemed like a fun alternative to watching the weather forecaster prattle on about the possibility of snow and sleet in the evening and night hours earlier, but now.she wasn't so sure. Her head ached as she scanned the list for the hundredth time, hoping to come up with at least one name she could cross off of the list to make room for Chad's guests. It was simply too hard. "Maybe you should have an outdoor wedding, Sis," Miguel teased, shrugging his coat off and draping it across the back of the sofa before he took a seat beside her. Theresa leaned forward to place her notepad on the coffee table then turned to hug her brother, "Miguel, I didn't even hear you come in." "That's because Jake and MJ are still outside playing with Max," Miguel smirked. "Where's Cristian? I thought you knew I was picking him up." "Cristian's with Mama and Papa, and they should be back any minute. **I** should be the one asking you questions," Theresa giggled, "like do you think you can handle Jake, MJ, and Cristian all on your own? Admit it. You're scared, Little Brother." Miguel was prevented from making a response by Max's excited barking and the sound of two breathless little boys stomping the mixture of mud and ice from their boots just outside the front door.. Theresa's dark eyes sparkled when the door opened and Jake strutted over to them with a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. For a boy who claimed he couldn't stand girls, he sure was becoming more and more of a shameless little flirt every day. Just like his dad. "Hi, Jake. MJ," she greeted, tugging her reluctant nephew forward for a hug. Miguel chuckled beside her when MJ made a show of wiping her kiss off of his cheek. "What about you, Jake? Can I have a kiss?" Theresa teased, biting her lip when Jake's cheeks flushed a deep pink, and his gaze dropped to his feet. "I can't," Jake muttered. "I'm sorry, Jake," Theresa prodded gently, noticing Miguel's smile out of the corner of her eyes and fighting to keep her own smile under wraps, "What did you say?" "I can't," Jake repeated, shuffling his feet back and forth on the carpet as he crammed his hands into his jeans pockets. "I already got a girl," he mumbled while MJ looked on in shock. "Is she pretty?" Theresa questioned, tucking her legs beneath her body and making herself more comfortable against Miguel's side. "Yeah," Jake admitted reluctantly, "she's real pretty." He looked so cute and uncomfortable at that moment, Theresa didn't have the heart to torture him any longer so she changed the subject. "I have a problem, Jake. See that list on the coffee table?" MJ's brown eyes widened when he saw all the names on the list, and Jake snatched the notepad out of MJ's hands with a scowl. Theresa ducked her head in embarrassment when Jake's mouth fell open in shocked amazement for a second. "Miguel.stop it," she grumbled, elbowing her brother in the ribs when he started to laugh heartily beside her. "I have a lot of friends, and you know what our family is like. You remember what happened when you and Kay didn't invite.well, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings," Theresa broke off awkwardly, "Miguel." "You can say her name, Aunt Theresa," MJ told her matter-of-factly, "me and Dad can handle it, right Dad?" "It's okay," Miguel reassured her, his smile transforming into a genuine grin with one look at Jake. He could see the wheels turning in that brain of his already. "You want my advice?" Jake questioned, handing the notepad back over to MJ. "It's good advice. REALLY good advice. But.there's a minimum fee of five dollars. A guy's gotta score some cash for his mom's birthday present somehow, and the economy and two annoying kid sisters haven't been good to his weekly allowance." "Miguel, give me five dollars," Theresa requested, dark eyes sparkling, "I'll pay you back." She handed over the money despite the sneaking suspicion that she was being conned by one of the masters. Jake folded the bill neatly in half and stuffed it in his back pocket for safekeeping with a grin. "You have to listen to me 'cause these are the words of a very, very wise man. That many people," he motioned to the list in MJ's hands, "won't even fit in my school auditorium. I haven't even met that many people, and I'm ten years old-practically an adult," Jake proclaimed, puffing his chest out proudly. "Jake," Theresa stifled a giggle, "the wise man's words?" "You have to invite only the people that'll send the best presents. It doesn't take a wise man to know that. Geez," Jake rolled his brown eyes at them, "And grown-ups say kids are slow." "A very, very wise man, huh?" Theresa giggled as Jake and MJ left them to greet Cristian at the door and drag him to his room to gather his things together. The corners of Miguel's mouth turned up, and together they chorused "Hank."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Miguel said Tink flew out of Harmony like a bat out of hell after her mysterious phone call," Hank revealed conversationally as he placed Joshua in his booster seat and scooted him closer to the table's edge. "What do you think that bastard's up to?" he hissed low in disgust, but apparently not low enough "Who's a bastard, Daddy?" Emily asked sweetly as she climbed into the seat beside her cousin, her favorite doll tucked close to her heart. Gwen's brown eyes widened in horror as several gasps of surprise from the patrons at the tables around them reached her ears. Emmy's voice carried just a little too well it seemed, and everyone in the Lobster Shack had undoubtedly heard her innocent question. "Bennett," Gwen frowned, pinching the tender inside of her husband's arm as she took her seat and lifted her menu to hide the embarrassed flush of her cheeks. "OW! Uh.well, Emmy.I don't ever want to hear you say that word again. It's one of those ugly words your mom doesn't like, and Daddy's in big trouble right now." he trailed off to the sound of Sara's naughty laughter as he took the vacant seat beside his wife. "What are YOU laughing at? I thought you were still mad at us." "I AM," Sara scowled, kicking her feet back and forth angrily, "Serves you right you got in trouble 'cause you wouldn't let me spend the night with MJ." "I'm sure we'll do have the Great Kid Swap again, Sar.and if we don't," Hank added when his wife AND his daughter looked at him skeptically, "we'll just have MJ stay the night with us." "I'm worried about you, Bennett. Are you sure you're in your right mind?" Gwen smirked later between bites of her dinner, "Miguel'd have to be certifiable to actually volunteer to have a repeat of tonight." Hank grinned, "You know what, Babe? You got a point there. You're talking to me again. Does that mean I'm out of the doghouse?" "I wouldn't say that," Gwen said slowly, fighting the smile that wanted to break free when she looked into her husband's wickedly twinkling brown eyes and saw their son staring right back at her, "but I'm not really that mad at you for being worried about Abby. She's our friend, and Nick's whole disappearance is a little on the strange side, considering how much Ali needs him right now." "Exactly," Hank agreed, "Luis said Katie had to give Ali something to calm her down. Katie's even pissed, Babe, and it takes a lot to get Katie pissed. Don't tell me Taylor has a good reason for scaring Ali half to death. When he gets back to Harmony, he's going to answer to me." Gwen was blind-sided by the sudden image of a tiny chihuahua raising a leg to pee on a giant St. Bernard and getting its head snapped off, and she could barely restrain herself from laughing out loud. Hank noticed, but he let it slide, choosing instead to continue his rant while Sara thumped French fries at Emily and Joshua across the table when she thought no one was looking. Her family, Gwen thought with a sigh. She was SO proud.
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"Hey, Gray Eyes. I know you told me not to come, but I'm in a bad place right now, and I just realized.I know you don't want me here, but.Listen, I have a mind of my own, and.DAMMIT!" Abby swore, hitting the steering wheel with the heel of her hand as a jallopie on par with her piece of crap rental car pulled out in front of her, and she barely escaped a rear-end collision. "I just hopped on a plane to Boston to tell you I love you.Like he wants to hear THAT, Abby. He doesn't want the golly scared out of him," she muttered, maneuvering the car carefully along the winding road. Oh God, she thought as her hazel eyes were drawn to the black waters of the river traveling parallel to the road. The river where Sheridan.Abby sighed as her hands tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles white with tension. Sheridan didn't belong in this place. Hadn't Nick realized that? Hadn't he somehow known in the back of his mind that Luis was out there waiting for her? What the hell was she thinking? Hopping a plane to Boston and driving to THIS place-the place where Nick loved Sheridan.Jenny-in this yucky weather when she didn't have a clue where she was going? You were thinking.no, you were hoping he might need you, the annoying, always right voice inside her head nagged her. Molly's daughter said.Molly.Molly loved Nick like a son. Molly loved Sheridan too. Molly's fading away, and she's the closest thing to a mother he's really ever known, and he needs you.what the hell did Molly's daughter know about her, Abby wondered. "Come on!" Abby yelled, slamming her hand down on the horn when the jallopie slowed to a crawl in front of her. Strange how she'd never realized it before. The three of them.they were all orphans. It was the unspoken common thread in their separate and curiously intertwined lives. Sheridan had Luis and Ali and Cristian, not to mention Pilar and Martin and the rest of her family and friends. She was far from the lost, lonely little girl she had been. She had Shane. Infuriating as he could be sometimes-especially when he was right and she was wrong-he had always been her one constant in life. Nick was losing his only semblance of family, and he had no one. It scared Abby to realize how much she wanted to be his someone. This whole damn thing was too much, Abby thought distractedly as she watched the jallopie make a painstaking right turn and accelerated with an exaggerated sigh of relief. Her hazel gaze shifted just in time to see the car coming straight at her, careening out of control on the ice-slicked road, and her hands flew to the steering wheel as a scream tore from her throat.
Chapter 78 "And it never occurred to you that hitting the dog was the lesser of the two evils?" Abby asked the fidgety teen-aged girl in front of her, glancing over her shoulder worriedly like she expected her father to appear from out of nowhere to give her the 3rd degree. Abby winced at the unpleasant stinging sensation as the paramedic dabbed at the tiny abrasions on her forehead and cheek, swatting his hand away in annoyance. "Look. I'm sorry, okay. I didn't see you coming, and the dog looked just like Toto from the Wizard of Oz, and who can kill Toto?" the girl told her with a shrug of her shoulders. "Are you going to press charges or something? My dad's got no insurance, and I'll be grounded for like two years." Abby took one look at her beaten-up rental and decided to hell with it. The car wasn't worth it, and she could definitely identify with the teen in front of her, questionable piercings notwithstanding. "No. I'm not going to 'press charges'," she sighed, ignoring the hand the medic offered her and hopping down from the back of the ambulance unassisted, "not if I can catch a ride to the hospital." The girl blanched, her voice coming out in a scared stammer when she asked, "You're.you're hurt? Oh God, you're hurt. That's it. I'm dead. My dad is so going to kill me." "I'm fine," Abby smirked, taking pity on the girl before she started to hyperventilate, "there's someone I need to see at the hospital." "Thank God!" the girl exclaimed, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Hey.you can ride with me. I know the way to the hospital. It's only like 5 minutes from here.well, **I** can get there in 5 minutes." Some might say she was certifiable, Abby thought, but the one thing she wasn't was crazy enough to hitch a ride with this little NASCAR wannabe. "I hope you can understand why I'm going to have to turn down your kind offer," Abby told her, "but I think I'm going to catch a ride with Joe here. Is that okay, Joe?" Abby asked, turning to the young man standing beside her and imploring him with her eyes to say yes, nod, do SOMETHING. "Yeah. Sure. It's on my way," 'Joe' smirked. "Go home, Vic, and stay off these roads. You're even more dangerous behind the wheel than usual." "Sister?" Abby asked, breathing deeply and attempting to make a little conversation to ward off the disturbing flashes of memory of her last ride in an ambulance. "Cousin," the young man answered her with a lopsided smile, "By the way.the name's John. What about you, Ma'am? Do you have a name?" What the hell kind of question was THAT, Abby wondered, staring outside the passenger window at the darkening sky so he wouldn't notice her reflexive eye roll. OF COURSE, she had a name. EVERYBODY had a name. Geez. John could also stand to pick up a couple pointers on flirting. His 'Ma'am,' while polite, was SUCH a turn-off. Damn. She HATED the sound of that word and how old it made her feel. "Abby," she answered him with a sigh. "Do you think maybe we could hold off on the conversation, John? I think I'm getting a migraine, and." "Sure, sure," John apologized, "it's not much further to the hospital. Maybe you can get something for your headache there." Not something, Abby corrected him silently. Someone. Nick.
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"What do you mean she has an infection? She was perfectly.she was fine this morning," Luis said, his anger at Taylor's apparent abandonment of his daughter seeping into his voice as he talked to Dr. Matthews. "What does this mean for her transplant?" "We'll have to fight the infection before Ali can undergo the transplant, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. She's not strong enough.The infection can become very serious if we are not able to get it under control and treat it," Dr. Matthews told him regretfully. Luis rest his forehead against Ali's hospital door wearily, his arms braced on either side of his head. Just this morning.He shook his head. Ali's energy and hope had seemed to wane as the day progressed, and Luis couldn't help but feel partly responsible. "Have you been able to reach Taylor?" Luis grit out, staring at Dr. Matthews with intense dark eyes. "I've called the number he left repeatedly, but there hasn't been an answer. We're doing everything we can for your daughter, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. Ali's a favorite around here. We all want to see her happy and healthy again." "I know you do, Dr. Matthews. I'm sorry.I'm not doubting you're doing the best you can. Thank you," Luis said sincerely, "I need to." "Go to your daughter, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald. I'll keep trying Dr. Taylor." Luis nodded and stepped inside Ali's room, leaving Dr. Matthews alone. "You just rest, Sweetie, and let this medicine do all the work," Katie told Ali softly, brushing a gentle hand across his daughter's forehead. "Look who's back," Katie smiled at him over her shoulder, "It's your daddy, Doll." "Daddy," Ali's blue eyes shone with love as Luis took her little hand between both of his larger ones and brought it to his cheek. "C'mere, AliCat," he whispered, carefully scooping her tiny frame up into his arms as he slid onto the bed beside her, "is this okay?" Katie gave him a quick nod, momentarily unable to speak she was so touched by the scene. She blinked back the sting of tears and cleared her throat, "If you need anything." She wasn't going anywhere. She was staying until she knew Ali's infection was gone, and she knew Noah would understand. "Thanks, Katie," Luis answered her gratefully, "Could you." "I'll find her, Luis," Katie promised, pulling the door shut behind her. Luis pressed his warm lips against Ali's temple, cradling her even closer. He felt his heart swell to bursting with Ali's whisper. "I love holding you like this, Daddy." "Me too, AliCat. Me too."
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The candles in the chapel flickered, casting eerie shadows around the room and Sheridan's upturned face. Her blue eyes were wet and pleading, much like her voice as she prayed to a God she no longer understood. "Why? I don't understand. Help me understand why. You gave me more than I ever thought I deserved when you gave me Ali, and now you're trying to take her away from me. I know life isn't supposed to be fair, and maybe I'm being selfish because I haven't had enough time with her, but this.this isn't right. It doesn't make sense to me why you would give her back to me only to take her away again." The accident. She'd missed Ali's baby years, and the pictures were there, but it wasn't the same. She wasn't in any of them. She wasn't holding her baby. She hadn't existed. For three long years she hadn't existed. Ali's baby years had been taken away from her. Then there was the kidnapping. Ali's kidnapping. It seemed that every time they started to really be happy, to really enjoy being a family, something always tried to rip away what she loved most. Her sweet little daughter. And this cancer.it was the cruelest method of all because she was losing her baby little by little and try as she might, there was nothing she could physically do to stop it. She felt so helpless. She felt so angry, she realized, and the emotion seeped into her tired bones, taking over as she climbed to her feet and turned to meet Katie halfway. "I'm not going to let you have her," she vowed, resisting the desire to wince at the dull, throb of pain in her lower back in front of Katie. She really shouldn't let her stubbornness blind her to the fact that Luis WAS right sometimes. Those stairs HADN'T been such a good idea.
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"I guess that explains why she's not answering her phone," Shane sighed, turning his sister's ringing cell phone off and putting it back on the kitchen counter where he and Ivy had found it. "Ethan'd forget his own head if it weren't attached," Ivy smirked, handing his cell phone back to him as her blue-green eyes perused their surroundings. "Nice place." "Yeah, it is," Shane answered her, hazel eyes twinkling at her comment about Ethan, "I think this is more of a case of my kid sister avoiding my nagging than it is a case of forgetfulness. Ivy, do you mind waiting a little longer? I'm going to check the disaster-zone that's Abby's room for clues to where she's gone. If you're thirsty, I'm sure there's something in the fridge. Oh, and Abby keeps the alcohol well-stocked if you."
Shane trailed off, grinning at Ivy's amused smile. "I won't be long." "Don't worry about me," Ivy called after him, arching a brow at the scattered photographs all over the sofa, "I'm sure I can find something interesting to do." She picked up a photo of a teen-aged Shane and a very young, completely adorable Abby in blond pigtails and smiled at the protective arm Shane had wrapped around his sister's tiny shoulders. Another picture, Abby all decked out as a clown, struck her as so appropriate she burst into helpless laughter. "Runt was born a clown," Shane chuckled, startling Ivy enough to make her drop all the photos in her hands. "She didn't take her suitcase so she must not be planning to be gone long. Are you ready? We can still make our reservation if we hurry." "Just a minute," Ivy smiled, "let me straighten things up a bit." "Are you kidding?" Shane teased, kneeling on the floor beside her to help, "Abby's going to know I broke into her apartment like the worried, overprotective big brother I am if we don't leave it in the mess we found it. Ivy?" Ivy's fingers curled around the picture in her hand, and she shook off the momentary shock of recognition that had coursed through her with the first glance at the dark, piercing eyes and somber, handsome face. "Then we should leave it a mess," she agreed, slipping the picture inside her purse when Shane wasn't looking. "What are we waiting for? I'm starving."
Chapter 79 "She's interested, but not in moving to Harmony? Chad, what are you going to do? I know she was your first choice.But this is your dream.You can't give up so easily," Theresa sighed, moving the receiver to her other ear as she scribbled Chad's flight information down on a sheet of paper and tacked it on the fridge with a magnet "Yes.it's right beside Cristian's wonderful rendition of Smoky.No, it wasn't a blissful family reunion.Let's just say I'm gaining a whole new understanding of Luis's name for her.Well, yeah. She HAS been a pain in the.Chad, if you don't come home soon, Smoky's going to forget what you look like.All right," Theresa giggled, "she's NOT going to forget, but she DOES miss you. Not as much as **I** miss you, but still.I love you. You're my fiance, and I want to see you now. Not two days from now.I was working on the guest list for the wedding today, and Chad, I was thinking.yes, I do that sometimes," Theresa huffed into the receiver as she made her way into the living room and turned on the television, channel- surfing until she found an old romantic comedy. She curled up on the sofa, pulling Cristian's favorite quilt over her knees and endured Chad's teasing with a smile and a roll of her dark eyes. "How do you know I'm rolling my eyes? You can't see me.Oh, you know me, do you? What am I doing right now?" she inquired between bites of ice cream. "No, I'm not eating ice cream.it's too cold out, and besides.that's Sheridan's and Luis's MO, not mine. Fuuuunnnyyy.Well, then.you'll just have to come home before I start looking suspiciously like the Goodyear blimp.You're going to help me with the guest list.Yes, you are, and that's that. You know you can't say no to me.Why? Because you love me. That's why.You're going to have to do it yourself, Chad, 'cause I'm not hanging up.Love you. Bye.Two days is too long," Theresa whined as her spoon clinked against the bottom of her empty bowl, and the phone disconnected with Chad's amused laughter ringing in her ears. So she hadn't told him about Ali's infection. He would have dropped everything to come home, and Sheridan hadn't wanted him to do that. Neither did she, Theresa realized. No matter how much she missed him. She placed her bowl on the coffee table, promising herself she'd take it to the kitchen later, and pulled the quilt up over her shoulders as she settled deeper into the mountain of pillows for maximum enjoyment of Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant at their best, her eyelids already drooping with fatigue. The fire crackled in the fireplace a few feet away, and Max curled up in front of her, resting his golden head on his front paws as his brown eyes watched Miss Priss lap greedily from the abandoned bowl unnoticed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Katie wrapped her arms tighter around herself, letting her tears fall freely as she walked aimlessly down the main hall of the pediatric oncology ward. There were times when she hated her job and questioned her commitment to it. Tonight was definitely one of those times, she thought numbly, passing Ellie without acknowledging her expression of pity. The death of a child was something NO mother should have to live through, yet it happened every day, and Katie had witnessed the death of too many innocents to expect life to be fair anymore. Her own hope was at its lowest point, and she didn't know what to do about it. She didn't know how to grasp onto faith any harder. She tried to steel herself to the anguished cries echoing in the halls, but it was impossible, and she couldn't fight the urge to run away any longer. So she turned and ran. Straight into a pair of strong arms. Katie sobbed against Noah's broad chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and letting him hold her up when her knees felt weak and useless. She concentrated on the way his breath stirred her hair, and the way his heart thumped reassuringly inside his chest. The clean, masculine scent of him, the feel of him around her comforted her, and her fingers dug into his back as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. When she felt the gentle brush of tiny fingers through her hair and kisses of the faintest pressure on her cheek, her green eyes blinked open, and she found herself staring into Kendall's guileless green eyes. Kendall whimpered in protest when she crushed him to her, but Katie just held him tighter, needing, for the moment, to have him as close to her as she could. "Thank you," she cried, cupping Noah's strong jaw with one hand as the other cradled Kendall's sandy blond head, her lips pressed against his temple. "Not necessary," Noah whispered, taking her hand and pulling her and Kendall back into his arms without another word.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It'd been hours since she'd heard the sound of his voice, Abby realized as the car slowed to a stop in front of an old Colonial. Molly's Colonial, Abby guessed. Nick's now. Molly's daughter and her family lived someplace warm and sunny. The memories and the cold in Massachusetts were more than they could handle. Abby joined Nick on the front steps, hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket, as she waited for him to find the right key. Rain and sleet fell around them, and Abby felt a painful flutter in her chest as she watched Nick's unsteady hands struggle with the key. She felt his gray eyes on her as her hands covered his, and they turned the key in the lock together. "See?" she forced a note of lightness into her voice, "I'm good for something. How do you like the sound of 'Wonder Abby'?" Nick's hand warmed her cheek almost as much as the gratitude and fleeting sparkle of humor in his gray eyes, and Abby was on the verge of spilling the contents of her heart to him when she heard his soft whisper. "Inside. You're freezing." "Geez.it feels like the mor." Abby's words froze awkwardly in her throat, and she whirled around in embarrassment, hoping Nick hadn't heard her. Dammit. Feels like the morgue in here, Abby? Open mouth. Jam foot WAY back. Choke to death on own stupidity. She winced. Rotten choice of words. "Okay.I'm not some helpless little maiden," she grumbled in mock-offense as she watched Nick coax the logs in the fireplace to actually burn, filling the open living room with a soft orange glow, "Mr. Scout Leader. What can I do?" Nick stood up slowly and crossed the short distance to her with a small smile on his lips-his first smile of the night, "Candles. It's getting worse outside, and I don't think we'll have electricity much longer. Think you can handle it, Wonder Abby?" Abby rolled her hazel eyes at his gentle teasing, and she turned, ready to set out on her mission when he caught her hand in his own. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk at the hospital earlier. I made a big deal about you coming when I asked you not to, but the truth is I'm glad you're here. Thank you for coming," Nick punctuated his words with a squeeze of her hand. "Admit it. You weren't surprised to see me at all, were you?" Abby asked him with sparkling hazel eyes. "Uh huh," she smiled as she backed away, reluctant to let go of his hand, "I knew it. Look for me in a little while if you don't hear anymore of my inane babbling, okay?" "To think I was actually worried." Abby's hazel eyes fluttered open, and she wore a sheepish smile as she shifted to a sitting position in the old clawfoot tub. "What can I say?" she shrugged her shoulders, making bubbles splash over the porcelain sides onto the cold tile floor below. "I wandered in here looking for candles. Calgon moment waiting to happen if you ask me. Besides.not that I've seen any, but I don't think frostbitten asses are too attractive, do you?" Nick shook his head at her unique sense of humor as he stepped further into the room, his hands going to the row of buttons down the front of his shirt. Abby eyed each newly revealed patch of golden skin appreciatively, opening her arms to welcome him when he stood completely naked before her with stormy gray eyes. Oh, Gray Eyes, Abby thought silently. She wanted to hug him and make the pain go away. The water and bubbles surged upward with his additional weight, spilling over the sides of the tub and further soaking the floor. Nick settled back against the soft pillow of Abby's breasts, his dark head resting on her shoulder as her arms snaked around his neck, hugging him close to her. "Molly must have been something special," she murmured, each word brushing her lips against his earlobe. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her," Abby told him sincerely, nuzzling his cheek and placing a tender kiss there, her lips following the invisible trail of his salty tears. "Shh.just hold onto me, Gray Eyes.I won't let go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ His wife's blue eyes glittered in the darkness, and Luis saw the reflection of his own pain in them. The cries of anguish were haunting. Almost too familiar. They replayed over and over again in his nightmares each night when he could no longer fight to keep his eyes open to watch every breath Ali takes. He wanted to reach out, take Sheridan's hand in his, and make pretty promises he couldn't possibly keep, but he didn't. His dark eyes shifted to the still figure on the hospital bed, and he pushed the heel of hand against his lips to stifle his own rising sob, fumbling with his other hand for the tiny radio he knows is on the small table beside the bed. A half-empty glass and his keychain topple to the floor below when the pitiful wails reach his ears again, and a frightened gasp tells him he has woken her. Soft music fills the room, but its melancholy melody still sounds like tears to his ears. "Daddy?" "Sleep, AliCat," he whispers to her as he holds her little hand tightly, "Go back to sleep." Chapter 80
"So Molly was your first Katie," Abby speculated. "Your first favorite nurse," she explained when Nick looked at her with confused gray eyes and the hint of an amused smirk on his lips as he watched her fork wave in the air with each unconscious hand gesture. "I've never actually thought of it that way, but yes," Nick answered her, his fingers closing around her wrist and bringing her fork to his mouth. Abby's mouth fell open in protest as he ate her last bite of cheesecake. "Cheesecake's fattening, and you had more of my sandwich than I did. And you stole my clothes," Nick told her, chuckling in surprise when he suddenly found his arms full of live, breathing, ultimately crazy woman. He swept his hands up and down her back gently, unconsciously counting each breath she took as her arms wound tightly around his neck, and they held each other for several long minutes. Her hazel eyes were soft with compassion as she stroked her fingers through the dark hair at the nape of his neck, and Nick felt his heart twist inside his chest at the unexpected rush of affection he experienced just looking into her eyes. "Tell me about her," Abby whispered, turning around in his embrace and covering his arms with her own. "I met Molly when I was twelve years old," Nick revealed as he watched Abby's smaller fingers slide through his, "My mother had just died, and my new foster parents lived next door to Molly and her family." "Do they still live next door?" Abby questioned, "Maybe they have some food. And a generator," she added. Nick didn't have to see her eyes to know they were twinkling. He smiled, rubbing his cheek against her silky tawny hair before continuing, "Mr. Prescott ran off with his secretary two days before my fourteenth birthday. Mrs. Prescott tried to keep things the same after he'd gone, but over time she just fell apart. That Christmas, I woke up to an empty house. Instead of presents under the tree, I got a letter and worthless check." "What a bitch," Abby muttered indignantly, nuzzling his arm with her cheek, "Molly took you in, didn't she?" "And she was my favorite nurse after med school," Nick told her with a smile in his voice, "My first Katie." The flames flickered low in the fireplace, their shadows dancing across Abby's face, and Nick tucked her more firmly in his arms when she shivered against him. "Cold?" "I can't feel my little toe," Abby complained, "First it's the little toe. Then the whole foot. Before you know it, I won't be able to feel my own ass." Nick dropped his chin to her shoulder and laughed, slipping his arms from her waist and climbing to his feet to add another log to the fire. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a true original?" "Once or twice," Abby smirked, pounding her pillow into a desirable shape. She stretched out along the mattress she'd helped him bring in from one of the downstairs bedrooms, raising up on one elbow to gaze at him unnoticed as he crouched in front of the glowing fire. She sucked in a deep, startled breath when their eyes connected across the short distance, and she felt the remaining wall around her heart start to crumble to dust. Dammit, she thought with an inward sigh. She loved those gray eyes, and God help her, she loved the man they belonged to. How the hell had she let this happen, she wondered as Nick slipped beneath the blankets with her and rest his dark head next to hers against the snowy white pillow. She really was crazy. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Luis was slumped in the chair beside Ali's bed, long legs sprawled in front of him and his left arm dangling over the chair's side when Katie made her second trip to Ali's room sometime in the early morning hours. Luis's elbow rest on the edge of Ali's mattress, and his chin was propped in his right palm as he finally slept, exhausted from the strain of constantly worrying about Ali and his family. Katie reached around him carefully to turn the radio off, the mournful crying of earlier only an echoing memory, and touched the backs of her fingers against Ali's forehead, careful not wake the little girl as she checked her temperature and her vitals. Katie jumped, nearly bumping Luis when Sheridan's soft voice startled her in stillness of room. "I think the medicine's working. She seems more peaceful."
"Sheridan," Katie admonished gently, walking around the foot of Ali's bed, "it's almost three in the morning. You should be." "Katie." Even in the pale shaft of moonlight shining in through the lone window in the room, Sheridan's indulgent smile was still visible. "Not you, too. Sleep's an impossibility these days," she murmured, rubbing her hands over her rounded belly, "With the baby, and Ali.Sometimes I can't bring myself to close my eyes. I don't want to.just in case." Katie reached out and covered Sheridan's restless hands with her own, hoping Sheridan could see the understanding in her own eyes, "Working with children like Ali has taught me to appreciate every moment I have with Kendall. I know it's not really the same, but." "Thank you, Katie," Sheridan whispered, giving Katie's hand a grateful squeeze, "The crying? Earlier." "We lost Patrick," Katie told her, tears in her voice, "He was just so tired, and his mother...she refused to let him go. It's always hard. Not as hard as it is for the families, but you grow attached to these beautiful little people. And it's hard to understand how God could put them through so much and take them from us so early." Tears glistened on Sheridan's cheeks, and Katie swallowed past the lump rising in her own throat to offer Sheridan some words of comfort, "But you never stop fighting or loving. Someone told me there's no joy in a life without hope, and I really believe that to be true. There's hope everywhere. In Ali's beautiful smile and Luis's love for you and your children. And this baby, Sheridan," Katie smiled as she rest her hand over the restless baby girl in Sheridan's womb, "well, she may just be the greatest hope of all." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Pale ribbons of light-not quite moonlight, not quite sunlight-filtered in through the frosted windows, casting an almost otherworldly glow on Nick's peaceful face, and Abby smiled as she traced the features of that handsome face with the pads of her fingers reflectively. She followed the line of one dark brow, letting her fingers comb through the sprinkling of gray at his temple. His jaw was smooth and strong, and she felt laughter bubbling up within herself as she traced the lines of his sleepy grin with the nail of her index finger down to his mouth. His voice was deep and rumbling, sexy and rough from sleep, and her thumb played over his full bottom lip as he spoke. "Katie says the gray is so George Clooney." "Katie says, does she?" Abby leaned down to press a tiny kiss to the corner of his mouth, making his gray eyes blink open, "Should I be jealous?" Nick slid his hand around the back of her neck when she tried to pull away, and his face started the swim out of focus, his intense gray eyes suddenly the only thing Abby could see as their mouths hovered inches apart. "You're here," Nick murmured, letting his lips linger on the mole on her upper lip before trailing them across her cheek to her ear. "Not Katie," he smirked as he slid one muscular thigh between her legs and rolled them both over, "Or anyone else." Abby's hazel eyes fluttered shut at the first gentle touch of his fingertips to the tiny butterfly bandages on her forehead and the hollow of her cheek, and she sighed when his lips followed the same path of his fingertips a moment later. Her brow, eyelids, nose, and chin got the same tender treatment, but Nick avoided kissing her on the mouth, and Abby wanted to groan with frustration until she felt Nick's hands at her waist, slowly inching the bulky material of her confiscated sweatshirt up her body. Nick sat back on his heels, bringing Abby with him, and the heat of his hand at the small of her back burned her even as he swept the sweatshirt over her tawny head and exposed her bare skin to the chilly morning air. Nick's shirt added to the growing pile of clothes, and Abby could feel the thrumming of Nick's heart and the increasingly rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath her mouth, and she raised her head to meet his eyes when he softly whispered her name in question. Their hands met and clasped, and Abby lay back, never breaking the intense gaze.
There was a difference, Abby realized, between giving your heart to someone and giving them your body. It was a feeling much more frightening than facing forty, millions of teen-aged NASCAR wannabes, and endless years of Britney on the radio. As Nick mapped out the planes and valleys of her body with his hands and lips, making her tremble with need and cry out in pleasure, Abby felt like she was free-falling. Nick's strong arms held her close as they danced the fine line between sex and love, and Abby knew she was fighting a losing battle when he brushed her damp, tawny hair away from her face and kissed her mouth sweetly and thoroughly. Gray Eyes had finally rendered her speechless.