Disclaimer: Je ne possède pas Charles de Port.
A/N: The disclaimer is in French today. Thought I'd try something different. So what have we learned from the last chapter? Well, Gracie is, without a doubt, not paranoid. And Nat started to have flashbacks of a certain Barn scene that will remain nameless. LOL-sorry bout that Nat. Until next time-Ya'll are the best-PCGirl.
~~~~~
She had calmed herself down some on the drive over, and now she could finally begin to breathe once more. Her stress level was high-probably higher than it should be. But of course, could anyone blame her. Ever since that night her life had been chaos, except for when they were in Australia. Just a month ago they were standing on a deck of a dinner ship watching the sunset. She took a deep breath, "Please be here. Please be here," she said as she rang the doorbell.
"Alison," said Ian as he opened the door. "Is everything ok?"
"No, it's not. Is Lucy here? I really need to talk to her," she said very quickly.
"She went out shopping with Christina. I can call her, and I'm sure she'll come back. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Don't bother her. Her and Christina need to have bonding time. That's what mother's are supposed to be for, having fun and spending time together," she said, angry that she hadn't been able to get a hold of her mom lately.
"Well, sit down and I'll be a listening ear," he said as she sat on the couch. "Now what's wrong?"
"It's Rafe."
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"Daddy!" squealed Christina as she came running into the lighthouse and onto his lap.
"Look at my big girl. What are you up to today?"
"Mommy and me are going shopping."
"Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Hey, if you go into the kitchen I bet you'll find some Halloween candy. If it's ok with your mom you can have some."
She looked up at Lucy with those big eyes, "Yes, pumpkinhead, but you can only have two pieces, ok?" she said as her daughter went running back to the kitchen. "How are you doing lately?"
"I'm managing, but I think I'm going to have a houseguest soon."
"Really? Are you sure you're up to it? Will they be able to help you with your therapy?"
"Yes, I'm up to it Lucy. It's going to be Livvie."
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"What are your plans for today?" asked Livvie as she bounded into Jack's house.
"Nothing for a few hours. Frank is watching the bar until Neil gets home from school, and then I'll go over and close the place down. Why?"
"Because I need your help. Come on, I have all the wires and stuff in the back of the car, and we don't have much time," she said grabbing his hand and trying to pull him to the door.
"Wires? For what?"
"We're going to bug the loft to prove that Karissa and Caleb are working together."
"Uhm, no we're not," he said as he yanked his hand back out of her grasp.
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"Hold on," he said grabbing her wrist and checking her pulse. "Lay down," he said as he went to the kitchen. When he came back she was lying on the couch, with a pillow under her head.
"Is everything ok?" she asked, as he handed her a glass of water.
"Your heart rate is through the roof. I want you to lie down, and sit here until you feel better. Now, slowly and calmly tell me what happened today."
"I went over to the barn. I don't know what caused me to do that, but I did. When I got there, Rafe was already there. He had found a baseball and we started playing catch," she said as she stopped to breathe.
"Ok. Do you want to go on?"
"Yeah, just give me a second. So we then started talking, I thought it would be good for both of us to get everything off our chests. He holds me completely responsible for what happened, Ian," she said as she began to cry. "I keep telling everyone I didn't know what I was doing, and everyone seems to believe me, except for him."
"It takes a lot to admit fault, Alison. But it takes even more to forgive. I know if something like that ever happened with me it would take a long time for me to forgive. You and Rafe are going to get through this, but listen to me when I say you have got to take your stress level way down. It's dangerous for you and the baby."
"Alright," she said giving him a smile.
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"Livvie? No, you can't have her move in here," she said firmly, as if she still had a part in his life.
"Why not Lucy? She's under a lot of stress with Caleb right now, and maybe if she moves away from him she'll finally want to be rid of him for good. Is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes, it's a horrible thing. Kevin, she is nothing but poison to anyone, and she'll probably poison you also."
"Are you telling me that if Serena had a few bumps in the road of life you would turn your back on her?"
"No," she said with her head down, "But Livvie's road of life resembles the Andes Mountains right now. She can't be any help is all I'm saying."
"Lucy, you aren't married to me anymore, you can't tell me what to do-so if I want to reach out to my daughter then you are just going to have to accept that. You know what Lucy, maybe you and Christina should get on with that shopping trip you were going to take," he said, as he was ready for her to leave now.
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"Jack, it's the perfect plan," she pleaded.
"Yeah, and like all your other ones, it's going to backfire in your face. Trust me, we did this before with Rafe and Tess was barely able to keep Caleb from killing everyone in town. Even you don't have that much of a hold on him from doing it twice."
"But see that was Rafe, and I can do this better than him. Caleb's doing auditions right now for the next two hours, we can set this up in that time. I already bought the stuff."
"Fine, where are the monitors going to be?" he asked as she walked outside the door for a second. As she came back in she was holding one of the monitors, "Here," she said with a smile.
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"Alison!" called Rafe as he walked into the apartment. "I know you are here, the car was outside. Hey, come out and talk," he said as he kept walking around trying to find her. He stopped his search for a minute to get an icepack for his shoulder-for a girl that never played sports she sure did have a good arm. He looked and saw her come into the apartment, "Hey, where were you just now?"
"I had taken some fresh towels downstairs. Before that I tried to call my mother-of course she didn't answer. I guess she's gone back to her old ways, it's not like I expected her to stay like that forever," she sighed. She had hoped her mother had changed somehow in the past year, and had gotten her hopes up that she would be a part of her grandchild's life, but that was definitely not looking like the case now.
"Yeah, well, it'll be ok. You've grown up without her most of your life," he said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"How bad did I hit you?" she asked coming over to where he was.
"Pretty good shot there," he said letting her have a peek.
"I went over to talk to Lucy earlier, but she wasn't there. Ian and I had a chat instead. Are we ever going to be able to be back to where we were before?"
"We will," he said giving her a kiss. "It's just going to take some time, that's all."
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"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," said Jack as he stood on top of a chair to rig up the video camera.
"It's because you still have a thing for me," teased Livvie as she stood below him, her hands resting in her back pockets of her jeans.
"Don't make me laugh because I might fall off this chair. I really don't feel like being vampire food tonight," he said as he finished up the wiring. "Alright now all we have to do is go back to my place and see if it works. Do you want to come with me?" he asked as he got off the chair.
"No, I'm going to stay here. Call when you get there and turn on the monitors," she said giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for doing this, Jack."
"I just hope I don't regret it later," he said leaving, knowing he was probably going to be seeing more of Livvie than he wanted.
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"Was that Alison I just saw driving down the road?" asked Lucy as she came in with Christina.
"Yeah. Where are the shopping bags?"
"We didn't go shopping. I thought going and seeing Kevin would be nicer, but it wasn't. He's about to get himself in a whole bunch of trouble and he won't listen to me at all."
"Well, he doesn't have to since you aren't married anymore."
"Thought you would be a little more comforting in my time of need," she said as she came over to him and slipped her arms around his chest and looked up at him. "So what did Alison want?"
"Rafe's about to explode, and I'm scared that when he does it's going to put Alison in the hospital," he said as he held Lucy tight, wondering if there was anything he could do to stop him.
A/N: The disclaimer is in French today. Thought I'd try something different. So what have we learned from the last chapter? Well, Gracie is, without a doubt, not paranoid. And Nat started to have flashbacks of a certain Barn scene that will remain nameless. LOL-sorry bout that Nat. Until next time-Ya'll are the best-PCGirl.
~~~~~
She had calmed herself down some on the drive over, and now she could finally begin to breathe once more. Her stress level was high-probably higher than it should be. But of course, could anyone blame her. Ever since that night her life had been chaos, except for when they were in Australia. Just a month ago they were standing on a deck of a dinner ship watching the sunset. She took a deep breath, "Please be here. Please be here," she said as she rang the doorbell.
"Alison," said Ian as he opened the door. "Is everything ok?"
"No, it's not. Is Lucy here? I really need to talk to her," she said very quickly.
"She went out shopping with Christina. I can call her, and I'm sure she'll come back. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Don't bother her. Her and Christina need to have bonding time. That's what mother's are supposed to be for, having fun and spending time together," she said, angry that she hadn't been able to get a hold of her mom lately.
"Well, sit down and I'll be a listening ear," he said as she sat on the couch. "Now what's wrong?"
"It's Rafe."
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"Daddy!" squealed Christina as she came running into the lighthouse and onto his lap.
"Look at my big girl. What are you up to today?"
"Mommy and me are going shopping."
"Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Hey, if you go into the kitchen I bet you'll find some Halloween candy. If it's ok with your mom you can have some."
She looked up at Lucy with those big eyes, "Yes, pumpkinhead, but you can only have two pieces, ok?" she said as her daughter went running back to the kitchen. "How are you doing lately?"
"I'm managing, but I think I'm going to have a houseguest soon."
"Really? Are you sure you're up to it? Will they be able to help you with your therapy?"
"Yes, I'm up to it Lucy. It's going to be Livvie."
-------
"What are your plans for today?" asked Livvie as she bounded into Jack's house.
"Nothing for a few hours. Frank is watching the bar until Neil gets home from school, and then I'll go over and close the place down. Why?"
"Because I need your help. Come on, I have all the wires and stuff in the back of the car, and we don't have much time," she said grabbing his hand and trying to pull him to the door.
"Wires? For what?"
"We're going to bug the loft to prove that Karissa and Caleb are working together."
"Uhm, no we're not," he said as he yanked his hand back out of her grasp.
-------
"Hold on," he said grabbing her wrist and checking her pulse. "Lay down," he said as he went to the kitchen. When he came back she was lying on the couch, with a pillow under her head.
"Is everything ok?" she asked, as he handed her a glass of water.
"Your heart rate is through the roof. I want you to lie down, and sit here until you feel better. Now, slowly and calmly tell me what happened today."
"I went over to the barn. I don't know what caused me to do that, but I did. When I got there, Rafe was already there. He had found a baseball and we started playing catch," she said as she stopped to breathe.
"Ok. Do you want to go on?"
"Yeah, just give me a second. So we then started talking, I thought it would be good for both of us to get everything off our chests. He holds me completely responsible for what happened, Ian," she said as she began to cry. "I keep telling everyone I didn't know what I was doing, and everyone seems to believe me, except for him."
"It takes a lot to admit fault, Alison. But it takes even more to forgive. I know if something like that ever happened with me it would take a long time for me to forgive. You and Rafe are going to get through this, but listen to me when I say you have got to take your stress level way down. It's dangerous for you and the baby."
"Alright," she said giving him a smile.
------
"Livvie? No, you can't have her move in here," she said firmly, as if she still had a part in his life.
"Why not Lucy? She's under a lot of stress with Caleb right now, and maybe if she moves away from him she'll finally want to be rid of him for good. Is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes, it's a horrible thing. Kevin, she is nothing but poison to anyone, and she'll probably poison you also."
"Are you telling me that if Serena had a few bumps in the road of life you would turn your back on her?"
"No," she said with her head down, "But Livvie's road of life resembles the Andes Mountains right now. She can't be any help is all I'm saying."
"Lucy, you aren't married to me anymore, you can't tell me what to do-so if I want to reach out to my daughter then you are just going to have to accept that. You know what Lucy, maybe you and Christina should get on with that shopping trip you were going to take," he said, as he was ready for her to leave now.
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"Jack, it's the perfect plan," she pleaded.
"Yeah, and like all your other ones, it's going to backfire in your face. Trust me, we did this before with Rafe and Tess was barely able to keep Caleb from killing everyone in town. Even you don't have that much of a hold on him from doing it twice."
"But see that was Rafe, and I can do this better than him. Caleb's doing auditions right now for the next two hours, we can set this up in that time. I already bought the stuff."
"Fine, where are the monitors going to be?" he asked as she walked outside the door for a second. As she came back in she was holding one of the monitors, "Here," she said with a smile.
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"Alison!" called Rafe as he walked into the apartment. "I know you are here, the car was outside. Hey, come out and talk," he said as he kept walking around trying to find her. He stopped his search for a minute to get an icepack for his shoulder-for a girl that never played sports she sure did have a good arm. He looked and saw her come into the apartment, "Hey, where were you just now?"
"I had taken some fresh towels downstairs. Before that I tried to call my mother-of course she didn't answer. I guess she's gone back to her old ways, it's not like I expected her to stay like that forever," she sighed. She had hoped her mother had changed somehow in the past year, and had gotten her hopes up that she would be a part of her grandchild's life, but that was definitely not looking like the case now.
"Yeah, well, it'll be ok. You've grown up without her most of your life," he said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"How bad did I hit you?" she asked coming over to where he was.
"Pretty good shot there," he said letting her have a peek.
"I went over to talk to Lucy earlier, but she wasn't there. Ian and I had a chat instead. Are we ever going to be able to be back to where we were before?"
"We will," he said giving her a kiss. "It's just going to take some time, that's all."
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"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," said Jack as he stood on top of a chair to rig up the video camera.
"It's because you still have a thing for me," teased Livvie as she stood below him, her hands resting in her back pockets of her jeans.
"Don't make me laugh because I might fall off this chair. I really don't feel like being vampire food tonight," he said as he finished up the wiring. "Alright now all we have to do is go back to my place and see if it works. Do you want to come with me?" he asked as he got off the chair.
"No, I'm going to stay here. Call when you get there and turn on the monitors," she said giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for doing this, Jack."
"I just hope I don't regret it later," he said leaving, knowing he was probably going to be seeing more of Livvie than he wanted.
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"Was that Alison I just saw driving down the road?" asked Lucy as she came in with Christina.
"Yeah. Where are the shopping bags?"
"We didn't go shopping. I thought going and seeing Kevin would be nicer, but it wasn't. He's about to get himself in a whole bunch of trouble and he won't listen to me at all."
"Well, he doesn't have to since you aren't married anymore."
"Thought you would be a little more comforting in my time of need," she said as she came over to him and slipped her arms around his chest and looked up at him. "So what did Alison want?"
"Rafe's about to explode, and I'm scared that when he does it's going to put Alison in the hospital," he said as he held Lucy tight, wondering if there was anything he could do to stop him.