XX



Fox went back inside the house to find Whitney and Chad entertaining Little Ethan. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want." Fox said running his hands through his blond hair. "But I don't know when Theresa's going to get back."

"We'll just stop by tomorrow. We just wanted to talk about the wedding anyway." Whitney replied as she stood up.

"Yeah," Chad replied. "We'll just come by tomorrow. That is, if it's all right with you and Theresa."

"It's fine." Fox said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

Whitney and Chad waved goodbye and closed the door softly behind them. Little Ethan grinned at his father. "Da!" He said happily as he reached his arms up to Fox. Fox leaned down and picked up Little Ethan. "Hey, buddy." He said softly.

Little Ethan snuggled against Fox. Fox sighed. "Sleepy are you?" Fox said glancing down at the little boy in his arms. Ethan Martin yawned in response. "I guess so." Fox said smiling. "Perhaps this calls for a little story." Fox said quietly. Little Ethan looked at him expectantly.

"Once upon a time there was this handsome yet very troublesome Prince." Fox began. "He caused so much havoc around the palace that his parents didn't know what to do with him. They sent him to a faraway place, and the little prince grew up feeling unloved and unwanted. When he was older, the prince came back to his hometown."

Little Ethan's eyes began closing. "Well, everyone was surprise to see the prince return." Fox said as he resumed his story. "One night, the prince ran into a beautiful maiden. Her beauty stunned the prince. He didn't know that such beautiful people existed. Luckily for the Prince, the maiden liked him and they became very good friends." Fox looked down at Little Ethan whose eyes were barely open.

"Well," Fox said quietly. "What the prince didn't know was that he was slowly falling for the beautiful maiden." Fox smiled. "He thought he was in love with the maiden's closest friend, but it was the maiden who had a hold of his heart the whole time."

When Fox glanced down at Little Ethan he smiled. Little Ethan was fast asleep. "We'll continue this story later," Fox whispered. He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes.

~*~



"Is- is it mine?" Justin asked warily.

"Well, the woman who we think is your wife is eight months pregnant." Smith said.

"That's how long she's been missing." Justin said in astonishment. "So the ch-child could be mine?"

"Possibly." Smith replied. "Or the kidnapper's." He said in a low tone.

Justin tensed. "Has the kidnapper been found?"

"It's actually kidnappers." Smith said gravely. "I wasn't told much information, but I'm sure that once you get to Chicago, you're going to find out a lot more about the whole situation."

Justin sat in his chair stunned. His mind tried desperately to process everything he had been told, but Justin was far from comprehending everything. Theresa patted his hand comfortingly.

"You leave first thing in the morning." Smith replied handing Justin an airplane ticket. There are two tickets to Chicago in case there's anyone you would like to accompany you." Smith briefly glanced at Theresa and shifted his gaze back to Justin.

Justin stared at the tickets in his hand. "Thank you." He said.

"This must be a huge shock for you." Smith said. "But remember Mr. Hammond, this may turn out not to be your wife. You've got to be prepared to face that, all right?" Smith asked.

"Yeah, I understand." Justin said standing up. "Thank you again." Justin turned and walked out of the room.

Theresa nodded to the investigator, but Smith stopped her. "Excuse me, miss." He said.

"Yes?" Theresa said turning around.

"You're obviously a comfort to Mr. Hammond. Perhaps you should go with him to Chicago." Smith suggested.

Theresa was a bit flustered. "We'll see." She said before she hurriedly left the room to find Justin. Theresa looked around the station and didn't spot Justin anywhere. In a small panic Theresa ran outside and looked around. She sighed in relief when she saw Justin sitting on one of the benches outside of the station. He was staring off in the distance with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Justin?" Theresa asked while approaching him slowly.

Justin turned his head and looked at Theresa. She already saw the tears forming. "Are you okay?" She asked softly as she sat beside him.

"No," Justin admitted as he let tears escape from his eyes. "First I find out that my wife is possibly alive." Justin's voice broke. "And now?" He said when he regained some composure. "She's pregnant?"

"It's a lot to take in." Theresa agreed.

"I'm scared for some reason Theresa." Justin said. "Shouldn't I be happy? Ecstatic even?"

Theresa took a hold of one of Justin's hands. "You're scared because there's a possibility that the woman in Chicago isn't Lindsay."

Justin sighed. "Yeah," He said looking up at the sky. "You're right. What if it isn't her? What if my hopes are shot down again? I can't take this anymore Theresa. It kills me not being able to see my wife everyday. It kills me not knowing where she is, or if she is hurt~" Justin paused to regain his composure.

"Well, she may just be that woman in Chicago." Theresa said softly.

"I-I don't know if I can go up there alone." Justin admitted. "I wouldn't be able to handle it if I got there and the woman turned out not to be Lindsay."

"Who do you want to go with you?" Theresa asked. She looked at him curiously.

Justin averted his gaze to the ground. He twisted his hands nervously and swallowed. "Will you go with me to Chicago, Theresa?" He asked. "I don't think anybody else understands because~ well~ you're the only one I've ever talked to about Lindsay."

Theresa sat back. She wasn't surprised at his request, for the moment Smith looked at her when he suggested that Justin take someone along Theresa knew that Justin was thinking of bringing her. "Justin~" She said softly. "If it's what you really want~"

"Yes," Justin nodded. "Please, Theresa. Will you?"

"Sure." Theresa said. "I'll go. But you know~" she said as a smile tugged at the corner's of her mouth.

"What?" Justin asked wiping his eyes.

"We're going to be missing a lot of class." Theresa said.

"True." Justin said. "You can make up your missed assignments with another paper."

Theresa frowned. "Another one?"

"Sure, why not?" Justin said with an amused smile on his face. "You'll probably just end up writing an excuse why you didn't do the paper."

"Ha ha," Theresa said nudging Justin. "You like my excuses though."

Justin laughed. "What would be your excuse then?"

"Hm," Theresa said as she stood up. "My excuse would be~" Theresa motioned for him to get up.

"What?" Justin asked intrigued.

"My excuse would be that I was helping a friend." Theresa said.

"I'm your friend now?" Justin said touched.

"Of course." Theresa said. "Now c'mon. Let me drive you home. You need to get packing."

As Theresa and Justin walked off to the car, they failed to realize that they were being spied on. Paul Grissom was hidden behind bushes and was taking numerous pictures of Theresa and Justin. "This is great," He thought to himself. "This story is coming along just fine." Paul adjusted the camera around his neck and took out his notepad. "I wonder where they're going together?" He wondered aloud. From his position, Paul caught some of their conversation. He didn't hear about Lindsay, but his ears definitely perked up when he heard Justin asking Theresa to go somewhere.

"This calls for more snooping." Paul mumbled. "But first, I need to get my story together. The town will be buzzing with gossip tomorrow morning."