Chapter Sixteen

"You - Rafe Kovich are extremely talented." Alison giggled as she felt him place soft little kisses across her belly, then inching his way up towards her face.

"And you - Alison Kovich have been very, very bad." He said with a huge grin as finally reached there. He nuzzled her neck and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm going to be bad much more often if this is my punishment." She replied as she ran her hands over his skin, watching him shiver wherever she touched him.

It took every ounce of her concentration, but Alison paused for a minute to see if Kate was making any noise. As she did, she could hear the baby babbling to herself. The sound made her smile.

Rafe heard it too. He held her tighter and continued to softly rain kisses up and down her neck. "She's very talkative this morning." He whispered between them.

"mmmm hmmm." Alison replied, taking his face in her hands and finally bringing his lips to hers. When he pulled away she sighed. "We should probably go get her."

"In a minute." Rafe insisted as he pressed his lips to hers again. He could never get over how sweet she tasted. He could kiss her for hours.

It didn't seem like they had hours this morning however, because as if on cue, Katrina began to howl.

"I knew it was too good to last." Alison said with a laugh.

"You - my sexy, gorgeous wife." Rafe said as he kissed her quickly "are in charge of remembering where we left off." He slipped from the bed and pulled on a pair of pants.

"I think I can handle that." Alison said with a smile as she watched him go off to get Kate. She yawned and stretched and pulled the covers closer around her.

*********

Cam was already up and dressed when Abby opened her eyes. He glanced over at her from the kitchen as he sipped his coffee. "Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"I slept OK." she replied softly. Abby didn't want to wait to get this over with. She took a deep breath and began. "Cam. I want to tell you why."

He thought that his anger had faded since yesterday - but as he listened to her he realized it was far from true. He held his hand up at her and cut her off. "This is the problem - Abs. There shouldn't even be a reason why."

Cam placed his mug in the sink and walked closer to her. He kept his distance and stood facing her. "You want to spare Rafe and Alison. You want them to go on blissfully unaware that the woman who has tried to kill them both in the past AND actually succeeded in one case I might add - is walking the streets where they live?"

It didn't sound like such a good idea when Cam put it like that. Abby started to plead her case again. She tried a different tactic.

"But right now - they're so happy." She said.

"They'll still be happy Abby. They're crazy about each other, they have a beautiful little girl." Cam ran a hand over his face - frustrated and still more than a little annoyed. "Let me ask you something. When did you get to decide their life for them? Who put you in charge?"

"I don't think I'm in charge." Abby said, her voice a bit shocked at the thought.

"You don't? I have to tell you - you're doing a really good impression of someone who thinks they are."

Abby sighed. "I didn't ask for this - Cameron. You're always telling me that the things I see are not my fault. Now are you saying the opposite is true?"

"No. Abby. Don't twist my words around." Cam's voice was beginning to rise. "Events that you see are not your fault. When you see things moments before they happen and you think you can stop them but don't - that's not something you can control. But I'll tell you what is your fault. Keeping people in the dark - not warning them when you can. That's so irresponsible of you and I never imagined you'd ever do such a thing. A lot has changed in four years I guess."

He was so angry with her. Abby could tell by the way he was trying so hard not to yell. Yelling she was used to. This rational and calm tone of voice Cam was using scared her to death.

Cameron moved to the closet to get his coat and then turned to face her again. "Even though I think you're wrong to keep them out of it - that's not even the real reason I'm so upset with you." He looked at her with eyes filled with pain, the hurt he felt clearly heard in his voice. "It's because you didn't even tell me - Abby. I've been worried about you for weeks. I've been feeling so useless because there was nothing I could do to help and once you saw what was really going on - once there was something I could actually do - you still didn't tell me." He pulled his coat on and walked towards the door. "I thought we were a team."

This was it. This was the picture she had seen in her mind, the vision of him leaving her.

"Cameron. Wait." She pleaded.

He shook his head no and placed his hand on the doorknob, pausing to turn around and look her in the eye. "You want to control everything then you decide - Abby. I'll be back tonight and you tell me then what you want. But I'm telling you right now that I can't do this. I can't watch you risk your life and pretend I'm OK with you doing it. I won't sit by and watch you take all this on yourself when I'm right here - wanting and needing to help you. I love you far too much to be able to do that."

He looked over at her one final moment before he walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

************

The sound startled Rafe, who was downstairs. He had been caught up in thoughts of Alison and how perfect everything was. Finally he had been able to give her what she had dreamed of.

He had been waiting for the other shoe to drop and was sort of shocked it hadn't happened yet. Though Rafe desperately wanted to he knew he shouldn't get too comfortable. That's just when they'd strike. The minute you let your guard down. Still he couldn't deny that a life like the one he was currently leading was something he could really get used to.

Concerned, he walked upstairs and caught a glimpse of Cam as he took the back stairs.

He knocked gently on Abby's door, a bit uncomfortable since if they were fighting it was really none of his business. Still - he was worried enough to do it anyway.

Rafe heard the sound of footsteps running towards the door. Abby flung it open wide and called out "Cameron!!". She stopped just short of falling into Rafe's arms. Disappointment washed over her features as she looked up at him sadly.

"I thought you were - " Abby said with a sob.

Rafe's eyes widened with shock as he saw her face. He couldn't fathom that Cam had done this to her. Still, he needed to ask.

"Abby. What happened to you? Who hit you?" He asked as he gently held he by the arms.

Her hand flew to her cheek - it was the last thing she was thinking about.

"Rafe." She said when she saw the look in his eyes. "He would never." Abby eased away from him and walked back towards the couch before turning to face him again.

"I know that." Rafe replied softly as he followed her. "Someone did though." He gazed into her eyes and suddenly knew. "What's going on Abby?"

"I didn't want to worry you." She began.

"Too late." He said, his voice getting angry. "Who is it?"

"Rafe. Please. Just let me explain."

"The only words I want from you are ones that tell me who's here - Abby. I gave you time to work through this but I'm done. I want you to tell me. Now." He demanded, his voice rising.

"Please. Stop. Don't yell at me!" She pleaded. "Everyone's so angry at me. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"I'm sorry." He said softly as he helped her to sit down. She looked like she was about to collapse. "I won't yell but you need to tell me Abby. I won't leave here until you do. Who did this?"

She took a deep breath and whispered. "It was Livvie."