Disclaimer: I don't own it or get paid for it : ) I don't own the characters and therefore have no hope of making any money off this.

CHAPTER 32

Terri and Stiles enjoyed getting reacquainted. Stiles had the time of his life playing with and getting to know the twins and Terri loved watching them get to know each other. Terri met with Lyn on a few urgent matters, but spent most of her time with her family. By the time the end of the week came both knew they could no longer avoid discussing their future.

Friday night, after Stiles' second try at bath time, he and Terri relaxed in the living room to talk. Stiles was on the floor with his back against the couch with Terri lying down with her head on a pillow in his lap. As Stiles stroked Terri's hair, he broached going home.

"Honey, I want you to come home with me."

Terri sat up and looked at Stiles.

"Stiles, you know I want to be able to go home, but nothing's changed there. If I show up, you and the kids, my family and possibly yours are in danger.

"Quinn has to pay for his actions. We can't let him get away with what he's done to you, to us."

"I don't know. Quinn is dangerous as long as he's free. You know Quinn is a master at 'accidents.'"

Stiles took Terri's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "I won't let that happen. I've been thinking about that for a few days; I have a plan." Something Stiles read in Terri's diary had given him an idea. "Do you trust me?"

Terri pulled her fingers from Stiles' and stood up. The knot in her stomach made it hard for her to sit still. She walked to the piano and picked up a picture of the twins.

"Of course, I trust you, but that isn't the issue. I don't trust Quinn. What about the kids?" She asked him plaintively as she clutched the photo to her chest. "If something happened to them I. . ."

Stile walked to her and gently pulled the photo from his wife and put it back on its perch. "Terri, sweetheart look at me. I will be fine and I will not let anything happen our children, or to you or to our families."

Terri was very apprehensive. She wanted to go home and she wanted to see her family and friends, but she was afraid; if she weren't, she would have gone home on her own.

"Okay, you can take care of Quinn, but I want to be in on whatever it you do."

Stiles took the opportunity to kiss her again. "I want you home. I want our family together and if letting you be in on destroying Quinn is what it takes, I'm all for it!"

"What about my house and my business? What am I going to tell Lyn? She took a big chance on me; I can't just walk out on her."

"Terri we can work out the details later, I just want to get you home."

Terri was suddenly feeling like her old self—the CIA operative. "No, we'll work them out now."

Stiles shook his head, but he couldn't help smiling at her; she was still just as stubborn as always. He spent the next 20 minutes outlining his plan and answering Terri's questions. The first major sticking point was when Terri would return.

"Terri, my dad's will be safe."

"I want to go back with you; I want to see Quinn's face when he realizes what's happened. What happened to letting me be in on things?"

"Honey," Stiles sighed wondering why she couldn't just let him take care of things though he really knew why; it was one of the many reasons he fell in love with her.

"What would you do? Would you really be able to just sit in the house that close to the action? Listen, I know you want to be involved, but I don't want to take any chances. Even if you come back with me, it isn't safe to bring the kids and they probably wouldn't do well separated from you too long."

As Terri pouted uncharacteristically Stiles hugged her and reminded her, once again, that it was a temporary situation.

"Terri, this will all be over soon and we can live our lives the way we were meant to—together with our children."

Terri knew he was right about the kids, but she still wanted to go back to D.C. with him.

"Well, I'm not going to do well being separated from you too long." Terri continued, still pouting.

Stiles couldn't help laughing at her a little. She was just so cute standing there with her lip stuck out, like a spoiled toddler.

Before Stiles could enjoy himself too much Terri got herself together. She punched him in the arm as she pushed herself away. When she turned around and started speaking again, she had moved on to another topic—the other woman.

"What about Kara?"

Stiles closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "What about her?"

"Are you going to see her? She still thinks you're engaged, remember?"

Stiles was a little worried when he saw the fire in her eyes as Terri stood with her hands on her slight hips waiting for an answer. Stiles didn't know what he was going to do about that. He'd thought about it briefly, but he was still uncomfortable discussing it with Terri.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about that yet."

"Oh."

Stiles knew he should let it go at that, but he just couldn't, not after the look she was giving him. "That's it, 'oh.'"

"You love me, I know that," Terri said as she moved her right hand from its perch on her hip and waved it in the air dismissively. "You wouldn't have been seeing her if you'd known I was alive." A slight smile appeared on her face:

"Besides if the fact that you are still married to me and we have two children isn't enough to keep you in line, this is."

Stiles furrowed his brow as he watched Terri. She walked toward him, put one hand around his waist and the other behind his neck then pulled him close. Before he knew what hit him she was kissing him—the most amazing kiss he could remember having actually. When she pulled away, he was breathless, speechless and dying for more. He reached for Terri to pull her back only to have her stop him with a hand to his chest.

"The only thing I ask is that if there's anything of hers in our house, including pictures, that you get rid of it and her before I come home."

Stiles looked at Terri incredulously. She looked and sounded calm, not at all jealous. Maybe he really had convinced her of his eternal love for her. He was still a little dizzy from her kiss, so he just nodded like a fool as Terri grinned.

When Stiles finally got his head out of the clouds he told her, "Don't worry, there's room for two women in my life."

Terri's smile disappeared. "Excuse me!"

Stiles smiled wickedly, "You and Ava."

"Not funny." Terri told him as she threw one of the couch pillows at him then got serious again.

"Stiles?"

"Yeah."

"Do you love her?"

"What?"

"Do you love her? You must have cared about her a great deal—you asked her to marry you. Can you turn your feelings off that easily?"

"Terri. I do. . . No I did care about her. Maybe you could say love, but it was never like us."

"You keep saying that, but what does that mean? You were making plans to have children with her, to grow old with her. What, you turned that off the minute you saw me again?"

"Yes." Stiles sighed heavily. He had wanted to avoid this, but Terri had him in a corner.

"Yes, I thought I was in love with her and I admit, that I do care about her. She is my friend and I'm sorry that she will be hurt by all of this."

"All of this? You mean me and our children?"

"Terri please, let's not fight over Kara. I have no intention of seeing her again after I officially break the engagement. I can never forgive her for continuing to let me think you were dead when she knew otherwise. She knows how much I missed you. And that's the point. I love you and I always will; you know that. When you get home, our home will be just that—our home. The only pictures you will see will be of us and those two little rascals upstairs."

"I'll try to stay out of it, but I can't promise. You know how you got when you saw Jack? You were upset when you thought I was seeing someone else. I know you have been and I can't deny that it hurts, regardless of the circumstances.

Terri held up her hand to forestall the comment Stiles was about to make. "She came here. Did I tell you that?"

"Kara was here? When? Did she say anything to you?"

She left a few minutes before you came that first day. She rang the front bell and asked to buy my house! Seems her "fiancé" saw it some time ago and liked it. If she can't buy it, she wants the architect's name so she can imitate it! Oh," Here Terri smiled. "She thinks it's terrible that my husband left us for his girlfriend."

"What!"

"I couldn't help myself. When she saw Jack's photo she told me she met him and how much he seemed to like you."

"Hmmm"

"Oh wipe that smug look off your face! When she told me that, I told her he missed not having a dad. And I may have said his father ran off with my nurse when I was in a coma."

"Terri!"

"She bought the entire story and was quite sympathetic. Said no man worth anything would leave his kids for another woman! Maybe she won't be so much a problem after all…"

"I don't even know what to say."

"Stiles, no matter what you tell her, I know she's not going to let you go easily. She's happy. She thinks she's found the person she's going to spend the rest of her life with and it's going to hurt, a lot when she learns the future she has planned isn't going to happen."

"I know. That's why I haven't wanted to deal with her. I don't know what I'm going to do, really."

The pair sat in silence for some time contemplating the "Kara" situation. Terri, seeing the pained expressions flitting across Stiles' face changed the subject back to her homecoming.

"What about everything else?"

Stiles eagerly left his current thoughts, ready to dig in and go over his plan to bring Terri and the twins home. Naturally, Terri objected to half of it. But, after a very long and at times heated discussion, Terri and Stiles agreed on a plan both of them could live with.

Terri, Jack and Ava would stay with General Stiles and his wife in Texas while A.B. went back to D.C. to expose Quinn. Once A.B. was sure Quinn didn't pose any danger to his family, the elder Stiles would accompany his daughter-in-law and grandchildren back to the capital.

Terri and Stiles concocted an elaborate plan to get her to the Stiles' ranch undetected: She would fly north to Florida, rent a car there and drive to Louisiana, then take a taxi to the state border. The next morning, they would be met by Stiles' stepmother, Katherine, who would drive them the rest of the way. If not for having to drag along two restless preschoolers, Terri would have enjoyed the journey; it was a little like the old days.

Dawn: I was planning to thank you for reading this again and then I saw your review. Thanks; you know what it takes to keep these things moving. By the way, you must post your latest story here!