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 42: How do we fix this?

Stiles managed only a couple of hours of sleep that night. He tossed and turned trying to figure out how things had gone so terribly wrong. Things were not at all like he expected. Then again, he hadn't really thought about how difficult it would be for them. While he and Terri both worried about and discussed Jack's and Ava's transitions, they were so happy to have found each other that neither had thought about their own. Their marriage was a mess and Stiles had no idea how to fix it.

Terri didn't sleep much either. When she finally calmed down after her argument with Stiles' she sat up and stared at the closed door not bothering to wipe the tears streaming down her face. She woke up the next morning, still dressed, and curled up in the middle of the bed. She stayed there for nearly an hour trying to clear her head. She was wondering how on earth her life had fallen apart so fast. After four years wishing for her husband, she was finally with him, but didn't really have him and she was miserable. He seemed uncomfortable with the kids there, his fiancée wanted him back, and worst of all, he didn't seem happy to have his wife back. The only thing compelling Terri to move from the bed was Ava's smile.

Ava bounded in the bedroom carrying her new favorite toy, a pink and white bunny from her daddy. "Hi mommy!" Ava said as she struggled to climb onto the bed. "Can I have Lucky Charms? Daddy said we could have Lucky Charms." Terri felt awful, but seeing her little girl so full of energy, with a smile on her face, improved her mood considerably.

"Good morning my darling," Terri said as she kissed her rosy cheek. "So, you want Lucky Charms this morning?" Ava nodded. "Then Lucky Charms it is! Where is your brother?"

"Bed."

Terri pulled herself off the bed and washed her face before heading to the kitchen. Jack wandered down while Terri was getting Ava settled. Terri sat with the children while they ate then collected her things for her trip; she was bringing the luggage down when Helen arrived.

"Grandma!" Helen looked up to the top of the staircase to see Jack bounding down the stairs. She picked him up and hugged him, then turned her attention to Ava. "Good morning my angels, are you ready to spend some time with grandma and grandpa?" Both nodded yes and ran to get their little suitcases. Helen watched Terri with a frown as Terri picked up the twins' booster seats. She could tell her daughter was on the verge of tears.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Can we go say bye to daddy?" Ava interrupted before her mother could respond.

Terri slowly sucked in her breath to keep from saying what she really wanted. "Honey, daddy's asleep. You can call him later."

Terri plastered on a fake smile and turned to her mother. "Everything's fine mom, but here's been a change of plans; I'm taking the kids with me." Turning to the little ones she added. "Come on guys, it's time to go."

Ava stood looking up at her mother, dancing from one foot to the other. "Mommy I won't wake him. I'll just give him a kiss. Promise."

"Ava, we don't have time." Terri said tersely, nudging her daughter toward the door. Ava's bottom lip quivered and Terri immediately changed her tone hoping to stave off her daughter's tears. "Honey, he'll wake up even if you kiss him, but I'm sure it'll make him happy to talk to you later, okay? We need to go."

Before Ava or Terri could continue, Helen interjected, "Terri, don't be ridiculous, let the child say goodbye. Ava, honey go see your daddy. I 'm sure he won't mind. If he does, he can blame me. Jack, go say goodbye to your father."

Terri could feel a dull ache developing behind her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly to try calming herself.

As soon as Ava and Jack were out of earshot, Terri turned to Helen and hissed, "Mother, I just told her no, why did you contradict me? Never mind, why don't you help me with the bags while they say goodbye. Terri hoped to divert her mother's attention lest she notice just where the children went to see their father.

"Don't move." Helen commanded what Terri said registered.

Terri, looked at her mother in disbelief, but stayed put.

"What do you mean you're taking them with you? What's happened? You look exhausted, you've been sharp with me and the kids and you haven't said goodbye to your husband; I didn't miss that."

Before Terri could answer, Stiles walked out of the guest room with Jack and Ava. "Good morning A.B."

"Helen," Stiles mumbled to his mother-in-law. He'd been awake long enough to know Helen was there and had planned to stay in his room until they left. He was irritated when he realized he'd have to deal with Helen and Terri. He wasn't feeling very chatty and planned to say as little as possible.

Seeing the extent that Terri and Stiles avoided looking at each other, Helen questioned her son-in-law. "Did you guys move down here? I thought you were using the bedroom upstairs."

"I did, and Terri is using the bedroom upstairs." Stiles answered curtly, glancing at his wife. "Jack, Ava, come give me a hug. Grandma needs to get mommy to the airport." Stiles turned away from Helen and gathered his kids and kissed them goodbye. "I love you. You be good and I'll see you soon, okay?" Both nodded and he promised to call before they went to sleep.

Helen wanted desperately to find out what was going on, but she'd couldn't think of what to say before Stiles did. "So, you're taking them back to Andros? You planning on coming back?"

Terri ignored Stiles and addressed her mother. "Mom, we need to go. I'm going to be late for check-in."

Helen looked back and forth between her daughter and son-in-law. "Theresa Paige..."

"Mother, don't. Stiles, I'm taking my children with me. Perhaps you recall that you wish you'd left me on the island. Well, perhaps now you'll have the opportunity to have your wish fulfilled."

Helen gasped and glared at her son-n-law. "What does she mean you wish you'd left her on the island? Do you really feel that way?"

Terri felt tears tickling the back of her eyes and wanted out of the house before they fell. "Mother, we need to go now...please."

Helen looked between the two then took her daughter's hand and led her toward the front door, Stiles following behind.

"That's a low blow Terri! You can't just take my children and run away. It's bad enough that you kept them from me for three years! There is no chance I'm letting them go without a fight."

Something in Terri snapped and she forgot about her flight, her mother and the two children that were playing in the next room. "How dare you! I did what I needed to do to protect my family! Meanwhile, you were here shacked up with some floozy. I bet the ink on my death certificicat wasn't even dry before you started dating her!"

"This is about Kara, again!?"

Terri gave up the fight with her tears in her anger. She walked over to Stiles and poked him in the chest with her index finger. "This is not about that woman, it's about you! Last night, you made it quite clear who and what you want. So, I'm giving it to you. I was fine without you, my children were fine without you and we will continue to be fine without you! I don't need someone in my life so badly that I'm willing to stay with a man who doesn't want me, who is staying with me because he feels obligated. I'm officially releasing you from your obligation!"

Terri finished her rant by pulling off her engagement ring and throwing at Stiles' chest. She found her children out the front door and slammed it shut before Helen or Stiles could react.

Stiles was so stunned by Terri's words, that he jumped when he heard Helen behind him. "A.B, you better fix this. If she moves back to that island and takes my grandchildren away, I will never forgive you. When you got married, you promised Evan and me that you would never hurt her and the woman who just walked out that door is hurting badly."

"Helen, you don't understand... we..." Stiles flopped down on the couch and put his head in his hands without finishing his statement.

"I understand perfectly that my daughter just walked out of here in tears. I understand that you you didn't contradict what she said. We don't have time to discuss this now, but I will be back and you better be ready to do whatever you need to do to fix things with her!"

Helen stormed out of the house but tried to compose herself before she got to the car. She found her daughter in the front seat trying to pretend she hadn't been crying moments before. Helen reached over and patted Terri's hand "I'm sorry baby."

Terri nodded and kept her face turned oward the window. "Mom," Terri started, her voice cracking, "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

Helen glanced at her daughter then squeezed her hand. "Alright, but please remember you can talk to me—about anything."

Terri managed a weak smile. "I know. Thank you."

The rest of the ride was made in silence except for the chatter of the little ones in the back seat. Terri couldn't stop thinking about Stiles harsh words from the night before. She'd wondered if he really wanted her so much as he wanted his children and the idea of her. At the gate, facing the daunting task of traveling with two children and keeping them occupied while she was working, Terri allowed Helen to convince her to leave the twins with their grandparents. Though she didn't say it to aloud, Helen was relieved to have her grandchildren-she was afraid that if Terri took the children it would be tempting for her to remain in the Bahamas indefinitely.

STILES was relieved that he and Terri would have a few days apart—a few days without fighting. But he was afraid that it could be a long time before he saw his children if he didn't do something to fix his relationship with their mother.

He knew he couldn't concentrate on work so he requested some time out of the office. Carl easily agreed to Stiles' request to spend some time at the courthouse checking in on Quinn's trial.

Later that afternoon, Carl called Stiles into his office.

"I suppose nothing too shocking or interesting came up with Quinn? I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Nothing worth talking about, so I left."

"I see."

Stiles started to walk out when Carl called him back.

"Stiles, you seem different. I thought you'd be happy with Terri back and your children with you. Is everything alright at home?"

"Am I that obvious? Things are just a little unsettled right now," he started, but decided to tell Carl the truth. Flopping onto the nearest chair, Stiles leaned over with his elbows on his knees and confessed. "Carl, everything is far from alright. Terri and I argue all the time about everything and nothing. Everything is different than we expected to be and dealing with Kara on Quinn's trial isn't helping."

"Stiles, I watched you and Terri fall in love. I was at your wedding. I watched you struggle to keep it together when you thought she died. And I saw a smile on your face the likes of which I've never seen, the day you told us she was alive."

"Carl, she isn't the same person. She thinks every evil in the world is my fault. She criticizes everything I try to do with our children, and she will not let go of the fact that I dated someone else. I thought she was dead! I had no expectation of seeing her again. Was I supposed to become a Monk? Sit in my house depressed? I did enough of that."

Carl noted that almost anyone in Terri's situation would feel the same way. Stiles balked when Carl suggested that Stiles was to proud to admit how much he missed Terri and how devestated he was when he lost her. "Don't let your pride destroy what you two have."

"Used to have. Carl, we were only married a few months before she disappeared. It was still the honeymoon phase. Maybe this split was inevitable; maybe our marriage would have run its course by now anyway."

Carl frowned at his senior agent. "If that's the attitude you planned to take whenever you were angry, then maybe you're right, but I don't think it is."

"It's not that simple."

"It is that simple. Stiles, I did nothing while my marriage unraveled as I worked my way through the organization. I lost my wife and it took years to repair the relationship with my son. Don't let that happen to you. Whatever the problem is, do what you need to do to fix it."

"She went to Andros for a meeting. After what I said to her last night, she decided to take the kids with her at the last minute. I don't know if she's coming back."

Carl didn't say anything else as he wrote a number on the back of his business card and handed it to Stiles.

Stiles looked at the number and furrowed his brow. "What's this?"

"Judy Elantay. She's one of our counselors. Maybe it's time the two of you talk to someone."

"A shrink?" Stiles frowned.

"Seeing a counselor couldn't hurt. Both of you have been through a lot. It's entirely voluntary and confidential. When you get her back here, and I know you will, think about it, okay?"

He scoffed though he stuck the card in his pocket on his way to the door. "We have to be in the same country to go to counseling."

"Stiles?"

Stiles stopped and turned back to Carl, his hand on the door. "Yeah?"

"She'll come back-if she knows she has something to come back to."