"You will not believe what just happened!" Jess stormed into Lisa's office and sat down on the desk, glaring at nothing in particular.

"Careful what you say," Lisa cautioned. "I'm babysitting for your sister," she added, gesturing to where Madison was sitting cross-legged on the floor, finger painting.

Jess lowered her voice. "Diane told Dad."

"Diane?" Lisa repeated, confused. "Diane Lloyd?"

"She came in with Jack…" Jess sobered for a moment. "He was in an accident, he seems in a pretty bad way, Lise." She paused, thinking of Diane's expression – she'd worked with Diane for years, of course she was used to her looking upset, but earlier, that had been different. Obviously a lot had changed in the past few years, but Diane herself would never change… and losing Jack now would wreck her, just as much as if it had happened when he was a baby.

"Oh God. Is Diane okay?" Lisa's concern showed on her face.

"Physically she's okay, yeah. Otherwise… well, she's distraught of course." Jess looked down at a mark on the floor, kicking it aimlessly with the tip of her foot.

"Don't wreck the floor," Lisa cautioned, pulling a chair out from under the desk and sitting down. "'Cause if you do it, then Maddy'll think that she can too…"

Jess nodded and stopped immediately. "Sorry." She looked down at her feet, deep in thought.

After a few moments, Lisa's impatience got the better of her. "So… what did she tell your dad? And why did she tell him? It's none of her business!" she added, indignantly, although secretly glad of the fact that their relationship had finally been brought to Ric's attention. Two years of Jess promising to "tell him later" had taken their toll on her. Two years of lying, hiding the truth, excuses, made-up boyfriends… she was sick of it. At least there wouldn't have to be any more secrecy. No more secrets, no more lies. It actually felt pretty damn good, she reflected, taking a deep breath.

"To be fair, I don't think she meant to tell him," Jess reflected. "She didn't, in fact. She just congratulated me and you, and he overheard, and he put two and two together, and I'm fairly sure that he understood what she meant."

Lisa nodded. "So… he knows."

"Don't sound so casual about it! He's my dad, I didn't want him to find out like this!" Jess lowered her voice almost immediately when she noticed that Madison was looking up at her.

"Or maybe you just didn't want him to find out…" Lisa's expression was unreadable, her voice even. She looked down at her hands.

Jess looked up. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Two years, Jess. Two years we've been together."

"I know. Two years last Friday. That was what the whole romantic candlelit thing was for, remember?" she teased.

Lisa shot her a look. "I know that. Very nice it was too. I just… Jess, you've had excuses after excuses for why you're not telling your dad, for two years you've been saying the time's not right or you don't feel up to it… why?"

Jess looked back at her feet before registering the hurt tone in Lisa's voice. She looked up. "I'm sorry, Lise. I really am." She shrugged. "There isn't really a reason… I just, I know Dad's always had expectations of us kids, and… I don't know, I didn't want to disappoint him…" She shook her head. "No, not that this is a disappointment, that's not what I meant… I meant, just, I… I didn't want to just blurt it out to him, and the longer I left it, the more I knew he'd be hurt by me not telling him before, and I didn't want to hurt him…"

"Don't you think it must have hurt more to hear it from Diane, whom neither of us have seen in five years?" asked a different voice, and Jess bit her lip as her father came into the office.

"Dad…" Anything else she might have been about to say died on her lips as she saw his expression.

"I wish you'd told me, sweetie." He smiled slightly. "All I ever wanted was for you to be happy… if being together makes you two happy, then I'm really pleased for you. I mean it. It's a bit of a shock, sure, but… congratulations, I guess."

Lisa reached out and took Jess' hand in her own lightly. "Thanks, Mr Griffin."

"Jess…" He couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to say, to say how hurt he was that she had felt unable to tell him, how proud he was that she was happy and in love, how pleased for her he was, how amazingly shocked he was… He just couldn't find the words. After a few moments, he cleared his throat slightly. "Oh, come here…" he mumbled, pulling his surprised daughter into a hug. "I'm happy for you."