Chapter Seventy-four
Grant took Chloe's hand. He caught her staring at him again and smiled. He dug into his pocket for his keys and eased the door of the gym open.
Chloe giggled and pulled him inside, backing him up against the door and pressing her lips to his. His arms closed around her and he held her tight. He returned her kiss, taking his time with it – like he had all night.
Little did they both know that the night was about to end.
The lights clicked on suddenly. Startled - they pulled apart.
"Chloe Victoria Ramsey. Where have you been!?" Melissa's voice was dangerously calm.
Chloe blinked furiously trying to adjust to the light. She grabbed for Grant's hand, slightly terrified. "Mom." She gasped. "Dad."
"Grant. I imagine you have an explanation?" Jack's question sounded more like an order.
Grant cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice steady. He couldn't quite meet Jack's eyes. "Mr. Ramsey – I umm – you see. Chloe, her car was giving her trouble…"
Jack shook his head and glared at him. "I just tuned it up last weekend. Care to try again?"
It was then that Melissa noticed the condition of Grant's clothes. "Oh my God. Grant! What happened? Are you OK?" She rushed to him and made him sit on the couch.
"I'm fine." He replied, giving Chloe a look. Melissa was examining the tear in his shirt, frightened of what she might find.
"It's OK, Mom." Chloe said softly as she moved to sit beside him, grabbing for his hand again. "I fixed it. He's alright."
Jack walked to stand in front of them. "OK. You two are going to start talking and I mean now."
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"Rafe. That tickles." Alison said with a giggle.
"Sorry." He said as he kissed her stomach again. Alison was curled up on the couch with Rafe's head resting in her lap. "I feel like I've been shirking my fatherly duties. I haven't been paying enough attention to my daughter."
"So you're still convinced it's a girl huh?" Alison said with a smile, running a hand through his hair.
He turned his face to look up at her. "Yes. I am. And honestly Alison – it's worrying me that you have no idea."
She shifted in her seat as he moved to sit up and face her. He placed a hand on her stomach and rubbed it gently. Alison placed her hand over his. "This baby was your idea. Maybe that's why." She shrugged.
"You really can't tell?"
"Nope." She said with a smile.
"That's so weird." He said softly. "Well – I still think I'm right."
"Maybe you are." She said under her breath. "Maybe you aren't."
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" Alison asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"I don't know." Rafe replied. He got up and bounded to the door, peering through the peephole before quickly pulling the door open.
"Lucy." He said softly.
Lucy came into the room, holding Becky in her arms. Rafe moved to take his daughter from her gently. "Hi Cousin." She called out softly as Rafe nodded and brought Becky upstairs. She turned to look at Alison. "Hi Cousin-in-law. Happy Anniversary. I'm so sorry to interrupt."
"It's OK - Lucy." Alison said as she stood and adjusted her bathrobe. "What happened?"
Lucy's words came out in a torrent. "She had a nightmare. I tried to calm her down but nothing worked. She wanted to come home so I bundled her up and wouldn't you know it? She fell back asleep again in the car. I was going to take her back to our house, but then I thought if I did – and she woke up again – the poor little pumpkin head would be even more afraid than before."
Finally taking a breath, Lucy looked at her guiltily. "I'm sorry to bust in on your romantic evening."
"It's OK. We got plenty of romance in." She gave Rafe smile as he came back downstairs. "Thank you – Lucy for taking care at her."
"It was my pleasure. Did you like your present?" She asked with a grin.
"I loved it. Please thank Kevin for me." Alison replied. Rafe moved to stand behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned into his embrace and placed her hands over his on her stomach.
"I will." Lucy nodded. All at once she realized she was still intruding. "OK. Well. Carry on little lovebirds."
Rafe laughed as he watched her go. "Thanks Luce."
"You're welcome." Lucy hurried out the door. She peeked her head back in and whispered. "Ta!"
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Cameron blocked the door and tried to reason with his wife. "OK. Abby. Hold on a second."
"Did you not hear me? Kate's on a plane – flying halfway across the world."
"I heard you. Quinn heard you. The entire town of Port Charles heard you." He gazed into her eyes. "I want you to take a deep breath and relax for a second."
"We don't have a second." She said desperately.
"OK." Cam tried once more to make her understand. "It's after midnight. There are no flights to Romania tonight. It's your sister's anniversary. Do you honestly think running over there to give her this news will make a difference right now?"
"YES." She snapped at him. "I do."
"WHY??!?" Honestly. He thought with a sigh. How had he not strangled her before this.
"Because Rafe doesn't need to fly commercially. He's able to get places when he needs to."
Cameron had forgotten that little detail.
"OH." He said softly.
"Yeah. OH." Abby rolled her eyes at him. "Now – sweetheart, if you don't want me to mow you down - get out of the way."
She would do it too, he knew. He needed to ask her one more thing before he'd let her go. "One quick question. Where are the girls?"
"With Danny. On their way back from the airport. They tried to stop her but they didn't get there in time. They're going to meet us over there."
"So I guess we're going to pay the Kovich's a visit." Cam grabbed his keys and ran upstairs. "Two seconds. I'll go tell Quinn." He called down to her.
"Honestly. It's about time you got with the program." Abby muttered as she stepped outside.
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"That wasn't a smart idea, Grant. It's noble, what you tried to do but trust me – you could have gotten yourself killed." Jack sighed.
"I know that now. It's actually what Chloe tried over and over to tell me." Grant said softly as he ran a hand over her hair. Chloe looked into his eyes and sighed.
Before Jack could resume his lecture, Grant's cell phone began to ring.
His face turned pale as he gave someone on the other end one word answers. Grant clicked the phone off and turned to face Chloe.
"Grant?" She said worried. "What's wrong?"
He spoke so softly they had to strain to hear him. "That was Aunt Abby. I have to get home. I can't believe she did it."
"Did what?" Both Jack and Melissa asked at the same time.
Grant hugged Chloe to him and tried to find his voice. "She's gone. Kate went after him."