"You hate me," Kenny stated. "I know that, and I can't say I blame you. Max, I was an asshole. I left because I didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want you to see me suffer. You were 29, and . . . It killed me to leave you like that, but you shouldn't of had to put your life on hold because of me."

Max swallowed, and strengthened her resolve not to cry in front of him. "You told me this before."

"Yeah. I guess I just wanted to let you know that I was okay. I pulled out of the coma two weeks after I went to the long-term facility. That came as a shock to everybody."

"I'm glad that you're okay. I mean that."

Kenny regarded her thoughtfully. "You came. To Philadelphia."

"I did."

"You left though," he said, taking a tentative step closer to her. "My parents kicked you out."

"Did they tell you why?"

"Yeah, so did Skeeter. That came as a surprise, actually a lot of stuff did. Jill and Rachel? Wow. You and Jimmy? Max . . . That is really something."

"It happened. It shouldn't have, but it was fantastic . . . in the beginning. Something about both of us getting our hearts ripped out really brought us together," Max replied, letting the venom seep out into words. "It ended just about as badly as it possibly could."

"Did you love him?" Kenny asked, glad that she was at least showing some emotion around him.

"That's none of your business," Max retorted.

He took another step closer to her. "Maybe not. I have so much I want to tell you, ask you."

"We're not together any more. Hell, we're not friends either," Max replied. "I'm glad that you're alive, but past that . . . I can't do this again. I'm not the same person I was before. I, we, can't go back."

"Why not? We have a second chance, Max."

"A second chance? You walked out on me, us. I would have stayed with you, not out of obligation, but because I loved you. So much that it hurt sometimes. I wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. You destroyed that the day you left."

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"You took away my choice."

"The whole time I was in rehab, all I could think about was you. About how I could make up for how I hurt you. I would rather still be in that coma if you hate me like this. You may not want me in your life, but Max . . . I am sorry. You're the last person I would want to hurt. I love you. I never stopped."

She shook her head. "I can't. There is so much . . ."

"So much what? Where did you go when you left Philly? It seemed like you fell off of the planet."

"I . . . Here. I needed to start again, somewhere warm. Be someone else."

"Are you happy?"

"Most of the time."

He paused, thinking of the child he saw this morning. "You're a Mom."

She stepped back. "Did Skeeter tell you that?"

"No, he left that part out. He said that you we're in a coma too. Was it when you had her?"

"How do you know then?"

"I went by your house, and saw the two of you. And some guy. Did Jimmy know?"

"Of course he knew, everyone knew. It was obvious that I was pregnant after a while."

"So his kids knew. You haven't been back to Rome? Your kid, she isn't going to know her siblings?"

"Her siblings?"

"You and Jimmy have a kid, and he already had three. Siblings Max."

He thinks that Kaylee is Jimmy's kid, Max thought, what do I say to that? Shit. "You were spying on me?"

"You want to change the subject? Fine. Who was that guy you were hugging?"

"Who I see isn't any of your concern. Nothing about me is."

"I care about you!"

"Yeah? Until when? What happens when something else catastrophic happens and you bolt?"

141414141414

"I am curious," Littleton admitted. "People don't disappear."

"We have all of her personal information," Skeeter mused. "Social security number, passport, birth certificate, and a lot of resources."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to look."

141414141414

"I'm not running away again. Not from you."

Max stared at him, as her phone rang. "Hello . . . Aaron? Are you okay? Is it Kaylee?"

Kenny watched her, as she turned her back on him. Kaylee, that's her daughter. I bet Max is a fantastic mother. I always thought that she would be, but I always figured that it would be of our kids. Kaylee. That's a pretty name.

"She's okay?" he heard her ask. "Aaron? Tell me."

Aaron, he thought, I hate the guy already. I think I've hated every guy she ever dated.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I can come home . . . She's asleep? Are you sure?"

Kenny wanted to hug her, but just watched as she sunk down onto one of the chairs.

"Okay, thanks for calling. I'll be home soon . . . Yeah, I know. Bye."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I should go."

"Max, wait. I don't want to fight with you. I can't ever make up for what I did to you. I know that. I'm going to be here for a while. I don't have anything to rush back to Chicago for. Let me prove myself to you."

Max swallowed, as she slid her phone back into her purse. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust myself with you," she whispered. "I have to go."

"One day," he countered. "Hell bring your boyfriend if you want."

"My boyfriend?"

"That Aaron guy that you were talking to."

"Aaron isn't my boyfriend," Max blurted out, before pausing wanting to hurt him as much as he hurt her. "He's my fiancee. Good night, Kenny."

141414141414

"You what?" Aaron exclaimed. "You told your ex-boyfriend that we were engaged? Are you nuts? I'm gay, and when was the last time that you actually looked at a man? Plus, I'd give my fiancee a huge diamond! What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," Max trailed off. "I knew that it would hurt him, that's why I said it. I need him to go, and stay away."

"Why?"

"He . . . You promise me that you won't tell anyone this."

"Promise. Spill."

"He's Kaylee's father, but it's so much more complicated than that."

"Does he know?"

"No."

"You have to tell him."

"I know."

"Do you still love him?"

Max paused. "I don't know. There is so much that we can't take back. I thought he was dead, Aaron, or in a coma," she sighed, as she spilled out the short version of the story. "So yeah. I'm a horrible person."

Aaron shook his head. "You're not. You have to be honest with him Max. I'm sorry he hurt you, but you both obviously have some strong feelings here. Talk to the guy."

"I know. Thanks."

"For what?"

"For being objective. Not hating me for being such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot. Call him, bring Kaylee. You may not want to date him, but you can be civil at least."

141414141414

Kenny pulled an old photograph of him and Max out of his pocket. We were so young, he thought, and this was before we were even together. She can't be any older then 24 in this. Whoever thought that we would get to this point? I love her . . . Why didn't I see what this would do to her? Of course she won't forgive me. I wouldn't forgive her if this was reversed.

Jumping slightly, he snatched up the ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kenny. It's Max."

"I didn't think that you would be calling me anytime soon."

"Neither did I," Max replied softly. "I had some good advice, and you're right. We do need to talk. A lot has happened."

"Yeah. Are you busy today?"

"I promised Kaylee a trip to the beach. You know where I live, and the beach is our front yard. Do you want to come? We'll be there all day."

"I'd like that. Let me pull myself together, and I'll come by. Thanks, Max."

"I'll see you soon. Bye."

Kenny stared at the phone dumbfounded. "She sounded civil, almost like she wanted me there. Shit, she keeps me off balance."

141414141414

Kaylee squealed with glee, as she kicked over the sand castle. "Go boom!"

Max grinned, as she dumped another bucket full of sand out. "You've got more sand on you then there is on the beach."

"Boom!" Kaylee cried again, squishing another one. "Boom!"

She's so perfect, Max thought, as she watched her dig happily in the sand. I don't know what I did to deserve her. Not much, all things considered. Kenny is going to realize that she is his kid the minute he gets here. It's that obvious.

"Boom," Max agreed, looking up. "Hi."

"You look like you're having fun," Kenny commented, happy to see her laughing and smiling. "And this must be Kaylee. Wow Max. She looks just like you."

Max swallowed, as Kaylee looked up from the disastrous sand castle. "Hi!"

"Hi to you too," Kenny said, lowering himself down to her level. "You're just as pretty as your mommy, Kaylee. She's beautiful, Max."

"I know," Max said softly, not taking her eyes off of the pair. "She's amazing."

"Is it just the three of us?"

Max sighed. "Okay, okay. I lied last night. Aaron isn't my fiancee. He isn't my boyfriend. He's my neighbor, and he is gay. You just made me so mad, and . . . I wanted you to hurt as much as you hurt me. Can move on from that now?"

Kenny regarded her thoughtfully. "Okay. Let me ask you something then. Is that why you had the affair with Jimmy? You had to have known that the two of you together would have destroyed me Max. You were the two closest people in the world to me, and when I think of the two of you like that, well it does hurt."

"I never thought of it that way," she replied softly, as Kaylee crawled into her lap. "I did want to hurt you, and it was probably part of it. Jimmy got the raw end of the deal either way."

"Hey, it gave you two this beautiful girl, so . . ."

Max shook her head. "Listen to me. I don't even know how to say this, but . . . I actually did tell you. Do you remember? I called before your surgery, but you were kind of out of it. I told you something important. Do you remember?"

Kenny studied her. "It's all such a blur. I had all of these dreams, and you were there. I dreamed of our wedding, our life, and some were wild. One involved mountain climbing. Another was us having our own kids, and you telling me you were pregnant. Then you had triplets."

"Not triplets," she whispered. "Just one."

"What?"

"Kaylee isn't Jimmy's daughter. She's yours."