A/N: I'm telling you – you girls are killing me. A thousand thank yous for your kind words and encouragement. I can't tell you how much it means to me. You absolutely make my day.

CAGirl – I'm glad! I'm glad! I'm glad! LOL! Thanks so much for reading!!!

Livvie 712, Kathy, Ali & susiej – I'm going to hire you as my own personal cheering section. You are the sweetest ever.

Melody and Bethany - don't you worry about Grant and Chloe. The good news is - I think she's done crying for a bit. ;)

And to give credit where credit is due – I originally was going to make Cam and Abby's son Quinn the cop – but my trusty PCGirl suggested Lia and I'm sooo glad she did. Very soon you'll see what she made Quinn instead – and yes – I believe there might be someone out there for him too. We shall see. ;)

More on what's up with Katie in the next chapter - but for now - enjoy some time with the twins and oh yeah - poor Becky. LOL! Until 8! xox-G

Chapter Seven

"Give me a name for an old man." Lynnie called out to Ethan on the other side of the room.

"What?" He asked, distracted by what he was reading.

"An old man. Like someone in his eighties." Lynnie said frantically. "I need to name this guy. C'mon Ethan – help me. Do you like Harold or Milton or hmmm, maybe Edgar?"

She did this all the time when she was writing. He remembered the day he'd come home, his heart in his throat as he saw a book of baby names on her desk. He thought for a moment she had something to tell him. She laughed when he stammered out the question. He now knew, despite his disappointment, it was simply research, to name the characters in her books. Still, even with her book of names, she always wanted a second opinion.

"Lynn." Ethan turned around and laughed at her. "I don't know...Harold I guess."

"Harold it is. Thank you!" She typed furiously, pressed save and then snapped her laptop shut. She took her glasses off and stood and stretched, yawning as she made her way over to him.

"Are you finished?" He asked with a smile, putting the papers back in the folder in front of him and pushing it aside. He hoped he could keep her from asking what it was that he was reading. He had kept it a surprise this long – he couldn't let it slip now. He just hoped they'd be married before everything was ready.

Lynnie sank next to him on the couch. Gazing at him, she decided that she was going to have to bug Lia again. She knew why they were waiting, but she was getting completely impatient. Living with Ethan was amazing, but she couldn't wait to become his wife.

Pushing the thoughts aside she turned her attention to him. "Yes." She said with a laugh as she leaned in for a kiss. "For tonight." She yawned again and then gave a huge grin. "So – while I've been off solving the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, what have you been doing?"

"Just keeping myself busy." Ethan replied as he pulled her close and kissed her again, his lips gliding across her cheek and inching down her throat. His hand moved to tug the band that held her hair up on the top of her head. "But now - I can think of something else to occupy my time."

"Really?" Lynnie sighed as his hands ran through her hair, pushing it off her beautiful face. She pretended to sound disappointed. "So you don't want to hear about the myth of Osiris and how the god of the desert chopped him into pieces, put him in a box and sent him on a trip down the river?"

"Oh no, I do." He said softly, his eyes lit with amusement as he pulled her closer. "I love it when you talk about Egyptian mythology. It really turns me on." He framed her face in his hands and brought her lips to his. "C'mon. Please. Tell me more."

Lynnie's breath caught in her throat as she fought to focus. She knew he was teasing but she played along. "OK." She giggled as Ethan nibbled on her neck. "After Seth, the evil god of the desert, killed him, Osiris' wife, Isis, refused to believe he was dead. She searched for him everywhere."

"Let me guess. She finally found him." Ethan said with a grin, loving to tease her about her endless stream of knowledge. She had always had a head full of all sorts of facts, but since she began writing she seemed to have acquired thousands more.

He honestly was only half kidding. It made his heart beat faster just to listen to her. She spoke about everything with such passion. Ethan pulled away and moved to stand. He reached for her hands and helped her off the couch, leading her into the bedroom.

"Yes." Lynnie said as she followed. Ethan playfully shoved her down onto the bed and she landed with a bounce. He moved over her, and soon she was lying flat on her back, gazing into his eyes. She pulled off his glasses and reached for him, kissing every inch of his face as she finished her story. "So, with the help of gods and goddesses and divinities she put him back together again and eventually their son became pharaoh, overthrowing Seth and triumphing over the forces of evil."

Her last words were still on her lips as his mouth covered hers, stealing her breath and pushing everything else from her mind. His hands skimmed over her, causing her heart to pound. He leaned back and stared into her eyes. "I can't believe you said pharaoh – you know how that makes me crazy." He said with a laugh before he kissed her again.

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She opened the door and saw candles burning low, and Danny fast asleep. Smiling, Lia walked inside. She looked completely different than she had a mere hour before. Her hair was down now and she was dressed in faded jeans and a t-shirt. She nudged her shoes off and made her way to the couch, leaning down and kissing him softly.

"Lia?" Danny said as he fought to open his eyes. With his crazy schedule at the hospital and her job he hadn't really seen or talked to her in two days. He had tried all he could to stay awake until she came home.

"Thornhart. I have some bad news for you. Your sister is a juvenile delinquent." Lia sighed as she moved to curl up beside him.

"What?" He said his voice groggy.

"Not only that - she's a lousy drunk." She smiled as she kissed him again.

Danny's arms closed tightly around her as he fought to make sense of what she was saying. "My sister? Lia, what happened?"

Lia reached up to play with his hair. This was her favorite part of the day, coming home and lying next to him. Even though it seemed that most times lately they simply slept. She sighed again as she realized how tired he looked. He worked so hard.

She could tell he wouldn't rest until she explained. "Maggie and Becky were at a party tonight. The short version is, Maggie drank herself silly and Becky broke some guy's nose."

"What? Are they OK?" He asked as he moved to sit up.

Lia nodded. "They're fine. What about you?"

"Huh?" He replied.

She looked deeply into his eyes. "You. You're killing yourself. Danny I can't imagine its good for you to see patients in this condition."

He shrugged as he leaned in to kiss her. "It's almost over. I'll have a regular rotation soon."

She didn't want to complain. Lia knew it wasn't his fault. She placed her hands on his chest and stole a glance at the ring that she wore on her left hand. She had done it so quickly she didn't think he noticed.

But he did. Guilt washed over him. He knew that it was only because of him they weren't married yet. "Lia..." He whispered. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's OK." She said her voice far from convincing.

Danny tried to "I just wanted to be able to really concentrate on us – not rush it."

Rush it? Lia thought to herself. She looked at him suddenly exasperated. "No danger of that. It's been three years, Danny."

"I know." He nodded.

Lia wasn't done pleading her case. "And it's not just me. It's not fair to Lynnie. She has her heart set on a double wedding and she's had to wait all this time."

"I know." He said again, trying desperately to figure out a way to make her happy. He knew from experience that Unhappy Lia was not a pretty sight.

He knew by the tone of her voice that she was in a good mood and for that he was thankful. "I'm warning you again." She said with a smile. "If you don't marry me soon – I'm going to have to go to nursing school."

"Julia." He laughed at her then. "You wouldn't last a day. You'd faint in the first five minutes."

She laughed back at him, snuggling closer. "That's just part of my plan. I hear there's this really cute doctor working there. I'm trying to snag him."

"You've already got him, Lia." Danny said as he touched his lips to hers.

She knew that she did. She just couldn't wait for it to be official. Still, he'd left her an opportunity she couldn't pass up. "You have quite an opinion of yourself, Thornhart." Lia said with a smile, kissing him quickly. She pulled back and stared into his eyes laughing as she replied. "Who said I was talking about you?"

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Alison heard the door close sharply, causing her to leave the bed and make her way downstairs. Rafe and Becky must be home.

"Dad..." She sobbed softly. "You can't keep doing this to me."

"Becky." Rafe took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "Go to bed. We'll talk about it in the morning."

"Shh." Alison scolded as she approached them. "You'll wake Ella. What's going on here?"

"He's totally ruining my life." Becky said through her tears. "I have to move away – because there is NO ONE in this town who will ever want to date me after tonight."

Alison bit her lip and tried not to smile. "Becky, I'm sure that's not true." Her eyes grew wide as she noticed the bandage on her hand. "You're hurt."

"It's just a bad bruise, she'll be OK. But you should see the guy she hit." Rafe said with a grin, his voice full of pride. "She really did a number on him."

"You see?" Becky pleaded at her mother. "Mom. Do something! He thinks it's funny. It's not. I can never go to school again. EVER!"

Grant snuck in the back door, hearing the commotion in the living room. After leaving Chloe's, the car just seemed to make its way here. He knew he couldn't go to his apartment. Not tonight, not after just seeing her, and holding her in his arms. Memories of their life together were everywhere in the place they used to call home. It was too much to take. Not wanting to have to answer any questions - he quietly slipped into the den, shutting the door behind him.

He didn't have to worry. No one in the living room even noticed he had come in.

"Shh. Becky – we will discuss this but I need you keep your voice down." Alison warned her again, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sure it will all be alright." Kissing Becky's forehead, she let her go and turned and glared at her husband. "Rafe. I asked you to go easy on her. What did you do?"

"Angel..." He began, trying to save himself.

She wasn't swayed in the least. "Don't start that with me. Stop. Let's hear it."

He tried to find the words to explain. "Look, Alison. The little punk needed to be taught a lesson."

"Judging from the bandage on Becky's hand I'm guessing she took care of that herself." Alison replied.

Becky swiped at her eyes, her words coming out in a torrent. "He didn't just teach him a lesson, he scared him to death. Dad told him never to come near me again. And not that I'm disappointed, because Tim's an imbecile – but I know that on Monday he'll tell EVERYONE that Becky Kovich's father is a total psycho and once it gets out - no one will EVER come near me again!!!" She whirled around and faced Rafe, her voice shaking. "My life is over. I might as well join a convent tomorrow."

Before he could stop himself Rafe said with a smile, "Now that's a great idea."

Becky's eyes went wide with shock. She fought to reign in her temper without much success. "Well you lose Dad because I can't even do that. We're not Catholic!!!" She cried as she ran up the stairs.

"Are you satisfied?" Alison asked him as they watched her go.

"What?" He said as he gave her a smile. "Oh c'mon Alison. She's just upset. She'll get over it."

"I know she will – but it's you I'm talking about." Alison glared at him. "I thought watching you let go of Kate was hard. I thought that her marrying into Caleb's family would be the worst of it – but you're making it clear that the next decade of my life is going to be full of nights just like this one."

"What are you talking about?" He asked completely confused.

She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "We still have Ella. By the time she's ready to date I'm not sure I'll survive."

"Alison – that kid - he practically attacked her. She said she didn't want to kiss him and he didn't take no for an answer." Rafe tried again to explain.

She nodded. "And it doesn't satisfy you that in response to that your daughter punched his lights out?"

"Well..." Rafe trailed off. He had to admit, Alison had a point.

She wasn't done with him. "She's proven that she can take care of herself – Rafe. She handled it – but that's not enough for you. You have to rush in and finish the job. We read her tons of fairytales when she was little but I think they actually went to your head too. You're acting like a king who's keeping his daughter locked up in a tower."

"I..." He started, not knowing how to defend himself.

She didn't even let him try. "I love how protective you are of them. I truly, honestly do. But you can't do that Rafe. You can't warn the world to stay away from her. Becky's a beautiful girl and – sorry to break it to you – but boys are going to be interested in her."

He walked towards her and reached for her hands, kissing them softly. "She is beautiful. She looks just like you."

"Stop trying to sweet talk me. I'm serious Rafe." Alison sighed as he reached for her and pulled her close. "Please. Ease up a little. Not just for her sake but for yours - and mine."

Rafe knew his daughters had to grow up. He was shocked that it never got easier to watch it happen. Nodding he kissed the top of her head.

"Can't we just keep them up there until they're thirty?" Rafe whispered against her hair. "That was my original plan you know.'

Alison grinned and pulled him closer, in spite of her annoyance at him. "No. We can't. Now promise me you'll stop and think before you go off avenging her honor again."

"I..." He couldn't quite say it.

"Promise me." She said as she pulled back and stared into his eyes, smiling widely. "You have enough to do already." She said with a giggle as he reluctantly agreed. Tilting her face up to kiss him softly she whispered. "You're already my knight in shining armor. One of these days, you're going to have to let her find one of her own."