DISCLAIMER: Don't own.

Note: I never noticed the couch in Sandy and Kirsten's room. I thought there was a chair in the corner, I had no idea it was a couch. I decided to incorporate a couch scene in to the fic. I'd like to thank all those who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate it! As always, let me know what you think of this chapter and enjoy!

Kirsten went in to work early and anxiously watched from her office window as each Newport Group employee pulled into the parking lot and walked in. Her father would be coming in any minute, wondering why she hadn't finished a document that she was supposed to finish the day before. She couldn't concentrate on doing any work the last few days. She got some coffee from the break room and on the way back, a thought struck her mind…she would soon have a new office, or not even an office, but a desk to call home, which would replace the office she called home for the last 11 years. This office that was filled with Monet paintings and expensive couches would be replaced by crayons and stacks of art projects to be graded. Kirsten smiled. It was definitely going to be different.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Caleb talking to Julie in the hallway. She clinched her hands together and played with her wedding rings. Caleb would be stopping into her office in any minute, as it was routine for him to walk in to the office with Julie and then to come see Kirsten in her office.

Sure enough, he walked into her office and said, "Good morning, Kiki."

"Hey dad," Kirsten said trying to hide her nervousness.

"Did you finish the 2nd quarter financial report yet? I'm waiting on that."

"I'll have it on your desk by 10am."

"I'll be waiting for it," Caleb said as he started to leave Kirsten's office.

Kirsten knew she had to tell him now. It would just get harder as time went on and it wouldn't be fair to not give her father a sufficient amount of time to fill her position. "Dad, wait!"

Caleb turned around, wondering what Kirsten wanted.

"I know you're probably going to hate me for this, but it's something I have to tell you." Kirsten paused to regain her composure. Caleb was just staring at her and listening intently, so she took a deep breath and continued, "A few months ago I realized that I had forgotten about something I always loved and still love. I had forgotten about it all these years and then one day it just hit me that I had been leaving something out of my life that I'm really passionate about. And that's art."

As soon as he heard the word "art", Caleb knew what Kirsten was going to say. He tried to hide his disappointment but wasn't sure if Kirsten could see it in his face already.

"I decided to finish up my art education degree this spring at USC."

"Art education degree?" Caleb said out loud. He had no idea Kirsten had been taking classes. He thought she was going to say she wanted to open up a gallery again.

"Yeah, it was my dream a long time ago to become an art teacher."

"I thought you wanted to open a gallery," Caleb said sarcastically.

"I did, but I also wanted to do this. You and I were not really on speaking terms so…" Kirsten fumbled for words. She hated confrontation and she could hear it in her father's voice that he was getting angry.

"So what are you telling me? I have a business to run, don't waste my time."

Kirsten fumbled in her briefcase for her official letter of resignation. Her hands were shaking and she was afraid to look her father in the eye. "I'm sorry. I have to follow my heart. I got hired as an elementary art teacher for Newport Beach Public Elementary. I start this fall."

Caleb grabbed the envelope out of her hand furiously and said, "I hope you're happy," as he left and slammed the door shut.

Kirsten was left with her head in her hands. At least she told him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kirsten was relieved when she came home to find her husband there already. She insisted that they wait until after the family ate dinner to talk about what happened with Caleb. She didn't want the boys to know anything more than what they already knew about how Caleb and Kandy did not get along too well back in the late '80s.

As they headed up to their bedroom, Sandy said, "So, tell me, how are you doing? It must have been so hard for you today."

"Yeah, it was. I don't think he'll ever talk to me again," Kirsten said as she began to take off her business suit.

"That's not true. It'll take a few days for it to sink in," Sandy said, reaching out and rubbing her arm.

"I know. I just don't want to let him down…I feel like I did Sandy."

"How could you say that? Look what you've done for him and the Newport Group? Do I need to remind you of all that you've done? We'd be here for a week."

Kirsten smiled, then got serious again and said, "I mean work is going to be so weird tomorrow!"

"I know. But you can't rush things. Just talk business like usual. Don't let him see that it's affecting you. Just think, after he gets used to the idea of you becoming an art teacher you can show him your work. Just wait till he sees how good you are."

Kirsten interrupted him saying, "Oh Sandy, I don't think I'll ever show him anything."

"Why not? You're work is amazing, even more amazing than what you've done for the Newport Group."

"You really think its good?" she asked looking unconvinced.

"Yeah. I've always thought that. Ever since you painted that San Francisco landscape for me back in college." Sandy was referring to a painting Kirsten made and gave to him after they had been dating a few months. They were starting to get really close but Sandy already had signed up for an internship in New York for the summer so she gave him the painting to remind himself of her and of the San Francisco landscape.

"Thanks," she said smiling as she leaned in and hugged him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next few days were awkward for Kirsten. She buried herself in work and put her head down whenever she saw Caleb in the hallway. It wasn't like he was talking to her anyway. When she saw him at the weekly meeting, he ignored her when she came into the room. Worst yet, when she started giving her quarterly report, he rudely interrupted and said that he had business to take care of and to carry on without him. When Kirsten went over to his house to help Julie pick out a layout for the magazine, he ignored her "Hi".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been 2 weeks and Caleb was still ignoring Kirsten, despite her "Hi's" and voice mails asking him to call her back because she wanted to talk. Sandy knew his wife was frustrated with the situation so he decided to take matters into his own hands. It wouldn't be the first time he stood up to Caleb. Apparently, Sandy's speech about "passion" and "dreams" seemed to work as the following day Caleb decided to talk to Kirsten in fear that one day, she might not talk to him because of his ignoring her now.

It was after 7pm when he walked over to Kirsten's office and looked in through the blinds and saw his daughter was still hard at work. This time, Kirsten was so involved in working that she didn't even see him standing there watching her. After standing there for a few minutes daydreaming about how proud he was of his daughter, he knocked on the door, hoping he could make peace with her.

"Hey, mind if I come in?" he asked.

"No, come in," Kirsten said nervously, "I'll be done with this report in a few minutes. I'm just making some minor adjustments," she said as she continued to type on the computer.

"Kiki stop. You don't have to finish that tonight."

"I don't mind doing it."

Caleb walked over to the shelf filled with model home designs. Amongst the models were a few personal pictures Kirsten had put there. Kirsten wasn't one to put a lot of pictures in her office, but the few she had meant a lot to her. Caleb's eyes focused on the picture of Kirsten and him that was taken at the Newport Group 30th year anniversary celebration. He said to Kirsten, "Look at us in this picture Kiki. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the Newport Group's 30th year. That was before all the drama started."

"Drama?" Kirsten asked bluntly.

"Yeah, I mean look what's happened since then. I bet you never thought I'd step down from CEO."

"More than that, I never thought you'd appoint Julie as your replacement," Kirsten said half smiling.

"Well, like I said, I had to Kiki, for my marriage. And remember how the company almost went completely bankrupt? It was you who saved the company, Kiki," Caleb said, now turning to face her. "I'm sorry I got up during your quarterly report. You did a great job answering the supplier's questions."

"How'd you know?"

Caught, Caleb embarrassedly admitted he was observing the meeting from behind the blinds. "I was so proud of you, Kiki."

"Thanks."

There was an awkward silence.

"Dad, I'm sorry that you're angry with me. I want you to know that I don't mean to hurt you. That's the last thing I want to do. I feel terrible for leaving the company. I really do. But I've thought about this long and hard and my feelings haven't changed."

"I know. Why do you think I left grad school? I had the vision of this company in mind and I was ready to start it. I realize that you have to do what's best for you. I'm just having a hard time seeing you take that advice. It's always been like that, hasn't it Kiki?"

"Dad," Kirsten said standing up and going over to where Caleb was standing, "I know you've always wanted what you thought was best for me. I know you thought you were looking out for me. It's just that sometimes I have my own ideas of what was best for me. And believe me, I thought maybe I was just going through a phase with this career change thing, but it's not a phase."

"You can't control how you feel, Kiki. I'm just sorry that I'll be losing my best employee and jealous of the one who will be gaining the best employee." Caleb reached out to hug Kirsten, to which Kirsten embraced him back. Neither were frequent huggers, but it felt good to do. After a few minutes, Caleb said, "How about continuing to help Julie with the magazine? You know she needs the help and you're so gifted in art, I'd really appreciate it."

"You can count on me," Kirsten said smiling.

"Thanks. Well, I better get going. You should too. Thank Sanford for me, will you? He made me realize that I needed to talk to you."

"Really?" Kirsten asked smiling, thinking about her husband, "I'll do that. Thanks for understanding dad."

Caleb nodded, then walked toward the door, stopping when he opened it and said, "I'm proud of you, Kiki."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kirsten hurried home to Sandy.

Sandy was relieved when he looked up from his surfing magazine to find a smile on his wife's face as she walked into the bedroom.

"Hey baby, how was work?" he asked her.

"Good, thanks to you," Kirsten replied as she sat down on the couch next to him, putting her hand on his arm and rubbing her hand up and down his arm. "Thanks for talking to him, I appreciate it," she said as she leaned her head on Sandy's shoulder.

"My pleasure, baby, I'm glad that you guys worked everything out. You did, right?"

"Yeah, we did," Kirsten said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad to see you're in such a good mood. I missed seeing that pretty smile on your face the last two weeks. You must be hungry. I put your plate of dinner in the fridge. Want me to go warm it up?"

"No," Kirsten replied seductively, "I'm hungry, but not hungry for that right now," she said as she threw Sandy's magazine on the floor and spread herself cross his lap, pulling him in for a kiss.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sandy stared at his phone in his law office. Kirsten should be calling in any minute letting him know how her first day of school went. Despite his telling her that the kids would love her, she couldn't stop the butterflies from flying in her stomach that morning. When the phone rang Sandy anxiously picked it up, hoping Kirsten still wanted to be an art teacher after the first day of school.

He was relieved when Kirsten said to him excitedly, "I love it! Everything went great!"

"That's great honey, I knew you'd be fine."

"You know Sandy I couldn't have done this without all of your love and support, and to thank you I have a surprise for you. Open the door."

Sandy walked over to the door wondering what the surprise was. A huge smile crept onto his face when he saw his wife standing there smiling back at him.

Kirsten jumped into his arms excitedly.

"What a nice surprise!" Sandy said happily.

"I didn't give you your surprise yet. It's not going to be done for a while. I'm going to renovate your office. Of course you have to choose all the colors, fabrics, and furniture, but I'm going to fix this place up for you. If you want that is. And you don't have to worry, I'll do it on the weekends so I don't disturb you."

"Kirsten I'd love it if you fixed up this place for me! But I want you to do it when I'm here. That way we can spend more time together. You can come after school and do it and I'll come in on the weekends when you do it."

"That sounds good."

"I love you," Sandy said as he put his arms around Kirsten.

"I love you," Kirsten said back smiling.

Please review. I spend a lot of time writing these fics and if you're reading them, the least you could do is take a minute and leave me a review. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it!

I'm thinking maybe a chapter about Kirsten redecorating Sandy's office? We'll see. Review and let me know if you want that. I love you reviews.