I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I had exams, then my laptop died (soon to be replaced!) and then I went on holiday. I'm going to work really hard on this story over the summer to get it finished.

Thank you to Shellie, Sunny, Mickey, Alicia, beachtree, JenJenxx, Lauren, Jen, Natalie, Cynthia, Becky, Emzzie, Ally, Lauren, Kirsten's Joy, Anna and Christine for you reviews of the last chapter. I always appreciate them!

The Brothers Grim

Kirsten came into the house from outside and paused in the door when she spied Sandy on the sofa. Caleb had taken a distraught Julie home; they had finally said goodbye to their last guest; and the caterers had packed up and gone. Leaning against the doorframe, Kirsten stared at the back of Sandy's head, her mind elsewhere.

Her mind on Carter Buckley.

It wasn't the first time that Carter had passed through her thoughts. He often played on her mind, even when she was in the company of her husband. It confused her; scared her, even.

Julie had noticed. Was she really developing feelings for Carter, like Julie said she was? Kirsten could try to pretend the answer was no, but if she looked deep enough she knew that was a lie. But why? Life had gone back to "normal" since Rebecca had gone. There was no longer any reason for her and Sandy to be fighting – and they weren't.

She had avoided Sandy and Carter meeting for as long as she could, but she couldn't keep them apart forever and they had met tonight. And they had got along well. Of course they did, they were so similar in so many ways. Was that the attraction of Carter? He reminded her of Sandy?

Then Carter had seen Julie's teasing. Embarrassment coursed though Kirsten's body even now as she remembered. Carter had blamed himself, telling her that any 'vibes' were coming from him. Vibes? What did that mean?

Kirsten closed her eyes, tired of the confusion, of feeling this way; tired of so many unanswered questions. She was too old for silly games. She was a married woman. But there was no arguing that her marriage had been fractured by everything that had happened since last September and it felt like no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find their way back to where they used to be.

Kirsten sighed and Sandy turned, hearing her behind him.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," Kirsten said softly.

She came through the kitchen to the family room and sat down on the sofa next to him.

"It was quite a night, huh?" Sandy laughed.

"It wasn't exactly the way we planned to launch the magazine," Kirsten moaned. "Newport Living is supposed to improve the company's reputation, not drag it down even further."

Sandy rested his arm across the back of the sofa, running his hand through Kirsten's hair.

"Don't worry about it. There'll be another scandal tomorrow which will grab everyone's attention," Sandy tried to reassure her.

"I hope so," Kirsten sighed, wearily.

"Did you dad take Julie home?" Sandy asked.

Kirsten nodded. "He promised her a trip to Paris. I can't believe how good he's been about it."

"I can only assume that he hasn't watched the video, because I'm not sure his heart could take it," Sandy chuckled.

Kirsten arched her eyebrows. "You've watched it?"

Sandy blushed. "Some of it. For work purposes…" he mumbled. It had been the most unpleasant experience of Sandy's life and one that he never wanted to repeat, he hoped Kirsten knew that.

Kirsten bit her lip to hide a smile, aware of the pained expression that Sandy wore. The short clip that had played tonight had been enough for Kirsten.

"So that's what you've been working on?" she asked.

Sandy looked up, trying to read the tone of her voice. Was that a hint of distrust he heard?

"Yeah."

He wanted to tell her that he would have told her if he could have, but she had heard that excuse too many times recently.

"So, Carter seems like a nice guy," Sandy commented, changing the subject.

It was Kirsten's turn to feel uncomfortable, feeling guilty at the mention of Carter's name.

"He is," Kirsten answered as casually as possible, avoiding Sandy's eye, hoping he wouldn't notice. She copied Sandy's trick and changed the subject. "So, where are the boys?"

"Seth's upstairs with Summer, I think. Ryan went out looking for Trey," Sandy said.

"Did something happen?" Kirsten asked, reading between the lines.

"I don't know. I think they're having a few teething problems, getting used to each other again," Sandy mused.

"Should we be worried? About Ryan?" Kirsten asked. "I mean, I know you think we should help Trey – I get that and I agree. But not if it's going to affect Ryan. He has to be our main concern."

"He is," Sandy agreed. "But I also think we should trust Ryan about this. He knows Trey, we don't."

Kirsten nodded, trusting Sandy's judgment. "Ok. And Ryan would come to us, right? If he had a problem?"

"I hope so," Sandy said. "You know, picking Trey up from prison brought it all back – the day I met Ryan, bringing him home. He's come a long way since then."

Kirsten smiled as she remembered too. She remembered how hesitant she had been about inviting Ryan into the family; now she couldn't imagine the family without him.

"So now that the magazine has been launched, does that mean I get to spend some more time with you?" Sandy asked, his hand grazing her hair again.

"No more golf?" Kirsten asked.

"No more golf," Sandy promised.

Kirsten smiled at him. She knew she had been distracted by the magazine – and Carter. "Ok."

They heard the sound of the front door and turned to see Ryan, Marissa and Trey walking down the corridor. They both greeted the kids with "hey".

"You guys were gone a while. Everything ok?" Sandy asked.

"Fine," Trey answered.

"Yeah, nothing to report," Ryan said, putting his hand on Trey's shoulder.

"How was the party?" Marissa asked.

Kirsten and Sandy both hesitated before answering. That was not going to be an easy one for Julie to explain to her daughter.

"Good," Sandy said.

"Uneventful," Kirsten followed, looking towards Sandy.

Seth and Summer appeared down the hallway and followed the others into the family room.

"Hey you guys," Seth greeted them.

"Hey," Sandy said.

"Great party, ok?" Seth teased.

"Well, if you're hungry, we've got leftovers," Sandy said, pointing to the food on the table in front of him.

The kids settled on the seats around the table.

"Look, Dad, we're all having a family dinner," Seth said.

"Well, how about that, look at that," Sandy said, leaning back on the sofa. "Now, this is not so painful."

"I gotta tell you, it seems pretty great," Trey said.

"Yeah? Wait until the novelty wears off, right Ryan?" Seth said.

"You know what? Still works for me," Ryan said.

"That's very…" Seth started, but was cut off by Summer's hand, shutting him up.

Sandy watched as his family, plus a few extras, conversed around him. It pleased him to know that they were happy in his house. Kirsten watched too, hoping that the feeling she had right now – the feeling of being surrounded by her family – would help her fight whatever was growing inside of her.