AN: Okay, next chapter of this fic. I've been doing this fic for a couple of days but I haven't had the chance to post it until now. I've only got 5 more chapters at the most for this fic so I'll leave you in suspense of whether or not Randy and Trish finally get their happy ending. I've left you with a cliff hanger once, I can do it again! (gives an evil laught), lol. Hope you guys enjoy and please read and review. Much love guys.

I Disclaim

"I want my son…and I will fight you tooth and nail until I get him…."

The words hung in the air as Trish's jaw dropped open and all thoughts vanished. Of all the nightmares that she had ever had, this was by far the worst….she couldn't wake up from this one.

His words rang in her ears…they taunted her. She felt the tears begin to prick her eyes and for the first time since Adam let out his intentions, Trish looked him straight in the eyes without hesitation or nervousness.

"You'd never get him, Adam" she said with venom lacing her tone. She hoped that she sounded confident, because even in the back of her mind, she wasn't so sure that she could save her son from the grasp of his biological father.

"What makes you think that?" Adam asked inquisitively. He leaned back in the booth and studied her carefully. He was sure that no one would believe how sorry he was for ever hurting her. She was the last person he would ever want to hurt.

'Then why do you continue to hurt her even though you say you don't want to?' his conscious stepped in and questioned him. Adam couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face. It was a good question to ask, one he had no answer to and perhaps that's why his words seemed so ingenuine to everyone else. He said one thing, but his actions said another. He didn't love anybody as much as he loved himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by Trish.

"No judge in his right mind would give custody to a man who raped the mother. What makes you think that a judge would have sympathy for you?" She asked as her eyes narrowed at him. He could see her jaws clenched tightly together and he knew she was fighting back tears.

"How is the judge gonna know I raped you? You didn't press charges against me, nothing was legally filed…you have no proof Trish". He knew he had her when he saw her eyes grow large with fear. Even in their predicament, he couldn't help but notice how she hadn't aged a day since he had last seen her. She was still as beautiful as ever.

"But there were people…people know Adam…you can't…" Trish stumbled as she searched for words that would sound convincing to Adam…more importantly, convincing to herself. He was right, she hadn't filed anything against him, and there were no records to show that he had in fact violated her.

"Come on Trish, I would think you'd know better. There were no witnesses therefore any proof. Who are you gonna put on the stand…you're husband? I'm sure a judge or jury could be easily swayed in believing that he was so jealous of me, the ex-boyfriend, that by supporting a rape plea, one that happened several years ago might I add, would be the perfect way to get rid of me once and for all. Not to mention your friends. We shared the same circle of friends before I drifted apart from them. Their testimonies in support of you and against me could be seen as their revenge and I'm sure the court would consider it as an example of conflicting interest."

Trish didn't stop the tears from falling now.

"You've really thought about this" she whispered. It was more of a comment to herself than it was to him.

"There are a few ways of avoiding all of this" Adam interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. If she had been in her right senses, she would've realized that anything that he had to offer her wouldn't be something that she would be willing to do.

"We can have joint custody….I just don't want Randy anywhere near my son. He's tainted his mind with enough things as it is."

"Not happening, Adam. Randy has never spoken to Josh about you. None of us have. Randy has given his time, his love…his everything, to helping raise Josh. I will not take Josh away from him so you can just forget about that plan….as far as I'm concerned, Randy is his father, if not by blood, by everything else." She wiped her eyes with the back of her palm. Her eyes quickly glanced around the room to see that the crowd had lessened since she has last looked, but at this point, her safety was the last thing on her mind so she paid no attention and turned her gaze back to Adam.

"What's your next ultimatum?" she asked.

He looked at her with a frown before replying.

"Well, if you didn't like my first idea, I don't think you'll be too keen on the second suggestion he said.

She only raised a single eyebrow as a way of telling him to continue.

"Come away with me…the three of us could just get away and we'd never have to worry about anyone else ever again" he said. Trish saw the pleading look in his eyes as he leaned over to cover her hand with his own. She didn't pull away from the contact, instead she held his gaze and offered a little smile.

"On the contrary Adam, your suggestion has made my decision a lot easier." Adam's face broke out into a smile.

Finally….they would be together as a family. They way it should be.

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The skies had opened up and the first few hues of the sunlight were masked with the drops of rain that had continued on from the night. Randy looked at his watch once again. It was now 4:30 in the morning. The day was about to start and Randy was still in search for his wife. After he had gotten off the phone with Matt, he was sure that his wife had gone to meet up with Adam. He was now walking up the street 5 blocks away from the hotel in search for Trish and there still no sign of her. Even in his state of fear, he couldn't help his feelings of anger towards his wife. He couldn't understand how she could carelessly leave in the middle of the night to meet the same man who had taken her forcefully. The more he thought about it, the more he became enraged by her thoughtless act. His brooding and search was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

"Hello" he answered hopefully.

"Hey, it's me, Amy"

Randy sighed in disappointment.

"Trish just called here and she said that you're not at the hotel and she was wondering if we knew where you were" Amy filled him in.

"And what did you say?"

"Well, we didn't know if you wanted her to know about your little discovery so we just kept mum and told her that we didn't know where you were but we'd be on the look out for you" Amy said.

"Thanks Ames…I think it's best that I confront her about everything face to face. I better be heading back to the hotel right now. I wanna thank you guys for taking care of the kids for us." He proceeded to make arrangement with Amy and Matt before offering their quick goodbyes. Randy took off in a sprint down the streets. The longer he took to get back to the hotel, the longer it was going to be before he got some explanations.

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Randy made it in a record time of seven minutes. He dashed through the front door and collided right into the tiny frame of the blonde beauty.

"Where you rushing to?" she asked as she grimaced a bit from her place on the floor.

"Sorry" he simply offered and bent down to put his arm around her and helped her up.

"So where were you?" she asked innocently.

"I could ask you the same thing…and don't bother lying to me Trish. I've been up since early this morning only to find you gone and I could bet my life on who it is you went to meet up with."

Trish inhaled and exhaled deeply. Shit, she was caught. She looked up at her husband as he watched her through narrow slits.

She was definitely in trouble.

"Can we sit?" she asked as she bit her bottom lip nervously. He silently nodded and moved towards the couch. As soon as both their butts were planted on the seat, he didn't waste any time.

"Why did you go to see him?" Randy asked. He wasn't planning on beating around the bush and Trish had no opportunity to get around it.

"I wanted to ask him a few questions…mainly why he was doing all of this" Trish answered softly.

"We could've done that together" Randy said while raising his voice.

"How could you be so stupid to put yourself in danger like that" his voice sounded like it was echoing in the room and Trish was scared. She winced at the loudness and tone of his voice and she bowed her head. She refused to show him the tears. He had every right to be upset but how could she ever explain to him that she did what she did to protect her family…all of them.

"Did he hurt you?" Randy eyes and voice immediately softened and his anger was washed over with pure concern. Trish didn't waste any time in reassuring him that Adam didn't dare try anything with her and that they had met in a popular twenty-four café. Several moments passed of awkward silence and Trish could feel the tension once again begin to rise between them. Randy wasn't going to let this down for a really long time…at least not until everything was over and done with.

His stern gaze returned to his face and he sprung up.

"The kids are coming back today" he said as he shuffled around them room, not even looking at her. Trish felt her lips quiver and her eyes threaten to spill tears. Everything was going so wrong so fast. She couldn't help the ill feeling at the pit of her stomach. Now more than ever she and Randy would need to stick together but she feared that that would be easier said than done.

"Randy…" she softly called out his name as she watched him continue to move around the room and put some of his things an overnight bag.

Upon no reply, she called out his name a bit louder this time.

"Randy…." She moved desperately towards him and placed her hand on his forearm.

"What are you doing?...I haven't told you everything yet" Trish pleaded with her eyes but he refused to look up at her.

"We can talk later. I've been relieved that you're alright but now I just need time away from you Trish. I can't believe you would deliberately do something so extremely stupid and you went behind my back. And I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't figured out about your little meeting, you would've most likely lie right to my face when I asked you about where you were!" Randy was steaming.

"Where are you going?"

"Matt and Amy are going to come here tonight with the kids. I talked to them earlier and we sorted everything out. I was hoping that I would've gotten a better explanation for your actions. I need to get away and think right now so they'll be staying with you for the rest of the vacation. It's only going to a few more days till we leave and after the incident at the restaurant, it will be good for the kids to have each other's company so that they don't worry too much about the adult stuff."

"You don't need to leave…" Trish begged as she held on tighter to his arm. He shook her grip free and continued to move around, grabbing little things that he may need for the few days he would be gone.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers this time and with steely eyes he responded,

"Yes I do….I won't be able to think about everything if I constantly have to worry about you and what stupid thing you might do next. I know Amy and Matt will keep you in check. Sometimes I think they do a better job than I do." She wasn't sure if that was meant to be an insult towards their relationship but the bitterness in his voice told Trish that that could possibly be it.

'He's just angry…he's only venting. He doesn't meant it' Trish's voice inside of her try to calm her down but deep down, she feared that he did mean it and despite her previous assumptions of experience some troubles between them along the way, this was the first time that Trish honestly thought that perhaps they wouldn't make it together.

"What do I tell the kids?" Trish asked. She was desperate to stall him, hoping the longer he stayed with her, the more he would realize that there were better ways of handling the situation. Unfortunately, it seemed to be having the opposite effect.

"Well, I'm sure that Josh wouldn't mind not seeing me around after what happened at the restaurant. We all know that he can be stubborn so I'm not holding my breath in hopes that all will be forgiven when he sees me. Besides it's only going into be a few days. Tell them that business came up or I had an emergency meeting or something. Be sneaky…you seem to have become an expert at that." His snide remark didn't go unnoticed and Trish didn't dare try and stop the tears from falling now.

'He was being completely unreasonable now…Wasn't he?' Her mind struggled for answers, struggled for ways to make him stay but nothing was coming to her. And she was sure that whatever she came up, he would just turn her down and use it as another way of hurling an insult at her. She quickly dabbed her wet eyes with her palms and continued to watch him.

Randy's heart softened at the sight of her tears but his mind wouldn't let him forget how mad he was her at the moment. He had already unleashed most of his temper at her that was initially meant for Adam. It would be best if he left for a couple of days before returning to talk about things.

By now she was walking behind him as he made his way to the front door. He slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder and turned the knob. Trish figured he probably wouldn't have even looked back if it weren't for her confession.

"He wants custody Randy…he wants to take Josh away from us" Randy turned around to be met with the tears of his wife as her eyes pleaded with him. But for reasons that she couldn't explain, and neither could he, with tear filled eyes, Randy simply shook his head. And the last thing that Trish could have ever imagined she'd see…Randy turned his back and continued right out the door leaving everything behind….including her.