Roger was just getting out of the shower when the phone rang. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he lifted the reciever, trying to figure out who knew where he was and would need to call him. "Hello?" He nearly dropped the towel when he recognized the voice on the other end.

"Dad! I've been trying to get you all night." His prodigal son sounded incredibly relieved.

"Ethan, hey shouldn't you be off learnng the ways of the California youth?" Wandering towards his suitcase, Roger started getting dressed, balancing the phone between his ear and his shoulder. "Is something wrong son? You sound a little flustered."

"I'm still in New York dad," Ethan replied, feeling rather foolish. "I didn't make it to California."

"Still in New York?" Roger sat on the bed to put on his socks. "This is a joke right? Pulling one over on your old dad?"

"I wish it was a joke." He answered sheepishly. "I got mugged on the plane."

"Mugged?" Roger dropped the sock he was trying to put on and had to dig around under the bed to find it. "How do you get mugged on a plane?"

"I'm just that talented dad." Ethan shot back dryly. "I don't know what happened, one minute I was talking to the guy in the seat next to me, and the next I'm waking up at the airport without any of my identification. Someone even took my wallet. I was in pretty big trouble."

"I'll say," His father exclaimed. "The Yanks don't take it lightly when you show up and can't prove who you are."

"Oh dad, you don't know the half of it, I thought I was going to get deported for awhile." Ethan shuddered for a moment but perked up. "But the Embassy snagged me a new passport and they're putting me on a plane to Sunset Beach in the morning. I should be there by noon."

"I'll make sure Gregory, Olivia and I get back before then." Roger decided firmly. "Wouldn't want you to have any more plane trouble now."

Ethan was touched. "Do you really want to cut your trip short like that? I wouldn't want to bring the Richardses back early. I mean, I haven't even met them yet."

Throwing on his smoking jacket over his pajamas, Roger smiled, proud of his son's thoughtfulness. "Everything's done here. I'll talk to Gregory's pilot and we'll meet you at the airport."

"Thanks dad." Suddenly, Ethan remembered what he meant ask to from the moment he called. "Hey, can you call Sunset Beach for me? I haven't been able to get through and I wouldn't want anyone to worry about me."

Puzzled, Roger looked out the window into the night and tried to sort out his thoughts. "Olivia just talked to Caitlin this evening. She said everything was fine. Come to think of it, she even mentioned you were there."

"There must be some kind of mistake dad." Genuine confusion was all Ethan had. "I've been in New York all day. I don't know why Caitlin would think I was there."

"Neither do I." Drumming his fingers on the tabletop didn't make anything spring to mind. "I'm going to talk to Olivia. See if I can get all of this straightened out."

"All right. Dad, love you."

"Tomorrow then. Love you too sport." Setting the phone down, Roger checked his watch. It was pushing three in the morning. If they were still awake he might not want to interrupt them. He paced in front of the door for a moment. After a few minutes, it was still nagging him. Why had Caitlin thought Ethan was there? Had he just misunderstood Olivia?

Tucking his room key in his pocket, he headed down the hallway to their room. Roger put his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything so he knocked. He didn't have to wait long.

Olivia answered the door and managed a sleepy smile. "Roger, what can I do for you?" She leaned her head against the side of the door, behind her he could hear the water running in the bathroom.

"Where's your darling?" She really was cute in Gregory's oversized pajamas, with her dark hair tumbling in a mess down her shoulders.

"Oh he's in the shower, come in." Olivia left the door and headed to the bed. "He wanted to get cleaned up before-" She dropped off, turning back to Roger with an impish smile. "Well, before we started our little project."

Watching her flop onto the bed and curl into a ball, he remembered why he missed Lillian. "It's a good thing I caught you then. Ethan just called."

Olivia patted the bed next to her. "Sit down, tell me what he thinks about Sunset Beach."

He sat down and tilted his head towards her in confusion. "Now that's the odd part love. Ethan's still in New York."

"New York?" Yawning, Olivia tried to get her exhausted mind to cooperate. "How can he be in New York? Caitlin just said he was there, at the house. She even said he was handsome…"

"That's what doesn't make any sense Olivia." Roger counted off on his fingers. "Ethan says he's in New York and Caitlin says he's in Sunset Beach. He may be an amazing young man, but he can't very well be in two places at once."

Propping her head up on the her hand, she looked dumbfounded. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I love." Roger shook his head slowly. "Can I use your phone? I want to talk to Caitlin myself."

As she nodded, she closed her eyes. "If I'm asleep when Gregory gets out of the shower. Apologize for me."

"Of course love." She didn't even hear his response before she was asleep. He watched her face relax into sleep. Then picking up the phone, he spun around the number for the California house on the old radial phone. It rang four times before the answering machine came on and Roger hung up with the button. "She's not picking up. Dammit."

Gregory emerged from the bathroom with a puff of steam. He looked like a new man now that he was clean. "What's wrong?"

"Neither of your children is answering the phone." Roger tapped his finger on the phone irritably.

Toweling off his hair, Gregory smiled gently at the sleeping form of his wife as he sat on the end of the bed. "Your son's there as well."

"He's not." Roger bit his lip in thought. "He's in New York."

Touching the sore spot on his chin, Gregory hung up his towel and looked at himself in the mirror. None of the bruises would be serious. "But Caitlin said-"

Roger folded his arms and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I know what Caitlin said. Ethan was mugged on the plane to New York. Someone took everything. His passport, his wallet, everything."

"This doesn't make any sense." Gregory settled onto the bed, thinking that Olivia looked like an angel when she was sleeping.

"I can't figure out why anyone would want to pretend to be Ethan. But I'm going to think about it." Roger headed for the door, the gears of his mind still turning. "Can you two be ready by seven? I know it doesn't leave you much time, but we're not suppose to be home until tomorrow night, and I want to catch them offguard."

Sighing as he lay down next to his wife, Greogry agreed, even though he would have rather slept all day. "All right. Would you shut off the light?"

The switch clicked off as the door shut softly. Gregory wrapped an arm around Olivia's waist, drawing her to him as he pulled the covers over them. Her body was soft, yielding to his touch as he ran his hands over her side. Without opening her eyes, Olivia arched her back against him, finding his hands on her stomach and holding them there. "Did he really say seven?"

He rested his chin on her shoulder, toying with her fingers playfully. "I think he did."

"Doesn't Roger know that's only four hours from now?" Olivia complained as Gregory's hands found the buttons of her borrowed pajamas. "Is he insane?"

He lowered one hand to her knee and squeezed. "Four hours sounds like plenty of time to me."

She gasped and tried to get his hand away before it really got uncomfortable. "If you're really thinking about that, you'll keep your hands off of my knee."

"I thought you were tired." Gregory rolled her over to look into her eyes and she gave him a seductive smile. "Just where should I put my hands?"

Coyly, she undid the top button of her shirt. "I have a few ideas."

He leaned closer, feeling her breath aganst his cheek. Her fingers dropped to the second button, leaving bare the inner curves of her breasts. Olivia undid the third button, then the fourth. Gregory waited impatiently for her instructions, enjoying the view of the pale skin of her stomach. Taking his hands, she sat up and slid them under her shirt, letting his hands cup the cool skin of her breasts. "Is this a good place for your hands darling?"

He kneaded them, watching as she titlted her head back and let him part the shirt covering her chest. Tracing their shape with slow fingers, Gregory teased the nipples into peaks with his thumbs. He could spend hours on her breasts and tonight she wanted him to be happy. She wanted to chase the pain from his eyes permanently.

Her breath came quicker as the intensity of his touch increased. One hand left her breasts to stroke up the inside of her thigh. Olivia caught his hand and brought it back to her chest. "You're teasing."

Kissing the hollow of her neck on his way up to her lips, Gregory laughed under his breath. "I thought you liked to be teased." He traced the corner of her mouth with his tongue and coaxed a moan from the back of her throat as he took her onto his lap. Her feet slide around behind him and he got another chance at her knee. Taunting her until she squealed away from his touch let him flip her onto her back, he caught her wrists and folded them gently down to the bed.

"You like it when I make you beg." He slipped his knee between her legs and ground against her for emphasis. Her pupils widened and Gregory watched the color creep into her face. Taking both her wrists in one hand, he ran the other up her thigh, this time politely avoiding her knee as he explored his way up to her hips. Olivia kissed him desperately, fighting her hands free to pull his head down to her and forgetting completely about the bruises on his lips. He took the pain in stride as caressed her slowly through the smooth fabric of her bottoms.

Rewarded with by the whimper he recieved when he pressed inward with his thumb, he continued to toy with her. Rocking her hips against his leg only added to the tightness between her legs. Gregory's methodical patience was driving her mad, adding to the rush of blood in her head. Both of his hands dropped to her hips, letting him attack her breasts with his mouth. Olivia ran her fingers through his hair, writhing beneath him as he ruthlessly continued to tease her with his fingers.

Then he left her unfulfilled, moving his hands back to the naked skin of her stomach as he bent to her with a wicked grin. She crushed herself against him, half-insane with his continued denial. "Gregory." The word hissed from her mouth and he ignored her, finding the hollow in her side beneath her rib cage and conquering it hungrily.

Olivia knew he wanted her, she could feel it in his hard arousal, but Gregory was in control. He would take her when he was ready. When she moaned his name and begged him to take her he might relent. Until then she was clay in his hands. Alternately seeking and fleeing from the touch of his hands as he worked her into a frenzy.

He liked the way her eyes seared into him, how the dampness of her sweat felt against his bare skin when she pressed against him. He could have plunged inside of her and lost himself in the wet darkness, but then Gregory wouldn't have the pleading whine of her breath as he ran his teeth up the inside of her thighs.

"Please." She moaned into his ear. "Please-" Olivia was starting to tremble against him, her nerves burning with his presence. "Oh God, please."

Gregory pushed up from her and studied her against the white of the bedsheets. Her hair was a tangled mass of curls, wet with perspiration and splayed out beneath her head. Her eyes gleamed with arousal, and her chest rose and fell quickly as her breath came in pants. He had done this to her. He could bring her to this place where she would do anything just to have him keep touching her. In this moment, he was her world. Olivia needed him, her hands were begging for him as they dug into his back.

Tearing her pajama bottoms off, Gregory finally took her, driving into her as a half-scream ripped from her throat. Then they moved together, crushing their bodies together in the desperate search for release. She was already so close. He could taste the abandon in her kisses, feel it as her body shuddered into his arms. Clinging to him, her fingers dug into his shoulder blades. Olivia came with a wordless cry of something akin to pain, her body contracting around him as her nails scraped across his skin. Emptying himself in response, he covered her with his body as her shaking continued.

Crying into his shoulder, she had no words for him as he stroked the hair out of her face. Gregory pulled the sheets back over them with one hand as Olivia sobbed into his chest. She cried after making love rarely, and it nearly always surprised him.

Once she had tried to explain it, telling him that sometimes it simply overwhelmed her. Olivia insisted only he had ever wrought this kind of emotion from her. It was how she knew beyond any doubt that he was her true love. He was her soulmate, that reflection of everything that made her life worthwhile. She could feel all of that when they made love and that continued to amaze him.