Alex met them on the patio, irrepressible, even in the gray before dawn. "I see you both followed your directions."

Gregory and Olivia were waiting for her on the bench in the garden, coffee beside them in a thermos to bring down to the beach. As requested, both of them were dressed simply. Olivia wore a fitted black shirt and khakis. Looking more like a PTA mother then Liberty's prized new public relationships expert.

Gregory in a faded old Stanford sweatshirt, a throwback to his law school days, and brown trousers. His hair was still ruffled slightly from sleep. Excepting the gray in his hair, he could have passed for a college student again. That carefree arrogance from his youth, returning in the way he kept his arm around Olivia's shoulders. Alex remembered him doing that to her, holding her as they watched the sun come up reflected in the Pacific.

He picked up the coffee and took Olivia's hand as they started down to the beach. "We can follow orders. Can't we sweetheart?"

Olivia hid a yawn with her free hand. "I wouldn't have if she wasn't one of our oldest friends. There's something inherently wrong with being awake before the sun comes up."

"I am sorry." Alex repeated again as she took off her shoes to feel the sand beneath her feet. "You have to understand: it's the best lighting and the beach is empty. It's the glamour of being an artist. You're up before the sun and in bed long after it is."

She led them down the sand stopping at the water's edge and smiling at them both wickedly. "You are lucky that it's June. The water would be freezing if it was earlier in the year."

Gregory dropped to the sand to take off his shoes, casting her a suspicious glance as she looked out at the water. "You're a sadist."

"Almost all the same letters as 'artist' after all." Alex took off her battered leather backpack and started assembling her camera. "Maybe if you're both good we won't have to use the water."

"Need I remind you that you volunteered us for this?" Olivia teased as she broke into the coffee. "This was entirely your idea darling."

Gregory caught the back of her head and kissed her, passionately distracting her from the coffee. While she caught her breath, he stole the cup and drank it. She hit his shoulder, surprising herself with her audacity. He tucked the cup behind his back in response, forcing her to wrap her arms around him in an effort to get it. She forced him back to the beach, pushing him down hard enough to knock him into the sand.

Laughing, he pulled her down closer. Careful to set their one cup aside where it would be safe, he reached up and swept aside the tumble of dark curls. Pushing them all to the right side of her head so he could keep them from hanging into his face. "You're beautiful Liv."

Olivia's face softened as his sweetness took her off guard.

"I don't tell you that enough." He continued, stroking her hair gently.

Alex assembled her tripod. Tuning out their flirting with each other as she worked with her equipment. Choosing her lens, she found her place in the sand and started watching. Through the camera everything was simple. The world cut down to the circle of her shutter.

People were the worst subjects. They knew they were being photographed and when they were being watched they hid themselves. Mountains never got embarasssed about their flaws, or tried to present themselves as something they weren't. When she had started the project, Alex had wondered if she wasn't taking on the impossible. Her first interview when she got approval for the idea had said it best.

"Alex Mitchum takes on the hardest quarry of all, the people in her own life." She whispered to herself as focused in on their faces. Framing them between Gregory's hands and the cascade of Olivia's hair.

Their flirting was perfect, neither of them paid her any attention at all. Truly relieved that she wasn't going to have to remind them to be comfortable, she left herself disappear. Becoming part of each photo as she clicked the shutter, preserving herself as much as the moment in front of her.

When the sun finally broke through, a gleaming yellow over the hills behind them, Alex was done. "All right you two. You can go back to the real world now."

Blushing slightly as she realized how much time had passed, Olivia disentangled herself from her husband. "That's it?"

Alex sat down on the sand next to them, packing away her things. "I have three rolls of film to develop. You two can be very photogenic when you forget someone's watching."

Gregory and Olivia shared a guilty look. "We do tend to forget everything else, don't we sweetheart?" He explained as he rubbed her back.

Alex's laughter prevented further apology. "I'm a professional, remember? I've seen far worse." She tucked the legs of her tripod into her backpack and waved them both away. "Go on, get changed into your business selves and make me some money at Liberty."

"Aren't you coming back with us?" Olivia wondered as Gregory helped her up from the sand. "Rose should have breakfast done by now."

"We'd love for you to join us." Gregory added as he brushed sand off his pants. "Come on Alex."

She shook her head, her blonde hair remaining immobile in her tight ponytail. "No, but thank you. Thank you both very much." Standing up to hug Olivia, she wrapped her arms around her. "I'll see you later sweetie."

"I'll meet you at the office." Olivia answered, returning to Gregory's arm as Alex stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

He handed her the thermos of coffee. "At least keep this. We didn't drink much of it."

"Oh no, you had better things to do." She waved them off. "Go on, I want to get a few shots of the ocean."

"Greg you have fun with Rog in London." Alex called after them as they headed back towards the house. "Put in a good word for me. I think he's adorable."

That drew a giggle from Olivia, and she said something to Gregory that got him laughing as well.

Alex shook her head as they faded back into their house. Time had forgiven them. Maybe they had suffered enough to be redeemed. They certainly seemed like younger versions of the people she left last time she visited Sunset Beach. Gregory had his soul back in his eyes and Olivia had rediscovered that impish smile that had stolen his heart.

Looking up at the pale morning sky, Alex sighed in relief. "Guess I'm not going to have to worry about them. Olivia will get him through any feelings he might still have for me." Setting down her camera, she ran her fingers through the cold sand. "After all, she's the one he loves."

The sun crawled out, staining the ocean pale gold. "I would like you to do me a favor though, just between you and me." Piling the sand up by her feet, Alex looked up at the clear sky. "I'm okay with leaving. Really, in a way I'm almost looking forward to it. You certainly haven't made it easy for me lately. Taking that long nap's starting to have its appeal."

"I just have the one request. Let them have that baby Gregory's dreaming about. They are so happy right now. Don't you think they've earned it?" Bearing silent witness, the ocean lapped up towards her feet.

"I do." Alex whispered as she took her hands from the sand and wiped them off on her pants before pouring herself some coffee. "You know I do."

"If you keep this up, I'll never leave." Gregory promised as Olivia nibbled her way up his neck to his ear. She pressed him back against his desk, locking her arms around his neck. "Olivia, I'm going to miss my flight." He sighed and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away so he could look into her eyes. "I'll be back Sunday night."

She teased his cheek with a sly hand, pouting slightly. "I know. I just don't want you to forget about me while you're in London with Roger running around like a pair of schoolboys on holiday."

Finding her mock seriousness adorable, Gregory kissed her, playing with her lips one at a time. Running his tongue over her top lip, he pulled away, leaving her to catch her breath. "I could never, ever forget about you." He turned them around, leaning her against the desk instead. "But, it's really time for me to meet Roger at the airstrip."

"You're going to have to finish that when you get back." Olivia ordered firmly as she slowly opened her eyes. "It really wouldn't be polite to leave something like that undone."

"Sunday night." He reminded her as he picked up his briefcase and rebuttoned his suit jacket. "I'll bring you something special."

She retreated back behind her desk, forcing herself to let him go. "Just bring me back Gregory."

Chuckling as he shut the door, Gregory disappeared for the weekend. Olivia settled into her chair and turned away from her work to talk to the view of the ocean. "I'm going to miss you. God, am I going to miss you."

Now that Gregory was gone the weight of what she was about to do was suddenly very real. The tiny glass bottles Roger had left her sat on the desk next to the box of syringes. The long chemical labels were intimidating, and Roger's instructions were just as ominous. Thankfully he had the wisdom to write them down for Alex. She never would have remembered all of it.

Olivia was still staring out the window when Alex arrived precisely at four. "I'm ready to get you knocked up. What about you?"

Alex's bluntness brought Olivia out of her nervous state long enough to laugh. "Trust you to find the least delicate way to put it. It sounds positively crude when you put it that way."

"Too much time in the backcountry." The photographer flopped into the chair at the corner of Olivia's desk. "When your life could be extinguised by any one of a hundred terrible poisonous creatures, it alters your perspective a little." Reaching for the fertility drugs, Alex tucked all of them into her purse as she took Roger's note.

While she waited for Alex to finish reading, Olivia started packing up for the weekend. With Gregory and Roger both gone, all of her work would wait until Monday. Her briefcase was light as she stood next to the door.

Folding the note into her purse as well, Alex walked over and hugged her, bolstering Olivia against the fear in her face. "Hey, don't let Dr. over-cautious here bother you. Rog cares about you. He's always been a little protective, but he knows how you feel."

Olivia returned the hug half-heartedly. "Tell me how I feel again?" She shut the door to her office and locked it behind them.

Alex didn't have to think to know what to say. "Why are you doing this?" She pressed the button for the ground floor on the elevator. Instead of waiting for Olivia's answer, she finished her own question. "Because you love Gregory." She cast a wicked grin across the elevator to her friend. "And for you, that's always been enough of a reason to do anything."

Taking Olivia's small smile as her reward, Alex tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. "Besides, I think you want it as much as he does."

The elevator opened into the quiet Friday afternoon lobby, as Olivia followed Alex out to her car, she agreed sarcastically. "Of course. I've always loved being nauseous and wondering how slowly I'm going to have to stand up to keep from fainting. Having none of my clothes fit and listen to Gregory try to explain how lovely I look in the same day. Sounds heavenly to me."

Laughing as she unlocked her silver convertible, Alex tucked her purse under her arm. "You love it and you'll never convince me otherwise." Olivia reached up to undo her hair from the twist she wore to the office, tucking the clips away in her purse as Alex lowered the top to the warm sunshine. "You have that glow when you're pregnant. That mythicalglow all women are supposed to get and only a few actually have. You've got it."

"I do not." Olivia protested as she slipped out of her suit jacket.

Alex nodded, sealing the subject as she coasted through downtown. "Oh yes you do."

The house was empty. Sean's note on the frige said he was out with Mark, Tiffany and Ethan but he promised to be back for supper. Caitlin hadn't bothered to leave a note. She barely ever did anymore. Alex looked at the clock over the stove. "Is five a good time for you? That gives you a shot at eleven and five am."

Olivia shook her head as she put the iced tea back into the fridge. "I've already been up at five am once for you. I'm not doing it again."

Alex wrapped her hand around her glass, feeling the beads of water start to form. "You don't have to get up. I can do it without you even noticing."

They retreated up to the bedroom. Olivia felt slightly foolish going up to bed in the middle of the afternoon, but she obidiently changed into her black silk pajamas while Alex finished making up a schedule on the bottom of Roger's note. "All right, you get two now, one in six hours and another two in the morning, we repeat that tomorrow and keep our fingers crossed."

Olivia lifted up her shirt, exposing the skin of her stomach and sighing nervously as she bit her lip. "Let's get it over with."

Alex took out the little alcohol wipes she kept in her purse for her morphine injections. "It won't hurt. These are tiny little needles and I've got a practiced hand."

The alcohol was cold, and Olivia tightened her fingers on Alex's shoulder anxiously. She looked into Alex's eyes, trying to ignore what Alex was doing with her hands. "Why didn't you tell us when you found out you had cancer?"

"Because I wasn't ready." Alex replied simply as she filled and tapped the first needle. "I was afraid. Ovarian cancer is a nasty disease and I didn't know how I was ever going to survive." Olivia's fingers clamped down hard on her shoulder as the needle slipped into her stomach.

"Unlike some people I admire for their ability to ask for help-" Alex winked at her as she admitted her own failings. "My first impulse has been to run as far away as possible when I'm afraid." Capping the used needle, Alex dropped it into the bedside garbage can. "See, that didn't hurt did it?"

Olivia had to admit the thought of the needle was worse then the reality. "No, it didn't really." She still dug her fingers into Alex's shoulders as she prepared the next needle.

"But I'm home now with my son and my friends." She finished with a smile as she dropped the second needle into the garbage with the first. "Right where I need to be."

Subconciously rubbing the spot on her stomach were the needles had pierced her, Olivia settled back on the bed, wondering why Alex's smile seemed so sad.

Alex didn't let her ask as she went to her abused leather backpack. "So, what should we start with? I grabbed everything from the video rack that didn't have explosions on the front from Surf Central."

Olivia giggled as Alex dumped a pile of video tapes out onto the floor. "Most of these are Heather's and it looks like she likes the old stuff." Making piles by her opinion of the film, Alex settled on one and popped it into the VCR.

"What did you pick out?" Olivia asked as she tried to remember how long Roger said it would take for the drugs to start doing their worst.

Crossing the room to pull the curtains, Alex quoted. "Here's looking at you kid."

"I haven't watched Casablanca in ages." Olivia sighed nostalgically as Alex dropped to the bed next to her.

"Me either. Never have a VCR in Africa. This is a little luxurious." Running her hands over the sheets, Alex winked at her. "Especially the sheets."

"Gregory's very particular about them." Olivia explained secretively as the opening credits started across the television screen. "Gets all out of sorts if they aren't silk."

"Now there's a mental picture for me. Gregory out of sorts over his bedcovers." Giggling, Alex settled into watch the movie.

Sean knew it was unusual for Olivia to skip dinner completely. Rose had offered to bring something up, but Olivia was too sick to have any interest in it. Alex came down to eat with them instead, but she seemed worried about his mother as well. Eating quickly and without her usual spark, before she went back upstairs.

Ethan watched Sean push his steak around on his plate without eating it. "You know, you could probably pop up there and check on her. Might make you feel better."

Looking up distractedly, Sean tried to push his concern away. "I'm sure she's fine."

"She seemed fine this morning." Ethan pointed out helpfully. "How sick could she get in a few hours?"

Sean set down his fork, worry making lines grow on his forehead. "I don't know. I have to go check. I'll be right back."

Ethan nodded as he dug into his potatoes. "Try not to worry too much. I'm sure Alex would call a doctor if she was really in trouble."

"Yeah. Right." Sean agreed without hearing him. He took the stairs two at a time, knowing he should relax, but entirely unable to do so. The bedroom door was shut, and he put his ear to it. He could hear the sounds of the old Fred Astaire movie they were watching, but he didn't hear any voices. Opening the door a crack, he saw the room was dark except for the small lamp next to Alex by the side of the bed.

Hearing the door, she turned her head, covering her mouth with a finger to remind him to be quiet. She got up from the bed with great care not to make it creak. "Hey Sean." She started softly. "Had to come check on her huh?"

"It's not like mom to skip dinner." He explained with a shrug. "She's been sick before, but Rose can always get her to eat some soup or something."

Alex wrapped an arm around his back and led him up to the bed. "She's pretty out of it Sean." Sean looked down at his mother as Alex sat back down on the bed. She brushed her hand across Olivia's forehead like a mother with a sick child. "I don't think she even knew Rose was here."

Olivia looked like hell, her face flushed with fever, eyes closed but moving beneath their lids in twisted dreams. Her eyes opening for a moment when Alex touched her, before sliding back up into her head. She didn't even seem to see him.

Surprised, Sean took a step backwards. "She was fine this morning."

Alex nodded, smiling sympathetically. She knew the story she was supposed to use, and though she hated lying to the boy, she had promised. "I think she just picked up Tiffany's flu. She started feeling sick almost as soon as she got to the office, and as soon as I got her home it was all I could do to get her into bed, poor thing."

"Did you call dad?" Sean stammered softly.

This time Alex shook her head. "She didn't want him to worry. He is all the way in London and there's nothing he could do except worry."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Alex got up from the bed and gave him a quick hug as she led him to the door. "Oh no honey. I can take care of her. You just go downstairs and finish dinner."

Deeply uneasy, Sean nearly ran down the stairs. Ethan waited for him at the bottom. "So, what's the verdict?'

"She's really sick." He replied nervously. "Way worse then Tiffany was."

Ethan put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Want me to call my dad and get some advice?"

"Maybe." Mom didn't want his father involved, but she was sick, really sick. Even though he didn't always get along with Gregory, Sean knew his father ought to know. It just seemed right. Sean thought about it for another moment and then headed straight for the study. "I'm going to call my dad. Get them both back here."

Finding the number for the air tower, he dailed it quickly, impatiently passing through the switchboard until he finally had his father on the other end.

"Sean? What's wrong?" His father's voice had never sounded so wonderful in all his life.

"You need to come home."

It was almost four in the morning when Gregory finally made it up to his bedroom door. He hadn't slept since Sean called. He couldn't. Roger had been kind enough to stay awake and try and keep him from tearing up parts of the plane in his nervousness. But he was home now.

He could barely see her in bed with her back to him. The shadow of Olivia was curled on his side of the bed. She must have missed him terribly once she became ill. Dropping his jacket over a chair by the door, he sat down in the near total darkness on the edge of the bed. Leaning down over her sleeping body to kiss her.

Olivia's lips weren't hot. He had expected to find her burning up as Sean had described, but she was cool to the touch, and responsive as she reached for him. Pulling him down to her as she rolled over towards him. Gregory leaned down to her, burying his fingers in her hair.

But her hair was short, ending just above her shoulders. The texture was wrong. Too soft, too fine. It wasn't Olivia's hair and it certainly wasn't her lips.

Gregory sat up with a start, too shocked to speak As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he found himself staring down into the face of Alex Mitchum.

"Gregory?"