"And that's how you remove a gall bladder." Roger exclaimed as he collapsed on to the bench. "Learn anything?"

Sean nodded slowly, completely awed by his experience. He knew medical school would be marvelous, but he had no idea how fantastic the human body could be. "I've never seen an artery pulse like that."

"Beautiful isn't it? When you're home for the summer I'll see about getting you a full-time internship." Roger untied his mask and dropped it to the bench. "Let you see as many wonders as you can. Wouldn't want you to lose that enthusiasm."

"I'd really like that." Sean replied brightly, his gratitude shining on his face. "I think I could learn a lot from you."

The elder man began to laugh. "Tell your father that for me. I love it when he makes his annoyed face."

Sean did his best impression of Gregory's stone face and started to laugh along with Roger as he stripped off his own surgical garb.

Roger was barely out of his gloves when the nurse came to give him his message. She found the message a little cryptic, and her confusion was obvious. "A woman called for you. She said to tell you Stanley called and you should come home because Grace needed you."

He smiled gently, not bothering to explain any of it. "Thank you, I'll be leaving as soon as I'm changed."

Sean pulled off his surgical mask and dropped it in the recepticle. "That's got to be one of the strangest messages I've heard."

"It's from Bette." Roger offered as he stripped off his surgical smock. "She needs us back right away."

"That would make Bette Stanley." Sean surmised as he pulled off his booties. "Who's Grace?"

Dropping his hat and booties into the bin, Roger sat down to put on his shoes. "Grace was my younger sister."

Sean sat on the bench beside him, pulling on his shoes as well. "Was?"

"She died, when I was young. When the polio epidemic ran through the country." Roger was quiet for a moment, before grinning at Sean as he took his jacket from the locker. "But that doesn't answer how she could need me now, does it?"

Shaking his head no, Sean tried to piece what he knew together. "No. It doesn't. So Grace must stand for someone else."

"Excellent Watson, excellent." Roger mimed a pipe and shut his locker as he dug his wallet out of his jacket pocket. Opening it up, he pulled an old, weathered photograph from behind his British driver's license. Handing it to Sean, he signed out at the front desk. "That's Grace when she was six."

The little girl in the picture had neat dark curls arranged around her shoulders. Her hands were folded in the lap of her lace trimmed dress. Her smile and eyes were familiar. Even in the black and white photgraph she had blue eyes that must have been brilliant in life. Her smile was shyly gleeful with an innocent enthusiasm Sean found adorable, though he wouldn't have admitted it. "She's pretty."

"Grace was a darling. A real ray of sunshine." Roger winked as they walked out into the parking lot. "But you don't seem any closer to knowing who she is in Bette's message."

Sean smiled sheepishly. "I guess I'm going to need another hint."

Roger threw himself into the passenger seat and folded his arms throughfully. "Hmmm...Did anyone ever tell you how I met your mother?"

"Mom is Grace?" Sean realized but he still couldn't find the connection. "Why is mom Grace?"

Roger raised both eyebrows, "I guess you haven't seen a picture of your mother when she was little girl have you?"

Shaking his head no again, Sean shrugged. "I can't say that I have."

"When I was eight we got a new butler. His name was Thomas Blake and he had a little girl. Grace had only been gone a year, and when Thomas got Olivia out of the car. It was like Grace was back with us. She had the same shy smile, the same curls- Me mum, Daisy as we called her, spoiled her as rotten as Thomas would let her." Roger's grin took a nostalgic light. "She was really something. Your father was- is really a dn lucky man."

Looking back from his window, Roger studied Sean's quiet expression. "Didn't mean to bore you though. I know young men are rarely interested in old family stories."

"No, it's interesting. I've never heard anything about Thomas Blake." Sean assured him quickly. "Mom and dad never talk about the past."

"Probably because parts of it are too painful." Roger observed gently. "Your father's life was really bloody terrible before he came to Sunset Beach. He barely talks about it with your mother, let alone anyone else."

"What about mom?" Sean asked hopefully. "Why doesn't she talk about living in England with your family?"

Roger rolled down his window and took a deep breath of the sweet sea air. "Thomas died when Olivia was your age. He was her whole world, and until she met your father, she didn't know what to do with the space he left in her heart."

Sean tightened his hands on the wheel, he didn't want to lose either of his parents. He couldn't imagine living without them. Years ago he would have been bitterly ambivalent to the thought of Gregory's death, but now it was different. He cared and for the first time in his life, he believed his father did too. "What do you think happened to mom?"

Roger drummed his fingers on the car door, watching the houses get fancier as they entered the posh sector of town. "Bette's never been good with illness. She's probably overreacting."

"You can't deny that mom's been sick lately." Sean pressed through Roger's explaination. "I've seen that look on dad's face."

"The famous Gregory glare of concern?" Roger and Sean shared a smile in the driveway. "Too true. And you're right, Olivia's been worn down. Can't blame her, she's been under near-constant stress for the past few weeks. Probably why she hasn't bounced back from her virus yet."

"Can you do anything?" Sean paused in front of the door.

The earnest desire to help was so strong in his brown eyes that Roger thought he could see the future physician looking out from the young man in front of him. "Not with a virus." He explained gently, guilt assuaged by the knowledge that Sean would one day understand the need to protect his unborn sibling.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on her."

The house was so much more exciting when it was full of people. Instead of the stately quiet it usually had in every room, it was full of talk. Voices in the kitchen, laughter in the living room, Sean could have been fooled into thinking it was someone else's house. But it really was his home. The world he was leaving in just a few days for the foreign world of the Baxter Manor and the university. He almost didn't want to go, only the promise of the wonders of the future made him know his place.

Roger and Bette sat with his mother on the couch. She still looked pale, but the two of them had her smiling. Roger and Bette were holding hands and he kissed her cheek, coaxing a blush out of her. Sean watched them thoughtfully. Roger and Bette caressed and teased each other in that way lovers had with each other.

Hadn't Roger just been with Alex? They had been incredibly close in the days before her death. It didn't make a lot of sense.

Little did lately, life in the house was more chaotic then it ever had been when his parents were fighting. In the dark days when they hated each other, the house was quiet. Now it was noisy, Roger and Bette were laughing again as she rose to check on dinner. He got up, spun her around and bent her back in a dip to kiss her. Laughing and blushing profusely Bette fled to the kitchen as Roger flopped back down next to Olivia looking entirely self satisfied. His antics had brought another smile to her face, and though he was grateful to see his mother smiling, he didn't really understand Roger's behavior.

He knew Ethan and Phebe were in the kitchen, a little verbal fencing had Ethan under the pressure of proving he could cook. He didn't want to interrupt them. Sean turned, leaving Roger to keep an eye on his mother. He could think of one place to get some answers.

Gregory's study was like the cave of the mythical monsters when he was a child. Standing in the doorway now still make him nervous, maybe that was the point of the decor. His father was at the desk, filling in some kind of form. His father was always writing something. Always mysterious at work with something.

He used to wonder what was so much more important then the family. What it was that consumed so much of Gregory's attention. Why they weren't good enough to lure him out of his papers. As he tapped the door with his hand, Sean finally figured out why his father was always working. His epiphany surprised him. "What are you working on now?"

Gregory looked up, slightly surprised. "Insurance information. Thought I'd get it all down while I still remember what happened."

"Bette said the car was toast." Sean began tentively, testing his father's mood.

His father chuckled softly, realizing his ribs were going to be sore tomorrow as he did. "I think I would have said scrap, but you get the idea."

"What about you? You just walked away from the car accident?"

Gregory set down his pen and gave Sean his full attention. "I've got a few bruises that are going to keep me from forgetting the accident any time soon, but I guess I got lucky."

"I'll say." He offered quietly, unable to find anything more then that. Sean couldn't really explain how he felt to himself, let alone to his father. "How's mom doing? She won't tell me anything."

"Your mother just got a little overwrought-" Gregory flexed his wrist again, wincing slightly. It was getting more painful as the day wore on. "She's been under a lot of stress lately."

"Being shot at will do that to you." Sean agreed bitterly, still trying to understand why anyone would want to kill his mother. "Do the police have any evidence?"

Gregory shook his head grimly. "Whoever this bastard is, he's either very good or incredibly lucky."

"I hope he's just lucky." Sean admitted softly, unwilling to deal with the possibility that someone truly commited to killing was after his mother. Especially not now that the man was after his father as well. "Can the Police do something to protect her?"

"Other then they're doing already?" Grindng his jaw wasn't going to help the situation, and Gregory had to stop himself from balling his hands up into fists. "Not without any evidence. The only thing they have is your mother's description of her attacker, and considering she was ill at the time it's not entirely accurate."

"But you and Alex both believed it was that Cole-"

"St. John." Gregory finished. "But he barely exists outside of his Interpol file. He hasn't even been seen reliably in public for over a year."

Sean furrowed his eyebrows. "But if he's the one who shot Casey-"

"Then he must be in Sunset Beach." Gregory agreed, getting up and shutting the door of his study. He couldn't keep talking about Cole without inevitably raising his voice, and he was dammed if he was going to worry Olivia again today. "But no one's seen him. He hasn't used a credit card, rented a room- nothing that would give him away."

Both stared at each other in silence. Sean could tell by the fury in his father's eyes that he better off changing the subject. "So, Roger thinks mom has a virus?"

Gregory forced his hands to relax as he really looked at his son. Sean was going to college, he was nearly grown. Maybe he could tell him the truth. Let him in on the secret of Olivia's pregnancy. Looking into Sean's eyes was like staring into a mirror of his own fear. The poor boy was worried enough. It wasn't fair to give him something else to worry about before shipping him off to England.

He touched his forehead and sighed as he mislead his son. "She's not getting over her infection and as I'm sure you'll learn in your studies, all the stress she's been under isn't helping."

Sean stood, heading for the door, but instead he sat down on the sofa. "Has she ever been sick like this before?"

Gregory perched on the desk, a mysterious smile playing across his face. "Two or three times." He didn't have to lie to answer, just leave out a few details. "I remember the first time your mother got sick after we were married. It was before Caitlin was born. We'd just bought 'Mo Chuisle' and we sailed all the way down Baha California. Olivia was miserable the whole trip, nauseous and irritable. We thought she was seasick and we were both mortified that we'd have to sell the boat."

He shook his head, grinning as he remembered that faithful doctor's visit. "I was so relieved when we found out."

Confused, Sean tilted his head. It seemed like his father had left something out. "Found out what?"

Gregory's near slip-up surprised him, but he hid it behind a careful verneer of calm. "Found out she just had a bad case of the flu. I'm sure she'll be all right." He folded his arms thoughtfully. "And I'm sure she wouldn't want you to worry."

"She never does." Sean replied knowingly as he shared a smile with his father. "She wants so much to be strong-"

"Never realizing that she's one of the strongest people I know." Chuckling, Gregory left the desk and sat down on the sofa next to his son. "Funny isn't it?"

"It is." Sharing a laugh with his father was something he had never imagined doing. Sean decided to take advantage of their moment together before something changed. "I thought Roger and Alex were a couple."

Gregory nodded distantly, still thinking about the terror he felt the first time Olivia was pregnant. "They were."

Sean lowered his voice to a whisper. "But what's he doing with Bette now?"

"Ah." Gregory put a hand on Sean's shoulder. "If you really want to know, you'll have some time, I'll tell you. Roger and women is a quite a topic."

Smiling at his father was still an unfamiliar sensation. "Didn't really have anything else to do today." Maybe now he'd get to hear more about the mysterious past when his parents were young. He didn't care what his father told him. Sean was grateful for anything his father wanted to share with him.

"Okay." It took Gregory a moment to decide where to start. He'd never spoken to his son about love, not even to talk to him about dating. He'd left that up to Olivia and now he was a little lost. "When Roger falls in love, he bever falls out of it. I'm sure if you asked hum he'd tell you he still loves Lillian."

"But they've been divorced for years." Sean interjected and Gregory watched his son's thoughts develop behind those brown eyes that really were his own. Even down to the pain he buried within them.

"Love isn't something that can be broken because a peice of paper says it's over." Gregory explained with a small smile.

Sean took that in with the a quick nod. "So you'd say he loved both Alex and Bette?"

Gregory entwined his fingers and spent a moment wondering how his son had turned out so thoughtful. It certainly wasn't through any effort of his. "Alex needed him. She wanted someone to be with her when she died." He turned out the window for a moment, he still wasn't sure how he was dealing with his feelings for her. It hadn't faded away when she died as he expected it too. Maybe Olivia was right when she told him everything he pushed away would come back eventually.

He pulled himself back to the present. "But Roger and Bette have had a thing for each other since they met, and we know Bette always follows her heart, no matter where it takes her."

"Do you think it's wrong to have all these women?" The hand his father rested on his shoulder felt better then it ever had before.

"I'm not an expert Sean." Gregory assured him gently. "I know Roger's never treated a woman badly." Which was more then he could say for himself. "He makes them happy, and I can't blame for wanting to do that as often as he can. I can't say I understand it, because I've only ever wanted to make one woman happy." That posessive light shone from his eyes, but Sean didn't mind it half as much when it was directed at Olivia. She needed to be protected.

"That's why you get along." Sean realized as he studied his father's face. "He's really nothing like you."

Gregory looked towards the picture of Olivia on his desk. "When I met your mother, I knew I she was all I wanted, all I needed in the world."

"Drink your water love." Roger instructed as he tossed his feet up on the coffee table.

"I've already had water." Olivia answered petulantly, quite sick of being fussed over.

He nudged her glass with his foot. "Have more."

Olivia put a hand on her hip defiantly. "I'm a grown woman, you can't treat me like a child."

"I'm a doctor love. I treat everyone like a child." Lowering his feet to the floor again, he picked up the full glass of water. "Priveledge of the degree."

Reluctantly taking a sip, Olivia started to comply, but Roger shook his head "The whole glass and another one after that." Laughing indignantly, she tried to blow him off, but he refused to let her set the glass down. "You drink it or I give you an IV."

Frustrated with his oversealousness, she drank the glass quickly and set it down hard on the coffee table. "Happy?"

Pouring the glass full again from the pictcher on the bad, Roger put it back in her hands. "Drink this, then it's time for clothes."

Taking her water and standing up slowly, Olivia was vindicated by the way the room held still. "See, I'm fine Roger."

"You're fine now." He corrected as he took her free hand to lead her upstairs. "A few hours ago you scared the hell out of Bette."

"I didn't mean to scare her." Olivia replied softly. "It really wasn't my fault."

"I know." Roger agreed as he sat her down on the bed in her bedroom. "You've been under enough stress lately to make me worry anout a healthy person, let along someone in your condition."

With only the two of them in the bedroom he could smile and point at her stomach. "If you don't worry about you, protect the little one. She didn't ask to make her mom sick."

Olivia finished the glass of water and set it next to the bed as she stood up to join him at the closet. "I think it's a boy."

"Then I'm sure he didn't mean to make you sick." Roger dug into her closet, pulling out a simple lavender sweater. "This all right?"

She took it from his hands, taking off her robe and hanging it on the inside of the closet. "Gregory likes that sweater." She opened the top lingerie drawer and took out something lacy of the same color. Holding it up to oger, she grinned impishly. "I think he likes that I wear this under it most of all."

Politely turning his back, Roger started looking for a pair of pants. "Black? Gray?" He touched each pair, testing the fabric. "I think you'll have gray, you wear enough black to work." He handed the pants to her, keeping his eyes closed as he turned around.

Olivia giggled. "I don't think Gregory will mind if you watch me change. You are my doctor after all."

Shaking his head, Roger kept his eyes shut. "Right now I'm just your friend. Can't really watch that way."

She pulled the zipper up over her hip and smiled at him. "You're all clear now. I'm dressed."

"Oh good." Roger replied as she took his arm. "Ready for dinner then? Apparently my son's been hard at work all afternoon with that new dame of his."

A sudden commotion in the living room made them hurry down the stairs. Heather met them at the bottom, beaming at them both happily. "We were just going home, but he insisted on checking on you."

Olivia left Roger's arm and headed for the man Bette was embracing vigourously. Casey had a mass of bandages under his shirt, a sling on his right arm but a sheepish smile.

"Hi." He told Olivia shyly as Bette released him. "I heard I tackled you a little hard."

Swallowing the urge to burst into tears, she nodded. "Gave me a concussion. They kept shining these lights in my eyes."

Casey touched her shoulder with his good hand, surprising her with the strength of his fingers. "You look pretty good, considering."

Smiling at him, Olivia blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I'm fine. Everything is fine, thanks to you."

As she looked at him, Casey thought he caught the underlying meaning of her words. The baby was all right. "I'm glad, Mrs. Richards."

Olivia put her hand tenderly on his face. "I think you can call me Olivia."

Casey wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, feeling how small she was when he hugged her to his chest. "Okay." He whispered as she started to cry. As her family surrounded them, he almost felt bad for making her cry as Gregory appeared out of his study with Sean.

Ethan and Phebe popped out of the kitchen, cheerfully interrupting the scene. "Dinner is done if you'd all file into the dining room."

Olivia took Casey's hand for a moment. "Are you staying for dinner?"

He looked to Heather and nodded with a grin. "Of course, after all, you owe me." Laughing at her confused expression, Casey explained as they headed into the dining room. "That's how I got into this mess. You invited me to dinner- a dinner I never got to eat I remind you."

Olivia's tears ran freely down her face as she had to agree with him. "I forgot about that."

"Besides...after all that hospital food, I could use something homemade."