Disclaimers: see chapter 1

The elevator dinged and Kendall stepped off, smiling as she walked into the Fusion offices. After having spent a long, sexy, wonderful week in Las Vegas with Zach, she was ready to face Pine Valley and the real world again.

"Good morning ladies. And how are you all this fine, fine morning?" Kendall asked as she dropped her purse on the desk and smiled at Babe, Simone and Danielle.

"Kendall!" they all cried, smiling at her. Kendall gave a quick hug to each of the women before sitting down at her desk.

"So, how was Las Vegas?" Simone asked, smirking.

"Oh, you know, Las Vegas is Las Vegas. We ate some good food, made sure the building was still standing, got married, saw 'O'…"

"WHAT?" they all yelled, turning to stare at her. Kendall smiled widely. "Oh, yeah, I would definitely recommend seeing 'O' if you ever get to Vegas. It was so…"

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT" Simone screeched, holding her hand up. Kendall bit her tongue to keep from laughing. "Yeah, we were actually wondering about the thing before that… you know, the whole 'got married' thing!"

Kendall just shrugged and pulled open a file, pretending to read it. Babe pulled the file out of her hand and turned Kendall in her chair so she was facing the three of them. "Kendall, you and Zach got remarried?"

Kendall got up out of her chair, ready for whatever fight the three of them wanted to bring on. "Yes we did, and it was perfect. It was just me and him and candlelight and dozens of white roses and the most wonderful words anyone has ever spoken to me. It was right and true and…" She couldn't say more as Babe wrapped her arms around Kendall, giving her a hug.

"Congratulations Mrs. Slater" Babe said, letting Kendall go. Danielle was next in line, attacking Kendall as soon as Babe moved aside. Danni moved and Kendall looked at Simone, who had tears in her eyes.

"Oh honey" she whispered, grabbing Kendall. Kendall sighed and returned her hug, finally relaxing. "Kendall, as long as you are happy, the rest of us are happy for you" Simone whispered in her ear. Simone pulled back and smiled at her friend, making sure that she understood that they were behind her and in her corner.

"Thanks" Kendall whispered back.

"Well, this calls for a celebration. I say we all take a nice long lunch at the Valley Inn. My treat!" Babe said, grabbing her purse and jacket off her desk. Danielle, Simone and Kendall all agreed.

Across town, Zach was trying to play catch-up as well. He tried to work his way through the stack of paper work that had piled up in the week he had been gone, but every time he spied the wedding band on his left hand, he stopped and fiddled with it, smiling that he finally had the marriage he wanted with Kendall.

"I must say, you don't look to be working all that hard" he heard from the door. He looked up from the file on his lap to see Bianca standing in the doorway. He smiled and rounded his desk, pulling her in for a quick hug.

"Thanks for coming" he said as they sat down, Bianca on the couch, Zach in the chair.

"Well, your message was quite cryptic this morning, so I'm very intrigued."

"Yeah, sorry about all that. I just didn't want to get into it over the phone" he said, running his left hand through his hair. Bianca watched him but froze, eyes widening as she watched his left hand swipe through his hair and come back to rest on the arm of the chair.

"Um…. Zach?"

"Um… Bianca?"

"If I may ask, what the hell is on your left hand" she said, pointing. Zach just smiled, glancing down at the band.

"Oh, this old thing?" Bianca rolled her eyes at him. Zach laughed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"So I take it you haven't talked to your sister yet?"

"Zach, I just found out you two were back when I got your message this morning. So, what…"

"We got married" he said, matter of factly.

Bianca looked shocked. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. "Bianca, you alright?"

"Wait, so you and my… Kendall and you got… you two… YOUR MARRIED AGAIN?" she said, voice growing louder with every syllable.

"Surprise" he said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair. Bianca slapped him on the shoulder, smiling widely at him.

"So, I take it you are on board with this?" he asked.

"On board! How could you even ask me that? You make my sister happy and she seems to do the same for you. How could I NOT be on board with that?" Zach just nodded, thanking her without words.

Bianca pulled her phone out of her purse. "Oh God, I need to call Kendall and…"

Zach grabbed the phone out of her hand. "Not yet. We need to talk."

Bianca frowned at him. "About?"

"Something I need your help with." Bianca just nodded and leaned back against the couch, getting comfortable as Zach launched into his favor.

"But, Zach, I don't want to eat at the Valley Inn!" Kendall whined as he opened the door for her.

"And for the last time, tough" he responded.

Kendall smiled shyly and pulled his tie. She backed into the wall, pulling him along with her until she was pressed between him and wall, for hip to chest. She slid one hand up his chest and around his neck as she toyed with his tie.

"But, I was kind of hoping we could do the whole naked dinner in bed thing tonight, just us, some good Chinese and a lot less clothing than we have on now" she said seductively as she licked her lips. Zach was about to respond when she pulled him down to her, attaching herself to his lips, kissing him possessively. He grabbed her hips and pushed against her, swallowing her moan as they swayed back and forth against each other.

Suddenly, the whole reason they were here came back to him and he pulled away from her quickly, before he got them a room for the night and decided to blow off dinner. He placed his left hand on her face and leaned into her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "I promise, after dinner, we can take our dessert to go and do the whole naked dessert thing in bed" he whispered in her ear.

"Are you sure I can't convince you into dinner along with dessert" she whispered back, sucking his earlobe into her mouth.

"Oh God…" he rasped out. He pulled away from her, placing his hands on her shoulder to keep her from further seducing him. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, getting himself back under control. When he opened his eyes, she was smiling at him.

"C'mon" he said, returning her smile, "we're going to be late."

They rounded the corner hand in hand when they saw Bianca. She ran up to them and enveloped Kendall in a hug. "Congratulations" she whispered in her ear.

"Thanks" Kendall replied, pulling out of the hug. "So, Binks, not that it's not good seeing you, but what are you doing here?"

Before Bianca could respond, Jackson walked out of the bar. Kendall looked up at Zach and narrowed her eyes. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked him hotly.

Zach grabbed Kendall's free hand and turned her toward him. "Kendall, you need to talk to Erica. I know you love her and cutting her out of your life isn't something you should do in the heat of the moment."

"But Zach, she…"

"Kendall, I know. She's been unsupportive, hateful, sometimes down right evil and questioning your every move. But she's still your mother and I know what your relationship with her means to you. I just think you really need to give her another chance before deciding to make a radical decision like never speaking to her again. Jackson, Bianca, and I are going to get the table. Just go talk to her, take as long as you need, then decide. That's all I'm asking."

Kendall sighed and nodded. Zach placed a light kiss on her lips as Bianca waved to Jackson. The three of them headed into the dining room. Kendall stood in the doorway of the bar, seeing her mother facing away from her. She ran her hands down her dress and took a deep sigh before walking over to the table.

"Mother" Kendall said tersely as she stood next to the table.

"Kendall?" Erica said, questioningly. "Where is Jackson?"

"Apparently we've been set up. May I sit?" Erica just nodded and Kendall slipped into the chair across from her.

They stared at each other, not really knowing what to say. Kendall decided to break the ice. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright. I'm very upset that you haven't returned any of my calls this last week…"

"Zach and I were in Las Vegas, Mother"

"I should have known" Erica snarked into her glass, taking a sip.

"Don't start, Mother, I mean it!" Kendall snapped back.

"Kendall, I've been worried about you. I feel horrible about what happened at the courthouse and…"

"Have you thanked Zach?"

Erica just stared at her. "Well, I did thank him for setting the record straight so that I didn't have to go jail, but…"

"But what? No, that's it, Mother. You thanked him for what he did for you and that's it. There's not but. Good Lord, Mother, you can't even…" Kendall's words died off as she spied him walking into the bar. "Oh, sweet Jesus" she moaned, closing her eyes and counting to ten to keep her anger in check.

Erica glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Ryan! Good, you made it! C'mon over" she yelled, motioning to the empty chair between her and Kendall.

"Erica, good to see you" he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. He slid into the chair and looked over at Kendall. "Kendall."

Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "What?"

"How are you? I've been trying to call, but…"

"She was in Las Vegas with Slater" Erica spit out. Ryan looked at Erica and then back at Kendall, shaking his head. "Figures" he said under his breath.

Kendall shot out of her chair, glaring at Erica and Ryan. "That's it. I'm not going to sit here and take this abuse from you two."

Ryan grabbed her hand. "Kendall, really, you need to calm down. Erica just thought the three of us should talk about this slightly dysfunctional family dynamic we have going on right now and I…"

"Well, then, why are we leaving Zach out of this discussion? He is my husband after all!"

Erica and Ryan froze. Kendall yanked her hand free from Ryan's grip and grabbed her purse off the table. Kendall started to walk away when Erica stopped her.

"Please tell me this is a sick joke."

"What, mother, tell you that my happiness is a sick joke! Tell you that being in love, truly in love is a sick joke! Tell you that I'm married to a man who loves me for me and would never ask me to not be me is a sick joke! Well, I can't, because it's all true. Zach and I remarried in Las Vegas and life is perfect."

"You can't have married Slater" Ryan spit out, standing up to face her.

"Oh, I can and I did Ryan. That piss you off? You going to try to hit me again, Ryan!" She was so angry at this point that she was screaming. She knew the whole bar was staring at the three of them, but she didn't care. Zach, Jackson and Bianca appeared in the doorway and Zach's eyes narrowed when he saw Ryan standing there. From the looks on their faces, Kendall knew immediately that Erica had invited Ryan to join them that evening without consulting the other three.

"Kendall, that afternoon… I was worried about you and you weren't listening to me and…"

"Stuff it, Ryan! I'm beyond not being interested. You two deserve each other, you know that. You and my mother can commiserate together for the rest of your lives for all I really care!"

Erica pushed herself between Kendall and Ryan. "So, that's it! You are choosing a Cambias over your own mother!"

"NO!" Kendall was trembling at this point, so mad she couldn't even see straight. "Mother, I'm choosing the man that loves me no matter what, no matter what decision I make or what I choose to do with my live. I'm choosing unconditional love, which is something you've never been able to grasp with me. I deserve to be cherished and put above all else, and ZACH SLATER is that man."

"So, you ARE choosing him over me, I take it" Erica responded.

"Can you accept him, mother? Can you invite him into your home as my husband and the love of my life?"

"Kendall, really, you can't expect me to just…"

"Well, that's what I needed to know. And to answer your question, yes, I choose Zach over you." Kendall turned on her heel and walked out of the bar, tears streaming down her face, Zach following quickly on her heels.

TBC…