A/N: A few things…

My dear PCGirl, Katie, will attest – I have a thing about blogs. I both don't understand the need for them AND have a morbid fascination w/them. Tonight – on my hot steamy sticky walk home - I realized that these A/N's are kinda my own version. Can you say hypocrite? LOL!

Anyway - I'm off to La La Land for 2 wks. Maybe I'll have time to write (my new colleagues say that I will have free time – my old company was so horrendous I can't quite believe it's true). My summer's shaping up crazy – I'm all over the place in the next few months. Updates might be few and far between. Just warning you. :)

Please remember 2 things –

I always finish what I start.

I can't wait to get to the next phase of the story!

Which is what I'm here to tell you. :) I'm saying 5 chapters and then we FAST FORWARD to the whole reason I started this one in the first place. So…

Please bear with me – keep checking in – I promise/hope that you'll enjoy it.

Oh. One more thing. I love classic Rali! LOL! Like you didn't already know. ;)

Until 23! xox-G

Chapter Twenty-two

"You don't have cravings yet." Danny said with a sigh. "Lia. You couldn't possibly."

She gave him a dirty look. "Don't you tell me what I do and don't have Thornhart. I'm carrying your children and we're dying for something salty. I can't fall asleep. Pretty pretty please?" She begged in her sweetest voice. "With sprinkles on top?"

Danny knew he'd lose any argument they would start. He also knew he'd deny her nothing. He almost lost her a few weeks ago. The thought still scared him to no end. He eased from the bed, knowing it was his job to go and fetch whatever she wanted.

"Pretzels? Potato chips? Crackers?" He suggested. He hoped he wouldn't have to go out to get it – whatever she decided she wanted. It was so cold.

"Ice cream." She replied.

"What?" Danny stared blankly at her. Seven more months. He thought to himself. She was going to drive him nuts. "OK. You just said salty."

"I know what I said. I want peanuts too." She added with a smile. "Honey roasted."

"Ice cream and peanuts it is then." Danny kissed her quickly and moved to the door.

Lia smiled softly as she watched him go. She snuggled in to wait for him, resting a hand on her stomach.

"Hey there kiddies. It's me - your Mom." She whispered with a grin. "And that guy who just went to get us stuff? That's your Dad."

"I'm sure you can see that I've got him wrapped around my finger.I say jump – he says how high? " She giggled softly to herself. "I'm the one in charge here just so you know."

She yawned once. Then again. Her eyelids began to get heavy as she kept whispering.

"Shh. Don't go blabbing it everywhere but guess what? That guy? Your Dad? Well. I love him. A lot. I mean – I'm nuts about him." She rubbed her stomach again. "I know – crazy right? I never believed I would be. I wasn't going to let it happen. But he kept coming around and he's just so handsome and not only that he has a good heart. Before I knew it I couldn't get rid of him."

"He's going to be a great Dad. I know it. He'll take such good care of us." She remembered something else very important.

"Oh! Just so you're prepared. We yell at each other sometimes. Actually – I yell sometimes – he's much more quiet. But when you hear that just remember – we still love each other. OK? Me and him? It's the kind of thing that will last forever so there's nothing for you guys to worry about."

Suddenly, Lia's head were filled with dreams of what was to come. She smiled as her eyes fluttered closed. She fought to get them open again.

Danny will be back in a minute, she reminded herself. Still, Lia didn't think it'd be bad if she just rested her eyes a bit.

She was kidding herself. There was no stopping the inevitable. When Danny came back in with a tray in his hands he found her fast asleep.

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"RAFE. Don't you dare…" Alison ordered.

He stood with his wife in the center of Becky's room, the window still wide open and frigid air pouring in. He took another deep breath and tried to keep his hands and voice from shaking.

"I'm going to kill her. No. Scratch that. I'm going to kill him – then her." Rafe's eyes were wild. He was beside himself. "It's four in the morning and she's out with that…that…"

"That what Rafe?" Alison rolled her eyes. "Kyle is the sweetest ever. And Becky's simply being a normal teenaged girl." She shook her head at him. "God Rafe. If you only knew me when…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He gave her a look as he continued to pace the floor.

"It means I was a bratty, snotty, scheming boyfriend stealer back in the day." She replied. "Ever been to a rave, Rafe?"

"A what?" He glanced at the clock again. He didn't care what Alison said. Two more minutes and he was calling the police.

"Rave." She said again. "I don't know why I asked you that because I know for sure you never have. To enlighten you, it's a party that lasts all night with all this techno music. They used to move the location every time. Sometimes it was in an old warehouse, another in the basement of an abandoned building. There was drinking and I'm sure there were drugs…" She bit her lip as she remembered. "Things went on there that I don't even want to think about."

He finally began to pay attention to her. "What are you talking about? You never did stuff like that." He said, his voice shocked.

"Oh yes. I certainly did." She replied, shivering a bit, both from the cold air and the memories. "I was horrible. I was reckless and I honestly didn't care about anyone but myself."

The person she described was someone Rafe couldn't even imagine. That wasn't his Alison. His Alison was kind to the extreme, and responsible and nothing but incredibly loving. To top it all off, when it came to anything involving him or their children – she was completely and totally selfless.

"I have trouble believing that." He said softly.

She smiled and continued. "Well. Trust me – it's true. I was awful. Honestly. If you had met me then I know for a fact you wouldn't have looked twice."

"OK. I have even more trouble believing that." Rafe replied as he walked to her and traced a finger over the lines of her face. "You were then and are now - the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She smiled up at him with eyes full of love. "OK you might have "looked" at me but when I opened my mouth you'd have gone running. It wasn't pretty. You know what? I wasn't even that sure I'd changed that much when I met you. But you reminded me, didn't you?" Alison sighed, remembering the day he'd given her a lesson on all the things that were precious about life.

She was so ashamed even now when she thought of how she'd acted. At the time, Rafe's life was thought to be over. She had been babbling on about manicures and cashmere and he just stood there - clinging to the few short weeks he got to spend here on earth.

Unbelievably, she still had Rafe here with her. It was a miracle she thanked God every day for. For the first few years they were married it seemed like she held her breath, waiting for him to be snatched back up above again.

But then Katrina was born, then so soon after they had Grant and by the time Becky came along she finally began to relax. If she had to be honest the fear was still there though – way far off in a corner of her mind.

She pushed it back further as she continued with the topic at hand. "C'mon Rafe. Admit it. I'm not completely "cured"." She said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" He asked, although he kind of had a clue as to what she meant.

"I still have my bratty moments - even now."Alison giggled. She caught the look on his face, like he was desperately trying to be diplomatic about it. She fought to reassure him. "I know it. It's OK. You can say it. I'm a teensy, tiny bit high maintenance."

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"It's been three minutes." Ethan said softly as he checked his watch.

"I know." Lynnie whispered back.

"So.Aren't you going to go back in there?" He prompted.

"No." She said with a shake of her head. "I'm too scared to."

He smiled and held her chin to make her meet his eyes. "Lynn. You've tossed and turned all night. You decided you couldn't sleep until you knew and now you don't want to even check it?"

"No." She said again.

He could see she wasn't budging. He decided to take matters into his own hands. "OK. I'll check it then." Ethan replied as he walked into the bathroom.

"You won't even be able to read it." She said with a sigh as she continued to sit and nibble her nails. "You aren't wearing your glasses."

"I can see fine." He insisted.

"You cannot. You're blind as a bat." She laughed nervously.

He came walking out of the bathroom with the test in his hands."OK. It's got a pink line on it." He stopped and looked at her. "What does that mean?"

Lynnie's eyes flew open wide. "One line or two?" She asked.

He stared at the test again. "One. No, two. No. Wait a sec..."

She raced to the bedside table and grabbed his glasses. "Put them on." She demanded, shoving them at him.

He did as she asked and then took another look. He took a deep breath and gazed over at her. "OK. Tell me one thing. Does two lines mean twins?"

Tears slipped from Lynnie's eyes as she shook her head at him again.

"Is that a no?" Ethan asked, unable to read the emotion on her face. Was she crying because she was happy or because she was disappointed?

"Yes." She said softly as she moved to wipe her eyes.

"Yes that's a no or yes it means twins?" Ethan asked, completely afraid of the answer.

"It doesn't mean twins - Ethan. Well. Not exactly." Lynnie replied. "It means..." She trailed off, unable to really speak. She sank down into a chair again and stared at her lap.

Ethan took off his glasses again and set the test aside. He crouched in front of Lynnie and took her hands gently in his. "Lynn? Come on. Please. Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking."

This time when her eyes met his they were shining with happiness. A huge grin broke out over her face as she replied. "I'm thinking Lia's going to call me a copycat."

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"I'm not saying that." Rafe laughed in spite of his worry. "I know better."

"You don't have to say anything. I know you know it's true." She smiled back at him. Suddenly, they both heard a soft bang come from outside the window. Alison looked up at him, her expression serious.

"OK. She's back. Now. Promise me Rafe. You won't say something stupid or something you'll regret later. Don't tell her you're going to beat Kyle up or banish him or anything. I agree she's in a load of trouble and will be grounded until the end of time but saying things like that? That's not going to help."

Becky was so lost in thoughts of Kyle that she didn't notice a light blazing in her room. She carefully climbed up the rose trellis and heaved herself through the open window, landing in a heap at her father's feet.

Before she was even sitting upright she heard his voice booming in her ears.

"ONE. That's not a ladder, young lady. It's a decoration. You could have broken your neck." He began.

"Daddy!" She gasped. "I..."

"TWO. I hope you like this room because you'll be spending a lot of time here. Without your computer or your phone or your TV."

Becky expected as much. "OK. Daddy I..." She tried again.

He cut her off sharply. "THREE. I hope you said a proper goodbye because you can forget about seeing that derelict again. I'm shipping him back down south tomorrow."

"RAFE!" Alison scolded. She knew despite her begging him not to just minutes before he'd say something like that.

Becky stared up at him with tears pouring down her cheeks."I know. I was wrong and I'll stay here as long as you want." She fumbled through her purse, taking out her keys and her cell phone and pressing them in his hands. "You can take my car and take my phone. I'll go to school and work and right back here every single day I promise. Daddy. PLEASE." She sobbed, her words broken now."His training means so much to him. You can't punish him. Please don't."

Alison knelt next to her daughter and took her in her arms. She glared up at her husband. "Shh. Honey. Your father doesn't mean that. He's just angry."

"The hell I don't." Rafe replied, his heart pounding. He was furious with her. She scared the life out of him. He thought Katie was bad but it was clear. Becky was going to be the death of him for sure.

It was as if Becky didn't hear her. She stared at Alison and pleaded with her. "It's not his fault. Mom. Please. Make him listen. I wasn't there two minutes and Kyle - he - he - he told me to leave. He told me that Dad would kill him and that it wasn't right for me to be alone with him in the middle of the night. He knew that you both wouldn't approve of me being there."

She turned her eyes to her father again. "He put me in the car. He was going to come back here with me and make sure I got home safe. And then he planned to walk home in the cold. He would have done that without even blinking."

She rubbed her eyes, tears continuing to fall. She kept begging, hoping he'd reconsider.

"It's me. I'm the bad one. I'm the one that made him go to the garage. I'm the one that makes him kiss me when I know you could catch us. I'm the one who can't seem to stay away from him. He's not trying to take advantage of me. He's not like that Daddy. I swear to you he's not. He loves training with you. It means so much to him. All he wants is for someone to teach him what he's wanted to do his whole life. If I made him lose that I'll never forgive myself. Please. Don't send him away. If you don't want me to see him I won't. I promise I won't. Just let him stay."

"Shh. OK. Sweetie. Stop it. Kyle's not leaving." Alison looked up at Rafe and said softly. "You're the one who can fix this. Say something!"

How did this happen? Rafe thought in disbelief. His daughter snuck out of the house in the dead of night to go to her boyfriend's apartment and he was the one apologizing? Something was wrong with this picture for sure.

"Shh. OK. Angel Face. I promise. I won't send him away." He said as he knelt beside her. He gently wiped her tears away and pulled her into a hug as he added. "At least - not this time."