Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, it is nice to know that there are people out there enjoying this fic :-) I think this chapter is my longest chapter yet! Hope you all like it!

I saw red as the two of them left together. I stormed up the stairs, gently tucking Jake into his crib (as he had fallen asleep in my arms after his bottle) and I angrily threw myself onto Casey's perfectly-made bed.

Just what the hell did Sam think he was doing? I mean, the two of them had broken up long ago. And Casey wouldn't just go back to him after having a baby with me.

…Would she?

Now, worry seemed to mix into my anger. They seeped through my brain together, merging, giving me horrible thoughts. Thoughts of Sam and Casey getting back together. Thoughts of me alone. Thoughts of my little Jake calling Sam "Daddy."

Oh no. I wasn't going to have that.

Letting my anger get the best of me, I balled my fists up and rocked slowly, a bomb ready to go off. And I steamed in silence, waiting for Casey to come back home.

When I heard footsteps much later on (she was out for more like two hours, not one!), I knew it was her and stood up. She walked into the room, all smiles and beams of sunshine. She saw me standing there, clearly a mess, and her smile instantly faded.

"…Derek?" she asked slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" I repeated. "What's wrong?" And I laughed. A mocking laugh at her. As if she didn't know. "Guess."

Her eyebrows furrowed. She looked confused. She was either a great actress, or much dumber than I thought. "I don't know," she said slowly.

"How was dinner?" I folded my arms across my chest accusingly.

She then opened her mouth and then closed it again. Finally she said, "You're mad that I went out with Sam?"

"Bingo," I growled.

She looked astonished. "Derek, it was just dinner. We went as friends. Friends do that!"

"You expect me to believe that you two are just friends?" What did she think I was, an idiot?

"Yes, because we are!" her voice became louder and eyes narrowed as she got angry.

"You're getting back together, aren't you?" I accused her.

Her hands went on her hips. "No! And why would you care, anyway? We're not officially together or anything!"

I froze at that. And I knew it. I meant nothing to her. I was just her baby's daddy. Her stepbrother. That's it.

"No, I guess we're not," I said icily, and brushed past her, going into my own room and slamming the door shut.

I sat down on my computer chair and just stared at nothing. My teeth were grinding, but my heart felt kind of funny. It was like… I couldn't really describe the feeling.

I moved my vacant eyes down to my hands and stared at them. And I came to the realization of what I felt.

I had a broken heart.

I stayed in bed for the rest of the night, not sleeping but not thinking. Just feeling…empty. Kind of…hollow. Like I had nothing left in the world to live for.

Casey's words had more of an effect on me than I would have ever thought possible. I mean, the two of us never officially said that we were together, but I had just assumed that we were, since we both loved each other, had sex with each other, and had a baby together. But I guess I had been just stupid all along. Naïve. Foolish.

I guess I shouldn't assume things, huh?

In my head, she was my girlfriend. My one and only. I never even thought about another girl after being with Casey. She made all the other girls look so…bland. And now with Jake, I felt like we had the perfect little family. In my head, we were going to settle down in a few years, get jobs, and have a couple more kids.

Stupid Derek. Stupid, stupid Derek.

I heard Jake cry from Casey's room, and instantly sat up. I knew that Casey would get him, though. After a few more minutes of listening to Jake's cries, I pulled on a T-shirt and padded over to Casey's room. Her door was cracked open just slightly, and her lights were off, as expected. She was not in her bed, however.

I heard a noise, a muffled cry, and quickly turned on the lights. And there was Casey, crouched on the floor in the middle of the room, holding Jake tightly to her. And the two of them were crying. Jake, long baby wails, and Casey, short broken sobs. Forgetting everything, I kneeled down and held them both.

"D-Derek," Casey sobbed into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry."

"Shh," I comforted them both. I rubbed Casey's back soothingly, and pressed a kiss on top of Jake's hairless head. "Me too, Case…"

As soon as I calmed Casey down, Jake seemed to calm down too. He fell asleep in our arms. I slowly moved away from Casey, taking Jake with me, and placed him tenderly in his crib. Then I looked back over at Casey. She was looking up at me now, her eyes red and swollen.

I could feel her pain bouncing off my own. I think she could feel mine, too. And I think we could also feel each other's forgiveness.

I leaned down and put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at me. Her puffy eyes blinked up at my own, and I wiped her tears from her wet cheeks. Gently, I lowered my lips down on to hers and kissed her with all of the passion I felt for her. She clung to me, and I lifted her up, taking her over to her bed with me. And there, with our son sleeping peacefully just feet away, we made love to each other.

When we were spent, I held Casey tightly to me. Her body felt so right against my own.

"Does this mean we're officially together?" I mumbled into her soft shoulder.

And Casey let out a sweet laugh. She reached up and ran her fingers through my sweat-matted hair. "Yes…we always were, Derek."

I looked up into her eyes. They sparkled and danced, making me smile.

"I love you, Derek," she said. Even though her eyes had already told me.

"I knew you were going to make this sappy," I gave her a lopsided grin and she laughed again, hitting my shoulder lightly.

After a moment, I sighed. I hated giving apologies, but she deserved one. "Case… I'm sorry about the whole Sam thing. I was just…" I drifted off.

She hid a smile. "You were just what?"

I still didn't finish it.

"Go ahead, you can say it," she urged, her smile breaking through her eyes.

I sighed. She always made things difficult for me. "Jealous, okay? I was jealous."

She smiled, patting my head. "See? I knew you could say it."

I groaned. "Yeah, yeah." But my eyes shone down at her lovingly. I pulled her naked body closer to my own and gave her lips one last kiss before closing my eyes, feeling nothing but warmth and love radiating from Casey. My Casey.

The two of us woke up to the sound of Jake crying for a bottle. Casey groaned, sitting up, but I stopped her with my hand as I rubbed my eye with the other.

"I'll go feed him," I told her, lazily pressing a kiss to her jaw before standing up and pulling on my boxers.

"Thank you," she mumbled, falling back to sleep before her head even hit the pillow.

I smirked and walked over to the crib. I picked up Jake. "Hey, buddy, you hungry?" I asked him softly, pulling him against my bare chest. I turned the light off that Casey and I had forgotten to turn off before…becomingoccupied. And I took Jake downstairs with me.

I turned the light on in the kitchen, and looked at the digital clock on the stove. It gleamed 5:04 in bright green. Sighing, I made Jake a bottle of formula while balancing him in my arms. It was tricky, but I managed to do it.

"There ya go," I told Jake as I lifted the newly-made bottle to his tiny mouth. His lips instantly latched on and he began sucking on it contently. I smiled as he watched me while he drank. "You're gonna be a heartbreaker one day," I told him softly. It was one of the first things I remember my mother saying to me when I was just a baby.

My mother. My family never really talked about her. Marti was the only one who ever saw her, and that was only about twice a year. Edwin and I decided long ago that we didn't want to have anything to do with her. She had cheated on our dad when we were little. She wanted us to keep it a secret from him. The guy, Hank, would come over almost every day once Dad left for work. Marti was just a tiny baby, so she didn't remember, but Edwin and I did. We could hear them having sex in the other room. We would have to make our own meals and clean up the house. We had to take care of Marti. And worst of all, we had to lie to our dad, the one person that we actually trusted.

I was the one that broke. My mother slapped me when she found out that I had told. I was only ten years-old. I can still feel the sting of her slap on my cheek. She called me and Edwin a bunch of nasty names and told us we were "ungrateful."

I haven't seen her since. I don't think I've talked about her since, either.

However, I did still think about her from time to time. And now I wondered what she would say if she knew I had a son of my own.

A loud suckling sound drew me out of my thoughts, and I glanced back down at Jake to see he had finished the bottle.

"All done, little guy?" I asked him, setting the bottle down in the sink. In response, his eyes fluttered closed. I smiled down at his sleepy form. "Let's put you back upstairs with mommy, okay?" I kissed his warm forehead and carried him back to Casey's room. I carefully set him down in his crib and tucked him in again. Then I turned around. Casey was out cold, her lips slightly parted and hands curled up under her neck in an innocent pose. I slid under the covers, next to her warm body, and wrapped an arm around her protectively. She instantly snuggled into my body.

The next thing I remember was feeling someone shaking me. "Derek! Derek, wake up, you're going to be late for school!"

I opened one eye and saw Casey, looking a bit worried.

I just groaned, closing my eyes again.

"Derek, come on!" Casey said a bit more insistently, and shook me again. "It's past 7:30!"

That was late, but I didn't really care. I felt her take my hands and try to pull me up. She couldn't do it, of course. But she came pretty close.

"Damn, you're strong," I complimented her, opening my eyes.

She gave a satisfied smile. "And don't you ever forget it. Now, go! School starts in half an hour!"

I stood up tiredly and dragged myself into my bedroom. I had just enough time to shower, change, and get to school if I ran. I grabbed some clothes and walked over to the bathroom. The door was closed. I knocked on it. "Hello?" I asked impatiently.

"Hi Smerek!" came Marti's little voice.

"Smarti, what are you doing in there?" I asked her with a sigh.

"Nora's making me take a bath! I got breakfast in my hair!" she called back.

I groaned. Of course. I waited, tapping my foot, and after a few minutes, decided it was useless and gave up. I pulled on my clothes without my shower, and tried to control my messy hair with some mousse and a brush. It just made it look messier, though.

There was nothing else I could do, so I simply shoved my books into my backpack, and made my way downstairs. First, of course, I stopped by Casey's room. She only had a big T-shirt on, and I gulped as I realized it was mine. She was holding Jake, talking to him softly as she rocked him slightly in her arms. The sight made me completely forget about school.

She smiled at me and I could only stare back, mesmerized. "You're going to be late," she said gently to me.

"I don't care," I responded, walking over and quickly possessing her lips with my own. I kissed her deeply and passionately, but in the end she just swatted me off.

"Get to school," she giggled, and Jake made a gurgle of agreement.

I sighed. "Alright, alright," I was in a really good mood despite the fact that I was dreading another day of school. I kissed Casey one more time and then pressed a kiss on little Jake's tiny lips too.

"See ya, buddy," I told him, and he looked up at me, seeming to understand.

"Have a good day," Casey said as I went out the door.

I ran past Nora, my Dad, Edwin, and Lizzie, shouting a "bye" to them, but not stopping. I heard Nora yell something to me about breakfast, but I didn't have time to turn around.

I was five minutes late for homeroom, but I used my Derek charm to talk my way out of a detention.

"Good timing," Sam commented as I slid into my seat. I had never even noticed he was in my homeroom. He was a few seats away from me, still within talking distance.

I narrowed my eyes briefly, and then stopped myself. I didn't have to be angry with him—Casey wanted me, not him. She made that clear last night. I smiled to myself, remembering what transpired last night.

The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly, and my good mood continued. That is, until last period. The teacher was absent, so I had a free period. I was contemplating whether to do the assignment Mr. Walters had assigned or just go home, when Sam sat down across from me.

"You staying?" he asked curiously.

"Nah," I decided, "I think I'm gonna head home." I stood up and shoved a bunch of papers into my unorganized backpack.

"Alright. Tell Casey I'll pick her up at 4:00," he said offhandedly.

I completely stopped everything I was doing. "…what?" What was he talking about?

He leaned back in his chair. "Casey didn't tell you? She wanted me to take her to the library. I was going there tonight already, so I offered her a ride." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

I didn't even know what to say. Casey had never told me any of that. My good mood now out the window, I grabbed my backpack, gave Sam a nasty look, and stormed off.

The cool air of the approaching winter didn't calm me down as I walked home. My jaw was tense and my muscles were tight. Why did Casey not mention that she was going out with Sam again tonight? What kind of a game was she playing?

I walked in, muttering these questions to myself, and headed right upstairs to Casey's room. She was there, curled up on her bed, reading a book. She smiled up at me, but her pearly whites didn't dissolve my bad mood.

"When were you going to tell me you had a date with Sam tonight?" I demanded.

Casey's smile instantly evaporated. "A date?"

"Yes, a date," I snapped. "He told me all about it today in school."

She shook her head quickly. "It's not a date, Derek," she calmly put her bookmark in her book and set it down next to her on the bed. "He was just going to take me to the library because I have some research to do, that's it."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

She sighed. "I didn't think it was important. And it's definitely not a date. Besides, I made these plans before I knew how upset you were about me and Sam."

"So you'll break the plans, right?"

She narrowed her eyes at me at that. "Derek, I said it's not a date. I just need to go to the library. That's all."

"Why didn't you ask me to come, then?" I shot back.

"Because you hate the library!" she threw her hands up in the air with exasperation.

"You know I'd go if you wanted me to take you," I answered.

"I figured I wouldn't have to because Sam was already going there."

I scowled.

"Derek, I told you, I don't WANT Sam! And if you're too insecure to trust me, then we shouldn't be in a relationship!" she snapped, and stormed out of the room.

I heard Jake make distressed baby sounds, obviously affected by me and Casey's fight. I sighed heavily, reaching down and lifting him up to cuddle against me.

"I'm sorry, buddy," I said quietly to him, my eyes far away as I gave him a kiss and nuzzled his bald head. "She's right," I admitted to him, staring out the door where she had just stormed off moments ago.

I glanced down at Jake then, and he drooled, his blue eyes looking up at me almost accusingly. "I know, I know," I breathed to him. I took him with me as I went downstairs. Casey was in the living room, talking to Lizzie, who had evidently just come home.

"Case," I interrupted them, jerking my head, indicating that I needed to talk to her.

She sighed, saying something to Lizzie. Lizzie looked up at me and then back at her sister, nodded, and walked off into the kitchen.

I moved over to the now-empty spot on the couch and sat down next to Casey. Casey stared down at her feet.

"I'm sorry," I said to her for the second time in less than 24 hours. "I don't mean to go all… caveman on you. I just, you know, I'm kind of possessive with the people I love."

She looked up at me. "You don't trust me, Derek," she said quietly.

"No, I do," I said honestly. "It's that Sam I don't trust. I just…don't want him to take you away from me."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't trust your best friend?"

I shrugged. "I don't trust anyone that easily."

"But you trust me?" she searched my eyes.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I do."

She smiled, reaching over and hugging me, Jake in-between us. "Thanks, Derek. That's all I wanted to hear."

I just nodded, looking down again.

"And Sam's not going to take me away from you. I promise," she smiled at me, brushing a strand of my messy hair out of my eyes.

I knew she was too innocent and naïve to see that Sam still wanted her. But I guess she was right… I had to trust her. It was going to be hard for me, but I had to show her that I trusted her.

God, this was tough. No wonder why I had never been in a real relationship before. It was a lot of work.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Now, I've got to go get ready. Are you okay with Jake? I won't be gone long. And my mom will be home any minute."

"We're fine," I told her, looking down at the still-drooling baby in my arms.

She smiled and rushed upstairs. I lay back, putting on the TV, and adjusting Jake so he could watch it with me.

At 4:00 on the dot, the door was knocked on. I pulled Jake closer against me and we went to open the door. Sam was standing there, holding a small bouquet of flowers.

"Hey," he said awkwardly as I let him in.

"Hey," I just nodded in return.

Casey must have heard Sam come in, because she came down the stairs, dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink long-sleeved top. She looked nice, but not really dressed up, which I was thankful for.

"Hi, Sam," she said, smiling a greeting.

"These are for you," Sam held out some flowers. "You know, since I didn't get a baby gift or anything…" he seemed very nervous.

"Aw, thank you," she smiled, taking the flowers happily. "I'll go put them in water."

"I can do it," I interrupted her, taking them in my free hand.

She smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Thanks, Derek."

"Are you ready to go, Casey?" Sam asked.

She nodded, still looking at me. She then looked down at Jake. "Be good, honey," she said to him, kissing him gently. She then smiled up at me. "I'll be back soon," she promised me.

I leaned over and kissed her lips. "Love you," I murmured softly against them. But, of course, I made sure it was loud enough for Sam to hear. Heh.

She looked surprised again, but smiled. "Love you, too."

Sam shifted his feet uncomfortably. I simply smirked. They left and I looked down at Jake. He seemed amused, as well.

"Alright, kid, what should we do now?" I asked him, tossing the stupid flowers carelessly on the couch.

Just then, Nora came in, along with Marti. "Hi, Derek," she said.

"Smerek!" Marti hugged me around my waist. I leaned down to let her give Jake a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek.

"Where's Casey?" Nora asked as she hung up her coat.

"At the library," I said casually.

"Oh," was Nora's reply. "Well, why don't you take Jake out for a walk? It's beautiful out, and the snow will be coming in a few weeks so we should enjoy this weather while it lasts."

I contemplated this. It was actually a pretty good idea. Jake could probably use some fresh air.

"Okay," I responded.

"Just make sure you bundle him up good," Nora warned.

"Can I come, too?" Marti looked up at me, her lower lip sticking out.

"Sure," I said. "But you gotta stay with me, Smarti." She had a tendency of running off and causing us to chase her around frantically.

"I will!" she yipped and put her coat back on again.

Nora got out the new stroller she and my Dad had bought for Jake, and I went upstairs and bundled Jake up. He looked so cute wrapped in layers and layers of padded clothing. He just stared up at me with his big blue eyes, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"We're going outside, buddy," I told him, kissing his tiny nose, one of the only body parts of him still exposed.

I put him down for a minute to get my own jacket on, and then brought him downstairs with me. Marti and the stroller were already outside waiting.

"Have fun!" Nora called. "And don't forget to be home by dinner!"

"Okay!" I shouted back, rolling my eyes.

"Come on, Jakey, we're gonna take a walk!" Marti hopped around on one foot.

I laid Jake down in the carriage, and put the little top up so the wind wouldn't make him cold. I placed another blanket on top of him.

"Ready?" I asked Marti.

"Ready!" she grinned and we took off.

As we walked down the street (on the sidewalk, of course), I looked over at Marti, who was humming to herself, picking leaves from shrubs as she walked.

"Marti, when was the last time you saw Mom?" I asked her.

She looked up at me, her forehead wrinkled as she thought. "I don't remember," she said finally. She crouched down and picked up a long twig to play with.

I sighed. "Does she talk about me and Edwin ever?"

She nodded quickly at this. "She says she misses you," she said solemnly.

I looked away from her as we turned the corner. There was an ex-girlfriend of mine just a few meters away, playing with two younger kids. They were sitting on the sidewalk, coloring with chalk.

"Ooh, I want to play!" Marti exclaimed and ran right over to them before I could stop her.

"Hi," I could hear my ex saying. Well, she wasn't technically my ex. We were never official. We had just gone out and made out a few times, that's it. I couldn't even remember her name… Kathy? Katie?

"Derek," came her surprised voice. She looked up at me with smoky grey eyes.

I gave her a half-smile. "Uh…"

"Kelly," she filled in for me. Oops. Hey, I hadn't been TOO far off…

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing her long blonde hair off of her shoulder and standing up. She looked at Marti and the baby stroller. "Babysitting?"

"Sort of," I shrugged.

"Me too," she smiled down at the two kids she apparently was watching. They were now coloring with Marti.

Kelly walked over and leaned over the carriage, peering in at Jake. "Oh, he's precious!" she exclaimed. "Is he your brother? A neighbor?"

"My son," I said quietly.

Kelly's mouth formed a little 'O' as she looked up at me. "… Ah. I, uh, see."

"His name's Jakey and he's my nef-oo," Marti said proudly, skipping over to us.

"Nephew," I corrected her and looked down at Jake. He yawned sleepily.

"Oh," was all Kelly could say. She looked over at her babysitting charges. "Kids, we should go start on dinner now," she said. She gave me a saccharine smile. "It was nice to see you, Derek." With that, she tossed her blonde hair and walked into the house with the kids.

"I didn't like her," Marti said, turning her nose up and walking on.

I chuckled to myself and followed her.