Eddie and Evan walked into the principal's office.

"Dad, Bucky," Christopher shouted and ran over to them. His crutches made a noise as they hit the ground as he made his way over to them. "I told Mr Parkson she couldn't take me, and he refused to let me go." He smiled over at his teacher.

"Thank you, Mr Parkson," Eddie was very grateful to him.

"You're welcome, Mr Diaz. I'd rather be overprotective and be wrong. I would never forgive myself if something happened, and I could've stopped it," Mr Parkston looked at Christopher and was so glad that he had stepped in.

"You're an honourable man, and the school is lucky to have you," Eddie knew he was a brilliant teacher too. He wasn't going to say anything to embarrass his son.

"Officer Jacobson," Evan nodded at him. "Thank you for starting that file. I never expected it to be needed."

"What file?" Ana asked.

"You're welcome, Mr Buckley. I had a feeling it wasn't over. I must admit I never expected a kidnapping either."

"I didn't try to kidnap Christopher. I was picking him up for Edmundo." She argued.

"How did she make it to the classroom?" Eddie asked.

"We had a temporary worker who no longer works for us. It seemed she smiled and flirted and then mentioned that she was a former teacher here. He never even looked at the list."

Ana stamped her foot. "I wasn't kidnapping him. I was picking him up for Edmundo, and then we could talk."

Evan could see that Eddie's anger was breaking through his calm exterior. He placed his crutch against the wall and then reached out and took his hand.

"Thank you." He smiled as he looked at the man he loved. His touch had helped him control his temper. Letting it go wouldn't be a good thing, even though he had every right.

"Edmundo." She snapped when the two men held hands.

"It's Mr Diaz, Ms Flores. You and I are no longer dating. I've told you this. You talked to my parents." He wasn't going to tell her why as Christopher was here. "You spoke to the rest of my family and my ex-captain trying to drive Evan away. Now, you tried to kidnap my son. You know I wouldn't be surprised if you talked to my parents about this."

Officer Jacobson watched at the changes in her face and the way she gripped her purse more tightly. Ms Flores had talked to them about taking Christopher. But what was the discussion about?

"Edmundo, I love you. We'd be so happy together," Ana begged.

"Ms Flores, I'm arresting you for the attempting kidnapping of Christopher Diaz."

Evan looked down at Christopher and ruffled his hair, and smiled as Christopher grinned. He could hear the murmurs of Office Jacobson reading Ana her rights. They were so lucky that Mr Parkston cared so much about his students. He was right. Any parent or guardian would rather be called in and say he was wrong. They were so close to losing him.

"Edmundo, you have to help me. I was trying to help you," Ana begged. She was led out of the office.

Eddie felt he could breathe more easily once the door was closed behind her. He knew it wasn't over, and if his parents were involved, Eddie would never forgive them. The rest of his family were going to be horrified too.

"I'm sorry that this happened, Mr Diaz." Principal Ryan was disgusted that someone in this school would let a child go because of a pretty face. It was definitely time to run some more courses on this. She was also going to make sure the next person they hired had experience. She didn't want them to go through this again.

"Thank you, I never thought that she would do something like this. But we were lucky that Mr Parkson wouldn't let Christopher go. After the fact, you handled it very well, Principal Ryan." Eddie was glad that they had fired the person who had been involved.

"Well, we'd better go unless there was anything else?" Evan asked.

"No, Mr Buckley, we don't need anything else." Principal Ryan remembered him. Every time he picked up Christopher, he was so excited to see Buck." She wished there was more that she could say or do. "If there are any problems during the night, we'll understand it. You need to keep him home. We do have a school counsellor if that would help?"

"Thank you, Principal Ryan. We'll play it by ear." Eddie smiled, and then the three of them walked out of the door.

When it closed, she turned and looked at the teacher, who was the only person left in the room.

"You did a good job, Simon."

"As soon as he heard her, Christopher came rushing to me. The longer she spoke, the more terrified he looked. I could feel that this was wrong. I couldn't let him go." Simon sighed. He'd never had anything like this happen to him before.

"Go home, relax. If you need a day, just call in, and if you need to talk to someone, we can arrange it." She wanted to make sure that Simon knew that there was help if he needed it.

"Thank you, I'll let you know."

XXXXX

Officer Jacobson shook his head as he read the messages on Ana's Flores' phone. It seemed that she had arranged for Ramon and Helena Diaz to have Christopher. Kidnapping was never mentioned, and at times it seemed they thought their son was handing him over. Were they trying to delude themselves? Why would the ex-girlfriend do that? He hated this. Telling Mr Diaz that his parents were quite happy taking his son from him, his job sucked some days.

"Officer Jacobson, Simon? Are you alright?" Athena asked him.

"Not really, Sergeant Grant."

"It's Athena." She sat in a chair next to him. "Can I help?"

"Ana Flores tried to kidnap Christopher Diaz with the evidence you and I gathered. I'm surprised she hadn't done anything sooner."

"How are they?"

"Okay, worried, shocked. I now have to tell them that she had arranged with Mr Diaz's parents to take his son. They've been through so much."

"I need to call Evan. Do you want me to tell Eddie? They're going to be together."

"I would appreciate it. I need to call Mr and Mrs Diaz and see what they say."

XXXXX

Christopher was in his room doing homework. It was for Mr Parkson's class and wanted to do it now.

Eddie was going to wait and see how Christopher was. He hated the fact that he'd been through so much already. They closed the door, but not all the way, so he had privacy, but they still could hear him if he needed anything.

The two men sat on the couch.

"I can't believe she did that. I'm so glad we were both here, and Ana had no idea."

"I'm glad you're here too. This place will always be home for you and Christopher. I've also made sure it has great security."

Eddie turned and smiled at him. "Be careful. We might never leave."

"I don't have a problem with that." As they leaned towards each other and kissed, Evan couldn't believe that was happening, and then his cell went off.

Eddie's head dropped onto Evan's shoulder as he groaned. "Really?"

"I know, hi Athena," he said as he asked it answered it. "Yeah, he is. I'll put you or speaker." He pressed the button so they can both could hear it.

"I heard what happened today. I'm so glad that Christopher is safe. I needed to call Evan, so I offered to update you as well, Eddie."

"Thanks, Athena, we appreciate it," Eddie couldn't wait for this day to be over.

"We appreciate the video and audio evidence. We arrested your father; he'll probably get away with a warning for this."

"What? "Eddie yelled.

"Yeah, I know, but with what you're parents said and their past with you. We also found lots of text messages between your parents and Maddie. We have enough to get a restraining order."

"Thanks, I'm not sure that will stop them, but at least it's going to be on file. I also called my grandparents, and they can start going through the legal process of my parents breaking the contract they signed."

"It's going to make them angrier, isn't it?" Eddie asked.

"Probably, but if I don't do anything, they'll think they can get away with anything," Evan knew it was a no-win situation.

"I wish I could do more, Evan. Eddie, Officer Jacobson went through Ana's cell. She'd be in contact with your parents. She was saying you'd asked her to do that. Do you think they would believe it?"

Eddie couldn't believe his parents, no actually, he could. They always thought they knew better.

"Deep down, no. I told them Ana, and I had split up. I also told them I was getting a lawyer, so any communication would go through them. The more I think about it, there's no way that they could think I would hand Christopher over."

"Could you send me the text messages?" She asked.

"It was mostly by phone call. I can send you the dates and times. I know Abuela told them she couldn't speak to them because of the lawyer."

"Text me the times. We'll get a statement from you and your grandmother. The three of you've been through a lot, but I'm glad you found each other again."

"So are we." Evan beamed at Eddie.

"Maddie was trying to cause problems about you having her parents arrested. You were supposedly jealous of her."

"Seriously, why can't they just leave me alone?" Evan wished he had enough balance to box, but he couldn't at the moment.

"Bobby believed her. I asked him to find somewhere to stay. Before you say anything, it's not your fault. This is not the man I married. I'm not sure about Chim, but Hen's 100% on your side," Athena knew this was going to be hard on him.

"I'm not sure how to feel? The 118 as it is, isn't going to survive, is it?"

"Evan, they turned on you. This is on them for not checking facts and believing Ana's, Taylor's and especially Maddie. Take it easy tonight. I will call you tomorrow to arrange a time to take your statements."

"Thanks, Athena, goodbye." They both spoke at the same time.

"Well, what a day." Eddie sat back and closed his eyes.

"Yeah."

"Dad, I need your help," Christopher yelled.

"Duty calls."

"I'm going to phone my grandparents about both of our situations."

XXXXX

Athena arrived home. It had been a long day. She hoped Bobby would leave with no problems. Just then, the door opened, and he walked in.

"When you leave, please hand over the keys to this house."

"'Athena, we need to talk about this. You need to understand–"

"If you're about to start on how Maddie's right, you can stop there. I read how the Buckley's abused Evan, and they sold him. Evan still helped his sister when Maddie needed it. What did she do? She lied and turned you all against him. I saw the video of Mr Buckley hitting his son. Yet somehow, with all the evidence, you still believe her."

"What?" May asked as she walked out of her bedroom.

TBC.