Hey, guys! How are you?! I hope you're all doing great. It has been a LONG, LONG time. I know. I'm sorry. College started. It has been crazy! I am overwhelmed. I have no time to write, so I'm updating as an apology, but I need you guys to know this will be the last update before a while...

"Excuse me?"

"We kissed." Liam repeated. "I mean sort of, I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Bill asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "Weren't you there? Were you unconscious during that exchange?"

"Of course not." Liam answered.

"Then please explain yourself." Bill demanded.

"I don't know. We were talking when suddenly she had to go, so she tried to leave and I…, I sort of grabbed her and…" he trailed off.

"You grabbed her?" Bill repeated. "You initiated the kiss?" He asked.

Liam winced a little. "I guess."

"You, you…" Bill stammered and choked back a fake laugh. "You guess." He repeated. "Oh, Liam, Liam…" he said.

In that moment, Bill couldn't believe his son. How much of an idiot could he be? He had everything to be happy! He had a fantastic, beautiful, smart, sexy girlfriend, and that girlfriend was about to give him a child! What more could he possibly want? What was it within him that always led him back to Hope? Had she performed a spell on him or what? There was nothing remotely special about that girl!

"I know, I know. I feel terrible, alright?" Liam said. "And now, I have to tell Steffy, so I'll probably be ashes next time you see me." He added.

"What?! No!" Bill exclaimed. "No! You cannot tell Steffy… absolutely not!"

"Dad! I have to." Liam protested. "I cannot keep this from her. No more lies. No more secrets. That was our deal." Liam said. "I've seen how much damage they can make, and I'm done with them!" He declared seeming determined.

He really didn't have that much of a choice. He and Steffy were doing so good lately. Liam felt like they were finally on the right track, and this…, this was not something that he could keep from her –not after everything they had been through, and certainly not after he made her promise not to keep any more secrets from him! No, he had to be honest with her. He owed her that much.

"That is a terrible idea." Bill warned him. "I understand what you're saying. I get your point…, but terrible idea. You may not be aware, son, but truth can do just as much and sometimes even more damage. What Steffy doesn't know won't hurt her, and trust me, it won't hurt you either." He advised.

"But isn't honesty the base of any solid, healthy, viable relationship?" Liam pointed out. "I cannot lie to her." He said shaking his head. "And what if she finds out from someone else? What then?" Liam imagined.

"From who will she find out?!" Bill asked in an incredulous tone of voice matching his disbelieving expression. "Hope? Just make sure she won't tell." He said.

Liam heaved a sigh and looked away. "I don't know." He mused. "I just, I… I mean we're having a baby, and I don't want…"

"Exactly!" Bill cut him off. "You're having a baby!" Bill reminded him. "And that's what your focus should be on right now. That's what Steffy's focus should be on right now…, not on Hope and whatever is going on between the two of you." He said and watched as his words seemed to have an impact on Liam.

"There is nothing going on between you and Hope anyway, right?" Bill made sure.

Liam shook his head. "There isn't." He responded. "That kiss was a mistake on my part. I don't know what got into me."

Bill raised his shoulders. "Then why alert Steffy?" He questioned. "Why lead her to think otherwise? Doesn't she have more important problems to deal with right now?" He rightfully pointed out.

Liam took in his father's words, and let out a sigh as he felt his resolve lower by the second. His father had a valid point: Steffy did have a lot to think about lately. She had much more urgent matters to handle at the moment than him and Hope. They should be the least of her worries. A new line was about to be launched with her as the lead model –that was taking all of her time and energy –they were still keeping her pregnancy a secret, so that was just a cause of supplementary stress on her, so long as she wasn't past her first trimester, there was still a chance that something would go wrong, etc…

No, she really didn't need to worry about him and Hope in top of all that.

"Do what you have to do, son, but do not tell Steffy." Bill advised. "I wouldn't."

What if she found out some other way? Wouldn't that be so much worse than if he came clean by himself? And how would they ever get back from that? How would she ever trust him again?

/

"Why were you even looking to talk to Hope?" Bill asked Liam. He didn't why on earth his son could have had to say to the young blonde when the most reasonable thing to do was obviously to cut all ties with her! Then again, Liam had never exactly been reasonable when it came to Hope. That was probably the explanation.

"I told you how she overheard Taylor and Steffy talking about her pregnancy, right?" He asked and Bill nodded. "I just wanted to apologize about that." He responded.

"That wasn't your fault, Liam." Bill pointed out.

"I know, but still. I broke the girl's heart, and then the next day she found out in the least considerate way that Steffy was pregnant with my child. I figured I owed her some sort of apology. I needed to clear things out with her." Liam explained.

"Well, how delicate of you." Bill sardonically commented, and Liam gave him a warning look.

"She didn't deserve everything that was thrown her way lately, Dad."

"I never said she did." Bill retorted with pointed eyes.

Liam huffed. "You're just happy it's not Steffy." He said.

"That much is true." Bill admitted and nodded.

Liam nodded too. He really had no idea why Hope was still on his mind. Maybe it was just the guilt consuming him and refusing to leave him alone. Maybe it was more.

He didn't know. And truthfully, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

He loved Steffy. He truly did, and he wanted to build a life with her and only her. He was committed to her and to their child. But as selfish as it seemed, he wanted it all: Hope still held a huge place in his life as well as in important one in his heart, and he was not willing to give her up.

"So what did she say when you apologized?"

"She said I had no reason to apologize." Liam answered honestly. "And…" He hesitated to continue.

"And…?" Bill encouraged him.

Liam glanced at him, and then shook his head. No, it's better not to. He thought to himself.

"Hey, you started, you finish. What did she say?" Bill insisted.

Liam raised his gaze to his father and spoke. "She said she didn't blame me for moving forward, and wished me the best for the future."

Bill narrowed his eyes at his son. He could easily feel that he was retaining some information from him.

He looked at him inquisitively, silently questioning him.

"She thinks I should marry Steffy and have the whole house with the white picket fence." Liam eventually gave in and revealed.

"Wow." He said genuinely stunned.

"I know. I couldn't believe it either." Liam assured him. "I don't think she truly wants that though."

"Then why would she suggest it?" Bill pointed out.

"She thinks she's keeping me from moving on." Liam answered.

"Isn't she?" Bill asked pointedly.

Liam narrowed his eyes at him and shook his head confusedly.

"Why did you kiss her, Liam? Why are we talking about her right now? She shouldn't even be a subject of conversation, Liam!"

"I know that! I am aware of that! But I was in love with her for most of my adult life, Dad! I can't just get over her overnight." Liam said. "I know that's what you're expecting of me. I know that's probably what I should do, but it's not that easy! And I am trying, Dad!" He raised his voice at his father.

He knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn't talk to his father that way, but he just couldn't help it at this point. He was getting sick of Bill talking to him as though he appreciated the situation he was in with Hope and Steffy when really he hated it. He was getting sick of Bill acting as if he liked nourishing ambiguous and inappropriate feelings towards Hope when he didn't!

He hadn't asked for any of this really! He was just a guy, some geek who had fallen in love with a young stylist and model, so bad that he had proposed to her because he wanted to spend his life with her. But life or destiny or whatever had decided otherwise and pulled them apart! And further to that, he had fallen in love with another brilliant, successful young model, and now, he found that his heart didn't belong to him anymore and seemed to be divided between them. But really, what could he do about that? The only thing he could do was choose, what he had already done. He had picked Steffy, and he was going to stand by that decision, but it couldn't be expected of him to simply erase from his mind and memory as though she never mattered. That was something he couldn't do. As in every relationship, he needed time to heal and move on.

"Try harder, Liam." Bill said and Liam looked away seeming quite upset and thoroughly done. "Listen, I'm not saying you're not trying: I'm sure you are. And I don't mean to be insensitive to what you're going through, but Liam you are about to become a father…"

Liam opened his mouth to protest but Bill didn't let him interrupt him.

"…and there is really no point in you being with Steffy and pretending to lead a happy life with her if part of your heart is still with Hope. Your son or daughter will most likely feel that." He finished.

Liam looked at him intently and judging by his expression, he was giving serious consideration to his father's words.

"Now, concerning what Hope told you, I think she has a valid point." Bill declared and Liam arched a brow at him. "Marrying Steffy is definitely the right thing for you to do." He elaborated.

"Oh no, Dad, please don't go there." Liam pleaded and got up from his desk.

"Liam, she's carrying your child." Bill didn't let go. "Don't you think it's time you made an honest woman out of her?"

"Dad, I'm not going to marry Steffy because Hope told me too, or because you told me to, for that matter." Liam refused. "It wouldn't be fair to Steffy, or to me, or to our baby." He pointed out.

"You're right." Bill said surprising Liam. "You're absolutely right. I couldn't agree more. You should definitely not marry Steffy because Hope asked you to, and you shouldn't do it either because of me. You should do for it yourself: for both of you, and for your child." Bill told him and Liam momentarily looked away.

"Don't you love Steffy?" He asked.

Liam jolted his head to his father his eyebrows knit together in a mix of disbelief and exasperation. "What?! What kind of question is even that? Of course I do! What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're about to have a baby with her. Marriage is something that you ought to think about at some point, right? Eventually, you'll have to go down that road." Bill stated pointed.

"Yeah! At some point… eventually…" Liam repeated those same words emphasizing them to make his point. "Not tomorrow!"

"Who said anything about tomorrow? Next week is just as good as any date for me." Bill replied only half-jokingly earning a deathly glare from his older son.

"How you can joke about this thoroughly concerns me." Liam let him know.

"Anyway, you got my point. Now, I'm not talking you into anything, but I really think you should marry Steffy." Bill said. "…before the baby is born." He added. "That's the right thing to do. Not just for her or the baby, but for you too. This is the life you're supposed to lead, Liam. This is the life I dreamt of for you."

/

"So…" Oliver said as he closed the hotel room's door and Hope collapsed onto the door. "I was right." He finished. "You nailed it!"

Hope chuckled and shook her head from left to right. "What did I say about bragging?" She reminded him.

Oliver made a face. "I don't recall. Something?" He replied. "I was too busy thinking about how right I was." He answered.

Hope straightened herself up and gave him a fake rebuking look.

He laughed and walked to her. He sat on the bed near her.

"No, but in all seriousness, I am very proud of you." He told her causing her to blush and to lower her head in a vain attempt to hide it considering he had already noticed her cheeks turn crimson.

He smiled and cupped her chin to raise her head. He anchored his gaze into hers before he said. "I mean it. You did great, Hope. They loved you!"

She smiled shyly. "Yeah, they seemed to like me." She conceded.

"They loved you!" Oliver repeated emphasizing the word 'loved'. "Not that I doubted that they would. I told you you would nail it." He commented.

"Stop bragging." She said and pushed his shoulder playfully.

Oliver laughed. "I'm just kidding." He said.

"You're happy about what you did though, right?" He made sure. "You're happy about yourself?"

She nodded. "I am." She responded. "Yeah, I am."

"Good. You ought to be."

Hope smiled at him, and then ran a soft hand through his hair.

Hope's false modesty was no indication of how things had in fact turned out: the press conference had really gone well. The journalists and the public who made the trip were hanging to her every word. They absolutely adored her

"Eric will be very proud too." Oliver said. "So will your brother." He added causing her hand in his hair to stop dead in its track.

She shot him a dirty look and removed her hand from his hair.

"What? I can't even say his name without you getting upset?" He asked.

"Then don't say his name!" Hope retorted pointedly.

"Hope, he is your brother. You can't stay mad at him forever." Oliver pointed out.

"Maybe not forever…" She said.

"Hope!" He spoke in a reproachful tone.

She rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. "And we were having such a pleasant conversation." She said, irritated.

"You need to get over yourself, Miss Logan." He told her.

"I don't want to talk about Rick."

"Fine." He said casually. "Just listen." He retorted slyly.

She summoned a pouting expression but eventually, though reluctantly, raised her gaze to him.

"Look, what Rick did was wrong." He admitted. "…on so many levels…, but he's your brother, Hope, and he's sorry for what he did. Can't you just forgive him?"

"No." The blonde responded.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because he ruined my life!" She snapped turning her face to him.

Oliver tilted his head. "Aren't you a little bit exaggerating?" He commented. "Since when do you define your life or the meaning of it by men? You were Hope Logan before Liam, and you will continue to be Hope Logan after him. Your life isn't over, Hope." He tried to convince her.

"I know. You're right." Hope agreed in a sad voice. "Not about Rick though." She said emphasizing on the word 'said'. "That one is still on my blacklist." She asserted.

"He did come clean… eventually. Doesn't that count for something?" Oliver kept trying.

"Not on his own. Caroline made him come clean. If it weren't for her, I still wouldn't have a clue. I am thankful to her, not to Rick!"

"She didn't force him, Hope. It was still his decision, and I'm sure she didn't have to persuade him that much. He probably already wanted to tell you. He was just afraid of the consequences. He knew he might lose you; he knew you would get mad at him, which you are." Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, and I ought to be!" Hope said rightfully.

"Okay, fine. But you do realize you're going to have to calm down at some point, right?"

Hope did realize that. She knew she couldn't stay mad at Rick forever, and she knew she shouldn't. She wasn't even mad at him to begin with…, not really. The truth was because of that lie her world had completely fallen apart. She hadn't just lost Liam: she had lost a part of herself. She always figured that at this point of her life she would be married and would be building a family. Instead, she was a mess, a pathetic young woman who kept falling in and out of love with the same guy… She had no idea who she was anymore, and that scared her. That caused her to be out of breath, and she just really, really needed someone to blame.

"I do." She responded in an even voice. "But not now and not tomorrow." She paused. "Not yet."

/

Hope came out from the bathroom dressed to go to bed: she was wearing a white pull over and a pair of shorts. She found Oliver sitting on the edge of the bed going through the TV channels with only little interest. He stopped and turned his head to her as soon as he became aware of her presence. He gave her a small, almost shy smile that she automatically returned.

"Even to go to bed, you look beautiful." He told her, mainly with the purport of making her awfully uncomfortable. Judging by the tint of pink that invaded her cheeks, he succeeded.

He chuckled at her unease.

"So what do we do about the bed?" She asked after she pulled herself together, running her hand through her messy hair.

"What do you mean?" He asked faking obliviousness. He very well knew what she meant.

If possible, Hope blushed even more. "I mean… you know…" She didn't finish her thought.

He arched a questioning eyebrow at her, and she opened her mouth, and then closed it, catching up with his game. "You're just messing with me!"

Oliver laughed and she smacked his across his chest. "Not funny!" She hissed.

"Oh, kind of."

She shook her head fighting a smile of her own to spread across her mouth. "Seriously, what do we do about the bed?" She asked again.

He raised his shoulders. "What do you think we do?" He asked her back. "You take it obviously!"

"And where are you going to sleep?" She asked him, concern laced in her voice.

"Is that an invitation?" He asked her in a suggestive tone waggling his eyebrows and she gave him a look.

"I'm gonna sleep on the couch." He eventually answered.

"You sure?"

Oliver frowned. "Would you rather I slept on the floor?" He asked her.

"No!" She exclaimed.

He raised his brows at her as though asking her 'Well, then…?'

Hope lowered her head looking sheepish. "It's the second time I make you sleep on the couch."

Oliver laughed. "It's called being a gentleman. I'm not going to make you sleep on the couch, Hope." He said as though it was obvious, and really, it was.

She looked at him, eyes narrowed, an idea seeming to have crossed her mind. "Well, this is a king-size bed." She suggestively pointed out and raised a brow at him to gauge his reaction.

"Yes?" He encouraged her. He thought he knew where she was getting at that, but he didn't want to be mistaken.

Hope sighed. Did he have to make her say it? "We could sleep together." She let out the words in a burst of audacity, and just like that his expression turned into an amused one and a mischievous smile flickered across his lips.

"But no funny business." She immediately added pointing a warning finger at him.

His eyebrows pulled into a frown. "No funny business?" He repeated in a faked clueless voice.

Hope tightened her face into a grimace. She picked a pillow and threw at Oliver. He caught it and laughed. Though he was laughing at her expense, she couldn't help a small smile to crack her lips and she soon joined him in his laughter.

/

Liam and Steffy were back from her first echography. They were comfortably settled on the couch with a plate of strawberries covered with Chantilly between them.

Steffy had been eating so much Liam didn't understand how in the world she was still so slim. She had a perfect figure, really, and even though, she was at the end of her first trimester, you really couldn't tell there was a baby growing up inside of her. She was taking this 'eating for two now' pregnant women thing very seriously, perhaps even a little too seriously. She was happy though. Actually, she was more than that: she was glowing, and Liam couldn't be happier. He liked to think that it wasn't all because of her pregnancy and that he had something to do with that.

Leaning towards Liam, Steffy said, "I'm glad that you came to the ultra-sound with me today. I'm glad that we got to share this experience together. It was something I had been fantasizing about for a long time." She confided to him.

Liam traced the outline of her face with his thumb and put a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I'm glad that I could be there too." He said. "I'm sorry that you've had to go through all of this alone for so long." He told her apologetically and released her face.

She shrugged and gave him a reassuring smile. "That's fine."

"No, it really isn't." He countered. "I missed a whole month of your pregnancy, Steffy –of our pregnancy. That's not fine. I should have been there for you: to support you, to reassure you."

"Hey…" Steffy said and cupped his face. "It was my choice, remember? A really bad and unfair one, I will admit. I chose not to tell you." She was still blaming herself for that. She had deprived Liam of the first month of his child –of their child. She had deprived him of the very first moments, of the very first joys. Most men wouldn't care much about the first month of an unborn embryo, but Liam wasn't of those men. Liam was a caring man. "I didn't want to influence your decision. I wanted to focus on yourself; I wanted you to choose what you thought was best for you." She explained.

Her words, as honest and genuine as he knew they were, didn't make Liam feel better. He couldn't help but feel guilty about her spending the first month of her pregnancy alone. She must've felt so lonely, so desolate… so abandoned. It was true that she had Taylor, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't comparable. He couldn't imagine all the stress and anxiety she had undergone because of the uncertainty of their relationship and of their life together –in other words, because of him.

"Besides, you're here with me now." Steffy interrupted his dark thoughts. She took his hand and brought it over her stomach where the fruit of their love rested.

"I am." Liam answered stroking her stomach. "I'll always be."

"Hey." Liam said entering their bedroom and then closing the door.

"Hi you!" She greeted back.

He encircled her waist with his arms before he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just moving some things around. Putting back stuff the way I like it." She answered arranging the flowers on the chest of drawers. "Do you mind?" She turned her head to ask him.

"No!" He immediately responded disentangling himself from her. "We can even buy new stuff if you'd like."

She turned her body to him. "No, I don't –I don't want to do that. Oh, but we do have to turn the guest room into a nursery."

"Yeah, uh… I think that you and I need to have a discussion about where to go from here." He told her.

"Well, that sounds serious. Shall I sit or?" She teased moving her shoulders back and forth?

"Yeah, we probably should." He nodded.

That caught her off guard. She was just joking "Oh, okay."

After a few minutes of awkward silence once they settled on the bed, Steffy spoke, "So what did you want to talk about? I can tell there's something important on your mind. What is it? You can –You can talk to me about it." She encouraged.

"Okay." He nodded once and took a deep breath before he said, "I've been thinking a lot about you and me, and… the baby."

"And you're freaked out." She concluded. Liam looked down, so she immediately reassured him. "No, it's okay. I get it. We're talking… life-changing stuff here."

"Yeah."

"And so am I?"

He looked up at her, his brow rose. "You are?" He asked her.

"Of course." She answered. "I didn't expect this any more than you did."

Liam nodded.

"I know that we talked about this, but… I didn't expect it to happen so soon. It was just some hypothetical talk." She explained. "I never really prepared myself for this." She brought her hand to her stomach and looked down to it. "This isn't some hypothetical anymore." Her voice was strained from emotion.

Liam covered her hand on her stomach with his. "It's real. It's concrete. It's inside you." He completed for her. "And I want to set a date, Steffy." He blurted out.

"What?" She raised her gaze just in time to see him kneeling down before her. "Liam, what are you…" Her voice was barely a whisper.

He took her hand in his and anchored his gaze in hers as he asked, "Steffy Forrester, will you marry me?"