Happy Sunday :)

"Noooooo...you're kidding?"

"I'm not kidding."

"Wow...what did Ben say?"

I smiled, imagining the current look on Shambala's face as I regaled her with the tale of what had happened with Pamela the previous weekend. I hadn't had the chance to speak to her or Elizabeth since and even though I knew I shouldn't gossip about my stepdaughter, part of me had been desperate to discuss it with someone other than Ben. "What do you think he said? He was furious, told the boy to get out and grounded Pam until the end of the month."

"Well, it could have been worse. At least he didn't hit him."

"You know as well as I do that that isn't Ben's style." I looked at the pile of letters sitting on my desk and, crooking the phone between my ear and shoulder, started to sign them. They were all addressed to suppliers regarding our upcoming gala ball, an event that I had been given pretty much free rein in organising and I was desperate for it to be a success. "Of course now Pam isn't talking to him and you could cut the atmosphere at home with a knife. Ben's asked our next door neighbour to knock on the door every afternoon to make sure she's come home from school and that she's alone."

"Wow."

"I know." I cringed slightly at the memory of the conversation that I had witnessed between Ben and Mrs Watson when the older lady had agreed, somewhat bemusedly, to his request. "I think it only served to fuel the fire of the angst between them."

"Have you even met this boy?" Shambala asked. "Other than when he was fleeing without his pants on?"

"No, and I only know what Pam's told me about him. They met at her art class at the museum a few months ago."

"So they have that in common at least."

"So it would appear."

"And that's all you know about him?"

"Other than his name, Andrew Swan, then yes that's all. I suggested to Ben that we invite him over for dinner one night but he didn't seem too taken with the idea. I think he's still in shock that his little girl is...well...no longer his little girl." It was an understatement. Although he hadn't said much in the few days since the incident, I knew that Ben was grappling with the sudden change in his relationship with his daughter, beyond that of her refusing to speak to him. "I had to talk him out of calling the cops."

"Doesn't he realise that that kind of reaction could simply push her in the opposite direction?"

"Deep down, yes, I think he knows that and I've tried to tell him that if they're going to sleep together then surely it's better that it happens under our roof rather than somewhere else, but it didn't make any difference."

"Yup, that's our Ben Stone all right...ever the prosecutor. You know, I'm heading in there later on to meet with him about the Minetti case. Want me to offer him some words of wisdom about dealing with sexually active teenage girls?"

"God, no! He'd probably kill me for even telling you about it," I replied quickly. "He hasn't told her mother yet."

"Why not? Surely she should know."

"Of course she should know but I think he's hoping that Pam will tell Laura herself so that he doesn't have to. He thinks that Laura will blame him for letting it happen and open a whole can of worms about parenting and custody and so on."

"But Peter's at college and Pam's sixteen now," Shambala said. "It's not as if she could get the custody case reopened. Pam's old enough to decide where she wants to live and if she's infatuated with this boy then she's not going to want to move back to Hartford, is she?"

"Shambala...you're preaching to the choir, seriously. In my opinion, he and Laura should talk about it and agree on how to approach it together. But he's already made it clear to me that she's his daughter and I have to let him deal with the matter as he sees fit."

"I guess so...ok I promise I won't say anything. Of course, I might not get a word in edgeways anyway, what with that new assistant of his."

"Vanessa?" I paused, thinking about the woman I had met briefly on one occasion when I had gone to the office to meet Ben after work. "What about her?"

"She thinks that she's God's gift to the DA's office. I dealt with her a few times when she was working with Frank Lake and it was a few times too many. I think she sees working with Ben as being a step up to the next level."

"So, she's ambitious. Surely there's nothing wrong with that," I said, bunching the letters together and moving them to the side of my desk to pass to Amy, my secretary, to send out in the mail.

"She's ruthless. I wouldn't put it past her to screw over anyone that so happens to be in her way. I think she's got Adam Schiff's seat in mind for herself."

"Well she's not going to be able to screw Ben over, you know that." There was a noticeable pause that caught my attention. "You know that, right?"

"How is he finding it?" Shambala asked. "Being back at the DA's office I mean?"

"He said it was like coming home. That it felt as though he had never been away. Why?"

"I don't know...I don't want to speak out of turn..."

"About what?" I demanded, all focus on everything else gone. "Has someone said something?"

"It's just...you know court street, it's full of rumour and innuendo and cheap talk. I've just heard a few whispers that...well, that maybe he's not, you know, up to it after what happened with Ann Madsen."

I didn't say anything, knowing that Ann Madsen's death had been one of the major stumbling blocks to Ben being able to make the decision to return to the job he had always loved. He still felt enormous guilt over the incident, even though we had visited her grave and he had apologised to her. Deep down, perhaps as a result of how effective I had found therapy for myself, I still held the belief that some form of counselling might be good for him, if not for that then for all the other things we had been through, but he continued to resist.

"He's a damn good attorney, Shambala, you know that."

"I know..."

"And he's fair and just and he does the right thing as much as he possibly can..." I broke off, feeling tears spring into my eyes at the thought of anyone down-crying or smearing my husband. "He's the best ADA the office has."

"You don't have to convince me, Evelyn, I promise you that. I've always liked and respected Ben. I would just hate to see an opportunist take advantage of what he's gone through in the past."

Though I had no real reason to, I suddenly found myself irrationally hating Vanessa Hart. Shambala hadn't said that the unkind chatter was coming from her, but I felt a sudden primal protective instinct come over me and couldn't help but think that perhaps I should pay more frequent visits to his office and let her know, subtly, exactly who was in charge.

"Look, I should go," Shambala said."I'm sorry if I've said something to upset you..."

"No," I said hurriedly, "No, I'm glad you told me."

"I know full well he's going to give me a rough ride over this Minetti case," she added. "I'm under no illusions about that."

"Good luck," I said, before bringing the conversation to a close and hanging up the phone. For a while I stood staring at the receiver, thinking about calling Ben myself and yet knowing that there would be little chance of me being able to keep the contents of the recent conversation to myself. Bringing up Ann Madsen, or his ability to do his job, was not what he needed so early into his return.

Instead, I busied myself with my own tasks, working my way through my to-do list and straight through lunch before I had even noticed. It was funny how something could just draw you in and occupy your mind for so long that time was allowed to fly past unchallenged. By the time I lifted my head and glanced at my watch, it was almost two-thirty. Marion and I were due to have a meeting about the gala at three o'clock so, taking advantage of the short time I had left, I hurried out to buy a bagel from the deli across the street and was walking back towards my office door when Amy held up one finger to stop me.

"Yes, she's right here. Hold on please." She cupped the mouthpiece with her hand. "That's Merry Hill on the line for you."

I groaned inwardly, hoping that they were only calling to give me an update on how much Kate's teething was affecting her and not to ask me to collect her early. I felt exhausted from the lack of sleep I'd had over the last few days and whilst I obviously loved my daughter fiercely, motherhood was certainly taking its toll of late. The initial guilt I had felt about putting her into daycare to allow me to work had quickly dissipated once I had had the chance to experience life as myself again, but working and caring for a young child was no easy feat, even with a loving and supportive husband. I moved around to the other side of my desk and lifted the receiver. "Evelyn Stone?"

"Mrs Stone, it's Merry Hill here. I'm sorry to tell you that Kate's been taken ill."

I felt my heart slow in my chest and everything around me seemed to suddenly stand still. "What? What's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure. We called an ambulance and the EMTs are here. They want to take her to St Matthews. Can you meet them there?"

"Yes of course I...oh my God..." Without further conversation, I threw the receiver down somewhere in the region of its cradle and rushed back out into the hallway, startling Amy as I flew past her towards the elevator. "Call my husband!" I shouted back, punching the button. "Tell him that Kate's sick and to meet us at St Matthews!" She said something in response but I didn't hear her, choosing to forego the agonising wait for the elevator and thundering down the fire escape instead. My heart raced as I ran across the lobby and through the doors onto the sidewalk, tears streaming down my face as I searched wildly for a cab.

The street was crowded and I could feel people looking at me as I ran full pelt into the street, screaming for a cab to stop and waving my arms furiously. Horns honked and cars swerved around me but finally a cab pulled in beside me and I yanked open the door and threw myself inside, shouting for the driver to get to St Matthews as quickly as he could. If he thought I was insane, he didn't say anything and, whilst later, I would admire the skill with which he drove through the traffic to get me to the hospital, at that moment all I could think about was my little girl and about how I should have taken Ben up on his offer to buy me a cell phone.

The drive seemed to take forever but, finally, we were at the hospital and after throwing more notes at the driver than was probably necessary, I sprinted into the ER, past a crowd of people waiting to be triaged, and up to the main desk.

"Kate Stone...my daughter..." I gasped to the nurse. "I got a call about my daughter."

"What's her name?"

"Kate Stone," I repeated. "She was being brought in by EMT's from Merry Hill daycare. I got a call..."

"Her date of birth?"

I couldn't understand how she could be so calm. "April 23rd 1996."

She flicked though a pile of papers in front of her and shook her head. "I'm sorry, there's no Kate Stone here."

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded angrily. "I got a call from her daycare! They said that she was sick and that the ambulance was bringing her here!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Maybe they haven't arrived yet...maybe they're still on their way in..."

"Ma'am, I can assure you there's been no Kate Stone admitted today and we're not awaiting any other ambulances at the moment."

"But I...no...no I got a call! They called me...maybe...maybe I got the wrong hospital..." I dived into my purse and started scrabbling for the change that I always kept in a clear bag in the inside pocket, one of the few positive things I had brought back from my time in London. "They called me..." Leaving my purse on the counter I hurried over to the bank of payphones a few feet away, pushed in the money and frantically dialled the number that I knew by heart. It rang three times before someone answered.

"Merry Hill daycare, Vivien speaking, how may I help you?"

"This is Evelyn Stone..." I panted. "I got a call about my daughter..."

"Ah yes, Kate?"

"Yes! Yes, Kate! I got a call..."

"Nice to hear from you Mrs Stone. I'm sorry I haven't seen you at drop off recently."

Her lack of concern threw me slightly. "I got a call..."

"Did you? Well she has been a little bit grumpy today what with her teeth coming through but apart from that..."

"Wait...what?"

"Apart from that she's been fine. I put my head into the room about a half hour ago and she was happily playing in the baby gym."

"Wait a minute..." my head starting spinning. "You mean...you mean that she's there?"

"Of course she's here." There was a slight pause. "Was there some reason that you thought that she wasn't?"

"I don't...I got a call..."

The world started to close in on me. I could hear Vivien talking, but her voice began to grow fainter as the edges of my vision darkened and I reached out to steady myself against the wall. The receiver slipped from my hand and I felt myself slump down towards the floor.