A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
"What's going to change? Cassie, what's going on?" He asks, taking her hand and noticing that she's shaking. "Cassie, tell me." He says, reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ear.
"She takes a deep breath, before she says. "I'm pregnant."
She said it so softly, he's not sure he heard her correctly. "Did you just say that you're pregnant?"
"Yes." She says, looking at him
"How, that's not possible. Dr. Sedgwick said that you couldn't get pregnant after the accident."
"I know."
"So, how did this happen?"
"I don't know. Maybe harvesting my eggs for the invitro may have opened something up enough to allow an egg through. She doesn't know, but according to the blood tests and pregnancy tests, I'm pregnant."
"I don't know what to say." He says, staring at her. "I didn't think about using protection because we thought…."
"I know." She says, turning to him. "But we're getting a second chance on everything and it doesn't matter how this happened. This baby is a miracle and a gift."
"I know." He says reaching for her and putting his arms around her, she moves closer to him, laying her head over his heart. They stay there for several moments before he asks. "What did Dr. Sedgwick says?"
"She said that we're going to have to be careful. She wants me to avoid as much stress as possible."
"I want you to quit the Beacon."
"I'm not quitting…." Cassie say, pulling away from him.
"Cassie…." He says, tightening his hold.
"I'll cut back but I can't quit totally. I can't stay at home all day."
"Okay, cut back a lot, only a few hours a day and you leave whatever you don't finish for the next day."
"I'll have to explain this to Olivia."
"Fine, if she gives you trouble then quit. Do you want to tell anyone else?" He asks, thinking of James.
"Not yet, we need to make sure that nothing happens."
"Okay." He says, still holding her. "What else did Dr. Sedgwick say?"
"She wants to see me every two weeks. If I have any problems at any time I'm to call her. And I'm sure she'll perform an ultrasound just to make certain that everything is progressing correctly. There's a possibility of an atopic pregnancy."
"Did she say how much of a possibility?"
"She didn't say, but I'm sure that we'll schedule an ultrasound in two weeks."
"I'm going to be there for that. Did she say how far along you are?"
"We figured that I'm about six weeks along."
"Six weeks, that means you got pregnant right after we got back from San Cristobel."
"Yes, we've been so busy, with getting Will settled and ourselves settled, planning our wedding, getting ready for Jeffrey and Sam's wedding, I never noticed that I missed my cycle."
"It's okay." Richard says, smiling for the first time.
"You're happy." She says, glancing at him.
"I love you, of course I'm happy, but I'm surprised. It hard to believe we get to do this again. And I promise this time I will be there for everything, every movement, craving, doctor's visit. I'll be in the delivery room this time too."
"Not being there for Will's birth wasn't your fault Richard."
"I know, but I missed so much of your pregnancy with him and then we thought we lost him. I know we have him back, but….
"There are things you wished you hadn't missed with him and you're right, we get to do this all over again and I know this time it's going to be better."
"It already is. I haven't accused you of…."
"Shhh, that wasn't you. It was Edmund."
"I still…."
"We're not going to get into this again. What happened when I was pregnant with Will is over. You made a mistake and I've forgiven you for it so let's focus on the fact that we have a new little baby girl or boy on the way." She says, pulling away from him.
"Okay."
"If you were surprised by this, I was absolutely terrified when Dr. Sedgwick's nurse called me."
"Why didn't you call me back?"
"You were busy."
"I would have rescheduled everything. You and the boys always come before any meeting."
"I know, but I didn't know exactly what was going on."
"I still would have gone with you. I never would leave you to face that alone."
"I'm okay now. She says, trying to sooth him.
"You still should've called me."
"Don't be mad." She says, leaning into him.
"It's my job to protect and help you. I can't do that if you don't tell me what's going on."
"I'm sorry." She says softly.
"Just tell me what's going on and I'll be there, however I have to rearrange my schedule."
"Okay." She says, nodding. "Do you have anything else?"
"I've got to call Seattle and then I can leave?"
"Okay." Cassie says, standing up.
"Where are you going?"
"Home, it's close to time for the boys to come home."
"Oh okay." He says, glancing at the clock. "I'll be on my way as soon as I finish this call."
"Okay." She says, reaching for her purse.
He reaches for her hand as he stands up. Pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her. "I love you and everything will be okay."
"I love you too and I'm not scared."
"Don't be brave for me. I know you and you are scared, but I know everything will be okay." He says, holding her.
"I want to stay here." She says, relaxing into him and laying her head on his chest.
"It's going to be okay, I promise." He says, kissing the top of her head. "I won't let anything happen to either of you."
"You can't control everything, Richard."
"I know, but I know everything is going to be okay and until you can believe that I'll believe it for both of us." He says, smiling as he leans back to look at her.
"Okay." She says, smiling as she leans in to kiss him.
He steps back after several moments and asks. "Can the boys stay the night with Harley?"
She laughs as she leans in to kiss him again. "No, it's a school night, but I promise you can have me all to yourself as soon as they are in bed."
"Now I'm not going to be able to concentrate on this call." He grumbles.
"I have faith in you, but maybe this will help." She says, leaning in to kiss him again.
"Cassie." He sighs, pulling her to him.
When she pulls away he tries to hold on for a few more moments before he releases her. "How is that going to help?" He whispers, laying his forehead against hers.
"You can think about that and not, about what we didn't do." She says, softly looking up at him.
"Don't look at me like that."
"I can't help how I look. How do I look?"
"Like you want me to forget about this call and follow you home right now."
"Umm, could you?"
"Cassie." He pleads, holding her tightly.
"It's okay. I know you want to, but you need to make this call and the boys will be home soon." She says, pulling away from him.
He releases her as she reaches for her purse again. She picks it up and turns for the door as he puts his arm around her. They walk over to the door together. Opening it for her, they walk out as he says. "I'll see you later. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll see you at home."
"Yes and be careful."
"I will." She says, smiling as she leaves and Richard goes back into his office.
Reva is coming in from running some errands as Josh walks into the living room, over the last couple days, neither one has mentioned Jeffrey or telling him about being a Lewis. Walking over to her, he takes her purse and lays it on the counter as he takes her hand, leading her towards the stairs as she asks. "What are you doing?"
"Go on upstairs." He says, moving out of the way and gently pushing her towards the stairs.
"Josh?"
"Go on, I'll be fine."
"What are you up too?"
"You'll see in our bedroom."
She turns towards the stairs and starts up them. He waits until she's upstairs before he goes into the kitchen. Picking up the phone he calls Towers and orders all of her favorite items.
When she reaches their bedroom, Reva stops and then looks inside. Everything looked the same. She walks in looking around. For a few seconds she doesn't realize what's going on until she sees a piece of paper that's taped to the bathroom door. Walking over, she pulls the note off and begins to read.
"Reva, I know that things have been tense around here. And I know that you were worried when Lizzie and I were jumped and I'm sorry about that. I want you to go inside, close the door, take a hot bath and relax, Josh."
Sighing softly, she opens the door and walks in, closing it behind her. An hour later, she leaves the bathroom. Getting dressed, she goes back downstairs. Walking into the living room, she finds Josh sitting on the couch. "Do you feel better?" He asks when she walks in.
"Yes, thank you."
"Good." Josh says, getting up. "Come with me." He says, taking her hand.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." He says, leading her to the back of the house. While she was upstairs and after Towers delivered the food, he had gotten a blanket from the closet and took it outside under the oak tree beside the house. Spreading it out, he arranged the food and brought some pillows out to make things more comfortable. He had everything setup to have a picnic under the moonlight. As he's leading her over to the blanket, he makes sure to block her view and when he reaches the blanket, he turns to her and says. "Close your eyes."
"Josh?"
"Just close your eyes." He says, reaching up to close her eyes for her. She closes them. Releasing her hand, he walks around behind her. "Okay, you can open them." Slowly she opens her eyes, seeing the blanket and the food she turns to him. "I thought we could have a picnic and watch the stars come out."
"Josh, you're not going to be able to do that with your…."
"I'll be fine." He says, taking her hand and leading her onto the blanket. He helps her to sit down and then he sits down beside her. "I ordered all your favorite things from Towers." He says, taking the tops off the containers."
"I see that, can I ask why?"
"Because I thought it would be nice for us to take a break and spend some time together."
"Is that the only reason?" She asks, reaching for one of the containers.
"Yes." Josh replies, following her lead and picking up a container of food.
She doesn't reply, but she doesn't completely believe him. They eat in silence and when she's finished eating she puts the container down. She lies down on the blanket while Josh continues to eat. After a while she says. "I know this is your way of making a peace offering."
He looks over at her before he sighs softly and asks. "Is it working?"
"That depends." She says, turning to her side to face him.
"It depends on what?"
"It depends on whether you've changed your mind about telling Jeffrey the truth."
"Why do you care if he knows? He didn't come looking for this information, you and Billy did."
"Yes we did." Reva says, sitting up. "Only because you refuse to tell us what was going on."
"Why can't you trust me?"
"I do trust you Josh, but you were hiding something, I knew it, Billy knew it. In this situation, if I had trusted you we would not know about any of this." She says, watching him. "What will you say if in six months down the road someone finds out he's HB's son and tells him?"
"Why do you think someone will tell him? He's gone his whole life not knowing who his father is. Why do you even think someone will look into it?"
"You're right someone may not, but what if they do and they tell him. What happens when he comes to us and asks if it's true? His next question will be how long we've known about it, and what will our answer be." She continues to watch him before she asks. "How long have you known about this?" He doesn't answer her immediately. "Josh, how long have you known that Jeffrey was HB's son?"
"As long as you have." Josh replies, glancing at her before he looks up at the sky.
"But you had a suspicion that HB might have another child in this world. Maybe you even knew for a fact that he did."
"HB left me a letter for after he died. His attorney gave it to me the night before his will was read. I read it and then I destroyed the letter. The morning we went over the will. I looked in the file that attorney brought with him, it was the new will. I knew where HB kept all his personal papers and I switched the wills…."
"Why didn't the attorney say anything?"
"Because I paid him not to."
"You what?"
"I paid him not to say anything about the second will. I took the file and I hid it in Lewis files. One of our attorneys brought it to me. I had actually forgotten about it. But when he brought it to me I realize that if I really wanted to keep the secret the file would need to be destroyed. So I took it and ordered him not to tell anyone about it. That was the conversation you overheard.
"So, you've known all of this time that HB had another child and you never said a word, why?"
"Because it didn't matter."
"How can you say it didn't matter? He or she was your brother or sister."
"I won't apologize for protecting my family."
"Protecting your family, from what?"
"I made the decision to protect my family."
"Again, I ask, from what?"
"I did what was best for my family and I still am." Josh says, getting up.
"Josh." She says, as he turns and walks back to the house.
When Jeffrey wakes up, he's surprised to see Sam sitting next to him fully dressed. "What are you doing up?" He asks, reaching up to wipe the sleep from his eyes.
"I was waiting on you to wake up."
"How long have you been up?"
"About an hour."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She replies, as he sits up.
"So, why are you up so early and dressed?"
"I've got plans for us, so come on." She says, reaching for the sheet at his waist.
"You've got plans, what plans?"
"I thought we could take a drive and then have a picnic by the falls and after that maybe stop by some of the wineries on the way back."
"After we were up so late, I thought you would want to spend the day in bed." He says, leaning over to kiss her good morning.
"That would be nice, but this will be better."
"Better than you and me in bed." Jeffrey teases, as he lays back.
"Yes, because it will be you, me and the great outdoors." She says, leaning over him.
"You like to live a little dangerous. What happens if we get caught? I am mayor now and I'm not sure Springfield would approve of their mayor being arrested in a foreign country for indecent exposure."
"The City of Springfield will survive and this is coming from the man that pulled me into a closet at the American Embassy as the Queen of England was arriving. In fact, I'm not too sure that some of the guest didn't hear us in that closet."
"You shouldn't have worn that dress. And you didn't seem to mind that I pulled you into the closet. And I am no more dangerous than you and the incident in Israel. I think we're still banned from that country because of that."
"You enjoyed every minute of that and you'll enjoy this too, so come on." She says, pulling the sheet back.
"You know, you are so wrong to do that." He says, stalling her.
"Do what?" She asks, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.
"Reminding me of all that and then pulling away." Jeffrey says reaching for her and pulling her back to as he lays back.
"You're the one that…."
"I don't care." Jeffrey mumbles, kissing her.
Waves of warmth rushes over her as he wraps his arms around her. Deepening the kiss, he reaches for the waist of her shirt, slipping his hand underneath. Softly he moves his hands over her back. After a few more seconds, she pulls away. Taking a deep breath, she looks down. She can feel his desire pressing against her, throbbing with mounting desire. Looking up, she sees his eyes have faded to pale golden green, which is a good indication that he's not going to let her go until they make love, but she decides to tease him anyway. "What are you doing?"
"I think that's obvious." He replies, his voice husky with desire.
"We have a picnic waiting…."
"The picnic can wait." He says, moving his hand up her back, gently caressing her, smiling when he feels her sigh. "You know this would be a whole lot easier if you were not dressed." She sighs softly before she leans in to kiss him. After a few moments, she sits up and then looks down, watching him. "Come on, Sam." He pleads, reaching for and laying his hands on her thighs.
She looks down at his hand and then back up. He's watching as she reaches for her shirt. Pulling it up, she tosses it to the floor before she leans over him. "Did you think I would or could tell you no?"
He leans up to kiss her. "Take the rest off."
"Um hmm, I think I'll make you wait." She says, moving down his neck. Softly kissing and nibbling across his neck to his ear. Reaching up, he reaches for her bra, unfastening it. As it falls to his chest, he reaches for her breasts, softly kneading them while he plays with her nipples until she moans softly. "J."
He moves on, moving his hands down her stomach. Stopping to play with her navel and smiling when he feels her shiver. Laying his hands on her lower stomach, he looks up, watching her. She looks down and smiles. Leaning back over him, she moves down his neck, nibbling on his chest. Softly she licks his nipples before she moves back, breathing softly against him. "Sam." He groans, as she moves back in and begins to play with him, licking and nibbling gently on his upper chest and nipples.
Reaching for the button on her jeans, he unbuttons them and then reaches for the zipper, tugging it down, before he begins to push her jeans down. "Take them off." He demands, his hands are insistent as she moves to kneel over him. "Please."
She moves off him, standing up as he tosses her bra to the floor, watching her pull her jeans and panties down. She steps out of them and then climbs back onto the bed. He reaches for her as she kneels over him. Leaning towards each other, they kiss as he reaches up to bury his fingers in her soft hair.
He lays back, bring her with him. Lying down on top of him, he wraps his arms around her. Breaking the kiss after a few seconds, he whispers. "Can you feel that?"
She leans back and looking down, she softly licks her lips. Shivering, he feels his stomach clinch as he reads her intentions in her eyes when she looks up. Slowly she moves down his body, kissing and nibbling on his chest, moving down his stomach. When she reaches his lower abdomen, he reaches for her, burying his fingers in her hair as he tries to guide her. He feels his heart slam against his chest when she moves lower. He feels her warmth breath rush over him and he imagines the feel of her mouth enclosing him in that warmth. She licks him softly, slowly moving her tongue and lips over his hard length, kissing him. "Beca." He groans, arching his hips, silently begging for more.
She answers his plea, taking him inside. Her mouth feels exactly as he knew it would, soft, warm and moist. Slowly she begins to move, caressing him with her lips and tongue. Incredible waves of desire rushes through him. Leisurely she moves her tongue around the tip of his erection. After a few moments, he reaches for her and she looks up without releasing him. Realizing what he wants, she pulls away from him long enough to turn around and then she takes him inside again. Reaching for her, he opens her. The moisture of desire clings to her and her scent is intoxicating as he pulls her back to him. Reaching for her, he leisurely moves his tongue over her desire. He feels her jump slightly before she moves closer to him. Gently he taps against her desire.
Aching waves of desire rush over her, forcing her to move closer to him as she moans softly. The vibrations of her cry dances over him bring his need to a fever pitch. He starts to pull away, but she holds onto him refusing to release him as she takes him deeper, closing her mouth around him, she begins to suck. She feels his desire build to a higher pitch and knows the moment that his release breaks before he arches his hips, holding onto to hers as he arches his back. She takes all of him as wave after wave crashes through him until finally he falls back to the bed, struggling to catch his breath.
When she moves away from him, he musters enough strength to try and stop her, but she turns to him, kissing him. He can taste his desire on her lips as he deepens the kiss, wrapping his arms around her the fire of his desire for her begins to burns again. He rolls her to her back and leaning up on both arms, he watches as he moves between her thighs, slipping inside her.
Slowly he begins to thrust, pressing his erection deep inside hers. She feels like soft velvet, clinging to him as he moves deeper, pressing against her sweetest desire, lightly brushing against her until she begins moan with each caress. "J, darlin." She cries her accent deepening as she gives herself up to him.
She clings to him, rolling her hips with each of his thrust, fighting the distance between them when he pulls away, desperately holding onto him when he sinks deep inside her. They move together, until he feels her shatter. Her body clinched tightly around his, squeezing him while staggering waves of release sweep through her. She desperately holds onto him, pulling every ounce of his desire from deep inside him as he feels his stomach clinch. His release rolls through him as he sucks in a deep breath, holding it until the last surge of his release floods his body, filling hers. Collapsing into her arms, they struggle to breathe as residual waves of their release rolls over them.
Rolling to his side, Jeffrey takes a deep breath, before he says. "You have no idea how much I love you."
"Yes, I do and I love you too."
"You got to admit that was better than a picnic."
"Umm, a little bit." She says softly, snuggling closer to him.
They lay there for a few minutes before he asks. "Where are these wineries?" When she doesn't answer, he looks down to find her asleep. Smiling, as he softly kisses her forehead. Lying back, he lays there holding her. After a few moments, he closes his eyes.
Olivia walks into her office. Sitting down at her desk, she leans back. Closing her eyes she feels alone. Ava was avoiding her. Jeffrey was married now with a baby on the way. Buzz was involved with someone else now. Even Emma was avoiding her, spending all of her time in the room now. "Why didn't they understand? Jeffrey belonged with her."
Reaching for the drawer beside her, she opens it and pulls out the clipping from the article about the wedding and the baby. She looks at Jeffrey. She can see that he's happy. But she still can't admit that he was in love. Lying to herself by trying to convince herself that he belonged to her.
Laying the picture on her desk, she leans back, closing her eyes, thinking back to the night of the party at the embassy on San Cristobel. That night she had wanted to forget her life. She hated feeling not good enough. Jeffrey had made her feel like she was good enough. He made her feel protected every time he had chased Edmund away. The fact that he had every intention of sleeping with her that night should've turned her off, but she had gone to that party with the intention of being an adult.
"When she had passed out and Edmund had come in, a part of her knew that he wasn't Jeffrey. And when Ditkin's had told her that Jeffrey was the one that raped her that night she knew something was off. Picking the picture up again, looking at Jeffrey, she tries to imagine him with her, but as hard as she tries she can't see it and still she can't admit that it's over.
Putting the picture away, she reaches for her purse and pulls out her cell phone. She dials Simmon's number and after a couple rings he picks up. "Hello."
"It's me." Olivia says, turning towards the window.
"I haven't heard from you in a while."
"I've been trying to lay low. I want them to believe that I've backed off." She says pushing the argument her and Ava had on Main Street to the back of her mind. "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, we're waiting."
"Where is your friend?"
"He's here and I've been keeping him busy. When do you want to meet for the delivery?"
"A couple days before the wedding, since I'm not going to be able to leave the wedding after they leave. I want your associate to be waiting to finish the job. I'll find the right time to give him the drug. When he leaves, your associate needs to be waiting to follow them. When he wrecks, I want him to move Jeffrey from the car and move Sam over to the driver's side. I want it to appear that she was driving."
"Okay. What are you doing to do with rest of the drug?"
"I'll find a way to plant it on her, either at the loft or in the truck."
"If you're going to make it look like she drugged him, you need to make sure that her finger prints is on the bottle and make sure that yours isn't."
"I will."
"How long are you going to hold him?"
"Until she's out of the picture, that should give me enough time to make him believe that she tried to kill him and I saved him."
"You know, you really are delusional."
"No, I'm not. I'm fighting for my man, he's mine."
"Okay." Simmons says, shaking his head.
"I'll be in touch with the time to pick the drug up."
"Okay." He says, and Olivia hangs up