AN

Interesting reviews, which by the way encourages me to write even more! Why does everyone think the father might be Andrew? Serena has blonde hair, so it's only natural that her kid would right? smiles guess you'll have to wait and see!

Chapter III: Home Again

"Mama?" called Keith, breaking the silence. He looked up with his beautiful hazel green eyes and cocked his head to the side before grinning. "What else did you want to tell me?" he asked curiously.

"Why is it that you always know that there is still something else on my mind?" I replied, laughing at his grin, which had broken into a wide smile as he shrugged. "And yes baby, there is something else. We're going to be visiting Japan for a while, so you can meet your grandparents and uncle," I added, pulling back to see his reaction to my news. Suddenly he leapt from my arms and started running around screaming, with joy or horror I did not know, which was a little unnerving for my part. "Does this mean you're happy or mad at me for not discussing this with you first?" I asked, looking at him curiously, trying to make out his facial expressions.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you Mama!" he screamed, lunging at me and placing tiny butterfly kisses all over my cheeks. We both fell to the ground in a fit of laughter as I held him close to me. "I'm so excited!" he whispered, wiggling around my arms with fervor.

"Good, because I'm really doing this for you and I want you to be happy with this," I told him quietly as we lay there on the living room floor. "And guess what?" I asked, but before he could open his mouth I quickly answered my own question. "Jason will be coming with us, just until I get settled in, then he's going home for work," I said quickly.

"Does Andrew know we're coming to visit? Can we surprise him?!" Keith asked me, full of anticipation as he jumped on top of me.

"He already knows sweetie," I broke the news to him and watched his face go from super excited to a slump. "But I know what we can do to surprise him though!" I suggested, trying to get his spirits up again.

"We can still surprise Andrew? Yes!" he screamed, once again jumping up and down. "So, what's the plan Mama?" he asked, getting into the whole combat idea of ambushing Andrew with a surprise.

"We'll just not tell him when we're arriving and then pop into his work place unexpectedly," I said to Keith, watching his eyes twinkle playfully.

Ever since Keith was born, Andrew had grown a liking to him and vice versa, so it was no surprise to me that Keith would be thrilled with the idea of visiting Andrew. It has after all, been over a year since they had last seen one another. I remember one time, Keith told me that it would be really awesome if Andrew was his father, and that took my breath away. I had never actually thought of how Keith would react to not having a father around in his life. I felt so horrible that my little baby had to go on without his father around, but I thought I had tried with all of my being to make up for that by being the best mother him. I know one day soon the truth has to come out, to both father and son, but I'm just not ready for that day yet.

"Cool! So I can pretend to ignore him for a few days before we go so he can be even more happy to see us," Keith started strategizing for the surprise as he left for his room. With a shake of my head, I headed for my own room and telephoned Jason to let him know the plans.

"Hello, Jason Payne speaking," answered Jason in his business voice. I smiled at the thought of him busy at work; he was such a workaholic sometimes that it wasn't even funny.

"You know, I never get tired of hearing your hello, it's so serious that it's scary!" I laughed, hearing all his paperwork fall to the floor. I guess he wasn't expecting to hear back from me so soon.

"Shouldn't you be in bed getting some rest Sere?" was the first thing to come out from his mouth.

"What, no hello? Not even a simple I'm happy to hear from you?" I asked, shocked that he was being so fatherly. It just sounded so unusual from him, that it worried me.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you getting sick, you know how I worry when you are," he apologized quietly. I heard him rummage through some paperwork and what I suppose was his secretary exiting his office.

"I know, and trust me I intend on getting that rest Mr. Payne," I told him, trying to get him to relax a little. "On the other hand, I called to tell you that I decided to take your advice after all. So pack up, you're leaving with us in a few days," my voice seemed to pick up a notch as I started to sound happier about the return home.

"Are you serious? That's great, I'll have the tickets ordered and tell the boss of the updates

and we can be off!" replied Jason all wound up about my news.

"No, that is for me to handle this time. Your job is to just accompany me, nothing more," I told him in a strict tone of voice. "For once, let me do something on my own. I need to do this," I whispered to him, hoping he understood how I felt.

"Okay, I get your point. You are a grown woman and you can take care of some small business," he replied, sounding almost disappointed that he wasn't getting to take care of things for me like he always did.

"Anyway, Keith wants to surprise Andrew, so try not to spill anything about when we're leaving okay? Andrew will be expecting us, he just doesn't know when," I added, making sure Keith's plans wouldn't be spoiled.

"That'll shock Andrew's pants off for sure," laughed Jason as I joined him. "Andrew's perfect little angel is actually a trickster, wait until he finds out," he said, getting back to work again. "Anyway, glad you called to let me know, but I have some deadlines to meet. So I'll stop by to check up on you two later okay?" he asked, while typing vigorously away at his computer.

"Not it's okay sweetie, you take care of work and go straight home to bed. Keith and I will come by to see you in the morning okay?" I told him, feigning a yawn so that Jason would get the hint that I was tired.

"All right then, see you tomorrow and good night. Bye," he replied silently.

"Night Mr. Payne," was my reply just as we both hung up on one another. "Okay Keith, time for bed," I called out from my bedroom, listening to see if he was still playing in his room. Sliding on my slippers, I trudged over to Keith's room and peeked in to check up on him. To my surprise, he was already sound asleep, so I turned off his lights and tucked him in before leaving. "Sweet dreams baby," I whispered as I placed in kiss on his forehead. When I pulled away, I saw that he was holding onto a picture frame. Carefully, I tugged the picture out of his arms and saw that it was a photo taken the last time Andrew had come to visit us. 'Such a nice little family' I remember a passerby saying to us as we huddled together for the photograph. Putting the picture frame back onto his nightstand, I headed back towards my bedroom to get some rest as well.

Next Morning

"Wake up sweetie, time to get up so we can plan for our trip," I whispered, trying to get my son out of bed. It was a chilly morning, so I knew he'd try to stay in bed as long as he could to keep warm. After a few moments, I said, "Okay, if you don't want to visit Andrew anymore, then you can stay in bed." Walking to the door, I stopped to give him five seconds to react to my news.

"I'm up!" he yelled, running for the restroom and brushing his teeth like a madman. I laughed as I saw him running about while getting dressed. My tactic was lame, but it always works with my son.

"Ready?" I called out, looking down to see him tie his shoes and stand up next to me. He grabbed onto my free hand and smiled at me.

"Now I'm ready!" he answered, sticking his tongue out at me and making a silly face as we left our apartment. We hopped into my brand new red convertible Audi TT and took off for Jason's estate. On the drive over, we planned everything so that it would be perfect we\hen we got to Andrew's place. I pulled into the driveway and before I could even turn the engine off, Keith took off running for the front door. "He Jason!" he yelled as the door swung open and Jason swooped down to grab him.

"Good morning sport!" replied Jason, laughing as they both headed out to help me with my bags. "Morning Sere, hope you're feeling better today," he said to me as he gave me a hand with the bags.

"Good morning Jason," I replied, pecking him on the cheek gently before handing him my briefcase. We went into his office as Keith played outside in the living room. "So, I made a few calls this morning, and it looks like we're leaving in the morning," I told him quietly. "Is that enough time for you to get ready? I mean, I can push back the flight if you'd like," I started to ramble, nervous that he might have a problem with my arrangements.

"No, everything is fine. I can have all my paperwork faxed or e-mail to me, so don't worry Sere," he replied, trying to calm me down. We sat down and started talking about where we'd stay and how I would explain things to my family. "Don't worry, I'll watch Keith while you get things situated with the family, then you can come get him if they're willing to meet him," said Jason.

"I don't know, I'm so scared, and what if I run into them again?" I said starting to think of how awkward things would be if we had a run in. What would I say, what would I do? "I just don't think I could handle dealing with them and my family at the same time," I muttered, tears forming in my eyes.

"We'll steer clear of where they hang out for a while until things with your family is settled okay? Then you can decide if you want to deal with them or not afterwards," suggested Jason, reaching over for some tissues. After things were planned, I told Jason we'd meet him at the airport early the next morning and left with Keith to head home to pack our things for the trip.

On Board

"So are you looking forward to meeting your grandparents, Keith?" asked Jason, smiling at Keith, squirming around in his seat. I reached over and tugged at his seatbelt to make sure it was on correctly and tight.

"This isn't like one of mommy's normal business trips honey, you're going to be stuck here for quite some time," I told him, reaching into my bag and pulling out on of his many books. "Why don't you keep yourself busy until you're tired, or watch some movies like everyone else," I suggested while I started working on some of my designs again.

"The line sounds quite interesting, I'm shocked you decided to go for the winter gowns this year," whispered Jason, peeping over my shoulders to glance into my drawing portfolio.

"I was getting bored with doing regular outfits and I had this really neat dream about this ball, so I thought I'd give it a try and see where it would take me," I answered continuing with the current gown I'd been working on for the past week now.

"So, when do you expect it to come out?" he asked, trying to make small talk from what I was picking up from his tone of voice.

"Don't worry, I'm not thinking about them if that's what you're thinking," I replied quietly. "This line is far too important for me to be distracted," I admitted, finishing up the last touches to the main gown of my line of gowns. It was a white evening gown made of pure silk with a lace trimming around the gown edge, instead of the customary top design I chose to go with the tube design with tiny beads of pearls and quarter carat diamonds sewn into the top of the gown.

24 Hours Later

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed in Japan at Tokyo's International Airport," announced one of the flight attendants, just as I woke up from my long sleep. I looked over to see Keith smiling and kicking his feet, waiting anxiously to get off the airplane.

"Did you sleep okay?" asked Jason, smiling as he handed me my coat from the seat beside us.

"Yeah, how long ago did we land?" I asked, still a little groggy. I heard everyone start to move and was going to get up myself too until I heard something.

"If you would just give us a few moments to get situated at the gate before you unbuckle your seatbelts, we'll get you off the plan as fast as we can," said the attendant.

"Tired baby?" I asked, reaching down for my purse to check my make-up. I probably looked like a train wreck, but I'd still like to look nice once I got off the plane.

"So when do we get to surprise Andrew?" asked Keith, sounding as if he were high on sugar. Sometimes I wonder if he took too much after me, but then again, it's possible that he took after his father also. You never know when it comes to him.

"Later, after we get to the hotel and shower so we don't stink!" I teased, pretending to hold my nose as I pecked him on the cheek. Once the plane pulled into the gate, we headed for baggage

claim to get our suitcases.

I had booked two suites at the Hilton in Tokyo, a business suite for Jason, and a family suite for Keith and myself. Once we were shown to our rooms, I told Jason to hurry and shower so we could grab a bite to eat before heading over to Andrew's office. Keith hurled himself into the Jacuzzi and drew himself a bubble bath while I washed myself off in the private shower. Once finished, I dressed him in a pair of khakis and a dark red polo shirt with some dress shoes and shoved him to his room with a Game Boy Advance SP so he could busy himself while I got dressed. I picked out a nice sky blue sundress made of sheer lace and satin, which I had designed myself last month. I slipped into a pair of tan open toe Nine West strapped heels and grabbed my matching Gucci handbag.

"Okay honey, lets go meet Jason downstairs in the lobby," I called out to Keith at the door. He ran up to me in his cute little outfit and grabbed my hand before we headed down to the lobby together. When the elevator door chimed and opened, we stepped out and looked around for Jason. I turned around as I heard someone clear their throat to see Jason standing their in a black Armani business suit, looking more handsome than I've ever seen him before. "My, aren't you looking dashing today," I complimented, smiling as he came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I should say the same to you my lady. You look exquisite," he whispered, grabbing onto Keith's other vacant hand and ushering us both towards the car outside waiting for us. Once outdoors, I noticed that it was a black Mercedes s500, just like Jason's car back home, except his was silver.

"When did you get this?" I asked, curious because I thought I had made all the arrangements. Where on earth was the Lexus GS I called in for? It's ridiculous the way he always has to have his things everywhere he goes sometimes! "Did you call ahead and have my order switched?" I asked him, eying him up and down.

"Yes, I just thought it would be nice if I got a car I would be more comfortable in. You know, since I'll have to kill time while you're busy, might as well feel at home while I tour the city," he admitted, backing away before I could swat him with my purse.

"You always have to look good no matter where you go don't you?" I asked, getting into the passenger seat after buckling Keith into his child seat. "Okay Mr. Big Shot, so do you know where we are going?" I asked, trying to make him feel bad. This was supposed to be my vacation, so I was supposed to be making all the decisions on this trip.

"You know, I didn't really think about that. I guess you'll have to drive then," he replied, chuckling as he got out and opened the door for me. "Sorry, I'm still trying to get the hang of this," he added, running his hand through his hair as I got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Just shut up and get into the car already!" I yelled, switching gear into drive and taking off just as he jumped into the car. We pulled into Andrew's building about twenty minutes later with a very shocked Jason, looking rather sick to the stomach I might add. "Sorry, I forgot you've never been in the passenger seat while I was the driver have you?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know. Keith and I burst into a fit of laughter as we both helped Jason out of the car and headed up towards Andrew's office.

"Hi, welcome to the offices of Forbes & Associates!" said a secretary as soon as we stepped into Andrew's office suite. "Do you have an appointment with us today?" she asked courteously.

"Actually, no, but I'm an old friend of Mr. Forbes and we're trying to surprise him with a visit today. He's not busy is he?" I asked, hoping that Andrew was in and not with a client at the moment.

"Actually, he just got out of a meeting," said a voice from behind me. 'Drat!' I cringed inwardly.

"Sorry baby, looks like we got caught red handed," I leaned over, whispering into Keith's ears as he muffled a laugh. We all turned around to see Andrew standing there dressed in a dark gray suit and pair of glasses adorning his eyes. "Surprise?" I said, giving him a hug.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were arriving today!" scolded Andrew, as he wrapped his arms around me and placed a kiss on my neck, which surprised me so much that it took my breath away.

AN

Okay, I made this one a lot longer to get more to the point. Hope everyone likes.