Chapter 1 Living in Make Believe

Gigi, Shane, and Brody walked into the carriage house. Gigi was trying her hardest to keep her tears at bay and a smile on her face, no matter how much she wanted to break down. She made this mess of her life when she chose to lie to her son and continue lying to her son and the world even when his father came back into their world. "Forgive me Rex," she whispered to herself, "Forgive me Shane," she whispered to her son. She was getting lost in her head of all the possibilities of where life would take her now. Marcie knew the truth and would continue to pressure her to tell the truth to Rex and Shane. They deserved to know the truth. But what was the truth? She did not know anymore. Rex was married to Adriana and they would have kids of their own. He would have less and less time for Shane. And now Brody was here. That was the piece of this weird day that she could not put her finger on. "Why was Brody here after all these years? Why now?" Where the questions that raced through her mind. None of it made sense, Brody's sudden appearance in an almost perfect timing made her suspicious…even so much that he embraced Shane right away not question that Shane referred to him as his father, "How did he know what Shane looked like? Or where to find me?" Her thoughts were broken by her son's voice.

"Can you stay here with us?"

"NO!" Gigi blurted out all too quickly. She did not know this man in front of her now, he was very much a stranger in their world and something inside of her told her that he would bring pain. "What I mean," she said trying to cover up her mistake, "Is that he's probably staying someplace else and needs to get back."

"Mom…"

"No Mom me," Gigi said firmly, "Now say good-bye to Brody and get ready for bed."

"But Mom…"

"Bed Shane," she said, raising her voice a few octaves, "Did you forget you were in the emergency room today?"

"Can he stay just for tonight?" Shane begged, "It's really late out and he's here."

"Fine," she said giving in, "He can stay on the couch tonight, but that's it."

"Yes!" Shane said running over to her and giving her a big hug, "Thank you!" He ran over to Brody and hugged him as well, "I'll see you tomorrow Dad."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Brody said. He watched and waited for Shane to run upstairs before saying, "I see you're still hung up on the Balsom guy."

"He's none of your concern," she said walking past him and going to the closet looking for blankets and sheets for Brody. She grabbed the first ones she could find and threw them on the couch, "This is only for tonight."

"Aren't you the least bit happy to see me?" Brody asked.

"You were dead," Gigi said, "You're mother told me you were dead."

"I know," he said.

"How'd you find out?" She asked, getting immediately suspicious of his reply.

"What's with the twenty questions?" Brody countered, his temper was starting to get the better of him.

"We survived without you," she said, "And we were living quiet well without you as well."

"That's harsh."

"So is this!" She screamed, "You coming here out of the blue after ten years."

"You told him I was his father!"

"I'd rather had Shane believe his father died a war hero than his father abandoning him before he was born."

"And yet you still love that man," Brody hissed back.

"Yes!" She admitted, "And he didn't know about Shane."

"So he gets your forgiveness and I get a cold reception."

"You knew I never loved you," she whispered, "and it's been ten years Brody."

"You're point?"

"You never loved me enough to search for me for ten years." Gigi saw the anger flare in Brody's eyes when she said that and immediately wished she hadn't said it…even if it was the truth.

"The boy needs a father," Brody said after taking a few deep breaths.

"He has a father," Gigi said, "and it's not you." Gigi didn't even have time to react as Brody's hand came hard across her face. Her hand came up and clutched her tender cheek as she looked at him with wide eyes.

Brody immediately stepped back and his face fell, "I'm so sorry Gigi," he whispered, "I didn't…"

"Get out!" she screamed.

"Gi…"

"Get out of my house!" she screamed at him!

"You promised Mom!" Shane yelled from the top of the stairs.

Gigi turned and saw her son there, "How long have you been there?" She asked.

"I ran down when I heard you screaming," Shane said, missing the fact his mother had breathed a sigh of relief, "You promised me tonight Mom!"

"Your da," Gig stopped herself, this man wasn't his dad and she would never utter those words again, not after this, "Brody has someplace to be and needs to go."

"No I don't," Brody countered.

"That thing you told me about."

"I can cancel it."

"Mom," Shane pleaded with her.

"Fine," she said, "He can stay tonight, but you are gone first thing tomorrow."

"Why do I have the feeling I'm not wanted?" Brody asked, loving to watch her squirm.

"You leave in the morning Brody," she said, "Bed time Shane." She walked towards the stairs, "and this time you stay in bed."

"Goodnight Dad!" Shane said with a smile, "Mom," he said before turning around and walking up the stairs.

"He's a good kid," Brody said.

"You don't know him," she said, "but yes, he is a good kid."

"I want to know him," he said.

"You can't," she said. She felt a presence behind her and turned around to see Brody behind her.

"Give this a chance," he said, "You loved me once."

"No I didn't," she said, "and you knew that."

"You can't have him," Brody said, "He's married to someone whose not you."

"Leave me alone," she said grabbing Rex's old jersey from the stairwell and walking up stairs. She went into her room and cried into the jersey. In her tears she grabbed her phone and text a message, never intending to send it, just writing her needs down to make her feel better.

Anyone at the reception could look at the bride and see she was happy and content with the world. But looking at the groom, one could tell his mind was elsewhere and anyone at the wedding would know who was on his mind. He was distracted ever since he watched Gigi and Shane walk out the door with a man they did not know or more specifically he did not know and it was bothering him all night. The song ended and he excused himself from his bride. He went to the bar and ordered himself a shot just to try and drink away the terror in Gigi's eyes. "Something's not right here," he mumbled himself as checked his cell phone for texts or messages from Gigi.

"You're telling me," Bo said, "You think you would have learned your lesson after last night's binge feast."

"Very funny," Rex said in between shots as he set his cell phone on the bar.

"Why don't you slow down there," Bo said grabbing the shot from his hands, "and tell me what's wrong instead of that shot glass. I promise I won't leave you with a headache in the morning."

"How about giving me one now?"

"Funny," Bo said, "Talk to me Rex."

"I can't stop thinking about Gigi."

"Color me shocked," Bo deadpanned.

"Did she look off to you today?"

"You mean outside of professing her love to you?" Bo countered.

"When that guy showed up."

"You mean Shane's father?" Bo asked.

"Don't call him that," Rex said quickly, "Something is off about that man. Did you see Gigi's face?"

"She looked surprised," Bo said, "and given the circumstances that is a normal reaction. She thought the man was dead Rex."

"I'm not talking about that face," Rex said, "I'm talking about the sadness on her face and the fear in her eyes. Something's not right." Rex paused for a few moments before stating, "I'm going to go over there and check on them."

Bo grabbed his arm as he tried to walk past him. "You got married today," Bo said, "and this is your reception. She's not your concern anymore."

"She will always be my concern." Rex said without hesitating as he freed himself from Bo's grip.

"What's going on here?" Adriana asked.

"Nothing," Rex said, "What can I do for you Ms. Cramer?"

"You mean Mrs. Balsom?" Adriana said trying to hide the hurt from Rex's statement.

"That's what I said," Rex said. Bo and Adriana could tell that she did not have his full attention, or possibly any of his attention.

"No you…never mind," she said not wanting to fight about it, "I would like to dance with my husband." She extended her hand for Rex to take.

"In a minute…"

"Where done here Balsom," Bo said trying to encourage Rex to dance with his wife and forget about this high school girlfriend, "Go dance with your beautiful wife."

"In a minute," He said, "I need to use the little boys' room."

On the way to the bathroom his cell phone made a sound letting him know there was a text message. Adriana picked it up from the bar and hit the left button to view the message "I need you" it read. "Sorry Gigi," she said, "Rex isn't going to help you ever again." She deleted the message and pulled out her cell phone. She had finished sending Brody a text to meet her tomorrow when Rex came back. She watched as he grabbed his phone from the bar and check for any new messages. She tried to not let her face drop when she saw the disappointment in Rex's eyes.