Kirsten couldn't halt the ever flowing tears. She couldn't believe Sandy thought she was in love with Carter. Sure there was an attraction but not love. Nothing could make her stop loving him. Her heart ached with pain as she thought about how Sandy thought he wasn't worthy of her and how he put her happiness before him. She didn't know what to do. She sat down on the couch still holding the letter. She was repeating his words in her head. Be happy. Be happy, even if that doesn't include me. How could she be happy without him? He was never second best, especially not to Jimmy. She couldn't believe he had wanted another baby, she had always wanted to but things always got in the way. As she lifted her head she caught a glimpse of her wedding album on the table. She realised Sandy must have been looking through it. She carefully opened the album and smiled at the pictures in front of her. As she touched a picture of Sandy she felt dampness. Sandy must have been crying. She thought to herself. She noticed the TV remote lying on the couch, so she pressed play. On the TV came a happy newly wed couple dancing to their favourite song Don't give up on me by Solomon Burke. Kirsten laughed as Sandy picked her and spun her round as he declared his love for her in front of all their guests. As Kirsten sat and reminisced about the good times in her and Sandy's life she suddenly thought about where he could have went when it clicked- he must have went to Berkeley. That 's when Sandy's was the happiest. Kirsten quickly ran to the bedroom and grabbed some clothes and the essentials. She left the boys a note saying that she and Sandy were going away for a couple of days and that she would contact them tomorrow. She wasn't going to give up on their marriage. She just had to tell Sandy how she really felt.

Berkeley

Sandy sat on a bench overlooking a beautiful water fountain. It was on this very bench that he told Kirsten he loved her for the first time and where she told him she was pregnant with Seth. He held a picture of the whole family- Kirsten, Seth, Ryan and himself. He sat there for hours going over the events of the last year and how his life had changed so drastically. He never thought that this would ever happen to him. He always thought that he would spend the rest of his life with Kirsten, never once thinking he would be the one to ruin things. If only he could have forgotten the pain Rebecca had caused him and just forgot about her instead of needing to say a proper goodbye and get closure. He destroyed his future by worrying about his past.

Kirsten drove the distance to Berkeley hoping to find Sandy. Her vision was blurred by the tears in her eyes, they just wouldn't seem to stop. She couldn't forget what Sandy had written in her letter. It pained her to think she had caused Sandy to doubt her love and their marriage. She had a feeling in her heart where he would be, it was their favourite spot in Berkeley. It was early in the morning when she reached Berkeley. From a distance she could see the lights illuminating the water fountain. It was beautiful. She prayed to God that Sandy was here. As she got closer she recognised Sandy's car and sped up. She parked the car and jumped out the car shouting Sandy's name as loud as she could.

Sandy thought he could hear Kirsten's voice shouting on him but he knew she would never come after him. It was only as it got louder he stood up and turned around. It was then he saw her coming towards him. Kirsten noticed a figure stand up, so examined the person to see if it was him. The moon light lit up his face and it was then she saw the confused but happy face of Sandy staring back at her. Their eyes met and they could both see the love and pain they were both feeling. Kirsten quickly ran to him as fast as her legs could carry her and flung herself into Sandy's arms. Sandy couldn't believe she actually came looking for him. He was ecstatic as he held her close to his body. He buried his face in her shoulder and let the tears flow . Kirsten was in tears too by this point and relaxed into Sandy's comforting embrace. She knew why he had chosen this spot to come to as she will always remember it was the place she made his dreams of becoming a father come true. They clung to each other fiercely before they pulled back and looked deep into each others eyes.

"What are you doing here Kirsten? I wasn't expecting you to come after me." He was still shocked that after everything that had happened she was the one to run after him.

"How could I not come after you! I couldn't let you think that everything you said in that letter was true. I will never stop loving you Sandy. I love you will all my heart."

"But what about what I've put you through and the thing with Carter?" Kirsten held his hand and led him to the bench where they sat down looking at each other.

" Sandy, the thing with Rebecca really did hurt me. I thought that you loved her and that her coming back into your life made you realise that you settled for second best. I thought I was second choice just like you felt with Jimmy. Rebecca is the complete opposite of me and I wondered why you married me when you already had the perfect women. When I saw Rebecca in your office that night my heart sank, I saw how beautiful and perfect she was for you and from that moment I knew I had lost you."

"Kir…" Sandy tried to interrupt her but she wasn't finished.

"Let me finish ok" Sandy looked deep into her eyes and saw the pain this was causing her but knew she had to release this pain so they could move on. He needed to know how she truly felt.

"When you didn't tell me about her I didn't know what to think. I thought that you loved her not me and that maybe your were having an affair. She caused our marriage to crumble. When you left me on valentine's day to be with her I knew we would never be the same while she was still in our lives and that's why I went to see her. I needed to know how she felt about you. I knew in my heart she was in love with you but I didn't want to accept it. I never doubted our marriage until Lindsay's party when you blamed her leaving on me. We had become strangers by this point and I didn't think we be able to come back from it. Then you made it worse by running after her again but when you phoned me that day to tell me you were coming home, I knew that we weren't doomed. I felt nervous when I saw you get off that bus but when you kissed me in the rain I felt happiness run through my body. I loved feeling close to you again." Sandy placed both of her hands in his and watched as she breathed a sigh of relieve from releasing all of her pent up feelings.

"Kirsten I want you to know that you were never second choice to me and that you are my perfect woman. All men want you and envy me for having you. When I met you I knew that I couldn't give you the life you had but all I wanted was to make you happy. I know people doubted us in the beginning but what matters is that I love you and I loved you all along. Our love is too strong to be broken. No woman could come anywhere close to you, especially not Rebecca. My feelings when I was with her are nothing compared to the love I feel for you." Kirsten knew he was being sincere. She leaned in and gave him the sweetest, softest of kisses.

"I love you so much Sanford Cohen. Always have and always will."

"I know that what happened with Rebecca caused you so much pain but I need to about Carter. I need to know what happened and your feelings for him. Just be honest with me." He wasn't sure if he truly wanted to know what happened. He knew Kirsten loved him but she could also love Carter.

"Carter came into our lives when we were having a pretty hard time. He noticed that I didn't have my wedding ring. I know I told you I lost them but the truth is I took them off to see if you would notice. I'm so sorry for doing it and then when you gave me that plastic ring I couldn't believe you had gone through all that trouble to stop me from doubting your love which I had done previously to that moment. After that even though things were better between us I couldn't stop my attraction to Carter, even Julie picked up on it. Then you became friends with him and it made things awkward. I even made Erin break up with him because I was jealous of them. When we went to feather brook I realised that I definitely felt something for him. We were too drunk to drive home and they only had one room. Being alone with Carter made me nervous and I knew I had to get home away from him to stop something from happening." Sandy's heat was beating so fast right now that he thought he was going to have a heart attack. He wanted to scream to release the pain and anger he was feeling. He started to cry again which in turn made Kirsten cry. He turned his head away from her. He couldn't look at her as she said these things about another man. Kirsten could see how this was affecting him and gently touched his cheek to made him look at her.

"Sandy please look at me. I need to tell you this so that we can hopefully move past it and concentrate on our future."

"How can I sit and listen to you talk about falling in love with another man. It's too hard Kirsten, I cant do it." Kirsten put both her hands on his head and looked him straight the eye.

"I never said anything about loving him. Just let me finish. I know this is hurting you but you hurt me with Rebecca." They sat looking at each other as Kirsten continued with her story not allowing Sandy to look away from her.

"When you went away from Miami with the boys I invited Carter to dinner at the house. He told me he had been offered a job somewhere else. We had a couple of bottles of wine. Sandy……..we kissed. I'm so sorry." Sandy didn't know what to do with this information.

"Why Kirsten? Why? Please tell me nothing else happened."

"Of course not Sandy. It was only a kiss. Please believe me. I know what I did was wrong but I thought I was losing you Sandy. Don't you understand Carter is you. Carter was what you used to be like. He filled the hole that you left. I only went to him because he reminded me of you and what we used to be like. I never loved him. I could never love another man apart from you. You are my life. If you left I would have no reason to keep going. My heart only beats for you." Sandy sat still, not moving. Kirsten stared at him worried about what he thinking and what he was going to do. He suddenly lifted her and sat her down on his lap, holding her close.

"I'm so sorry for what I done to you. I never meant to hurt you so badly. Please, please forgive me. I'm so sorry you had to look to someone else for comfort. I know we can move on from this."

"Sandy of course I forgive as long as you forgive me. We've caused each other so much pain but now we know the truth and how each other feels. We're no longer strangers but the couple we've always will be. We're Sandy and Kirsten: The moral centre of the universe." This made both of them laugh. Sandy was glad to see her radiant smile again.

"I love you Kirsten Cohen."

"I love you too Sanford Cohen" Sandy gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand before pulling her in for a passionate kiss. They sat there under the moon light kissing for several minutes. They pulled apart and just sat together looking at the fountain both knowing they would always be together and that nothing could tear them apart. Kirsten stood up and held her hand out to Sandy. He placed his hand in hers and clasped his fingers around hers.

"Come on swinger, lets go home." Kirsten burst into laughter as he made a reference to their terrible new years party as they walked towards their cars hand in hand.

"So how is this going to work? Will we drive home separately or together and leave one of the cars here." Sandy wanted to spend more time with her but if he got home first he could plan a little surprise for her.

"Well we may as well drive home separately. Saves us from having to come back for the other car." Kirsten really didn't want to have to drive back up for the car the next day.

"Ok well I'll see you soon. I love you." He whispered before giving her a quick but passionate kiss.

"I love you too." They headed towards their cars each wondering how their night would end when they got home. As Sandy drove away he blew Kirsten a kiss while contemplating his plan. He wanted to finish the night with something special to show Kirsten how much he loved her.