!JAKE'S POV!
"Alyssa! I'm home!" I call out as I enter our house through the front door. Alyssa comes walking out of the kitchen. "Wow. You're home early. It's only noon." she says as she gives me a hug. "I know. I came home early because I need to talk to you. Are you doing anything for lunch?" "I'm meeting Audrey and Sarah for lunch in about an hour. Why?" "Just sit down." We both sat down at our dining room table. "Ok. I have some good news and some bad news." "Ok. Well, shoot." "The good news is that I got the promotion." "Oh wow! You finally got it!? That's great!" Alyssa hugs me. "What's the bad news?" I try to laugh. "Well, the promotion... it, uh... Alyssa... We have to move to Florida ." Alyssa looks at me with a blank stare for a moment, and then she looks around the room. I'm not sure what to do now. "Wow.", she says silently under her breath. "Look, I haven't given my boss a definite answer yet. So, if you're not okay with it, I can just tell him no.", I told her. She thought about it for a moment. "No. Don't do that." She said as she grabbed my hands. "Listen, I know you've worked really hard for this and I know it's important to you. You deserve this." "Wow Alyssa. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting this." I hug her. "I know this will be hard for us and it'll be a big step, but I know it'll be for the best." But in my own head, I don't' know if I believe this. I really was expecting Alyssa to stop me from letting us make this move. She looked up at me. "Just, don't tell anyone about this yet. I think we should probably do it together." I nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right." I hug her again. "Thanks for being so understanding." "You're welcome. But I have to go. I'm leaving Crystal with you. I'll see you later." I give her a quick kiss goodbye. "Okay. Bye, babe."
!KEVIN'S POV!
The morning after the whole Adam ordeal, we woke up early to see everyone off. It was nice to actually have the house all to ourselves today -- Audrey took off work and I didn't have to go to school on account that it was Saturday. Eve is still asleep. I walk into the kitchen where Audrey is making coffee. "Wasn't it weird about that Adam thing last night?" Audrey asks. "Yeah. That's really creepy. I swear, if he tries anything, I'll kill him." I look out the window just to make sure he hadn't come back after he finally left last night. I didn't see his car so I figured it was safe. Later in the afternoon, the phone rang. "Hello?" It was Alyssa. "Hey Kevin, do you think you and Audrey can come over tonight? Jake and have some kind of big news." "Oh yeah. Sure. Is everything all right?" "Mm-hm. Everything is fine." I don't believe her. "All right. See you tonight." "Who was that?" Audrey asks when I hang up. "Alyssa. She wants us to come over tonight." "Is everything all right?" "So she says..." The rest of the day was Adam free thankfully and around 6, we all headed over to the Baker's house along with Sarah and Kyle. When we were all seated and Alyssa put dinner on the table Audrey asks "Ok, Alyssa. What's going on?" Alyssa and Jake exchange glances. "We need someone to watch Rylee, Cayden, and Crystal this weekend while Jake and I go to Florida ." Sarah speaks up "We can. Why?" This time, Jake talks. "We're going to look at houses." I see Audrey look up abruptly. "Houses?" she asks. "Are you buying a beach house?" Audrey looks directly at Alyssa, but Alyssa avoids eye contact. "No," Jake says quietly. "Wait. What's going on?" Kyle asks. Alyssa looks up from her plate. "We're moving..."
!ALYSSA'S POV!
After everybody left our house, I sat down on the couch and started at the blank TV just thinking. Jake had taken the kids out for ice cream. I heard them come in the house a few minutes later but I couldn't break my daze. "Rylee and Cayden you two need to go take a bath and then get in bed." he said as carried a sleeping Crystal upstairs. A bit later he came downstairs and sat down next to me on the couch. I was still thinking about moving. He looked at me, then at the blank TV, then again at me. "You know that's not on right?" he asked me in a teasing tone. I just looked at him and crawled into his lap. "Are you ok?" "I'll be fine. It will just take me a while to get used to the idea." "Yeah, I know honey. It's for the best though." I nodded. Just then the phone rang. Jake answered it. He got a worried look on his face and hung up. "What's wrong?" I ask. "That was Sarah. She saw Adam snooping around the outside of their house." I stood up. "Are you kidding?" Jake gets up and heads for the door. "Where are you going?" "I'm going over there." "Then I'm coming too." He turns around. "No. You're staying here. Don't open the door for anyone but me. Do you understand?" "Jake, I'm not 10" "Alyssa, this guy is a rapist. He's not getting anywhere near you." And with that, he left the house.
!SARAH'S POV!
I look out the window. I see something rummage through the bushes, then a tall male stand up with a red shirt on. Oh no. "Kyle!" I whisper, loud enough for Kyle to hear. "What is it?" he asks. "Shh! Look out the window." Kyle looks through the curtain I've pulled back. "Oh, crap," Kyle says, seeing Adam. "What are we going to do?", I ask Kyle. He thinks for a moment. "I'm not sure...", His voice trails off. I rush over to the kitchen and pick up the phone. "What are you doing?", Kyle asks me. "I'm calling Jake." Luckily, Jake answered and i was able to tell him what was going on. "Don't worry, Sarah. I'll be over as soon as I can.". "Just..don't let him see you." "I don't care if he sees me. I'm sick of this guy," Jake says. "No. Jake --." But he has already hung up. "What did he say?" Kyle asks. I sigh. "I think he's about to do something rash. Watch the window." Kyle goes over to the window. I walk upstairs where Tyler and Dylan are. They're in their playroom. "Hey boys," I say. "Yeah?" they call in unison. "I need you to stay in there, ok? Do not come downstairs." "Sarah, he's coming across the street." I join Kyle at the window. Jake approaches the house but instead of heading for the front door, he heads toward the bushes. "What is he doing? I told him not to do anything rash!" Kyle rushes out the front door but it's too late, Jake and Adam are already standing face to face. I rush outside too when I see that Alyssa, too has come running across the street yelling, "Jake! Stop it and come home!" "Man, what do you think you're doing sneaking around their house?" Jake says to Adam, not backing away. Kyle runs down the stairs. "Jake, man. Really, don't get involved in this." "I am going to get involved in this because this guy could be putting my own family in danger too." Adam looks at him, not flinching. This is between Sarah and I. So maybe you should just butt out." Jake glared at him. "Sarah is my sister. I have every right to protect her." Adam stands up straighter. "You don't want to mess with me, dude." Jake stands up straighter too. "Oh, i really think I do." Just when it looks like Jake is about to punch Adam, Alyssa speaks up. "Jacob Baker. You stop this and come home. You are not going to get yourself hurt." Adam laughs. "I see who wears the pants in this relationship." Jake's eyes shine, he pulls back his fist and punches Adam in the mouth. Alyssa screams, I yell "Jake!" and Kyle runs even closer to pull Jake back. Adam stumbles backward, his hand over his jaw. After Adam recovers and Jake calms down a bit, Adam speaks. "Look. I didn't come to hurt anyone." He looks directly at Jake and Jake glares right back. "I just came to...settle some unfinished business." Kyle steps in front of me, as if to protect me. "What are you talking about?", he asks. "I want to see my
child."
!AUDREY'S POV!
"You're moving!?" I say after Jake tells us the news. "Well, yeah..." "Jake! You have to be the most selfish person I know!" "...What?" "Audrey, please don't do this," Alyssa says softly. "You are hardly ever at home and Alyssa is left taking care of these children all by herself while you're off at work. Now you're going to move your wife and children from the people they love?! Why can't you just let Alyssa be happy for once and care a little bit more about your family than your job." I hadn't realized that I had stood up while lecturing Jake. The room is silent and everyone stares at me. "Audrey, sit down," Kevin whispers. "No! I don't want Jake taking my twin thousands of miles away." "Audrey, there isn't anything I can do," Jake says. "That's a lie! You're only going because Alyssa could never crush your dreams and tell you what she really thinks or feels." "Maybe you should leave," Alyssa says, still speaking softly. I turn around and walk out the door, hearing Kevin leaving behind me. Later that afternoon, I sit in the kitchen, staring at the wall and thinking. "Audrey, are you ok? Do you want anything to eat?" Kevin asks. "No." "...Ok." I hear Eve playing in the other room. "What about the kids?" I ask. "The kids and Eve were best friends." Kevin doesn't say anything for a moment. "I know. We'll still them at holidays and stuff." "Oh, great. Three times a year?" "Gee, Audrey. Couldn't you just be happy for them?" "I thought you were on my side." "I'm not on anyone's side."
!KYLE'S POV!
When I first saw Adam snooping around the outside of the house, i had the urge to beat him up. Of course, being the kind of person I am, I would never do it. Jake on the other hand, obviously couldn't contain himself. When I saw him punch Adam in the mouth I didn't know whether to hold him back or letting him finish the jerk off. After getting everyone to calm down and getting Jake and Alyssa back home safe, we sat down on the porch with Adam to talk about Dylan. "Why do you want to see him after so many years? Why do you care now?" Sarah asks timidly, not looking Adam in the eye. "Listen, I know what you won't believe it, but I've changed. I know after that thing with your brother, it doesn't look like it, but -- I just want to see my son. I think about it everyday." I look at Sarah to see what she says next. She doesn't look like she knows either. She looks back at me skeptically. Adam speaks up "Look, I'm not going to pull anything. I just want to see him. I swear." "What do you think, Kyle?" "I don't know, man. You weren't there for the whole thing. You don't understand what we had to go through. You made our lives so much harder then. We were still kids! Freshmen in college. It's strange for you to just come back out of the blue. Do you understand our hesitation?" "Believe me. I do. I've been through some tough stuff lately. Stuff that has made me realize the value of my life. I don't want to go just imagining what my son was like. It's important to me." "We'll let you see him on one condition", Sarah told him firmly. He nods. "After this, you'll leave us alone." He nods. I stand up and walk up to the playroom, and bring Dylan with me back outside. "Hey Dylan," Adam says.