( One Week Later )
"It's so good to finally meet you." Julia proclaimed to the young girl before her, a warm smile upon her face.
Amy nodded her head with a friendly smile. "Yeah, you too. I hope you don't mind me being here. I mean, I don't want to intrude or anything."
Upon hearing her words, Christian turned away from the refridgerator, a bottle of beer in his right hand. "Hey, you're my daughter, remember? How many times do I have to tell you? You're not intruding. You belong here just as much as I do." He stepped towards her, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and placing a kiss to the top of her head. Amy smiled softly at his gesture. The pungent aroma of hydrogen peroxide filled his nostrils for a brief moment, but he didn't mind it.
As of that afternoon, his daughter was back to her old self again. Not only was she recovering with no repercussions, but her blonde tresses had been flushed out earlier that day at the salon. Her hair was back to it's natural auburn hue, and the make-over from hell Kimber had given her was nothing more than a distant memory.
Julia leaned her hip against the counter, which ran down the center of the McNamara's kitchen. "Christian's right. You belong here just as much as he does, and any part of his family is a part of ours. We're happy to have you. Feel free to make yourself at home."
Amy smirked. "Thank you." Julia nodded in regard, turned around and walked over to help her daughter, Annie, finish setting the table for dinner. Christian stepped around Amy to the other end of the counter, retrieving a bottle opener from the drawer and popping the cap off of his beer bottle. "So, I been thinking a lot about that offer you made me," she remarked, leaning her hip against the counter just inside the front door.
Christian took a guzzle from his bottle before looking over at her. His brows furrowed in consideration. "What offer would that be?"
"The offer about the job at McNamara/Troy."
He nodded his head. "Oh, that offer."
"Yeah. Is it still good?"
"It never expired sweetheart."
She pushed herself away from the counter, taking a step towards him. Placing both of her hands on the counter before her, she leaned herself against it. "Well, I've decided, and I want to take it. I mean, once all the trial stuff against my adoptive father is over with." She sighed deeply, and he could sense that she was just as uneasy about it as he was.
He scowled, gently nodding his head. Closing the short distance between them, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders once again, looking intently down at her. "Stop worrying so much about it. That asshole isn't going to win this time. Not after all the shit I plan on bringing to the table. We're going to get through this, and we're going to get through it together. Everything is going to be fine, all right?"
She pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay, but about the job...it's a secretary position, right?"
"Right. All you have to do is answer the phones, schedule appointments every now and then, and file patient records. You think you can handle all that?"
Amy chuckled, "yeah, I can handle all that."
"Great." He stole a glance over his shoulder at Sean, who'd just come back from the bathroom, and was looking through the refrigerator for something to drink. "Did you hear that Sean? Looks like we've got ourselves a new secretary at McNamara/Troy."
Sean peeked his head out of the refridgerator, a look of surprise on his face. "Oh really? Who?"
He smiled smugly, looking down at his daughter and then back up at Sean. "Amy. I told her we'd be glad to offer her a job at the practice. She's already part of the family, so I don't see why she shouldn't be part of the business as well."
Sean smirked, stepping towards the two of them. "Of course." He turned his head to look down at Amy. "We'd be more than happy to have you around the office, Amy. We could certainly use the extra help. Do you have any past experience working in an office?"
She exchanged a look with Christian before looking back at Sean. "Well I worked..." Her voice trailed off, and everyone's attention was diverted to the sound of the door opening.
Matt stepped inside, not bothering to say "hello" to anyone, and immediately headed in the direction of his room. Sean, Christian and Amy all exchanged questioning looks. Sean turned around, calling out to his son. Matt stopped in his tracks, but didn't bother turning around. An irritable sigh escaped him, bringing one of his hands up to scratch the back of his head.
"We have company." Sean informed him. "Will you at least say 'hello?'"
Matt slowly turned around to face them, his gaze settling on Amy. A tight smile crossed his face. "Hi, Amy."
She returned his tight smile with one of her own. "Hey Matt. Your dad invited me over for dinner. Are you going to join us?" She stole a glance up at Christian, giving Matt somewhat of a pleading look.
His eyes fixated on Christian in an icy cold glare. Christian held his gaze for a long moment, knowing perfectly well he didn't want to be around him. It had been one whole week since he'd seen Matt or even talked to him. That should have given the kid more than enough time to cool off, but apparently, it didn't appear as if he had.
Matt stole a glance at Sean before his gaze rested back on Amy. "Sorry, but I'm not really all that hungry tonight." He started to turn around to continue on his way, but Christian didn't give him the chance.
"Matty!" Christian set down his beer, and stepped around the counter, scurrying towards him. "Matty, wait! I need to talk to you."
Matt sighed wearily, turning back around to glare at him. "About what? Talk about what?" He demanded. "Look, whatever the hell you have to say to me, I don't want to hear it. Just stay away from me."
Christian lowered his voice a few notches. "Look, I know you're still pissed at me for what I did, and I'm sorry, but it's been a week. You're still holding a grudge against me for something that happened a week ago?"
"You slept with my girlfriend! It doesn't make a difference if it happened a week ago or two weeks ago. It happened, and there's no way in hell you can go back and change anything."
"Matt..." Julia began, but Christian held up a hand to silence her.
"Julia, please, let me handle this, all right?" Christian cleared his throat and fixed his gaze back on Matt. He spoke again, keeping his voice at the same tone he'd used before. "I know damn well I can't go back and change the past, but I swear, I wouldn't have even screwed the little bitch if you or her would've told me you were seeing each other. Do you really think I would do that to you?"
"Well, gee, let's see, you seem to have such a habit of doing it, so yeah, you probably would've done it sooner or later anyway." Matt replied pointedly.
Christian exhaled sharply, planting his hands firmly on his hips. "You want to be pissed at someone right now, fine, but it shouldn't be me. It should be Courtney. She was the little slut that failed to mention she had a boyfriend, and she sure as hell didn't come right out and tell me it was you."
He stole a glance over his shoulder at Amy, who, stood beside Sean watching the pair quietly conversing with a scowl upon her face. Turning his attention back on Matt, he went on. "Look, you don't want to be around me right now, I get that, all right? But Amy wants you here. The least you can do is be civil enough to stay and have dinner with us."
Matt averted his gaze to the other people in the room, his gaze resting once again on Amy. For a long moment, he didn't say anything. He just stood there, almost as if he were contemplating what to do next. Finally, after exuding a frustrated sigh, he brought his eyes back to Christian's face, but the vexation still gleamed within them. "Fine, I'll stay." Before Christian could say anymore, Matt walked past him towards the dinner table and took a seat.
Christian turned on his heels and walked back over to an expectant Amy. She smiled softly, "I don't know what you did, but thanks for getting him to stay."
He stole a glance over at Matt, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't be heard. "Don't thank me, sweetheart. Thank yourself. If it wasn't for you, he probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. He might hate my guts, but he clearly doesn't hate yours." A smirk crept across his face as he leaned his frame against the counter. "Looks like you've got yourself a new friend."
The smile remained fixated on Amy's face. "I think I do." Pushing herself away from the counter, she walked over to where Matt was sitting, dropping into the seat beside him. Christian watched the pair for a moment. Part of him was pleased that Amy had become friends with Matt, but another part of him was somewhat disappointed. Though not with Amy, with himself. It was going to take some time for Matt to forgive him. He understood that. As much as he still despised Courtney, he'd brought this on himself and he was just going to have to live with that for the time being. Matt would come around, eventually. He was sure of it.
He took another swig from his beer bottle before joining both Amy and Matt. Deciding it was probably best not to be too close to him at the moment, he took the seat on the opposite side of Amy. Sean, Julia, and Annie followed after him and took their seats around the table. Julia's gaze fell on Amy as she took her seat, "well, Amy, I hope you like chinese."
"I love chinese." Amy remarked.
He looked across the table at Julia, a smirk crossing his face. Looking over at his daughter, he sighed softly. "Well, I've said it before but I'll say it again. If she was once a Troy, she'll always be a Troy."
And that's exactly why Christian cherished Amy so much, and would continue to cherish her as time went on. There was no doubt about it. For the first time in his life, he felt whole. He didn't need a steady girlfriend to satisfy him anymore, and he sure as hell didn't need Kimber Henry. He had Amy. He had a child of his own. A child that he would give his life for in a heartbeat. A child that he would forever protect with his life. A child that had given so much back to him, and had managed to fill the void that had been left in his heart. Gender wasn't an issue. All that mattered was that she loved him, and he loved her. He wasn't about to let her go. Not now. Not ever. From here on out, whatever obstacles life threw in their path, they would get through them together.