Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...

"You've got the house and everything in it. You've taken the cars and the investments. For two years of unholy matrimony, that seems like more than enough, don't ya think?" Jay asked sarcastically.

"I'm not arguing this with you anymore, Jay. You can have your lawyer talk to mine. I deserve to live the same way I've become accustomed to living. If that means you owe me alimony, then so be it," she quipped, before hanging up the phone with a loud bang.

Jay closed his eyes tightly. He slammed the phone down onto its cradle. "Dammit!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the small office.

Spinner appeared at the office door. "How's the wife?" he asked with a smirk.

Jay shot Spinner a dirty look. "Soon-to-be-ex is nothing more than a greedy bitch! Two miserable years together and she seems to think she deserves to live in the lap of luxury, on my dough! Tell me why I got married in the first place?"

Spinner decided that question was better left unanswered. Jay didn't want his opinion and Spinner didn't exactly feel comfortable giving it.

Jay raised an eyebrow at his friend. Spinner was his employee, but also his comrade. Since Jay had purchased Tony's garage, some three years ago, Spinner had not only been a faithful employee, but also a business partner. Jay gave his friend a small percentage of the business and paid him a substantial wage. The setup worked well for both. And they often found themselves working side-by-side, just like before, under some customer's car.

"I need a vacation!" Jay moaned, laying his head on the top of his desk.

Spinner laughed, turning to get back to work. He saw her long, lean legs before her face. His eyes trailed over her body, finally landing on the familiar visage. Emma Nelson.

His face broke into a smile. "Miss Nelson!" Spinner said, slowly walking over to her. "Never thought I'd see you in this greasy pit again."

Emma smiled at Spinner, her first genuine smile in what seemed like forever. She felt like she'd aged twenty years over the past week. This was the last place she'd ever thought she'd be coming to. But when no one in her entire family turned out to be a match for Jase, she had no other choice than to throw herself at the mercy of Jay Hogart. The things you do for your children!

"Well don't just stand there! Get over here and give Spinner some love!" he joked, grabbing her small frame as she approached him, and hugging her.

When Spinner finally placed her back on the ground, Emma smoothed the front of her skirt and pulled her top back into place. "Is Jay working?"

Spinner's face broke into a sly smile. "Here to repeat a little history?"

"No. Just wanted to say hi. Is he here?"

Spinner pointed to Jay's office. Emma shot him a questioning look. "Jay owns the place now."

Emma was impressed. Jay had always wanted to own his own business, but Emma had never thought it possible. What bank would give a high school dropout that kind of money?

Spinner lead Emma over to Jay's office, pushing her through the open doorway, as he turned to head back to his work. Emma stood there, silently watching Jay. His head was laying on the large, wood desk. He didn't move an inch and Emma wondered if maybe he'd stopped breathing.

"Jay?" she asked, slowly stepping through the doorway and into the cluttered office.

His head flew up so fast that he hurt his neck, grabbing the back of it with his hand and grimacing. His eyes grew large as he took in the vision in front of him. "Emma."

She smiled and stepped forward some more, approaching the desk. "Hi. Long time."

Jay's face broke into a huge smile. He got up from his seat, still grinning as he took Emma's body into his arms, squeezing her tightly. "Too long," he whispered. He let her go, holding her at arms' length. "Looking good, as always. What brings you to the dark side of things?"

Emma removed herself from Jay's outstretched hands. She walked around the small office, absorbing the fact that Jay was doing exactly what he had always wanted to do. And here she was, about to ruin it all. That fact alone made her want to turn and flee; back to her mother's house, back to Montreal. But Jase was worth so much more than Emma's stupid pride or Jay's dreams.

She swung around and met Jay's eyes. "I have a favour to ask of you."

Jay raised an eyebrow, his thoughts turning dirty as he remembered the last time she had asked a favour of him. "Name it."

Emma walked past him, taking a seat and gesturing for him to do the same. "You should probably have a seat."

Jay sat down, worried about where this was headed. Why on Earth was she here, after having fled out of his life almost five years earlier? And what favour could she possibly be asking, now, of him?

Emma took the framed photograph from Jay's desk. A wedding picture? He was married? Things were about to get a whole lot more complicated. "You're married?"

Jay took the photo from her hands, placing it, face down, onto his desk. "Soon to be divorced. You?"

"Engaged," Emma smiled, holding up her hand to reveal the giant rock that Jimmy had placed there months ago. "Happy?"

Jay shrugged. "What's happiness anyway? You?"

"Yes. Very much. Or at least I was. And that's actually what brings me here. So instead of beating around the bush, I'll be direct. I need your help," she confessed.

"What can I do?"

Emma took a deep breath. Like a Bandaid, Emma. Pull it off, one clean sweep! "I need your bone marrow."

Jay coughed. "You need my what?"

"I need to know if your bone marrow is a match. It's just a simple blood test. It won't take more than five minutes of your time. Please?"

"Okay, okay. Slow down. Start at the beginning and remember to dumb it down as much as you can."

"I have a son," she announced. "And so do you."

Jay was thankful that he was sitting because he felt the muscles in his legs go lax. He stared at Emma, the girl he had mourned over for months after her departure. He hadn't been man enough to chase after her, to beg for her forgiveness. And now here she was, in his office, telling him that he had a child?

"I don't understand."

"When I left, for Montreal, I was pregnant. I had a baby. And it's yours."

Jay got to his feet, feeling his strength coming back and his anger rising. He paced the small room several times before finally stopping, staring down at Emma, and demanding, "Explain. Now."

"I came to tell you that I was pregnant. That day? Right here? I was excited to tell you, but then I heard you say that you didn't want to be my boyfriend and you certainly didn't want to be a father. So I made up some story about leaving Toronto. Then I got back to my apartment, called my boss, begged for the opportunity to transfer to Montreal, and then I left."

"With my kid?" Jay asked. But he gave her no time to answer. Instead he accused, "How could you leave and just not tell me? The deal was that you would tell me."

"The deal was that you wouldn't have anything to do with the child. I kept my end of the bargain," she told him point blank. "You can't be mad. You made the rules in the first place."

Jay swallowed down his anger, but gave Emma an icy glare. "Things changed and you know it."

"Not according to you. I thought they had, but then I heard your little speech to Spinner and it became obvious that you weren't who I thought you were," she admitted.

"I got nervous and scared, okay? I was young and stupid, but that still doesn't give you the right to move away with my kid and not even give me the courtesy of deciding for myself whether I wanted the role of father or not," Jay defended.

Emma knew exactly what Jay was saying. She'd thought that herself for the first few months of Jase's life. In fact, she'd never admit this, but once, when Jase was only two months old, Emma had called Jay, late one night, determined to end her silence and tell him the truth. As soon as he'd picked up the phone, she'd hung up, too scared of what he would say.

"Emma?" Jay asked. "Why now?"

Tears came to Emma's eyes. "He's sick, Jay. He has cancer and you may be his only hope."

The news hit Jay like a ton of bricks. He felt weak, helpless, his anger dissipating in place of fear. "I'll do whatever I can. You know that I will. But I want to know..."

Emma heard his voice trail off and realized that he was choked up. They had gotten together, bonding over the grief of Sean's death. She didn't know very much right now, but Emma did know that she didn't want to regain a relationship with Jay while bonding over the death of their son.

"I want to know everything," Jay finished.

And so Emma began. She told Jay everything she could about Jase, hoping that it would quench his thirst for knowledge of his son. But, sadly, Emma had something else on her mind; keeping Jay at arms-length and as far away from Jay as she could keep him.

Jay, on the other hand, was immediately intrigued by the idea that there was someone else out there, someone who shared his genes. He could spend his time being angry at Emma for having kept the boy from him or he could try to move forward.

"What's his name?" Jay asked, realizing that Emma had left that piece of information out of her story.

Emma wanted to leave out as much personal information as she could. She wanted Jay to help her son, but that was it. Jase didn't belong to Jay.

Taking a deep breath, Emma offered, "Jase Maddox Nelson."

Jay smiled. "Jase. And he's four?"

Emma nodded. "Just started school. But the truth is, Jay, I don't have a lot of time to talk. If we go now, you can get tested before the end of the day. They'll be able to tell us by tomorrow if you're a match. Can we please go?"

Jay nodded his head, standing and grabbing his coat. "Where is he right now?"

"At my mom's," Emma muttered.

"Can I meet him?" Jay asked.

Emma shook her head. "His life is so complicated right now. The last thing I want to do is to make it more complicated. I wouldn't know what to tell him."

"That I'm a friend," Jay suggested. "Tell him I'm an old friend. It's not like you have to introduce me as daddy or anything. Who does he think is his dad anyway? What have you told him?"

Emma blushed, already feeling ashamed over her lie. But Jay at least deserved to know what Jase had been told. "I told him that his dad died."

"You killed me off, Nelson?" Jay asked, taken aback. "Nice. How did I die?"

"I told him that his father died fighting for his country," she confessed, blushing profusely.

Jay's mouth hung open. "You told him that Sean was his father?" When Emma nodded her head, but refused to meet Jay's eyes, he yelled, "How the hell are you going to explain to him that his so-called 'father' died before he was even conceived?"

"I thought it was easier to explain that to him than that his real father didn't want him!" Emma yelled back.

Jay approached her, never remembering a time when he'd been this angry with one person. "That's not fair! I didn't even know he existed!"

"HEY!" came Spinner's scream, followed by a loud, high-pitched whistle. "WOULD YOU TWO KEEP IT DOWN AND TRY TO REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE CUSTOMERS?"

Jay watched Spinner close his office door and turned to Emma. His voice was quieter now, but by no means calmer. "Let's just go to the hospital. And then we'll go to your mom's house. I think it's time that I met my son!"

Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Please keep reading...things are about to get a whole lot more interesting...

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