This chapter was just a random idea I had so I hope you all like it. I've had quite a lot of inspiration for this story lately, which has been good since I've finally been updating. Anyway, the part in italics at the beginning is in Ryan's dream and the rest of the chapter is like normal. Thanks for reading!!

Ryan walked down what seemed like a never-ending footpath feeling slightly paranoid and nervous, but not knowing why. He remembered feeling like this when he had lived in Chino in his early teenage years. This was because in Chino you always had to watch your back, incase a gang was in the area looking for vengeance for a fight that had broken out between your group and theirs that had either been interrupted, or that they lost and they were looking to settle the score . Ryan hadn't felt this insecure and unsafe for almost 15 years now, and had no idea why these feelings were arising again. He was only walking down a quiet street in Berkeley; there were no gangs and it was completely safe to go for a walk by yourself. However, Ryan still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

You're safe, Ryan kept repeating over and over in his head, to remind himself that he wasn't in any danger. You're safe, you're safe, you're safe...nothings going to happen to you...relax... Realising that thinking wasn't calming at all, Ryan began to say the words aloud, "You're safe, everything's fine. You're not in Chino anymore..." Ryan continued muttering to himself as he walked down the normal-looking, but deserted suburban street. In the near distance, Ryan could see a familiar-looking house. He squinted, trying to make it out through the glare of the sun. His curiosity peaking, Ryan picked up his pace and eventually started running towards the house, all while continuously muttering to himself, "You're not in Chino...you're safe here..."

After what seemed like hours, Ryan began to reach the house. Why is it taking so long to get there? he wondered, I wasn't that far away. As the house came into clearer view, Ryan suddenly realised where he was and stopped dead in his tracks. He was standing in front of his old house in Chino. "No it can't be," he said out loud to himself. "That's impossible." Ryan looked around and realised that the quiet, neat, suburban neighbourhood he had been running in only a minute ago, had changed into the noisy, dirty, violent streets of Chino.

Ryan suddenly felt someone poke him hard in the back. He turned around immediately and acting on instinct, went to throw a punch at whoever was behind him, something he hadn't been tempted to do since High School. As soon as Ryan threw his fist forward he realised that there was no one there, and that he had just punched thin air. "What the hell?" Ryan muttered to himself, looking around cautiously incase whoever poked him was still around. "I've got to get out of here," he said to himself, turning to walk back in the direction that he came from.

Suddenly, Ryan heard a terrified scream. This wasn't just any scream either, it was his mothers. Ryan looked back and realised the scream had come from his hou- old house. Not hesitating for a moment, he ran up to the house, up the front porch steps and through the wide open front door. "Mom!!" he exclaimed as he stopped in the dirty, messy living room. Ryan heard the sound of a man's threatening voice coming from the bedroom, and followed it.

Ryan threw open the door of the bedroom to find his mother crawled up in a ball in the corner of the room, bloody and bruised, with a black eye and split lip. A tall man with dark hair was standing over her, throwing mouthfuls of abusive language at Dawn. The man was facing away from Ryan, so he couldn't see who he was. Dawn just whimpered softly as she covered her ears with her shaking hands, trying to block out the man's booming voice. Ryan was suddenly hit with a wave of rage. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER YOU BASTARD!!" he yelled, charging at the man's waist, knocking him to the ground not to far away from Dawn.

"RYAN NO!!" Dawn shrieked as Ryan started punching the guy. "HE'LL HURT YOU!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!"

Ryan wasn't paying any attention. All he knew was that this man had hurt his mother, so now he was going to hurt him. After punching the man again Ryan froze, seeing his face for the very first time, "No! It can't be," he said, to no-one in particular. Lying on the floor before him, was Greg. Realising Ryan had stopped punching him, Greg took this opportunity to push him to the ground, so hard that Ryan's head slammed against the thin carpet and the concrete that ley beneath it. After Greg had punched him a few times, Ryan's head was spinning. All he could hear was his mother's hysterical pleas for Greg to stop and all he could see was Greg's angry face.

"Ryan!!!" he heard someone yell. He couldn't tell where the voice had come from, but it sounded very familiar. "Ryan, wake up!!! Ryan!!!" the voice continued screaming. The world kept spinning and spinning, and the voice kept calling his name as Ryan realised he was no longer laying on the floor of his mother's bedroom in Chino.

He was back in his and Taylor's bedroom is Berkeley, lying on his soft, comfortable, bed. "Ryan!!" the voice exclaimed again. As he regained consciousness again, Ryan realised that the voice belonged to Taylor, who was standing beside the bed, looking very panicked and upset. "Oh my God Ryan, oh my God!! I don't know what to do...she's gone...i don't know what happened...she's not in her room!!" Taylor cried. "I've looked everywhere...i can't find her..."

All thoughts of his dream vanished from his mind, as Ryan started panicking, wondering what she was talking about. He sat up quickly and grabbed Taylor gently by the shoulders, "Taylor! Calm down, what happened?"

"She-she-she's gone," she stammered with a sob.

"Who's gone?" Ryan demanded.

"EMILY Ryan!! Who else would I be talking about?!!" Taylor exclaimed.

"EMILY'S GONE!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed, almost knocking his wife over. "How?"

"I don't know," she started. "I went into her room and she wasn't in her crib so I thought that maybe your mother or Greg took her downstairs or something. Then I went downstairs and no one was down there, I've looked everywhere and I- I don't know what to do Ryan!!"

"Calm down, okay honey?" Ryan said to her, trying to stay calm. "We're going to find her, I promise." He took Taylor's hand, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked as they left their bedroom in a rush.

Ryan didn't answer her as he ran over to the guestroom down the hall and opened the door, "Mom, have you got Emily?!"

"Emily?" Dawn repeated as she got out of bed. "No I don't, why?"

"She's gone, Taylor went into her bedroom this morning and she wasn't in her crib-" Ryan explained quickly.

"What do you mean she's gone?!" she exclaimed, interrupting her son. "How could she be gone?"

"I don't know!"

"Wait a minute," Taylor started. "Where's Greg?"

"Greg?" Dawn and Ryan repeated in unison.

"I think he's in the bathroom," Dawn replied, gesturing to the door to the connecting bathroom.

Ryan began banging on the bathroom door, "Greg?! If you're in there you need to come out now, Emily's gone and we need your help." There was no response so Ryan tried the doorknob to find that the door was unlocked. He opened the door and realised that no one was in there. "He's not here!" he exclaimed, turning back to the two women.

"Do you think he has her?" Taylor asked.

"Why would he take Emily without telling us?!" Ryan demanded. "Why would he even go anywhere without telling us?!"

"I have no idea!" Taylor exclaimed as she began to pace up and down the guest bedroom, nervously.

"Ryan, Taylor, there's no need to panic. I'm sure they'll be back soon," Dawn said, trying to calm both him and Taylor down.

"That's if they come back at all," he replied. "I should have expected him to do something like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

"It means that your husband is a criminal," Ryan replied bitterly. "He's probably kidnapped my daughter!"

Taylor stopped pacing and exclaimed, "Kidnapped?!" Obviously, that thought hadn't come to her mind yet and now she was even more panicked.

"What are you talking about?!" Dawn cried.

"He's been in prison Mom, for domestic abuse," he explained. "So I guess now, we can add kidnapping to his record."

"Greg hasn't been in prison," she replied. "He would have told me something important like that, we tell each other everything."

"Well obviously, there was one thing he forgot to tell you."

"Where are you getting these ridiculous ideas from?!"

"They're not ideas, they're true," he replied. "I got Sandy to have Greg checked out by his friend in the Police Department."

"You- you what?" she asked quietly, trying to hold back her tears. "Why would you do that Ryan? Don't you trust me to make my own decisons when it comes to men?"

"It's not about that at all, I was just trying to protect you," Ryan said. "The point is, he has a criminal record, ask Sandy if you don't believe me." At this point, both Dawn and Taylor were in tears. "And now Greg's taken Emily and we have no idea where they are," he continued, sitting down on the bed and burying his face in his hands. "It's all my fault, I should have told you about him earlier Mom."

For a moment, the room was silent. The noise that broke the silence was the sound of the front door opening. Taylor was the first to react, "Emily!" she called out, running out of the room, closely followed by Ryan, then Dawn.

As soon as Taylor and Ryan got downstairs, they ran over to Greg, and Taylor grabbed Emily from his arms and hugged her tightly, "Oh baby, Mommy was so worried about you!" She carefully examined her daughter, making sure she was okay.

"Are you okay Em?" Ryan said, gently stroking her head.

"Of course she's okay, she was with me," Greg said, finally speaking up. "We just went out to get some bagels for breakfast from that bakery on the corner. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Oh we were way passed worried Greg!" Taylor exclaimed. "I was going to call the Police."

"What the hell were you thinking taking our daughter without asking us?!" Ryan asked, angrily.

"Ryan, Taylor, that's enough okay?" Dawn interrupted. "Greg brought Emily home safely and that's all that matters."

"Why are you both getting so mad about this?" Greg asked Ryan and Taylor, ignoring Dawn's comment. "Don't you trust me?"

"After finding out about your criminal past, no we don't," Ryan replied coldly.

"My criminal past? How did you find out about that?"

"I got Sandy's friend in the Police Department to check you out."

"Because you didn't trust me?"

Ryan nodded, "I wanted to make sure my mother was safe."

"Of course she was safe, I would never hurt her Ryan," he declared. "By the way, what you did was invasion of privacy. That's a criminal offense, I could have both you and Sandy arrested."

Ryan was about to reply when Dawn asked her husband softly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Greg looked over at her and paused for a moment before responding, "I didn't think it was important. It's part of my past and I've changed a lot since then."

"You didn't think I had a right to know?" she questioned him. "After all I've been through with Frank?"

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you. I knew that if you knew about what I did, you never would have given me a chance, or trusted me."

"That's no excuse, you should have told me!" Dawn replied angrily.

"I don't see why you're getting so upset about this Dawn," Greg said. "It doesn't change anything."

"Are you kidding me?" she remarked. "It changes everything."

"So you don't want to be with me anymore, is that what your saying?"

"Yes, no...maybe," she stammered. "I don't know, Greg. I really don't know. If you couldn't trust me enough to tell me something like this, then what does that say about the amount of trust in our marriage?"

Greg and Dawn stared at each other in silence. Eventually, Greg looked away and began to make his way upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked.

"To pack," he replied, stopping for a moment on the stairs to look back at her. "I'm leaving for the airport early." He then continued up the stairs and was eventually out of sight.

Dawn sighed and sat down on the living room lounge and began to sob, unable to stop the tears from running down her face.

Taylor handed Emily to Ryan, before sitting down beside Dawn and gently taking her hand, trying to comfort her as best she could. Ryan just watched the scene before him, feeling guilty that he may have just broken up his mother's marriage.

4 Hours Later

Greg had taken a taxi to the airport about half an hour after the arguement, and now Ryan, Taylor and Dawn were in the kitchen eating lunch. However, neither Ryan, Taylor or Dawn felt like eating anything after the mornings events.

Taylor made a face as she set down her sandwich on the plate in front of her, "I really don't feel like eating."

"You have to eat Tay," Ryan protested. "You're pregnant, remember?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course I remember. That's the reason why I don't want to eating anything, I'm feeling nauseaous."

"Maybe you should try eating some crackers," Dawn suggested. "They really helped me through both of my pregnancies, especially with this one."- she tilted her head towards Ryan- "Ryan made me so sick it wasn't funny."

Taylor rested her hand on her stomach with a smile, "Well it looks like this one is taking after its Daddy." She then stood up and went to the cupboard to look for some crackers to settle her stomach.

"Are you okay Dawn?" Taylor asked gently.

Dawn looked up at her with a small smile, "Me? Yeah I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

As Taylor returned to the kitchen table with her packet of crackers she commented, "I really hope you and Greg work things out."

"Thank you Taylor."

"To be honest, I feel really guilty about all of this Dawn," she continued. "Maybe I did overreact about Greg taking Emily without our permission-"

"Don't be silly, you had every right to want to know where your baby is at all times."

"This is all my fault," Ryan declared suddenly. Taylor and Dawn both looked at him. "I never should have asked Sandy to have Greg checked out. It was a huge mistake and I'm sorry if I've damaged yours and Greg's relationship because of it."

"Ryan, it's okay," Dawn assured him. "I'm actually glad you did it. I wasn't at first, but now I am."

"You are?" he asked.

She nodded, "I had a right to know about something like this and you knew that. If it wasn't for you, I may never have known." -she smiled at him gratefully- "And besides, now I know that you still care about me, even after all the mistakes I've made that almost screwed up your entire life."

Ryan took a breath before replying, "Mom, no matter how much you screw up, I'll always love you and care about you."

"Thanks Ry," she smiled, "...I think." Ryan grinned and hugged his mother as Taylor looked on with a smile.

"So, do you think you and Greg could work everything out?" he asked as they broke away from the hug.

"I don't know, I hope so," Dawn sighed. "We have the whole plane trip back to Albuquerque to talk so..." she trailed off. Ryan nodded, understandingly. "So, do you think you can give your old Mom a ride to the airport?"

1 Hour Later

"So, have you got everything?" Ryan asked as he carried his mother's suitcase down the stairs.

"I think so," Dawn smiled from the bottom of the stairs where she was standing holding Emily, next to Taylor. "If I've forgotten something I can always get it when I come back here in a few weeks time for Emily's birthday party."

"Oh, well if I were you I would definitely not miss it," he replied as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "If Taylor has anything to do with it, it's going to be the party of the century."

Taylor hit Ryan on the shoulder playfully, "I just want everything to be perfect. She's only going to turn one once you know."

"And she deserves a great party," Dawn added, looking down at her grand-daughter with a smile. "Anyway, we probably should be heading off."

"Aww, already?" Taylor said sadly. "I wish you were staying longer, I feel like I was just getting to know you."

"We can get to know each other more in my next visit," she replied, hugging Taylor with her one free arm. "You take care of yourself and my grandchild in there," Dawn gestured to Taylor's stomach.

"I will," she smiled.

"Now, you be good for your Mommy and Daddy, Emily," Dawn said to the baby in her arms. She hugged her with a smile, before handing her back to Taylor. She then turned to Ryan, "Let's go."

Within minutes, Ryan and Dawn left the house and were on their way to the airport.

Ryan arrived home about an hour later to find Taylor sitting on the lounge watching T.V with Emily on her lap. He smiled as he entered the living room, "Hey."

Taylor and Emily both looked up. "Dada," Emily smiled.

"Yeah, Emily it's Daddy," her mother said to her. Ryan sat down beside them and gave his wife and daughter a kiss.

"Did Dawn get on her flight okay?" Taylor asked, leaning her head on Ryan's shoulder as he put his arm around her.

He nodded, "Yep. She actually got on the plane with Greg."

"That's a good sign."

"Yeah, but I think it was because he had both their tickets," Ryan added.

"Oh," Taylor replied. "Well, at least they're talking to each other, that's a good thing. If they weren't talking I'd be worried."

He nodded in agreement. "It's nice to have a quiet house again."

"It's not going to be quiet for long," she smiled. "Emily's going to be talking more soon, and the baby's going to be born."

"Uh huh, which is why we should enjoy the peace while it lasts," Ryan smiled at Taylor. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied with a grin. She kissed him on the lips before resting her head back on Ryan's shoulder again.

Reviews are much appreciated!!