Glad everyone is enjoying this!

Scotty Hillstrand arrived in Dutch for the opilio crab season and all but ran to the Time Bandit. He could not wait to talk to his dad about what he had seen at Disneyland. He hopped on deck, "Hey Eddie! Seen my dad and Uncle Andy?"

Eddie looked up from where he was coiling line, "Wheelhouse. Andy's not back yet."

Dropping his gear in his bunk Scotty beelined for the wheelhouse. "Hey dad!"

Johnathan looked up from the map he was looking at, "Hey Scotty. How was the trip?"

Scotty's eyes gleamed, "Ooooh interesting, very interesting. Educational too."

John snorted, "Disney? Educational?"

"Mmmhmm. You'll never guess who I ran into there," Scotty could barely contain himself.

"I don't know," the drama was irritating John

"Uncle Andy. And he wasn't alone," he hooted.

That got John's attention, "Is this the reason for the mood swings in kings?"

"Maybe. I saw Uncle Andy waiting to get on Space Mountain with a kid. He looked to be about seven, maybe eight."

"His?"

"Oh yeah. Kid's undeniably a Hillstrand. Christ, he looks just like you dad! More than I do. There's no doubt he's got Hillstrand DNA."

John sat back in his seat dumbstruck. Andy was his brother and best friend, that he had hidden a child from him was unbelievable. "I always figured there was something more to Andy and Sabrina splitting, but I figured she was the one cheating not him. Wow."

~DC~

A couple days later Andy arrived in Dutch. The Time Bandit was in full preparation mode so neither brother had a chance to talk to the other about the inevitable. Andy planned on easing John into the knowledge after they left port. He knew how impulsive John could be and he didn't want him going off half-cocked with only part of the truth.

As the season began, Mother Nature unleashed her fury on the crabbers. Andy stared into the oncoming waves, face impassive as he concentrated on keeping everyone safe. He had pulled the guys off deck hours earlier as the seas rose to deadly proportions. John climbed the wheelhouse stairs and sat in the co-captains chair. "So how was your holidays? Did your 'plans' work out?"

Andy glanced over, "Good. Great in fact. You?"

"I'll bet," smirked John.

"What are talkin' about bra?" Andy glanced over.

"Oh, a little bird told me all about Disneyland," taunted John.

Andy wasn't buying any of it. "Yeah, and what did Scotty bird have to say?"

"He saw you with your kid." John laughed, "Always figured I'd be the one with a kid behind the woodpile. Never you. That's what set Sabrina off wasn't it?"

Andy refused to meet his gaze, "Scotty doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Wouldn't believe everything he's spoutin' off."

With the shitty weather, Johnathan let things drop for the moment but a week later he was back at it. They had finally found some numbers as the weather settled and were headed in as soon as their tanks were topped off. John was once again in the co-captains seat running his mouth about anything and everything. Andy had tuned him out and was ignoring his rantings until the talk turned to Aiden, "So you even sure this kid's yours? I mean, baby mama was bangin' a married man…"

Andy clenched his jaw, "Shut up, man."

John ignored him and continued, "That kind of woman? I don't know man, takes a trampy broad to take another chick's husband…"

Andy picked up his coffee mug and hurled it at his brother's head. It exploded against the paneling beside John. John jerked up from his seat, "What the hell?".

Andy pointed his finger at John and shouted, "Shut. The. Fuck. Up!"

"Come on brother, tell me you at least got a DNA test…who knows who else she's been fucking while..."

Since Andy had found out about Aiden and Carly, his anger at John had swelled and continued to grow to the point where he wanted to throttle the eldest Hillstrand. John's badmouthing of Carly was the straw that broke the camel's back. Andy surged across the wheelhouse and slammed into John. Finally having an outlet for his anger he began pummeling John, "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Andy may be his brother, but Johnathan Hillstrand doesn't take crap from anyone and begins throwing his own punches. "….HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he grunts out.

The guys on deck had heard the commotion and once the fighting started they rushed up to the wheelhouse to see what was going on. Not believing the scene before them Mike and Scotty pull John to one side of the wheelhouse while Eddie restrains Andy.

Andy continued shouting at John, "What kind of man drops a girl he was serious about, ignores all her calls and letters and then takes out a restraining order without even finding out why she was doing it?"

John rubs his jaw where Andy had landed a wicked left hook, "Carly? Carly Matheson? What's she got to do…" realization dawned on Johnathan and broke free and lurched towards Andy. "YOU WERE BANGING MY GIRLFRIEND?"

"No shit head! The kid Scotty saw me with? YOURS! He's the reason Carly kept trying to get in touch with you! You've got a seven-year-old son you've never seen! And no I'm not banging your girlfriend. But I am marrying Carly Matheson."

The crew all looked around at each other, yeah they were a family, but this was definitely a private matter. Seeing that the physical violence was at an end for the time being, they left the wheelhouse

John sat down heavily. He'd always felt bad for breaking up with Carly the way he had. The truth was he had fallen hard for her and woke up one morning and knew he either had to get out or marry her. Johnathan Hillstrand didn't settle down for anyone and it scared the crap out of him, so he broke up with her. He knew she'd taken it badly, he had led her along, making her think that he was willing to get serious and then jerked the carpet out from under her. She left him alone at first but then after she went back to school she had started trying to get in touch with him. He ignored all her attempts and in a fit of anger had the RO issued. A few years later he'd heard that she'd had a kid, so he figured she'd settled down with some mainlander. Andy's revelation stunned him; he had a son he didn't know about. "How did you find out about the boy?"

"Last June, when I went home to visit. They were there for her mom's funeral," said Andy quietly.

"Wait." John turned to glare at him, "You've known about the boy since June and you're just know telling me?"

Andy shrugged, "Didn't know how to tell you. And stop calling him "the boy"."

"I would, but you haven't told me his name, genius," snarked John.

"If you hadn't ignored Carly, you'd know already," shot Andy right back.

"You wanna know what I think? I think you didn't tell me because you were trying to get in her…"Andy punched John again before he could finish.

Andy shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't know how to tell you about Aiden and Carly. I spent the summer getting to know my nephew and along the way I fell in love with his mother," he admitted quietly.

For once Johnathan Hillstrand was speechless. Anger, jealousy, and betrayal all warred through his body. After a long awkward silence Johnathan left the wheelhouse and locked himself in their stateroom. For the remainder of the trip he avoided Andy and as soon as they docked for offload he was off the boat without a word to anyone. During a wheel watch while Andy was sleeping, he had booked the first flight back to the mainland he could. He'd been in flight for over an hour before any of his crew even knew he was missing. Andy figured where he was headed and quickly called Carly to let her know that John knew, it hadn't been pretty, and he was on his way to Tacoma.

~DC~

At the Matheson home Aiden had been nursing an injured cardinal he had found in their backyard. It seemed that a hungry cat had tried to catch it. So far the bird had survived two days under Aiden's watchful eye. Carly had tried to prepare her son for the inevitable when he first found it, but so far she had been proven wrong.

She had just put dinner in the oven when there was a pounding on her front door. Andy had called the day before so she was pretty certain who it was. Opening the door a red faced John stared bullets through her. "Where's my son?" he asked coldly. Carly stepped outside shutting the door behind her. She crossed her arms, "You're son? Fishing in the Bering Sea."

"Where's my son dammit, I'm his father!" he yelled.

Carly's eyes turned icy, "No John, you're his sperm donor."

"Oh? And I suppose Andy's father material then is he?" he said snidely. Everyone knew Andy was the 'responsible' one. Usually John agreed, though sometimes it irked him to no end.

"Yeah, he is," she shot back. "He's the one who's stepped up to the plate because he wanted to be there!"

"I didn't know about him!" he huffed.

"And who's fault is that?" she spat.

John's body trembled as he forced himself to calm down. He took a step closer to Carly, "I can't change the past," he said quietly. " I made a terrible mistake and just want the chance to fix it."

"I'll accept that you want to be in Aiden's life. Thank Andy for that, he convinced me that you do deserve that chance. BUT," she emphasized her words, "It will be my on my terms. Do you understand? You will NOT barge into Aiden's life and turn it upside down just to waltz out again!"

"I won't…"

"BULL SHIT! Give me one instance, just one, where you didn't cut and run in a relationship? Tae? Scotty? Me? YOU WILL NOT HURT MY SON THAT WAY! I WON'T ALLOW IT."

Their heated discussion was cut short by a wail form the back of the house. Carly rushed inside, John on her heels. Aiden flew through the house and into his mom's arms wailing, "He's dead, mom, he's dead!"

John's jaw dropped and he laid eyes on his son for the first time. It was like he was looking through his childhood photo album. "Who's dead?" he asked quietly.

"Chirpy! Mom, why did he have to die?" he sobbed.

"Chirpy?" Johnathan mouthed.

"Aiden found an injured bird, he's been nursing it. Aww honey, I'm sorry. Sometimes these things just happen."

Aiden sniffled and looked up seeing the stranger for the first time, "Wh-who are you?"

John beamed, "I'm your…"

Carly cut in, "This is Andy's brother. He's your Uncle John." She locked eyes with John, silently daring him to contradict her. She had come to the conclusion that until Aiden was older, things would be best explained as simply as possible.

Aiden's face lit up, "You're my dad's brother! Are you the one he…" Aiden launched in to a long involved story. Hearing his son call another man dad didn't sit well with John. He clenched his jaw, wanting so badly to say something. Another warning glare from Carly and he kept his mouth shut.

Was that enough of a brotherly brawl? Keep the reviews coming!