eh....not to happy with this update. But after agonizing over Kai's reaction I've decided this is the best I could do at my current brain function. Sorry if it sucks ^_^; Thanks for reading and reviewing.


"Kal, you're coming home with me," a gruff voice snapped, and the young boy let out a small squeal as he was hurled up and onto the shoulder of a large lumbering man- one that looked rather pissed off. My son gripped the man's fire red hair, and I stood, about to protest the interruption.

"Claire, call me if you need me to come back. Mark said he would take you to the house," the man said firmly, leaning down to kiss Claire's cheek. I felt a bit of outrage course through me, as I had never cared for men showing affection to women that I cared for. Ever. And just who the hell was Mark?

"Excuse me," I began, and though I saw Claire shaking her head frantically, I continued "I am…"

"I think I know more about you than you want me to know," He snapped, interrupting me. He turned his attention back to Claire, his face turning slightly red in shade as he tried to keep his voice down. "I'll be taking him so you two can talk about this," he said, his head gesturing up to the boy on his shoulders, who was now scowling at me in the same manor as the man who held him.

Surely this man was not the one raising my child. Surely he was not the man Claire had chosen as her partner in life. He was much to aggressive.

"I see," I murmured, rubbing the back of my head in growing frustration. The larger man narrowed his eyes, glancing up towards Kal and muttering "earmuffs." Kal stuck his hands tightly over his ears, and the man's hands made sure of it by pressing down harder.

"I don't know what the hell is going to be said here, but I want it clear that I don't like you, I don't want you around her or him," he snapped, gesturing to Claire and my son. "And if you try anything stupid, I wont hesitate to beat the shit out of you like I wanted to when you knocked her up."

So he was a possible jilted lover, or a friend that had been forced to take up responsibilities I had unknowingly created.

"Gray," Claire hissed, and the man turned, his scowl on the petite blond. "Stop it right now, you're being an ass."

"I don't care. You can sit on your soap box, and tell me how many times you left him over and over. It doesn't change the fact that when you tried to contact him, he had just vanished without a goddamn trace. It doesn't change the fact, that as far as I'm concerned, that little bit of information points to the fact that he was probably planning on leaving you too."

"That is nothing close to the truth," I interjected, feeling a since of rage and even a flush of embarrassment. It was true that I hadn't tried as hard to contact Claire as I had wanted. But a summer romance, despite my prey being a virgin, was not as important on my priority list as Denny's drug addiction had been. "I had reason's for leaving- urgent family business, and had mio signor," I said the term sternly, my fist clenching at the words, "stayed I would have told her."

Claire was the only woman I had ever called 'my lady.' Because even when I met her, I could never see her as anything but mine.

But be that as it was, Denny had been more important. I had wanted to help save my brother, to give him his life back.

How was I to know that in doing that, in not bothering to at least find Claire, that I would be giving up the first several years of my son's life?

Gray simply scowled at the me, before releasing Kal's ears and leaning over towards Claire.

"Kiss your mom goodbye," he said firmly, and Kal did it without hesitation. Then I gaped as the child shot me an equally angry stare as the man who carried him, crossing his arms over his chest and snubbing me as he was carried away.

"I'm sorry about Gray," Claire began, her fingers wringing nervously together. I scowled after the retreating man, resisting the urge to go after him and pluck my son off his shoulders.

"Just who is that figlio di puttana?"

"That," Claire hissed, and I had to wince at the feeling of her dainty fingers pinching my skin roughly. "Is my brother, Gray. So maybe you should watch just whose mother you're insulting," she muttered, her arms crossing over her chest.

I felt my ears heating, but refused to apologize. The man had been being rather rude, after all. And why I felt the rush of guilt at this woman's hurt gaze I had no clue.

After all, she had left me in the middle of the night, bore me a son, and hadn't let me know anything about it.

She tried…

'Not hard enough' I retorted to the voice in my head, grabbing the woman by her slender wrists and leading her out of the crowded party hall, and into a nearby darkened rom.

"Did it ever occur to you to come back to Italy and try to locate me?" I snapped as soon as the door.

"Of course," she whispered, pushing her bangs from her face and meeting my angry stare with one of her own. "But I was very unsuccessful in convincing my brothers to allow their pregnant baby sister to go search for a man who had left no contact information and had vanished from the Earth. They were more concerned with the safety of me and our unborn child than with me finding you."

"That isn't an excuse. You still…"

"What? If I had been able to find you, I could have come back and told you what? That I was pregnant, that it was yours? And you would have believed me- after I left you like I did?"

"I…" I trailed off, chewing roughly on the inside of my cheek, not sure what to say.

"Mark told me you wouldn't. That no man would. Not after one night, and not a woman that had left like I had. I…"

"She would have lost the baby," a voice chimed in, and I jerked towards the door I hadn't heard open, my eyes widening at the sight of a slender framed blond haired man, his emerald green eyes holding mine. "The stress that searching for you, and if that was the outcome when she found you, would have resulted in a miscarriage." He held out his hand, his gaze never leaving mine. "I'm Mark," he began, his voice cheerful and a smile on his face. " A pleasure to meet the man that seduced my virgin sister, didn't use protection- despite him being a seasoned lover and having been with goddess only know whom- impregnated her, then disappeared with no contact information despite knowing that he hadn't used protection."

I blinked at the man as he outstretched his hand expectantly, his voice still cheerful and the smile still there. It was a great contrast to the angry man I had encountered earlier, though I'm sure it was the same opinion. But for whatever reason this one just bothered me a lot more. I could handle anger and resentment. But this…

"So sorry that you missed out on a long and complicated pregnancy that nearly killed my sister," he continued on cheerfully, his hand grasping mine firmly.

"Mark," Claire hissed, and the man closed his eyes as his grin grew.

"He has a right to know Claire. That it was complicated, that you and Kal both almost died, and where exactly was he?" his eyes flickered to mine and his smile just did falter for a second.

My eyes moved from the man to Claire's face before returning. What complications?

"I was helping my brother," I said quietly, pushing my hair back from his face. "He found himself in a lot of trouble, and I had to protect him."

"I'm sorry, aren't you a cook?" Mark said, his blond eyebrow raising incredulously. I grimaced and shook my head.

"I um…met your sister under those pretenses. I was employed as a cook, but…I had left home and was making a new life…"

Why the hell was I explaining myself to this man? It had to be that smile, because if he had been glaring at me as his brother had, I could have been more defensive. But...

"Denny is your brother?"

"My younger half brother," I informed him, releasing the man's hand and stepping back. "He is more entitled to our family assets than myself- being a legitimate heir."

After all, my stepmother hadn't been too thrilled when Grandma Eve and Grandpa Dan had forced the business in my bastard hands.

"This is a private conversation that you've interrupted," both mine and the other man's gaze turned to the fuming woman, and I couldn't help but to raise both my eyebrows at her.

"Oh there you are," I cringed at the sound of Denny's voice, and felt his hand gripping my arm. "Come on, you have to participate in the rehearsal." I found myself being lead out of the room and into the party, giving a fake smile to all the onlookers. I looked over my shoulder to see the woman behind me looking similar to myself, though her eyes looked glossy and red.

"So now that the best man and the maid of honor are present," the pastor teased, pointing at the two of us, "We can begin."

I was vaguely aware of the instructions, my mind wondering back to the small version of myself I had laid eyes on not too long ago. It seemed almost like a dream, like this was all some twisted nightmare. But when I held out my arm to the petite blond, the feeling of fire her skin left on mine in its wake confirmed it was very much real.

"I'm sorry I left," she whispered quietly as we walked solemnly towards the altar, the organ music playing in the background. I tightened my jaw in response, taking a deep breath.

"I will be staying longer," I muttered, and she gave a stiff nod.

"I expected as much. You are more than welcome, to come to my house after the wedding tomorrow," she offered, her teeth biting roughly into her bottom lip.

"I will take you up on that," I said, my tone more gentle than before.

"He's had good role models. Gray, Mark," I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at those names as we made it to the altar. "and Rick," she murmured, just as we parted ways. And as I took my spot on the right beside Denny, and Claire hers on the left by herself, the music started up and everyone turned to the bride. But my eyes remained focused on the woman across from me, one thought running through my mind.

Who was Rick?