Tad came back into the room. He was still unsure of what exactly was happening, but saw that AJ had entered, the possibly volatile scene, and wanted to help if needed. "Everything okay in here?" Tad asked quietly. JR cleared his throat and let AJ go. He wanted to do right by his son, but more than anything…he wanted to avoid any further questioning by Marissa that might cause his guard to drop anymore. He evaded her eyes and instead turned to Tad and hugged him. "Thanks, Tad." He said. "Thanks for caring and for looking out for me. Do you think you would mind driving me to a meeting? I promised a certain little boy that I would get some help."

Tad smiled and patted JR on the back, then said "Absolutely! Let me go get my keys." JR looked down at AJ and said "I love you, son. Thank you for being you! I am going to go and start making myself better, okay? I need you to go ahead and stay with your Mom tonight and I will pick you up on Wednesday…okay?" AJ nodded and hugged his dad's leg. Marissa turned to JR and said "Are you sure you don't want to talk some more? I don't think we were finished." JR nodded and tried to just brush her off. "Seriously, Marissa…everything is going to be okay. I have beaten this before, and I will again. I have to go though…Tad's waiting." With a pat on her arm, JR hurriedly walked to the door. Marissa was left with AJ, alone in the living room.

She looked down at the sweet boy and he looked up at her. "What are we gonna do tonight, Mom? I get a whole extra day with you! We should do something fun!" Marissa smiled at her son's enthusiasm and then her mind drifted to thoughts of Bianca. Tonight will be my first night staying with her. The first night of the rest of my life. Wow, this is not how I imagined telling AJ about this…but I guess I can feel him out…see how it goes?

Marissa sat down on the couch and with a monster-like growl, and silly scowl across her face, she grabbed him pulling him to her. The boy giggled excitedly and then after his laughter subsided, he grew thoughtful. "Mommy? Is Daddy going to be okay?" Marissa hugged AJ tight and said "Honey, I hope so. We are all going to do whatever we can to help him." AJ thought for a moment and said "Maybe we need to go back to stay with him like we used to. All of us together, like a family is supposed to be. Maybe that will help him?"

Marissa bit her bottom lip and said "No, Honey. That would be pretending. Make-believe is not going to help your Daddy get better. I know you have been confused about this for a while, but Mommy and Daddy are not going to get back together. When I moved out, that was the last time I would live in the house with Daddy. But you see, we have you…and we love you so much. So we will always be a family because of that. Sometimes you will stay with Daddy and sometimes with me. And sometimes we might even all be places together with your grandparents and cousins…all families are different. You know that right? All that matters is the love that families have."

AJ nodded and said "There are a lot of different kinds families at my school. I understand. You and Daddy just won't be a 'couple'. But maybe Daddy can find someone to be a couple with to make him not sad and then he won't be feeling sick anymore?"

Marissa laughed and rubbed her son's head and said "Well, maybe, but I want to tell you something, that is kind of important news."

"What?" AJ said. "Well." Marissa cleared her throat. "Me and Bianca really care about each other and well…We love each other like a family does." AJ smiled "I love Miranda and Gabby a whole bunch! Miranda is my birthday twin and that is almost like having a sister!"

"Why, yes…Yes it is." Marissa continued. "Since we love each other so much, we decided that we are going to be a couple." AJ looked surprised. "When you come stay with me…when you aren't with Daddy, I mean…you and I are going to live in the same house as Bianca and the girls. What do you think about that?"

AJ pumped his fist and said "That is AWEsome! We are gonna be like a family? I am going to have a Daddy here and then when I am with you, I am going to have two sisters AND two mommies? That is so cool. Can I have my own room? Now I am even more like Miranda, cause she already had two mommies. I guess now she has three, and Bobby Douglas at school has two daddies. Ooh and that makes Spike and Ian my cousins too, and not just my friends! Awesome!"

Marissa's mouth was agape as she heard her son rattle on and on about his new family connections. All she could do was nod and smile in amazement. I just cannot believe how much of a grip he seems to have on this. I totally forgot about that Douglas boy…and OF COURSE he would be thrilled for another connection to the Kane kids. He LOVES them! Wow! I don't know what I was afraid of? Heh…"Out of the mouths of babes".

AJ finished talking and then smelled the air and said "I think Grandma made brownies! Can I go have one and tell her about my new family?" "Sure." Marissa said. "And you can go play, and then we will leave in a little while, okay?"

"Okay!" could be heard from AJ as he trailed off to the kitchen.

Marissa's attention was turned to the door as she saw Bianca tiptoeing in. "How did it go?" Bianca said. "I saw Tad and JR come out so I drove around a bit till I saw they were gone. What happened?" Marissa got up and made her way into Bianca's arms and laid her head on her shoulder. "Oh, it was intense when I got here. He knows. He found out about us and he went off on a bender, because he thought we were making a fool out of him. He thought we have been going at this since before he and I split."

"What?" Bianca said, pushing Marissa away a little, so she could look her in the eyes. "You told him that wasn't the case, I am sure? Then what?" Marissa took a sigh and led Bianca to the couch. "Then the room cleared and I told him how it was. I reassured him that nothing had happened the way he was thinking and reminded him of how we are not meant to be together and why. I still think he is feeling something, but then AJ came in and was upset and JR broke down a little. He was crying and he doesn't think I saw, but I did. He promised AJ he would get sober and before we could talk anymore, he ran off to a meeting with Tad."

"Wow!" Bianca said "That is incredible! But, you said he knew…how? Did he say?" Marissa's grin turned to rage "YES! It was that sleaze ball desk clerk at the resort. He apparently got fired and he took pictures of us somehow and sent them to The Exposer! JR was approached with the story and paid the guy to squash it." Marissa thought a bit and said "I never thanked him for that. Oh well."

"HA!" Bianca scoffed. "I assure you, dear. If he paid for it…it wasn't to squash the story. I am sure JR was out to use it against you at some point. I mean, think about it." Marissa's eyes widened at the realization that her lover was probably right. "As for 'Tim' and The Exposer…they have no idea what they just got themselves into!" Bianca said smugly as she picked up her cell phone, dialed and brought it to her ear.