Chapter 6: When it Rains it Pours

"Alex I can explain," Vincent says trying to come up with an excuse that she would believe. Damn his mind went blank.

"Well explain… explain why you have been ignoring your family, explain why you ignore my calls and not JTs, Explain why you have been skipping work, explain why nurses in our hospital saw you kissing some woman's hand. Explain go ahead" Alex was worked up she was so beyond angry she was enraged.

Vincent sighed he had forgotten about kissing Catherine's hand, he wasn't even thinking how that would come across to other people. At the time it just felt right but he also kept forgetting he was married to Alex. Vincent was being extremely careless but he didn't want to lie anymore and felt like he shouldn't have to it's not like he chose this life he woke up this way and has been trying to change it back ever since. Vincent knew Alex he knew she would never understand. She wasn't as open-minded as Catherine and would probably think he belong in an insane asylum if he told her the truth about being from another lifetime. There didn't seem to be an easy solution to this predicament.

Vincent got ready to speak but as soon as he opened his mouth Alex charged at him, and she started hitting him and screaming at him. "How could you do this me Vince to us, I hate you! I hate you! You are a lying cheating no-good son of a bitch, I hate you so much you liar, you are a selfish ass liar!" she screamed

"Alex stop I am sorry, it wasn't my intention to hurt you," Vincent says blocking her hits she got him a couple of times but he blocked a majority of them since she was hitting out of anger her hits were sloppy. "If I tell you the truth you won't believe me" she stopped and stared at him.

"Your right I won't believe you because you're a lying cheating scumbag" without any warning she slapped Vincent hard across the face. That slap hurt like hell from a woman so dainty and he also was glad he wasn't a beast because that would have set him off.

"Alex I think I need to leave," Vincent says turning away from her he knew never to hit a woman, and the only way to avoid that was to get out of dodge.

"No you are not going anywhere I am leaving. What you need to do is stay here with your son the one you've been neglecting to spend time with instead of that whore of yours"

"She is not a… Alex it's not the way it seems," Vincent says feeling like explaining himself would be useless.

"Save it Vincent I don't have the time or the energy to sit here and let you lie to my face. Whenever I found out who she is there will be hell to pay, over my dead body will I lose you to her" she says as tears filled her eyes. She grabs her jacket and walks out the door leaving Vincent standing in the foyer of the house. Vincent walked over to the stairs and sat down putting his head in his hands. He sat there for about five minutes before he felt a presence behind him.

"Dad" he heard his son say from the top of the stairs. Vincent picked his head up and turned toward him.

"What's wrong Ryan?"

"Where is mommy?"

"She left for a little while it is going to be just you and me for a while kiddo," Vincent says faking a smile. "Now let's get you back to bed," says as he stood up and walked up the stairs toward Ryan.

"Dad tomorrow it's going to be hot and sunny can we get in to pool?"

"I don't know we will see tomorrow, ok"

After Vincent walked Ryan back to his room and tucked him in he went to the room he and Alex shared and fall back flat on the bed. He was tired physically and emotionally, living two lives was so draining to him. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep while staring at the ceiling trying to figure out why his life was turning out this way. He ended up having another dreamless sleep.

Vincent woke up to his alarm clock beeping and the house phone ringing. He hit the dismiss button on the alarm and picked up the phone on the nightstand.

"Vince it's me, Alex, I know you have to work and I wanted to let you know I am on my way home. I will be there before you leave"

"Ok," Vincent says still feeling tired. He felt like laying back down. Vincent got up anyways and took a shower and got ready for another day at the hospital.

By the time Vincent was showered, dressed, and heading downstairs Alex was walking in, and she pretty much ignored him. This didn't bother Vincent he didn't know what to say to her anyway. He got a glass of orange juice in the kitchen, grabbed a couple of granola bars, and left without another word to Alex.

To Vincent's surprise, he actually felt good being at work treating patients than being at home with Alex. For someone who didn't practice medicine on the regular everything came naturally to him and he definitely remembered more than he thought he would remember. Being in the ER definitely made him miss being a doctor. Maybe when he finds his way back to where he is supposed to be he will be able to practice medicine again he thought to himself.

Vincent was on his way home later that evening when he got a call from Catherine he couldn't hide his smile even if he wanted to.

"Hey you," she says

"Hey how is your day going," he asks

"Good thanks to you"

"Why is that?"

"I called my sister. We talked for almost thirty minutes it's like we never were mad at each other. Thank you for pushing me to call her, it was something I should have done a long time ago"

"I agree and I am so glad I could help, I know how much your sister means to you. So I am glad you both are speaking again"

"Me and her are going out to eat later to catch up some more. Thought maybe afterward I could stop by"

Crap! Vincent thought in his head.

"Tonight's not a good night for me Catherine I will definitely come to see you tomorrow," Vincent says hoping she will accept that answer.

"O…k" she says hesitantly he knew she could tell he was hiding something. "I guess I will call you later then"

"Ok have a good time with Heather," he says with a sigh.

Soon as Catherine hung up the phone with Vincent she picked up the phone and called Tess

"Hey, are you still at the precinct?" Catherine asks.

"Yes, I am getting my stuff together so I can head out what's up?" Tess says as she put always files on her desk.

"I need you to check something out for me"

"Ok, what is it?"

"Find out everything you can about Vincent Keller"

"The guy you went on that date with who had you smiling like a kid in the candy store today, why?" Tess asked confused

"Something is just off about the way he keeps avoiding me going to his house I want to make sure he isn't hiding anything"

"Cat are you sure you know once I look there is no going back" Tess warned.

"Yes I am sure it's better to know now than later," she says slightly afraid that she might find something that would change everything. Catherine really liked Vincent a lot and she was hoping not to find anything but she definitely wanted to make sure he wasn't hiding anything either.

"Ok I will call you back on my way out of here," Tess says typing away on her computer.

"Thanks, Tess I owe you," Cat says

"Yes you owe me big time Cat and the Hat" Tess laughed.

"Whatever Manslayer" Catherine laughs

"Hey we decided never bring that name up again" Tess chuckled

"You started it" she smiled.

Vincent arrived home to find his house had guests Ryan had a couple of friends over they were running around the house with water guns and super soakers.

"Dad" Ryan yelled as he came running up to him and hugged him. "Dad we are out in the pool out back and having a water gun fight are you coming to play with us?" he asked

Vincent wanted to say no but for some reason, he couldn't as tired as he was he just wanted to lie down and chill for a while but his son's puppy dog eyes reeled him in. "I'll be out there in a little while ok," he says patting his son's head who then took off after his friends.

Vincent went up to his room and changed out of his work clothes into a white tank shirt and some cargo shorts then laid across the bed for a while resting his eyes. After laying there for about ten minutes he heard someone come into the room. When he opened his eyes he realized it was Alex. To his surprise, she was looking incredibly hot in her bikini and jean shorts.

"Nice to see I am at least still attractive to you," Alex says with sarcasm

"Alex" Vincent scolded

"What you are still not off the hook you still never told me where you were all day yesterday," she says putting her hand on her hips.

Vincent sighed he didn't want to get into another heated argument with Alex but he also knew he couldn't avoid her forever.

"Alex I am not about to argue with you"

"We aren't arguing it's just a simple question why can't you just answer it. Just admit it you spent the day with some whore while your son and wife sat at home wondering where you were. You know it could have been an emergency here at the house but you wouldn't have even known since you ignored us".

"Alex stop it already," he says getting annoyed.

"Why am I striking a nerve? I must be right just admit it" she says standing in front of him.

Vincent got up and walked out of the room with Alex following right behind him he went outside to join his son and his friends who were in the pool. Vincent actually started having fun Alex left him alone and he showed Ryan and his friend underwater swimming tricks. They had fun letting him toss them in the pool over and over as well. A game of Marco Polo game took his mind off Alex and even Catherine for a while which was good and made him feel a lot better even if it was temporary. By the time the sun was going down, they finally had enough and started cleaning up. While Ryan and Vincent were cleaning up the backyard after their guests left Alex came outside to make conversation with Vincent. Glad she wasn't bringing up yesterday he responded to her.

"Vince Ryan had a really good time today thanks for that, he has been kind of down lately," Alex says.

"You know I will always spend time with my son Alex and why has he been down?" he asks as he picks up a pool noodle and floaters.

"I think he senses the tension between us" she admits. "He misses you a lot too Vince"

Vincent didn't respond right away he felt slight guilt ache his heart as he looked at his son. Ryan was gathering up the waterholes headed their way.

"Good job Ryan," Alex says to him.

"Mom how come you never got in the water," Ryan asks Alex.

"Oh I didn't want to get into the water today," she says

"Well how come you have on your bathing suit," Ryan asked

Alex blushed, it was then Vincent realized she had on that bikini to impress him, Vincent couldn't help but laugh Ryan was calling her out.

"Vince it's not funny she says grabbing the water holes from Ryan and pointing it at Vincent.

"Don't even think about it Alex" Vincent says. By the time he finished his sentence she pressed the nozzle and sprayed him with water. She then took off running. Vincent and Ryan grabbed their water guns and ran after her.

By the time they caught up to her, she was running in the front of their house trying to get away from them as they both soaked her with water. Vincent grabbed a hold of her and held her hands while Ryan continued to spray her with water and she screamed and laughed. They all were having a good time until Vincent felt someone staring at him. He looked up and saw Catherine standing in front of her car with her arms crossed staring at him with rage in her eyes. Vincent's smile completely disappeared and turned to shock.

"Who is that Vince?" Alex asks noticing Catherine standing there as well grabbing his arm as she and Ryan looked on.

"Catherine" Vincent says as he walks his way over to her.

"So you want to explain this to me," Catherine asks as he gets closer

"It is not what you think"

Catherine rolls her eyes "now where have a heard that before"

"I promise I can explain everything but you have to believe me…I-"

"Believe you" she yelled "never once did you tell me you had a wife and kid Vincent. You said you would never hurt me"

"I know I said that and I meant that it's just there is so much more to this than you think"

"Vincent just save it, I am glad I found out before I got serious with you," Catherine says hurt and holding back tears." I knew you were too good to be true. Just stay the hell away from me I don't ever want to see you again," she says turning and heading to the car door. Vincent went to grab her arm to stop her and the next thing he know he was laid flat-out on the ground. She did the same move on him the other Catherine did only weeks earlier when he snuck up on her at the park. Only this time he didn't have beast strength protecting him the hit knocked him out. By the time he came to Catherine was already gone. Everything had been turned completely upside down and he had no one to blame but himself JT tried to warn him and now he has messed up big time.

Vincent tried to open his eyes as pain shot through his head. His eyes started to adjust and he realized he was lying on the couch in the house. Alex was standing near him with an ice pack in her hand.

"Here Vince," she says handing it to him "so that was her wasn't it?" she asks. Vincent knew there was no more avoiding so just went on and told her.

"Alex in order for you to understand I have to start from the beginning," he says looking at her in the eyes. He could tell she was preparing her mind for words she might not want to hear.

"Ok I am listening" she responds.

"Remember the day I woke up and I kept telling you I am not supposed to be here?" she asks her

"Yes I remember you were acting so strange"

"That is where this started, this may be hard to hear but before I woke up in bed next to you I was with Catherine."

"Excuse me?" she says sounding confused yet hurt at the same time.

He was trying to find the right words to explain this so she would understand.

"For so long I have lived my life one way and then overnight it was completely different. Before that day I woke up here my life was with Catherine, not you. I don't know how this happened but I wasn't married to you and we didn't have a kid together in fact you were gone you left town"

"I still don't understand Vince you aren't making any sense," she says as she paced slowly across the room.

"Alex let me just start from the very beginning to when we were engaged," he told her the whole story from then to now, from war to Muirfield, to saving and falling for Catherine and even him having to ship Alex off after she betrayed him. The look on her face was hard to read when he finished. She was silent for a long time and Vincent didn't bother her figuring she was trying to process everything.

Finally, she said something "Vince you are sick to think I would believe such a stupid story as that" she yelled "You must think I am so dumb gullible woman who would believe anything. If this is your way of trying to cover up for you being a lying cheating scam bag then you are mistaken"

"Alex I am…" she cut him off

"I don't want to hear it, Vincent, I can't believe you would go through all this just to justify your cheating. I can't take this anymore I am getting our son and I am leaving" she says storming out of the room and stairs up to get Ryan. Vincent didn't stop her he didn't have the energy to keep trying to convince everyone he wasn't crazy JT and Catherine barely believed him and Alex is hell-bent on not believing him. Vincent just felt like giving up, he kept praying hoping that things would go back to the way they were before he couldn't take it anymore.

As Alex and Ryan were about to leave he got up to hug his son. Ryan could sense that something was wrong after seeing some woman practically attack his dad he was scared and worried about him he didn't want to leave Vincent.

"Mom I want to stay with dad," Ryan says trying to pull his arm always from Alex.

"No you can't you are coming with me," she says dragging him with her toward the door.

"Alex let him stay if he wants," Vincent says getting up and walking toward them in the foyer.

"No Vincent he doesn't need to be around you at all, why do you care anyways not like you were paying him any attention when SHE came around anyways," she says yanking his arm as she walked out the door.

"No… mom I want to stay with daddy!" Ryan shouted as he started to cry.

It hurt Vincent to see his son crying the way he was

"Alex let him go," Vincent says

"No getaway Vincent you making things worse. Look what you are doing to him he is scared just go away" Alex says to Vincent as she puts Ryan in the car and closes the door. Ryan was in the back seat crying and screaming for Vincent but he didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he was traumatizing Ryan and if he was better off leaving with Alex or if he should let him stay with him. Vincent felt like his heart was being pulled two ways there seem to be no right way to go about anything more. He watched as Alex drove off with his son from the driveway just as it started to rain in a matter of hours Vincent ended up completely alone for the first time in a long. He stood in the driveway as the rain picked up drenching his clothes. He didn't care he felt just as rainy days made most people feel, sad and gloomy.