Ned Ashton never liked delivering bad news, let alone delivering it after such a blessed event. He had stayed hidden as long as he could without seeming rude and not a moment too soon. This morning's paper had been more than a little suspicious. Until his wife had told him, he hadn't known that they had twins, so how did one of the biggest newspapers in town have their first pictures? Lois was raving mad, having been on the phone all this morning and late into the afternoon. He had just left her actually. It was times like this when he wished he hadn't offered Lucky a job in the music industry. Why did the media always have to feed on good and spit out bad?

"Ned?" Lucky questioned when he finally noticed his boss standing in the doorway. The entire morning had been filled with more visits from family and friends than he even knew existed. Amazing how babies brought relatives out of the woodwork, he mused. It had slowed down since the funeral for Sonny Corinthos started. More than a few members of this town felt the need to actually see him be buried to reassure themselves he was really dead this time, unlike the previous five times his death had been reported. "Why are you standing there? Come on in!"

Elizabeth glanced up shyly from her lap where Jake and Gracie had been keeping her attention. Even though she had met Ned several times by now, he and Lois still intimidated her. "Hi Ned. Where's Lois?" She had assumed that much like Laura and Bobbie, Lois wouldn't be able to help herself and descend in full on honorary aunt mode.

"Sorry I didn't get here sooner." Ned apologized handing over two stuffed dogs, one pink and one blue.

"That's fine." Elizabeth couldn't help the sigh that escaped her when she saw the gifts. "Those are adorable."

"I guess they're still too little." Ned barely resisted the urge to scratch the back of his neck.

"Doesn't matter. It even works perfectly with their room theme." Elizabeth assured him.

"Want to see them?" Lucky asked proudly.

"That depends," Ned drawled. "Do they look like you or their mother?"

"Elizabeth and my mother."

"Jake has your eyes. Don't let him fool you."

Ned stepped deeper into the room and reached for Gracie first. Lucky helped him get a careful hold of Jacob. "My God, they're beautiful." He winked at Elizabeth. "Not that I believe you could have ugly children, Elizabeth."

"I am still in the room you know." Lucky pointed out. "You could wait to hit on her until I at least leave."

"Well it's your own damn fault for not putting a ring on her finger yet. I bet Lois wouldn't mind." Ned smiled cheekily.

"To know that you're hitting on other women? I'll call her right now."

"That's an empty threat." Ned shook his head. "Lois and I never saw ourselves having kids," He told them. "And now, well, it won't happen. Sometimes I wonder though."

"It looks like you're a natural." Elizabeth declared. "Gracie at least seems to like you."

"Gracie, huh? I like that." Ned whispered. "And Jake. They're going to be trouble. I hope you're ready." He kept his eyes locked on Elizabeth's.

"I'm already planning on limiting the extent of the 'lessons' I know Patrick and Cruz are just dying to impart." Elizabeth laughed.

"There is another reason I stopped by." Ned admitted sheepishly. There was no reason to stall any longer. They needed to know.

"No Ned, I won't work from home." Lucky joked. "Lois threatened me if I even thought about it."

Ned's smile fell. "Bad news."

"Define bad." Lucky sat down on the bed, closer to Elizabeth. There were only a handful of times he could remember seeing Ned worried. Right now, Ned looked worried.

Ned reached behind his back where he had stashed the newspaper and unfolded it. "The twins made the front page."

"What?" Lucky snatched the paper out of Ned's outstretched hands, tearing a small corner from the top in his hurry. Unfolding the paper, he could hear Elizabeth's startled gasp as the headline was revealed to them. "Lucky Spencer's Newest Hit Duo" in large bold letters on top of a picture of the twins, clearly in the nursery.

"Oh my God." Elizabeth managed to get out before covering her mouth with her hand. "How? How?"

"I don't know. It was leaked somehow." Ned divulged uneasily. "I didn't even know you had twins until I saw the headline."

"Shit." Lucky swore tossing the paper back on to the bed. Going over to Ned, he took hold of his children and nestled them both close to him. This wasn't what he wanted for them. It's was the exact reason why he had worked so to keep Cameron out of the public eye.

"There's more." Ned groaned.

"More?" Elizabeth managed weakly from the bed. Her eyes scanned over the article, trying figure out who could have leaked the information.

"Ned..." Lucky warned him as he moved closer to Elizabeth.

"Lucky, they know about Cameron. I don't know how, but they do." He decided not to tell them about what the newspaper was bragging about, because he, his wife, and the rest of the company were in the process of keeping that out of the tabloids and off the air. Something like this could ruin Lucky's image and embarrass Elizabeth to the point of isolation.

If he wasn't holding on to Gracie and Jake, he would have jumped up from his seated position and charged out of the room. How the hell had that happened? Who would have leaked that information? All his attempts to give Cameron a normal life was now shot straight to hell. Oh Tony and his lawyer were going to love this turn of events. "Does my mom know?" he asked quickly. Cameron had gone home with his parents last night. If his folks didn't know, they needed to and quickly.

"No." Ned shook his head. "I wanted to come to you first. Lucky, Elizabeth. I'm sorry about this. I don't know what happened, but we're going to fix it."

"How? How is this fixable?" Elizabeth wondered, her eyes filling with tears.

Because they don't have everything yet, Ned thought silently to himself. Because we're going to make sure this never happens again. "We're going to pay off the news station." They had plenty of money and, hell, if various presidents could get away with it, why couldn't they?

"Why the news station?" Elizabeth questioned. "It's a photograph. It's already out."

"We can limit the exposure." Ned insisted.

"And drive up the interest in the one that is already out there." Lucky pointed out. "I know how this game works Ned. That doesn't limit anything."

"I've been in it a little longer than you have, Lucky. Trust me. I didn't say we were going to stop there. A news station would be pretty useless without information and we're going to offer them something bigger than you."

"What? Michael Jackson?"

"Actually, Daphne's wedding." Ned clarified with a sigh.

"Her what?" Elizabeth and Lucky exclaimed together.

"She's the one who called us about the article. We're using her as a distraction."

"And Taggert's agreed to this?" Lucky asked incredulously. "Taggert? Tall guy? Bald? Walks around all pissed off?"

"It was Daphne's idea. We're taking the heat off of you long enough to snatch the media's attention with some other shiny object. She said she has a plan that even Taggert couldn't argue with."

"That's not a recipe for trouble." Elizabeth finally found her voice. That crazy, impulsive goofball of a girl. If this wedding went off, she was getting one huge present.

"This will not happen again." Ned assured them. "Not unless that stupid little station wants to be the reason I close L&B." He muttered darkly.

"Ned...this isn't your fault. Some fame hungry bastard out for a quick buck did this." Lucky pointed out. "I don't blame you."

"Maybe it is, maybe it's not. All I know is you and I and every employee under us has enough money to travel the globe a few hundred times. If L&B were to close, it would hurt the town more than any of us. Maybe then we could live our lives in something other than fear." Ned reasoned.

"Hey I knew what the game was and I chose to play it." Lucky pointed out. "I made myself a target."

"If I had told you the drawbacks first..."

"I wasn't stupid no matter what my cousin may insinuate at times."

"Assigning blame now isn't going to fix this." Elizabeth interrupted. "We need to deal with this now."

"I've always taken care of you." Ned told them, heading for the door. "This time is no different. Take care of those babies. I'll deal with the wolves."

*****

Even the whistle felt forced, but it calmed Patrick a bit as he strolled across his cousin's lawn to pick up Cameron. He was a little surprised that Lucky had called him first, but then, he was closer, wasn't he? The plan was to bring Cameron over to the apartment in case some nosy reporters like the one who had found out about their twins less than a day after their arrival came over and tried to follow-up. The last thing anybody wanted was for Cameron to be in the spotlight. It was understood that the twins would stay the same level of hidden as their older brother had, but that was all shot to hell now. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to stay calm. The last thing Cam would react well to would be a total and absolute freak-out on his part.

Elizabeth had phoned Aunt Laura right after him, so Patrick knew his little cousin was all ready to go with socks, shoes, a light jacket, and the backpack she had given him for starting "big boy" school. There was never anything in the backpack save a coloring book or a bunch of crayons, but the effect it had had on Cameron was apparent. He was absolutely overjoyed that soon he would be joining Lance and Morgan at school. Patrick knocked lightly on the door and waited patiently. When his aunt didn't answer right away, he got a little worried. Understanding her paranoia, he snuck around the back and used his spare key letting himself into the kitchen. Aunt Laura had one hand on her hip and the other holding the telephone. She wasn't talking to anyone; she was waiting for it to ring. Cameron was under the table looking a little scared.

"Patrick." Laura breathed out in relief.

"I got stuck in traffic for a second. I knew better than to take that route at this time of day." Patrick apologized carefully taking the phone from her.

"Yes. But you're here now. Cameron, say hi to Patrick." Laura coached him, trying to keep the anger and fear out of her voice. All Cameron knew right now was he was going to Patrick and Robin's to spend time with Morgan. She had to keep it together for her grandson's sake, no matter how badly she wanted to scream and pound on doors until she found the reporter that exposed her grandchildren to the world

"Hi Patrick." Cameron spoke unsteadily, his eyes darting back and forth between his grandmother and his cousin.

"What'cha doing under the table?" Patrick wanted to know setting the phone on the wall hook.

Cameron shrugged. "It's fun."

"You know what else is fun?" Patrick asked enthusiastically. "Coming over to my house and playing with Morgan!"

"Will Roby be there too?"

"Absolutely! She was cooking when I came over here to pick you up. She said something about remembering you like Scooby Do macaroni and cheese." Patrick told him.

Cameron nodded, making his way out from under the table, dragging his backpack behind him. "Where are Daddy and Lizzie?"

"They're still at the hospital Cameron." Laura started gently. "Remember they have to stay there with the twins."

Cameron nodded. "So can I go see them later?"

"Sure we can, but not today." Patrick explained. "Today it's just us boys...and Robin. We can go see them first thing in the morning. Would that be okay?"

Cameron tilted his head and thought about it for a second. "I guess."

"Did you get your jammies and toothbrush?"

"Gramma packed them."

"What about Wolfie?"

"He's upstairs. I'll be back." Cameron dashed for the room in a blur of legs and arms.

Patrick stepped toward his aunt and enveloped her in a hug. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

"I'm fine. It's Cameron I'm worried about. And the babies."

"Lucky and Ned are old pros at this. By this time tomorrow, they'll turn the entire exposure upside down. It'll work out. I promise." Patrick assured her.

"I hope you're right." Laura sighed.

"Is there anything you need us to do tonight? Have you had anything to eat?"

Smiling, she reached up to mess Patrick's hair. "Yes." She assured him. "You don't worry about me. Just keep the news away from Cameron. That's the most important thing."

"There are plenty of shiny objects at the apartment, don't worry." Patrick smirked cheekily.

"Got Wolfie!" Cameron announced as he raced back into the kitchen.

"Give Gramma a kiss and let's hit the road, Partner."

"Bye Gramma!" Cameron chimed cheerfully as Laura knelt down for him to kiss her cheek.

"Bye sweet boy." Laura responded, hugging him tightly to her. "You be good for Patrick and Robin."

"He can't be worse than me and they still haven't kicked me out." Patrick joked kissing Aunt Laura's cheek as well before snatching up Cameron and holding him, his stuffed dog, and the bag under his arms.

Preview: "My niece and nephew have been exploited! How can you act like that doesn't matter?"