Here is chapter 17, enjoy!

When the door bell rang, Kate's eyes searched for Rick. She had managed to stop two of his evil plans before he even started them. She hoped she hadn't let anything pass without knowing it. Rick walked out of his office and headed for the door. When he noticed Kate watching him carefully, he couldn't help but laughed lightly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him." He said.

He opened the door and was faced with his daughter smiling at him. Jackson was much less at ease and tensed as soon as Rick appeared in the door. He let go of her hand and pulled on the sleeves of his jacket. After Alexis had hugged her father and went in the loft to Kate, Jackson hesitated. When he reached out to shake Rick's hand, he saw his hand trembling. He looked up to look at Rick and saw he had a strange smile on his face, one that said "you won't come out of this dinner alive". Jackson gulped and entered the loft, tensing even more when he heard Rick close the door behind him. This was going to be a very long dinner.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Half an hour into the dinner, Kate couldn't take it anymore.

"Ok, this has to stop!" she declared. "Rick, stop scaring the poor boy. You're making me nervous! And you look like a psychopath! Stop it."

"Ah thank you Kate!" Alexis said, relief obvious in her tone.

Jackson, feeling that it was now or never, spoke for the first time without being questioned by Rick.

"Sir, could I talk to you in private?" he asked.

Rick simply nodded, got up and went into his office. Jackson followed, looking back at Alexis for encouragement before disappearing behind the closing door of the office.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

"So, what do you think will happen in there?" Kate asked Alexis as the two of them continued eating.

"I don't know. And I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know." She answered. "Thank you for this afternoon by the way. I didn't see you but Jackson did. You should have seen his face!" she continued.

"What it anywhere near that terrified-lost-little-boy look he had on when you guys arrived?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Alexis laughed.

"You're happy with him right?" Kate asked, suddenly very serious.

"Yes, I'm very happy. At first I thought it was too soon, that I couldn't really be with a guy after what Max did. But I told Jackson and he completely understood. He said he would wait for me to be ready and that we could be just friends in the meantime. It lasted about a week." Alexis laughed. "He's just … he so different! He's nice, he's funny, he's sweet …"

"Wow, you got it bad!" Kate laughed.

"I know." Alexis said, blushing furiously. "So, changing the subject now. Did you start planning the wedding?" she asked, her eyes shining with anticipation.

"No, not really. I was going to start during the summer. But we have to find a date soon, so we can really start planning everything."

"Do you want to get married before the baby's born or after." Alexis asked.

"I'd prefer after. I don't want to rush into anything. But I'd like to have most of it ready before the baby comes, so that I can focus on him or her for a while." Kate said, her hand automatically going to rest on her stomach.

"When are you due?"

"Well, I don't have a precise date yet but since I found out in May I suppose sometime in February."

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

In the office, things were a bit tensed. Rick was sitting behind his desk, Jackson was standing in front of him, trying to find the courage to talk.

"Sir, I know you must hate me and …" he started, stopping when Rick held his hand up.

"I don't hate you Jackson. I just don't want my daughter to get hurt again. I find you quite nice to say the truth. And you seem to make her happy. But I have to make sure you're not going to hurt her like this jackass did."

"I won't Sir, I swear. Alexis told me what happened with this guy and would nothing do that to her … or to anyone else for that matter. I told her I was willing to wait for her to know what she wanted."

"Why would you do that?" Rick asked, intrigued by the young man.

"I really like her Sir. I know we only met like three weeks ago but I feel this sort of connection to her. I don't even know how to explain it."

"Did you sleep with her?" Rick asked bluntly, looking at him in the eyes.

"What! No! No! Of course not! I … no!" Jackson answered, blushing, his eyes wide. "We kissed for the first time yesterday, I don't … no."

"That's good to know." Rick said, getting up. "Now, you listen to me. You're welcome here as long as you make my daughter happy. But I swear, the moment she comes crying because of you, you're a dead man, do I make myself clear?" he asked in a threatening, waiting for the boy to nod. "I don't care who your parents are, you hurt her, I hurt you, it's as simple as that."

"Ok. But I won't, I swear." Jackson said, trying to keep his voice strong.

"Then we don't have a problem." Rick declared, smiling. "Now ,let's go back and eat. If there's anything left. Kate eats much more now, I seriously wonder how many they are in there. Oh, and you can call me Rick." He through over his shoulder as he walked out of the office, leaving a very relieved Jackson Gates behind him.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

As they were getting ready for bed, Rick smiled.

"You know what? I think I really scared Jackson for a moment."

"Well, that's not something to boast about." Kate said, getting in bed.

"That's because you're a woman, you can't understand. It's some kind of rite of passage. If you don't scare your daughter's boyfriend, then you don't deserve the title of father."

"Did my father ever scare you?" Kate asked, rolling on her side to face him.

"Uh … not that I can remember. Oh my God, maybe he's waiting for just before the wedding, hopping I will run away. But I will not do it Kate, I swear, I'll never leave you." Rick panicked.

"I know." She laughed. "But don't worry, I think you're safe." She said, scooting closer to him to cuddle into his side.

"So, what did you and Alexis talk about while I was terrorizing the boy?" Rick asked, hugging her to his side.

"The wedding." She answered, smiling. "She doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna be my maid of honor."

"Really? What about Lanie?" Rick asked, surprised.

"She'll understand. I'll bribe her with being godmother." Kate laughed lightly.

So ... what did you think?