One Month Later…

The first couple of weeks after David's death passed slowly for Susannah. She found on the first 3 days she could barely get out of bed, let alone leaving the house. But when the police released David's body to her 13 days after his murder, she jumped into action and started planning the funeral.

It was a closed casket because of one of the 12 stab wounds that was visible just under David's chin. He was buried close to their parents on a bright Saturday afternoon and everyone returned to Susannah's house after the service. She gave Max the job of cleaning the house and organizing pallbearers, to which he chose himself, his Uncle's Brad and Jake, Adam, Diego and Jesse. That day had passed in a blur and Suze could barely remember anything that happened. There were moments that she remembered though. She remembered Max's warm hand, holding hers tightly as the casket was lowered slowly into the ground. She remembered Jake's sad, pained face and Brad's stoned, glazed eyes. She remembered Ceecee bustling around Suze's kitchen helping with the food and Michael hovering almost every other second. Then at the end of the night, she remembered sitting at the kitchen table with Jesse and drinking an entire bottle of J & B's scotch, in David's honor.

As she studied the pillow beside her head, she realized she hadn't seen Jesse that night. She then let her mind wander and began worrying if they had fought or done other things, things that would complicate things even more. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember anything after her 3rd drink. She sighed and rolled onto her back. She would just have to ask him.

She sighed as she climbed out of her bed, slowly pushing the black sheets and white duvet back. She let her feet touch the soft white carpet and looked around the dark room. It hadn't been cleaned since before David was killed and it was in serious need of a good cleaning. Suddenly, as she took in the dirty laundry and the dirty dishes piled up beside the bed, she had a burst of energy and she felt a strong urge to do something. So she threw on a pair of grey baggy track pants, a black tank top and put her hair into a short pony tail. Then she tackled her room head on. In 1 hour the room was dusted, vacuumed, and bright and the dirty laundry was in organized piles in the basement.

She headed downstairs and swept the hallway and kitchen. She vacuumed the living room and cleaned all of the bathrooms until they were like new. She scrubbed the floor in the mud room, which led to the garage and even bathed the dog. By the time all of this was done it was 1:30 and she was starving.

She sat down in the backyard with a tune fish sandwich and an iced tea. She sighed as she took that first bite and savored every taste. As she ate slowly, she looked around her backyard. It was a really big back yard, perfect for parties. She felt the sudden urge to show people that she was getting better, that she was moving on. A vision of a barbeque popped into her head next. Max was playing with the dog, while Suze served the drinks to the guests and Jesse flipped the hamburgers on the grill. She chuckled as she pictured him in a white apron and a chef's hat. The she realized what she was thinking and shook her head to get rid of the image. But the craving to have a barbeque wouldn't go away.

When the doorbell rang, Suze smiled. Instead of grumbling, when she opened the door she smiled brightly.

"Jesse, hey!" She sang. He stood on her porch in light blue jeans and a white t-shirt, his hair was still damp and he smelled of soap. He looked at her shocked for a second. Then his eyes slowly wandered down to her outfit and she felt her cheeks heat up. "I was cleaning the house, and then I got hungry. Come in. I was just eating lunch." She said quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Hungry?" She asked, walking away from him towards the kitchen.

"Why is that every time I come over here, I end up eating something?" He said with a chuckle, as Susannah put two big scoops of tuna, mixed with green olives and mayo onto a piece of whole wheat bread. She smiled.

"We love to eat in this family, always have. Naturally we force it on those who choose to enter our house." She said with a shrug as she poured him a glass of iced tea and handed him his plate.

"Well I'm going to get fat if you keep doing it." He said with a smirk.

"I guess it's a good thing you don't come around very often." She said eyeing him playfully. He flinched as he took the plate from her and followed her out to the backyard. The sat in the gazebo, protected from the hot sun and the bugs.

"Sorry that I haven't been around lately. I've been busy with work stuff." She raised her eyebrows, unable to speak from the food in her mouth. "There was a problem back home and apparently I'm the only one who can think logically when there's a problem."

"Huh, that's a first." She teased smiling at him, before taking another bite of her sandwich. "What happened?" She said between mouthfuls.

"Well there was a leak in a couple of the barrels of the older wine, I guess it was just bad manufacturing. But it was our best wine and we could never figure out why it was disappearing faster than it should have. Finally someone found the leak and reported it to me, but by the time they found it we were short on our order so they had a little panic."

"Did you go back home?"

"Briefly. I wasn't planning on staying very long, which was why I didn't say goodbye. I was only there for two days and then I came back." He said defensively. She shook her head and smiled.

"Well I guess it's good that you fixed it."

"And that I fixed it quickly." He said with a smile. "You missed me I can tell." She felt her cheeks flair and she smiled.

"If you want to think that, you can."

"Well I missed you." He whispered, loud enough for her to hear him. She looked away and cleared her throat.

"So I was thinking of having a barbeque." She said changing the subject and looking at the yard.

"Really?" He said, looking at her with amusement.

"Why you think that's a bad idea?" She said with a worried frown.

"No, not at all. I think it's a perfect idea. It's just what everyone needs." He said with a smile and she sipped her tea. "What's the occasion?"

"There isn't one, I just wanted to through a party." She said with a shrug. "I just want to have fun again." He nodded with understanding and looked thoughtful.

"Why don't you throw Adam and Ceecee an engagement party?" He asked.

"I could do that. Although Cecile's mother is throwing a big fancy party in the next couple of weeks."

"Well it could be a congratulations party. Real laid back, with paper plates."

"And red cups." She added and they both chuckled. "I'll need you to help me though." She said casually avoiding eye contact.

"With what?" His tone was suggestive, but she chose to ignore it. She gave another quick cough and smiled.

"I'll need someone to cook the burgers. Max is absolutely horrible at it. I would never tell him, but he really is. I don't know who he got it from." She said with a smile. "Plus it will be too much for me to cook and serve drinks." She noticed his silence. "Do you mind?"

"No, its just seeing as you're the one with the restaurant, maybe you should cook and I'll serve the drinks." He said, a smile playing at his eyes.

"Good idea, after all you are the expert on alcohol in this…mixture." He smiled and went quiet as he looked out over the yard. She studied the way the sun made his skin look almost golden and his green eyes look brighter.

"What is it?" She asked as his eyebrows bent with thought.

"I was remembering our very first fight." He said looking at her with a small smile.

"I remember that. You were upset that I wanted the inside of the tree house to be pink." Suze said with a chuckle.

"You were trying to destroy it." He said accusingly and she gasped.

"No! I was trying to make it…pretty." He smiled at her.

"Yea that's the problem. It's a man cave. A man cave can't look pretty." At this Suze burst out laughing.

"A man cave! That's funny!" She chuckled. "It's not a man cave if I was in it."

"Sure you were just a privileged guest." She roared with laughter again and this time he laughed too. The only reason they had the tree house was because Suze had gotten the idea from a movie called Now and Then. It was his tree house because he was the only one with a good enough tree.

"What's so funny?" Max said, appearing in the doorway. He smiled brightly as he sat in the seat across from her.

"We were just remembering the good ol' days." Jesse said. "Like how your mother kept trying to make the…" his voice drifted as he caught sight of Mike in the doorway.

"Hi." Suze said and he smiled at her. "I didn't know you were here."

"Opps forgot." Max said with a shrug. Mike's eyes flashed and then he smiled.

"No worries budd." Mike said, and then gave Suze a gentle kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, a lot better." She said with a smile. "Have a seat." She said and he sat in the empty chair beside her.

"So what did mom keep trying to do?" Max said, turning away from Mike towards Jesse.

"Oh, uh, she kept trying to add things to the tree house, to make it look pretty." Jesse said with a smile. "Most of the stuff she wanted to add was pink."

"Funny, Gina kept doing the same thing when we played up there." Max said with raised eyebrows and Jesse's smile faded. His eyes met Suze's, clearly remembering the two main events that happened in the tree house. Suze shrugged.

"Don't worry we didn't touch any thing." Max said, picking up on the vibe between Suze and Jesse. "Mom told us to stay away from the bookshelf and she gave us our own cork board to add stuff too." Suze smiled as she remembered how excited they were to have their own place. They all fell silent and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.

"So what brought you here?" Michael asked Jesse.

"Oh he's helping me plan the barbeque." Suze said, giving Jesse a wink.

"A barbeque?" Michael asked.

"Here?" Max asked enthusiastically and Suze smiled.

"Yup. It's going to be a congratulations barbeque for Adam and Ceecee." She said. "It was Jesse's idea." She added and Jesse chuckled.

"The barbeque was your mother's idea, the congratulations party was mine." Jesse explained.

"I'm going to cook and Jesse's in charge of the drinks." Suze explained to Max. "I thought you can decorate the place." Suze said to Max and he frowned slightly.

"Well, maybe I'll ask Gina to help me. She likes doing that sort of thing." Jesse chuckled.

"What do you want to do?" Michael asked with an edgy tone.

"Oh, um…hmm…" Suze frowned trying to think of something. Max smirked and glanced at Jesse quickly.

"You could help Max and Gina decorate." Jesse offered, giving Max a stern look and Max scowled.

"I think two people's enough to decorate." Michael said and Max nodded.

"I agree." He said.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Suze asked him and he smiled and patted her hand.

"I'll find something to do, don't worry." He said and she nodded and gently pulled her hand away. Michael cleared his throat and said, "So when is this all taking place?" Suze looked at Jesse and he raised his eyebrows.

"Next week?" She asked him.

"Sure. Next week's good for me." Jesse said with a nod.

"Saturday's a good day for a barbeque." Max added.

"Alright, next Saturday. Mark it on your calendar. Adam and Cecile's congratulations party."

"No Max! You have to turn it clockwise not counter-clockwise." Gina's voice floated in through the doors. Suze looked up to see her son frowning at the white streamer in his hand. Gina gently took the streamer away from him and showed him the proper way to turn the streamer. Her long, straight blonde hair was in a loose ponytail and she was wearing a blue jean skirt with a white top that had cute little puffy sleeves.

"What's the difference?" Max grumbled as Gina carefully taped the end of he white streamer to the fence.

"It looks better this way." She said with a shrug and Suze chuckled as she watched Gina take down the streamer that Max had just hung two minutes ago. Max groaned.

"I give up! I'll go and blow up the balloons." He snapped and strode away.

"You give up so easily! How can I count on you for real issues if you can't even handle putting up streamers?" She called after him, a mischievous smile on her lips. Suze watched her laugh and shake her head as she turned back to the streamers and then Max stormed into the kitchen. Suze pretended that she hadn't been paying attention. When Max slammed the kitchen chair into the table Suze looked up with raised eyebrows.

"What's wrong honey?" She asked cheerfully.

"I hate women! There never happy!" He snapped, while rummaging through the bag of decorations.

"No you don't buddy! They just know what buttons to press." Jesse said behind her, causing her to jump. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans and with the sunlight shinning in through the door he looked all that much more irresistible.

"Yea well…it's annoying." Max said, snatching up the entire bag of decorations and storming back outside. Jesse stood beside her as they watched him grumble something to Gina. She gave him a big smile, when his back was to her and sauntered up to him. She said something quietly to him and he turned towards her with a look of pure anger on his face. She let out a cute little laugh, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He said something to her, but there was a smile on his lips now too and she just kissed him again, to get him to stop talking.

"Funny huh?" Jesse said, moving closer to her. "They remind me of us."

"You must be thinking of someone else." Suze said with a sigh. "We were never like that." She moved away from him and grabbed the burgers off the counter. She slipped a white apron on over her navy blue jean dress, put on her sunglasses and headed outside.

"Why do you do that?" Jesse said quietly, as he followed her outside.

"Do what?" She asked, pretending to be completely oblivious to what he had just said. She looked over her shoulder at him and blinked at him. He sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind." He grumbled. "You want me to put the cooler here?" He said pointing next to the barbeque.

"No I think it's better over there." She said pointing to the edge of the patio far away from her. He sighed and shook his head again as he lifted the cooler and carried it to the spot she had chosen. She watched him walk over and place the cooler on the ground. She felt goose bumps grow on her arms as she watched his muscles flex. She had the urge to feel them again, to feel them wrapped around her tightly.

"Hello dear." Michael said, startling her. He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Oh, Mike, you scared me." She said with a slight smile.

"Sorry. I did call your name though." He said holding up one of the boxes of hamburgers.

"I guess I wasn't listening." She glanced again at Jesse who was know helping Max and Gina with the decorations.

"It's the music." Michael said with a shrug. "Oh I almost forgot. I saw Adam and Cecile's car pull up as I was coming inside."

"Already?" Suze started panicking. "Guys their here!" She said calling to Max, Gina and Jesse.

"But no one else is here yet." Max said.

"I told them 5:30." Gina defended. Suze looked at the black Kensington Street clock that hung at the side of the house. It was only 4:30.

"Not much we can do now." Mike said.

"Everything's ready anyways, Suze. We just need the people." Jesse said, giving her shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Yea I guess your right." Suze said. "Can you watch these for me?" She asked him.

"I'll do it dear." Mike said before Jesse could answer. He grabbed the tongs from her hand and started turning the potatoes that were cooking on the top grill.

"Uh, ok thanks." She said, wiping her hands on her apron and headed inside.

"He doesn't like me, huh?" Jesse said, following her to the front door.

"Who? Max?"

"What? No, Michael!" Jesse said.

"Oh, well did he like you in high school?" Suze asked, looking out the front window.

"I…I don't really remember him in high school." Jesse said, leaning on the railing of the stairs and Suze chuckled.

"He's fine. I guess he just feels left out or something. Jeez here they come." She said. She fixed her hair in the mirror and took off her sunglasses. She opened the door and they smiled brightly as the couple climbed up the porch steps.

"Hey! You're early." Suze said kissing Cecile's cheek and hugging Adam.

"I thought it was supposed to start at 4:30." Ceecee said.

"No, the party doesn't start till…"

"Doesn't matter! You're here now." Jesse interrupted. "Congrats." He said shaking Adam's hand and giving Ceecee a hug.

"You know I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be answering the door together." Ceecee said with a bright smile and gave Suze a wink.

"Yes well…let's get you a drink." Suze said linking arms with her friend and heading out toe patio.

By 7 o'clock the party was in full swing and the food was almost completely devoured. People gathered in little groups all over the backyard. Suze surveyed the party as she mixed the whipped cream. Ceecee was showing off her ring for the 20th time that evening, to old friends. Gina was playing tug of war with Sheeba and Max and Jesse were standing side by side talking with Adam and Bryce Mortinson, who since high school had gained 60 lbs and lost almost all of his brown hair.

When the whip cream was finished, Suze added it to the top of the trifle that she had made, and carried it outside. Just as she passed Max and Jesse she heard Adam say, "So what did you do when you found out?" She froze.

"Uh, found out what?" Jesse asked, just as equally uncomfortable.

"That you have a kid." Adam laughed. Jesse's gaze met hers briefly.

"You've got a kid?" Max asked and Suze inwardly groaned as Adam let out a laugh.

"You're kidding right?" He asked with a smile. When he saw that Max wasn't smiling back, his smile dropped. "Oh you're not kidding." All humor was gone and the people around them had gone quiet. "You really don't know?"

"Know what? What are you talking about?" Max asked uncomfortably.

"That he's your dad." Adam said and with that the bowl of trifle slipped from Suze's hands and smashed into pieces when it hit the patio stones.

"Oh no." She said as she bent down to pick up the pieces. Jesse was at her side in two seconds helping her pick up the pieces. His eyes met her, reflecting the panic expression that hers gave. They stared at each other having a private conversation with only their eyes.

"He's my…Mom? Is this for real?" Max asked, with a little laugh of disbelief. Suze closed her eyes and counted to 10 and then stood up. Jesse stood up beside her and they stared at their confused son with matching expressions of concern.

"Mom?" He asked looking from her to Jesse and back.

"Max…" Jesse started to explain, but Max shut him up with a cold stare.

"Mom, tell me." Suze sighed.

"It's true." The whole crowd was silent now, waiting. Suze watched as anger and bewilderment flashed across Max's face. "We thought you knew." She defended.

"How would I know?" Max snapped.

"Dude, you look just like him." Bryce added and Max gave him a harsh stare. Suze knew that he now, not only felt betrayed and angry, but also embarrassed. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He looked around at all the faces watching and shook his head. Without another word he pushed past her and left the party.

"Max, wait!" Suze called after him, put Gina stopped her.

"It's probably best if I go." She said with a sympathetic smile and Suze sighed and nodded. She watched Gina run after Max, and then shook her head.

"Good one idiot!" Jesse snapped at Adam.

"Hey I didn't know." He said holding up his hands.

"It's not your fault. We should've told him sooner." She said looking at Jesse with a stern look. "Sorry folks, it looks like its just pie and cake for dessert." She said with a light laugh. People then turned back to their groups with something new to add to their conversations.

"I wanted to tell him." Jesse hissed as they carried the broken pieces of glass into the kitchen.

"I told you he would get upset." She hissed back.

"Can you blame him? He just found out that I was his father from a complete stranger, based on the fact that we look alike."

"Almost identical actually." She said with a sigh and leaned on the sink. "What do we do know?" She asked looking out the doors, but not really seeing anything. Jesse sighed and leaned against the counter next to her. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of her son and all the hurt he was probably going through. Jesse saw the tear fall down her cheek and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She took a deep breath and rested her head on his chest.

"Just give him time. He'll accept it eventually."