Chapter 15

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I actually created some of them, so I do own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as for the ones I did create, who they are is up to me, so...

Seattle, Washington

Cody just stared at his Dad in disbelief. This was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. He had a plan in place that would reunite his family and let him get to spend more time with Bailey in the process. But his Dad's announcement was threatening to ruin all of it with one fail swoop. And to make matters worse, he was getting a real bad vibe from this Meredith lady. Briefly, he wondered if he would get a bad feeling about any lady who was trying to ruin his plan even if it was Mother Teresa. He shook his head. No, he was usually a pretty good judge of character. There was definitely something about her that he didn't like. Cody could feel his blood beginning to boil. He wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Zack?"

Cody looked up and saw his Dad staring at him. "Are you alright?"

Cody began pacing back and forth. "Ego operor non teneo, Pater. Is est totus multus sumo in vox iam. Super , quam puteus operor vos vere teneo is mulier? Is can non exsisto ultum senior quam ego sum , vox? Have vos vere sententia is per?"

Kurt and Meredith just stared at Cody. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did you just say?" Kurt was really confused now. "Was that Latin? Since when do you know Latin?"

Cody sighed. "I learned it in Texas. How can you possibly be getting married, Dad? Where did this come from?"

Kurt paused. "I...uhhh...well...I thought you would be happy for me, Zack..."

Cody just shook his head and lost it. "Well, I'm not. You just drop this nuclear bomb on me and expect me to be happy about it? Sorry, Dad. Not happening! I was expecting a night of just the two of us to spend some time together, but you had to go and ruin it!"

Kurt sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have done this here tonight. Zack, I'm sorry for ruining tonight for you. I should have told you at a different time and in a different way." He turned to Meredith. "And I apologize to you too. I completely blew this all the way around."

She smiled at him. "Its okay. You're heart was in the right place. Maybe we should just watch the rest of the game and then go somewhere afterwards to talk about this?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "I would rather not. Right now, I just want to go home." He shook his head. "Maybe I should just go back..." He paused. "...to Texas. At least things made sense there..."

Kurt stepped back. "Whoa! Hold up there, Zack! Maybe we should give this some time. I can see that I've upset you tonight more than I thought. Not my intention." He sighed. "Maybe we should just go home and sleep on this. Tomorrow, we'll all be thinking more clearly and we can all go out to dinner, discuss and get to know each other."

Cody glared at him. "I don't think so! I've already got plans tomorrow night..."

"This is the first I've heard of this..."

Cody smirked. "Well, maybe if you had been around more since I've gotten back instead of running around with...with...with her, maybe you would know about it. But I refuse to cancel plans I've been looking forward to for...for...for this..."

Kurt sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I see. You're right. I should have been home more often. Why don't we table this and talk again once everyone is thinking more clearly and had time to calm down?"

Meredith pulled him off to the side. "Table this? Are you really saying you might not marry me because of how he feels about it?"

"Zack's my son. He's my first priority."

She paused and collected herself. "Understood. Give me a little time for him to get to know me..."

"Alright, but I think he and I need to go home now. I need to give him time to cool off. I shouldn't have just sprung this on him like this."

Meredith sighed. "Fine."

Kurt and Cody headed back out to the car and headed home. The whole way home, there was no talking whatsoever. Every so often, Kurt would glance over at him but Cody was just staring straight a head, his mind a jumble of thoughts. When they got home, Cody immediately headed to his room and locked the door behind him. He just laid in bed as he thoughts continued bouncing all around his head. Finally, exhaustion overtook him, but he didn't sleep well at all. The next morning, he woke up and cleaned up as if on autopilot. But instead of sticking around the house, he headed outside and went down to the docks the stuck into Puget Sound. He just sat at the end of it and continued staring off into space. Cody wasn't even aware someone had sat down next to him until they spoke.

"Addison said I needed to get over here ASAP. What's up?"

Cody turned and saw Bailey sitting next to him. He sighed. "Its over. The entire plan I came up with was destroyed in less than thirty seconds..."

Bailey frown and was concerned seeing how distraught Cody looked. "I want you to tell me everything that happened. Don't leave out a single thing."

He nodded and told her the entire series of events from the night before. "And that's when I flipped out and started ranting and raving. I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it..."

She smiled at him. "Under the circumstances, I can understand..."

"I hate that everything I had planned is now completely shot..."

"Says who?"

Cody looked at her funny. "But..."

"I know what you told me. I know some may say I should stay out of this, but I'd like to think I have a vested interest in your plan working..."

He smiled at her. "I'm glad you do. Being able to stay around you was a big part of my plan for me too. But this is game over now."

She smiled back. "Again...says who? All you need now is to tweak your plan a little bit. I mean...look at what your Dad said. He said he thought it would be nice for everyone to have a woman around the house. Did he ever say he loved this Meredith woman?"

Cody paused. "Well...no."

"Exactly. Have you ever heard the expression...'if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with'?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, right now, you're Dad doesn't think he can be with the one he loves. We have to show him that he can..."

Cody paused again to consider that. "By showing him that its still possible for him to get back together with Mom?"

"Exactly!"

"But how do we pull that off. He's here in Seattle, and she's all the way across the country in Boston. I can't see her deciding on a whim to come out here and visit..."

Bailey smiled again. "Because it won't be a whim. She'll think she's coming back to switch you and Zack back again..."

Cody considered that. "But what happens if it doesn't work? I'd be on my way back to Boston and away from you..."

"Then we just make sure it works..."

He nodded. "Yeah..." He smiled. "If the odds of it were working were in direct proportion to how much I want it to work, then it would be a sure thing."

"Same here."

"Okay, I need to call Zack and tell him that he has to tell Mom the truth ASAP. We need to get the ball rolling..."

"Right. And then you're going to have to do your second best acting job of all time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that until she gets out here, you're going to have to act like you're okay with your Dad marrying this Meredith lady."

He sighed. "Easier said than done. Like I told you, I get a real bad vibe from her. I almost think she's a gold digger after Dad's money."

Bailey smiled again. "I have another old saying for you...'you can attract more flies with honey than vinegar'..."

He nodded. "So, be nice to her to get her to lower her guard?"

"Right again. We'll just have to make her believe last night was an aberration." She teased him. "The result of too many hormones flooding through your system..."

Cody laughed. "Alright, for the better good, I can do that..."

"And if she slips up, you'll be there to bust her."

"Right." He paused. "Thank you, Bailey...For everything. I hope you know just how amazing you are."

She slightly blushed. "Thanks." She paused. "Okay, here is what we need to do..." She filled Cody in on her idea and looked at him to see his reaction.

He smiled. "Beauty and brains. You're a genius. Okay, we have a lot to do then, and not a lot of time to do it. I promised this beautiful girl a date night tonight. And I intend to keep my promise."

She smiled back at him. "And she intends to enjoy it. You better call Zack now. I'll handle the other phone call."

Cody nodded. "Right." He pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.

Boston, Massachusetts

Zack was still asleep and having the most pleasant dream. In it, he and Maya were on a date, and the night was magical. He had just walked her to her front door when she turned to look at him. She was about to kiss him goodnight when Zack felt himself getting shook. His eyes fluttered open and found his mother smiling back at him.

"Time to wake up, Sleepyhead."

Zack groaned and looked at the alarm clock. "But its only 10:30 on a Saturday morning."

Carey smiled. "I know, but I have to run to the grocery store. And someone needs to be here and awake when Mr. Moseby stops by to pick up the cake."

Zack sighed. "Fine..."

He crawled out of bed and towards the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, Carey was gone to the store and Zack was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Even though he was eating breakfast, he was having trouble staying awake. Well, that was until his cell phone rang. Picking it up, he saw it was Maya calling and he immediately perked up. As quickly as he could, he answered it.

"Maya!"

"Hey, Cody! I just wanted to call and talk to you for a little bit."

"How's your grandmother doing?"

"Much better now. Fortunately, she didn't break anything. She just had a big bruise, but its starting to get better. She's actually able to walk around with a cane now."

"Does that mean you might be home soon?"

"I'm not sure yet. I think I should stay with her for another week to make sure she's okay."

"I guess I can understand that, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you."

"I miss you too. How have you been keeping yourself busy?"

Zack smiled. "Well, I've been hanging out with my Mom and Woody a lot. The three of us have gone to see a few movies together." He laughed. "While they're great, I much rather go to a movie with you..."

Maya chuckled. "I know what you mean. I've been watching a lot of TV with my Grandma. Everyday, she has to watch her stories, and to be honest, I don't see why they are so popular. Fortunately, I've been able to catch the Red Sox games on TV, so I still have a little bit of home here with me."

"That reminds me...we really should go see a game together when you get back."

"Definitely! Did you happen to catch the game on ESPN last night?"

Zack sighed to himself. He had. His beloved Mariners had gotten their butts handed to them. "I did. When Ortiz hit that grand slam, it was game over."

Maya laughed. "Wasn't that just awesome? I mean, for a minute I almost felt sorry for Seattle sports fans. The Mariners suck...the Seahawks suck...and the Sonics are now in Oklahoma City."

Zack winced again. He knew full well the pains of being a Seattle sports fan. "Yeah, sucks to be them. But I think they have a chance to get better. And if the NBA expands or another team moves, I think Seattle would be the first option. I mean...its not like they are going to put a third team in to the LA area."

Maya laughed again. "Just another team for the Celts to beat up on too."

Zack shook his head. "I guess so..."

"I completely forgot the other day, but you said there was something you needed to tell me. Do you remember what that was?"

Zack paused and looked around to make sure he was alone. "Yeah, I remember it. Maya, when I tell you what I need to tell you, I hope you will understand why I did what I did..."

"Cody...you're starting to scare me..."

"Actually, I'm more worried that you're going to be angry when you hear what I've done..."

"Have you been seeing another girl?"

Zack shook his head. "No, nothing like like that. You see, Maya, the truth is..." But at that moment, there was a knock at the suite's door. Zack sighed. "Hold on, some one is at the front door..."

Zack went over to answer it, and standing there smiling at him was that Mr. Moseby guy. "Hold on a second, Maya. I baked a cake for Mr. Moseby, the manager of the hotel, and he's here to pick it up. Be right back..."

"Okay. Hurry back."

Zack looked up. "Hey there, Mr. Moseby. The cake is right over here." He walked into the kitchen and lifted the lid off of the cake container. "My specialty just like you ordered."

Moseby looked at it. "Not bad...not bad at all. Mother and I are both very appreciative."

Zack smiled. "Well, I aim to please."

Moseby paused. "I am kind of surprised though that it looks as good as it does..."

"Why would you say that?"

Moseby grinned. "Because while it looks like Cody's specialty, there is no way Cody could have made it. He's in Seattle, right?"

Zack just stared at him. "Huh?"

"I mean Cody is in Seattle while you are here in Boston...Isn't that correct...Zack?"

Zack swallowed and held the phone back up to his face. "Maya...I'm going to have to call you back..."

To be Continued...