Chapter 16

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...

Boston, Massachusetts

Zack quickly closed his phone and continued staring at Mr. Moseby. Had he really just called him 'Zack'? Zack shook his head. No, he couldn't have. Not this. Not now. This was the last thing he needed. First, he had Cody pressuring him to tell Mom the truth soon, and now he had Mr. Moseby grinning at him like the cat that ate the canary. And Zack was sure that this Moseby guy would definitely tell his Mom what he knew. Zack knew he had to find a way out of this if he was ever going to see Maya again.

He swallowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Moseby..."

Moseby kept grinning. "Its quite simple really. You are Zack Martin..."

"Who? I have no idea what you are..."

Moseby interrupted him. "Zip it! I know everything!"

"But..."

"But nothing. I heard you having two very interesting conversations. One was you on the phone with someone...I assume it was Cody...where you said something along the lines of Cody better not be screwing up in Seattle while you were here. The other was a few days ago in the convenience store down the street. You told the owner that your brother must have put in the application. I know for a fact that Cody put one in as he asked me to be a reference for him. Since Cody is your brother, that would make you Zack Martin..."

Zack hung his head. "Great...busted again..." He sighed and paused. "Wait a minute! How did you know my name is Zack?"

Moseby just grinned. "Oh, that was easy. I've known you existed for almost three years now."

"How?"

"Simple really. When your mother started working here, she had to fill out all of the standard forms that every other employee had to. And in the part where she had to list her next of kin, she listed both a Cody Martin and a Zack Martin. When I noticed both of your birthdays were the same, I put two and two together..."

Zack shook his head. "So, are you going to tell my Mom the truth now?"

"I think she has the right to know. Why wouldn't I tell her?"

Zack sighed and he just started pouring out the whole story. He told Moseby about meeting Cody in Texas, finding out they were twin brothers and their plan to get to know the other parent they had never known. Then he told Moseby about meeting Maya and wanting to at least tell talk to her face to face before he had to go back to Seattle.

Moseby paused and shook his head. "While I can appreciate all of that, as an adult and your mother's boss, I do have some legal obligations here to tell her the truth. If I don't, I could get into a lot of trouble..."

Zack was about to say something when heard his phone ringing again. He was going to ignore it when Moseby indicated to him that he should answer it. Zack pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw it was Cody calling. He sighed and answered it.

"Not a good time right now, Codester...I have major problems here!"

"I'm sure you do. But I guarantee we have a much bigger problem here!"

"Doubtful. Mr. Moseby just busted me. He knows I'm me and not you. I seriously doubt your situation is worse..."

"Wanna bet? Try this on for size...Dad's getting married!"

Zack just looked at his phone in shock. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me. Dad's getting married. To some woman whom I'm guessing isn't old enough to run from Congress. Besides, I think she is a gold digger and trying to get his money!"

Zack frowned. "She can't do that! That's my inheritance!" He paused. "I mean our inheritance..."

"Yeah, well...we have to do something fast to stop this from happening..."

"What can we do about it?"

"We have an idea here, but it requires Mom being in Seattle as soon as possible...like tomorrow. That's where you come in. You have to get her here."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Easy. You tell her the truth. And if I know Mom the way I think I do, she'll want to come to Seattle to switch us back. And once she's here, we nudge her and Dad closer together..."

Zack sighed. "Fine..." He paused. "What about this other woman?"

"You leave that to me. I'm going to make her think I'm on board with everything for now. You just get her to the Seattle Tipton by tomorrow..."

Zack hung his head and shook his head"Alright...I'm on it."

"Good. I have work to do here. Call me again once you know something."

Zack nodded, hung up the phone and turned to Mr. Moseby. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter if you tell my Mom now anyways..."

Moseby grinned. "Oh, I think I'll let you do that. Besides, I have other things to take care of..."

Zack looked at him in confusion. "Like what? You were worried about getting in trouble not more than five minutes ago..."

"I have to make sure everything is ready for you all to head back to Seattle and have a room waiting for you at the Seattle Tipton. You're Mom is a dear friend of mine. I'm off to begin the next chapter of my life. If I can help her be happy before I leave, then I want to help..."

Seattle, Washington

Cody closed his phone and turned to Bailey who was doing the same thing with hers. She just smiled at him.

"How did it go? Is Zack going to tell your Mom the truth?"

Cody smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I think so. He's supposed to call me back later to tell me that its done. How did your call go?"

Bailey grinned. "Its done. The private dining room at the Seattle Tipton is reserved for tomorrow night."

"Good. Now, we just have to make sure everyone shows up tomorrow night." He sighed. "This is the part that's not going to be any fun..."

Bailey glanced up at the house. "Well, it looks like you don't have any time to waste. Your Dad and who I assume is Meredith are coming this way right now..."

Cody turned and glanced himself. "Oh well. Might as well go ahead and get this over with..."

"You want me to give you some time alone with them?"

He paused and smiled. "Actually, I would prefer if you were right here with me. I think I have an idea..."

A few minutes later, Kurt and Meredith made their way down the dock, and Cody and Bailey stood up to face them. Kurt paused for a minute and turned to Bailey.

"Bailey...would you give us a few minutes alone with Zack?"

Before Bailey could say anything, Cody spoke up. "Actually, I'd like her to stay. I have to thank her for talking some sense into me earlier."

"Huh?"

"You see, Dad. Bailey helped me realize I was being completely unfair last night. And for that, I apologize. I shouldn't have gone off like that. You caught me off guard, and I kind of lost it..."

Kurt was surprised, but Meredith was giving Cody an odd look.

Cody continued though. "Now that I've had time to think things through, I realize I should be happy for you, Dad. Its just with the high number of women you've dated, I just never thought you would ever settle down..."

Kurt was flustered. "Ummm...well...I..." But Meredith just glared at him.

"But it made me think. For the past week, Bailey and I have started anew, so it made me realize that it was possible for former players like us to want to focus on one woman. So, I can understand where you're coming from, Dad..."

Kurt swallowed. "Thanks...I think." He paused. "Wait a minute! Are you two an item now?"

Bailey smiled and hooked her arm with Cody's. "Yes, sir. This right here is my feller..."

Cody smiled. "Oh by the way...Bailey is my date for tonight, and those are the plans I refused to give up. I still do."

Meredith finally spoke. "Well...isn't that nice?"

Cody continued though. "But Bailey and I were thinking. I really do need to atone for my behavior last night, so we came up with an idea to do just that. Tomorrow night, we've reserved the private room at the Tipton Hotel in downtown to celebrate. We should all be celebrating these exciting times for the Martin men."

Kurt's face lit up, and he smiled. "I think that sounds like a great idea!" He turned to Meredith. "Doesn't it?"

She paused and finally nodded. "Yeah, it does. What a thoughtful idea..."

Cody smiled again. "Good. Its settled then. We'll meet you there at 6:00 PM."

Kurt frowned. "Meet us there? Why not all go over together?"

Cody laughed. "Because I'm supposed to meet Bailey's parents tomorrow afternoon. How would that make me look in their eyes if I had to cancel on them at the last minute?"

"Good point. Well, I think it will be a lot of fun." He turned to Meredith again. "We have a lot of work ahead of us then planning the wedding. We should get started immediately."

That seemed to finally bring a genuine smile to her face, and they walked off talking about what they needed to get done immediately. Once they had left the dock, Bailey turned to Cody and began laughing.

"Okay, that was amazing. Should I be concerned about how good of an actor you are?"

He laughed too. "Not sure how good I am. After all, you did bust me the last time I tried to act. I just hope everything goes like we planned it..."

"Me too." She checked her watch. "Well, I should be getting home. I need to get changed. This cute guy I know is taking me out tonight..."

Cody grinned. "Oh yeah? Do I know this guy?"

Bailey grinned back. "I'm not sure. He hasn't quite been himself lately..."

He laughed. "Sounds like a real head case..."

She laughed too. "Probably...but I just can't help myself."

Bailey headed home, and Cody headed up to the house to begin getting cleaned up for later. He headed for the laundry room to get a clean towel for his shower when he heard a voice coming from the garage. Cracking the door, he could see Meredith in the garage pacing back and forth talking on her phone. So, he didn't mind stopping to listen in.

"Hey...its me...Meredith..."

She sighed. "I don't know what's going on. The little brat did a complete 180 today and is acting like he's happy for us now. He acts like he has his own little chippie now, and he can understand what his Dad is going though."

"No, not for a minute. I think he's up to something..."

"I don't know, but that boy will soon learn that if he crosses me, he won't like the consequences..."

"Oh...don't worry. Once I get that ring on my finger, I'll have him shipped off to military school or something. Oh and that loser drummer and his little daughter will be getting the boot too..."

She laughed. "Why should I care if he doesn't like it? If he doesn't, I'll just divorce him and take him for everything he's worth."

"I'll tell you this. Before long, they'll learn who runs things around here, and they'll learn that person is me!"

"Yeah, come on out tomorrow night. It'll be nice to have another pair of eyes to keep on Zack." She laughed again. "I mean...when have you ever turned down free food and drink?"

"Exactly. Okay, I should be getting back inside before Billy Ray wonders where I've headed off to."

"Alright, see you tomorrow night."

Meredith closed her phone and just shook her head as she laughed.

"This is almost too easy..."

Cody felt his blood beginning to boil. It looked like he was exactly right about Meredith. Well, she just sealed her own fate. One way or another, she would NOT be marrying his Dad. If she wanted a war with the Martin family, she just got one!

Back in Boston, Massachusetts

Zack was pacing back and forth in the suite waiting for his Mom to get back. He was a little nervous about how his confession would go. Unlike Maya though, he was pretty sure his Mom would still talk to him once everything was open. Fifteen minutes later, Carey finally came home carrying several large bags of groceries. Immediately, Zack went over to help her carry them in.

Carey smiled at him. "Thanks, Cody. The supermarket was a mad house today. And its July, so there is no chance of a nor'easter..."

Zack just let out a nervous laugh. "Wonder what's up with that?"

"I have no idea, but as I was waiting to check out, I glanced at some of the magazines around the counter. And it dawned on me. Its been a long time since you and I took a family vacation. How about you and I get away for a few days before school starts back?"

"Ummm...Sure I guess." Zack paused. Maybe this was the opening he needed.

"Where would you like to go, Honey?"

"Well..." He paused. "How about Seattle?"

Carey frowned at him. "Seattle? Why would you want to go there?"

He swallowed. "I thought we could go see Dad...and Cody."

Carey just stared at him in disbelief. "Go see your Dad?" Then it dawned on her what else he had said. "Wait a minute! Go see Cody? But you're Cody..."

Zack shook his head. "No...I'm not. Cody is in Seattle right now."

She shook her head in confusion. "But if Cody is in Seattle, that would mean..." She just stopped talking and her mouth fell open in shock. The words that came out of her mouth were barely above a whisper. "...that you're Zack..."

Zack just smiled. "Hi Mom..."

To be Continued...