Wow, well, I got another load of reviews today. So a big thank you to those people. As for requests...well, one character that's been mentioned will be making an appearance but not for some time. I think the show really moved too far away from the Annie Hobbes plot for me to revisit it in any detail but I may touch upon it at some point. And there's something in this chapter that people may have been eagerly anticipating...

CHAPTER THREE

The group had stayed for a long time but now they were starting to file out into the night outside. All of them exchanged hugs with Emma, with Laurel holding her the longest. "I'll see you tomorrow,"she told her older sister.

"See you soon,"Emma agreed. "Love you."

"Love you too." Laurel glanced at Ethan, who had noticeably hung back from the exchange of hugs. He stared back at her, as if issuing a challenge. She smiled knowingly and joined the others outside. Emma closed the door behind her.

Laurel turned to look at Thayer, who was staring at the closed door moodily. "You all right?"

Thayer seemed to suddenly remember where he was, quickly covering up any outward sign of what he'd been thinking about. "Yeah, of course." He turned to Mads and Jordan. "Come on, you two, I'll drive you home."

Only Sutton, Laurel and Ted were left outside the cabin. "So, that's it, we just leave her here?"Sutton asked.

"I think she's comfortable for the moment,"Laurel remarked.

"Yeah, she's got Ethan to give her a seeing to, big whoop. What about tomorrow? And the next day? How long are we going to have her here and me dealing with people that are used to me being her?"

"I know it's difficult, honey,"Ted said gently. "But we have to build up to this."

"But we don't seem to be building up to anything!" Sutton took a deep breath. "When I got in touch with Emma, it was because I wanted us to be a family. But every time that's close to happening, we just seem to end up further and further away."

Thayer led Mads and Jordan into the house. "Welcome to the Rybak residence, I'm sure you know your way around. Plenty of spare bedrooms, if you need them that is." He watched the pair shift uncomfortably for a second then headed for the stairs. "I'm going to bed."

Mads and Jordan stood alone in the centre of the living room. "Are you okay staying here for a bit?" Mads asked.

"Well, it doesn't have the best of associations,"Jordan admitted. "But at least I haven't got Rebecca or Alec trying to drag me into their agendas." He checked himself. "Sorry, I know he was your dad…"

"It's okay, I know he wasn't perfect. But I do believe he was trying to do what he thought was best for us. I miss him." Mads lowered her gaze slightly then looked back up at him, a smile on her face. "So, we've got the whole house to ourselves, apart from my considerately discreet brother. What do you want to do?"

Jordan ran a hand gently through her hair. "An awful lot,"he answered. He kissed her softly but with a depth of feeling she'd rarely felt. Mads giggled slightly and smiled, then took his hand.

"Let me show you my room,"she suggested, leading him upstairs.

Emma and Ethan sat kissing on the couch. There had been no discussion, no debate. Both of them knew that it was what they wanted. They drank in the feel of each other's bodies that they had been starved of for what seemed like an eternity. Then Emma pulled back. "Dan will be wondering where you are."

Ethan shook his head. "Dan knows where I am."

Emma was surprised. "And he's okay with it?"

"He's a smart guy. He figured…he figured that I loved you too much to let you go. Guess he's smarter than me. I've said and done a lot of things…"

"We both have. I tried to convince myself that I didn't love you but…it's you, Ethan. It was always you. At least, it always should have been."

"Well, I guess at least we know now what we want."

"We do." Emma resumed kissing him, pulling him to his feet as she did so.

Ethan caught the implication of the action. He halted the kiss, staring at her. "Are you sure?"

Emma nodded. "I'm ready. I've been ready for a long time."

They recommenced kissing, their hands roaming about each other's bodies, removing each other's clothes and feeling the ecstatic touch of bare skin as they headed into the bedroom.

Sutton heard the sound of the front door and took a deep breath. She was about to do the craziest and possibly the bravest thing she'd ever done in her life, which was saying something given that doing crazy and brave things was pretty much the only way she'd ever found to occupy her time. She headed through into the living area. "Mum?"she called out.

Kristin turned at the call from her eldest daughter. "Sutton, hi. I wasn't expecting you to still be up."

"I need to talk to you."

Kristin's face was instantly one of concern. "Of course, what's the matter?"

"I need to tell you something. It's something you might not like, that might make you think even worse about Dad than you already do and might even make you think bad of me. But you need to know. It's not fair on you or her."

"Sutton, you're not making sense. Fair on who?"

"On Emma. I need to tell you about Emma."

Kirstin looked throughly confused. "Who's Emma?"

Sutton braced herself. This next sentence was the killer. After that, there was no going back. "She's my sister, Mum. She's my twin sister. And she's been living in this house for most of the past six months."

End of Episode Three