After spending the entire day in the library yesterday, when I got home, I couldn't think to look at another law book. Ever experience a brain ache? Yea… So, being the vampire that I am, I typed most of this well into the night/morning, as usual. I was going to make it much longer by giving it to you on Wednesday, but I couldn't wait.

You have been FANTASTIC with the reviewing! PLEASE keep them coming! You have no idea how inspiring they are.

Housekeeping

Folks, please remember we're still in the same day we've been in since the middle of Chapter 9. Aside from our contract players (Alexis, Sam, Mathieu, and Mac), everyone else is a recurring character. We've got to let the day play out before the others come back into the mix. They're coming; I promise!

London, I wrote a note at the very end of the previous chapter concerning the timeline in re Georgie's death.

Chapter Seventeen

Hearts

She closed the door behind her and walked back to the interrogation room where she had left Sam and Mathieu for much longer than she had anticipated.

--- "Okay! Sorry for taking so long!"

Mathieu took one look and approached her.

--- "You've been crying, Cherie; what did that man do to you?"

Sam, forgetting about her stolen phone and wallet, worriedly approached her mother.

--- "Mom, are you okay? What happened?"

Alexis waved her hand to the man, while giving Sam's shoulder a squeeze.

--- "Sam, Mati, I'm fine! Mac and I just got into a conversation about loss, and I got emotional over Kristina."

Mathieu frowned and took Alexis' hand into his.

--- "I'm sorry. Sam told me that she had sisters, but I did not realize that one of them—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, no. She was my sister—"

Mathieu was now truly confused. The Alexis, rather Alexandra, he knew was a mistreated only child; this new sibling was news to him, then again, everything was turning out to be news.

--- "I didn't—"

Alexis cut him off. It was not that she did not want to fill him in on her life, but she did not want to get so emotional over missing her sister, that her remorse overshadowed her need to know where he had been all of those years, and Sam's desire to finally know her father.

--- "You know what, I'll be fine. I think we need to get going to the lake house. Diane is passed out on Sam's bed, and I quite frankly can't trust that she isn't dead."

Mathieu frowned at the woman.

--- "Does she need a doctor?"

Sam scoffed.

--- "No, she needs an intervention."

Alexis smacked her daughter's arm.

--- "Sam, you're no better than she is—"

Sam crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

--- "Mom, are you REALLY going to talk to me about drinking? You? After—"

Alexis covered her Sam's mouth with her hand and smiled at Mathieu.

--- "Ha! Wow, this one has such an active imagination for someone who hopes to reach the age of thirty in a few months. It's astounding the things she comes up with when she doesn't think about what creeps in the night!"

Mathieu smiled at the women; he loved how playful, or at least he hoped that they were joking, they were with each other.

Sam attempted to move her mother's hand, but Alexis glared at her and kept a firm grip, willing her to say something about her night with Mac to Mathieu. Sam glared back at her mother and bit a small portion of her hand.

--- "Sh!t, Sam! Why'd you do that for?"

Mathieu laughed as Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Give them back."

Alexis looked at her hand seeing if Sam had pierced her skin.

--- "You know, you're twenty-nine years old. Perhaps biting people is something that you should have given up when you were like, four?"

Sam ignored her mother's comment.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis, having cleared her hand for any punctures, looked at her daughter. The look on Sam's face made her fully aware that she had realized her precious items were missing. She smiled innocently.

--- "Hmm?"

Sam walked up to her mother pointing an accusatory finger.

--- "I want my phone, money, and credit cards back. I know that you took them!"

Alexis raised her eyebrow to her daughter. She hated when she pointed her finger at her, so she grabbed it.

--- "Samantha—"

Mathieu continued to watch the interaction in silence; it was not his place to interfere.

--- "Stop with the finger pointing."

Sam attempted to yank her finger back, but Alexis kept a firm grip on it.

--- "Mom—"

--- "Sam—"

The women engaged in a battle of the wills as they glared at each other. Mathieu did not know what to do; he had never before had a daughter, and yet, considering that the one that he now had was an adult, he found it highly amusing that Alexis treated her as a teenager. He would have loved to raise this beautiful young woman along with Alexis; he was anxious to know everything about their life together.

--- "Er, excuse me, but shouldn't we get going?"

Alexis refused to break eye contact with her daughter.

--- "Mati, you will come to learn not to interrupt when I'm disciplining my daughter."

Sam agreed while maintaining the stare.

--- "Oh yes, in a minute, Mommy will be putting me over her knee."

--- "Sam, don't tempt me; you've put me through a lot of crap today, alone."

Sam continued to speak to her father, knowing that it was only an amount of time before she got Alexis to break eye contact.

--- "You see, Mathieu, my mother seems to think that she can control whatever I do, but she has clearly forgotten that—"

And as predicted, Alexis rolled her eyes, thereby losing the contest.

--- "Samantha, I already know that you're an adult, you NEVER let me forget it—"

--- "And yet you do! Now, Mom, give me my stuff back."

Sam held out her hand, but instead of returning her belongings, Alexis took her daughter's hand and smiled.

--- "Look, we're being rude to your father. I think we can have this conversation later. Besides, it's not as though you really need any of the things I allegedly—"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Allegedly, Mom?"

Alexis nodded her head innocently.

--- "I'm neither confirming nor denying that I have your belongings, sweetheart."

Mathieu let out a laugh as he waited by the door, causing the women to look at him. Sam smiled at her father.

--- "See! He knows you're full of crap! My daddy wouldn't lie to me!"

Mathieu's heart all but melted at the sound of Sam referring to him as her daddy, even if it were in jest. He smiled back at her before replying; he feared that his voice might crack.

--- "No, ma belle, I would never lie to you."

Sam nodded her head slowly before looking at her mother, who was herself smiling at her daughter. Alexis pulled Sam to her noticing that the young woman was close to tears; she knew that Sam would be embarrassed if the man saw her crying.

--- "Now, you know never to listen to anyone but your Mommy, Sam!"

Sam was grateful that through all of those years, Alexis had been able to read her like a book. It was true that she had tears in eyes, and certainly did not want the man she knew nothing about knowing that he had broken through her tough exterior. She hugged her mother, making sure to face away from Mathieu, so that she could quickly wipe away her runaway tears.

--- "I don't know about all that, Mom, but I forgive you, this once."

When she was sure that Sam had wiped away the evidence, Alexis kissed her daughter on the top of the head.

--- "Um, how about we get going?"

Mathieu nodded as he opened the door for the ladies.

--- "Yes, [ahem] I guess you're right. After you, les filles!"

Alexis smiled at the man; he was still as charming and courteous as he had ever been.

--- "Thank you."

He felt a well of tears threaten to come to his own eyes.

--- "[ahem] Anything for you."

When Alexis and Sam were ahead of him, he quickly pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped his eyes before they might notice his sensitivity.

Mac knew that he needed to step his game up if he had any chance of getting Alexis. He was at a high disadvantage considering that Mathieu had all but shown up out of nowhere, was clearly Alexis' greatest love, and would certainly get Sam's vote, being that he was her father. Sure he was have breakfast with the woman in the morning, but he was not getting his hopes up. His heart hurt at the thought that he had once again missed out on love.

As he lamented over his loss, his phone began to ring.

--- "Hello?"

--- "Hey Uncle Mac."

It was Robin.

--- "Hi honey, what's going on?"

Robin frowned at his calm demeanor; she had been certain that he would either be still angry over Maxie's set-up or over the moon about what they had done. This calmness was a bit disconcerting.

--- "Uncle Mac, are you alright?"

He sighed.

--- "Yea, I'm fine."

--- "No you're not. What happened? Did something go wrong tonight?"

Mac was shocked that Robin did not know; he had been sure that Maxie would have told half the town by that point.

--- "I take it that you haven't spoken to your cousin—"

Robin sat up in her chair; she was getting nervous.

--- "No! What in the world happened tonight?"

Mac recounted the evening's events to his niece. She was, to say the very least, shocked.

--- "Well, damn! I wish I hadn't had Patrick page me!"

Mac looked at the phone.

--- "Are you serious?! You didn't really have to get to the hospital?"

--- "God no! I just didn't want to be part of this debacle. Unfortunately for me, I chose the wrong day to not play matchmaker. Well, what are you going to do?"

--- "What do you mean, what am I going to do? I'm going to give Alexis some space. I mean, we're having breakfast tomorrow—"

--- "Breakfast?"

Mac blushed.

--- "Yea, well she says since we, you know—"

Robin was shocked.

--- "You two actually, really? I thought you didn't!"

--- "Robin, we didn't. Alexis thought that it was cute that since we woke up that way, then we should have breakfast."

--- "Um, okay? Well, I suggest that you make that breakfast memorable!"

The ride back to the lake house was silent; each person was absorbed in his or her own thoughts. By the time Alexis had pulled into the driveway, Sam had sneezed and coughed several times.

Alexis put her hand on her daughter's forehead.

--- "Honey, you feel warm."

Sam swatted her mother's hand.

--- "That's probably because you had the heat on hell's fury! Geez, talk about getting into the holiday mood, you were totally roasting chestnuts in here!"

Alexis swatted her daughter on the leg and hissed.

--- "Samantha! Um, maybe a tad bit inappropriate—"

She turned around to face Mathieu.

--- "Please ignore her. She can't help herself; she's currently suffering from a rare form of diarrhea."

Sam was appalled.

--- "Mom!"

Mathieu leaned forward, worried to hear that his daughter might be sick.

--- "Oh my goodness! Samantha, I'm a doctor. Do you need an examination—"

Sam reddened, much to Alexis' amusement.

--- "Um, no. I don't know how comfortable I would be with that. And I don't—"

Alexis interrupted her daughter; she was on the verge of a fit of laughter, but she kept it at bay.

--- "Mati, you don't understand—"

Mathieu quickly unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car to open the driver's side door for Alexis, before moving to the passenger side for his daughter. He helped her out of the car as though she were some delicate flower.

--- "Oh, ma belle, there's this horrible stomach virus going around—"

Sam rolled her eyes and looked to her mother for help; it was obvious that the man was overcompensating. Alexis smiled in amusement.

--- "Mati, listen to me—"

Sam sneezed once again, sending Mathieu into further fits of concern. He put his hand on her forehead just as her mother had done previously.

--- "Your mother is right, you are warm. If you're not comfortable with me examining you, I think we can take you to another doctor."

It was true that she was not feeling well, which led to grumpiness and impatience. She pulled away from the man.

--- "Okay, you know what, I'm fine! I don't need an examination, especially not by you, thank you very much. You may be my father, but I certainly don't know you from Adam, or maybe Pierre, or something, in your case. In addition, I DON'T have diarrhea, so a stool sample won't be necessary, not from me at least. Perhaps my mother might like an examination—"

Alexis blushed.

--- "SAMANTHA!"

Sam ignored her.

--- "Now, if you'll excuse me, I DO feel like crap, and Mom, if you say ANYTHING remotely close to 'I told you so,' I will murder you in your sleep, because remember, you've arranged for me to sleep with you tonight!"

Sam grabbed the house keys from her mother's hands, unlocked the door and stormed inside the house.

Mathieu was shocked at her outburst.

--- "Er, maybe I should go? I've clearly upset her."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, please stay. We have a lot to discuss. Plus, this is partially my fault. I was trying to joke and say that she had oral diarrhea."

Mathieu made a face.

--- "What? Oral diarrhea?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Sam says whatever comes to mind without thinking."

Mathieu followed Alexis into the house.

--- "Oui, ca c'est sur."

He definitely could not dispute this characterization about the woman he was very excited to get to know.

Alexis smiled.

--- "Look, I really am sorry about that. She's not normally like that. I should probably go check on her; she's clearly not feeling well, which is when she gets irritable. Make yourself at home. Do you want some tea or anything?"

--- "No thank you."

--- "Well, if you want to make yourself a drink, please, help yourself."

Mathieu, not hearing her last offer, looked around the house and the pictures of her family.

--- "You have a very beautiful home."

Alexis nodded before walking out of the living room.

--- "Thank you. I actually bought it because of Sam."

Before he could question her further, she was already out of the room. There was so much he wanted to know about his family.

Alexis walked into her bedroom to find Sam changing out of her clothes and into a pair of her sister's pajamas.

--- "Honey, what are you doing?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Care to knock?"

Alexis sat on her bed.

--- "In my own room? No. Why are you wearing Kristina's pajamas?"

Sam finished changing before getting into the other side of the bed.

--- "Sheer laziness and the fact that if I had gone to my room all the way on the other side of the house, and found Diane drooling all over my pillows, the only hard thing she would have had to comfort her through the night would've been the floor."

Alexis once again put her hand on Sam's forehead.

--- "You're warm. I really wish that you didn't go skinny dipping—"

Sam rolled over away from her mother.

--- "Mom, I'm not in the mood for this. That wasn't the first time that I'd done that. And certainly not the first time you've got me."

Alexis sighed before kicking her shoes off so that she could lie in her bed next to her daughter. She snuggled in close to Sam.

--- "You know, there was a time when I never thought we would ever be this close. You were angry at me for giving you up; I was angry at you for—"

Sam's ears reddened. Despite how close she and her mother had gotten, that was one mistake for which she would never forgive herself.

Alexis noticed her daughter tense up.

--- "Sweetheart, I've forgiven you. It's time for you to forgive yourself. I mean, you were basically a kid then; you have come so far."

Sam turned around to face her mother; she had tears in her eyes.

--- "I will never forgive myself, Mom."

Alexis wiped her daughter's face of the tears.

--- "Look, I can't tell you what to do—"

Sam was about to interject but Alexis pointed a finger at her.

--- "In this instance. I can't tell you what to do in this instance, BUT I will tell you this: honey, this can stay between you and me—"

--- "And the many people in this town."

Alexis sat up and played with her daughter's hair.

--- "Sweetheart, we've already had this discussion; you're not known as the girl who slept with her mother's husband anymore. You've made a life for yourself. No one in this town will say anything about it because quite frankly, it doesn't have anything to do with them. Plus, they see the relationship that we have, so it's not an issue for concern. Now, I don't want to talk to you about that."

Sam groaned.

--- "I'm sorry Mommy for embarrassing you in front of Daddy."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Sam, I'm serious. What in the world was that about? And before you tell me its because you aren't feeling well, I know it's more than that. He was about to leave! I thought you wanted to get to know him?"

Sam sat up despite her oncoming headache.

--- "Mom, I do, but I don't know. I guess I'm just weary. I mean, for someone who was so concerned about thinking I had diarrhea, thanks by the way, I mean that wasn't remotely embarrassing—"

Alexis shrugged.

--- "I'm really sorry about that! I don't think he's been living in this country; it seems as though our sarcasm is more than he can handle."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Please, Mom, it was just as obvious to you as it was to me, that he was just overcompensating for the fact that he feels guilty because he didn't want me back then. I want to get to know him, I really do, but I got this fight or flight reaction when her seemed to be getting too close. I mean, when we were in the interrogation room together, we had a decent conversation—"

Alexis smiled; she was curious as to what the two had discussed.

--- "That's good! I'm glad to hear that!"

Sam began playing with the throw pillow on her mother's bed.

--- "I don't know. I just don't know what to think of him until I find out what happened."

Alexis brushed her daughter's hair from her face.

--- "Well, I'll tell you what I know."

Flashback

They had hidden the pregnancy for the past six months from the school administration and her teachers; no one had been the wiser. Luckily, Alexis was not the most outspoken person, at the time, and she certainly was not popular, so no one noticed her.

Mathieu continued to sneak into her room for a few hours every night, if not for anything but to be with her, and to kiss his baby good night.

--- "Mati, I'm getting worried."

He continued to hold Alexis in his arms.

--- "Alexandra, don't worry! I'm telling you, it will all be fine. Look, next month we're going to leave for Canada next week; I've already got the passports."

Alexis kissed his chest.

--- "Make love to me?"

He felt her tears on his chest. He pushed her face up and kissed her gently on the lips.

--- "You don't have to be sad anymore, Cherie. You're all I need. You and little—"

He put his hands back on her stomach.

--- "What are we going to name this baby?"

She looked at him and smiled.

--- "Well, you always told me how much you admired your grandfather? What was his name again?"

He passed his finger down the center of her chest and traced the line of her collarbone, before kissing her.

--- "Samuel? You want to name the baby Samuel? And if she's a girl?"

She took his face into her hands.

--- "Samantha?"

The moment the name left her mouth, the baby kicked. He smiled widely at Alexis before passionately kissing her.

--- "I think that's beautiful."

He gently moved to her belly and kissed it.

--- "I think you're our Samantha."

The baby kicked once again, this time where his mouth had connected to her mother's belly. Mother and father laughed together before making gentle love.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The day had come for them to leave for Canada. As planned, they were to meet at their spot under the bridge, but when Alexis arrived, instead of finding Mathieu, standing before her was Mikkos.

--- "Cousin? What are you doing here?"

He looked at her with disappointment evident in his eyes.

--- "I suppose I should be asking you the same thing, Alexis. And I see that you have a bag packed."

Her face burned in shame at having been caught.

--- "I was—"

He did not let her finish.

--- "I know what you were doing. You were leaving."

She nodded her head and whispered.

--- "Yes."

He reached into his coat jacket and handed her a letter.

--- "Well, that boy who got you in this condition, sent me this letter. I suppose he couldn't handle… this."

Mikkos shook his head as he handed the letter to her. Her mouth hung open as she took and read the letter.

"Dear Sir,

It is with the deepest regret, and respect, that I inform you that I have gotten Alexandra pregnant. While I had every intention of marrying her and taking care of my child, I'm afraid that I can't allow such an error in judge ruin the future that my family expects of me. I'm sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused you, your family, and Alexandra. I love her so much, but I am just not ready for this step.

Sincerely,

Mathieu LeGros"

Alexis read and reread the letter. She could not believe that Mati had betrayed her in such a way. She shook her head.

--- "I don't believe you."

Mikkos shrugged his shoulders.

--- "You don't have to believe me, Alexis. He's made himself quite clear. Now, I will make myself clear to you. You cannot keep this child. You're a mere child yourself, and there is no way you can care for this baby. Now, I'm glad your bags are packed because you will be spending the remainder of the semester in private tutoring until you have this child and we find her a suitable home."

Alexis was at a loss for words. She simply collapsed on the cold ground in tears.

End of Flashback.

Alexis wiped the tears from her face as she looked at her daughter who was also in tears.

--- "And that was the last time that I had heard from Mathieu. When I finally gave birth to you, and they took you from my arms, I wished him dead, honey; I truly and honestly wished him nothing but misery. Then a few years later, I was told that he had in fact died."

Sam sat up in the bed feeling dejected.

--- "God Mom, this is worse than I had thought. I can't even imagine how upset you were. You were betrayed by the love of your life—"

Alexis scooted over and wrapped her arm around her daughter.

--- "That was nothing compared to having lost you."

Mathieu walked about the living room waiting for Alexis to come back out. There was so much they needed to talk about. He had so many questions that needed answered.

Okay! Back to the studying I go! T- 21 hours until exam three! Now, make me happy and review as much, if not sooo much more than you did the last chapter!

Wednesday is around the corner!!!

12/14/09- JaSammers, I had an "epiphany," of sorts last night. Expect his appearance if not next chapter, but def 19. So, Review and I might make him DEF come (ahem) in 18. :o)