A/N: I know it's been a while. I guess that's what happens when I am in the middle of writing 7 stories. I don't own any of the characters.

By the time Nicole was released from the hospital, Pauline had gone back to LA and Charles had decided to take some time off from work. He just didn't feel right having the nanny stay with her so soon after the surgery. Pauline had offered to stay but he didn't want things to get weird for Liza having Pauline there, so he told her he'd be fine. By the end of that week, Liza was at work and Bianca was already home from school and doing her homework, when the doorbell rang. Charles went down to answer it.

"Caitlin. This is a surprise."

"I probably should have called. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're welcome here any time."

"I figured that since you couldn't come see me last weekend, I'd come here."

"It's great to see you. Come on in."

"Thanks."

Caitlin walked in and hugged Charles. Bianca was at the top of the stairs.

"Caitlin!"

"Hey, kiddo!"

"Come on up. Your room is finished."

"Thanks. It's so nice of you to do this."

"It's no problem at all. Really. I wanted to do it, since I'm sure you'll be staying here some of the time."

"Yeah. I can only take so much of my dad and things were kind of cramped at Maggie's."

"Maggie is awesome!"

"I think so too."

Charles and Bianca took Caitlin up to her room and Charles opened the door.

"Oh, wow! This looks great. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I want you to feel like you're one of the family."

Charles took some keys out of the pocket of his jeans and handed it to Caitlin.

"Your mom of course has a set, but I wanted you to have one too. My home is your home. Just please, no wild parties."

"I'm not like that. If I hang out with my friends, it'll be somewhere else. I'm pretty responsible and I want you to be able to trust me."

"I want you to be able to trust me too. I know you have your dad but I want you to feel that you can come to me for anything."

"I appreciate that."

Nicole came out of her room and peeked into Caitlin's.

"Hi Caitlin."

"Hey, Nicole. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Thanks."

"I know the feeling. I just had the same surgery myself."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Nicole gave Caitlin a hug.

"Daddy, when does Liza get home?"

"Maybe an hour, so I need figure out what we're having. Caitlin, is there anything in particular that you'd like?"

"No. I eat pretty much anything."

"Daddy, we should do tacos."

"We could. How does that sound?"

"Great."

"I need to run out to the store then, so do you mind staying with them?"

"Of course I don't mind."

"Thanks. I'll be back soon."

Charles grabbed his jacket and then he left.

"Is your homework done?"

"Yes."

"Good."

The girls went back to their movie, while Caitlin went down to the kitchen to get something to drink. She noticed a catalog for a Jeweler on the kitchen table that was open to the engagement rings. She found a piece of paper and started looking through it to give Charles some suggestions on what she thought Liza would like. After she was done with that, she went up to her room and started working on her paper. A little while later, Charles came home and started to fix dinner. He saw the catalog and the piece of paper and then Caitlin came downstairs.

"Thanks for the suggestions."

"Yeah, no problem. I know what Mom likes. The one I circled is the one I liked the best. So, when are you planning to do this?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I want to get one just in case I feel the mood is right. I'm really in no hurry to get married again and I don't think she is either but I want both of you in our lives. I do know that much. Don't tell her about this though."

"I won't."

Charles went to hide the catalog in his desk and then they fixed dinner together. By the time Liza got there, the girls had come downstairs and in the kitchen.

"Liza!"

"Hey, you two."

"Hey, Mom."

"Caitlin, you're here!"

"I am."

"It is so good to see you."

Liza hugged Caitlin and the girls and then she kissed Charles.

"How was your day?"

"It was long. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my 4 favorite people."

"I have a paper to get done, which is one of the reasons I came here."

"Due Monday?"

"No. Friday. I have it written but I just need to get it into the computer."

"Ok."

Once dinner was ready, everyone ate. The doorbell rang, so Charles got up and went to answer it.

"Ladies."

"Hello, Charles."

"Come in."

"Thanks."

Diana, Maggie, Kelsey and Lauren came in and followed Charles up to the kitchen.

"Hey, Liza."

"Hey. Caitlin, this is Diana Trout, Kelsey Peters and Lauren Heller. Diana, Kelsey and Lauren, this is my daughter, Caitlin."

"Hi Caitlin. It's very nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Charles, here are the prints you wanted."

"Oh, good. Thanks. Can I get you anything?"

"Wine."

"Yes!"

"That would be great."

"Are those tacos?"

"Yes, they are. Help yourselves."

Charles got the wine glasses and some plates. Everyone helped themselves. Caitlin excused herself and went upstairs to work on her paper.

"Charles, are you back on Monday?"

"Yes. Nicole goes back to school then as well. I take it everything was fine in my absence."

Yes. No problems at all."

"Good. I am planning to take the entire week of Thanksgiving off. Liza and I are taking the girls to LA to spend some time with Pauline and then the two of us are going to Hawaii."

"Oh, Liza, that sounds so romantic!"

"I know, right?"

"Does Caitlin know?"

"Yes. She knows and is planning to spend her break with David."

"That's your ex?"

"Yep. It is. She told me that I deserve to be happy after everything that happened between her dad and me."

"Josh asked how you were."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. I didn't offer much info though. I told him if he really wanted to know then he had to call you himself."

"Honestly, I haven't heard much from him since he punched Charles. Now all of a sudden he's so concerned about me? Whatever! I made my decision and I'm happy with it. Charles makes me happy."

"You make me happy too, Babe."

Charles kissed Liza.

"I am going to go get some work done, so the 5 of you can visit for a while."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"We're going too. Goodnight, everyone."

"Goodnight, you two."

The girls hugged everyone and headed upstairs, while Charles went into his office to get some work done. The 5 of them sat at the table and talked.

"So, do you two still miss me?"

"You know I do."

"Me too."

"I miss you both too."

"I miss you because you're never at the apartment anymore."

"Without me though, you can have all the privacy you want."

"Yeah, true. You weren't there a whole lot when you were with Josh either."

"Yeah, I know. If he wants to be friends, I'm fine with that but things will never be the way they once were between us. Charles is the one I want to be with. Something clicked between the two of us from the moment we met and I know he's my soulmate. I know Pauline is still very much a part of Bianca and Nicole's lives but I love those two as much as I love Caitlin. I know Charles loves Caitlin as much as he loves Bianca and Nicole. I would even reconsider not wanting to have any more children to have one with Charles."

"Has he indicated that he wants more children?"

"Not in so many words."

"So, Josh wanted to have a kid with you?"

"Yeah. He deserves to have the family he wants but I wasn't going to give it to him. Josh has a one track mind and lacks maturity. I can't have a baby with someone like him. I want Josh to be happy and I want him to have the family he wants but I'm not the person to give him that. He also needs to grow up. On the other hand, if Charles wants another baby, I would love to give him one or at least try to."

"I don't know that I could have a baby at my age."

"Did you ever want kids?"

"At the time, not really. I was more concerned about my career. Sometimes I miss not having kids now but after dealing with Richard's son, I'm not so sure."

"It's a lot of work. I did most of the work with Caitlin. David was never too interested in helping to raise her. He cheated on me and bought a boat with her college money. I gave up everything to be a mother and now I'm finally getting my life back. We struggled financially and I don't want to go that again. Josh at one point offered to help me put Caitlin through college."

"Did you take him up on it?"

"No. I know he works hard with his tattoo shop but I couldn't expect him to help support my kid."

"Has Charles offered?"

"Oh, yeah. He told her that if there is anything she needs, all she has to do is call him and he'll take care of it. I think he's already won her over after such a short amount of time."

Caitlin came back downstairs.

"How's your paper coming, Sweetie?"

"I'm about done."

"What's it on?"

"Shakespeare. It's for my English Lit class."

"You know who might like to read it when you're done?"

"Who?"

"Charles."

"Ok. I need coffee."

"The Keurig is over there."

"Thanks."

Caitlin went to make some coffee and then she went back upstairs to put the finishing touches on her paper. When she was done, she took her laptop downstairs and knocked on Charles' office.

"Yeah, come in."

Caitlin opened the door

"Charles."

"Come on in. What can I do for you?"

"Mom said you might want to read my paper on Shakespeare."

"I'd love to."

Caitlin handed Charles her laptop and then she left the room, so he could read it. She joined everyone else in the kitchen.

"He's reading it now. I'm nervous."

Caitlin sat down next to Liza and put her head on her shoulder. Bianca and Nicole came downstairs in their pajamas.

"Liza, can you tuck us in?"

"Sure. Come on. Go say goodnight to your dad. He's in his office."

"Ok. Night, Caitlin."

"Goodnight, you two."

"Love you."

"Aw! I love you both too."

Bianca and Nicole hugged Caitlin and Maggie before they went to say goodnight to Charles. They knocked on his office door.

"Come on in."

They opened the door and went in.

"Night, Daddy."

"Goodnight. I love you both so much."

"We love you too."

"Liza, stop by on your way back down."

"Ok."

They gave Charles a hug and a kiss and then Liza took them upstairs. She tucked the girls in and shut their lights off before heading back downstairs.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Shut and lock the door."

Liza shut and locked the door.

"You don't know how much I want to make love to you right now."

"We still have company."

"We almost did this in my office once before."

"Yes, I know we did. Why don't we wait until after Diana, Maggie, Kelsey and Lauren leave and then we can make love all you want upstairs."

"Ok. Deal."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Charles kissed Liza passionately and then she left the room, while he finished reading Caitlin's paper. He opened his door and called Caitlin. She went in and he went over her paper with her. In the meantime, everyone else left and headed home. Liza went upstairs and got ready for bed after she locked up. Once Charles and Caitlin had gone over her paper, they both called it a night as well. Caitlin went into her room, while Charles went into his. He went into the bathroom and changed before joining Liza in bed. They made love several times before falling asleep in each other's arms. The next day, the 5 of them spent the day as a family and then by Sunday, Caitlin headed back to school. Charles told her to let him know how she did on her paper.

Reviews are appreciated.