Previously in "Pages in Between", Vicki and Zane reunite, Liam and Carrie go shopping, and Alexis has a new love interest.

Chapter Seventeen

Back in the States…

Meredith was sorting through some pill bottles in the pharmacy when she felt a hand covering her eyes and a soft voice saying, "Hello, Merry."

Meredith pulled away and when she turned around, she saw… "John? What are you doing here?"

He grinned. "I thought I would surprise you. Where's your husband, at home?" he asked with another grin.

Meredith nodded. "He went home about two hours ago. I'm staying to go over the inventory." She shook her head. "I have to admit, I am surprised."

"Are you going to be surprised when I do this?" he asked in a low voice, hands coming up to relinquish her hold on the medicine bottles before gently pushing them above her head.

Meredith gasped when John pushed her hands up over her head. "Oh, yeah, definitely surprised."

John smiled and got closer. "That's good, because I especially want you to be surprised when I do this." He then captured her lips with his in a deep and passionate kiss. Meredith's eyes opened wide at that, but then, she returned his kiss. She knew that she wasn't supposed to be enjoying this, but part of her was. John Gilbert was certainly full of surprises, she'd give him that.

"I missed you, John," she whispered when he broke the kiss to paint a trail of kisses down into her neck.

John smiled. "I missed you too, Merry." He kissed her neck again. "You're so beautiful."

Meredith smiled then took his hands in hers, lowering them to her backside, which he squeezed gently and pressed himself against her.

Meredith panted as she felt John's hands on her and let out a moan.

"Take me, John," she demanded as she rocked her hips against his.

John obliged her carried her over the counter, removing their clothes.

She bit down gently on her bottom lip as her body met with the cool surface of the metal counter but she still smiled up at John as he joined her.

John smiled down at her and captured her lips with his as he grabbed her hips and drove himself into her, thrusting hard and fast against her. Meredith tore her mouth away from his and let out a soft scream of pleasure. "That's it, Merry. Let me know you're enjoying this," he said with a smirk.

Meredith nodded and let out a scream of pleasure.

A Little While Later…

Meredith traced circles on John's chest while they cooled down from their earlier escapade.

John noticed that Meredith wasn't talking much and said, "Are you okay, Merry? You're awfully quiet."

"I'm okay, I'm just thinking," she replied. "Things haven't exactly been pleasant around here. In case you haven't heard, Brady's brother, Luke, is still on the loose. They caught his partner, but he's still out there and I shudder to think of what he might do. Luke isn't a very stable young man."

"I think I know what you're talking about," John said. "My niece, Carrie, made the mistake of getting involved with him."

Meredith sat up a little and looked at him in shock. "I didn't know this," she said, glancing away again when she heard her cell phone beep from inside her skirt's pocket. "I should get that, it's probably Brady wondering where I'm at."

John let her get up to answer her phone, watching her.

While she talked with her husband, John dressed then waited for her to get done on the phone.

Meredith hung up a few minutes later and got dressed, looking at John. "I'd hate to do this to you, John, but I have to get home. Brady said that he doesn't want me out late, in case Luke is snooping around the hospital."

John nodded. "If you have to leave, then I won't stop you. Did you want me to drive you home?"

"Are you crazy? Brady will get suspicious if he sees us together," Meredith said. "It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture, John, I do, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

John nodded again then moved close to her. "I gave you up once, Merry, but I'm not going to give you up again," he vowed before kissing her softly on the lips and leaving the hospital.

Meredith arrived home and Brady smiled at her. "Hey, Merry," he said, greeting her with a soft kiss.

"Hello, Brady," she replied. "Sorry I'm so late. We had a lot more inventory than I thought." Brady nodded and kissed her again before Meredith yawned. "I think I'll head up to bed now. Good night, Brady."

Brady nodded and let Meredith go upstairs. He knew that she was lying, but he told himself to wait before confronting her about it.

The Next Morning…

Meredith left the house early and headed to the Lockwood mansion, where her sister lived with Tyler. She knocked briskly on the door then stepped back to wait for her sister to answer the door.

Meghan opened the door and saw Meredith. "Merry, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I can't keep lying to Brady!" Meredith said truthfully to her twin sister. Meghan nodded and stepped forward to put an arm around her twin sister's shoulders to guide her into the mansion.

"I had a feeling that this would happen," Meghan said. "John Gilbert is a very persistent man, and I know that it's been hurting him to see you with Brady. Eventually, you're going to have to let Brady go and choose John. Brady will be hurt at first, but he'll move on."

Meredith sighed and leaned a little into her sister. "I know you're right, but what are the children going to think? They're going to be upset with me for keeping secrets from their dad, especially when Brady isn't even their father," she said and sniffed, wiping her eyes with a tissue that Meghan handed her.

"You've always had a good head on your shoulders, Merry," Meghan said. "You'll know what to do when the time is right."

Meredith nodded. "I know, but what if they hate me? Meghan, I love my kids, and I want to do right by them."

"Then sit them down and explain everything," Meghan told her.

Meredith nodded. "You're right. I should explain it to them. No doubt they're going to have questions."

Meghan nodded and hugged her sister gently. "You are welcome to come by anytime, okay?" she said with a smile, kissing her sister's forehead.

Meredith forced a smile as her sister kissed her forehead. "I love you, Meghan."

Meghan smiled as well. "I love you too, Merry."

Just then, the front door opened and Tyler entered, smiling at his wife and sister-in-law.

Meredith smiled at her brother-in-law. "Hello, Tyler."

"Hey, Merry," he replied. "It's been a while since we last saw each other. How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm fine." That was a lie, of course. She wasn't fine, but she wasn't about to let Tyler know that. Meredith turned to Meghan. "I should get home. I have to talk to the kids then go to the hospital."

Meghan nodded. "Okay. Remember, you're always welcome here. We're family and family always sticks together."

Meredith grinned and hugged her sister one more time before leaving the mansion. Tyler waited until she was gone to follow Meghan into the kitchen. "What was that all about?"

Meghan looked at her husband. "Meredith is conflicted. Although she's married to Brady, she has children with John Gilbert. She told that she doesn't like lying to Brady about everything, and at the same time, she doesn't want her children to be angry at her."

Tyler nods then watches as she flits around the kitchen to prepare breakfast. "You shouldn't have to do all the work, you know," he said as he approached her from behind, hugging her waist and smelling the strawberry scent of her hair.

Meghan moaned as she felt his arms around her waist. "Do you want to help me, love?"

Her husband groaned then tightened his hold, kissing along her cheek until she turned her head.

Meghan panted even more as her husband continued to caress her. She then turned in his arms and kissed him passionately and urgently, the heat between them rising quickly.

Tyler picked her up and placed her on the counter, separating their lips momentarily to sweep everything off of the surface of the cool metal island before climbing up next to her, claiming her lips with his again.

Meghan smiled into the kiss, nibbling on his bottom lip and savoring the passion between them. Tyler stroked his hand along her ribcage over the shirt she wore then slipped it under. They broke apart when the front door slammed against the wall and Tyler jumped down from the counter then helped Meghan down.

Meghan looked scared as Tyler helped her down off the counter. "What was that?"

Tyler shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He took her hand. "Come on."

Meghan gulped and squeezed Tyler's hand as they went to investigate.

They came into the living room and were startled by the sudden appearance of Tanya, who jumped and dropped the stack of papers she'd brought with her. "Dad, Meghan! You scared me," she said, putting a hand on her chest to stop her racing heart.

Tyler went over to his daughter and hugged her. "I'm sorry, sweetie. We didn't mean to scare you. We heard the front door slam and we didn't know what it was." He pulled back and kissed her forehead before looking down at the papers she dropped. "Let me help you with those. You shouldn't be carrying heavy things in your condition."

Tanya nodded and watched as her father knelt down and picked up the papers. "Thank you, Daddy. I'm sorry for coming by so early."

Meghan shook her head. "It's all right, Tanya, you know you're welcome here." Curiously, she added, "What brings you here? You and Colin didn't get into a fight, did you? I know that boy loves you to pieces and this pregnancy hasn't exactly been easy for him to accept."

"No, it hasn't, but my professor, my history professor, he asked me to do some research on my family's history," Tanya explained as she looked to her father.

Tyler nodded. "Really, is there any particular part of our history, or all of it?"

"The professor said all of it," Tanya replied with a soft smile.

Her father nodded then picked up the rest of the papers before gesturing her ahead of him to the living room.

Tyler grabbed some books from the shelf. "Here are some books about our family, mostly dating back to the 1800s."

Meghan pulled some down as well. "And here are some from the Fell family as well, sweetie," she told Tanya.

Tanya nodded as she took the books on the Fell family. "This is awesome. I'm sure to get an A on my report."

"I'm so proud of you, Tanya," Tyler said with a smile at her. Meghan smiled over at her husband then hugged him, her head tucked below his chin.

Tanya smiled at her father and stepmother. "I appreciate the help, you guys, not only with this, but with everything else." Her smile then faded. "And to answer Meghan's question about Colin and I having a fight, we kind of did."

Meghan turned to look up at Tyler, who nodded then kissed his wife's lips before leaving the room. Meghan went over and sat down next to her stepdaughter. "Tell me what happened," she said softly to Tanya.

Tanya sighed. "Well, the fight in question took place last night, just after we got back from dinner. Colin wasn't his usual loving, compassionate self, and I asked him what was wrong. I immediately regretted asking that because he slaps me and tells me that he was tired of pretending to love a child that wasn't even his. I tried to get him to understand that I only did what I did to help Carrie, and that I loved him and not Luke, I also said that although Carrie is in the same situation that I am that Liam is willing to accept her baby as his own and even asked her to marry him."

Meghan nodded. "And what did Colin say to that?"

"The thing I never expected him to say about his cousin," Tanya said. "He said, 'Liam is a lovesick idiot, just like his father.' Then, before I can say anything else, he tells me that he should've broken up with me when he had the chance and that it was over between us."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry," Meghan said sympathetically, opening her arms. Tanya fell into them immediately, feeling grateful that she had her stepmother to comfort her.

That Same Moment…

"You did WHAT?"

Maria was trying to wrap her mind around what her brother had done. Colin watched her confused facial expressions before saying, "I broke up with Tanya, Maria. I tried to do what you told me to, but I couldn't. I may have loved her, but I couldn't pretend that her betrayal didn't hurt me, when it sure as hell did."

Maria's expression went from confused to angry and she slapped her brother hard across the face. In fact, she slapped him so hard, his nose started to bleed. "Colin Zachary Mikaelson, I can't believe you would do this to her! Yes, Tanya slept with Luke, but she needs you! Hell, Liam…"

"Don't you dare compare me to Liam," Colin said, ignoring the blood coming out of his nose. "He's a lovesick idiot, like Uncle Nik!"

"How dare you say that about your own cousin, Colin!" Maria hissed before slapping him again then turning and walking out.

Colin growled as he watched his sister leave, rubbing his cheek. She had been right, he never should have called Liam a lovesick idiot, but he was angry and he wasn't in control of what came out of his mouth. Still, it wasn't nice, and Maria had every right to slap him for saying it. Another thing he shouldn't have done was breaking up with Tanya. She needed him and yet, he had thrown her out.

Meanwhile…

Ruby climbed from the car on shaky legs then guided her hand into her mother's before Sage was helping bring her daughter into a brick building in Italy. Sage and Finn had talked about it right after coming home from Japan and both of them agreed she needed to learn how to adapt with being blind. Every doctor that the couple had contacted had said 'no' to a surgery that could fix their eldest child/daughter's eyesight.

Sage looked at her daughter. She knew this was the right thing to do. If the doctors couldn't help, then it was best that Ruby learned to fend for herself. She and Finn would be there for support, of course, but for the most part, Ruby was on her own.

From the other side, Finn gave his wife a sympathetic smile. "We can do this," he mouthed to her.

Sage nodded and mouthed back, "I know."

Later, once they'd gotten Ruby all ready to go, Sage found herself clinging to her husband. "It's so hard to see her go through this, Finn!" she sobbed into his shoulder.

Finn held his wife close. "I know, Irish Rose, I feel the same way. But, Ruby is a strong woman. She'll get through this and anything else that life can throw at her."

Author's Note: Well, that wasn't my best effort. But I sincerely hoped you enjoyed seeing this new side to Sage & Finn. I know I thoroughly enjoy writing them!