The minute Paul left to pick up his mother, Will was a jittery mess. He moved from the couch to the floor by the kids. A few seconds later he was up adjusting the remotes for the TV. After that, he went to the kitchen. He cleaned the already sparkling countertop down.
Sami, Eric, and Brady watched Will move from spot to spot finding imaginary imperfections.
It was when Will started moving the sofa cushions a fraction of an inch one way or the other that Sami stepped in.
"I don't think those pillows can move anymore," Sami pointed out.
"Right," Will twisted his hands together.
Will sat on the sofa for a moment before popping back up.
"I think I need to mop," Will uttered in a squeaky voice.
"Sit," Sami pointed back to the couch.
Will, feeling scolded, sat down.
"Stop freaking out," Sami ordered. "It's not like anything that awful could happen."
Seeing Will's wide-eyes and lifted eyebrows, Sami sighed.
"It's not like anything that awful could happen again," Sami amended. "Besides," Sami scooted over to Will. "Everyone here loves you. If she can't see how great you are that's her loss."
"Thanks," Will mumbled. "I want her to like me and I blew it months ago."
"Yeah, blackmailing her wasn't the brightest move," Brady nodded.
"Thank you," Will spat at him.
"I'm just saying," Brady shrugged. "At least you didn't do anything that horrible to her."
"Like hit her over the head?" Will asked sweetly.
Brady narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, like that," Brady responded. "But people can grow from those situations."
"John hates Theresa," Will countered.
"Don't listen to him," Eric butted in. "He's an idiot."
"Hey," Brady defended weakly.
"Who is the ultimate authority in having an in-law hate you?" Eric asked, ignoring Brady.
Everyone turned to look at Sami.
"Oh, sure. Hold that against me," Sami huffed.
"But you get along with grandma now," Will turned to face his mom.
"I don't know if get along is the word," Sami mused. "We have more common enemies now. Stefano still hates me though."
"But you do it now and Stefano doesn't count," Will encouraged. "So, any tips?"
"Well," Sami thought it over. "You could both plot to cover up a murder together?"
Will threw himself back against the couch.
"I am doomed," Will put his forearm over his eyes.
"Don't be so dramatic," Brady dismissed.
"Yeah," Eric agreed. "Besides, I bet I still know how to cheer you up."
"Ooooh," Brady laughed. "I bet it does still work."
"No it doesn't," Will moved closer to the edge of the couch.
"I bet it does," Eric teased.
Eric got off the couch, fingers outstretched.
"Nope," Will fibbed. He pressed his lips together, refusing to laugh.
Eric's fingers prodded at Will's stomach and sides. Loud giggles burst from Will's mouth.
Sami scooted over so she wouldn't get in the way.
The kids all turned to see what the commotion was about. Seeing Uncle Eric tickling Will got them all excited.
Before Will knew it he had four other hands poking and pinching at him.
"Stop it," Will squirmed. "No, let me go."
"Get him," Ari cheered.
Will laughed and laughed until his sides hurt.
Finally free, Will's face was bright red and shining.
"You know what else used to cheer you up," Brady commented.
Sharing a sly look with Eric, they both grabbed at Will. Brady lifted Will's legs while Eric grabbed his arms. They pulled Will until he was off the couch and dangling in the air.
"Stop it," Will chuckled. "You're old. You're gonna drop me."
"Old?" Sami squawked.
Eric and Brady swung Will back and forth. Neither would admit that it was much harder to do now that Will was a full grown man.
Ari, Sydney, Allie, and Johnny all laughed and cheered on their uncles. The four jumped up and down on the couch cushions, shouting loud encouragements.
"Don't drop Daddy," Ari warned. "No break."
"We won't hurt him," Eric promised.
"You know what used to really get Daddy excited?" Brady asked Ari.
"Noooo," Will whined even though he had a big smile on his face.
"Oh, yes," Brady insisted.
"3, 2, 1," Eric counted down.
When Eric got to one, Eric and Brady both tossed Will in the air, barely catching him before he hit the ground.
Everyone shouted encouragements, stomping and screaming.
Which was the exact moment Paul opened the door to escort his mother inside.
Tori Narita entered her son's condo to find a strange sight. Four children of varying ages were standing on her son's furniture. A blonde woman sat perched on the edge of the couch. All while two fully grown men tossed her son's alleged boyfriend up and down.
It took Paul a few moments to reconcile what he was seeing. When it finally made sense, he crossed his arms and smiled.
"Don't break that," Paul told Brady and Eric. "I need him."
"He's fine," Brady dismissed.
"No, I'm not," Will insisted.
While Will felt better the tickling and messing around did cheer him up. This was not the way he wanted Tori to see him again for the first time.
"Mom," Paul gestured towards the couch. "This is Sami Brady, Will's mom."
Sami lifted her hand in greeting while giving Tori an icy look.
"That's Eric Brady, Sami's brother," Paul continued. "And Brady Black, my brother."
Tori nodded politely to everyone.
"On the couch we have," Paul listed in order of their position. "Allie, Johnny, Sydney, and…"
Ari scrambled over the back of the couch before running over. She leapt into Paul's arms.
"This is my girl Ari," Paul informed his mother.
Ari stuck out her hand and beamed.
"My name is Arianna Grace Horton," Ari declared. She had been practicing at daycare.
"Nice to meet you," Tori responded. She recognized Arianna from a few photos Paul had sent her of the two of them.
Ari wiggled out of Paul's arms before rushing to Will.
Eric and Brady finally released Will's wrists and ankles. They gently lowered him to the floor.
"This my daddy," Ari clutched Will's hand. "He's the best daddy. I say so."
"Hi," Will greeted sheepishly.
"Will," Tori nodded, clearly uncomfortable.
Tate, left on the other couch, let out a few pitiful cries for attention.
Will, standing closest to him, lifted him up.
"Hey, little guy," Will smiled at him. "We didn't forget you. Maybe your daddy and Uncle Eric can swing you around now."
Will bounced Tate up and down before passing him over to Brady.
"Oh," Paul shook his head. "That's baby Tate. He's Brady's son so he's my nephew."
Tori lifted her eyebrows.
"You're family has certainly grown," Tori remarked.
Sami realized her children were standing on most of the furniture.
"Kids," Sami barked. "Off."
Johnny, Allie, and Sydney climbed down. The girls went back to making Christmas crafts. Johnny went back to playing Minecraft.
"Sit," Paul suggested. He swept his arm toward the sofa.
Tori sat primly on the edge of the cushion. She didn't realize there would be so many people around.
Ari let go of Will's hand to sit extremely close to Tori on the couch.
Tori turned to the side to find Ari's big, bright eyes staring at her.
"Hi, Paul's mommy," Ari smiled.
"Hello," Tori offered her a small smile of her own.
"You're pretty," Ari stated.
"Thank you," Tori responded, flattered.
"You have dark hair," Ari informed her. "My mommy has dark hair. She pretty too."
"Is that so?" Tori asked, warming up to the girl.
"Uh huh," Ari nodded. "She don't have a mommy though."
Will watched Ari carefully.
'She's never this talkative with strangers,' Will knew. 'What is she up to?'
Paul wrapped his arm around Will's waist and led him to the other sofa.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tori told Ari.
"That mean I no have mommy grandma," Ari batted her long lashes at Tori. "I have Paul's mommy grandma?"
Tori's eyebrows rose, shocked.
Eric and Brady guffawed while Sami crossed her arms and sneered.
Paul smiled widely.
"Ari," Will sputtered.
"I need more grandmas," Ari said to Will. "Only has some."
"I think you have enough," Will offered.
"Nu uh," Ari shook her head. "Only has Grammy and Grandma and Grandma Kate and Grandma Marlna. I need more."
"Sweetie, you can't just ask her that," Will tried to explain. He shot Tori a nervous glance.
'Oh god,' Will thought.
"It's alright," Tori patted Ari's knee.
Ari snuggled in close to Tori, putting her head on her chest.
"I love my super Paul," Ari said. "Super Paul love Ari and Daddy. That mean you Paul's mommy grandma."
Tori shifted until she could lean against the pillows. Without thinking, her fingers began to run through Ari's long blonde locks.
"You can call me whatever you want," Tori promised Ari. "I won't mind."
Ari turned and caught Paul's eyes. She gave him an impish grin.
Will and Paul stood in the kitchen getting together some drinks.
"What the hell is that?" Will wondered. He pointed towards his daughter cuddling Paul's mother.
"I don't know," Paul answered with a grin. "But I don't think my mom minds."
"But, she, but what if," Will tried to say.
"If she wanted to move her away she would," Paul took Will by the shoulders. "Just go with it. Nothing bad is going to come from my mother falling for Ari."
"I guess not," Will agreed. "I just don't want her to think I told her to do that."
"Look at her," Paul suggested. He physically turned Will to face Tori. "Does that look like the face of someone who is suspicious?"
Will looked at the soft, caring expression on Tori's face.
"No," Will admitted.
"It's going to be fine," Paul promised. "Besides, it's impossible not to love your daughter. Just like it's impossible not to love you."
Will scoffed, "Right."
"It's impossible for me not to," Paul cupped Will's cheek.
Will smiled softly, holding Paul's gaze.
"Ari and my mom?" Paul told Will. "Kind of a dream come true."
"Yeah?" Will questioned.
"Your family, my family," Paul shrugged. "I love seeing them blending together."
Will nodded before kissing Paul.
Tori looked over at her son kissing Will Horton in the kitchen. She still found the situation strange. Tori didn't know how her son managed to fall for Will of all people but she tried to keep an open mind.
The toddler softly talking to her helped soften her up though.
"Daddy kiss my booboo and I all better," Ari explained. "See? Best Daddy!"
"I bet he is," Tori nodded.
Brady lifted up Tate into the air.
"Uh oh," Brady sniffed. "Someone needs a new diaper."
"Don't look at me," Sami derided. "Change your own kid."
"I'll help," Eric rolled his eyes.
Brady, Eric, and Tate moved towards one of the bedrooms to change Tate's diaper.
"Ari," Sami ordered. "Go draw Tori a picture."
"Okie, Grammy," Ari pulled out of Tori's embrace. Not wanting to upset her grammy, Ari moved over to hug her. "Love you, Grammy."
Sami smiled, touched.
Waiting until Ari was with the kids and out of earshot, Sami sat down next to Tori.
"So," Sami said straight to the point. "What's this bullshit I hear about you hating my son?"
Tori shifted, surprised by the woman's boldness.
"Excuse me?" Tori asked.
Sami crossed her arms, looking expectant.
"It's complicated," Tori replied. "Will did-,"
"Will reacted the way anyone would to someone trying to steal their husband," Sami dismissed.
"And I hate to break it to you," Sami continued. "But your son is no picnic to deal with either."
"How could you even-," Tori began.
"Let's see," Sami counted off on her fingers. "Homewrecking, fighting, scandals-,"
Tori cut Sami off as well.
"My son would never do any of those things," Tori insisted.
"Have you seen his face?" Sami asked. "Why don't you try asking him when and how he got those bruises?"
"I was using that," Allie shouted.
"No, I was," Sydney fought back.
"Mom," Allie screamed.
Sami rolled her eyes and stood up.
"All I'm saying is," Sami told Tori. "Your son's not perfect either. But Will and I gave him a chance. Maybe you could try doing the same thing."
Sami moved over to separate her fighting daughters.
"Uh, Paul?" Brady asked with a sheepish smile. "Do you mind if I stick Tate in your bathtub?"
"No," Paul moved away from the kitchen. "I'll show you how to use it."
Will looked at Tori out of the corner of his eye.
'I'm the only one here,' Will thought. 'Just bring her a drink. You can do this. You can do it.'
Will grabbed a mug of coffee and took it to Tori.
"Um, here," Will gave her a frightened smile.
"Thank you," Tori replied. She held the mug in her hands.
Will sat, fists clenching and unclenching.
"Paul doesn't have any tea yet," Will told her. "Or we'd make some, he'd make some. I don't know how to make fancy tea. I just have tea bags. Well, no I don't. My mom got me some after I got out of the hospital. But Paul always made it for me because I don't…know how."
Will clamped his mouth together, forcing himself to stop talking.
Tori knew Will was just as nervous as she was.
"I taught Paul when he was young how to make a proper pot of tea," Tori said offhanded.
"My mom didn't really teach me any of that," Will shrugged. "I only just started learning how to cook. I'm not that good but Paul always pretends I am to make me feel better."
Tori smiled, "That sounds like my son."
"He's really great," Will added. "Ari took to him right away. Ever since, the um, incident, she's been calling him her super Paul."
Tori nodded.
"I was glad to hear that you were alright after that," Tori admitted. "I saw it on the news."
"Thank," Will responded. "It was all Paul though. He saved me."
"I saw something else in the news," Tori confessed.
Will winced, certain she would bring up the ad.
"About my son's night away from you in Chicago," Tori continued.
Will frowned, needing a moment to think about it.
"Oh," Will said.
"Oh?" Tori questioned.
Tori didn't bring it up with Paul in the ride over because she didn't know how. She didn't know the parameters of his relationship with Will. For all she knew maybe Paul could do as he pleased.
"Well, it's not like it really happened," Will replied. He felt a bit confused.
"It didn't?" Tori asked.
"No," Will looked at her oddly. "Paul wouldn't cheat on me. That's not the type of person he is. Did you think he did?"
"I don't know what I thought," Tori muttered. "The model with him was so…"
"Yeah," Will crossed his arms. "He's really hot. But Paul wants to be with me."
"I see," Tori nodded.
"No," Will pulled all the courage he had. "I don't think you do."
Will looked at his knees, grounding himself.
"I know the type of person I was before," Will confessed. "I know I did bad things and hurt people. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for what I did. But I'm not like that anymore.
"I learned the hard way that my actions have consequences," Will added. "I made my choices and because of that I lost my husband. I had to figure out how to survive on my own for the first time with a daughter. But I did.
"It was hard but I did," Will elaborated. "I got myself help, professional help. I have a better job now. I can support Ari by myself. And Paul forgave me for what I did.
"I know it's hard to understand," Will conceded. "But even back last December there was something between Paul and me. We got each other. We empathized with each other's coming out and struggling. We have a lot of the same interests. We were attracted to each other.
"And I know how bad that sounds," Will continued. "I cheated on my husband and I ruined so many lives. But I'm not like that anymore. I know how lucky I am to have someone like Paul pay even the smallest amount of attention to me. He's so," Will gestured helplessly, "And I'm so," Will looked down.
"I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to everyone else," Will closed his eyes. "But he loves me. Sometimes I don't know why either. He could be with anyone. Why would he want me?
"But I'm getting better," Will said in a stronger voice. "Every day I am. A better father, a better son, and brother. I try every day to make sure Paul knows how much he means to me. That he knows how much I appreciate him and love him.
"God," Will chuckled. "Somedays I have no idea how I got so lucky. He loves me and he loves my daughter. He trusts me even when I gave him every reason not to before.
Will looked Tori in her eyes.
"I love your son," Will declared. "And I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure he and everyone else knows it."
Paul stood behind Will and his mother, eavesdropping. Paul gave the two a few moments once Will's speech finished.
Sitting down next to Will, Paul couldn't keep the grin off his face.
"So," Paul asked, hand on Will's knee. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Tori responded. "Just listening to your boyfriend."
Will smiled sheepishly.
Tori looked over Paul's face before frowning.
"How did you get those bruises?" Tori asked.
Paul and Will both shifted uncomfortably.
"Well," Paul finally said honestly. "Yesterday, I kind of got into it with Sonny."
Tori blinked several times.
"Excuse me?" Tori tilted her head.
"Yeah," Paul gave her a roguish smile.
"With Sonny?" Tori repeated, incredulous.
"He was going after Will," Paul defended. "He set up that stupid article. He orchestrated me going to Chicago in the first place. He was sending Will these stupid secret admirer gifts."
"Really?" Tori wondered.
Will nodded.
"I didn't encourage him," Will assured her. "I didn't do anything. After the incident he's been really weird. Hopefully he's figured out I'm staying with Paul."
"I see," Tori replied. She honestly had no idea what to think.
Everyone sat around the massive dining room table inside the condo for lunch.
Tori smiled politely at the conversation the children were engaging in.
"And then I won," Johnny nodded proudly.
"Yeah, whatever," Allie rolled her eyes.
"Mommy," Sydney asked innocently. "When we see Grandma?"
"Well," Sami swallowed down a bite of her lunch. "I suppose we'll have to call and ask when she wants to come by."
"And Daddy too," Allie insisted.
"I can send my dad a message and see if they're free," Brady offered.
"Can we watch TV now?" Johnny asked, bored.
"Fine," Sami huffed. "But put your plate in the sink first."
"Daddy, I watch?" Ari questioned.
"First," Will called her over.
Ari dutifully stood still as her daddy cleaned her face off.
"Beautiful," Will declared. "Now you can go."
Tori sat contemplating something.
"So," Tori took a deep breath and looked at Brady. "John is your father as well?"
"Yep," Brady nodded as he fed Tate. "But he's with their mom," Brady nodded towards Eric and Sami.
"Oh," Tori mumbled.
"Yeah," Sami nodded. "For most of our lives, interestingly."
"Right," Tori replied.
"Johnny's named after John actually," Sami added.
"Mom," Will sighed.
"I'm just making conversation," Sami shrugged.
"Well stop it," Will pleaded. "I'm gonna send a text to Dad and see if he can come see Allie."
"I guess it's a good thing I bought the big condo after all," Paul joked.
"Wait," Tori's eyes narrowed. She looked at Paul. "Your father is with Will's…"
"Grandma," Paul answered. "Which means my brother is technically Will's step-uncle. If they got married again I would be Will's step uncle."
"OK," Tori shook her head.
"Paul shares a sister with Sami and me," Eric noted.
"My dad is dating Sonny's mom," Will said helpfully. "If we really want to get awkward."
"Hey," Brady held up one hand. "My son is related to Paul, Will, oh and Sonny."
"Yeah and my twins have different fathers," Sami huffed. "Either way I win."
Brady's phone began to ring.
"I better take this," Brady said after seeing it was his father.
Brady stood up with Tate in his arms. He looked between Sami, Paul, and Will. The three that were sitting closest to him.
With a nod, Brady handed Tate over to Will.
"Oh, come on," Sami complained. "I have more experience with babies than he does."
"I'm pretty sure Will did more parenting than you did," Brady ran out of the way. Sami threw a fork at him.
"Your Auntie is crazy," Will held Tate in front of his face. "Yes, she is."
Tate cooed and giggled. He reached out to touch Will's face, exploring.
Paul smiled at the sight.
"Brady's right," Paul decided. "You are good with babies."
"Babies are easy," Will booped Tate's little nose. "It's when they can walk and talk things get hard."
Paul moved his chair closer to Will's. He lifted up a napkin and covered his face, playing peek-a-boo with Tate.
"Where's Uncle Paul?" Will asked Tate. "He's gone."
Paul popped back into sight.
"There he is," Will exclaimed.
Tate clapped his chubby fists together.
Tori found herself mesmerized by the sight of her son interacting with a child. Tori didn't have any siblings herself. For the longest time it was just her, her father, and Paul.
From a young age, Paul obsessed over baseball. Tori always knew that's what Paul would grow up to be.
'A successful pitcher,' Tori thought. 'Living out his dream with a beautiful woman on his arm. That's the life I always pictured for him. That's the life he had.'
Tori knew Paul was gay a lot longer than he realized. She knew her son. She loved her son. Maybe she didn't understand how he felt what he felt but she loved him regardless.
One thing that scared her the most about Paul coming out wasn't the ridicule he would endure. It wasn't the loss of his sponsors or his career. What Tori feared the most was losing out on this.
'I thought the only way Paul would get to have a family would be with a woman,' Tori recalled. 'I didn't think he would get his happily ever after.'
Tori watched Paul and Will easily play with the baby and smiled.
'Maybe there are different kinds of fairy tale endings,' Tori realized.
After a while, Tate began to get fussy.
"Did your daddy forget to burp you?" Will asked Tate.
Will grabbed a napkin and put it over his shoulder. He adjusted Tate until he could gently pat along his back.
Will glanced at the time.
"Can you go get started on putting Ari down?" Will asked Paul. "I'll bring Tate in as soon as he's done."
"Sure," Paul smiled at Will.
Paul walked over to the couch and held his hand out to Ari.
"I bought some new books in your room. You wanna go see?" Paul questioned expertly.
"Okie," Ari responded. She held Paul's hand.
"Hmm, we better sit on the potty first," Paul decided.
"Yeah," Ari agreed. "No accidents."
Tori turned to watch Paul take Ari into the bathroom, amazed.
"He's really good at that," Will told Tori. "Taking care of Ari, I mean."
"I don't think I've ever even seen him around a child for long before," Tori shook her head.
"He had some trouble at first," Will confessed. "But he's a pro with Ari now. He's not too bad with Tate either."
"Everything is so different for him now," Tori commented. "A year ago…" Tori trailed off.
Sami, listening in, cleared her throat.
"Well," Sami said, surprisingly helpful. "It's not hard to get along with Ari. She's adorable."
Eric nodded in agreement.
"That she is," Eric stated. "Much easier of a child than Will."
"Hey," Will pouted.
"She's never drowned or needed brain surgery," Eric countered. "So don't even, kiddo."
"Thank god for that," Will shivered slightly. "I'll take my adorable, easy child anytime."
"Anyway," Sami continued, rolling her eyes. "Clearly, Paul is smitten with Will and Ari."
"He called us his Hortons' one time," Will smiled bashfully.
Tori smiled back, surprising herself.
Tate let out a loud belch.
Eric laughed loudly.
"Definitely takes after his daddy," Sami shook her head.
"Come on, big guy," Will stood up carefully. Tate held snuggly in Will's arms. "I've got a bed with your name on it."
Will, waving to get Brady's attention, indicated he was putting him down.
Brady nodded appreciatively. His father was asking him a million questions on the situation.
"Hey, baby girl," Will said as he came into her room. "Do you have enough room for one more?"
"My baby," Ari lifted her arms, yawning widely.
"Yep," Will fixed it so both Tate and Ari were safe and snug on the bed.
Will turned to look at Paul expectantly.
Paul, book in hand, cleared his throat and began to read.
"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot," Paul began.
Tori took her suitcase to the last empty guestroom in the condo. Slowly unpacking gave her time to think.
'The Will Horton I've seen today is so different than the one I met at the beginning of the year,' Tori hung up her clothes. 'Could he really have changed that much in so short of time?'
'And what about Paul?'
Tori knew her son better than he did at times. When she was in Salem before she knew what he was trying to do with Sonny Kiriakis.
'He wanted Sonny back and didn't care that he was married or had a child,' Tori recalled. 'He might have denied it but I knew.'
'I couldn't understand how Paul could want to be with Sonny. Sonny, who was married, yet followed my son around like a dog desperate for attention.'
'How do I know this isn't the same situation? Is Will really over Sonny? Is Paul over Sonny?'
Once she put everything away, Tori went in search of the bathroom. The first one she found was occupied as was the second. Giving up, Tori went into Paul's bedroom to use the master bathroom.
Looking around the room, Tori saw little touches that were clearly Will. There was a notebook on one side of the bed. A pair of shoes left out when Paul was rather meticulous about keeping his bedroom neat.
'Even in here,' Tori noticed, coming into the bathroom.
There were two sinks with two toothbrushes. Two sets of towels hanging on the towel holder.
'For someone that said they don't live together,' Tori thought with a shake of her head.
Once finished, Tori washed her hands. She caught sight of a small travel bag sitting near one sink. Curiosity got the better of her and she began to snoop.
It took only a few moments for Tori to realize the bag belonged to Will. Inside there was a stick of deodorant and two different prescription bottles.
Tori only felt a tiny bit bad about reading them both.
'Prozac and Xanax,' Tori read.
Tori wasn't that up to date on medicines but she knew what these two were for. She glanced back at the dates for both of them to see when Will started taking them.
'Oh,' Tori realized, putting the bottles back where she found them. 'Maybe Will can change in a few short months if he has the proper help.'
Tori came back into the great room to see Paul holding Will close. Sami and Eric had their heads bent together while Brady still spoke on the phone.
Tori took the time to examine how Paul interacted with Will.
Paul's fingers grazed up and down Will's arm. His entire body tilted towards Will, gravitating towards him. Every few seconds a small smile played across his lips. All the while Will looked perfectly content in Paul's arms.
Tori could see the two were important to each other. She could even see why her son was so attached to Arianna. Tori just wasn't sure she trusted Will yet though.
'Will seems better than before,' Tori knew. 'But he could still be unstable.'
Tori went to join the rest of the adults on the sofas. Will's siblings were still watching TV a short ways away.
The intercom buzzed, indicating there was someone in the lobby.
Paul, reluctantly, got up to answer it.
"Who is it?" Paul asked.
"Lucas," Lucas responded, a soft growl to his voice.
"Come on up," Paul said, pushing a button.
"Your dad doesn't sound happy," Paul commented towards Will.
"Well, a lot happened in the past few days," Will reminded Paul. He moved to stand next to Paul. Gently, Will touched Paul's bruised chin.
"Ugh," Paul groaned. "I keep forgetting about that. He probably wants to kill me."
"Probably," Will nodded.
Hearing a knock at the door, Paul grimaced before opening it.
"Lucas," Paul moved out of the way in case Lucas tried to hit him.
"Paul," Lucas hissed. He briefly eyed everyone in the room, eyebrow lifting seeing Tori Narita.
"Hi, Dad," Will smiled.
"Son," Lucas nodded.
"Daddy," Allie yelled from across the room.
"Hey," Lucas bent over to catch Allie in his arms. "There's my girl!"
"I missed you," Allie held onto Lucas tightly.
"I missed you too," Lucas promised. "I'll be right there, baby girl."
Allie moved over to the couch again with a bounce in her step.
"Dad," Will tried to say.
Lucas crossed his arms and glared at Paul.
"I'll deal with you in a minute," Lucas promised Will.
Sami shot Eric an exasperated look.
"What the hell do you think you're pulling?" Lucas demanded. "My son deserves-,"
"I know what your son deserves," Paul insisted. "And I'm doing my best to give that to him. I didn't cheat on him."
Lucas scoffed.
"Dad," Will put his hand on Lucas's shoulder. "He didn't. He was with Grandma all night. Ask her."
"I wouldn't cheat on Will," Paul argued. "I would never hurt him, not after everything."
"I believe him," Will pointed out. He put his arm around Paul's waist. "He wouldn't do that."
Lucas stared between the two for a long moment before sighing.
"Fine," Lucas conceded. "In that case," Lucas reached out and smacked the back of both of their heads. "What the hell was that ad?"
"I told you about that," Will rubbed his head.
"You didn't tell me I was going to walk through the square and see my son naked," Lucas' hands waved around wildly.
"I was wearing pants," Will defended.
"Thank god for small miracles," Lucas raved.
"Dad," Will shook his head. "Get a grip. I'm an adult."
"Who authorized that picture?" Lucas questioned.
"Your mother," Paul pointed out.
"That woman has gone too far this time," Lucas grumbled.
"And why the hell can I see your bruises in the picture?" Lucas continued. "Why wouldn't you cover that up?"
"Grandma didn't want me to," Will shrugged. "And I trusted Paul not to hurt me."
"I'm gonna kill her," Lucas vowed.
"What do you mean it was Kate's idea?" Sami asked from the sofa. "Is she trying to make money off of you almost dying?"
"Well," Paul said. "I guess so. It's still pretty big news what happened."
Sami stood up to stand with Lucas.
"We're gonna kill her together," Sami promised.
"Oh my god," Will complained.
"No one profits from my sons misfortunes," Sami guaranteed.
"Uh," Eric said weakly from his spot. "Do you not remember what you did for ninety percent of Will's life?"
"Not now, Eric," Sami hissed.
"Mom, Dad," Will address. "I'm an adult. If I was uncomfortable I wouldn't have gone through with it. If I had a problem I would deal with it myself. I don't need you charging after Grandma for no reason."
"But-," Sami said.
"No," Will stood his ground. "Stop it."
"Are you at least getting paid for this?" Lucas questioned.
"I don't know," Will responded. He looked over at Paul.
"I'll look into it," Paul flashed Will a smile.
"Can we please stop talking about this now?" Will asked. "We have a guest."
'Who doesn't need to see how crazy my family really is,' Will thought.
"Right," Lucas turned towards Tori and nodded.
Tori nodded back. She didn't know what to make of Will's father.
Brady, finally off the phone, announced, "Dad and Marlena are coming for dinner."
"Oh, good," Paul responded. "More fun family bonding."
"Let's just get everything ready to decorate the tree," Will suggested. He grabbed Paul's hand. "When Ari gets up we can get started."
Author's note:
I hope everyone had a nice holiday and/or a good weekend. It's still going to be Christmas time in the story I'm afraid.
Thanks for reading!