Bianca walked a whole circuit of the park, all the time keeping her eyes peeled for a blonde mop of hair. By the end she felt exhausted and her shoulders ached. Eventually she called a cab to take her back to Kendall's house.

She got home to find Francois in the lounge reading Gabby and Ian a bedtime story, the comfortable scene lightening her mood somewhat.

"Has everyone behaved themselves today?" Bianca asked with smile, leaning over the couch to plant a kiss on top of her youngest daughter's head.

"Yes, mommy." said Gabby with an indignant pout. "I'm always good!"

"Of course you are." said Bianca leaning down to give her another kiss, but Gabby turned in her seat and wrapped her arms around her mommy's neck so she could give her a magic kiss on the nose.

"Thank you sweetheart." said Bianca, before turning to the nanny. "Is Miranda in her room?"

Francois nodded an affirmative before returning to the two children and the book.

"Are you sad mommy?" Gabby asked. She was still kneeling up on the couch and watching her.

"I am upset." said Bianca. "AJ has done something very scary and worrying. He has run away from home."

"Oh that's bad!" said Gabby her eyes wide. "To w-un away from home. Will they find him?"

"Of course we will."

"And don't worry I haven't forgotten about your night off." Bianca added to Francois, who looked startled at the news. "I know Will has a great night planned for your six week anniversary and I don't want to spoil it. I just have something very important to ask Miranda and then I shall be back to put the little monsters..."

"Mommy!" protested Gabby.

"…And my little angel," Bianca added quickly, "To bed."

Francois persuaded Gabby to turn back to the story book and Bianca went to find her eldest daughter.

…

Bianca went into Miranda and Gabby's room to find her daughter lying on the floor biting her pen as she did her homework, an adorable frown of concentration on her face.

"Hi sweetheart!" began Bianca.

"Mommy!" said Miranda with a big grin, but then the frown returned. "Mommy what do you know about adding up big numbers?"

Bianca looked over her daughter's shoulder at the worksheet.

"Well the first thing is that homework should really be done at a desk." she said in her motherly tone, "But I want you to put it to one side for a moment I have something important to talk to you about."

"Okay." said Miranda, wriggling into a sitting position.

It took a lot more effort for Bianca to join her daughter on the rug. She slid down awkwardly using the bed for support. Then she put her crutches to one side before rearranging her braced leg into a more comfortable position.

"Miranda, I know you are very close to AJ and I promise I'm not going to be angry at you but I need you to tell me if you know anything about his running away from home."

"What!" gasped Miranda. "I told him not to. I told him it was dangerous. He was going to wait until we had a plan!"

"Miranda." Bianca put a comforting hand on her knee. "Slow down and tell me the story from the beginning. Has AJ talked about running away before?"

"AJ was sad." said Miranda looking down at her lap. "He didn't like being with his daddy, he wanted to be with us. When JR took him back to the big mansion and we were kept apart he got very upset. He talked about running away. I told him it wasn't safe and bad things could happen. And then when his mommy got better, and everything, I thought it made him happier because he stopped talking about it."

Bianca sensed a 'but' coming as Miranda tailed off.

"Go on."

"I phone him every Friday after school so he doesn't miss me at the weekend.

Bianca smiled, she had discovered that little secret early on when she picked up the phone to make a call and heard Miranda and AJ on the line, giggling together. At the time she thought it was harmless.

"I know." she said.

"You do?"

"I do." said Bianca, "Now go on."

"Well." said Miranda. "This Friday he was crying on the phone because Marissa was acting weird and making him spend time with his daddy."

"Did he talk about running away?"

"No." said Miranda, a determined look on her face. "I would have told him not to!"

"Did he say anything else?"

"Not really." said Miranda. "He was supposed to wait for the plan!"

"What plan?"

Miranda's cheeks turned bright red.

"The plan to get you and Marissa back together."

"Oh." said Bianca quietly; enchanted by the idea that their children wanted to play matchmaker. Bianca smiled as she remembered the kiss in the park and the growing hope that Marissa's feelings hadn't changed, but she shook away the memory. Now wasn't the time. They had to find AJ.

"Can you think of somewhere AJ might have gone? A special hiding place?"

Miranda shook her head sadly.

"Will he be alright." She was crying now.

"Shhh." said Bianca, pulling her daughter into a hug. "Don't worry, we will find him."

Only she didn't feel as hopeful as her words.

…

Bianca sat in the lounge wondering what to do. It was getting late and the children were in bed. But she couldn't settle she was too worried about AJ. She had already called everyone she could think of and apparently Brooke had been doing the same.

There was a loud knock at the door.

Bianca got up, her whole body protesting; it had been a long strenuous day.

She opened the door and JR barged right past her.

"Alright where is he! Where are you hiding him!"

"He's not here." protested Bianca.

"Or course he is." said JR angrily. "You and Marissa have planned this whole thing to punish me. Well forget it. I want my son back and I want him now!"

"He isn't here JR I swear. I would never do that to you!"

"Of course you would!" snapped JR.

He moved to storm towards the bedrooms, Bianca stepped into his path.

"I know you're upset." said Bianca, trying to keep her nerve. "But the children are asleep and I don't want you to disturb them."

JR roughly grabbed her arm.

"Give me my son!"

Bianca tried very hard not to flinch as the old fears bubbled up. She kept telling herself over and over again, 'He doesn't want to hurt me, he's just worried about AJ'.

"JR." she gasped. "I want to help you, believe me. I want to help you and Marissa find him. I swear he's not here, I don't know where he is. I wish I did!"

"You're lying!" snarled JR.

"Mommy?"

A sleepy looking Miranda was watching from the hall. She looked scared.

"Sweetie, its okay," said Bianca, giving her daughter a brave smile. "Go back to bed. JR is just worried about AJ, he didn't mean to shout."

JR let go of her arm and began to pace back and forth.

Miranda rubbed her eyes.

"You haven't found him yet?" she asked

"No but we won't stop searching until we do." insisted Bianca. "Go back to bed and I'll come and tuck you in in a moment."

Miranda nodded and turned back to her room, but not before giving one last nervous look JR's way.

JR was still pacing like a caged tiger. Then he stopped.

"Miranda, She'll know something! Those two are like… like…"

"Brother and sister." suggested Bianca, feeling a little more confident now that JR was keeping his distance.

JR snorted.

"I've already spoken to her." said Bianca. "She doesn't know anything. In fact she's been warning him not to run away."

"Then she's lying!"

"JR…"

He looked distressed as he was beginning to realise that AJ was really gone and this wasn't some trick they were playing on him.

"Someone has to know!" he cried.

His phone rang. JR hurriedly picked it up. He talked for a moment and then Bianca watched his face turn white as a sheet.

"What's happened!" asked Bianca as he hung up.

JR spoke in a horrified monotone.

"The police have found a child's trainer by the highway. They need someone to identify whether or not it's AJs."

"It won't be his." whispered Bianca. "It can't be his!"

…