Kim thought her heart had stopped as Steve walked down the stairs. How? Everyone told her that Steve had died at University Hospital. How could he possibly be alive?
She glanced at Shane, but then realized that he would not share her surprise. He had known. His mission. . . . His mission had been Steve. Now Kim understood the uncertainty she had seen in Shane's expression before he left. It wasn't uncertainty about the mission itself; it was uncertainty about what the mission would mean if he succeeded.
As she watched her ex-husband, Kim saw him change. Shane's shoulders pulled back, his head drew up, and the sad, pained look on his face dissolved, replaced by stone-faced nothingness. She had seen that before - Shane withdrawing into himself. It was as if he was shutting down his emotions right before her eyes.
Deep within herself, Kim felt a sensation that she did not want to acknowledge. It was schadenfreude at its worse - that tiny amount of glee at seeing Shane experience what she had gone through for the past five months. Being the outsider and watching the person you love move on with someone else. Kim tried to suppress that feeling, reminding herself that the only reason Shane was suffering right now was because he had done a good thing. She also reminded herself that Shane was the man she loved and she couldn't enjoy seeing him in pain.
Kim looked back at Steve and Kayla, who were still hugging and crying. Then, still clinging to Kayla, Steve turned toward Kim, no, toward the little girl she held in her arms.
Kayla, through a mask of tears, stepped forward. "Daddy's here," she said, her voice breaking. "He's really here."
Holding Stephanie out to Steve, Kim smiled. "Welcome back, Steve." He gave her a slight nod, but his eye was only on his daughter. He took her from Kim's arms and his tears seemed to flow even faster.
"It's me, Little Sweetness," he said, then turned back to Kayla. "Look how big she's gotten." His expression changed slightly. Was that a twinge of guilt? "I've missed so much, baby," he said to Kayla.
"You're here now, Steve, and you're never going to leave us again." Her eyes shone with such love that Kim felt the cruel sting of jealousy. Shane used to look at me like that. Now that seemed like such a long time ago.
Continuing to watch Steve and Kayla, Kim barely noticed that Shane had returned Jeannie to her arms. Jeannie squirmed and Kim looked down at her daughter, trying to placate her. "It's getting to you too," she whispered, though she said that with a smile. "That's your Uncle Steve, Jeannie." She said that with a bit of sadness. Stephanie had her father back, but Jeannie never would. Her father was a monster, and the man Kim would have given everything to be Jeannie's father could barely look at her without being reminded that she was not his.
Kim hugged Jeannie close and tried to fight back some tears of her own. She was happy for Kayla, but her happiness brought home how lonely Kim felt. She smiled and said, softly, "Shane can get Worthington to bring our stuff up to the rooms and I'm going to get Jeannie settled. We'll give you three some time alone"
She turned her gaze back toward where Shane had been standing, thinking maybe this would be a good time to talk, not as former lovers, but just as friends.
That part of the foyer was empty. Shane was gone.