Kayla stretched lazily in her bed and then looked over at Steve. He was sleeping soundly, probably the soundest since his return, and he had not woken during the night with any nightmares.

Maybe they had turned a corner. She thought about the night before and how she had held Steve as he had let go of the fear and guilt that had built such a large wall between them. He had cried in her arms for what felt like hours and, then, he had looked at her with an expression filled with such pain and vulnerability that she had no idea how to respond. Their eyes had locked and she had remained transfixed.

Neither of them had moved or said a word until Steve had broken the spell. Hesitantly, he had leaned close and had kissed her. It had been tentative, almost timid, not at all like the self-assured way Steve had kissed her since his return.

"It's okay," Kayla had said, her voice soft. "I love you more than anything in this world, Steve Johnson, and you're the strongest, most caring man I've ever known."

Steve had cupped her face then, and his strong hands brushed her cheeks. "I love you too, Sweetness, and I won't ever leave you again."

He had kissed her again, still soft, but not as fearful, and she could feel the passion behind the kiss. Then, they had moved slowly, with slow kisses and slow caresses. Steve had slowly undressed her and they had made love, first on the living room couch and, then, in their bedroom. The whole time, Kayla kept looking into his eyes, seeing the love that had always been there, but now also seeing the pain and guilt that still shone. All those emotions he had hidden from her were laid bare for her to see, and it made her love him even more.

Kayla watched Steve sleep a little more. She was tempted to wake him and show him again how much he was loved, but she decided to let him sleep. That turned out to be a good idea, because they would not have gotten very far before they would have been interrupted by Stephanie's cries.

Before Steve woke, Kayla got out of bed and headed to their daughter's room. She quickly changed Stephanie and carried her into the kitchen for breakfast. As Kayla readied some oatmeal, she debated preparing some breakfast for Steve and surprising him with breakfast in bed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Hopefully, it's just the super. It's too early for visitors. But she had no such luck. Kayla opened the door to see her father in the hall.

"Pop," she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you, Kayla." In his typical, agitated way, Shawn entered the apartment. He held what looked like a hat in his hands, but it was rolled up tightly and Shawn kept squeezing and twisting it as he paced about the living room.

Kayla was confused, but she said, "Okay, Pop, go ahead. Just keep your voice down. Steve's still sleeping."

Shawn nodded. "It's about your sister."

"Is she okay?" Kayla asked. After everything that had happened with Kim and Andrew, she immediately became concerned.

"No, she's not okay," Shawn said, almost angrily.

"Hold on." Kayla stepped in front of Shawn so he had to stop pacing. "Is Kim hurt? Or did something happen to Andrew?"

"No, of course not." Shawn looked at her like she was nuts. "I'm talking about getting that husband of hers to come to his senses. Now that they're living together again, it's time to fix things."

Kayla tried not to grimace openly. Of course, I should have known. It's always about Kim. "Pop," she said. "You can't force two people together. Kim and Shane are adults."

"Well, he ain't acting like one," Shawn snapped. "He's got obligations to Kimmie."

"Now wait a minute." Kayla tried to sound reasonable. "They're divorced, Pop-"

"Not in the eyes of the church, they're not." Shawn repeated one of his most common refrains when ranting about Shane. "They made vows before God, and they can't be tossed aside."

Kayla sighed. She knew this entire discussion was pointless.

"Look, Kayla, I need your help." Shawn kept twisting his hat into a tighter-and-tighter roll. "Now that Kimmie and Shane are close together, you can give them the push they need."

"It won't work," Kayla said in a resigned tone. She thought about the morning she had found Shane in the sitting room at Donovan Manor, and how she had tried to convince him that he belonged with Kim. What had he said? That bridge is burned. Kayla had never even asked why, but he had seemed very certain.

Shawn stomped his feet. "Don't tell me it won't work. You haven't even tried. And you of all people should be the one trying the hardest to make things right."

"What are you talking about?" Kayla said, her voice rising.

"I'm saying that you owe Kimmie for what you did to her . . . for stealing her husband. If you hadn't gone leading Shane on, they'd be together, I'm tellin' you."

Kayla could feel her blood boiling and she fought not to start shouting, though she doubted Steve was still asleep. He could not have possibly slept through Shawn's ranting. That thought sent Kayla over the edge. "Now you wait a minute, Pop. I've had to listen to you go on and on about this for months and I'm sick of it. What happened between Shane and me . . . we didn't do anything wrong."

Shawn's voice rose to a bellow. "Of course you did! Sleeping with someone's husband is a sin!"

"For one, though it's none of your business if I did, I didn't sleep with Shane," Kayla shot back. "For two, he wasn't anyone's husband. And for three, why can't you get it through your head that your precious Kimmie isn't exactly the perfect saint in all of this? She's the one who had another man's child."

"She thought Shane was dead," Shawn said. He was no longer yelling, but his defense of Kimberly only made Kayla even angrier.

"For how long, Pop? How long was Shane gone before she got together with Cal?" Now it was Kayla who was ranting. "You just don't see it. Everyone else is always at fault, but not your 'best and the brightest.' Not Kimmie." Kayla could not hold back on the sarcasm. "She's always perfect."

"That's your sister you're talking about," Shawn said, his voice low.

Kayla shook her head angrily. "I know that. I've spent my whole life with everyone talking about Kim, hearing how great she was, how perfect she was - even when she wasn't. And I'm sick of your excusing her and blaming everyone else. It was Kim who slept with Cal, and it was Kim who lied about the baby. And that all happened before anything happened between me and Shane. So I won't let you make me feel guilty that Kim messed up her life."

Yet, even as she said it, though, Kayla could feel some of the same guilt she had expressed at Donovan Manor about her role in driving Shane and Kim apart. Dammit, she thought. It's not my fault.

"Let Kim take responsibility for once," Kayla said, lowering her voice to its regular volume.

Shawn shook his head. As much as Kayla thought her brothers and she were stubborn, Shawn Brady was more bull-headed than all of them put together. "It ain't right," he said. "They belong together, raising their children."

"But Jeannie's not 'their' child, Pop. She's not Shane's daughter; she's Cal's."

"It don't matter," Shawn said. "If I could accept what your Ma done-"

"It's not the same thing as you and Bo." Kayla sighed again. "You raised Bo, and he was your son for a long time before you found about. . . ." Kayla hesitated, not wanting to say Victor's name out loud. "It's not the same. Maybe it would've been different if Shane didn't know before Jeannie was born, but it's not the same."

"I won't believe that," Shawn said. "If you won't help me, I'll do it myself. I've got a mind to go over to that house right now and give 'em a piece of my mind."

"Pop, please don't. . . ." Kayla thought bitterly that she was back to her role as peacemaker. "Look, you're going to see everyone tomorrow night at Jeannie's party, so why don't you just wait?" And if you make a scene, Roman, Bo and Kim can help run interference.

Shawn looked thoughtful. "Tomorrow night, you say?" It was a rhetorical question, so Kayla did not bother answering. "Okay, I'll wait 'til tomorrow night, but then I'm going to give Shane a piece of my mind. He's got obligations."

Wonderful, Kayla thought. But maybe Shawn would calm down in the 30 or so hours before the party. She looked over at her father. "So is there anything else you came to talk about?"

"No," Shawn said. "I should get back to the market. Your Ma's probably wondering where I am."

"Oh. . . ." Kayla barely managed to get that out, before Shawn reached the front door and pulled it open. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah . . . tomorrow," Shawn repeated. "We'll get things fixed up then." He stomped into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him.

Kayla stared at the closed door for a few minutes. Then she headed back into the kitchen where Stephanie's oatmeal had surely gone cold and, with a rueful shake of her head, muttered, "Hi, Kayla. How are you doing? What happened with your hearing at the hospital? How's Steve?" Anyone of those would have worked just fine.

"Are you okay, Sweetness?"

Kayla started when she heard Steve's voice. Turning to face him, she said, "Hey . . . I didn't realize you were up."

Steve walked towards her. "Well, it was a little hard to sleep with World War III going on in the living room." He smiled gently and repeated his original question, "Are you okay?"

Kayla sighed. "I'm fine. It's not like I haven't heard it all before."

"I'm sorry." Steve pulled Kayla to him.

"It's okay," Kayla replied, pulling away from Steve. "And you don't have to pretend that you don't agree with him."

"What?"

"Come on, Steve. I know you feel the same way about what happened between me and Shane as my Pop does. I got involved with my sister's husband, and it's my fault that they are apart."

"Whoa, baby," Steve said. "Don't go putting words in my mouth. I've never pretended to be happy about you and Shane, but I don't blame you for anything."

Kayla turned to Steve, looking him in the eye. "Is that really true? Have you really forgiven me for being involved with Shane?"

Steve took a deep breath before responding. "There was never anything to forgive, Kayla. I was angry and hurt and, yes, I was jealous. But the fact is that you thought I was dead. I know how much you love me; I've always known that. Last night was just another example."

Kayla offered a small smile. "I do love you. So much it scares me sometimes."

Steve pulled Kayla into his arms and held her close. "Sometimes, it scares me too, baby. But at least we can be scared together."

Kayla listend to Steve's steady heartbeat for a few moments, then pulled away. Giving Steve a seductive smile, she said, "Why don't we see if we can get our daughter fed this morning? Then maybe we can find some other things the two of us can do together."

"Oh baby," Steve said with a grin. "You do know how to start the day off right."