Kim finished putting Jeannie down and headed down the hall toward Andrew's room. As she reached the door, she heard Shane's voice.
"But the fisherman was a wise man," Shane was saying, and Kim realized he was reading Andrew a story. "So he said to the genie, 'Before I choose how I'll die, I have to ask something. Were you really in that vase?' And the genie replied, 'Yes, I was.' So the fisherman, with a sly glint in his eye, shook his head. 'I don't believe it,' he said. 'A genie as big as you? The vase couldn't even hold one of your feet. I can't believe it could hold your whole body.'"
"And then what happened?" Andrew said. He sounded anxious, completely engrossed in the story. Kim leaned against the wall outside his room, smiled, and continued to listen.
Inside the room, Shane chuckled. "Well, like I told you, the fisherman was a wise man. His taunting caused the genie to get angry. How dare a human not believe the powerful genie? So the genie began to change. First, he started to shimmer in the light. Then his entire body began to turn into smoke and sweep over the fisherman. And then . . . the smoke collected itself and began to go back into the vase. A little at a time. Then a little more. Until all the smoke was inside. When that was done, the fisherman looked at the vase and heard the genie's voice coming from inside. 'Well, unbelieving fisherman, here I am in the vase. Do you believe me now?' But the fisherman did not answer. Instead, he took the lid of the vase and clamped it down on top, locking the genie away so he could never come back. And though the genie begged to be freed and made all sorts of promises to the fisherman - promises of great wealth and power - the fisherman refused. Instead, he built a house on the shore so he could warn every other fisherman who cast his nets into the sea about the vase and the genie inside. And so, the genie's evil was locked away forever, and he never again was able to threaten anyone ever again."
If only ridding the world of evil was so easy, Kim thought. She sighed as she stepped into the room. Shane was perched on the edge of Andrew's bed, and they both looked up at her as she entered. "I hate to break up the story," she said. "But someone is up way past their bedtime."
Andrew frowned and gave her the sad-eyed look he had nearly perfected. "Do I have to?"
"Come on, Sport. Don't argue with your mother." Shane set the book on the dresser beside the bed and stood up. He helped Andrew settle into the bed, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and said good night. Shane glanced briefly at Kim, a dark look in his eyes, but he said nothing as he left the room. Once he was gone, Kim walked over to the bed.
"Did you have a nice time with your cousins?" she asked.
Andrew nodded, then frowned a little. ". . . Except when Daddy and Uncle Steve were fighting. Eric said it's because of the bad men wanting to hurt us."
Kim was taken aback. She had no idea that anything had happened between Shane and Steve during the party, but she would deal with that later. The first thing she had to do was reassure her son that he was safe. "Don't you worry, Andrew. Your daddy's taking care of the bad men. Nobody's going to hurt us." Kim made a mental note to have some words with Roman about what he said in front of his children. She kissed Andrew. "Now you go to sleep and don't worry about anything. Daddy's here and he won't let anything bad happen."
Walking out of Andrew's room, she heard Jeannie crying. Already? It had only been about five minutes since Kim had put Jeannie in her crib. How could she already be awake and crying? Resigned to the thought that she might be up all night, Kim headed down the hallway to Jeannie's room.
She stopped short when she reached the door.
"Shane?" Kim was shocked to see him standing next to the crib, holding Jeannie and trying to soothe her.
He looked up at her, a bit sheepishly. "You were with Andrew, so I thought I might be able to calm her." Meanwhile, Jeannie continued to cry. "Obviously, I'm not doing a very good job. I . . . I guess she doesn't really know me. . . ."
Kim thought she detected a note of regret in his tone, but she chose to focus more on Jeannie. She took the baby from Shane's arms and began soothing her. It took a few minutes but, eventually, Jeannie fell back asleep and Kim laid her in the crib. She was not surprised to find that Shane had left.
They needed to talk; Kim knew that. Even if she had not heard about Shane's argument with Steve from Andrew, she still wanted to talk with him about her father's behavior.
He was not hard to locate. She found Shane in the library, studying the remains of the birthday party. There were some dirty plates on the tables, the streamers were still hanging, and piles of wrapping paper littered the floor. "I was just going to clean up after I put Jeannie to bed," Kim said.
"There's no need," Shane replied. "Simmons can get it in the morning."
"Simmons has enough to do without me making more work." Kim started picking up pieces of wrapping paper. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shane doing the same. "The dress is very pretty, by the way. Jeannie's going to look beautiful in it."
It seemed like it took a minute for Shane to realize that Kim was referring to his gift. He just nodded and remained silent. After a few minutes, he said, "Seems like it was a good party."
"It was. . . . You should have been there." Kim sighed. She could tell that, beneath his polite exterior, Shane was angry. "I'm sorry about what Papa said. He had no right-"
"That's right, Kim," Shane snapped. "He has no right telling me how to live my life. We're divorced and everyone needs to accept that. I know my 'obligations,' and I don't need your father coming at me every time we're in the same room."
"Then you should have said that. You didn't have to leave the party." Kim stopped picking up the paper and waited, expecting him to calm down. That was how Shane usually acted. He would get angry momentarily, let out his feelings, and then return to his typical, self-contained restraint. But not now.
"And what good would that have done?" Shane's voice continued to rise. "So I could've had everyone in your family coming to Shawn's defense and I would've been the bad guy again for making your father angry?"
"Shane-"
"No, Kim. I won't be your family's whipping boy any longer," Shane said. "This is my house, and I won't have people coming into my house and telling me what I bloody well can and can't do. Not Shawn. Not Steve. Not anyone."
Kim thought about the other day after she and Andrew were nearly hit by the car. She had accused Shane of starting a fight with her father, but she knew, even then, that Shawn had probably started it - most likely the same way he was itching for an argument tonight. "You're right," she said softly. "You don't deserve to be treated that way. I'm sorry."
She could see Shane relax as the anger left him. "It's not your fault, Kim." He turned away and ran his hands through his hair as he paced a bit in front of the fireplace.
Kim could tell he was still frustrated by something. Recalling Shane's mention of Steve and Andrew's comment about Shane and Steve fighting, she had a pretty good guess as to what it was.
"Andrew said you and Steve were arguing," Kim said, keeping her voice even. "About Kayla, I presume?"
Shane shook his head. "No, it wasn't about Kayla. . . . It was about Stephanie, actually. I know Steve's upset that Stephanie lived here, but I can't just pretend that I don't care about her. It wasn't even anything important. I just helped Kayla stop Stephanie from crying, and we talked a little. I'm sorry Steve overheard us, but it wasn't like we were doing anything other than talking."
"About Stephanie though?"
"Yes," Shane said. "About Stephanie. Kayla and I just talked about a couple of things that happened when they were living here."
Kim doubted it was just that. "Maybe if you told me, I might be able to understand better."
"I don't know. . . ." Shane seemed to think a bit. "We talked about when Kayla was trying to get Stephanie to adjust to the house. She'd read some theory about letting the baby cry for a little while, then checking on her, then letting her cry a little longer before checking again. She was going to try that one night, and I kept her company. . . . So we were talking about that. I don't know. It was just a conversation." He paused. "I think what really angered Steve was the pony."
"The pony?" Kim was confused.
Shane sighed. "Kayla mentioned something I'd said to her once - about how we'd teach Stephanie to ride. I told her that I still wanted that and I'd arrange for riding lessons and a pony for Stephanie."
Kim could not help but laugh. Sometimes, Shane was so completely oblivious. "Steve overheard you offering to buy Stephanie a pony. And you don't understand why that might have upset him?"
"I didn't mean it like that." Shane sounded exasperated. "I just thought that, since Andrew and Jeannie would have their own horses and riding lessons, I didn't want Stephanie to be left out. It's not like I can't afford it."
"That's exactly it," Kim said. "Don't you understand? To you, it's nothing. You've always had more money than you could spend in a lifetime. Even when you were a boy." She remembered Shane's story about how his mother would send him a new school uniform every week rather than just have the old ones cleaned. That had seemed so absurd to her, but it had said everything about the differences in their backgrounds. "Money's never been a big deal to you, because you never had to go hungry or wear hand-me-down clothes. Steve grew up in an orphanage and he's spent most of his life barely scraping together money for the basics. Kayla told me once that Steve was afraid he couldn't be a good father, because he couldn't provide the things his children would need. So when he hears you mentioning buying Stephanie a pony, it's a reminder of what he's afraid he can't give his daughter."
"So I'm supposed to apologize that my family was wealthy? I can't help who my parents were." Shane shook his head again. "I'm not going to feel guilty about doing something nice for Stephanie just because Steve's ego can't cope with it. Would it be better if she felt like Andrew and Jeannie's poor relation?"
"Maybe not," Kim said. "But it's something that you probably should discuss with Steve and Kayla first."
"I was discussing it." Shane's frustration returned. "I was discussing it with Kayla. It's not like I'm going to show up next week on their doorstep with a pony in tow."
"I know you won't," Kim said. "And I do understand that you want to do something nice for Stephanie. . . . I just think you could be more sensitive to the fact that, after everything he went through, Steve is feeling very uncertain about things - and you're the focus of his anger and guilt. And the more you do things that remind him of those insecurities, the angrier he gets. It's not reasonable, Shane, and it's probably not fair, either. But that's the reality right now."
Shane said nothing. He let out a deep breath and gave her a curt nod before returning to the trash. Kim did the same. As she picked up some more wrapping paper, something Shane had said hit her.
"Shane . . . did you really say you're getting a pony for Jeannie?"
Shane grimaced. "Not you too?"
"No . . . I'm not upset. I guess I'm . . . confused."
"Why? Because I would do that for her, even though she's not my daughter?" He spoke in an even tone, but the hurt was evident in his eyes again. "Don't read too much into it, Kim. I actually figured it would be the best thing for Andrew."
"I don't understand." Kim truly was confused. "What does this have to do with Andrew?"
Shane shrugged. "Jeannie's Andrew's sister. I don't want them growing up together and her resenting him because he has a father. . . ." He paused. "All right, a rich father. . . , and she doesn't. I don't want her growing up resenting Andrew. I've seen what that kind of resentment can lead to."
Kim knew he was thinking about his brother. Drew had spent a lifetime in Shane's shadow and that resentment had festered over time. It had led him to join with Stefano and nearly kill them all. But Kim also had to chuckle at the idea that her baby daughter would ever betray her family. "You think Jeannie could turn out like Drew?"
Shane looked at her, his face completely serious. "Drew came from a good home, with loving parents, and, as you've so clearly pointed out, all the advantages in life. It didn't stop him from hating me and ruining his life because of it. Look . . . I'm not saying the same thing would happen with Jeannie; I just don't want Andrew and Jeannie to grow up with a wall between them."
Kim knew Shane was sincere in both his offer and his reasons. But she also knew that, in the end, it would not make a difference. There would always be a wall between her children and it had nothing to do with horses, cars, or any other expensive toys that Shane could provide. The true barrier was that Andrew had a father who cared deeply about his child and would do anything for him, while Jeannie's father was a monster. But Kim knew better than to point that out right now. Shane did not need another reminder about Cal Winters, especially in response to his offer to do something so nice for Jeannie.
"Thank you," Kim said. "Even if you are doing this for Andrew, it means a lot to me that you'd do something so nice for Jeannie."
"They're just children," Shane said softly. "They shouldn't have to pay for our mistakes." Shane cleared his throat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
Kim watched him leave the room, while his words echoed in her head. They shouldn't have to pay for our mistakes. His choice of words made her smile a little. He had always maintained that Cal Winters was Kim's mistake, but if he was describing it now as their mistake, maybe that meant something. And there had been that slightly regretful tone when Shane held Jeannie earlier. Maybe.
Or maybe she was just back to getting her hopes up, despite promising that she would stop pining for Shane and would move on with her life. Here she was, jumping at his word choices and hoping they had some hidden meaning. Kim shook her head and returned to cleaning the library. She had to accept reality. Like Shane had said, they were divorced and everyone had to accept that.