Kayla felt the fear and tension of the past few days slowly fade into the background as Steve held her close. A part of her wanted nothing more than to stay that way for the next week or so, but she knew they needed to get moving and back to the hospital soon.
Slowly pulling back, she looked deeply into Steve's eye as she softly ran her hand down his face. She could feel the stubble from the short beard that had grown in over the last couple of days and she could see the love shining in his eye. But she saw something else there as well, something she wanted to put behind them once and for all.
"You know, you're not the only one who was angry," she said, still stroking his cheek. "When I thought I lost you, I was pretty angry myself. I was mad at Shane, at Bo, at myself, and-"
"At me," Steve interrupted. "You were angry at me."
"Yeah, I was," Kayla replied honestly. "I was mad because we were supposed to be together forever and you left me. And then, when I found out the truth about the Riverfront Raider case and how you were helping Bo, I was mad because you had lied to me."
"I'm sorry, baby-" Steve started to say.
"Shh." Kayla stopped him. "I don't want you to apologize. I just want you to listen for a minute, okay?"
Steve nodded and Kayla continued. "It took me awhile to figure it out, but I realized that being angry was just a waste of time. Maybe it was easier than feeling the pain, but the pain always came back. And being angry didn't solve anything." She took Steve's hand and held it to her chest. "It didn't bring you back to me."
"Sweetness-"
Kayla put her fingers to his lips, cutting off his words. "I realized something else along the way. I couldn't be angry at you because I knew that you would have never wanted to leave us. And, more importantly, the man I fell in love with - the man whose heart I know as well as I know my own - was incapable of refusing to help a friend." She smiled at Steve as the tears ran down her cheeks. "It's part of who you are and part of that heart that I fell in love with."
Leaning in, Kayla kissed Steve, letting him feel all the love she felt for him and relishing in the love she felt being returned. After a moment, she pulled back again.
"So I don't want to hear anything more about guilt or fault for what happened, okay?" She held Steve's face in her hands and again looked deeply into his eye. "What happened was the fault of only one man and, thankfully, he's in prison where he can't hurt anybody anymore." Kayla kissed Steve again and smiled. "All I want to focus on from here on out is you, me, and Stephanie and our future. I think it's time to put the past in the past for good."
Steve nodded. "That's all I want, baby."
"Good," Kayla replied with a grin. "Now why don't you go downstairs and check on Stephanie while I get dressed. I'll be down in a minute and then we can get what I need and get back to the hospital."
Kayla saw Steve's expression change at the mention of the hospital and she could have sworn she saw a shadow of guilt pass across it. Before she could question him about it, he stood up and kissed her forehead.
"I'll be downstairs when you're ready, Sweetness." He kissed her again and then walked out the door.
After Steve left, Kayla quickly went through the boxes Kim had left and found some slacks and a sweater to wear. She was thankful that she and Kim were close enough in size to share clothes. Within minutes, Kayla was dressed and headed back downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, she turned and walked into the library. She smiled broadly as she saw Steve holding Stephanie.
"Baby girl," she called out, rushing to her daughter.
Stephanie's face lit up in a huge grin when she saw Kayla. Reaching out her little arms, she called, "Mama!"
"Oh, Stephanie. I missed you so much," Kayla said as she pulled her daughter into her arms, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks yet again. She hugged her daughter closely to her and kissed her head over and over again, only stopping when she felt Stephanie struggling against her.
"I'm sorry, baby," Kayla said, laughing as she loosened her grip. "I just missed you so much."
"She missed you too," Steve said, a small smile on his face. "When your mama brought her over the other night, she said that Stephanie had been asking for you."
Kayla smiled and kissed Stephanie again, then looked around the room. "Where's Jeannie?" she asked.
"The nanny took her into the kitchen to get a snack," Steve replied. "She said we could bring Stephanie in there when we were ready to go."
Kayla nodded. "I guess we should be going." She handed Stephanie back to Steve. "Would you take her into the kitchen while I get what we came for?"
"Sure." Steve looked at his daughter. "Give mama a kiss goodbye, little Sweetness. We'll be back to get you in a little while."
Kayla kissed Stephanie's cheek and watched as Steve carried her out of the room. Stephanie talked up a storm the whole time, and Kayla smiled at the picture they made. Once they left, though, her smile faded, as Kayla again recalled the other purpose for coming to Shane's house.
Slowly making her way to the desk, she thought about all of the memories she had of this room. She remembered watching Shane dance with Stephanie and the way she would sip her orange blossom - not proper tea in Shane's estimation - as she and Shane talked about everything or about nothing. In this room, she had always felt safe and secure - and loved. Kayla felt the familiar guilt hit her with that thought, but she pushed it away. She had told Kim she would not feel guilty anymore. Shane had loved her and she had loved him, and so much of that had developed in this room. She could not pretend it had never happened. In this room, she had found the support to begin to live again and now, with Steve, she finally had her life back.
"It's not fair," she said quietly. "Shane gave me back my life. He can't lose his. It's just not fair."
Reaching the desk, it took her no time to find the small brown box. It was right on top, obviously not something Shane had just tossed in there and left to be buried by more recent papers and objects.
Opening it, Kayla looked at the broach and smiled. When Kim saw the cameo, she would know how Shane felt. It was his link to her and always would be. Taking the box, Kayla shut the desk drawer and headed back to the foyer.
Steve was just coming back into the foyer as Kayla entered. "Did you find what you were looking for, baby?"
Kayla nodded and held out the box to Steve. He looked at her curiously, then opened it. He let out a low whistle when he saw the cameo.
"It's beautiful." He looked at Kayla. "Shane wanted to you to get this for him?"
"Not for him," Kayla explained. "For Kim. He wanted her to have it again." Kayla smiled slightly. "If you'd seen him, Steve . . . . All he wanted was for Kim to know how much he loved her. Maybe this will give Kim something to hold on to."
Steve looked down for a moment, then nodded. "I guess we'd better get going then."
Together, they turned and walked towards the door. Suddenly, they were both startled by a voice calling out behind them.
"Aunt Kayla! Uncle Steve!"
Kayla turned to see Andrew racing down the stairs. She breathed a sigh of relief to see him looking so healthy. But that relief quickly faded as she realized Andrew was going to want to know about his parents.
"Andrew!" Kayla said, kneeling down as her nephew approached. She pulled him into a hug and then smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Andrew smiled back, then looked around the room. "Where's my mommy? Didn't she come home with you?"
Kayla looked helplessly at Steve, having no idea what to tell her nephew. Kim should be the one to tell Andrew about Shane, but Kayla did not know how to explain Kim's absence.
"Hey, little dude," Steve said, kneeling beside Kayla. "You're mama's just fine. She just needed to get checked out by Dr. Curtis - just like you did." He ruffled the boy's hair. "She'll be home just as soon as she can. I know she can't wait to see you."
Andrew frowned at Steve's words and looked back and forth between Kayla and Steve suspiciously. It did not look like he was sure if he could believe them.
"I promise your mama's okay," Steve said, trying to reassure the boy. "Now. . . . I was just in the kitchen and there are some fresh cookies in there just waiting for somebody to gobble them up. You know anybody interested in the job?"
Andrew shrugged.
"Come here," Kayla said, hugging Andrew again. "Your mama was so worried about you, Andrew. We both were. And . . . And she wants to see you desperately. She just has to make sure . . . things are okay. But she's fine and she's going to be home soon." She looked Andrew in the eyes. "I swear. So how about you go into the kitchen and have some of those cookies - before your sister and cousin beat you to it."
Still frowning slightly, Andrew nodded. As she watched him slowly walk toward the kitchen, Kayla could tell he still was confused and had some doubts, but she had done her best. Standing, she turned to Steve, Kayla said, "Thank you. I had no idea what to tell him."
"Truth is, I didn't know what to say either." Steve had stood up also, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "But I figured Kim should be the one to tell him about Shane."
"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Kayla sighed. "Let's just get to the hospital and hope there is some good news waiting for us."
"There will be," Steve said, pulling Kayla into his arms. "Shane's going to be just fine. We just have to keep believing that."
Kayla closed her eyes for a moment and gave a silent prayer that Steve's words would come true. Then she pulled away, took Steve's hand and began walking towards to the door. She still had her promise to Shane to keep.