Steve checked his simmering sauce one last time and then headed for the living room. The dinner was prepared and ready to be served whenever Kayla was ready for them to eat.

Finishing the meal had been a welcome distraction from this conversation with Kayla. He shouldn't have been surprised that Alamain was continuing his inhumane toxin testing but somehow he'd let himself hope that the raid on the compound in Egypt had curtailed the project.

Unfortunately, Kayla's description of the tape she had seen was proof that was not the case. Lawrence Alamain was creating a deadly toxin and it was only a matter of time before he was finished.

Time and lives, Steve bitterly reminded himself. The lives of the victims of that toxin when it was unleashed, and the lives of the people being used as lab rats to perfect it.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Steve entered the living room just as Kayla entered from the hallway. She was dressed casually in jeans and soft sweater and, as always, she took his breath away.

He smiled and walked towards her. "You look beautiful, baby."

Kayla blushed slightly as his eye roamed freely over her. She leaned up for a soft kiss and whispered, "You look pretty good yourself."

The tender moment was interrupted as Stephanie barreled into the living room and latched on to Steve's leg. "Papa, up."

Steve laughed, picked his daughter up, and swung her high over his head. Stephanie giggled loudly and, when Steve had nestled her in his arms, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. Steve's heart clinched at his daughter's simple action, and he hoped that it always would.

A knock on the door interrupted the family moment. Kayla moved to answer it as Steve trailed slightly behind with Stephanie.

Kayla opened the door and ushered John and Isabella into the apartment. Steve watched as Kayla threw her arms around John and embraced him. He caught Isabella's gaze and they shared a small smile at the scene.

"It's good to see you too, buttercup," John said when Kayla finally released him. Steve could see the shadow pass over John's face as he realized what he had said. "Sorry . . . some habits die hard, I guess."

Kayla just shook her head. "Don't apologize, John. That nickname came from my big brother, and you are still my big brother no matter what that DNA test said. I just have two of them now."

John nodded and cleared his throat. He was clearly battling his emotions.

Wanting to lighten the tone, Steve stepped up and said, "I'm just glad you didn't have two of them a few years ago, Sweetness. One big brother and a baby brother were more than enough for me."

The room echoed with laughter as the emotional mood was broken. Steve shook hands with John and gave Isabella a kiss on the cheek before handing Stephanie over for a hug and a kiss.

Stephanie was then placed into her playpen, and the adults settled on the couch and chairs. Steve and John enjoyed their beers, while Kayla and Isabella sipped on glasses of wine.

"So where did you two go on your trip?" Kayla asked. "I was beginning to think you were never coming home."

John smiled, but Steve caught the quick look he shared with Isabella. "Nowhere special really," John finally answered. "It just seemed like a good time to get out of town for a little while."

Kayla nodded, but didn't push the subject further. "Well, you were missed at Ma and Pop's on Halloween."

"I don't know about that," John said quietly. His tone lightened as he continued, "Marlena showed me pictures of the all the kids, though. That looked like quite a passel of trouble."

Steve chuckled. "Those boys were a handful. I think Sami is happy to have a couple of girls to play with now though."

John nodded. "That was always her number one complaint about family gatherings. She never had little girls to play dolls with."

Steve could hear the sadness in John's voice as he talked about the kids. Steve could not imagine how hard it must be to lose the children John had loved as his own.

Kayla must have felt the same thing, because she softly asked, "You really miss them, don't you?"

Isabella took John's hand and held it. John brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly before answering. "I miss them so much it makes it hard to breathe sometimes." He took a deep breath and shrugged slightly. "I'm just hoping that when they get adjusted to all the changes I'll get a chance to see them again."

"I'm sure that will happen," Isabella said reassuringly. "Marlena knows how much those kids mean to you - and how much you mean to them."

"I know," John replied. "But I'm not sure Roman is ever going to let me be a part of their lives. And I'm not sure I can even blame him."

"Hey," Steve said. "What happened wasn't your fault. And the sooner Roman figures that out, the better off everybody will be." He shrugged. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not real high on his list either."

John chuckled. "It is nice to know I'm not alone, partner." Then he grew more serious. "But I'm guessing we're both a little farther down the list tonight."

Kayla gave John a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"I take it you didn't see the Chronicle today?" John responded. Steve and Kayla shook their heads in unison.

"Rachel Knight had another article. It was all about how Shane left Roman in Stefano's clutches and chose to rescue his brother, the traitor." John's frustration was plain on his face. "As usual, she made a point to make the whole thing sound as bad as possible."

"I swear I hate that woman," Kayla snarled. "Just when I think she can't do any more harm to this family, she finds another way."

"With the ISA's help," Steve added. Taking a breath to calm himself, he turned to Kayla. "Don't let her get you all worked up, Sweetness. She's not worth it. Shane and Roman will work this out. We all got through it before, we can do it again."

Kayla nodded and the conversation switched to lighter topics. Kayla talked about being back at work in the Trauma Center and Isabella talked about the work the Toscano Foundation was doing. Steve still cringed slightly at the name. He struggled to put aside the hell that Marina and Ernesto had put his family through. But he knew Isabella was trying to make up for that legacy.

It was not long before Kayla announced it was time to eat and they moved into the dining room. As Steve headed for the kitchen to put the final touches on the meal, he could hear John and Kayla laughing while John teased her about letting Steve do the cooking.

Steve smiled at the sound. There was no question in his mind that John was still part of the Brady family. And it looked like John was finally starting to accept that too.