With the men safely out of the way upstairs Patricia and Lynn sat down to discuss strategies, "so how do you think we can get concrete proof on if Stephanie's son is also Hunter's?"

Patricia shrugged, "this I am not sure about. If I ring her again it will look far too suspicious, if you were to ring her then that would be equally as suspicious but I'm not sure how we would go about getting proof."

Frowning Lynn looked at the door as she heard her brother and Father approaching, "well we need to put our heads together and think of something and fast before we lose out on any more time with our potential family member."

Both Lynn and Patricia ended their conversation as the men approached the room not wanting to overhear what they were saying about Stephanie.

Hunter and his Dad finished fixing the shelf in the bathroom and did a couple of other small jobs that his Mom had been nagging his Dad over before they went downstairs and flopped into their seats. Once he was settled Hunter turned his head to the side to see his Mom and sister staring at him, "what? We've done a few jobs and now we want to relax. Is this not allowed now?"

Lynn looked at her Mom and exchanged a look with her, Hunter was . . . different and she couldn't put a finger on what had changed and judging by the look she got back from her Mom she was clearly thinking the same thing.

Pushing himself up from the couch Hunter looked at his Mom and sister oddly, "I'm going to get a drink whilst you two give each other weird looks and when I return hopefully the two of you can return to normal human beings again."

As soon as Hunter left the room Patricia hissed, "what the hell did you say to him? He's like a completely different man, he's so . . ."

As Patricia trailed off Lynn's mind started whirling trying to finish the sentence when it hit her, "he's happy, focussed but happy."

Both women turned to glare at Paul, "what did you say to him?"

Paul shook his head, "what is said between men stays between men. I want what is best for my son so I gave him a little advice and told him some hard truths regarding a certain lady."

Before they could press him any further Hunter walked back into the room, "so I was thinking Lynn that maybe you and I could have some sibling bonding this afternoon. Do you have time to come and do some shopping with me please?"

Looking at her brother oddly she wasn't sure what to make of him because he actually wanted to go shopping, "sure, I think I can stretch to spending a few hours shopping with my brother."

Taking a sip of his bottle of water he smiled warmly at her, "thank you, I appreciate it."

Not an hour later and Hunter was ready to go shopping so he moved to the edge of the couch, "we are going to go shopping now and then I will take everybody out for dinner tonight to apologise for not being around more and for being an asshole."

That was too much for Lynn and she couldn't get her head around it all, "okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother? Don't get me wrong I love this new you but I've not seen this person in like five years so why has he suddenly reappeared?"

Hunter shrugged, he didn't want to go into this in front of his Mom and get her hopes up as he knew how much she had adored Stephanie, "why don't we walk and talk?"

Shrugging her shoulders Lynn grabbed her bag, "I'll see you later Mom and Dad."

Patricia smiled, "yes you will. Give us a call Hunter and let us know where we're eating for dinner and what time and we will see you there."

Hunter nodded his head before he turned to head for the door with Lynn.

Once they were outside the front door Lynn turned to face him, "so where are we going?"

Hunter smirked, "the toy shop."

Laughing lowly she briefly wondered whether to say what was on her mind but decided to anyway, "well I know you've regressed a few years but I didn't realise you'd regressed that far so now you're back in your childhood."

Rolling his eyes he gently pushed her towards the car, "just shut up and get in."

Shaking her head she waited as he unlocked the car before she climbed in and put her seatbelt on.

Climbing into the car Hunter's mind drifted to whether he was doing the right thing by doing this or not but overwhelmingly he just had a desire to do anything he could to win his ex-wife back, the idea of her being with somebody else made his blood boil. Starting the car he put it into reverse and backed out of the drive before he headed towards town.

Twenty minutes later and they pulled up outside the toy story. Pulling into a car parking space he killed the engine looking up at the building in front of them, "this is huge, I never knew how big toy stores were."

Lynn shrugged, "they have to cater for every one and every thing. So can we narrow it down to know what we are looking for so it doesn't take us all day please?"

Turning in his seat he took a deep breath as he looked at his sister before he blurted out, "I want to buy something for Mikey to say I'm sorry."

Looking at him suspiciously Lynn had to ask the obvious question, "are you trying to buy his love so Stephanie will take you back?"

Shaking his head he should have known that question was coming, "no. I just want to say I'm sorry for being an asshole towards him on Monday, he's only little and didn't deserve it. Steph will probably throw it out before it gets to him anyway though."

Shrugging her shoulders Lynn wasn't so sure she would, especially if what she suspected was the case, "you never know. Come on and let's get this started."

Opening the car door she climbed out slamming it shut behind her, they had a lot of ground to cover considering they didn't know his exact age or what he already owned but she was confident they would find something.

Nearly two hours later and they finally emerged from the toy story with a couple of bags, "well I think this about covers pretty much everything. Thank you for this Lynn."

Lynn shrugged, "well as you don't know his exact age or exact tastes this is the best option, it will be a box of delights for him and something should appeal to him. The big question is how are you going to give it to him though?"

Popping the trunk of his car Hunter frowned as he placed the bags inside, "I'm not sure. I was thinking of sending it overnight by FedEx to the offices but that's a bit impersonal and may get it thrown out so I thought about maybe sending it to Steph's parent's and with any luck they will pass it on." The one thing Hunter didn't let on to his sister was that he was also going to order some flowers for Stephanie, he needed to say sorry to her too, for everything.

Having listened to his idea Lynn nodded his head, "sounds good to me. Why don't you drop me home and then you can go and get it sent off."

Nodding his head Hunter opened the car door and climbed in, he was on a tight deadline right now to get it sent off and the flowers ordered before the shop closed.

Thirty minutes later and he was stood inside the FedEx shop with the bags of toys. Walking over to the counter he motioned for some assistance nodding politely when I young woman walked over, "may I help you Sir?"

Hunter nodded his head, "where can I buy a box to send some stuff please?"

Chuckling lowly the woman motioned all around her, "wherever you look." Upon noticing the slightly panicked look on his face she smiled, "would you like some help picking the right box and the right packing materials?"

Nodding his head eagerly Hunter placed the bags on the counter, "I want to send these overnight to arrive tomorrow please."

Taking a quick look inside the bags she immediately went for the right size box and some tissue paper, "this box should be plenty big enough and then if you use tissue paper to cover it as it is mostly all boxed and is all unbreakable. If you then fill in the name and address for the sender and the recipient then I will get it all sent out tonight for you."

Taking everything from the counter he nodded politely at the young woman, "sure, I'll be back in like ten minutes or something."

Looking at the clock she nodded her head, "take your time, we don't close for fifty minutes."

Taking everything over to the corner of the store Hunter quickly set about packing the toys inside the box covering different layers with tissue paper.

As soon as the box was packed he picked up a pen and some paper and wrote a quick note:

Dear Mikey,

Please accept these gifts as my way of apologising for being mean to you and saying those bad words in front of you on Monday. Hopefully one day we can be friends.

Hunter

Folding the paper in half he scribbled Mikey's name on it before he placed the letter on the very top of the parcel and proceeded to pick the entire thing up and carry it back to the counter for the young woman to help him secure the box.

Seeing the man walking back to her the young woman made sure there was space on the counter before she turned to get some packing tape, "all set Sir?"

Placing the box on the counter he nodded his head, "I sure am."

Between the two of them they secured the box before he scribbled the 'To' and 'From' addresses on the box and then paid before he left.

Walking out of the FedEx shop he turned right and walked a few steps down to local florist, if he was going to do this then he would have to do it right. Walking inside he smiled politely at the older lady, "is there any chance you could deliver a bunch of flowers tomorrow morning please? It's a local Greenwich address."

The older lady pushed the glasses a bit further up her nose and peered at the young man in front of her, "it depends on what you want sent really and whether we have it in stock."

Biting down on his lip he looked down at his phone nervously tapping a few things in and pulling up a website before he lifted his head, "a mix of red, pink and yellow roses to represent sincerity, a wish for her to believe me and a promise of a new beginning."

Quickly scribbling the notes down the lady smiled and pushed the piece of paper and a pen towards him, "just write down the name and address where it is to be delivered whilst I get you a card to write out to go with the flowers please."

Grabbing the pen he started to write down Stephanie's name and Linda's address, he knew there was no way she wouldn't be seeing her parents regularly so hopefully the flowers and toys for Mikey would arrive close to each other so Stephanie got them both at the same time.

Once he had written down the address he pushed the paper back across the counter just before the the older lady returned and placed a card and envelope in front of him, "there you go, just fill that in too please."

Looking at her he nodded his head, "thanks." He then proceeded to scribble out a note:

Stephanie,

I'm sorry. Please, I beg you, just give me ten minutes of your time so we can talk as there is so much I need to say to you.

Hunter

P.S. I

Changing his mind he struck through the 'P.S. I' and then scribbled her name on the envelope before he put the card into the envelope and handed it to the older lady, "when do you think you'll be able to deliver it tomorrow please?"

"I'll have it delivered before midday for you. How would you like to pay."

Pulling out his wallet he handed over his credit card not caring how much it cost, he wanted to just make a gesture.

After paying for the flowers he walked out of the florist with his head held high. This was the first stage but there would be many more to come and he knew it.