When they reached Stephanie's office Mikey jumped up and down excitedly because he had beaten his Mom, "we won."

Eventually catching up to them she shook her head, "it wasn't a fair fight, it was two against one."

Smiling a little knowing that Stephanie was about ready to kill her she thought she'd add to the reasons why she was annoyed with her, "but we're little and you're big so you had an advantage."

Mikey eagerly chimed in, "yeah, we ickle and you big."

Sighing softly Stephanie could only shake her head at them, "you two are crazy but I guess I still love you."

Squealing with delight Mikey ran back to his Mom and hugged her tightly, "love you too."

Satisfied with his declaration of love for his Mom he ran over to the couch climbing up onto it and settling down before he grabbed Bubbles and the new monkey from Hunter and proceeded to tell them about the fun he had had.

With her son occupied with his toys Stephanie turned her attention to Trish, "so what's going on Trish? What are you playing at?"

Shrugging her shoulders she tried to act innocent, "I'm not up to anything."

"Yeah and I am the next Queen of England. Something was going on between you and Hunter before we came out and now you are up to something, I can just feel it. What did he put you up to?"

Frowning a little at the fact that Stephanie didn't trust her Trish decided to be somewhat honest with her, "I guess you could say something was going on between Hunter and I but it was nothing romantic or even close to being romantic. Hunter and I were talking about you and Mikey, or well I suppose technically you could say that I was interrogating him because I care about you and Mikey so much that I don't want either of you to get hurt."

Looking at her strangely she wasn't sure if she wanted to know any more than that but her curiosity did get the better of her, "and what did you find out?"

"Truthfully?"

Nodding her head Stephanie needed the truth, "yes truthfully please, no matter how much you think it will hurt me."

Shuffling her feet nervously Trish looked at the floor, "it's not so much that it would hurt you, I'm just not entirely sure you want to hear the truth."

"Spit it out Trish before I have it beaten out of you. You're making me really nervous right now."

Laughing softly at Stephanie's reaction she shook her head, "calm down, calm down. I had quite a deep conversation with Hunter about his feelings for you and for Mikey and you'll probably be surprised to hear that he absolutely adores Mikey. He genuinely . . . I want to say love but he hasn't said that word to me but he cares deeply for him."

Stephanie's eyes widened with shock, Trish was right when she said she would be surprised to hear that, "yes but even him telling you that it doesn't mean it's true, he's probably doing it as some misguided attempt to get me back by convincing my son he is this amazing guy so he can get Mikey to do his dirty work."

She knew this wouldn't go down well at all but if Stephanie wanted details she would give her details and the truth so she couldn't deny it, "actually I kind of put that to him and that isn't even close to being the truth. I asked him how he would treat Mikey if you and he were to get back together."

"And? Trish you can't leave me hanging here. He has put his black heart on the line by saying he supposedly still loves me and wants me back and I haven't really said anything to him in return about it so this answer that you give could hold the key to my future."

Forgetting all about answering the question Trish turned her attention to the words that Stephanie had just said, "so if I were to tell you that he will treat Mikey like his son then you may give him another chance?"

Stephanie hadn't even thought about the implications of the words that she was saying when she said them but now Trish had put it to her like that she was starting to wonder about things, "I . . . I don't know. I hadn't thought about it like that at all when I said it."

"But clearly those thoughts are in your heart even if your head doesn't acknowledge them. Do you still love him?"

Looking at Trish like she was crazy she shook her head, "I don't think I have ever said I didn't, I just hated who he was, how he treated me and him not believing me."

Wanting to get her to say the exact words she prodded her gently, "so is that a yes or a no?"

Sighing softly she looked down at the floor nervously, "it's a yes, I still love him but before you jump up and down with joy I don't know what that love means because it could just be me still loving him simply because he is my son's Father."

Resisting the urge to squeal with excitement she was enjoying seeing the progress that Stephanie was making, "are you going to give him a chance to prove himself to you romantically?"

Shrugging her shoulders that was one question she really didn't know the answer to, "well I don't know that but you haven't told me what he said about how he would treat Mikey."

Flushing a bright shade of red with embarrassment Trish felt bad, "I'm sorry, I got sidetracked and forgot. I believe Hunter's exact words were something along the lines of, 'I would treat him like he was my own son'. Obviously that isn't verbatim as a lot has happened between then and now but you get the gist of it."

Feeling like she had been punched in the stomach and was unable to breathe Stephanie leant on the wall for support, "are you serious?"

Nodding her head slowly she hadn't quite expected this reaction, "yes. Should I not be? I get that you're nervous and really afraid but I swear I wouldn't lie to you about this no matter how I wanted things to go between the two of you I wouldn't lie about this."

Really not sure how she felt about this situation any longer Stephanie looked from Trish to Mikey and back to Trish, "it's probably just words, he probably doesn't mean it at all. Hunter is probably still as selfish now as he was back then."

"Of course he is, that's why he told Mikey to tell you that he wanted you to stay and play with him because he could see in your eyes that you were hurting."

It was all starting to get very real and very scary for her now, "I can't do this, I just can't do this. I need to get back to work Trish."

Understanding that she had given the other woman a lot of food for thought and she would need time to process it all Trish nodded her head, "of course. I will leave you both to it. See you later Mikey."

Lifting his head from where he was focussed on his toys he waved at Trish, "bye Tishy."

Trish waved back at him before she turned to Stephanie, "you know where I am if you need me."

Smiling softly Stephanie nodded her head, "I do, thank you."

Watching as Trish walked out of the door Stephanie walked around her desk and took a seat before she pulled out her phone and sent her Mom a text:

I need help. Can we do lunch or something this week please? Steph xx