Disclaimer: I do not own the source material. I do, however, get to use these disclaimers to add to me word count.

:}

Scotty didn't believe in speeding. It was reckless, and the scant minutes it saved usually wasn't worth the risk. But today, his car raced as fast as he'd push it through the streets of Hollywood. His worry building with each passing heart beat. He had to know.

'When did they install so many fucking lights?' He wondered as he waited at yet another red. 'I must have driven this stretch dozens of time's, yet I never remembered there being this many lights.' he felt his frustration building. He had to get to Trina, find out if she was joking, or if he was about to have a family far earlier then he'd planned.

His car glided through traffic as he approached her home. 'Trina's home. The whole Vega family, including Tori, are home.' Ice flowed in his veins as he weighed the implications of what that meant. 'Jade will be there. If not now, then eventually...' The thoughts turned darker. He knew the goth was reasonable, wouldn't blame him for an accident, yet the thought of a shallow grave in the desert stayed in the forefront of his mind. 'Jade's reasonable, right?' He tried to reassure himself as he parked.

He sprinted the distance from where he'd parked to the front door, scantly sparing the time it took to hit the alarm and lock his car. Once there, he tried to calm down. 'Don't look or act panicked. They can smell fear.' He told himself. As calmly as he could he hammered on the front door until someone answered.

"Mister Vega, so good to see you." He stammered out. "Is Trina home?"

"Back yard." The patriarch said. "And she looks wazzed."

Gulping, the future police officer walked through the house, this time slowing down and appreciating the effort Holly had gone through decorating the house. Trying to hold on to those last moments of freedom before his life was ripped away and changed into being a... 'You don't know if she's pregnant or not. Calm the fuck down.' He scolded himself. His hands were shaking as he reached the back door.

"You forgot your phone, didn't you?" Trina said as soon as she laid eyes on him. That broke his thought patter, gave him something new to worry about.

"I did?" He asked, checking. His phone wasn't in it's usual place. He didn't remember seeing it in the car. He must have dropped it as he ran out after he'd hung up. "Sorry?" He asked.

"I sent you half a dozen texts, and called constantly between them." She told him. Trina grabbed his arms to force the her boyfriend to look directly into her eyes. "I'm not pregnant. I was just pulling your chain."

The big guy deflated right there, in front of his girlfriend, her father, and for all he could tell Robbie, Cat and Sinjin. Relief and embarrassment warred in his head as he tried to find some equilibrium. Balance seemed to be failing and standing seemed like far too much work. He felt strong hands guiding him to a deck chair next to the pool.

"You're not pregnant." He said, almost telling her. His future, the one that seemed to drift away with each breath earlier, had been returned. Collage seemed like such a better option, learning more then just police procedures, but criminology, profiling, and who knew what else would be useful in investigating the crimes he'd face. "I should probably take Spanish." He heard himself saying. "And maybe some economics, or I don't know what."

"What did you do to him?" David asked his daughter.

"It was just a joke." She defended herself. "I just paused when he jokingly asked if I was preggers, and he panicked."

"Most men would." The detective said. "Now you have him babbling."

"Scotty, honey, what's on your mind?" Trina asked, pressing her breasts into his side as she leaned into him.

"I think, maybe, learning from an investigator wouldn't hurt." Scotty continued.

"Scott, are you in there?" She asked again.

"I'm here." He said, seeming to notice her. "I was just thinking, what would I have to learn to get the job I want."

"What job do you want?" Trina asked.

"Major Crimes." He replied. "They get the hardest cases, and they work across the various township and city boundaries. They go everywhere."

"You can do it." Trina assured her boyfriend. "Just take your time, but I believe in you." Her voice was soft, reassuring. She knew she had to do a little damage control, but she'd gotten what she wanted. He was thinking about collage now. He was thinking about that gold shield.

"So, your not pregnant." He said.

"Nope." She reassured him.

"That's good." he said. "But is it weird that I miss the idea?"

"No, it's not weird." Trina said. "It just means you weren't ready yet. But one day, you will be, and then we'll have us some beautiful babies."

"And one of them will grow up to give you a pregnancy scare, just because karma that kind of bitch." David said. He smiled as his daughter looked up to where he'd been standing ever since he'd helped the poor boy sit down. 'Amazing how quickly they forget you're there.'

"How long..." She just let it drop. "Do me a favor, and lets not tell Jade, or Tori, about this."

"I can understand not telling Jade, but why not Tori?" Her father asked.

"Tori can be a bit of a snitch sometimes." Trina replied.

"But she'd my snitch." The patriarch said.

"So you admit it." Trina jumped to her feat. "I knew it couldn't have been a coincident that you just happened to show up to my school during show and tell that time when I brought the handcuffs. Richie Valiance deserved to be locked up, but you had to keep me from cuffing him to the bench."

"Wasn't that back when you were in what, third grade?" Her father said, trying to remember.

"But I knew Tori snitched." Trina cackled. "Now I have proof."

Detective David Vega looked to the boy who'd come running when to his daughter and asked "How soon will you be ready to take her off my hands?"

"Give me a couple of years." Scotty said. "I might be having second thoughts." He glanced at Trina, who was now giving both men her best glare. "Nope, I still want her, even after she tried to give me a heart attack. Just give me a few years to get established."

Across town, Jade was entering her fathers house. "Dad, we're here." Jade called out. Adam was behind her, and the whole place felt like judgment. Even though her father was making more of an effort to meat her half way, she could still feel his disdain for what she did.

"In the back." Came his voice. "We're barbequing."

Pearls voice followed. "Is it still barbeque if all your doing is heating something over an open flame?"

Katelyn's voice followed. "Please, he's cooking. If calling it some special name gets then to cook, then they can call it anything they want."

"So, barbeque?" Jade asked her brother.

"I hope not, too much salt." He told her.

They made their way out to the back yard of her fathers home. Like her mothers, it wasn't big, but it was cozy. Her father had gotten it as part of a deal he brokered for a rising motivational speaker to own a bit of Hollywood Landscape. This house was thrown in, and then given to him almost like a tip. He never once admitted that they didn't want the cozy little affair, instead insisting it was a reward for his hard work.

The small yard did have a nice grill. Her dad was standing there, looking calm and happy doing something Jade couldn't remember him ever doing. Cooking. 'Is he smiling?' She asked herself.

"Adam, Jade, come here and talk to me." He said. "I got two types of ribs cooking, and burgers for those who don't want the good stuff."

"Dad, didn't expect this to be such a festive occasion." Adam said, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Jade was right there with her brother. She didn't know how to react to her father being this guy, this happy smiling barbequing dad.

"So, why happy?" Jade asked.

"Why now?" He replied. "Did you know that two of my children are in good relationships, with positive job prospects. My wife loves me, my ex doesn't hate me, and I even like my future daughter in law. Hell, I like my potential future daughter in law. Whats not to celibate."

"Also, your play is sorta a hit." Adam added. "Dad, I asked for this lunch so we could work through some lingering issues..." The lawyer said, letting his voice drop, hinting that there was more.

"Like how you managed to make a success of yourself so that Jade here could also make herself a success?" The patriarch asked. "I'll admit I didn't plan any of this, but I'm learning that sometimes a man can spend so much time looking at whats lost he doesn't see whats left, or that things are looking up. You're happy, Jade's happy, I'm happy, and Jasper is now in a baseball league. I know we're risking the end of life as we know it, but today lets all be happy."

"You keep him talking, I'm going to search his office for drugs." Jade told her brother.

"Jade!" Mister West snapped. "Why can't I be happy that my family will be taken care of?" He asked. "Why can't I be happy that my children have found their way to something, as well as a pair of girls I like. I didn't choose for you to be gay, but I love that your girlfriends sister was willing to fight for you. And I realized, my job was getting done."

"So things have been good at the office?" Adam asked.

"No, he's saying that his job as a parent was working out better then he'd planed it." Jade corrected her brother. As he looked at her, she said "Metaphors I get."

"I know what a metamorphose is, I'm just not used to dad using one." Adam said.

"But of course, your right." Their father said. "We're not going to magically work out all the families problems in one dinner. But we started, and today we're all together. Almost." He said, looking around. "Jade, call that girl of yours, see if she wants to come over. Today is about mending fences and family talking for the first time ever."

"Is Wyatt coming?" Adam asked.

"Not yet." Mister West said. "I'm still mending fences with him too, but today I'm working with my children. When we eat, we'll talk, and learn. Like Jade, I think it's time you found out that Katelyn here was a dancer once. Or that your mother wrote childrens books."

"You did?" Jade asked. "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"Cause I wasn't any good." Pearl said. "Kate here, she was decent, but lacked the drive to go too far in entertainment."

"I wasn't a great singer." Katelyn said. "Dance was okay, but professionally, unless it's ballet, you go farther if you can sing. You know that, right?"

"Yea, I do." Jade replied.

"Then I need you to do something for me." Katelyn said. "I need you to star in, or produce, a musical comedy. Scratch that, I want to see you sing, dance, and tell jokes. So, can you star in one for me?"

"Sure." Jade promised. "It may take a few years, but I'll do one."

"Thank you." Her step mother said. "It's all I can ask."

"Okay, I'm guessing that dinners ready." The patriarch said. "So pull up a seat and lets dig in. Adam, I want to start with you. Why don't you pass me the macaroni salad, and tell me what been bothering you..."

With that, the West family started to come together. Tori would arrive a short time later, to be greeted by ribs, chicken, and baked beans. There was also the awkwardness of watching the West family talk about their feelings, something that none of those born West seemed to know how to do. Yet despite that, she was smiling. Her girlfriend was working on the family problems.

"So Jade, just for my benefit, was I the reason you didn't tap out?" Mister West asked. Jade took a deep breath and started to explain the whole thing.

:}

Just like that, I'm running out of problems for them to fix. Mister West is reconnected with his family and his past, so it's made him more open to connecting with his children. Also, Trina impressed him. And to all those who hated the way I ended the last chapter, it's not fun to be on the wrong end of one of those jokes.

So, comments?