Sorry it's been a while, been busy.

Hope - - -

Hope sat in her car going over and over her talk with Finn, or John Carter as he now wanted to be called. In a strange way she understood why he'd changed his name from Finnigan to Carter, people knew he was Sheilas son, and some people never, ever, let you forget who your parentage was. She knew this for a fact, she'd been trying to live down her mother's reputation all of her life.

She still remembered vividly the cruel taunting she'd endured at school, the way boys, and the "popular" girls used to make crude remarks to her through-out her, especially during teenage years. She remembered them gleefully showing everyone magazine articles about her mother's latest exploits, along with the raciest photo's they could find of her. It had been brutal, so she'd done the only thing she could think of, she'd taken shelter in a good girl image to differentiate herself from her. No-one would ever call her cheap, or a whore, no-one!

She shook her head as tears sprang to her eyes, and look where that's got me, alone, broke, and pregnant to a man, who may just be further out on the edge than I am, she thought miserably. I've turned into my mother; despite everything I swore to myself I'd never do.

She looked down and touched her belly, "I won't let him name you sweetheart, you're mine and I'll be the one deciding on your name, not John Finnigin, or Carter, or whatever the hell he's calling himself nowadays. I'd rather be destitute and in the gutter, before I let anyone take that away from me!"

A noise interrupted her thoughts, her phone again, she picked it up and answered it.

"Honey? Is that you, it's Dad, I just heard the news, are you okay?"

Hope blinked, tears threatening to fall as she listened to the concern in her father's voice.

"Dad, I need someone to talk to, can I come see you, please?"

"The flat or the restaurant? I can be at either." Said Deacon immediately.

"The flat, I don't think I could face anymore Paparazzi today. I'm leaving now, I'll see you in about half an hour," she answered tiredly.

"I'll be waiting," said Deacon before both hung up.

Right at this moment Hope had no idea of what she was going to do, but she needed someone to talk to desperately, and perhaps her father could offer some fresh perspective on what choices she had open to her, if any.

As soon as the door to Deacons flat opened Hope rushed in and fell into her fathers' arms. Deacon pushed the door closed and held his daughter as she cried against him, as her sobs slowly eased, he led her to the settee and settled her, before taking a seat beside her.

"What have I done Dad? How did I manage to let everything in my life get so out of hand?"

Deacon took a deep breath; he'd already decided earlier that it was way past time his daughter learnt some home truths. He loved her, but Brooke's lifetime of coddling her, and divesting her of any form of responsibility for the things she had done, and caused, had inflicted some major damage on her. It had to stop if she were ever to become the woman that he knew in his heart she could be, and he was the only one left who could do it.

"You did this because Brooke has you convinced you will never face any consequences for your actions. You did this to yourself Hope. You! By being greedy, and self-absorbed, and by thinking that the repercussions from whatever you decided to do just didn't apply to you."

Hopes eyes widened in shock.

"How can you be so cruel! I'm suffering and you're blaming me for everything, it's not fair, how could you Dad! How could you!"

"Because you're my daughter and I love you Hope! I love you enough to tell you the truth; so that you have a chance to change, to grow, and to move on to be more productive, and way, way, happier. At the moment you're shocked because someone's actually dared to tell you the truth about yourself for once in your life, and it hurts!"

He grabbed Hopes hands as tears poured down her shocked face.

"But guess what? The world can be a cruel place, it's not all adulation and fashion shows! For most people out there, life itself has beaten them down at some stage. It's hard Hope, and you have to harden the hell up to survive it! You have to realise that your mother, or a lover, isn't going to be there to protect you every time you step out your front door, and that not every person is going to love or admire you, sometimes, just the opposite. Sometimes it's like everywhere you turn you seem to be met with contempt or distrust, no matter how hard you try . . . trust me, I know! But Brooke seems to have you convinced you're some perfect little princess who no-one can ever cross, because you're some kind of moral beacon in society, because that's what she needs to feel good about herself. She uses you to say, look, I can't be bad because my daughters perfect, but all that came tumbling down around both of you in a very public way, because guess what?"

He reached up and wiped a tear from her face with a thumb before saying more gently.

"Because you're just like the rest of us baby, you're human. You make mistakes, some of them bad, but you've never been allowed to learn from them because Brooke has never let you, she's coddled you, and protected you from any, and all, repercussions. Hope she's never let you learn and grow. She's never let you become the amazing woman I know is inside you. The sweet, kind, girl who used to write me letters in prison, and who welcomed me into her life and believed in me when no-one else did." He said staring into her eyes, trying desperately to make her see what she'd let Brooke mould her into.

"So, what do I do? Do you expect me to turn on my mum? I won't do that dad, I won't!" She said angrily.

"No, I don't expect you to turn on your mum, but I do want you to start to say no to her and some of her ideas and schemes. And I do expect you to take responsibility for your actions. No-one else is to blame for this Hope, you made all of the decisions yourself that led you to be in the predicament your now in."

Hope let out a huge breath and sighed, "I know Dad, believe me, I know."

Deacon decided to leave it for the moment, he'd said his piece and he didn't want to overload her, not when she was so upset already, not to mention her pregnancy.

"So, what did you want to see me for, apart from what happened this morning with Steffy?"

Hopes lips pursed for a moment as she thought about her meeting with Finn/John, before she then launched into an explanation of what had happened, as she finished she frowned as she said, "there's something really off about him dad, his place was not only a pigsty, but I could have sworn I heard him talking to someone before he let me in, and he kept looking over my shoulder all the time when we were talking it . . . creeped me out."

"I'll speak to Taylor and ask her to ask Steffy if she will allow you some more time to get the money together. Then I'll go and speak to Liam for you, and see if he will at least pay Steffi's lawyers. I figure if you sell your car and engagement ring and some of your designer clothes you might be able to scrape together enough for your own lawyers. In the mean time you need a job, you need to start earning some money. You can start at the restaurant tomorrow while you start looking for other work."

Hope gaped at her father, "You expect me to sell my possessions and work in your restaurant? "You can't honestly expect me to demean myself like that?"

Deacon flushed, his anger at his daughter rising rapidly.

"It's good honest work Hope, and you need all the money you can get! You're not the entitled princess living in her fairy-tale castle anymore, it's time to grow the hell up! If you want my help, then that's my offer. Take it, or leave it!"

Hope shook her head and stood up, "I'll leave it, Aunty Donna will have enough to help me, I'll ring her as soon as I get home, mum will have her number."

"Hope . . ." Deacon began, but it was too late, his daughter had already stormed out of the door.

Deacon clasped his head in his hands as he heard her car start and pull away, he couldn't give up on her, he'd done that years ago when Brooke and Ridge had banned him from her life, and now she was suffering the consequences of his surrendering to their will.

He just wanted to save her, from Brooke, but mostly, from herself!