The week before Thanksgiving flew by. AJ hadn't been able to make it over because of their meetings and studio time but he called every night. Kat was nervous about having to face everyone and decided to back out.

 "No fucking way lady!" Brenda yelled. "AJ's expecting all of us and all of us will be there! And in case you missed it, you’re included in the all of us!"

 "I can't do this. Everyone is probably still upset and they have a right to be."

 "No one is upset with you. You've seen Nick and Brian and they're not mad. No one else will be either. You'll see. They want you back in their lives."

 "What about Denise? I hurt her son and broke my promise to her."

 "Maybe she’s mad or maybe she isn't. She knows what happened and she also knows about Jake. She's so excited to be around him. Try talking to her tonight, she might surprise you."

 After a little more prodding, Kat finally agreed to go and let Brenda drive them over.

 ------------

 Howie opened the door when they got there and pulled Kat into a hug.

 "It's good to see you lady. We missed you."

 Kat smiled and began to relax a little. "I'm happy to see you too. I'm really sorry for everything Howie."

 "It's water under the bridge. It's done and it's time to move on." He took her hand and led the way down into the living room. "Look who I found!"

 Everyone greeted Kat with hugs and welcome homes. They all noticed that AJ looked especially happy to see her.

 "I think AJ was a little nervous you'd make a run for it!" Nick exclaimed. Leighanne punched him in the shoulder.

 "You're something else Carter." Kevin said shaking his head. He walked over and pulled Kat into a bear hug. "Good to see you again."

 "Thanks Kev."

 Kat looked around and saw Denise standing over by the doorway. She felt that she should get the hardest part over with and talk to AJ's mother before dinner. Walking over to her, she asked if she could speak to her privately and both women headed out to the patio to talk.

 "You think that's a good idea man?" Nick asked putting his hand on his brother's shoulder.

 "I think the sooner they get it over with, the better."

 ------------------

 "Thank you for letting me talk to you." Kat said to Denise who simply nodded. She didn’t really know where to start or what to say first and decided not to wait too long before she lost her nerve.

 “I need to apologize to you. You made it clear to me from the start that you were concerned about AJ and I being together and I swore up and down that you had no reason to worry. I even promised you that I would never hurt him and that’s exactly what I did. I ran out on him and broke his heart. To top it off, I didn’t tell him he had a son until we were out here. You have no idea how much I wish I could go back in time and change the past. I would give anything in my power to take back all the pain and damage I’ve caused all of you, especially AJ. I completely understand if you don’t trust me or want to have anything to do with me. I just want AJ to be happy and for the both of you to be part of Jake’s life.”

 Kat finally took a deep breath and waited for Denise to speak. She wasn’t sure what to expect from his mother and it surprised her when, instead of saying anything, Denise pulled her into a hug. Kat felt her body start to relax and she actually started to cry.

 “Oh sweetheart.” Denise said, rubbing her back. “There’s no need for you to cry.”

 Denise gave her a minute to calm down and then asked her to sit. She reached out for the younger woman’s hand and patted it.

 “I don’t want any tension between us Kat. I don’t like how things went down and I am upset for the amount of pain my son was in but the fault doesn’t lie solely in you. I know what you did and why you did it. I respect the fact that you were trying to keep anything from happening to anyone here.”

 “I really am sorry.” Kat said.

 “I know. I don’t want to drag this out and I would prefer to just put it all behind us. I will ask you two things though.”

 “Anything.”

 “One, please don’t make any more drastic life changes without including AJ and two, please don’t take that little boy away from him. Michelle did that with Ryan and it almost killed him.”

 “I promise you that I would never take Jake away from any of you. AJ adores him and vice versa. He’s a terrific dad and Jake is lucky to have him in his life.”

 “Ok then.” Denise said, standing up. “We’re going back in there and we’re going to enjoy Thanksgiving as a family.”

 “That sounds wonderful.” Kat replied with a smile.