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The six of us stared at Brian in silence until Lauren wrapped her arms back around him in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry.” She offered.

“Don’t be.” Brian said, gently rubbing her back. “It was a long time coming.”

“Dad?” Baylee interrupted. He removed his headphones and jabbed at the screen in order to pause the movie. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Bay.” Brian replied as he released Lauren for the second time.

“Then why does Lauren keep hugging you?” Baylee questioned, suspicion darkening his young eyes.

“I felt like he needed a hug.” Lauren supplied. “You look like you need a hug too!” She added, hurrying over to the couch and wrapping her toned arms around him in a fierce embrace.

“Thanks ...” Baylee trailed off. He looked to Nick for an explanation as Lauren continued to smother his face in her chest.

“Girls are weird sometimes.” Nick noted, giving Lauren a quick wink.

“I think he’s good now.” Brian laughed, subtly alluding to the fact that his son’s face was firmly pressed into Lauren’s rather well-endowed chest.

“I could always use a hug.” AJ grinned suggestively as he spread his arms wide and motioned for Lauren to fill them.

“You have problems.” Lauren shot back, releasing her grip on Baylee and blushing furiously.

“He’s just jealous.” Baylee piped in, smirking at AJ.

AJ’s mouth dropped open ever so slightly at Baylee’s comeback. He dropped his arms at his sides, and I could tell that he was fighting the urge to roar with laughter.

“Baylee! That’s not appropriate!” Brian scolded, his face matching Lauren’s shade of red in embarrassment.

I could feel Howie shaking with silent laughter beside me, and I heard myself make a suitably unattractive snorting noise as I tried to hold in my own amusement. Shockingly, it was Kevin who cracked first. He burst out laughing and began shaking his head in dismay.

“We really need to start watching what we say around the kids.” Kevin snickered. “The last thing I need is for Mason to start picking it up, too.”

The laughter eventually died down and we all returned to the task of selecting breakfast. As Nick phoned in the order, Howie gently cleared his throat and turned to face Brian.

“I hate to be the one to ask this ...” he began. He ensured that Baylee’s headphones were, once again, firmly in place before continuing.

“Obviously I’m thrilled that the pictures are a fake.” He started again. “I’m glad that Greg was able to determine that the girl is some sort of ... actress ... but he never did mention where the image of you came from, even though he seemed pretty confident that it was your ... stuff”

“It’s me. All of me.” Brian said. His face was flaming as he confirmed what he had told me the day before. “Believe me; I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since I saw the first picture. I honestly have no idea how someone could have ever seen me ...”

“You and the missus never took some photos or, you know, made a tape?” AJ prodded.

“No!” Brian exclaimed. He once again shot a nervous glance at his son. “We never did anything like that!”

“Are you sure?” Howie asked, gently. “You were on the road a lot in the beginning. There’s no shame in taking a few pictures.”

Brian shook his head. “She asked, but I couldn’t do it. It would have been so awkward.”

“Probably not as awkward as this conversation.” Lauren mumbled. She firmly clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she realized that she had spoken her feelings aloud. “Sorry!”

“I don’t know what to say.” Brian moaned, dragging both of his hands down his face. “This is so embarrassing! There are pictures of me ... exposed ... on the Internet ...”

“I really thought that honour would have belonged to me.” AJ snorted. “Thanks for taking one for the team, Bri.”

Brian shook his head in exasperation, but I could detect the hint of a smile playing on his lips. Although I agreed with Lauren about the fact that the conversation was highly awkward, I wanted to know where the images had come from just as much as everyone else. I was also still trying to process the implications of Brian serving Leighanne with divorce papers. We needed some time to talk, alone.

“Seriously though ...” Howie said, turning the conversation back into a serious one. “There’s really only one person who would have had the opportunity to see you like that.”

“There will be hell to pay if she has anything to do with this.” Nick interjected. He had finished ordering breakfast and had returned to the conversation just in time to hear Howie’s comment.

“What are you gonna do Nick?” Brian asked, giving his friend a hard stare. “The damage has been done.”