"This was a great meal, honey." Nick smiled up at her as she removed his plate. CJ got up and helped her, and Scotty took care of his own as usual. "You need help with dessert?"

"Sure." She smiled as he got up to help dish out the pie and ice cream.

They served their guests, then everyone took the pie out to the deck where Nick mixed the adults some drinks. Becka and Willow, Tina's teenage daughters, offered to take the younger children to the beach, but Nick wouldn't let them go without an adult. AJ and Tina went with them, letting Nick and Lexie relax on their own.

"Well, this has been a riot for me. How about you?" Lexie sighed as she sat on a bench over looking the beach.

"Oh, yeah. A riot." Nick sat down, put his arm around her and pulled her a little closer. He raised his drink to his lips and let the warmth trickle down into his stomach.

"Tina gave me her spin on things."

"I bet that was fun."

"A laugh a minute. I told her it was just better if I stay your wife and she stay's AJ's girlfriend and we let you two be friends. Lord knows I don't need her getting all maternal on me.

"Works for me. We have enough to deal with without everyone getting into every damn nook and cranny of our lives."

"Wow, you must be having great fun with AJ."

"I told him basically the same thing."

"Whoa. You did have as much fun as I did."

"Yeah. Have you checked on Christine at all today?"

"No, I thought you had." Lexie sat up and put her drink on the small table in front of them. "I'd better go do that. Since Scotty wants Alex to stay in his room, he'll want to see her before he goes to bed." She leaned over and gave him a light kiss. "I'll be right back."

Christine was fine, although Lexie did pick up a few things she had dropped. She wanted to know if she had told Nick yet and Lexie told her 'no'. She was going to tell him tomorrow, because AJ and his family were spending the night. She insisted again that Lexie not tell Nick, but Lexie told her not to worry about Nick and that it was unavoidable now. She had to tell him. Christine continued to plead with her, but Lexie refused to change her mind and left her crying on the couch.

"How is she?" Nick asked as Lexie came up the stairs to the deck.

"Fine. She's resting. We'll take Scotty over there before he goes to bed."

"She was okay with that?"

"Fine." Lexie picked up her glass and sat down next to him again.

Nick and Lexie saw Alex and Scotty take the last step onto the deck hand in hand. Together, they ran across toward them, matching dark curls bouncing with light from the deck lanterns.

"Hey, little men, it's getting pretty late for you." Nick looked at his watch. "Scotty, you need to go say goodnight to your mom."

"Oh, okay. I'll be right back, Alex!" Scotty darted off to the pool house with Lexie following him at a distance.

The others were right behind the two boys, chatting about how nice the house on the beach was and AJ promising to look into buying one of their own. They greeted Nick, and Tina moved the children inside to get them ready for bed.

"Sounds serious. Buying a house." Nick said to AJ as they watched the girls run through the house.

"Yeah, it is. It's the next step, I suppose. With Howie sick, doesn't look like Tina is heading back to L.A. any time soon." AJ set his empty glass on the bar and poured himself another one.

"You going to marry her?"

"Probably not. I think I'm done getting married. I doubt I could talk her into it. She's not real keen on it either." He took a sip and began patting his pockets down. "You have any cigarettes?"

"I thought you quit again."

"Alcohol makes me want to smoke."

"Bottom drawer on the left."

"Got them. Want one?"

"No, not tonight."

AJ lit up and sucked on it until it visibly gave him some relief. "Having a good time, too?" Nick chuckled.

"Always fun visiting with my daughter these days." AJ said dryly. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Here she comes. What's she doing in the pool house?"

"That's where Christine is. Scotty had to go say good night."

"Wow." AJ watched them come up the stairs and Scotty went to stand in between Nick's bent knees and give him a hug.

"Good night, Nick."

"'Night little guy." Nick hugged him and kissed the top of his head.

"Good night, Poppy." Scotty waved to AJ as he pushed the sliding glass door open and ran inside.

"CJ told him to call me that." AJ smiled at Nick and Lexie.

"I'll see you upstairs?" Lexie asked Nick.

"Yes, in a bit."

"Okay. Good night." She said to AJ as she, too, went inside to help tuck the boys in.

"'Night." AJ called out after her. "That went well."

"AJ."

"Okay, okay. Ignore me." AJ shrugged as he took another drag off his cigarette.

Lexie showered and was asleep in bed before Nick ever made it up to the bedroom. He stripped down and crawled under the covers to join her. She was too asleep to notice he had arrived. He stretched out and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep.

Morning comes early when you are 4 years old. Scotty was up and in Lexie and Nick's room very early. They just got him settled between them when Alex made his entrance, too. They both drifted off to sleep within 30 minutes. Lexie and the boys were still sleeping when Nick woke later. He flipped back the covers and sat up.

"Nick?" He heard Scotty whisper behind him. He looked back and the boy was rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Is it time to get up now?"

"Yeah, it is. Come here." He held open his arms and Scotty settled into his lap. He looked up at Nick and stared at him for a little while. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"Nothing." Scotty said. "I love you, Nick."

Nick held Scotty close and kissed his dark curls, feeling his own heart drop into his stomach. He smiled, got a little teary, and said to him, "I love you, too, Scotty."

"Nick?" Scotty asked as Nick let go of him. "I'm hungry."

Nick let out a little laugh, "I know what you mean. Let's wake them up and get some breakfast."

"Okay!" Scotty climbed over the bed and began to shake the others awake.

AJ and his family left shortly after breakfast for the trip back to Orlando. Nothing had changed between he and Lexie, but Nick didn't expect anything over night.

Scotty and CJ went to see their mother after lunch to take naps down there. Nick checked on them, but they were already asleep. He turned to leave and Christine stopped him, asked him to step out on the deck behind the pool house with her for a moment.

"What do you need?" Nick asked her as she hugged herself against the cool sea breeze.

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you." She wouldn't look at him.

"About what?"

"About everything. About CJ."

"What about her?"

"Please, Nick, please can't you be civil?" She pleaded with him.

"Okay, I'm sorry." He sighed, realizing how tense he sounded. "I've had years to practice getting defensive when it comes to my daughter."

"I know. I should have contacted you sooner. I'm sorry."

"It's done now."

"Forget it." She threw up a hand at him. "You aren't going to listen."

"I'm here, aren't I? You're living with us, you've seen your daughter, what else do you want from me?! If you had come back nine years ago, maybe things would have been different, but too much time has passed."

"Can't you forgive me at all?"

"I don't have to. CJ does. She's the one you hurt, not me. I know what you think of me, and what we feel for each other doesn't matter. All I care about is making sure CJ doesn't get hurt."

"It's too late for that, too, I suppose." Christine sighed. "Well, I am sorry, Nick. I am sorry for what I put you through. I'm sorry for what CJ has gone through. I'm sorry I ever contacted you at all. I don't care what you do with that information, I just had to say it."

"Well, we both know you never cared for me."

"I'm sorry about that, too."

Nick watched her profile. She didn't look or sound very sorry. She sounded angry and pissed at him. That seldom ever happened. Normally, he would yell and she would cry and then he would get pissed off.

"Has your attorney gotten all the papers she needs?"

"Yes, I sent them last week. She's just waiting to file them in district court here in Tampa."

"Good. Then I guess there isn't anything else." She dismissed him with her tone. He turned and left with one last glance of his daughter peacefully sleeping next to Scotty.

"Where are you guys sleeping tonight?" Lexie asked Scotty and CJ after dinner.

"Christine wants us to sleep with her tonight. Is that okay?" CJ asked, using her mother's first name instead of 'mom' this time. She had taken to interchanging them over the last couple weeks.

"That's fine with me." Nick said.

"Okay, so let's get you two ready for bed, and we'll take you down to the pool house." Lexie got up and took the children upstairs while Nick went to their bedroom with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper he hadn't read that morning.

An hour later, Lexie returned to find him stretched out in a chair, his long legs resting on the matching ottoman. His coffee had long gone cold and the mug was still nearly full. The newspaper rested across his chest as he softly snored. She leaned over and kissed his lips, causing him to wake with a snort.

"Hey, sunshine." She smiled softly. "Maybe you should get ready for bed."

"No, no, I'm not tired." He quietly protested as he set his feet on the floor and sat up.

"Uh, sure." She joked as she turned and headed into the bathroom. She returned dressed in some cool cotton pajamas and found him out on the bedroom's deck.

"Nick? Sit down, I'll brush out your hair." He sat on a chair and she unclipped his hair and began to stroke it.

He chuckled lightly and tilted his head forward, "You know how this turns me on."

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." She smiled.

"I have to know that there is nothing else between us, Lex. No more lies, no more deceit, no more anything." He sighed. I know you love me, but do you want me?

"There is one more thing I have to tell you." She stopped brushing his hair and he lifted his head to look back her. She moved to sit down across from him. "And I'm not sure how to tell you."

He closed his eyes tightly and steeled himself for it. What could it possibly be? Was she pregnant? Is it Jake's? What else could she possible have left to tell him?

"I know who Scotty's father is."

"What?!" Nick's head shot up and he looked at her. He had gone pale quickly, but now the color seemed to be rushing back into his face. "How do you know that?"

"She told me. I begged her not to, but she did anyways. I promised not to tell you until after she had died, but I told her a couple nights ago that I couldn't keep that promise. I told her I was going to tell you after AJ left."

"How long have you known?"

"Not long. About three weeks."

"Three weeks?!"

"Honestly, I didn't think it would be a problem to just tell you later but something has happened."

"Oh, God, what, Lexie?" Nick groaned. He waved his hand for her to continue. "Just let me have it."

"Scotty's father is Kevin, Nick."

"Kevin?" Nick gasped. "Kevin Richardson?"

"Yes."

"Oh. . . my. . . God. . ." Nick slowly got to his feet. "Oh my God, did she have an affair with Kevin? Jesus! How could they do something like this?! Does Kevin know? Oh my God, does he know?!" His voice rose with his anxiety.

"No! No, he doesn't know. She refused to tell him because he was married."

"That didn't stop her from having a kid with him. Jesus, all this time she was in love with Kevin?!"

"No. From what I understand, they just met a few months before she got pregnant. She didn't know him when she was with you."

"Oh, but it's not like Kevin didn't know she had been my girlfriend AND CJ's mother. How could he do something like that?!" Nick exclaimed. "The whole fuckin' world knew we had been together."

"She had left you, what, five years earlier? She didn't have any ties to you at the time and let's face it, you weren't speaking to him at the time either."

Nick made his way back to Lexie and sat back down in his chair, "He doesn't know?"

"No."

"Then what happened that made you tell me now?"

"Kevin's mystery woman is Sabrina. Sabrina Carlson. I. . . we can't ask her to represent us in the adoption if she's seeing his father and not tell them."

"You think we should tell Kevin?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know, either." He sighed. "Scotty told me he loved me for the first time, today."

"Oh, Nick. . ."

"God, how could she do this to me? She's asking me to raise Kevin's son."

"I know."

"I suppose that's why she picked us, so eventually he would know who his father is." Nick sighed and sat back in the chair, letting his legs unfold before him. "Why didn't she want you to tell me?"

"She was adamant that you'd be so angry with her. I think ultimately, she's afraid. You want Scotty and right now, you're the closest thing he has ever had to a father."

Nick knew that, and in the last week, he had been enjoying it. He had grown to have feelings for the child, but now he knew the boy was Kevin's son.

"We're going to need another attorney."

"You don't want to tell them?"

"No, Sabrina told me I might need one here in Florida. No time like the present."

"Christine has documents for him when he is 18."

"I know. I saw them in the safe." Nick looked up at her. "I think we should tell Kevin, but not until the adoption is complete. Sabrina said it would just take 90 days after her death for it to be finalized." Nick replied as he pulled his feet up under him again and sat up straight. He leaned forward and clasped his hands between them. "So, she thought I'd be angry?"

"Very angry." Lexie nodded. "She said you'd never forgive her."

"She's probably right." Nick sighed. "I can't believe this, Lex." Nick dropped his head, and she rested her hands on his shoulders. "How did you find out about Kevin and Sabrina? He hadn't told anyone about her."

Lexie hesitated, removed her hands from him, and then finally answered him, "Jake told me."

"Does he know about Scotty?"

"He figured it out."

"Oh, God. He won't tell Kevin, will he?"

"I don't think so. I told him not to, because I hadn't talk to you yet."

"When did you talk to him last?"

"Two days ago."

Nick fell quiet and then he asked her, "Do you talk to Jake often?"

"That's the first time in while."

"Did you call him?"

"No, he called me. His dad is throwing him a graduation party at the end of June in Orlando. He was inviting us."

"I don't want you talking to him anymore."

"Nick. . ."

"Lexie, please. Cut it off with him." Nick shook his head slowly as he quietly pleaded with her.

"Okay." She swallowed hard. Nick reached up, cupped her cheek with his hand, and lifted her face to look at him.

"He's only going to hurt you." Nick whispered.