Reese stood at the desk in a daze as she waited to be released from the hospital. The doctor had been clear when giving her the news and so certain there had been no mistake in the test results, but Reese was left in a state of shock. Pregnant? She couldn't be pregnant . . . well, she knew she could be. It wasn't impossible, but she couldn't believe that it was true. She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea. She couldn't even think about it at all yet.
"Reese."
Reese jumped at the sound of her name. She turned around to see James standing just behind her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Is everything alright?"
"Fine," she lied. "I didn't expect you to still be here."
"I don't have much going on right now. Besides I know you don't have anyone else here to give you a ride home, so I thought I'd offer to give you a lift."
"Thanks, but you shouldn't have bothered. I'll be fine. I can take a cab."
"Yeah, I know, but since I'm here already, why not go along and save the cab fare? Unless you have a good reason not to."
Reese hesitated. She wasn't used to accepting help and not knowing why James was being so generous to offer made her extra wary, but she couldn't think of any reason to refuse.
"Are you sure about this?" Blaine asked in disbelief as he drove Cassie, Zara, and Serena to the police station.
"Absolutely," Cassie replied. "I know our father is the one responsible for Vanessa's disappearance. It has to be him. He's back for revenge."
"And she's not the only one he's targeting," Serena chimed in. "I knew something was coming. I sensed it for awhile now. I just don't know how I didn't recognize it was him from the beginning. It all makes sense now."
"But how did you figure it out?" Blaine insisted. "What makes you think it was him?"
Cassie shrugged. "I really can't explain it.
"There are some things you just know," Serena added.
"Ok, that's great," Zara said. "But how are we going to explain that to the police? They aren't going to take 'we just know it was him' as a lead. We're going to need evidence to convince them to take us seriously and since none of us have seen or heard from him in ages, what are we supposed to tell them?"
"I don't know, but we'll figure out something," Cassie said. "This has to help. Even bringing up Dad with them has to do more good than saying nothing. We can't just do nothing at all. We have to try."
Eileen grinned brightly as Lawrence helped her out of the car. She had been anxious and giddy ever since she discovered the ring in his belongings earlier that day, but now that she saw where they were going her nerves were on high. "This is where we had our first date."
"I know. I thought it would be nice to come back here today."
"Definitely."
They had only walked a short way down the sidewalk, when Lawrence paused. "Wait a second."
Eileen gasped as Lawrence bent down on one knee. She couldn't believe this was it. She waited for what seemed an eternity for Lawrence to produce the ring box or to say something to her, but instead he simply retied his shoelace and stood up again. Feeling foolish for jumping to conclusions, Eileen blushed with embarrassment and looked away.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, nothing."
"Are you sure everything's ok? You seem on edge today. Are you not having a good time?"
"No, I'm having a great time. I always do when I'm with you. I just have a lot on my mind today, I guess."
"I'm sure you would after the break in. After a stranger has been in your house it must be hard to feel completely secure."
"It is," she said, grateful for another explanation for what was really on her mind. "It's a strange feeling, especially since I'm living on my own right now."
"It will be ok, I'm sure. I promise you I will do anything to look after you and keep anything bad from happening to you."
"I know," Eileen smiled and wrapped her arms around Lawrence. "I always feel safe when I'm with you."
"Just try to put it out of your mind as much as you can and enjoy the rest of the day."
"Ok, I will," Eileen said, promising to herself to take his advice not only about the break in, but also about the ring she had found. Maybe for today it was better not to think about the past or the future, but to live in the moment and enjoy the day together.
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