Part 32 - Chapter 1 - Secrets Brewing

She sat along the riverbank in a bed of flowers, taking in the fragrant scent of an early summer afternoon. The sky was blue, the weather was beautiful and she was with the man she loved, the one she was meant to be with all along. Nothing could be more perfect.

All of the problems and trials they had gone through were things of the past. Everything was finally as it should be and she felt truly happy and completely at peace at last.

As she embraced her husband, she sensed someone watching her.

She turned to see a woman standing behind her, her arms outstretched. Even though she hadn't seen her in years, the woman seemed oddly unchanged. She recognized her immediately.

"Mom?"

"Don't forget . . ."

"I haven't forgotten you. I could never forget you."

Her mother's mouth was moving as if she was trying to say more, but her voice had faded away and slowly her body was fading away as well.

Eileen woke with a start. Her mind was groggily trying to capture the dream before it slipped away completely. The image of her mother left her uneasy. Was it a sign that she was at peace and happy for her too or was she trying to tell her she should do more to try to contact her again?

Those thoughts were chased out of her mind and she became more conscious of her surroundings. As she shifted her position, she realized she wasn't in her own bed and when she opened her eyes she realized she wasn't in her own room. Thoughts of dreams and subconscious messages were chased out of her mind as she recalled all of the events of the night before.

She smiled and leaned back as she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist.

"Good morning, Mrs. Arrendale."

Vanessa walked down the nearly empty sidewalks in front of the village shops. She was out early, before the usual shopping crowds. She just had a few things she wanted to shop for before she got busy with the rest of her day.

When she walked into her favorite clothing store, she was stunned to see a police officer standing behind the counter talking to the young clerk. She was even more surprised that she recognized the officer.

"We'll look for anyone that matches your description, but I doubt they're still in the area."

"Thank you so much," the girl gushed nervously as Logan turned away.

He paused for a moment, seeing Vanessa so unexpectedly. He smiled slightly and approached her. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

"I didn't just walk into more trouble, did I?" Vanessa asked.

"No, I think you just missed it this time. There was a shoplifter here earlier, but they ran off before anyone could stop them," he explained. "How have you been?"

"Great. I'm just out today running some errands. Shopping for presents for my new baby nephew, who I get to see again tonight."

"That's great. I can't tell you how glad I am that you're doing so well now. I still feel guilty for brushing you off when you first came into the station. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if things had turned out differently."

"Don't think any more of it. I just want to forget it and move on and I hope you will do the same."

"Ok, I will . . .Listen, I have a break coming up, would you like to grab a cup of coffee or something? Not as an apology, but just because I'd like to."

Vanessa smiled, flattered at the invitation from the handsome cop. "You know? I'd like that too."

Part 32 - Chapter 2 - Secrets Brewing

"I just don't get it," Blaine said sadly as he sat next to Cassandra on her living room sofa. "I thought Reese broke up with me because I want to have kids someday and she doesn't, but when I went to her and I offered to compromise in any way that I could, she wouldn't even give me a chance. I don't get it. You're a woman, maybe you would know. What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing. It sounds like you did everything you could. It must be her. Maybe she just doesn't feel the same way about you as you do about her."

Blaine frowned, that thought broke his heart. "She just said it wouldn't work because we want different things in life. I don't believe that. Not really. If that is all, couldn't we work something out if we really tried?"

"If she's not willing to try, then I don't think there is any way to work things out. Maybe it's for the best. It's easy to compromise now, when the actual decision is so far away, but I don't think I'd be able to give up on ever having children for the rest of my life even if it was for the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It would have to cause problems eventually. Maybe it's better to just end it now and move on."

"You think so?"

Zara, who had been in the kitchen during Blaine and Cassie's entire conversation, had heard enough. She couldn't stand by and listen to it anymore. She dropped what she was doing and marched into the living room. "Cassie, Mom needs to see you upstairs, right now."

Cassie was about to object that she had company, but something in Zara's tone, something that she didn't completely trust, stopped her. Without looking at Blaine she said, "I'll be right back," and left the room.

As soon as her sister was out of earshot, Zara turned to Blaine. "I need to have a word with you."

Amanda tapped her foot, as a quick nervous twitch, while she waited in the examination room for the doctor to arrive and give her the news.

She and Andrew had both come in for a series of tests to find out why they were having so much trouble conceiving. When the doctor's office called and said the test results were in, Andrew seemed confident that the results would be good. So confident that he went to work instead of taking a few hours to come in with her. He said he had too much work to do, but Amanda knew better. If this had been as important to him as it was to her, he would have found a way to get away from the office.

At first she had been so angry with him that she didn't want him there at all. But now that she was waiting all by herself, she really wished he was here. She needed someone to lean on now more than ever, as the little glimmer of hope she was trying to hold on to was being snuffed out by her growing feeling of dread.

When the door finally opened and the doctor entered, Amanda jumped. She took a deep breath, hoping that the news would be good.

"Hello, Mrs. Martin. How are you today?"

"Nervous. What did you find out? You have good news for me I hope?"

"I'm sorry, I wish I did, but the tests we ran were inconclusive."

"Inconclusive? You mean you don't even know why we've been having trouble getting pregnant?"

"No, I wish I did, but none of the tests showed any specific reason why you haven't been able to get pregnant. It's what we call 'unexplained infertility' and it's fairly common. There could be a problem that we haven't been able to pinpoint or it could be that you've just been unlucky so far."

Amanda frowned. The doctor was supposed to be a professional. She was supposed to be able to tell her what was wrong and what they could do about it, not just sit there and say that she didn't know what was wrong either. She almost wished the doctor had said there was a major problem, then she would at least know where she stood.

"'Just been unlucky?' Are you telling me there's nothing we can do?"

"No, of course not. I'll give you some pamphlets about how to improve your fertility. If we give it some time there's a chance you could get pregnant on your own. If that doesn't happen, we can look at fertility drugs or artificial insemination. There are a lot of options. You shouldn't give up hope yet."

Amanda sighed. She wished she still felt hopeful.

Reese had been nervous when she walked into the clinic, not sure what to expect. When she found the waiting room empty, she was slightly relieved, but still hung her head low, wanting to be as conspicuous as possible. Nervously she looked over the informational pamphlets stacked on a table below a poster offering help for women with unplanned pregnancies like her own.

She had gone around and around with the different options before her in her mind. Just because she had spent her entire life in an orphanage, didn't mean her child would have the same life if she were to give it up. She had time to look for a loving adoptive family to give it a better life than she had and a better life than she could give. But to do that she would still have to go through the nine months of pregnancy. How could she continue to do her job while she was pregnant? What would she tell people when she started to show?

Everything about this situation terrified her and she wasn't sure if she could go through with it. When she thought about her biological mother and how she had given birth to her even though she was with a man that she despised, she felt terrible. Reese was with a man she cared about, a good man, but she didn't think she could go through with the pregnancy. She wasn't sure if that was right. She wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"Reese, is that you?"

Reese felt her heart leap to her throat. She couldn't believe someone that she knew had seen her here. She turned quickly to see who it was.

"I thought that was you," Amanda said cheerfully. "What are you doing here? Are you trying to get pregnant too?" The nervous expression on Reese's face and the pamphlets in her hands gave her the answer, even though Reese didn't speak.

Amanda gasped. "You are pregnant, aren't you? And you don't want to be?"

Part 32 - Chapter 3 - Secrets Brewing

"I really wish you didn't have to go into the office today," Eileen said to Lawrence as they said goodbye in front of her house.

"So do I. If we weren't meeting with an important client today, I'd call off and spend the whole day with you. Just think, now we'll have the rest of our lives to spend together."

As Eileen smiled brightly, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a lingering kiss, Lawrence still couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming. Everything had happened so fast that it was hard to believe it had really happened. After Eileen had accepted his proposal, they started talking about marriage plans and how neither of them wanted to wait another moment to be together. It had been Eileen's suggestion that they just take off and elope. And while he had never done anything impulsive in his life, he'd gotten caught up in the moment and agreed.

They went out right then and found a justice of the peace to perform the ceremonies. After spending their wedding night in the honeymoon suite of one of the local hotels, Lawrence was dropping Eileen off at her house while he was off to the office. He knew it was going to be hard to focus on his work today.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll be waiting. Oh! Unless I'm at the airport. I almost forgot I'm supposed to pick up Dad and Veronica. They're coming back from their trip today. But come back here anyway I'm sure it won't take long."

"That's good. We can tell them the news tonight and then we can work on moving in together as soon as possible."

After a lingering goodbye, Lawrence finally tore himself away from his new bride and headed to the office, while Eileen went inside.

Eileen was on cloud nine. She couldn't remember ever being so happy and excited and so full of love. She wanted to dance and sing and just run out and share the happy news with everyone she knew.

Eileen's happy mood was brought to a sudden halt when she heard voices inside the house. The recent break in had left her more on edge than usual and she stopped in her tracks, momentarily panicked.

Her fear dissolved quickly when she realized she recognized the voices. Arthur and Veronica must have come home early. She hurried into the living room to greet them.

"Dad! Veronica! Welcome back. I didn't expect you to get in until later today."

"We caught an earlier flight," Veronica explained as she greeted Eileen with a hug. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

"Great," Eileen replied. As she stepped back, she noticed how much older they looked in the short time they'd been away. Her father, who was sitting quietly in his favorite chair, seemed especially older and more tired looking than she'd ever seen him. When she moved closer to greet him with a hug and a kiss, she could see how much he'd aged.

"How was your trip?"

"It was nice. We had a good time," Arthur answered. "But I'm glad to be back home, in my own house. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight."

"And we both missed you," Veronica added. "Your father talked about you all the time while we were gone. Eileen . . ." Veronica grabbed Eileen's hand and lifted it up to get a closer look at her ring finger. "What's this? An engagement ring? Are you and Lawrence engaged?"

"It is. He gave it to me last night," she said, smiling brightly.

"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. Arthur, what do you think?"

Arthur lifted himself very slowly and very carefully from his chair and reached out to embrace his only daughter. "I'm thrilled for you both, darling. Lawrence is a good man with a sensible head on his shoulders. I know he'll take good care of you."

Arthur's touching words nearly brought tears to Eileen's eyes. "I'm so glad you approve. He really loves me too and I love him. This might seem really spontaneous to you, but I think we've both known, deep down, for a long time, that we belong together."

"I can't say that I'm surprised. I think it's great and the timing is just right. I'm so glad I can be here to see you get married. I don't know if I'll be up to dancing at your wedding, but I wouldn't let anything keep me from walking you down the aisle."

"Right . . ." Eileen said with a forced smile. When he put it that way, she didn't have the heart to tell him that they were already married. She didn't know what she was going to tell Lawrence, but he would have to understand.

"Thanks for inviting me to lunch," Vanessa said as she and Logan sat down at a table of the local diner together.

"It's my pleasure," he replied. "It's funny that we ran into each other this morning. You've been on my mind lately."

"Me? Why?"

"I keep thinking about your case and I've been talking a lot with your ex-husband."

Vanessa frowned. "Silas? You've been talking to him about me?"

"No, not about you, about his past, before he met you. I'm trying to find out about the crime organization that he was indebted too. So far the information he's given me hasn't turned up anything helpful."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Vanessa said defensively. "I'm trying to put the years I wasted with that conman behind me. I'd rather not talk about him. If that's why you wanted to have lunch with me, maybe I should just go."

"No, it wasn't. I just have trouble leaving my work at work sometimes. Please stay."

He reached across the table and touched her hand lightly, without thinking about what he was doing. The touch shocked him and by the look on Vanessa's face he thought she felt it too. Nervously he pulled his hand back and tried to sound casual.

"So why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I'd like to get to know you."

Part 32 - Chapter 4 - Secrets Brewing

"I need to have a word with you."

"What about?" Blaine asked. Zara's forceful and direct tone caught him by surprise.

"You and my sister."

"What about us?"

"What's going on between the two of you? What is your relationship with each other exactly?"

"We're friends."

"Just friends?"

"Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"

"It's probably not my business, but I'm not the kind of person that can just stand by and say nothing if there's a problem."

"What problem?"

"I live here, so I can't help seeing how things are. Every time something goes wrong with your girlfriend, you turn to my sister for someone to talk to. Then you just take off and leave her behind when you decide to try to patch things up with Reese. Do you even think about how that makes Cassie feel or do you only think about her when you need someone to talk to?"

"Of course I think of her. If Cassie ever needed someone to talk to, I'd be there for her, anytime. Does it really look that way? Like our friendship is one-sided? Because I didn't mean for it to be."

"Something here is one-sided . . .I just don't want my sister to be jerked around. I don't want her to start thinking you feel something for her that you don't."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't mean it that way, and I don't think Cassie takes it that way either. We're just friends."

"Then you need to know, so there's no misleading, that Cassie doesn't think of you in that way, as just a friend. She's totally in love with you, and if you-"

"What are you doing?" Cassie cried out. She walked into the room just in time to catch the end of Zara and Blaine's conversation and she was mortified by what she heard. "How could you?" she exclaimed before running out of the house, feeling more embarrassed than she had in her entire life.

"You're pregnant? And you don't want to be?"

Reese was stunned at Amanda's direct questioning and the emotion in her outburst. Her instinct was to deny it, but she couldn't bring herself to outright lie about it. "I- That's not really any of your business."

"How can you be so cruel?" Amanda asked furiously. "You're lucky enough to be able to have a baby of your own and you're just going to throw it away . . ." She glanced down at the informational pamphlets Reese was holding. "or destroy it?"

Reese hid the papers behind her back, ashamed.

"Do you know what I would give to be in your position? I would give anything to be pregnant. I'm willing to do anything I can to make that happen. It makes me sick to think there are women who can get pregnant without trying and who treat it like it's a problem they have to deal with and not a miracle and a blessing. Do you know how lucky you are to have this experience? What right do you have to take it for granted?"

Reese stood dumbstruck as Amanda tore into her, until she finally had the courage to stand up for herself. "What right do you have to try to tell me what I should do? You don't know anything about my life. It's my situation and my body, not yours. This is none of your business."

Reese walked off, leaving a still angry Amanda behind.

As Amanda watched Reese leave the office, she wondered how someone who seemed so smart on other issues, could be so dumb and irresponsible when it came to personal things. Then she realized she didn't really know Reese or her situation at all. She'd only encountered Reese at the office when the company needed her legal expertise. At the office she seemed to have it all together and she knew she was a good lawyer. Chances were her baby, if she chose to have it, would be intelligent too. She wondered how Reese could not think of that. Why was it always the ones who didn't want a baby who got pregnant while the ones who wanted one the most couldn't?

Suddenly Amanda had an idea. She hurried after Reese, hoping to catch her before she was gone. She had a proposal to make.

Part 32 - Chapter 5 - Secrets Brewing

"Hello," Lawrence waved as he walked into the Townsends' living room where the family was sitting around, talking.

"Hello, Lawrence. It's good to see you," Veronica replied. "Eileen told us the news. Congratulations. We're happy for you both."

"Eileen tells us you're planning to have the wedding right away," Arthur continued. "That's probably the best way to go. Keep it simple and don't drag things out."

Lawrence turned to Eileen, confused. He wanted to ask her what was going on, but a subtle shake of her head made him keep quiet.

"Have a seat, son," Arthur said, oblivious to the silent exchange between the young couple. "Tell me all about what's been going on at the office while I was away."

"This could take awhile," Veronica said to Eileen. "Why don't you help me with dinner and we can talk about the wedding?"

Cassie looked down at the sidewalk in front of her as she walked back to the house. She'd spent the majority of the day walking around town, thinking over what had happened and wondering what that meant for her future with Blaine. She was so angry with Zara for telling Blaine how she really felt about him that she nearly cried. Her sister had no right to tell him that. That he found out now and in that way could ruin any chance she had of ever being with him. After some time to think and feel sorry for herself, she was ready to come back home and Zara a piece of her mind.

"You're back."

Cassie looked up and was surprised to see Blaine standing right in front of her. "You're still here? I thought for sure you'd be long gone by now."

"I wanted to talk to you, but you ran off so fast that you were gone by the time I came outside."

"After hearing what Zara said to you I didn't want to be here . . . God, I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. It's alright," he said. "I've been thinking a lot about what Zara was saying to me before you came into the room and maybe she's right. Maybe I have been turning to you too often when I needed someone to talk to. I'm sorry if I've been taking advantage of our friendship. I never meant to lead you on. I didn't realize I was doing anything to make you think of me as more than just a friend."

"You didn't. I've always thought of you that way, from the first second I saw you. From the first time you showed up at my door I felt a strong connection to you. You didn't have to do anything."

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Blaine said. Cassie's admission had left him speechless. "I'm flattered that someone like you would be interested in me, but I don't think I can even think about starting a new relationship right now."

"Does that mean you would have thought about it at least, if you hadn't just broken up with Reese?" Cassandra asked hopefully. "Maybe someday?"

"I couldn't say. I can't even think about it right now. I think you're a great girl though and I don't want you to miss out on anything because you're waiting for me to sort out my feelings."

"I won't be missing out, because I already know that there is no one else for me. I'll wait as long as it takes because I know otherwise I'll just be alone."

"You look a lot like your daddy. Yes you do, baby boy," Vanessa cooed at the baby. "You've got his chin, but you've definitely got your mama's eyes, sweetheart. You're just so precious."

"Hi," Amanda said as she walked into Alma's living room to find Vanessa holding the baby and her sister seated on the couch. Both women looked up when she spoke.

"Hi," Vanessa replied cheerfully. "I'm glad you made it. Do you want to hold your nephew?"

"Sure," Amanda said as she stepped forward to take the baby. "How are you, Alma?"

"Exhausted. I haven't been able to get any sleep."

"I could tell when I came in that the little guy has you overrun," Vanessa said. "But don't you worry. We're here now to help out. Why don't you go get some rest while Amanda and I cook dinner and look after the little one. I'm sure we can manage it, right?"

When Vanessa looked at her, Amanda nodded, before looking down lovingly at the baby in her arms.

"Are you sure?" Alma asked. She wasn't used to other people taking care of her, but she was too tired to protest.

"Of course. We won't take no for an answer. You just gave birth, you need some rest and relaxation, some time to recover. You deserve to pampered at least a little bit. Let us know if you need anything and we'll call you when dinner's ready."

Part 32 - Chapter 6 - Secrets Brewing

"Lawrence, wait," Eileen called after her husband. He had been more quiet than usual through dinner and excused himself as quickly as he could afterwards with only a brief goodbye to her as he'd left. "Please, don't leave this way."

"What way? Alone? I'd much rather leave here with my wife," he snapped. "Why did you let them think we weren't married?"

"You saw how they excited they were. I couldn't tell them that there wouldn't be a wedding because we were already married. I just couldn't."

"Last night you said you didn't care about that. You said you didn't care about a wedding, because you'd already planned one before and didn't want to do things the same way this time. We agreed on that. You were the one who suggested eloping because you thought it would be special."

"It still is."

"Is this how it's going to be? Are you going to let your family make your decisions for you or are you just not sure about what you want? Was last night just done on an impulsive whim? That wasn't what it was to me."

"No, not at all. I was so excited to tell them when you first dropped me off this morning, but then they seemed so excited about a wedding and seeing us get married. My dad would be hurt if he found out he wasn't there when I got married. I'm his only child and it's a once in a lifetime thing," Eileen explained. When Lawrence seemed unsure, she kept talking. "We'll keep it really simple, so we can do it as soon as possible, I promise. Besides I think it's kind of special for us to have a wedding anniversary that only we know about. It won't be too much longer, I promise."

With a shrug and a sigh, Lawrence realized he couldn't say no to her. Even though he wasn't happy about the change in plans he felt he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

"Alma, I thought we told you to take it easy," Vanessa said as Alma walked into the kitchen.

"I can't rest when I know someone else is taking over my kitchen," she replied. "Let me do something."

"Absolutely not. You can sit at the table and supervise if you must, but that's it. We're taking care of it."

"Listen to your sisters, dear," Edward chimed in. "You don't need to do anything but take care of yourself and our baby right now. That's a full time job."

Amanda glanced over at Alma, who was reluctantly following orders. She didn't know how good she had it with everyone doting on her because she was the new mother. It made Amanda feel heartsick to think that she might never be in Alma's shoes. Her new plan was going to give her a baby, but she was starting to realize that wasn't the only thing she wanted. She wanted to the attention. She wanted people to be excited about her, like they were about any other mother-to-be. She wanted to be the one that was waited on hand and foot. She wanted people to touch her belly to try to feel the baby kicking. She wanted them to look at her baby and say he or she looked like her or her husband. If she went through with her idea, none of that would ever happen for her.

There had to be a way to get everything she wanted. There had to be some way to avoid missing out on so much.

"Hello," Andrew said as he walked into the kitchen. "Something smells good in here."

"You're just in time. Dinner's almost ready," Vanessa said.

Andrew walked over to Amanda and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "How did your doctor's appointment go? Did she give you good news?"

Amanda hesitated, all eyes were on her, anxiously waiting for her response. Suddenly a new idea popped into her head. Maybe there was a way to have everything she wanted, but to do it, it was now or never.

"Yes, she did . . . I'm pregnant."