Rachel sat at the table and started to laugh as she hung up the phone. Meri had just called and told her some disturbing news.
"Can you repeat that? " Adam asked, not believing a person could be so stupid.
Rachel started to laugh, and repeated herself one more time.
"How could she not know she was alone in the building. Not seeing Richard come out his office for coffee would have tipped me off in a millisecond." Jeff said, as he sat across from Rachel.
"Well, it is Meri we are talking about." Rachel laughs. "Oh me, I have to get back there before everything crumbles that i have created. Babe, we have to get back." She tells Adam, as he sits next to her at the table.
"Maybe we can get a second opinion on things. Different doctors down there." Adam said, and kissed Rachel's cheek.
"What? Jeff asks.
Rachel sighs, and changes the subject. "So, Beth left. Are you going to visit her in Seattle??" She asks Jeff. The mention of her name lights a smile on his face. "Long distance relationships are hard work."
"We'll make it work." Jeff said, still smiling.
Rachel stood up, and placed her chin on Adam's head. " I guess I will go find dad and tell him we are leaving tomorrow." She said, and kissed his neck. She walked out of the room thinking of doctors and second opinions.
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Chris sat with his Mustang idling and stared up at his old apartment. Jess was home, her car was in the driveway. He saw someone look through the curtain, but he wasn't sure if it was Jess or not. He was afraid to go knock on the door, incase she had company.
The front door opened and Jess walked out onto the balcony.
"Are you coming up, or are you waiting to do a hit and run?" Jess asked as she stood against the railing.
He sat for a few seconds more, and turned off the car. He took the steps two at a time, and followed her into the apartment.
"OK, what's wrong?" Jess asks, as she sits on one of her bean bag chairs.
"What makes you think anything is wrong." Chris asks.
"Because you are here visiting me." She replies.
He sighs and sits on the couch. " I think I made a mistake." Chris says, as he moves from the couch and onto another bean bag chair.
"Michelle?" Jess asks, as she rolls her eyes.
"Will you two ever get along?? Really, Jess, I just needed space. I didn't mean to jump from you to her. It just happened, and a little too quick. I had no time for me. But now I miss her." Chris said, as he let his head fall back on the chair. He stared at the ceiling, and started to count the squares.
"Did you love her?" Jess asks.
"Yes, but I wasn't in love with her." Chris replied. "But then I saw her with Kurt, and something inside me broke."
"You're in love with her idiot." Jess said, and threw a rag at him. "You see her with Kurt now, and she is happy.. And you think she should be that happy with me. When in the first place she was happy with you. You were her Knight in Shining Armor. Why are you so thick headed?? "
"I dunno." He says with a shrug.
"I think you felt more for her than you ever did for me. I think it scared you to death to find something so good, so fast."Jess admits.
"I'm sorry Jess, I did love you." Chris said, as he brought his gaze down from the ceiling to meet hers.
"I know you did. But your heart can only belong to one person. I know she loves you, I can see it when she looks at you when you aren't looking. That night at the hospital when you came back. It took everything she had to not jump in your arms like I did." Jess said, as the phone rang. Neither of them moved to answer it.
A male voice speaks and leaves a message for Jess.
"Boyfriend?" Chris asks.
Did you actually think I was going to wait around for you??" Jess asks laughing.
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"Elvis was tacky!" Michelle said, as she played with a dangling Cross necklace she had found the other day.
"Did you check out the Jungle Room?" Lily asks. "This is one weird house. Nice report though."
"OK, who's making fun of the King." Kurt asks, as he puts an arm around Michelle.
"No one." Michelle says laughing, and bats her eyelashes at him.
Lily takes off down a set of stairs, and Matt watches her all the way down.
"You like her!!" Michelle says, as Kurt takes her hand. She holds his hand loosely, as if to show him she still wasn't ready.
"She's different. I guess, sort of." Matt says and shrugs his shoulders. He decides to follow Lily to wherever she went.
"They would make a cute couple." Kurt says, as he looks at the Cross that Michelle keeps playing with. "Nice necklace, it looks familiar." He says, and holds the cross in his fingers.
"This old thing?? My Mom gave it to me." She says, wondering why she just lied.
"I've seen enough. Lets go check out more of Memphis." Kurt said, and started to pull her out of the house.
"What about the others?" Michelle asked, as she followed him.
"We''ll catch up with them later." Kurt looked back at her and smiled.
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Rachel and Adam had been home less than 24 hours, and they had gotten enough bad news to last a lifetime. Her company wasn't doing well, Rich had left town completely, one of the cats was sick, and a second opinion went just as the first. Can anymore happen to them, Rachel thought. She was tired of bad news, and she new Adam was too.
Cloe cuddled close to Adam as they sat on the couch, missing Thomas who was at the Vet. Rachel stood looking out the window, feeling Adam's eyes on her. She turns to him, and he smiles at her.
"I have a suprise for you, follow me." Adam says, as he takes her hand and leads them to their bedroom. They walk in and she sees a table with a small tray on it.
"Dinner in bed?" Rachel asks.
"Lift the lid." Adams tells her.
She takes the lid off, to find the engagement ring he had put on her finger many months before. Tears started to sting her eyes, as he walked in front of her and got on one knee.
"Will you marry me?" He asks, as he kneels down on both knees.
"Yes!" She responded through tears of joy.
He pulled her close, and was so happy to fell her warmth and her heartbeat. He got up and carried her to the bed. They started to kiss, as his hands roamed to feel the softness of her skin under her shirt.
"Adam, wait, I can't." She said and pulled away from him.
"You can't?" He asks, hoping she wasn't changing her mind about marrying him.
"I can't make love just yet. Baby, I am so sorry. I'm just not ready." Rachel said, with tears in her eyes. She didn't want to disappoint him.
"It's OK. I understand. I love you baby." He said, and kissed the end of her nose. "Just to have you near me, is enough for me right now." HE cuddles her close to him, and they talk until Rachel falls asleep.
Adam sighs, and kisses her cheek. He meant what he said. NO matter how long it took, he was just happy she was alive.
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Meri sat by Fear, as she watched him eat. She was taking care of him while Michelle was out on the road. The phone rang, and she answered it.
"Michelle?" Chris asked, hearing the female voice.
"No, it's Meri." She replied with a yawn.
"Is Michelle around?" He asks.
"No, she's in Memphis. She's up there with Kurt and a few other people." She says, a she pets Fear.
"Can I ask you a question?" Chris asks.
"Sure, I've got all the time in the world." Meri says with a sigh.
"Is Michelle seeing Kurt now?" Chris asks.
"I have no idea. She's up there with Matt and Jay too, so it could be nothing." She responds and yawns again. "Really though, why should you care. You broke up with her. Men are so stupid sometimes." She says, as she walks out onto the back patio and stands on the diving board. "If you still love her, you need to tell her before it's too late."
"I have the feeling I am already too late." Chris says sadly.
"That's your own fault. Mean are all alike. You think if you break up with someone, their life has to stand still, while your penis makes a decision. Like Richard...." She says, as Chris interrupts her.
"You cheated on him." Chris says laughing.
"Whatever, Chris. Look, I don't want to fight. She says, as she puts a hand in the pool and swirls her reflection around.
Chris stares at the phone. Fight?? Who's fighting, he thought. He was tired of people bitching at him. He know what he did was wrong, he just wanted to know how to make things right.
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Adam and Jeff walked into the house with bags of groceries. Jeff with a small bag, and Adam's arms full. Rachel watched as Adam put the groceries away, and hugged him from behind.
"Rach, we need to talk." Jeff said, and grabbed her hand to try and pull her to her bedroom.
"What about?" She asked in curiosity.
He pulled her into her bedroom, and left the door slightly ajar. They laid on the bed like they did when they were kids. They lay facing each other, with an arm over their head, with hands clasping.
"I see you have your engagement ring back on." He says, smiling. "Did you have fun with Adam on your first night back??" he asks.
"We slept." Rachel says laughing. She knew that Adam was worried, and he had probably discussed everything with her younger brother.. It was OK, she thought.
"Slept?? My sister and Adam just slept?? What's wrong with this picture??" Jeff asks, as his smile vanishes.
"I'm not ready yet. I'm scared. I don't want to talk about this, Please Jeff." Rachel says, as she tries to wiggle off the bed.
He tightens his grip on her hand to keep her there.
"Don't move! Don't let being scared stop yourself and Adam from being together. Rach, you never let fear get in the way. Why now?" Jeff asks.
"The doctor only gave me a five per cent chance of ever conceiving. The bullet ricochet through my body. It took some of my ovaries with it. Adam wants a child, and I am so afraid I won't be able to give him one." Rachel says, with a sigh. A tear starts to fall down her cheek, and Jeff wipes it away.
"So you took that ring back under false pretenses?? You should take that five per cent and run with it." Jeff says to Rachel.
"No, not under false pretenses. I do love him. I want to be his wife. I do." Rachel said, as her tears started to blur her vision.
"Baby, not trying for the small per cent is selfish. I say go for it, and see what happens. Those doctors don't always know what they are talking about." Jeff says as he takes the blanket and wipes Rachel's tears away.
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Adam sat outside the bedroom door, listening to every word that was said. Tears streaked down his face, as his love for Rachel grew ten times, if that was possible. This was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, her and no one else.