How Long Does Love Last?

Chapter 1:

"Hello? Anyone home?" The blonde, blue-eyed woman yelled just after shutting the door behind her. "We're in the kitchen, Sheridan." Sheridan then headed for the kitchen after hearing this. "Well, what do we have here?" She asked a brunette woman with dark green eyes that was situated on the table with a flour-covered girl beside her. "Mommy! Look! Aunt Chelsea and I are making cookies!" the four year-old blonde yelled with excitement in her voice. "That's wonderful, sweetie!" Sheridan said looking into her hazel eyed daughter. "Would you like some?" She asked her mother. "No, maybe later. Why don't you go and get cleaned up and then we can go home and try some of those cookies that you and aunt Chelsea made?" Sheridan told her daughter which she happily obeyed. The little girl ran up the stairs with her pig-tailed curls bouncing up, down, left, and right.

"Chels, thanks for watching her again." She said turning to her brunette friend who was putting a pan filled with cookie dough in the oven. "No problem, Sheridan." She said turning around and then closing the oven. "You know how much I love Abbie. She's like the daughter I never had, or the daughter I'm never going to have." Chelsea said looking down to the ground. "Chels, if you wanna have a child, trust me, you and Jake will get that child." She said comforting her. "Yeah, if you say so..." "Urgh! I do say so! Now, come on. I wanna show you the pictures from the shoot we did earlier." "Sure, just let me get out of this apron. I'll meet you in the living room." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheridan went into the living room where she saw a picture of her and her daughter on top of the fire place. Abbie was her life and that's all she had time for. As she looked at the photo, she knew that there was something missing. Luis. If Luis was in that picture, everything would just be the way she wanted it... perfect. She then thought about the night that she left Luis.... they had just made love for the last time. Sheridan was scared to tell Luis the secret she kept from him for days. She had been pregnant with his baby... not that it was bad, but they just got through with talking about raising a family. And Luis said in his exact words that he wasn't ready to have a family until Theresa and Miguel were done with college.

"Sheridan? Sheridan? Sheridan, are you alright?" Chelsea shook her friend lightly. "What?" She asked coming out of it. "Sheridan, you were thinking about Luis again, weren't you?" Her friend asked her sitting on the couch beside her. Sheridan just looked down on her lap with a guilty statement. "Sheridan, it's been more than four years. Either get over it, or pick up the phone and call him." "It won't be that easy. He's probably married with children and has forgotten all about me." Sheridan said as she looked at her friend. "You know what? I gotta stop thinking about these things. Here let me show you those photos." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, Sher, these are great. So, what did Tony say about it?" Chelsea asked. "He loved it. And he said he's not just saying that 'cause he's my assistant." Both women laughed at that comment. Soon enough the little blonde girl came running down the stairs bouncing her golden curls. "Mommy! Aunt Chelsea! Are my cookies ready?!" "About five more minutes, sweetie." Chelsea replied sweetly at her. Then suddenly, the three heard the door opening. "Hey, anyone home?" a man with dark brown hair who looked in his early thirties appeared before them.

"Hi, darling..." Chelsea greeted him with a kiss. "Hi!" "Uncle Jake! Uncle Jake!" The little girl ran up to the man. "Hey! There's my precious girl! How are you doing Abbie?" The man asked lifting Abbie up causing her to giggle. "Good! I made cookies with Aunt Chelsea! Do you want some?" "Sure, let's go spoil dinner!" He said to Abbie lifting her into the air as they headed for the kitchen leaving Sheridan and Chelsea. "He's so great with her." Sheridan said. "Yeah, he is." "I'm just glad that Abbie has the 'father' type around, you know?" "Yeah," Chelsea said in a dreamy voice which Sheridan noticed.

"So, Chels, when are you and Jake going to work on that baby?" She said smiling. "You know, I don't want to talk about that right now." She said snapping out of her daydream and walking toward the kitchen. "Um, Chels, do you think I could talk to you for a sec?" Sheridan asked stopping her friend. "Um, sure, what about?" Chelsea asked confused. "It's about Abbie. She'll be starting school next month. I mean, will you be okay with it?" "Sure! Why wouldn't I?" "It's just that you practically raised her as your daughter and you'll be parted from her. What will you do?" "I don't know, maybe go back to work? If I can find one."

"Hey, I know! I need someone to head up the 'New Look Campaign' that's gonna take place in two months. What do say? Come on it'll be fun." She pleaded. "I don't know, I haven't even discussed this with Jake yet." "Well, knowing him, your hired!" They both just laughed and walked into the kitchen where they saw Abbie and Jake caught up in a cookie dough fight. "Abigail Sheriece Crane! Look at you!" Sheridan yelled through a laugh. "Mommy! Look at Uncle Jake, he's the cookie dough monster!" She laughed. They all couldn't help but do the same thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheridan sat in her office gazing out at the windowed wall over looking the city of Los Angeles below her. Two years after she left Harmony, she managed to produce a small modeling company that soon turned into a major gold mine. Most of the major magazines were working with her. Her models would be in New York, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Tokyo, and the other major cities out there. They would also be on magazines that every woman would dream of being on. She cut off all ties with her family. She knew she had to do things on her own. Alistair wasn't too happy about it, but Julian was happy, considering he would have more of the Crane inheritance. And so he convinced Alistair to let Sheridan have her way.

She had a great life, a wonderful daughter, good and caring friends, and even a career. But to her, it wasn't enough. She wanted it to be perfect. To be perfect, she needed just one thing, or rather yet, one person. The love of her life, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. But no. She knew she had to get on with her life. She had to think of Abbie and her company.

"Darling? Marcie told me to tell you that your two o'clock is here." A young man with an English accent in his early twenties appeared from the door. He was dressed in a shiny, tight, black leather pants, leopard print inside shirt, and a leather jacket. His shiny, gelled hair was neatly combed and topped with shades that made it look like a head band. In his arms was a blue folder that sort of resembled a clipboard.

"Tony!" Sheridan said turning around to face the man. "Haven't you ever heard of the statement 'Knock before you enter?'" She laughed. "Yes, but haven't you ever heard of the other statement 'When it comes to Sheridan's office, Tony doesn't need to knock'?" Tony said with his somewhat high-pitched voice. "Very well, whatever. So, Mr. Collins from 'TeenLife' magazine is here?" She asked shuffling some papers on her desk. "Yes, he is. Do you need me there?" Tony asked standing in front of her desk. "Um, sure, if you want to." She said still shuffling through papers as if looking for something."Oooh, where is it?"

"Darling, what are you looking for?" "The contract for Mr. Collins to sign saying we'll be handling the shoot and everything else." "Well, you should've said so." He said taking out a piece of paper from his folder and presenting it to Sheridan. "Ugh! Where'd you get this?" "Darling, I think you really are losing it. Remember? You told me to have Marcie retype it this morning?" Tony said in his very perfect accent. Sheridan paused for a sec, closed her eyes and then opened them. She took a seat down behind her and placed her middle finger and fore finger on her temples, circulating them. "I'm really losing it." She said out loud.

"Darling," said Tony, now kneeling in front of Sheridan's chair. "Listen to me. Look, now is not the appropriate time to start thinking about Luis. As much as I love hearing those stories, it's driving you crazy. Just let it go." There was then a long pause. "Or why not call him up and tell him what's going on." "NO! Are you insane! It's been, It's been almost five years! And there's no wa-" "Ms. Crane? Uh, sorry for interrupting." A voice interrupted them. "Yes, Marcie?" Sheridan said in a now calmed voice. "Mr. Collins is here to see you?" "Thank you, send him in." Sheridan then turned to Tony, "Look, just forget about this whole topic alright?" She said in a pleading voice.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 2:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "Abigail, sweetie, hurry up! Breakfast is ready!" Sheridan yelled. She was in the kitchen fixing up breakfast. She lived in a three bed-room condo. She would've picked a house, but she thought a condo would be safer considering there would be a lot of neighbors around and a twenty four hour security at the main floor. "Abigail Sheriece! Your breakfast is gonna get cold!" "I'm right here, mommy!" She cried out with a pink, flower print sun dress. Her golden locks were very messy, as always. "Mommy? Can you put my hair in piggy tails today?" She said while taking her seat on the counter in front of some bacon, eggs, toast, and milk.

"Sure, sweetie. Let me go get a brush." "Mommy, I already have one." She said handing the brush to her mother. "Oh, thanks, baby. So, what do you want to do today?" Sheridan asked her daughter while trying to fix her hair up neatly. "Um, anything." She said taking a piece of bacon into her mouth. "There we go!" Sheridan said examining her work. "How do I look, mommy?" "As always, adorable" She said giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead. Then the phone rang. "I'll get it!" Abbie jumped out of her chair and ran to the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi Tony. Uh-huh, yeah. I'm fine. Hold on. Mommy! Tony wants to talk to you." She said handing the phone to her mother.

"Thank you, sweetie." She said taking the phone from her daughter. A few minutes later, Sheridan hanged up the phone and with a disappointed look on her face turned to her daughter. "Um, sweetie?" "Yes, mommy?" She asked before gulping down some milk. "How would you like to go swimming today?" "Swimming?! Really? Yeah, I wanna go swimming." She yelled out with her big, brown eyes filled with excitement.

"Okay, sweetie, but I'm going to call aunt Chelsea. See, I'm also going to check up on some things while were at the pool. They're doing a photo shoot at one of the hotels near their pool, and they need my help. And I'm gonna try to get aunt Chelsea to watch you while I'm working." "But will you be there with me?" "Of course sweetie. Now, go and get your stuff ready." Sheridan told her daughter before picking up the phone to call her friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They arrived at the hotel an hour later. "Hey, I'm here! What happened?" Sheridan said to no one in particular as she entered the pool side of the hotel. On her right side was her daughter. Abbie was dressed in a bright, yellow bathing suit. Her hair up in pig tails. "Michael, what's wrong?" Sheridan asked a man with a camera around his neck. "Hey, man, don't blame me. All I want is to take the pictures in the pool, but Tony over there doesn't want his models to get wet!" He said with annoyance in his voice. "I mean, what's the point of having this shoot by a pool?"

Sheridan let out a disapproving sigh, "Look, I'll go talk to him. Do you mind watching her?" She asked pointing to Abbie. Michael just nodded a 'yes' while Sheridan turned to face her daughter. "Sweetie, can you stay here with Michael first while I go and talk to Tony? Aunt Chelsea just went to the bathroom to change, but she'll be right back, 'kay?" "Yes, mommy." she said as Sheridan left. "So, what do you do?" "I take pictures, sweetie." He replied as he kneeled down to her height. "Would you like me to take your picture?"

"You can take my picture?" "Of course I can. Here, why don't you stand there by the roses?" Michael said pointing to the background set up for the photo shoot. He lead her toward there and showed her how to pose. "Is this what models do all day?" "Practically, now put your right hand up in the air. Yeah, that's it. Beautiful." "Hey! Aunt Chelsea, look, I'm a model!" She said posing her best pose. "Wow, sweetie, you look beautiful." Chelsea said as she came through the glass doors that lead to the pool side. "Thank you." She said blushing. "Now, why don't we go swimming?" Chelsea said taking Abbie's hand. "Okay." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Abbie? I'm going to get something to drink? Do you want something?" Chelsea asked her. "Um, can I get it?" Abbie asked her. "Sure. Just go through those doors, and you'll find a table with glasses. Just ask the man what you want." She instructed the little girl. "Okay, but I'm going to check if my Mommy wants something to drink, too." "Sure, sweetie. Just be careful and don't run." Abbie went to the other side of the pool where her mother was standing with models all around her. There were a lot of people, so she practically had to inch her way to get to her destination. When she found her mother, she grabbed her skirt and tugged on it.

"Oh hi, baby. What are you doing here? Miss me already?" Sheridan asked her daughter as she squatted down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Actually, I just came by to ask if you want something to drink. I'm gonna go and get me and aunt Chelsea some juice. How about you?" "Oh, how thoughtful, sweetie, but I'm not really thirsty. Thanks for asking, though." "Your welcome. Well, I'm going to get something to drink." She told her mother. "Abigail?" Sheridan yelled out. "Yes, Mommy?" She said turning around to face Sheridan. "Be careful. And don't be wandering off." "Yes, mommy!" She said before heading off the opposite direction.

Abbie did as her aunt told her. She went through the double doors and she found the table with a man standing behind it. She was about to go up front... but her eye caught a purple balloon floating on the ground. She saw that the only thing that was separating her and that balloon was two glass doors. She thought for a minute, and she came up with the conclusion that since the balloon was just right outside of the doors, she can hurry and grab it and head back to get the drinks. She pushed the door with all her might and finally was able to get it open. Her hands was about to get a hold of the shiny, purple balloon when... all of a sudden it jumped up and floated elsewhere.

She was mesmerized by the color, she didn't have time to think. All that was on her mind was the shiny, purple balloon. She didn't know what was about it that made her attracted to it. Maybe it was the color. Purple, the color purple. It possessed a kind of feeling. It symbolized royalty and religion, but what would a kid like her know about them? She just knew she had to get her hands on them. She was practically crawling on her feet. Then suddenly she hit something. She looked up and saw a man staring down at her. There was something very familiar about this man, she thought, but she just couldn't figure it out. As she stood up, the man looked at her with concern.

"Sweetie? Are you lost? Do you know where your mommy and daddy are?" The tall, dark-haired man asked. Abbie knew better than to talk to someone she didn't know, it was one of the many things she was taught. She bit her lower lip and shifted uncomfortably examining her surroundings. The man just let out a knowing snicker and kneeled down to look her directly in her eyes. "I see. You're not allowed to talk to strangers? Am I right?" He said smiling at Abbie. She just looked at him and gave him a small smile while nodding 'yes'. "Well, uh... how about this... What if I told you I was a police officer?"

"I'd ask you to show your badge." Abbie replied with a bluff on her mind. The man stood up and reached behind his back and grabbed something. He kneeled down again and produced a small wallet showing the inside to Abbie. She was amazed to see a real cop badge, since she's never seen one before. Her eyes went from medium to large. "You're a cop?!" She asked the man with amazement in her voice. "Actually, I'm a detective." "Cool!" She said touching the badge.

"Now, since you know that I'm somewhat like a cop, maybe you can help me out and tell me where your mommy and daddy are." He said putting his badge away. "Well... to tell you the truth, I don't know where my daddy is." She started which lead the man to raise an eyebrow wondering what she was talking about. "Mommy says that he's somewhere back east. I've never really seen him. But my mommy is out back by the pool. She's watching the photo shoot and making sure that Tony doesn't mess up with the models again." She said giggling on that last sentence.

"Mo-models?" The man asked confused. "Yeah! Models. See, my mommy's company takes pictures of people and they put them on magazines." She said really fast and with a proud tone. "Oh, I see." He said understanding. "Yup... and today I was a model. Mommy's 'tographer took my picture! His name is Michael. And he said that I was pretty and that I look like my mommy. But then aunt Chelsea says I look like my daddy. She says that I have daddy's eyes, 'cause mommy's eyes are blue and mine are brown. But I don't think she's ever seen my daddy.

Maybe she's seen him in a picture or something." She said in just one breath, and the man wondered how she did it. "Really?" The man asked with amusement in his voice. It seemed like he knew this little girl already. This girl amazed him. Most little kids wouldn't talk as much as this one has, but he was enjoying learning about her.

"...and mommy says that when I grow up, maybe, just maybe she'll take me to see my daddy.... but all I want is to see him now. Um, am I boring you officer? Uh... I mean detective... uh... um... what's your name again?" She asked. "Ha... It's Luis... detective Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, and no, you aren't boring me." The man replied.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 3:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "Detective... Luis.. Lo-" she struggled. Luis just looked at her and laughed. "Here, let me help. Now, repeat after me... Luis..." "Luis..." she followed. "Lopez," "Lopez," "Fitzgerald." "Fitzgerald." "Now try it on your own." "Luis Lopez... Fi..Fitzge..rald." she said. "There you go! You got it!" He said with a big grin. "Hey, I did! I said your name!" Abbie said completely thrilled. "Yes you did. Now, what's your name?" Luis asked. "My name is Abigail, but you can call me Abbie!" She said. "Nice to meet you Abbie." Luis said shaking her hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*BACK OUTSIDE*

"Sheridan?" Chelsea interrupted. "Please tell me Abbie's with you." "What? What do you mean 'tell me Abbie's with you'? Chelsea, she was with you." Sheridan said in a worried tone. "Well, I told her she can go and get something to drink, and she said that she was going to ask you if you wanted some. And I presumed that she came back here to give you your drink." "I told her I didn't want any." Sheridan said getting more worried. "Oh, my God. Where is she?" Sheridan asked dropping her clipboard and heading hurriedly toward the door entering the hotel. Once inside she yelled out for her daughter. "Abbie?! Abigail Sheriece! Oh God. Abbie?!" She couldn't lose her. Abbie was the only thing she had that reminded her of Luis. She was her only reason for living. If she lost Abbie, she would lose everything.

She kept looking around, when suddenly... "Excuse me, miss?" This caught Sheridan's attention. She turned around and saw a man standing in front of her. "Are you looking for a little girl?" "Yes! Have you seen her?" She asked with a bit of hope in her voice. "Um, blonde, hazel-brown eyes, wearing a yellow bathing suit?" The man asked. "Yes! Did you see her?" "Actually, I thought she was coming my way, but she walked out that door." He pointed. But before he could finish telling her what he had to say, she was out the door in a flash. Sheridan looked to her left... all she saw was a group of people entering a room. She then turned to her right... and soon she saw her little girl. She was talking to a man, but she couldn't see who it was. His back was facing her. She didn't care... she ran quickly towards Abbie and grabbed her.

"Abbie?!" She cried out while hugging her. "Oh, God... Abigail Sheriece! Thank God, you're okay. You know better to wander off! You scared the hell out of me! What were you thinking?! Don't you know how scared I was?" She said. Then she pulled away to look at her face. She brushed off a piece of strand that was in her face and said, "Please, don't ever, EVER, do that to me again. Okay?" Sheridan said with a pleading look in her eyes. "I'm sorry mommy. I guess I lost track of the time. I was talking to my detective friend." She told her mother. "It's alright, baby. Wait, your what?" Sheridan asked confused. "My detective friend. Mommy, his name is Detective Luis Lopez-Fitz... gerlad." She said with a little bit of force on that last word.

Sheridan couldn't believe what she just heard. Was she just dreaming or was her daughter tell the truth? She turned her head slowly. A part of her wanted it to be Luis, but another hoped it wasn't. She looked up and saw a shocked face staring at her. It was Luis. The Luis she fell in love with. The Luis she left. The Luis that was the father of her child. She stood up and continued to stare at him. She felt someone grab her hand and heard... "Mommy, meet my friend, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. Luis, this is my mommy, Sheridan Crane." Abbie said while taking her free hand and grabbing Luis'.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 4:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "Luis, this is my mommy, Sheridan Crane." Abbie looked simultaneously at the two adults. She didn't understand. She was confused. The side of her eye caught her aunt Chelsea. She let go of Luis' and her mother's hand and ran to her. Luis and Sheridan continued to stare at each other thinking none of what they were looking at was true. Abbie ran up to Chelsea and jumped up to hug her. "Sweetie? Who's your mommy talking to?"

"Oh, mommy's talking to my detective friend." She said proudly. "But I don't get it." "Huh?" She said snapping out of her gaze from Sheridan and the man she was with. He looked familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "What don't you get sweetie?" "Well, usually, mommy talks a lot. But now she's just staring." "Staring? What do you mean staring?" Chelsea asked confused wondering what she was talking about. "I mean she just, it's like she just saw a ghost or something. Even Luis. He's just staring at mommy like she was the phantom of the opera, remember that play? It was nice, but it was scary too. I wonder if mommy will let me see it again..." Abbie trailed off.

"Wait... Abbie. What did you say the name of the man you're mommy's talking to is?" Chelsea couldn't believe what she heard. No it couldn't be him, she thought. "What? You mean Luis?" "Luis?!" She asked just to make sure she heard right. "Yeah. Detective Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. Isn't that a funny name? It's so long. I don't know what I'd do if my name was THAT complicat-" "Sweetie?!" Chelsea said cutting her off. "Why don't you go to the pool and ask Michael to take your picture again?"

"No! I want to stay here and talk to Luis again. You know HE doesn't care if I talk a lot. In fact he likes to hear my stories..." "Yeah, yeah, sweetie, please? Look, why don't you look for Tony and make his life a living hell?" She said knowingly. "Okay!" Abbie said rushing off. She loved to make Tony look like an idiot. She loved the way Tony would try squirm his way out of a little mess that she would make but blamed it on him.

Chelsea walked up to where Sheridan and Luis where standing. Before interrupting their nervousness towards each other, she examined them. They both looked like they were going to scream hooray and jump into each other's arms, but she knew that was impossible. She then heard Sheridan say Luis' name out, and Luis saying her name. After that all she could see was their mouths moving, but no sound. She stared at Luis distinctively. 'So this is the Luis Sheridan left. God, he's hot, how could Sheridan leave him? He looks better in person than in a photo.... Sheridan... come on. Leave... leave before you say anything you'd regret.' She thought.

Sheridan was taking too long, and she didn't know what they were talking about, so she decided to go and check it out and hopefully save her friend. She walked up to them unnoticed and cleared her throat. "Ahem..." Sheridan jerked up at the sound of her friend. "Chelsea! What-what are you doing here?" She said nervously. "What am I doing here?" She asked her friend raising one eyebrow. She then looked at Luis and stuck her right hand out. "Hi, I'm Chelsea Walsh. I'm a friend of Sheridan's." "Nice to meet you, I'm Luis." He said shaking her hand while Chelsea smiled knowingly not taking her eyes away from Luis. 'Abbie's definitely got his eyes.' she thought.

"Um, Sheridan?" She said breaking her gaze away from Luis. "Do you mind if I talk to you for a sec?" "What about?" Sheridan said not wanting to leave Luis' side. "It's about one of the models." She said still smiling like nothing was happening. Sheridan nodded and walked to the side. "This won't take too long, she'll be back." Chelsea assured Luis. Luis just smiled at her and when they were out of site, he tried to regain his posture. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sheridan! Are you kidding me?! You're telling me you don't know what he's doing here?" Chelsea scolded. "Yes! I have no idea what the man is doing here. He said something about a convention or something like that. I don't even know how he got to talk to Abbie." Sheridan took a deep sigh, "His daughter, our daughter." She said looking at her friend with pain written all over her face. "You didn't tell him that did you?" Chelsea asked worriedly.

"NO! Are you kidding me?! He can't know about her! He'd hate me for keeping her away from him." She snapped. "Okay, look, I'm sorry. If you don't want him to know anything, I suggest you tell him good-bye. Tell him you're needed back at the shoot. And that's it. Don't get any numbers or addresses. Just say you have to go. Alright?" Chelsea told Sheridan sternly. "Fine. That's for the best, right?" Sheridan hesitated. "It's for the best." There was a long pause in between before Sheridan said anything. "Okay...." Was all she said before she left.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 5:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "YOU WHAT!!! Sheridan are you CRAZY!?!" Chelsea yelled. "No, I'm not. It's just with Luis, things are hard to resist. Oh, those eyes were..." "Sheridan! I cannot believe you! I thought you said you didn't want Luis to know about Abbie and your life now? How could you give him your card?" "Look!" Sheridan said standing up from the couch. "I didn't know what I was suppose to do. He asked for it and I couldn't refuse. What was I suppose to say.. 'oh, sorry, but I can't give you my number and address 'cause I don't want you to know we have a daughter together.'?

Hello?!" Sheridan notice a disappointed look on Chelsea's face and sat down next to her on the couch a little calmed and collected already. "Look, everything will be alright. Abbie doesn't know about Luis and Luis doesn't know about Abbie." "Yeah, but what if he asks you about her father?" "Then I'll just tell him the truth." "What?!" "I'll tell him the truth, except I'll take out the little detail that the guy's name is Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald." "Ha.... Ha.... Ha... very funny, Sheridan. Come on, be serious." "Chelsea, I am being serious. And plus, I doubt that he'll even call." Sheridan said. "And why wouldn't he call? The love of his life suddenly reappeared and he isn't going to call? Sheridan? Are you alright?" Chelsea said placing her right hand on Sheridan's forehead. "Look, I'm fine." She said pushing her hand away. "Sheridan, I know you don't want to get into trouble, but it's like you're asking for it." "Don't worry. I know how to handle things." She assured Chelsea. "Sheridan, just be careful. Please." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis walked into the building. It was so sophisticated looking. He didn't know where he was going, so he decided to check the front desk. "Hi, um, I sorta need help." "Yes?" The receptionist answered. "I'm looking for Sheridan Crane?" Luis asked. "Well, her company occupies most of the floors here. If you're looking for a job, personnel is on the fourteenth floor." She said with a smile. "I'm not here for a job." "You're not? Well you look like you're a model. I'm sorry." She said blushing. "No, it's alright. I just need the floor for Sheridan Crane's office." "Oh, okay. It's on the eighteenth floor. Just ask the receptionist there and she'll guide you to her secretary, and then you'll see how far you'll go from there." She replied sweetly.

"Thank you so much." He said. "You're welcome." Luis walked up to the elevator and pushed the button for "up". Ding! He heard and then entered the elevator. He pushed the button that was in scripted with the numbers 18. He waited impatiently for the elevator to reach its destination. People came and went, while the elevator opened and closed before it reached the eighteenth floor. Ding! "Finally!" He cried out. He walked over to the front where he saw a woman sitting behind a rosewood desk. "Excuse me?" He let out.

"Yes, may I help you?" The lady said without even looking up. "Um, I'm looking for Sheridan Crane. I was wondering if-" he was cut off. "Just go straight ahead and her secretary will help you out." She said still not looking up. "Uh- thanks." He said, and then thought, 'weird!' He walked down a hall way and soon came across a desk. To the right was a door. 'Must be Sheridan's office' he said to himself. He was looking for a lady, but he didn't see one. He decided to just check the door. He pushed it open a little bit and knocked softly.

"Come in!" was all he heard. As he walked in, he could tell it was Sheridan because of her voice, but other than that he wasn't sure 'cause her back was facing him. Then he heard her say, "Marcie? Did you get those papers signed? Just put them on my desk." Sheridan turned her chair slightly so that Luis could see her left side, but it was oblivious to her that it was Luis she was talking to instead of this Marcie. Her head was glued to the computer screen as she typed.

She picked up the phone and placed it in he ears as she dialed. She grabbed a blue folder and extended her left arm towards Luis, still staring at the computer and listening to the phone if anyone would answer. "Oh, and Marcie, can you please fax this to New York and see that it's in care of Mr. Marimar? The number is on the paper." She said dropping the folder on her desk. Obviously there was no answer 'cause she put the phone back into its craddle and then returned to typing at her computer when her hand was free. "Any questions?" She asked not taking one second to look away from her computer screen.

Luis didn't know what to do. He couldn't believe how flexible she was. He decided to just play along. "Um, yeah, I have one question," He said. Sheridan was caught off guard. She instantly stopped what she was doing and turned her chair slowly to face Luis. "Uh, how do you spell Marimar? Is it with an i, or is it with a y?" He asked with a serious look on his face. Sheridan couldn't believe it. She let out an impressed sigh and smiled. "Luis!" She said sweetly. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "Well, it started out as just a visit, but then I turned out being your secretary." Sheridan laughed at his comment as he gave his glowing smile.

"I-I'm sorry. Here let me take that." She said standing up and reaching for the folder that was in Luis' hand. They stood there like that, Sheridan behind her desk and Luis standing in front of her. They just stared. Until they were interrupted by a knock. "Ms. Crane?" A young woman came in. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" She asked looking from Sheridan to Luis and back to Sheridan again.

"No, Marcie, come in." She said snapping out of her daze. "Um, here are those contracts that need to be signed, fax this to New York, and these need to go out today." She said handing her secretary papers after folders after papers. "Yes Ms. Crane. Oh, and here." Marcie said handing her a piece of paper. "This just came in today from Tony. It's the copy of the contract with Mr. Hiroe's company in Tokyo." "Okay, thanks Marcie." "You're welcome. Will that be all?" She asked.

"Yes, that will be all." With that, Marcie left. "So, where were we?" "Um, I'm not really sure." He smiled causing Sheridan to smile too. "Okay, so let me start again. What were your intentions of coming here?" She asked. "Well, I came to ask if you would like to-" he was interrupted by the door opening again. "Mommy, Mommy!" In came Abigail who ran into her mother's arms without noticing Luis. "Guess what? Guess what?" "What!?" "Uncle Jake came back! And he bought me a doll, but I left it at the house. It's so pretty, and her name is Annette." "Really?" She asked, amazed at her daughter's enthusiasm. Then she heard someone call her name. "Sheridan?"

"Jake?! Oh, my god!" She went up to him, forgetting Luis was in the room, and hugged him. Luis saw this and feared that this was her boyfriend. He noticed that the man looked at him and Luis just smiled. "Um, am I interrupting anything?" He said letting Sheridan go. "Huh?" Then she realized he was talking about Luis. Jake went up to him and stuck his hand out. "Hi, I'm Jake Walsh. You know you look familiar, have we met?" "Um, I'm not sure." Luis did the same and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, I'm Luis, Luis Lopez Fitzgerald."

Jake knew right there and then when he mentioned his name who this man was. "Well..." Jake was stunned. He wondered what he could be doing in Los Angeles, heck, he wondered what he was doing in Sheridan's office, and talking to her. "It's a pleasure." Sheridan could see the uneasiness that Luis possessed. She knew what he was thinking, Jake was her significant other. She knew she had to speak up before his mind jumped into conclusions. "Um, Luis, you remember Chelsea, right?" "Your friend from the hotel?" Luis asked, not knowing why she asked such a question and what it had to do with their present situation.

"Yeah, that's right. Well, Jake is Chelsea's husband. He just came back from a business trip. Jake is a lawyer." "Really?" Luis turned to ask Jake. "Yup." Jake replied. He was just to open up his mouth to say something else when his phone rang. "Oh, excuse me, this might be important." Jake reach out for his cell phone and walked out the door. "Hi Luis! What are you doing in my mommy's office? Did you come to see me?" The blonde, little girl asked. "Um, not exactly, but I'm glad that you're here." Luis said kneeling down to reach her height. "So, how was your day?"

"It was fine. Like I told mommy, Uncle Jake bought me a new doll. Do you wanna see it?" She asked with a glow in her eyes that Sheridan had whenever she was thrilled about something. "Um, maybe next time." Luis said looking up at Sheridan. He turned his gaze back to Abbie and gave a small apologetic smile. He stood up from his squat and was about to say something, when Jake came back in. "Um, listen, I really need to get going. It appears that my wife wants me back home right away." "Okay, tell Chelsea thanks for watching Abbie for me, and that I'll call her sometime." She said walking up to Jake and giving him a hug.

"Sure thing." He said as he let go. "Luis, it was nice to meet you" "Yeah, same here." "See ya soon, blondy!" He said before leaving. "Bye Uncle Jake!" As soon as the door closed behind Jake, there was a moment of silence and Abbie detected it. She knew she was still young to understand what went through the heads of adults, but she could tell that there was something going on between her mother and Luis.

She just didn't know what. She sensed that there was tension in the room, but she still didn't know why. She wondered why her mother and Luis were staring at each other the way they were. She noticed that her mother was surveying her office and there were times when she would steal a glance to look at Luis. She never saw her mother like this. Then, there was Luis, he never took his eyes off of her. He just stared, and stared, and stared as if he couldn't believe this woman was standing in front of him.

Abigail tilted her head a little to the side to try to figure things out. She glance back and forth between the two adults. It was really bugging her, but she knew that she wouldn't find out what was happening until later in her life. Then, it hit her. She felt something in her stomach. She placed her tiny palm over it, broke the silence that filled the room and said, "Mommy, my tummy is talking again, can we go have some pizza?"

Sheridan was startled by her daughter. She was preoccupied with Luis in her thoughts that she even forgot about the little girl in the room. "Huh? Um, sure sweetie, let me just email something and we'll leave." Sheridan gave her daughter a smile and walked to her desk where her computer was settled. Luis followed her every movement, then he realized that it was time for him to say good-bye. Good-bye to Sheridan forever. As he opened his mouth to speak, a little voice spoke out. "Can Luis come too, Mommy?" She said with a smile.

"Um, sure, if it's alright with him." Sheridan said looking at Luis. "I'm not sure if I should. I don't want to impose." Luis said. "Oh, no. You wouldn't impose at all." Abbie said with a big smile. "Whatever impose means." she said under her breath. This really impressed Luis. A little girl talking like she was older than he was. He gave his one of a kind smiles and laughed. How could he refuse? "Fine, I'll go and have dinner with you and your mom. Under one condition." "ANYthing..." Abbie stressed. "Pepperoni and mushrooms with extra cheese on the pizza." He said.

"Hey! How do you know that's what I like?" the little girl squealed. When Sheridan heard this, she couldn't believe her ears. 'No, please God. This can't be happening. They can't know that they're related somehow. More or less, Father and Daughter.' She thought to herself. 'They can never find out the truth. They'll both hate me for not telling them.' Oh, no. This is going to be one hell of a night...

To Be Continued…

Chapter 6:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "...And then Mommy was so mad at me 'cause I didn't stay put." Abigail said telling Luis a story. "Really?!" Luis said with amazement in his voice. "Yup!" Abigail said before taking a bite out of her pizza. "And I got grounded. Mommy didn't make me watch T.V. and play with Karren." "Who's Karren?" Luis asked. "She's the girl that lives in our building. She and I are really best friends. She has this puppy named Billy and he's sooo cute! Mommy says that I can't get a puppy 'cause I'm not old enough." She said as she gave her mother that look that she really wanted one. "Oh no you don't. Abigail, do NOT give me that look!" She said to her daughter before taking a bite of pizza. "Oh, why not Mommy?" She said with a pout in her face. "Yeah! Why not Mommy?" Luis said deciding to join in on the conversation, which really surprise Sheridan. But she didn't pay much attention to it. "Luis? Don't encourage her." She said giving him a look.

"Yeah, Luis! Encourage me some more!!" Abigail said with a smile on her face. She knew she shouldn't have said that, but something told her that it was okay. Sheridan couldn't believe her daughter. Did she just go against her wishes? "Abigail!" "Sheridan!" Luis said with the same tone, but with a joking result. "Luis!" "Sheridan! Oh, come on. What harm could come giving your daughter what she wants?" Luis said trying to argue himself out. "Luis, don't give me that! I won't have her turning into a spoiled brat!" Abigail sensed the anger appearing in her mother's face. She didn't know what to do, but it just came out of her mouth. "Yeah! Please Mommy? I promise I'll take good care of it. Pretty, pretty, pretty, prrrrretty please?" Abigail said with her bottom lip and a big pout on her face.

Luis thought that it was cute and decided to help her out. "Yeah! Please?" He said doing the same thing. Sheridan's anger started to evaporate. The look on Abigail and Luis' faces were so adorable that she couldn't keep a straight face. Out of no where, she burst out laughing. "You two are just sooo impossible. Do you know that?!" She said smiling. "Soooo, does this mean I get a puppy?" Abigail said with all the hope in the world. At first, Sheridan hesitated. She stared back and forth between Luis and their daughter. Finally, she gave in. "Sure, why not?"

"Are you for reals?!" Abigail asked wanting to make sure she just heard right. When she saw her mother nod her head, she jumped up and down and ran to her mother's side to give her the biggest hug she ever gave. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you, mom." "I love you, too." Sheridan said as she kissed her daughter on the forehead. Abigail went back to her seat and gave Luis a hug too. "I never would've gotten a puppy without you. Thank you for changing my mom's mind." She said with a big smile plastered on her face as she hugged Luis.

"Well, we make a great team don't we?" Luis told her as he continued to talk to her and celebrating a victory. Sheridan sat back on her chair and watched in awe as her daughter conversed with Luis. They look so happy to know each other. She wished that every night would be just like this. She thought that she would not live to see this day. This scene that just happened made her wish to God that she told Luis about her... their daughter. They looked so inseparable. A smile crept up her face. 'You're the coolest, Luis. I wish I could have you around all the time!' Sheridan heard her daughter say. She wished the same.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 7:

**~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "So, will you do it? Huh? Huh?" Abigail whined. "Abbie, will you please sit down and put on your seat belt?" Sheridan scolded her daughter. Abigail did as her mother told her. "So, Luis. Are you gonna come?" She asked Luis who was in the driver's seat driving. They had decided to go for a little tour of Los Angeles after dinner. "I don't know if I can, Abbie. I'm heading back to Harmony tomorrow afternoon, and I don't think I'll have time." As Luis said this, Sheridan tensed up and had a feeling that made her stomach do flip flops. She just saw the love of her life, and now he was leaving the next day. "Oh," Abigail said with a deep disappointment in her voice. She just sat back and looked out the window and watched as the buildings passed by.

Luis pulled the car to a stop as they approached a red light. He looked at his rear-view mirror and saw the disappointed look on Abigail's face. He didn't know why, but he got the feeling that he should at least try to make this girl happy. The car started to move again as the light turned green. They then came to an intersection and Sheridan instructed Luis to turn left.

Luis kept looking in the mirror and felt his heart melt as he watched the little girl in the back seat with water in her eyes. He thought long and hard on what he should do. He looked to his right to where Sheridan was. She was looking out the window, obviously occupied with thoughts in her mind. What was she thinking about? Was it her job? Or was it the situation that Luis was leaving the next day. He remembered that she gave a look when he mentioned that he was leaving. Before saying something, Luis cleared his throat and spoke. "Hey, Abbie, you know, maybe I can stay for one more day to help you find that perfect puppy."

No response. He looked at the mirror again and noticed that she had fell asleep. "No use Luis. When she falls asleep, she sleeps." Sheridan said. "Are you serious about what you just said? About staying one more day just for Abbie?" Sheridan asked in a surprised tone. "Yeah. I mean, I think I disappointed her when I said that I was leaving. I don't think they'd mind back home if I was gone for another day. I'll just give them a call. So, where to now?"

To Be Continued…

Chapter 8:

***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "You know Luis, you don't have to do this." Sheridan said as Luis carried Abigail out of the car. "It's alright, Sher. I kinda miss this. You know with Theresa and Miguel all grown up now." He said as they walked toward the building. "Good evening, Ms. Crane." The door man greeted. "Good evening, James." She responded with a smile. "Were there any packages delivered for me today?" "No, no packages." "Alright, thank you. Good night." Sheridan said before heading toward the elevator. She hit the button that had the arrow pointing up and waited as it illuminated with light. As she waited, she kind of felt uneasy, yet glad that Luis was coming over to her home.

She took a quick glance over at Luis and notice he was scanning the place. She couldn't take her eyes off of the sight that was before her. She never thought that in a million years she would see it. Luis was holding a sleeping Abigail in his arms as they waited. It was if though they just went out on a family dinner and their daughter fell asleep and Luis took the responsibility of carrying her up. It all seemed real... until Luis spoke. "This is a nice place... safe too." Same old Luis. Sheridan was about to open her mouth to say something, but the sound of the elevator interrupted her. "Come on." She said as they stepped into the elevator. There was an uneasiness feeling in the air right after the door closed.

Sheridan looked up and wondered when the doors would slid open. The numbers lit up one by one. She could feel Luis looking at her. She was scared to face him. What would he say if he knew she was still attracted to him. Finally, the number "12" lit up. "The twelveth floor?" Luis asked. "Yeah, why?" Sheridan asked. "No, nothing. I'd just imagine you in the way top." "Oh, well, I didn't want to be way up there. And the twelveth floor was the closest to the ground." They stepped out of the elevator and proceeded down the hall to Sheridan's pent house. "Scared of heights, Sheridan?" Luis joked.

"Me?" Sheridan asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm hurt, Luis. I thought you knew me better than that. I mean, I did walk across that ledge and fly into a window with you in Paris, didn't I?" Sheridan said back. Luis just laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe you remember that." Sheridan stopped walking which caused Luis to do the same. "I do. How could I forget anything that happened with you?" She said in a very serious tone which surprised her. There was a long pause of silence. They just stood there looking at each other until someone came out of their door and brought them back into reality.

"Sheridan?" A woman with red hair said. "Margaret. How nice to see you. How's Karren?" Sheridan asked casually. "She's fine. I see Abbie had a long day." She said trying to ask who this man was. "Yeah, she did. Um, Margaret, this is a friend of mine, Detective Luis Lopez Fitzgerald." Sheridan said. "Detective?" Margaret asked as she shook Luis' hand. "Yes, he's an old friend of mine from Harmony. He's just visiting." "Really?"

Sheridan knew that she wanted to have a conversation, but she wasn't into right now. She just wanted to get into her home. "You know, ummm... I really have to put Abbie to bed and Luis has to leave soon." "Oh, well, alright. It was a pleasure meeting you Detective." "Same here." Sheridan and Luis walked all the way down the end. She took out her key and inserted it into the lock. 1208... was the number imprinted on the door. Sheridan turned the knob and entered. "Home sweet home." Sheridan said. To Be Continued...

Chapter 9:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~**

The room was dark and she couldn't see anything. Suddenly she reached for the light switch and the room was illuminated. She held the door open for Luis as she tossed her keys and purse on the table that was near the door. "So, this is where you live?" Luis asked... more liked a statement. "Yup. This is where I live. Just me and Abbie." She replied. Luis just kept inspecting. He saw that Sheridan's touch were still there and it was sophisticated looking, yet simple. And you could tell that there was a kid living there because of dolls and stuffed animals laying around.

"Sorry about this." Sheridan said as she picked up a fuzzy teddy bear and threw it on the couch. "I'm sorry," Sheridan started as she walked toward Luis and rubbing Abigail's back. "You must be tired from carrying her. Come on, I'll show you her room." They walked up the stairs to Abbie's room. Sheridan opened the door and led the way. She held the door open for Luis to bring Abbie in and motioned for him to lay her on the bed. Sheridan headed for the sliding doors in the corner of the room and produced a set of Winnie the Pooh pajamas.

Sheridan and Luis dressed their daughter together. Sheridan thought this was all a dream. But it wasn't, Luis was really there with her, with THEIR daughter and there was no question that she wished for this to happen every night. Sheridan stood up and walked toward the chair near the window and grabbed a teddy bear. She gave it a little squeeze and turned to face the bed. The sight before her took her breath away. She saw Luis staring at the little girl as he brushed off a strand of her golden locks that was on her face. She then saw Luis give a kiss on Abbie's forehead and Sheridan just melted. Her heart sank which made her smile a little.

She went over to her daughter and place the stuffed animal beside her. She and Luis then left the room. As Sheridan shut the door behind her, she told Luis that she was going to meet him downstairs 'cause she need to make a phone call to Tony regarding her car. Luis just nodded and went down the stairs. Sheridan watched as he disappeared down the staircase and once he was out of her sight, she went into her bedroom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luis started to walk down the stairs and he couldn't help but think that Sheridan was staring at him. He didn't want to look, so he just kept walking down. Sheridan has made a good life for herself and Luis was happy about that. He always knew she was the independent type. But he couldn't help but feel down 'cause he wasn't part of her life. He wasn't a part of it in any way. Even until now, he didn't know where they stood.

He walked toward the fire place and decided to start a fire, and he hoped that Sheridan wouldn't mind. As soon as he was done, he stood up and on the mantle a photo framed in silver outlining and a rose on the top left corner caught his attention. He picked it up and a small smile crept up his face as the he looked at a picture of Sheridan and Abigail. They were on a plastic horse. He then realized that they were probably in a merry go round.

He placed the frame down and looked at another picture. It was of Abbie. He looked at it very carefully and his smile soon faded as the thought of Sheridan having a child with some other man. He wished to God that he would be the father of Sheridan's children. Even until now, but he couldn't think about that anymore. Not when he had a responsibility back home. He looked at Abbie and stared at her picture. That smile. It was just like her mother's. The smile that Luis loved and could never get enough of. She looked like Sheridan when she was little. Soon, a memory came flashing to him.

****Flashback****

"Luis? Miho, are you alright?" Pilar asked as she walked into her living room. "I'm fine, Mama. I'm just thinking." Luis answered his mother. "Luis, I know how you must be feeling." Pilar told her son as she sat on the couch with him offering him a shoulder as she did so many times in her children's life. "I know, Mama." Luis said dryly as he looked down on his lap where a book was placed. "What do you have there?" Pilar asked curious. "Oh, this?" He said holding it up. "It's just a photo album I found in the closet. They're pictures of us when we were little. Miguel sure looks like Papa, huh?" "Yes, and your father always said that you had my eyes. And I think that he was right. But, right now, your eyes are full of pain. Luis, if you ever want to talk, you know that I would find time for you."

"Mama? Was this Sheridan?" Luis asked taking a picture out. Pilar scanned the picture carefully and a bright smile beamed through her face. "Yes, yes it was. She was such a beautiful little girl." "She's such a beautiful woman." Luis said with a sob. He couldn't help it anymore. He didn't know why Sheridan had left him. He thought that they were doing so well. Damn her family. It had to be their fault. It was probably them who told her to stay away from him. "Mama, I don't understand it. Why did she leave without even saying anything?" "Shhh, it's okay, Luis. Don't worry, everything will be okay. You'll see." Pilar said trying to calm her son down.

****End of Flashback****

Luis set the picture down and started to scan it. There was just something about her. Something, then it hit him. Her eyes. Abigail's eyes were just like his mother's. He remembered Pilar saying that his eyes were like his mother's. So many questions started to fill his mind. Could it be? Could Abigail be his? It was possible. The night Sheridan had left was the last night they made love. "Luis?" Sheridan's voice broke his mental debate. He turned around and saw that Sheridan was at the top of the stairs and she just had her robe on. Even though it wasn't a sexy piece of lingerie, she still took his breath away.

"Luis, are you okay?" Sheridan asked as she walked down. "You look a little pale. What's the matter?" Luis walked toward her, unsure of how to confront her about the newly discovered information he had just found. He was just gonna give it to her, plain and simple. "Sheridan, who's Abigail's father?" Sheridan was stunned. How could he have found out? And where was this all coming from? She was so scared. She didn't know what to tell him. Would she tell him the truth? Then a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders, which jolted her back into reality. "Tell me, Sheridan! Am I Abbie's father? And why didn't you tell me?!" Luis demanded.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 10:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** The words ran through Sheridan's mind. How did he know? How did he figure it out? She couldn't say anything. She really wanted to tell Luis. But something was bugging her. She couldn't get it out. She stood there looking at Luis with tears in her eyes. She didn't know what to do. Would she tell him? There was so much anger in Luis' eyes that Sheridan didn't know what to do. Luis was holding her so tight she couldn't breath. "Luis! You're hurting me." She cried. Luis let go of her arm and soon the anger subsided a little. "I'm sorry. Sheridan, just tell me the truth. Is Abigail mine?"

Sheridan was just about to say 'yes', but something stopped her. A voice crying out. "Mommy!" Abigail yelled. On instinct, Sheridan ran up the stairs to find out what happened. She opened the door to her daughter's room and found her crying and breathing rapidly. "Abbie? Sweetie, what happened?" Sheridan asked her daughter as she cradled her into her arms. As she told her soothing words, she began to rub her back trying to calm her down. Abigail just kept crying not answering her mother.

"Abbie, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" She asked looking at her daughter's tear streaked face. Abigail did not answer her. She just kept crying. Soon, Luis came through the door asking what happened. All he heard was the sound of the little girl crying and Sheridan's worried voice saying 'I don't know' over and over again. Luis felt sorry for her. Though he still couldn't get over the fact that the little girl Sheridan was comforting might be his. He walked closer to the bed put his hand on Sheridan's shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked with a soothing voice. Sheridan just nodded as she held Abigail to her.

Luis thought for a second. Then he realized that maybe this was a family thing. That he wasn't welcome there. He wanted nothing but to try to comfort Abbie, but the way Sheridan was holding her, it looked like you couldn't pry them apart. "Sheridan? I'm going to check my messages at the hotel while you try to comfort her." Sheridan just nodded her head. Luis got up and started to walk to the door. He then heard Sheridan ask Abigail what happened and he heard her replying, 'I don't know, I don't remember'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheridan calmed down Abigail and she fell asleep in her mother's arms. She put her back in her sleeping position and pulled the covers up to her neck and kissed her forehead and left. She remembered the conversation earlier with Luis, and she thought about it. Why can't she just tell Luis the truth? Well, nothing is going to stop her. She's going to get it out in the open. Her daughter deserved her father and Luis deserved to know the truth.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 11:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan walked around the apartment looking for Luis. She didn't know where he was until she reached the kitchen. She found Luis there with his back to her. He was on the phone. She couldn't hear him. But it looked like he was deep into the conversation. She knew it wasn't nice to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help but walk closer to find out who he was talking to. "Yes, don't worry, I'll be home soon." Sheridan heard. She figured he must be talking to Pilar or Theresa.

"Yes, I know I was suppose to be home tonight, but something came up." She heard later. "Don't worry, I'll be home tomorrow night..... Yes, yes, I miss you. I just have to take care of something." Luis still didn't know that Sheridan was standing behind him listening. Sheridan knew that it wasn't appropriate to listen to people's conversations, but she just couldn't help it. She heard Luis speak, and she thought that maybe she should leave, but the next words that came out of Luis' mouth stopped her dead on her tracks.

"Yes, I love you too, Sweetie. I'll be home and we can plan the wedding. Why don't you just get things started?....... Okay, fine, if that's what you want." Luis said with a chuckle. Sheridan couldn't believe it... Luis was getting married. Did she just hear right? She felt her heart stop beating and she felt like her whole world just came tumbling down her feet, right before her very eyes. She couldn't let Luis she her like this, so she left the kitchen.

She ran to the livingroom and felt hot tears fall down her face. She knew that she couldn't let Luis know how she was feeling, let alone know that she knows about the little piece of information she just acquired. She wiped her face and rid the pictures in her head of Luis and another woman. She couldn't help it. But she had to. She knew that now would not be the right time to tell Luis about Abigail, as a matter of fact, she knew that NEVER would be the right time to tell him. She couldn't let her daughter live that kind of life. Two lives... two families... going back and forth between her parents and living her life like a yo-yo.

"Hey, is Abbie alright?" Sheridan heard Luis say, which interrupted her thoughts. "Yeah, she's fine. She just went back to sleep." Sheridan said as she looked straight at the fire without facing Luis. She just couldn't. "What happened?" Luis asked. "She just had a bad dream, that's all." Sheridan said as she sat on her couch. "Sheridan?" Luis started as he followed her to the couch. "We were talking about something earlier, remember?" He said as he sat to the right of her. Sheridan just stared at the flames blaring in front of her. "Yeah, I remember." She said still not taking her gaze away from the flames. "You're not Abbie's father."

Luis took Sheridan by her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. "Please, Sheridan, tell me the truth." He said softly as he gazed into her eyes that were reflecting the fire. Sheridan could feel his hot breath on her face and there was nothing she wouldn't give to just kiss him, right there and then. Soon, she snapped out of it when she remembered the certain phone call Luis had earlier. She had to stop. Everything had to stop. "Abigail's father," she started, "has his own family."

"What?" Luis asked in disbelief. "I was vulnerable. I didn't know what I was doing. I was scared I just did anything that came to my mind. And later I found out that he has a family of his own." "Does he know about Abigail?" Luis asked almost at the edge of his seat as if he was watching a soap opera. "No. I wanted to tell him, but when I found out that he had a family, I kept it to myself. I didn't want Abbie to be hurt if he didn't want her because of his family." Sheridan said.

Now she told herself that she really wasn't lying 'cause in the most part it was true. Luis does have a family of his own, or will have. And Sheridan didn't want her daughter in the middle of things if ever Luis decides that it would be best to keep it a secret from his wife, or future wife. "Who was he?" Luis desperately wanted to know. "I think I'll keep that to myself. Only a few people know about him. Jake and Chelsea included. They have been so great about it all. I mean, they practically helped raised her. So I don't really have a problem with her." She said as she faced him.

"One question." Luis asked as his face slowly approached Sheridan's. "What?" She asked in a barely audible tone. "Why'd you leave me, Sheridan?" This caused Sheridan to back away. She just looked at him and got off the couch. She walked to the fire place and stared at the pictures on the mantle not really focusing on them. "I was scared. I was scared of my life, your life,........ and our life. There were so many obstacles that we needed to over come. And my family would've forced me to give up something very precious to me. And I couldn't do it." Sheridan said with a sigh. "Now please, no more questions about the past. I want to forget about it."

She felt that Luis stood up and walked up to her. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Do you still love me?" He asked, his voice in a husky whisper. Sheridan didn't answer. She couldn't. She couldn't lie about it, and she definitely could not tell him the truth. There was a long silence that filled the air. Sheridan and Luis just locked glances and let their eyes speak for themselves. And in a fraction of a second, Luis' lips were lingering on Sheridan's.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 12:

**~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan couldn't believe it. She was kissing Luis. She knew they should stop, but something was telling her not to. Slowly her hand traveled around Luis' neck as his went around her waist. She felt Luis pull her closer to deepen the kiss, and when he did, she knew that he still wanted her. She then pulled away. Breathlessly, she said, "Luis, we have to stop. We can't be doing this." Luis just gazed into her eyes still holding her. He couldn't believe, after she told him that, she still had her arms wrapped around him. "Why not, Sheridan?" He asked just before pulling her in for another kiss.

Sheridan pulled away immediately as she looked into Luis' eyes and found them full of passion. She let her arms fall to her sides, but Luis was still holding her close. She could feel his breathing and her heart started to beat a little faster. After all these years, he still could do that to her. She pried herself from his embrace and backed away. "We just can't." She explained, not bothering to look at him. "What's wrong?" Luis asked as he took her arm turning her around to face him.

Sheridan pulled her arm away from Luis and said, "Nothing.", and went to the couch. She sat there staring at the flames wanting Luis to go away. She really didn't WANT him to go away, she just wanted his whole life, that didn't include her, to go away. Her heart was aching and there was nothing anyone could do or say.

Luis watched as Sheridan sat on the couch. He watch her every move. From bending down to sit, and to grabbing the tossed pillow on the side and hugging it tightly. Luis could tell something was bothering her, and he hated it every time she did this. He hated seeing her all confused and about to break down. He also hated that she always seemed to push him away when she had problems. He remembered a time like this. Just before the tragic morning happened when he woke up with a note to him saying she had left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis knew something was bothering her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She sat at the couch staring into outer space. She looked like she was in a trance or something. They had been together for more than three weeks and kept it a secret, only a few people knowing. Including Ethan, Pilar, Theresa, and Ivy. They were the only ones that accepted their relationship and thought that it was best to keep it that way until a miracle happens.

They were so happy together, and Luis couldn't understand what was on Sheridan's mind that made her act the way she's acting. He couldn't standing it anymore. He approached her and kneeled in front, taking her hands in his. "Sheridan, sweetie? Are you okay?" He asked smoothly. Sheridan just stared at him, and Luis knew that she was fighting holding those tears back. "Please, Sheridan, tell me what's wrong. I hate to see you like this. What's bothering you?"

Sheridan looked down on her lap and saw Luis' hands holding hers. She then removed them from his hold and turned away. Luis saw the tears forming in her eyes. He couldn't stand it. He took her by the chin and lead her to look at him. He was pleading. "Sher, please tell me what's wrong? Why are you crying? I really hate to see you like this." He said wiping a tear. He sensed that she hesitated a little and then, he felt her warm body on his. Sheridan wrapped her arms around Luis' neck and allowed the tears to flow.

Luis didn't want to push her, so he let her take her time. Eventually, she'll tell him. After a moment of silence, Luis sensed that Sheridan had stopped crying. His shoulder was wet, but he knew the tears had stopped. And he was happy. Not 'cause his new Polo shirt was soaked, but because Sheridan had stopped. "Sher?" He said softly. No response. He called out her name again, still no response. He gently pulled her back and found her asleep. Luis let out a sigh and picked her up carefully, not wanting to wake her up. He carried her into the bedroom and lay her down on the bed that they had shared many nights.

As he pulled the covers up to her, she woke up. "Luis?" "Yeah?" "Are you gonna stay tonight?" She asked just before she yawned. "Well, I was gonna go home and see if Mama needed any help at the house, but if you'd like, I can stay." He said brushing a piece of hair from her face. Sheridan smiled a weak smile. "I'd really like it if you'd stay. I want to feel your arms around me." "Okay." Luis said as he took off his shoes and joined Sheridan on the bed. He rested his back against the headboard and wrapped his arms around Sheridan, just as she requested. She rested her head against his chest and felt relaxed.

"Sheridan? Are you okay?" Luis said, worry filling his voice. He felt her hesitate once again, but she answered. "Yeah, I'm fine." Another long pause. "Luis? Thanks for being here for me. I love you." She said as she drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man that loves her more than life itself. Luis didn't know what he did to make her feel all better, but he was glad that he was there for her. He hated it when she was in pain. "I love you, too." He said just below a whisper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis didn't know about what she was thinking then, but soon he found out the day she left. He was crushed about it. Sheridan didn't tell him that she was having problems. Maybe she didn't tell him about it because it was going to lead to where they were now.... apart. He sure as hell doesn't want a repeat of that performance. He was going to find out what was bothering her if it was going to be the last thing he did. He kneeled down to her, just like he did six years ago. He stared at her, trying to figure her out. But as usual, there was something wrong, he just couldn't put the pieces together.

"Sheridan, what's wrong? Please tell me." De ja vou, he thought. Sheridan was confused. If he was getting married, why was he pushing for an answer? "Luis, why do you want to know?" "I'm just curious." "Well, get out of your 'cop mode' and come back into reality!" She practically yelled. She stood up and went back to the fire place and watch the embers dancing with each other. Then she went on again. "And why are you so determined to get an answer out of me? Why? Why is it that you always want something from me?" She was furious. She wasn't really mad, she was just making an excuse to yell at him for being engaged to someone other than her.

Luis couldn't understand this woman. Why was she fuming? He got up from his squatting position and just stared at her back. Then, she started again. "Why do you think it's a good idea to start something with me? Why?" She hated yelling, and she knew she shouldn't because anytime Abbie would wake up and wonder what was going on. "Even after you're gett- never mind." She stopped. She didn't want him to know that she was eavesdropping earlier.

"What? What are you trying to say?" Luis knew that she wasn't done with her remark. What was she going to say? Then, something hit him. It hit him with a ton of bricks. He knew why Sheridan was mad. Or at least he thinks he knows. He stared at Sheridan's back once again and walked up to her and standing beside her. He glanced at the dancing fire with her and said what he knew Sheridan was dying to know. "Michelle." Luis said in a barely audible voice. "Excuse me?" Sheridan asked as she stared at Luis confused. "Her name is Michelle. Michelle Taylor. That's her name." "Who?" Sheridan asked. She knew she shouldn't have because she already knew the answer. But she wanted to hear it from him. Luis looked at her and regretting that he let it come out, "My fiancèe."

To Be Continued…

Chapter 13:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** My fiancèe.... those words rang in Sheridan's head. Earlier, she was hurt about it, but this time, it hurt her even more. It killed her to actually hear it from him and to confirm. Sheridan just stared at Luis with a look on her face that Luis couldn't explain. "I know you were in the kitchen when I was on the phone." Luis said looking at Sheridan. She didn't know how to answer that. She looked to the ground for a second and looked up. She let out a sigh and stared at the fire. "What? Do you have some kind of telepathy of knowing when I'm in a room?" She said sarcastically, though she knew it were true.

"You can say that." Luis whispered, but Sheridan heard it. She walked back to the couch and sat Indian style clutching a toss pillow. She then started to drift into space. Luis followed and stood in front of her which caught Sheridan's attention. When Sheridan looked up at him, he squatted down to be eye level with her. He placed a hand on hers. "I'm sorry." He said softly and sincerely. Sheridan looked down on her hands and let her eyes travel back up to his. "For what? There's nothing you should be sorry for." Sheridan searched his eyes for a response. Before he could say anything, she started again. "I'm the one who left you, remember? So if anyone should be sorry, it should be me."

Sheridan brought her hand up and placed it on Luis' cheek. "I don't blame you for moving on. Don't feel guilty. I brought this upon myself and I have no one to blame but myself." As she said this, she held the tears back, and let her hand fall back to her side. Luis couldn't believe that Sheridan was saying this. Did she still love him? 'Cause if she didn't, why was she blaming herself? Luis released Sheridan's other hand he was holding and sat on the couch beside her. "Please don't. Don't blame yourself." He said softly.

Sheridan turned her head to look at him and smiled a little. There was an awkward moment between them as they looked into each other's eyes. Sheridan was the first to break the silence. "So, what's she like?" She asked. She didn't know why, but it just came out of her mouth. She guessed she was just curious. "Umm," Luis started. He didn't know how to answer the question. He didn't want to talk about her with Sheridan 'cause he was scared that Sheridan might feel more pain, but she asked, right? Oh, well, here goes... "She has light brown hair that goes down to her shoulders. Blue eyes. She's a little light complected." Luis began. "She's an interior designer in New York City and she really loves her job."

"She's from New York?" Sheridan questioned. "No. Boston. She's from Boston. Actually, that's where I met her. In Boston. I was getting my papers signed for my position for detective two years ago. Her father was the commander at the precinct I had to go to." "Oh," was all that Sheridan could say. "She didn't wreck your car or something?" Luis didn't know how she could let out her sense of humor at a time like this, but he was glad she still had one. He let out a slight chuckle, and she joined him. "No, thank God for that." He said smiling.

"So, she works in New York. You planning on moving there?" "No, she's moving to Harmony." "She's giving up her life in a big city for a quiet little town like Harmony?" She asked in disbelief. "Actually, it was her idea. She offered and she said that it was time for her to tone down a bit. Live the life she's wanted. She's tired of so many people surrounding her and stuff." "I guess we have something in common." Sheridan offered. "You've always felt that way, haven't you? Even until now?" "Yeah. I'm just so glad that I find time to spend with Abbie. I don't want her to grow up the way I did. I'm so glad that Chelsea and Jake are here to help me. She's gonna be five soon, and I want her to feel loved and wanted."

"She's lucky to have you as a mother." Luis said as he place his hand on her shoulder. Sheridan smiled and thanked him. She could feel that she was starting to want him more when his hand touched her. His face was so close to her's now that she could feel his breath on her face. Luis wanted to kiss her badly, but he also wanted to know why she had left him. It was now or never. "Sheridan?" He said, his voice husky. "Yeah?" She asked looking him straight in the eye. "I need to know... why did you leave?" This caught Sheridan off guard. As she remembered why. And half the reason was sleeping peacefully upstairs tucked in her cozy bed. Maybe she should tell Luis about it. But leave out the part with a pregnancy concerned.

"I was scared." And she was. "Of what?" Luis asked worried. "I was scared of my family. My father and brother in particular. I was scared that they would've forced me to give up something so important to me." Luis was raging now. Again, the Cranes have ruined someone's life, the life of one of them. Why do they do that? Ruin other people's lives? "They found out about my secret and threaten someone's life if I didn't give it up." She continued. Luis thought, what secret. He then realized Sheridan must've been talking about their relationship. What else would the secret be?

"They told me that if I didn't give it up, they would ruin your life and your family's. I couldn't let them do that. I loved you too much to hurt you." This time she was crying. She didn't feel like holding back the tears. "I know you said that all I had to do was trust in our love, but it wasn't that easy. You had your whole life ahead of you. I didn't want to be the one to hold you back. I didn't want to be the one who took away your dreams. I didn't want to be the cause of your downfall. I didn't want you to leave me with a burden in my heart and in my life. I didn't want you to hate me." She said as more tears came freely.

Luis couldn't help but feel pain in his heart. Sheridan really did care about him. She gave up her dream of finding love for Luis' dreams to come true. He put his arms around her and pulled her to him. Sheridan didn't pull away, instead, she buried her head in his neck and allowed him to comfort her. As she cried, she heard Luis telling her soothing words to calm her down while rubbing her back. "Sheridan?" He began as he pulled her back to look at her tear-streaked face. "No matter the outcome of that whole ordeal, I would've loved you no matter what.

I would've never leave you. Sheridan, you are my dream. There's nothing in this world that would make me hate you. Sheridan, I wouldn't have let Alistair and Julian take away what we shared." Sheridan couldn't believe it. He didn't know what he was saying. Sure they were all true, but she didn't even tell him what the secret was. She didn't tell him the basis of why her family had threatened her. She wanted to tell him, but she didn't want to get into it right now. She hugged Luis tightly again like she never wanted to let go. They sat like that for a long time. And soon enough, they fell asleep in each other's arms on the couch. It was one of their dreams come true.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 14:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** The sun's early morning rays came into the bedroom, filling it with light. Abigail woke up to the bright light. Again, she wondered how she got to her bed. As she recalled the event that happened last night, she jumped up from her bed and ran to the bathroom. She came back out and wondered if it were true. She ran to her bed and jumped up and down. She started reciting something. "I'm gonna get a puppy! I'm gonna get a puppy." She said in a singing voice. "Mommy better not go to work today 'cause I really want a puppy." She jumped back on the floor and ran out of her bedroom.

Once outside, she ran into her mother's bedroom. "Mom!" She yelled as to surprise her. But she was the one who was surprised. Where was her mother? She looked at the clock on her night stand and found that it was only 6:28. Her mother usually gets up around seven. And why did it look like she never slept on her bed? It was perfectly made, just like it was during the day time. She must be in the bathroom. Abigail ran to the bathroom, but found no one. Maybe she was down stairs.

Abbie was so excited, she almost knocked over the plant that was in the hallway. She reached the top of the stairs and that's when she saw her mother. But she was confused. Why was she on the couch? And with Luis? Slowly Abbie descended down the stairs not taking her eyes from the couch. Was she dreaming? Or was it really there?

She stared at her mother and the man that was on the couch. They looked so perfect together. Then, she got an idea in her head. What if they were dating? They looked so close with each other last night. Maybe Luis was her mother's boyfriend she didn't know about until last night. A small smile crept up her face. Could it be possible? Was she gonna finally have a daddy? She really liked Luis and wouldn't mind if it her true.

She noticed how her mother was in Luis' arms while her head rested on his chest. And it was the first time ever Abbie saw her mother smiling while she was sleeping. Then she noticed that her stomach was 'talking', how she puts it, telling her she was hungry. "I'm gonna go and eat." She told herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis woke up to a wonderful feeling. And he knew that it was because Sheridan was in his arms. He couldn't help but remember the events of last night. If only he wasn't engaged. He wanted Sheridan last night. He wanted to be able to touch her and to feel her warm skin on his. But it was just impossible. As he looked down, he saw a smile form on Sheridan's face. He missed this. Waking up beside her with her in his arms. Watching smiles grow bigger and bigger as he figured she was dreaming about the two of them. He wanted that part of his life back. He wanted it badly.

She started to stir. And when she did, he noticed that Sheridan saw him, and her smile grew wider. Luis brushed a piece of strand from her face. "Mmm, morning." Sheridan said with a yawn. "You're not going to work today, are you?" She said as she cuddled closer to Luis and closed her eyes. "Please tell me you aren't, 'cause I wanna be with you in bed all day today." She said dreamily.

Luis was shocked at first. But then he figured she was dreaming. She probably thought they were still together or something. "Sheridan?" Luis said softly. She didn't reply. She must've fallen back asleep. Luis couldn't take it. Sheridan was right there in his arms once again, and he wasn't doing anything about it. He wanted to kiss her all over and make love to her all day long, but he couldn't. He had to wake her up right away, before something happened.

"Sheridan? Wake up." He shook her a bit. "Sher, please wake up." "Hmm? Luis?" Sheridan said waking up. "What's going on?" She asked, surprised Luis was there with her. "Why am I on the couch?" "You don't remember what happened last night? We probably fell asleep." "Oh." Was all that Sheridan could say. She couldn't believe that she fell asleep in Luis' arms. She felt wonderful. But then again, she remembered everything, and her whole world came tumbling down. She turned her head upwards and found herself staring straight into Luis' eyes. She was mesmerized.

Why was this happening to her? Why couldn't she hold her feelings back? Why? The next thing she knew, her lips were brushing against Luis'. All the emotions they once had for each other came rushing back. They were so deep into the kiss that they hadn't realized they had an audience. As their tongues were dancing with each other, they heard a little voice from above. "Ahem."

Sheridan and Luis were in shock as they pulled back quickly. It was Abbie with a big smile on her face. "Umm, sorry to interrupt, but breakfast is ready." Was all Abbie said before she left for the dinning room. Luis and Sheridan were surprised. Was Abbie alright with it? Why didn't she ask any questions like she was suppose to? Sheridan got up quickly and stood up. "I'm - I'm sorry." She offered. "No, don't be. I'm the one who should be sorry." "MOM! LUIS! Hurry up!" They heard from the other room. "I guess we better go see what your daughter made for breakfast." "Right, what she made for,.... What?! Oh, man. Please don't let it be true." Sheridan was nervous. "What? What's wrong?" Luis asked with concern written all over his face. "OH man.!" Sheridan said before running into the dinning room.

As she entered the room, she saw that it was perfectly set up. There were three bowls of cereal, a carton of milk and orange juice, a bowl of fresh fruits, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "Wow, Sher, your daughter is incredible." She heard Luis say as he came in. "Yeah, she is." She said eyeing her daughter. "Abbie, this looks incredible, as Luis puts it. But HOW incredible does the kitchen look?" She said raising a brow. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mommy." Abbie said innocently.

"Right." She said sarcastically. "Well, why don't I go see for myself." Sheridan said walking toward the door that led to the kitchen. "NO!" Abbie ran to the door and spread her arms and legs apart from letting her mother enter the kitchen. "You don't have to go into the kitchen, Mom. Umm, why don't we go and eat breakfast before it gets cold!" Whew, that was a good save. "Abbie, what are you talking about? The breakfast that you prepared IS cold. Now move out of the way." She told her daughter. "I'm gonna go get a drink."

Luis just stood there in the back watching this duo. He couldn't help but put a smile on his face. "Why do you need a drink? You have milk and orange juice right there." Abbie pleaded. "I want water. And I'm sure Luis would like some coffee." "Mom! Don't you know that coffee is bad for you. It has too much of that caff- caff- caff- caff-whatever you call it." She said, still with her arms and legs spread. "Abbie, move out of the way." "Oh, come on mom." "Abigail Sheriece Crane! I said let me see the kitchen." That was it. The whole name thing. Abbie knew her mother meant business when she used her full name.

She gave up and stepped to the side. Closing her ears as her mother walked into the kitchen. She knew a scream was coming. She was covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes tightly shut. Nothing. What? How was that possible? She opened one eye and noticed Luis looking at her with an amused look on his face. "What happened? Did she come out yet?" She whispered to Luis. And he just shook his head "no".

Abbie let out a sigh of relief. Then.... "Abbie! Get in the kitchen right now!" She heard her mother. She couldn't tell if she was mad or not, and usually that was a bad sign. She ran towards Luis and hid behind him hugging his legs tightly as if holding on for her life. Luis couldn't believe this was happening. He just laughed it off. Soon, Sheridan walked out of the kitchen and saw where her daughter was. She was seeking shelter from her father. It was so cute. But, she let go of the thought. "Abbie, what did you do to the kitchen again?"

Abbie didn't answer. She just held Luis tighter. "Oh, come on Sheridan." He said as he picked Abbie up. "It can't be that bad." He said as he walked toward the door with Abbie in tow. As he opened the door, he knew why Sheridan was mad. "Okay, it can be that bad." He said in disbelief. "Abbie, what did you do?" He asked the little girl in his arms as Sheridan started to pick up bits of cereal on the tiled floor and wiping puddles of milk and juice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I thought that this time I wouldn't make a mess, but I did." Abbie said with tears forming in her eyes. "Oh, don't cry." Luis said wiping a tear from her cheek. "Let me tell you a story." Luis said as he was eyeing Sheridan. He saw that she was so engaged in her cleaning he didn't think she would be listening. "A long time ago, there was this princess. She had the most beautiful short, blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was so beautiful." Luis started.

Sheridan heard this, and she couldn't help but remember a long time ago when he started a same story like that to a woman's children. She remembered the night. They were going to Gwen and Ethan's pre-wedding party and they were stopped because a woman needed their help 'cause she was in labor. She couldn't help but listen as she cleaned. "Well," Luis went on. "all her life she was handed everything to her on a silver platter."

"They gave EVERYTHING to her on a silver platter?" Abbie asked. "It's an statement, sweetie. It means, whatever she wanted, all she had to do was ask and they would give it to her." "Oh," Abbie understood. "Anyway. As she grew older, she never knew how to cook or anything like that. The only thing she knew how to cook as scrambled eggs."

Luis looked at Sheridan expecting some sort of protest, but there was none. He saw that she just kept on cleaning. "Well, one day, it was her knight in shining armor's birthday. And she thought it would be great to surprise him with breakfast in bed. And so she tried to cook." "Then what happened?" Abbie asked. "Well, the knight woke up and wondered what happened to his princess and where could she be at the time in the morning.

He then heard crashing noises in the kitchen and when he went to go and check on it, he saw the princess on the floor trying to clean up the mess. Then he looked around and everything was crazy! The whole kitchen was turned upside down! It looked like a tornado just blew inside the kitchen." Luis said laughing. "Then what? Did the knight get mad at the princess?" "No, he didn't. He loved her too much to get mad at her. He just figured that she was trying to do him a favor. But he ended up cleaning the Whole kitchen himself." "And they kissed and made up?"

"Well, there was nothing to make up about, but, yeah, you can say that." Luis said smiling as he recalled the events following that tragic morning, as he made love to Sheridan all day long followed by a romantic candle light dinner. "So, if the knight could forgive the princess, there's no way your mom wouldn't forgive you." He said kissing her sweetly on the cheek. "Look, your mom is almost finish cleaning and I'm gonna see if she needs some help, so why don't you go into the dinning room and start eating? And we'll join you in a while."

"Okay." Abbie said as she jumped out of Luis' arms. Luis was smiling as he watched the little girl walk out of the kitchen. Then his smile went away as he felt a cold, wet cloth hit him on the face. "I love your little knight/princess story Luis." Sheridan said sarcastically. "Yeah, and I love your wet cloth on my face!" Sheridan just laughed. "I know why you told her that story." "Why?" "Because you wanted to gloat that my learning how to cook and being in a kitchen is heredity." Luis just laughed. "Yeah! And um, Sher? If that were true, make sure you hire her the best driving teachers early." "Oh! You little..." Sheridan couldn't finish 'cause a voice interrupted her. "What does that mean? Why would I need driving teachers? And was that story about the knight and princess true? The princess was about you, Mommy?" Abbie asked.

"Sweetie, forget that story, okay?" She said smiling. "Don't worry about anything right now. Let's just eat and we'll go look for that puppy of yours." Sheridan said taking her daughter's hand and walking out the door. But before she walked out, she mouth the words "you're gonna pay later." to Luis.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 15:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "So Abbie, what are you going to name him?" Luis asked as he walked through the door of Sheridan's apartment. "I don't know yet." Abbie said cuddling her new puppy in her arms. They had just got back from the pet store and Luis suggested they get a cocker spaniel. "Well, I have to be going." "You're leaving? Where are you going Luis?" Abbie asked as she put down her puppy on the couch. "Well, I have to go and get my stuff ready for my flight later." "So, you're really leaving? I thought you were going to stay." Abbie said as she sat next to Luis on the couch. "I can't." Luis told her putting his arms around her. "I have to go back to Harmony. A lot of people want me home." "Oh." Was all that Abbie could say. "Well, I better get going." Luis said standing up and walking toward where Sheridan was standing. "You're leaving?" Sheridan asked. "Yeah. So, I'll see you later?" He asked taking her hand in his. "Yeah." Sheridan said.

Earlier, they agreed that Luis would get his stuff ready and bring them over to Sheridan's apartment and when it was time for Luis to leave, Sheridan would bring him to the airport. Luis turned around and looked at the girl on the couch with her puppy. She had a disappointed look on her face. He walk toward her and kneeled to her level. "Hey." He said lifting her chin up so that she could see him. "What's with the sad face?" "Nothing." She said rubbing her hand on her puppy's head. "Well, I'll be back later." "You will?!" Abbie said with her voice full of hope. "Yeah, my flight leaves at five o'clock and it's only noon. So, I'm just going to get my stuff ready and I'll come back."

"But you're still leaving?" "Yeah, I am." "Oh, okay." "So, I'll see you later?" Luis asked with a smile. "Yeah. I guess." Abbie said as she return his smile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abbie ran to the kitchen where her mother was making her a sandwich for lunch. "Mommy?" She said sitting on the stool in front of her mother. "Yeah, sweetie?" Sheridan asked looking up from what she was doing. "I think I know a good name for my puppy." She said resting her head on her hands that were on the table and looked hungrily at the sandwich her mother was preparing. "Where is your puppy anyway?" Sheridan wondered. "Oh, he's in my room sleeping."

"Oh, anyway. What name did you choose?" Sheridan asked curiously. "Luis!" "What?" Sheridan asked surprised, raising a brow while a shocked look spread on her face. "Luis. Mommy, don't you think that since Luis got me the puppy I should name him after him?" "You got a point there, sweetie." Sheridan told her daughter. She didn't want to say anything, but she didn't want her daughter to name her pet after her father 'cause she didn't want to hear his name day after day after day. She knew that she wanted to bury her past with Luis deep down so that she could move on with her life. Now that would be impossible.

Ding...Dong! "I'll get it!" Abbie said as she jumped off the stool and raced out of the kitchen. Sheridan finished what she was doing and put it on the side of the counter so that Abbie would eat it later. She took the hand towel on the counter and wiped her hands with it. She set it back on the counter and went to see who was at the door. She walked into the living room and found Chelsea taking her coat off. "Hey Chelse!" Sheridan greeted. "Hey, Sher!" "So, where's Abbie?" Sheridan asked looking around. "Oh, she went to show Jake her new puppy." "I figured." Sheridan said rolling her eyes. "So, you finally bought her a puppy?" She said joining Sheridan on the couch. "Sorta." Sheridan said exhausted.

"What do you mean sorta?" Chelsea said eyeing her friend. "Well, I agreed to it. After much pleading and sarcasm I got from Luis." "Luis?! What does Luis have to do with this?" Chelsea asked curiously. She wanted to know. She was practically at the edge of the couch. "Well, we went out to dinner last ni-" "You went out to dinner?" Chelsea asked. "It wasn't much. I mean, the pizza parlor isn't THAT romantic." "I thought you said that one date with Luis when he took you to the pizza parlor back in Harmony was sweet." "Chelsea, now's not the time to be sarcastic!" Sheridan smiled at her friend. "I know, I was only joking." Chelsea smiled.

"Anyway, Abbie and Luis really gave it to me last night with stuff about getting a puppy. And they were both so cute, I couldn't resist. So, right after breakfast, we went out and Luis bought Abbie a puppy." Sheridan explained. Before Chelsea could open her mouth to speak, they heard a little squeal.

"Aunt Chelsea! Aunty Chelsea!" Abbie ran down the stairs with her puppy in tow. "Look! Look at my puppy that Luis bought for me! Isn't he adorable?!" Abbie asked presenting her pet to Chelsea. "Yes, he is." Chelsea replied petting the puppy. "So, what's his name?" "Luis!" She said proudly. "Luis?" Chelsea eyed Sheridan and Jake. "Yeah, I named him Luis since Luis gave me him."

To Be Continued…

Chapter 16:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan laid half way on the couch with a laptop on her lap. The room was quiet and she decided that since she didn't go to work today, she would try to get some done. Tony called awhile ago and told her they need to draw up the contract for Tokyo enterprises for them to do business with them. Sheridan needed to go over their contract and decide whether their deal was a good one or not.

She was glad that she had the time to do this. She knew if she was at her office, she would be bombarded with work and agents hassling her trying to get their clients hired. Right now, all she needed was peace and quiet. She thanked God that Chelsea and Jake wanted to take Abbie out with them 'cause Jake wanted to spend time with her. He didn't know when he would have to leave again for another one of his business trips.

Thirty minutes had passed and Sheridan's eyes were getting droopy from the computer screen. She was so tired she hadn't realized it. Soon she fell asleep without even knowing it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luis didn't know why he agreed to come back so that Sheridan would drop him off at the airport. He knew that it would be hard to say good-bye to her. Part of him wanted to stay, but the other part needed to get back to Harmony to his family and soon-to-be wife. Michelle. Michelle Taylor popped into his head. How did he ever propose to her?

~>flashback<~

Luis held a small velvet box in his hand. He didn't know why he had kept it. All it brought were hurtful memories of the morning he found Sheridan gone. He closed it and let out a deep sigh. I was time. Time to forget about the past and move on.

He had someone in his life and it would be unfair to her if he still thought about Sheridan. Sheridan, the woman who stole his heart. He scolded himself for thinking about her. He needed to get her out of his mind. Michelle was in the living room talking with Pilar, while he was in his room thinking of another woman. His life with Michelle was good, but his life with Sheridan was all he wanted. He promised himself that he would stop thinking about Sheridan 'cause he realized she was never coming back.

He thought about Michelle for awhile. She was perfect, but not as perfect as Sheridan. They had been together for almost two months now, and he's told her "I Love You" a couple of times, but the I-want-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you speech wasn't coming anytime soon. It was too early and Sheridan's memory was still with him.

Steps. He'll have to take it one step at a time. And the first step was to return the engagement ring back to the jeweler. In order for him to have the relationship he wanted, he needed to get rid of everything that was holding him back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis shook his head to rid the memory of that day. It was just too much. He reached his destination and knocked on the door. He waited patiently for someone to answer, but no one did. He knocked again. No answer. Luis started to get worried. Sheridan knew he was coming back. What if something happened to them? No, it couldn't be. His paranoia was kicking in again. He decided to ring the door bell, maybe they hadn't heard him knock. But no answer.

Okay, now he was worried. He placed his hand on the door knob and surprisingly, he found the door unlocked. Damn, he thought. Didn't she ever learn how to lock the door? When is she going to learn? He opened the door and dropped his bags on the ground. "Sheridan?" he called. Nothing. He closed the door and walked inside. "Sheridan?" He called again. He was getting nervous now. "She-" Then he saw her. On the couch, sleeping like an angel.

He walked up to her and kneeled down to her level. She was a beauty. Luis could tell she was exhausted. Maybe it was the work she was doing. He carefully took the laptop from her and placed it on the coffee table in back of him. Then he gently took of her eye glasses from her face and placed it on top of the laptop. He picked her up, carefully trying not to wake her up. He felt her stir a bit and he stopped moving. She went back to sleep and wrapped her arms around Luis as if out of instinct. He then carried her off up the stairs.

Now the only problem was, which was her room? There were four doors, he remembered that the one on the right was Abbie's and so he tried the door that was across from it. It looked like a place where Sheridan would sleep. He walked in and found it homey. There was a king sized bed and a fire place on the side, an open door that led to her bathroom and all over were pictures of Abbie and her family and friends. Luis saw that there was a picture of Ethan and Gwen and Ivy. Chelsea and Jake and even one of Pilar. He looked all over, but he couldn't find a picture of him. As much as he wanted to forget about it all, he wished Sheridan hadn't forgotten about him.

He walked toward the bed and gently placed Sheridan on the bed. She stirred and let out a soft moan. Luis sat on the bed just watching her. To him, it was mesmerizing. He loved to watch Sheridan sleep and he was glad that he would have one last time. He placed his hand on her face and gently kissed her forehead. He was startled when he felt someone's hand on his. "Luis." He heard Sheridan's soft voice. "Sheridan?" Luis said as he felt Sheridan's hand caressing his face.

Soon, all they could think about was each other. Nothing else. They were lost in each other's world and there was nothing that would turn them back. Luis leaned closer to Sheridan and soon he felt her lips. It was a soft, innocent kiss that later turned into a passionate one. Luis cupped Sheridan's face while Sheridan wrapped her arms around Luis' neck. They were in a whole other world until Luis pulled back. "Sheridan, I don't think we should be doing this." He said. He thought that maybe Sheridan didn't know what was happening, maybe she was dreaming that they were still together. "We need to stop."

Sheridan placed her finger on Luis' lips signaling him to stop talking. "Shh... Luis." She gazed into those wonderful hazel eyes she's always loved. "Make love to me, Luis. Please, make love to me one last time." Luis couldn't believe it. Did he just hear right? Did Sheridan ask him to make love to her? He didn't need to be told twice. He leaned closer to Sheridan and kissed her with all the passion he had in him.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 17:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan lay there in Luis arms. Not knowing how to break the silence that filled her room. She and Luis had just made love, and it was a wonderful feeling. She never felt whole in a long time. As she lay there she thought about the future. What was she going to do? How was she going to let Luis leave? She didn't want to think about it anymore. Instead, she cuddled closer to Luis' body and held on.

She felt Luis' hand caress her arm and kissed her hair. She never wanted it to end. She would give anything to have to wake up every morning with her in Luis' arms. But she knew it was very impossible. Then she heard it. The question she wasn't ready to answer. "So, what now?" She heard Luis say. Sheridan didn't know how to answer the question. She just lay there and played with Luis' hand. "I don't know," She said barely above a whisper. Sheridan propped herself up on an elbow and gazed into Luis' hazel, brown eyes. "What now? What are we gonna do?" She placed her hand on Luis' cheek and caressed it with her thumb.

"I know I asked you the question," Luis started before kissing her palm, "But, right now, I don't want to think about it." Sheridan just gave him a faint smile. "Look," he said taking her hand from his face and placing another kiss on it. "I have a few more hours before my flight leaves. Can we just not think about it right now? Just lay in my arms for the last time?" Luis pleaded.

Sheridan searched his eyes and found love. She missed it so much and she knew that she would not have the opportunity to do what Luis asked her to do later in the future. She gave him a smile and did what she was told. She rested her head on his chest and entwined her fingers with his. Luis put his arms around her and kissed her hair, savoring the scent he would miss. They lay there, silence filling the air. Luis was the first to break it. "Sher, where's Abbie?"

"Chelsea and Jake took her out for the afternoon." Sheridan said, her voice in a daze. "Oh... well, she's really something." Sheridan smiled. "Yeah, she is. She's my life. I don't know what I would do if ever I lost her." "Well, I can see how special she is to you." "She is." "Ya know, as much as she talks too much, I wouldn't mind having one just like her." You do have one just like her, Luis. She is your's. Sheridan thought. "Yeah, she does talk too much, doesn't she?" "She has a mind just like her mother." Luis said with a smile. Once again, Sheridan got up and looked Luis right in the eye. "And what does that mean?" "What? What did I say?" Luis asked innocently.

"Like you don't know. Yeah, right! And as my mind recalls, I remember that story you told my daughter earlier. And that little comment you gave." Sheridan said smiling. "Hey! I am entitled to my opinion, aren't I?" Luis asked returning her smile. "Yeah, whatever Luis." Sheridan said as she leaned back into his chest. And again, silence filled the room. Only their rhythmic breathing could be heard. Sheridan didn't want to think about the future right now. All she wanted to think about was what was happening that very moment, but she couldn't help it.

The name "Michelle Taylor" went through her head. She would never forget that name. It was the name of the woman who stole her life... who she would envy for the rest of her life. Sheridan removed herself from Luis' embrace and turned around, facing her back toward him. Luis was confused with her actions. Why all of a sudden had she turn away. He turned around and placed a hand on her bare shoulder. "Sheridan? What's wrong?" Sheridan didn't respond, but Luis knew that she had something on her mind. "Sheridan?" Luis asked once again as he placed a kiss where his hand was.

Sheridan finally gave in and turned her body so that she was looking up at Luis. She gazed into his eyes knowing that it would be her last time to look into his soul. She place her hand on Luis face. "Luis." She sighed. "As much as I would love for this to last, you need to get up and get ready for your flight. It's almost three." Sheridan said searching his eyes for a reaction.

Luis placed his hand on Sheridan's, looked down at her and spoke. "Sheridan, as much as you are right, can I just hold you for a few more minutes? I want to savor this memory and hold on to it for as long as I can." Luis said before placing a kiss on Sheridan palm. Sheridan just smiled up at him. "I do, too." They just stared at each other again, till Sheridan broke the silence. "She must be one heck of a girl to propose to." "What?" Luis asked quizzically. "Michelle. Theresa once told me that it would take someone very special for you to ask someone to be your wife. She must be very special." "Well, Sam said the same thing."

Flashback

Luis was holding the box he had just closed. He was ready to move on with his life and start thinking about other things than Sheridan. But he needed one last look. He opened the box and stared at the beautiful solitaire diamond ring. Then the next thing that happened changed his whole life completely. "Luis?" A voice called out. It was Michelle. The green-eyed, long, blonde haired woman stood on the door way of his bedroom wondering. "What's that in your hands?" "Um, nothing." Luis lied.

"Nothing? Let me see!" She said giggling knowing what it is already. She ran over to Luis and grabbed it from his back. She found a small velvet box in her hand and knew exactly what it was. She started to tear. "This is why you wanted me to meet your family, isn't it?" Luis was amazed. She obviously thought that the ring was for her! What was he going to tell her? "Oh, Luis. I ruined your surprise, didn't I?" She said hugging him. Now, Luis was caught in a web. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't tell her that the ring was for someone else. It would break her heart. But he had to tell her.

"Michelle, sweetie?" Luis started, but was interrupted by another voice. "Hey, what's going on in here?" Theresa said from the doorway with a big smile on her face. "Look!" Michelle presented Theresa with the ring that she still held. "Luis and I are getting married!" She said excitedly. Luis saw the surprised look on his sister's face and knew exactly why. Theresa had recognized the ring 'cause she had helped Luis pick it out for Sheridan. All he did was smile. That was all he could do, but he knew that since it was only Theresa, he could work his way around.

But then, the unbelievable happened. "What's going on in here? Why is everyone so excited?" Miguel asked as he popped his head through the door. "We're getting married!" Michelle yelled. "Oh, my God!" Miguel couldn't believe it, but he saw the ring on her finger. "Mama! Charity! Come quick!" Miguel yelled.

Oh, no! What's he going to do now? The whole world is going to know that he's engaged, but he knows that he didn't even propose! Damn his life! Soon, Luis' room was filled with people. Luis' whole family, Charity and Sam Bennet. How was he going to deal with this problem now? What was he going to do?

End of Flashback

"Luis? Luis?" Sheridan called. "Huh?" "Where were you? You looked kinda distant. Are you okay?" Sheridan said as she caressed his face with her fingers. "Yeah, I'm fine." Luis said as he pulled Sheridan to him and hugged her tightly. "Luis? You sure you're okay?" She asked worriedly. "Yeah." He said as he smiled at her. "Don't you think that you should get up and get ready? It's past three." "Yeah .... I guess you're right." Luis said getting up. "Hey, why don't you join me in the shower?" Luis said with a smile.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 18:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "Hey, why don't you join me in the shower?" Luis said with a smile. Sheridan hesitated. "Luis-" "I know. It's okay if you don't want to. Wishful thinking I guess." Luis said giving Sheridan a small smile. "No," Sheridan began as she placed her hand around Luis' neck while looking up at him. "It's just that Chelsea and Jake are going to be home soon with Abbie and I don't want them to get idea's in their head. And Abbie, what will she think if she saw her mother in the shower with you?" "She'll think that her mother has the hots for me." "Very funny." Sheridan said sarcastically. "Well, I guess I better hit the showers." "I guess you better." Sheridan said with a smile.

Luis just looked down on Sheridan hesitating to get up. He bend down and gave her a soft kiss on her lips and finally got up. Once Sheridan heard and saw the door that lead to her bathroom shut, she closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to savor the feel. She finally got up when she heard the sound of the shower turn on. She found her clothes on the floor and dressed. She then walked to her dresser that held a large mirror with an angel on top. She stared at her reflection and wasn't at all surprised what she saw. Besides her hair all messy and lipstick gone, her eyes were full of love.

She reached over for a brush and fixed her hair the way she like it. She didn't want to look too over done, so she decided to just apply a little lip gloss just so she wouldn't look too pale. She knew she would be leaving soon with Luis to the airport, so she decided to get her sneakers out of her closet to match her fitted jeans and lavender sweater. Her closet was full of clothes and shoes, she couldn't find the white sneakers she was looking for. When she finally found it, she accidently knocked over something that it fell to the ground scattering its pieces all over.

She placed her shoes on the ground and bended down to pick up the contents that were all over the floor. She gathered them all in an unknowingly manner where she didn't even know what she was picking up. Then when she was ready to place them back into the box, she noticed writing on the lid. It said, "L & S: Precious Memories 2".

~*~*Flashback*~*~

"Sheridan! I don't see it!" Sheridan heard Luis yelled from the closet. "It's in there!" Sheridan yelled back. "No!" Luis yelled back, scrimmaging through Sheridan's things including clothes, shoes, purses, and boxes. He then came across several decorated boxes, which had prints on it. It peeked his curiosity to know what it contained. He just stood there contemplating whether he should open it or not. "Luis, sweetie, your shirt is right here!" Sheridan said coming in and grabbing a shirt from a corner of the room where the shirt and other of her clothes were. "What's that?"

"I was just going to ask you the same question." Luis said. Sheridan put the shirt down on top one of the drawers and walked slowly towards Luis. When she realized what he was holding, a smile started to form on her face. "What?" Luis asked. "What is it?" "Well," she said before taking the box out of Luis' hand and walking out of the closet. Luis gladly followed. They sat on the bed and Sheridan held the box. "I guess you finally found my secrets." "Secrets? What do you mean?" Luis asked with a very confused facial statement. Sheridan smiled. "Well, I hope you don't think that I'm weird or pathetic in anyway." "Sheridan, I would never ever think you pathetic." "Well... okay. See this box is one of my many prized possessions, or it contains my prized possessions." "What's in it?" "So many things." She smiled at him. "So many things that proves our love for one another."

"Like what?" Luis asked intrigued. Sheridan carefully opened the box and showed Luis' its contents. She held out pictures of the two of them, movie tickets, flowers that she had laminated, and other things that she and Luis had done together and things that Luis had given her. She pulled out each one and showed them to Luis. She could see tears forming in Luis' eyes. "Sheridan, this isn't pathetic or weird. I think it's cute." Luis said as he placed a soft, lingering kiss on Sheridan's lips. "I can't believe you kept all these things." "Well, there's more." Sheridan said as she put the things back into the box and closed it.

"There's more?" "Yep. See, this is only box one." Sheridan said pointing at the number on the lid. "How many boxes do you have?" Sheridan bit her lip and looked as though she was thinking. "Four." "Four? Are all the boxes the same size?" "No. I know that there's one that is bigger than the rest 'cause it has that teddy bear you gave me last summer." "I still can't believe that you saved all our stuff." "Well, I do want to look at this some time in the future and remember our love, and what we shared. Whether we're together or not." Sheridan said with her head down.

"Sheridan," Luis said as he picked her chin up to look at him. "We will be together in the future. You are my future and I wouldn't have it any other way." Sheridan smiled and put the box aside as she pulled Luis to her and kissed him with all the passion inside of her. She felt Luis' body pressed against hers as she felt her back on the bed. That day they made love showing how much they meant to each other.

~*~*End of Flashback*~*~

Sheridan sighed as she remembered that day. It was paining her to see all the stuff on the ground. She picked them up one by one and when she grabbed the last item, she looked at the picture and stared at it one last time. It was a picture of her and Luis dancing the tango at her party. The party that was thrown for her before she left for Paris. Miguel had taken the picture and had given it to her before she left. She could see the hurt and anger in her eyes, but yet, she saw the love she denied to herself, to everyone else, and most importantly, to the man it shined for. A tear slid down her face.

"Sheridan?" She heard. It was Luis. "He must be done with his shower." Sheridan told herself as she wiped the tear from her face and placed the box back on the top shelf. "I'm right here." She said as she came out of her closet with her shoes in her hand. Well, it was in her hand, until she saw Luis. He was just wearing a pair of slacks with no shirt on. When she heard a thump, she was taken from cloud nine. She gently shook her head and reached down to pick up her shoes. Luis chuckled and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He picked up a brush and started to brush his hair. "Need some gel?" Sheridan asked walking towards him and grabbing the bottle of gel from inside one of the drawers and presenting it to him.

"Ha....Ha....Ha..... very funny!" Luis said sarcastically and reached out to Sheridan. But instead of grabbing the gel, he pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. As they pulled out for air, they just stared at each other for a while not knowing what to do next. Sheridan didn't know what to do, so she turned around to put the bottle of gel on dresser. Before she could do anything else, she felt two strong arms circle around her waist.

She loved the feel of his arms around her and she wish she could feel it everyday, but she knew that was impossible. She leaned into him and stared at them in the mirror, just watching Luis' eyes dance with hers. She tilted her head back to look at Luis and meet his mouth. She loved the feeling and prayed to God Luis won't ever forget her. As the two continued their journey to heaven, a pair of eyes watched them through the door.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 19:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Luis and Sheridan were still engaged in a heated, passionate kiss. They didn't notice that someone just closed the bedroom door after catching them. After a couple of minutes of that kiss, they pulled apart for air. As they went through the intermission, they looked each other in the eye and spoke that way. They both wanted the same thing and more. Sheridan turned her body so that she was fully facing Luis and wrapped her arms around Luis' neck and pulled him in for another kiss. But before their lips could touch, they heard a noise coming from outside. "MOM!"

Sheridan and Luis pulled away quickly when they realized whose voice it belonged to. It was Abbie. Luis and Sheridan just stared at each other and smiled. Why was that always happening? Every time they get close, something interrupts them. Maybe it was just not meant to be. Sheridan and Luis slowly pulled away from each other. The time had finally arrived. The time they both dreaded the day they first saw each other in the hotel. The time it would be for Luis to leave. They both couldn't believe it. They stared at each other not wanting to let go.

"MOM! WE'RE HOME!" They heard again. "I......better go check on her." Sheridan said pulling away further and walking to the door. "Sheridan?" Luis said before she reached the door. "Yeah?" Luis walked up to her and placed her hands in his and brought it up to his chest. "Look, I know that this may be out last time together, alone.... so I want you to know something." "What?" Sheridan asked searching his eyes. "After everything we've been through. After all the pain we've suffered, I want you to know that no matter what, I will always love you."

Sheridan was stunned. Did he just say that he still loved her? She could hardly believe it. It was something she'd been waiting for since the day she left him. She wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him she felt the same way. But she couldn't. It was too much for her to bare. She placed a hand on Luis' cheek and smiled a small smile. "I know." Then she turned around and disappeared out the door, leaving a stunned Luis behind.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 20:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "...And Uncle Jake bought me an ice cream cone. We went to the park and walked around." Abbie told her mother the things she did that afternoon. "Really? Wow! I can see that you had a wonderful time." Sheridan said, as she kneeled down to her daughter's level. "And guess what, Mommy?" "What?" "Uncle Jake and Auntie Chelsea bought Luis a purple leash." She said, proudly holding up the leash. "They bought me a what?" A voice said from the stairs. "Luis!" Abbie said excitedly and ran to him. Abbie jumped into his arms and Luis welcomed her. "You're back! I thought you left!" "Actually, I haven't left yet." "What do you mean?" "I'm leaving soon. My flight is in two hours."

"Oh....." Abbie said as she slid out of Luis' arms and walked to her puppy. Luis felt bad. He didn't know the little girl would get so attached to him. His gaze fell on her. He couldn't help but feel sorry. She needed a father, and he wondered about the subject. He didn't want to bring it up with Sheridan because he knew it would just cause pain, and it would start a fight. He didn't want to part on bad terms.

He turned to look at Sheridan who seemed to be in a conversation with Chelsea. He wondered what they were talking about. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice. "Hey Luis! How's it going man?" Jake said shaking his hand. "Everything's good." "You about ready to go?" Jake asked. "Yup. I guess." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chelsea, thanks for taking her out today. She's been wanting to go to the park and I'm glad that you took her." "It's nothing. So, what did you do today?" Chelsea asked. "Nothing much. I got some work done today." "That's it?" Chelsea asked looking at Luis. "Yeah. Why? Oh, by the way. Have you thought about that job offer I asked you? I mean, I really need some one to head up the marketing department." "Sheridan. Stop trying to change the subject." "Chelsea, what are you talking about?" Sheridan wondered. Why was her friend getting all defensive? And what was she trying to pull? "You know what I'm talking about." "No, I don't." "Luis. I'm talking about Luis."

Sheridan had a flash of memory. She recalled what happened a few hours ago. She and Luis had made love. She started to smile, oblivious to the fact that her friend was standing in front of her. "Sheridan? Sheridan!" "What?!" "Now, I'm very intrigued. Tell me what did you and Luis do?" Chelsea asked, raising a brow. "I don't know what you are talking about." "Sher, tell me the truth." Chelsea asked seriously. "What did you and Luis do today." Sheridan gave up. She knew Chelsea would not let her live it through. She was just about to tell her friend the wonderful time she had, until someone interrupted her. "Sheridan. I was just telling Luis that maybe I could drop you two to the airport. I'm heading that way to pick up some Chinese." Jake said. "Um...." Sheridan looked at Luis for some answers and found them. "Sure. Let me just go get my purse." She said heading up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Flight 612 to Boston is now boarding. Passengers please proceed to gate 15." Silence passed between Sheridan and Luis. It was time. Time for moment of truth. It was time for them to move on with their lives. Move on separately. It was hard for them, but they new what they had to do. "Well, I guess you have to go." Sheridan said, standing up from her seat. Jake had agreed to wait for her in the car while she said her farewells. "Yeah, I guess so." Luis said sadly. They walked toward the gate hand in hand. They were both walking slowly trying to stall what was coming to both of them.

They stopped right in front of the ticket lady still holding hands. Luis turned to face Sheridan and found her cheeks tear-streaked. He reached up to wipe away the fresh tears running down her face, which only made Sheridan cry even more. "I won't go. I won't go if you just say the word." Luis said. "No. Please. You have to go. I can't ruin your relationship with your fiancee. I don't want to be the cause of that." "I love you, Sheridan. I do." Luis said right before giving her a gentle kiss on her lips. "I know," she said as they pulled away. "I know." Luis walked to the gate and handed his boarding pass to the lady. She then gave him back the other half of it and told him to have a good flight.

Luis had to have one more look. He saw that Sheridan was standing there crying her eyes out. He did everything in his power not to run to her and tell her how much he loved her and wants to stay. He turned around knowing that if he stood there one more minute, he would just do that. He started walking until he heard his name being called. "LUIS!" He turned around and there he saw her, Sheridan running to him. He dropped his things and ran to her. Sheridan jumped into his arms and held him not wanting to let go. "Luis," she said crying in his shoulder. "I love you. Remember that I always will love you." "Oh, God, Sheridan." He said kissing her hair. They were both crying, oblivious to the fact that people were watching them wondering what was going on.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 21:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan Crane looked out of her kitchen window, staring at the busy streets of Los Angeles. She didn’t have to go to work that day, since it was Sunday. There were so many questions running through her head. So many ‘what ifs’ and ‘what nows’. She didn’t know how to answer them and she was looking for answers. None had come to her since that day at the airport. "Sheridan?" A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Yeah?" She answered, not moving. "You alright?" "I’m fine. I’m just thinking of some things." "Like Luis?" "What do you think, Chelsea?" She asked, looking her friend in the eye.

Sheridan went to sit on the stool while folding her arms on the table. Chelsea followed her. "Sheridan," she said placing a hand on her arms. "Sheridan, it’s been over three years." "I know." She sighed. "Sheridan, if you’re torturing yourself now, why did you let him go that day?" "I don’t know. It was just the right thing to do at the time. I don’t think I was thinking straight. All I know was that I was thinking of that other woman. I mean, if I were her, I wouldn’t want anything like that happen to me." "Sheridan, at times like those, you should be thinking of yourself. Who cares if they think your self-fish? You should do anything for love."

Silence filled the room as Sheridan thought about that day. What if she had been self-fish and asked Luis to stay? She would’ve been very happy. She was just about to say something, when a voice interrupted her. "Aunt Chelsea! Jonathan is getting fussy again. I think he’s hungry." Abbie said as she walked in the kitchen. "Alright, sweetie. Let me go get him and we’ll leave for the park." Chelsea said to Abbie as she left the room. Abbie saw her mother on the kitchen counter. It looked like she was a million miles away. She felt sorry for her mother. She didn’t know why, but she just did.

She wondered why her mother was always like this. In a state where it scared her. She wanted her mother to be all better, just the way she was. She noticed that she’d been like this before, but now it was even worse. She was going to be nine in a few weeks and she sort of understood some things. She realized that whatever was bothering her mother had something to do with the man she named her pet after. The man that got her her first pet, and a best friend. It was Luis Lopez Fitzgerald. He’s responsible for her mother’s sadness.

But why? Why was he responsible? What did he do? Those were the questions she was going to find out.....no matter what it took. The ringing of the phone interrupted her thoughts, so as her mother’s. She smiled at Sheridan as she ran to pick up the cordless that was just to the right of her. "Hello?" Abbie greeted. "Yes it is.........May I know who’s calling?...... Just a minute." Abbie said before putting the phone down and calling for her mother. "It’s someone for you, Mom." She said. "Who is it?" Sheridan asked. She knew it was no one from her office ‘cause they know not to bother her on Sundays. "It’s a woman named Theresa." "Theresa?" Sheridan asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. Here." Abbie said handing her mother the phone just before leaving the kitchen. "Hello?" Sheridan said into the phone. "Sheridan?" She heard. "It’s....it’s Theresa." "Theresa." Sheridan said just above a whisper. "Yeah." "Theresa, so, how are you?" Sheridan asked, just when it was finally sinking in. "I’m fine." "Wow! It’s great to hear your voice again." "Your’s too. How are you Sheridan?" "I’m fine." "Um....I’m actually calling to ask you something." "Wait. How did you get this number and how did you know where I was?" Sheridan asked. "Um....it’s kind of a long story." "I have time." Sheridan said into the phone.

"Well, I was looking for pictures in Luis’ room in Mama’s house and I came across a box. I thought they would be in the box and so I opened it. I found a picture of you and Luis and a little girl. I was surprised ‘cause I’ve never seen the picture before. So I kept looking through the box and I found your business card. So I thought I’d give it a shot." "Really? Wow. I can’t believe Luis actually kept it." "Sheridan? Who’s the girl?"

"Oh, that’s my daughter, Abigail" Sheridan could tell that Theresa was surprise, with the response she gave on the phone....silence. "She’s um...eight years-old." "She’s very pretty, Sheridan. Was she the one that answered the phone?" "Yeah. She was." "Anyway, Sheridan, I don’t want to stall. I actually called for something. I know you must be a busy person. I was just wondering when you’d be coming back to Harmony." "I don’t think I will be anytime soon." Sheridan said a little to quickly. "Do you think if you had a valid reason, you would?"

"And what reason would that be?" Sheridan asked. She knew there would be no reason for her to go back to Harmony only to have her heart broken by seeing Luis and his wife, and possibly their children. "Um, a wedding." A wedding? What? Did Luis not get married yet? What wedding was she talking about? She was scared to ask. "A....a wedding?" "Yeah. Mine and Ethan’s." "Eth...Ethan? You and Ethan are together? Oh my, God! Congratulations! Wait, what happened with Gwen?" Sheridan wondered. "Um, they divorced about two years ago."

"Oh." Sheridan felt bad. She should’ve been there for her best friend during those times in her life. But she missed all that. She and Gwen were really close, but she knew what kind of person Ethan is, and he would have a valid excuse for a divorce with his long time sweetheart. "I was wondering if you would like to come and be one of my bride’s maid. Ethan would love to see you, and in our wedding. It would make him really happy. And to have his cousin in the wedding too. So, if you agree to come, Abigail can be my flower girl, along side with Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth?" Sheridan asked. "Yeah....Um, she’s your great niece." "Niece?" "Ethan and Gwen’s daughter. She’s four years old." "They have a daughter?" "Yeah. She’s so adorable." "And you don’t mind?" Sheridan asked. "No, I don’t. I mean, I know that she’s Ethan’s daughter with Gwen, but that’s the whole point. She’s Ethan’s daughter, and I love her......So, what do you say, Sheridan? Are you gonna come?" "When’s the big day?" "In two weeks. I know I should’ve called earlier, but I just found your number this morning." "Does anyone know?" "No. I haven’t even told Ethan. I just didn’t want to disappoint him if he knew I knew where to get a hold of you and you didn’t want to come to the wedding." "You love him, don’t you."

"With all my heart. So, what do you say?" "I really don’t know, Theresa." "Please say yes. I would love to meet your daughter and I know Ethan would love to meet his cousin." Sheridan hesitated. She didn’t know what to do. She was faced with a dilemma and she didn’t know how to deal with it. Soon, as if on cue, Abbie walked in to get a glass of water. "Theresa, hold on for a sec......Abbie?" "Yeah, Mom?" Abbie asked right before gulping down the water. "How would you like to take a little vacation?"

"Vacation? Mom are you kidding me? I would love to go one. But it’s not even summer. Where are we going? I mean, I do have school." "We’re going to a wedding." "A wedding! Oh, my gosh! Yeah!" "Would you mind being a flower girl?" "A flower girl? You mean with those pretty dresses? Yeah, I would love to be one." "Theresa?" Sheridan said into the phone. "We’ll be there." "Great! Let me tell Ethan! He’ll be very excited!" "Alright, Theresa." "Thank you so much, Sheridan." "Your welcome. Bye" "Bye." Sheridan heard on the other end, and then a dial tone. "So Mom.....where are we going?" "Harmony....We’re going to Harmony."

To Be Continued...

Chapter 22:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** She opened her purple suit case that had a large imprint of her favorite characters on it, Winnie the Pooh and his friends. She ran to her closet and took out her favorite lavender sweater and a white skirt. She neatly folded it and stuffed it into her suit case along with her other things. She looked around her room, making sure she got everything she needed for her trip to Harmony. She couldn’t believe it. All her life she heard about the infamous town of Harmony and wished to go there some day. Now, it was actually happening.

The reason why she wanted to go was not because of the stories her mother had told her of the people there, or because it was where her mother was from, but because of one person. That one person was Luis. Yes, Luis. Since the day Luis had left, she always tried to find a way to keep in touch with him. One day, her mother had gone on a business trip to New York and was left in the care of her Aunt Chelsea. She knew it was wrong to lie to people, but she thought what she did wasn’t lying... just not telling what she did. When her aunt was taking a nap one day, she sneaked into her Uncle Jake’s library, since he was on a business trip too, and used the phone.

At first, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to reach him. She was just thankful the phone operator was helpful. She had asked for the number of the Police Department in Harmony and the operator had been willing to help her out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harmony Police Department." A lady’s voice rang in. She was so nervous. She didn’t know what to do. She sat there on the expensive leather seat with a phone in her hand. "HELLO?!" an irritated voice said. "Umm...Hi." Abbie let out. She was shaking. She didn’t know what to say. "Yes?" "Um, my name is Abigail." She said nervously. "How may I help you young lady?" "By any chance.....is.....is Detective Lopez Fitzgerald there?" "Luis? Yes he’s in, but I believe he’s with the Chief of Police right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Umm, I don’t know." Just her luck. He was with someone. Just when she was going to tell the lady, whom she presumed was the receptionist, never mind, she heard a familiar voice in the background. "Hey there, Maggie! Any new messages for me?" "Actually there’s someone on the phone for you." "Oh, really?" Abbie heard him say. There was a pause and she didn’t know what to do. "Hello?" She heard. Oh, my God! He was really there. It was Luis! "Hello?" "Hel....lo?" She said. "Yes?" "Lu....Luis?" "Yeah? Who’s this?" "It’s.......it’s me......Abbie." There was a long pause on the line. She didn’t know what was going on. "Abbie? Oh, my God! Abbie! Is it really you? How....how are you?" "I’m fine." That day was a happy day for Abbie. She talked to the man she looked up to as a father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abbie ran to her closet and pulled out a box that was hidden behind stuffed animals and dolls and board games. She sat on the ground and pulled the cover open. Inside were papers and pictures of her friends and family. There were even jewelry, fake or real, and a small journal, which she obtained the moment she learned to write. Then she pulled out a picture frame from the bottom of the box. It was a picture of her, her mother, and Luis. It was taken at the pizza parlor where they had dinner that one night. She could still remember the night, though it was more than three years ago. She smiled at the memory.

She looked at the picture and placed everything else back into the box and stuffed it back behind all her things. She got up from her sitting position and walked over to her bed, where her luggage sat. Before she placed the picture in the suit case, she stared at it a while longer and wished what was in the picture were true. They looked like a family. They were a family.... only fate didn’t go the way she planned. She wished she could call him daddy. She wished he knew about her. She wished she knew why they weren’t together as a family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was excited. She couldn’t wait to go. It was her first play! It was a musical. She couldn’t believe she got the lead. She ran down the stairs, ready to grab her mother’s hand and take her to show her what she could do. She ran straight to the door, but she stopped dead on her tracks when she heard it. "Why don’t you just tell Luis?" She heard her aunt Chelsea say. "Don’t you think I want to? I’ve been wanting to tell him he’s the father of my child since the day he came!" Sheridan yelled. ‘Oh, my god! Luis is my dad?!’ Abbie thought.

"Do you want your daughter to hear?! Sheridan, calm down." "Fine!" She slumped down on the stool. "God, I really want him to know that Abbie is his daughter, but there are so many things holding me back." "Michelle?" Michelle? Who was Michelle? She wondered as she poked her head through the door. "What else?" she heard her mother say. This really peeked Abbie curiosity. The man she wanted to be her father, turned out to BE her father! How wonderful was that? But the problem was.....she just heard her mother say she wouldn’t tell him. What was she to do???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abbie put the picture frame of the dream she wanted to come true in her luggage. She zipped it up and sat on her bed thinking. When she got to Harmony, she vowed to tell Luis about his daughter. His daughter that he never knew about. His daughter that loved him more than he could possibly know. She would get her way. In a few weeks, she would be nine. That had to count for something. She knew it would be possible. She was a smart girl. Nothing was going to stop her.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 23:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** "Mommy?" Abigail asked her mother who was busy on the lap top. "Yeah, sweetie?" Sheridan asked her daughter just as the plane took off from the ground. "When we reach Harmony, where are we going to go?" "Well, we will be staying at the Crane Estate. The cottage, to be exact." She said just before she closed her computer. "Why do you ask?" "Oh, nothing." She said as she looked out the window down at the rest of the world.

She couldn’t help but think of things she would do when she reached Harmony. The first thing she knew she would do was get to know her cousin Ethan and her Aunt Ivy. Her mother told her about her Uncle Julian, but she knew he was part of the reason why her mother and father were apart. Then she knew she was going straight to her father. She knew that whatever it took, she would tell him about her little secret before she left Harmony. It was a promise and she would not break it.

"Mommy?" "Yeah?" Sheridan asked again. "I can’t wait to get to Harmony. You used to always tell me stories about that place and I can’t wait to see all the places you went to." "That’s nice, sweetie." Sheridan said tiredly. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Mommy?" "Yeah?" She said still closing her eyes. "I can’t wait to see Luis. Do you think he still remembers me? I mean, it has been almost four years."

Sheridan instantly opened her eyes with the mention of Luis’ name. She couldn’t believe it even struck her daughter’s head about the man. She couldn’t blame her. They must have some kind of connection that her daughter felt so strongly for him. "Well," Sheridan said leaning closer to her daughter. "I know that he still remembers you. I mean, how could he not, right?" At least she hoped he still did. Sheridan watched as her daughter gave her a small smile and proceeded to watch the clouds go by through the window.

She looked like she had a lot in her mind. She wondered what she was thinking. Mother and daughter had the same look on their faces. Sheridan knew that she had a lot on her mind too. Well, actually, one certain man. She didn’t know what she’d do when she would see him. She knew that she couldn’t not see him. He was the one that would be giving Theresa away. And whether or not he would be, he would still be there to support his little sister.

Abbie wanted to confront her mother. She wanted to tell her that she knew all about her father. She wanted to tell her that she knew all about the reason why she left him. But she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to start it off. She recalled the day she talked to her Uncle Jake about the issue. He had told her everything and then swore her to secrecy that he wasn’t the one who told her about it. She knew everything and she wished that it were different. If only her father would understand.

Maybe he would. Maybe he would understand and want them back! Her hopes were up. Then all of a sudden, she felt like her whole world came tumbling down. She remembered. She remembered why her mother didn’t tell Luis about her. It was because he was getting married. Actually, that meant he was already married. She let out a sigh that showed defeat.

Sheridan wondered why her daughter had a look of distraught on her face. She was worried. "Abbie? Sweetie? Are you alright? You seem a little out of it. What’s wrong?" "Um, nothing." She said trying to mask her true feelings. "Abbie, I know when something is wrong. Please tell me. You are too young to be having problems." "Okay.... I’ll tell you." "What is it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Theresa was in the kitchen with Whitney, Pilar, and Paloma. They were discussing the final plans to the wedding. "So, Theresa, have you found your flower girl other than Elizabeth?" Whitney asked just as Luis walked in from the back door. "Hey, you guys! How’s the final plans coming along?" Luis asked, heading straight for the refrigerator and pulling out a soda. "I thought you were at your apartment?" Paloma asked her brother. "Actually, I came over to see how you ladies were doing."

"We are doing just fine.... now go on and leave ‘cause I know Ethan sent you over here to see if you can get a scoop of what I’m giving him for our wedding present." Theresa said, knowingly. "Okay, I’ll leave. Let me just get some thing in the shelf." "Anyway, Theresa, who’s the other girl?" "Well, Elizabeth is going to be walking down the aisle with her aunt." "Her aunt?" Paloma asked. She didn’t get it. "Yeah. Well, they are about three years apart, but she’s still her aunt." "And who are we talking about?" Pilar asked. She has been with the Crane family for as long as she could remember, but she didn’t know anyone that could’ve been Elizabeth’s aunt.

"Her name is Abigail. Sheridan’s daughter." With the mention of Abigail and Sheridan in the same sentence. Luis dropped the can he was holding. Did he hear right? Was Sheridan really coming back to town? He raced out the door and it surprised everyone in the room. Well, except his sister Theresa. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mommy? When we get to Harmony, are we going to get to see Luis?" Sheridan was surprised by what her daughter had just asked. And to say the least, it was part of the thing that was bothering her. It was probably the only thing that was bothering her. "Luis?"

"Yes, Mommy, Luis. Are we going to see him? I really miss him a lot and I want to spend some time with him." Sheridan was taken back by her daughter’s words. She didn’t know what to say. "Mommy! Are we going to see him or not?" Abbie was starting to get irritated by her mother’s silence. She had a Crane patience and everyone knows how that could be like. Sheridan was still in a daze with her daughter’s words. "MOMMY! Tell me. Are you going to tell Luis that he’s my daddy?" Sheridan’s eyes averted directly at her daughter’s. How could she have known? Did she really say ‘daddy’? Oh, my God! How did she know.

Sheridan’s eyes became wider as she stared at her daughter with amusement. Her mouth was literally hanging down to the groung, though they were thousands of feet in the air. "Mommy, I know Luis is my Daddy. Please, you have to promise me that you will tell him. He deserves to know!" Abbie said as tears sprung in her eyes and glided down her soft, rosy cheeks.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 24:

**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan watched her sleeping daughter. Her head rested on her lap. She loved her with all her heart and didn’t know what she would do without her. She was her life. It was the only thing she had of Luis, and damned if anyone took her away from her. As she brushed a curl away from her silky face, she couldn’t help but remember the confrontation she had earlier with her daughter. It was what she feared. She knew the truth would come out one day, but she didn’t know it would be this soon. She wondered how she knew about it, but right now, that wasn’t the concern.

The concern right now was what she was going to do when she got to Harmony. Abbie knew Luis lived in Harmony and that Ethan was getting married to Luis’ little sister. What was she going to do. She had already promised Abbie that she would tell Luis that they had a daughter together. She let out a sigh and gazed at her daughter. She had her features and couldn’t help but smile at the resemblance they shared. Her skin was silky smooth, with golden curls that framed her face. She had rosy cheeks that matched perfectly with her cute lips. Her lashes were long and curled up hiding the eyes she always adored looking at. They were the eyes of her father. The hazel brown eyes she would never forget.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was nervous. Something was going to happen and she couldn’t stop it. Her father was threatening the life of her loved one. He was threatening to take him away for good if she didn’t listen to him. What was she going to do? She didn’t want anything bad happening to him. He had his family to worry about since the disappearance of his father. They would be lost without him. She would be lost if he would leave this world.

She had to make a decision, and she chose his life over hers. She stared at the dancing flame in front of her. It was a cold winter night. Though the fire was lit, she still felt shivers down her spine as she thought of living without Luis by her side. But she knew she had to in order to save his life. She felt a warm sense of energy shoot up her spine as two arms circled her waist from behind, holding her tight. "Sher, baby, what’s wrong? You seem a million miles away." He asked kissing her hair. "Nothing. I was just mesmerized by the fire." She replied.

"What’s so fascinating about it?" Luis asked. "It’s just...well...you’re going to think it’s silly." Sheridan said looking down. "Sheridan," Luis said turning her so that she was fully facing him, "I would never think that anything you would say is silly. Especially something serious. I can sense it in your voice. Please tell me what’s wrong?" "Well, I was staring at the fire, and I couldn’t help but think about our love." "Our love? What do you mean?" She saw that Luis’ facial statement held confusion.

"Well, before the fire even gets started, you need wood. Like the foundation of a relationship. Before the wood gets to the fireplace, it goes through so many things. So many obstacles. Just like we did. Then when things went right, we were placed together in one fireplace. Then the fire started, and it grew in time. Just like those flames." She said as she pointed to them. "Every time you add more wood, the fire grows, and so does the passion. It keeps you warm inside and feeling safe. But then when other people take what belongs to you, and you have no more wood to put in, the fire.....it......it dies out eventually. And all that’s left are ashes." She said as tears came rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey...." Luis said as he wiped the tears off her face. "Where is this all coming from? Is this what’s been bothering you lately? The fire? Sheridan let me tell you something. There is nothing to worry about because no one, and I mean NO ONE will ever put our fire out. I will make sure that no one will let that fire die out."

"You promise?" She sniffled. She sounded like a little girl asking for her favorite toy to be bought. "I promise." He said giving her a kiss. "And Sheridan, even if it did die out, what’s left would be ashes. Those ashes will be a sign that we did love each other with all the passion and all the love inside of us. It would be the symbol of our memories that we shared together. And some time down the road it will remind us of everything we went through and give us the strength and courage to fall in love all over again and start a new fire. If someone ever took you away from me, I would search the world for you.

I would look everywhere and will not stop looking til I’d find you and have you safely in my arms." Sheridan felt her heart melting. She would remember those words for as long as she lived, and if possible, even longer. Newly fresh tears invaded her cheeks again and a smile came to her face. "I love you so much, Luis." "I love you, too." Luis replied with a gentle kiss that led to a passionate one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night led to passionate love making, which Luis didn’t know would be one of their lasts. It was also the night that they had conceived their beautiful daughter. She gazed down at what their love had produce and a smile came to her face thinking of what would have happened if she just had told Luis from the very beginning their situation with her father and what he had threatened. She knew Luis would have done something about it.

She brushed the pieces of curls on her daughter’s around, gently caressing her daughter’s dominant features. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are about to land in Harmony. Please put your chairs in the upright position and return your tray tables to their proper place as we start to disintegrate to lower level. Thank You."

Sheridan heard over the speakers placed around the plane. She felt her heart beat as she finally knew that it was almost time. Just a few more minutes and she would be in Harmony. "Abbie? Sweetie? Wake up." Sheridan shook her gently. Abbie moaned and started to stretch. "Mommy?" She said as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun shining out the window. "Yeah, sweetie. It’s time to get up. We’re about to land."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Is this where you used to live, Mommy?" Abbie asked walking around the living room of the cottage. "Yes, this is where she used to live." Ethan answered for Sheridan, who seemed to be a little dazed. It was probably the memories that the place brought. Memories of Luis. "But why didn’t she just stay in the big house over there?" Abbie asked pointing out the window to the mansion that stood on top of a hill. "Well, ‘cause I felt more comfortable here. I had my own privacy. I didn’t get in anyone’s way, and they didn’t get in mine."

"Oh." Abbie said as she walked around, surveying the cottage. "It’s really good to have you back, Sheridan." Ethan said for the millionth time since he first saw Sheridan. "It’s good to be back." Sheridan said a little too sadly that Ethan picked up on it. "Hey, what’s wrong?" Sheridan gazed at her daughter and remembered the promise she made earlier. "Nothing. Just some things have been bothering me lately and I just don’t want to get into it." Sheridan said sitting on the couch. Ethan followed. "You mean Luis, don’t you."

Sheridan looked down at her trembling hands. What was she going to tell Ethan? He probably already knew. "Mommy?" "Yeah, sweetie?" "I’m kinda thirsty." "There’s plenty of drinks in the kitchen." Ethan answered. "I had the maids bring in some groceries for you two. Help yourself to anything. And if you’re hungry you can make yourself a sandwich." "Thanks!" Just as she was going to walk into the kitchen, Ethan called after her again. "Oh, and if you are still hungry, I had Cook bake some cookies for you." "Cookies!? What kind?" Abbie’s eyes grew huge.

"Chocolate chip with macadamia." "Oh, yeah!" The little girl exclaimed. "No! Abbie, you are going to spoil your dinner!" "Come on Mom! It’s just for dessert. I promise, I’ll make myself a sandwich, like Ethan said." "Yeah, come on Sher. Let the girl have some fun." Once again, she felt surrounded. Abbie usually did this to her. She had a charm with other people to get them on her side. She knew that she wouldn’t win. "Alright. But only two cookies!" "Yay! Thanks, Mom. Thanks Ethan!" She said before running out of the room and heading for the kitchen. "Sheridan, she’s really something."

"Yeah, she is." she said somewhat dazed. "Sheridan, I don’t mean to get all personal, and you don’t have to answer my question, but..." "What?" "Is that adorable cousin of mine, my future wife’s niece?" Sheridan didn’t know how to answer the question. Was she going to tell him the truth? Or lie about it like she did with Luis? "I guess sending you to Harvard was a smart idea." Sheridan answered. "So, it’s true? Luis is Abbie’s father?" Sheridan just nodded her head. "Does he know? I mean, from what Theresa told me, you bumped into him in Los Angeles a few years back." "No, he doesn’t know. But my daughter picked up her father’s sense of figuring things out." "What do you mean?" Ethan wondered.

"She figured out that Luis was her father, but it was too late. He had already left." "You mean she knew?" Ethan couldn’t believe it. "Yeah, and she kept it from me for a long time. I just knew today on the plane that she knew. I was totally shocked. I didn’t know what to say." "Wow. You have one amazing daughter." "I know." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mommy, where are we going?" Abbie asked Sheridan. It was about three o’clock in the afternoon. A few hours had past since they’d arrived. "We’re going to the church sweetie. You need to try on your dress and rehearse for the wedding tomorrow." "Oh." She said as she sat back on her seat and continued to look out the window watching Harmony go by. Silence filled the car as they drove to the church. Abbie couldn’t wait to meet everyone else. She really liked her cousin Ethan and wondered what her aunt Theresa would be like. Then, of course, she couldn’t wait to see Luis again. A smile crept up her face as the thought came to mind.

But then, her smile turned into a frown. What if his kids were there? She remembered her mother telling her aunt Chelsea that Luis probably had kids already, seeing that he was married. What would she do? Would Luis accept her as his daughter? So many questions ran through her little head. Sheridan looked at her daughter. She seemed a little stressed out about something. And it worried her. Little girls aren’t suppose to be stressed out. She thought back to their earlier conversation. She needed to talk to her daughter again. Just one more time. She knew Luis was going to be there, and Abbie would expect her to tell him the truth.

As the car approached the church, Sheridan could see a few cars parked out. She knew they were probably waiting for them. She was a nervous wreck. She stopped the car and shut the engine off. "Sweetie, before we go inside, I want to ask you a favor." "What is it, Mommy?" Abbie asked as she took her seat belt off. "We both know that," Sheridan started nervously, "we both know that Luis......Your Daddy is going to be there." She paused to make sure she was following. She didn’t have any problems. Though Abbie was only eight, she understood things in life so easily. When Abbie nodded her head, Sheridan continued. "I want to hold out on the promise earlier."

"Why?" Abbie asked in a barely audible voice. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "Sweet heart, I just don’t want anything to go wrong for Ethan and Theresa. If I tell Luis today, there’s no telling what he’ll do. Ethan and Theresa deserve the attention. Right now, I want to keep it to ourselves. But I promise you that after the wedding, I’ll tell him......no matter what, I promise I’ll tell him before we leave." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the day of the wedding. Sheridan was looking at her reflection in the mirror. She wore a long, flowing lavender dress that hugged her upper body tightly, showing off her curves. Her hair was done perfectly, as was her make up. As she stood there looking at herself, she couldn’t help but remember the events of last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheridan was nervous. As she walked through the church doors with her daughter in tow, her heart was beating fast. And she knew why. Everyone was busily hurrying around. People were chattering everywhere. They all looked as though they were going to burst of all the excitement. Everyone was there. Everyone except Luis. Where was he? "There you are!" Sheridan heard from across the room. "We were starting to get worried that you forgot your way around town."

"Sorry about that, Ivy. We just had some things to do." She told Ivy as she walked toward her. Following behind was Theresa, Whitney, and Ethan’s sister, Charlotte. "Abigail, I hope you are excited to be the flower girl." Ivy said kneeling down to reach her niece’s height. "Yeah, I am." she said with a big smile. "Well, your partner is with her Daddy right now, so do you want to go and meet her?" "Um, I would like to, but I want to stay with my Mom." "Sheridan, your daughter is just precious." Theresa said. "Hi! I’m your cousin, Charlotte." "Hi." She said shyly. "Hey, you haven’t seen your dress yet. Why don’t we take you to the back and try it on, so that we can make any necessary changes." Whitney suggested.

Abbie looked at her mother with the is-it-alright-with-you-if-I-go look. Sheridan gave her a small smile, telling her it was fine. Abbie followed the three ladies that took her to the back. "Sheridan, your daughter is just absolutely perfect. Anyway, since we’re still waiting for someone to show up, I guess we can catch up." "Really? Who are we waiting for?" Then, that’s when she heard it. His voice. "Hey everyone! Sorry, I’m late. I just got stuck in traffic on my way down." It was him. There was no mistake. She froze. She couldn’t turn around. She just hoped he didn’t recognize her just yet. She still didn’t know how to face him. "Ivy! Where is everyone?" She heard his voice getting closer. "Luis! Everyone was tired of waiting for you that they all decided to leave." Ivy said as she walked toward Luis. Sheridan still had her back facing them. "Whatever." Luis said. "Oh, Hello." He said.

Sheridan slowly turned around, knowing that he was talking to her. She gave a small smile. "Luis." She saw that he looked surprised to see her there. "Sh....Sheridan?" "Yeah, it’s me." Sheridan could see Ivy slowly walking away. Until she heard it. "LUIS!" She saw that Luis instantly turned his head when he heard his name. "Abbie!" Luis said excitedly. Abbie had jumped into Luis’ arms with a big embrace. It was the sweetest thing Sheridan ever saw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, I guess it’s time." Sheridan said as she walked out the door in search of her daughter. Abbie was in the living room waiting for her mother to get dressed. She sat there remembering what she heard last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had left her in the room to put her dress on. She looked in the mirror and saw her reflection. She loved the dress. She felt like she was Belle in"Beauty and the Beast". She wanted to go out and show her mother. That’s when she heard it. "Whit, now I know the whole reason." She heard someone say. She recognized the voice to be Theresa’s.

"The reason? What and who are you talking about?" She heard the other voice say. She knew that eavesdropping wasn’t a nice thing to do. The last time she did, it only caused her heart ache. She was about to make her presence known when she heard it. "I’m talking about Luis, and why he didn’t marry Michelle." That stopped her right on her tracks. Her father wasn’t married anymore! Or, he didn’t even get married. Even better!

"What?! Why do you think?" "It’s so obvious, Whit. It’s because of Sheridan. He still loves her. I mean, don’t you find it strange that when Luis came back from LA, he changed a lot? And out of nowhere he broke off his engagement?" "Well, that does make sense. I mean, you told me that Luis met Sheridan back there, right?" "Right, and something must’ve happened. I wonder what." "Don’t you think it would be a miracle if Luis got back with Sheridan?" "It would be the best gift Abigail would ever get." "What do you mean?" "Just wait and see, Whit, just wait and see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her father wasn’t married, and that thrilled her. They had a chance to be a family. Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother’s voice. "Are you ready?" She simply nodded and took her mother’s hand.....time to see her father. In only a matter of a few hours, when Ethan and Theresa would leave for their honeymoon, her mother would tell her father who she was. That kept her going. She couldn’t wait for tonight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom will have their first dance as husband and wife." Sheridan had just ended her conversation with Theresa as the DJ announced the dance. She smiled at the couple on the dance floor. She never thought that it would happen. Ethan always said that he and Theresa didn’t have anything... all they had was pure friendship, that’s all. "Yeah, right!" Sheridan thought.

She gazed around the room and noticed that Abbie was with Luis and they were laughing with each other. A smile came to her face and she noticed that her daughter was very happy. She then knew how important it was for her daughter to be raised by her father. She could just see the look on her daughter’s eyes. She was interrupted when she saw Abigail waving to her with a big smile on her face. Sheridan smiled and waved back.

When the song ended, the room was filled with applauds for the bride and groom. As the next song came on, couples surrounded the dance floor holding each other close as the soft, gentle music came on. She envied the couples on the floor and wished she were up there with Luis. Dancing safely in his warm embrace. The side of her eye caught the most adorable picture she’d seen. Her daughter was dancing. Abigail was dancing with Luis! It was a big surprise for her. Her eyes grew wider as she saw Luis pick her up from the ground and start to whirl her around the air. They were laughing hard and enjoying themselves.

Somehow, she knew it would all be okay once she tells Luis the truth. She was running the words in her head for like the millionth time. She knew she had to make it perfect. She was interrupted by Theresa. "They’re adorable, aren’t they?" "Huh?" Sheridan asked. "Abigail and Luis. Look at them. They are just so cute together." Theresa said as she took a seat next to Sheridan. "Yeah, they do, don’t they?" "Sheridan, I don’t mean to pry, but.....when are you going to tell him?" Sheridan played with her ring.

"Tonight.....I’m going to tell him tonight." "You are!" Theresa said a little too loudly. "Yeah, I am." Sheridan said. "Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe it! He will be so happy!" Theresa said with a huge smile on her face. "So, does that mean you’re going to come back to Harmony and stay here for good?" "For good?" Sheridan was confused. "Yeah, I mean.....if you tell Luis that Abbie is his daughter, he’s going to want to spend every single day with her...and you."

"But, Theresa, I have a job and a life back in L.A. I can’t just pack my things and leave. I mean, I have a company to run." "But, I thought you’d come and live in Harmony for good. I mean don’t you think you should?" Sheridan was caught off guard. Theresa was right. If she told Luis about Abbie, he would do everything in his power to have her with him all the time. She knew she couldn’t just leave her life in California and live in Harmony.

And she knew for a fact that Luis loved it in Harmony and there was no way in hell he would leave. His whole life was in this town and he wouldn’t just leave it. She was facing a big dilemma. She knew that both of them were too stubborn to give up their life to be with one another, no matter how much they loved each other. It was just too much to lose. She didn’t want her daughter to be like a yo-yo. Going back and forth to each parent and spending only holidays with Luis. No, she couldn’t do it.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 24b:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ethan took the garter off Theresa’s leg with ease. Applauds could be heard through out the room. "Alright, all you single men, you know what to do....Get out there!" the DJ announced. Luis was standing in the corner watching the event. He couldn’t be more happier for his little sister than he is now. "One down, another one to go." He thought as he spotted Paloma with someone across the room.

He then saw it. The most beautiful thing he’d ever lay eyes on. Sheridan Crane. He let out a sigh as he stood there watching her hold her daughter. He couldn’t get enough of that little girl. He admitted that he loved the girl his love was holding, but somewhere inside, he hated the thought that Sheridan had a child with someone other than him. It had always been his dream to have children with Sheridan. He always dreamed that one day he would be happily married to Sheridan. But something was bothering her. She looked a little occupied in the conversation with her daughter. What could they be talking about?

His thoughts were interrupted by someone pulling his arm on to the dance floor. "Miguel! What are you doing?" "Luis, come one. It’ll be fun." Miguel said laughing. He looked at Ethan and winked, which went unnoticed by Luis. What were they up to? Luis couldn’t not think that they were up to something. Then it happened. Out of nowhere, the garter landed on his hands and he could hear the sound of people cheering wildly. Ethan went up to him and gave him a brotherly hug, congratulating him. Somewhere inside, Luis knew it wasn’t a coincidence that it just happen to land in his hands.

Sheridan stood there deep in conversation with her daughter. Abbie was telling her mother how much fun she was having. Especially earlier when she was dancing with Luis. Sheridan was happy that her daughter was enjoying herself. Then someone called out her name. "Aunt Sheridan! Come on!" Charlotte said as she pulled her on to the dance floor. "Wha? Where are we going?" Sheridan asked, shocked. "Um.....Duh! Theresa is going to throw the bouquet!" "I don’t think I should." "Oh, never mind! Just lets go!" "Yeah, Mom.....it looks like fun! Good Luck! I hope you catch it." Abbie told her mother with a big smile. "You really think I can catch it?" Sheridan asked her daughter.

"I DARE you!" Abbie said with a determined voice. She knew that if she could get her mother to get the bouquet, she’d wish that the tale would be true.....catch the bouquet, and you’re the next one walking down the aisle, getting married. Abbie saw her mother and her cousin along side with other single women. Sheridan couldn’t believe she was doing this. She didn’t know what she was thinking! She heard Theresa ask if everyone was ready and saw that she winked at her. "What are you hinting at, Theresa?" Sheridan wondered. Soon, the bouquet landed straight in her hands. She didn’t even try!

Then, a whole swarm of women came to congratulate her. Theresa came and pulled her to the center of the dance floor. "Theresa, what’s going on?" Sheridan whispered. "Well, he has to place the garter on you." Theresa said excitedly. "What!?!" Sheridan was worried. Who is going to put the garter on her? Next thing she knew, she saw Luis and Ethan walking towards them. "Theresa, why is Luis walking this way?" she knew she regretted asking the question. "Well, he caught the garter and so now, he has to place it on you." Oh, my God! She dreaded that answer. Her face held a shock statement, but deep down, she couldn’t wait. She wanted to feel Luis’ hands on her skin again.

Wild cheers and howling came from every corner of the room. Luis was nervous. Why did Sheridan have to catch the bouquet? Why did he have to catch the garter? But, then he knew that if he didn’t, then someone else would had the opportunity to touch Sheridan. And just the thought of it made his stomach cringe. He kneeled down to where Sheridan was at. She was sitting on a chair and he could hear all his friends cheering him on. He felt like he was on his first date. It was similar, but not really.

He looked at Sheridan and found that they both had the same statement on their faces. He gave her a smile and it eased her a bit. "Hey," he said. "Hey......So, what are you waiting for?" Sheridan asked. Luis just laughed at her and lifted the skirt of her dress. Luis felt Sheridan tense up, but eased as soon as his hand touched her leg. "Put it on there, Luis!" A voice from the crowd yelled. Luis turned and grinned big. He felt that he was blushing and he couldn’t hide it. This only made Sheridan laugh hard.

It was finally over. Luis slid his hands out from underneath her dress and stood up. Everyone clapped wildly as Luis offered his hand to help her up. They both smiled and it felt right. "Alright, it’s time for their dance!" The voice on the speaker announced. Sheridan and Luis stared at each other in disbelief, but what could they do? The song started and they swayed to the music. Holding each other close, they felt like there was no one in the room, but them.

This could have been just another day
But instead we're standing here
No need for words, it's all been said
In the way you hold me near
I was alone on this journey
You came along to comfort me

Everything I want in life is right here
'Cause this is not your ordinary
No ordinary love
I was not prepared enough
To fall so deep in love
This is not your ordinary
No ordinary love

You were the first to touch my heart
Made everything right again
With your extraordinary love
I get so weak
When you look at me
I get lost inside your eyes
Sometimes the magic is hard to believe
But you're here before my very eyes
You brought joy to my world
Set me so free

I want you to understand
You are every breath that I breathe
This is not your ordinary
No ordinary love
I was not prepared enough
To fall so deep in love
This is not your ordinary
No ordinary love

You were the first to touch my heart
Made everything right again
With your extraordinary love
From the very first time that we kissed
I knew that I just couldn't let you go at all

From this day on, remember this:
That you're the only one that I adore
Can't we make this last forever
This can't be a dream
'Cause it feels so good to me

This is not your ordinary
No ordinary love
I was not prepared enough
To fall so deep in love
This is not your ordinary
No ordinary love
You were the first to touch my heart
Made everything right again
With your extraordinary love

"No Ordinary Love" Jennifer Love Hewitt

Abbie had watched her parents dance, and it’s what she had wished for. Now, she needed something else to make them come closer.....Yes! She knew what to do! She remembered Theresa telling her about Tango! She ran to the DJ and told him her plan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tango was good. The party was almost over. The bride and groom had left for their honeymoon, and the guests were slowly leaving one by one. Sheridan and Luis were outside in the Crane gardens admiring the roses and daffodils, and of course, the night’s cool air. Sheridan had suggested to go out to talk. She needed to tell him something important. Obviously Luis didn’t know, but Sheridan did. It was time.

She was nervous and she could feel herself shivering from it. This didn’t go unnoticed by Luis and he took off his jacket and placed it around Sheridan. It was a full moon and the stars shone brightly. It was a beautiful site. "So, you actually came back to Harmony." Luis said, breaking the silence. "Yeah, I did." Sheridan simply said. "To think, after all these years." Sheridan didn’t understand him. What was he talking about. "Yeah, and so?" "I thought you said you’d never come back to Harmony." Luis said, coldness filled his voice.

Where was this all coming from? "Luis, what are you trying to imply?" Sheridan said, her voice almost reaching the same tone his held. "Nothing. Forget I ever said anything." He said turning away from her. Sheridan just disregarded it. She didn’t have the energy to argue. She changed the subject. "So, how have you been?" "Alright, I guess." "I....um...heard about Michelle. What happened?" "We broke it off." Luis said, his voice barely audible. "I’m sorry." She said.

"Yeah, you should be." Luis said below his breath. He didn’t know Sheridan had heard him. "Excuse me?" She asked. Did she just hear right? ‘You should be.’? "Nothing." "No! Tell me!" She said forcing Luis to face her. "I did it for you. I broke it off for you. I thought you were coming back. You told me you would! Remember? At the airport?! Then I get a letter from you saying you can’t. Saying that it was a mistake! How could you?" He yelled.

"So, you’re blaming me? You’re blaming me for your failed relationship?! I didn’t tell you not to marry her! I didn’t tell you to break things off with her! You did it yourself!" "You know what, Sheridan? I’ve been thinking for the last past years of my life. And I think I finally figured it out. You know......you are just like your family. You ruin people’s lives." "What?!" "You just use people, don’t you. You never really loved me."

"How can you say that!" Tears streamed down her face. "How can I say that? I just said it! You used me, Sheridan! What? Was I just a fling to you? Was I that good in bed?!" "How dare you!" she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What was he thinking? "You probably have lovers around the world, don’t you? I was your lover in Harmony? Then when you got tired of me, you left to where? Oh, yeah, California!" Luis said throwing his hands up in the air.

"Then what happened? You found a new lover and he knocked you up!" Luis then felt a stinging pain on his left cheek as Sheridan's palm met his face. "How dare you! How dare you make assumptions about my life when you know nothing! How dare you accuse me of sleeping around! How dare you, you bastard!" "You’re right! I don’t know anything! So why don’t you tell me!" He said as he rubbed his cheek, trying to take the pain away. "You don’t deserve to know anything!" Sheridan said just before she turned and walked away. Before she even left the gardens, someone popped in front of her.

"Abigail!" She said, placing her hand on her chest. Abbie was in tears. She had heard everything and she knew that her mother wasn’t going to tell her father the truth. "Mommy?" "Abbie, lets go, we’re leaving." Sheridan said taking her daughter’s hand. "No, Mom! You promised." Abbie said not moving. "Abigail! I said we are leaving!" "NO! You promised to tell him!" She said pointing to Luis. By this time Luis had arrived to where they were at and wondered what the little girl was talking about. He knew that she was talking about him because he had heard his name. "Tell me what?" Luis asked.

"This is none of your concern!" Sheridan snapped at him. "Fine!" Luis said as he stormed off. "Noooo! LUIS!" Abbie yelled as she ran after him. "Luis please don’t leave." "Abigail!" Sheridan yelled. "Abbie." Luis started as he kneeled down. "Listen. Your mother and I aren’t really in good terms right now. So, I’ll see you later?" "No, you can’t leave!" Abbie said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "I have to go." Luis said standing up. "No! You....you can’t!........Mommy, please TELL him!" She pleaded.

She knew she couldn’t do anything any more ‘cause Luis was almost out of her sight. And she knew her mother was stubborn to do anything either. She did the one thing she could think of. "DADDY!!" She yelled. She was breathing rapidly as more tears clouded her vision. This got Luis attention. Why was she yelling Daddy? He turned around and saw her running towards him. What was going on? Abbie hugged him tightly around his waist and cried. "Please don’t leave me, Daddy. Please don’t leave me again."

Luis didn’t understand it. He looked ahead and saw that Sheridan had her face buried in her hands sobbing. He kneeled down again. "Abbie, what are you talking about?" "Luis?" She sniffled as she threw her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. "You’re my Daddy. You’re my Daddy!" "What?" He was shocked. "Mom just didn’t tell you. But I’m your daughter!" She cried. "You’re not going to leave me, are you? Please say you won’t."

"Abbie? Who told you this?" Luis said as he pulled away from the little girl's embrace so he could look at her tear streaked face. "I heard Mom talking to aunt Chelsea about it. And Mom promise me that she was going to tell you about it. She was going to tell you, but then you guys started to fight." Luis couldn’t believe it. He was right before. Abigail was his daughter. "Daddy, please don’t get mad at Mom. She didn’t mean to do it. She was just scared of grandfather Alistair. And she was scared ‘cause you said you didn’t want to have children yet. It’s not her fault." She told her father.

Luis looked at her, trying to soak all the information in. He brought a hand up to her cheeks and wiped the tears away, but there was no avail. More tears kept coming. Luis couldn’t believe it. He had a daughter. He was the father of Sheridan’s child. He pulled the little girl in an embrace and held on for dear life. He couldn’t help the tears from not flowing...but it was no use.

He looked up and saw Sheridan coming their way. He stood up as he held onto Abbie's hand. "How could you have kept this from me?" He asked. Sheridan just stared at him. How dare he ask such a question. He just accused her of sleeping around and using people. "Abbie, let’s go." "Mom!" She protested. "Abigail Sheriece! You got your wish. He knows now......I’m really, really tired! Now, let’s go!" She said as she took hold of her daughter’s hand.

Abbie knew better than to disobey her mother. So she followed. "Sheridan!" Luis called out chasing after her. "Sheridan!" By this time, they were inside of the mansion, with everyone who was left staring at them, wondering what happened. "Sheridan!" He said again, this time grabbing her arm. "You’re hurting me!" She yelled as she snatched her arm away. "Don’t walk away from me Sheridan, not after this." He said. Everyone in the room wondered what he was talking about.

"I walked away from you once. You don’t think I’d do it again?" She asked. She didn’t know where that came from, it just came out. She regretted say it, but she didn’t show it. Her heart was breaking. She turned around with her daughter in one hand and walked out of the mansion, slamming the door leaving everyone surprised and Luis heart broken.......again.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 25:

*~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~***~**~** Sheridan was standing by the fire, watching the flames. She was tired from the events that had just happened. As tears slipped down her face, she thought of Luis’ reaction. It was all over. She wouldn’t have any say in anything anymore. What would she do? "Mom?" A small voice intervened with her thoughts. Sheridan didn’t show any response. She heard her daughter, but she didn’t acknowledge her. "Mom?" Abbie said again. She was feeling guilty for her mother’s sadness. She blamed herself for letting her mother down. It had always been just the two of them and she cherished every moment.

She had told herself that no matter what, she would make her mother happy. Now, she felt like she had disappointed her. She stared at her mother. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She didn’t know what she was going through, but she knew it was bad. She’d never seen her like this. It was making her little heart break. She had to do something. "Mom?" Abbie asked as she took her hand in hers. "I know I can’t do anything to make up for what I did.......but I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry." Abbie had tears running down her face.

Her lips were quivering and she felt like she lost her mother’s love with the way Sheridan was looking at her. Her stare was emotionless. No statement held. "I’m sorry.....it’s okay if you don’t love me anymore." Abbie said as she walked away from her mother. "Abbie?" Sheridan said stopping her. She walked toward her daughter and kneeled down. "Sweetie," she started as she wiped a tear. "What makes you think that I don’t love you anymore?" Abbie looked down at her feet and shrugged her shoulders as more tears came.

"Baby," she said as she picked her chin up to look at her, "no matter what you do......no matter what happens.....I will always love you. No matter what. Abigail, I love you. You are my pride and joy. If anything ever happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do. Darling, don’t you ever say that again, alright?" Abbie nodded and gave her mother a hug. She was relieved. Her mother didn’t hate her. She still loved her and that was a big weight lifted of her shoulders. "It’s been a long night. Why don’t you go and change into your pajamas and go to bed. I’ll be in soon to tuck you in." Sheridan smiled. Abbie did what she was told and soon disappeared into the bedroom.

After a moment of silence, Sheridan heard knocking on the door. She didn’t have to wonder who it was. She already knew. Something was keeping her from answering the door. She just stood there, rooted to the ground. "Sheridan?" She heard. It was his voice. She didn’t know what to make of it. She couldn’t tell what he was feeling. She usually did, but now, she didn’t know if he was mad or not. "Sheridan!" She heard again. She turned around and faced the door. Hesitating to answer it. "Sheridan! Answer the damn door!" This time she flinched. He was mad, and she could tell.

She gazed at the door once again and breathed in a deep sigh. She walked toward the door. As she brought up her hand to the knob, she heard Luis again. This time he was yelling and pounding on the door. Sheridan’s shaking hands slowly turned the knob and revealed the man she dreaded seeing. She could tell by the look on his face, he was mad. "Sheridan." He said gently, which surprised her.

She didn’t say one word. Instead, she just stepped aside holding the door for him to come in. As Luis walked in, he searched for her. He searched for his daughter, but she wasn’t around. He turned around to see Sheridan closing the door, leaving the night’s air out. Then their eyes locked. He could tell that there was so much pain in them. He saw that tears were forming in them and he so much wanted to wipe them away. "Sheridan-"

"She’s in the bedroom." She said flatly as she walked passed Luis towards her bedroom, but before she could get to the door, Luis stopped her. "Sher, can we talk about this?" He had his hand on hers and she felt guilty with the emotions she was feeling. She jerked her hand away. She didn’t want to feel it at a time like this. She just had so many emotions running through her, she didn’t want to feel anymore. "There’s nothing to talk about. You know everything........Abigail is your daughter, I kept it from you......Now, you know. I don’t blame you if you hate me." "Sheridan, I don’t —"

"No, Luis.... Please. Just don’t." She said as she led Luis toward her bedroom. She opened the door to reveal a little girl laying in bed waiting patiently for her mother. "Mom!" She said smiling. "Sweetie, there’s um, someone here to see you." Abigail was surprised. Who was here to see her at this time of the night? "Who?" Sheridan turned around and signaled for Luis to come in. As soon as Luis walked in, she bolted up quickly. Her eyes grew wide and she didn’t know what to make of it. What was he doing here? She hadn’t heard any yelling. So they hadn’t talked.

"Mom?" She questioned. "I’ll be outside." Was all Sheridan said as she closed the door, leaving her daughter with her father. She walked toward the couch and sank down crying like she never had. She lost Luis once, she did it again, and now, she might lose her daughter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abigail Sheriece Crane looked into the eyes of the man she had came to love. The man who would be there for her as a father. She smiled shyly when she saw him smile. She didn’t know what to say. For the first time in her life, she was speechless. What was she to say? She finally found her father and she felt a little awkward towards him.

"Luis?" "Yes, sweetie?" Luis asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Can I...." she began as she looked down at her small hands that were playing with the comforter. "Can I call you daddy, now?" Luis was surprised at her question, but he loved the way she said it. Never in his life would he think that the sound of the word would sound so sweet. He took his daughter’s hands and placed them on his as he gave it a gentle kiss. "I would expect you to."

Abbie smiled a toothy smile. She hesitated for a minute, but then she thought, ‘oh, what the heck.’ as she threw her arms around Luis’ neck. Her soft blond curls tickled his face, just like her mother’s. How could he not love this little girl? Just as he was to pull away, he heard the sweetest thing. "I love you, Daddy." He smiled as he started to feel his eyes tearing.

He pulled away from the embrace and stared at his daughter’s brown eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. Her sparkling hazel eyes were like his. A tear rolled down his cheek, and Abbie reached up to wipe it away. "I love you, too Sweetheart. So much." Luis said as he kissed her forehead. Luis continued to gaze at his daughter and was in awe of her resemblance with Sheridan. It was spectacular as he thought of the mere fact that he and Sheridan had created something special and so beautiful. He watched as his daughter’s smile turned into a frown.

"Hey, Sweetie, what’s wrong?" "Daddy? You’re not mad at Mom, are you?" Luis didn’t know how to answer her. "A part of me is, yet, a part of me isn’t." "Do you still love her?" Luis was shocked. He didn’t want to lie, especially to his daughter. "Yeah, Yeah I do." He only saw a smile on her face. "Does that mean you’re gonna go back with us to LA?" The question knocked the air out of his lungs. What was he to say? He couldn’t just leave his job in Harmony and his family. Sure, Theresa was already married to Ethan, but Miguel was just starting over again, and his mother.

He wouldn’t leave his mother. She had been his source of strength whenever he needed something. "Sweetie, I don’t think I can do that. There’s too much here in Harmony keeping me back." "But......But I thought you loved Mom and.....I mean, don’t you want us to be a family?" "You are my family. I love you with all my heart, but I don’t think there’s a possibility that I could move to Los Angeles." "Okay, then, we’ll move to Harmony!" She said smiling brightly. Luis shook his head once again. He took her small hands in his and tried to make her understand. "No, sweetie. Even that’s not an option. You’re mother has too much there. She can’t just leave it all behind. No matter how much I would love for the two of you to move back here, there’s just no way."

The room was filled with silence once again. Abbie gazed at her surroundings and started to think. She was scared. Now that she had found her father, she couldn’t understand why they couldn’t become a family. "Daddy? What’s going to happen to us?" She asked as tears filled her eyes. "Look, let’s not worry about that now, okay? You had a long and tiring day. Why don’t you get some shut eye while I go talk to your mom about the two of you spending the summer here."

"Okay." She slipped in underneath the comforter and snuggled next to her stuff doll. Luis made sure she was comfortable enough before kissing her on the forehead and wishing her sweet dreams. He walked towards the door and left right after getting one last look at his pride and joy.

Luis walked into the living room and found Sheridan staring out the window. It was mesmerizing. It was a full moon out and with her standing by the window, she looked as if she were glowing. She looked so deep in thought that when Luis called out her name, she didn’t even notice. "Sheridan?" He called out again. But still the same, he didn’t get a response. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, ‘causing her to jump in surprise. "I’m sorry!"

"It’s okay." Sheridan said as she tried to catch her breath. "Are you okay, Sher?" She hesitated for a moment but quickly told him she was fine and left to sit on the sofa. When she got there, she buried her face in her hands. What was she thinking? Well that’s the question Luis wanted to know. He walked to her and kneeled in front of her. He took her hands away from her face so that she was looking into his eyes. "Sheridan?"

"Luis," it was getting harder for her as Luis brushed a tear away. "Luis, look. I know that after all the pain I’ve caused you, and the fact..........and the fact that I took her away from you. I know that it wouldn’t help one bit, but Luis, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’ll even understand if you won’t forgive me. But I just want you to know that I am sorry." Sheridan said in between sobs. "Sheridan, everything is going to be fine. It’ll be alright." Luis said as he tried to dry her eyes.

"No!" Sheridan said as she stood up and walked towards the fire place. "How can you say everything is going to be alright, when the truth is it’s not?" she said, not taking her eyes away from the flames. She faced Luis who was clearly confused. "How can you stand there and comfort me, knowing I caused all the pain that’s going through you right now? How can you, when all I ever did was lie to you? I made you believe she wasn’t your daughter. I let you go on living without you knowing that you have a child? How can you stand there and look at me?"

"Because I love you." He said simply. Sheridan looked at him as confused as she was before. He took a step closer to Sheridan. "Because you are the mother of my child," He was now practically holding her hands, "and because I would do anything to have you back in my life." Fresh tears were freely leaving her eyes now. "Sheridan, we’ll work this out. I promise, we’ll work it out." "But," Sheridan started to say. She was interrupted by Luis silencing her with his finger and placed his other hand on her waist.

"Shh....no ‘buts’. Don’t think about it right now. Just think about you, me, and our sleeping daughter in the next room." He said with a smile that caused Sheridan to smile too. "Oh, Luis." She said as she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him as tightly as she could. She never wanted to let go. She pulled back from the hug and stared deeply into his brown, hazel eyes. She missed them so much. Luis could feel his head slowly leaning down as he awaited for this kiss that was soon to take place.

As their lips finally met, all the feeling he had for her became stronger. Their short, sweet, simple kiss turned into a passionate filled one that brought them into a world that only the two of them existed. Little did they know a pair of twinkling brown eyes were watching them as a big smile formed on her face. She knew everything was going to be alright, no matter what happens, because Love......It lasts Forever.

EPILOGUE

Flight 612 Leaving for Los Angeles is now boarding at gate 5
Luis Lopez Fitzgerald walked toward Gate 5 with his daughter safely in one arm and his love on the other. "This is it." He said as he brought his daughter to the ground while releasing his hand from Sheridan’s, which were laced on to his. He kneeled down to reach the little girl’s height. "Give me a hug?" He asked. "You don’t want a kiss too?" She asked shaking her head and grinning. Luis laughed at her sarcasm. Just like her mother’s. "I want both." Was all he said before he felt two arms circle his neck. He hugged her so tight it caused her to giggle.

When she let go she gave her father a big kiss on the lips and looked up at her mother. "Now it’s your turn." She said with a huge grin. "My turn? For what?" Sheridan asked her daughter. "Well, duh!" She said rolling her eyes. "To give Daddy a hug and a kiss." Luis couldn’t help but smile inside. His daughter was just too much. He couldn’t believe that he missed out on so much. But he was thankful to Sheridan for agreeing to stay in Harmony that summer.

He got to know his daughter a little more, and not to mention, he felt like he had the family he always wanted. He will have the family he always wanted. He just needed to work out some minor details. "Abbie, here, why don’t you go and get in line while I say bye to your Daddy." She said as she handed her the boarding passes. Together, they watched her skip to line where people were getting ready to board the plane. Sheridan turned around to be face to face with Luis. She couldn’t help but smile, even though inside she was hurting. Once again, she was going to leave him.

"I’ll see you in four months?" Luis asked as he took her hands in his. Sheridan sighed, "It’s going to be the longest four months of my life." "I know, I know." Luis said pulling her closer and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Well, think of it this way. I had to wait five years to see you, then another three to actually know my daughter, so what’s four months?" Sheridan felt bad at his comment. Luis meant it as a joke, but he could tell she felt guilty. "I’m sorry, Luis."

"Sheridan, I was just kidding." He said trying to assure her. "We talked about this already. Do you want to go over it again?" "No, it’ll just bring up too much emotions." She said giving him a shy smile. "Why don’t you just come with us? Just for a few days?" She asked hopeful. "Sher, you know I can’t. I’m working on a case right now." "I know, I know." she said shaking her head. "I guess it was just wishful thinking." Silence filled the air once again as the two just stared at each other like no one else was around. Their eyes did all the talking and loving. They both understood one another that way. It was just something, some kind of special bond they shared with each other.

Luis lowered his head toward Sheridan’s and their lips met. It was a wonderful feeling which neither of them wanted to end. Before the kiss got deeper, the sound of a woman’s voice filled the air causing them to be drawn back into reality. Fligh 612 to Los Angeles is now calling its final boarding. Passengers please board at Gate 5. Once again, this is the final boarding for Flight 612 to Los Angeles. Sheridan smiled against Luis’ lips and kissed him quickly again before picking up her carry on. "Well, I guess this is it." She said as she looked at her daughter who was looking out the large glass window showing the planes taking off. "Abigail!"

"Hey," Luis said as he touched her shoulder, "soon. Very soon." Sheridan took a deep breath and brought a hand up to Luis’ face and smiled softly. "Promise?" "I promise." Luis said taking her hand and giving it a gentle kiss. "Hey come here, you little squirt!" Luis said as Abbie approached them. He squatted down and embraced her tightly. "I love you." "I love you, too, Daddy." She said in a giggle against her father’s shoulder. "I’ll see you at Christmas?" Luis asked as he pulled away. "You bet!" She said with a big smile on her face. "Abbie, come on." Sheridan said to her as she handed their boarding pass to the attendant. Abbie obeyed her mother and walked to her taking her hand.

Just before walking into the conveyer, which would lead her into the plane, she took one last look at Luis to remember that smile. She smiled back at him and she led her daughter towards the plane. "SHERIDAN!" She heard. Immediately she turned to find Luis just about near the entrance. Since he couldn’t enter, they were about twenty feet away. At first, he hesitated. Sheridan, not knowing what he wanted, gave him a confused look. She then saw the contours of his face light up. He flashed her a bright smile and mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to her. Sheridan smiled and decided to play along.

"What? Luis, what did you say?" She said as she brought a hand to the back of her ear for special effects. "I love you." He said simply. Sheridan smiled wider, "WHAT?" Catching on to the game she was playing, Luis screamed louder causing heads to turn. "I LOVE YOU!" Sheridan was practically laughing. When it subsided she looked at him seriously. "I love you, too." "WHAT?" Luis asked, doing the same thing she had just did. "Shut up, Luis. You heard me. I said I love you!"

"Mom?" Abbie asked. She was happy for her parents, but if they were going to act like that, they could’ve found some private place. "If you and Daddy want to flirt with each other, why don’t we just stay?" She asked, and prayed that they would. Sheridan smiled at her and shook her head. "Let’s go." As they continued to walk, Sheridan once again turned her head and whispered the words of love to Luis, which she knew he had heard. Walking into the plane, Abbie smiled brightly up at her mother. Things were definitely going her way. She couldn’t wait til Christmas.......

THE END