Howie wasn't awake for most of his visitors the next day. The medical staff limited his visitors to the immediate family, but didn't turn away his tearful assistant, Michelle. Caroline seemed the most comfortable with him in his hospital environment. Leah sat her on the bed and she snuggled up to him, as though nothing had changed at all. When she settled on his arm it woke him for a moment, but he settled back asleep with his face buried in her soft brown curls. Soon they were both softly snoring together.

"Don't they just belong together." AJ whispered softly to Leah as they stood in the doorway of Howie's private room.

"She'll never really know." Leah sighed sadly, leaning against the doorjamb. "She'll never really know what he was like before."

"Don't say that. You said yourself he's going to recover." AJ whispered harshly.

"How did the board meeting go?"

"Lexie said it went fine. Steve was voted in without effort." AJ put his hands in his pockets and leaned on the doorjamb opposite of her.

"She really stepped into that."

"I didn't realize she knew so much about the business."

"She and Howie would have these long conversations, it must have been about business. I just assumed it was about Nick or you." Leah shrugged.

"You think it was wise to make her a major stockholder?"

"I guess so. Howie always told her how to vote; he just wanted the family as major stockholders. I don't think she can do much harm." Leah looked over at him, his lean arms were crossed over his chest as he looked into the hospital room at Howie.

"She's now the most major stockholder with yours and Howie's proxy."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Leah looked over at the sleeping pair.

"How is he?"

"He's tired. He's been asleep most of the day. He seemed happiest to see Caroline."

"Well, she's his little angel."

"I hope it's enough to make him live."

"How long were you at the hospital?" Lexie asked Nick as they huddled on the back deck for some privacy.

"A couple hours. I dropped off Caroline for your mom, had lunch with Kevin, Brian, and Leighanne. The meeting went smoothly?"

"Very much. Dad pretty much had everything prepared." Lexie tipped back her head and looked up at the stars. "God it's been a long 48 hours. I'm glad Kevin and Brian made it.

"They were just waiting until they could come visit, but yes, it has been." Nick agreed. "Are we going to stay out the week?"

"I don't think so. . ." She began. She lowered her head to look into her glass. "Nick, there is something I need to tell you."

"Really? What?" He asked innocently, raising his own glass of iced tea to his lips.

She hazarded a guarded look at him. Once she said it, he was never going to be the same. She was going to change things forever.

"DAD!" CJ suddenly screeched as she came running down the deck at them. "Tyler keeps doing everything I'm doing and saying everything I'm saying. He's making me crazy!" She came to a sudden stop in front of them.

"Why are you such a tattletale?" Nick mused.

"You don't understand!" She demanded of him.

"You don't understand!" Tyler suddenly mimicked her from behind her back.

"See what I mean?"

"See what I mean?"

"Okay, Tyler, stop bugging CJ." Nick smiled.

"Tyler, stop bugging CJ." Tyler teased them both. Lexie couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"See?" CJ demanded.

"See?" Tyler mimicked.

"I see, I see. Come inside, and we'll fix this." Nick got off the rail they were sitting on and headed inside after the two running children. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at Lexie. "Is it important? Can it wait? I'll be right back."

"No problem. It can wait." Lexie waved him away.

But not for too much longer.

By Wednesday, Howie was sitting a chair and acknowledging most people who came to visit him. No one was really sure if he really knew who they were or just remembered them from the day before. He seemed conscious of his environment, but unable to answer simple yes or no questions. He enjoyed the children the most, especially Caroline, but to everyone's surprise John and CJ were very standoffish. Obviously uncomfortable with his present condition, they weren't able to fully approach him. Tyler also took some time to warm to him, but by the third day, he seemed to accept the situation although excited to see his Dad's therapy and recovery begin soon.

Nick decided it was time to go back to Tampa and get CJ back in school. Lexie was running out of time and Nick noticed her distraction, but he chalked up to Howie being sick. She agreed to go back to Tampa with him for the night, but return the next day to relieve Cook and Marv from taking care of the kids.

"Beautiful night, huh?" He purred in her ear as she stood on their deck and stared out into the ocean. His strong hands sunk against the tight muscles between her shoulder blades and relentlessly began to work out the knots. "You're a mess. Try to relax, baby."

She tried, but it was difficult. When his hands moved their attention from her shoulders to other parts of her body, she began to let him take her away. "Another half an hour, and I bet she'll be asleep." He breathed against her cool cheek. "Would you like that?"

"I need that tonight." She groaned as his hands gently took her breasts. He smoothed her, letting his hands trailed down to settle on her stomach. He pulled her back into him, until she could feel him firm against her leg.

"I know it's been tough, honey. It'll be okay. We'll see Howie through this. And your mom, too." He gently reassured her.

"I know. Thanks, Nick." She nodded as the wind whipped her hair back into his face. He laughed, his voice deep and masculine and vibrating through her. Please God. Please let him understand.

Nick barely waited the half an hour, before leading her upstairs into their abandoned bedroom. "There aren't enough beautiful things that I could do to you." His lips found hers, and with surprising aggression, she latched onto him. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, teasing him until he could no longer hold back his own growing lust. "I love you, baby." He groaned, driving her body deep into their mattress.

"Don't wait, Nick, don't." She panted as they peeled the layers of their clothing off. He didn't either. He did what she wanted and made fevered love to her; not just once that night, but several times. He found himself mesmerized by every touch of her body against his and the feel of her hair through his fingers.

"Whew." He chuckled as they laid knotted together at nearly 3 in the morning. "We haven't done that in a while."

"Too long a while." She smiled in agreement.

"You're my everything, you realized that don't you?" He said, suddenly serious. He drew his finger over her face, pushing loose strands of hair back over her bare shoulder. Her eyes grew wide, and she nodded. "I can't imagine my life without you."

She snuggled closer into his arms, burying her face against his bare chest. She breathed in his scent of old cologne and a day's worth of sweat. Even soiled, he was irresistible. Now at three in the morning, it was Thursday. Christine would be there tomorrow. She had to tell him.

As if on cue, Nick said, " You know, you never did tell me what you were going to tell me on Monday. You know, when we were on the deck? Do you still need to tell me?" For some unknown reason, Nick felt her grip tighten on him. "Lex? Is it important? Honey, are you okay?!"

He pushed her away to look into her face. "Lexie, tell me what it is."

Her eyes dropped, and she pulled away from him to the other side of the bed. He watched silently as she drew the sheets around her naked form, leaving him to fend for himself. Her back was to him as he sat up. "Lex, you're scaring me."

"You're going to be very angry, Nick." She finally answered him.

"At what? At you? I don't think so. . ." He reached for her, but she pulled away.

"Please hear me out before you say anything, please?" She began, but he could hear her voice trembling. "I didn't go to New York to see that showing."

"You didn't? Why did you. . ." Nick's voice trailed off. . . an affair, another man?

"I went to see Christine."

"You WHAT?!" He gasped, sitting up straighter.

"I went to see her. I wanted to know how she was doing." Lexie whirled on him. "And she's coming here, Nick. Christine is coming here to Tampa. I've offered her the pool house for her and Scotty. She's coming to Tampa to die."

"Holy fuck! You did WHAT?!" Nick suddenly screamed, jumping to his feet. He ran around to stand in front of her. "What the hell were you thinking?! Goddamn it, Lexie! Of all of the goddamn stupid things you could do!"

"It's not stupid! It's important! It's very important, you just don't see it. . ." Lexie got to her feet, but he pushed her back down on the bed.

"How could you fuckin' lie like this to me?! How could you do this to me?! To CJ?! You're bringing her mother here without any warning?! And now she's supposed to watch her die? Goddamn it, Lexie, she's just a little girl!" He screamed at her.

Lexie was scared now. She laid back, trembling on the bed watching a furious Nick she had never seen. Things flew from the dresser tops and the bed stands. He said things and called her things she had never heard from him before. When he was done, he stormed into the bathroom and locked the door.

"Nick?" She asked through the door. "Please Nick. I told you were going to be angry." She sunk to the floor in front of the door. "Please Nick, please don't hate me." She quietly sobbed.

Nick didn't hear a word as he sobbed on his own on the other side of the door. The one person he loved and trusted more than anyone had just done something that was going to hurt the most precious person who had ever come into his life. He was powerless to stop it. He couldn't think of one way to keep CJ from this pain, except to tear his life away from Lexie. He couldn't do that either. He curled up on the cool tiles as his cries wracked his body, lulling him into a dull, numb exhausted state. As his head continued to spin, the walls of his heart closed up and a part of him died. The part that had loved and trusted enough, to let Lexie near CJ. It simply began to wither away.

Nick woke a few hours later, his body cramped all over. He checked his watch. He had an hour before he had to get CJ up for school.

Oh, God, CJ. . . what am I going to do?

Like he had aged 20 years, he slowly got up and turned directly to the shower. He hardly noticed the scorching hot water then stepped from the shower to towel dry his body and hair and then stepped into the bedroom.

Lexie had cleaned the place up.

A part of him was ashamed of his behavior and of what he had said to her, but another part of him felt she deserved it. The bed was perfectly made and all the traces of his anger and their lovemaking were gone.

He went into the closet and dressed himself, heading downstairs to finally confront her again.

She was gone, but she left a note on the kitchen table.

I'm sorry. I've gone to Orlando to take care of the kids. Uncle John and Aunt Angie have agreed to take the kids for the weekend. I'll be at the airport on Friday and we should all be at the house by 4.

He would get no reprieve. It was clear Christine and her son would be there tomorrow. "You're sorry?" He said sarcastically, crumpling the note in his hand. He paused for a moment and looked down at the note held tightly in his hand. "No, I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Thanks for coming." Nick said to the man waiting on the other side of his front door.

"You call, I come." Brian smiled softly. He had spent the whole trip from Orlando to Tampa digesting what Nick had told him on the phone about Christine dying and Lexie bringing her here.

"I don't know who else to talk to, Bri." Nick closed the door behind Brian and then leaned against it.

"I understand." Brian sighed.

Nick sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He didn't know how he had gotten through getting CJ to school, but he had. She had already known Lexie was going back to Orlando, so that wasn't a problem.

"Have you decided to tell CJ?"

"No!" Nick snapped at him. "How do I tell her? What do I tell her? I always thought that if she was going to meet her mother, I'd get a professional to help out, but now I don't know what to do?!"

"When is she coming here?"

"Tomorrow. Brian?" Nick looked up at him. "Why didn't you seem surprised when I told you?" Brian diverted his gaze. "You knew?"

"No! Not at all! I didn't have a clue, it's just. . ."

"What?!"

"I've just always had a feeling she was up to something. Especially when she started looking for your old house in Tampa and then how she wanted this house. . . I don't know." Brian shrugged.

"You think she's been planning this all along?"

"I don't know, Nick. Buddy, I don't know." Brian sighed.

"What am I going to do? What, Brian?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to leave." Nick said. "I want to take CJ and leave."

"But you haven't."

"I can't. I. . . I don't know what to do."

"I think staying is the best thing to do for now."

"What about CJ? What do I tell her? How do I handle this?"

"Have you and Lexie talked about it at all?"

"No." He shook his head.

Brian gently bit down on the inside of his mouth. It opened and closed a few times before words actually came out.

"Tell her that she's a friend of Lexie's. Don't tell her that she's her mother right out."

"CJ has seen pictures of her mother."

"Yes, but not in a long time. You took most of them down after Lexie moved in and from what you've told me before, Chris isn't the same girl."

"It's obvious she's sick. How do I keep Lexie from telling her?"

"You make it clear to Lexie what you want to happen now. I think all of this happened because you weren't willing to deal with it before, so she just took matters into her own hands."

"She had no right to do that."

"I agree, but it is what it is now." Brian sighed, settling on the floor across from him. "You better take the upper hand on this situation."

"How did she ever find Chris? I mean, Sabrina has been looking for months and poof, suddenly Lexie knows where she is and how to get hold of her?"

"Maybe she hired a private detective."

"And paid him with what? Maybe that job she had with Gina." Nick sighed. "I know where every penny goes out of this house. God, she's been lying a long time."

"Technically, it's not a lie. She just didn't tell you. Did you ever ask her. . ."

"Don't bother, Brian. She lied and manipulated me, and now I'm screwed." Nick snapped. "No, maybe I should just pack up CJ and head back to L.A."

"NO!" Brian snapped back at him. "Are you really going to throw away your marriage over this?"

"What kind of marriage is this? Look what she's done, Brian! Has the whole damn thing been a lie? What else is going on I don't know about? All that time I was in Orlando earlier and she was out with Jake and her friends, what was going on then, huh? She really is just a kid, Brian. God, who the hell was I kidding?!"

"Okay, you're losing perspective." Brian interjected. "You love Lexie, you know you do."

"She's made a fool out of me."

"No, I honestly think she's trying to help you and CJ. Granted her methods are less than desirable, but I think she's doing this out of love." Brian said softly. "Nick, think before you throw it all away. You know what you and Lexie have is very special. I know you've been living with the fear of losing CJ since Chris left you. Chris can't hurt you now and in a short time, she'll be out of the picture entirely. Maybe, just maybe, Lexie is right."

Lexie had been shaky and scared all day. It would only be a matter of time before Nick called her. He had to make some kind of statement or move about this. This hadn't gone like she had planned.

Who was she kidding? She didn't have a plan. She knew he would be upset, but she never expected that trapped animal look he had in his eyes. She decided this morning the kindest thing she could do was just to leave and let him be. Maybe with time. . .

Her phone rang as she sat idled in traffic. She had made a run out for dinner for the kids alone. She reached and saw their house number on the caller ID. This was it.

"Hello?" She answered it.

"I'm going to talk and you're going to listen, do you understand me?" He said sternly.

"Okay." She whispered as the light turned green. She moved ahead with traffic and headed for a parking lot.

"I can't believe you've done this, Lexie. I can't believe you could deliberately try to hurt me and CJ like this."

"I'm not trying. . ." She defended herself as she parked the car.

"You just shut up and listen. I don't want to hear a word out of you because this is how it's going to be. If you bring Christine here, you are not under any circumstances to tell CJ that she is her mother. You can tell her she's a friend of yours, but that's it. I swear to God, Lexie, if you tell her, I'll leave and take her with me."

"Nick!" She gasped.

"I mean it, Lex." And the phone suddenly went dead.

Lexie's head was spinning. Nick would leave her. He would leave. How was this ever going to work on these terms?

"You've done the right thing by staying, Nick." Brian said softly, watching Nick clutch the cordless phone to his chest.

"God, I hope so, Brian. I hope so." Nick's eyes filled with tears and sobs erupted from him. God, he really hoped so.