* * *
Ryan had barely finished sharing a pizza with Brandon, Kyle, Jessica and Nicole when the doorbell started to ring, followed by the phone. Soon, Jessica's house was filled with visitors, including Kara and Marian, who had been instrumental in deciphering the mystery of the quilts as well as Andrew Schilling, Travis's cousin. Andrew let them know that Paula was extremely sorry for not coming forward and would be expressing her apologies for some time to come.
Ryan didn't give a damn about Paula's apologies. He hoped he would never have to see the woman again.
With Jessica tied up with her friends and neighbors, and Nicole playing with the boys, Ryan spent some time filling in the local police department, Chief Silveira, Detective Jason Marlowe and Officer Colin Lynch. Then he got on the phone to talk to Max and Inspector DeCarlo from the San Francisco Police Department.
Finally, he called Dr. Robertson. The doctor had spoken to Andrea and while she was shocked by her mother's actions, she was happy to know that her children were all right. Ryan expressed concern that Andrea might now want to see the kids, but the doctor assured him that for the time being Andrea was focused on her own recovery. Maybe someday they could discuss some type of visitation, but, of course, that was up to them. Ryan told him that was an issue that he would have to discuss with all the parties involved, but he doubted anyone wanted to confuse the boys even more at this time.
With the last call out of the way, Ryan made his way into the kitchen where Jessica was washing dishes.
"I think we finally finished all the casseroles," she said. "But if you're hungry, I can make you a sandwich."
"I'm just thirsty," he said, grabbing a coke out of the refrigerator. "You had quite a crowd here tonight."
"Everyone is happy the boys are safe and healthy."
"Can I help you with the cleaning?"
"No, I'm done." She set the last dish to dry and wiped her hands on a towel.
There was a sparkle in Jessica's eyes now, and she looked more like the young woman that she was than the exhausted and panicked mother who'd been worried sick about her son.
"You look happy," he commented.
"I feel great—like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest. I can breathe again."
"I know the feeling," he said, taking a swig of his soda as he leaned against the counter.
"I know you do. I was a little scared when you and Nicole first showed up here. I wasn't sure what you'd be like, what you'd think about me, but you've both been great. And I feel like we're family in a strange kind of way."
"I think we are family," he said with a nod. "Tied together by our children."
"What are we going to do, Ryan?"
It was a question that had been running through his mind all day. The boys needed to stay together. But Brandon needed Kyle far more than Kyle needed Brandon.
"The kids love each other," Jessica added. "But I live here and you live in San Francisco."
"We'll figure something out, something that makes sense for all of us."
"I don't think that will be easy."
"Hey, compared to finding our kids, anything else is a walk in the park."
She smiled. "You're right. There's been enough worry the past few days. I just want to feel good about Kyle being home. I think I might actually be able to sleep tonight." She paused. "Are you sure I can't talk you and Nicole into taking the bedroom?"
He shook his head. "We're happy with the pull-out couch."
"I don't think it's very comfortable."
"I can sleep anywhere, as long as Nicole is with me."
Jessica smiled. "You two make a great team."
"Yeah, we do."
"I'm going to go upstairs and check on the boys. Last time I looked, Nicole was reading to them, and they could barely keep their eyes open. It's been a long few days for them."
"For all of us. I'll go up with you."
Nicole was sitting on the foot of Kyle's bed, but she was no longer reading. She was staring at the two boys who were tucked in next to each other in Kyle's twin bed.
Kyle was on the outside, Brandon against the wall, and they were both fast asleep.
"They're so sweet," Jessica murmured.
"Yeah," he said a little gruffly, unexpectedly choked up by the sight of his son sleeping so close to his twin brother.
Nicole slid off the bed with quiet grace and walked over to join them. "They didn't last more than a few pages," she said.
"I'm going to say goodnight," Jessica said.
"Goodnight," Ryan and Nicole echoed.
As Jessica walked down the hall, Ryan put his arm around Nicole's shoulders, and they both turned their gazes back on the boys.
"Kyle has his hand on Brandon's arm," Nicole remarked. "Even in sleep, he's protecting his brother. It's as if Kyle senses that Brandon needs his touch." She drew in a shaky breath. "I'm so happy that Brandon isn't alone in his head anymore. If we can't reach him, at least Kyle can."
"Let's go downstairs."
"I'm not sure I can leave him."
He gave her a loving smile. "They're not going to wake up until morning, and we'll be close by."
"Okay. You're right." She gave the boys one last look and then flipped off the light, closed the door, and followed him down to the living room.
Jessica had already pulled out the couch and tossed some extra blankets and pillows onto the mattress.
Nicole started to sit down, the stopped. "Darn, I forgot something."
"What?"
"I'll be right back."
While she was gone, he stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt and climbed into bed.
Nicole returned a moment later. She scrambled onto the bed and handed him a piece of paper. "Brandon drew this earlier tonight. I wanted you to see it."
He stared at the picture. There were two small boys, a monster, and a large, super-hero raising his fist to the monster. "Is this Superman?"
She gave him a soft smile. "It's you, Ryan. It's you, rescuing your son and his brother from a monster. Don't you recognize yourself?"
Looking more closely, he could see his features, but he was shocked that Brandon had drawn him as a hero. "Usually his pictures are more accurate to life," he murmured.
"This sketch is accurate. Brandon saw you as his hero today, and I saw you that way, too."
He caught his breath as she turned her pretty blue gaze on him. "Today, maybe, but I haven't been very heroic the past few years."
"I haven't, either. But we already agreed that we're even. Although, now I have to say you're ahead by one good right hook."
He grinned. "It was a damn good punch He fell to his knees."
"How's your hand?" She pulled up his hand to look at his knuckles. "Bruised," she said, then raised his hand to her mouth and gave his knuckles a gentle kiss. "Better?"
He knew she'd meant it to be a playful, tender gesture, but her mouth on any part of his body sent desire through him.
"Ryan?" she asked, her gaze on his, her expression more serious now. "What are you thinking?"
"I love you, Nicole. I never stopped, not for a second. There's never been anyone else in my life but you."
"Not even while we were apart?"
He shook his head. "No. It's been you since I was seventeen years old, and I want it to be you for the rest of my life."
She blinked away tears. "I don't know why I keep crying."
"I'm hoping they're happy tears now."
"They are." She drew in a deep breath and then said, "I love you, too, Ryan. And I never stopped, either. If we're being honest, I have to say I wanted to stop loving you, because it hurt so much to be without you. And I wanted the pain to go away. I thought maybe with time it would, but time only made things worse."
"I know I let you down—"
She put a hand over his mouth. "Even, remember? No more hashing out the old problems. They're done."
"Can you really forget the past?"
"Yes. We're starting over. But it wo
n't be easy, Ryan. Brandon might be showing a little improvement, but—"
"But he's still autistic," Ryan finished.
"Yes," she said with a sigh. "And as much as I want him to get better, I don't know if he will. He might never be more than he is, but I can accept it now. I can be okay with it and not feel like I'm giving up."
He was really happy to hear that. "Good. And I'm going to stop seeing Brandon's rejection of the world as a rejection of me. His illness is not my failure or yours. It's just what it is." He paused. "I might need some help, if I sometimes forget that."
"I promise to help you."
"Even if it means giving me a kick in the ass?"
"I will be the kicker," she promised.
He laughed. "You look a little too happy about that prospect."
She grinned back at him. "You know while you were gone, I didn’t just miss being your wife, I also missed being your friend. Talking to you, laughing with you, having incredibly fantastic sex with you."
He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. "I missed that, too—all of it, especially the last part. We can do better, Nicole."
"I'm counting on it. I think we should start now."
"I agree," he said, his heart speeding up. "So what do you want to do?"
"Well, we've talked, and we've laughed a little, so I'm thinking we move on to the incredibly fantastic sex."
"You're setting the bar high."
"I think you're up to it." She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, her lips seductive and warm. "Love me, Ryan."
"I will—for the rest of my life," he promised.
Epilogue
Three weeks later
Nicole got to her mom's house early in the morning on Thanksgiving. It was a tradition for the Callaway women to stuff the bird and make the pies together, and after almost losing her son at Halloween, Nicole had a lot to be thankful for this year. She had Ryan and Brandon back and her life was filled with love and joy.
As she glanced around the kitchen at some of the other females in her family, she felt even more blessed. Her mother, Lynda, was at the stove stirring a pan of simmering onions to go in the stuffing. Emma was at the kitchen table, mixing the pumpkin pie filling, while Sara, who was overdue to have her baby, was slicing up apples for the apple pie. Ria, Drew's girlfriend, and her adopted daughter, Megan, were at the opposite end of the table peeling an enormous number of potatoes, and Shayla, who had just run in after an all-night stint at the hospital as part of her fourth year of medical school, was preparing the turkey to go into the oven.
Nicole was in charge of making the pie dough, and she'd already kneaded, pounded and rolled the dough out. She now had four pie pans waiting for filling. She wiped her floury hands on a towel and joined Shayla by the kitchen sink. A glorious twenty-six pound bird was sitting in a large pan.
"Do you need any help?" Nicole asked.
Her youngest sister gave her a dry smile. "I just put thirty-two stitches into a man's hand; I think I can handle tying two turkey legs together."
"We're not stuffing the bird first?" she asked.
"Not this year," her mom said from the stove. "We just put some herbs and chopped vegetables inside."
"Mom doesn't want to poison anyone," Shayla said.
Nicole nodded. "Probably a good plan, although we've survived all these years with stuffing from the bird."
"It will cook faster, too," Lynda put in. "Where's Jessica? I thought she was going to join us this morning."
"Ryan is bringing her with the boys. She and Kyle moved into their new apartment last night, and she wanted to get a few things unpacked."
"How far away is her place from yours?" Shayla asked.
"It's around the corner. We're lucky she could find something that close. And I'm extremely grateful to Jessica for being willing to uproot her life and move to San Francisco. We wanted to keep the boys together."
"It would have been hard for you to move to Angel's Bay," Shayla said.
"Yes, it would have been a challenge. Ryan needs to be near the airport to work, and Brandon's doctors are all here. Thankfully, Jessica was ready for some distance from her in-laws, and she has enough money to live on for now. She can take her time thinking about what she wants to do next."
"What does she do?" Emma asked, joining them at the sink. "I don't think you ever said."
"She used to be a dancer in Vegas, before she was a full-time mom. Now, I think she's considering going back to school part-time."
"So what are you guys going to do? Take turns watching the boys?" Shayla asked.
"We're working it all out," Nicole said. "Brandon definitely does better when Kyle is around, so keeping them together and happy is a top priority."
Emma and Shayla both gave her concerned and sympathetic looks.
She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get all depressed on you. This is a happy day. Brandon is doing better than he has in years."
"And you and Ryan?" Emma asked. "How's that working out?"
"Great," she said unable to keep her smile from growing bigger.
Emma laughed. "That good, huh?"
"He's moved back home. We're talking to each other again. We're having fun. We're better than we ever were."
"What about Brandon and Ryan?" Emma asked. "Any improvement there?"
"Little ones," Nicole said. "Ryan plays with both boys a lot, and Brandon actually a tossed a ball to him the other day. He was so happy, I thought he was going to cry."
"Men and their ballgames," Emma said with a grin.
She smiled back. "Yes. We're all doing really well."
"I'm so happy for you," Shayla said with a smile. "I was just a little kid when you and Ryan got together, and you were always my example of the perfect relationship, the perfect couple."
"We were never perfect," Nicole said. "We both wanted to be, but it took admitting that we weren't perfect to bring us back together. Honesty is so important." She paused as the back door opened, and Sean walked in.
Emma screamed with delight, and soon Sean was being enveloped in a series of female hugs.
"Okay, where are the men?" he asked, as he set a twelve-pack of beer on the counter.
"In the living room watching football," Lynda replied with a dry smile. "Where else?"
Then that's where I'm headed."
Nicole followed him into the dining room. "I'm so glad you came home, Sean. You weren't sure when we spoke last."
"I changed some plans around. Where's Brandon?"
"He'll be here soon. Ryan is bringing him, along with Jessica and Kyle." She couldn’t help noticing the spark of interest that lit her brother's eyes when she mentioned Jessica. The two of them had certainly hit it off during the few days he'd spent in Angel's Bay. Although, neither Sean or Jessica had been inclined to share anything about those days with her. "Jessica moved up here a few days ago," she added. "We're going to raise the boys together. She's going to live a block away from me."
"That's great."
"It is great. Jessica is family now."
"Yeah." He cleared his throat as a cheer erupted from the living room. "Sounds like someone scored. I'll catch up to you later."
"Hey, Nic, the pies are ready to be filled. Can I go ahead and do it?" Emma asked as she came out of the kitchen. She paused. "What are you looking so thoughtful about?"
"It's nothing—probably."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like something."
She looked around, and lowered her voice. "I think Sean might like Jessica."
"Really?" Emma asked. "That's interesting."
"No, it's not at all interesting," she said. "Because Jessica is Kyle's mother, and Kyle is Brandon's brother, and I know there aren't any blood connections, but she's practically a Callaway."
Awareness dawned in Emma's eyes. "I see where you're going. You don't want Sean to get involved with her."
"Or hurt her. Sean doesn't do long term relationships. He's here today, gone tomorrow. D
o you think I should say something to him?"
"You mean, wave a red flag in front of his face?" Emma asked. "If you tell Sean not to do something, he's only going to want to do it more. If you're going to warn anyone, I'd start with Jessica. But maybe there's nothing to worry about. As you said, Sean is here today, gone tomorrow. He won't be around long enough to start anything."
"I think something might have started when he came to Angel's Bay."
"Well, if it did, it did. Now is not the day to be worrying about something that may never happen," Emma reminded her. "You've got your boy and your man back. That's all you should care about. Speaking of which—I think I hear Ryan."
A moment later, Ryan came into the dining room with Brandon and Kyle. The boys immediately ran upstairs, heading for the playroom in the attic. Ryan smiled at Emma, then put his arm around Nicole and gave her a loving kiss.
"Happy Thanksgiving, babe," he said.
"You, too," she said, blushing at the look in his eyes. "They'd celebrated their own private Thanksgiving much earlier in the morning.
"Oh, my God, you guys really are back," Emma said dryly. "This reminds me of high school when I used to walk into our bedroom and catch you making out on the bed when Mom thought you two were doing homework."
Ryan laughed. "Then maybe you should beat it, Em, like you used to."
"She never beat it," Nicole reminded him. "She'd stay and ask us questions just to be annoying."
Emma grinned. "Are you kidding? You think that was my idea? Dad used to pay me five dollars to go up there and bug you."
Nicole's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"
"I got rich your senior year in high school."
"Your dad never did trust me," Ryan said.
"Well, he does now, and so do I," Nicole said firmly. She grabbed his hand and pulled him close to her, giving him a promising kiss. "And people are going to have to deal with me kissing you whenever I want to."
"I like the sound of that," he said.
Another loud cheer came from the living room, and a minute later Sean strolled into the dining room. "49'ers are up by seven," he said. "I'm getting a beer. You want one, Ryan?"
"No, I'll pass. I told Brandon and Kyle I'd help them build a fort."
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