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"I hope" She reached for her favorite silver hoops while Stella nuzzled Lily "Stella, I&039;, because you&039;re my best friend and I love you"

"Oh, sweetie"

"Well, it&039;s true Last week, when Logan ca Lily her doll, and you and the boys ca Q? You knohat the four of you looked like?"

"No"

"A fa around with, in your heart you know that And that that&039;s the way it&039;s going to be"

"You&039;re awfully young to be such a know-it-all"

"It&039;s not the years, it&039;s the miles" Hayley tossed a cloth over her shoulder "Co to show you off to the dinner guests before you go to sleep You ready?" she asked Stella

"I guess we&039;ll find out"

They started toward the stairs, with Stella gathering her boys on the way, and

"Well, don&039;t we all look fine"

"We had to wear new shirts," Luke complained

"And you look so handsoreedy and steal both these well-dressed young men as my escorts" She held out both her hands for theirs "It&039;s going to storlance out the"And look here, I believe that ht on ti? It looks like a nasty red box on wheels"

"I think it&039;s a Volvo" Hayley moved in to spy over Roz&039;s shoulder "A really old Volvo They&039;re like one of the safest cars, and so dopey-looking, they&039;re cool Oh, ot out of the car "Serious hottie alert"

"Good God, Hayley, he&039;s old enough to be your daddy"

Hayley just smiled at Roz "Hot&039;s hot And he&039;s hot"

"Maybe he needs a drink of water," Luke suggested

"And we&039;ll get one for Hayley, too" Auest

He brought a good white wine as a hostess gift, which she approved of, but he opted for mineral water when she offered him a drink She supposed a man who drove a car manufactured about the same time he&039;d been born needed to keep his wits about him He made appropriate noises over the baby, shook hands soberly with the boys

She gave him points for tact when he settled into s more about the reason she wanted to hire hian arrived, they were coh

"I don&039;t think we&039;ll wait for Harper" Roz got to her feet "My son is chronically late, and often ot one of oes"

"Oh, I didn&039;t realize you had children"

"Just the one Josh is twenty He goes to college here You really do have a beautiful home, Ms Harper"

"Roz, and thank you It&039;s one of reat loves And here," she added as Harper dashed in from the kitchen, "is another"

"Late Sorry Aluys" He kissed his mother, then looked at Hayley "Hi Where&039;s Lily?"

"Sleeping"

"Dr Carnegie, my tardy son, Harper"

"Sorry I hope I didn&039;t hold you up"

"Not at all," Mitch said as they shook hands "Happy to meet you"

"Why don&039;t we sit down? It looks like David&039;s outdone hie, lol centered the table Candles burned, sli silver, on the sideboard David had used her white-on-white china with pale yellow and green linens for casual elegance A cool and artful lobster salad was already arranged on each plate David sailed in ine

"Who can I interest in this very nice Pinot Grigio?"

The doctor, Roz noted, stuck with an as they enjoyed the main course of stuffed pork, "you look awfully familiar" He narrowed his eyes on Mitch&039;s face "I&039;ve been trying to figure it out You didn&039;t teach at the U of M while I was there, did you?"

"Iin any of my classes"

"No I don&039;t think that&039;s it anyway Maybe I went to one of your lectures or soie Power forward for the Me reseaainst South Carolina, when he scored thirty-eight points He&039;s got moves"

Mitch s bruise on his jaw "Tell me"

Conversation turned to basketball, boisterously, and gave Logan the opportunity to lean toward Stella "Your daddy says he&039;s looking forward to seeing you and the boys on Sunday I&039;ll drive you in, as I&039;ve got an invitation to Sunday dinner, too"

"Is that so?"

"He likes me" He picked up her free hand, brushed his lips over his fingers "We&039;re bonding over oleanders"

She didn&039;t try to stop the smile "You hit hiarden Yeah, I&039;d say I got it covered You write that list forfine crossing things off without consulting o traditional and have a June wedding"

When Stella&039;s mouth dropped open, he turned away to talk to her kids about the latest issues of Marvel Co, shrill cry sounded fro on the buffet Hayley popped up as if she were on springs "That&039;s my cue I&039;ll be back down after she&039;s fed and settled again"

"Speaking of cues" Stella rose as well "Tiht," she added even before the protests could be voiced

"Going to bed before it&039;s dark is a gyp," Gavin complained

"I know Life is full of theh "Thanks for dinner, it was really good, and noe have to go to bed because of stupid school"

"Close enough," Stella decided

"&039;Night I liked the finger potatoes &039;specially," Luke said to David

"Want a hand?" Logan called out

"No" But she stopped at the doorway, turned back and just looked at hiinning the nightly ritual as thunder rumbled in And Parker scooted under Luke&039;s bed to hide froainst the s as she tucked theled his head in the pillow "Can he sleep up here tonight?"

"All right, just for tonight, so he isn&039;t afraid" She lured hi him as he trembled, laid him in with Luke "Is that better now?"

"Uh-huh Mo look with his brother

"What? What are you two cooking up?"

"You ask her," Luke hissed

"Nuh-uhYou"

"You"

"Ask me what? If you&039;ve spent all your allowances and workto an?" Gavin blurted out

"Aet an idea like that?"

"We heard Roz and Hayley talking about how he asked you to" Luke yawned, blinked sleepily at her "So are you?"

She sat on the side of Gavin&039;s bed "I&039;ve been thinking about it But I wouldn&039;t decide so to both of you It&039;s a lot to think about, for all of us, a lot to discuss"

"He&039;s nice, and he plays with us, so it&039;s okay if you do"

Stella let out a laugh at Luke&039;s rundown All right, she thought, maybe not such a lot to discuss fro deal It&039;s a really big proo live in his house?" Luke wondered

"Yes, I suppose ould if"

"We like it there And I like when he holds er, and it hardly hurt at all He even kissed it after, just like he&039;s supposed to"

"Did he?" she murmured

"He&039;d be our stepdad" Gavin drew lazy circles with his finger on top of his sheet "Like we have Nana Jo for a stepgrandmother She loves us"

"She certainly does"

"So we decided it&039;d be okay to have a stepdad, if it&039;s Logan"

"I can see you&039;ve given this a lot of thought," Stellato think about it, too Maybe we&039;ll talk about it more toan said Dad&039;s alatching out for us"

Tears burned the back of her eyes "Yes Oh, yes, he is, baby"

She hugged hiht I&039;ll be right downstairs"

But she walked through to her room first to catch her breath, coht She had the ers to her eyes and thought of Kevin a treasure she&039;d lost

Logan said Dad&039;s alatching out for us

A man ould know that, would accept that and say those words to a young boy was another kind of treasure

He&039;d changed the pattern on her He&039;d planted a bold blue dahlia in theit out

"I&039;hed at the thrill of it

Through the next boo Instinctively, she stepped into the bath, to look into her sons&039; roole of dull gold She stood between the beds, her voice calh the flash of lightning at Stella

Fear trickled down Stella&039;s back She stepped forward, and was shoved back by a blast of cold

"No" She raced forward again, and hit a solid wall "No!" She battered at it "You won&039;t keep id shield, screa for her children who slept on, undisturbed

"You bitch! Don&039;t you touch the Hayley, who raced doard her, ignoring the clatter of feet on the stairs She knew only one thing She had to get to her children, she had to get through the barrier and get to her boys

At a full run she hit the open doorway, and was knocked back against the far wall

"What the hell&039;s going on?" Logan grabbed her, pushing her aside as he rushed the room himself

"She won&039;t let ainst the cold until her hands were raw and nuan ra steel" Raain as Harper and David hit it with him

Behind thelowed noith a wild light

"Name of God"

"There has to be another way The other door" Roz grabbed Mitch&039;s arm and pulled him down the hall

"This ever happen before?"

"No Dear God Hayley, keep the baby away"

Frantic, her hands throbbing froht Force wouldn&039;t work She could beat against that invisible ice, rage and threaten, but it wouldn&039;t crack

Oh, please, God, her babies

Reason She would try reason and begging and promises She dashed out into the rain, yanked open the terrace doors And though she knew better, hurled herself at the opening

"You can&039;t have them!" she shouted over the storm "They&039;re mine Those are my children My life" She went down on her knees, ill with fear She could see her boys sleeping still, and the hard, white light pulsing froht of the dreaht of what she and her boys had talked about shortly before the singing "It&039;s not your business what I do" She struggled to keep her voice firm "Those are my children, and I&039;ll do what&039;s best for theht seeure turned, there was as much sorrow as madness in her eyes "They&039;re not yours They need me They need their mother Flesh and blood"

She held up her hands, scraped and bruised fro "You want me to bleed for them? I will I am" On her knees, she pressed her palms to the cold while the rain sluiced over her

"They belong toI won&039;t do to keep them safe, to keep them happy I&039;m sorry for what happened to you Whatever it hoever you lost, I&039;m sorry But you can&039;t have what&039;s mine You can&039;t take my children from me You can&039;t take me from my children"

Stella pushed her hand out, and it slid through as if slipping through ice water Without hesitation, she shoved into the roo to get through, Stella pressed against the other doorway She couldn&039;t hear thean&039;s face, and that his hands were bleeding

"He loves theht, but he loves them He&039;ll protect them He&039;ll be a father to them, one they deserve This is my choice, our choice Don&039;t ever try to keep ain"

There were tears now as the figure flowed across the roo hand on Gavin&039;s head, on Luke&039;s Safe, she thought as her knees began to shake Safe and warm

"I&039;ll help you," she stated firain "We all will If you want our help, give us so Your naan to fade, but she lifted a hand to the glass of the door There, written in rain that dripped like tears, was a single word

Ah the door behind her, Stella spun toward him, laid a hand quickly on his lips "Ssh You&039;ll wake theainst his chest and wept