Chapter 82

AJ sat next to Emily on the small sofa in Brian's office and looked down at his hands as he tried desperately to come up with a way to tell her everything without making it seem as bad as it really was. During that brief moment, Emily went through over a dozen awful scenarios in her mind. What did he have to tell her that would have Randy so upset and Brian in the middle? Did AJ have an affair? Did Randy really want her back? Was it something about Leighanne and Baylee? Did he have a drink? Was it about her new charity?

“Oh my God, would you just tell me already?” she blurted.

AJ looked up, startled.

“I'm sorry...it's just...you have me a little worried here.”

AJ smiled. “Well, I wish I could tell you there's nothing to worry about, but that just isn't the case.”

“What is it?” she asked, gently.

AJ took a deep breath. “There's a pretty good chance that whoever tried to break in to our garage wasn't just a random criminal.”

Emily looked confused. “Well who else would it be?”

“I've gotten a few....rather concerning...letters. The first one came in through management and Mark brought it to my attention. The next one came to the house.”

“What did they say?” she asked, alarmed.

“Look, if you really need to know I'll tell you...but they're pretty graphic.”

Emily closed her eyes and shook her head. “Don't tell me.”

“I didn't want to tell you because at first I thought maybe it was just a hoax. Once it appeared to be more than that, I didn't want to scare you and ruin your holiday. But the truth is, once I'm gone, you're going to have to be a lot more careful when you're on your own and even at home.”

“You mean like, this stalker is so crazy they might want to hurt me?”

AJ nodded.

Emily blew out a long breath. “Well...so...what do we do?”

“Well first I'm going to take this to the police and try to do it in a manner that'll keep it out of the papers. Then I'm going to beef up our home security. I'd like to add sensors to all the windows upstairs in case anyone tries to enter that way somehow. I'm also getting more spotlights for the yard and cameras around the house. I think I'd also like to have a security fence around our whole yard, not just the back, and block our driveway off with a gate. That was something I'd always meant to do when I bought the house but strangely never had a need to since the neighborhood is already gated and we'd never been bothered until now.”

“Jesus.” Emily muttered. “It'll be like living in prison!”

“You can still go out, I just want you to use caution. Don't take the same route to work every day, don't leave at the same times, don't stop at the same Starbucks. They say you should never keep the exact same routine. And when you go shopping, go when it's light out and there's more people around. Oh and I want you to carry a can of pepper spray on your keys.”

“Do you really think I'll need pepper spray? You're the one I'm most worried about!”

“Why are you worried about me?” AJ asked, baffled.

“Duh...because you've got a crazy stalker out to get you!” She explained.

Then it hit AJ. He'd never actually said that she was the one with the stalker, he'd just said that he'd gotten some graphic letters. Emily jumped to the conclusion that he was the one who had a stalker because, well, that would make the most sense with him being the famous one and all. And then he realized that her believing that seemed to make it seem not as scary yet she would understand the need to practice more caution. It was perfect! She knew there was danger yet she wasn't going to walk around in constant fear. He promised himself that the minute he needed to tell her the whole truth he would, but for now, this was enough.

As Brian and Randy excused themselves from the office, Brian pulled Randy aside.

“Look, could you do me a favor and not talk about any of this in front of Baylee or Leighanne? She doesn't know about it yet and I also think Emily's probably not going to want to talk about it right away. I'm sure you know she doesn't like that kind of attention.”

Randy nodded. “You really think he's telling her the truth?”

“I guess we'll find out soon enough. Look I know it wasn't the best way he could have handled it but he meant well.”

“Yeah well, if the world ran on intentions it'd be a much happier place, wouldn't it?” Randy said before walking back into the living room.

“What's going on?” Amanda asked as he sat down. “Where did everyone go?”

“AJ and Emily are in the office talking.”

“About what? The break-in?”

“No, I don't think so.”

“Well what is it?” Amanda pried.

“I promise, I'll tell you as soon as we leave. It's no big deal.” he smiled and tried to get her to drop it.

“Is he cheating on her?” she whispered.

“No. At least, not that I know of. But no, that isn't what they're talking about.” Randy said, rather irritated that Amanda would jump to that conclusion of all things. “What is it with you and not believing that there can be happy relationships in this world?” he whispered.

“Take a look around you!” she replied. “You know Emily and AJ's history better than I do probably. My sister and her husband are falling apart, Steve cheated on me....I don't exactly have a lot of happy relationships to look at!”

“Yeah but you can't judge an entire relationship off of one period in time, that isn't a fair judgment either.”

“I know, you're right. I'm sorry.” Amanda said, somewhat realizing his point.

“Is everything ok?” Leighanne asked as Brian joined her in the kitchen to help with the dishes.

“Yeah, Emily's just worried about the house.”

“It's scary, isn't it?”

“What is?” Brian asked.

“Someone trying to break in their house in the middle of the day!”

“Yeah, it is.” he agreed, thinking it was scarier than she even knew.

Emily asked AJ a few more questions about his security plans and he answered them completely honest. He felt pretty good about the conversation. Emily knew everything she needed to know, she just didn't know the whole truth. He didn't technically lie, he just left out a detail. Ok, so maybe it was kind of a huge detail...but he'd deal with that later.

Randy was eying her when they re-joined the group. She didn't quite look as upset as she should have for just learning she had a serious stalker out to get her. She did look a little shaken, just not as much as he thought she would. He looked over at AJ who returned Randy's glare immediately.

AJ was starting to get sick of Randy always assuming the worst of him. He could feel the doctor's eyes studying them as they walked back in and he hoped for Randy's sake he stayed out of it or AJ would probably end up punching the guy's lights out.

Amanda caught Randy's glare and couldn't wait to find out what had happened. Whatever it was must have been good!

Eventually, Baylee went to bed and everyone else got ready to go home.

“Have a great trip you guys!” Emily said. “And Merry Christmas!”

“You too!” Amanda hugged her. “If I don't talk to you before, have a good trip yourself!”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll talk to me.” Emily muttered as she looked over at Brian and Leighanne.

AJ had to use all his strength not to roll his eyes when Emily hugged Randy goodnight as they walked out the door.

“So AJ,” Emily said as she shut the front door. “When are you going to tell me where we're going for our anniversary?”

“When do you want to know?” he asked.

“A long time ago!” she laughed as the four sat back down around the fireplace.

“Are you really sure you want to know now?”

“Yes!” Emily exclaimed, exasperated.

Brian laughed. “I think she wants to know, man.”

“Ok. We're going to go to....” he paused. “Are you really sure?”

Emily threw a pillow at him and hit him right in the face.

“Hey! Don't abuse the one with the information!” he said.

“Why not, that's what they do to hostages.” Emily ducked as he threw it back at her.

“We're going to a very romantic resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire called Mount Washington Resort, in the White Head mountains. We have our own private town home with a fireplace and a deck and a jacuzzi tub and everything! Oh...and they promised me there would be snow.” he added.

Emily's face lit up. “Oh wow! I can't wait to get there, I bet it's beautiful!”

“I've been to the White Heads before.” Brian spoke up. “I think you guys will love it!”

“I might even see if I can get her to ski with me!” AJ laughed.

“Fat chance.” Emily muttered.

At the mention of skiing everyone else took turns telling their most funny ski trip stories and Emily was amazed that none of them had been seriously injured after the stories she heard.

“Leighanne, why don't you help me get all my stuff from your kitchen.” Emily said as she got up to get ready to go.

“Ok, what's up?” Leighanne asked once in the kitchen. “Or can you really not find your pile of stuff on the counter?”

Emily laughed. “I just wanted to make sure you're ok.”

“Why?”

“I've been watching you get sadder and sadder all day.” Emily said carefully.

Leighanne shrugged. “I guess it just kind of sucks to be around two happy couples all day, you know?”

“I do know. Keep in mind that for a long time, I was a part of the unhappy couple. I'm sorry. But things are better, right?”

“I don't know, I've been kind of watching him closely all day and I can't explain how I know, but I can tell that he's going back to shutting me out again now that Christmas is over.”

“Try to get a good night's sleep. That always helps. And I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe I'll come over or something.”

Leighanne nodded. “Yeah, that'd be ok.”

AJ carried all their gifts out to the car and came back in to say goodbye.

“Thanks for a delicious dinner.” he said as he kissed Leighanne on the cheek. “Brian, try not to eat all the leftovers in one day.”

“Yeah, I'll try.” Brian laughed. “You guys stay safe.” he said, in a more serious tone.

“We will, our house is about to become Fort Knox.” Emily joked.

Emily might have blown Brian's comment off with a laugh but AJ knew it carried more meaning than that. He met Brian's gaze and nodded in reassurance that he would take care of his wife and keep her safe.

“Merry Christmas!” Emily called over her shoulder as they walked out to their car.

When they got home, AJ and Emily went to inspect their side garage door.

“It's so weird, you can't even see the footprint at night, it looks like nothing happened.” Emily said as AJ shone a flashlight on the door.

“That's because it isn't there anymore.” he said, baffled.

“Oh...well the cops must have wiped it off before they left.”

“Must have.” AJ muttered, doubting that was the case. He looked over his shoulder as they walked in the house trying to make sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He locked the door behind him and re-armed the security system.

“I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted!” Emily said as she set down all their things. “You feel like going to bed early with me?”

“That sounds good to me.” he yawned. “I'll be up in a few minutes.”

“Ok, don't take too long though or I might be asleep!” she said as she headed up the steps.

As soon as she was in their room, AJ did a quick check of their house. He knew it was silly but he just felt better knowing that he checked all the locks and also made sure no one was hiding in any of the closets or anything. Emily was in the bathroom washing her face when he came in. He took his clothes off and threw them on the floor and went to brush his teeth.

Emily fell asleep within minutes of curling up in his arms. AJ was having a hard time relaxing enough to sleep. Now that there were no distractions, he couldn't stop thinking about all of it. Someone had tried to get in their garage. The cop had said there was a definite foot print on the door, only now it was gone and he strongly doubted the cops would have taken the time to wash their door which led him to believe that perhaps whoever it was had come back to wash away the evidence.

He wondered if the creep was out there right now watching them. Did he see them come home and look at the door? Could he see their shadows through the blinds as they got ready for bed? He thought of all the things he and Emily had done freely in their home thinking no one could see them. All the times they'd had sex in the pool, the time he came home to find Emily baking pies in the nude...had he seen all those kinds of things? AJ shivered at the thought of someone intruding on their privacy, their intimacy, and held Emily tighter in his arms as he tried to quiet his mind and fall asleep.

Chapter 83

AJ and Emily slept in until eleven the next morning, finally being woken up by Emily's cell phone ringing.

“Hello?” she answered sleepily.

She heard a chuckle on the other end. “It's Leighanne. Are you seriously still in bed?”

“Yeah.” Emily yawned.

“Well, enjoy it while you can. Once you have children, you won't be able to do much of that ever again!”

“What's up?”

“Are you still coming over today?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I'm bored. I hate the day after Christmas. Baylee is busy playing with all of his toys and Brian's back to not speaking to me again.”

“What's Brian doing?”

“Right now, he's in the basement working out.”

“Did he eat all the leftovers yet?”

Leighanne laughed. “Not yet.”

“I'll be over in about two hours, is that ok?”

“That's perfect! See ya then!”

“Who was that?” AJ mumbled.

“Leighanne. She's bored.”

“Are you going over there?”

“In a few hours. Do you want to come with me?”

The truth was AJ really didn't want to go with her because he didn't want to be around for the uncomfortable conversation she was going to have with Brian and Leighanne about Baylee. However, he didn't exactly want Emily going out alone so he decided he needed to suck it up and go with her.

“I guess I could hang out with Baylee while you talk to them.” he said.

“Wimp.” Emily muttered.

The two sleepy-heads got out of bed and made their way downstairs. AJ immediately put on a pot of coffee and went outside to smoke while Emily poured herself a bowl of Amanda's homemade granola she'd given them for Christmas.

“So have you thought about what you're going to say to them?” he asked as he came inside and poured a cup of coffee.

Emily sighed. “A little. I've come to the conclusion that I'll mostly be flying by the seat of my pants so if you have any suggestions....”

AJ thought for a moment. “Well, I don't think either one of them are going to be thrilled to discuss this with you so I think above all else, you have to remain firm.”

Emily nodded. Being firm with Leighanne wouldn't be a problem. Being firm enough to get Brian to comply was another thing.

“Are you sure you don't want to help me talk to them?”

“Why, are you chickening out?” he teased.

“A little.”

“Well, then just remember that look you told me about on Baylee's face when he talked to you about their fighting.”

As Emily thought back, AJ was right. Remembering his scared and confused little face made her blood boil all over again.

“See? It's working, isn't it?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Emily said. “I never thought I'd be happy that you were able to piss me off!”

Eventually, despite all of AJ's antics to stall her, they made it over to Brian's house.

“Hey AJ, I wasn't expecting to see you here too!” Leighanne greeted.

“Hey Leigh! I figured Brian and I could hang for awhile. I didn't feel like staying home all alone.”

As Emily took her coat off she spotted Brian sitting at the table reading the paper and realized this would be the perfect opportunity.

“Actually, AJ why don't you take Baylee upstairs to play for a little bit?” she suggested. “I want to talk to you and Brian about something.” she said when Leighanne looked surprised.

“Oh...alright.” she said. “Is everything ok?”

“Sort of.” Emily answered. “Let's have a seat at the table.”

As they sat down at the table, Brian glared at his wife and stood up to leave.

“Sit down, Brian. I need to talk to the two of you.” she said, doing her best to sound firm instead of nervous.

“Look, I'm not interested in having a marriage counseling session with you.” he said, snidely.

Emily narrowed her eyes at him. “Frankly, right now I don't give a damn about your marriage. Now sit down.”

Leighanne's eyes widened as she looked between the two and wondered what in the world was up with Emily. Brian glared back at Emily before slowly sitting back down. AJ smiled from his hiding place on the stairs and knew that she had it all under control as he went in search of Baylee.

“What's this about?” Leighanne asked.

“You know I love you both, but I love Baylee more and so I'm acting on his behalf today. It appears that perhaps you've been a bit neglectful towards his needs lately and I'm here to help you correct that.”

“What the hell are you talking about, we haven't neglected him!” Brian shot.

“Emotionally, yes you have. But you've both been so caught up in everything that's been going on between the two of you that you probably haven't even noticed.”

“Baylee is fine!” Brian replied.

“No, he isn't fine.” Leighanne spoke up. “Why do you think he wakes up almost every night complaining of nightmares?”

“It's a phase, every little kid has nightmares!” Brian argued.

“And I suppose then it's just a huge coincidence that Baylee's started right after Thanksgiving and it has nothing to do with what's been going on between us?” Leighanne replied.

“Baylee doesn't know anything, we've been perfectly civil when we're around him.”

“That doesn't mean he doesn't sense something is up.”

“Baylee has heard everything.” Emily interrupted them.

Brian and Leighanne both looked over at her.

“No he hasn't!” Leighanne argued. “We've been very careful about that!”

“Not careful enough. The other day when he was over making cookies, do you know what he said to me?”

They both shook their heads.

“He told me that all he asked Santa for this year was for his Mommy and Daddy to stop yelling at each other all the time.”

Brian and Leighanne froze.

Emily paused to let that sink in a little. “So we had a little chat about it. That little boy has heard everything. How you each want each other to leave, how you always seem to be yelling about him. He doesn't understand it and he's too scared to talk to you about it.”

Everyone sat silently for a minute. “Now I know you two have a lot you need to work out, but one way or another, some decisions need to be made here. You can't keep doing this to him. He needs stability and he needs to feel safe. Do whatever you need to do to give that to him.” Emily said as gently as she could.

“This is all your fault!” Leighanne accused Brian.

“My fault?! You think this is my fault? Aren't you the one to blame for our whole situation?”

“You're the one who can't let go of his pride long enough to try and even talk to me about it! You just wrote me off! If you'd behaved like a mature adult instead of brooding around here the last month things might be a lot different! And now Baylee's suffering because you're a hot-headed, stubborn ass!”

“Baylee is fine! Whatever things he's heard couldn't have been that much.” Brian stood up. “Besides, maybe he should know the truth about his mother before he learns the hard way what a manipulative bitch you are!”

Leighanne gasped and Emily realized she had lost control of the discussion quickly. Their argument only escalated from there. Leighanne accused Brian of not caring what he was doing to Baylee, Brian accused Leighanne of setting him up to tell Emily that to try and make Brian look bad. Emily just sat back in disbelief. She knew things had been bad but she had no idea they were capable of treating each other that way.

AJ and Baylee had been playing his new Sponge Bob game when the yelling started. He tried his best to keep Baylee distracted from it but it was no use. As soon as he saw that bottom lip start to quiver he abandoned their game and pulled Baylee onto his lap.

“Hey buddy, what's the matter?”

“I want them to stop yelling at each other!” he said, with a wobbly voice.

AJ hugged him. “I know. It's scary, isn't it?”

Baylee nodded.

“But you know they love you, right?”

Baylee nodded.

Unfortunately, the louder the yelling got downstairs, the more upset Baylee became and when it got to the point of him sobbing in AJ's arms, he made an executive decision he hoped Emily would approve of. He stood up and carried the distraught Baylee downstairs.

As he walked in the kitchen he saw Brian and Leighanne standing up yelling at each other across the table and Emily was sitting down with a completely dumbfounded look on her face. No one noticed the fact that he was standing there holding a very distraught Baylee until his crying managed to break through the sound of his parents yelling. All three of them froze and turned to look at him, shocked to see him there. Emily looked AJ in the eye and gave a slight nod of approval.

“Please stop yelling!” Baylee said with a very wobbly voice.

As Brian took in the sight of his distressed son, he knew he'd had enough.

“This is all your fault.” he said coldly to Leighanne. “I wish I had never married you!” He turned his back to her and walked out the back door.

Leighanne looked like she'd been smacked in the face. Her mouth hung open and she looked like she didn't know what to do. AJ knew what he needed to do. He handed Baylee over to Emily and went after Brian.

Of all the things AJ knew about Brian, he knew that first and foremost Brian was a stubborn man. It wasn't always a bad thing, some of his success could certainly be attributed to the fact that he never gave in. But sometimes it stood in his way of doing what was right. It wasn't that AJ didn't sympathize with Brian's anger. He realized Brian had every right to be upset with Leighanne but what he had a problem with was the way Brian was choosing to handle it. He'd been there before. He knew what it felt like to feel totally betrayed by your wife. To feel so conflicted that you don't know what to do. He also knew had it not been for Brian being so hard on him for it all he may never have figured it all out. So now was his chance to pay it forward. After seeing how upset Baylee had been he knew he wasn't going to have a hard time putting his foot down; he was downright pissed for Baylee's sake.

He found Brian standing in the corner of the deck with his hands on his head. AJ could see the anguish Brian was in and knew he had to make the best of this moment.

“What the hell was that all about?” AJ asked as he approached Brian on the deck.

“Go away, man.” Brian said.

“No! Did you not see the look on your son's face? How could you have said that to Leighanne in front of him? Don't you think he's in enough pain? Don't you think Leighanne's in enough pain?”

“I said go away!” Brian snapped. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“Then don't talk, just listen.” AJ said, angrily. “I know that I am not one to criticize, especially in the marriage department. I know that I owe you a lot for what you did to help Emily and I. But I am speaking from experience here. You are being a fucking idiot, man.”

Brian looked shocked.

“You have a right to be angry and a right to be hurt but you don't have a right to treat her this way. You don't have the right to put your son through this either. You're being selfish and you need to cut the crap and handle this situation like a man. No more of this immature behavior. Your family deserves better than that from you. Figure out what you need to do and stop expecting it to just get better. You've got to be willing to get over yourself and put the work into it before you lose it for good.”

Brian almost couldn't believe his ears. AJ had never spoken to him that way before. Not over anything serious like this. Usually AJ tended to stay out of people's business. The fact that he was getting involved now spoke volumes to Brian but he didn't say anything Brian didn't already know. He knew he was being a complete ass, but it just seemed easier than trying to work through all of his emotions.

“I know, dammit!” Brian said angrily as he kicked the deck rail. “I know!”

AJ crossed his arms. “If you know, why the hell are you doing it? The Brian I know never handled tough situations like this before.”

“Yeah well, I'm not sure that Brian exists anymore.” Brian said, sitting down.

AJ leaned against the rail and crossed his arms. “What's going on, man? You'd better start talking to someone before this eats away at you completely.”

Brian buried his face in his hands for a few minutes while he composed himself. He knew AJ was right. “I can't figure it out, man.” he admitted. “It's too much.”

AJ sat down next to him. “We'll figure it out together.”

A few hours later, AJ and Brian came back inside. Leighanne was sitting on the couch with Baylee watching Finding Nemo together while Emily was making some lunch for them. AJ hung back in the kitchen while Brian sat down next to Baylee on the couch, picking up the remote and pausing the movie.

“Baylee Daddy is very sorry for upsetting you so much.” Baylee just looked up at him with an unsure face. “I know it's been scary and Mommy and Daddy didn't mean to make you feel that way. I promise, no more yelling from now on.” Leighanne was very shocked.

“Really?” Baylee asked.

“Really.” Brian nodded. “Mommy and Daddy love you so much, do you know that?”

Baylee nodded.

“Good. Why don't you go see what Emily has for lunch, ok? Daddy needs to talk to Mommy for a minute and then I'll come join you.”

As soon as Baylee was out of earshot Brian turned to face Leighanne.

“I'm...sorry for what I said before. I really didn't mean it.” he said. “I'm going to try harder.”

Leighanne could only manage to nod in response. After a minute, Brian got up and went to find Baylee in the kitchen. Leighanne joined them for lunch and by the time he'd finished his cookies for dessert, Baylee was in a much better mood. He and AJ went to finish the movie while Emily did the dishes and then sat down at the table with Brian and Leighanne.

“So, where do we stand on things?” she asked them, point blank.

“I think it would be best if we took some time apart.” Brian said, carefully. “So that we can figure things out without being at each others' throats all the time.”

“I think so too.” Leighanne agreed, quietly.

“Good. I think that's best.” Emily said. “I had planned on taking Baylee to my house for a few days before our trip, however, given our 'circumstances' I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be too comfortable having him stay with us. Leighanne do you think your mom could take him for awhile? Randy and Amanda can help out when they get back. I know it might confuse him a little but I really think the two of you just need some time to yourselves to gather your thoughts and feelings. It doesn't have to be for too long. And you're also going to need to figure out who's going and who's staying in the house.”

“I'll go.” Brian said, quickly. “You should stay here.”

“Where will you go?” Leighanne asked.

“I don't know, maybe a hotel.”

“Actually, I bet he could stay at Mandy's.” Emily said. “Remember Leighanne, she gave you a key since she pretty much lives with Randy anyway. Just give her a call, I'm sure it'd be fine. More comfortable than a hotel at least.”

Leighanne looked very defeated as she got up to make arrangements leaving Emily and Brian.

“Thanks.” Brian mumbled.

“For what?” Emily asked.

“For looking out for Baylee, for kicking our asses for the way we've been acting.”

Emily smiled. “You're welcome.”

Leighanne came back in a few minutes later. “Amanda said it's absolutely fine for you to stay there. Emily, I promised her you'd call and let her know that I'm fine and that you'll answer all her questions. I just didn't have it in me to talk about it.”

Emily nodded. “I can handle that.”

“And my mom is going to pick up Baylee tomorrow morning for three days.”

“Good. Now listen, if either one of you needs anything, just give us a call. We don't leave for four more days so we'll be around.” Emily said.

“Thanks Emily.” Leighanne said.

“Will you be ok?” Emily asked her, softly.

Leighanne nodded. “I think so.”

AJ and Emily left soon after.

“What on earth happened in that kitchen?” AJ asked as he drove them home.

“When?”

“Before I brought Baylee down. I could hear the yelling but I couldn't understand what they were saying over Baylee's crying.”

Emily sighed. “You don't even want to know.” she muttered. “It got uglier than I ever imagined it would which is why I was still sitting there in shock when you walked in.”

AJ glanced over at Emily and knew she was thinking the same things he was thinking- that all this felt a little too familiar to them. After all, it wasn't all that long ago that it was them in this situation.

Chapter 84

The next few days were fairly quiet. Baylee was told he was going to have a really long slumber party at his grandma's house which he was pretty excited about because she always let him eat a lot of cookies. Brian packed a bag of clothes and moved into Amanda's apartment leaving Leighanne in the house all alone. Emily spoke with Amanda a few times and assured her that her sister was doing just fine and explained to her what had happened. AJ and Emily spent most of the time hanging around the house enjoying the fact that they had no commitments. AJ didn't have to leave until two days after his birthday and Emily didn't have to return to work until then.

“AJ do you know where my ski suit is?” Emily asked the night before their vacation.

“Yeah, I think I saw it in the coat closet, hang on I'll go look.” he called. “Found it!”

“Great! Bring it up here!”

AJ carried up her pink ski suit wondering why she even had one if she hated skiing.

“Can you think of anything else I need to pack? I have lots of warm clothes and gloves and hats and stuff.”

“What about all that new underwear you bought in New York?” he asked with a grin,

“That's already hidden in my suitcase.”

“Good. I don't really think you'll need to wear much else besides that in the chalet anyway.” Emily chuckled at him. “Oh but bring a swim suit, there's a hot tub out on our deck.” he said.

Emily went and retrieved a bathing suit and flung it into her suitcase. “Aren't you going to pack?” she asked.

“I was getting around to it....”

“Here, I'll help you!” Emily said, daring to venture into his closet to pick out a few of her favorite items of his.

“Emily you always pick out the silver ties. Don't you like any other colors?” he complained.

“Not really.” she answered as she filed through his dress shirts. “Here. Start folding.” she said, handing him a pile of clothes. As much as AJ liked picking out his own clothes, he had to admit that having Emily help him pack made things a lot easier.

“Oh hey, pack a fancy dress! I almost forgot there's a black tie New Year's Eve party in the lodge, I thought it might be fun to go do.” he said. “And grab my tux!”

“Which tux, you have five of them!” she said, exasperated.

“One of the black ones.”

“Alright. Go into my closet and find me a dress then.” she said. “Oh and some shoes to match!”

Eventually Emily had them both packed and ready to go. They enjoyed a quickie before they went to bed and slept soundly until six when the alarm went off. After quick showers and packing up those few last minute items, they got in the car and headed off for the airport. They arrived at the resort late that afternoon. Emily was in awe as she looked around at the beautiful, white-capped mountains they were surrounded by as they walked through the snow into the lodge.

“Welcome Mr. and Mrs. McLean!” the concierge greeted. “How was your trip?”

“It was fine, thank you!” Emily answered as she was looking around.

“If you'll follow me I'll show you to your chalet.”

Emily and AJ followed him through the lodge and back outside to a walk-way that led off to several private chalets on the mountain, each pretty well secluded with trees.

“Here we are!” the concierge announced as he led the way up a moderate slope and unlocked the door. “Your things will arrive in a few minutes. All the lodge information and restaurant and room service info is on the kitchen table. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call us, someone is at the desk twenty-four hours a day.”

“Thank you.” AJ said, tipping the man.

When they were alone, Emily turned to AJ and kissed him. “This is amazing! Have you seen the view?”

AJ smiled. “It's awesome.” he agreed as they looked out the large windows that looked out over the mountains. “Happy anniversary.” he said.

“I can't believe that as of tomorrow we've been married for three years!” Emily said, turning around in his arms to face him. “Where did the time go?”

“I don't know but I'm starting to feel old!” he laughed. “Before you know it we'll be in Hawaii renewing our wedding vows on our twenty-fifth anniversary!”

Leighanne wasn't quite sure what she should be doing with all her time alone in the quiet, empty house. What exactly was she supposed to be thinking about? How sorry she was for what she'd done? She spent the first year plus of Baylee's life thinking about that. She'd pretty much already reconciled what she did with herself, now she needed to reconcile it with Brian. At the moment, however, she was too hurt by him to even be sure if she felt like bothering.

She hated to make it seem like she was turning it around and blaming his behavior for all their problems because she knew that she held a huge responsibility for that herself. After all, it all started because of something terrible she'd done. But that didn't mean that Brian's words hadn't stung her badly. Accusing her of manipulating Baylee to tell Emily his parents were fighting all the time? That he wished he hadn't married her? Even if he hadn't meant it, the fact that he said it still stung. He'd said it because he wanted to hurt her that badly. She felt she would be able to accept responsibility for her part in this but she needed Brian to accept responsibility for the poor way he handled everything. Looking back, they probably would have been much better off if they'd taken this time apart a month ago instead of staying together in the same house and fighting all the time. Baylee certainly would be a lot better off. She felt incredibly guilty for putting her son through all of that. Seeing his face when AJ carried him in that day made her feel sick with guilt and she hoped that she and Brian would be able to repair the damage done to their son.

She had just finished a glass of wine when her doorbell rang. She had a suspicion it would be her sister, and she was correct.

“How was your trip?” Leighanne asked as she let Amanda in.

“It was unbelievable!” Amanda said with a grin.

“Did you ever leave your hotel room?” Leighanne teased.

Amanda blushed. “Yeah...a few times....”

Leighanne laughed. “I'm really glad. You deserve a good guy.”

“Well...so do you. How are you?” Amanda asked, sitting down and sipping some of the wine.

“I don't know, I guess I'm ok. I feel like I'm supposed to be doing all this deep thinking but I don't know what I'm supposed to be thinking about.”

“Well, if I were you I'd be thinking about whether or not I want to take Brian back!” Amanda said. “Emily told me what he said the other day.”

“You know, this whole time, at least up until then, I never questioned it. Now, I do wonder if staying together is the best thing.”

“Well, I guess that's the first thing you'll have to think about.” Amanda said, handing the glass of wine back to her sister.

“I know, but a lot of that depends on Brian. If he's ready to cut the crap and really work on this, I'd feel differently than if he can't stop acting like a jerk, you know?”

Amanda nodded. “Well, come up with a plan either way and see what happens.”

“We've agreed to try and get together in a few days to talk and see where things stand.”

“What are you doing for New Year's Eve tomorrow night?” Amanda asked.

Leighanne shrugged. “Nothing I guess.”

“Aww...you can't do nothing, you'll get all depressed! Come out with Randy and me!”

“I am so not going to be your third wheel on New Years!”

“You won't be a third wheel, we're having a party at his house. It's kind of fancy, we're serving a nice dinner but a lot of our friends are coming by themselves, you won't be the odd woman out I swear!”

“I don't really think I feel up to going to a party.....”

“Please? If you hate it you can leave!”

Leighanne knew Amanda wasn't going to let it go so she reluctantly agreed to go. “How are you managing to throw a party the day after you get back from vacation?”

“Caterers and Randy's housekeeper.”

Leighanne laughed and allowed Amanda to go through her clothes and help her pick an outfit, doing her sisterly duty of keeping her distracted and cheerful.

The next morning, after only a mild amount of persuasion, Emily agreed to attempt skiing lessons. AJ agreed to stay with her even though he didn't really need to practice on the bunny hill because, as Emily put it, she didn't want to fall and break her neck without him.

“God, how do you walk in these ski boots?” she said as she slowly trudged through the snow over to where the class would meet.

AJ turned around and laughed as he waited for her to catch up to him and offered her his arm. “I guess you just get used to it.”

He had to do his best not to laugh at her as she attempted to learn the basics of skiing. He had a feeling she'd have done a lot better if she wasn't so terrified of falling and hurting herself but there wasn't much he could do about that. Before she knew it, she was in line for the toe-rope up the smallest bunny hill they had.

“You so owe me for doing this.” she said. “Just think of how it'll look if I die on our anniversary.”

“I'll be right behind you, ok?” he promised.

“Alright....” Emily stepped up and grabbed the handle, screaming as she was pulled up the hill. AJ grabbed the next one behind her and chuckled as he listened to her yelping. When they reached the top, Emily stepped off to the side just like she'd been taught but she forgot one important thing: to turn her skis sideways so she wouldn't slide down backwards.

Emily screamed loudly as she began sliding down the hill the backwards and decided it would be much safer to just fall over instead. AJ laughed as he watched her tip over and he made his way over to her.

“Stop laughing!” she said. “I'm stuck, my skis didn't pop off and I'm all tangled up!”

AJ laughed even harder as he popped off one of his skis to help her up. Once he had her on her feet again he helped her get turned around the right way and slowly skied down the slope.

“See? You made it all in one piece!” he said.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Barely.”

“Yeah but now you know what it's like to fall. It wasn't that bad, was it?”

“I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a big bruise on my thigh from when I landed on my own ski!”

AJ laughed.

“It isn't funny!” She tried to swat at him but she lost her balance and he reached out to steady her, laughing even more.

Eventually he managed to convince her to go down a few more times but after one particularly nasty spill which had even AJ cringing at when he saw it, she refused to go again.

“How about you go skiing down the bigger hills while I try out tubing? At least that way I'm already on my butt!”

“I don't want to leave you all alone!” he said.

Emily smiled. “I promise it's ok. I want you to have some fun! We'll each go down a few times and meet back up at the bottom.”

“Alright. Let's go get you that tube then!”

Brian chuckled as he sat in Amanda's living room. He hadn't been to her apartment since he'd helped her move in and since then, she'd certainly made it into a very feminine apartment. He wondered how Randy felt hanging out there and if that was why they seemed to be staying at his place all the time. He flipped off the tv and took a deep breath. No time like the present to force himself to start thinking about things. He'd successfully avoided doing so for a few days now and he knew he couldn't hide from it forever.

AJ's words still rang in his head. He had always assumed that AJ was on his side because he'd been sympathetic to Brian so he was shocked when AJ had said he felt that Brian was making things worse on purpose so that he'd just force his wife away and then they wouldn't have to deal with things. Brian wasn't really aware that he'd been doing that but it made sense. It was just easier to be mad at Leighanne than it was to think about how they could work through everything.

The cold reality was that Brian wasn't really sure if he could every look at Leighanne the same way again and he was worried that whatever way he'd look at her would never be conducive to a successful marriage.

“I think you need a good soak in the hot tub after all those falls you took!” AJ said as they got back to their chalet.

“That sounds really nice. Let's go put our swim suits on!” she agreed.

“Actually I was kind of thinking maybe we don't need bathing suits.” he whispered huskily into her ear.

Emily raised her eyebrows at him. “Oh, well in that case....” she started taking off her clothes leaving a trail as she walked to the deck. “What are you waiting for?”

AJ quickly undressed and climbed into the hot tub next to her. “Oh man...that feels good!” he sighed as he relaxed into the hot water. He picked up her feet and put them on his lap, massaging them under water.

“Mmmm....” she sighed. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You're welcome. Thank you for marrying me.”

“You're welcome.” she smiled.

AJ grabbed her waist and pulled him onto his lap. “I love you.” he said as he kissed her neck.

Emily sighed as she turned to face him. He put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her down towards him and kissed her intensely. She responded by wrapping her arms around him and teasing his lower lip with her tongue. AJ felt like someone had just turned up the temperature in the hot tub as heat surged through his body and he slid his hands around to her breasts, sliding his fingers over her wet nipples. Emily kissed along his jaw up to his ear and gave him little nibbles as she went. She lifted herself up just enough and sank down onto him eliciting a loud grown from AJ.

“What's the matter, you weren't expecting that?” she asked as she rode him very slowly.

“No, I wasn't....” he said, closing his eyes as he fought to gain back control of himself.

“Do you want me to stop?” she whispered into his ear.

“God no!” he said as he placed his hands on her hips and pushed himself deeper into her.

Emily moaned and arched her back as she continued to ride him, steam rising from her skin as the cool air hit it. AJ reached his hand between them and massaged her, knowing he wasn't going to last a whole lot longer. Just like always, Emily's moans subsided right before she came as her whole body started to tremble before the release. As soon as the pleasure hit her, she moaned loudly into his ear and he went wild, thrusting hard as he let the pleasure take over his own body. Emily collapsed against him and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I think we need to get a hot tub at home.” she said.

AJ laughed. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”