"Hey, Ma. Come on in." JC said as he opened the door for his mother. She leaned up and gave her son a hug, "How are you?"

"I'm ok. You?"

"I'm good. Had a bit of arthritis in my arm this morning but it's better." she said as she looked over and noticed the baby sitting on the floor playing with his toys. "Where's Rachel? I wanted to thank her for the painting that she bought me and your father."

"She had to go out of town for a taping."

Mrs. Chasez followed JC into the living room and sat down on the couch as JC picked up Nikky to bring him to her. Her eyes lit up when the baby smiled at her as she talked to him. JC sat there and nervously watched them.

"Look how blue your eyes are, Nikolas!" she cooed.

Ten minutes later Laticia walked into the room bringing in a tray of tea and coffee cake. "Can I get you anything else, Mr. Chasez?"

"Could you please put Nikky down for his nap?" JC asked.

"Of course." she replied as she leaned over and took the baby from Mrs. Chasez's arms.

JC's mom was a bit disappointed that he was having her take the baby away so soon. "Does he really have to nap right now? I just got here."

"I need to talk to you about something mom. And I didn't want any disturbances."

"What is it, Joshua." his mother was worried.

Just as he was about to speak the telephone rang. JC rolled his eyes and got up to answer it. When he returned he stopped short of sitting down and asked his mother to grab her jacket and come with him. They drove a few miles down to the nearby park. They both got out and started to walk around the large lake and talked about work and how his siblings were doing.  "...JC, I know you didn't bring me all the way out here to talk about your brother and sister. What's going on?"

JC sat his mother down on a nearby bench and stared out at the water before speaking further. "Do you remember why Rachel and I split up?"

"Yeah. Both your careers were keeping you apart."

"Well, that's the reason I gave you. The truth is...A year and half ago, me and the guys got back early from a show in Paris and I flew to California to surprise Rachel on the set of that movie she was filming. I went over to her trailer and discovered she and Jerry together."

"Oh JC-" JC continued to speak over his mother. "I found out it wasn't the first time they were together. It had been going on for over 3 months."

"Yeah, but weren't you in court battling that lawsuit during that time?"

"Yes. One of the men I'm battling court is having a good time with the woman in my life. I'm sure he really enjoyed knowing that each day he saw me in court."

Mrs. Chasez was stunned by what she hearing, "I can't believe she would do something like that."

"Well she did...And I hadn't planned on ever telling you about that, but I need to be honest here.  There have been too many lies and secrets flying around here.  I need you to know so that you understand what I am going to tell you next."

"Is he taking you to court again? For custody of the baby?"

"No...He can't."

His mother was curious.  "Why not?"

JC took a deep breath and looked towards his mother and said, "Cause Nikolas is my son."

"Oh my God!" she said as she stood up. "And she never told you?"

"She says she didn't know. She had only remembered being with Jerry during the time the baby was conceived."

"Is this the reason why you aren't speaking to Laura?"

"Partly. When Rachel found out she was pregnant, she told Laura there was a possibility Nikky could be mine. Laura never told me. I found out from Rachel when we went away to see about Mrs. Charles. I just couldn't handle the fact that she had this information and never told me the entire time we were together. I just can't understand how someone could do that."

"What are the three of you going to do? Make arrangements for shared custody of the baby?"

"No. I'm going to do the right thing and marry Rachel. I still have to get a ring, and we still need to discuss things. And-"

Mrs. Chasez was confused and stopped JC from going any further.  "And what are you going to do about the issue with your present wife, Josh?"

JC took a deep breath and looked over at her. "I signed the divorce papers last week. We're no longer married.  It should be final before I get married to Rachel."

With one look, JC could see the anger, frustration, and disappointment in his mothers eyes.  She took a deep breath before finally sitting down next to him and speaking.  "Well it seems I've been missing out on a lot of stuff here. So excuse me if I seem a bit upset. You break up with someone you said was the love of your life. Lie to your parents about why. Then a year later you are having a secret romance with her best friend...You go to Vegas and get married! Come back home and expect us to be happy for you. Then you come back and tell me that you and Laura are not speaking. You move Rachel and her son into your house. You come back and tell me that 'Oh by the way, the baby is your grandchild and that you are not only divorcing one woman but getting engaged to another? This is insane!" she yelled.

JC put his hands over his mothers and tried to calm her down.  "I know it is a great deal of information to deal with right now. And I am not expecting you to be accepting of any of this. I would have told you sooner, but I needed to be sure about all this."

Mrs. Chasez placed her hand on her son's back. As much of a shock that it was to her, she knew he was in way more pain over all the news than she could ever imagine. "I'm sorry I went crazy a second ago. I'm just upset that I couldn't be there to help you through all this. I feel helpless after the fact."

JC let his head fall onto his mother's shoulder as they both sat quietly and watched the ducks.

"I feel so terrible," she muttered.

"Why?"

"I am sitting here, thinking back at all those times where I was talking to Laura about how wonderful Rachel was and how the two of you should have never split up. I must have made her feel so horrid."

"You did. But don't feel bad about it. She knew more than all of us about what was really going on. So I guess it was a good taste of her own medicine. We both knew coming into the relationship that by not telling you all what really happened we would have to just deal with the millions of praises from others about Rachel."

JC's mom could sense resentment in his voice when he spoke of Laura's involvement. "So you blame Laura."  she stated more as a fact rather than a question.

"Blame her for what?" he asked as he looked towards his mom.

"For knowing he could have been yours and not telling you. I'm sitting here listening to you talk about this and never once have I heard you lay any blame on Rachel."

"I don't know if you can really say I 'blame' Laura. But this wasn't just some small bit of information kept between best friends. This was a large secret. And being that she and I were inseparable after me and Rachel split and the fact that we later became a couple...I just would have hoped that she would have cared enough about me to tell me that the little boy I adored, could have been mine."

"JC, I don't think it had anything to do with how much she cared about you, baby. I see it as a woman torn...Torn between loyalty to her best friend of over 20 years.  Torn between telling you the truth or trying to protect you from being hurt in case it wasn't your son. I'm sure there is a great deal going on underneath the surface that neither of us knows about and probably never will. But I have never known Laura to be spiteful to anyone she has come into contact with. I've never known her to intentionally hurt people. She has always been there for you when you needed her…Even when I needed her. That's a large burden to bear when you are depended on so much by so many."

"I know all this mom. That's part of the reason why I love her so much..."

"I notice that you're still using that word in the present tense."

"Yeah. It's so hard for me not to love her. But I won't be a part-time father, so I made a decision."

"Do you still love Rachel?"

"Yes...This is why it's so damn difficult for me."

Mrs. Chasez rubbed JC's back as he let his head fall into his hands. "This is something you and only you can figure out for yourself, honey. And I will be there no matter what."

JC and his mother sat there and talked for a little while longer before deciding to head back home. One the way JC turned the corner when he should have went straight ahead to his house. He had an uneasy feeling and couldn't figure out why. 

"Where are we going?" his mother asked

"I just want to see something."

"You mean someone, don't you?" she teased.

"Please mom." he said. She put both her hands up and shook her head. When he rounded the last corner he noticed that there was a large 'For Sale' sign posted on Laura's front lawn. He also noticed that there was a man standing outside her house tying balloons to an open house sign near the curb. JC stopped the car and sat there stunned. JC's mother was about to ask what was going on but discovered JC was just as curious. He told his mom to wait there and we would be right back. He walked up to the front door where the man was now standing.

"Why hello there, Sir. You must be here for the open house. Please come in." As they walked into the foyer JC looked over at the man and asked, "Is the owner here?" When he turned his head to look for Laura, he was shocked to find that the entire house was empty.

With a glazed look on his face he followed the man around the house. As they went from empty room to empty room JC remembered all the memories that he had shared with her inside those four walls. As they made their way back towards the kitchen, the realtor stopped inside one last room, "This was used as a study and-"

"Personal office." JC finished his sentence.

"Yes. How did you know that?" the realtor asked as he stared at JC. "Oh wow. You must be the man that lives around the corner. The one from that music group right? I didn't recognize you at first. It's so nice to meet you! That was the one specific thing Ms. Charles wanted me to screen for her."

"Which was?"

"She wanted me to make sure that potential buyers weren't interested in who their neighbors were. She wanted to make sure they weren't fans. This way you wouldn't be bothered by nosy neighbors, if you know what I mean."

"Do you know where Ms. Charles is now?"

"That was the one thing that I was not privy to. I was only a number for a Ms. Beckman in California if I had any questions."

"Hallie." JC stated to himself.

"Right. The last time we spoke was this morning when she was on her way to the airport. Ms. Charles did leave me a box that was addressed to you. She asked me to make sure you received it. I was going to mail it off when I left here, but seeing that you are here now I might as well give it to you. Wait here, I'll be right back."

JC stood there praying he was dreaming. The realtor returned with a box that JC immediately recognized as the one in which he had wrapped Laura's birthday gift. He held the box in his arms.

"This letter was also attached to the box." he said as he handed the sealed envelope to JC.

A coupled walked in behind them and the realtor immediately went over to greet them. As he was guiding them in to look at the house, JC took the time to open the letter there. He set the box down on the floor and opened the envelope to read the letter:

JC,

I am sorry this letter is so short. I've been struggling with this for awhile now. And my decision was an extremely hard one to make. I just can't stay here any longer. It's too hard for me to be this close to you and know that I can never be with you. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I lay awake in bed and think of things to come just on the other side of our fences..Birthday parties, family barbecue's, and possibly a wedding reception. Things I find too hard to bear. But I won't go the same route that my father did when things got to hard for him. I know I am stronger than that. I left you some things that I will no longer need. You can do with them as you please. I have no use for them any longer.

You know, I can't get that day in the studio out of my head. The way I looked up as tears rolled slowly down my cheek. I thought about better days and wondered if I'll feel that way again. I remember you looking at me with those eyes I knew so well, always serious, so deep and insightful as though you were always in control. But not that day. You looked so scared, like for once you didn't have the answer. I gazed at you, looking deep into those blue eyes, hoping to understand why. I wondered for a moment if it was all a dream. If I'd wake in the morning and be relieved. You looked at me with a confusion I'd never seen. Slowly pulling me towards you and wiped the tears from my cheek. In that moment I knew it was over. There was nothing else we could say or do that would change things. I don't want to leave without telling you that I will always love you. And I hope that life from this point on will bring you nothing but endless joy and happiness, JC. I'm terrible at goodbye's so I will just say this and be on my way...All my greatest moments have been with you...And the last thing I ever wanted to do was to make you feel anything less than amazing.

Love always,

Laura

JC slowly bent down and opened the box. He was surprised to find every single picture of him and Laura inside. They were mostly all the photos she had placed around the piano of the two of them and Rachel together. There were small trinkets and items that JC had given her throughout the time they had known each other. Earrings he had bought her just because he was thinking of her. The necklace with her name engraved in it. At the bottom of the box was his most recent birthday gift to her. It was a dozen real roses preserved in 24kt gold. He noticed the personalized card he had written to her had never been opened. Sitting behind the vase at the bottom of the box was a small box. He opened it up and lifted up the white cottony cushioning and found three rings attached to a necklace. At a closer glance JC discovered it was their wedding rings.

When he returned outside to his car he handed his mother the box to hold for him. She asked what it was but JC would not speak. He seemed momentarily catatonic as he stared back at Laura's house.

"Are you okay, hun? What happened?"

He took one last look at the house before starting the car and heading home. "She's gone."