James sat in disbelief at the story that Lesly had shared with her the following day. Gabe DeAngeles, the former heartthrob at their high school was back in town and clearly had kept himself busy upon his arrival. Lesly gushed to James as if she were a teenager and was blushing and stammering through the tale of Gabe following her home, taking about two sips of wine, and then finding his way into her bed. And it had all happened within a matter of about five hours. He'd stayed the next morning for a cup of coffee and then left, not before promising to stop by and say hello to James, which James thought odd, especially because they hadn't hung out in the same circles in high school. 

"He's really interested in seeing the shop," Lesly explained, when James had questioned that. "He was thrilled when he found out Grayson had gotten its own coffee shop."

James just nodded, still a little shocked at what her friend had told her. She wasn't judging, that wasn't it. In fact, who was she to judge in the first place when she knew people questioned how fast she and JC had moved when they first started dating. But Lesly had just gotten out of a relationship that had made her angry and confused and James was just a little wary of Gabe in the first place. Probably because he'd made fun of Chad in high school for being "a pansy" and calling him other distasteful names behind his back. People changed, she knew that, but all of it, the whole story, just didn't settle well with her.

"Great. It'll be good to see him, too," James forced a smile and then went over to the shelf to do some inventory. "So, I guess I shouldn't even ask if you've talked to Chris at all?"

"Nope. Not in a few days," Lesly answered, and James thought she caught a wistful expression on Lesly's face. "Why? Has he talked to Josh at all?"

James shrugged. "I don't think so. At least Josh hasn't said anything to me about it." James looked up over at Lesly. "So you're done now? For good, I mean?"

Lesly's facial expression was hard to read. "I-I, yes. Yes for right now. At least until Gabe goes back to the West Coast,"

James wondered if she should say anything else. At that minute, the door opened and Gabe walked in. He hadn't changed much since high school, except that he looked a little older and was more fit than she remembered. He was beautiful, she'd give him that. But for some reason, he had the word PLAYER spelled out in bold letters all over him and James couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she was getting. Nonetheless, she shook it off and greeted him warmly as if they'd been old friends.

"This is a great place, James. Way to go for putting something cool in this town," Gabe took off his black leather jacket and draped it over the back of a chair at the table by the counter. "So, I hear you married up?"

James winced. Married up?! As opposed to marrying down? "Well, I married a former singer if that's what you mean," James answered, trying to remain cool and calm. 

Gabe flashed her a smile. "Right, right. JC Chasez. I took my niece to see his band in concert once. Good thing you didn't go for the gay one. Guess you've got enough of that going on, huh?" Gabe laughed at his own joke and right away, James knew he was referring to her friendship with Chad. She looked at Lesly, who was smiling uncomfortably. 

"Uh, actually, Gabe, Josh and Chad are first cousins. That's how we met," James told him, quietly. She no longer cared if she sounded snippy.

Gabe's face fell. "Oh, damn, James. I didn't mean anything by it. I guess I should've made the connection with their last name. My fault," he put his hands up in surrender. "How is Chad doing anyway? Is he still around?"

"He's a successful interior designer and did Paula Deen's house," James replied, coolly. 

Gabe nodded. "Wow. I'd love to talk with him," he was trying his best to make James like him again and James could see right through his little act. 

She looked over at Lesly. "I'm going to go in the back and work on a few things. Gabe, it was nice to see you again. How long are you in Grayson?" 

"Oh, I don't know. Depends," he looked at Lesly, who blushed and smiled back at him. "On a lot, actually."

"Uh huh, well, I'm sure we'll see you around, then," James gave a wave of the hand and then headed back to her office. She closed the door behind her and plopped down in her chair, picking up the phone to call JC and let him know all of what had just taken place. It made her grateful for what they had and she wouldn't have traded anything for what her life was like now. She'd rather have chaotic moments of bliss than be jumping in and out of bed with men who couldn't make up their minds and men who were - or so it seemed to James when she thought about Gabe - in it for one reason only.

JC answered on the first ring, "Hey, baby,"

"Hi," James sighed, happy to hear his voice. "I was just calling to tell you I love you and I'm thankful for you. You wouldn't believe what I just encountered..."

**

Stephanie wouldn't leave him alone. Everyday she texted him or called him to tell remind him about doctor's appointments or what she needed for the baby or other minute things that Chris would have rather not had to think about. He'd finally broken down and told Joey, who was skeptical just as Chris was about the validity of truth that Chris was the father. 

"Have you told Lesly?" Joey had asked over the phone. 

"Nope. You and Stephanie are the only ones who know," 

"How long are you going to keep it from her?"

"She's supposed to text me when she's ready to talk again. So I guess until then,"

"Don't be a jerk, Chris. You owe it to her to let her know what's going on,"

"Maybe. I really just don't know what to do now. About any of it,"

That was the truth. He'd thought long and hard about the next steps to take. Whether or not he should tell Lesly right now or whether or not he should tell Stephanie he didn't believe the baby was his. It would just be his word against hers, though. And if it was his, he'd feel like a bigger ass than he did now. The thing was, the one person he knew could help him with all of this was the one person who didn't want to talk to him. And even if they'd been in a relationship right now, Chris knew she'd break up with him if she'd found out he had cheated on her. Then again, there was the small chance that she could be forgiving and move on with him and become what JC was to Sutton. He mentioned that to Joey, who literally choked over the phone on the Coke he was drinking.

"You do know that the situation is completely different, right? When JC and James met, Sutton's biological father was completely out of the picture. It's not like James was pregnant and JC walked into that. So I wouldn't necessarily bring that up to her whenever you decide to tell her. Because it's not the same in the least," Joey had suddenly become the realist.

"But Lesly could end up loving the kid and-"

"Lesly isn't your girlfriend anymore and if she was, well, I'd tell her to talk to Kelly. I mean, I had my fair share of liaisons back in the day and she put up with a lot of shit from me. But I never got anyone pregnant,"

"You're just full of good news for me," Chris said sarcastically, ready to throw his phone across the room.

"No, I'm just telling you that I know how most women react and Lesly strikes me as someone who wouldn't be all that forgiving of the fact that you got your ex-girlfriend pregnant while you were technically dating someone else, especially since the other person is Lesly," Joey paused for a minute. "But I could be wrong. I could be dead wrong. You could tell her and things could be fine and you're right, she could end up loving your kid like her own if that escalated to something more. But I'm just trying to be pragmatic and real with you, dude. You're in a sticky situation,"

Chris definitely knew that. He'd never been in this type of weird reality before now. He never wanted this. Ever. He hated himself for the way he had been treating Lesly. Yet, he still couldn't understand why it was so hard for him to love someone and still be scared to death of committing to her. He was sure it had to do with his parents divorce or the fact that most of his friends couldn't seem to stay married. Then again, there was Joey and Kelly and JC and James. They had made it work. 

By the time he went to bed that night, Chris' head was pounding. 

**

"You don't think you're being too hard on her?" JC questioned James, after she had told him everything about the visit with Gabe and Lesly earlier that day. They were in the kitchen, JC was sitting at the bar as James made Sutton a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. 

James turned to him, an exasperated look on her face. "Josh, seriously? Did you even hear what I said? He basically put Chad down right in front of me. And there's just something about the way he was all about Lesly."

JC chuckled and took a sip of his beer. He caught James looking at him, annoyed. "Baby, I was all about you when I first met you. Remember?"

James sighed and turned off the burner after putting the sandwich on a plate. She went over to the sliding glass doors and opened them, beckoning for Sutton to come in from her swing set for dinner. "And that's not what I mean. He's just, I don't know, creepy about it or something," she placed the plate on the kitchen table and went to get a juice box out of the refrigerator when JC grabbed her playfully.

"How creepy are we talking?" he whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver a little. She caught his eye and couldn't help but smile back at him. "Like, creepy grabbing her and whispering dirty stuff? That creepy?"

James giggled, but also silently wished they were off in Greece now. She needed to be with her husband. Badly. "No. Not like that. And you'd better cool it. Our child is about to come in and she's gonna wonder why her daddy has this insane look on his face." She kissed him quickly, but as passionately as she could manage, then went to grab Sutton's drink. JC relented and went back to his beer.

"All I'm saying is that you should give the guy a chance," he told James, watching her as she began to ponder what she and JC would eat for dinner that night. "And there are steaks in the freezer in the garage. What say we get the kids to bed and then I'll grill a few for us."

James looked at him gratefully and smiled, "Thanks. I'll go check on the twins,"

She headed out of the kitchen and then upstairs to the twins' room. 'Give him a chance. Fine. I just don't want him to hurt her anymore than she's already been hurt' James thought to herself.