Abby finally pulled herself out of her self-pity and finished dinner half-heartedly. When all the food and plates were set out on the table and Chance had eaten real quickly, she put him to bed and slowly made her way to their bedroom.

She pushed the door open with a creak and peeked into the dark room. Expecting to find him laying in bed asleep or in the bathroom taking a shower, she was suprised to find him nowhere within sight. "Josh?" she called in a hushed voice.

She was about to leave the room and check a couple down the hall when she heard a sigh and crept into the room to explore further. She scanned the room again and her eyes finally stopped on his slumped figure leaning against the wall.

His knees were up to his chest and his arms were crossed over them, his head leaning into the crook of them. He was asleep.

Abby's face softened and she quickly crossed the room and knelt down before him. Placing a hand on his arm, she shook him slightly. "Sweetie?" she whispered.

It took a few moments, but JC slowly stirred and looked up at her with a blank expression upon his face. He blinked a couple times and reached a hand up to rub over his face. "I fell asleep," he mumbled through his fingers.

She couldn't help but smile at his sleepy voice. "That's because you're exhausted. Why don't you go to bed?" She moved her hands into his hair and massaged his scalp gently.

JC closed his eyes at the feeling before opening them again to look at her. "Why did you say that?"

Abby furrowed her brow and looked at him curiously. "What did I say?"

He rolled his eyes at her comment and pushed himself up off the floor and out of her reach. Walking across the room to the window, he pulled the curtains open and stared out at the night sky.

Turning back around after a few moment, she stared at her. "You didn't have to inform me that I'm not Braeden's real father. I remind myself of that every day without your help. That kills me, Abby."

She stepped closer to him, holding a hand out. "I'm sorry. I'm just so tired of watching you bottle it all up inside. I love you so much, and you're not the man I fell in love with."

"I won't be until Braeden is back," he affirmmed.

Abby nodded slightly and turned back toward the door, willing to give him a little space. "Dinner's ready if you're interested," she added softly before leaving the room.

JC sighed and turned back to the window. He hated treating her like that, but her words were not necessary...he knew he was inadequate in that one part of his role in Braeden's life. He wasn't his real father, but he would be dammed if he was going to let Ben be his dad.

JC didn't make it to dinner that night. He didn't want to face her after the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind. He didn't want to say anything to her that would upset her and he wasn't prepared to hear her explain to him why she said what she had. His stomach revolted against his decision, but he stuck with it and sat in their room.

He had gone to bed long before Abby ever ventured into the room to change.

JC cracked an eye open as he heard the door slowly open and watched her slip into the dark room. She turned on the light in the hallway, illuminating her way to the walk in closet without blinding him with the bedroom lights.

He watched her pull a nightgown out of their chest of drawers and closed his eyes as she pulled her shirt over her head. He didn't want to feel like a voyeur even though he was in the position to do so.

Abby turned after her nightgown fell into place and had to smile slightly when she saw his eyes close quickly. She knew he was awake, no matter how he tried to hide it. She could always tell when he was awake.

Turning off the light in the hallway, she made her way to their large bed and tentatively perched on the edge of it. She reached her hand out to brush his hair away from his face then moved it down to caress his cheek. "Josh. I know you're awake."

He opened his eyes and looked at her with a lazy gaze. "I am."

She turned slightly and looked down at him. "You've got to be hungry," she whispered, her hand finding his.

JC shook his head. "No...I-I'm fine." He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Lay down, babe. You're exhausted." He moved onto his back and opened his arms to her.

Abby was uncertain of his change in behavior, but moved to lay in his arms. When she felt them tighten around her, she cuddled close to his chest and breathed in her husband's scent. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, running her hand over his chest.

He sighed and looked down at her, moving his fingers into her hair. "I'll be okay."

"I'm sorry I said that," she added. "I know I apologized already, but...there's really no excuse for what I said. I know that you are fully aware that you are not Braeden's father, but you are his Dad and that means so much more to me. This...this entire month so far has just been really, really hard on me and...I just wish it was all over."

JC held her closer and rubbed her back. "I know. It's okay. I wish it were too, but we just have two more weeks left to get through. We can make it as long as we stick together and not let this get the best of us."

She nodded against his chest and began to move her hand over his shirt again. "I love you, Joshua. I don't know if that makes up for how upset I caused you to be this afternoon, but I haven't had a chance to tell you that today."

He smiled and nuzzled her head with his own. "I know...me too."

~*~

JC rolled over with a groan the next morning when the phone beside the bed rang loudly in his ear. He could hear Abby downstairs, talking to Chance, and he rubbed his eyes as the morning rays burned them.

Reaching for the offending object, he put it to his ear and spoke through his groggy morning voice. "H'lo?"

"Jace? Is that you?"

JC woke up gradually as he heard the voice. "Yeah Michael, it's me. I was zonked...sorry."

"I didn't mean to wake you guys up," the lawyer apologized.

JC cleared his throat and rubbed his head. "Nah...Abby's already awake. It's just my lazy butt you're disturbing. What's up?"

"Well, I've recently acquired some information that is going to make or break our case against Ben."

JC frowned. "Make or break? How so?"

Michael shifted in his desk chair and twirled a pen between his fingers. "Make in the sense that upon hearing his information, no judge in their right mind would allow this man to have custody of even a fish. Break in the sense that this could prolong the trial due to the complications."

"What's going on, Michael?" JC didn't like the tone in his lawyer's voice and the cryptic way he was explaining things wasn't helping him at all.

The young lawyer sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Jace...I really can't tell you exactly what's going on at this point. I got a clue from an inside source and I'm going to act on it at the next trial. I just wanted to warn you to be prepared for just about anything."

"I don't like the tone of your voice, man," JC said, fully awake now. "I really wish you would just tell me what's going on."

"JC...pal, I really can't. If I tell you, you're going to freak out and do something you'll regret...well, you probably wouldn't regret doing it and I wouldn't regret letting you. I'd just regret not being there to see it..." He trailed off when he realized he was making no sense.

"I'm confused, Mike," JC sighed. "But I'm getting the feeling that you know what you're talking about and that I would kill a certain man if you told me."

"You probably would," Michael agreed. "I'm sorry I can't give you more information, I just wanted you to have a head's up that something else has come up within this trial."

JC yawned and leaned back into his pillows again. "Yeah...okay. Thanks." He reached over and hung the phone on the base.

"Who was that?"

He looked up to see Abby standing in the doorway with Chance in her arms. He smiled as she approached the bed and deposited their son on the blanket. Chance crawled toward his father and happily contented himself with tugging on the man's fingers.

"It was Michael," JC replied, giving Abby a good morning kiss when she leaned down for one.

"Is he just checking up on us like everyone else we know?" she asked, handing JC his robe when he pushed the blankets off his legs.

He stood up and wrapped his dark blue robe around his body, tying it before lifting Chance into his arms. "He said something's come up that should help our case. He wouldn't tell me what it is, but he said it would probably piss me off if I knew what it was."

She raised an eyebrow. "That worries me for some reason."

He nodded and watched chance lean in for a kiss from his father. Kissing the boy on the lips, he smiled to his wife as they stepped out into the hallway. "Me too, but Mike said it'll take care of everything."

Abby stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around to look at him. "Two more weeks. We can make it...I know it."

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