Written by: Dallas Walsh

Outside the hospital, the kiss between Houston Blackmore and Stacey Rockwell lingers a moment longer before their lips part and they look into each other's eyes. Houston just finished telling his former lover that he thinks that her future could look different now that Kent Blackmore has remarried Vivian Blackmore; Houston knows that Stacey made a selfless act by allowing Kent to marry Vivian, but now that his mother is on the road to recovery, he hopes that it means that he and Stacey could reunite.

"See, our future could be very different," Houston looks at her with lust in his eyes. "You and I, we could be together again. Maybe this is the way it was always supposed to be."

Stacey looks back at him and then turns away from Houston. She covers her mouth, trying to wrap her head around everything that has happened. She thought that Vivian was going to die, which is why she suggested to Kent that he marry her. Now, Vivian is going to recover, and she doesn't know if she and Kent have the future that they were planning together.

"Houston," she finally says as she gasps for air. "We can't be doing this. I am…I'm still in love with Kent!"

"And he is married to my mother," Houston comes up behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders. "This Stacey, what just happened between us," he says as he spins her around so they can face each other once again. "This is how it should have been all along. Just think about everything we've been through together. And I've, I've loved you since the first day I saw you at the mine all those years ago."

"Oh Houston," she says as a tear runs down her cheek. "I'm…I'm so confused by everything."

"You can take your time to sort this out, but just know that I'm here and I love you."

***

"What do you make of Deacon's request to not sabotage Quinn's case?" Dyhannah Cooper asks her fiancé, Chase Cooper, as they stand facing one another in her suite at the country club. She recalls how her son, Deacon Cooper, asked Chase not to ruin Quinn Cunningham's custody case against Marat Kafelinkov as she originally suggested that Chase take the case to ensure that Quinn purposely lost as a way to get revenge on her.

"I think our son means well," Chase replies to her as he takes a sip of his scotch. "He has always had a soft spot in his heart."

"Does that mean you're going to proceed with our original plan?" Dyhannah chuckles back to him.

"I am not sure," he admits to her. "The last thing I want to do is hurt Deacon; he has been through enough. I will see how the first day in court goes and get back to you."

"I suppose once this case is over we can focus on us and our wedding."

"See, that's what I like to hear," Chase winks back to her. "You and I and our wedding, it's long over-do."

"I couldn't agree more," she says as she moves closer to him as she give shim a quick kiss on the lips. "And I think we have a lot of our basis covered already."

"I am a tad concerned about one thing though," he admits to her as they lock eyes. "And that is your desire to exclude your family, Dyhannah. I don't want you to look back at the day and regret not having them there."

"Trust me," Dyhannah's tone changes to be more serious and direct. "I won't regret not inviting those people to my wedding. They may be my family, but I want nothing to do with them."

***

"Did I just hear you right?" Houston asks Celeste Baldwin as they sit across from one another in the cafeteria of the hospital. Celeste just told him that the day that Cole Rockwell went to her hotel suite and saw her in bed with Houston, he was actually there to see if they could mend their relationship. "Cole came to see if you two could get back together and, instead, in saw us in bed together?"

Celeste sighs back to him. "Yup, what are the odds, right?" she asks him back. "Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Cole admits he wanted us to reunite but he saw me in bed with you."

"I am sorry," Houston replies to her quickly. "If we had known…"

"I know, we never would have slept together. But we can't go back in time now."

"I am sorry that this has happened, Celeste. I really am. I could talk to Cole, if you want me too."

"No, please don't do that," she chuckles back to him. "I am pretty sure that you're the last person Cole wants to talk to about this."

"That's fair," he laughs back with her.

"What about you? How are things with Stacey?"

"This might not be best time to tell you considering what you just told me," Houston looks back at her. "But I think that Stacey and I have a real chance at a future together. I think we might get back together."

***

Stacey sits at the bar of the country club with a dirty martini in front of her. She felt like she needed a stiff drink after Houston kissed her at the hospital earlier in the day. Her mind is racing over the fact that he believes that they could be together again now that Kent is married to Vivian. Stacey, however, can't escape remembering that Cole told her that Houston was in bed with Celeste.

"You look a million miles away," a voice calls out next to Stacey.

She turns and sees Marat Kafelinkov standing next to her. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asks as he sits next to her and orders a drink with her.

"I am not sure you even want to know," she chuckles back to him. "My life… as per usual, it seems like it is a mess."

"Is it Vivian? I thought I heard she was getting better?"

"Oh, she is," Stacey takes a sip of her martini. "And that is great. The piece is, I told Kent to marry her. Little did I know that the marriage would be the thing that saved Vivian's life."

"Ah," Marat nods back to her. "So now you have no idea where you and Kent stand, I take it?"

"None," Stacey admits to him. "And Houston is trying to tell me that this is a sign that he and I should be together."

Marat takes a sip of his whiskey sour. "I have it on good authority that Houston has always felt like the two of you were meant to be together."

Stacey looks back at him with a grin on her face. "You mean when he came back and, sort of, broke us up?"

"He was positive that you were two were meant to be together," Marat reminds her of the history. "And as a result, you two have Drake together. You can't deny that you and Houston have history."

"We do," Stacey nods back to him. "But it's so complicated and full of hurt and betrayals. I don't know, Marat, I feel…I guess I feel very torn."

"You have to look inside your heart and see what it is that you want, who you want to spend your life with Stacey," Marat replies to her quickly. "Only you can figure that out."

***

Helena Grant licks her lips as Nathan Lockhart moves closer to her and pushes his lips against hers. Helena, immediately, responds by putting her hand into Nathan's hair and drawing him into a deeper kiss. When they part, she guides him to the desk in the office at Rockwell Mining. He lifts her to the desk and moves inside her opening legs as her back falls down to the desktop. Nathan's lips reach her neck and Helena gasps out in pleasure.

Suddenly, Helena sits up in Mac Rockwell's large king size bed and looks around, suddenly realizing that she was dreaming of Nathan. She looks to her side and sees Mac laying next to her, still fast asleep.

She recalls how the previous night she and Mac made love, so it is troubling to her that she is now having a sexual dream about Nathan.

She slowly lays back down into the bed and caresses her lips slowly while she lays down.

"I have to stop thinking about you," she whispers to herself. "I have too."

***

A short time later, Helena steps off the elevators at Rockwell Mining and slowly moves towards the executive suite where she and Nathan have been working on his special ring for Sabine Andrews. She knows that their wedding is right around the corner, so today they will finish working on the ring. They normally they work at night but they are spending the rest of the day together so Nathan can finish the ring.

She pauses when she gets to the door and takes a deep breath. "Okay," she whispers to herself. "It was just a dream. Nathan and I agreed that we wouldn't kiss again, I just must stay focused, and I will be fine. Nothing will happen."

She opens the door and sees Nathan working at the table. She clears her throat which causes him to look up.

"Hi there Helena," he says as he stands up and looks at her. "Are you ready to finish the ring today?"

Helena closes the door behind herself before she moves closer to him. "I am just here for support," she reminds him. "You're the one doing all the magic."

Before he can respond, there's a loud thunderclap outside. Nathan looks out the window and sees dark clouds in the sky.

"Looks like we are in for storm," Nathan looks back at her. "Good day to stay inside and finish a project."

"I couldn't agree more," Helena moves towards the sofa, as the rain starts to pour down from the clouds.

***

Ming Choi sits next to Marat in the courtroom as she is going to represent him in the custody case. He looks across the aisle and sees Quinn and Chase sitting next to one another. Quinn and Marat make eye contact for a moment before they return to looking at their lawyers.

"Are you sure we have a good chance at this?" Marat whispers to Ming Choi.

"The Judge has already reviewed the initial statements that we had to submit," Ming replies to him. "Based on the commentary involved, I'd say we have a great chance at getting you custody of Jumper."

Marat uneasily nods back to her. "I hope so," he tells her. "I don't want this to be for nothing. I…I just want to be with my son, that's all."

"Don't worry, you will be," Ming winks back to him.

"All rise, the honorable Judge Sebastian Cartwright resides," the bailiff announces as everyone in the courtroom stands up.

The Judge makes his way to his chair and then smashes his mallet down. "You may be seated," Sebastian announces to the room, as everyone sits down. "This is the petition for full custody of Jumper Cunningham from his father Marat Kafelinkov against his mother Quinn Cunningham."

Sebastian slowly opens the file folder in front of him and quickly glances down, while Quinn and Marat nervously look at one another.

"I have reviewed the preliminary statements and have some initial thoughts," the Judge reveals to everyone. "While I agree that it is most unfortunate that Miss Cunningham chose to mislead everyone around the paternity, the truth is, I believe Mr. Cooper's defense that she, herself, didn't know the real identity of the father of the child. It should have been up to everyone involved to settle this. Now, I am going to take a short recess before we carry on."

Quinn looks back at Chase with a smile on her face. She grabs his arm and squeezes. "This is a good thing, right?"

"It's a very good thing," Chase whispers back to her.

Quinn turns and looks at Marat, whose blood is boiling. He looks at Ming with a scowl on his.

"You damn well better fix this," Marat growls at his lawyer.

***

A few minutes later, Marat stands in the hallway of the courthouse as the trial is on a recess. He runs his hands through his hair as he is livid over the fact that the Judge seemingly understood why Quinn was lying to everyone about Jumper's paternity.

"Damn it," he whispers to himself, as he feels his blood continue to boil at the thought of the Judge understanding what Quinn has done. "This has to go my way; I won't let my son be raised by that liar."

Before he can say anything else to himself, he hears his cell phone ring. He pulls it out of his pocket and sees Celeste's name on his screen.

"Celeste, hi," he says as he answers the call. "What's up?"

"I was just calling to see how it was going in court," Celeste tells him as she sits at the bar in the country club and nurses a cocktail.

"Not well, I'm afraid," Marat informs her. "Apparently, the Judge understands why Quinn lied about the paternity, if you can believe that," he huffs back to her.

"It is early in the case," Celeste tries to calm him down. "Just take a couple of deep breathes and everything will be fine. You won't lose your son, Marat."

"I hope you're right," Marat replies to her quickly. "Because I don't know what I would do if that happened."

***

A short time later, Celeste is just about to finish her cocktail when Houston slides in the barstool next to her at the country club.

"You're not leaving, are you? I could buy you another drink and we could watch up?" he suggests to her with a slight chuckle.

"I could be persuaded to have another drink," Celeste chuckles back to him. "Especially if you're buying."

"We'll have two more," Houston tells the bartender before he looks over at Celeste. "So, have you seen Cole since he confessed he was hoping you two would reunite before he saw us together?"

"I haven't," Celeste admits to him before he takes a sip of her drink. "And I am sort of okay with that. He and Madison are growing closer again; I am not sure that there is anything left for me to do."

"Don't say that," Houston looks back at her with intent. "The fact is, I believe Stacey and I are getting close to reuniting; if she can get past the fact that you and I slept together and that she still has some lingering feelings for Kent, you and Cole can make your way back to one another."

"You really think so?" Celeste asks him as he nods back to her. "Maybe I should try to give it one more chance with him. Lord knows, I do still love him."

"Then fight for him," Houston tells his friend. "It's not over for you and Cole, I can feel it."

***

A short time later, Celeste is wrapping up at the bar. She puts her phone in her purse and then flings it over her shoulder. She is about to leave, but she freezes in her tracks when she sees Cole and Madi sitting together, again, at a table in the dining room.

She watches them for a moment and can see that they are closer than ever. His hand is resting on hers and they are looking into each other's eyes.

Celeste can't help but feel her heart move into her throat at the sight. She was just encouraged by Houston to try to fight for Cole, but now seeing this she wonders if she should just give up on Cole.

As she has these thoughts, she feels her eyes swell with water as she knows how long she and Cole have bene in each other's orbits. For years, she and Cole have been involved, or closely involved. To think that it could really be over for the two of them, is devastating to her.

As a single tear runs down her cheek, she looks forward and sees Cole lean across the table and give Madison a kiss.

"I will fight for you," Celeste whispers to herself. "I won't let you go without a fight."

***

"Okay, don't rush anything," Kent says as he stands in Vivian's hospital room while she is standing up with her doctor nearby. They are about to see if Vivian will be able to take a few steps, her first since her accident. Kent looks at Vivian's left ankle, which is still heavily wrapped, as she had broken it in the car crash, but it has since healed well, mostly during the time she was in her coma. "We don't have to make a lot of progress right away."

Vivian looks towards her doctor, who nods his head back to her. "It's okay Vivian," he encourages her. "You have the walker there and I am right here."

"I'm also right here," Kent tells her with a smile on his face. "You can do this."

"Okay," a nervous Vivian replies to the men. "Here goes nothing."

She slowly moves her left foot forward, followed by her right foot. Once she is stable again, she beams over to Kent. "I…I did it! I took a step! Oh my God…."

Kent rushes up to her and hugs her as they laugh together. Neither one can truly believe that this is happening as just a few days ago they all thought she was going to die.

"I am so proud of you, Viv," he says as he looks into her eyes after they exit their embrace. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Vivian smiles back to him. "I couldn't have done this without you, without my husband."

At the doorway, Stacey sees the scene unfolding, so she shuts the door and leaves having not been seen by anyone in the room.

Back inside, the doctor moves up to Vivian. "This is a very good sign indeed," he tells his patient. "We still have a lot of work to do, but this is a very good first step!"

***

Lydia Rockwell rushes up towards the front door of Casper Ross' office and pushes herself inside. She sees the PI behind his desk typing into his laptop as she recalls that she got a phone call from him stating that he uncovered something about Dane Ashby's past. She has been looking into Dane's past because Lucinda Rockwell has agreed to marry him; the last thing that Lydia wants is for Lucinda to marry a man that has dark secrets in his past, especially because in order for Lucinda to marry Dane, she has to divorce Mortimer, which would leave Nathan in charge of his father's medical care.

"I got here as soon as I could," Lydia announces as she moves up to the desk where Casper is working. "What is going on? What have you uncovered?"

Casper smiles back to her as he stands up from behind his desk. "Thanks for coming," he says as he moves to the bar and pours two brandy's. "I did think that this was something we should discuss over the phone."

"Alright," Lydia nods back to him as she accepts one of the brandy's that he passes her. "I am guessing that what you uncovered is pretty major then?"

"I was able to track Dane back to Texas, where he is from," Casper replies to her quickly as he takes a sip of his drink. "From there, I was able to follow get some names of people that he engaged with and…"

"Don't keep me waiting Casper," Lydia moves closer to him. "What did you uncover? What did you find out about Dane?"

"Brace yourself Lydia," Casper whispers to her. "Because this will change everything."

***

Lexington Rockwell steps off the elevator at Rockwell Mining and moves towards the main office of the company. He is desperate to finish this report that he has been working on for weeks, it seems.

As he opens the door to the main office, he freezes when he sees Jaxson Williams waiting for him on the sofa. He immediately remembers how awkward of a date they had the previous night.

"Jaxson, hi," Lex says as he moves into the office.

"I hope you don't mind, the secretary let me in," Jaxson replies to him.

"I don't mind," Lex tells him. "I am just surprised to see you, that's all. After our date ended last night, I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Look man, I'm sorry for walking out," Jaxson says, as a loud thunder bolt blasts across the sky. "It's just, I was taken aback by how much you wanted me to seemingly be Jarek, and I will never be him."

Lex nods back to him. "I know," Lex sighs to him. "I guess I hadn't realized that I was projecting Jarek onto you, and for that I am sorry. But you know, it did make me realize something."

"And what's that?"

"That I have been wishing, I guess, that you were Jarek," Lex admits to him. "The truth is, I don't think we will have any thing beyond friendship. I hope you're okay with that."

Jaxson grins back to him. "I can settle for friends, Lex. As long as you are."

Lex moves up to him and hugs him as lightning flashes across the dark sky. "I'd like that very much, Jaxson."

***

"Would you care for a glass of sparkling rose?" Dane asks Lucinda as they sit in the living room of the Rockwell mansion as the storm continues to brew outside.

"Actually, I think I'd rather have a glass of red wine," Lucinda replies to her fiancé. "The storm has given me a chill, right to by core."

"Coming right up," Dane chuckles back to her. "Anything my Queen once, she gets."

"I'm going to hold you to that Mr. Ashby," Lucinda giggles back to him, as he passes her a glass of red wine. "Thank you."

"Of course," Dane tells her as he sits next to her. "Have you given any thoughts to the wedding? I was hoping we could start making some plans."

"Look Dane," Lucinda sets her wine glass down and looks over at her fiancé. "I know that you're eager for this wedding to happen, but you know that it will take some time for the divorce from Mortimer to go through. I…I think we should wait until that is finalized before we rush into making plans."

Dane smirks back to her. "I guess I should reveal my first surprise to you," Dane tells her quickly.

Lucinda arches her eyebrow back to him. "Surprise? What have you done, Dane?"

"I've hired Chase Cooper to file your divorce papers," Dane reveals to her as she gasps back to him as another thunderclap can be heard outside. "I want this divorce to happen so we can be married."

Lucinda gulps heavily to him but forces a smile on her. "This is, indeed, a lovely surprise. Uh, thank you, thank you Dane."

***

Meanwhile, upstairs in the study, Mac sits by the fire while he reviews some reports from Rockwell Mining as another thunderbolt echoes the dark sky outside.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here," a voice calls out at the door. Mac turns and sees Sabine standing there.

"Sabine, come in," Mac says as he puts his folders down on the coffee table. "It's quite the storm out there, huh?"

"You can say that again," she chuckles back to him. "I guess we need the rain though."

"Can I get you a drink?" Mac asks her as he moves to the bar.

"Sure, that would be nice. Not seeing Helena tonight?"

"She is working on a project at the police station," Mac reveals to her as he pours two glasses of wine and passes her one. "Where's Nathan?"

"He's also caught up at something at Rockwell," Sabine admits to him.

Mac arches his eyebrow as he takes a sip of his wine. "Really? I wonder what that could be? I didn't know he was working on something."

"He said the name of the project, but I can't remember," Sabine admits to him as lightning flashes in the window. "Anyways, it gives us a moment to be alone together."

"Is something on your mind?"

"I don't know why but the storm has made me think of the baby I lost," Sabine reveals to him as they lock eyes with each other. "It's…it's still hard, you know? I would have given birth by now."

"I think of the little one too," Mac admits to her. "The fact is, though, I do believe that everything happens for a reason."

"What reason do you think caused our baby to die?" she asks as a tear falls down her cheek.

Mac takes another sip of his wine while another thunderbolt flashes in the sky. "Well, I don't think you, Nathan and I would be getting along the way we would be if you had my child," Mac tells her. "Nathan wouldn't have wanted to marry you; Nathan and I wouldn't be co-existing at Rockwell Mining, and Helena and I certainly wouldn't be in a relationship. So, I think it all turned out, the way it was supposed to."

Sabine moves up and hugs him. "Thank you for saying that. I guess I needed to hear that."

***

"I think I am almost done," Nathan announces to Helena as he sits at the table in the executive office at Rockwell Mining as another thunder bolt blasts in the sky outside.

Helena looks over from the sofa. "Can I come and see?"

"Of course, I'd love your input."

Helena moves towards the desk and looks at the ring that he is working on Sabine for. Helena looks at the ring, with the large diamond, and gasps at the beauty of the ring.

"Nathan, it is stunning," Helena tells him before they lock eyes.

"Thanks, I am glad you approve," Nathan smiles back to her. "If a woman of your taste likes it, then I am sure that Sabine will like it."

"I don't know a woman that wouldn't want a custom ring made by her fiancé," Helena chuckles back to him. "Sabine is a lucky woman."

Nathan licks his lips as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "That perfume again…"

"Nathan," Helena cuts him off quickly.

"Sorry," Nathan replies to her quickly as they open their eyes as they lock eyes. "I…I just can't help it," he says as he moves closer to her. Their lips almost touch as they look into each other's eyes and another loud bolt of thunder cracks in the sky. "God, you're beautiful."

***

Chase sits at the table in the courtroom while he waits for the custody case to resume from the brief recess they are on.

While he waits for Quinn to return from the restroom, Chase pulls out his phone and looks at a picture of him and Dyhannah.

"Why are you so against having your family at the wedding?" he whispers to himself as he thinks about his fiancé doesn't want her parents to come to the wedding. He knows that Dyhannah has said that her adoptive parents were hard on her growing up, but he really doesn't want her to regret not having her family at the wedding.

"The last thing I want is for you to regret this," he tells himself as another flash of lightning moves across the sky outside.

He opens his text message box to Dyhannah and finds himself typing a message. "Do you want to try to find your biological parents?"

He pushes the send button and takes a deep breath, hoping that he hasn't crossed a line with Dyhannah.

***

Outside the courtroom, Quinn leaves the restroom and starts to move towards the courtroom. She freezes when she sees Marat lifting his head from the water fountain. They lock eyes at one another for a moment before Quinn continues to approach him.

"I suppose I am off to a great start, huh?" Quinn purses her lips together.

"Just because the Judge said that the preliminary reports are on your side, doesn't mean anything," Marat replies to her. "The case is only getting started."

"Is that what Ming Choi told you to comfort you?" Quinn asks him next. "Because my lawyer, my top of the line lawyer, noted that the Judge will likely leave the child with his mother, the way it should be."

"Don't get too cocky," Marat tells her quickly. "This is far from over."

"What I know, Marat," Quinn glares back at him. "Is that I won't lose my son; I won't lose Jumper. I will keep my son and you can mark my words on that."

***

"Well, please," Lydia pleads with Casper as they continue to stand in his office while another loud thunderbolt claps outside as the storm continues. "Tell me what you uncovered about Dane Ashby."

Casper takes a sip of his brandy before he looks back at Lydia. "Like I said, I was able to track down names and contacts of people that Dane was interacting with in Texas."

"Right."

"Years ago, Dane had an affair with a married woman," Casper continues to tell her.

"That's not shocking. Everyone has slept with a taken person at least once in their life."

Casper chuckles back to her. "It gets better," he tells her. "9 months later, she gave birth to his baby. We know this because I found the birth certificate."

"So, Dane has an out of wedlock child? That's not too shocking?"

"It is because the mother of the child, she gave her up for adoption. And the child, she's here in Kelsey Lake," Casper stuns Lydia, who gasps back to her as another flash of lightning graces the sky. "Dane's daughter is in town!"

***

"Nathan, please, we said this wouldn't happen again," Helena looks back at Nathan with lust in her eyes as more thunder booms outside.

"I know Helena," he licks his lips back to her as they continue to stand in the executive office at Rockwell Mining. "It's just…I can't help that I find you so attractive."

"God help me, I am attracted to you too," Helena admits to him as he leans in and kisses her on the lips.

They part ways for a moment before Helena kisses him again. He lifts her into his hands and puts her down on the desk, kissing her more passionately than before.

"Make love to me," she pleads with him as she starts to unzip his pants and his lips find her neck.

"Yes," he whispers into her ear with a grin on his face. "I will give you what you need, what we both need."

Another loud boom of thunder echoes in the room as their clothing falls to the ground and they start having intense sex with one another.