It took four more days of continued sequestration before this hell was over. Four more days of ISA briefings and twice daily check-ins, four more days of not being able to see their family, four more days of Kim being frosty to her sister. In those four days, however, there had been a silver lining. Book Club by phone wasn’t ideal, but the physical separation didn’t take away from the emotional bonding it let Steve and Kayla have with their daughter. They also had time to just be. They’d woken up not too significantly hung over the morning after their evening of Drunk 20 Questions activities. Normally they’d have to grin and bear it, but instead they found themselves in the enviable position of being able to just … sleep it off. Relax. Take it easy. Give themselves time to let their day take them absolutely nowhere. They missed their freedom, but they also enjoyed the means to do absolutely nothing. For the first time since they’d started jumping, they legitimately had nowhere to be and nothing to do. Their life was waiting for them for as long as they were in this jump, which could end in an hour or a year. None of this could be controlled, so they stopped trying and just enjoyed it for what it was without guilt. They were in contact with Stephanie at all times, she was safe, their families were safe, and even Kitty was ok. There was no reason not to live in the moment. So they did.
January 2nd was a beautiful day with the sun just aching to shine into the two spacious rooms they’d been hidden away in, and Kayla was tired of seeing her husband cooped up. So while Steve was in the shower, Kayla convinced Mark to let her open the drapes in the bedroom, which had a view of nothing but the clear blue sky. He said the minute dusk began that they had to shut them, but she was convincing, and he agreed that if they wanted to let a little light in that they were probably ok Steve’s wide smile was exactly what Kayla wanted to see, and for the remainder of their time there it helped both of them feel a lot less boxed in. No one enjoyed the sun pouring into the bedroom more, however, than Kitty, who basked in the golden light at every opportunity.
They went to their daily briefings, checked in, and relaxed. They didn’t have any more drunk sex, but they did have their share of sober sex. Steve’s new favorite position was in front of that full-length mirror. Every orgasm he watched Kayla give him seemed to be more intense than the last. Kayla felt the same desperation when she saw the coital pleasure splayed across their faces. Seeing her sexuality on her own face was erotic, but seeing her husband’s entire body react to her words and strokes was even more intense. It made her feel powerful. They didn’t set any more records, but they made good on their intention to experiment with the amplification effect and see how far they could take their sexuality, enjoying each other with loving, passionate abandon. Even when their bodies needed a physical break, the mental and emotional desire never waned.
They loved their intimacy, but they they also spent some significant time with their own thoughts. Kayla was right, 24/7 with just just one person, no matter how in love they were, wasn’t healthy for any relationship. So, Steve spent some quality time splayed out on the bed with the cat on his chest, the remote in his hand, a beer on the nightstand, and the sun shining down upon them. Kayla, meanwhile, sat with her back against the arm of the couch and organized her latest thoughts on the jump project (which now permanently lived in her head). She transferred several lists and facts to various sheets of paper and flipped back and forth as she connected one to the next – and she was making quite a few connections. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she jumped when Steve sat down beside her.
“Easy, baby. Anyone ever tell you you’re jumpy?”
“A few times,” Kayla smirked. “I thought you were napping.”
“Nah, Kitty was getting antsy. Just fed her.”
“You were just in the kitchen?”
“Please, baby. If that little closet is a kitchen then I’m Barack Obama.”
Kayla chuckled. “It’s Clinton right now. And when did my hotplate gourmet husband get so arrogant about the kitchen? Don’t you know size doesn’t matter?”
“Did you just make a penis joke?”
“I think I just made a hotplate joke.”
“No joking about penis size, Sweetness. He’s going to get a complex.” Steve leaned over and took a look at the stack of papers. “Jump project, huh?”
“How did you know?” she asked and shifted to give him a better look.
“Come on, now, who do you think you’re talking to?” Kayla smiled knowingly as Steve read over the pages. “So, what’s the verdict?”
“Nothing we haven’t really suspected before, but I’ve graduated some of those to sure things at this point.”
“Like?”
Usually, Steve didn’t want to discuss their jumps in detail, because what he feared would be their future jumps and ultimate fate upset him too much to think about. Kayla knew this and rarely pushed him. Since he was actually asking, she ran with this infrequent opportunity. “Ok, so, this jump is about six weeks old. Not the longest, but longer than most of them. We’ve been jumping a total of almost three real time years.”
“Jesus. How is that possible?”
“Time flies.” They both winced at the irony of the unintended pun. “So, I’m sure now that we’ve made so many changes that there’s no telling how long it might be between our two arrivals. It was two weeks this time. Next time it could be a month. Or… longer.”
Steve dragged a hand down his face and shifted his eye back toward her. “I don’t like that.”
“Or it could be shorter, too. Dr. Rolf said if we live the timeline things will stabilize and we won’t have this.”
“I don’t wanna rehash all that do-we-or-don’t-we shit again, Kayla.”
“Neither do I,” she exhaled into frown, her hand gestures mirroring the expression on her face. “That’s not what I’m saying. I just mean, realistically, he’s clearly right about the changes we make, and that means we’re not going to arrive together anymore. That ship has sailed, and we have no idea what that wait is going to be.”
“Goodie,” Steve glowered. Kayla went on.
“When things settle down, if we’re still here … do you think we should try to find him?”
“What’s he gonna know, baby? It’s not the same dude.”
“Yeah, but … if he jumps into himself … I mean, he did say he’d be in touch.” But Kayla’s heart wasn’t in this whole concept, because she wasn’t in any hurry to leave this jump. She was in a big damn hurry to bust Steve out of this hotel room, but she was pretty content to stay right when they were. Steve caught this.
“I think we just let him find us. I want answers as much as you do, and if we were in that compound again, I’d corner him and beat the 2009 into him to get them. But I don’t know what finding him would get us right now.” Kayla nodded and agreed that he was right, then she moved on.
“Next, I am convinced that the slipstream is adjusting. No idea why or how it knows, but I think it’s putting us where it somehow wants to. Or thinks it should. There’s a sense of some kind.” Steve was quiet for a moment. “I’m not saying it’s alive or something, I’m just saying there’s a purposefulness to it.”
Steve did not actually … disagree. The last time they really discussed the uncanny timing of when the jumps landed them they were in the lighthouse on Christmas. Steve wasn’t buying it yet, but he was more intent on repairing their damaged relationship after their loss of Emily than he was on trying to make sense of the mumbo jumbo. Now, he was more clear-headed about it all, and he couldn’t deny that this mumbo maybe wasn’t so jumbo, after all. When he said he agreed, Kayla did a double take.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ya convinced me. At the very least, the thing’s got a real sick sense of humor.”
“Wow.” She was impressed.
“Ok, what’s this?” Steve asked, pointing to some of her notes. She sighed, because this one was complicated.
“I’m positive now that we’re overreacting to pretty much everything.”
“Overreacting how?”
Kayla rethought her choice of words. “I mean our heightened reactions.”
“Baby, I thought we were already positive about that.”
“What I mean is that weve got to be prepared for it and try not to let it hurt us.”
“Isn’t that the same thing makin’ us horny 24/7?” Steve leered. “You didn’t look like you were feelin’ any pain when I made you scream my name last night.”
Kayla smiled like a vixen, because what he’d just said made her feel like one. “Mr. Johnson. You can use that come-fuck-me voice all you want, it is not going to distract me from this very important point.”
Steve’s dick reacted to that immediately. He put the papers down in his lap and lowered his lips to Kayla’s ear. “You said come fuck me and point in the same sentence,” he whispered before kissing her neck.”
“Mm-hmm,” she sighed as he kissed her again.
“So, are you gonna come fuck me?” Then he nibbled her earlobe. “‘Cause I’ve got the point all ready for you.”
“In a minute. You have to let me finish.”
“Oh, you’ll finish.”
“Steve!”
“Ok, ok! But now look what you went and did,” he moved the papers and motioned to his crotch. “Unless you want to go and blame the jump effect.”
“And there you go! When it’s good, it’s really good,” Kayla grinned mischeviously and kissed him. “But I really think it’s the same reason we get sicker and sicker now when we jump, too, and that’s bad. I used to just get queasy when I’d arrive, but when I jumped in at my desk this time it was a lot worse. The more unstable we make this whole thing, the sicker we are.” Steve agreed with this entirely but stayed silent as he took it in. “And I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re not doing anything to help that, it’s just getting more and more unstable. We’re also reacting so intensely to our negative emotions. You’re so jealous you can’t rein it in and get physical. It happened with Shane and Sam. I get so scared,” she went on before Steve could balk, “that my body shuts down. I almost passed out when you went with Stefano’s men.”
Steve crossed his arms and glowered some more, but not in derision, just in analysis. “Ok, I get it. You’re right, I think it’s all connected, too. Not sure how to fix that, though.”
“I … I’m not sure … we can really. Not without Dr. Rolf.” They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Then Steve closed the loop on this conversation.
“Sweetness. You’ve always been the smart one. Always thinkin’.” He caressed her face and smiled when she leaned her cheek against his palm. “This Rolf we’ve got right now ain’t gonna know squat about how to stabilize nothin’. It’s up to us until he finds us.”
“Ok. You’re right. I mean, I know you’re right about that. I really think that if these emotions were artificial it would be easier to control them.”
“Could be. But they’re real. So, yeah, our reactions are gonna be real intense. So, we’re just gonna have to work real hard at controlling them and not letting them control us.”
Kayla nodded. “Ok.”
“Unless it’s sex. Then we let them have all the control they want.” Kayla laughed. “First a penis joke, and now you’re laughing at sex? Uh oh. I’m feeling him compensate, now. This is gonna be a big one.”
“He’s always a big one.”
“Thaaaats more like it, now, baby. I think you’d better come with me into the kitchen, we haven’t done it there, yet.”
“Didn’t you just accuse it of being a closet? How are we supposed to do it in there.”
“Please, we did it in an airplane lavatory, I think we can find a way to do it anywhere.”
“Careful what you wish for, Mr. Johnson, I may just wear you out with multiple orgasms.”
“You keep sayin’ that, Mrs. Johnson, but you have yet to deliver.”
“Just when you least expect it, I’m going to surprise you,” she teased as she traced a finger over the bulge in his jeans.
“So, you gonna come fuck me now, or what? ‘Cause I can feel the jump effect just dying for us to get each other off.”
That they did. More than a few times before the day was over.
Finally, on that fourth day, their ISA phone rang in the middle of the night. They were awake immediately and answered on the first ring, because this call could only be news. Hope filled them, when Captain Chase told them that Pencil Dick and Meter Reader were in custody and neutralized.
“That’s it?!” Steve smiled. “It’s over?!” Kayla was overwhelmed with joy. It surged through her with an electricity she felt like an aura all around her.
“Not quite.”
Steve’s face fell. “Not quite meaning what?”
“Meaning they’re neutralized, but Dimera’s not.”
Steve pumped his jaw. “Is there any evidence the asshole knows where we are?” Steve asked. And as quickly as Kayla’s joy came, disappointment now sapped it right out of her.
“We don’t think your exact room is on his radar. But, his men took out an entire ISA team in a safehouse we thought wasn’t on their radar, either, so we have to assume he’s sending more men until he’s either in custody or dead.” Kayla made an audible noise. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to stay right where you are.”
Steve talked a little more business with him while Kayla got out of bed and left the room. When she didn’t come back he got up to look for her and was surprised to find the long drape blowing in the darkness through the main room’s sliding door. Alarm swept up Steve’s spine. Before the panic could rise, however, he saw her standing on the terrace, her silhouette illuminated through a break in the sheer. He silently padded naked and barefoot onto the terrace.
“You’re not supposed to be out here, baby,” Steve said in a low tone. Despite the chill, she wore just one of her husband’s t-shirts. Kayla turned her head to him, but then turned back to look out on the lights of Los Angeles.
“I was feeling a little rebellious,” she said, her tone rather … unhappy. It was the opposite of what that call should have done to her. But Steve understood his wife better than anyone on earth would ever understand her. She wasn’t upset for herself. She was upset for him. “You’ve gone from one prison to another for too long,” she said, as if confirming it to the city. “I’m tired of seeing you locked up.”
Something about the way Kayla said these words … dangerously … possessively … in low tones like they were meant for those responsible for everything that had ever hurt him … sent a thrill through Steve. The city lights illuminated Kayla’s hair giving her a glow that he couldn’t tear his gaze from as the energy that had fueled his concern now made his penis harden. His wife was strong, she was furious, he loved her so much, and the quiet intensity of of it all made her look unbelievable sexy.
Kayla leaned her palms down slightly onto the brick wall of the terrace, and Steve’s eye was drawn to the hem of the t-shirt she wore. The small movement hiked it up enough to reveal the round cheeks of her naked bottom. And now he ached to pleasure her.
Mine.
Steve walked the few steps to his wife and embraced her from behind. In one fluid motion, his warm palms were caressing her breasts and belly while his wet lips suckled at the side of her neck. She exhaled but said nothing, letting his touch surround her.
Kayla knew what her husband was doing and wanted more of it the moment he started doing it.. Tightening in her belly soothed her anger as she aroused.
They hadn’t made love that day, taking a break to allow both of their bodies to recover. Now Kayla shoved her bottom against him, and he took the opportunity to rub up hard against her as he slid his hand down into her curls and through her lips. As aggressive as he was behind her, his fingers were gentle, a silent acknowledgment that she might still be too sore for him. When she gapsed sharply he stopped, his question of her readiness unspoken.
Kayla reassured him by taking his hand in hers, encouraging him to continue fingering her. And he knew she wanted more.
Steve smiled. He kissed her neck, suckled, bit harder, then lathed the spot with his tongue. He did it again and again and couldn’t help himself when the urge to mark her swept over him. As if on cue, Kayla reached up with her other hand and held Steve’s head against the spot he was sucking.
Steve bit her gently, Kayla whimpered, and Steve finally spoke.
“I’m feeling rebellious, too.” Kayla was supporting her standing position by holding on to his hand as he fingered her, and his head as he bit, her orgasm building too slowly for the arousal that drove her. Then very quickly, Steve kicked her feet farther apart, kneeled slightly, and entered her.
They moved in perfect unison, the sensations bring them closer to the euphoria Steve wanted for himself, and even more for her. It didn’t take long before Kayla started panting hard, keeping her moans in check. Steve’s climax was ahead of hers, though, and the excitement was too much for him. He tried to slow down, and he tried not to come, but Kayla felt it and sped up.
“No, baby—I—want you to come—I—gotta slow down—I—I—fuck—gotta—come—gotta slow—gotta come! Sweetness!”
“Come! I want you to come!”
“Sweetness! Mmf …”
Steve held on tight and grunted as his cock spurt his seed through her. Kayla, again, pulled his head down to the flesh of her shoulder. She wanted him to mark her with the cum he gave her, so he couldn’t help but bite down on her neck like a vampire ready to sire his mate.
Steve was spent. And he was disappointed even as the pleasure radiated through him. “You didn’t come,” he whispered apologetically as he held her against him.
“Mmm … that’s ok … felt good.”
Steve caressed her belly. “Not good enough.” He pulled out of her and turned her around. Then to Kayla’s surprise, he lifted her leg and re-entered her, the high ledge against her buttocks giving her purchase to balance. “I wanted it for you.” Steve kissed her lips. When he pulled back he held her head in his hands and looked into her eyes. “I wanted to make you feel so good.”
Kayla was slick with his cum, so his thrusts were ecstasy on her clitoris. But Kayla knew that she wouldn’t be able to find her climax before it all became beautiful agony for him, and that the overstimulation to his cock would win the evening. But for now she let him do this, enjoying the intensity of his need to please her.
“I do feel good,” she blinked slowly with drunken sexuality. “I don’t have to come to feel good.”
Steve took off her tee-shirt and dropped it beside them. Then he lowered his lips to her breast and sucked at her nipple. Kayla moaned as the stimulation brought her closer to orgasm, and her moans got louder as he kissed and suckled and nibbled his way to her other breast. After several moments, however, Kayla gently brought Steve’s face up to hers. She kissed him deeply, and ran her fingers through his growing hair. They pulled out of the kiss and silently locked eyes. Gently he pulled out of his wife.
“I love you,” Steve whispered, his eye a deep green in the moonless night.
“I love you more,” Kayla replied.
Steve shook his head. “Not possible.”
They went inside and fell back to sleep with very few words.
Steve rose with the morning light and a raging erection. He gazed upon his naked wife and saw the evidence of their lovemaking on the balcony. There were hickeys on both sides of her neck, and several small ones on her breasts. He ran his fingers over them gently before palming each breast one at a time. They were warm, and Steve was pleased when sliding his thumbs back and forth over her nipples made them peak. Kayla’s sleeply moans turned sexual as Steve began kissing her hickeys. “You’re so beautiful,” Steve whispered. He rubbed his face against her breasts, and his whiskers stimulated her already peaked nipples until she arched. “I’m going to make love to you,” he whispered again softly as he gently kissed the mark on her right shoulder, “and you’re going to come.”
Kayla opened her eyes, turned on her side to face him, and smiled. Without words, Kayla lifted her leg over her husband’s hip, and Steve guided himself inside of her. Their lovemaking was long, languid, and resulted in the orgasm Steve had wanted for his wife last night. She shook like a rag doll in his arms, and came two more times before Steve finally joined her. Slick with sweat, Kayla had exhausted herself with the pleasure. So when Kitty had become very insistent for her breakfast, Steve got up and fed her. He checked in with his morning phone call, and when he climbed back into bed, Kayla was, once again, fast asleep. Steve did the same, and soon Kitty was asleep at their feet, content with the meal she’d just had.
Stephanie wasn’t as content as Kitty was. She had enormous amounts of cabin fever and lived for family book club every night. Steve read more than one chapter each of these nights, but she was still miserable. She was also worried about school and what would happen if they were all still in the safehouse when school started on Monday. Kayla promised her that they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, because the knock on their door from Mark Chase on the evening of January 5th was the knock they’d all been waiting for. Steve and Kayla were hopeful with every communication from the agents’ suite, but this time their anticipation was potted up to eleven. That’s because at this day’s briefing they were told the raid would be happening sometime tonight. Sure enough, they were in the middle of following Harry and Ron into the Chamber of Secrets to find Ginny when Mark told them to come into the suite. He and Paola stood around the main table with grins on their faces. The look on Captain Chase’s face was especially knowing and happy. “There’s someone on the phone who I think wants to talk to you,” he quipped.
“Are you two there?” Shane said through the speaker.
“We’re here!” Steve said with his own smile on his face. “Tell me somethin’ good, Donovan!”
“It’s over, Mate!” Shane said. “How’s that for something good, eh?” A thrill swept through Kayla as Shane said these words that they’d wanted to hear for a solid month. She squeezed Steve’s arm with a whimper, and he readjusted her grip so that he could embrace her around the shoulders.
“You serious, man?!”
“I most certainly am,” Shane replied through the tinny phone.
“Over how?” Kayla said with a shaky voice produced by the surge of adrenaline coursing through her. “Over like over over?”
“How many overs can there be, Kay,” he chuckled. Steve was so happy that he didn’t even react to the nickname.
“Over like he got away but we’re safe enough to go home? Or over as in—”
“Over as in he’s dead, Kayla. It was quite a fight, and truth be told, we almost lost him in the chaos. The whole place started to crumble around us like you warned it would, Steve. Luckily for us, they weren’t as prepared for the explosions as we were for them.
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
“Well, much as I would have liked to have put the bullet into that madman myself, it was Dimera’s own booby trap that got him in the end. He and two of his top men were all killed by the falling concrete, quite gruesomely, I might add.” It went against everything Kayla stood for root for even bad people to die. But she knew what this compound had held. She had witnessed first hand what Stefano and his handler and even Rolf had done to her husband. So she just couldn’t bring herself to feel a lick of remorse for her relief at their deaths.
Rolf.
“Shane, what about Dr. Rolf? Did he make it? Steve eyed her. He wasn’t quite sure where she was going with this, because they’d already decided this Rolf wasn’t any good to them.
“No, he didn’t.” Kayla made a tsk sound. Not that he’d know what the current version of himself was up to, but now there would be no way for him to jump into himself in this timeline. Any communication with him was now going to be in a future jump. “Why do you ask?”
“He, um. Well, he …”
“He should be held accountable,” Steve finished as he held her gaze, and she shrugged a nod. “So, anyone live?”
“A handful of guards. No one who can really answer for Stefano’s crimes, I’m afraid. But it was quite the success.”
“Yes,” Captain Chase added, “Only one loss on our end.”
Kayla snapped her head up. “From the strike team? Someone – died?”
“Unfortunately, yes. One of our agents didn’t make it.
Shane went on with details, but Kayla was only half listening, because she was intently looking at Mark. She’d ensured he’d live this time. Be there for his daughters. But now someone who lived in the timeline Mark died in would not be living in this one. Her compassion filled her up. And somewhere in her hindbrain, she worked this information through her jump project filters. She wondered if it was the timeline claiming its seven pounds of flesh, regardless of which timeline it was and whose flesh it was.
“What was his name?” Kayla blurted it out while Shane was in the middle of a sentence.
“I’m sorry?” Shane said confused.
“The agent who died. What was his name?”
“Shh, baby,” Steve whispered into her ear as he kissed her lightly. Mark looked on with a bit of admiration, because Kayla clearly felt guilt that an agent had died for their cause.
“Dwayne Washington. Why?”
“I just … did he have kids?”
“Two boys, Paola said with some sadness.”
A tear she didn’t know was there ran down Kayla’s face. “I’m sorry, Shane,” she said breathily. “I’m so sorry.”
The somberness ebbed as they finished up the call and acquiesced to the true glee they felt. It was going to be their final night in the safehouse. Both Steve and Kayla thanked Shane and the agents in the suite. They’d been on edge when they got there, but now their gratitude was running at peak levels with smiles and relieved laughter. It was over. It was really over. Tomorrow morning they’d be free and begin the process of telling their families that Steve was alive. It was going to be a shocking reveal to them all that no amount of having been through before would make easier.
They returned to their room so ecstatic they didn’t know what to do with themselves. It was the first time Stefano wasn’t going to be somewhere out there, threatening their happiness or that of their families. They ordered a feast from room service, opened some champagne from the still well-stocked bar threw open the balcony doors, and ate and drank to the wide open spaces in celebration with the agents who’d taken good care of them for the past week.
Mark Chase escorted the couple downstairs, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. Unseasonably warm for January, the sun shining, the sky an impossible blue that matched Kayla’s eyes. They both closed their eyes and breathed in deeply of the Los Angeles air. But it was their shock at seeing their car pulled around by the valet that made mark laugh.
“Dude!” Steve yelled to his new friend. “Where’d you pick up the Bluesmobile?!”
“Right here where you left it last week,” Mark chuckled. “We had it in protective impound while you were here.” Steve was impressed but also chided himself that he hadn’t thought of that. “We thought you might want to drive it home.”
“Home!” Kayla breathed. Then she threw her arms around Captain Chase’s neck and hugged him warmly. “Thank you, Mark. For making sure we’d be here to go back to it.” Mark smiled and patted her on the back with one hand while Steve shook his other.
“Seriously, man. Thank you.”
Kayla let him out of her embrace, and Steve took him into his own man hug.
“We’re really still here,” Kayla said as they pulled away. “And we’re really going home. Together!”
“We sure are, Sweetness. And look at me, I’m drivin’ here up front! No hidin’ back there!”
Kayla was giddy. She scooted over and kissed Steve on the cheek and practically bounced up and down.
“You know you’re cute, baby?”
“Yes, I do!” Kitty, however, was having none of it as she mewled loudly, her pink nose surrounded by a mass of fur poking out of the unzipped portion of the duffel bag she arrived at the hotel in.
The first thing Kayla did when she got home was open up the blinds, raise the windows, and open the drapes to let in the morning sun. The first thing Steve did was go into the front yard and lay on the grass. The first thing Kitty did was hiss her indignation, lift her tail, and poop in the middle of the livingroom carpet.
“Really?” Kayla said as her cat turned her nose up and sashayed away from the offensive pile. “You’re a serious ingrate, you know that?” Kayla sighed as she cleaned it up, but then she smiled. All things considered, the little feline had been through quite a bit. So, if a little protest poop was the worst that happened, that wasn’t so bad.
The sounds of Steve’s harmonica made her look up, and what she saw only added to the beauty of this day. Steve was laying on his back in the middle of the front yard and playing a fast, rocking tune. And it was loud. She was sure they could hear the vibrating reeds all the way at the end of the block. “Good,” she whispered as she leaned against her front window and watched him make his mark. “Let the world know you’re here. That you belong here.”
An hour later, Kim and Paul pulled into the driveway with Stephanie in the back seat. She couldn’t believe it when she saw her father leaning against the bluesmobile. His arms were crossed in front of him, his blonde hair was gleaming in the sunlight, and he wasn’t a secret anymore. Stephanie’s eyes were as big as saucers. It was surreal for her. Her father was there. Not hiding. Out in the open. This was his car, and he was waiting for her.
“PAPA!” she screeched before the Mercedes even came to a stop. Paul laughed at the spectacle, and even Kim cracked a smile. “That’s my Papa!” she screamed!”
“Sure looks like it,” Kim said quietly. Paul looked at her, not sure how this was all going to go down. For now, she looked more or less neutral as she took in the first sight she’d had of her brother-in-law in ten years.
Stephanie threw open the back door and ran to her father as Kayla came running out of the house. “Mama!” They all met in a big tangle of love and happiness. Her parents swept her up, and the three of them hugged and cried, they were so happy to see each other. Paul and Kim got out of the car slowly and watched this with silence, not wanting to intrude on this clearly emotional reunion between the three of them.
Kim had had a week to get used to the fact that Steve was not only alive, but that her niece had already met him. That Kayla had been hiding him for weeks. And that Shane had known about it all along. She’d had a week to ruminate on this inevitable reunion and was truly happy that Stephanie had her father back. That Kayla had her husband back. That Shane had a reason to continue not pursuing her sister. But she was also truly devastated to have been the only one kept in the dark. As if she couldn’t be trusted. Kim watched her sister’s reluctance to let Stephanie go. Stop crying, she silently admonished Kayla. You’ve got your family back, there’s nothing to cry about. Somewhere inside her, Kim knew she was judging this reunion harshly, because she was just as prone to happy tears as Kayla was. But she didn’t care. She was mad at her Kayla.
The three of them finally pried themselves off of each other and gave their attention to Paul and Kim. Kayla took a step toward her sister, but Kim compensated with a commensurate step back, her unwillingness to be engaged clear. She met Kayla’s eyes for just a moment before looking away, but that was all she needed to make herself understood. She was going to have to talk to Kayla about it all eventually. But today would not be that day.
“Kimberly,” Paul tried, but Kim silenced him with a hand and shook her head.
New tears tried to form in Kayla’s eyes, but she put a stop to that before it started. She would not be sad on this day. Period. She would deal with Kim sometime after today became tomorrow, and not before.
Stephanie was not stupid, she knew that her aunt was upset about something relating to all of this, so she did what she did best and powered through it with her own agenda. “Uncle Paul, this is my papa! His name is Steve!” Her exuberance and utter pride was so authentic and so infectious that even Kim smiled.
“That’s what I hear,” Paul smiled warmly as he held out his hand. “Nice to actually see your face!”
Steve shook it and smiled. “Nice to finally be seen, man.” Paul chuckled. “Hell of a way to meet, huh?”
“Yeah,” Kim said with a little wonder she couldn’t help. “Hell of a way …”
“It’s good to see you, Kim,” Steve said carefully. He could practically feel the eggshells beneath his feet.
After a very tense beat, Kim said, “Ten years, and that’s all ya got? Nothin’ more you can think to say?” Steve let out a bit of a breath, and Kim took his hand in both of hers. “How ‘bout a hug, huh?” Steve smiled as he obliged, and while it did nothing for the tension between the sisters, he could feel that this was genuine and that she was glad to see him. Kim released him, and he immediately took his wife’s hand. “Bo know yet?” Kim asked.
“No,” Kayla said, “neither do Mom and Pop.”
“Will wonders never cease,” she smirked.
“Kimberly, that’s enough.”
“No,” Kayla said, “it’s ok.” The moments of silence were brief but difficult on everyone.
Kayla suggested that Stephanie go into the house and find Kitty, who was undoubtedly missing her. She hugged her aunt an uncle and thanked them for everything. Then she wasted no time and headed in to find her cat. Kayla turned back to Paul and Kim. “Do you want to—”
“We’ve gotta get goin’, Kim interrupted. “The kids have cabin fever. Ya know. And Andrew … He sure is dying to get a break from his sister, I’ll tell ya. So we’ve got to head back.”
Kayla nodded. “Ok.” And that was fine with her, she just wanted to be with Stephanie. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for taking care of our little girl.”
“Of course,” Kim replied, looking at Kayla and meaning it.
“I know this was hard on you in the panic room.”
“Well, let’s be honest,” Paul said, “It was panic rooms, with satellite TV, lots of frozen food that my wife won’t let me eat on any day that normally ends in a Y, and a Playstation 2. I think we’ll get over it.”
“Gonna call it a vacation?” Steve jibed.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Paul smiled. “The cots sucked.”
“Oh, dude. That’s wrong. You need to write to Management.”
Management was Shane, and that only made Kimberly that much more eager to leave. Kayla, however, was not done just yet.
“You kept her safe, Kimmie. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
“Well … she’s a real good girl ya got there. We love her, too.” Paul tried to have a bit of small talk with his new brother-in-law, but Kim was running this show. “When are you outing yourself?” she asked.
“We’re callin’ Mama and Adrienne today. Then your folks and Bo. You know how the Bradys are, it’ll spread like wildfire, and by tomorrow every last man, woman, and child as far as Chicago is sure to have heard.”
Paul laughed, and even Kim cracked a smile, because he had it exactly right. “Glad to see your memory’s intact,” Kim said. She had no idea how ironic those words were.
Kimberly squeezed Steve’s hand, then swatted his face playfully. Kayla hugged Paul, wisely did not try to do so with Kim, and accepted that there would be some mending in their future. Stephanie came back out with Kitty in her arms, and the four of them watched and waved as they backed out and drove away.
Her attention fully back on her own family, Kayla shook her head with mock annoyance. “This cat is purring like she didn’t just let me have it in there.”
“It’s the magic of a Gryffindor. We know how to commune with our pets.”
“We know how to commune with our pets?” Steve laughed. “Who taught you how to talk like that, Little Sweetness?”
“Papa, I’m a Gryffindor. I was born this way.”
By the time dinner rolled around, the family was exhausted. The emotionality of it all was more mentally draining than any of them expected – and they were expecting quite a lot. They had considered flying to Salem to do this in person, but it would have meant delaying even longer, and Steve just wanted it done. The hardest phone call by far was the very first one, which was to his mother. Kayla started it so that she could ease Jo into the news, rather than Steve saying, hi Mama, I’m not dead, after all, and giving her a coronary. By the time Steve finally got on the phone with her, Jo was near hysterics, and Steve couldn’t help the tears listening to his mother sob. Kayla tried to leave the room to give them privacy, but Steve took her hand to stay. He needed her. Her heart broke watching the conversation, even as it soared.
They went through it all over again when it was time to call Adrienne. Bo and Hope were next, followed by Shawn and Caroline, then Marcus. That conversation lasted quite a long time, and Marcus insisted on flying in from Africa where he was doing his Doctors without Borders work to see him. Every conversation was thrilling, bittersweet, emotional, and unique. Unlike his return the first time around, Steve’s memory was intact this time, and the entire family wasn’t right there to experience it together. He only had to do it one time back in 2006, and it didn’t mean too much to him as he did it. This was much, much harder. And much more beautiful.
Steve very purposely did not call his brother. It was Kayla who told him he should.
“No. I’m not feelin’ the brotherly love right now, Sweetness.”
“I know,” she said, as she closed the refrigerator for the tenth time.
“Anything new materialize in there?” Steve asked.
“No, and don’t change the subject. He’s not the same one as the last timeline.”
“Oh yes he is.”
“Ok, technically, he is. But a lot happened after that. This Jack loves you.”
“He just raped you not two months ago,” he rasped quietly. Kayla tensed and shot him a look. “Sorry. I’m just … not ready.”
Just then the phone rang, and the caller ID was very clear. “Africa? Is everyone in Africa? Maybe we should move there, too.”
“We’re not moving to Africa,” she smirked. “I don’t even remember why he’s there, something about Jennifer’s father. His ears must be burning.”
“Or the coffee klatch got to him.” Kayla went to answer it, but Steve stopped her. “No. You shouldn’t have to.”
“I’m ok,” but Steve saw her trying to be stoic and stopped her with a look. He knew he was right when the relief showed on her face. Steve answered the phone, and this time when Kayla got up to leave, Steve let her.
“Ste—um. Steve?” Jack’s voice was tight. “Is that … is that really you?”
“Yeahp,” Steve exhaled, “it’s me, BillyJack.”
“Jesus.” Jack audibly swallowed and failed to stifle the sound that escaped from his throat. “How? How are you alive?”
“Well, as it turns out, I never died.”
“But you did! I was there! I was there when your heart stopped.”
“Jackson, I’ve been through this a hundred other times today, and I’m tired as shit. Just trust me, the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated.”
Jack let out a guffaw. “I get it! You’re Mark Twain, right? ‘Cause I’m the reporter?!”
“Yeah, ya got me,” he lied. “Got me a whole lot smarter while I’ve been away.” That he chuckled to himself, is no lie.
Steve started this call not remotely interested in being nice to his brother. But he quickly admitted that Kayla was right; this Jack had evolved so much from the one he’d last left in a bloody heap on the floor of the loft. But before his heart could go out too far, Jack’s selfish nature started talking again.
“There are so many things I need to talk to you about. You’ve missed so much! I married Jennifer Horton! I—I have a daughter now. But my marriage is in trouble. I had a breakdown. I—I could use my—my brother. You, I mean. I could—um. I would love to—talk. We could talk!”
“BillyJack, take a breath.”
“You can call me that all you want! It’s ok!”
“Yeahp, ok. Note to self. Now breathe for me, woudja?”
“Ok, I’m breathing.” Jack took some audibly deep breaths in and out directly into the phone. “See? Breathing. Lots of oxygen.”
“Great,” he deadpanned. “Now listen, I’ve been an unwilling guest of one Stefano Dimera for years, and I wanna just take a day or two to be not dead to the world anymore, so you’re gonna have to figure out your own problems for a little while longer.”
“Of course! Take as much time as you need! Take a whole week!” Steve rolled his eyes. “I’m just—so—happy. I’m so happy you’re alive.” He said it with such warmth that Steve knew, despite the self-absorption, that he really meant it. And despite himself, Steve smiled.
“Thanks. I am, too.”
“So, you’re living with Kayla, then?”
“Seeing as how we’re married and have a kid and all, I thought that might be a good idea.”
“Yes! Yes, good idea.”
Suddenly, Steve had hit a wall. He was starving, and he was tired. “Ok, good talk. Gonna get some chow.”
“Oh, um. Ok. Yeah—right. Ok.”
Steve could hear the disappointment in Jack’s voice. “Don’t worry, little brother, I’m not goin’ anywhere. Just need to be with my family. Got a little Gryffindor to read to.”
“Oh! You know Harry Potter! Abigail loves it, she thinks—”
“Jack!”
“Right. Sorry. Ok, well—I guess—um.”
“I’ll call you soon.”
“Right. Ok. Bye, Steve.”
“Bye, Jackson.”
Steve put the phone back into its base where it desperately needed charging and found his girls sitting on the front stoop. “What are you two doin’ out here?”
“Looking at the street and enjoying that no one’s parked out there pretending to read the meter. Oh, and arguing about which Hogwarts house I’m in.”
“What, you’re not a Gryffindor with us?”
“Papa, I’m a Gryffindor. The sorting hat doesn’t know about you yet.”
“What?”
“It’s not sure if you’re a Slytherin or a Gryffindor.”
“I think I’m offended.”
“Please. She insists I’m a Hufflepuff. I’m the one who’s offended.”
“But Mama, why? They’re friendly and loyal and kind and patient.”
“And badgers.”
“What you got against badgers, Sweetness?”
The three of them spent a bit more time just like that, on the front stoop before they headed to a restaurant for dinner. They were just like all the other people who lived in this neighborhood. Single people, married people, families, young couples, older widows, and everyone in between. All simply living their lives without the looming spectre of a madman out to get them.
Soon, Kayla was going to go back to work. She’d have difficult conversations with her colleagues and her sister. Some of those conversations would go well. Some would not. Steve was going to adjust to a life he’d not yet lived here in this unshared time and figure out what his place in it was. And Stephanie was going to get the benefit of not just one parent, but both of them. This hell they’d jumped into was really and truly over. Steve’s handler was dead, Stefano was dead, the henchmen were in custody, and they were really and truly free. They didn’t know how long they’d have left in this timeline, and now that nothing was standing in their way they could go ahead and live in it.
Tonight Steve and Kayla would go to sleep in their own bed, joined by their daughter, then by Kitty, and all of them would sleep very soundly and very peacefully for the first time in days. Tomorrow they were going to get on with the business of living as a family. With their ten-year-old daughter. In the 21st century. For the very first time.