The Reeds- We're Going Down, Down..

Adrian Reed is in a bad way.  Part of his mind knows that he's making bad choices, and the other part just doesn't care.  He's barely seen his family at all in the past few weeks, he's been skipping work, and drowning himself in alchohol. His family has tried to talk to him about his irregular behaviour, telling him they're worried about him, but their concerns are met with nothing more than slammed doors and grimaces. He feels detached.  He's always found so much solace in his music, but the last few weeks there's been nothing to ease the emptiness in his soul.  The only way out was to escape. So escape he did, every chance he could.

This was his regular seat at Grady's bar, every night, and he would drink and drink until the bartender threatened to cut him off -until the world was fading and his nerves were numb and he could barely sit up straight. Drink....after drink....after drink. Vodka, beer, cocktails, you name it, it wasn't the taste he was after but the effect. 

It's 3 A.M., but back home, Natalie Reed can't sleep.  She finally tires of the tossing and turning, sighs, and gets out of bed.  She checks Adrian's room, but she knows he's not home. She would of heard the door.  She is so saddened by the loss of his friendship, and she's stayed up many a night worried about him.  Gavin doesn't like to talk about.  He says it reminds him of his Dad, near the end.  Gary Reed was a proud man, and he struggled with severe depression all his life, and the way he dealt with it eventually killed him and his wife.  Natalie suspects what Adrian has been up to, but doesn't want to upset her husband or Bryan so she keeps quiet.  A woman's instinct, she guesses.

She decides to just get up and start her day early, and after a shower, she decides to do everybody's laundry....(using only Green Works detergent, of course)....and catches a whiff of something a bit off...was that alcohol on Adrian's clothes?  She shrugs and tosses it into the washer...

.....and makes everyone breakfast....(all natural organic ingredients, duh!).

Adrian manages to bumble in sneakily, while Natalie is showering, purposely to avoid the suspicous eyes of his family.  As he sleeps in his drunken stupor, he thinks up a new song.  At least one of his talents is magnified when he's drunk, and that's his song-writing skills.  He hums softly in his sleep, quietly creating a chorus...

A few hours later, Gavin Reed is up and ready for work as a Private Investigator.  That hat always make him feel a little badass, its true....

He comes down to breakfast with his wife.  At first the eat in silence, neither of them wanting to bring up Adrian but each knowing that he was on the other one's mind.

Finally, Natalie breaks the silence. "So, babe. This girl Edith at work just found out she's pregnant! Apparently she's already a few months and they found out that they're having a boy! Isn't that great? And they only got married last year. We've been married now....ya know....7 years...." She trails off.  Gavin mutters something that sounds like "neat" and goes back to his waffles. Natalie sighs.  Seems lately like Adrian was affecting everything in her life negatively, even her marriage. And that just wasn't fair.

After a quick peck, Natalie is off to her job as a Lab Tech at Smithfield Science Center, and Gavin heads to the Police Department.

Bryan has the day off from his job as a StoryBoardist over at the Warner Brother's movie set in town, and starts his day by calling his crush and best friend, Mandy Fulcher.  They met through his sister-in-law Natalie, when Mandy accidentally stumbled upon him in his underwear! (See Chapter w/ the Sorority Grads ;)) There's always been sparks there, but Mandy always seems to make clear that all she really wants is friendship. She agrees to stop by on her way to work.

He jokes that no ones pulls off a hairnet like her.  She smiles and punches his arm.  That's always been the joke between them- that's he's in love with her and she holds him off.  Bryan isn't quite sure how to get her to take him seriously anymore.  He figures he'll start with flowers. Girls like flowers right?

Mandy seems a little taken aback, but accepts the roses and thanks him.  Bryan then crams for the right words to say. He swallows and then just spits it out.  "Mandy.  Look, I know you've told me a hundred times that you just want to be friends, and I know we've made it some kind of joke that I'm in love with you, but- I can't just walk around acting like its a joke anymore. I've dated some nobodies, just for the sake of dating, and now I can't imagine being with anybody that's not you.  And I can't act like I can just be friends with you.  And I've seen the way you look at me, too. Why do you run away from this? I want to be more. Or I don't think I can be anything. "  He stops and looks at her, and he knows that he's crossed a line.  She backs away from him...

"Why, Bryan. Why did you have to say that." She whispers quietly.  She looks up at him teary-eyed. "Why did you have to ruin this?"  She drops her flowers and runs out the door, leaving Bryan glued to the floor.

And Bryan stands staring at the door, wondering what the hell had come over him that made him spit everything out like that, and being rather sure that the earth itself had just shifted. At least, his had.

That afternoon, after nursing a hellish hangover, Adrian heads to the theatre before his works shift as a Talent Scout to work on that new song that had been forming in his head.

He's titled his new song "These Lonely Eyes", and as passerbys stop to watch him he begins to croon the first verse, ♫ "You'd look right through me.  You'd never know.  These lonely eyes of mine will never let the brokenness show." ♫

And Adrian loses himself in the music.

Meanwhile, Gavin was keeping busy when the Police Department sent him on some routine stakeouts.  His superior disguises were obviously beneficial....

Natalie arrives home from the Science Center to a seriously bummed Bryan. At first she thinks he's worrying about Adrian, but he then launches into a huge ordeal about how he just blew his chances with Mandy by scaring her off.

Natalie knows Mandy pretty well, and it's pretty obvious to her that she has a thing for Bryan too.  She tries to give him the best womanly advice that she can, and tells him that woman are funny sensitive creatures and maybe she just needs a little space.  The best ones are the ones worth fighting for.  Bryan seems a little cheered up after the conversation.

By nightfall, Adrian had blown off his shift at the theatre and answered the call of the monkey on his back.  Back to Grady's bar he went. 

Little does he know, that shortly after getting arriving home, Natalie gets call from her friend Charlotte Robinson wanting to hang out, and the pair agree to meet at Grady's Bar for a nightcap.  Once they meet outside, Charlotte immediatley starts the gushing about her wedding....Natalie is a bridesmaid of course.

Inside, a drunk Adrian does a double take when he sees Natalie walk in.

Natalie catches Adrian's eye as soon as she walks in, and reels a little.  She knew it.

There was no greater taboo in this family than alcohol.  And she realizes that that car outside that "looked like Adrian's" WAS indeed Adrian's, and realizes that he must intend on driving himself home.  From the looks of him, he was already twice the legal limit.  She saw red. After ALL they had all been through, after ALL the tears she had wiped from her husband's face..she beelines toward him.

She grabs him and pulls him away from the bar. "Adrian?! Seriously?! Is this where you go all the time? Are you DRIVING when you're like this? What has gotten into you, Adrian? Where's the brother I used to know?"

Adrian chuckles drunkenly and sloshes his drink.  "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag sis.  Save your preaching, and come over here and let me make you feel good." He grabs her and roughly tries to kiss her.

"Get OFF me!" Natalie screams and pulls away from him. "Are you CRAZY?!"

She spins on her heel, angry tears already falling, apologies to Charlotte and storms out.  Adrian rocks a bit, regains his balance, sips his drink, and announces that he's just gonna have to find a new place to party. 

Adrian walks down the street to another club, Club Peacock, a little pricier than Grady's, but nothing was going to come between him and his buzz tonight. 

Natalie arrives home, crying, and angrily tells Gavin what had just happened as he hang up the phone on a call.  He listens to her and is out the door before she finishes, his fists rolled into balls.

Adrian is excited to see Judy Cole walk in, the girl that he'd been crushing on back when she was dating Jacen Reynolds, but had somehow become less appealing once she broke up with him and was now available.  She had made it clear about how she felt about him, but he hoped she would get the message when he stopped returning her calls.  Tonight however, Judy looked pretty darn scrumptious.

She was surprised to see him, and even more surprised at the attention he gave her, but seemed happy enough about it.  He flirted with her, as best he could in the stupor he was in.

He bought her a few drinks, knowing how much of a party girl she was herself, and smiled as she downed each one.  After her 4th cocktail, the same glazed look crept into her eyes, and he knew she wouldn't resist him...

They went up to the second floor of the club....

.....and found the nearest hot tub.

Adrian's fun is soon interupted however, by a rather furious Gavin, who find him in the hot tub and nearly drags him out by the ears.   "How DARE you? Don't ever put your hands on my wife! What the hell Adrian?  What are you doing to yourself? After everything...with...with Dad, and the accident....why are you doing this? You think this is all fun and games, party boy? Well I just got off the phone with your boss, who would like me to tell you that you are FIRED! Skipping your shift today was the last straw! If you want to ruin your life, then you can do that ALL on your OWN!" And he stormed out.

His brother could have been singing Yellow Submarine, as far as Adrian knew.  It was all just a blur, and Adrian laughed in his face, before climbing back into the hot tub with Judy.  In a few minutes, Adrian wasn't even sure it had happened.  All's he knew was he couldn't keep his hands off Judy...

Knowing his brothers would be asleep by now, he took her home.  He knew he was about to use her.  He didn't really have feelings for her, not the way she had feelings for him, and he knew that he was taking advantage of her strictly to scratch his own itch.  Maybe the old Adrian would have cared....

But the new Adrian didn't care about anything but filling the emptiness.

The Bells- Desires of the Heart

The Bell children, Paris and Athan, are now 4 and 3 years old.

The Bells have started attending Christian Fellowship Church on Sunday mornings, out on the outskirts of Rosedale. Scarlet always leaned on her faith growing up in the difficult environment that she did-and Forrest grew up Baptist, so it's nice to be able to get back into a church family.

Forrest and Scarlett put on their Sunday best and gather up the kiddos and head out to church.

Athan's such a Mama's Boy. You'll usually find him clinging to Scarlett.

The place is already packed, and the family hurries inside.

Today's sermon is on thankfulness.  Scarlet peeks at her husband and her kids and squeezes them all a little closer. If there's one thing this girl knows about its how to be thankful.  Forrest catches her eye and shoots her a little half-smile. The last 5 years of her life being married to Forrest sometimes still feels like a dream that she's afraid to wake up from.  When she was young, every time she became comfortable and secure in her foster family, she was transferred.  She never belonged anywhere, and everyone she loved eventually left her.  Sometimes she wakes up in the night bathed in sweat, making sure that Forrest is still sleeping beside her.  Coming out of her reverie, she bows her head and says a little prayer, thanking God for her little sliver of paradise.  She's not used to having so much to loose.

After the service, Scarlett meets Cassandra Willis, Anthony Willis's wife- Forrest works with Anthony over at the Police Department. Cassandra jokes that Anthony drags her here to try to pray the party-girl out of her, which makes Scarlett chuckle and Anthony roll his eyes.

Gerard and Lorraine Wright, avid church-goers, like to blast some oldies music and dance in the church fellowship hall. They're such a riot.

Forrest meets an interesting character at the church- a visiting Egyptian tourist Rami Atif.  They hit it off right away, and Forrest feels his sleeping adventurous self roaring awake inside him.  He misses his exploring days a lot suddenly, and what used to be a dull ache is suddenly an open wound.  Challenging himself, the thrill of a new discover in a foreign world- it all comes flooding back to him. He hasn't gone on a single trip in his marriage, what with having 2 kids and becoming established at a new job; but now that both of his kids are a bit older and out of diapers, he silently vows to have a discussion with his wife about going on a trip in the very near future.

When they get home, Scarlett busies herself making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

And the kiddos play happily in Paris's room during the afternoon.

Before long the kids' bedtime rolls around, and Scarlett and Forrest put them down.

When him and his wife sit down in front of the TV to relax, Forrest clears his throat and decides that now is as good a time as any to have the discussion with his wife about going on an explorer trip; but before he can get the words out, it turns out that Scarlett wants to discuss something with him, too.  "So hunny, I've been thinking....I know you're only 29, but I'll be 34 in a month, and I wanted to know what you thought about having more children.  Paris and Athan are getting older, Paris will be in school soon, my own biological clock is ticking, and I really want to add to our family."  Her eyes sparkle at him, and her voice is thick with emotion.

Forrest is a bit taken aback.  He reels a little bit, and then stares at his wife.  If there's anything he loves more than adventure, its this woman sitting next to him.  He knows how much family mean to her- he's the one who holds her close and wipes her tears when the nightmares strike.  How could he be so selfish to tell her no, for his own reasons? He'd have his whole adult life to travel once his kids were grown.  He sighs a little and then brushes Scarlett's hair back, and says "Anything you want, babe. You know that."  Scarlet squeaks a little with excitement and pulls him closer. "No time like the present....."

And so, that was that.

A month or so later, Forrest and Scarlett take their breakfast on the back patio....

...and look out over their green little backyard.

After Forrest jets out to the Police Department, Scarlett gets the kids up and calls their stand-by babysitter, Candy Asherdale, to watch her little ones for a few hours so she can see some clients at the salon.

Scarlett's first client is Camilla Collins.  She's trying to break into an acting career, and tells Scarlett she wants a dramatic new hairstyle.

Scarlett hooks her up with extra long extensions, and Camilla leaves a happy lady.

Next up is Bessie Clavell, who's tells Scarlett that her husband wants her to try a new look.

Scarlett sets her up with some fresh new clothes and more flattering makeup and hair.

A half hour later, Scarlett's last client shows up- and thank God he did. Hans Mendoza needs a drastic change. He looks like a Frenchman from another century. Time for an update Hans...

Who knew there was a hottie under all that bad fashion!

After her last client leaves, Scarlett is suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea, and rushes outside.

She throws up all over the patio, and some old mean guy takes a picture of it.

All kinds of possibilities flash through her mind. Could she be pregnant already? That quickly? Best to not get ahead of herself. It could just be the flu. She rushes home to relieve the babysitter, her mind whirling.

She finds Candy playing with the kids in Paris's room. She thanks and pays Candy.

She sure misses these faces, even being away from them for a few hours...

Forrest is home from work a little while later, with his ex-roomate buddies Alex and Andre Mirage.  He pecks Scarlett on the lips and asks her whats for dinner.  The guys all slouch down on the couch and bicker over which videogames too play. Whenever Forrest is with his buddies, she's reminded that he's 5 years younger than her. She sighs. That's ok though. She readies her ingredients for goopy carbonara, and wonders again about the possibility that she's pregnant.

Despite being a bit rough around the edges, Scarlett likes Andre and Alex.  They're always gracious when she cooks for them, and good with the kids.

Little Paris always seems quite taken with Alex.

After their company has left and the kids are settled in bed, Forrest gets in a workout....

....and Scarlett goes into the bathroom and takes a pregnancy test from the cabinet.  3 minutes seem like a million years, and she paces the bathroom before finally going over to the sink to check...

A plus sign. That's definitely a plus sign.  Her body tingles with excitement and she runs out to tell Forrest.

Forrest is caught off guard at first- they had only been trying for a month- but then his surprise passes and she sees the smile spread across his face. 

He's barely had time to adjust to this new development. It was only a few weeks ago that he was considering taking his life into a new chapter.  But that didn't matter now. He loved his kids and his wife more than life, and if she was happy- then that was better than an adrenaline rush anyday.