A/N: Hello everyone! How's your weekend so far? Mine's going great so since I'm in a very good mood, I thought I'd post a new chapter for all of you.

I want to dedicate this to WeAreHurricane for being a big fan of this book and reaching out to me with cover ideas. She's a talented writer and cover maker so make sure to check out her page.

Thank you once agian for all your support and keep on voting and commenting! And if you love this book, spread the word! =)

***

We left for the twin’s town house before noon.

I was nervous to attend the first family gathering with Sebastian but he assured me it would be very low-key. I changed outfits at least half a dozen times before deciding on a salmon-colored, long-sleeved baby doll dress paired with dark brown wool leggings and tan riding boots.

Sebastian was simply dressed in a chocolate brown cashmere sweater, dark jeans and a black wool long coat.

We carried out the dessert I made (the second batch I made because I gorged down the first one I made last night after sex), two bottles of champagne and one of sparkling apple juice which I brought along for myself.

Sebastian drove us this time, having given the staff the day off including most of his security team.

The twins’ place was a modern, white stone block house in a strip of fancy and unique townhouses in a revitalized area by Sidley Yard, Cobalt Bay’s oldest neighborhood that have successfully converted into an upscale melting pot of shopping, tourism and urban living.

Marcus met us by the door with a grin and how-are-yous. He gave me a quick, half-hug and Sebastian a clap on the shoulder before showing us in.

The main room was bright and airy from the large glass windows, the furniture all modernized and cheerful with their pops of color.

“That smells wonderful,” I said, surprised that the smell of roasting turkey and vegetables in the air wasn’t causing my stomach to roil, as Marcus took the food and champagne bottles from us as we slipped off our coats and hung them inside the front closet. “Where is everybody?”

“Only me and the twins here so far,” Marcus said as we followed him past the living room and into the kitchen where both Lexie and Charlie were bent over the oven, basting a giant turkey from what I could see from across the room.

“Cassie! Seb!” Lexie greeted excitedly, discarding her oven mitts on the counter before skipping over to wrap me and her brother in a hug. She was dressed casually today as well in crisp and slim red slacks, an oatmeal-colored cable knit sweater, her short bob held back by a dark pink satin band. “I’m so glad you two decided to attend. Charlie is going to outdo himself this year, as he promised, and we’re all going to have a blast.”

I laughed and waved to Charlie who shut the oven close and pulled me for a quick hug. “If it’ll taste half as good as it smells, I’m sold. What can we do to help though?”

“I’ll get started on the corn pudding in a couple of hours and then the second dessert right after that,” Charlie said as he walked to the large, wall-sized refrigerator in the kitchen corner. “The rest of the dinner’s ready to go so we have time to have a bottle of beer, enjoy some snacks I’ve set aside and maybe shoot a few rounds of pool. How about that?”

“Hand me a beer and a pool stick,” Sebastian quipped, bringing out a few chuckles, before taking the bottle his brother offered.

“What will you have, Cass?” Charlie asked. “If you don’t want beer, Lexie can mix you up a cocktail.”

I shook my head. “I’ll have neither. But I could use a cup of tea if you could spare me any.”

Sebastian raised a brow at me curiously. “Tea? Didn’t you just have some twenty minutes ago? Right before we left the house?”

I fought the blush that crept to my cheeks and shrugged. “Yeah, so? I find I prefer tea now all the time. Besides, it was chilly outside.”

“Leave her alone, Seb,” Lexie scolded gently as she set a kettle over a pot. “You should be glad to have a girlfriend who isn’t a lush.”

Marcus laughed. “Yes, Vice. It’s easier that way—fewer instances where you’ll have to step in and rescue her before she does anything too crazy.”

“You’re always hovering like I would disgrace myself any minute,” Lexie retorted, sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend. “You should know that I could drink anyone under the table and still walk in six-inch high heels.”

Charlie laughed and nodded. “She’s not kidding. Lightweight isn’t a term linked often to Lexie.”

The conversation in the kitchen and then later at the rec room while playing a few rounds of pool was light, comfortable and fun. It was looking to be a promising start until the doorbell rang and Brenda arrived.

I stood quietly next to Sebastian as the twins came forward to give her an obligatory and perfunctory kiss on the cheek, followed by a polite greeting from Marcus and a mere nod from Sebastian.

Her cool gray eyes narrowed when she spotted me and I forced myself to give her a pleasant smile even as I inwardly bristled at her appraising look. In her navy blue sweater dress, she looked polished and younger than her years, clearly aging gracefully.

“What a surprise to see you here, Sebastian,” she said as we all moved back to the kitchen where Charlie had started with the second dessert he was making for dinner. “Especially with a plus one. I thought this was a family event.”

“It is,” Sebastian answered calmly, the arm he had around my shoulders tightening around me. “Cassandra is family—mine.”

Me and Baby Vice inside me.

Sebastian’s declaration warmed me inside but it did nothing for Brenda’s mood.

“It’s for family, friends and special someones, Mom,” Lexie jumped in with a roll of her eyes. “No one said you couldn’t bring a date if you wanted to.”

Marcus’s mouth twitched up in the corner as he glanced at me, being the other outsider of this family, and I couldn’t help an honest smile this time.

Despite her statement, Brenda seemed to have no problem with Marcus dating her daughter. After all, he’s handsome, rich, well-connected and famous in his own right.

“I don’t speak for all my siblings but I for one would like to avoid meeting my mother’s boyfriend, if she had one,” Charlie declared with a grimace which caused Lexie to giggle and Sebastian to even smile slightly.

Brenda flushed. “I hate to remind you of your respectful manners, Charles, but they seem to be currently in the gutter.”

Charlie flashed her an irresistible grin. “Just sayin’, Mom. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I would love to meet him,” Lexie assured her with a wink. “I’ve picked up a few interrogation skills from you over the years. I’m sure I could scare him off in record time.”

“Alexandra!” Brenda snapped, glaring at her daughter.

Before she could say anything else, the doorbell rang again and Marcus rushed forward to open it.

“Jared! Hey, man!” Marcus greeted as he stepped aside to give way to a large man with a willowy woman by his side. He was a couple of inches shorter than Marcus but he had broad shoulders and massive arms, like a linebacker, and he had medium brown hair and gray eyes like Brenda.

He stepped towards our group and said hello to everyone. I seemed to be the only one who’s never met him and the woman with him.

“Hey, Seb,” he greeted Sebastian with a warm smile and a quick clap on the back just as the others left us to help out in the remainder of the dinner preparations.

“Jared,” Sebastian acknowledged before turning to the woman. “Michelle, how are you?”

“Very well, thank you,” Michelle replied, smiling brilliantly at him, without malice or interest. I liked her instantly. “Jared didn’t think you were coming but it’s great that you’re here.”

“I figured I’d show up this year so you all can’t turn us down next year when we invite you over for Thanksgiving,” Sebastian said with a grin before turning to me. “Jared, Michelle, I’d like you to meet Cassandra Collins. Darling, this is my stepbrother Jared and his fiancée Michelle Fournier. Jared’s an oncologist and Michelle’s a pediatric surgeon. They’re both my partners in the Saving Hope project.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Cassandra.” Jared beamed at me before pleasantly startling me with a quick bear hug which prompted a small growl from Sebastian. He just laughed as he released me and let Michelle shake my hand.

“Yes, it’s great to finally meet you,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling. “Sebastian couldn’t stop mentioning your name while we were working on the project. He was constantly like ‘Cassandra would like that there’s a playroom for the kids’, ‘Cassandra would appreciate that each family gets their own private suite so they don’t get separated’ or ‘Cassandra would think that’s a great color for a library’.”

Jared laughed as my cheeks burned and Sebastian groaned. “Michelle’s not kidding. We kept asking him who Cassandra was and why she was so absent considering her influence on the project and he would just glare at us and ignore our question.”

Michelle wiggled her brows mischievously. “Well, he didn’t tell Jared but he did spill one time to me and said that you were a girl he was trying to impress and that he just hoped to God you were actually paying attention.”

“I did see what the project was about and the building when it was featured in the news,” I said after finally managing to find my voice, shaky though it was. “I had no idea it had anything to do with me.”

“I know you spent a lot of time hanging out in the hospital when you were younger and your Mom was sick,” Sebastian murmured against my hair quietly, his hand squeezing mine. “I thought maybe we could help make hospitals a lot less scary to children, especially those who are going to be there a while.”

I looked up to him with a tremulous smile, a sweet mass gathering in my chest at the newest reassurance of how Sebastian was going to be with children. “Thank you, Sebastian. Maybe I can visit at some point.”

He smiled down at me. “I’ll take you whenever you like. I think you’ll be pleased with what we’ve done with it.”

“I’m certain you will, Cassandra,” Michelle said with a tender smile at us. “It all seemed like a vague but great idea when Sebastian cam to us with it but it has come a long way. Other than the facilities, we have a lot of volunteers who come in to do what they can to provide some kind of assistance to the patients and their families. We have a local artist who gives free art classes. There’s a young musician who comes in to play a few of her songs to the chidren. Charlie also comes in most Sundays with bare cupcakes and gets everyone to decorate them. Sometimes we just have kids who come in to keep the other kids company. If you want to join in at all, let me know. I’m sure we can organize something.”

“I will. I’d love to help,” I told Michelle with a quick squeeze of her hand. “Thank you.”

A couple of hours later, we were all gathered around the slate-based, glass-topped dining table decorated with large candles and tall crystal vases filled with cranberries, acorns and pine cones. There was a lot of food with Charlie’s giant roast turkey as the main feature along with wine and conversation around the table. Even with Brenda’s less hospitable behavior, I enjoyed myself, talking and laughing with everyone else. I didn’t eat much, discreetly sniffing the food first before taking a bite to keep myself from getting sick, and only sipped the glass of sparkling apple juice I’d sneaked out to the kitchen to pour for myself just as dinner was being set down on the table.

After dinner, we settled in the living room, talking around the glass-framed fireplace that burned beneath the massive white stone wall where a large painting hung, depicting whimsical, brightly colored koi fish swimming around. Lexie, who was apparently an advocate of everything local, said an anonymous local painter left it wrapped by their front porch four years ago when they moved into the town house from their condo.

I had a strong suspicion who the anonymous donor was but said nothing.

I had just stepped out of the powder room when I ran into Brenda who was standing in the hallway, clearly waiting for me.

“You’re obviously more talented than I gave you credit for,” she said with a sneer, arching a brow at me. “You’ve got him talking Thanksgiving dinners together and holiday trips. I won’t be surprised if he starts spouting wedding plans pretty soon. You’ve got your hooks pretty deep into him.”

I glanced heavenward, absently praying for some divine intervention before I said something I’d seriously regret later on.

“Look, Brenda. I know you hate my guts and I’m perfectly fine with that as long as you mind your own business,” I replied while tightly reining in my temper. “Sebastian’s happiness is my primary goal. Yours is not even on my list so forgive me if I don’t care how you feel about the two of us.”

Her eyes narrowed, her shoulders squaring. “You think you’ve got everyone charmed but I know your kind, Cassandra. I don’t blame you. Sebastian is quite a catch. But he’s way out of your league. There’s nothing you can offer him beyond what’s between your legs.”

My hands clenched into fists. “You know, for someone who projects herself to be of better breeding, your behavior is appalling. If you’re worried about your money, don’t be. I don’t have anything to do with your allowance. Talk to Sebastian if you have a problem about it.”

Lips curling into a scowl, she glared at me. “My problem is that you’ve turned Sebastian into a completely different person. I preferred him when he was withdrawn and distant because it meant he didn’t poke his nose into everything. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t get involved, didn’t care what anyone did. Now, he takes an interest in everything!”

“Hmm,” I murmured, raising a brow. “That’s not a bad thing at all—unless you have something to hide.”

“Which you do, Brenda,” Sebastian’s deep voice sounded from the end of the hall and we both looked up to find him standing there, a grim expression on his face.

Brenda tensed, her face pale. “Sebastian, I... I was just...”

“I know about your young lover Luis,” Sebastian said as he walked up to us. “I know about the house you got him, the car, the school tuition. I know he’s promised to marry you as soon as he finishes law school even though he doesn’t know that you’re still married, that your husband’s still very much alive. I know about the secret trips you’ve taken together to the Dominican Republic, Florence, Bali and a few other ones.”

I watched as horror and fear crept on the older woman’s expression, her hands trembling as she looked up to her stepson who now stood in front of her, staring her down.

And in a moment of clarity, I understood Brenda’s behavior and felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

“Don’t hurt him,” she said in a thick voice, swallowing hard. “It’s all on me. He doesn’t know anything. I...”

I bit my lip as tears sparkled in Brenda’s gray eyes. “I... I love him, Sebastian. I’m sorry but I’ve never been this happy. Not even with your father—but then you already know that.”

I glanced at Sebastian, worried he was going to say or do something harsh in his anger at Brenda’s treatment of me but I was surprised when I saw that his expression had softened.

“I know,” he said, glancing at me and extending a hand which I clasped just as he gently pulled me to his side. “There’s no need to attack Cassandra because you don’t want to be discovered. I’ve known for a while now and you’d be surprised when I tell you that I completely understand.”

Brenda’s eyes widened in relief. “You do?”

Sebastian surprised us when he smiled. “The very person you’re trying to tear away from me is same one responsible for my perspective, Brenda. So don’t ever try to do anything stupid like that again.”

“I won’t,” the woman solemnly promised, glancing at me nervously.

“We have to get back to the others,” he said as he put an arm around my shoulders and steered us back towards the other end of the hall. “And Brenda, I’ll get Stan to help you. We’ll find a way around the technicalities so Luis can fulfill his promise to you.”

The woman managed a wobbly smile. “Thank you.”

As we disappeared around the hall, I looked up to Sebastian and saw that he was still half-smiling.

“I didn’t expect your reaction about Brenda,” I told him as I steered us towards the kitchen to fill a glass of water for myself.

He sat down on one of the bar stools by the breakfast bar and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter. “Brenda has nothing to do with what happened between my parents. She had never been any kind of mother to me but she gave me my siblings and that outweighs her indifference towards me. Besides, I figured if she’s busy being happy and in love, she won’t have time to make trouble for anyone, especially you.”

“Do you think her relationship with Luis is going to last?”

He shrugged and bit a chunk off the apple. He chewed for a bit before answering. “He’s young but seems serious and decent. I’ve never met him but I’ve had him investigated. Brenda won’t appreciate knowing that but I did it for hers and the family’s sake. He’s studying to be a lawyer. He’s poor but he doesn’t seem scummy.”

I laughed and walked around to where Sebastian sat, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Yes, scummy certainly wouldn’t do.”

He grinned and leaned down to kiss me softly and I relished the sweet taste of apples and wine in his mouth.

“You know, you constantly surprise me,” I murmured, looking up to him and smiling. “When we saw each other again after four years, I thought I knew you. I thought that you were exactly the same man you were before but I’ll tell you now that I was wrong.”

“I’m really still about the same, my love,” he said quietly, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “Just happier.”

“A lot of the old Sebastian is still there,” I said with a nod and a light kiss on his chin. “But you’re right. You’re happier and in turn, you’re better, kinder. I love you now more than I ever did before.”

“Enough to be mine forever?” he whispered, his warm green eyes seeking my face shyly.

“I’m already yours forever.”

He bit his lip. “You know what I mean, Cassandra.”

I did. It was tempting to blurt it out now but there were things that needed settling first—like my job, the baby, my own newly discovered family—and there would be a right time to say yes to Sebastian, when he did get around to asking me again.

Instead of answering him, I stood on my toes and kissed him hard which he responded to with equal fervor.

“No sex allowed on the kitchen counter.”

We pulled away and looked up to find a grinning Lexie standing by the kitchen doorway carrying a couple of empty coffee mugs with Marcus right behind her.

“Charlie would lose his shit if you desecrate his kitchen.”

***

Monday came around and I got up early to get ready for my first day back at work since taking some time off after being hospitalized. I spent some time being sick in the washroom, throwing up a little while I was in the shower.

I headed out to the kitchen where Percy had prepared a hearty breakfast.