Written by: Dallas Walsh

Quinn Cunningham storms into the country club and immediately sees Marat Kafelinkov sitting at the bar with a cocktail in front of him. The sight of him makes Quinn's blood boil as earlier in the day, she was served with custody papers. She can't believe that Marat is suing her for full custody of their son, Jumper. The last thing that Quinn wants is to lose her son to Marat.

"You have a hell of a lot of nerve," Quinn announces as she arrives at the bar, where Marat turns and sees her. "You are suing me for custody of Jumper? How could do you that?"

"Hello to you too, Quinn," Marat replies to her. "And you were served? Great, that means we can get this process started."

"Process?" Quinn barks back at him. "You are acting like this is like getting Botox or something!"

"Quinn, please, calm down," Marat looks back at her. "Did I sue you for custody of my son? Yes, I did. And you should know why I did that."

Quinn shakes her head back at him. "You won't get away with this Marat! I won't let you take my son away from me!"

"Your lies are finally catching up with you, Quinn," Marat glares back at her. "You lied to me and everyone about the paternity of Jumper, hell, you even had a paternity test altered to say Deacon was the father. To me, for me, you're not fit to be a mother!"

Quinn slaps him hard across the face. "How dare you! My son means everything to me!"

"You just proved my point," Marat says as he holds his cheek. "I'll see you in court, Quinn."

***

Madison Stewart, Kent Blackmore, Stacey Rockwell, and Houston Blackmore all wait outside of Vivian Blackmore's hospital room for an update from the medical staff. Just a short time ago, they saw some doctors and nurses rush into Vivian's room, where they have been tending to her ever since.

"What do you think is happening in there?" Madi finally breaks the long, awkward silence between the family members.

"I think we are about to find out," Kent replies to her as he can see the doctor moving towards the door. "The doctor is coming out."

The door opens and the male doctor appears in front of Vivian's family. "I'm glad you're all here," he says to everyone.

"What's happened? What was going on with my mother?" Houston quickly asks him back.

"She had a bad reaction to the new medication," the doctor reveals to him. "One of the side effects is that it can cause an increased heart rate, which is what happened with Vivian."

"So, her heart was racing? Were you able to get it under control?" Madi asks him.

"The concern is that the racing heart, in Vivian's current condition, would lead to a heart attack," the doctor explains. "The good news is that we got the heart rate under control."

"And the swelling in the brain?" Kent asks him next. "Has that gone down at all?"

"I'm afraid not," the doctor sighs back to him. "I know you don't want to hear this, but I would be very surprised if Vivian made it to the end of the week."

"What?" Madi gasps back to him in horror. "You think she's … dying?"

"We will do everything we can but unless a miracle happens… I am very sorry," the doctor tells them, as the Blackmore's stand in shock after hearing the most recent update on Vivian.

***

A short time later, Kent is at a vending machine trying to get a bottle of water. The machine accepts his money but doesn't give him the bottle of water.

"Damn it!" he yells out in frustration as he kicks the machine.

Stacey rushes up to him and pulls him away from the machine. "Hey, it's okay, the machine isn't worth that, okay?"

"Sorry," Kent looks back at her. "It's just…hearing that news…it's…"

"Devastating, I know," Stacey finishes his sentence. "Houston and Madi are also upset. It's natural to feel that way, Kent."

"This doesn't seem fair," he admits to her. "Vivian has always been so full of life, to hear that she won't be here by the end of the week…"

"You have to make every moment count, okay?" Stacey replies to him. "You have to visit her and tell her how you feel before it's too late."

"She was the first love of my life," Kent says as he gets tears in his eyes. "The mother of Houston; I…I don't know what I will do without her."

Stacey pulls him into a hug and holds him while he starts to weep, as he is still devastated by the thought of losing Vivian.

***

"I am so sorry to hear that the doctors don't believe that your Mom will make it to the end of the week," Celeste Baldwin tells Houston as they stand together in the waiting room of the hospital. She raced to the hospital as soon as Houston sent her a text message letting her know that he needed her support. "What can I do, Houston?"

"Just being here helps a lot," Houston admits to her with red eyes as he has been crying at the thought of losing his mother. "I…I didn't know who else to turn too."

"You can call me anytime," Celeste purses her lips back to him. "But remember, you have your family here too. They can be a support system if you need one."

"Madi, yes," Houston nods back to her. "But my Dad? I don't know; every time I see him, he is with Stacey and right now, that is adding salt to a wound."

"I wish I could make this all go away," Celeste tells him. "Kent and Stacey's relationship, your Mom's accident…"

"Me too," Houston pulls her into a hug. "Like I said, I just appreciate you being here, Celeste. I really do."

***

"I came as soon as you called," Cole says as he moves into the hospital and sees Madi sitting outside of Vivian's room. "How are you doing?"

Madi stands up and pulls her former fiancé into a deep hug. "The…doctors…they said…my mom…is…dying…" Madi says through a stream of tears. "Oh God, Cole, how can this be happening?"

Cole holds her tightly for a moment before they exit their embrace, and he looks into her eyes. "I know this is hard, but I am here for you, no matter what you need."

"I need someone to tell me that this is a bad dream," Madi tells him. "I want to wake up and have my Mom be okay."

"I know you do," Cole nods back to her. "I think it's important that you try to brace yourself for the worst though. I think you should try to spend as much time with Vivian while you can, Madi. As hard as that might be, it is the right thing for you, and for her."

"You're right," she manages to say through her tears. "Thanks Cole."

Cole pulls her into another hug, and he holds her while she weeps. Lydia, who arrived at the hospital after hearing about Vivian, sees Cole and Madi embracing, and she arches her eyebrow at the sight. She can't help but wonder if Cole still has feelings for his former fiancé.

***

Chase Cooper opens the door to the suite that he and Dyhannah Cooper are staying in together at the country club. Dyhannah sees her lover walk in and stands up from the sofa that is in the room. She can tell, just by the look on his face, that something has happened.

"Chase?" she asks him as she moves closer to him. "Are you okay? What's happened?"

Chase gulps back to her. "You know me so well," he mumbles back to her. "Something has happened, and it's not good news, not good at all."

Dyhannah arches her eyebrow back to him. "Is it Vivian? Has she…"

"No, she's not dead," Chase cuts her off. "But, the doctors have given her until the end of the week…"

"Oh my goodness," Dyhannah gasps back to him. "I am terribly sorry, Chase. I know how close how you and Vivian were. How is Madison? I am sure she's devastated by this."

"She is," Chase gulps heavily again. "We all are."

"What can I do, Chase? How can I make this better for you?"

Chase looks back at her and grabs her hand. "This entire accident with Vivian has made me realize how short life is, Dyhannah. I don't want to waste anymore time."

Dyhannah uneasily chuckles back to him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I want you to marry me. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, as your husband. What do you say? Marry me, Dyhannah?"

Dyhannah gets a huge smile on her face. "You know I've wanted this for so long, Chase," she says as she kisses him. "So, the answer is yes, yes I will marry you! I would love nothing more than to be your wife!"

***

Quinn steps off the elevator at the country club and quickly walks towards Deacon Cooper's suite. She is hoping that he will hear her out because she desperately needs his help now that Marat has filed for full custody of Jumper.

"Deacon," Quinn says as she starts to knock on his door. "Please, I'm begging you, open the door. I really need your help!"

Deacon opens the door and looks back at Quinn with disgust. "How many times are you going to show up here and plead your case to me? How many times am I going to have to tell you to stay out of my life? Our annulment went through; we have nothing let to say to one another!"

"That's that not what this is about," Quinn looks back at him with desperation. "Please, just hear me out?"

"I'll give you 5 minutes," Deacon says as he lets her into the suite. "But if this is another one of your tricks…"

"This is about my son," Quinn turns to look at him once she's in the suite. "Marat is suing me for full custody. He wants to take my son away from me!"

"To be fair, you did lie to him about being Jumper's father?"

"Please, Deacon," Quinn looks at him. "You have to help me! You can't let Marat take my son away from me! Please, I'm begging you, please help me keep my son!"

***

"I am stunned by the news of Vivian," Marat Kafelinkov tells Celeste as they sit next to one another at the bar in the country club. Celeste just finished telling Marat about the latest on-goings at the hospital.

"We all are," Celeste says before she picks up brandy. "I just feel awful for Houston and his family. Vivian is still so young to be dying."

"It makes you realize how precious life is," Marat replies to her before he takes a sip of his scotch. "And that I made the right decision."

Celeste arches her eyebrow back to him. "Right decision? What decision are you talking about? What have you decided to do?"

Marat takes another sip of his drink. "I filed for custody of Jumper," he reveals to her as Celeste looks back at him in surprise. "Quinn got the papers today."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming."

"I don't think Quinn did either," Marat admits to her. "But the fact is, she lied to me and Deacon about who the father of Jumper is for months; she even altered a paternity test! I don't think she is fit to raise my son, and I have to do what I think is best for my son."

Celeste grabs his hand. "You've always been such a great father, Marat. If you feel like this is your best and only option, then I stand with you. And, I'll help you with the case, if you need it."

"Thanks Celeste, I might just take you up on that."

***

Casper Ross moves into the country club looking to grab a light lunch and a drink before he heads back to his office. As he waits to be seated, however, he notices Jaxson Williams sitting at a table by himself. He immediately realizes that he is the man that Lexington Rockwell hired him to track down because he looks like Lex's dead husband, Jarek Williams. As Casper uncovered the truth, he learned that Jaxson and Jarek were actually twin brothers. With Lex seemingly taking some time to think about his future with Casper, the last thing the private investigator wants is for Jaxson to come between him and Lex.

And with that, Casper finds himself moving towards Jaxson's table. "Jaxson, I am Casper, Casper Ross," he says as he sits across from him.

Jaxson looks back at him in surprise. He slowly puts his fork down and arches his eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"No," Casper replies to him quickly. "But we both know Lex Rockwell."

"Ah," Jaxson nods back to him. "I suppose you are one of the reasons that Lex told me he needs space to figure things out?"

Casper looks back at in surprise this time. "Lex said that to you?"

"He did," Jaxson admits to him. "We…well, we had a great time one night, and then he kind of ghosted me. But he said he needed time to figure some things out. Now that you're here, I can see why he'd want time to figure out what he wanted."

Casper feels the blood drain from his face. "Are you saying that you and Lex had sex?"

Jaxson smirks back to him. "You can put two and two together," he laughs. "Look, I had no idea he was involved with someone. I didn't mean to cause problems for you and Lex."

"No, it's fine," Casper stands up quickly from the chair. "Nice meeting you, Jaxson. Enjoy the rest of your lunch."

***

Mac opens the door to the main office at Rockwell Mining and gets a grin on his face when he sees Lex sitting behind the desk, typing into laptop. Nothing brings Mac as much joy as when he is able to see his children working at the family company; after all, it is their legacy that they will take over one day.

"I love seeing you working here again," Mac announces to Lex. "When you were at Blackmore Ltd, this place didn't feel right."

"It's good to be back, Dad," Lex replies as he looks up and sees his father moving into the office. "I am almost done with this report; I'd love to get your input once it's completed."

"I'd love that," Mac nods back to him. "What else is going on with you? You've been quiet at the breakfast table the last few days."

Lex uneasily looks back at him. "I…well, I guess I am struggling with something and I'm just trying to be introspective about it."

"Struggling? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, but thank you. This is something that I have to figure out on my own."

Mac moves closer to the desk and sits on the edge of it before he looks into Lex's eyes. "If I can offer you some advice," Mac tells him as Lex nods back to him. "It would be to follow your heart, Lex. You can't go wrong if you believe your heart is in the right place."

***

A short time later, Lydia moves into the main office at Rockwell Mining and is pleased to see Mac busy at work behind the desk.

"Have you heard the latest about Vivian?" she asks him as she throws her purse down on the sofa and then looks back at her former husband, who is moving to the bar to pour himself a drink.

"Yes, I have," Mac says as he pours two brandy's and passes one to Lydia. "Stacey sent me a message. I haven't always gotten along with Kent, but I do feel awful about the situation."

"So, do I," she replies to him before she takes a sip of her drink. "I was thinking of going to the hospital to offer any support."

"That is a very nice gesture on your part," Mac smiles back to her. "Why do I get the feeling that this visit is more than just an update on Vivian?"

Lydia purses her lips together. "Because," she starts to tell him. "I am still thinking that we need to find out about Dane's past, Mac. I…I am not sure how we can go about that."

Mac waves his hand in the air. "I don't think I should be involved in this, Lydia. If my mother, and father, learned that I was trying to dig up dirt on Dane, they would be furious with me."

"I am not trying to dig up dirt!" Lydia shrieks back to him. "I am simply trying to ensure the man that Lucinda wants to marry is legitimate. Can you blame me for that?"

"Of course not," Mac replies to her quickly. "And I wish you luck. It's just, I have to sit this one out."

***

"Has there been any change with Vivian?" Dyhannah asks Madi as she, Chase and Deacon all stand with Madi in a waiting room of the hospital.

"No, the doctors still say that she has to the end of the week …" she stops as she bites her lip, trying not to cry again.

"I still can't believe that this is happening," Chase sighs back to his daughter as he pulls her into a hug. "I am so sorry Madison."

"The reason we wanted to see you two, however," Dyhannah starts to explain as Madi and Chase exit their embrace. "Is that we have some good news. And we thought we should tell you because we all could use some good news right now."

Deacon arches his eyebrow back to his mother. "Well don't keep us waiting, what is this good news?"

Dyhannah looks over at Chase with a smile on her face before she reveals the large diamond ring on her left hand. "Chase proposed to me, and I, of course, accepted! We are going to be married, and we don't want to wait!"

"Congratulations," Madi smiles as Deacon hugs his mother. "This really is good news."

"Thank you sweetheart," Chase grabs Madi's hand. "And remember what I said, we are here for you, you are not in this alone, okay?"

***

"Jumper was rather fussy this morning," Quinn tells her mother as she pours herself a glass of white wine at the bar in the living room of the Rockwell Mansion. "I am glad that he finally went down for his nap."

"Sometimes babies are fussy," Sabine chuckles back to her.

"I wish he could just tell me what's wrong when he's like that," Quinn admits to her as she takes a sip of her wine. "Anyways, I'm glad that you're home. We have to talk, it's important."

Sabine arches her eyebrow back to her mother. "What is going on, darling?"

"Marat has filed custody papers against me," Quinn reveals to her mother. "That son of a bitch is trying to take Jumper away from me!"

Sabine sighs heavily back to her daughter. "I was worried that something like this would happen," she admits to Quinn. "After learning he is the biological father, Marat must be feeling hurt by being lied too."

"You sound like you're on his side!"

"I am always on your side, you know that," Sabine replies to her quickly. "What are you going to do? Do you think if you talk to him, you could get him to change his mind?"

Quinn shakes her head back to her. "I don't think there's any chance of that," she tells her. "But I can't let him take Jumper away from me; I need my son!"

"Then there's only one thing to do," Sabine looks back at her daughter with intent. "And that is to get the best lawyer and fight Marat every step of the way."

***

"How do you think Madi really is doing?" Chase asks Deacon as they walk with Dyhannah to the exit of the hospital. They are leaving after sharing the news of their engagement, while Madison is staying behind to be with Vivian. Chase is concerned that Madi is masking her feelings surrounding Vivian's pending demise.

"I think she's trying to be strong, but I think she's close to breaking," Deacon admits to her. "It will be important for all of us to be there for her when Vivian goes leave us…"

"I couldn't agree more," Dyhannah tells her son. "I just hope the news of the engagement was able to take her mind off Vivian, even if it was for a short time."

"I am sure it did," Deacon nods back to her. "Look, before you guys leave, I have some news of my own."

Dyhannah uneasily looks at Chase before she looks back at Deacon. "Why do I get the feeling that I won't like this?"

Deacon chuckles back to her. "It's about Quinn," he reveals to as Dyhannah folds her arms over her chest. "She came to see me."

"What did she want this time? Another plead to make you forgive her?" Chase asks him quickly.

"No, not at all, actually," Deacon tells his parents. "Marat has filed for full custody of baby Jumper; she asked me to help her."

"Ha!" Dyhannah cackles back to him. "How does she think you could help her?"

Deacon gulps back to her. "Because," he slowly tells her. "She…she wants Dad," he says as he looks at Chase. "To represent her. She wants Dad to be her lawyer."

***

Stacey slowly walks towards Vivian's hospital room. She just left Kent in another waiting room as he was going to try to rest his eyes while they wait for another update on Vivian's condition. As she gets closer to Vivian's room, she can see Houston sitting in a hair with his hand over his face. She can only imagine what he is feeling knowing that his mother only has a few days left to live.

"Hey," she says as she sits next to Houston. "How are you? Can I get you anything or do anything?"

Houston looks over at Stacey and tries to put a smile on his face. "There's nothing to do," he whispers back to her. "It just feels like we have to wait for the end to come."

"I know how close you are to Vivian," Stacey looks back at him. "I wish I could make this all go away for you."

"Thanks Stacey," Houston says. "You being here, it does help, even though you're with my Dad."

Stacey uneasily gulps back to him. "I know that it isn't easy because of our history, Houston. It's like I've told you before, Kent and I, we just…happened. We didn't want to hurt you, or anyone."

"I am devastated Stacey," he says in a low voice. "My mother is dying and my father is sleeping with the love of my life. You might not want to hurt me, but I am and I feel like I am close to snapping completely."

***

Lydia moves up to the waiting room where Kent is resting his eyes. She slowly moves closer to him, as his eyes open.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Lydia says as she sits next to him.

"It's fine, I wasn't really sleeping anyways," Kent replies to her. "These chairs aren't exactly comfortable."

"Have there been any changes with Vivian?" Lydia asks him as he shakes his head no. "I am sorry, Kent. I know how much you care about Vivian."

"I am more concerned about Houston and Madi, to be honest," Kent tells her. "They are about to lose their mother and there's not a damn thing that I can do about it!"

"You have always wanted to try to control everything," Lydia uneasily chuckles back to him. "This much I know is true about you."

"We have been through a lot together, haven't we?"

"More than two people should go through together," Lydia says as she grabs his hand and squeezes it. "And, together, we will get through this too, Kent. No matter what happens with Vivian, we will get through it."

***

"For the record," Cole tells Madi as they sit next to one another outside of Vivian's hospital room. "I think you're being very brave about all of this."

Madi uneasily smiles back to him before she looks into his eyes. "I am trying, but this is the most difficult part of my life."

"I can understand that," Cole replies to her. "But just remember that you don't have to go through this alone, okay? I am here, Kent is here, Houston is here, Chase and Dyhannah…"

"I know," Madi feels her eyes swell with water. "It is nice that everyone is here but …"

"It doesn't change the fact that your Mom is dying," Cole finishes her sentence as another tear falls down her cheek. "I get that. Just remember to reach out to any of us if and when you need too."

Madi pulls him into a hug and he holds her while she weeps. "You always know the right things to say to me," Madi tells him as they continue to hold one another.

"We always had a connection, Madi," Cole reminds her. "It's just coming back to us now."

Celeste freezes as she sees Cole and Madi in each other's arms again. She feels her heart move into her throat seeing the man she loves in the arms of his former fiance.

***

Dyhannah, Chase and Deacon all sit at a table in the country club with a light lunch in front of them. After Deacon stunned them by revealing that Quinn wants Chase to represent her in the custody case, they decided to come get some food so they could discuss the request.

"I can't believe the nerve of that woman," Chase admits to his family as he takes a sip of his scotch. "She lies to you, to all of us, about the paternity of her son and then she wants me to represent her? She really has lost her mind!"

"How did you leave things with Quinn?" Dyhannah asks Deacon before she takes a sip of her champagne cocktail. "Did you give her an answer?"

"No, I didn't," Deacon informs his mother. "I told her that I would have to discuss with you two, but I told her not to get her hopes up."

"There's no way in hell that I'm going to help that woman!" Chase grits his teeth back to him.

"Wait just a minute," Dyhannah puts her hands in the air. "I think we should take Quinn up on the offer," she says as Chase and Deacon look at one another in shock. "I think we should help Quinn with her custody case."

***

Casper steps off the elevators at Rockwell Mining and starts to make his way towards the main office. He opens the door and sees Lex sitting behind the desk, as he is still working on the report for Mac. Casper looks at the man that he has developed feelings for and sighs to himself before he moves into the office.

"I know you said you needed space," he announces to Lex, who looks up from his computer screen. "But we have to talk."

"Casper, hi," Lex stands up from behind the desk. "What's going on?"

"I had an interesting meeting earlier today," Casper says as he folds his arms over his muscular chest. "I met Jaxson Williams."

Lex arches his eyebrow back to him. "I see."

"Is it true?" Casper asks him with intent. "Did you and Jaxson have sex? Did you sleep with Jaxson?"

***

"Was that my mother I saw leaving?" Stacey asks Kent as she moves into the waiting room at the hospital.

"Yes, Lydia just came to offer some support," Kent looks back at her. "How was your visit with Houston?"

Stacey sighs back to him. "Not well," she admits to him. "He's really devastated about the idea of losing his mother. And, he said seeing us together is also causing him heartache."

Kent runs his hands through his hair before he looks at her. "Well, what are we supposed to do about that? We are…we are in love. We can't hide our feelings!"

"I know," Stacey shrugs her shoulders. "I…I don't think there's an easy solution to any of this, unfortunately."

"He will come around once he deals with Vivian's grief," Kent replies to her. "At least, I hope he does."

"About Vivian," Stacey looks back into his eyes. "I've been thinking about something, and I need you to hear me out."

"What is it? What have you been thinking about?"

"You and Vivian," Stacey tells him. "You were the love of her life, Kent. And so, you should give her what she wants before she dies."

"What are you saying, Stacey?"

"Marry Vivian, Kent," Stacey stuns him by her suggestion. "Make Vivian your wife before she dies."