Written by: Dallas Walsh

"I…I don't think I heard you correctly," Kent Blackmore looks back at Stacey Rockwell in surprise as they stand facing one another in the waiting room of the hospital. Stacey just told her lover that she thinks he should marry Vivian Blackmore before she passes away. Kent is stunned by this suggestion because he and Stacey were just discussing how they were in love, despite the reservations from others, including his son, Houston Blackmore. "You want me to marry Vivian?"

Stacey nervously nods her head back to him as she twiddles her thumbs together. "I know this is coming as a surprise," she tells him. "But, I have been thinking about it since Vivian's accident."

"But…why?" Kent asks her. "I just finished telling you that I love you, Stacey."

"I know and I love you too Kent," Stacey sighs back to him. "But the truth is, you and Vivian have a very long history together. She is the mother of your child; I think deep down, Vivian has always still loved you. Remember how she was pretending to die a few Christmas' ago to try to get you to marry her? That's what she has always wanted, Kent. She has always wanted to be your wife again."

"I can't deny that Vivian and I have always a complicated history."

"And now," Stacey looks into his eyes. "She is on her deathbed. The doctors said that she has until the end of the week to live; if you want to her to have this, you have to act now. And I think, with everything in my heart, that she would want to be your wife as she leaves this earth."

"This is incredibly selfless of you, Stacey," Kent grabs her hand and kisses it. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I am sure," Stacey says as her eyes fill with water. "I think you and Vivian should be married before she dies. And I don't think anything will change my mind."

***

A short time later, Stacey sits in the waiting room with her hands over her face as she is weeping. Kent has left to make some preparations for the upcoming wedding that she suggested. However, if she is honest with herself, the idea that Kent, the man she loves, is going to marry another woman, is breaking her heart, even if she knows that it might just be for a short time.

"Stacey, are you okay?" a voice calls out from the entrance to the waiting room. Stacey opens her eyes and looks over to see Houston coming up to her. "Did something happen to my mother that I don't know about?"

"No, her status is the same as the last time we spoke," Stacey whispers back to him. "But something has happened…and…and it's all my fault."

Houston looks at her with worry on his face. He has no idea what else could be going on, but considering his mother's health, he hopes that nothing else bad is about to happen.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks her. "Sometimes it's good just to get it off your chest."

"I've done something to help Vivian, at least I hope it will help her."

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because," Stacey says with red eyes. "It means I am giving up something that means so much to me. God help me, I hope I just haven't made the biggest mistake of my life."

***

"Mom, did I just hear you right?" a shocked Deacon Cooper asks his mother, Dyhannah Cooper, while they sit across from one another in the country club with Deacon Cooper also present. Deacon just finished telling his parents that Quinn Cunningham came to him and asked if Chase would represent her in her custody case with Marat Kafelinkov; Deacon and Chase were dead set against the idea since Quinn lied to them about Deacon being baby Jumper's father, but Dyhannah just announced that Chase should represent her. "You want Dad to represent Quinn? Why the hell would you even suggest that? You, more than anyone else, have been against her!"

Dyhannah chuckles back to her son before she takes a sip of her champagne cocktail. "You heard correctly," she tells them. "I think Chase should take the case."

Chase looks back at his fiance in shock. "You know how that woman lied to our son! Why should I help her?"

"It is that classic old saying," Dyhannah purses her lips together. "Keep your friends close…keep your enemies closer," she chuckles to them. "We could pretend to want to help that bitch, but in fact make sure the only outcome is the one that we want."

Deacon shakes his head in horror. "You want Dad to take the case, only to ensure Quinn loses Jumper to Marat?"

"That's exactly what I want," Dyhannah's eyes twinkle in delight. "Let's rock that bitch to her very core and teach her that she is to never, ever, fuck with this family again."

"I…I don't know…" Deacon says quickly.

"I'll do it," Chase nods back to her as Deacon gasps back to his father. "Your mother is right; It's time Quinn get taught a lesson, Deacon. And this, this is the perfect way to do it."

***

A short time later, Quinn opens the door to the country club and moves inside quickly. She is supposed to meet her mother, Sabine Andrews, for a drink so they can discuss her custody case, however, she happens to see Marat Kafelinkov sitting at the bar by himself. She recalls how the last time she saw him, she ended up slapping him across the face, so she knows that she should be avoiding him, but she can't help but she finds herself still approaching the man that wants to take her son, Jumper, away from her.

"Looks like we meet again," she hisses as she approaches him. "Please tell me that you have come to your senses and are going to drop this bogus custody suit?"

Marat uneasily chuckles back to her. "If it was bogus, you wouldn't be here trying to convince me to drop the case, Quinn. You and I both know that what you did was wrong and I am going to prove that."

"A child needs his mother, Marat!"

"In theory yes," Marat nods back to her. "But when that mother is a lying snake, the child should be removed from her and placed with someone that can raise him with morals and decency."

"I won't let you do this," Quinn glares back at him. "You will not take my son away from me. I'd rather die first!"

***

Sabine Andrew walks hand in hand with Nathan Lockhart into the living room of the Rockwell mansion a few hours later, as they just finished having a romantic dinner at the country club, which began after Sabine had a quick meeting with Quinn. Sabine is happy that she and Nathan were able to, finally, have some alone time since she felt like they hadn't had much time together since he returned.

"Thank you for that lovely dinner out," Sabine tells him as she moves to the bar to pour more wine for them. "I can't tell you how much I feel like we needed that."

"I couldn't agree with you more," he admits to her. "It is definitely nice to reconnect with the most beautiful woman I know."

Sabine smiles back to him as she passes him a glass of wine. "You've always been such a sweet man to me," she tells him as they toast and then they take a sip of the wine. "How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?"

Nathan chuckles back to her as he continues to have images of Sabine and his brother, Mac Rockwell, in bed together in his mind. He knows that he has to play it cool and calm, however, if he wants to continue with his plan of revenge. "I am the lucky one, Sabine," he tells her. "And, if I am honest, I think it's time that we move forward with our plans."

Sabine arches her eyebrow back to him. "And what plans are those?"

"Our plans to be married," he replies to her as they lock eyes. "I think we should finally say 'I Do'; what do you say? Marry me, sooner than later?"

Sabine beams back to him with a sparkle in her eye. "I'd like nothing more than to be your wife, Nathan. So yes, let's get married, as soon as possible!"

***

"I have a feeling that there is something in particular that you needed to discuss with me if you wanted to have breakfast with me alone at the club instead of the usual family breakfast," Lydia Rockwell says to Mac Rockwell as they sit across from each other at the country club the following morning. She was surprised to hear that Mac wanted to eat with her alone as it is customary for the Rockwell's to have breakfast together before they go their separate ways for the day.

Mac looks back at her before he takes a sip of his coffee. "There is something I wanted to discuss with you," he admits to her with a chuckle. "This entire idea you have about looking into Dane's past," he tells her as he recalls how Lydia admitted that she wanted to see if Dane Ashby was hiding anything since she is worried Mac's mother, Lucinda Rockwell, is marrying a man that they know little about.

"Yes, you already told me that you don't want a part of it."

"That is still true," Mac nods back to her. "I think if they found out that I was involved, both Dane and Lucinda would be very upset."

"That is fine, Mac, I don't mind handling this on my own," Lydia tells him.

"But what are you going to do, Lydia? I am…I am worried about the fallout of all of this," Mac sighs back to her. "The last thing I want is to create more heartache or drama for Lucinda; she's been through so much."

"We all have," Lydia nods back to him. "That's why I feel like it is important that I do this, Mac. If Dane does have a secret past, it is better that we all know before Lucinda marries him."

"I suppose that is true," Mac replies to her quickly. "And, I suppose you have time on your hands. Because Lucinda is still married to Mortimer; that process will take some time to sort out, so while they do that, this is your chance to uncover anything, if there is anything to uncover."

"I hope there isn't," Lydia takes another sip of her coffee. "But if there is, I will find out about it."

***

"Good morning beautiful," Dane says as he moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion and sees Lucinda looking into the flames of the fire that is raging in the fire place. "You look lost in thought; anything I can help with?"

Lucinda turns to face her fiance with a smile on her face. "I was just thinking about your proposal to me and how wonderful it was," she tells him as she purses her lips together. "And this ring, it truly is stunning, Dane."

"I am glad you approve," he says as he gives her a soft kiss on her lips. "Have you given anymore thought to our last discussion?"

Lucinda sighs back to him. "The idea of divorcing Mortimer just so we can marry is daunting," she admits to him. "The fact is, if I divorce my husband, I would be giving up the right to be in control of his medical care. That is troublesome to me because no one knows the file the way I do. I have lived with Morti and this illness for decades."

"Do you have any idea who would take over the file for you? Who would become his power of attorney?"

"His son," Lucinda looks back into his eyes. "Levy would take over."

"And that troubles you?" Dane asks her as she finds herself nodding back to him.

"Levy emancipated himself from this family because Mortimer favored Mac over him; he changed his name to Nathan Lockhart for crying out loud!" Lucinda reminds Dane of the sorted history. "I am worried that Levy wouldn't make the best decisions for his father, instead take advantage of the situation."

"Oh Lucinda," Dane sighs back to her. "At some point, this family has to start to do what's best for each other and not be selfish and hold on to these past grudges."

"I know that," she tells him. "I'm not sure not my children know that."

***
"Sorry that we couldn't finish our conversation yesterday," Lexington Rockwell says as he opens the door to Casper Ross' office at his private investigator firm. "I had to deal with some family drama."

"It is fine," Casper replies to him as he stands up from behind his desk. "I pretty much figured out what your answer to my question was on my own. You and Jaxson, you did sleep together."

Lex uneasily nods back to him. "We did, and I am sorry if that hurts you. It doesn't make it right, but I was really hurt by the fact that you and Cole had slept together, and Jaxson, he looks like my dead husband, and … it just happened."

Casper licks his lips back to him. "Your husband's twin brother," he whispers to himself as he thinks about how he uncovered that Jaxson and Jarek Williams are twin brothers, which is why they look alike. It was the case that started Casper's feelings to grow towards Lex. "Have you spoken to Jaxson since?"

"I have," Lex tells him. "And I told him, basically, the same thing that I told you," Lex informs him. "And that is that I am just trying to wrap my head around everything that has happened. I just need time to understand how I feel about you and Jaxson."

"So you just want me to wait for you?" Casper asks him. "And what if you then decide that you want Jaxson? This is a really bad situation to put someone in, Lex."

Lex sighs back to him. "I am not asking you to wait," he tells him. "If you want to move on with your life, that's your choice, Casper."

"I want to move on with you, Lex," Casper looks in him in the eyes. "But I won't wait around for you to make up your mind; I have too much self-respect for that."

***

Quinn paces back and forth in the living room of the Rockwell mansion as she wonders when she will hear from Deacon again. She knows that she asked Deacon if Chase would represent her with the custody case, but she hasn't heard back yet. And, after her conversation with Sabine, she knows that she has to find the best lawyer possible because she has to start planning her defense against Marat.

"Why haven't I heard from you, Deacon?" she asks herself quickly. "Is that a sign that Chase won't take my case because of the lies I told? Damnit! I have to have the best lawyer and Chase is the best. I can't let Marat take Jumper away from me."

She moves to her purse and pulls out her phone, as she is tempted to reach out to Deacon. "No, I don't want to bug him in case he is talking to his father right now. I just have to be patient, even though I am not a patient person."

Suddenly, her phone starts to ring. She feels her heart skip a beat when she sees Deacon's name appear on her screen. "Here we go," she whispers to herself as she answers the call. "Deacon, hi. Please tell me that you have good news for me? You want to meet with me? I can come right over. See you soon."

She hangs up the phone and nods. "They want to see me," she tells herself. "It has to mean that they will take my case. Please God, let them take my case."

***

"Spending the afternoon in bed with you is becoming one of my favorite past times," Mac smiles over to Helena Grant as they lay next to one another in the large king-size bed in Mac's bedroom of the Rockwell mansion. They just finished making love, again, as they continue to get closer to each other.

"I was just thinking the very same thing," she purrs back to him as she runs her finger over his toned chest. "You are a wonderful lover, Mac."

"It helps to have such a great partner," he winks back to her. "I am really enjoying getting to know you, Helena."

"The feeling is more than mutual Mac," she replies to him. "I guess the next step is to tell your family about us, right?"

"All in due time," Mac says back to her. "In the meantime, how about we get to know each other again and again and again?"

She kisses him passionately as she crawls on top of him and they start to have another intense love making session.

***

"I just saw Stacey, she isn't having a great day," Houston reveals to Kent and Madison Stewart as they stand together outside of Vivian's hospital room.

"Why not? Has something else happened that I am not aware of?" Madi asks her half-brother, who shrugs back to her.

"No, it's nothing like that," Kent reveals to them. "Stacey has had a suggestion and I think she is right about it."

"What suggestion?" Houston asks him. "What does Stacey think we should do?"

"She wants me to, uh, marry Vivian before it's too late," Kent's revelation stuns Vivian's children. "I know this sounds surprising, but she made some good points."

"You were always the love of Mom's life," Madi looks back at him. "Even more than my father."

"Madi is right," Houston nods back to him. "Mom always wanted to get back together with you. This would make her happy, to know that she was your wife before she dies…"

"That's what Stacey said," Kent tells them. "And I think I will, I will marry Vivian before it's too late."

***

Celeste Baldwin sits at the bar of the country club with a dirty martini in front of her. Her mind is racing about how she has seen Cole and Madi at the hospital in a close embrace. She doesn't know if they have reunited, but seeing them together makes her upset because she still cares about Cole; she would love nothing more than to get back together with him.

"He keeps saying that if I am honest with myself, I would know why he doesn't want to reunite with me," she whispers to herself as she takes a sip of her drink. "But I have no idea why he wouldn't want too? There's no way he could know that I slept with Houston, is there?"

She looks to the seat next to her when the manager of the country club appears and places his laptop down on the bar. Celeste can see that he is looking at the video camera footage from the cameras that are in the hallway on the second level, where the suites are.

"Are you looking for something specific?" she asks the tall man, who turns to her.

"There was an attempted break-in a couple of nights ago," he replies to her quickly. "Don't worry, Ms. Baldwin, your room was not impacted."

"If I can help with anything, please let me know."

He smiles back to her. "Thanks, I just have to watch this footage and hopefully it will all be resolved."

The footage starts to play and Celeste's eye happens to see something. "Wait, stop," she says pointing at the screen. "That's Cole Rockwell at my door…what day is that?"

"Three days ago," he tells Celeste. "Did Cole come to see you?"

Celeste feels the blood drain from her face as she realizes that Cole saw her in bed with Houston. "Uh, no, he didn't," Celeste manages to say back to him. "And I now realize why."

***

"I can't believe that you told Kent to marry Vivian," Cole tells Stacey as they slowly walk down a corridor of the hospital. Stacey just finished telling her brother about her idea for Kent to marry Vivian before she dies. "You must be feeling overwhelmed."

Stacey sighs back to him. "My head is spinning but the fact is, this will be good for Vivian. She has always loved Kent, so for her to be his wife before she leaves us will be a very good thing."

"It is still very selfless of you," Cole tells his sister. "You and Kent, you are trying to move forward with your own relationship; that will be difficult if he is married to another woman."

"Another woman who is dying," Stacey reminds him. "We will reunite once the end comes."

"How are Houston and Madi reacting to this?" Cole asks her quickly.

"They seem to be on board because they know how much Vivian loves Kent. How are you feeling about Madi now that she is back in town?" Stacey asks him with a grin on her face. "I've seen you two together and it almost seems like nothing ever changed."

"It is nice to have her back," Cole reveals to her. "Especially…"

"What? You were going to say something?"

"I haven't told you yet," Cole sighs back to her. "It's about Celeste and Houston…"

"Celeste and Houston? What about them?"

"I saw them together Stace," Cole reveals to her. "And they were in bed together. Houston and Celeste had an affair."

***

Casper looks up from his computer screen when he hears the door to his office open. He breathes a sigh of relief when it is not Lex, as he is trying to give him the space he needs while he figures out what he wants to do next.

"Good day, can I help you with something Mrs. Rockwell?" he asks as he stands up from his desk.

Lydia puts her purse on the desk while she looks back at Casper. "Yes, I hope you can do something for me, Mr. Ross."

"Does this have anything to do with Lex?"

"No, this has nothing to do with my son," Lydia replies to him quickly. "I need you to look into someone's past for me and make sure that there are no, what is the word, skeletons, so to speak."

"I can do that," Casper nods back to her. "Who is the person in question? Who would you like me to investigate?"

"Dane Ashby," Lydia purses her lips together. "And the sooner I find out everything about him, the better."

***

"Are you on your way out or do you have a moment for a chat?" Lucinda asks Mac as she moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion and sees her son packing his brief case, as he gets ready to go into Rockwell Mining for the day.

"Mother, you know that I can always make time for you," Mac smiles back over to her. "Is this about the news you shared the other day at breakfast?"

"Yes, in fact it does have to do with my engagement to Dane," Lucinda nods back to him as she moves to the bar and pours herself a brandy. "I would have assumed that you would have been happier about this; after all, your biological parents are reuniting, MacKenzie."

"I want you to be happy," Mac replies to her quickly. "If Dane makes you happy, then you should be with him."

"He does make me happy," Lucinda takes a sip of her brandy. "I suppose I am just concerned about the process of divorcing Mortimer. You know, if I divorce him, I will no longer be in charge of his medical care and that scares me to my very core."

"I am guessing that Nathan would take over since he is Mortimer's biological son?"

"You thought correct," Lucinda looks at him uneasily. "And while I am happy that Levy is back, I am concerned about how he would handle Mortimer's care. They have such a sorted history."

"It is a big change for you have to deal with," Mac agrees with her. "But since Nathan has been home, I do feel like he is trying to be a part of the family, mother. Maybe he has changed? Do you want to put your own happiness on the back burner just because you're scared of what Nathan may or may not do?"

Lucinda uneasily looks back at him. "I guess I need to ask myself how much I trust Levy and if I can take that leap of faith. I just don't want anything bad to happen to Mortimer; I would never forgive myself if something happened to him."

***

"You have a hell of a lot of nerve," Lex huffs to Jaxson as he moves up to his lover, who is sitting at the bar in the country club. Lex, still, can't believe that Jaxson told Casper that they had sex with each other. "How could you tell Casper about us?"

Jaxson puts his drink down and looks back at Lex with a stunned look on his face. "I think the question is, why didn't you tell him? You should be honest with the guys you're with man, if for nothing else, so we all know what risks are associated with being with you."

"I am safe," Lex reminds him. "And this isn't about me! This is about you kissing and telling!"

"This entire situation is because of you," Jaxson sighs back to him. "You are the one that slept with two guys at once, Lex. And now, you're the one who is telling everyone that you need time to figure this shit out. So why don't you do that? Go figure out what you want so the rest of us can move on with our fucking lives already. Now, if don't mind, I'd rather enjoy my cocktail in peace."

***

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sabine asks as she opens the front door to the Rockwell mansion and she can see Marat walking down the large staircase. "You shouldn't be here, Marat, not after what you're trying to do to my daughter."

"I was here visiting Jumper," Marat explains to her as he reaches the bottom of the stairs and moves closer to Sabine. "Quinn has still let me see my son, which is good because Jumper needs his father."

"How could you try to take him away from Quinn?" Sabine asks him as she puts her hand on her hip. "Jumper needs his mother!"

"Then she shouldn't have lied to me for months about being the father," Marat reminds her of the sorted tale. "She put her own needs ahead of Jumper's; that, to me, is the definition of an unfit mother."

"You won't get away with this Marat," Sabine glares back at him. "I won't let you know take my grandson away from Quinn. I won't let you."

***

Quinn takes a deep breath as she stands outside of Deacon's suite at the country club as he asked her to come to see him. She is nervous because she wants Chase to help her with the custody case but she has no idea if he will because of how she handled her pregnancy and the paternity of Jumper.

"Here goes nothing," she says to herself as she knocks on the door. "Deacon, hi, thanks for calling me."

"Please come in," Deacon says as he moves out of the doorway and lets her into the suite.

Immediately, Quinn sees Dyhannah and Chase in the suite as well. "I didn't realize that everyone would be here."

"We wanted to see you," Dyhannah purses her lips together. "Deacon told us about your request; we know that you want Chase to help you with your custody pickle that you've gotten yourself into."

"I did ask him to talk to Chase," Quinn nods back to her. "And that is because Chase is the best lawyer; I want the best lawyer to help me keep my son. But I understand why you can't because of everything that happened."

"I'll do it," Chase stuns her by his revelation. "I'll take your case, Quinn."

Quinn looks around the room in surprise. The last thing she expected was for the Cooper's to accommodate her request, especially after everything that has happened. "Is this a joke? You will help me?"

"I will help you," Chase nods back to her. "We can meet tomorrow to over the details of the case."

"My goodness, thank you, thank you so much!" Quinn says with a huge smile on her face, as she looks at Chase and then over at Deacon, while Dyhannah gets a sly grin on her face, thrilled that her plan is seemingly working.

***

Nathan paces back and forth in the main office of Rockwell Mining as the wheels in his head are turning about how he can get revenge on Mac and Sabine for their torrid affair. After overhearing Mac and Helena talking earlier, he has started to formulate a plan.

"I will make sure that you pay for what you've done to me," Nathan whispers to himself as a takes a drink of his scotch. "The two of you will not know what hit you when I'm done with you. And, it's going to start now."

He moves to the desk and picks up his cell phone. He quickly dials a number and waits for the person to answer. "Helena," he says with a sly grin on his face. "It's Nathan Lockhart. I am at Rockwell Mining and I need your help with something, are you able to come and see me?"

He nods his head as he listens to her response. "Perfect, I'll be waiting for you. See you soon."

***

Kent sits next to Vivian in her hospital room, while Houston and Madi stand behind him. Next to Kent is a minister, who is going to perform the ceremony in the hospital room.

"Is everyone present?" he asks Kent, who nods back to him.

"Yes, these are Vivian's children," he replies to the minister. "Houston has power of attorney, so he will answer for Vivian, since she is still in her coma."

"Very well, we are all sure that this is what Vivian would want?" the minister asks.

"Yes," Madi tells him. "My mother has always loved Kent; she would want this marriage."

"Alright, let's begin," the minister says.

Outside the room, Stacey stands at the door and peers through the window. She can see the wedding taking place and she feels her heart break inside of her chest as the man she loves is marrying another woman.

"This is for the best," she whispers to herself as a tear falls down her cheek. "He will come back to me once Vivian passes away… just remember that. This isn't forever."

Meanwhile, inside the hospital room, the ceremony comes to a close as the minister announces, "By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

Kent smiles as he looks over at Houston and Madi before he looks at back at Vivian, who remains lying still in her bed in her coma, only now as a married woman.