The next morning, there was another article in the paper about Crystal McMannis's babies. This time it was a birth announcement. Baby-Boy and Baby-Girl McMannis has been given names -- Matthew Adam and Meghan Claire McMannis, respectively. Quinn cut this article out of the paper, just as he had the previous one, put it in an envelope, and addressed it to Alabama.
Matthew and Meghan slept in their cribs in the intensive care unit while Crystal, Cody, and Tyler looked on. They were so tiny, which brought Crystal to tears. Both Tyler and Cody comforted her. Just then, Dr. Gladstone came in and told them that there was a problem. Crystal looked frightened, as did Cody, while Tyler asked what was going on. Thomas told them that Meghan's blood type did not match that of either of her parents. Cody asked him what that was, and Thomas told him that it was Type O. he also explained that since Tyler was type A and Crystal was Type AB Meghan could not be Type O. Tyler looked at Crystal with a look of concern and fear. Crystal finally buckled after several minutes and sdmitted that she slept with Cody and that Meghan must be his child. Tyler freaked out and then asked Thomas about Matthew. He said that Matthew's was also strange, but if Cody was responsible for Meghan being Type O that Matthew must have a different father than Meghan, because his blood type was B. Now, Tyler was furious. "Who is the OTHER father?" Tyler screamed. Crystal felt faint and dizzy. When her head hit the cold hospital floor, she woke up in her bed, covered with sweat...a bad dream.
Jen woke up on the couch of her apartment with a pounding headache. She staggered to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of aspirin, took four of them, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. On her way to the kitchen, she discovered the note from Blake on the floor. She read it, got a puzzled look on her face, and made breakfast. After she ate, she called the hospital and told them that she wouldn't be coming in because she was ill. Once she felt better, she picked up the phone and called Blake's parents in San Diego. Blake was not the type of girl to just pick up and leave town, even if it was for an emergency such as the note had said. Plus, Jen also remembered Blake telling her that her grandmother had died when she was in elementary school. Blake's mom, Evelyn, told Jen that she had remembered correctly; her mother had died fiften years earlier and that she hadn't heard from Blake in several days. Jen hung up the phone and crawled into the shower. her hangover would have to wait; the search for Blake Montgomery had begun.
Tyler and Cody arrived at the hospital after Crystal had calmed herself down enough to fall back asleep. They watched her sleep for a while, then decided to go look in on the twins. They cooed at the glass of the ICU windows and smiled as Matthew and Meghan slept. Tyler went to hunt down Dr. Gladstone to get some more details on Crystal's homecoming tomorrow. After Tyler left, Nick came and looked at the twins. He then got into a heavy discussion with Cody.
"So, do you think that they could be your children?" He asked sarcastically.
"They can't be." Cody tried to be positive, but it wasn't really working. "Tyler and Crystal are very much in love. If even one of them is mine, it would destroy both of them."
"But you can't deny that the possibility is there. Can you?"
"Nick, what would Linda say if she knew that the possibility is there that they could be your children?" Cody retorted.
"Ah, one time, when compared to many, many encounters at the Nolan Inn, greatly reduces the chances that either one off them is my child." Nic paused to gauge Cody's reaction. After a moment, he continued. "how healthy was Tyler and Crystal's sex life? I mean, obviously it wasn't earth-shattering if she slept with you even once. But they did make love, didn't they?"
"From what I understood, Tyler enjoyed his wife, when he could."
"'When he could,' what kind of crap is that?"
"He is always busy with some case or another." Cody explained. "But this past yar, Tyler has had some more personal problems. That is why she came to me in the first place."
Nick raised an eyebrow, knowing that Cody was lying to him. "Let's hope that Chance is in our favor." Nick added; he was almost friendly.
"Amen to that."
Nick took off after grilling Cody. he did not need to get into another fight with Cody at the hospital. About ten minutes later, Cody received a light tap on his shoulder and was greeted by the smell of Chanel No5. He turned around. "Grandma!" Cody shouted. Rose Weber was volunteering at the hospital that morning and was very surprised to see her grandson there. Cody explained the situation about Tyler and Crystal. Rose offered to say a prayer for them and went off on her merry way but not before she had invited Cody, Tyler, Crystal, and Cody's choice of a date over for dinner. Cody accepted for all of them and kissed his grandma good-bye.
After she left, Cody resumed his gazing at the babies. He felt really bad about everything that had happened. He told them that they would never know about him and their mother. He kissed the glass and left. After Cody was clear out of sight, Quinn popped his head out from behind a potted plant, turned off the video camera, and left.
Jen rushed to the door hoping that it was Blake and that she was knocking because she forgot her key. But it wasn't. It was Blake's parents, Evelyn and Robyn. The instant that Jen opened the door, Mrs. Montgomery started screaming about her "poor baby" and babbling about how she was never going to see her again. Every time that Mr. Montgomery tried to get a word in edgewise, Evelyn cut him off; each time she did that, Robyn seemed to grow shorter. Jen brushed it off as her over-active imagination. She showed them the note that was obviously in Blake's own handwriting. Evelyn began to cry, but when Robyn tried to comfort her, she shoved him away. She would only let Jen hold her. Jen offered to put the Montgomery's up for the night, but Evelyn said that she already made Robyn get them a room at the Nolan Inn. Jen told them that she had to work at six in the morning the next day, but she would be done by noon and they could go and get Tyler McMannis to do something to find Blake.
Just when she had shushed the Montgomery's and shooed them out the door, the phone rang. It was Cody; he invited her to have dinner with him grandparents and Tyler and Crystal (who had been released from the hospital). Jen accepted and said nothing about her disappearing roommate. She needed to have a good time. Cody arrived at eight-thirty and they drove off to the Weber's historic estate on the hill, just outside of Nolan.
Linda showed up at Maplethorpe ad Jen and Cody were leaving for the Weber's. She looked rather annoyed, so neither Jen nor Cody started a conversation with her. Jen and Cody pulled out, and Linda stormed inside. She knocked on the door labeled "Manager". A shirtless Lucas Montgomery answered the door with a cigarette in his mouth and a beer in his hand. He let Linda inside and offered her a smoke, which she accepted. They carried on about fifteen minutes of small talk before Linda got down to why she was actually there.
"Do you have any vacat apartments that are available for rent?"
"I may." Lucas replied. "If I remember correctly, someone on the second floor may be moving out."
"When will you know for sure?" Linda asked.
Lucas took a step closer to Linda and blew out a large plume of smoke from his nostrils. "When you give me what I want...what I need."
"And what is that exactly?" Linda asked coyly, knowing what was about to happen, yet pretending not to know in a flirty way that she was very good at conveying.
"Your security deposit."
And as he said this last line, which he has used many times before, Lucas kissed Linda's neck. Linda submitted, and eventually, the two of them became a tangle of sweaty flesh on the floor of Lucas's apartment.
Quinn took the videotape out of the camera, put in the VCR, watched, and heard Cody and Nick's conversation outside the nursery. He saw Rose come and tap Cody's shoulder and saw Cody talking to the twins and kissing the window. After he watched it, he rewound the tape, took it out of the VCR, and put it in an envelope. Quinn addressed it to Alabama and went to bed, with a smile on his face.
Cody and Jen pulled into the drive at the Weber Mansion. The butler, Sven, let them in and led them to the parlor where the other guests were waiting for them. Sven opened the door and there was Rose, Tyler and Crystal, sitting having drinks and trying to keep up polite conversation. Jen and Cody joined them and introductions were passed around. After about fifteen more minutes of drinks and small talk, Rose suggested that they adjourn to the dining room for dinner. Cody asked where Marc was and Rose told him that he was preparing a surprise and would meet them in the dining room.
Rose opened the French doors to the dining room and let out the most shrill, most blood-curdling scream a 76-year-old woman has ever screamed. Cody rushed to her, and then they all saw him. Marc Weber was slumped over at the table. There was a knife protruding from his back, and his shirt was stained red with his blood.
Tyler turned to Jennifer and said, "Welcome to Nolan, Jen."
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