"It's beautiful!"

"A few more days, maybe, and it'll open," Kit said as Leonardo wheeled himself closer to the rose bushes. The one plant with a little bud was a tad bigger that day; she couldn't wait to trim and vase his first rose for him.

"I can see a tiny bit of the flower," he remarked as he peered closer, "is it pink?"

"Shouldn't be," Kit stepped closer to look at it herself; he was right. It was slight, but the small amount of flower shown was pink. "Odd, all the tags said they were red rose bushes. Maybe one pink one got mixed in there."

"Pink was Elizabeth's favorite color," he mused as a dreamy look crossed his face.

"Well, then, it was a good mistake," she noted. Still, that seemed very odd to her. Maybe one of the plants was spliced? She was intrigued to see if any other pink roses popped up.

The roar of an engine coming up the driveway broke up the serene moment, and Kit started to walk towards the noise, "if that's one of the nurses driving in like that. We are not hiring them!"

She stopped when she saw a sleek red sports car pulling up and parking right in front of the house, and a tall older man with slick back dark hair in a crisp suit emerged.

"It's Richard," Leonardo commented as he wheeled up beside her.

"Leo!" the man offered a big toothpaste-style grin and a wave when he noticed them.

"What are you doing here, Richard? We didn't have a meeting scheduled."

"I know, but we need to discuss a few matters," he glanced at Kit and then back at Leonardo. "Can we go inside?"

"Leo is just about to go in and rest; if you want to talk business, you need to schedule a meeting through Luca or Andre," Kit took hold of Leonardo's wheelchair and began to wheel him inside. Richard brazenly followed them in.

"I'll do that next time, but since I'm here," his voice alerted both Andre and Luca, who looked up sharply at the intrusion. The nurse they were interviewing was rising to leave.

"Why are you here?" Luca's eyes bored past Kit and Leonardo to Richard behind them as Andre got up to quickly the show interviewee out.

"Leo hasn't returned my calls about the will revision, so I got a little nervous," Richard explained, "we can't waste time on this."

"It's done," Leonardo wheeled himself to the table to join Luca; Richard followed, and Kit did as well.

"Done?" Richard sounded stunned. "You haven't sent it to me to finalize it."

"I helped him with it," Andre said as he walked back in. Richard arched an eyebrow towards the youngest Donato as he came to join them.

"... and I'm sure you did a good job, Andre, but you're not an attorney yet. I will need to look it over and finalize everything."

"He knows how to revise a will, Richard. Regarding filing it, my sons and I have decided to have Ms. Renstrom do that, and she agreed."

"Diane Renstrom? What? She's green! We know nothing about her," Richard's eyes bored down on Leonardo. "Why would you have someone else file the paperwork unless... Leo, you can't be firing me as your attorney?"

"Finally, he gets it!" Luca spat out sarcastically.

"... we started this thing together!" Richard's voice began to rise, and Kit noted that Luca was getting tenser by the moment as he stood up.

"And now it's over, so get out, Dick," Luca shot back.

"Leo, clearly you're not thinking straight here," Richard ignored Luca to plead to Leonardo.

"I am of sound mind!" Leonardo looked offended by the implication, and Richard shrank back slightly. "I made my decisions based on my instincts, and they have never done me wrong. Diane's father Chuck worked for me back in Sun City for years, he was beyond proud of his daughter for following in his footsteps, and I was happy to give her a chance.  She's done a fantastic job, and I can trust her. You not even knowing the basics about other attorneys at the practice shows me how right I am."

"So you don't trust me anymore, that's what this is?" The edge in the attorney's voice was so hard Kit shuddered from it.

"Why should he? You're just out for yourself," Luca snapped, "hell, you're lucky he doesn't try to get you banned from the practice. Take still having your job as a win and leave."

"I can't believe you're taking advice from a hotheaded playboy," Richard focused on Leonardo, ignoring Luca. "he's never made one good decision in his life."

"Excuse me?" Leonardo's voice rose and boomed out, filling the room. "How dare you. He's made nothing but good decisions since he came here. I won't have anyone talk down on my son."

"Good decisions?" Richard let out a dry laugh as he walked to the door. "good decisions."

He opened the door but turned again before he left, "You'll be rolling In your grace in ten years when everything you worked so hard for is gone. This first 'good decision' you think he made was throwing away over twenty grand, and for what? To fund some old drunks' gambling habits, that's where it'll end up."

With that, he slammed the door, leaving Kit with a big frown and a confused look on her face.

"What was he talking about?" She turned to Luca, who quickly averted his gaze. "Luca?"

"Kit, listen, don't get upset, but a for some of the inheritance"-

"You're trying to give me your inheritance." She took a step back as he moved closer to her, shaking her head in complete disbelief.

"It's to replace what Stone lost," Luca confirmed her theory as her stunned eyes met his. "And it's not all my inheritance; it's a portion of it. It'll go to Jase as a trust fund with"-

"No." She cut him off as she folded her arms around herself tightly. "I'm not a charity case, Luca!"

"No one said you were!" Luca argued, "this isn't even for you. I told you, it's for Jase."

"I am taking care of it. I already have nearly four thousand dollars for Jase's college fund. I'll have enough to get him started with some school loans when he's ready."

"That's your money! You worked for it," Luca stressed, "you shouldn't have to go to community college and work your ass off for your dad's mistake."

"It's my choice to take care of my family. However I see fit," she retorted.

"...and I will take care of you, however I see fit," he shot back.

"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow, "No, you have no right to do this without asking me first. What happened to let people make their own choices?"

His eyes flashed with anger, and he took a step closer. "That's not the same thing at all."

"It is too!"

"Kit, he really just wants to help, we all do," she heard Leonardo trying to reason with her but ignored him. She was solely focused on Luca and his irritated gaze. Who the hell was he to be mad at her? He took it upon himself to do this without asking!

"It was Jase's money, and Stone is his legal guardian, not you," Luca starting the obvious was only further irritating her.

"Oh, come off it; you know I take care of them."

"This should never have fallen on you, and Stone agrees. He wants me to do this."

"You and my dad talked about this too!? Behind my back?"

"Because we knew this is how you'd react! He feels like dirt for what happened. He doesn't want you paying for this. And I'm not just giving the money away. Stone wants it to be a loan. He wants to pay me back over time."

"What?" She took a step back, her voice faltering a little. "A loan?"

"We're working out the paperwork," Luca said, "but yeah, that's the sort of plan right now."

"Jase cant handle a huge sum of money."

"We'll set it up so Jase can only use it for college until he turns a certain age. Then we'll set up a contract for Stone to make payments," Andre offered.

"So everyone talked about this? All of you and left me out?" Her eyes darted from Leonardo to a guilty-looking Andre and then back to Luca, who still dared to look annoyed at her!

"Baby.." he released a frustrated sigh as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Don't baby me right now," she whirled around and started towards the door.

"Where are you going!" Luca called after her.

"To talk to Stone and tell him the deal is off," she whirled back to glare at him.

"Kit, please, try and take a moment to think about this," Andre said in a placating tone.

"Your shift isn't even over yet," Luca commented, and she had to clench her fists to keep from screaming at him.

"I'm leaving early," she spun on her heel and thundered out, slamming the door behind her.

**
Kit drove herself to the bar gripping the steering so tight her knuckles were white. She parked up front and stormed in her anger growing with each step. It wasn't so much the money as everyone going behind her back, to over step her.

Stone looked up from the bar as the door slammed. "whoa, what's wrong with you?"

"You're not taking it!"  She was so angry that she raced straight up to the bar and ignored all the looks she was sure she was getting.

"Taking what?"

"Don't pretend you don't know!"

"Is this about the inheritance?" He lowered his voice.

"What else would it be?"

"Settle down about it," he scoffed, "and keep your voice down."

"I won't! I've been working my ass off for a long time to get Jase's money back. Luca had no right to go over my head on this!"

"I never asked you to replace it."

"... but you let me," she retaliated, "and you'd have kept letting me too. Until Luca gave you another option."

Stone's eyes darted past her, "let's talk about this later."

"No, let's talk about it now," Jase's voice stunned her, and she turned to see him walking towards them. Jess and his other friends were sitting at a table nearby, they all were huddled up and whispering. Jess hushed them and kept her eyes focused on Jase.

"I didn't know you were here," Kit said feebly.

"Well, I am, and it's my money we're discussing. I think I should get a say."

"Of course you do, but"-

"I don't want to go to college."

"You have to go to college, Jase," Kit said with a tired sigh.

"I do not!" He snapped back, "that's why right? Why do you insist you have to replace the money? So, you can tell me what to do with it?"

Great, now Jase was mad too. What the heck happened to this day?

"Jase, please,"-

"No. Kit. It's my life, not yours."

"I'm trying to help you; I want you to have a future," Kit urged him, "you are so smart, and I know you can succeed; you just have to apply yourself."

"I don't need college," Jase replied, "I'm going to work with Jess's dad at his car shop and I'm starting soon. I got plans and I'll be fine."

He turned to look at Stone, "you don't have to take it if you don't want to.. Am I going to turn it down, hell no. But you don't have to."

"I'm paying you back, kid, and then I'm paying Luca back, it isn't a handout it's a loan," Stone informed him, "Just like I was going to pay you back, Kit! Even if it took forever. I have an account, and I've been dropping money in it."

"You have?" Kit's eyes widened as she turned to Stone. The guilt-ridden look written in his eyes was like a knife to her heart.

"I don't have much, but, I'm trying," he darted his eyes from Kit to Jase. "I know I fucked up."

"It's all right, man. I'm not even mad about it," Jase shrugged, "it's just money."

"It's future-changing money," Kit corrected him.

"I just told you my plans."

"Jase, your seventeen," Kit pushed, "you'll change your mind about school."

"No, I won't and stop it! You're not my mom!"

"I'm not trying to"-

"Yes, you are! From they day you moved in, you have tried to mother me. I don't need it, and I don't want it. Just be my cousin! That's all I want."

"I didn't want you to feel abandoned," she admitted as her voice trembled.

"It's not the same," Jase's voice softened. "Okay? It's not. They died. They didn't up and leave like your mom did. I don't need anyone to replace them. I need you to trust that I can figure it out on my own. You did it, so I can too."

"She wasn't alone," Stone sounded wounded by that.

"I didn't mean it like that," Jase cringed.

"No, you did. I'm a crap father and even crappier uncle," Stone's voice was rough, and a lump formed in Kit's throat.

"No, dad."-

"Both of you stop. I'm the guardian here. I'll make the final call. I'm taking the loan from Luca. He can set an age restriction on it, and Jase can choose what he wants to do with it when the time comes."

"But dad"-

"He's right, Kit. Mothering Jase won't bring your aunt Rachel back, and it sure as hell won't make up for your mom leaving."

"I... I wasn't trying to do that," her voice trembled.

"It's not your fault," Stone continued, "from the time you were able to, I let you take care of me. I was a screw-up as a dad and got lucky you turned out okay."

"Don't do that," she found her eyes filling with tears. "She ditched us, and we took care of each other. You were better than anyone else's dad. You let me stay up late and watch Saturday night live with you. You'd come to my tea parties with all my stuffed animals and entertain us with stories for hours. Let's not forget the forts in the living room when I was having bad dreams."

Stone was also starting to tear up, "the monster you were sure was living under your bed."

"You set up a stake-out like on the police shows and' trapped him," she held her fingers up in quotations and Stone chuckled.

"You looked at me like I was a hero."

"You were," she assured him. "You gave me love, and that's all I needed."

"That's all I need to, Kit," Jase said softly. "I think you're trying so hard with me because she didn't try with you; you don't need to."

"I'm sorry I've been overbearing, mothering and annoying," the tears were spilling down her cheeks as she spoke.

"Don't cry; you're mostly overbearing and mothering, only slightly annoying," he offered a grin, and she laughed through her tears.

"I'm sorry I came in all upset and yelling," Kit winced, "I just - it was behind my back and I hate that."

"Mine too," Jase shot a look at Stone. "Was no one going to tell me about this?"

"Eventually," Stone confirmed, "it's all being worked out still."

Jase glanced at Kit, "promise you won't bug me about college?"

"I'll try not to," she offered feebly, to which he scoffed.

"Seriously, you should go," she said slowly, and he narrowed his eyes, "for psychology, you just read me like a book."

Jase let out a short chuckle and reached over for a hug, she happily let her younger, but bigger cousin swallow her up for a moment in his comforting hold.

"I got to get back to Jess. You have a boyfriend now, mother him, and leave me alone."

"Clearly, he's too busy fathering me," she muttered under her breath after Jase left.

"Oh, he is not," Stone scoffed, "he cares about you; he wanted to help you. For someone so busy taking care of everyone else. I'd think you could thank someone when they do it for you."

"I.. uh," she bit her lip. He had a point.

"But I bet you didn't do that, did you?" He continued, "I bet you flipped out on him like you did me."

"I did," her face flushed red, and a guilty feeling settled into her gut.

"Then you better go make that right," Stone advised, "Luca is doing everything he can to prove he deserves you."

Shit, he just made a big deal thinking he wasn't good enough or, that he somehow wasn't doing enough for her. Then he did something ridiculously monumental, and she yelled at him for it.

"I was a total bitch. I even yelled at him in front of his dad," she confessed.

"I told him not to tell you," Stone added, "I knew you'd get all fired up."

"You were right, so you should have told me then," she said pointedly, "warned me."

"Didn't want you to talk me out of it. He deserves to get it back."

"He does, you're right," she admitted, "I'm going to go back there and die of humiliation, then apologize."

"Kit, before you go," Stone turned and picked up a picture from the bar. It was a photo of Kit as a little girl. He popped the frame up and took a piece of paper out of the back. He then leaned over the bar and handed it to her.

"What is this?"

"It's her phone number," he said as her body froze.

"Moms?"

"Or it was, last I heard from her," he grumbled, "which was years ago."

"Why do you have it?" Kit asked.

"She reached out when you were ten. She wanted me to be able to reach her if it was ever needed, but she said only for emergencies."

"You had her number all this time and never gave it to me? Never told me she called?"

"She was remarried and pregnant again; she said only for emergencies; I didn't want you to get your heart broken."

"So why are you giving it to me now?

"I think you need closure," he said, "I think you're strong enough to have that conversation with her now."

"I have a sibling?"

"Probably more than one now," Stone mused, "that was almost ten years ago. Don't get any hopes up about some bonding thing with her over this. I meant the word closure when I said it. She probably won't be happy to hear from you."

"She told you never to let me call her, didn't she?" Her anger started to build again, only this time at the person who deserved it the most.

"She didn't want her husband to know about her past. I doubt that's changed," he confirmed, "but damn it, I feel like you should say what you need to say to her."

"I think I do need that," she agreed, looking at the name, Stacey with a phone number scrawled across it. Even just looking at her mom's name filled her with anger and sadness.

"I'm sorry I came in all hot," she lowered her voice as she tucked the paper in her pocket. "We, okay?"

"We are always okay; Kit," Stone assured her, "our little team of two."

She giggled at the fond memories of him calling them that, "you were a good dad. You were my best friend; that's exactly what I needed back then."

A grin tugged at his lips, "can you keep the tea parties a little quieter?"

"Tea parties?" Luca's voice stunned her; how was he always so stealthy with his appearances?

"I had bourbon in my cup!" Stone defended.

"I believe that," Luca sauntered up to the bar as he spoke, he regarded Stone for a moment, and then his eyes fell to Kit. They were full of remorse which made her stomach knot up with guilt.

"We should talk," he held his hand out.

"Yeah," she took his hand, and he led her outside.