Here's a behind the scenes with Ainsley and Ian.

Ian and Ainsley were relaxing one evening. With her boss on maternity leave, Ainsley was in charge. Henry pushed back every chance he could. Ainsley had purposely given him the worst assignments. The month before she gave him bestsellers, and he had a half ass proposal. If he complained, she had the documentation.

"Oh my God!" Ainsley sat up straight and looked at him with a look he didn't recognize. Pity? Sorrow? Shock?

"What's wrong? Who's sick?"

She slowly shook her head. "I can't believe your mother hasn't called you."

He sighed. "We spoke early." She calls him every day to feed his worry about Livvy. "What are you freaking about? Are Violet and the baby okay?"

Her sister had given birth after a long labor and she made Ainsley listen to every detail. Ainley looked green.

"This isn't about my sister? Lilli texted me."

"Olivia!" He felt lightheaded and clammy. "What's wrong?"

"Ian, I can't believe it, but Zach said she went away because she's, um, pregnant."

He shook his head over and over. "No way! My sister's too smart. The rumor mill must have a bug."

"No bug. Lois told Zach."

"I'm calling my mother!"

Anita's phone rang without her answering. He texted her instead. A response came back. It's true.

Feeling dazed, he looked at Ainsley. "It's true. Some SOB touched my sister and knocked her up."

Ainsley put her hands in his. "Calm down caveman. Remember last September? Some guy had taken me to his bed and violated my body in so many wet and dirty ways."

"This is different."

"Why? Assuming it was consensual."

"She's my sister. Plus, she should know better. She's supposed to be on the pill."

Ainsley bit her lip. "Seriously? Remember the eighteen hours of hell?" That was what Ainsley called the time they thought she might be pregnant. "We both know mistakes happen. You could have been the subject of rumors."

"Yeah, but people would be happy. They still nag us."

"Then be happy for Olivia."

"I can't believe she ran away with a guy. No wonder. My mother must know. Obviously, she knew."

Ian felt better after talking to Olivia. How could he not love her baby? Given the circumstances of his own birth, he needed to support his sister no matter who impregnated her.

Ian continued to worry about his sister, especially after he found out she was pregnant. Pregnant. It was still hard for Ian to grasp. Olivia was the most responsible person he knew.

It was late on a Friday night, when his phone rang. Ian was about to say the two magic words, wet and dirty, but his blood pressure spiked when he saw his stepfather's name on his phone screen. Kurt never called him, but occasionally joined in on Ian's phone calls with his mother.

"Ian! You need to help me!"

"Help? With wha...?"

"I'm rounding up good men to go after Maxwell!"

"Your nephew? Kurt, what's going on?"

"He may be my nephew, but he's on my shitlist."

Ainsley could hear him yelling and mouthed, Why?

"Michael is joining in."

"What did he do? His own father...?"

"He touched Olivia. He better do the right thing..."

Ian felt a sense of relief. He imagined a horrible tattoo covered man who wanted the money she was inheriting from Charles. Meanwhile Ainsley whispered, "No fucking way!" Then she started tapping on her phone to Lilli.

"Kurt, I'm not going after Max. This is for Olivia and Max to figure out. Did my grandfather go after my father? My mother was a lot younger than Livvy. She's an adult and must have known what she was doing."

When he finally convinced his stepfather to calm down, wet and dirty were no longer on his mind. Ainsley looked at him. "This is crazy. Do they like each other?"

Ian sighed. "Back when everyone was egging her and Zach on, I knew she liked Max. Honestly, I assumed she grew out of it."

Ainsley paused before looking at him. "I doubt she did. That's probably why she never dated for long. The two times she was acting depressed guess who was around."

Ian nodded. "Max. I hate how I didn't know."

"Lilli says that Zach told Max that she was pregnant. He didn't know, but he knew it was him. He told Zach the truth. Then he told his parents and Olivia told yours, um, hers. You know what I mean."

Ian nodded. "At least we faced it together. Liv faced it on her own, but why did she leave. Where did she go?"

"Ask her, maybe it's not a secret anymore."

After tossing and turning all night, Ian woke early and called his sister. The parallels were there. He and Ainsley had been careless, but both would have done what was right. Obviously, it was a shock to Max, but he was a good man.

When Olivia said she was moving, he felt proud of her. If Max didn't take care of her, he would. Max had to. His old friend was responsible, but he had a reputation for fooling around. Ian remembered Max's high school girlfriend. Zach told Ian about condoms in the car they shared and how her hand could have caused an accident. Ian went out with psycho Sue among other mistakes. He refused to judge. He wanted Olivia happy and a healthy niece or nephew.

Unlike Ainsley, he wasn't afraid to hold babies. Not wanting one didn't mean he hated them. Ainse didn't hate-hate them, but she wasn't comfortable around them. Then there were the unsolicited comments. They started the moment she held Evangeline. You'll be next. It's contagious.

Ainsley told them she remembered very little from high school biology, but she was positive you couldn't catch a pregnancy like you did a cold.

Ian thought Emma might wet her pants because she laughed so hard. Ainsley avoided holding her niece at Max's party. Ian frowned. Max avoided her too. He could have finished two years earlier as a general surgeon or picked a different specialty to save kids.

His father was his hero for stepping up, but Ian wanted Max to do the one thing Andrew never did. He wanted Max to step up for Olivia.

After a long vigorous climb, he went home to shower. Instead of brunch, he and Ainsley went to Back Bay so he could play.

When he finished his piece, no one was listening. He found them in the kitchen. His father said, "I won't lie. It was a shock, scared kid. After he was born I loved him."

Ian had heard it before. At thirty-three, he had been scared when they had their false alarm. Max was probably scared too.

Andrew looked up at him. "He's the best thing I did. Better than any performance."

Ian mumbled, "Or YouTube video."

Andrew chuckled. "Even when he's a wiseass. Seriously, how is your mother taking the news?"

"Better than her husband. She has bragged for years that her daughter wouldn't follow her. Olivia went on the pill at eighteen."

Margot sighed, "Poor Anita."

"She's thirty-one, not eighteen. Livvy and Max will figure things out." Ainsley sat tall.

"My mother and Lois have dreamed of sharing a grandchild. They thought it would be with Zach."

When the doorbell rang, Ian went to answer it. He hadn't realize his uncle was stopping by. Brooke pushed past him. "Ainsley!"

Rose pinched his cheek. "Poor thing."

He didn't care, because it was so easy to love Ainsley. David looked at the group at the table. "You look serious."

Andrew shook his head. "We were discussing Ian's exciting news. He's going to be an uncle."

David looked at him. "Really. Do you like the father?"

Ian laughed. "Yeah, since I was a kid. He's my stepfather's nephew."

"Which one?" Rose asked.

"Max."

She smiled. "I told you I met him. It will be a beautiful baby."

"Rose!" David frowned.

"What? He's a good-looking man. I've seen him in scrubs."

"My sister is in love with him, so hands off."

Rose laughed. "I have my personal hottie."

"Ew. Gross!" Brooke covered her ears.

Everyone laughed. No surprise Brooke finagled an invitation back to their apartment. Ian thought about Max and turned to Ainsley. "I think I'll call him and let him know I'm not siding with Kurt."

"We'll watch a movie while you talk."

Brooke loved watching with Ainsley, so she bounced in her seat.

Unfortunately, Ian didn't reach Max until the next day. Max said, "If you called to say you're disappointed, stand in line."

"I called to see how you're taking the news."

"Not well, thanks."

"Max, this is me, your friend."

"And Olivia's brother."

"I'm just glad she's safe. Livvy's strong, but she loves you."

"I know. Did you know she's staying with Shaun's mother?"

"I didn't ask. I was too surprised about everything else."

"She's moving because she refuses to be like your mother and father."

"As a kid, I wished my parents loved each other, but I always knew they loved me."

"You know I work all the time. I have nothing left to give."

"Yeah, but I know my sister. She'll be happy with anything you offer. I never thought about it before, but now I know why she loves lemon."

"Things would be different if she loved watermelon."

Ian laughed. "Keep trying to fool yourself. Zach and Livvy would never have worked, but you are what she needs."

"I'll just hurt her."

Ian didn't think arguing would get him anywhere. So he ended the call. Max was worried he would hurt Olivia, while pushing her away and hurting her. He might be stupider than Ian when he didn't tell Ainsley about Henry. Hopefully, love would prevail because Max loved Olivia too.

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Thanks for reading these bonus chapers and the entire Publisher Series.

Hopefully, you are all reading Love Always. I have one more Point story before I start my next series in early 2024.

I'm excited about it. Our first leading man had a small mention in Josh's story and is friends with Jimmy Sinclair. We will discover a fictional wealthy dysfunctional Boston family.