Jessica stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her. She didn't want anyone to know Danny was here unless he were to do something. She knew If Albert heard him he'd kill him for ever laying a hand on his daughter.

"You needed to see me?" She says in a snarky tone, crossing her arms

Danny sighs. He didn't know where to start... but he had to start somewhere. "I'm sorry... truly, I'm so incredibly sorry for-"

Jessica interrupts him and holds up her finger "Stop right there. Save your apologies. I frankly don't care to hear them. Because it's a long list." She says

"Can I come in so we can talk? I want to see the twins. Christmas is so close and I want us to all be together as a family.... and the baby...." He says reaching for her belly.

She pushes his hand away and steps back quickly. "Don't lay a hand on me."

He stops once he notices how scared she was. He holds his hands up "I don't remember that night very clearly. I was in a bad place... I hurt you and I never meant to. You know me, I'd never lay a hand on you. I don't want you to be scared of me." He sighs, putting his hands behind his back.

"I don't know how well I know you anymore, Daniel. I saw a different side of you. I don't think I can ever erase it from my mind. You were a monster. You tried to hurt me and the twins. That is unacceptable . I didn't want to see you. I don't want you here, I never did. Didn't I send enough clues changing my number, leaving New York, never calling? Didn't your mother tell you? You aren't coming inside, you aren't seeing the twins. What you are doing is turning around and going back to New York." She says sternly holding onto the doorknob behind her

"No, Jessica, please. I can't go back. I won't go back without you and the twins. You need to understand, I fucked up. I know I did. I've been beating myself up for it and will never forgive myself for what I did. But I've spent weeks working on myself. My drinking habits, my mental state, everything. All for you... I've been clean for a while. I'm never going to touch drugs or alcohol ever again. I just felt trapped for some reason... work, it was killing me. I hated it for such a long time but felt like I couldn't leave because of our kids and our family that I had to support." As Danny pours his heart out to Jessica she doesn't buy a single thing coming from his mouth. She didn't want to forgive him. She had enough. But, she was also scared of him and scared to tell him.

"You felt trapped? Please. You had a wonderful job. A wonderful life. You had a beautiful family. Now you don't. I don't plan on ever going back to New York. I'm staying here in Minnesota, this is my home. The twins love it here. My family is here. I don't want you here with me though. Please, understand that I just can't. I won't. I promised myself I wouldn't. I'm glad you're better now, Danny. But don't do this for me, do it for the kids and yourself. For your life." Jessica starts to cry... she didn't want to show her weaknesses to Danny, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't prepared for this

"I can't lose you or our kids. Our baby will be here soon... I've already missed so much. I can't miss anything else. I want to be there when the baby is born. I want to be with you all on Christmas. I just can't be alone." He says with tears rolling down his face

"No!" She screams

He pauses and takes a step back.

"No! I'm done. I'm done Daniel. You did this all to yourself. I'm scared of you.... I don't trust you anymore. All those nights that you were gone, who knows what the hell you were up to! When you shoved me up against that wall and pinned me down, it scared the hell out of me. I was scared for my life and our children's lives. How fucking selfish you are! Let's face it Daniel. It's over... it has been over. The wedding was the beginning. I need to follow my gut, and my gut says to just let this go... us. We will make it work with the kids when I am ready. But please, just let me go. Let me go Daniel."

"No, I won't let you go. I promise to be faithful, loving, selfless, and always love you and our children unconditionally. Protect and care you guys until the day I die. There will be an alter... you and I will be married. Jessica, please baby. Please give me a second chance."

"Faithful? Were you unfaithful?" Jessica says with tears in her eyes

Danny goes quiet. He bows his head.

"Danny, did you have relations with other women?"

He doesn't answer... he just stands there full of shame and regret

"Answer me, damn it!" She yells

"Yes" He blurts our, as painful as that was.

Jessica turns her head and tries not to cry more. It was quite for a bit.... Jessica couldn't find the words to speak. She always thought that during Danny's long nights out since his drinking began that he possibly had an affair, but actually hearing it killed her. It ripped her heart into a million pieces. There truly was no way she could ever forgive him now.

"Jessica, I'm so sorry... in the moment I didn't know what I was doing." He says coming closer to her

She steps back and covers her face as she cries softly.

"Jess, please... say something, anything." He begs

"There I'll never be an alter. There will never be an us. This, this is over. We are over. Go home, get the hell out of here and don't come back."

"Jess, I won't lose you. I can't. I don't know what I'll do."

"Drink again so everyone will have a pitty party for you? I don't care what the hell you do! But I can never forgive you.... you did unforgivable things. You need to face the consequences." She yells

Then, from inside, Dorthy and Albert could hear people yelling. Dorthy looked out the window to see Jessica and Danny. Jessica was a wreck and Danny was standing there crying and arguing with Jessica.

"Albert! Danny is outside! Go get Jessica, now! She can't deal with his stress!" Dorthy yells

Albert runs to the front door and swings it open. Danny was scared shitless to see him.

He grabs Jessica's hand that was on the knob and pulls her in. He didn't trust Danny and didn't want him anywhere near her. He needed to protect his daughter. Even if Danny wasn't there to hurt her.

"Get the hell off my property! Leave before I call the cops! How dare you come here and upset her. Don't you realize she is pregnant! Your sorry ass has put her through enough." Albert shouts

Jessica was in Dorthy's arms crying heavily as her father fought the rest of her battle.

"Albert, we were having a conversation." Danny says

"I don't fucking care. Look at her, she's a mess. She doesn't want you here. Now leave. And if you ever come back I swear to god I'll have your ass in a cell."

Danny tries to fight back but gives up. He didn't want to make things worse. He looks at Jessica through the window. It killed him to see what he had done to her. She didn't want him but he couldn't bare life without her.

He runs off to his car. Albert waits for him to leave then goes inside and locks all the doors.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Albert says as Dorthy comforts her

"He cheated on me! That fucker cheated on me!" She screams

Albert was so beyond furious. He made Danny promise to never hurt her and he did. Seeing Jessica so upset killed him.

As Dorthy comforted Jessica he ran into the kitchen to dial up the Houston's.

"Hello, this is Zoe!" Zoe says happily

"Zoe, this is Albert. How could you send Danny here? You knew Jessica didn't want him here! You or John need to get ahold of him and remind him that Jessica is delicate right now and scared of him!" Albert shouts

"Al, what the hell are you talking about? Danny is in New York! I spoke to him just a few hours ago." Zoe says with confusion

"No, he was just at my door step. Find him and make sure he doesn't come back here."

"Oh god, Albert I'm so sorry! I didn't know he was in town. He knew Jessica didn't want to see him. I told him. But he's not a teenager anymore, I have no control over him you have to understand. He'd ever do anything to hurt Jessica either." Zoe panics

Albert takes a deep breathe and sighs "I know. You and John are good people. I'm sorry... I'm just so angry seeing my little girl hurt. Did you know he cheated on her? He was unfaithful. Every man that my daughters have ever been with have made promises to me to never hurt them. He broke that promise and hurt her, deeply. She's scared, Zoe.... I can't take away any of her pain. And she's pregnant... I don't want something bad to happen." Albert says, nearly on the verge of tears

Zoe sighs "you're a great father, Albert. Jessica is a wonderful woman. Sadly, I did hear about the affairs.... it kills me. This isn't Danny... but he has messed up. He needs to face the consequences. If losing Jessica is one, well.... he did this to himself. I wish things weren't this way. They were a beautiful family but I want what's best for those grand babies and Jessica... and Danny too. He's my son, and I love him. As much as he fucks up. I'm tired of apologizing for him... but Albert, I'm sorry he came tonight and broke your promises. I'll send John out to find him. Hopefully he won't be at a bar. We'll make sure he stays away." Zoe wanted to cry as well but she kept her composure.

"Thank you, Zoe. I'm sorry about all this. Have a good night. Let me know if you find him."

"We will. Give Jessica my best."

"Well do."

Albert hangs up the phone and sighs. He rubs his temples and tries not to cry.

Dorthy shortly comes in, alone.

"Who was that?" She asks

"Zoe Huston. Where is Jessica?"

"On the couch. She has calmed down. What did Zoe say?"

"I told her to find her fucking son and keep him away from my daughter."

"Oh Al, danny is a grown man. They can't keep him from doing anything."

"If he comes back here I'll kill him, D.
I really will."

"Now stop that and watch your mouth! Like it or not that is our grandchildren's father. You need to keep your composure and stay calm. For Jessica... if she sees you like this she'll go crazy and feel so guilty. For now, we need to be calm and collected. We don't want her going into early labor or hurting herself or the baby. Do you hear me?" Dorthy says sternly

"Yes... yes... of course."

"Go out to the barn, have cigar, and cool off." She says pouring him a glass of water.

He nods "can I check on Jessica?"

Dorthy shakes her head.
"Let her be. She wants her space right now."

//-//

About three hours later around midnight Danny went to his parents house with no idea that they had been in touch with the Lange's.

He uses his key to get in. He was shocked to see his parents wide awake. John has just got back home from spending most of the night looking for his son. He was scared that maybe he would relapse after a bad visit with Jessica.

His parents couldn't imagine his pain right now.... they knew how much he loved and cared for his family. Watching him lose them all killed them.

"Daniel! There you are, thank god! How dare you lie to me and tell me you are in New York!" Zoe says sternly standing up

"What the hell is wrong with you, son?" John says standing up

"What?" He says

"Going to the Lange's to see Jessica when your mother told you she didn't want to see you right now. We had Albert on the phone very upset." John says with anger

"Fuck that guy. Fuck them all. They're all pressuring her to get away from me." He mumbles throwing his coat on the floor

"Are you drunk, Daniel?" Zoe cries

"So what if I am? I have nothing to lose now. I lost everything."

"Oh Daniel, you were doing so well." Zoe cries, running towards him. John holds her back. He was tired of Danny's bullshit. He had enough.

"I'm disappointed, son. I'm very disappointed."

"He knows that I cheated. That was it. Maybe I had a chance if I never told her, but I did. I told her like everyone told me to! I'll probably never see my kids again. I'll never meet that baby. I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl. Do you know?" He asks

Zoe bows her head. "It's a boy, Daniel." She whispers

Danny starts to cry "Everything I had is gone. What's the point anymore? Well! Sorry to disappoint you dad, I'm not sober anymore! Fuck that... fuck it all. Fuck this life!"

//-//