THREE MONTHS LATER...

The trip through Sunnyside Nursery School slowed to a jerking rhythm for the young mother. Repeatedly, she stopped and turned to run back inside.

What if he's crying? Would they call me?

"No, you idiot. He's fine. You're fine." Jennifer mumbled as she dug into her purse for keys and started once again for her car. Months ago, she'd traded in her flashy red sports car for a suitable four door. More convenient for a car seat and certainly more fitting to the lifestyle of a working mother.

Mother. What kind of mother left her child alone with strangers and skipped off to work? Guilt began to overwhelm the rational mind of Jennifer Sung. Magazine editor. Success. Mother. Failure. The tears she vowed not to shed began to spill by the time she reached her car. After three attempts to shove her key into the lock through a blinding haze of tears, she gave up.

A new resolve surged through her mind. After all, she was the new managing editor. What good was a title if she didn't throw her weight around a bit? She'd just bring him with her. Standing up a little straighter, Jennifer smoothed her suit back into place. Bringing a little boy to work wouldn't be too much trouble. She was just about to turn on her heel and march back inside, when a soft voice wafted over her shoulder.

"First day, huh?" An attractive blond woman was leaning against the side of her car, smiling warmly.

She couldn't answer, only nod up and down as she plowed through her purse for a tissue.

"Here, take this." The woman offered a handkerchief and continued to soothe with a gentle manner and soft drawl. "The first day is so hard. I cried all day long."

"Really?" came the startled response. At least she felt comfort in knowing she wasn't alone. "How did yours do that first day?"

Laughing out loud, she replied, "She did much better than I did. I called five times that day just to be told that Kat, that's my daughter, was perfectly fine but I was still parked outside forty-five minutes before school was out. The next day, Kat pats my hand on the way into the building, and says, 'Don't worry, Mama. You be all right.'"

This time they both laughed. The woman extended her hand and introduced herself. "I'm Savannah Griffin. My daughter Kat started three-year-old kindergarten a couple of months ago."

"Nice to meet you, Savannah. I'm Jennifer Sung. My son, KC, is in the nursery school class." It felt so good to be talking to someone who understood this turmoil. She squeezed the small hand then wiped away the remaining tears.

Giving Jennifer a chance to regroup, Savannah launched into the conversation. "He must be a little fellow, then. This is a wonderful place. Kat's been so happy here. The staff is wonderful and I think the kids really benefit from each other. I've been at home with Kat and she really needed someone besides Mama to play with."

Maybe things weren't as dismal as they seemed. "KC and I have just moved back here from Chicago. He's been with a nanny in our apartment since day one but I haven't been able to find someone suitable in Sloanville. My new job starts today so this seemed my only alternative. I was lucky they had an opening."

Savannah caught the "KC and I" reference and assumed they were on their own. Such a nice woman. Bless her heart... Pleased that Jennifer seemed more comfortable, she offered a card from her purse, "Here's my number, Jennifer. Why don't we get together some time?" Patting the woman's arm, she said, "We mommies have to stick together."

Jennifer had felt so isolated over the past months. Her entire world had revolved around her son. Her own family wouldn't welcome her and she feared the prospect of turning to her son's father even more. At the time, staying away seemed the right decision. Now, she wasn't certain.

But, today, she felt she had made a friend. It was nice to have a connection with someone. "I'll do that, Savannah. Maybe we can have lunch or get the children together when things settle down for me a bit."

"You just call me when you have time," Savannah repeated her offer and turned to leave. Before she walked away, she called back over her shoulder, in a stage whisper, "And they really don't mind if you call all day long. I should know."

"Thank you so much."

Winking acknowledgment, Savannah walked away, leaving Jennifer to patch her face.

*****

Savannah was pleased to note that the park was not crowded today. It was in the middle of the week, most of the kids were probably in day care or school. But today, Savannah had taken one look out her kitchen window and decided to enjoy the sunshine After all, Kat was going to be little for a very short time. So she just showed up at the preschool at lunch and nabbed her daughter for a day off.

Happily, she noticed a familiar face as she plopped Kat down to her feet before her daughter squirming daughter turned into a full fledged hurricane. "Jennifer!" she greeted, approaching the attractive Chinese woman sitting on the bench. "How are you?"

Jennifer looked up and smiled a hello as Savannah noticed a tiny little face peering from around his mother's leg.

Savannah grinned at the shyness. "Why, hello there!"

The little face popped back out of sight, but, in seconds, popped back out curiously. Savannah wriggled her nose and made a face. The little boy giggled and hid again. He was a round, bouncy toddler who came to his mother's knee. The resemblance to his mother was striking. The same full rich smile was shared between the two of them. His eyes were a velvety hazel framed by thick lashes.

"He's adorable!" Savannah exclaimed, sitting down, watching Kat out of the corner of her eye. With three-year-old enthusiasm, Kat was flinging handfuls of bread a skittish ducks, who couldn't decide whether to eat or run for their lives. Jennifer picked KC up and sat him down on her lap. Savannah shook the little baby hand and KC giggled again, rewarding her with a beaming face and a grin a mile long. "Oh, he's irresistible," Savannah said.

"Must be hereditary," Jennifer blurted before she knew it. She shut her mouth resolutely and pressed her lips against the baby's head.

Savannah looked away, giving the other woman a moment to compose herself. When she cautiously looked back, Jennifer still seemed emotionally strained. "You know, sugar," Savannah said cautiously, "I'd be happy to help out with anything you might need. Anytime you need it."

Savannah ached at seeing such a lovely, warm woman in pain. Today, she appeared softer than at their first meeting. The sharp lines of a business suit were replaced by a worn pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Her thick black hair fell loosely around her shoulders, sometimes obscuring the tension on her face. Jennifer gave off an openness, a comfortable personality. She also seemed to be in some sort of turmoil.

"Thank...you...." Jennifer whispered, unable to fight the tears that were forming. "Oh...damn it all...."

Savannah took her handkerchief out. "Trade you?" she offered.

Jennifer laughed a little and relinquished the baby to the other mother as she took the handkerchief. "Thanks. I don't generally melt into tears at the drop of a hat. Honestly, I don't. But, we've met twice and both times you've seen me blubber. I feel like such a baby...."

"You're not the baby," Savannah said, jogging KC up and down on her knee. "This is the baby." She waited until Jennifer dried her eyes before continuing. "I know it's hard being on your own. I've been through something like this, too. But she made it all worthwhile," she said, nodding towards Kat. "She made everything possible. And, of course, her father giving up a little in the stubbornness department didn't hurt, either!"

Jennifer smiled. "Wish I could be sure that KC's father could do that. Give up something, I mean."

"You'd be surprised what a man will do for his child that he won't do for anyone else," Savannah told her. "Would you...would you like to come over to my house to talk about it? It's more private and I make a killer lemonade. Of course, you don't have to talk about it but...it looks like you need to. Or we can talk about chocolate or secret barbecue sauce or-"

"He doesn't know."

Savannah's reply caught in her throat. Deja vu. "KC's father doesn't know?" she asked quietly. Looking at KC, she reasoned that he had to be at least a year old, maybe 18 months, or thereabouts.

Jennifer nodded, reading her mind. "I know. I feel horrible. That's why I'm here to try to tell him. But it's harder than I thought it would be...I can't seem to get up the nerve."

"Jen....oh, is it all right if I call you that?" Savannah waited for her to nod, and continued. "Is he a good man? I mean, is there a reason that maybe he shouldn't be involved?"

"No," Jennifer answered, looking out over the water, "he's a good man. But there are parts of his life that are...well, unpredictable and dangerous. His life was so unstable the last time I was here. I'm worried about bringing him back into my life, our lives." She touched her son's hand and smiled, sadly. "Regardless, I have to tell him. It's the right thing to do but it's just so hard to open the flood gates. Everything will change."

"I had to go through a third party," Savannah told her softly. Jennifer looked sharply at her and Savannah nodded. "Yes, me, too. Sugar, I'd be happy to be your third party if it would help." The memory of that desperate night when she stumbled into Caine's apartment still haunted her. Cold and wet and at the end of her rope. Without his intervention, she might not even have her family. Now, it was time to return the favor to another.

"No," Jennifer stated. "Thank you, but no. It just wouldn't feel right. How did your...Kat's father take the news?"

"Shocked at first. A touch hurt, maybe even privately angry, that I kept it a secret. He had never stopped loving me but...it's a long story. Let's just say there were many circumstances that came between us and had to be overcome." Savannah put the brakes on the explanations. This wasn't about her and she didn't want to turn the conversation around. "I came back here when I was six months pregnant, we reunited, we married and made a family."

"See, that's just it!" Jennifer exclaimed. "I know he's the type to marry me out of responsibility. But I don't want it! Not like that! And there are other problems. I hate his job. My family hates him because he isn't of full Chinese blood. It just goes on and on-"

"Do you love him?" The pointed question was met with absolute silence. Savannah took Jennifer's hand in hers. "Sugar, I found out the hard way that that is the only question you need to answer. Once you figure that out, the rest won't matter. The rest may be damned difficult but ultimately it won't matter" They laughed together. "Sweetie, you've got someone here-" Savannah hugged the little boy, "-who needs to know if you love his daddy. If you don't, then you just tell the man and then get on with your life, with or without his help. If you do...well, then there's a chance that he loves you, too. And that this little guy is just what both of you need to cut through the crap and get down to business."

Jennifer impulsively leaned over and encompassed Savannah, and KC, in a warm, sisterly hug. "I hope you're right," she said, taking KC and giving back the handkerchief. "Thank you so much for understanding. You don't even know me, not really."

"Maybe I know you more than you think," she said, waving to Kat, who had managed to lure a few ducks her way. "You said KC's father had a life that was unpredictable, maybe even dangerous. I know how that is. You want to protect your baby. That's good. Maybe you can find a way to have him know his father and be safe. Who knows? Maybe this man's life has changed since you saw him last."

Jennifer took KC from Savannah's lap and the two of them began to stroll to the duck pond. "Possible, but not probable. He was always madly in love with his job and was a loose canon by nature. I doubt he would make a change that drastic."

Savannah joined their procession. "Sweetie," Savannah offered impulsively, "you have GOT to come over for dinner and meet my hubby. I'll even arrange a date for you."

"A blind date?" Jennifer laughed and groaned at the same time. "Just what I need. Another man to ponder."

"Oh no, nothing like that. He's a very handsome, single, lonely guy who has a knack with people." To Jennifer's continued grimace, she said, "Hey, you don't have to marry him."

"Thank you so much."

"He's really sweet and is actually in the business of helping people in sticky situations like this. Has a good ear and a good heart. Maybe he could help." Savannah sat down on the grass beside her daughter and looked up at her targeted dinner guest.

"A shrink? I don't think so." Jennifer took a seat on the grass as Kat took KC's hand and began to teach him the art of terrifying ducks.

"Trust me, this guy is NO shrink," she said, laughing out loud. "Look, it might be nice to have a distraction. You look like you could use one. And, who knows, maybe an evening with my good cooking and a gorgeous guy for entertainment might give you a new perspective on things. What'd ya say? You're not going to make me beg are you?"

Throwing up her hands in surrender, Jennifer said, "Okay. I know when I have no choice. You don't take hear the word no very often, do you?"

"I think this is going to be a beautiful friendship." Savannah leaned back on the grass and watched her daughter make a new friend as well.

*****

"Sorry, Savannah," Peter apologized, holding out some wildflowers and noticing that there were four places set at the table. "Was I supposed to bring a date?"

Damn good thing you didn't! Savannah gulped silently as she took the flowers with a charming smile. He had been a bit antisocial lately, what with his new conflict about changing careers and learning the ropes as the new Shaolin priest in Chinatown. Trying not to cough, she said, "No, no. You didn't have to bring a thing but your own sweet self," and put the flowers in a vase.

Kermit eyed her suspiciously, as he walked in the back door behind their guest. "Hi, Peter. Nice to see you, even though this IS a surprise."

Savannah kept busy, putting the flowers in water and preparing dinner. "Oh, hi, sugar. I just invited a couple of people over for dinner. We haven't seen Peter in a while and I have a new friend and thought it was just time to have a get together. We don't have people over nearly enough. Practically hermits! You don't want people to think we're not sociable, do you?"

Kermit peeled his shades down his nose and stopped her babble in mid-stride. Savannah moved quickly back to the kitchen. She was in no mood for Kermit's rolling-eyes-at-wife's-meddling routine.

"I'll get you a beer, Pete," Kermit said, following his wife into the kitchen. Moving close to her ear, he whispered as he pulled open the refrigerator door. "Is there something I should know, Scarlett?"

She was just preparing to blind him with her sunniest, innocent smile when the doorbell rang and she leapt to answer it. "Oh, guys, looks like company's here. Behave," she called over her shoulder on the way to the door.

Peter and Kermit issued twin sighs as the latter tried to protest his innocence to the set-up. Peter shook his head, and seemingly steadied himself for and evening of blind-date torture. His breath caught in his throat and all the blood drained from his face, as he came face to face with ex-lover, Jennifer Sung.

Jennifer, in turn, was also spellbound with shock.

Oblivious to the internal explosions, Savannah turned gleefully to Peter. "Peter, this is....Peter?? Are you all right?"

As they remained paralyzed in shock, Kermit commented, "Looks like I'm the only one who's the stranger here, Scarlett."

Jennifer unglued her dry tongue from the roof of her mouth and broke the brittle silence. "Peter."

"Jennifer."

*****

"Peter."

"Jennifer."

Time stretched taut between Peter Caine and his former lover until someone broke the fragile strand.

"Well, at least I know the lady's name," Kermit quipped.

"You know each other?!" Savannah demanded.

"Intimately," Peter answered. His voice was cool and flat.

"I...I...." Savannah stammered. "I'm sorry....Peter? I had no idea! Jen...?" While half of her mind was offering abject apologies, the other half was analyzing and examining Peter's facial features. The features matched a small face of her acquaintance. The shock gave way to a slight smile as the pieces fell into place.

Meanwhile, Peter was remembering....

*****

Peter Caine was getting used to hobbling even though he didn't really want to get used to it. The injury paled in comparison to what might have happened. He had nearly lost his life along with Savannah and Kat when a couple of small town toughs had forced them off the road on their way to the Blaisdell cabin. It was a close call that had a happy ending, luckily.

Peter grimaced, fully aware that the drop off the cliff had him beaten. If it hadn't been for Kermit and Paul looking under every tree and rock to find them, all three of them would have died.

Stop it! he thought viciously. Just STOP it! They weren't dead. They had survived. Savannah's leg would heal and so would Peter's knee. That was what made everything worthwhile. Kermit would be up state with Savannah for the next few weeks and Peter would be off duty for nearly the same period as his own injuries healed. The thought of Kermit's family, safe and sound, made his down time worthwhile.

Worthwhile. That word had begun to badger him throughout all his waking hours. In that clearing in the woods, holding onto his friend's life-force with his bare hands, this training had seemed worthwhile. If for nothing else than that single moment. But now, that conviction had begun to fade. Standing there alone in his apartment, that now familiar turmoil began to speak anew.

Who was he? Cop or Shaolin? Looking out over a city filled with evil and pain and anger, he struggled for answers to repetitive questions. To be Shaolin was to live as one, as his ancestors. But shouldn't earning the right to take the brands have purged the rage that made him an aggressive police officer?

The emotions were twice as strong now. He was raw, inside and out.

BUZZ!!!!

"Pop," he muttered as he moved slowly toward the door, "you pick today to ring the bell." Slightly annoyed, Peter Caine opened the door to a memory, a warm and smiling memory.

"Mmmm...." his female caller moaned, "still damned irresistible."

"Jennifer? Why are you--"

The inquiry was halted by two eager arms around his neck and one warm and inviting mouth pressed to his. After a few moments of breathless kissing, the couple backed into the privacy of the apartment.

He enjoyed the feel of her body against his own. The same smell and exotic draw of Jennifer Sung that he remembered from two years ago greeted him in an excited wave of lust and memory. Pulling back from the kiss, he said, "I suppose it would be redundant to invite you in."

Sliding her arms back from his body and making herself at home on his couch, she said, "I thought mindless reintroductions would be a bit trite." Noticing him limp across the room to her side, Jennifer asked, "What happened to your leg?"

"Car accident," Peter replied as he eased down beside her. Stifling a groan as the mending limb was forced to give, he shifted gears. "I'm glad to see you, but may I ask why? Has something changed? Magazine moved to Sloanville and your parents stopped hating me?"

"No. No. And no."

Jennifer seemed to steady herself for a response. His bitterness hadn't faded. Jennifer had not been willing to give up the magazine. She'd worked so long to get to where she was. Feigning understanding, Peter had told her during one visit that he understood. Neither one of them was willing to give up their life's work. At least, he said he understood.

The hatred of the Sung family was another matter entirely. Jennifer had given in to their pressure. Peter Caine was a member of the white world, a world they distrusted and avoided. Solving her grandfather's murder earned him little acceptance. But maybe things had changed...

"I know you completed your training," she said to his silence. Casting a surprised glance at his bare forearms, she added, "but you did not ascend?"

"No, I did not."

"Why?"

"And disappoint the community by actually living up to my heritage?" He raked a savage pass through his hair. "Not bloody likely!"

"It hasn't improved your disposition, that's for sure."

"Sorry." He didn't mean to take it out on her. "I am glad to see you. Really glad."

"So am I." Reaching out with a soft hand, she touched him and ignited feelings long buried....

*****

Jennifer found her voice and interrupted Savannah's renewed stammering apologies. "You had no way of knowing, Savannah." Eyes averted from the face of her former lover, she said, "I should go. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Leaving so soon?" The barb came out of Peter's mouth with a measured venom laced between the words.

Ignoring the anger building inside the priest, Jennifer backed out the door and hurriedly left for the driveway with Peter following close behind.

Both Griffins stood in silence as their backdoor reverberated before them. Kermit took in the violent blush of his wife's cheek at the explosion she'd ignited. Jennifer....where have I heard... interrupting his thought, he asked quickly, "What is Jennifer's last name?"

Shaken out of her silence, Savannah responded, still open-mouthed in her shock, "Sung. Jennifer Sung. Oh, Kermit, what did I just do?"

The memory finally downloaded into his after-hours thought processes. Wrapping a comforting arm around his wife, he walked her into the living room. "First, you didn't mean to make trouble. Usually, against all odds, your meddling turns out to be helpful," he teased as they sat down on the sofa. "Second, let me fill you in on Ms. Sung."

Kermit proceeded to fill his wife in on Jennifer's grandfather and his death at the hand of the Pai Gow players years earlier. The subsequent relationship between her and Detective Caine. "They were both so wrapped up in their careers and neither one would bend. Jennifer couldn't deal with Peter's death wish mentality at the time and her family hated his guts for distracting Jennifer from marrying 'some nice Chinese boy.'"

"So all that's the root of all that anger?" Savannah had seen Peter show anger before, not so much since assuming his role as Shaolin priest, but this was out of proportion. "He may not have said much, but that look could have peeled paint, Kermit."

"Chapter two, Scarlett," Kermit continued. "I never got a lot of detail out of Mary Margaret, but seems that while you were recovering from that little joy ride you and Peter and Kat took in Crystal Springs, Ms Sung resurfaced. I was with you so, I don't know exactly what happened in those six weeks, but it was volatile and when we returned she'd already called it quits."

Her suspicions were confirmed. "Kermit," she cleared her thought before continuing, "I've got another bit of information to add to the story. And baby......it's a doozy."

*******

Shortly, Peter followed. "Don't I rate a little more than this, Jennifer?" He was angry. The hurt of her departure flared inside him and ate a painful hole in the pit of his stomach. The anger felt unnatural to him now, a foreign presence returning for a visit. He swallowed to quench the flame.

Jennifer turned to face him. "For your information, MR. Caine, I have NO intention of looking you up," she lied swiftly. "Facing you was NOT my idea!!!"

"So why are you in town?" The words came out smoothly over the fire that had begun to lick the back of his throat.

Jennifer snapped back at his restraint. "You assume I'm in town just because of YOU??? What an over inflated ego!"

"You still haven't answered the question."

Jennifer silently gulped. No ready-made lies came to mind. She certainly couldn't tell him the truth. Not now. "I don't owe you any answers."

A flame ignited deep inside his hazel eyes that was terrifying. It burned quickly only to fade into the soft eyes she remembered. The softness was more dangerous than the rage she knew he must feel. She wanted a fight, a distraction, anything to avoid blurting out unprepared confessions. But this Peter refused to bite back at her barbs.

She had to get out of there and fast. Hand plastered to the keys in the ignition, Jennifer twisted over and over, begging the car to spring to life. "Come on you son-of-a--"

"That's the problem with perfect exits. They only exist on television." Peter Caine leaned with annoying casualness on her hood, a smile glaring into her windshield.

"I didn't know it was you, Peter," Jennifer said, softer than she intended. Resistance was waning in the face of his smile. "I met Savannah and she was nice enough to ask me to dinner. I didn't know you were the person she wanted me to meet."

Huffing a bite of laughter, he sympathized. "The lovely Mrs. Griffin has inflicted many a setup on her friends." Opening her door, he said, "She means well....just doesn't know when to quit."

The adversarial relationship she had tried for protection began to shift. Jennifer replied with a smile, "Yes, she's very charming...like a steamroller."

"Takes one to know one," he laughed. The anger seemed to be gone, replaced with a resignation, a peace. "Why don't you let me drive you home? You can deal with the car tomorrow."

Before the "No!" could spring to her lips, Jennifer found herself saying, "Okay." Mechanically, she followed to his car and slid in as Peter held open the door.

"Where to? Your parents?" Peter asked, easing out into the street.

"My parents are no longer part of my life," she said flatly, staring out of the window. "I have a condo on Carrolton."

Avoiding the burning questions about the Sungs, who had flung a wrecking ball into their relationship, he sparked, "Carrolton? Business must be good." Carrolton Drive was on the upper east side and sported an assortment of very successful young professionals.

Grateful that he had chosen to avoid the parental territory for now, Jennifer resorted to small talk. "Excellent, in fact. I'm managing editor for 'Lifestyle', the new magazine here in town. That's why I'm here." It wasn't exactly a lie, only an omission.

"Didn't think you came here for me." The hurt was bubbling once again as he remembered Jennifer's abrupt departure from his life.

"How are things at the precinct?" The smaller she kept the talk, the better.

Holding out his forearm Peter slid up his sleeve enough to bare the dragon branded there. "I'm no longer on the force."

The priesthood. A Shaolin priest. The shock of his maimed flesh gave way to a pride Jennifer couldn't understand. She had no right to be proud of him. Peter Caine didn't belong to her. "Your father must be pleased."

What was meant a compliment seemed to touch a sensitive cord inside her driver. Jennifer watched his body language change. Where there had been curve, there was now angle. A hard jaw line shifting as Peter ground his teeth in tension. Fortunately, they had reached her home quickly. "Here's mine, on the corner!" She pounced on the door handle.

Removing his seat belt, Peter moved to open his own door. "Want me to walk you to the door?" Simmering anger didn't revoke his manners.

"NO!" Jennifer screeched in a panic. Louder than she intended.

Jerking his door shut, Peter's bitterness drizzled upward once again. "Fine, dammit!" The sudden outburst stunned her at first. The second reaction was relief. This was the Peter she knew. He could be dealt with by conventional means.

"I didn't think priests said 'dammit.'"

"This one does," he answered, sharply thrusting back his hurt. Jennifer was baiting him. That knowledge did little to curb his response. The serenity and calm he had cultivated since taking the brands was a whisper compared to the blaring hurt clinching inside his chest. "So, you must have someone waiting in there you don't want introduced to your old boyfriend, right?"

This was a game Jennifer could play. "So you can read minds now. How nice."

His voice regained its cold anger. "Better get inside, Ms Sung, so you can take care of business and be rested to climb the journalistic ladder."

"Truth be told, I don't get a great deal of sleep with my new fellow around. He's a night person" Peter's reaction of iced fury nearly made her giggle.

Barely giving his passenger time to release the door, Peter screeched off into the darkness, heart pounding from a myriad of emotion. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal. Disappointment. The street lights strobed over his windshield, pulsating with his heartbeat.

Turning the corner, he also berated himself for another emotion. The flash of joy he'd experienced at the sight of her, the instant rush of longing.

Whipping a U-turn in the middle of the street, Peter flung the Stealth back to her address. That much emotion must mean something. It radiated from her in return. He'd felt the power of her longing as well, reading it in those first seconds as she stood framed by Kermit's backdoor.

"No disappearing act this time, Jen," he vowed to himself. They had to talk or fight this out once and for all then come up for air. Coasting to a stop in front of her home, he readied to burst out of the car and up to her door to demand an audience.

The shadows in the window stopped him cold.

Silhouettes danced through a haze of thin draperies. One profile was undeniably Jennifer. Long hair streaming down her back and swaying at each movement, he took in the thin but athletic build he could see from the waist up. Drawing out her arms gracefully, she took someone into a loving embrace. The man was smaller than what he'd expect but given the distortion of the drapes and lighting, Peter wasn't surprised.

Jennifer held the figure pressed to her tightly, gently running her hands up and down his back. Peter felt a stab of heat flood into his face as the figure pulled back and planted a short kiss on Jennifer's blurred profile.

"Then again," he resolved in hurt and disillusionment, "maybe not." He dropped the car into gear and pointed it toward Chinatown.

******

"How's my little man?" Jennifer laughed in surprise to find her son still awake after his bedtime. Lifting him to stand on the dining room table, Jennifer buried herself in his pudgy little arms and returned to the innocent comfort of her child.

"Ma-ma!!!" he squealed and pulled back to kiss her sloppily on the lips.

"I'm sorry, Ms Sung," the teenage sitter apologized. "He just wouldn't go to sleep until you came home."

"Oh, that's all right," Jennifer forgave, grabbing another hug. "KC and I have a flexible schedule." Gathering him up and walking toward her son's room, she thought, And soon to be a flexible family.

*****

Savannah entered the posh offices of Lifestyles, already flushed with nervousness. She had no idea what to say, only that something must be said. The cat was out of the bag and the claws of this particular creature would never retract until it had been seen by all concerned.

Softly approaching the receptionist, she said, "Excuse me. I'm here to see Ms. Sung."

"Do you have an appointment?" she asked. The receptionist was already skimming her boss's appointment book with an elegant fingernail.

"No, but--"

"Please come in, Savannah," Jennifer called from her office door. The stylish pastel suit and flawless makeup couldn't conceal dark circles left from lack of sleep. Gesturing to her new friend, Jennifer welcomed Savannah and offered a chair.

Awkward silence only lasted for seconds.

"I'm sorry!" both women blurted in unison.

Tension now broken by brief laughter, Savannah held up her hand and started again. "Jennifer, I had no idea you and Peter had been...close before. I would have never set up that fiasco if I had known."

Smiling and bringing them both a cup of coffee, Jennifer sat down. "Of course you wouldn't have. I know that." Happy to see Savannah's discomfort pale, she added, "Actually, this was probably the way it was supposed to happen. The hand of fate, perhaps."

Daring now to broach the elephant in the room, Savannah said, "Did you tell him?"

"No."

"When are you going to take care of that little thing?"

"You are quick, aren't you?" she answered and gulped another taste from her cup.

"Well?" Savannah pressed.

Jennifer's turmoil was evident. "I wanted to tell him last night. But, I just don't know if he's ...I mean, last night he was different than before. He was hurt, even angry, but it was restrained. I'm just afraid to get involved with his life again. He's always been so volatile, guns drawn all the time. Peter scares me, Savannah. His life scares me."

Ripe to defend the man she'd come to know as a friend, Savannah dove in without waiting. "Jennifer, the Peter I know has always been full of bluster but since he took the brands and became a priest--"

"Priest. That's just another set of trouble. I've lived all my life with those mysterious Chinese tales of Shaolin priests." Jennifer took deep breath. "You know his father's life, Savannah. You couldn't write horror stories filled with more enemies and monsters. The life of a Shaolin priest can't be much different from that of a cop. Peter simply has more freedom to put himself in the middle of Chinatown battles and there's nothing Peter Caine likes more than a fight."

"You're wrong," Savannah said, shaking her head. "Since he took those brands, I've never seen him more focused and relaxed."

"Could have fooled me." Jennifer shook her head remembering the barely cloaked barbs the two of them had thrown in the dark.

"And you didn't fuel the fire any?" Savannah could see the confirmation in Jennifer's sudden glance toward her expensive pumps. "What better way to avoid revelations than confrontations?"

"Guilty," she admitted. Now curious, she asked, "So if he's not a cop, if he's different, what's his life like?"

"Full time Shaolin. Come to Chinatown, ask for Caine, and Peter's who you get." Savannah leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "He means so much to the community, and his friends and family. He's a good man."

"I know that, Savannah," she replied, jumping up to pace around the room. "Peter's a VERY good man, but his life frightens me. The way he dives into battle. Violence circles him like a shark and he doesn't hesitate to join the fight. How can I bring a child into that?"

Familiar questions Savannah had asked before offering herself and her child to an ex-mercenary. "I understand that one, sugar. Kermit's life before the force was equally frightening and his life now has interrupted our life together more than once." The most recent pain flaired again and had to be forced back into the shadows. "But the facts are that Peter is KC's father. He deserves to know him. KC deserves his father. The realities of the dangers that court Peter and Kermit can be dealt with but it's no excuse to deprive them of their own flesh and blood."

Jennifer stood silently staring out the large window overlooking the city. Home. A home that included her son and his father. "I'll tell him."

Walking over to offer a supportive squeeze, Savannah whispered, "I know you will. And I hope things will work out for all three of you, especially for KC. He needs you both."

Jennifer continued to stare out the window as her friend left the office. "Okay, Peter the Priest, time to shake up your life once again," she muttered to herself. Turning quickly to grab her purse, Jennifer shouted to her assistant, "Megan! Cancel my appointments for the day."

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