Episode Twenty Six

Grant Mansion

Jamie woke when the sunlight hit his face. He slowly blinked open his eyes and pushed himself in the unfamiliar bed. His breathing quickened as he became lost in the memories of the last time he had woken in a strange bed. He let out a whimper of fear as he looked around the completely foreign room. He heard the door open and quickly jumped out of the bed, panic filling him.

Annie was surprised to see Jamie awake, and even more surprised to see the fear on his face. "Jamie?" she said.

Jamie heard Annie's voice, but it took a minute for it to register who she was, and another moment for him to remember the night before and where he was. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them Annie was standing next to him, one hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Jamie nodded. "I'm fine," he said weakly. "I just... I'm fine."

Annie nodded, not fully believing him. "Okay. Well, Father wants you to at least stay for breakfast. He's going to let everyone know you know, and of course just plain tell Aaron..."

Jamie just nodded. "Okay."

"Why don't you get cleaned up a little?" Annie suggested. "There's a bathroom right in there," she added, gesturing at a door.

"Thanks," Jamie said, heading for the bathroom.

Downstairs - A Few Minutes Later

Daniel had made sure everyone would be at the breakfast table early, and they were by the time he walked in and sat down at the head. All except Annie, who he had asked to check on Jamie. Daniel looked around the table, and decided not to wait for his daughter and grandson. "There's something I need to tell all of you."

"Yes, father?" Daniel Jr. said.

"As all of you, except for Aaron, are aware, you have a sister besides Annie."

Daniel Jr. rolled his eyes and made a snort of digust. "Yes, we remember her. How could we forget how she disgraced us?"

"Then you also remember her son who lives here in town," Daniel replied, his eyes narrowing.

"What sister?" Aaron asked. "And what son of hers? I've got a nephew?"

"Yes, you do," Daniel said. "And you know him quite well, Aaron. He discovered last night from his mother's half brother on the other side that he was my grandson, and he came here to talk to me. He ended up staying because of how late it was and how upset her was by the situation."

"What?" Miranda said. "Why didn't you tell me this last night!"

"I was a bit preoccupied," Daniel replied.

"Well, he's not getting anything from the estate, right?" Daniel Jr. asked. "You're not going to change your will to include him."

Daniel stood up, his hands resting flat on the table. "He is my grandson, and he will be in my will and recieve the same as any grandchild I would have. He'll also receive the inheritance that would have been his mother's if she hadn't been killed."

"That's ridiculous!" Miranda said. "Daniel, he is the son of one of this family's enemies!"

"I will not refuse to see my grandson because of who his father was!" Daniel said.

"Who is he?" Aaron asked.

"Me."

Aaron turned in his seat to see Jamie in the dorway with Annie. "Jamie?" he asked, surprised.

"Surprise, my mom was your sister," Jamie said with a nervous smile.

Brady House

Summer sat a the kitchen table, nervously drumming her fingers and staring at the phone.

"Staring isn't going to make it ring," Janice said, smiling at her daughter.

"I left Jamie like a half dozen messages asking him to please call me, and nothing! When he does call he's in deep trouble," Summer replied.

"Maybe you're being too pushy?" Matt suggested as he walked in and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. "Guys don't always like pushy girls."

"Please, Matthew," Summer replied with a smirk. "I think I know my boyfriend better than you do. He has no problem with pushy girls."

"How pushy?" Jancie asked.

Summer closed her eyes. "Mom, don't start, all right? Have I got in any trouble since coming here? Have I been caught in any compromising positions? Have you found used condoms or even unused ones in my room? No, you haven't. You know why? Because I'm doing good. I'm staying out of trouble. And I'm hoping to god..." she was interrupted by the ringing of the phone and she grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Hi beautiful."

Summer whinced at the voice and carried the cordless into the living room to talk. "Why won't you leave me alone, Pete? I keep telling you, it's over between us!"

"It's not over. I love you," Pete replied.

"You don't know what love is. It's not random sex," Summer hissed. "I've got a guy who really loves me, now. And I love him. So just back off, okay?"

"Does he even want you? I mean, he's been with a guy, maybe it's your brother he wants," Pete suggested with a laugh.

Summer paled. "How did you... what are you talking about?"

"You explained it all in your diary, Summer, so don't play dumb. Before you met him, he and some guy had sex and he decided to call it rape to save face."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Summer said firmly. "Just leave me alone, okay? And stay away from Jamie."

"Worried I'll tell him about us?"

"He knows, Pete. I told him about it and he understands. So just leave us alone, got it? Next time I call the cops."

Pete laughed. "Whatever you say, Summer. Personally, I don't think you have the guts, but... whatever you say."

Summer hung up as she walked back into the kitchen and slammed the phone into it's base.

"What's wrong?" Janice asked.

"Pete's been calling me," Summer replied. "He won't stop and I'm getting tired of it."

Grant Dining Room

"Come sit down, Jamie," Daniel said. "Have some breakfast, then I'll have the driver take you back to your.. apartment. Unless you'd like to stay."

"I gotta go home and pack my things up," Jamie replied as he at down, trying to ignore the murderous glares both Daniel Jr. and Miranda sported. "I want to be far away from Rebecca as soon as I possibly can. Which means I gotta pack and move my things out to the Bowen cabin."

"Wait, why are you moving your things there?" Aaron asked, snapping out of his surprised daze.

"She's kicking me out," Jamie said.

Daniel smiled, finding the situation working to his advantage. "That's awfully far out there, Jamie. And you don't have a vehicle right now, do you?"

Jamie frowned. "No. Rebeccca's also reclaimed my dad's car."

"Why don't you stay here? That way you don't need to ask someone to drive out and get you everyday for school once it starts again, and over the summer there's the pool out in the yard to relax by."

"No!" Miranda said. "You disowned his mother, why should he live here?"

"Exactly!" Daniel Jr. echoed.

Richard snorted. "Amazing, Mommy dearest and Junior have something in common," he commented.

"Yeah, they're both asses," Jamie said as he stood. "I'm not staying," he said.

"I'll give you a ride," Aaron said, also getting up. "I'll help you pack if you want."

"Thanks," Jamie said in gratitude as he and Aaron left.

Daniel glared at his wife and oldest son. "My grandson will live here, whether you two like it or not."

Virginia's

As she and Matt walked inside, Summer checked her cell phone again to make sure it was turned on.

"Sums, you've checked it about 10 times since we left the house," Matt said. "He'll call when he calls."

"But what if his answering machine tape is full so he didn't get the last message?" Summer replied.

"He knwos you're cell number, if he can't reach anyone at home he'll try your cell. Don't worry!"

"Since when are you an optimist?"

"Sicne I don't like seeing you so freaked out."

"I am not freaked out!"

"Yes, you are. You've called him 8 times, you keep checking your cell every 2 minutes..."

"I'm just worried, okay? I thought he'd call me and tell me how it went last night!"

"Maybe he's just not ready to talk about it yet."

Summer shook her head, not believing for a minute that Jamie wouldn't want to tell her what happened.

Aaron's Car

Jamie got into the passenger side and buckled up as Aaron started the engine. "Thanks," he said softly.

"No problem," Aaron said, a slight grin creeping onto his lips. "You are my nephew afterall."

Jamie laughed. "I bet that was a shock!"

"Hell yeah," Aaron replied. "I'm sorry for my mom and brother. They were jerks." He paused and grinned. "But I loved it when you called them asses."

Jamie laughed. "That was one of my better spur of the moment insults."

The pair were silent again as the headed down the street, but finally Aaron spoke. "You should consider my father's offer. The mansion is better than some little cabin."

"That 'little cabin' has some of my best memories!" Jamie replied, indignant.

"Yeah, but doesn't it run on a generator? What if the generator fails?"

"Don't need it in the summer."

"You don't need your fridge to keep food cold? Or the stove to cook stuff?"

"I can use a barbeque to cook, and a cooler in the lake will keep things cold," Jamie rpeleid stubbornly.

"All right, how about this, you want to romance Summer at a little cabin with no electricty? Or at the Grant Lodge with a very fancy dinner?" Aaron said, raising an eyebrow.

Jamie thought for a moment. "Summer liked the cabin when I took her to see it in Febuary," he finally said quietly.

"Febuary, huh? After you left the dance?"

"Yeah," Jamie replied.

"Anything... interesting happen?" Aaron asked as he stopped for a red light.

Jamie was quiet for a minute. "Yeah. I told her I was raped," he finally blurted out.

The light changed but Aaron didn't move. "What?" he asked, turning to Jamie.

Jamie refused to meet Aaron's gaze. "The party on the drive before school started. David and Laura ditched me after David put something in my drink. I got sick, a guy grabbed me, took me to a hotel, and raped me." He paused and looked over at Aaron in mild amusement. "You might want to drive, the light's been green for a while."

Aaron snapped out of it and started moving again. "I can't... who..."

"Don't know. His face is all blurry and shadowy... or maybe he was wearing a mask or something," Jamie said. "You're the only living person besides Summer and the counselor I've been seeing who know."

"Did your dad?"

"Yeah, I told him like the day after I told Summer."

"Oh."

"Aaron, don't, okay?" Jamie said. "Don't start acting like there's something wrong with me. I don't need my friends and family acting like I did something wrong, especially since the counselor keeps telling me I didn't. Too much of a mixed signal."

"I don't think you did anything wrong, Jamie. I think the guy who did it to you needs to be castrated."

Jamie laughed. "Not a bad idea."

"How can you... how can you laugh after telling me something like that?"

"I've had 9 months to deal with it, Aaron. 9 months to get counselling, 9 months to have the physical pain stop, 9 months to beat myself up over it. Trust me, I'm past the sobbing hysterically over it. I just sob about other stuff now. Like how I wasn't good enough for your father to claim as his grandson, how I made my dad miserable by being a little jerk."

"You're not a jerk."

"I made a big scene one night about David..."

"Guess what? You had a reason!" Aaron said. "The guy... Can I hurt him? You know, slam his head into something?"

"He's allready killed so many brain cells with the drugs, any more damage and he'd die."

Aaron couldn't help snickering at that. "True, true."

Jamie grinned. "Hey, pull into Virginia's. I don't need to pack right this minute. And I should eat something," he said. "Wanna join me for breakfast, uncle Aaron?" he added jokingly.

Aaron nodded. "Sure." He pulled the car into the parking lot, and the uncle and nephew got out and headed inside.

Jamie delibrately ignored his Uncle Laurence's gaze, but smiled when he saw Summer and Matt. "Hey," he said as he walked over.

Summer jumped up. "Hey! Is everything okay?" she asked.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, pretty okay, I guess. I..." Jamie hesitated. "I told Aaron... I told him what I told you after the dance," he finished. "Actually I blurted it out. Anyway, he knows."

Summer nodded slowly and shot a threatening look at Aaron, who held his hands up in surrender.

"Don't hurt me, I'm on my new found nepwhew's side," Aaron said.

Summer smiled then, and turned back to Jamie. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I knew it would work out," she whispered.

End Of Episode Twenty Six