| Family Problems Episode 24 |
| ** "Nashman, are you sleeping with Rachel again?" Joe looked at Nash curiously as he poured his coffee. "What?" Nash didn't have any idea where Joe would come up with a question like that. What a way to start the morning right. "If you were, would you tell me?" Joe had to know the details, but the women in Nash's life often left him wondering. "No." Nash shook his head. "What does it matter?" "Is she seeing anyone else?" Joe assumed if anyone would know, it would be Nash. "Well..." Nash thought about it for a moment, remembering Rachel's request for privacy with her personal life. Nash was going to have a little fun. "Why do you ask? You interested? Something happen with you and Inger?" "You're a sick man, and no. I asked because someone I know asked about her. Why, I have no idea... but they did." Joe shuddered at the thought, Rachel was anything but his type. Nash considered Joe's questions before Joe asked another, "so is she?" "Leave it alone, Bubba. Remember what happened with Dove and Amy? And you have to work with Rachel." Joe wasn't amused by Nash bringing up his brief and failed matchmaking history. "I get it, keeping her for yourself, a little reunion in mind?" Joe grinned as he slowly walked away from Nash. "You're playing with fire here, Joseph." Joe knew Nash was getting serious when he called him Joseph. "You're the one who takes her home, not me." Joe smiled and quickly made his way downstairs. "I'll remember that the next time you tell me about your new neighbor." He hadn't told Joe about Harvey and Rachel, but wondered how Joe missed it himself. The two managed to keep things low key, but anyone could see the interest between them ** "You've been keeping your distance." Harvey was worried something was seriously wrong in their relationship. She hadn't been over but once in the past week and he hadn't seen her outside of work. "I thought it would be best, after..." Rachel didn't even like the thought of what had happened. Jerry never should've walked in on that. "After we got caught red-handed?" Harvey chuckled, amused with Rachel's concern for his son's mental welfare and getting a mental picture of her embarassed face. "I talked to him about it, everything's fine." "But still, Harve, it wasn't right and I feel miserable." Rachel felt guilty about what Jerry saw. It wasn't anything that horrid, but just the thought. "Rachel, for what?" Harvey couldn't see what she was so worried about. He couldn't deny that he was a little afraid at first over how Jerry would react, but it was over. "It was nothing he can't flip on the TV and find." "What if he tells Anna?" Rachel was worried about what Anna might do in retaliation of Jerry told her what he saw, afraid she might not let Harvey have Jerry again. "Tells Anna what? That he saw us kissing?" Harvey thought of this already himself, but than he considered the credibility of a preschooler. But this was Anna, and this was their son. "It was more than that." Rachel wanted to scream out I told you so! but now wasn't the time or the place. She missed being with Harvey, and Jerry too, but she felt it would be better this way for now if she stayed away. "So you're just going to stay away, until Jerry leaves?" Harvey could understand the embarassment, but thought it futile. "I didn't say that. But I think we should..." Rachel found herself incredibly distracted by Harvey's hand resting upon her hip. "Keep our hands to ourselves?" Harvey grinned and wrapped his arms tightly around her, shaking his head "I don't think that's possible." He kissed her as they stood under the stairs outside, not giving a damn if anyone saw. "You're not making this any easier." Rachel was all to happy to oblige by returning the kiss. "You're not so innocent yourself, but I'll send your application to the convent if that's what you'd prefer." Harvey laughed at the thought, she'd be kicked out within a week. ** "Have you found any of the legal documents yet?" Joe was hoping that Bill could produce some type of tangible information by now. He had stopped by Bill's office after lunch, thinking he'd have something to take back to the SIU. "No, but I called our lawyer and she promised to get back to me when she found something. I honestly don't know what Mary could've done with everything." Bill knew she never would've thrown all the information away, since it was her idea to find Rachel one day. "Bill, I can't find her until you give me some information." Joe had grown tired of waiting, what little information he did have wasn't enough. "I know, I know. It's just hard, doing this without Mary." There was no way he could explain what he was going through, Joe would never understand. "You can tell me to leave and I'll never bring up this search again?" Joe was ready to throw in the towel if he was. "No, no, no... I have to do this, for Mary, for Cecilia and for myself." He wasn't about to close the door he had opened, he had to walk through it. ** "Jerry and I are going camping in Carmel this weekend." Harvey had been wanting to ask Rachel about joining them, but hadn't had a good opportunity since she hadn't been over recently. Things were wrapped up for the day at the SIU and now he had his chance. "Are you sure you're up to that?" Rachel didn't want Harvey to strain himself any more than he had to, his health was too serious a matter to take such a risk. "Maybe my personal doctor might come along to ensure everything was okay?" Putting it like that, he hoped Rachel wouldn't refuse. "Harvey, I can't do that." Rachel would've loved to spend the time with them, but she didn't think she should rush her presence in Harvey or Jerry's life. "I don't want to intrude on the time you have with your son." "Intrude? Are you crazy? Rachel, I can't handle the boy myself in the wilderness for two days." Harvey desperately wanted her to come, he was practically going through withdrawal and needed a fix. "I'm sure you'll make do." Rachel smiled, trying to assure him she still wanted to be with him but didn't want to go with. It would be their first overnight with Jerry around, Rachel wasn't sure if she or Jerry were ready for that step. "I'm not the camping type." "Not the camping type?" Harvey could see where she was going with this and decided it was his mission to change her. "No, camping for me these days is staying at a low quality hotel." Rachel smiled, it was obvious Harvey didn't care that she wasn't a good friend of mother nature. "Rache, come on, babe. It will be fun, we can both get some quality time with Jerry ... and eachother, since you've been avoiding me." Harvey gave her the most pathetic look, complete with pouting lips and sad eyes. "Harvey..." Rachel could see this was a lost battle. She grinned and conceded. "We'll pick you up at seven." Harvey knew he could talk her into going with them. "That's a little early?" Rachel wasn't a morning person, she wasn't even an early afternoon person. "I'll make it six-thirty?" Harvey couldn't wait to go home and tell Jerry that Rachel would be joining them. "Seven's fine, perfect." Rachel knew he'd pull something like that, but she didn't mind. He was worth it. ** Later that evening, Rachel just finished getting her bag ready for the trip with Jerry and Harvey. She glanced at her dining room table, the flowers caught her eye. She felt bad leading Bill on, but there was no way she could tell him. She walked over to the flowers and picked up the card. Rachel glanced down at the card again, wondering what she should do. She picked up her phone and dialed the number... waiting a moment, and hung up. She couldn't do it. Not now. ** "What are you doing here on a Saturday morning, Bill?" Maggie was curious as to why he'd be there. "Came to check for some papers and to get my messages." Bill wanted to see if the file box was at his office, maybe he missed it. "You wanted to see if she had called." Maggie knew Bill was hoping the police officer had called. "Maybe." Bill smiled, hoping he'd find a message of some sort from Rachel. "She hasn't called, yet, shall I send more flowers?" Maggied assumed he'd say yes and she'd place another order. "Of course. This time, just to her house... it is Saturday." He set down his coffee and scrawled a quick message on a sheet of paper. "Tell them to write this." "Okay." Maggie took the note and began to dial as Bill walked towards into his office. He was obviously very interested in this woman. ** Harvey hadn't been fishing in a while, and so far, everything was going well. Teaching Jerry how to fish was no easy feat. He had quite a few failed attempts at casting. Rachel had gone into town for the afternoon, wanting to give them some time alone at the lake. The past few hours had gone by slowly. "This is hard, Daddy." Jerry looked over to Harvey who had casted his rod own with ease. "Here, let me help you." Harvey set his rod down between the rocks and walked towards Jerry. Harvey stood behind Jerry and helped him drop the line. After a few minutes, Jerry believed he caught something. "I got something, Dad." Jerry tugged and pulled at the line while waiting for Harvey. "What have you got there?" Harvey came and pulled the line in for Jerry, finding a small fish on the end. "Well, look at that. Want to take him off?" Harvey had asked, meaning if Jerry wanted to keep him. He actually planned to take the fish off himself. "I want to." Jerry was insistent and Harvey went back to his own rod. Jerry struggled to grab the slippery fish off the hook, which was well embedded. The fish came off, but the hook stayed lodged in Jerry's hand. "Daddy!" Harvey came running back towards him, finding his son in tears and displaying his bloody hand. So much for fishing. "It's okay. We'll get it out." Harvey inspected the hand and saw that the hook was well in there, if he could get it out, he'd at least have to take him back to camp. "Here." Harvey scooped up Jerry and all there gear and headed back towards their tents. ** Jerry was getting antsy after sitting at the picnic table so long. Harvey was struggling to get the hook out, not wanting to do any more damage. Jerry's squirming and tears certainly didn't help. "Ouch!" "I'm sorry, if you'd just sit still maybe I could get this out." Harvey put down the pliers and tried to move the hook with his fingers. "Ow..." Tears began to well up in Jerry's eyes. "Harvey, is everything okay?" Harvey knew it was Rachel without even having to turn around. The situation looked a little curious with Jerry sitting on top of the table in tears and Harvey hovering over him. "Rache, can you come here a minute?" Harvey knew that Rachel would be able to get it out. Rachel walked over and saw Jerry's hand. "Ouch. Why didn't you call me?" Harvey hadn't even thought of calling her on the cell phone, but he was glad she was here now. Rachel sat down on the bench and carefully took Jerry's hand into her own, analyzing the placement. Harvey decided to walk away and let her work. Rachel had Jerry lay his hand down flat on the table while she grabbed the tweezers and pliers. "This is going to hurt for a minute." Jerry turned his head and winced, "OUCH!" He looked down at his hand and the hook was gone. Rachel was already digging in the first aid kit for a band-aid and some antiseptic. She gently cleaned his hand and put on the antiseptic, finishing off with a band-aid. "All better." She lightly kissed his hand and he smiled, nearly forgetting anything had happened. He got off the table and ran towards Harvey, proudly displaying his hand. "Did Rachel fix you up?" Harvey picked Jerry up and smiled at Rachel, knowing the situation was already much better. ** "Lili, come here a minute." Bill waited in the kitchen for his daughter. "What?" She wasn't sure what he wanted, she didn't even know he was home. "Take a seat." Bill pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for her and sat down as well. "You know how I said we'd try and find your real mom?" "Yes." Lili was excited about finding her real mom, but she missed Mary. "Well, I talked to an investigator and he's going to help us find her." He didn't want to tell her it was Lucia's dad, fearing there'd be too many questions. "Is she missing?" Lili didn't understand why they just couldn't call her and ask her to come over. "Well, I really don't know where she is." Bill didn't want to tell her right off that their chances of finding her were slim. "Does she want to see me?" Lili didn't know if she couldn't be found because she was trying to hide or if because of some other reason. "I'm pretty sure she does." Bill didn't know what to say in response to her question. ** "I love watching you with Jerry, it's another side of you that not everyone gets to see." Harvey's head was resting in Rachel's lap as they laid on top of his sleeping bag in front of the fire. Jerry had been asleep for a couple hours already, he was enjoying their quiet time alone. Her fingers were busily running through his hair, completely distracting him. "I love kids. When I was younger, I planned on having at least four kids of my own and then adopting a few." Rachel had her life entirely planned out before she left for college, since then, things have changed. "Wow." He didn't know what else to say, she continued to amaze him. "You look surprised?" Rachel could tell he wasn't expecting her to say anything like that. "I guess you're not the type. I wouldn't have expected someone like you to want so many kids." Rachel didn't appear to be the type who'd be a soccer mom that drove a minivan with four or five kids. It just wasn't her. "I've lessened the number over the years, after Cecilia." Rachel had changed her mind since then, not so much by choice but circumstance. "Why? You're still young?" Harvey couldn't understand why she'd change her mind about something she wanted so badly. "Let's just say that no one I've been with has shared my love for children." That was the honest truth. The men Rachel had been with were more interested in their money and careers than a family. "What about you?" "I'd take as many kids as I could get. I mean, within reason. There's so many kids who need a good home out there and unfortunately, there's a lot of unwanted children too." Harvey always looked at the issue realistically, not wanting more than he could handle. Jerry definitely was a surprise, but after him, he's always wanted more. "So, you'd rather adopt than have your own?" That was the conclusion she had reached from what Harvey said. "Not necessarily, I guess it goes back to what you said, about finding the right person to have those kids with. That makes a lot of difference. Jerry was a surprise, Anna and I hadn't planned on a future, let alone having a baby together." Harvey already considered his relationship with Rachel to be in a better place than that with Anna when Jerry was conceived, and they haven't even slept together yet. "But you make it work, and that's important." Rachel and Scott hadn't planned on a baby either, but she let him go upon realizing it was over --- baby or no baby. "I love being a father, don't get me wrong, but I think it could be all the better if I had Jerry, or any child, with someone I really loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with." "My point exactly." Rachel bent forward to kiss him, "so what about women with kids, you date them?" "Not anymore." Harvey had only gone out with three women with kids, and he considered Rachel to be one of them. "Why not?" Rachel wondered why a guy who loved kids so much wouldn't want to date a woman who already had a few children of her own. She assumed he wouldn't want a pre-packaged family. "Currently I consider myself taken." He considered himself and Rachel to be together, and he wanted her to know and be sure she felt the same. "Oh, well then," she grinned and kissed him, "what about before?" "Every now and then, nothing serious. More than once I ended up spending more time taking care of her kids than dating the woman. Not the relationship I was after." Harvey didn't mind the kids, but he wasn't going to go without romance. "Ouch." Rachel knew he wasn't jealous over the kids taking their mom's attention, but he wanted some attention. "What about you, do you date men with kids?" He was referring to before she started dating him. He knew about Nash, but that was different. Harvey wondered if there were others. "Do you even have to ask?" She kissed him again. "If I remember correctly, it was your son who caught us in quite the compromising position." "That's right." He paused for a moment to think, "any others?" "Nash, but... no one else and that situation was unique." Could they consider Cassidy a kid? Rachel was only eight years older than her. Things were much different when it came to her being with Jerry and Harvey. "I can only imagine." Harvey chuckled at the thought of Cassidy confronting Nash and Rachel. "So I'm a first?" "A first?" Rachel hadn't considered that herself, but okay. "Guy you've dated with an actual kid? One you've got a few more years seniority on?" "If you'd like to think of it that way, sure, you're my first." Rachel grinned shamelessly, knowing the many ways that could be interpreted. ** Rachel woke up early the next morning, finding herself in the same position where their conversation had ended hours before. Harvey was sound asleep next to her, he hadn't even made it back into his own tent with Jerry as he had planned. Rachel got up and laid another blanket on top of Harvey before quietly exiting to go check on Jerry. It was still early, the sun was barely rising. Much to her surprise, Jerry was just waking up as she entered the small tent. He sat up, groggy and barely able to keep his eyes open, "Rachel, where's daddy?" "He's asleep." Rachel saw no point in lying to Jerry. "Oh. He was up already." Jerry had seen his father earlier that morning when he had come to check on him, but then fell back asleep. "He was?" Rachel didn't even know he had left the tent and come back. "Will he be up soon?" Jerry was hungry and he wanted his dad to make breakfast. "I'm real hungry." "I could make breakfast for you." Rachel watched as Jerry's eyes widened at the suggestion. "Okay." It really didn't matter who made it, he was hungry. "How's your hand?" Rachel tried to get a better look at his bandaged hand, but he was sitting on it. "It's okay." He held out his small hand and showed her the large bandage on it. "Maybe something to eat will make you feel better." Jerry smiled and followed Rachel out of the tent. ** Bill went into Cecilia's room and opened the closet. He looked up to the top shelf and found the box he had been looking for. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?" He pulled the box down and didn't even look inside, he knew what he had to do. ** "This is quite a sight to wake up to." Harvey smiled as he stepped out of the tent to find Jerry busily eating his breakfast with Rachel. He walked over towards the table and sat down. "You're not eating?" "I figured I'd wait for you, sleepy head." Harvey stole a quick kiss while Jerry wasn't watching. "You're in my shirt." Harvey remembered giving her his well-worn flannel shirt the night before while they were laying in front of the fire. "And you were in my tent." Rachel grinned at him mischeviously, "explain that." Harvey stole another quick kiss. "What time did you want to head back?" "Probably after breakfast, I told Jerry I'd take him back to the zoo this afternoon." Harvey loved taking Jerry to the zoo and explaining the animals. He hoped Rachel would join them as well. "Okay, I've got some work to do at home." Rachel would've preferred to go with them, but she had to take care of a few things. And then there was the matter of Bill. "You're not joining us?" Harvey was a little disappointed, but he understood. It might work out better that way. He had plans that evening himself after Jerry went to bed, he had to write a letter. ** Bill knocked on Joe's door nervously, late Sunday morning. He stood outside on the porch, waiting for someone to answer. There was no backing out now. "I got it, Inger." Joe shuffled towards the door, still wearing his pyjamas and robe. "Bill?" "Sorry to bother you on the weekend, but I found this." Bill presented him with a large cardboard box, "it's everything you should need, except for the pictures." "Do you want to come in, for a cup of coffee maybe?" Joe wondered how Bill had come across the box, why it suddenly had appeared now after weeks of looking. "No, I should be going." Bill wanted to spend the day with Lili at the beach, knowing their days together would be numbered. "I'll take a look at everything later and start digging tomarrow. If were lucky, maybe we'll have something at the end of the week." Joe was hopeful he'd get somewhere with this new information. "Really?" Bill was worried about things moving too slowly, but he didn't want to pressure Joe. "Yeah, sure. I'll stop by tomarrow." Joe walked inside and to the living room, setting the box down on the coffee table. "Joe, what's this?" Inger stepped into the room and eyed the large box. "It's from Bill, I'm trying to help him find someone." He had already said too much and stopped himself there. "Oh, you work, I'll call you for brunch." Inger left the room and Joe opened the box. He pulled out a stack of various photos of Cecilia and some legal documents. The birth certificate caught his eye. He looked at it again, more closely. It couldn't be. There was no way. There had to be another. "No... there has to be someone else with the same name." ** |
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