JAKE AND VICKY'S HOUSE/DAY

VICKY moves in between JAKE and AMANDA, holding up her hands.

VICKY
Okay, whoa. Hang on. Jake…you can't go to Seattle tonight. These babies could come any day now, and I'd really prefer NOT to be alone when it happens.

JAKE
(pulling her out of Amanda and FRANK'S earshot)
Honey…I have to bring Sean back. I let Kevin down when his son ran away. I've got to make that up to him. I promise you, I will be here when the babies are born. It's too important to miss. Besides, you heard Dr. Doyle. It could be a week before they arrive. We'll hop a plane this afternoon, grab the kids, and be back tonight.

VICKY
I just don't have a good feeling about this…

JAKE
Vick, nothing short of a natural disaster is going to have me missing the birth of our daughters. I promise you that.

VICKY
Why can't Amanda and Frank go alone?

JAKE
Vicky…you didn't hear Kevin's voice when I spoke to him. He sounded betrayed. He sounded like his whole world had crumbled. All he's wanted since he found out about Sean is to make sure that his son is provided for. And I failed him.

VICKY
You didn't fail him, Jake.

JAKE
Then why do I feel like I did? (He puts his hands on Vicky's shoulders.) I have to do this, Vick.

VICKY
(sighing, resigned)
I can't stop you, Jake. Just please…please be back as soon as you can.

JAKE
I will. (He kisses her) Thank you for understanding.

As he turns back to Amanda and Frank, Vicky whispers.

VICKY
(softly)
I don't.

JAKE
(To Amanda and Frank)
Okay, so we need to get a flight and get out to Seattle. How soon can we go?

FRANK
The next flight to Seattle is in an hour. If we go now, we can make it and be there by about five o'clock.

AMANDA
I'll call and reserve tickets.

JAKE
Great. And we know exactly where the kids are?

FRANK
(nodding)
I've got them pinpointed to the exact hotel room. It might be a bit of a mess with the New Year, and the Millennium, but we should be able to get to them quickly and get out of Seattle.

JAKE
(to Vicky)
See, honey? Everything will be fine.

Vicky watches them with uncertainty.

CUT TO:

THE BURRELL HOUSE/SAME DAY

KC leads CHRIS into a room, which we see is obviously Toni's old bedroom. There are sheets covering most of the room, but a few boxes are obvious, directly in the center of the room.

KC
Mama hasn't been able to touch this room since Toni. I promised her that I'd take care of it…it's too hard for her. Judy was going to fly in and help, but her workload got too heavy.

CHRIS
I don't mind helping. Maybe it'll help set some old demons to rest.

KC
Seriously, Chris, you don't have to do this. It was nice of you to offer, but if this is going to be too difficult for you-

CHRIS
KC, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to help.

KC
I know…It's just…this is hard enough for me, I can't imagine how hard it is for you.

CHRIS
We might as well get started.

He pulls out one of the boxes, opening it. Lifting it out, there is a mess of clothes, papers, and knick-knacks.

CHRIS (cont'd)
So, should we make piles? Keep, Give to Salvation Army, and Throw Out?

KC
Yeah…you can put the clothes in the Salvation Army pile.

CHRIS
You don't want any of them?

KC
(shaking her head)
No. I can't wear her clothes…I don't want to wear her clothes. It's too weird.

CHRIS
I understand that.

For a few minutes, they work silently. As the piles grow larger, Chris finds a piece of picture and holds it out to KC.

CHRIS (cont'd)
Do you want this?

KC takes the photo, and we see it's a picture of a young Toni holding a baby KC on her lap. She smiles, and runs her fingers over the photo.

KC
I really did love her, Chris. I know we fought, but I did love her. (She bends her head over so that Chris can't see her face)

CHRIS
(rubbing her back)
I know, KC…I know you did. And she talked about you with so much pride. Before you came back to Bay City, she told me how proud of you she was for getting into Harvard. And if she had to work double and triple shifts just to make sure that you got through, she would.

KC
She said that?

CHRIS
(nodding)
She wanted the best for you.

KC
I just wish I'd been here to support her…during the rape. But when I called home-I'd gone to the special early summer session for freshman at Harvard-she told me to stay, that she appreciate the concern, but my school was more important. I should have come back. Nothing was more important than her.

CHRIS
You did what she wanted. That's what you should have done.

They fall silent once again.

CHRIS
(with a lighter tone to his voice)
So, do you have big plans for the millennium celebration?

KC
(shrugging)
Not really. Mama told me to come to that party with her, but I think I might just stay home. I don't really feel like going out.

CHRIS
On New Year's Eve? Come on, KC, you can't stay home alone.

KC
Well, there's always Hayley. But she's probably going somewhere with her sister. And the one person that I really know in Bay City…we aren't exactly speaking right now.

CHRIS
Who would that be?

KC
(hesitantly)
Tito Banacek. (rushing) And you don't have to tell me…I know he's bad news, Mama's already told me a hundred times. But I think he's really trying to make something out of his life…and no one's seeing it.

CHRIS
Okay. So why aren't you speaking?

KC
You're not going to give me a hard time?

CHRIS
Why should I? You're an adult, and if you think Tito's changed, then I won't question your judgment.

KC
He never told me that he was the father of Hayley's baby. I had to find out at the hospital when we took her. He lied to me.

CHRIS
Have you heard his side of the story yet?

KC
Well…no…but he should have told me.

CHRIS
Maybe you should hear him out.

KC
Maybe…(she glances at the room around her) In the meantime, let's get this place finished up.

They go back to working.

CUT TO:

CORY MANSION/SAME DAY

CARL continues with his story.

CARL
When we left your mother, Reginald tried to leave her provided for, but she refused to take the money. She disappeared that evening and moved, without leaving a forwarding address. I didn't tell Reginald, but I tracked her down six years later. I wanted to make sure that she was all right. That's when I learned about you.

LILA
Did you tell him?

CARL
Reginald was presumed dead by that point. I simply kept an eye on her. I couldn't send her money without arousing her suspicions.

LILA
Why did you care, Carl? You weren't her lover, you didn't get her pregnant.

CARL
I didn't, but I cared for her, Lila. We were friends. And I was concerned for her well-being.

LILA
So what happened?

CARL
I tried to help in small ways…working a deal with a landlord to pay part of the rent, while she would think the actual rent was actually less. Sending anonymous gifts.

LILA
The locket?

CARL
The locket was a gift from Reginald…before we left New Orleans.

LILA
So why does Reginald think that you ordered the hit on my mother?

CARL
The gentleman with whom we had bad blood tracked me down. He threatened my life, but offered to spare me in exchange for information on Reginald. Reginald thinks that I gave them information on your mother in order to save my own life.

LILA
You wouldn't have done that, Carl…

CARL
Lila…I didn't provide them with the information by choice. But they did track her down through me. It wasn't intentional, I swear it to you. They broke into my house one evening, discovered my records, and tracked her down.

LILA
(tears forming in her eyes)
Oh, God, Carl…

CARL
(also tearful)
Lila, please believe me…if I'd known that harm would come to your mother, I never would have attempted to re-establish a connection to her.

LILA
Your help was what eventually caused her death.

CARL
Lila, I am so sorry. I would have done anything to stop it, had I known in time…

LILA
It wasn't your fault, Carl…you couldn't have known.

CARL
I heard from underground sources that Reginald was alive, and had learned of the murder. He'd also learned of you, and tried to find you. But by that time, you'd moved into foster care, and then into the care of your aunt.

LILA
(darkly)
I'm glad he never found me.

CARL
And when you came to Bay City-

LILA
--Carl…did you know that I was Jessie's daughter when I came here?

She waits for an answer, watching Carl intently.

FADE OUT