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Livvie stepped inside the office and glanced around. She sighed lightly as she listened to Kevin close the door behind them. She sat down on the couch and looked over to him. They both sat in an uncomfortable silence.
"Look." They both started. Livvie couldn't help but smile as did Kevin.
"You first," Kevin said with a smile.
"I just....I....this is all so weird. I grew up thinking my father had died, and now I found out that my mother had died and my father never knew about me. It's a lot to take in."
"Yes it is," Kevin nodded, "I always knew I wanted to be a father....eventually. I just had no idea it was so soon or had happened already."
"Are you disappointed?"
"Yes, but not for the reasons you'd think. I'm not disappointed in you. In fact, I'm very proud to be your father. You're a strong young woman. You're not afraid to search for the truth, and I admire that in you."
"Then why are you disappointed in me?"
"It's not you. Oh no, Livvie," He said reaching out to touch her arm, "It's not you that I'm disappointed in. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to watch you grow up and that I wasn't a part of your life from the very beginning, but I could never be disappointed in you."
"Are you sure? I see the look you get on your face when I'm with Chris."
"I don't approve of him, but I'm not disappointed in you."
"You have to know now, Kevin, that if you accept me, you have to accept Chris too. He's my friend and he's the one person who hasn't lied to me through all of this. He's always been honest with me. I'm not going to give him up, so don't ask me."
Kevin nodded, "Okay, but don't expect me to like it, Livvie. I don't trust him and with good reason. I don't want him to hurt you."
"That's ironic considering he's the one person who hasn't hurt me through all of this."
"I just know what kind of man he is, Livvie."
"Kevin," She warned as she shot him a look, "Stop right there. You obviously don't know him...not like I do."
Kevin sighed as he knew that he wouldn't gain any ground if he continued to push her this way. He nodded, "Okay, we'll agree to disagree here."
"Fine," She shrugged, "I don't know what you want from me."
"I just want you to be open to the idea that we're family. I won't pretend to know how to be a father. This is all new to me," He said lightly, "But I do know how to be a friend. We were friends before. I'd like to be friends again."
"I don't know. I don't know if I can trust you again."
"We'll start slow. I won't expect you to trust me," He said before offering, "And you won't expect me to be perfect."
She nodded, "Okay, I guess," She shrugged.
Kevin spoke again, "How about dinner? Tomorrow night. That gives us both some time to let this really sink in."
Livvie frowned a bit, "Are you sure? I don't want to make Eve uncomfortable."
"Eve understands. Now that she knows everything, she understands."
"I get the feeling she doesn't like me very much."
"She doesn't know you, Livvie. She can be a very good friend if you'll give her a chance."
"That won't be the problem. I'm afraid she won't give me a chance."
"She will. I know that she will. And we'll get a chance tomorrow night...just the three of us."
Livvie paused, "I hate to push you, but I'd like to bring Chris with me. I know that I can trust him and if he's with me, I might be able to feel like I'm somewhere safe."
Kevin took in a deep breath as he set aside his pride, "Okay. That'll be fine. We'll all sit down to dinner and maybe we can begin to sort things out."
"Great," Livvie smiled, "I should go look for Chris now. I need to ask him if he'd be okay with us at dinner. I know that you two don't get along."
"That's an understatement."
"Kevin," She frowned, "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
"Livvie, please. I can tolerate Chris Ramsey if it means that you and I can start working on our relationship here."
"Are you sure? I don't want to put any pressure on you here."
"Livvie," He nodded, "I'm sure. It's okay."
"Then I'll go and I'll call you later, okay?" She asked standing and walking to the door. She opened the door and paused, "Kevin..."
"Yes?" He asked watching her closely.
"I don't mind that you're my father. It might be one of the best things that ever happened to me," She smiled lightly before leaving the office.
Lucy stepped off the elevator on the sixth floor and immediately spotted Chris discussing a chart with a nurse. He finished his discussion before he turned and walked down the hall. Lucy's eyes zeroed in on him as she followed him down the hall. She rushed up beside him and stopped him.
"Lucy," Chris spoke up as he turned to face her, "Is there something I can do for you?"
"Stay away from Livvie."
He immediately frowned, "Lucy..."
"No you listen. She is Doc's daughter. We both know that you'd love to find a way to hurt Kevin, but I won't let you use Livvie to do it. She might not be able to see through you, but I do. I know what you're up to."
"You have no idea what you're talking about, Lucy. Livvie is my friend and I have no intention of hurting her."
"Don't try to sell me on that Chris. I know better and I will find a way to stop you."
"Lucy, this is none of your business. Last I checked, Livvie isn't your responsibility."
"She's someone I care about very much."
"And so do I, Lucy. We both want to see Livvie happy. So how does it feel to know that you and I actually want the same thing?"
"I'll never believe that. I know that you'll try to hurt Doc using Livvie. I won't let you hurt either of them."
"They don't need your protection, Lucy. They're two very strong people who can protect themselves."
"I have no doubt that Doc can take care of you. He did a good job of it last night."
"And yet Livvie didn't leave with him. She stayed with me. Because she trusts me. And I want the best for her."
"You want the best for you. You always have. I don't know exactly what you're up to here, but I'll find out and I'll stop you."
Chris watched her turn on her heel and walk down the hall. He shook his head as he knew that Lucy was only the first person who would be demanding he stay away from Livvie now. He'd already decided that he needed to keep her away from him so that she would be away from more pain. He just didn't know how he'd bring himself to push her away.
Livvie spotted Eve walking down the hall reading a chart and she rushed up beside her, "Dr. Lambert, can I have a minute?"
Eve looked up and smiled, "You can call me, Eve. I think it would be more appropriate considering," She said taking her aside, "What can I do for you?"
"I just....this all has to be hard for you too," She said tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, "I'm sorry about all of this."
"Livvie, I understand everything now. Kevin explained it all to me this morning. I don't blame you for what happened. You didn't know the truth."
"I wish I had," Livvie frowned, "I'm sorry that I was so rude to you before."
"I need to apologize to you too. I shouldn't have said the things I said. If I'd only known the truth..." Eve frowned as well, "We were all victims to the lies."
"I'm tired of being a victim though. I don't want to be the poor pitiful Livvie that everyone seems to pity."
"You don't have to be anymore. Kevin and I are going to look out for you, and then Chris already does a pretty good job of looking out for you from what I can see," Eve said watching Livvie and trying to judge for herself.
"Chris is great," Livvie smiled, "He's been really great to me. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay him for all that he's done."
"I think you're already doing a great job. It's obvious that he cares a lot about you," Eve said honestly.
"I want to find some way of repaying him, you know?" Livvie paused for a minute, "You know, you're the first person who hasn't told me to stay away from him."
"No one knows Chris like I know him. But even so, I know that he has a very devious side to him. I always thought there was some other motive to his friendship with you....until this morning that is. I spoke with him and I understand a lot more about the two of you now."
"Why?" Livvie asked searching Eve's expression, "Did he say something?"
"He didn't have to," Eve shook her head, wondering what she was doing, "Livvie, I think you should prepare yourself. Chris is going to try to do the right thing, and maybe you should let him."
"Do the right thing? What does the mean?"
"Livvie, Chris isn't the kind of guy who voluntarily does the noble thing. Usually when he tries to do something for all the right reasons, it turns out the wrong way because people fight him on it. This time, let him do it."
"I don't understand, Eve. Do what?" Livvie asked, confused and a little scared.
"It's best if Chris tells you. I'll be around if you need me," Eve smiled in reassurance before she continued down the hall towards her patient.
Livvie watched Eve walk away and felt her heart race. What had Eve meant? Did it mean something horrible? She prayed that it didn't, because she wasn't quite sure how she would be able to cope if it was something terrible. She needed him, and she wasn't quite sure how she would be able to get along without him.
She sighed and started down the hall once again as she spotted Chris. She smiled as soon as she saw him, wanting to hold onto him instantly. She walked down the hall and gave him a smile as he joined her.
"That's a promising smile. Things go well?" Chris asked giving her a smile in return.
"Yeah, I think they did. Kevin invited me to dinner tomorrow night."
"That's great," He smiled, "I'm sure you'll do just fine."
"I will....if you go with me," She said giving him a pouty look.
"Livvie....I don't know. Did you ask Kevin about that?" He asked shifting a bit, "I don't want to come in between you two when you're finally finding out the truth about one another."
"I did ask him, and I told him that I trusted you and I needed you so I could feel safe. It was the truth. I need you Chris. Please do this with me?"
"Are you sure here? I don't want to step on any toes."
"Then go with me. Help me through this. I know it's asking a lot but I promise I'll find a way to make it up to you. At least I'll try. Please?"
"You're not going to give up on this, are you?"
"No, I'm not. This is really important to me, and I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was something I needed from you."
Chris watched her for a minute, "Okay, I'll go with you. I don't know how much good it will do, but I'll go."
"You don't know how much this means to me, Chris," Livvie smiled as she hugged him.
Chris smiled lightly as he hugged her in return, "If it means that much to you, how could I possibly refuse?"
"You couldn't," She said then stopped and frowned.
"What? Why so glum all of a sudden?"
"I have one more favor to ask of you, and I'm not sure you'll say yes."
"What is it? It can't be that bad."
"Well, you're not going to like it."
"Livvie, come on. You'll never know until you ask me."
"Yeah, but I don't think I can take rejection very well, especially not now."
"Livvie," He said holding her by the shoulders as he met her eyes, "Ask me. You never know. I just might say yes."
"Well...it's....I don't feel comfortable with Lucy any more. I kind of need a place to stay, and I'd be forever grateful if you'd let me crash on your couch again. Please?"
"Why don't you let me find you a hotel?" He offered.
"Because I don't feel safe there."
"Livvie, Kevin's not going to like that at all."
"I don't care," She said firmly, "What I care about is if it's okay with you. If you're uncomfortable with the idea, that's fine."
"No, I'm not," He said lying with every word. Having her at his apartment was uncomfortable because it was too comfortable. He enjoyed having her around too much and the closer she was, the harder it would be to push her away later.
"Are you sure? I don't want to get in your way or anything."
"You're not in my way, Livvie. I just....well, it was nice having you over last night. Though things were very hectic at first, it was nice later."
"Yeah, it was. Though I really shouldn't have used you as a pillow," She frowned, "I promise I won't do that if you let me stay there."
"Did you hear me complaining?" He asked with a smile, "It's okay. I don't mind being used as a pillow. It beats being used as a doormat."
She laughed lightly, "I'm glad you think that way. So I can stay?"
"Yeah," He nodded, "You can stay...for a little while....at least until we get you a place to stay of your own."
"I think I'd like that. I've never been on my own before. I mean really on my own. It'd be a good change for me."
"We'll have to check into that for you then. Maybe we could go apartment hunting or something this afternoon."
"I haven't even got a job though," She groaned, "What am I thinking?"
"We'll see what we can do about that one too, okay?"
"Why are you always helping me?" She asked giving him a smile, "I have a problem and you try to help me fix it. Why?"
Chris smiled and shrugged, "I'm just that kind of guy."
"Why doesn't anyone else see that?"
"I don't let just anyone see that side of me. You're one of a select few."
"I think I like that," She smiled, "What time can we go?"
"Around two," He said checking his watch, "I have a few more patients to check on and then I'm all yours."
Livvie blushed just a bit as she thought about it and smiled, "There's a concept."
"Hey," Chris said touching her cheek with the backs of his fingers, "What's that about?"
"Nothing," She said looking away.
"Something," He said with a smile, "But it's cute."
"Cute? Now I'm really embarrassed."
"Why? Cute isn't good?"
"No, it's just....well....kids are cute. I don't want to be a kid anymore."
"You're not a kid, Livvie," Chris said firmly, "You're a beautiful young woman."
"But I'm cute?"
"Hey, even I'm cute occasionally," He smiled, "So cute isn't a bad thing."
Livvie smiled, "I'll take your word for it."
"Why don't you go grab some classifieds and check out some jobs before two o'clock? We'll talk about it then," He suggested.
She smiled, "That's a good idea. I'll meet you back here at two?"
He nodded and smiled as she returned the smile and left. Chris sighed as he watched her leave before going into his patient's room.
Kevin stood around the corner, watching every movement and listening to what he could. He didn't like any of it and he was going to stop it as soon as he possibly could.