The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Back then, Casper thought leaving Gary and Julia would fix everything. But they

always acted like they'd have no way out and might as well be dead if the

company collapsed. That guilt trip always got to Gary, and he stayed stuck.

Now that he thought about it, Casper wondered what good it had done him to

listen to them. All he got out of it was a broken marriage and a son who didn't

even see him as his father.

Out of the blue, Casper felt an unexpected urge to see Cody. Cody was his only

child and the only one who wouldn't bring him down.

Julia picked up the phone. "Yeah?"

"You're saying I dated Ruby?" Casper's voice was ice-cold. "When the hell did that

happen? 'Because I sure don't remember it."

Julia had him on speakerphone, and the way he fired off those questions left her

speechless. She had no idea how to respond.

Gary took over. "Oh, so now you're just going to deny it? Back then, everybody

knew Ruby was your girlfriend!"

"But I never dated with her," Casper said, enunciating every word.

"If you didn't date her, then how the hell did she end up pregnant with your kid?"

Gary snapped.

Casper felt like Gary was getting way out of line. "She got pregnant with my kid?

You've got to be kidding me! I never even laid a hand on her!"

This time, it was Gary who froze.

Casper continued, "So you guys actually believed she was my first girlfriend and

that she was carrying my kid? And that's why you went after Jessica and Cody so

hard?"

This was ridiculous.

"Maybe you didn't sleep with her when you were sober. But what about when you

were drunk?" Gary asked.

"I've met her just a handful of times,"noveldrama

Casper said. "And I never drank a

drop any of those times. So tell me,

Dad, how exactly was supposed to

get her pregnant while I was

'drunk'?"

Gary looked over at Julia, who was staring right back at him.

Casper kept going. "I don't care why

you two got close to Ruby. That's

your business, not mine. But don't

go filling Jessica's head with a

bunch of crap.

"From now on, she's raising our children on her own, and she won't be seeing

either of you. And I don't plan on having any more kids, either."

Casper let out a laugh. The whole thing was absurd. His marriage was wrecked

over nothing more than Ruby lying to Gary and Julia.

It'd be hard to believe if anyone found out.

"You might as well just treat Ruby like your daughter-in-law and take her kid as

your grandson," Casper said.

Gary still wasn't convinced. "I'm not going to believe Ruby's kid isn't yours without

a paternity test."

"That's your problem," Casper said, putting extra stress on every word. "It's got

nothing to do with me."

Julia heard the call disconnect and felt a wave of panic. "If what Casper said is

true, does that mean we'll never have a grandkid?"

"Let's start with the test," Gary said, unwilling to accept the outcome. "We'll just

get Casper another girlfriend if the kid's not his."

Julia knew Casper still had strong feelings for Jessica. Even if they were no longer

together, there was no way he'd just move on that easily.

Gary caught the look on Julia's face

and tried to reassure her. "Casper's

never listened to a damn thing we've

said but we've always gotten him to

cave, haven't we?"