Elisha settled on the sofa with Diana while Nick set the kids dinners up in the kitchen. She noticed the light blinking on the phones answering machine and got up to see who had called. She pushed the button and scanned the list of callers. "Oh, Nick!" She called again, louder. "Nick!" Nick came rushing in from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. "What is it?" "David called!" "And?" Elisha stared at him. "Today was the day he was going to try and get your charges dropped, that�s why we went shopping, remember? To try and pass the time instead of sitting in the house and twiddling our thumbs?" Nick snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! I�ll call him back right now. Go watch the kids, they were plotting a french fry war." Elisha walked to the kitchen laughing and shaking her head.

"Hello? David?" Nick sat down with the phone in his lap. "It�s Nick Carter, David. Any news?" He twisted the cord through his long fingers and chewed on his lip, awaiting word. Elisha popped her head around the corner and studied her husband's body language to try and get an idea of what was being said. To her it didn�t look too good. "Okay, I�ll tell her. Thank you David" Nick hung the phone up and turned to her. Elisha's face was white and Diana was starting to whimper because she was holding her so tightly. "What Nick? What did he say?" "Set Diana down in her seat." Nick told her. Elisha did so and turned back to him. "What?" Nick whooped and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her around and around. "They dropped my charges!" Elisha yelled, "They did? Oh Nick, this is wonderful! Maybe things will work out alright after all!" Nick sat in the chair and pulled Elisha into his lap. "I told you! Everything will be fine!" He kissed her and hugged her again, tightly. "What are dropped charges, mommy?" asked Rebecca. Nick and Elisha exchanged glances. They hadn�t really talked to the children about it much. They knew some of what had been going on, but had no idea of how serious things were. Nick got up and sat on the floor between the kids. "Remember when all the police were here and mommy and daddy had to leave for a day?" Brian nodded. "Nana and Oopa Carter stayed with us." "That�s right." Nick nodded. "Well, that day someone was hurt outside and the police want to make sure that mommy and daddy didn�t do it." "You wouldn�t hurt anyone." Brian said, matter of factly, his mouth full of fries. "You�re my daddy." Elisha smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. Nick hugged Brian. "No, but if someone tried to hurt you I would hurt them and so would your mommy, because we love you." "Did mommy hurt this someone?" asked Becca, her eyes open wide. "Yes, Becca." Elisha gasped, Nick was going too far, telling them too much. "This person hurt mommy and daddy many years ago, before you were born and she tried to hurt your brother and sister. Mommy was afraid she was trying to hurt you and Brian too. Mommy was protecting you." Brian glanced up from his burger. "Will you go to jail?" Tears ran down Elisha's face and she placed her hand to her mouth. "Mommy is not going to jail." Nick answered. "The police just want to make sure of what happened, so mommy needs to tell them and then it will be over." Brian wiggled out of his chair and climbed up on Elisha's lap. "Don�t cry, mommy. Daddy said you aren�t going to jail." He put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her lips.

Later, after the kids were in bed and the babies were fed, Nick and Elisha settled into bed themselves, exhausted, arms wrapped around each other. "You don�t think I scared the kids, do you?" Nick asked, smoothing a hand over her hair. She kissed him and gazed into his deep blue eyes. "We have to deal with it and I think you did a wonderful job telling them. Now they know and if any questions come up we can answer truthfully." "They did need to know." Nick said to himself. "Of course they did, we were trying to avoid believing it ourselves, I think and therefore didn�t tell the kids." "It�s almost over." Nick said quietly. "Do you really think so?" Nick pulled her head down on his chest and held her. "I know so. Once they hear what Mandy did to us, no jury on earth would convict you." Elisha lifted her head to look at him. He was the only thing that got her through all this, without him by her side she knew she would have gone crazy long ago. "What?" he asked, as her gaze lingered on him. "I love you." she said simply and kissed him deeply. "And I love you. More and more, every day." He completed their mantra and slid his hands down her body to hold her close to him. "Make love to me, Nick." She moaned and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling his face closer to hers. Nick sighed and returned her kisses. "My pleasure."