"Jen, I need to ask a favor," Joey began as a plate of spaghetti was placed in front of her and the waiter disappeared. Marissa was in a high chair beside Jen and Hope sat in her carrier next to Joey, playing with a plastic teething ring and otherwise occupying herself.

Jen nodded, "Okay, ask away."

"I kinda need you to come down to my lawyer's office with me."

Jen tilted her head, "Lawyer's office? For what?"

"We're going to be in a meeting, and I need you to watch Hope while I'm there. It'll be short, I think, so there's really no point in having you go all the way home with her."

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you still going through with the divorce?"

"Uh huh."

Jen sighed, "May I ask why?"

"No, you may not." Joey replied. "I know what you�re doing."

"What am I doing?"

"Trying to convince me I'm making a mistake?"

"Oh, well, then you do know what I'm doing. Just for the record, you are making a mistake."

"I don't think that I am." She twirled spaghetti around the tines of her fork.

"Why? I mean, you love him, he loves you, you like living with him, he likes living with you. Explain to me why you don't think you're doing the wrong thing," she said before taking a bite of her food.

"Because, Jen, things can change, people can change. I want to be one hundred percent sure of my relationship with Pacey before we do anything permanent."

Jen took another bite before speaking, "Could it be that you're afraid Pacey could hurt you the way Samuel did?"

"No." Joey ate another bite before continuing. "Pacey can't hurt me like Samuel did. For several reasons. I love Pacey more than I ever thought possible and anything I felt for Samuel pales in comparison. Which is why the thought of Pacey leaving me, of his own volition or not, just tears me up inside."

"So you're going to get rid of him before he can get rid of you."

"It's not so harsh as that," she sighed. "I just want to go slow. I mean, what's so wrong with that?"

"I think you're testing Pacey. I mean, sure, if he doesn't leave you after you divorce him, then he's a keeper, right?"

"Jen, you don't understand."

"No one understands, Joey. That's what's so frustrating. No one knows what the hell is going on in your head. You won't talk to me, you won't talk to Jack, and you don't talk to Pacey about this." She sighed, "You divorcing Pacey makes no sense to anyone. You want to go slow with Pacey after you've been married to him and sleeping with him for a year. You've been raising a daughter together, Joey. It's just hard to believe that you are pushing him away."

"You're right, it doesn't make sense. Not even to me. But I can't deny this feeling inside...the thought of being with him for the rest of my life...I just get all tense inside. There are just so many things wrong with me, I don't see how any of this could work out."

"Things wrong with you? What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with you."

"Jen, seriously. I know you think that the fact I can't have kids isn't a big deal and I know that Pacey doesn't care. But I care. And someday, he's going to as well." She held up her hand to keep Jen from protesting. "I'm not done. There's the blatant fact that I treat him like dirt, and I don't mean to. I never meant to hurt him, ever. And yet I can't do anything to stop how scared I am, and I know that it's killing him inside."

Jen sighed, "Joey...Pacey loves you. He always has. Even before he knew you couldn't have kids, he loved you. As for Pacey wanting kids someday, he has Hope. He loves her like she's his own. She owns a piece of his heart and always will. But hearing this from me won't make you feel any better. You know as well as I do that when he moves out of that house you are going to miss him with everything you have. It's going to kill the both of you to be separated. And what happens if you let him go and he does meet someone else? You will spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been had you done the smart thing and stayed married to him." She took a deep breath, "I know you're scared. I don't blame you for being so, but you have to trust Pacey, okay? He wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I've never seen anyone look at someone else the way he looks at you. Talk to him, okay? I know...you've been skimming over the topic, but you need to discuss this with him."

"There really isn't anything more to say, Jen. We've talked about it, and he's willing to do whatever it takes." She put her fork down on her plate, no longer hungry. "Which just makes me feel like a complete bitch because I'm so obviously not."

Jen shrugged, "I don't know what to say to you then."

"I can't help how I feel," she said quietly.

"I know."

"If I could change it, I would. I only want what's best for him."

Jen sighed, "Well, he thinks that what's best for him is you. That he�s willing to do anything to be with you, is a good indication of that.�

"I know what Pacey thinks is best." She started to play with her food, "I just have to decide if he's right or not."

Jen looked over at Marissa and smiled at the little girl, "You know in your heart if he's right. You just have to get over your fear and be happy."

"I'm trying."

Jen nodded, "I know."

"So...will you come with me?"

Jen nodded, "Yeah."

"Thanks."





Pacey looked up from taking with a contractor when he heard someone knock on the glass of the window. He smiled at Jen and held up his finger, telling her one second. He'd been at the restaurant all week, trying to get the renovations under way and things the way he wanted them. He patted the man he'd been talking to and walked outside and smiled at Marissa as Jen held her, "Hey, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to see how this was all coming," she smiled as Marissa held out her hands to Pacey, wanting to be held. "And as you can see, a certain someone has missed you."

Pacey pulled her into his arms, "You're getting so big." He smiled at Jen, "So, how are things going?"

"Oh, just peachy. I had lunch with Joey today, and then we went and did some errands. Same old, same old."

Pacey smiled, "Hope behave herself? No screaming or anything?"

"She's a little angel, as usual." Jen grinned slyly up at him, "Well, except for when she threw spaghetti at the waiter."

Pacey laughed, "That's my daughter."

"Yep, she definitely takes after you." Jen glanced around at the mess, "So, you thought of a name yet?"

He looked at the building and smiled, "Yes. And no I'm not telling you. It's a surprise."

"A surprise? Witter, I don't like surprises. Neither does your wife, for that matter."

Pacey grinned, "I know. There is one person who knows."

"And who's that?"

"Hope, of course. I tell her everything."

"And conveniently, she has a whole two words in her vocabulary."

Pacey smiled, "Right. So she can't tell her mother anything I've told her."

"I swear, you and Joey have the worst communication skills ever." Jen shook her head with amusement.

He sighed, "She doesn't want to talk to me, Jen. I can't exactly make her."

"I really don't think that she doesn't want to, Pace." Jen shifted her weight to her other foot, "I think it's more like she doesn't know what to say."

"I just don't understand the whole getting a divorce thing. I mean, I know she's scared, but, honestly, could you ever see me hurting Joey again?"

"No, I don't." Jen shook her head, "But you have the power, and at this point, I think that's all Joey can focus on.�

Pacey sighed, "I can't and don't want to picture my life without her."

"I don't mean that you're capable of hurting her, I'm just saying that she knows you have the power. She loves you so much that if something ever happened to you, she wouldn't be able to go on. That, more than anything, is what scares her."

He sighed, "I can't promise that something won't happen to me. We take that chance every time we get out of bed in the morning. I-I just want to love her."

"I know, Pace." Jen sighed, "I don't know what to tell you. I wish she wasn't being this way."

"You and me both."

"We went to her lawyer�s today," the blonde blurted.

He lowered his head and sighed, "And?"

"And...she got the papers." She admitted softly, "I'm sorry."

He frowned, "Great. I know what I'm getting for dinner tonight."

"I tried to talk her out of it, I did."

He nodded, "I believe you. I've tried to talk her out of it too. She just...she doesn't listen to me."

"She's not listening to anyone."

"She's stubborn and it pisses me off sometimes."

"You have every right to be." Jen assured him, "And she knows it too."

He groaned, "I don't want to go home tonight if she's going to give me those papers. Think I could crash on your couch and avoid it?"

"No can do," Jen shook her head. "Joey already made me promise to take Hope for the night. You're on your own."

He sighed, "Great, we don't even have Hope to interrupt her." He sighed, "Okay...I need to get back inside and think of a strategy." He handed Marissa back to Jen and turned to walk towards the building, "You think tearing up the papers when she hands them to me is a good idea?"

"She'll only go and get more, and you'll have to go through it again." She took Marissa and smiled sadly at him. "But who knows? It might work."

He sighed, "I'll just take it like a man, I guess." He waved at her, "Bye, Jen."

"Later, Pace."