"Hi." Frank replied as she pulled back.

Taking Callie’s hand, Frank led her to the couch, sitting down and guiding her to a seat next to him. Everything was going to come out tonight…everything. This had been put off long enough. Taking a deep breath, Frank stared into Callie’s deep brown eyes.

"I know I’ve asked you this before – Joe, too – but I need to ask one more time, ok?" Frank said, holding tightly to her hands. ‘One last chance. Please, God, let her tell me the truth. If they would just tell me the truth, I could forgive them…’

"Ok." Callie replied, confused.

"Have you told me everything that happened last summer? Absolutely everything?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Callie stiffened. Did Frank know about the kiss? But how could he? She hadn’t told him and Joe…Joe couldn’t even remember it.

Silence hung in the air for a moment and Frank prayed harder than he ever had in his life, that she would tell him. About the kiss. The video. Everything. No matter how hard it would be for her to say it, no matter how painful it would be for him to hear her admit she had slept with his brother. ‘I can forgive you, Callie. I really can. Just please tell me the truth.’

Callie stared at him, torn. She wanted desperately to tell him. They had never kept secrets from each other – ever. But she had made a promise to Joe. And she had never broken a promise to anyone.

Callie had just about decided to come clean with Frank, hoping Joe would understand when suddenly Joe’s face flashed through her mind. She could hear his voice pleading with her to keep his secret. She could see the fear in his eyes. ‘I can’t. I gave him my word.’ Taking a deep breath, she looked Frank in the eyes, praying she wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of her life.

"Yes, Frank. We’ve told you everything. What makes you think we’re keeping something from you?" She asked, hoping the guilt didn’t show in her eyes.

Slowly, he released her hands, and pulled away, crushed. It was over. He’d given her one last chance and she couldn’t do it. How could they possibly start a life together if he couldn’t trust her? How could they bring a child into the world…

Suddenly the weight of it all became too much for Frank. The lies, the betrayals. He had been there for Joe last summer, he’d been there for Callie, for both of them. Never wavering in his support during an extremely difficult time. Maybe he hadn’t always been able to hide his feelings from them, but whenever they needed him, he was always there. And in return, when all he wanted was the truth, he got nothing but lies. Something inside him snapped. His blood ran cold and Frank decided that tonight, one way or another, he was going to get the truth.

"Liar." He whispered, unable to keep the venom out of his voice.

"What?" Callie asked, certain she had misheard him.

"Liar." Frank repeated, louder this time, looking her in the eyes, making no attempt to hide his anger.

"Frank, I don’t understand." Callie said, tears in her eyes. "I’ve been as honest as I can with you!"

"Liar!" Frank cried out. He suddenly felt as if he were standing outside his own body, watching the confrontation between himself and Callie but not really participating. "I know everything, Callie! I KNOW!!"

Callie felt as if she were going around in circles. This had to be about more than just the kiss. She had no idea what Frank was talking about, yet whatever it was had him extremely upset. She couldn’t recall ever seeing him so distraught in the entire time they had been together.

"I KNOW about you and Joe!" Frank cried out, his heart breaking.

"Me and Joe? What about me and Joe?" Callie asked, utterly confused. ‘Maybe I should call Joe.’ Callie thought, watching Frank fall to pieces before her eyes. ‘I’ve never seen him like this before.’

"My, God, how stupid do you think I am?!" Frank could feel himself losing all control. "I know about the kiss, Callie. The kiss you and Joe never wanted me to find out about."

Callie stared at him speechless and in shock. How could he possibly have found out? No one else knew about it! No one except Nash and Jenkins…

"And I watched the video, Callie! I know what you and Joe did." Frank almost choked on the words. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

Callie gasped out loud and recoiled as if she had been hit. Frank had promised to throw the video in the trash the second he got it!

"You slept with my brother!!" Tears were now streaming down his face and Frank made no effort to hide them. "The two people I trusted most in the world. How many times did it happen? Once? Twice? Have you been sleeping with him all along? Only a cheap whore would sleep with two brothers at the same time!"

Callie gaped at him, speechless. Everything was so surreal. Frank couldn’t possibly be accusing her of sleeping with…Joe?!

‘He’s sick. He must be.’ She thought, trying to come up with something, anything to rationalize Frank’s behavior. She refused to accept that he could turn on her like this. ‘It’s the stress. It has to be. Everything that happened last summer…he came so close to losing Joe forever. He just…he finally cracked. I know he doesn’t mean it.’

"Tell me, Callie," Frank began, his voice now shaking with anger. "Do you have any idea whether I’m going to be a father…or an uncle?"

Something inside Callie finally snapped. "How dare you! How dare you talk to me like that! Accuse me of…of…" Grabbing her purse, Callie headed for the door. She had a feeling if she didn’t leave immediately, one of them would do something, say something that would cause so much damage their relationship could never be repaired.

"Go ahead!" She heard Frank screaming after her. "Run to Joe! And don’t come back!"

Callie flew out of the apartment, down the steps and out the front door of the building. And she ran. For blocks and blocks, her legs pumping and her heart pounding, tears streaming down her face. She was aware of people watching, staring at her, but she didn’t care. She had to get away. Far away.

Minutes later, gasping for breath, she slowed down and finally stopped, panting for breath. Looking up she saw she was at the top of the manmade steps that led down to the beach. Standing looking out at the calm blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Frank’s words echoed in her head.

Callie felt sick to her stomach as Frank’s degrading accusations played themselves out over and over again. With a clarity she hadn’t had before, Callie realized Frank’s odd behavior over the past several months now made perfect sense. It certainly explained his strange treatment of Joe all these months. And her, too. If he honestly thought she and Joe were having an affair…were sleeping together…. For one brief moment, she actually felt sorry for Frank, trying to grasp how painful it must have been for him if he actually believed that. But her sympathy quickly turned to anger. Why hadn’t he just come right out and asked her? Or Joe?

As Callie stood trying to decide where to go, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and clutched at her stomach. Leaving almost as quickly as it came, Callie decided it must be due to the stress.

‘Calm down. Relax. This isn’t good for the baby.’ Callie told herself, taking slow deep breaths. ‘Vanessa… I can go see Van and…’

Another pain, sharper and more penetrating than the first.

‘No!’ Callie thought, now cradling her stomach with both hands. ‘No, not my baby!’

A third pain followed and then a fourth. They were coming faster now, deeper and more agonizing. Doubled over and gasping for breath, Callie’s vision blurred with tears as she groped for the railing. Reaching out with one hand Callie tried to steady herself. Without warning another pain ripped through her, this one so intense, she blacked out, tumbling down the steps to land in the soft sand at the bottom of the staircase.

Immediately an elderly couple that had been walking along the beach rushed to her side. The older woman knelt in the sand, concerned, taking Callie’s hand in hers as her husband called for an ambulance.

"Don’t worry, honey." The woman said gently, hoping Callie might be able to hear her somehow. "Help is on the way."