Mutual

He wanted to see his wife, too, of course but all Ryan could think about his little Bella on the drive home. This made the trip seem a million times longer. Bella was in her pyjamas but not in bed when her dad got home. She grinned when she saw Ryan.

"Hello, my sweet," daddy said picking her up as she ran to him. "How come you're still up?"

It was a bit past seven and Bella was usually in bed by now.

The answer to that was in the kitchen. Emily as on the phone. The conversation looked serious. It sounded like she was talking to either her sister or her mother. A sentence or two later he realized that it must be Haley. Ryan cuddled a sleepy Bella. He was tucking her into bed when he heard his wife finally hung up the phone in the living room.

"What's up?" Ryan asked her.

What was up was Haley was having an affair with a married man.

And she was pregnant, or she had been.

She'd had an abortion when her married boyfriend threatened to end the relationship if she didn't. Haley knew the man was married with two small children, the youngest being five-month-old but she "couldn't let go." This man was her "soulmate" despite the fact he was another woman's husband. She was willing to "share" him with his family to keep him if that's what it took. Allegedly the wife knew about her and felt the same regarding "sharing." Haley was desperate for her sister to tell what no else so far wasn't, that what she was doing was okay.

Emily told Haley that she would always love her but if she told her behavior was okay, it would be a lie. She was hurting the children and wife involved and herself. She didn't address Haley's abortion. Though it was something Emily had been against since she knew what it was, she knew it was option and a woman was free to chose it. Haley didn't have to ask her sister if she would "share" Ryan—in a way she did already, with his job—but with another woman?

Not a chance.

"I'm guessing she's not happy with you, then," Ryan said, sitting at the kitchen table.

"She didn't sound mad or anything. But happy, no," Emily replied.

"This guy's gotta be a real catch if women are willing to share him," Ryan said. "It's a shame that children have to be caught in this mess." He didn't need to say aloud that he believed it was a good thing that Haley had decided to terminate her pregnancy.

"I'm shocking myself by saying I am glad she had an abortion," Emily said. "The back and forth confusion would be brutal even if the kid would be born into it and know nothing different. She seemed even more pissed when I said maybe she should worry about STDs as much as she's worried 'bout pregnancy considering she's not the only woman sweet Preston is screwing. Apparently, there's no way that he's having sex with anyone either than her and his wife."

"I agree. If that's the case, which the mere notion makes laugh. You should have mentioned to her that maybe the wife could be doing other people. Therefore she's sleeping with them, too."

Haley adored her little sister and big brother. But how their lives had fallen "seamlessly" into place made her green with envy. Emily had found the person for her when she was barely out of diapers. Ryan Wolfe now was her loving husband, and the two had beautiful daughter and now a son on the way. James was happy as a single man, focusing on his career as a chef in high demand in California. But until she met Preston, Haley was unhappy.

Married or not, he was the love her life.

She would prefer to call her life with him as "unconventional," rather than being what she was truly was.

The other woman.

Furthermore, she was willing to sacrifice motherhood to be with him. Preston told that her children with her would only complicate things. Not that his children with his wife would ever meet Haley.

They wouldn't.

Preston had two lives. One with Haley and one with his wife and family. Preston had paid for Haley's abortion and when she was medically permitted to, Haley planned to get an IUD.

Preston was paying for that, too.

Emily had bit her tongue when Haley said that. She wanted to ask Preston didn't just "get snipped" if he was worried about having more kids. But from what she knew about men like him, they were likely to continue having children with his accommodating wife and preserve the picture of happy family life. Emily didn't have the time or energy to worry about her sister and her bad choices. And she couldn't afford to, being pregnant. Haley's behavior were going to come back to haunt her sooner or later, And then she would have to be a big girl and deal with it.

Emily knew Ryan had had another shift with yet another child being killed. She didn't know how he slept at night after investigating the murder of a baby. Tonight, no doubt thanks to seeing the body of Mia Rivera hooked up to an array of tubes, IV lines and other equipment. He usually didn't tell his wife anything about the cases he worked because he couldn't. More importantly he didn't want to visualize the things he talked about, something Emily did automatically with everything and everybody. But tonight, he told her how tiny Mia looked under all of it. She had been barely visible. Saying something like this while on the job even to those who could be trusted wasn't recommended. Police and CSIs couldn't let emotion, no matter how justified and human, rule an investigation. They had to remain objective.

Emily was glad Ryan was able to unburden himself. Even if it had been to her. He fiercely forced herself not to picture what Ryan had talked about. If she did, she would see her own child's face. Twenty-two month-old Bella was into everything. She also starting to want to do everything for herself. Sometimes she would let her parents help her with things like brush her hair or teeth but that was it. And the couple hadn't started potty-training with Bella so the fact she was cooperative with diaper changes, being certain toddlers were not was a relief. They hoped to have their daughter almost potty-trained—at least in pull-ups by the time the baby arrived.