A/N: I am getting back on it again. This is just the restart I will have more. I promise. I am so sorry. This is unbeta'd becuase I wanted to get it up and my beta is out of town on a vacation. I really wanted to get this up, so Beta I am sorry I am impatient, but i haven't updated this in so long. Also my updates will be more spaced out after this so sorry, but I have other stories I want to finish too.

Chapter 21: Valentine's Surprises

January had come and gone. Now it was February and things were getting back to normal some what. Richard and Kori were dating and Marie was loving having Kori around. Gar had gotten a job at the pet store with Richard and things were finally starting to look up. Kori and Richard had a greed to leave Jesse alone for the time being and hope he would gather the courage to come to one of them.

"Dad," Marie said as she walked into his den.

"Hmm?" Richard asked looking up at her. Barbra was out of town and he had to do some paper work for her.

"Valentines day is coming up and I have to buys cards for my class," she said.

"Right," Richard said, "I will take you out to get some once I am done with this paper work," he said.

"How long will that be?" Marie asked curiously.

"Just a few more minutes I am almost done," Richard said as he flipped through the papers quickly.

"Ok," Marie said, "I'll be in the living room drawing," she said. She ran from the room. Richard smiled as he looked to the door way. Marie had so much energy. He found it hard to keep up with her at times. He finished his paper work and put it away and he stood up and stretched for a moment. His back popped and he cracked his neck. He sighed and made his way to the living room.

"Marie," he said getting her attention.

"Are you done?" Marie asked as she jumped up. Richard nodded and he walked over to her.

"Come on let's go," he said, "I forgot all about Valentines day actually," he said.

"Don't let Kori know that," Marie said as she stood up. "If she finds out you almost forgot she'd be mad," she said.

"what did your father forget and why should I be mad," Kori asked as she walked into the living room.

"Nothing," Richard said turning around to look at Kori, "you look beautiful today," he said smiling at her. He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Marie," Kori said looking past Richard.

"He almost forgot about Valentines Day," Marie said, "sorry dad she hold my future in her hands," she said looking up at Richard.

"Almost, it's not for another," Richard said slowly. He thought about it trying to think about how long it was until Valentine's Day.

"It's next week," Kori said putting him out of his misery.

"I knew that," Richard said.

"Sure you did now can we go I need to get cards," Marie said.

"Yes, but in my defense I have not had someone to spend Valentines Day with since before Marie was born," Richard said. It was true, he had not had someone to spend Valentine's Day with in years. He had almost forgotten about the holiday all together if it weren't for Marie needing cards every year.

"I'm sorry, but I will mark my calendar," Richard said, "it's better I realize I forgot ahead of time right?" he asked.

"I guess,' Kori said looking at Richard.

"You look beautiful today," he said again.

"I want to go some time today," Marie said cutting in.

"Marie needs cards," Richard said.

"You know Marie, the best cards are the homemade ones," Kori said. "I always made my own cards when I was in school," she said.

"That sounds cool," Marie said.

"All you need is a little glue and paper," Kori said.

"I wanna make my own cards," Marie said turning to Richard. Richard looked down at her. That was all it took was for Kori to say something. He wasn't gonna complain if it was saving him some money now. She had gotten that craft set for Christmas from Barbra.

"Ok, you can use that craft thing Barbra gave you," Richard said. Marie's face lit up and she ran to her room. "You are amazing," Richard said.

"I know it saves a few bucks, but it's fun my parents would make each other cards," Kori said, "it was fun," she said again. She smiled and she made her way to the staircase. She walked up to Marie's room leaving Richard alone for a moment. He stood there as he got an idea. He started up the stairs and to Marie's room. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Marie and Kori sitting on her bed going through the papers and making a list of everyone in her class.

"Hey dad come help us," Marie said gesturing for him to join her and Kori.

"If you need help listing your classmates I will be no help the only one I know is Casey," he said.

"We have him already," Marie said, "and don't worry we got this," she said.

"We need red heart cut out," Kori said handing Richard a pair of scissors and the and pink paper. Richard smiled and took the papers and got to work cutting out hearts while Kori and Marie made a list of her class.

"How many do you need?" he asked.

"There are fifteen kid in our class," Kori said.

"So fifteen big ones and a bunch of smaller ones," Marie said. Richard nodded and cut out about twenty big hearts. He made a few extras incase Marie messed up and wanted to do one over. Marie and Kori finished making the list and joined him in cutting out the smaller hearts. After some time they had a small pile of hearts.

"Now comes the fun part," Kori said to Marie, "we get to think of the sayings for each card and we can decorate them," she said.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" Marie asked as she grabbed a marker and notebook and one of the hearts. She though for a moment, "Hmm," she tapped the end of the marker on her cheek. "How about be my Valentine," she said.

"That's perfect," Kori said smiling at Marie. Marie quickly wrote the saying in the card and grabbed the glue stick and glued several small heart to the card, and folded it in half.

"That's one down and fourteen more to go," Richard said. He and Kori grabbed hearts for Marie and wrote some sayings down for Marie. An hour later they finished and there were still two extra hearts. Marie had even made one for Kori.

"Thank you Kori this was a great idea," Marie said hugging Kori. She turned to Richard, "Thank you for helping," she said giving him a hug as well. She jumped up and ran from the room. Richard shook his head and turned to the mess she had left behind.

"You go," Richard said to Kori. Kori nodded and followed Marie down to the living room. Richard started to clean up the mess. He save on one of the big hearts and a few smaller ones. He was going to make Kori a Valentine's Day card and he had to get her an amazing gift too. He wanted this Valentine's Day to be special since he was with Kori.

Marie handed out her Valentines to her class and everyone loved them. They had told her that she was smart to make her own. Kori put on a movie for the class and Marie and Jesse sat in the back together.

"Your cards were cool," Jesse said.

"Thanks," Marie said smiling. She looked at Jesse he had a new bruise on his arm. She knew how it had gotten there. His mom was hurting him and she wanted to tell someone but she promised not to. She never asked him about the bruises anymore. She had learned to ignore them. "Jesse you have to tell someone," she said quietly.

"I'm fine," Jesse said pulling his shirt sleeve down in an attempt to hide the bruise.

"No your not," Marie said.

"I am," Jesse said, "I don't want to be taken away from my mom," he said in a low whisper.

"But she's hurting you," Marie said, "It's not right," she said letting her worry show.

"I know, but if I get taken away they'll ship me away for good and I may never get to see you again," Jesse said, "Marie you are the only real friend I have," he said looking down at the floor. Marie looked at Jesse shocked. She had not expected him to say that.

"That's not true, if there's someone here who will take you, you can stay here," Marie said, "Talk to miss Anders, she's nice and you know it," she said. Jesse had been over a lot lately when Kori was over and the three would spend time together.

"Fine will you come with me?" Jesse asked, "after school," he said.

"Yeah, I have to stay after and wait for her anyways," she said.

"Thank you," Jesse said his cheeks turning pink. The two stopped talking and watched the movie. Once the movie ended it was time to go. Everyone get ready to go and Kori dismissed the class. Everyone was gone except for Marie and Jesse.

"Uh, miss Anders can I talk to you?" Jesse asked as he and Marie walked up to her desk. Kori stopped what she was doing and looked up at Jesse confused.

"You know you can tell me anything," Kori said as she set her papers aside.

"You see this," Jesse said rolling his sleeve up t reveal his bruise, "I didn't get it from falling, I don't fall much, my-my-" he said he trailed off.

"Jesse you can tell me," Kori said standing up and moving around her desk to kneel in front of him.

"My mom did this because I was late getting home," he said, "that black eye I had a few weeks ago was from her too," he said looking down at the floor.

"Jesse do you not feel safe at home?" Kori asked. Jesse shook his head and continued to stare at the floor.

"Jesse I have to tell someone about this you know that right?" Kori asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, but I don't have to leave and go far away do I?" Jesse asked worriedly.

"Do you have any relative in town," Kori asked.

"I have an aunt on my dad's side," Jesse said, "her name is Toni Monetti," he said.

"Toni?" Kori asked, "I know her she is a good friend of mine, do you want me to call her and see if she can come get you for now?" Kori asked. Jesse nodded and looked at the floor again. Marie walked up to Jesse and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing Jesse," she said.

"Jesse come with me to the principle's office," Kori said standing up, "Marie you come too," she said. She ushered the kids out of the room and down the hall to the principle, Ms. Roth's office. She knocked on the door hoping Arella was still here.

"Come in," Arella said. Kori opened the door and followed the two kids inside.

"Kori," Arella said shocked.

"Jesse you have to tell her what you told me," Kori said.

"My mom hurts me," Jesse said looking down at the floor. "She gave me this yesterday because I got home late," he said showing Arella his arm.

"Kori I have to call social services and we cannot send him home," Arella said.

"I have an aunt who will come and get me," Jesse said, "Toni Monetti," he said looking up at Arella.

"Toni?" Arella asked.

"Ryan's girlfriend," Kori said. Arella nodded and grabbed her phone. "You call her and have her come down if she's not busy and I will call social services," she said. Kori nodded and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called Toni. Toni said she wasn't too busy for Jesse and that she would be there as soon as she could.

Richard looked at the card on his desk. Kori had called him and told him about Jesse telling her about his mom and that she'd be late. Marie was with her and not to worry. He had planned the whole evening and wanted it to go perfectly. That was ruined now, but it was good that Jesse had finally come clean about his home life. He had been worried about the kid. He had so many bruises it was only a matter of time before he or Kori broke down and talked to him.

He sat up straighter as he heard the front door open and close. He stood up and moved to see who it was. It was Kori and Marie.

"Dad," Marie said.

"Hey Mar, Mar," he said.

"Hey sorry it took so long," Kori said, "Jesse told the social workers everything and they decided to let him go home with Toni since his mom is not fit to take care of him. After that decision was made she showed up and threw a fit," she said.

"It's ok I understand," Richard said.

"I'm hungry," Marie said.

"I wasn't sure when you two were gonna get here so I didn't make anything but I can make you a sandwich," Richard said quickly.

"I can make my own sandwich dad," Marie said as she walked past him to the kitchen. Richard stood there shocked for a moment. He shook his head and turned to look at Kori.

"Richard I am so sorry," Kori said, "this was our first Valentine's Day together and I ruined it," she said.

"The day is not over yet and I have your gift in the den," Richard said pointing over his shoulder. He turned and walked down the hall and Kori followed him. Richard grabbed the card off his desk and held it out to Kori who smiled. "I thought you'd like it," he said.

Kori looked at the card. On the outside it said, Will you be my Valentine? Kori smiled and realized the card as a little heavy. She opened it and looked inside. Taped inside was a necklace with a key charm on it. Written above it were the words, And hold the key to my heart? Kori gasped slightly and looked up at Richard who was holding up his keys. On it was a heart charm with a key hole in it.

"Richard," she said.

"What do you say?" Richard asked.

"It's lovely and yes I will," she said moving closer to kiss him. She placed her arms around him and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Kori," Richard said as he pulled back and looked at her. He grabbed the necklace and unclasped it. "Turn around," he said. Kori did and he helped her put the necklace on. "I've been thinking," he said slowly.

"Hmm?" Kori hummed to show she was listening and that he could continue.

"I know this may seem sudden, but I think I love you," Richard said. He bit his lip as he watched Kori waiting for her to respond.

"As crazy as it sound I think I love you too," Kori said.

"You hungry?" Richard asked, "we can go make a sandwich," he said.

"Yeah I think we should go make sure the kitchen isn't a mess," Kori said. Richard nodded and grabbed Kori's hand and he led her to the kitchen where Marie was eating. There was only a small mess on the counter where she had obviously made her sandwich.

"Hey dad," Marie said again smiling at him.

"Hey," Richard said.

"I told you I could do it on my own," she said.

"Look at the mess you made," Richard said pointing to the counter.

"I'll clean it up," Marie said waving her hand at Richard.

"You better," Richard said. He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed some ham and cheese to make sandwiches. "What do you want Kor?" he asked looking over his shoulder at her.

"Ham and cheese is fine," Kori said as she grabbed some bread.

"So how's work at the pet shop?" Rachel asked as she sat down next to Gar at the kitchen table.

"Good," Gar said, "Richard and Barbra have a whole weird system but in time I'll catch on and get the hang of it," he said. He had started working at the pet shop a few weeks ago and so far things were going good. He noticed that Richard and Barbra were really close. This was also a way for him to get to know Richard better too.

"That's great," Rachel said.

"So I have a question," Gar said as he looked up from his plate of food.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Did you ask your mom about coming to stay with us once you get further in your pregnancy?" Gar asked.

"No, I haven't yet," Rachel said honestly. "I'm having lunch with her tomorrow and I'll ask her then," she said as she leaned in and kissed Gar on the cheek.

"You do know it's Valentine's Day right?" Gar asked.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Rachel said.

"I couldn't help myself," Gar said as he pulled a rectangular box out of his pocket. "I saw it and I thought of you," he said.

Rachel took the box and opened it. Inside was a silver raven shaped pennant on a sliver chain. She gasped softly. She had been looking at that one day when they had gone shopping. She didn't think he would remember.

"You remembered," she said as she stared at the necklace.

"Well yeah," Gar said, "just don't expect any food or any other necessities for a while that thing cost a lot of money," he said. Rachel laughed and hugged Gar. She had not expected anything from him. They had agreed not to do anything.

"Oh Gar this is beautiful," she said. Gar smiled and took the box from her. He took the necklace out and held it out to her. He showed her the back side which had an engraving on it, To Rae I love you so much, love always Gar Logan. Rachel turned and allowed him to put it on.

"I love you Rae," Gar said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you Gar," Rachel said. Rachel looked down at her flat stomach and thought about their baby. She was nervous about this. She wanted it, but she was terrified and didn't know what to do. She was only two months along, but she wanted this kid.

"So I was thinking we have to decide do we want to get married before or after?" Gar asked.

"Before," Rachel said.

"That's what I was thinking," Gar said.

"We're gonna need help," Rachel said, "I mean lots of it," she said.

"I know I am gonna have to call my parents and see if they want to stay in town or go and come back in a few months," Gar said.

"It would be nice to have them around," Rachel said. Gar nodded and scooted closer to Rachel. He was excited abut this. He loved Rachel more than anything and he knew he was going to love this kid whether it be a boy or a girl.

"You should talk to Kori," Gar said, "she doesn't like being left out and you know she is gonna want to help with as much as she can," he said.

"I know," Rachel said, "but she's busy with Richard and Marie," Rachel said.

"Rae you're her best friend and she'll make time for you," Gar said.

"So Kori did you like my card?" Richard asked. Marie had long since gone to bed and Kori and Richard were sitting in his den.

"I love it," Kori said as she scooted closer to Richard. She laid her head on his shoulder as he placed his arm around her waist.

"So what's gonna happen to Jesse?" Richard asked, "he's not gonna have to go far away is he," he asked. He knew that Marie and Jesse were just becoming friends and he did not what anything to mess that up for Marie. He wanted her to be happy and being friends with Jesse made her happy.

"No, he's probably gonna end up with Toni and Ryan," Kori said, "Toni said she had been trying for years to get Jesse away from his mother ever since her brother died. Jesse seemed relieved when she said she would take him. I think Marie is his only real friend, they spend a lot of time together," she said. She hardly ever saw the two apart anymore.

"God, I am not ready for this in a few years she'll want to date," Richard said.

"Hey she's only eight," Kori said.

"But you said it yourself kids grow up so fast these days," Richard said shaking his head. He did not want to think about Marie wanting to date. He was not ready for that yet.

"I know but still you have a few years before that happens," Kori said.

"You know Kori, those cards you made for Marie reminded me of when I was in school," Richard said, "back when I was really young there was this girl in my class who made homemade card every year," he said.

"Oh really?" Kori asked looking at Richard.

"Yeah, she was always short and she wore glasses and had red hair," Richard said as he thought about it. He looked at Kori and both their eyes grew wide.

"Oh my god," Kori said, "we went to school together," she said quickly.

"You used to wear glasses?" Richard asked playfully.

"I wear contacts now but yes," Kori said, "I hated them though my mom had to pick out the ugliest ones they had," she said shaking her head.

"I thought your name sounded familiar," Richard said, "I mean your last name, I remembered it from somewhere," he said.

"You wanna know a something?" Kori asked her cheeks turning pink.

"What?" Richard asked.

"Back when we were teenagers and you were the famous Richard Grayson I had a crush on you," Kori said looking away form him. "I had posters of you all around my room," she admitted.

"Oh my god you're a stalker," Richard said playfully. Kori punched his arm playfully.

Xavier yawned as he rested his head on the wall next to Koma's bed. She had not woken up yet. The doctors were starting to worry about her and the baby. It had been over a month now and he was starting to get worried himself. He had spent all his free time here incase she woke up. He wanted to be there when she did.

"Xavier," a voice said from behind him.

"Hey Ryan," Xavier said turning to look at Ryan.

"I just came to see if anything had changed," Ryan said. He walked over to Xavier and looked down at Koma. He wanted her to be ok, he wanted her to wake up as bad as Xavier did.

"Ryan what if she doesn't wake up?" Xavier asked as he looked up at the eldest Anders sibling.

"I don't know," Ryan said.

Xavier felt his eyes well with tears. Koma was the woman he loved, but he had never gotten the chance to tell her. With the way things were going now he might not ever get that chance.

"You can't think that way though," Ryan said placing a hand on Xavier's shoulder. "You can't give up just yet," he said.

"I haven't given up," Xavier said looking down at Koma. He reached out and grabbed her hand. He wanted her to wake up so badly.

"X-Xavier?" Xavier jumped up and looked down at Koma as her eyes fluttered open.

"Koma?" Xavier said as he leaned over her to look her in the eyes as she woke up.

"What happened?" Koma asked.

"You were in an accident," Xavier said, "you've been in a coma for just over a month now," he said.

"You had us all so scared sis," Ryan said.

"A month?" Koma asked shocked.

"Yes and that's not all," Xavier said, "the doctors did some tests and they found out your pregnant," he said.

"What?" Koma asked her eyes wide in shock.

"You are pregnant," Xavier said, "about three months along now," he said.

"Oh my god," Koma said softly.

"The baby is fine they've been checking up on you and it all the time," he said.

"I am gonna go get a nurse or a doctor or something," Ryan said.

"X, this is so unexpected," Koma said, "I am not ready to be a mother," she said.

"You'll make a great mother if you give it a chance," Xavier said, "I gave up one kid I am not making that mistake again," he said.

"As long as your with me I think I'll be fine," Koma said looking up at him ad smiling. "So what day is it?" she asked.

"February fourteenth," Xavier said, "also known as Valentine's Day," he said.

"I don't know what to say," Koma said, "this is so overwhelming," she said.