From: Robert Willers <willers@trombone.sps.mot.com>

LOVING Mini-Update for Friday, September 15:

STORYLINE: ALL IN A NAME
           (location: Neal's room)
* A radio is on -- Richard is promoting his next show: "The latest on
 the Alden Murders...we'll look into the rumors that daughter Trisha has
 returned from abroad..."  Neal turns off the radio and pulls out the
 post card.  He puts it back in his dresser drawer and gets out an
 infant's name bracelet with the name GWYNETH on it.
* Neal puts the bracelet down and, somewhat frantically, walks out of
 his room.
* [Neal goes to see Gwyneth.  See below.]

STORYLINE: FUTURE FOOTBALL PLAYER?
           (starting location: Stephanie's hotel room)
* Stephanie is talking to Deborah on the phone -- she can't come to
 her lamaze class because Neal called in sick.  Stephy says that's OK,
 there's another one in five weeks.  She starts to talk to Duke (the
 bear Tony gave to her), and there is a knock at the door.  She answers
 it, but nobody is there.  It turns out that it was the door to the next
 room, and it was Tony.  He says, "Howdy, pardner."
* All smiles, she asks what he is doing there.  He says it is like old
 times, but with no stalker.  He says you can only sleep on a couch at
 Alex's for *so* long.  She thanks him for last night.  He apologizes
 for being so forward; she says she wouldn't call it forward.  Anyway,
 he says, he has to get to work and she has to get to class.  He starts
 to demonstrate "Hee-hee" breathing -- she'll get to that in three or
 four classes.  She asks how he knows all this.  He reminds her that he
 had lots of sisters, who had lots of babies.  He picks Duke up, saying
 that he used to be a prop for a focal point.  She mentions that Deborah
 can't make the class, and Tony calls the station and asks "Higgins" to
 cover for him, since he'll be a little late.  Stephy says he didn't
 have to do that.  He says that "To Serve And Protect" means babies,
 too.  She tells him that he's "something else."  She thanks him as they
 walk out, arm in arm.
* [At the lamaze class.]
The instructor asks the girls to tell what it means to be a parent.
 She asks Stephanie to volunteer.  "When I first found out that I was
 pregnant, I guess you could say I felt a little -- a lot alone.  And
 I guess it was because my life was kind of like a roller coaster at the
 time...then my body started changing and I started thinking about this
 life growing inside of me, and I can't imagine anything better than
 bringing it into this world.  I'm still really scared and nervous and
 overwhelmed, but I also feel very excited and very privileged and I
 feel hope."  The instructor asks for his side.  Stephanie starts to
 tell them that he isn't involved, but he interrupts and says he thinks
 it is great.  He stands up and addresses the class.  He thinks it is
 great that they are all there starting off right.  Kids are great: they
 start off with a clean slate, and they see things through new eyes, but
 it is up to the parents to keep those eyes focused.  He sits back down
 as he says that his parents used to say that children are their future,
 and they have to teach them the right things.  The instructor says that
 Stephy's child is going to be lucky to have such loving parents.  Tony
 and Stephanie smile.  Then, the mothers lay down to start breathing.
 Stephanie groans and grabs her stomach: she is having some kind of
 pain.  Tony asks if she is all right...
* The pain was the baby kicking.  Stephy puts Tony's hand on her stomach
 and lets him feel it.

STORYLINE: JOURNAL NO MORE
           (location: near Buck's property)
* Buck, Ally and Tyler are on a picnic.  She tells him that they really
 needed this.  She says it is beautiful.  He can't believe he almost
 sold it.
* He tells her about the house, which would have been on the rise across
 the way.  Ally says she and Casey always used to fight about work and
 money.  She pulls out Casey's journal, and says that what he wrote in
 there was not about the fights, but about the good times...and if she
 could go back in time, she'd go back to the day he died and save him.
 Buck says she can't look at it that way; he felt the same way about
 Stacey.  He should have suspected something when she mentioned getting
 the powder, but he wasn't thinking.  He is just now getting to the
 point where he can stop blaming himself.  She asks how.  He says that,
 actually, it is *her*.
* She asks how it was her.  It was that she survived a murder attempt
 by the same person who killed Stacey, and although he didn't catch the
 murderer like he wanted to, that counts for something.  He says this
 is the closest he has been to having peace of mind since this whole
 thing started.  Ally says she will never have peace of mind, even if
 they do get Danny and throw him in jail.  She sees Tyler climbing in
 the rocks and tells him to get out of there.  Buck says he'll go check
 it out.  She picks up Casey's journal.  She "tells him" that she is
 confused and asks him to tell her what to do.
* Ally puts the journal down.  Buck comes back: the police guard was
 just trying to help Tyler track down his ball.  She says she has to
 get down to the gym; she'll go and get Tyler while Buck packs up the
 picnic.  He picks up the blanket, but the journal falls out (he
 doesn't notice).  We see Danny lurking in the shadows.

STORYLINE: MISTY WATERCOLOR MEMORIES...
           (location: Gwyneth's hotel room)
* Jeremy is loading boxes into Gwyn's room.  He says this must be hard
 on her.  She says the hard part is that "things" are all she has left
 of her family.
* She goes through some old memories: a night with Clay in Pine Valley.
 She can't believe Clay saved all this stuff.  "Why is my family all
 gone, and I am still alive?  It is so unfair.  [...]  I was supposed
 to die in that car."  Jeremy says he wishes he had an answer.  She
 says the pain is getting to be too much; she wishes the killer would
 just "come and finish it."
* Jeremy says she isn't alone -- she has all her friends, and the
 memories of her family.  It's not the same, but it is a strong force.
 She says she knows what he is saying, but it doesn't take away her
 pain.  He says that only time can do that.  He says he wants to offer
 her something: just like when he made her a bust of Trisha, he wants
 to make her sculptures of the other members of her family.  She asks
 if it is an imposition; he says of course not.  He wants her to look
 through the old photos and find the ones she wants him to use, but she
 can't do that right now, and she says she trusts his judgment.  She
 changes her mind a bit: she says that most of those photos are from
 their vacations, and a few of them are their happiest times ever.  He
 says he will try to make the best judgment possible.  They kiss and
 he leaves with the photos.  We pan to the bust of Trisha.  The phone
 rings, startling her a bit.  It is Neal: he has to talk to her ASAP.
 She says he can meet her at the station later, but he says he is on a
 break from Le Bistro and he is down in the lobby.  She says she will
 speak to the security guards outside and tells him to come on up.  He
 hangs up, glances at the bracelet, and heads upstairs.
* [Outside the hotel.]
Jeremy loads the box into his trunk.  We see the same photo of the two
 kids which the killer is leaving fragments of at the crime scenes.
[In Gwyn's room.]
Neal comes in, under the officers' supervision.  He thanks her for
 seeing him.  She offers him a drink.  No thanks.  Neal says he doesn't
 know how to go about this.  Gwyn asks, "How to go about what?  Is
 something wrong?"  Neal says, "I'm afraid so.  I never meant for it
 to come to this."

What a strange ending-hanger...

LOVING Murders promo: Same as Monday.

-----
|  "If Ronald Reagan was the Great Communicator,       |  Bob Willers  |
|   then Bill Clinton is the Great Fornicator."        |  Phoenix, AZ  |
|   -- Unknown                                         | MY opinions!! |
+------------ willers@trombone.sps.mot.com ------------+---------------+

