Tommy Covington is doing his best by trying to comfort his wailing two-month-old son Jeremy in his arms. The two were in the baby's nursery upstairs of the mansion on Home Farm.

 

Tommy glances down at his son's cherubic cheeks that are currently flushed and wet with tears.

 

"Come on, champ, what's wrong? You've been changed and fed, and you aren't running a fever; why are you trying to break the sound barrier?"

 

He continues to loudly sob when a light rap on the doorway gets the young father to turn around to see his older sister standing there,

 

"What's the matter, Jeremy? Huh, what's the matter?" Courtney says in an infantile voice.

 

She then gestures for her brother to pass the baby to her to hold.

 

Courtney gently rocks her nephew into her arms, hoping to stop him from crying. It takes a few more minutes to notice the stillness in the room as Jeremy stops sobbing.

 

Tommy puts his hands on his head. "How in the hell were you able to do that?"

 

"Years of practice, that's all. I did the same thing with you when you were Jeremy's age, and it always calmed you down." Courtney admits

 

"I've so much to learn," he realizes

 

"Well, I'll be here if you need me; how is the nanny search going?"

 

Tommy gives a brief explanation about the difficulty to find an adequate nanny, but he has finally found someone with help from their housekeeper Gabriella named Lilith, who is in her forties and will be starting in a few weeks.

 

"Besides, Steven and you will be busy with the wedding and getting your new house together," Tommy gathers.

 

Courtney is hesitant about it, since she had told her fiancé she wasn't in an exact rush to leave home. She then looks down, noticing the baby has drowsed off in her arms. So she walks to the crib to place him in it.

 

"You'll get the hang of it; he's worth it," Courtney tells her brother. She stands on her toes to kiss her brother on his cheek before leaving out of the room.

 

On her way down the hallway, she sports her older brother Max Covington coming up the staircase.

 

"I need to talk to you,"

 

"Can't it wait, Max? I need to go into the office," Courtney concedes

 

Max inches closer to his sister. "No, it can't; I have let it go on far enough. The way you have been treating Shauna is wrong, and you know it."

 

Courtney puts her arms onto her chest, discerning when their grandmother had taken stock of the family predicaments before she left for New York City that Courtney had accosted her. In which Max gives her a look to signify he wasn't amused.

 

"Max, I get that you're defending your wife, but let's not forget she got drunk and was hanging on her ex-lover."

 

"Maybe her behavior was questionable, but you make her feel less than after she apologized to you and Steven, for it is even worse."

 

Courtney scoffs.

 

"Well, I know you two are in therapy now. It's obvious you two are having problems, so don't take it out on me, about seeing her as the opportunistic woman I first saw her as."

 

Max hadn't heard his sister about Shauna like this since before they got married when he found out Antoine and Shauna were once an item, and he was insecure about it. Courtney believed her to be after the benefits of being married into the Covington family, including wealth and the Covington name itself.

 

"You know, I thought we would be able to have a mature conversation, but I guess I was wrong."

 

Courtney glances toward the staircase. "I need to go,"

 

"You've accuse dad of not respecting your relationship with Steven. But you're doing the exact thing with mine. How ironic?!"

 

With that, Max keeps going forward down the hall while Courtney remains walks down the stairs deliberately, taking into account what her brother said to her.

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PRESENT DAY

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