Jen, who was a clear out-of-towner to the people of Lodi, stopped briefly at a small gas station. With the gas pump doing its job, Jen retrieved the necessary tools needed for a quick diaper change.

In the backseat, two-year-old Jack was awake and babbling, occasionally putting the words mamma and dada together. Back in Queens, it would have been a death sentence to change your sons diaper at dusk in the parking lot of a gas station with the keys in the ignition and a knife not at arms reach.

But Jen felt safe in Lodi. After all it is the town she had spent so many summer days running around in her child and half her teenage years.

With Jack buckled back up in his seat and a sippy-cup of water glued to his lips, Jen dumped all the trash that had littered the floor of her forest green Ford Focus. She loved that car and wouldn't trade it in for anything thing.

So far, Jen had driven nearly 2800 miles in three days. A new record for her actually. When she was eighteen she and her sister had done it four. It was Christmas and the two sisters decided to drive out to sunny California.

Now that she finally made it Lodi, there was only ten miles left until Charming.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of that explosion. A giant mushroom cloud of flames and smoke lit the night sky.

"Shit." Was the only word the twenty-eight year old could think of.

The musical sound of a motorcycle driving away danced with her ears. Her whole childhood had been spent around Harleys. Her father had taught her everything she need to know about fixing cars and bikes and they even built a bike from the ground up on summer a near thirteen years ago.

Jen started the car back up after stretching a bit more. She couldn't help but feel that surge of guilt as she neared the border of the two towns. Jen had resented and hated her mother for five years after packing her and her sister up and moving them nearly 3,000 miles away from their father. She had no idea why her mother had loved Queens, New York so much.

She was doing the same thing to her son, taking him away from his father, whom he loved and adored. But then again, she had been sixteen when shit hit the fan; Jack was two and a half and hopefully never be too curious about who his father is.

Charming was a small town back in her day and full of crazy misfits just like herself. It didn't surprise her much to find there still were no franchises and surely in the morning she would be missing her double-shot cappuccino from Starbucks.

The third house on the left hadn't changed since she saw it last. The light was on in the front window and the TV was going watched too. Jen hadn't told him she would be coming. Afraid he would tell her she couldn't stay, even though she knew he would give her and her son a room in a heartbeat.

Jen quietly opened and closed her door, not wanting to wake the neighbors. Jack had fallen asleep in his seat; she got him out with no trouble. Slinging a bag over her free shoulder, Jen kicked the door shut with her left foot and headed up the asphalt drive.

After spending twelve years in the city, she forgot the sound of crickets at night.

She pressed the doorbell with her right index finger. Her chewed nails were chipped of crimson polish.

It didn't take long for the door to be answered. The short, plump man with wild, curly hair answered the door. He wore his glasses, most likely just finished reading an article in a Harley magazine.

"Jennifer?" Bobby was quite surprised to see one of his oldest daughters.

"Dad!" She dropped the bag from her shoulder.

The surprised father engulfed his daughter in a big side hug. After all they would have smashed poor Jack.

He let her in to the house, closing the door behind. Jen put her sleeping baby on the couch so she could greet her father properly. Bobby still couldn't believe she standing in his living room. It had been almost four years since she last flew in from New York. She had been heading to Oakland for a reason unbeknownst to him and he didn't bother asking.

To him, Jen hadn't changed one bit. She still wore her hair long and dyed fun colors. This time it was jet black, two-toned with bright red.

"What made you come all the way out here from New York?"

Jen sat on the couch, with her legs Indian-style and she reached for a cookie. Her father had always made some pretty damn good cookies.

"I missed you. Wanted to come out and see what's up."

Bobby's laughter mixed with his words. "Bullshit, Jennifer. What's the real reason?"

"I'm serious," she laughed too; "you really find it hard to believe I came back to Charming to see you. I really miss this place."

He looked at the tattoo on her ankle. Bobby couldn't remember the last time he saw her wear shorts. "How long do you plan on staying for?"

She shrugged, and then smoothed down her sons wild brown hair. "Until you kick me out."

Not to mention he was pretty surprised to find she had given birth to a son two years ago. Jen had always seemed like the kind of girl who wouldn't want the extra responsibility of child. She was a very independent person...like Jackson Teller.

"What's his name?" Bobby studied his grandson.

"Jack—Daniel." She even got a kick out of her own son's name.

"You did not." Bobby was both humored and surprised by his daughter's choice in name.

Jen smiled innocently and nodded her head. Whiskey had always been her favorite drink.

"You must be tried as hell. I'll show ya where you and rugrat can sleep."

She was surprised to find none of the decorations or the paint on the walls had changed in the past decade. The bedroom she stood in even had the same sheets and blankets from she visited four years ago.

Jen had decided to just let Jack sleep in bed with her. She would set up the playpen tomorrow and unpack some of her clothes into the dresser.

"Night Jen. See you in the morning."

"Night dad." Her voice was still soft and cheerful, like it had been when she was a child. And that was one phrase Bobby could defiantly get use to hearing every night.