Author: Jade Unicorn

Email: Home Coming Unwelcoming a Lizzie McGuire fic part of the "Photograph" series

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, Disney does. Only the story is mine.

I swore I'd always remember the colors of those houses on Charles Street. At the time I thought I would. After all those countless times I spent twice a day going down that street, on the way to school and on the way home, I thought things would always be the same.

Looking over to my right I could see that she was fast asleep. Her body was crunched up in a position that looked uncomfortable to me now at my age. But I know that as a child I slept the same way. Things are different when you're little, everything is simpler then. You're not so worried about paying bills and making sure the kids have enough to eat or if Saturn really is going to come reposes the car if I don't make the payment on time this month. No, when I was Sandi's age, my only concern was making sure that my slumber parties went on without a hitch.

In my rearview mirror I could see Collin staring out the window lost in thought.

"Are you ok son?" I asked gingerly.

He never moved his head but his only reply was, "Yes." It was almost a mere whisper lost in the busy sounds of the highway. I suppose had I not been staring at him I might not have heard him say it. But even that one word betrayed his true emotions.

He looked just like his father did when I first met him. Imagining David's scruffy hair and his small stature make me smile for an instant, before the tears came. As the light turned red and the car slowed to a still I ducked my head to avoid crying. I couldn't cry in front of the kids, not when they needed me the most.

"No…." Sandi whispered as she began to shift positions in her seat. Watching her intently I waited to see if she was going to wake up from her bad dream.

All of us had been plagued by bad dreams since….then. God, even trying to fathom the words was painful. It didn't make sense. But isn't that what everyone always says in situations like this? It didn't make sense and it wasn't supposed to happen. He loved me and his children. So why if someone is filled with so much love…just why?

The light turned green and in an instant I felt like I had to wash away all this sadness. Turning down the block that I played on as a kid I could see Matthew's car parked in the driveway. People were standing in the yard as if they were waiting for the moment that I pulled up. They were waiting to see the exact second that I fell apart so they could comfort me. Did they not think that I was strong enough to make it through this?

A small sigh escaped my lips as I turned the engine off and mentally prepared myself for this moment of truth. Even in this blue Saturn car with the windows rolled up I still felt like it wasn't real. So long as I was still in this car I wouldn't have to accept my fate. I could keep on denying it. But what's in store for me if I open up this door and let reality escape inside?

They didn't give me the chance to find out for myself. Matthew opened the door and stood there momentarily as if he half expected me to yell at him like I did when we were kids. "Hey sis." He spoke. His voice was so much older now. I tilted my head sideways up towards him to give my baby brother a look into my sullen eyes. Matthew wasn't the same anymore; he had grown taller and more muscular and even began to grow a goatee.

Reaching down I pulled the latch to open up the trunk of the car. Matt walked around to the back and began taking out our luggage. He handed the bags to my father who simply gave me a brief smile and walked off into the house. I turned away from him and placed my hand gently on Sandi's leg. "Honey wake up. We're at Granny Jo's house." She began to wipe sleep from her eyes and unbuckle herself. Collin seemed to emerge from his lost state inside the mind and climbed out of the car.

"How are you doing?" Matt asked as he closed my trunk.

I shrugged. Placing my hand on Collin's back and we began walking towards the house. Taking a single step back, I watched as the kids opened the door and went into the house. "I just lost my husband and my kids are so far from reality that it scares me. Couldn't get much worse." I couldn't help but be cynical about things.

Matt stood silently beside me as we looked at the house we grew up in. As kids we thought that house stood so tall. The back yard that we played in was huge and it seemed to take almost hours to just cross from one side to the other. Now I could take a few steps and be on the sidewalk.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said, "Miranda is waiting inside for you."

My heart plummeted further down into my stomach. Somehow I didn't think that she would be here waiting on me. How long had it been? Almost fifteen years since we last really spoke. David called her every holiday and after Collin was born. But when Sandi came he just sent a letter with some pictures. Even though I was always curious about how she was doing I never had the heart to ask.

"Could you just give me a minute?" I asked of my brother quietly. He simply nodded and walked into the house.

Standing there I could see us as teenagers leaving this same house holding hands and confessing our love to each other. I could still remember how my heart would jump every time Miranda kissed me. Then I could see how I slammed the door in her face the night I found out she was cheating on me. In my mind the images of her walking away slowly, sobbing into her hands flashed by.

I never had forgotten how I felt about her. Never let go of all those things that we had bought together as a couple. The day I married David, I had secretly wished it was her standing in front of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved David. We found a love that I thought I could never find with anyone besides Miranda. He loved me so deeply that he would have done anything for me and most of the time he did. David accepted the fact that I still thought about her and that I still loved her. Even though he acted the way he did when he first found out all those years ago, he still remained fairly close with Miranda.

I resented him for it. Our marriage was rocky and every time there was a slight tension between us he would always bring up Miranda. David was always throwing her in my face constantly. So it was easy to keep her pushed out of my life. It made my marriage with David so much easier.

Taking in a deep breath I slowly opened the door to face the past. My mother rushed towards me and flung her arms around my neck. "Oh baby." She whispered. Her face was stained with tears as she pulled away to look at me. "I'm sorry."

I nodded. I hadn't planned on coming up with any kind of response to people because I knew that hundreds of people would be constantly apologizing for the next few months. That's what people do when a death occurs. They think it makes things easier to go out of their way to say, "I'm sorry." or, "Honey are you ok?"

Listening to my mother ramble on about the kids and how they've grown and who all has either called or shown up today, I began to scan the crowd for her. Suddenly I felt a hand slid up on my shoulder.

Tensing up slightly and turning around expecting to see Matt I came face to face with the ghost of my past. "Miranda." My voice let out before my mind could catch up with it.

To Be Continued…

-Jade Unicorn