May 20, 2018

Kelly takes a look at the table, everything looks perfect. She hears cars outside and goes to the door. All her friends come inside, hug her and wish her a great 2nd birthday. For the 20th time already.

She enjoys the celebration with everyone that is near and dear to her heart. When everyone is gone, she takes a moment to reflect on the past 20 years and how it all began.

September 10, 1997

Kelly and the gang arrive at LAX after a short, but beautiful trip to Hawaii. She is on her way to the car with her boyfriend Brandon, when they realize that the car has a flat tire. Although Kelly is very tired, Brandon decides to change the tire himself while Kelly waits next to him. Suddenly they hear a noise and turn around to see what is going on.

The two men they observe are obviously surprised to be caught at what they are doing. Brandon exchanges a few words with them. Although it's a hot September night in California, a cold shiver runs down Kelly's spine. The two men drive away in a car and Brandon is almost finished with the tire. And then the noise of the car doesn't fade away but comes back and gets louder. Kelly remembers to have looked at the car. She hears a loud noise and then – nothing.

For months and months, it was unclear if she would live. Brandon begged her to come back to him while she lay motionless in the hospital bed. Little did he know that while she appeared to be sleeping, a life that seemed to be so real happened – but only in her dreams.

The reality of the following weeks and months are completely erased from her memory. Only through other people has Kelly found out what had happened. That she was shot in her stomach, the immense internal bleedings and the emergency surgery that she had to go through. It was months later that she found out that there had been moments when she had been closer to death than life. She couldn't remember the pain, the feeling of guilt, the sorrow and the desperation that Brandon had to go through in the following months. That he sat next to her bed almost every single day while she was lying in a hospital bed in a coma.

Maybe unconsciously she did hold him responsible for what had happened to her. That may have been the reason why she felt as if Brandon had been unfaithful to her. As if her rock, the love of her life, had betrayed her. Then later she dreamt of a marriage proposal and a marriage that never happened. At one point she even felt that Brandon had left her. That was right around the time when he couldn't bring himself to visit her in her hospital room for a couple of days while he had to go through the identification parade at the police station. His guilt multiplied when he couldn't identify the shooter. He would forever be grateful to Dylan, his brother, his best friend, for taking care of her, visiting her, talking to her during that time. He knew that Kelly and Dylan had that history, but he also knew, that those days of romance were over for those two, that she had chosen him once and for all.

Kelly felt Dylan's presence. For the glimpse of a moment she felt close to him again as during those days that were long gone when she thought that she was in love with him. She dreamt about the baby she had lost a while ago. But in her mind, she didn't lose it but give birth to a son. She even had a name for him. Sammy.

Kelly dreamt of Brenda. Her once best friend, that she had fallen out with when she fell in love with Dylan.

When Brenda found out about Kelly's accident, she knew she had to come back to LA. Not only for her former best friend, but as a support for her brother, whom she still loved to death, even though they rarely saw each other anymore after Brenda had moved to London. Brenda and Brandon did talk on the phone regularly though and because of that Brenda was sure, that her brother had found his other half, the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. It wasn't easy to accept for her at first, especially as she had never seen her brother and her friend as a couple, but hearing Brandon talk about Kelly, their love and relationship made her rethink her opinion.

In the hospital, Brenda met Dylan for the first time after their time in London. Some time had passed, but the feelings were still there. Seeing Kelly looking so fragile in her hospital bed, Brenda and Dylan started thinking about their problems in London which led to Dylan leaving England. Witnessing how her twin brother tried so hard to avoid a break down while his life fell apart, Brenda felt the urge to talk to the person who she knew was the love of her life. And suddenly Dylan and Brenda were gone. They fell in love again. And this time, both were all in and determined to make it work.

When Brandon had finally identified the shooter, he found some peace and came back to the hospital. The day after that, Kelly's vital signs improved, and it didn't take long for her to finally wake up. It was May 20th, 1998. The day of her 2nd birthday which she has been celebrating ever since.

May 20, 2018

The door to the living room opened. "Are you OK? I'm missing you in bed", Brandon said. "Yeah, sure, just thinking how something as horrible as the shooting could somehow make everything work out. Maybe it wasn't all bad" she answered with a soft smile. "To be honest, I could very well have done without it", Brandon answered. "But I kind of understand what you are talking about. After you had been shot, everyone in the gang realized how fragile life was." "Yes, and within a year after I had woken up, pretty much everyone in our group was with the love of their live. Donna and David got married when I was still in recovery. Dylan called Brenda while I was still in hospital and they were married within a year. Steve booked a ticket to France and got Clare back. Even my mom and Mel finally made it work. And if Jordan hadn't called Andrea when he had found out about the shooting, I'm pretty sure she would have called him soon after".

"And look at us now, how our little group of friends has grown. Just between ourselves, Brenda and Dylan, we have five kids alone. Brenda and Dylan's twins look just like you and her when you were their age, at least that's what your parents say. Abby is as dramatic as Brenda. Only Jack's character resembles his father's more than either Dylan or Jim would have liked, I guess. Jack. And we were not blessed with one, but three little miracles. I wouldn't change my life for the world. Grace, Nathaniel and Ava are the best things that have ever happened to me and I will forever be grateful that you gave them to me. That you stuck with me through all the hard times. I have never been happier in my life than I am now. You are and always will be the love of my life, I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone else. I love you, Brandon Walsh, and that will never, ever change." "Well, Mrs. Walsh, you will never have to think about spending your life with anybody else, because I will love you and spend my life with you until the day I die".