"Goooood morning New York! Happy Tuesday! This is Jennifer Mason from WTBZ 14! Today is September 11th, 2001, and the time is six-forty-five AM…"

Jeff Hardy groaned as he hit the snooze button on the little alarm clock.

"Uh-uh, Jeff. Get up. You hit that thing, you'll be twenty minutes late for work." His wife, Beth Hardy, sat up and kissed his forehead. "Rise and shine… you hear that?"

Jeff opened his green eyes and strained to hear whatever Beth was talking about. Finally he heard the faint cries coming from Jordan's room.

"Every morning. Why can't he ever get up at a decent hour?" Beth mumbled as she made her way towards the newborn's room.

Jeff smiled to himself. She should be occupied with the baby for a few minutes. That bought Jeff some time.

"And don't think you're going back to sleep, Jeffrey! Get up!"

Jeff groaned and kicked the covers off.

"Why do you care so much that I might be late for work?" Jeff whined as he tied his tie.

Beth was gently rocking three-week-old Jordan. "Because we just moved here a month ago. New York is so much different than North Carolina. It's so fast paced and… there are so many people… I'm sure if you screw up on your job, they'll gladly fire you and hire someone else in no time. Plus, we need the money."

"We don't need anything. We have plenty."

Beth laughed sarcastically. "You know how much the prices went on pampers? Oh trust me. We need the money."

Jeff sighed. "Maybe if he wasn't so damn big..."

"He's healthy… leave him alone." Beth laughed. "Oh… by the way, on your way home, could you pick up some formula?"

Jeff rolled his eyes. "He already went through that whole –"

"Yep."

"And the –"

"Yep."

"Damn, boy. Beth, I told you, just put a nipple on the milk gallon. Christ."

Beth laughed again. "He's gonna be big and strong, just like daddy. Right Jordy?" Beth cooed at the baby as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Can I at least have some breakfast?"

"Nope, you can get breakfast on the way there. Hurry up, you might make it."

Jeff rolled his eyes and kissed Jordan's soft cheek. Then, he gave Beth a soft kiss on the lips.

"Love you, babe." Beth said.

"Love you, too. Love you, Jordan." And with that, Jeff Hardy was out the door of his Brooklyn home.

Traffic was easy. Jeff made his way to his job at the towers in no time. He entered the northern tower where he worked as a mail carrier and entered the elevator.

"Morning, Hardy."

"Good morning, Susan… what floor?"

"Thirty-two, please."

Jeff pressed the silver button.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The co-workers stepped out of the elevator after a few moments and went their separate ways.

"See you later, Jeff." Susan called.

Jeff waved back.

"Yeah… he already weighs twelve pounds!" Beth bragged to her friend, Amy on the phone. Amy was still living in North Carolina with Jeff's brother, Matt. The two were supposed to come visit New York the next week.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see him!" Amy squealed excitedly. "What's he doing now?"

"Sleeping."

"He's always sleeping when I call."

"What the hell, Ames, you wanted to talk to him?"

Amy laughed. "Screw you. What time is it?"

"About ten to eight. Why?"

"So I can wake Matt's lazy ass up. They want him at the office by nine. Look, it takes me forever to get his fat ass up so I'll call you when he's gone."

Beth laughed. "Such loving words for your wonderful husband… anyway, okay, hon, no problem."

"Talk to you soon. Give the baby a kiss for me."

"I will."

Beth hung up the phone and turned on the morning news. Since Jordan was sleeping, this gave her time to clean up. Beth began picking up some of Jeff's paperwork off of the coffee table. She listened for Jordan. He was breathing softly.

After a few minutes, the phone rang.

"Yellow." Beth picked up jokingly. She thought it was Amy, so she waited for her to say something stupid like, 'green.' Instead she heard static and heavy breathing.

"Hello?"

"Babe… me… eff…"

"Hello?"

"Baby! It's me… it's Jeff… can you hear me?" Jeff called into the phone. All he heard was static, so he hung it up.

What the hell is going on? People were gazing out the windows and gasping. "Probably something outside." Jeff mumbled to himself as he continued to sort through the mail.

Just then, a loud bang filled the room. It was incredibly loud; Jeff's ears started to ring. Windows crashed and Jeff ducked under a desk.

What the hell?! Jeff checked his ears to see if they were bleeding. They hurt sooo bad.

Jeff cautiously walked toward the window, carefully stepping on shards of glass. He peered outside. He saw innocent bystanders gaping up at the tower. Jeff poked his head out the window and looked up.

He saw red.

He saw flames.

He quickly moved his head; something fell by him. Was that a chair?

"Hellooo?" Beth blew into the phone and jiggled the wire. "We so need to get this bootleg phone fixed." She hung it up and sat down in front of the TV.

"Good Morning. This is Kim Chong reporting live from… excuse me… oh my Lor-…We just received news that a plane apparently seems to have crashed into one of the towers in lower Manhattan… excuse me… yes, Jim… ladies and gentlemen, I've been told that it was the Northern tower…"

Beth froze.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes grew watery. No… no… this can't be happening.

The phone rang. Beth couldn't move. She didn't feel like talking. Jeff was in danger. Wait… what if that's him? What if that's him telling me he's all right?

She leaped over the couch, and picked it up.

"HELLO!? HELLO, HELLO, HELLO!?"

"Beth! It's me! It's Amy! Turn the news on!"

"I did… I am… I'm watching it, they're not showing anything! This stupid Asian bitch is just talking!"

"Maybe they don't have camera's down there yet."

"They need to hurry the fuck up!" Beth was hysterical. She began crying and breathing heavily.

"Beth, sweetie… you need to stay calm. You need to do it for Jordan. You can't scare him."

"Okay… okay…"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! Jeff ran out into the hallways. People were screaming and running around everywhere.

"A PLANE!" A man screamed. "A PLANE CRASHED INTO THE BUILDING! WE'RE GONNA DIE, MAN! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" The man ran away.

Jeff's heart began racing. A plane? That's what that bang was. He had to get out. He couldn't go upstairs, because that's where the plane must've crashed.

Oh my God… Beth! Jordan! I have to call them.

Jeff raced back inside the room he had just raced out of. He crouched underneath the same desk and picked up the phone.

"Take a deep breath. Everything's gonna be okay."

"Okay… all right…"

"Beth, I love you. Matt and I will be on the soonest flight over there, I promise."

"I love you –"

The phone beeped.

"Ames, I have… another call. It… it could… be Jeff. Talk to you later… hello?"

"Babe… it's… me."

"JEFF! Jeff, oh God, where are you? Hello?"

All she heard was static.

"Babe, it's static-y! Can you hear me?!"

"Yes… now I can! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Baby, I love you! I love you and I love my brother. I love my father and I love Amy… and most of all I love Jordan. Babe, I'm not gonna be okay."

"Jeffrey, get out of there! Please!"

"There's no way out! The whole place is on fire."

"Oh, God, please… please save him!"

"Bethany, where's Jordan?"

"He's right here, honey. He's sleeping."

"Press his ear up against the phone please."

Beth did as she was told.

Jeff heard the faint sounds of his son's soft breathing. He began to cry. "Jordan Christian… I love you. I love you so much. You were everything I wanted in a little boy. You stay strong, JC. You help your mom get through this, okay? I'll be with you. I'll always be with you."

Then, Jeff started singing.

Beth noticed Jordan's eyes flutter.

Jeff was singing the song he used to sing to Beth's belly when she was pregnant.

"Hello? Jeff?"

"Yes, baby, I'm still here."

"Baby, I love you. I love you with all my heart."

"If I don't make it through today… know that I'm always with you. When the sun shines, I'm there… kissing your skin… when it rains… that's me… that's me crying for you… when the wind blows… I'm hugging you. I'm always gonna be there, okay. You tell that to Jordan when he's old enough to understand."

Beth was crying… she sniffled loudly. "I will Jeff. I promise I will."

"Baby… the floor… it's cracking… I love you."

"Oh my God… I love you so much Jeff."

"I love you so much."

Just then, Beth heard a loud crack… then… static.

Beth screamed. "JEFFREY!!! JEFF, NO!!!"

She fell to her knees and began sobbing. The phone beeped. Amy was still on the other line. Beth clicked over and didn't say anything.

"Beth? Is he okay? Is Jeff okay? Was that even him?"

"He's… he's dead, Amy."

"Oh… no…" Amy began to sob.

"Oh… my… God…" Beth whispered softly.

"What? What is it?"

"I killed him. I KILLED JEFF!"

"What, no! Do NOT blame this on yourself!"

"I WOKE HIM UP! I DIDN'T LET HIM SLEEP IN! AND I RUSHED HIM OUT THE HOUSE! IF HE HAD LEFT TWENTY MINUTES LATER LIKE HE WANTED TO HE WOULD'VE STILL BEEN ALIVE!" Beth shrieked and continued sobbing.

"Beth… it'll be okay! It's not your fault… oh, God… I gotta tell Matt…"

Beth hung up on Amy. Jordan began to cry.

She rushed over to his bassinet and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. "I'm sorry… mommy woke you up, didn't she? I'm sorry, Jordan." She sniffled. "Daddy's gone, Jordan. It's just me and you now. We're gonna make it though, okay?" Tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. Jordan stopped crying and gazed up at her with his big green eyes. Green eyes… like Jeff's. It was almost as if he understood what she was saying. "We're gonna make daddy proud, Jordan. He's gonna watch over us… he's gonna see how strong we are… 'cause you're a strong boy, baby. I was just telling that to daddy earlier. We're gonna make it… we're gonna make it." Beth closed her eyes and kissed the top of Jordan's head.

She placed him back into his bassinet and walked over to the window. She opened it, and a gust of wind entered, giving her chills.

It was no ordinary gust of wind. It was Jeff. And he hugged her. He hugged her…

… and now he was rocking Jordan's bassinet.