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~ The Fourth Rose ~

She looked up at him, her huge brown eyes looking into his own sparkling blue ones, he smiled weakly at her, kissing her forehead before patting down her long, brown hair as she bit down on her lip, concentrating on putting the red bow in her hair – the way her mommy used to.

He sighed and shook his head, tears threatening to fall down his face once more as he watched her. He wanted to wrap his arms around the young girl, he wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay – but he wasn't sure if it was ever going to be okay again.

She turned to face him for a second, her sad eyes looking at him as a small smile played on her face, "I miss her too, daddy." She whispered, sniffing a little and turning back to the mirror to try and perfect the bow she had only just managed to tie.

"I know you do." His voice was barely a whisper as he walked to the other side of the room, looking in the mirror at his suit. His hands were shaking as he adjusted the tie, closing his eyes when he could almost feel her behind him, when he could just about hear her laughing.

He opened his eyes again, only to see her behind him, smiling that beautiful smile, her eyes lighting up as she perfected his tie, kissing the back of his neck and telling him how hopeless he was before walking away, laughing.

He grinned, reaching out to touch the mirror reflection, tracing his fingers over her smiling face, closing his eyes for a second as he wished she was still here, standing next to him, touching him, telling him how much she loved him.. he would give anything for her to be here with him.

"Daddy?" The little girl looked up at her daddy, tugging lightly on his sleeve as he jumped back a little and shook his head, a small frown appeared on her young face, never looking right but the truth was, she had matured so much since her mother's death, matured past her years.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his greying hair, kneeling down to look at her, "You look so beautiful..." He murmured, kissing her tiny nose and picking her up, turning around so she could look at herself in the mirror.

"Do I look like mommy?" Her small hands touched her own reflection, running over her face as the took in every feature, her dad nodded as he looked at her.

"You have her eyes.. her nose.. her hair.. her laugh.. her smile.. everything about you reminds me of her.." He took a deep breath, brushing some hair behind her ear and smiling at her.

She frowned, biting down on her lip and kissing her dad's cheek, "Does that make you sad?"

He shook his head quickly, hugging her tighter as tears fell down his cheeks, "No.. you could never make me sad. I'm glad you look like your mommy, princess. You're beautiful, just like she was." It took her a moment before she nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering a thank you before he felt warm tears fall onto his shirt.

He rubbed her back gently, closing his own eyes as he rocked back and forth, wishing everything would be okay. He had to get through it, for her. Sonny would have wanted him to get past this, she would have wanted them to be happy.

He looked back in the mirror, smiling when he saw his wife behind them, slowly fading away as she smiled. He nodded, holding their girl as tight to him as he possibly could before walking out of the bedroom he and Sonny had once shared.

"Are we going to see mommy now?" Gracie looked at him, pulling away just a little as she wiped away her tears, smiling when he nodded.

"Love you daddy..." Her smile only grew as he said it back, gently putting her down to grab one plastic rose, smiling down at it and kissing it gently, it was the fourth one he was about to put on her grave – one rose for each year, one rose that would never die.