Thank you so much for all the people who reviewed my story. It's incredibly helpful to me as a wannabe writer.

Before you actually read this. Please be advised that this first chapter is optional. It's too long, and you don't need to read this to fully understand the next chapter. Its only a back story of what happens between the first story "Back at '91"to the sequel "Back at '01" which I am currently still writing. Please be patient.

BM :D

P.S. I'm sorry for being a tease.

DANNY MESSER

After that night, he finally had the guts to seriously consider his dream for the last two years; be a cop. It took some research, a lot of quietly asking around but he found ways to pursuit his new and dangerous goal. He got all the requirements he needed, all the papers, documents and forms he needed to send out. It was only a matter of time before he'd get either an acceptance or a rejection.

He took some odd jobs so he didn't have to depend on his family. Old man Carmine actually took him in a couple of times so he didn't have to deal with his old man and/or Louie, and if they were looking for him but wasn't there Joey or his mom would cover for him. They were his support system, he was so grateful. They didn't even know what he was up to, but trusted him enough to help him through the rough patch. He earned and saved up all his money to start clean and new slate of a life. He looked for a new place to live, closer to the police academy and further away from his past.

When he finally got enough to put himself through, he made the decision to finally tell them what he planned to do. He didn't want to just tell his mom and his friends, he wanted his whole family to know. If he was going to do this right he needed to face the consequences. He wasn't going to hide. Whatever crap they'd pull on him, he'd deal with it. He wasn't going to be afraid.

One night, about three weeks before the academy started, he had dinner with his family. It was he, his mom, dad and Louie, for what he didn't know was his last family dinner. In the middle of spaghetti and meatballs he told him. He told him that he wanted to join the New York City Police Department. He told him about the jobs he's been taking up and that he's been saving everything he's earned to enroll. He told them about not needing or wanting their help and that he wanted to do this alone. He wouldn't if he didn't think he could.

The two other male figures in the family didn't believe him at first. They thought it was ridiculous. They never took Danny seriously. First a baseball career and now law enforcement? What was he going to be next… an astronaut? They only laughed at him. They always laughed at him.

When he told them he was serious and showed them his acceptance letter, which he got in the mail that morning. It didn't matter anymore if they believed them or not. They didn't have to believe for it to be true. He was leaving and he was going to be a cop. He gave his mother a last kiss goodbye and walked out of the dining room.

Before he could reach the front door, his dad had grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pushed him to the wall. Before the air could even be push out of his lungs, he was punched in the stomach and then again. His mother was screaming for him to stop. His brother just looked on.

He finally stopped and let the young man fall to his knees. He kept his head down, with his arm on his beaten midsection. He didn't have to look up to feel his father looking down on him. He was always looking down on him.

"You good-for-nothing little piece of shit." The man standing over him said, each word tainted with venomous disgust. "I should never have expected anything good from a bastardo like you." He was just about to kick him when his mother intervened screaming and crying for the patriarch to stop.

Thank God for his mother, he wouldn't have been able to stand up. His arm was still on his stomach, which hurt like hell. He mustered enough strength to stand up and weakly walk to the door. He was just about to turn the doorknob.

"Go right ahead, be a fucking cop." He yelled at him. "The minute you walk out of this house you'll no longer be my son, you got that? I don't care what happens to you: be a cop, for all I care. You could fall off the face of the earth, good riddance… You'll never be welcomed in this home again."

He didn't look back. He didn't have to. He knew their faces well: pop's anger, Louie's indifference and his mother's grief. His belly still ached, but the only thing that hurt more was leaving his mom. He took a couple of seconds, just a couple before turning the knob and walking out of the house.

His last thought were of his father's last words to him 'you'll never be welcomed in this home again.' He reaches the bottom of the stoop and looks back at the house and thinks 'I've never been welcomed here.'

MAC TAYLOR

His last tour of Iraq was quite heavy, not as bad as his first but it had its moments. His platoon was in kinder grounds. They were stationed in a village that held mostly refugees and civilians. Their main objective was to keep everyone safe as possible.

The worst was just a couple of months in when a group of rebels came in for supplies. They devised a sneaked attack one night, which caused them valuable reaction time. The people in the village were mostly families a great number of children. The fighting lasted for about a four days. In those four days, seven, in total, had died: two marines, and six were nonmilitants, three of them were children.

It took them another five months but it was over. Attacks had significantly lessened and a large number of men and women were allowed to go back home, Mac was lucky to be one of them.

The minute he got home he went about doing everything he promised he'd do. He and Claire got married. He had asked for an honorable discharged. Thanks to his military background it was fairly easy for him to get into law enforcement. The only surprised they faced was when Claire's new job got them to move to New York.

In about six months of their marriage they found themselves a perfect way to make a new life for themselves. They got a place of their own. Claire went to work as the new head of advertising in the World Trade Center. Mac donned a new uniform and was a new member of New York's finest.

Claire was busy in her new office. Being the new head of advertising in the New York branch of the firm wasn't easy, especially when she was even new to the city itself. It took some time but she was getting the hang of things and was accepted in her new workplace.

Mac was becoming a great cop, CSI to be exact. He was slowly being considered for a promotion. His expertise in chemistry along with his impressive works of leadership in both the marines and now in law enforcement made him a good candidate for lead of the scene division or the CSI.

DANNY MESSER

His body ached. His family just dumped him. He's turned his back on just about everything he'd grew up on for a new place in a new environment he was raised to avoid, let alone get involved in. It was scary, but he knew this was better than any road he's been on. This was actually the first road his been on his own, and he was going to make sure it's going to make everything he's been through worth it.

He got a small apartment that he had to share with a couple of guys his age. He found other odd jobs closer to either his place or the academy. He walked around and tried to get familiar with everything around him.

When training started, he had to admit it was tough. He had to memorize everything from the books. He had to know every code and signals by heart. He didn't just have to learn how to hold and assemble a firearm he also had to learn proper procedures.

One of the things he was naturally good at was in the field of forensics. He didn't know law enforcement dealt with so much science, chemistry or even physics. He felt he had the ideas of a naïve child, picturing cops and robbers. There was so much more to this than he ever thought. With his talent and genuine interest in the subject, he didn't have a problem getting top honors in his forensics class. He was highly recommended for to be a CSI.

Unfortunately, his great record couldn't save him from his past. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it would always find a way to come back and bite him in the ass. Rumors were running around about his family's connections to different crimes. It was nothing major at first, but slowly it got to him. The Messer name wasn't considered as infamous as Capone or Luciano, but it was enough to give him a couple of glares and whispers as he walked by.

Needless to say, he wasn't the most popular guy. He made a couple of friends, met a couple of girlfriends, but nothing too substantial. With the lack of both good friends and good family, he was back to his stubborn loneliness that wouldn't die. Whenever he got too lonely, he'd make an effort and visit the old neighborhood: get a slice at Carmine's, talk to Joey and his family and if possible he'd contact his mom. He longed for what Mac told him. He longed for his true family.

It was tough, but he survived it. He went in, did his best and graduated top of his class. He never thought he'd get here. This sort of thing wasn't even a micrometer to what he would have thought he'd achieve, but here he was. He was now a cop.

MAC TAYLOR

Their wedded bliss lasted well into their first three years of marriage. They focused on their careers and the new city they were in. Their relationship didn't hit any major snags, until the topic of children came up. Both have always wanted to have children. They've talked about it months before they even got married, but the timing seemed to be off.

Due to all the distractions life was giving them, they decided to wait until their fifth year to really try to have a baby. They thought it would be better, and in a lot of ways they were right. Both were succeeding: Claire just closed a big account and Mac was promoted to lead CSI. They knew they were ready. They've build a new life filled with new friends, good jobs and a stable marriage. What else did they need?

After eight months of trying they knew something was wrong. They researched and asked their other married friends who had children or had problems having them. They all had ideas or theories but none could explain one thing: Why they couldn't even get pregnant? Other couples would at least get pregnant and unfortunately lost them in the first trimester, but they couldn't even get one pregnancy.

They went to a fertility specialist and they were given the bad news. They were infertile. Stress from her job gave Claire problems with getting pregnant and Mac's low sperm count didn't help their situation. He should have known earlier. His family suffered from it. It was the reason why he was an only child. If only one of them had fertility problems they could have had a chance, but both? The doctor told them that a pregnancy was highly unlikely.

It was hard for Mac. He went to work daily and he had to see so many injustices in the world, lots were happening to children. He'd arrested fathers hitting, abusing and even raping their children. Mothers who didn't care and left them to fend for themselves, or somewhere someone else could take them. Bodies of children… It hit him especially hard. He asked himself: 'how could people take these kids for granted?' If he and Claire only had the chance these people had they'd love and cherish their children with all the love they could muster.

He remembered that night. Danny was right. Andrew was lucky to have a good family. He could only hope and pray it remained that way.

It broke their hearts. They had all these hopes and dreams to one day have a family. They imagined themselves with at least one by now. In the six months they were trying they were like playing house all over again: They imagined what their children might look like? Which were the best schools nearby? What would their names be? They had all this love and care to give and they had no one to give it too. They were in denial, but it took them more than a year to truly accept it. They didn't bring it up ever again.

Until one day Mac came home and saw a smile on Claire's face that he hadn't seen in the longest time. She was holding on to a photo. It was a photo of her officemate's family. It look normal enough until he spotted the baby in the middle was Chinese and Claire's office mate was an Irish-American.

She told him of her friend's adoption. It was fairly easy and she found out that there were so many children just waiting to be taken in by a good and loving family. She knew it would be tough but she had to suggest it. He looked at her again. She had changed. She had her hope and optimism was back and it only did nothing more but revive his own. That night they made the decision. They were going to try adoption.