It has been too much for her to take, having lost a wonderful woman like Evelyn, and then loosing her father as well. Pretty blond and blue eyed AJ Paul was just your typical girl that had moved to the city and in the end had began to work for Evelyn because she needed the work. AJ had moved to Detroit not to make it big time but to have some sort of a different life. Something else for herself. She worked in the daycare center and cleaned houses for a living. This wasn't exactly what she had thought would be happening for her when she moved away from Alabama.

Shoving her hands deep within her pockets and tossing her head to rid her eyes of the light blond hair that fell over icy orbs she walked down the street. She had left a fair amount of her things in Evelyn Mercers house, actually she'd left it there simply because she had been living there, now that she had cleared out most of her stuff from her room and moved into an apartment it was time to gather the last of he things. And return the key to Evelyn's sons. Her light blue jeans clung to lean, muscular legs and a large green pea coat covered a dark purple turtleneck and her feet were tipped in scuffed brown boots.

It had been months since Evelyn had passed, and AJ just didn't have it in herself to go back to that house. She had loved that woman, and even though she had never met her sons before, she felt as if she knew them. So as she walked to down the street that the darling woman had lived down she got quite a shock when she found that her house wasn't exactly as it had once been.

"What the fuck?" She breathed as she took a few steps forward and stared wide eyed at the house that was in the middle of being repaired.

Eye's so horribly light they looked like the girl could be blind peered at the house, and for several heartbeats she didn't move...not a muscle.

"Can we help you?" A deep voice asked softly and AJ finally looked to the owner of that voice.

Bobby. She swallowed hard and nodded slowly, but she couldn't seem to find her voice, "Wh--What happened?" She asked her voice soft and being swept away with the wind. She caught sight of a man who looked like one of the pictures that she had seen, Jerry. The fact was she had never actually met Jerry face to face, she'd always been bust with other things...

Angel was off to the side with a woman she didn't know. And then there was the youngest, Jack, and he sported a pair of crutches and leaned heavily against one of the rails.

Bobby snorted and looked up at the house, "Just doing a bit of re-modeling..." He stated simply and then looked at her as if he expected something. AJ stared unblinkingly at him and sighed.

"Oh," She said softly, "God, you don't know me, but well...I used to live here---" She didn't have much of a chance to finish her statement before Bobby cut her off with a rude noise.

"Impossible." He snapped and AJ turned her eyes from the house to look at him with a steely gaze.

"Evelyn was right, you have a sharp tongue." She snapped back and arched both her brows at the look he gave her, "I worked for Miss Mercer." She said softly, "And she gave me a place to stay." AJ made a vague gesture with her hand at the house, "I don't suppose you wondered what that spare room was for, and whose things that was?" She asked, "Or did you toss them out?"

Bobby opened his mouth to say something but Jerry came padding down the steps, "AJ? AJ Paul?" He asked and stuck out his hand, "Mom talked about you I just never had the pleasure." He said and AJ grasped onto his hand firmly. It was plain on her face that she was a strong woman, strong willed and with a sharp tongue.

Bobby looked at her a moment and then over to Jack as he pushed himself off the railing. "Hey fairy? You alright?" He asked and Jack gave him a look that told him to fuck off. He hobbled his way up the steps and into the house, where the rest of the group (Jerry's wife, Angel, and Sofi) had gone off to. He disappeared.

"Yes, I'm AJ." She said her voice firm and her breath coming off in a puff of air. Jerry watched her a moment and nodded.

"C'mon in." He said and made a gesture for her to follow him into the house, with a look at Bobby he led AJ inside.

The warmth tickled AJ's cheeks and she brushed back a wave of blond hair from her face with a gloved hand. "I just came to get my things, I have an apartment lined up..." She said softly and glanced at the TV that was on in the kitchen.

Angel sat with Sofi on his knee and she was feeding him a tuna sandwich, Jerry's wife was speaking quietly to them and Jack was at the counter, trying to fumble with the jar of mayo. AJ had to wonder what had happened, he looked fairly beat up...not his face but just his body.

Without a thought to her name she moved over and twisted the lid off the jar and handed it to him, her light eyes meeting his for a moment. He gave her an indifferent look and scooped up a butter knife to slap mayo over a piece of bread.

AJ turned her back on him and looked at the little group, "So AJ, How long did you know mom?" Jerry asked and this caused Jack to look up for a moment at her, for she was leaned against the counter beside him. AJ's eyes lowered, and she bit her lower lip before looking at Jerry.

"About a year." She answered finally and shifted her eyes to the TV screen. On a break through in the news a local apartment building was aflame, and firefighters had no hope of saving it. AJ lurched forward and her eyes went huge. "Fuck no!" She gasped and turned the volume up a few clicks. Her eyes were both angry and hurt, "No..." As it turned out, it was her apartment, and from what she saw, hers was already gone...great...

Jerry looked at her then to the TV and Angel leaned forward, placing a hand around Sofi's waist, "What?" He asked and then looked to AJ.

The blond woman, only hitting at about 5'5 and maybe weighing in at a hundred and twenty pounds looked as if she were going to throw up. She covered her mouth and gave a small grunt of frustration. That was just what she needed...

It was then that Bobby had chosen to walk in and just as AJ had mumbled something along the lines of 'now where do I go?' He looked at her then at the TV and gave a Tsk sound in the back of his throat. "I have a feeling..." He mumbled, "Thats your apartment building." He looked at her and the expression on her face confirmed it.

"Stay here." Jack spoke up from where he was standing and all eyes went to him.