An/ Hopefully people like this, let me know. The first chapter is mostly oc but then Callie and the others come into play. Thanks for reading!

Joey POV

I love Cosmo and the life we built together. He's like a soft warm couch for my heart to rest on. He's a good father, does his fair share of the work and he is able to make visitors feel at home and welcome, something that I was never much use at.

He is hard working too. He still works as a park ranger, even though the hair that is left on his head is gray and he no longer spends much time on a horse. With time, he's mellowed and become more reflective, no longer a complete science geek, always showing off his fancy science education.

For me the best part is that after all these years our paths are so intertwined and meshed together it almost seems like we get a stereo affect on our memories. When you add his memories to mine things come out deeper and more nuanced than just one view. His story telling has sharpened too, that's important because we tell a lot of stories up here. The winters can be long and isolating. The good stories are told over and over again. They get embellished with time, but they don't really change-after all its how we know who we are and how people know us—by our stories.

When friends visit, especially if its people who don't come by often, or whom we are just getting to know, we will sit in our grand room and feed the big old fire and spend the time swapping tales. There are a few Cosmo keeps on coming back to. One of the stories gets told often because hanging on the mantel is this big old picture that people remark over. Its this gorgeous black and white landscape, blown up big and framed. Its of a big old thunder head passing over the mesa. In the photo the cloud looks solid and menacing, almost like god has a sent a rock hurtling down to threaten the earth. People say things like, is that an Anselm Adams, or where did you get that. Cosmo will usually pull back a bit and look at me softly and say, "Oh just a dear friend who stayed with us for a while."

The conversation will go on, but as things wind down, someone will look at a smaller photo hanging off to the left, its of a beautiful brunette. She's a picture of youth and health and wild vitality. She is facing the camera, walking down a creek, holding a fishing rod, balancing on the rocks. The sun is in her hair and she has this smile that tells someone just how wonderful life could be, and yet, you look at the girls eyes, and you see at the same time just how sad life truly can be- it is pretty striking. What really makes the photo interesting, however, is the woman behind her towards the left of the frame. Its a woman in the prime of her life, she is standing straight and tall on a rock, positively regal. In the photo she looks either African or Native American and the way she stands reminds you of an an Egyptian queen, a modern Nefertiti or Cleopatra, formidable and imperious. Yet she is looking at the girl as only a mother can look at a child, only your not sure, cause they look so different. But you know for a fact that the teenager is about the most important thing in that woman's life, that as proud and as beautiful as the woman is, she would sacrifice anything for the child, the love just jumps right out of the photo and grabs you. Her glance is everything, prideful, fearful, joyous and deeply deeply concerned, somehow, despite the girls beauty, the woman is the heart of the photo. And you can see the connection, like some one took out a big black sharpie and drew an arrow between the two.

And Cosmo will look at me, then with a wink he'll say, "I blame that photo on Joey."

I'll play the part, be his straight man. I'll toss him a softball.

"It wasn't my fault," I protest, "what was I going to do?"

He'll shake his head, "One morning Joey tells me she's off to Albuquerque to sell some stuff, ten hours later she returns home wanted for kidnapping in two states."

He has everyone's attention at that point, and I appear to be with him, but really, in my mind, I'm on Icycle creek, staring down the lens of the camera, trying to capture a little bit of forever, doing my damnedest to accept that just because you find something, doesn't mean you need to keep it, no matter how good it would be . And as Cosmo natters on, weaving his words. I move further back in time back to how the whole thing began.

JOEY POV

At first I thought the guy was yelling because he wanted me to put the nuts back on the shelf, which made no sense because it was a mini-mart for god's sake. I started to tell the clown to put a lid on it and let me shop in peace, but stopped when i realized the guy was fussing at a teenager, a street kid, who was nonchalantly strolling down one of the grocery aisles, eating random food, like it was from her own pantry.

I stopped shopping and stood still, watching, wondering how the situation would play out. The girl was completely brazen, and it was a bit surreal and difficult to watch without smiling, that sort of pissed me off cause I like to believe I have seen everything. The girl didn't seem out of it or on drugs, she just didn't seem to care what the guy was doing. She just calmly walked and ate, I could of sworn the whole point was to get a reaction from the guy, or someone had dared her to make that guy mad.

If that was the case the guy behind the glass bit like the stupidest trout in a freshly stocked pond. I mean he was completely loosing it. " Keep eating that sandwich you skank, just keep on eating huh, bitch. I'm... I'm calling the cops." he was going all red in the face, actually shaking. When his hands disappeared from sight and started reaching under the counter my amusement became alarm, I mean under the counter is where people keep guns.

I didn't really care about the girl, but lets face it, pulling a gun on a kid eating a stale sandwich was a pure dickhead move, you would hate to see someone shot over something like that, so I quickly walked up to her, put my arm around her shoulder, and said, loudly, like everyone in the store was a little slow, "honey we're not home, they don't trust your going to pay."

I plucked the sandwich out of her hands and with the brunette still under my arm went to the counter and gave the guy the biggest eat shit smile I could get away with, then sweetly said , "how much do we owe you."

The guy started to say something, but I just kept looking at him, like I am looking at some nasty gopher hole. A version or my Thursday night poker look, calm but no bullshit either. The guy glanced at me for a second, and shut his mouth. Oh he muttered something under his breath, but he got busy scanning the food. I just kept watching but I knew he was all talk, no hat . I gave him my credit card and, as an off hand remark to the girl, " that's how they do things in the big city— friendly huh?"

After the doors had shut behind us and we we're standing under the floodlights of the mini mart, the girl turned to me like she was surprised a stranger might buy her dinner. " You realize I have no money."

"Really," I replied, like it was a big fucking surprise. But then softened, I mean she was a kid and its not like she asked for the money.

"Most homeless kids take my money and buy alcohol so i'm ahead of the game."

" I don't drink,"she said,.

I nearly replied "that what everyone say," but when I looked at her, I just couldn't see a shifty street kid. Even tired and scared and probably still shaky from tangling with that asshole, there was, I don't know a presence, an intelligence. It had a sad almost hopeless edge to it, but there was no Bullshit. I got the sense if the girl said she didn't drink, she didn't drink. Things were what they were for the girl.

I guess that was when I started to take an interest. Most teenagers don't really know up from down, but she did.

"Why didn't you just run," I was curious.

The girl looked at me for a second and then almost indignant said "Where to, huh ?"

"Is that the best you got?" A little disappointed that she couldn't could come up with a better reason.

She gave me this look, like I was nuts. And then just plopped herself down on the ground sitting on the low curb by the store. She unwrapped the sandwich and started eating, as if I wasn't even there.

Now people may not like me but they don't generally just dismiss me and I was about to tell her so, but then it hit me. The reason it had looked a bit like a show, is that's what it was, a show. She wanted food sure, but she also wanted a place to stay for the night where she had a reasonable chance of not being raped. I felt about as dumb and foolish as a car full of circus clowns.

"You wanted to get arrested?" I didn't rate it as much of a plan, but well I wasn't a teenage girl either. She kept chewing then swallowed and said a little bitterly, "well that's not going to happen is it?"

My daddy use to say, 'if you break it, you fix it,' and I couldn't see letting this girl spend the night on the street. Cosmo was going to give me crap, though I didn't think he was going to spend 15 years embellishing on my stupidity. ''6Well if you don't mind a bit of a drive, you could bunk with us for the night."

She just kept chewing and swallowing.

I sat down next to her on the curb.

"Honey I've raised three kids, I got a daughter probably 10 years older than you banging around Southern California doing all sorts of crazy thing. This is just me hoping for some good karma."

I smiled at the girl, empathizing. I have a soft place for people who want to do things their own way and don't like handouts. The girl took her eyes off the sandwich, stopped chewing and looked at me.

"Honey part of life is about taking advantage of a good thing when its in front of you. Besides country air will do you good. I opened the passenger side of the pick-up. And motioned for her "Cmon girl get in, we got a two hour drive and I got a mess of work to do in the morning, " and darned if she didn't pick up her blue duffel bag up off the pavement and move toward the truck. .

As I drove off I hit cd player, I had been listening to one Ravel's piano concertos. I turned to the girl and she was completely pale, like she had just seen a family of ghosts walk on by. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, so I hit the radio. It was a rap song about gay marriage, out of the corner of my eyes I could see tears running down her cheek. I never would have guessed.

Callie's POV—San Francisco

The open pizza box was sitting on a stack of boxes about four feet high. This morning the stack had been part of a row twice the size. Annie came over to us, and Jase picked her up and plopped her down next to the pizza. "Careful, honey its hot," she reached in and tore off a piece that was as large as her head. "He snorted, "here let me help." Annie handed him the slice with both hands and he tore it in half for her.

I got up off the floor where I had been sitting, munching contently on my hard earned pizza, groaned a bit as I straightened up and went to the kitchen to get a cup of milk for Annie, at least the kitchen was somewhat organized. "Cal, will you get some paper napkins."

I started rooting around in the cabinets opening and shutting doors, found the napkins, poured milk into a plastic cup and walked over with the roll.

"So what do ya think Annie," pretty cool house huh, he said smiling at her. And she smiled back, the morning's tantrum, brought on by missing gram, completely erased by a slice of pizza and daddy's smile.

I gave her the milk and ran my fingers through her soft curls. After pizza its into the bath with ya, girl friend." Still caressing her, I looked at Jase. "Do you know which box the bath toys are in?"

I'll get them, He hopped off the boxes, and in his haste knocked over a box marked in big black marker "Fragile". We both looked at each other grimacing. He righted the box and took out a jack knife and cut the tape. The first piece he pulled out was the jagged corner of a large ceramic plate the green gray color of snow melt emblazoned with jumping trout.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Callie, I've always admired it."

I looked at the piece in his hand and out of nowhere a wave of loss and hopelessness hit me. I couldn't explain how I could feel so desperately lonely, sure we had moved far from San Diego, but I was sitting with Jase and my precious child in a beautiful house. The feelings scared me and I started to cry almost hysterically. Jase looked at me in horror, but then with astonishment and a huge smile broke out on his face.

"Oh my god your pregnant." He came and hugged me hard and solid."

And for some reason I blurted out, "Stef is going to kill me." He laughed and I relaxed into the strength of his arms. burying my head against his shirt. He smelled of pizza and dust from the boxes we had been opening, a heady mix of old and new smells

Still sobbing I looked at him deadly serious, "Promise me we will call the baby Joey," I felt a little guilty asking him, because who is going to turn down a pregnant woman's first request, certainly not my husband. He looked at me, a little puzzled, "Sure.. but what if its a girl." His words made me feel completely misunderstood and I cried even harder, hoping that Stef and Lena could love a child with that woman's name on it.