A/N: Chapter 3, cos I know everyone likes happy endings! Tell me if I should continue or leave the story here. Votes close next Sunday.

Number 11, Phoenix Place. This was the address Rachel's easy going great uncle had given me, though I wasn't entirely sure it was right.

The big wooden house was something out of a book, with neatly mowed lawns and a paved driveway leading up to the garage. It was one storey but looked quite big. This house didn't look like it belonged rainy Seattle.

Speaking of which, it wasn't actually raining now - but it was Summer anyway.

I knocked on the large oak door, which was slightly open.

Then a little face peeked out of the doorway and opened it a bit more.

"Hello?" she said happily.

The little girl looked about one and a half, with long, dark brown ringlets and piercing green eyes. She was wearing a cute little summer dress with white and green circles, and a matching green headband was in her hair.

She was absolutely adorable. I knew she was Rachel's child, she had her eyes, though they were a differnt colour.

"Um..." I said, not sure what to say. I had never spoken to a toddler in my life. "Is your mummy here?"

She nodded, but before she could speak, another girl came to join her at the door. They were completley identical, apart from their eyes - the new girl had brown, like Rachel's.

"Kate! Mummy told us not to talk to strangers!" she cried.

Kate, I'm guessing, crossed her arms. "Well, she did leave the door open... and this man, he knows mummy! He isn't a stranger!" she looked up at me. "Are you..."

"Jesse." I told her. I had only been around them for a few minutes and already, I was totally in love with them.

Kate nodded and shouted down the hall. "Mummy! Someone's here to see you!"

Please don't say, please don't say...

"His names Jesse and he has curly hair like mine!"

Oh god. No.

Rachel ran into the hall and scooped Kate up into her arms. "Katie! What did I tell you?"

"Strangers are dangerous."

"Exactly!"

"You left the door open, and Jesse knows you." Kate told her.

Just then, Rachel's whole body froze. "Jesse." she whispered.

"Rachel. Please, I need to talk to you."

She looked at her daughters. "Kate." she said finally. "Do you know how to put the Teletubbies on, or do you want me to do it?"

Kate grinned. "I can do it. I'm a big girl, remember?"

Then she sped off down the hall, and her sister followed her slowly, looking over her shoulder to Rachel, who gave her a reassuring smile.

Then she turned to me. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to give you this." I held out my palm, where her ring sat, faded from the river.

Rachel gasped. "The ring."

"Do you know, I found it in the weirdest spot, right in a river!"

She looked pissed. "I couldn't keep it, Jesse. After three years, I felt like I was fading away from it.."

"Like Lord of The rings." I interupted. She smiled. "Exactly. Anyway, I remembered how Gollum found the ring... so I chucked it in the river, if that makes any sense. It had been three years, and I needed closure."

"Did you get it?" I said, afraid that her answer would be yes, but also that it would be no.

"Sort of. I met Tyler not long after that, and I convinced myself it was a sign, a gift. Then after the girls were born..." she choked back a sob. I instantly felt bad for her, having to raise twins on her own.

"I decided to ditch Broadway, at least for a while. I didn't want my babies to be raised by nannies, never really seeing their mum."

She stopped for a moment and I took the oppurtunity to ask the question which had burned a hole in the back of my mind for years. "Are you happy?"

"Not being a star? Yes, having my daughters made me realise how much I had actually wanted to be a mother. So that part is easy... its just the other things, like losing Tyler... and losing you."

That shocked me. I felt terrible. I had caused her so much pain.

I decided to get off the uncomfortable subject of the dead spouse. "Your girls are amazing."

"They're everything I could have asked for."

"So I'm guessing out of the two, Kate is the more outgoing one?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"Whats the other one's name?"

"Lily. It's my favourite flower."

Hmmm. It was mine too. A small part of me wondered whether she had remembered that.

Then Rachel answered that. "I know its stupid, but I really needed to keep a part of you with me."

"What did your husband have to say about that?"

"I told him, and he agreed."

Wait, what? Sounds like this Tyler is a nicer guy then I imagined.

"What about Kate?"

"Your mothers name was Kate."

"Yeah, I guess it is." I replied thoughtfully.

Rachel smiled. "I bet you were thinking they seemed pretty mature for their age."

"You read my mind." Again.

"I'm quite an enthusiastic mum, Jesse. I always teach them everything. In fact, I'm pretty sure Lily has my voice, and she can even play a song on the piano... she makes up her own, even if they mainly consist of hitting any random key. But I'm not an over pushy mum, if thats what your thinking."

"Not at all." I said quickly. "So what amazing talents does Kate have?"

"She seems to be the sporty one. She loves playing outside with her Dad's old hockey stick... but I might try and steer her in the netball direction instead... she hurts herself too much. But I really don't mind what they want to be, they're my kids, and I want them to be happy."

Rachel obviously has changed. Then I remembered, that was my fault.

The conversation merged into other topics - L.A, Seattle, houses... I tried to avoid high school, though. We didn't need any reminders of that.

I knew that we might never be more than friends - Kate and Lily were her number one priority, she made that clear. Even so, I knew John was right. She needed a friend. And quite frankly, so did I. There was one thing I knew, though. I was glad to have her back in my life again.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! If you think there was too much detail about Katie and Lily, sorry, but I love writing about little kids! They're so cute!