Sarah woke up in a cold sweat, though it was better than the nightmare she woke from. Like most nights, she saw her parents again, but they were back at the Romero workshop. Sarah tried to reason with her father, who wouldn't listen, and she would try to ask her mother to leave, but Jenny would stay. As always, Oedius would show up and there was nothing she could do to stop the explosion or her parents dying.

She felt the panic build up and tried to supress it. She had promised Kelly, who was laying right next to her, that she would try to make it to school in the morning. Her anxiety over moving on with her life without her mother had prevented her from going to school the day before, and she didn't want to let her girlfriend down twice.

She remembered what Serena said the day before. When people died, they weren't really gone. Sarah still had the memories of her parents, of her mother. She had her mother's voice and her lessons in her head still. Jenny would be with her for the rest of her life, Sarah just couldn't see her anymore.

That worked a little to calm her down. Sarah didn't feel like she had to rush off to the bathroom anymore, but she was still nervous about school. She didn't want anyone's pity, or sympathy, or to hear people saying how sorry they were for her. She didn't want to receive those "poor girl" looks in the hallways. She didn't want her teacher to softball some lessons for her, thinking that her grief would make her a little less smart. If she returned to school, she wanted things to go back to normal.

She wanted her mother back.

She felt the wave of nausea hit again and finally had to race to the bathroom. The more she thought about her mother, the sicker she felt. She hugged the toilet as she puked up her dinner, or the few bites she had eaten.

Now she wanted her mother, and she was going to disappoint Kelly.

Shane, who had been on high alert since the morning, heard someone rushing to the bathroom and knocked on the door to check up on whoever it was. Sarah called to him that it was open. He sat down next to her and helped her hold her hair back as she puked.

"I miss her too," he told her. Serena had spent the day before with Sarah and Shane had watched how she interacted with his niece. He wanted to know how to help her and he had noticed that Serena would often get Sarah talking by starting the conversation off a bit indirectly. She didn't need to ask what was wrong, because that was obvious, so she would state something. "I mean, she was my big sister, so she was mostly annoying, but… that's the stuff you miss, you know?"

Sarah flushed the toilet and leaned back against the tub. She nodded to her uncle.

"I remember," Shane continued. "I was little, probably around eleven, and I wanted this cool new skateboard. The wheels were red and… actually… I don't remember much about it at all," he chuckled. "All I really remember is how badly I wanted it, and how much I loved it."

"Was it your first?" Sarah asked.

"No," Shane shook his head. "My second. My first was a hand-me-down from my cousin. But this would be the first board I had that was only mine. I ask my parents if they could buy it for me. You know what they said?"

"You have to earn it?"

"Yep," Shane chuckled. His parents were good parents, and he loved them dearly, but his father, especially, could be a little tough. Growing up, Shane was never really handed anything, especially the older he got. Like most kids, he had to do chores to receive his allowance and when he wanted something, he would have to save for it. Birthdays and Christmases, he received mostly practical gifts. If he wanted something like a skateboard, he would have to save up the money for it himself, then find a way to get to the store himself to buy it. It didn't matter if he was sixteen and could take the family car (which he would then have to fill up the gas before he returned it) or if he was ten and had to hope his older siblings, or his parents, would have the time to drive him to the store.

"So you did your chores?"

"Nah," Shane shook his head. "The allowance was a joke. I'd have to wait months before I saved up enough money. I'd need money to cover the bus ticket too. Not much of an added expense, but still."

"So what did you do?"

"I had no idea how I could earn money faster. I asked Porter and Jenny if I could take over some of their chores for a few months…"

"A few months?"

"I told you, the allowance was a joke. Maybe that's why I do so well on a Sensei's salary," Shane chuckled. "Anyways, Porter refused. He had his own things to pay for. He had started dating, so if he stopped getting an allowance, he wouldn't have that extra pocket money to take girls on dates."

"Didn't he have a job?"

"Dude, Porter's been working and rich since he discovered what money could do," Shane chuckled. "I swear, he was selling off his toys to buy his own diapers."

Sarah chuckled. Shane knew he was doing something right. At the very least, he had taken her mind off whatever it was that was worrying her.

"So, anyways, Porter outright refused to let me take over his chores and Jenny kind of had the same problem. She didn't have a job yet so the only way she made money was with her chores. I thought for sure I'd be stuck waiting months for this board, and I was so worried they might stop selling it or that by the time I got it, it wouldn't be cool anymore."

"So what did you do?"

"Me? I kind of sulked that things weren't fair. That the only thing I had ever asked my parents for was a skateboard and they weren't nice enough to help out. Porter thought I was spoiled, my parents didn't let it bother them, but your mother kind of fell for it, in a good way."

"She did?"

"She made a bit more money that I did from her chores, since she had more responsibility. And she wasn't dating yet, and she wasn't much of a mall person, so she always had a few extra bucks."

"She loaned you the money?"

"Do you think your mother would loan me money?" Shane frowned. "I was eleven, I didn't know what a loan was. Do you trust an eleven year old to pay you back?"

"I would have."

"Right, I forgot you were the perfect kid," Shane chuckled. "Anyways, your mother used some of her allowance money to buy some lemons and sugar."

"Lemonade?"

"She suggested we start a lemonade stand. She would help me make it and sell it, but I could keep all the money. I thought for sure it was a trick. See, I hate just farted into her hat the other day…"

"You what?"

"Don't give me that look," Shane frowned. "She started it. She had started playing music way too loud in her room and it was those god-awful boy bands that I couldn't stand. I asked her to turn it down and she told me where to shove it. Classic big sis little bro stuff."

"Wow."

"Yeah, so I farted in her hat and still, when she knew I needed help, she swooped in. We opened a lemonade stand at the skatepark and charged people about a buck a drink. Your mother explained how we were saving up for a skateboard and the guys there were really cool about helping out. I think everyone bought at least two glasses. By the end of the day, I had enough money for a new board and a new helmet."

"Much have been a popular place."

"It was," Shane smiled. "Jenny walked me to the store at the end of the day. The skatepark was closed, so I would have to wait to try it out, but at least I had it now."

"Did you get the helmet?"

"Nah," Shane shook his head. "I thought about it, but mine was still in good condition, and it was pretty cool still. So instead, I took your mother out to get milkshakes."

"That's sweet."

"She helped me out first," Shane said. "In fact, now that I think of it, even though we really annoyed each other, growing up, she was always there for me. She didn't push me around too much like Porter did, or look down on me like he did…"

"Porter's a tough guy, huh?"

"I'll say. I mean, we're cool now but we were so different growing up," Shane chuckled. "It was your mother I could always count on for a helping hand. I'm going to miss that."

"Me too," Sarah confessed just as there was a knock on the door. She looked over to see Kelly.

"Are you too sick?" the green Ranger asked. Sarah looked to the toilet and touched her stomach. The thought of going to school still upset her, but she had promised Kelly she would try and she was feeling a little better.

"I'll brush my teeth. Meet you downstairs?" she suggested. Kelly smiled, then looked to Shane.

"Can I get a hand?"

Shane nodded as he got up from the bathroom floor. He pulled Kelly onto his back, asked her to hold him tight and started to make his way down the stairs with her and the chair.

"As much as I'd hate to sell this place and mine, I'm considering doing so and getting a one story," he told her.

"You are?" Kelly asked him. Shane stepped off the last stair and helped Kelly back into her chair.

"Well, you're sticking around. Seems pretty stupid to have you sleep upstairs and depend on someone to bring you up and down every day."

"What if I get better?"

"It would be a while still before stairs are comfortable and besides, one story houses are less to clean."

"A whole floor less."

"Exactly, and if I'm going to be Mr. Mom now, I'd like to have less to clean."

"Mr. Mom?"

"Don't start calling me that."

"Too late, Mr. Mom," Kelly chuckled.