-After breakfast, which had consisted of a few sips of coffee and half a toast for Lucas and of a couple bites of cereals for Anna, they were finally starting their day. Lucas was thinking sarcastically that if they didn't get their appetite back soon he was going to save a bundle on groceries.

-He led Anna to the bathroom so that she could get cleaned up. She was old enough to do everything on her own so Lucas just sat on the floor reading, well pretending to read, he just couldn't seem to concentrate. It had been about 10 minutes when he felt her eyes on him and looked up at her.

-She had a bottle of shampoo in her hand and a perplexed look on her face.

-"Need help with that?" He asked and she nodded.

-Lucas gulped and stood up to sit himself on the edge of the tub. She silently handed him the shampoo bottle and he took it slowly taking a deep breath to keep his emotions in check.

-He remembered washing Peyton's hair so many times that he could still feel the texture on his fingers. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind though, he couldn't keep thinking about this kind of stuff, it was eventually going to kill him, so he concentrated on his task, that's all he could do, focus on specific tasks. That way maybe he would be able to get through today, and the days to follow.

-After he was done, he dried her hair and then she went to get dressed as he took a shower. He had to admit, after almost 48 hours without one, it felt good. He walked out of the bathroom 10 minutes later dressed and ready to go and headed for his bedroom to see how Anna was faring.

-He found Anna sitting on his bed still in her towel with an absent look on her face and tears in her eyes.

-Lucas said nothing, he just went in and sat beside her. Anna felt his presence and before he could realise what was happening, she had straddled him and was now burying her face in his neck as she cried. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried. He didn't know what had caused the tears, nor did he asked, it didn't matter, he knew that it was about Peyton, and that was all he needed to know, she missed her mom.

-As he held her, some tears found their way to his eyes as well, but he forced himself to push them back, right now it wasn't about him, it was about Anna. He needed to be there to comfort her, he couldn't allow himself to be weak.

-A few minutes later, she pulled back slowly and looked up at him with a sad look on her face. Lucas brushed the remnant of her tears away with his thumb.

-He didn't tell her that it was going to be okay, or anything of that nature, he couldn't because he knew that it would have been lying, he couldn't promise her that and he wouldn't.

-"So, ready to get dress?" He asked simply. She nodded and got off Lucas to go find her clothes.

-Later that morning to two of them had found their way into a furniture store to furnish Anna's room. They were in the kid's section and Lucas looked down at Anna who was holding his hand.

-"You can pick any set you want." He told her.

-She looked up at him with an amazed expression on her face.

-"Really." He confirmed for her, seeing that she wasn't sure.

-That seemed to get her going because, about two seconds later, she was dragging Lucas all around the place looking at furniture.

-After over half and hour of that, Lucas had determined that it wasn't just his imagination, Anna was very picky. They had looked at every set at least three times already and she still hadn't made up her mind. She had also made a point to show her repulsion for the ones that Lucas suggested simply by the way she was looking at him. But all and all they were having fun, it was good to be doing something as normal as shopping, after the days that they had had before.

-Finally, after what seemed like forever for Lucas, Anna finally settled on a white bedroom set with big purple flowers. Lucas nodded, he had to admire her taste, it was one of his favourite too.

-"Okay then, this one it is." He told the vendor who nodded and followed them to the cashier.

-Once Lucas had paid for the set and the delivery that they had promised would be later today the two of them made their way out of the store. As they walked on the sidewalk, Lucas saw a toy store and decided that seeing as he had no idea when her stuff would come he might as well buy her a few things. They walked in, Anna with once again an amazed expression on her face.

-"Okay, your toys and stuff aren't here yet so let's get you some in the meantime."

-Anna beamed and Lucas decided that making her smile like that would become his ultimate goal for the rest of his life, she deserved it.

-Once again Anna's picky side made an appearance at the store but after a while she settled on an art kit, a bike, a kitchen kit, and some dolls.

-After that, their next stop had been a children clothing store to buy Anna some clothes and as they went in Lucas thought that he had unleashed an hurricane. Anna practically dragged him all around the store picking clothes as she went and looking at Lucas to see if she could try them on. He was convinced that he had just become the store's best client when Anna went into the dressing with more clothes than he himself owned. She was dead serious on showing him each outfit that she tried on and rolled her eyes when she realised how unhelpful Lucas was being in helping her decide which ones were the best.

-When he saw her after she had tried each outfit at least twice and was trying to decide on which one she wanted most, Lucas just melted, this little girl was adorable, he just couldn't say no to her.

-"Anna, let's take all of them. Beside, you were probably going to need some new clothes for school anyway, let's just say we started shopping early." He smiled at her, realizing that he still needed to enrol Anna in school. Peyton had already filled out everything when she had registered her for a school in L.A., so all that Lucas needed to do was find a school and fax in the paperwork, he decided that he was going to have to do that as soon as possible seeing as school started in just over 2 months and that even if Anna was only starting kindergarten, she couldn't miss out on it because he had forgotten to enrol her.

-At his comment, Anna turned around, flashed him a smile and sprinted into his arms. He laughed, his first real laughed since everything that happened, Anna really was his salvation.

-Lucas addressed the young retailer beside him.

-"We'll take all of them." He told her and once again took off his wallet.

-By the time they got home after a last trip to home depot to pick out some paint and stuff for Anna's room, it was late that afternoon, Anna smiling at him as she watched him struggle with all their bags while the concierge rolled in her bike and went back for the kitchen set.

-Although one of his most expensive day ever, the day had been a really good one. The had had fun and Lucas could tell that Anna was becoming more and more familiar with him.

-He decided that he might as well start painting Anna's room today so that it could be ready for her as soon as possible and went in his bedroom to change, leaving Anna in the living room to play with her new toys. She looked at him curiously, but then went back to playing as Lucas went into her room.

-He smiled when he saw her come into the room 15 minutes, changed and with a determined look on her face. Lucas laughed.

-"You want to help?" She nodded determinedly.

-Lucas smiled and then looked her over and than at the purple paint.

-"Wait here." He told her as he started to leave the room thinking of something. He came back seconds later with a bandanna.

-"Come on." He told her motioning for her to come closer. When she did, he wrapped it around her head to protect her hair. He didn't feel like washing purple paint off her hair for hours once they were done. "Good. You look beautiful." He told her.

-Lucas had Anna stirring the paint while he taped the corners. He had decided to paint 2 walls purple and 2 walls with a fresh coat of white and he didn't want to screw it up.

-He had to laugh when he was about to start painting and turned around to find Anna with a brush in her hand that was almost bigger than her head.

-He picked through the bag and walked back to her holding a much smaller one.

-"There, that's better."

-She smiled innocently at him and he smiled back. She was starting to fall back to her true self he knew it, and he loved it.

-Lucas showed Anna what to do as he started at the top and her at the bottom, just doing the outline. He had to admit, she was good. Not that it was that much of a surprise, it was in her genes, he thought sadly going back to painting the walls. Again, focusing on simple tasks seemed to help him get through the day.

-By the time they were done with the first coat it was well past seven o'clock and as he looked over at Anna he couldn't help but realise how good of an idea the bandanna had been. Anna had paint everywhere, it was hilarious. He laughed at her and she sent him a murderous glare.

-For dinner, Lucas ordered a pizza, which they would probably eat for a week at the rate they were going. Even with the physical activity, neither of them was really hungry so they barely munched a couple bites of their slides before they couldn't eat anymore.

-Afterward, they watched tv until Anna fell asleep in his arms and Lucas carried her back to his bedroom, changing her into her pjs before tucking her in safely and kissing her forehead. He left the room and went back into the living room where he finished the program that he had been watching.

-He must have fallen asleep in front of the tv, because next thing he knew he was woken up by a shrilling sound.

-"MOMMMYYYYYYY!"