A/N: In this chapter, Evy wonders about what her mom was like.

Sam walked into the small house, six year old Evy right behind him. She had been unnaturally quiet the entire walk home. When Sam had closed the door, he saw that Evy had seated herself on the couch and was looking quite downcast. Sam sat next to her on the couch, grabbed her chin gently and made her look at him.

"Talk to me." He said. "Why are you so sad?"

Evy frowned and explained slowly, "We're supposed to tell stories about our moms in school tomorrow."

"I see." Sam said.

"I don't know what to say." Evy explained. "I don't remember anything about mommy."

"Well…" Sam said, pulling her over so she was in his lap, "I can help you with that. What do you want to know?"

"Anything." Evy insisted.
"Okay." Sam said, searching his brain for something unique to tell her. "You know what your mom loved more than anything else in the world?"

"What?" Evy asked.

"Balloons."
Sam's unusual answer was enough to stop the unshed tears that were threatening to fall from Evy's eyes. "Balloons?"
Sam smiled. "Yep. Balloons. There was always at least a few in the house. She said that no matter how sad you felt, when you looked at a balloon, it made you feel better." Before Evy could respond, another thought occurred to Sam. "Today would've been your mom's birthday."

"Really?"
Sam nodded, and got an idea. "Hey, Cricket? You want to do something for your mom's birthday?"

"Do what?" She asked.

"Come on." Sam urged, putting Evy down and standing up. He reached for her hand.

"Where we going, Sammy?" she asked.

"You'll see." Sam answered, grinning.

Sam led her outside and down the street towards the small convenience store on the corner. He paid for a small bag of twenty mixed balloons and some string, then took Evy by the hand and back home. Evy was eager to help, so Sam allowed her, under his supervision, to cut twenty equal pieces of string. Soon, the kitchen of the small house was covered in different colored balloons. Sam gathered them up and tied them around one wrist, and grabbed Evy's hand with the other.

"Sammy?" she asked, giggling. "What are we doing?"

"Hold on a minute." Sam said. He let go of Evy's hand and crouched down on his knee, pulling Evy close to him. "We are going to give these to your mom for her birthday."
"How do we do that?" Evy asked.

"In a minute, I'm gonna give these to you." Sam explained. "Hold on to them tight until I tell you to let them go, okay?"

"Okay, Sammy." Evy said. "What then?"

"Then, they're going to float up to your mom." Sam said.

"In heaven?" Evy asked.

Sam nodded. "Yep. In heaven."

Evy grinned. "Okay."

Sam carefully placed all the balloons into Evy's small hand, reminding her gently to "hold on tight". Sam picked her up and planted her on his hip. Evy took her job seriously, gripping the balloons with a fierceness that Sam had never seen before. Sam nearly laughed when he saw that her tongue was sticking out, concentrating. Once Evy was securely in place, Sam said,

"Okay, on three. One, two, three!"

Once Sam said three, Evy released the balloons and muttered "wow" under her breath. Red, green, blue, and yellow balloons flew in every direction, and Evy's little eyes darted all around, trying to watch all of them. When the balloons were nearly out of sight, Evy whispered,

"Happy birthday, mommy."

Sam smiled and kissed Evy's cheek. It killed him sometimes that Evy couldn't remember her mother while he could. Sam had hoped while Missy was alive that, after Evy was born, they could go to a halfway normal life, like he'd always wanted. In the year she'd been with them, Sam had gone to the same school and lived in the same house. She'd taken care of him like he was her own son. After she'd died, John had gone back to the same lifestyle he'd dragged Sam through before. Had it not been for helping to take care of Evy, Sam was certain he would have lost himself in despair. Suddenly Evy gasped.

"Look, Sammy!"

Sam looked up in the direction Evy was pointing. A shooting star was passing by.

"Look! It's mommy, Sammy. She's waving to us!"

Sam laughed and pulled Evy in for a hug. "She sure is, baby. She's telling you she loves you."

Evy looked back up towards the sky. "I love you too, mommy."
Sam soon brought Evy back into the house. Evy worked on her homework while Sam made dinner, they played a little, then Evy was given a bath and put to bed. After Evy was tucked in, she had one more question for Sam.
"Sammy? Do you think mommy's sad up there all by herself?"

"What do you mean, Cricket?" Sam asked.

"Up there in heaven without us." Evy said. "She's all by herself."

"Well, I don't think she is." Sam answered. "I think she's your guardian angel. She keeps you safe and watches out for you."

"Really?" Evy asked.

"Really." Sam said. "How do you think she knew to wave at you after we sent the balloons up?"

Evy grinned. "You're right."

"Time to go to sleep, Cricket." Sam stood up and kissed her forehead. "Good night, sweet girl. Sammy loves you."

"Love you too." Evy said, already yawning and starting to drift to sleep.