Becky felt a sense of relief when she went to bed that evening. She was surprised they had somehow managed to get Sara calm enough to go to bed. It had been hard; it was bad enough she skipped dinner, saying she wasn't feeling good. Jesse and Becky were worried, but didn't force her to eat, knowing it had been a rough day for Sara. Still, it was a relief when Becky passed by Sara's bedroom door later that night to hear even breathing coming from the half opened door. Becky had stepped in just to be sure, and Sara was fast asleep, even though her face was still tear-streaked, and her clothes still on.

Becky slid under the covers, where Jesse was waiting.

"Did you check on her?" He wanted to know. Becky nodded with a sigh.

"She's asleep." She replied, thankful for that small mercy. Jesse shared her relief.

"Good, she needs it. Man, she's had a rough day." He pointed out.

"Jess, what are they doing back in San Francisco? The last time they were here, they abandoned Sara to fend for herself. Why all of a sudden are they back, and why do they have a little girl with them? Do you think they had another child? After what they did to Sara?" Becky had so many questions racing through her mind, she couldn't control herself.

"I don't know honey. It makes no sense to me, but I know it really shook Sara. I'll never forget the fear in her eyes." He shook his head.

"Jesse, you don't think they came back to request custody, do you?" Becky asked suddenly, feeling her heart beating faster. Jesse was silent for a moment before he answered.

"After what they did to her? Becky, I don't think so, and even if they wanted to, I don't see any court granting them custody after Sara's history with them. She's already told us they were abusive to her in more than one way." He replied.

"But they have another daughter now. What if they claim they've changed?" Becky asked, feeling Jesse's hand slide into hers.

"Why don't we give Ms. Morrison a call tomorrow morning, and set up an appointment? Who knows? She might know something about it, and then maybe we can set our minds at peace." Jesse said. "And Sara's too."

"Honey, I don't think Sara will ever be at peace with this. It's hard enough to deal with the fact your parents didn't love you enough to take care of you, and left you alone when you're nine years old, but for them to show up again, and for her to see them almost five years later in a grocery store. I don't know, Jess. I can't imagine the pain she must be dealing with." Becky laid her head back against the pillow, and tossed and turned for quite some time before sleep finally came.


Sara woke the next morning feeling groggy and disoriented. She had had nightmares all night, vivid nightmares of the scene at the grocery store replaying itself over and over again, with different outcomes each time. In one of them, Sara had turned to see her parents in the grocery store just as she really had, except in her nightmare, her mother had seen her, and Sara had approached them, with a smile on her face, and she watched as her parents turned their backs, picking up their little girl, and running in the opposite direction, with Sara yelling after them.

"Please come back! Please tell me what I did wrong!" She had screamed, but to no avail. It had seemed the faster she ran after them, the further they drifted, until her throat became hoarse from screaming.

Sara shuddered as she still remembered the nightmares clearly in her mind. The whole scene at the grocery store itself had been a nightmare; a living nightmare. It still didn't seem real; this couldn't be happening to her, but she couldn't deny what she had seen. She would know them anywhere, anytime.

Sara changed her old clothes into a new set, and grabbed her backpack, making sure she had all her homework packed neatly inside. She walked downstairs, slowly, yawning, and feeling as though she didn't have a single tear left in her body. She had cried so much yesterday; it was no wonder she had managed to drift to sleep so quickly the night before. All those emotions were exhausting.

Sara eased herself into a chair in the dining room, waiting for somebody to come downstairs to drive her to school. Either Jesse and Becky had been driving her to school all week, ever since her fight with Stephanie, and Sara still respected Becky's request for Sara not to go anywhere alone. Sara hoped Steph had already left with Gia, or would at least not come downstairs until Sara was gone. Sara knew she would not be able to control her anger if Stephanie tried to start anything. Sara's emotions were all over the place; she was grateful when Becky was the first person to come down that morning, followed by Jesse and the twins.

"Sara, you're already up." Becky pointed out, seemingly surprised.

"We thought you'd still be sleeping." Jesse added. Sara shrugged.

"Nightmares woke me up." She said casually, as she stared at the wooden table.

"Again? Oh Sara." Becky said sympathetically. "Listen Sara, Jesse and I were talking this morning. If you want to stay home from school today, we're okay with that."

"You had a really rough day yesterday, squirt, and we understand if you need a day to kind of think things over." Jesse added. Sara shook her head.

"Thanks, but I think I'll go to school. I really don't want to sit around all day and think about...them." Sara's eyes glistened for only a moment, but she swallowed down that lump of emotion threatening to escape.

"Are you sure Sara?" Becky asked, and Sara only nodded, picking up her backpack.

"Can we leave now?" Sara asked, wanting to avoid seeing anybody else, especially Stephanie, in case she was still home. Becky nodded.

"Okay, let me just grab my keys. I'll meet you outside." She said, as Sara nodded, and said a quick goodbye to Jesse and the twins, heading outside. Once she had shut the door, Jesse turned to Becky, who had her keys, and was ready to go.

"I'll call Ms. Morrison right away and see if we can stop by to see her today." He said. Becky nodded.

"Okay, thank you." Becky leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I'll be back soon."


Jesse sat at the dining room table, tapping it impatiently as he waited for Becky to get home. He had just gotten off the phone with Ms. Morrison and wanted to tell Becky about their conversation. It wasn't long before he heard the convertible pulling up the driveway; he couldn't help but jump up. This whole thing had gotten him nervous as well. Becky opened the door and saw Jesse had been waiting for her.

"You called?" She asked. Jesse nodded, and sat back down at the table, as Becky joined him. "What did you find out?"

"Well, I told her what Sara saw yesterday, and she said we could stop by this afternoon around 4:00p.m. She was pretty busy when I called, but she said she would look into some stuff before we showed up. She could have met us earlier, but she thought this way it would give Sara and Britney a chance to catch up." Jesse replied. Becky nodded.

"Okay, well, it sounds like a plan. I guess we'll pick up Sara from school and go straight down to Jacobson's." She said. Jesse nodded, and cupped his hand over hers.

"Everything will be okay, honey. They're not going to try to take Sara away from us." He said.

"How do you know that?" Becky asked.

"Think about it. How could a parent abandon their kid, and then wake up one morning, and think, oh wow, I really messed up, maybe now I'm a better parent?"

"It's happened before."

"Baby, come on. This would never hold up in court anyway." Jesse pointed out. Becky knew he was right. No judge would allow them custody after their track record. But still, she couldn't help but feel worried.


Sara waited on the front step of the school for the red convertible to pull up. She couldn't help but look around nervously at all the people walking by. What if her parents were here too? Would she ever be able to go anywhere without the shadow of her past following her? She sighed, what did they want, anyway? What were they doing back in San Francisco? Sara had so many questions and no answers. She was grateful when she saw Becky and Jesse pulling into the school.

"Hi Sara." Jesse greeted when Sara hopped into the backseat, dropping her backpack beside her.

"Hi." She paused. "Why are you both here?" Normally only one of them came to pick her up after school, usually Becky.

"Well, we have to make a little stop before we go home." Becky said.

"Where?" Sara wanted to know.

"We have a meeting with Ms. Morrison so we can find out more about your parents." Jesse paused, waiting for Sara to react. "Maybe she knows why they're back in San Francisco." Sara sighed, and leaned back against her seat.

"Are you okay?" Becky asked, turning to face Sara. Sara shrugged.

"Do you mind if I just go see Britney while you talk to Ms. Morrison? I...I haven't seen her in a long time, and it would be nice to have a friend right now." She said, looking out the window. Becky felt her pain. Not only was she dealing with this tremendous shock, but her and Stephanie were fighting. True, Sara had Becky and Jesse, but she had no friends to support her. She understood perfectly why she wanted to see Britney.

"Of course, Sara. We'll let you know what happens with Ms. Morrison." Becky replied. Sara managed a small smile, as they turned onto the highway toward Jacobson's.


Becky leaned down and gave Sara a hug as she and Jesse ducked into Ms. Morrison's office. Sara promised she would come back to say hello to Ms. Morrison before they left, but right now, all she wanted to do was see Britney.

Sara walked down the familiar halls of the place that had once been her home, not that long ago. She peered into her old classrooms, into the familiar dining room, until she finally made her way up the winding staircase to the girl's dormitory. She walked in, half expecting to see Britney already started on her homework. Britney had always been the one to suggest they get an early start on their homework, so they could spend more time having fun, instead of worrying about everything they needed to get done. To Sara's surprise, Britney was not in the dormitory. A few girls were, some of whom Sara had known while she was here, and she said a quick hello, but didn't stay long. She wanted to find Britney.

Sara went down the stairs and opened the french doors that led to the courtyard. She smiled as she saw Britney sitting under a tree, reading from a textbook. She stifled a yawn as Sara approached her. Britney looked up as she noticed a shadow hovering over her. Her face lit up immediately as she stood.

"Sara, oh my gosh!" She wrapped her arms around her best friend and squeezed tight, as Sara returned the squeeze, feeling as though the tears she thought were all gone would escape. As she hugged her best friend, she felt as though she just wanted to stay here, in this courtyard forever, never having to deal with the truth that her parents were back in San Francisco.

"Britney, it's so good to see you, you have no idea!" Sara said, as she and Britney knelt down on the grass, all smiles.

"Same here! What's been going on with you? I haven't heard from you in ages." Britney said, and realized something was wrong when Sara looked away, tears in her eyes. Before she knew it, Sara told Britney everything. About Steph and Gia, about the fight they had, about what she had seen in the grocery store. She cried only a little; nothing compared to yesterday, but still, Sara felt relieved to have told her best friend.

"Sara, I can't believe this. Why do you think they're back?" Britney asked. Sara could only shrug.

"I have no idea." She replied honestly, hugging her knees, when she noticed Britney's eyes widening.

"What?" Sara asked worriedly. She knew that look. Britney had just thought of something.

"You don't think...I mean, you don't think they came back for custody, do you?" Britney asked in a low whisper. Sara felt her heart skip a beat. She had never thought about that possibility. They couldn't, could they? After what they had done? Why would they want her? After all that?

"You're not being serious, are you?" Sara asked in disbelief. Britney shrugged.

"Sara, I seriously hope that's not why they're back, but...it happens all the time. You know that." Britney was right. Sara had seen many girls at Jacobson go through similar situations when they're biological parents have come back, demanding custody. Some judges granted it, others didn't. It often depended on each situation. Sara leaned up against the tree, exhaling slowly. What was Ms. Morrison telling Jesse and Becky?


"How's Sara handling it?" Ms. Morrison asked after she brought out some coffee for Jesse and Becky.

"Not so great. She was a disaster yesterday. She was having a complete anxiety attack, I could barely get her to breathe, let alone talk." Becky said, shuddering at the memory of her daughter in that much pain. Ms. Morrison sighed, shaking her head. Sara had been her responsibility for a long time before Jesse and Becky adopted her, and had always cared about Sara as though she were her own. Like Jesse and Becky, Ms. Morrison had always felt an inward anger toward Sara's parents. They were the ones solely responsible for Sara's initial mistrust of adults, of families, and of love in general. It had taken a long time for Sara to crawl out of that. How dare they show up again?

"I spent most of the afternoon doing some research. Our last record of Troy and Allison Stephenson says they moved to Florida and had a baby." Ms. Morrison sighed. "I did some snooping around today and I found out they did move back to San Francisco. They bought a house up on Fourth Avenue just a few months ago. That little girl Sara saw with them was their daughter, I'm sure. They had another little girl not long after they left Sara. She's three now, and her name is Lisa." Ms. Morrison sat down in her chair and sighed, never looking up.

"I confess I already knew about Lisa. When Sara came here from the last group home she was in, they gave me her file. I guess when social services finally found out what had become of the Stephensons, they found out about Lisa being born. I...I didn't have the heart to tell Sara she had a baby sister. I didn't want to hurt her. She had already been through so much. I thought I had made the right decision, at the time." She confessed. Becky smiled sympathetically.

"You did. It would have destroyed her if she knew. Look at what it's doing to her now, after all these years. What would it have done to her when the wounds were still that fresh?" She asked. Ms. Morrison nodded, as though thinking.

"When you were doing your research, did you find anything out about them wanting custody?" Becky asked, changing the subject rather abruptly. Ms. Morrison sighed.

"I don't know for sure, but to be honest, it definitely doesn't appear that's why they're back. They bought a house; they're definitely not here just visiting. Plus I called, and social services haven't been called about any potential custody demands and no hearings have been set up. I would have been the first to know, being her social worker. It looks like they simply...moved back to San Francisco." She said, hating it every bit as much as the Katsoppolus' were. Jesse sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"I honestly can't understand how, after what they did to Sara, could even remotely be considered as fit parents." He said, a hint of anger in his voice. Ms. Morrison knew where he was going with this.

"Social services knows their history, and they are keeping an eye on them with Lisa, but apparently there's been nothing suspicious going on, and it's been a few months now. As far as social services is concerned, they appear to be good parents." She shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all.

"They aren't good parents! How can they not see that? How could any parent just walk out on their kid like that?" Jesse asked in a yell. Becky took his hand in her own to calm him down. She felt the same anger, and she knew Ms. Morrison was just as mad.

"I don't know, Jesse, but I will keep you both informed. I've been trying to contact Sara's parents all day, but there hasn't been any answer yet. As soon as I hear from them, I'll let you know what's going on." Ms. Morrison smiled. "Now, I'll bet Sara is out in the courtyard with Britney, and I would love to see her. It's been too long." Ms. Morrison led the way, as Jesse and Becky followed, holding hands. Everything would be okay; it had to be.