When Melinda called Jim back a week later, he was pleasantly surprised to hear she was going to be in New York this weekend. They'd set up a coffee date and Melinda sat there as Jim brought them their coffee.

He hadn't seen her in so many years. They were still so young when he last saw her, but now she'd softened.

"It's good to see you," Jim smiled as he fixed his badge, pulling out his chair and sitting down.

Melinda had always been beautiful but seeing her again only reinforced that truth. She was of fair complexion, one that showed she smiled often. She had the kindest pair of coffee brown eyes, somehow still gentle and still held that warmth within them.

"I haven't seen you since our ten-year high school reunion," she grinned, taking the mug from him. "How have you been?"

"I've been busy of late," he chuckled. "Mostly with work, but something else has come up too. How about you?"

"Oh, I've kept myself busy over the years," she smiled, drinking her cup of coffee. "But what's this about? What made you want to call little ol' me and ask me to meet for coffee?" Her gaze slid to the side, to admire the business of New York City. "I'm so glad I finally was able to see this city, even if only for a little bit."

"Why didn't you tell me, Melinda?" He replied, rubbing his jaw.

"Tell you what?" Melinda looked back at him and then back to the street. "She found you, didn't she?"

"You mean our daughter? Yeah, and not in the way she or I expected." He shrugged. "My rookie partner is her boyfriend. She's in some trouble, in the hospital after being beaten by a drug dealer."

"Is she okay?" She asked. "Does she want to find me?"

"She does," he replied. "I knew I could get you here quick. She needs you right now Melinda, more than she ever probably did."

"My intentions were always to find her, but I kept getting sent off on bad leads." She explained. "I almost found her when she was four, her adoptive mother passed and the husband put her in the system, but I was deferred to some social worker of a different child and lost her all over again. I've been trying to find her caseworker and I thought I had, but it just ended up being a dead end."

"You found the right person," he sighed. "She just was too selfish to tell you anything."

"What?" Melinda's eyes were misty as she wiped away her tears, looking at him. "What do you mean?"

"Evelyn Taylor ring a bell?" He asked.

"A caseworker in New York, yeah. She'd moved to Maine, but I tracked her down fiveish years ago. It was a dead end."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Evelyn Taylor adopted Katie when she was nine. She didn't tell you anything because she didn't want to. Little did she know it would backfire. Katie ran away and it just got worse for her."

"I can't do this," she muttered and stood up. "I can't think about back then Jim, and every time I think of you... I think of back then. I've come too far."

"Back then?" He asked, following her.

"All I think of is being back in that room with him sneering at me from the other side of the door," she cried.

"Your father," he muttered. "Melinda, if I had known... I would've saved you."

"That's the thing, no one knew. I was locked in my bedroom for seven months carrying a child that no one knew about." She replied, sitting back down slowly and then taking a sip of coffee. "I couldn't have told you even if I had wanted to."

"After Melinda. You could've told me after." He replied. "We could've gotten her back and raised her together!"

"After I was released from the hospital, I went with Andrea and I never looked back. It took me a long time until I was okay again and had a stable life... and then I started looking for her." She explained. "I wanted to find her first and then I'd find you, but I never did find her."

"Well she found me," he smiled and stepped closer to her. "She's pregnant and stuck in a gang, and we have to help her get out."

"Okay, how do I help?" Melinda asked. "I'll do anything."

Evelyn sat in a chair with her head in her hands as Ned returned with ice cream.

"What happened?" He asked her softly, passing her the cup of ice cream.

"She's freaking out about the baby," Katie sighed, lying back in the hospital bed. "Again."

"I can see that," he muttered. "Just know that no matter what happens, I'm here, for both of you."

She kissed him and then hugged him, swiping the ice cream from his hand and taking a bite of it.

"Where's Jim?" She asked moving over a little so he could settle near her.

"He went to go meet with someone," he shrugged off his jacket and stole a bite of ice cream from her with his own spoon. "Said he'd be back soon."

"Hey!" She laughed and then rubbed her jaw. "This is mine. Get your own."

He fought her for another bite and they dueled with their spoons happily, basking in something good for the first time in so long. They kissed, again, and he finally realized just how much he liked ice cream more when it was on her lips.

"You're getting an abortion," Evelyn said suddenly, breaking their happy mood. "You were probably on something when it was made. Do you even know who the father is?"

It was like an out-of-body experience as Evelyn stood there talking. It was just a pill, she said. A tiny pill, easy to swallow. That she would suffer for today, and then it would be like none of this ever even happened.

"Get out," she whispered.

"Katie, please hear me out," Evelyn yelled.

"What could you possibly say?" She cried, grabbing onto Ned for support. "I'm not killing our child."

"I do not want you to be that girl at the supermarket with three kids hanging off the shopping cart and a fist full of food stamps," Evelyn explained. "Is that what you want? Do you want to be fifty pounds overweight and struggling every day?"

"You must think that because you're a social worker that you know how every little thing in life goes, don't you?" She said, her heart beating faster with each word. "But Evelyn, you know nothing. You adopted me out of pity and not have you proved me otherwise. You've hurt me more than anyone in my entire life has because for the longest time I thought you were the only person I had on my side, but that ended up being a lie as well."

"Katherine," Evelyn whispered. "Please don't be like this."

"No, I see clearly now that you are here that I was only some trophy for you to show off how good of a person you think you are." She said flatly. "I should've never run away because that ultimately became an even bigger downfall for me when all I ever wanted to do was better myself. I want you to go, please."

"I won't let you go this time," Evelyn pleaded. "Not even if you cut me out again."

"Just go," she replied, teary-eyed. "Before I call someone and get you thrown out."

Evelyn turned on her heel and went for the door, as it opened and Jim appeared with a small box in his hands. "I was just-" Evelyn went to sneak past him.

"You should stay," Jim said and looked to Katie, whose brow furrowed. "She should stay." He turned back to Evelyn, who moved back slightly. "Your husband might want to be here as well."

"For what?" Evelyn asked.

Jim went to the door, peeking around it slightly to call for someone.

"Are you sure about this?" Melinda said softly to Jim. "I don't want to overwhelm her."

"Fine. I'll ask," he itched his head before turning to Katie with a smile.

"Jim!" Melinda gasped and grabbed his shirt, putting herself in the view of everyone now.

"And who are you?" Ned asked.

After removing her hat and moving her hair from her face, she straightened up with a smile. "I'm Katherine's mother," Melinda said softly. "I'm Melinda Gordon."