A/N: Thanks to those who read and reviewed; that's special to me! Thanks so much to my wonderful beta who helped me greatly....all mistakes are still mine though.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Kerry, Loren, and Lydia are mine.

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Danny paced around the dark living room softly with his head down. He held the phone to his ear and waited.

"Hello?" Lydia answered tiredly.

"Lydia, it's Danny. I'm sorry to wake you up."

"It's okay Danny." Danny could hear her moving around on the other end of the line, getting out of bed. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks Lydia."

He put the phone down on the coffee table and walked back into the dim bedroom. He sat in the chair at the end of the bed and turned it so he could see both the bed and out into the hall. A few minutes later, he heard the front door open and close quietly and saw Lydia walking toward him.

She was wearing jeans and a sweater, which was a little odd for Danny to see, as he was used to seeing her almost exclusively in her scrubs. She set her bag down in the hall and carried her stethoscope in her hand at her side.

Danny stood when she walked in the room, accepting the embrace she offered. He then stepped aside and watched as she approached the bed.

Lydia placed the stethoscope over Kerry's chest and listened for a full minute before standing straight again. She looked at her watch and silently announced the early hour. "Time of death: three twenty-seven am."

Danny nodded and leaned back against the wall. Kerry noted the time on a paper she brought with her and tucked it back into her bag with her stethoscope.

"Do you want me to talk to Loren?"

"No," Danny wiped his face with the back of one hand. "I'll talk to her when she wakes up."

"Okay." She pulled her phone from her pocket and pointed toward the living room. "I'm gonna go make a couple calls."

"Yeah. I'm gonna call her parents."

They quickly and quietly took care of their business and waited for the mortuary attendant to arrive.

"Hey, listen," Danny spoke to the man as he walked in with the gurney, "her little girl is still asleep in the next room. Do me a favor and try not to wake her, okay?"

"Of course, sir."

When the bedroom was empty again, Danny sat on the end of the bed. He looked at the oxygen tank next to the bed. He couldn't remember taking the mask off of Kerry's face, but he remembered the last time he heard the regulator click, indicating that she had taken a shallow breath. He stood and pulled the covers back up on the bed and straightened them. He then went to the living room and sat with Lydia on the couch.

"Her parents are going to come later to check up on us. All the arrangements were made with the funeral home earlier this week, so we don't have to go back over there."

"Good. How are you holding up?"

Danny took a deep breath. "I don't know. I knew it was going to happen but…. I don't know. It's pretty hard. For the last week, when she couldn't talk or laugh, I was missing her already." After a moment he sighed and smiled just a little. "Loren's got her laugh. She's so much like her mom."

"She is. She's a great little girl." Lydia put her hand on Danny's. "You'll do great. Kerry wouldn't have trusted you with her otherwise."

Danny spoke softly as if just realizing the information. "I've gotta be a father to this little girl. I don't know how to be a father."

"You have to be the same person you've been to her since you met her. That's all she's expecting of you. Just Danny."

Danny wiped a tear from his cheek and nodded. He looked at his watch and dropped his hand in his lap. "I should let you get back to bed. You've gotta work."

"This is what I do, Danny."

"I know. But I'll be okay. You need some sleep and I think I'm gonna rest a while before Loren wakes up."

She stood and waited for him to follow suit, knowing he would see her to the door. She hugged him again at the door and reminded him to call if he needed anything. He nodded and locked the door behind her as she left.

Taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes, he made his way back to the couch and laid down.

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As the sun peeked through the window in the living room, Danny turned over and rubbed his eyes. He sighed when he realized he had actually slept, which he didn't expect, but was relieved with the few hours of rest. He felt around on the table for his glasses and sat up when he could see properly. He walked softly to Loren's room and opened the door. She wasn't awake yet but he knew that she would be stirring very soon and he wanted to be there when she did. He sat in the rocking chair in the corner of her room and watched her sleep for 20 minutes before she started moving under her blankets.

When she sat up, she smiled at Danny sitting in the rocking chair. She had become used to seeing him there in the mornings. Since Kerry had gotten sick, he was almost always there and he frequently waited to greet her in the mornings. She skipped over to him and jumped up into his lap.

He kissed her on the top of her head and set her back down in the floor on her feet. "Hey baby, why don't you go to the bathroom real quick then come back in here with me, okay?"

Loren nodded and scurried off in the direction of the hall bathroom. She returned a few minutes later and jumped back into his lap.

"Loren, I have to talk to you about something very important okay." Loren nodded her head. "Do you remember how me and your mommy talked to you about the angels?"

Loren nodded again excitedly. "They're very pretty."

"That's right, they are. Do you remember how we said that someday everybody turns into an angel and they all go to live together in heaven?" Loren smiled. "Well, last night, your mommy went to heaven to be with the angels. She was very sick and she needed the other angels to take care of her. But now she's very happy and she feels much better."

Loren frowned now. "How come we can't take care of mommy?"

A tear fell from Danny's eye but he didn't wipe it away. "She was just too sick for us to take care of her. Angels are better at taking care of her now."

"Why are you crying Danny?"

"Because I'm a little sad. It's hard knowing I'm not going to see her again. She was special to me."

"Mommy told me she would always be in here when I needed her." Loren brought her tiny hand up and put it on Danny's chest.

Danny smiled through his tears and nodded. "Ya know what, she told me that too."

"Danny, will I ever see Mommy again?" Tears began forming in the little girl's eyes and there was a hint of fear in her voice.

"She won't be here with us, but you'll see her other ways. You can see her in your dreams at night, and we have all the pictures and movies we made to keep her in our memory."

Loren nodded. She didn't have to say anything for Danny to understand her.

They both knew it would be a long process and they would have to be strong for each other along the way.

Danny wiped his face quickly with the back of his hand. He patted her on the leg and put on a smile. "So, what would you like to do today?"

"The swings," she said simply.

He laughed. Loren loved going to the playground. And if that's what she wanted to do today, well, that's what they were going to do.

Kerry's parents were making sure the last few funeral arrangements were made and making phone calls. They decided that Loren should spend the day with Danny since it would make for an easier transition. They were going to take her the day before the funeral so Danny could move her bedroom and personal things into her new room quickly. After the funeral, he would deal with everything else.

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Feedback would be great right about now...