I am so extraordinarily sorry for the delay you guys. This story just got away from me. If you are still reading it then thank you.

The ride back to the apartment was quiet and Olivia didn't really expect it to be any different. They had packed most of Cheryl's clothes and things she would want right away, leaving the rest to be packed by the moving team that her aunt had already hired.

"What'll happen to the house?" Cheryl asked as she continued to look out the window.

"It depends. If your dad owns it, then probably nothing. He can shit off the utilities and leave it like that until he gets out of prison. Or he could sell it, although it would be impossible for him to do so while he's locked up. If he doesn't own it then it'll go back on the market for someone else to buy."

"He doesn't own it. We moved there after mom died and we've been renting it ever since. Guess it's just as well that we never put down any permanent roots."

"I used to think the same way. I used to think that the freedom to do what I wanted and not answer to anyone was the best kind of life."

"What happened?"

Olivia glanced at the teenager and smiled, "I met Alex. That life does give you freedom Cheryl, but it can get really lonely if you keep running away from people who love you."

"Yeah, well, my dad loved me so much he almost beat me to death so where does that leave me?"

"In the same place Haddie was in last year and the same place I was in when I was your age. You have a choice to make. You can continue to believe that no one cares for you, or you can take the blinders off and realize that just because one person couldn't love you because of their own hang ups, doesn't mean a hundred other people can't love you as you are." Cheryl hung her head and felt bad for assuming that no one could understand her plight.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"When I was your age I snapped at a lot of people too, for the same reason. They wanted to help, but couldn't understand. I loved my mother and I'm guessing that normally you love your father, but when my mom drank she stopped being that person I loved and she lost that ability to love me the way I deserved. It took me a long time to forgive her and by the time I was ready to we only had a few years left with each other. I like to think that even though she's gone we still managed to forgive what happened and move on. I have a wife and children and a job I love and I know if she were alive to see it she'd be happy for me." Olivia pulled into the parking garage of the apartment and shut off the car.

"You think I'll ever have that with my dad?"

"I don't know honey. That's up to you and him. But what you do have is a family member that wants to make up for lost time and be there for you and besides, living in Paris doesn't sound like such a bad thing." Cheryl smiled and let Olivia help her out of the car. They left the bags in the car, knowing they would be leaving for a hotel or the airport soon enough. Once they got upstairs Olivia let them into the apartment and was met with the sight of Alex and Cheryl's aunt sitting at the kitchen table talking over coffee.

"Get everything you needed?" Alex asked as they walked in.

"Everything that matters, they can mail me the rest of it." Her aunt stood up from her seat and crossed to where her niece stood. "Well, we should probably head over to our hotel and get out of your way. I'm sorry for all of the issues my brother in law has caused. You have three kids and jobs to worry about and I'm truly sorry that his behavior has disrupted anything."

"You don't have to be sorry at all. We were glad to be able to help. Any idea when you'll be leaving?" Alex asked, knowing the girls would want to say goodbye despite their tentative friendship.

"As soon as the ink is dry on that deal your friend drew up. I have us on a flight back to Paris in two days. We'll be sure to come by here first, let the girls say goodbye. If that is alright with you." Olivia nodded.

"Of course it's alright. Come on I'll give you a lift to your hotel." She kissed Alex and ushered the two other women downstairs to the car. Alex cleaned up in the kitchen and eventually settled into her bedroom. The boys didn't seem like wanting to sleep so Alex put them on the bed with her and let them tire themselves out with a few toys. Alex could see her daughter pacing in the hallway and eventually she called her out on it.

"You are about a subtle as a hand grenade kiddo. You can come in you know. The boys were just having a fascinating discussion about that stuffed elephant." Alex nodded to the babies who did seem to be talking in a very animated fashion about the toy that was sitting between them. Haddie joined them on the bed and the boy immediately got excited. JD offered the plush toy to his sister and babbled something as he did so.

"Is that for me buddy? You are far too kind." The boys went back to their "conversation" and Haddie went back to being quiet.

"Did you have something to talk to me about or were you just coming in to say goodnight?"

"It's good that Cheryl has someone to take care of her." Alex nodded her head, not sure where her daughter was going with this.

"Yes, it is."

"Then why don't I feel better about all of this?" Haddie collapsed on Olivia's side of the bed and watched her brother playing with each other as they tried to fight sleep. Alex reached over and brushed Haddie's hair away from her face before she answered.

"Maybe you're feeling what momma and I feel all the time. We can't save them all honey and it's something your mom and I have struggled with all our careers. When we can help someone and things turn out well you never end up feeling that great about it because you know there are a million stories that never have happy endings. You are happy for Cheryl because she has someone who can love her and care for her, but you also know that deep down she got very lucky."

"If you and mom feel like this all the time then why do it at all?" Alex sighed and lifted Haddie's chin up to meet her gaze.

"Because sometimes it works out and that one time it works out makes the times it doesn't worth it. And because sometimes, in very rare occasions, we get to save someone and then make them a part of our family." Haddie had to smile at that and she decided that for tonight she too would live with the pleasant feeling of knowing her classmate, her friend was safe and worry about the people she couldn't save another day.

I know it's short, I apologize. I basically wrote this on my lunch break at work and I wanted to get it out there.