"Here you are!" Elijah cried when he opened the front door and saw Selina on the other side. She hugged him hard and tried to calm her quickly beating heart by inhaling the scent on his neck that usually calmed her. However, he smelled a little different today.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked him as she pulled away. "Are you all right?"

"Now I am," he said, even though his nose was red and his gait was a little unsteady. "I've been up all night," he confessed. "Every night since your father took you. I didn't know if you were going to come back or not."

"Of course I was," Selina told him. "Daddy wouldn't kill me!"

"I don't know how you can be so sure of that," Elijah told her. "The man was emotionally overwrought and he can do amazing things with a gun. I remember that you told me that."

"Daddy's fine now," Selina told him. "He's at his house, thinking of what he's gonna tell Christine to get her to take him back."

"I don't know how he can expect that," Elijah replied, his voice prickly. "After all those things he said about her and sweet little Sarah."

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens, won't we?" Selina asked. She then took off her jacket and hung it up. "I need blood," she said. "It's been a long day."

"Did your father drive you back?" Elijah wanted to know as he led her to the living room and sat her down on the sofa.

"No, I took a taxi back," Selina told him. "And it was all I could do not to make him pull off on the side of the road so I could suck him dry. That wouldn't have done me much good, would it?"

"Why did you let yourself get so hungry?" Elijah asked. "Haven't you been feeding at all?"

"I have," Selina nodded. "Just not as much as I'm used to because I've been taking care of Daddy, you know, and I couldn't risk doing anything that would make me as nutty as he was."

"Well, that was very good of you," he told her. "You're a good daughter."

"Damn right I am," Selina nodded. "I at least stopped him from being put in jail on a murder charge and if that's not filial dedication, I don't know what is."

Elijah went and got her some blood and as he sat back down with her, he asked, "Would you like me to call school tomorrow and tell them you need more time to recover from what you've been through?"

"It's a really sweet offer," she said and put her free arm around him before she kissed his cheek. "But I think…I think I've been out of my normal pattern long enough. I just want to have my blood, take a bath, and try and get some rest before I go back to class tomorrow."

After she'd taken all she could, Selina stood up, stretched, and gave Elijah a long, deep kiss before telling him that she was heading away to take her bath.

"All right," he told her and gave her a spank. "You do that. I'm just…I'm really glad you're safe."

"Yeah, me too," Selina nodded. "Not that I was ever worried about that, but…being away from you, it made me realize how important you've become in my life. I love you, Elijah."

"Yes," Elijah nodded as she turned on her heel. "I love you too."


"I just don't know what to do about Matthew," Christine told Eva on the phone. They'd moved back to their house after a couple of days because Christine felt like she was imposing on her friend. But they'd still talked on a nightly basis after that. "I don't know what to do with him because on the one hand, I know he's probably suffering horribly right now and I want to wrap him in blankets, give him cocoa, and tell him that everything is going to be okay. But on the other, I just want to grab him and shake him and tell him that I never want him to say any of the bullshit he said about me or Sarah ever again, otherwise I'm going to toss him out on his ass and never speak to him again. What do you think I should do?"

"Do you really want my advice?" Eva asked. "People don't usually ask me for my advice."

"Well, I want it this time," Christine replied. But then the doorbell rang and thunder crashed as the storm that had begun that morning continued. "Hang on a minute," she said. "There's someone at the door." She picked up Sarah and they went to answer it together. And when she opened the door, a wet, pathetic figure met her eyes.

"Hello, Christine," he said humbly. "Can I…Can I come in?"

Christine sighed. "It was very sneaky of you to come in the rain, Matthew," she told him as she invited him in. "You knew I wouldn't turn you away then, didn't you?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting it," Matthew told her. "But I did hope."

While Christine's look was one of someone who was utterly worn down, Sarah's eyes were bright and eager as she reached for her father.

"Can I take her?" He asked Christine.
"Well, that would be nice," She replied.

So Matthew took his daughter, sat down on the sofa, and let her rest against his wet shirt. "I want you to know that my being here is not a demand that you take me back," he said. "I just…I want to know where we should go now."

"Well before we decide that, I have one question for you," Christine said seriously, arms crossed. "When you were about to shoot Malachai and screaming about being cuckolded, did you really mean any of that, or was it just the result of the shock you felt after finding out that Malachai was Sarah's biological father?"

"It was the shock!" Matthew assured her. "If I had been in my right mind, I wouldn't have said such things."

"That's what I thought," Christine nodded. "That's why this is the plan: I'll take you back, but when you're not teaching, you're the one who's gonna look after Sarah while I do what I need to do. You're also going to be sleeping on the sofa until I don't feel mad at you anymore. And as for our intimacy, we'll have that cause I have needs despite my anger. But when I say I'm done and I want you to leave, that's it. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Matthew nodded. "I do. And…thank you for giving me this second chance."

"You're welcome," Christine told him, her voice curt. "But I don't want us to go through something like this again. It's too much! If you're upset about something, you talk to me. Don't just let it build up until you have a psychotic break. I'm here to help you. Don't you get that? Sarah and I both love you and want you in our lives but it won't do us any good if you're being cowardly and running away."

"I know," Matthew told her, his eyes locked on hers as he hugged his daughter. "I know that now. I promise."

"Hello?" Said a voice from the kitchen. "Christine, are you still there?"

"Oh, shit!" Christine cried. "I was talking to Eva before you showed up and I left her hanging." She then ran off to tell Eva that everything was okay while Matthew cuddled with Sarah for a bit and then put her to bed before going to take a shower and dry himself off after being in the rain.


"I can't stop thinking about my brother," Andrew told Amelia. "I just…I know he's been bottling up a lot over the years, but this…this is unbelievable!"

"Yeah," Amelia said. "If this was something that would be dealt with in the normal courts, you think he'd be able to get away with an insanity plea?"

"Probably not," Andrew replied. "You have to honestly have no idea what you're doing is wrong in order for that to work and he clearly knew what he was doing." He paused. "Of course the first man to ever get away with that was in the same sort of situation as my brother. Well, the same situation that my brother believed he was in, anyway. It's just…it's getting on my nerves. How are you staying so calm?"

"I've been thinking about Charlotte," Amelia replied. "And what it must be like wherever she is. I hope she's in heaven. That would be a nice place for her to be after all she's gone through, don't you think?"

"Yes," Andrew nodded, coming to embrace her. "I do."


Despite what her friend wanted for her, however, heaven was not where Charlotte was. Instead of going into the light, she'd wandered around the country, finally ending up in Seattle. She often frequented places full of people like bars, bowling alleys and dance halls, but usually at night or after closing when no one would be around to see her sneak drinks from the bar. One night, however, that all changed.

She had helped herself to whiskey as usual and had just put the cup to her lips when she heard a voice. "Hey, you, this place is supposed to be empty. It's past closing time."

The voice made her choke on her drink and drop the glass to the floor where it shattered. She was then faced with the building's janitor, who good-naturedly wiped up the glass and then faced her. "So…what's your story?" He asked. "What makes you come and steal drinks every night?"

Charlotte was shocked. No one had been able to see her before. That's how she'd gotten away with all her previous adventures. Now here was a man with blond hair hanging in his nice blue eyes, wearing a gray t-shirt and dirty, torn overalls, who could see her. She pushed her hair out of her blue eyes, cleared her throat, and said with dignity, "Who in the world are you? How can you see me?"

"I've always been able to see folks like you," he told her with a smile. "As long as I can remember. And usually people stick around cause they got some sort of troubles. So…what's on your mind? You wanna talk to me? I'm Thomas, by the way. Thomas Cooper."

Charlotte ignored his outstretched hand and said, "I'm Charlotte. And I'm not doing this because I have troubles. Now is finally my chance to enjoy life and I'm taking it."

"But you're dead," Thomas told her bluntly. "You have no life. Isn't there somewhere else you'd rather be?"

"I know what you're getting at and everyone else you've ever helped has probably felt that way, but not me," Charlotte told him, pushing a strand of dark hair back into her up-do. "At least not now. I'm not ready. So if you don't mind…could you just let me do what I need to and not tell anyone I'm here? Please? You seem like a very nice young man, if a little rough around the edges. I think we could be friends."

Thomas smiled. "I think I'd like that," he told her. "I'm an orphan, you know. Never had much in terms of friends or family and while it's a bit of a surprise to have my first real friend be a ghost…sure, why not? No one will hear a thing about you from me. It'll be our secret."

"Thank you," Charlotte replied and finally shook his hand. "I really, really appreciate that."