What a sweet little laugh Kylie had.

Kimberly and Kylie had been baking close to four hours at this point, but the hours had flown by. The kitchen, which had a light dust of flour on top of every nook and cranny, had never been so busy. Kylie was propped up on a chair, her hair tied loosely into a ponytail, her cheeks and forehead a powdery mess.

Kimberly giggled in return, finding the flour on Kylie absolutely adorable. Kylie reminded her of herself at that age, baking away at her grandmother's house while her parents used the free time to work on their marriage. It obviously didn't help, but the memories Kimberly made in the kitchen were ones she still treasured.

She could picture herself right in that kitchen every single day. Kylie up on a chair helping make whatever dessert they felt like that day, another little girl with long brown to her side, and maybe a little boy up on a high chair gnawing at a pastry they had made the day before. Tommy would be outside with their other children, running around or teaching them about one of his many talents. Too bad that could never happen. The life she wanted was as much of a fantasy as those Hallmark movies she liked to watch. Life didn't always have a happy ending and it was stupid to think otherwise.

"We're gonna make a million dollars with all this stuff!" Kylie continued to stir the brownie batter.

Leave it to Kylie to make things better.

"A million, huh?" Kimberly laughed. "You think they're that good?"

Kylie gave Kimberly a wide grin, "These are the bestest brownies I have ever tasted."

"When the only brownies you've had are from your dad, I'm not surprised you think these are good," Kimberly winked.

Kylie giggled in response, "Daddy isn't very good… maybe you can teach him too."

Kimberly returned a small smile and nod. She didn't exactly want to say that she would rather beat her dad with a waffle iron than spend time with him, but it almost slipped out. "Well, now that I'm teaching you, maybe you can be the one to teach your dad."

"I think so too. We can make brownies, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, donuts, madeleines, canoes…" Kylie trailed on, naming all the sweet desserts that she could think of. However, everything had to include sprinkled in there somehow. Even if it didn't make sense to include it, it had to have sprinkles. They were like the drops of sunshine on a rainy day. They made everything better.

"That's a long list, Kylie," Carol made her way into the kitchen after hearing Kylie naming everything under the sun. "I don't know if Aunt Kim is staying long enough to teach you all of that."

And she wasn't. Today was all they had. Kimberly would be out of Reefside before the sunrise.

Kylie's head dropped down from the clouds, a frown forming on her face.

"Daddy said that he asked her to stay," Kylie turned from her grandmother to look back at Kimberly.

Kimberly's face softened in return.

"I'm not, kiddo. I have to get back home and…" What the hell did she say? Get back home and bake? Get back home and do exactly what she could do at this house? "I just, I have some things to do at home."

"Oh.." Kylie's gaze fell back to the counter, but a moment later she resumed her stirring. "I wish you didn't live so far away."

"I won't for much longer. I'm really thinking about moving over here in a few months. Then I'll be able to see you all the time."

Kylie's face lit up more than when she took a bite out of the sample batch of cookies they made earlier. "Really?"

"Yes! I have to figure out some stuff and then I'm moving over here."

"Where will you live? Do you want to live with us?"

Kimberly snorted, "That is very sweet of you to offer, but I'm not sure your dad would like that."

"Yes, he would," Kylie nodded wildly, "He was always smiling and super happy when you were here, and when you left he was sad."

Why did the room suddenly get really warm? It was like a fire in the middle of summer. Kimberly made firm eye contact with Carol before she had to look away. It was almost as if she knew something that Kimberly didn't know. The heat was lingering. Was he actually sad? He didn't sound like it on the phone. He was holding back, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Why did the thought have her smiling internally? She wanted to actually mean something to him. The bullshit he said to her in the car was just that— bullshit! How could she mean everything to him and he still toyed with her heart? The rage was coming back up. She had to push that way.

Carol might have needed glasses, but she wasn't blind. There was something there that Kimberly and Tommy were hiding. Unfortunately for them, she was a self-proclaimed mom detective. Still, she didn't pry. There were some things that were better left unknown.

"I'm sure your dad is fine now," Kimberly told her gently. She had to change the subject. "Anyway, I'll see what I can teach you while I'm here. I don't know if we'll get to donuts and madeleines, but canoes? What do you mean by that? I'm pretty sure your dad isn't into water sports."

"That burrito," Kylie explained. "It's like crispy and then the inside is super delicious."

Her mouth watered just thinking about it.

It clicked. "Oh, you mean cannoli?"

Kylie's eyes opened up wider, "Ohh. Yes, that! Can we make some?"

Kimberly tapped on her chin, "I don't know if we have all of the ingredients for that. Maybe we can make that some other time."

"Does that mean you're coming back?" Kylie smirked.

What else could she say? No? Had she ever been able to say no to her before? Instead, Kimberly nodded, giving her the silent promise to return again sometime soon.

"Yay!" Kylie clapped her hands excitedly, "I always love it when you're here! I'll have to tell daddy that you're going to come back again to make some canoes—oops, I mean, cannoli's."

Kimberly caught Kylie's little smirk from the corner of her eyes. Did she just…? Did Kylie just trick her into agreeing to come back? She was too young to pull something like that off, wasn't she?

Of course she is. She's only five!

In reality, Kylie was closer to six, but still. That young? She knew Kylie was smart, but devious? A trickster? Maybe she took more after her dad than Kimberly originally thought. Kimberly couldn't remember a time when Tommy wasn't pulling some kind of prank on one of the guys.

The rest of the baking went pretty well. They were able to make a few dozen brownies and cookies that they would be able to sell the next day to make enough for Kylie's girl's scout trip. The night was coming to an end and Kimberly was certain Tommy would be coming home sooner rather than later. She didn't want to see him. Even though she thought she had moved past her feelings, she wasn't ready to face him yet.

She needed her space more than anything, and having a discussion was the last thing she wanted to do right now. It also didn't help that his mother kept veering conversations back to Tommy. She didn't want to have this conversation and she really didn't want to have this conversation with his mother. Unfortunately, his mother did.

"You okay, hun?" Carol came into the kitchen as Kimberly was putting away the last of the dishes into the dishwasher.

Kylie was in the dining room finishing up her homework for the weekend. She was close enough to see, but far away that she wouldn't hear a conversation in the kitchen.

She was unlike her dad in that aspect. When Kimberly had been dating Tommy, he always put his homework until the last possible minute. She would never find him sitting down and getting his work done. Kimberly wasn't quite sure how he managed to finish college. Procrastinator had been his middle name.

"Huh," Kimberly turned around, her thoughts everywhere but the present, "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm just thinking about other stuff."

Carol gave a small smile, "What kind of stuff? You need a mom to talk to?"

Tommy's family had always been really close with Kimberly. Even after their break up, the Oliver's never turned away from her. Hank, Tommy's father, had been like a second dad to her. It was nice to have someone like him around since her father traveled so much. This was something she really appreciated, especially after her mom never returned from Paris.

Kimberly shook her head, "It's nothing."

Carol looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to stop the rolling of her eyes, "Ay, everyone here is so secretive. Do you think I can't read your faces? I've been a mom for twenty-eight years. What's going on Kimberly?"

It was bad enough she was lying to Kylie, but now Carol? It just didn't sit right with her. Kimberly looked past Carol's shoulder, catching a glimpse of Kylie finishing up her homework.

"I don't really think we're in the right space to talk."

"Why?" Carol wondered, then it made sense. "It's my son, isn't it?"

Kimberly didn't verbally reply, but her expression did.

"Of course it is," Carol bumped her head with her wrist. "What did he do now?"

"Nothing," Kimberly returned before taking care of the mess they had made on the counters.

When Kimberly didn't say more, Carol decided to come to her own conclusions, "…And that's the problem?"

Not this conversation again.

Kimberly sighed, "There's no problem."

"Kim…?" Carol raised her hand, gently lifting Kimberly's chin to reveal watery eyes. "Oh, honey. I don't know what Tommy did, but just know you can talk to me. You don't have to think of me as his mom. Think of me like a lady with experience. I've been through a lot. I know my way through a broken heart... if that's what this is. You don't have to say more."

Kimberly sighed, eyes downcast, her voice threatening to crack. She had promised herself no more tears.

"Thank you for always being there for me. You were there when I had no one. You don't know how nice that is. This is the time when I wish I had my mom, you know. She was always there for me and I could really use her right now."

Kimberly looked over to Kylie again, seeing the small girl that was also left behind by her mother. It was like looking into the past. Brown hair, enthusiastic, baker… she didn't know a broken heart yet.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Kimberly said sincerely.

It could be the spring allergies, the cloud of flour in the air, or Kimberly's genuine words, but that was all it took for Carol's eyes to fill with moisture.

"You know, Hank and I could never have kids of our own, which is why we adopted Tommy. He was everything I could have wanted and more. We said one day we would adopt a daughter, but that day never came.. and then you popped into our lives. You're like the daughter I never had. I don't know what Tommy did or didn't do, but don't let that keep you away from us, okay? You're part of my family."

Kimberly wiped at the corner of her eyes with her sleeve before enveloping Carol in a warm hug. A hug that she once had hoped could have been to her own mother. She didn't have wisdom from a lot of older people. She had already lost her grandparents and her mother wasn't around, Carol was there to offer her what she didn't have. When she contemplating leaving Florida, she talked it over with both her father and Carol. Sometimes she needed to hear the opinion of someone that wasn't her age. Still, this was a conversation she would reserve for her best friends.

The rest of the visit was spent outside while the pastries cooled. It was there that Kylie was able to see Kimberly's tumbling in person. Kimberly wasn't active anymore in the sense that she didn't compete, but she kept herself in shape and practiced often so that she could be the best coach for her girls. It was then that Kylie fell in love with the sport, so much more than the ballet she would frequently go to. Maybe she wanted to be more like her Aunt Kim than she thought.

If only she could figure out a way to get her to stay longer.

Author note: Hey guys! Hope you're all doing well. I'm just pumping out these chapters. See you guys in the next one!