A/N: This came from an idea I had while driving one day-John never coming back to Natalie and Liam, and the fallout from it. I don't want to give away too much just yet. It's coming down the track pretty fast so enjoy! Until next time-PCGirl.

Bo Buchanan walked up the stairs, unsure if his hunch had been right. What he had seen was only a brief instant as he watched Natalie come down the aisle before. She had looked so beautiful and so in love, but it was the flash of black that he'd seen before the doors to the sanctuary had closed that had his mind focused on this mystery instead of hearing her say her vows.

Nora could tell he was distracted-if she'd seen it too she hadn't said, but when he told her he needed to run back to the house for something when he dropped her off at the reception she hadn't questioned it.

Opening the door he saw the man he was expecting standing at the edge of the Angel Square roof looking out over the town that had once been his home, "What are you doing here John?"

Years Later

Detective Liam McBain took the short walk from the noisy hustle of the police bullpen to the Commissioner's door and knocked a few times.

"Come in," he heard on the other side and walked in to see Matthew standing behind the desk with a frustrated look on his face.

"Good morning Commissioner Buchanan," he said with a grin. "How's it feel?"

"Crazy. I remember sitting in that chair doing homework as a small kid. And now-now I'm sitting behind the same desk that my dad did."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No, I was just going through the desk and trying to clear out anything that was personal that Jones had left behind. I did find this-It was stuck in the back of the drawer. Dad must have missed it when he retired before," he said as he handed him an envelope with Natalie's name written on it.

"Huh," he said as he held it and could feel a weight to it. "Did you look in it?"

"I'm not getting in trouble with your mom by looking at something I shouldn't be. If you want to then go for it," he said as he started back in the drawer.

Liam laughed, "You are probably right. I'll go by and give it to her tonight. Have fun here-holler if you need me," he said as he left and dropped the envelope off on his desk before starting to work on a case.

Liam walked into the house and listened for noise. If someone was home there would be noise-no one in this house was ever quiet. He enjoyed the quietness of his apartment on the other side of town, but it was always nice to come back to the noisiness of the house he'd been raised in. Hearing the majority of the sound coming from the kitchen he headed that way to see his mom had her back to him while his two siblings sat at the table doing homework.

"Hey, mom," he said as he walked in and grabbed a few grapes out of a bowl on the counter.

"Hey, sweetie-I thought you'd be going out with Matthew tonight to celebrate his first day," she said as she turned and looked at her oldest. Not for the first time she once again was amazed at how much he looked like his father. The tall lankiness, the piercing blue eyes surrounded by dark hair. If she hadn't remembered the pain of giving birth to him she'd question if she was his mom at all.

"I think we still are. I just wanted to see how you are," he said as he walked over to see his brother reading excitedly into a chemistry book. Ruffling his brown hair he just shook his head at the book nerd.

Natalie watched as her three children interacted. Liam was such a great big brother-helping with whatever was needed. She'd been so proud when he had taken and passed the detective exam earlier this year. She always worried about his safety when he went to a call, but knew it was something he enjoyed and being a third generation cop it was practically a given.

Her second child, Ethan, was so opposite of his brother. He had always been more fascinated with a book than playing cops and robbers or solving a mystery. But he loved so fully at the same time.

Her daughter, Isabella. How she had almost thought she would never happen. More so than that she remembered at the end of her pregnancy how she wondered if she'd ever get to see any of them grow up.

"Mom?"

She heard the word and immediately came back in the present. Looking at Liam she saw a worried look on his face and realized she had begun to cry.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he made his way back to her and pulled her into a hug.

She sighed at his worry for her and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. Just was thinking that's all," she said as she pushed back and wiped her tears off his jacket. "So what else made you come by?"

"Why do you think I had another reason to?" he asked with a smirk.

"Because I can read you so well," she laughed.

"Never could get anything past you," he said with an eye roll and pulled the envelope out of his jacket pocket. All day he'd wondered what was in it. Felt the object shift back and forth inside but knew the relationship she had had with her Uncle Bo. Had known she had, at times, seen him as more as a father than her own. "Matthew found this in the back of a desk drawer. I guess Uncle Bo had left if there when he retired and Jones never cared enough for the position to pass it on."

"Huh," she said as she flipped it over before opening the seal. At seeing the burgundy ribbon her breath caught before she pulled it out.

"What is that, mom?" asked Isabella with wonder as she watched the shiny medallion spin on itself.

"Dwynwen," she said quietly to herself. "It's a saint's medal that I lost a long time ago. I wonder how did Bo get a hold of her?"

"No clue," said Liam as he saw his mom go into a long forgotten memory. There were moments she would do that. He'd learned long ago not to have her go into more detail. "I'm going to go. Let me know what Uncle Bo says," he said as he gave his mom a kiss on the cheek before waving to his siblings and leaving.

Natalie sat on the edge of her bed holding the medal, letting her fingers graze over the face. By the time the kids had gone to bed and she'd finished tidying up the house it was too late to call Bo. She'd go by the house tomorrow and talk to him. She had fibbed when she said she'd lost it-she hadn't lost it, not really. She'd given it to John before he went to Port Charles all those years ago. Told him to hold onto it until he got back. And yet-somehow-she'd made her way back to her without John.

She put it on the nightstand and then got in under the covers. Laying there, staring at the medal she closed her eyes and for the first time in a long time let herself once again mourn her's and John's relationship.