Jesse was having the time of his life. As he rode on his Harley back to San Francisco, he couldn't stop thinking about... oh, what's-her-name, umm... oh! Tiffany! That's it. Her name was Tiffany. Voluminous golden-brown hair, dark eyes, red pouty lips...Jesse happily reminisced about the last few days with her (and her showgirl costume, and her long, long legs...). He had to remind himself to keep his eyes on the road, and to pay attention. He thought about going back to San Fran to crash at his 'rents and thought about how excited his nieces and sister (and even his dorky, stuffy, brother-in-law) would be to see him. He realized guiltily that he hadn't seen Michelle much since she was born and hadn't talked to his sister in almost three weeks.

Well, now he was planning on being back in San Fran for a while, so he knew he'd make it up to her, and his nieces. He thought about stopping on the way back to buy some gifts, but it was the middle of the night and no stores were open yet. Actually, he thought. The girls will be getting ready for the school by the time I get to Mom and Dad's anyway...

Most of the rest of his solitary ride was spent thinking about Tiffany (Have mercy!), his sister, his nieces, Danny, his parents... Tiffany again...

Time flew by as he hit the home stretch for San Francisco, and the sky began to just barely change from dark blue and black to warm pink and orange. He easily rode the motorcycle through the city's streets; most people weren't on the road yet for work and traffic was light. He was getting to his parents' house well before 6am, but his brow furrowed when he noticed the Buick was gone. Strange, he though, and wondered if his father had taken the car to the shop in Jesse's absence. But Jesse also noticed the little lamp was left on in the kitchen...

He felt his heart begin to race. Something was wrong. He walked over to the little desk where his mother's desk lamp softly illuminated a corner of the kitchen. There, he saw a note scrawled in his father's handwriting: "Jesse, come to Pam and Danny's as soon as you see this. Pop." Jesse's brow furrowed. This was strange, to say the least. He tapped the note against his palm, thinking, and then, in true Jesse fashion, decided the best thing to do would be to just go over there. So, he once again hopped on the Harley, zipping through still-sleepy residential streets until he arrived at his sister's house. He saw his parents' Buick in the driveway, and Danny's convertible, but not his sister's Volvo. Maybe she parked it out back, he thought. He cut the engine and sat on his bike for a minute. It was just after 6am, but all the lights in the house were on. Maybe things were fine, or maybe one of the kids got sick in the middle of the night and Pamela and Danny needed some extra help...

As he approached the front door, helmet in hand, he could hear noises from inside. Sounds like everyone is awake, he thought, and it cheered him up. He tried the door, found it unlocked, and decided to make his signature big entrance.

"Look alive, Uncle Jesse's here!"

Jesse hadn't been sure what to expect but walking into a room full of his crying family (minus the now-calm Michelle), was not even close. He scanned the room as tearful faces looked up at him in shock - his bold entrance had surprised everyone.

His mother tried speaking to him first. "Jesse..." she began, but she started to choke up. She looked over at Nick pleadingly. Nick stood up and walked toward his son. Jesse could see his dad's shoulders shaking, and saw his red-rimmed, teary eyes. It scared him; Jesse couldn't remember he'd seen his father look this despondent. He felt his heart jump, and he gripped his helmet tighter in his hand. "Pop...Pop what's going on?" He now stood facing his father in the living room, and he suddenly noticed that he hadn't seen his sister at all. Danny was sitting on the couch holding a weeping Stephanie and D.J. Jesse's eyes widened as a realization began to hit him.

"Where...where's Pam?" Nick reached out and placed his hands on his son's shoulders, and glanced at Danny, who nodded. Nick was non-verbally asking if he should be the one to tell his son that his sister was dead. At Danny's nod, he took a deep breath and looked his son in the eyes. Nick could feel his son begin to tremble under his father's hands as he struggled to keep it together. Finally, Nick spoke.

"Jesse, son..." Nick paused, but there were no bones about it. He had to tell him. "Jess, your sister was in a car accident last night. She...she didn't make it, son." Nick paused, waiting for Jesse's reaction. Jesse only blinked at his father, clenching his jaw and trying to subdue his emotions. He tried to speak but couldn't quite form the words. His eyes darted over to his mother, and then to his forlorn brother-in-law. He looked back at his father, mouthing the words, "This can't be true..." Nick understood and pulled his son in for a rough hug. Jesse stood there stiffly, barely able to tell his arms to wrap around his father. He felt the tears well up in his eyes and couldn't stop them no matter how hard he tried. He was choking back the sobs, not wanting to cry in front of everyone, but no matter how hard his mind tried to control it, his body refused to obey, and tears started rolling down his face. His motorcycle helmet clattered to the floor, forgotten. He was in shock; nothing was making sense.

Jesse pulled back and looked at his brother-in-law, who set Stephanie on the couch beside her sister and stood up. Jesse took all of it in: Danny looked awful; the worst Jesse had ever seen him. Jesse looked up at him uncomprehendingly.

"Dan," he began. "What happened? Were you with her? The girls…?" Danny was already shaking his head. "No, no, Jess," Danny replied, and relayed back to him what he had already told his in-laws. Drunk driver, hit and run, Pam pronounced DOA. Jesse could still barely believe it.

"No." He said, firmly. "No. Danny, no. You're wrong. It's just not possible!"

Danny's face softened as he looked at his brother in law sympathetically. "Jesse, it's true. It's her. I…. I had to go identify her body. I saw her. I… I touched her face, and her hair. Jesse, she's gone." Danny was trying not to get defensive: if anyone wanted this to be just not true, it was him, so he could understand Jesse's reaction. Jesse's face was red, and his jaw was clenched. He was still struggling to keep his emotions under control, but was failing. Danny wanted to grab his brother in law and hug him but Jesse was full of frenetic energy. Jesse paced the living room for a moment, and suddenly realized he hadn't hugged his nieces or said anything to them. Stephanie was sitting on the couch staring at her feet, her chin in her hands. D.J.'s eyes were red and puffy, and she sat on the couch with her arms folded, not really looking at anyone or anything in particular.

Jesse's heart went out to them. He loved his nieces dearly, and knew how much they loved their mom. He managed to get it together enough to kneel down in front of Stephanie and gently lift her face to she was looking at him eye to eye. His heart broke all over again seeing her sad, downcast eyes, just as puffy and red as D.J.'s.

"Steph," he said, and she met his gaze and held it. He softly placed one of his hands over hers, and did the same for his oldest niece. "Deej," he said, gently. Now they were both staring at him. "Girls….I don't know what to say. I…I love your mom, very much. And I love you girls, and Michelle, and…" looking into their faces did him in once again, and as he knelt on the floor he opened his arms and they both hugged him. The three of them started crying all over again, as did Danny who stood nearby, and Nick and Irene. The only happy one was Michelle, blessedly oblivious to the turmoil around her.

The tear subsided after a few minutes, and Jesse stood up and looked up at Danny. In the midst of Jesse's anger and denial and sadness, he finally noticed the sorrow on Danny's face. Sure he thought Danny was a bit of a geek, but he loved Pam and had always been good to her. Jesse wasn't much for hugging other guys, but he made an exception. Just as he had for his nieces, Jesse opened his arms for his grieving brother in law, and the two men tightly embraced. Jesse could feel Danny shaking.

"Thanks, Jess," Danny murmured as they pulled apart. The two men stared at each other, united in their shared grief and shared love of a woman who was such a key part of both of their lives. Jesse walked over and half-hugged his mother, who handed Michelle to Danny so she could fully hug her son. Danny held Michelle, Irene held her son (who was again fighting sobs), and Nick went back to the couch to sit with the girls. For a few minutes they all held each other, until D.J. broke the silence.

"Dad…what are we going to do now?"

Danny looked at his oldest daughter, as if for the first time. In her face he could see some vestiges of himself, and his mother, and even Irene, but mostly he saw Pam, especially in those red rimmed eyes that looked up at him expectantly. Stephanie was snuggled up with Grandpa Nick, and also raised tearful eyes to her father's face. Danny could feel all the eyes of his family on him.

Danny knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to go upstairs and lie down in his bed and never get up again. He was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. His eyes felt raw from crying and that nagging knot was still sitting heavy in the center of his chest. But when he saw his daughters' eyes – her eyes – Danny knew exactly what he needed to say.

He took a deep breath. "We will…We will take care of each other. We will help one another get through this." Another deep, shuddering breath. "And we will….honor her memory." He looked around and saw small smiles intermixed with teary eyes.

Jesse stepped forward, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. Danny's proclamation had energized him, at least for a moment. "Come on guys, Danny's right. We still have each other, don't we?" Jesse clapped Danny on the shoulder, and looked around at his family. He thought about his sister, Pam wouldn't wallow in self-pity, she would step up and help everyone smile through it. "We're going to stick together, we're going to take care of each other, and we're going to honor Pam and what she means to us."

Jesse actually managed to smile.

Author's Note: I may end it here, I may keep it going. Leave a review and let me know what you think.