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I have taken a few creative liberties, but only with minor details.

Dani had been calling Henry once a week since he had taken Miles and Flora from Bly. Each time, she hoped she would get to talk to one if not both of the children, and each time she would only get the sound of Henry on the other end. Every week, he was as drunk as always no matter the time of day she called. He always said the same thing: "We thank you for all you did to help us out, but they are trying to forget what happened and talking to you will only cause them to remember it more." Then, he would hang up. No update on the children, no information as to where they were.

Owen hadn't heard from them either, receiving the same canned response from Henry each time he called so he had long since given up. Dani could not shake the image of Flora being walked deeper into the lake or Miles giving in to Peter Quint and, for that, she knew she had to keep checking on them.

Every week, Jamie told her to stop calling for a while. "They should forget. It's probably what's best for them. Those kinds of things can really mess with someone for good."

And every week, Dani would say, "And so does an alcoholic uncle." To that point, they would both go quiet because Dani's mom and Jamie's dad had not been too far from where Henry stood now.

If Dani was honest, though, she wasn't sure what she would say to them if she could. It was the same issue her and Jamie ran into frequently. How do you talk about something when you can't put it into words? And so, Dani waited. Dani called. Dani cried. And Dani waited. Somedays, she hated Henry, and others she was grateful to him for trying to give the kids as normal a life as she hoped they could salvage.

"I called again today," Dani told Jamie one night, over dinner.

Jamie sighed, "I told you to stop doing that. It messes with you every time."

"He's getting worse," Dani said. "Henry's getting worse."

"That man has been getting worse every day since Charlotte and Dominic died," Jamie said. "You can't torment yourself with that. It didn't start with you and it's not going to end with you."

Dani ran her hands through her hair. "I love those kids, Jamie."

"So do I." Jamie reached across the table and squeezed Dani's hand. "We can't do anything for them now except stop trying to pull them back into something they'd probably do best to forget. Hell, somedays I wish we could do the same."

Dani went quiet for a long minute. Finally, she looked back up at Jamie. "Do you ever want kids?"

Jamie shrugged, "Well, it's not really much of an option for us, now is it?" It was more than just being two women. In just the last couple of years, there were fertility treatment options for them, though expensive. The right adoption companies would say yes, but for a high fee. Dani knew Jamie was talking more about the Lady in the Lake than anything else.

"I know," Dani said. "But, if things were different and we could, would you?"

"I dunno," Jamie said. She paused to think about it. "I've got to say, I'm really not interested in muddy footprints and stolen roses, though."

"I always wanted kids," Dani said. She stared off into the wall behind Jamie's head. "Two of them. One boy and one girl. She'd be the youngest and he would pick on her. She would secretly love it."

Jamie whistled, "Two is definitely a handful. I could barely watch over Miles and Flora for a couple hours. I'm not sure I could even do a dog."

Dani bit her lip, "You can keep the plants alive and I keep the tiny humans alive." Her face fell when she remembered that wasn't going to happen anymore. She stood up and cleared her dishes as she went. From the counter she called, "I'm just a little sad right now, Jamie, but I don't want you to ever think you're not enough family for me. Because you are."

Jamie grinned as she took the last bite of their dinner.

Dani stopped calling every week, but every week she picked up the phone as if she was about to, only to set it back down. Sometimes she laughed to herself over the idea that whoever called the manor and never said anything was simply trying to talk to the kids just like she was now.

"I'll be back in a few," Jamie called over her shoulder as she opened the umbrella and rushed into the rainy street. She was on her way to get sandwiches from the deli down the street for her and Dani.

The door closed and Dani pulled the sides of her cardigan tighter around her. A cold breeze had pushed in through the opening and it left the storefront chilly. The sky was dark and any orange leaves still on the trees were being forced into the ground. Dani wanted to turn the heater on, but with it being a plant shop, the temperature had to be set thoughtfully by Jamie every single day.

The doorbell rang and more wind rushed in as a customer walked into the shop. With her back turned, Dani mouthed a few curse words because she had just started to warm up again.

"Good afternoon," a woman said. "I'm looking for a particular kind of flower and I was hoping you could help me."

Dani forced a classic, customer-service smile across her face, but the second she turned around it was gone. "Oh, my God, Mrs. O'Mara," she squeaked.

It was, indeed, the mother of her dead, ex-fiance standing in front of her that day in the shop. The woman, with long, dark hair, stared back at Dani, dumbfounded. She had not changed a bit since she had dropped off that lasagna so long ago.

"Dani?" Mrs. O'Mara cried. When the shock had momentarily died off, she stepped forward and pulled the young woman into a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you. We've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too," Dani said. Her eyes were still wide and she could barely process the words Mrs. O'Mara was saying to her. She didn't know why she thought she could come back to her hometown, even if it was a city, and think she could avoid the people from the life she'd left behind. It sounded so foolish in retrospect. But, Jamie had fallen in love with the city and Dani had never quite fallen out of love with it.

Mrs. O'Mara took her heavy rain jacket off and draped it over her arm. "How long have you been back? I just talked to your mother the other day and she said she didn't know when you would be done travelling."

Dani nodded, awkwardly, "A– a bit. I've been back for a bit."

"Well, you've missed quite a lot. I have so much to tell you." Mrs. O'Mara took a seat on the stool beside the counter like the old family friend she was, not knowing that the girl she had loved for so long was not the same one standing before her now. Settled, and with her coat now across her lap, she began. "Louisa and Carson are getting married in December. She's so excited, hasn't stopped talking about it since Carson proposed. Of course, it has been a bit hard for them– knowing that Edmund won't be there."

"I remember her talking about her dream wedding since the day Carson first brought her home," Dani almost whispered. All it took was two minutes with Edmund's mother and the feeling of guilt she had managed to let go was slowly starting to creep back in already.

"Oh, she's over the moon with excitement. Of course, you'll be coming. We didn't send you an invite because we didn't know where to send it, but I'll let her know you'll be there after all."

Dani shook her head, "Oh, that's okay, Mrs. O'Mara. I'm sure they already got the food ordered and the seating charts set up."

Mrs. O'Mara chuckled and waved her hand, "Don't be silly, sweetheart. It's just a seating chart and there's going to be more than enough food. Edmund would have wanted you there. After all, you would be their sister if things had happened differently."

Hot tears burned at the back of Dani's eyes and she felt like she was going to throw up. For the first time in so long, she had been thrust into a life she had finally shaken off. A life in which she was hiding, apologizing, sharing secret glances with women she could never take on dates. She had been a shell of a human. And now, Dani was full. Dani was content. Without knowing it, Mrs. O'Mara was forcing her back into that shell.

"No, I wouldn't be," Dani gasped. As she said the words, the tears poured over and she was sobbing. The guilt that had creeped in the back of her mind the past few moments seemed to slip out with the tears. She was tired of pretending with the people who were supposed to be her family. Dani would not give up the freedom she now had and to do that meant she had to stop holding onto the fake life she had tucked herself into for so long. Even now, with Jamie, she always knew that she had another side of her waiting for a moment like this to protect her. No, she had to let it go and it started here. "I wouldn't be Carson's sister or your daughter or Edmund's wife."

Mrs. O'Mara laughed, probably unsure of what else to do. "I know it does no use to dwell on the what-could-have-beens. You're right, I guess it was meant to happen this way, even if it is hard to accept there would ever be a reason." She had really gone far to explain away what Dani was saying. In fact, it felt like Mrs. O'Mara would rather have the serenity of not knowing what Dani was about to say.

Dani pushed on. "No, I mean that I called off the wedding." The tears picked up. "Right before he died, I told him I couldn't marry him. He got out of the car, and he got hit by that truck."

With shaking hands, Mrs. O'Mara sat up straighter and folded her fingers together in her lap. "Why would you do that? You were soulmates from the day you two met."

"No," Dani shook her head. "Maybe I was his soulmate, but he could never be mine. And trust me, I tried so hard to make it happen, but he could never be mine. I can't have a soulmate like him."

The always-composed Mrs. O'Mara let out a single tear. "I don't think I understand, Danielle."

And, of course, Jamie returned to the shop right then. She had a brown bag of sandwiches tucked under her arm and was fighting with the umbrella, now broken and inverted. "Hi, baby, I've got lunch. Of course, this damned umbrella broke on me while I was crossing the street. Pretty much couldn't see anything and almost walked right into the window there instead of the door." It finally snapped closed and Jamie came face to face with Mrs. O'Mara. After a second, she noticed Mrs. O'Mara's singular tear and then the mascara stains sliding down Dani's cheeks. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we had a customer. Everything alright?"

Mrs. O'Mara sniffed and looked Jamie up and down. "I suppose this is what you were talking about." For the first time in Dani's entire life, Mrs. O'Mara looked at her with disgust. "Is it her? Did you break up with Edmund, let him walk into a truck, for her?"

"Hold on," Jamie snapped.

Dani shook her head, "No, Mrs. O'Mara. That's not how it happened."

Suddenly, Mrs. O'Mara's hand flung out and a loud slap rang throughout the store. Jamie's face was now turned to the side and her own hand covered the now red skin.

"What the hell?" Jamie yelled.

A second one rang out. This time, Mrs. O'Mara cupped her face and stared, shocked, at Dani whose hands were in a ball next to her. "Don't you dare hit my girlfriend like that."

"I don't recognize you," Mrs. O'Mara hissed.

Dani stepped closer until their eyes were inches apart. "I'm only going to tell you this once. It is not my fault that Edmund happened to get out of the car at that moment or that the truck happened to be going too fast down that street right then. It could have happened if he got out of the car to open my door or to go into the convenience store and get more cigarettes. Jamie had nothing to do with it. She is an amazing woman, who has challenged me in so many ways to be a better person. And Edmund, as great as he was, would never have been able to pull me out of half the things Jamie has. The saddest part is, there's this amazing woman standing next to you who loves the person you called yourself a mother to and she loves her right back, and you, Mrs. O'Mara, are never going to get to know either of them for who they truly are. Now, get out of our store and don't ever come back."

Jamie slid her hand into Dani's and both squared their jaws while Mrs. O'Mara stumbled, in shock, out of the store. As the door closed, the anger, anxiety, fear, and sadness mixed up inside Dani boiled over. Her shoulders began to shake, her breath ragged, and her mascara began to reach her chin.

"Hey," Jamie said, and pulled Dani into her shoulder. "Here's what we're gonna do, okay? We'll close the shop early today, I'll take you home and we can eat our lunch on the couch watching your favorite movies. Might even get you a big bowl of ice cream. How's that sound?"

Dani shook her head and managed to release the word, "No."

"No?" Jamie asked. "You're right, what was I thinking? You'll need a whole tub."

Dani let out a laugh. It was enough to pull her back into the moment and the tears slowed a bit, at least enough for her to talk more. "I mean, Mrs. O'Mara is going to call my mom and tell her everything."

"We'll get there when we get there, right?" Jamie said. "One day at a time."

"One day at a time," Dani whispered back.

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