It had been almost two months since they started going out, they were always together, Steph was
rally happy for her mother. Now Linda had yet to me his daughter for she had gone to a 13 week
training camp before she and Al had met. Oh ho that was about to change, for she was coming
tomorrow.
"I'm really nervous" Linda said sitting next to him on the couch.
"Don't be, Jade is nothing to be nervous about" he said
"What if she doesn't like me?"
"She never judges people without giving them a chance" he said putting his arm around her
"I know for a fact, she'll like you"
Linda smiled "And how can you be so sure"
"Cause I like you" he said looking into her eyes "Have I told how beautiful you are"
"You tell me daily" She smiled
"Well that's only because its true" he said.
he lean downed and kissed her.
"mmm, I'm going to be late" she said quickly checking her watch
"All Right, meet for lunch" He asked
"Yeah"
He stopped her when they reached the front door "these last two months have been nothing but
greatness, and when Emily died, I never thought, I really didn't think I would ever"
"Al sweetie what are you trying to say"
"I guess what I really trying to say is I love you"
There wasn't much of a reaction from Linda, she looked more shocked then anything.
"I have to go, I'll be late" she said before rushing out the door.
Linda took off towards Titan. " How could he say that" she thought to herself. Her whole meeting
was thrown off track by what he said, she couldn't seem to pay attention to anything that was
being said.
"I'm sorry gentlemen, But I have to run, Shane here will inform me of everything"
Where was she to go, she need to think and she needed to be alone.
She walked down the path, it was a nice day, but looked like rain. she walked to the end and
stopped. She looked down at the grave stone. "Vince what am I to do, I miss you so much and
I know your watching down on me. When you left that was it, I wanted to get through life. You
weren't supposed to leave me like this, I love you so much, You would have liked Al he's a great
guy, Al loves me but that's not the problem, the problem is that I think I love him to"
The meeting ended hours ago, Shane was still looking for his mother, he needed to know if she
was OK. He searched through Titan, he search the house. It was Al he concluded, he must have
done something to hurt her. Shane was going to kill him. Shane knew where he lived and he
couldn't get there fast enough.
Al answered the door and Shane was quick to jump on him, he grabbed Al by the collar of his
shirt against the wall.
"What did you do to my mother" Shane yelled
"Shane I've tried calling you, I haven't herd from your mother since I last saw her this morning"
"Yeah well she left the meeting early, she looked upset and was on the verge of crying,
What did you do?" he wasn't yelling but he still used a high tone of voice.
"First of all let me go" Shane let him go and stepped back "Shane, We were sitting here, and she
had to go, but before she left, I told her That I never thought there would be someone after
Emily, and then I told her"
Al had to turn around and breath, he may have just lost the greatest thing in life, he suddenly
felt like everything was closing in on him.
"What, what did you tell her" Shane asked
"Shane, I told her I loved her" Al said sitting down.
"Sorry I yelled at you like that, It was just, I was worried that you might have hurt her"
Shane said calmly.
"I would never, Shane I can understand If she doesn't want to talk to me right now, but find her
and make sure she's all right"
Jade came walking through "I'll be back later, I'll call if I'm running late" she said as she
walked out the door and a few second later came back in, "Thanks dad, I love ya and don't worry
everything will be all right"
Al smiled a bit, "Love you to, have fun and be careful"
Shane smiled "Your daughter?"
"Yeah, she got home a day early, your mother was nervous about meeting her, but Jade already
likes her." Al shook his head. "Go, you need to find your mother make sure she's not, injured or
anything bad like that"
Shane nodded and left, he had no clue where to look to find her, but he felt bad for Al, he
really did love her and had no intention of hurting her.
Shane had almost given up on where his mother could be, If he hadn't stopped for gas he would
still be searching. He wasn't really paying much attention when he open the door to go inside.
"Whoa Buddy, your better watch yourself, you nearly knocked me senseless" Shane looked up and
saw Jade, Al daughter.
"I'm sorry I guess my mind is else where" he said.
"By the look on your face I'm guessing, you still haven't found your mother have you" She asked
"No, I haven't and I've run out of places to look"
"I bet I know where she is" Jade said stepping out of the way of incoming people
"Really?" Shane questioned
"I may be wrong, but I'm almost sure, Earlier today, My father got a bit nervous and scared that
by what he said, so when he's put in a position like that he'll go and talk to my mother. So I
bet that your mother has ..."
"Gone to talk to my father" Shane cut her off.
Jade smiled, she knew she was right and that he hadn't thought of that.
"Damn, that should have been the first place I went, and Shit I'll be damned if I'm not about an
hour away from there" Shane said exasperated that he hadn't check there already.
"You need to go, and go fast" Jade said.
"Thanks Jade, I'm off" Shane said running to his car.
"And be careful, there's a lot of traffic" she yelled after him.
Jade walked to her truck, "how could that not be the first place to check" she asked herself
"Duh"
Shane was going way over the limit and of course it had to start raining. By the time he got
there it was dark and raining. He ran as fast as he could, but when he got there, his mother had
left. He tell she was there, fresh flowers were set next to his name. Shane stood there for a
moment. Tears started to build up in his eyes, "Hey pops, I bet you know why I'm here, you
always were watching out for us. Mom needs you the most right now, I'm sure you'll help her get
through all of this. you would really like Al, he's a nice guy, I can see why Mom likes him so
much. I really miss you, we all do.
Shane took the drive back to his house easy, for some reason he had a peace of mind knowing that
everything was being watched over.
Shane opened the door Marissa was sitting in a chair waiting for him,"Shane where have you been?"
she jumped up when he entered the room.
"Sorry I should have called when I realized how late I was, I really am sorry"
"Shane Your mother called she's at home, she said to call her in the morning and not to worry
she is all right" Marissa said.
"All right, thanks" he said walking up the stairs.
"Shane" Marissa called after him.
"Yeah" he said stopping half way.
"You went to see you father again haven't you" she asked
Yeah, when I was looking for Mom"
"I know you miss him, hell Shane we all miss him, but let me help you out when your so upset"
she pleaded with him from the bottom of the stairs.
Shane sat down in the middle of the stair case, " I guess its so hard for me to grasp the
concept of someone replacing him." Marissa walked up and sat next to him, " He's not replacing
your father, he knows how much everyone loved Vince, but in reality here Al really loves your
mother and whether she wants to realize it, I believe she loves him to"
"That's what scares me" Shane sighed, "how did she sound when she called, happy, sad, what"
"She didn't sound like the Linda I've see these last two months, I think you should call Steph
and let her know what's going on"
Shane did that he called Steph, but she did the oddest things, she said that Mom needs to sort
this out herself. Shane was a bit shocked Steph never let anyone do things themselves,
But she was right.
Linda didn't call Al, or see him for at least a week, she worked all the time and Al being the
kind of guy he was didn't feel the need to push her, when Shane had saw Jade again she said he
wasn't going to push her and that he understood.
Shane and Steph were walking down the hall of titan talking. "Shane, buddy hold up, we need to
talk"
"Who is that?"Steph asked when they stopped.
"That's Jade, Al's daughter"
Steph stood there shocked. "Shane, whoa man you have to do something he's driving me nuts"
Jade said.
"Who" Steph asked "My father, he has become so depressed, he goes to work comes home goes to
work comes home, but says nothing, he's just going throught the movements of life" Jade
explained
"mom's the same way" Steph said
"Ah, You must be Stephanie, yes" Jade asked finally figuring out who she was. "Yeah, and you
must be Jade, nice to meet you" Steph said.
"Something has to been done" Shane said
"About what" Linda asked coming up from behind. They all jumped not knowing how much she heard.
"Umm, about a friend" Steph said.
"Oh all right, I don't believe we met" Linda said looking at Jade.
"No, you haven't, she's a friend of mine, Jade" Shane jumped in.
"Yeah, Shane was going to beat the hell out of my father" Jade said.
"But I realized how wrong I was, when I realized what a nice guy he was" Shane quickly answered.
Linda was a little confused by the three of them, " Well then all right" she said and was about
to leave.
"Mom why don't you join Shane and myself for dinner tonight." Steph quickly added.
"I have a few late meetings which means I'll be here late" Linda said
"All right, I'll talk to ya later" Steph said
"Hey I have to run, I have an idea, gotta go" Jade said taking off down the halls.
Linda was working later then she expected, she sat in her office finishing up the last of the
paper work. She stood up and turned to look out the window, she stood there for a moment,
remembering that is was that very same spot where Al had first kissed her. A smile came over her
face. "Its a nice view" a voice behind her said, Linda did not need to turn around she knew who
it was.
"That it is" she replied he was standing right behind her, she could smell his cologne and God
did he smell good. He turned her around and took her hand, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
"No, It wasn't you" she jumped in," when you told me that you loved me, its just that I got
scared, I had loved Vince for so long, and it scared me when I realized I was in love" The tears
were rolling down her face, "I was waiting for you to come back to me so I could tell you, that
I love you to"
He wiped the tears from her face" I guess I should have sooner"
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, it was so good to have her back, it was good she
couldn't see the tears that were actually in his eyes, He lifted her chin up and looked into
her eyes,"I love you" he said as she now wiped the tears from his eyes "I love you to" she said,
as he kissed her.
rally happy for her mother. Now Linda had yet to me his daughter for she had gone to a 13 week
training camp before she and Al had met. Oh ho that was about to change, for she was coming
tomorrow.
"I'm really nervous" Linda said sitting next to him on the couch.
"Don't be, Jade is nothing to be nervous about" he said
"What if she doesn't like me?"
"She never judges people without giving them a chance" he said putting his arm around her
"I know for a fact, she'll like you"
Linda smiled "And how can you be so sure"
"Cause I like you" he said looking into her eyes "Have I told how beautiful you are"
"You tell me daily" She smiled
"Well that's only because its true" he said.
he lean downed and kissed her.
"mmm, I'm going to be late" she said quickly checking her watch
"All Right, meet for lunch" He asked
"Yeah"
He stopped her when they reached the front door "these last two months have been nothing but
greatness, and when Emily died, I never thought, I really didn't think I would ever"
"Al sweetie what are you trying to say"
"I guess what I really trying to say is I love you"
There wasn't much of a reaction from Linda, she looked more shocked then anything.
"I have to go, I'll be late" she said before rushing out the door.
Linda took off towards Titan. " How could he say that" she thought to herself. Her whole meeting
was thrown off track by what he said, she couldn't seem to pay attention to anything that was
being said.
"I'm sorry gentlemen, But I have to run, Shane here will inform me of everything"
Where was she to go, she need to think and she needed to be alone.
She walked down the path, it was a nice day, but looked like rain. she walked to the end and
stopped. She looked down at the grave stone. "Vince what am I to do, I miss you so much and
I know your watching down on me. When you left that was it, I wanted to get through life. You
weren't supposed to leave me like this, I love you so much, You would have liked Al he's a great
guy, Al loves me but that's not the problem, the problem is that I think I love him to"
The meeting ended hours ago, Shane was still looking for his mother, he needed to know if she
was OK. He searched through Titan, he search the house. It was Al he concluded, he must have
done something to hurt her. Shane was going to kill him. Shane knew where he lived and he
couldn't get there fast enough.
Al answered the door and Shane was quick to jump on him, he grabbed Al by the collar of his
shirt against the wall.
"What did you do to my mother" Shane yelled
"Shane I've tried calling you, I haven't herd from your mother since I last saw her this morning"
"Yeah well she left the meeting early, she looked upset and was on the verge of crying,
What did you do?" he wasn't yelling but he still used a high tone of voice.
"First of all let me go" Shane let him go and stepped back "Shane, We were sitting here, and she
had to go, but before she left, I told her That I never thought there would be someone after
Emily, and then I told her"
Al had to turn around and breath, he may have just lost the greatest thing in life, he suddenly
felt like everything was closing in on him.
"What, what did you tell her" Shane asked
"Shane, I told her I loved her" Al said sitting down.
"Sorry I yelled at you like that, It was just, I was worried that you might have hurt her"
Shane said calmly.
"I would never, Shane I can understand If she doesn't want to talk to me right now, but find her
and make sure she's all right"
Jade came walking through "I'll be back later, I'll call if I'm running late" she said as she
walked out the door and a few second later came back in, "Thanks dad, I love ya and don't worry
everything will be all right"
Al smiled a bit, "Love you to, have fun and be careful"
Shane smiled "Your daughter?"
"Yeah, she got home a day early, your mother was nervous about meeting her, but Jade already
likes her." Al shook his head. "Go, you need to find your mother make sure she's not, injured or
anything bad like that"
Shane nodded and left, he had no clue where to look to find her, but he felt bad for Al, he
really did love her and had no intention of hurting her.
Shane had almost given up on where his mother could be, If he hadn't stopped for gas he would
still be searching. He wasn't really paying much attention when he open the door to go inside.
"Whoa Buddy, your better watch yourself, you nearly knocked me senseless" Shane looked up and
saw Jade, Al daughter.
"I'm sorry I guess my mind is else where" he said.
"By the look on your face I'm guessing, you still haven't found your mother have you" She asked
"No, I haven't and I've run out of places to look"
"I bet I know where she is" Jade said stepping out of the way of incoming people
"Really?" Shane questioned
"I may be wrong, but I'm almost sure, Earlier today, My father got a bit nervous and scared that
by what he said, so when he's put in a position like that he'll go and talk to my mother. So I
bet that your mother has ..."
"Gone to talk to my father" Shane cut her off.
Jade smiled, she knew she was right and that he hadn't thought of that.
"Damn, that should have been the first place I went, and Shit I'll be damned if I'm not about an
hour away from there" Shane said exasperated that he hadn't check there already.
"You need to go, and go fast" Jade said.
"Thanks Jade, I'm off" Shane said running to his car.
"And be careful, there's a lot of traffic" she yelled after him.
Jade walked to her truck, "how could that not be the first place to check" she asked herself
"Duh"
Shane was going way over the limit and of course it had to start raining. By the time he got
there it was dark and raining. He ran as fast as he could, but when he got there, his mother had
left. He tell she was there, fresh flowers were set next to his name. Shane stood there for a
moment. Tears started to build up in his eyes, "Hey pops, I bet you know why I'm here, you
always were watching out for us. Mom needs you the most right now, I'm sure you'll help her get
through all of this. you would really like Al, he's a nice guy, I can see why Mom likes him so
much. I really miss you, we all do.
Shane took the drive back to his house easy, for some reason he had a peace of mind knowing that
everything was being watched over.
Shane opened the door Marissa was sitting in a chair waiting for him,"Shane where have you been?"
she jumped up when he entered the room.
"Sorry I should have called when I realized how late I was, I really am sorry"
"Shane Your mother called she's at home, she said to call her in the morning and not to worry
she is all right" Marissa said.
"All right, thanks" he said walking up the stairs.
"Shane" Marissa called after him.
"Yeah" he said stopping half way.
"You went to see you father again haven't you" she asked
Yeah, when I was looking for Mom"
"I know you miss him, hell Shane we all miss him, but let me help you out when your so upset"
she pleaded with him from the bottom of the stairs.
Shane sat down in the middle of the stair case, " I guess its so hard for me to grasp the
concept of someone replacing him." Marissa walked up and sat next to him, " He's not replacing
your father, he knows how much everyone loved Vince, but in reality here Al really loves your
mother and whether she wants to realize it, I believe she loves him to"
"That's what scares me" Shane sighed, "how did she sound when she called, happy, sad, what"
"She didn't sound like the Linda I've see these last two months, I think you should call Steph
and let her know what's going on"
Shane did that he called Steph, but she did the oddest things, she said that Mom needs to sort
this out herself. Shane was a bit shocked Steph never let anyone do things themselves,
But she was right.
Linda didn't call Al, or see him for at least a week, she worked all the time and Al being the
kind of guy he was didn't feel the need to push her, when Shane had saw Jade again she said he
wasn't going to push her and that he understood.
Shane and Steph were walking down the hall of titan talking. "Shane, buddy hold up, we need to
talk"
"Who is that?"Steph asked when they stopped.
"That's Jade, Al's daughter"
Steph stood there shocked. "Shane, whoa man you have to do something he's driving me nuts"
Jade said.
"Who" Steph asked "My father, he has become so depressed, he goes to work comes home goes to
work comes home, but says nothing, he's just going throught the movements of life" Jade
explained
"mom's the same way" Steph said
"Ah, You must be Stephanie, yes" Jade asked finally figuring out who she was. "Yeah, and you
must be Jade, nice to meet you" Steph said.
"Something has to been done" Shane said
"About what" Linda asked coming up from behind. They all jumped not knowing how much she heard.
"Umm, about a friend" Steph said.
"Oh all right, I don't believe we met" Linda said looking at Jade.
"No, you haven't, she's a friend of mine, Jade" Shane jumped in.
"Yeah, Shane was going to beat the hell out of my father" Jade said.
"But I realized how wrong I was, when I realized what a nice guy he was" Shane quickly answered.
Linda was a little confused by the three of them, " Well then all right" she said and was about
to leave.
"Mom why don't you join Shane and myself for dinner tonight." Steph quickly added.
"I have a few late meetings which means I'll be here late" Linda said
"All right, I'll talk to ya later" Steph said
"Hey I have to run, I have an idea, gotta go" Jade said taking off down the halls.
Linda was working later then she expected, she sat in her office finishing up the last of the
paper work. She stood up and turned to look out the window, she stood there for a moment,
remembering that is was that very same spot where Al had first kissed her. A smile came over her
face. "Its a nice view" a voice behind her said, Linda did not need to turn around she knew who
it was.
"That it is" she replied he was standing right behind her, she could smell his cologne and God
did he smell good. He turned her around and took her hand, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
"No, It wasn't you" she jumped in," when you told me that you loved me, its just that I got
scared, I had loved Vince for so long, and it scared me when I realized I was in love" The tears
were rolling down her face, "I was waiting for you to come back to me so I could tell you, that
I love you to"
He wiped the tears from her face" I guess I should have sooner"
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, it was so good to have her back, it was good she
couldn't see the tears that were actually in his eyes, He lifted her chin up and looked into
her eyes,"I love you" he said as she now wiped the tears from his eyes "I love you to" she said,
as he kissed her.