Author's note: This is absolutely unrelated to the first chapter of the fic- they're both stand-alones. Please read and review, any feedback is helpful!

Summary: Anna gets a visit from a friend from the past.

**

"What do you think, John? Teddy Grahams or Fig Newtons?"

Anna Del Amico looked down at the four-year-old sitting in the grocery cart drinking a juice box and couldn't help but smile. As usual, her son had somehow managed to get grape juice all over himself.

"Teddy Grahams, mommy, the chocolate ones," John said.

Anna reached for a box of honey Teddy Grahams. "Let's make a deal. I'll buy you the honey Teddy Grahams plus some M & M's at the register."

"Okay!" John squealed, squeezing his juice box. Purple juice splattered all over the cereal boxes and cartons of milk. Anna laughed.

"Hey, no squeezing the juice box, buddy," she said, pulling a tissue out of her bag. "We don't want the food to be sticky." Anna glanced down at the list of groceries. "All right, we just need some bagels, and then we can go home."

"And my M & M's!" John interrupted.

"Of course, we need your M & M's too," Anna said, pushing the cart down the aisle.

***

Anna shoved her hip against the apartment door. Getting home with five bags of groceries and a four-year-old was always an adventure. John ran inside the apartment and sat down on the couch, content with his candy. Anna brought the groceries to the kitchen and started to unpack them.

"John, sweetie," she yelled across the apartment, "will you tell me if the red light on the answering machine is blinking?"

John hopped off the couch, spilling most of his M & M's, and walked over to the answering machine. "It is, mommy," he shouted back.

"Will you press the gray button for me?" John did so, and the answering machine began to talk.

"You have two new messages." The machine beeped, and the first message began to play.

"Hey Anna, it's Rebecca. Just calling to see if you wanted to come out to dinner with me and Brett tonight. Brett says he knows this guy from work who would be perfect for you. Call me!"

Anna laughed to herself. Rebecca was a nurse at the hospital where Anna worked as a pediatrician, and she was constantly trying to set Anna up on blind dates. Anna had been through enough of them to know that both Rebecca and her husband Brett had a horrible sense of the type of man she was looking for. She didn't want to go, but she had nothing better to do on a Saturday night. She was about to pick up the phone to call Rebecca when the machine beeped again.

"Anna? It's John, John Carter." Anna's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't heard from Carter since she had left Chicago five years ago. How did he get her number? "I got your number from the desk clerk at your hospital- Carlos, I think his name was. He seems nice, but you might want to tell him not to go giving your number out." Question answered. Anna would have to talk to Carlos tomorrow. "Anyway, I'm in town for a few days, until Tuesday actually. Some big medical conference- but I'm sure you've heard about it. So, if you're not too busy, maybe we could meet for dinner, or coffee or something? Give me a call on my cell phone. The number's 644-513-0992. Hope to talk to you soon!" The machine beeped again, signaling the end of the message.

Anna took a deep breath. Why was she so nervous about the message? It had been five years since she had spoken to Carter, he couldn't still have feelings for her. And they had been such good friends when she lived in Chicago. She walked over to the answering machine and replayed the message, copying down Carter's cell phone number.

Anna sat down on the couch and picked up the phone. Her fingers trembled as she dialed the number. The phone rang once.twice.before a voice picked up on the other end.

"Hello?"

Anna was confused. Was that just a woman's voice?

"Hi, sorry, I must have the wrong number. Is this John Carter's phone?"

"Yes, it is. Hold on just a second and I'll get him. Who's calling?"

A tingle shot straight down Anna's spine. Carter obviously didn't still have feelings for her, he had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who was comfortable answering his cell phone. 'I should be relieved,' she thought to herself. But somehow, she wasn't.

"This is Anna Del Amico. I'm an old friend of John's."

"Hi, Anna! I've heard so much about you. I'm Abby- John never introduces me properly." Abby suddenly stopped talking, and the phone was silent for a few seconds. Anna was about to hang up when she heard something.

"Anna?"

It was his voice. The voice she had thought about every day since she left Chicago with Max. The voice she thought about when things got tough. The voice she had thought about the day Max left, leaving Anna alone with their son.

"Hi, John!"

"Hey! It's so great to hear from you again!"

"Same to you! So, you're in Philly?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're here for a couple days for that big medical conference. Me, Abby, Elizabeth- you remember Elizabeth Corday, don't you?"

"Of course I remember Elizabeth. Say hi to her for me, okay?"

"Sure. So, are you doing anything tonight? Maybe we could go out for dinner or something."

"Actually, I know a great Italian takeout place; do you and Abby want to come over here?"

"Sure! We just got in, we have to go to the hotel and drop off our luggage, but that would be great."

Anna smiled. She gave Carter directions to the apartment and hung up the phone. Getting up off the couch, she realized that she had been sitting on several M & M's.

"John, sweetie, come in here and help me clean these up."

Her son poked his head out from his bedroom.

"Do I have to?"

Anna smiled. "It'll only take a second."

***

Anna glanced up at the clock. 7:27. Carter and Abby would be here any minute. She continued wiping the food and juice stains off the kitchen table. John sat in the living room, happily watching cartoons.

Soon, there was a knock on the apartment door. Anna unbolted the door and opened it.

"John!" she squealed, sounding like a little girl. Carter hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Anna! It's so good to see you!"

"You too! Come in, come in!"

Carter stepped inside the apartment, leaving a woman standing outside. She was a little shorter than Anna, and her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun. Anna extended her hand. "You must be Abby."

The woman shook her hand. "Yep, that's me. Like I said, Carter never gives me a proper introduction."

Carter took off Abby's coat. "You're a big girl, you can introduce yourself."

'Look at him,' Anna thought to herself. 'I've never seen him happier.'

"I'm Anna. Welcome to Philadelphia! I'll take those, Carter," she said, taking the two jackets from him. She walked into the living room and placed the coats on a chair.

"Geez, Anna, still watching Looney Tunes?" Carter said, referring to the television.

"Ha, ha, ha." Anna picked up the remote and turned off the television. She motioned to John, who was sitting on the couch with his back to Carter and Abby. "I've gotten over that stage."

John stood up and walked over to his mother.

"This is my son, John."

A look of surprise came over Carter's face. He caught Anna's eye for a moment, then bent down to talk to John.

"Hi, John! My name's John too. And that's Abby," he said, gesturing to his girlfriend, who was standing behind him. Abby waved and smiled.

"Hi!" John said. "You wanna come play with my trucks? They're in my room."

Carter laughed. "Maybe later, okay? I'm going to talk to your mom right now." John nodded, and Anna rumpled his hair.

"Why don't you go play with your trucks now, and I'll come in in a little bit while to check on you?" John's face lit up, and he ran down the hall. Anna turned to look at Carter.

"So, you're a mom. Any other surprises? Is Max here too?"

Anna cringed at the tone of Carter's voice. "I'm sorry, Carter. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just didn't know how to."

Carter nodded. "Well, are you married?"

Anna shook her head. "No. Max is the father, since I know you're thinking that." Carter looked down. "He left when John was eight months old. We got a check every month for a while, but I haven't heard from him in almost a year."

Carter looked up again. "I'm sorry, Anna."

Anna shrugged. "Don't be, John. I'm not. Do I wish things turned out differently? Sure. But really, I'm happy with my life right now. I've got a good job, great friends, and a son who I love more than anything in the world."

She paused. 'I'm happy with my life.' She hadn't said those words to anyone in a long time. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. Anna had spent the last three years going through life convinced that she wasn't really happy, wishing that Max would come back and they would be a family again. But seeing Carter changed all that. It wasn't that she was still in love with him. Quite the opposite, actually. Seeing Carter so happy made Anna realize that she was actually happy too.

"But enough about me. How have you been?"

Carter sat down on the couch. "Sit down, Anna, it could be a while. A lot has changed since I saw you last."

Anna sat down in a chair across from him, and Abby sat down next to Carter. "So, is Kerry Weaver still working at County?"

Abby laughed. "You knew Kerry?"

"Sure did. So I guess she's still there, huh?"

"Oh yeah."

Anna smiled. Maybe the night wouldn't be so bad after all.