After an excruciatingly long two days, Friday finally reared it's ugly head. So far, for today's main events, everything was going as planned. This day just so happened to be "Stephen Foster Memorial Day", a day for remembrance and reflection for the namesake of the elementary school where Natalie attended. Billy was granted permission to take the day off from school, and so other than that everything was normal. However, the day was young. They still had three hours until their lives would be changed forever. They had plenty of time for things to be toyed with.

Billy, being a sixteen year old male, usually did not rise before noon if he did not have to. However, he could not sleep that night, just like his parents. He found himself getting up in the middle of the night and walking into Natalie's bedroom to watch her sleep. He couldn't imagine that in 24 hours she would be long gone. It just did not seem possible.

It was 9:30 in the morning when the doorbell first rang. Wilson was nowhere to be found, and Natalie and Mary were down stairs in the basement folding the laundry. Billy opened the door and was startled to see a man, a woman with extremely curly hair, both of them in their mid-thirties, and two young children at his doorstep.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Billy?" Matt said. "My gosh, aren't you just the spitting image of your father."

Billy studied the face of the man in front of him. There was something familiar of him. He reminded him of Mary for some reason. That was when it clicked. This is what his father had been up to for the past three days. "You wouldn't by any chance be Matt, would you?"

Before Matt had a chance to answer, Wilson walked into the foyer fro the kitchen.

"Matt! Hello!" Wilson said walking to him. The two of them wrapped arms around the other and patted each other's back in a manly hug. "Did you get here OK? How was the flight?"

"The flight was fine, everything was fine. You're directions to the house were very good, by the way."

"Great," Wilson remarked.

In the far corner of the room, the door to the basement opened. Mary walked in, holding a laundry basket full of freshly folded clothing. She saw Wilson standing near the front door and turned to him, not expecting to see her older brother standing next to her husband. She laid eyes on Matt's face and stopped dead in her tracks, dropping the laundry basket to the floor and startling the rest of the room. Mary had a tendency to freeze and drop things when she was surprised.

Natalie, who came up the stairs behind Mary, picked up the stray t-shirt that fell out and picked up the basket. "Mom?" she asked as she handed it to Mary.

"Hi Mary," Matt said.

Mary didn't say anything; she just walked over to Wilson and Matt. "Hi," she eventually choked out.

"Well, don't just stand there," Matt said. "Give your big brother a hug."

Mary took a few steps toward Matt, and he wrapped his arms tightly around his sister. Mary was so happy at that moment, the feeling of having at least one member of her family back with her. She would never, ever, tell anyone that, but for that split second when they hugged she was overjoyed.

Mary pulled back from Matt and immediately clung on to Wilson like she always did. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

Matt didn't answer her; he just looked over at Wilson.

Mary looked angrily into Wilson's eyes. "I should have figured as much." Regardless of the rage she felt, she knew that she was now the hostess. "Please, sit," she said gesturing to the couch a few feet from them.

Matt, Sarah, and their two children did as Mary said to.

"So, who are these two rascals?"

"Kaytee and Justin. Kaytee is 6 and Justin is 4," Sarah explained.

"And is that Natalie?" Matt asked.

Mary's eyes went wide. "Matt, don't," she said firmly.

"What?" he said, slightly taken aback.

"Just don't."

Wilson put his arm around his little girl. "Yes, this is Natalie."

Matt and Sarah both smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hi," she said meekly.

"Nat," Wilson said, "that's your Uncle Matt, your Aunt Sarah, and your cousins…" The doorbell rang and Wilson looked at his watch. "And that would be you uncle Simon."

"What?!" Mary said, unable to contain her shock, as Wilson made his way to the door. Mary followed him, trailing his heels.

"Oh, somebody is in trouble," Matt muttered.

Wilson opened the door and revealed Simon to the rest of the clan. Mary studied her baby brother. He looked worn and so old. Ten years was a lot longer than she thought it was.

"Hi Simon," Mary said as she wrapped her arms around him.

Mary also noticed something. Simon was 28 now, and there was no wife or girlfriend. Mary was married at 21, Lucy at 20, and Matt at 22. In the Camden world, he was way past his prime.

Simon sat down on the couch next to Matt without a word.

"Did you guys eat anything?" Mary asked.

"Well, you work at jetBlue," Matt said, "What do you think?"

"I don't work for them anymore," Mary said bluntly. "I don't work at all actually. But if I had to guess, you didn't eat anything decent." Mary stood up. "We have some bagels, is that OK for everyone?" They all nodded. "Wilson, would you mind helping me?"

Wilson looked up at Mary but did not get up, not eager to be alone with her right now. He didn't think it was polite to leave their guests, either.

"Fine forget it," Mary said genuinely hurt and embarrassed.

"I'll help," Billy said getting up.

Billy and Mary walked into the kitchen together. Mary went right to the breadbasket, quickly getting to work so that she would not have time to emotionally break down.

"So, what should I do?" Billy asked sounding chipper.

Mary jumped. She forgot he had offered to help her. "Nothing, I have it all under control."

"Mom," Billy said with unwavering conviction, "let me help you."

"I don't need your help or anyone else's for that matter. I can do it all by myself."

"No you can't."

Mary closed her eyes tightly. "Well, this isn't helping me right now. None of this is, but that is besides the point."

"Do you want me to get Dad?" Billy asked, knowing that Wilson might be the only thing to help Mary at this point.

"No, he- just no." Tears welled up in Mary's eyes as she put bagels on a dish. She handed the plate to Billy, along with a big stack of napkins and a jar of cream cheese. "Bring that inside please."

"OK." Billy turned to walk out of the kitchen, but turned back to face Mary. "Are you coming?"

"In a second," she responded.

"It's all going to be OK," Billy assured her.

Mary nodded, not wanting to scare or worry her son, as tears streamed down her cheeks. She just felt so alone and so vulnerable. Mary started to bawl as the doorbell rang again. She quickly wiped her eyes and looked at her reflection in the metal toaster. She decided that she looked decent and went out to face the world. Whether she was ready for the world, though, was an entirely different story.

A/N: I didn't care for this chapter that much. I was kind of foggy on how it was all going to play out and I don't think I got my ideas across all too well. Anyway, I also wanted to say that according to some Florida public school website, Stephen Foster Elementary is a real school in Ft. Lauderdale. Stephen Foster is also a real guy, some revolutionary song writer I think. So, the school does exist, but alas Natalie and the rest of them do not.

Next chapter, the rest of the family arrives.

I really appreciate all of your reviews. Please keep the feedback coming!