Author's Note - OK, I have to tell you that I know very little about Carter's past. Therefore, if this chapter contains incorrect information (which it probably will) feel free to let me know the correct info. Thanks! Oh, and all the stories Carter tells in this chapter all actually happened to my dad when he was a kid.

The beam from the flashlight fell on a marble gravestone. I glanced around. We were surrounded by gravestones. "What does it say?" Annie asked, staring at the stone in front of us.

"Robert Ferguson Carter," I read. "1968 - 1979. Beloved son and brother." I looked up at Carter who was staring intently at the gravestone. "It's Bobby," I whispered. Then louder, "It's your Uncle Bobby, Annie."

Annie wiggled out of my arms and sat at the head of the grave, right in front of Bobby's tombstone. She placed her little hand palm down on the grass. "Hi, Bobby," she said.

I reached out and took Carter's hand. Annie looked up at us. "Did I know Uncle Bobby?"

Carter shook his head. "No. He died before you were born."

Annie nodded. Carter let go of my hand and sat down next to Annie. "You wanna hear a story about me and Uncle Bobby?"

Annie grinned. "Yeah!" She looked over at me. "Come sit down, Abby." So I sat.

"OK . . .one time when Bobby was nine and I was seven, we were in the kitchen and we got really hungry. So Bobby opened the fridge and pulled out what looked like a hunk of cheese. We started to eat it and it tasted a little funny but we were so hungry we didn't care. We finished the whole thing. A few minutes later Mom came in, opened the refrigerator and said, 'who ate the pound of butter?'" I burst out laughing.

Annie smiled. "You ate all that butter, Daddy?"

Carter nodded. "Yeah. We were sick all the next day."

"Tell another one, Daddy," Annie chirped, climbing into his lap.

Carter thought for a minute. "Oh, here's a good one. When I was three- years-old Bobby and I were playing outside and we found a pair of gardening shears in a flower bed."

"What are gardening shears?" Annie asked.

"Like really really big scissors you use to cut bushes. Anyway, so Bobby took the shears and decided it would be a good idea to cut my hair with them. He cut almost all my hair off." Carter was smiling at the memory of his brother. "And then," he said, grinning. "A few years later we wanted to play 'ghosts.' So we got these sheets from the closet and Bobby cut eyeholes in them. We ran around the house pretending to be ghosts until Mom screamed. We thought we'd scared her but she was just mad because Bobby had cut holes in her brand new $300 designer sheets."

Annie giggled and then yawned. "I'm hungry, Daddy."

Carter stood up and put Annie on his shoulders. She grabbed his hair. "I saw a McDonald's a little ways back. You want chicken nuggets?"

"Yay!" Annie cried. "Nuggets!"

***********************

"Um, one Happy Meal with chicken nuggets, a Big Mac with medium fries, a chicken sandwich with small fries, a small chocolate shake, a large chocolate shake, and a large vanilla shake."

I stuck my hand into my purse as Carter drove the jeep around to the window. "What are you doing?"

"Getting out my wallet," I said. "You paid for the carnival so I thought I'd pay for dinner."

Carter shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, reaching for his own wallet. I rolled my eyes and put my money away.

Annie reached eagerly for her nuggets and milkshake. They kept her occupied for most of the ride home. When she finished she asked, "Can we go visit Mommy?"

"Uh, well, not right now, sweetie," Carter said. "It's late."

"Tomorrow?"

"No, not tomorrow. You have to go to school tomorrow."

"When?"

"Sweetie," Carter said. "Mommy is very far away. She's in Boston. I'll take you to see her, I promise. But you have to wait awhile."

Annie sighed. "I hate school," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because everyone's mean to me."

"Mean to you?" I turned around in my seat.

Annie nodded. "They're mean 'cause I don't have a mommy."

"How do they know you don't have a mommy?" Carter asked, glancing at Annie in his rear view mirror.

"The teacher told them. She said they have to be nice to me 'cause my mommy's dead."

Carter rolled his eyes. "I'm finding her a new school," he said.

"That won't change the fact that she doesn't have a mother," I said.

"I'll put you as her mother on the little form thingy," he said.

"Abby be my mommy?" Annie asked.

"Only on paper," Carter said. "So that no one's mean to you."

"Oh." Annie sounded disappointed.

"Do you want Abby to be your mommy?" Carter asked.

"Uh - huh," Annie said.

Carter looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "I can be your mommy," I said.

"Do I have to call you mommy?" Annie asked. "'Cause I might get confused."

I laughed and shook my head. "No, you can still call me Abby."

"No, something else," Annie said.

Carter started to list several things Annie could call me. "Mom, mama, ma, mother, maya, ummi . . ."

I interrupted him. "What on earth were those last two?"

Carter smiled. "They mean mother in different languages."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll come up with something. Just give me a min."

"Mim?" Annie said.

I laughed. "Min. It means minute."

Annie shook her head. "Mim," she said. "You're my mim."

Response to reviews -

Vkh214 - Laughter is good. I hope you're still enjoying the fic.

AbbyLockhart2 - Thanks for the support! And I'm glad you didn't know where they were. I wanted it to be a surprise.

ER-Carby-Luva - Happiness is good. I like being happy.

ER-Carby-Luva (Ties That Bind) - I actually kinda thought that was the end of that fic. Plus I got bored with it.

Carbyfan - You're the only person to figure it out! Good job!