2 Years Ago

"Get an ambulance!" Skeeter yelled, as he rushed toward the burning car. "Jimmy! Get the hell out of there!"

"An ambulance is coming," Littleton yelled. "Shit! That's gas!"

"The fire," Skeeter said, as a huge boom echoed in the air and a fireball rose up in it. "Shit! Get back!"

"We've got to do something!" Littleton yelled, as another explosion echoed in the air. "Shit!"

"Stay back," Skeeter yelled, as the fire raged. "The whole thing is going to blow!"

Present

"Jimmy . . . he didn't," Kenny trailed off. "Skeeter, come on."

"I was there," Skeeter replied flatly. "Believe me, it happened. We couldn't do anything to stop it. All of the flames, the heat, he was dead before the car exploded."

Kenny sat back dumbfounded. "What?"

"He was drunk and despondent," Skeeter continued. "Over a lot of things, and we shouldn't have let him drive. I'll regret that forever."

"It didn't have to be that way," Kenny countered. "He had a lot to live for. His kids, work, friends. He shouldn't have died that way."

"Haven't you been listening? He quit his job because of all of the talk, and people assumed that worst about his affair with Max. That it was really what drove Jill out of town. The kids wanted nothing to do with him or Jill. Oh, and he had both women dump in within a year. He wasn't in a good place."

"He can't be dead," Kenny replied. "It's not possible."

"Anything is possible."

2 Years Ago

Kimberly hugged Zachary and Matthew close on either side of her, as she numbly listened to the minister's words. He doesn't know what kind of man my father was, she thought, despite the last few months. He wanted to make things right, and I wouldn't let him. He'll never know how much I loved him. Unable to hold back her tears, she watched the coffin as it was lowered into the ground.

"Kim," Jill said softly, coming up behind her children. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Zachary, Matthew, We'll get through this."

"We?" Kim asked. "Why are you even here?"

"He was my husband," Jill countered. "We were married for a long time. I'll always have a special place in my heart for him."

"Right," Kim snapped. "We don't need you here. Just go back to California."

Jill shook her head. "Not yet. You're my children, and we need to get your stuff together before we leave."

"We?" asked Matthew. "You really expect us to go with you after you left us? If you hadn't left, Dad would still be alive! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"I'm your mother, and you'll do as I say."

"We're staying here," Kim retorted. "You can't make us do anything. Just go away."

"Jill, this isn't the time or place," Littleton said, as he joined the group.

"I don't see how it's any of your business," Jill replied. "These are my children, and I intend to take them to California with me."

"There will be time for that later," Jon replied coldly. "Why don't we all just head back to the house for now? Let's just get through today first."

"We're not going with her," Kim said through gritted teeth, as she watched Jill walk back toward her car. "Where is her girlfriend?"

"Not today," Jon replied. "Come on. I'll drive you three home."

"Why Dad?" Zach whimpered, as they piled in. "Did he do it on purpose?"

"Zach," Kim cried. "Don't ever say that! It was a terrible accident!"

"Was it?" Matthew asked. "He had to have known he was too drunk to drive. What if he did it on purpose? Maybe he wanted to die."

"He didn't want to die," Kim countered. "He was upset and angry, but he didn't want to die. He would have snapped out of it."

"You'll drive yourself crazy with what ifs," Littleton cut in. "Your father loved the three of you, and that is what is important. Remember that."

"He loved her too," Kim replied. "He did all of this because of her. I'll kill her if I ever see her again. He started drinking a lot after she broke up with him."

"He shouldn't have been driving in the first place," Littleton argued. "What Jill, Max, and the rest of us did . . . a lot of people played a part in this. The people of this town treated your father terribly after everything came out."

"I know I did," Kim cried, with a sob. "I told him that I hated him. I didn't hate him!"

"And he knows that," he replied, as they pulled into the driveway. "Anything the three of you need, I'm here."

Kim sniffled, as she looked at the cars parked in front of her house. "Can you make it so Mom can't take us to California?"

Present

"Did they go to California?" Kenny asked, "Kim was 18, so Jill couldn't make her go."

"She didn't want to leave Matthew and Zach, so she fought."

2 Years Ago

"You're just starting college. How do you plan on taking care of these young men?" Judge Bone asked.

"I'm going to transfer to a community college that is closer to home and get a job," Kim stated, shooting Littleton a nervous look. "My father left us some money as well, but I want to put it way to save for Matthew and Zach's future."

"Why do you think that they would be better off with you?"

"I don't want us to be uprooted," Kim trailed off, vowing not to cry. "We just lost our father, and I don't want to lose our home too. It's not fair to ask us to do that."

"Life isn't fair," Bone said, looking between mother and daughter. "You're little more than a child yourself, while your mother is doctor with a thriving practice. Do you honestly think that you can provide a more stable home than she can?"

"I want to," Kim replied. "My mother walked out on our family to start a new life. Whose to say she wouldn't do it again?"

"That's not what happened," Jill interjected.

"No? So you didn't run of to California with your lesbian lover?"

"Kimberly," Jon hissed, pulling her back down in her seat. "That's enough. As her lawyer, I'd also like to add that Dr. Brock has been arrested on numerous occasions, and sentences to jail, in this very courtroom."

"Why are you trying to take my children away from me?" Jill cried. "I'm their mother! They belong to me!"

"We don't want to be with you," Matthew yelled, jumping up from his chair. "Dad died because you left! I hate you! If I have to go and live you, I'll run away."

"Enough!" Bone boomed. "This was supposed to be a preliminary meeting before we took this to court. It wasn't supposed to be a shouting match."

"You can't take my children," Jill cried. "Please!"

"You gave Jimmy full custody before you moved," Bone said. "Why was that?"

"I didn't want to rip them away from their home after I had already hurt them so much by leaving," Jill replied. "Now I don't have a choice to."

"You could move back here," Littleton suggested.

Jill shook her head. "I can't."

"Because of her," Matthew spat, "She's more important than us."

"No," Jill whispered. "It could be a fresh start for all of us."

"I'm staying here," Zach chimed in. "With Kim."

"Me too," Matthew said.

"Mr. Littleton," Bone said. "I'm willing try this on a probationary six month period. There will be strict parameters though. I would like you to oversee them."

"Not a problem."

"You can't do this!" Jill cried. "Please!"

Present

"Kim got custody?"

"Yeah, and she kept it too. It hasn't always been easy. Matthew is a little wild, but he'll be graduating soon. Zach is a freshmen, and she started taking more classes. They're doing okay."

"Do they see Jill at all?"

"Not often. There are still a lot of open wounds there. Kim and Littleton are seeing each other though. It's gotten serious between them."

"A lot happened," Kenny said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix everything," Skeeter said. "Don't come back to Rome, Kenny. It wouldn't be a good situation. No one wants to dredge up the past."

"Thanks for telling me everything. Or almost everything. Why was Max in a coma? What happened?"

Skeeter regarded him carefully. "There are some things that aren't mine to tell. Find her, ask her. She looked for you for a long time. Maybe it's your turn to do the chasing."

"You really don't know where she is?"

"No one has heard from her since her and Jimmy's split in Philadelphia. Maybe your parents know? Or hers? The internet is a powerful resource these days as well. I've got to get going."

"Thanks again."

"This was a one time deal. Don't come back here again."

1212121212121212

"Stay with me tonight," Kim whispered.

"What about the boys?" Littleton asked.

"They know we've been seeing each other, and they both know what sex is by now. Besides, we can be discreet."

"Hmm, Kara is spending the night at friends' house," he mused. "I'd love to spend the night."

"Come upstairs with me," Kim replied, as she kissed him. "I love you."

1212121212121212

Come on Max, Kenny thought, where are you? You didn't just fall off of the planet, and I didn't practically come back from the dead to lose you twice. Where would you go? He turned the phone over in his hands, and contemplated what to say to his parents when he called. They put up with a hell of a lot from me, he thought, and I owe them for that. They still should have told me. Sighing, he punched their number.

"Mom? Hi, yeah it's me."

"Kenny! Where are you? You can't just sneak off like this!"

"I'm 33 years old Mom."

"I'm just worried, that's all. You were so sick, for so long. I'm your mother, and it's my job to worry about you."

"I know. I need to ask you something, and I need the truth."

"Where are you?"

"Rome."

"Oh."

"Why didn't you and Dad tell me that Max came to see me in Philadelphia?"

"You . . . You said that you didn't want to see her again."

"It didn't have anything to do with her affair with Jimmy?"

"We didn't want to hurt you."

"Mom," Kenny said, vowing to remain calm. "Why didn't she stay?"

"I, we, made her leave. The fact that she would be someone else as soon after she said that she loved you. Why would you have wanted her to be there?"

"I hate the fact that she was with Jimmy, but," Kenny trailed off. "I did leave her, and told her to move on. I guess she did."

"She didn't seem to be happy to see him," Carol said quietly. "She came so soon after . . . and stayed. She wanted to stay."

"Do you know where she went? I need to talk to her Mom. I need to make things right between us again. I don't want her to hate me."

"I don't know where she is. We haven't seen her since that day in the hospital," Carol replied, not sure if she should tell him he was a father. "She's not still with that other man?"

"He's dead. Max broke his heart, after I broke hers. I'm going to find her Mom."

"I hope that you do."

1212121212121212

"Kim?"

"Hmm, I just want to lie here forever."

"Me too. Why don't we?" Littleton teased.

"I wish we could. School, work, life. We never have enough time together."

"Let's fix that."

"How?" Kim asked, rolling onto her stomach.

"Let's get married."

"Come on Max, where are you?" Kenny said under his breath, as he punched her name into the computer. "You couldn't have just vanished."

Sighing in frustration, he studied the page in front of him. Think like a cop, he thought, first name, last name, mother's maiden, birthday…height, weight. Anything. "Let me find you."

These computers are so slow, he thought, as he waited for the page to load. Come on. "St. Petersburg, Florida."

Jotting down the information in front of him, he reached for the phone.