Chapter 22

As soon as Lily entered the house, she ran ahead of Jack and Janet to find Higgins so she could show him her doll, her purse and her sandals. Soon after, Terri appeared in the den and greeted Jack and Janet. She commented on how relaxed they looked.

"It was a really nice day," Janet said, looking at Jack and giving him a grateful smile. "I'll show you what we bought."

She set the packages on the floor and began to remove the items from the bags so Terri could see them.

She liked the outfits and laughed when Jack told her how he had come to be the proud owner of the chef's hat and the apron.

Jack and Terri were helping Janet return the items to their bags when Lily found them. She looked crestfallen and her soft brown eyes were wet. Higgins followed closely behind; Janet asked what happened. Jonathan shook his head.

"She thought her father was going to be here," he explained.

Terri knelt down and tenderly clasped the little girl's hands in her own.

"I want to show you something," Terri said.

She smiled to let Lily know it was something good. Lily looked to Jonathan for translation. When Jonathan told her what Terri had said, Lily nodded and agreed to go with Terri.

"Where are you taking her?" Jack asked.

"To show her where her father lives," Terri answered.

They all agreed it was probably a good idea, so while Terri and Lily headed for the guest house, Jack and Janet headed upstairs to put away the items they had bought.

Alone in the bedroom Lily was using, Jack asked Janet a question that had been on his mind.

"I know it's none of my business," he began, "but I was wondering about that check you got from Pineda."

"It's funny you mentioned that," she said. "I was going to tell you about it when we had a minute alone. Can you believe this, Jack? The check is for $250,000. I almost fainted when I saw it."

"$250,000!" Jack exclaimed. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I couldn't believe it either, but it's true."

"Janet, you have to get that money in the bank or invest it or something!"

"I know. But I need to figure out what I'm going to do and where I'm going to live."

"With that amount of money, you could do whatever you want and live wherever you want, too. $250,000."

Jack shook his head. He couldn't wrap his mind around that amount of money. Especially in check form.

"But," he added, after a few moments of thinking about the money, "does that mean you're not coming back to LA?"

"I don't know, Jack. Everything has been so crazy lately, and when I think about LA, I just see a big, busy city that may not have what I want."

Jack nodded to show he understood, but he couldn't hide his disappointment.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling that she had somehow failed him. "I just want to be certain I'm making the right decision."

"I know you do. I said I would give you time, and I will. Just don't rule out Santa Monica totally. Okay?"

Janet nodded and smiled. "Okay," she agreed. "I won't."

Clutching her beloved doll close to her, Lily took her time looking around her father's house. She sort of remembered it from her previous visit, but she also remembered that her father had been there. With her. They had laughed together. He had talked to her in Vietamese, and when she talked in French, Higgins told Magnum whatshe had said. They had eaten hot dogs andwatched the Detroit Tigersbaseball team on television. Even though, at that time, she only knew him as "Tomas", her mother's friend, and did not know he was her father, she liked being with him. A lot.

As Terri watched, Lily walked into her father's bedroom. She followed her, knowing that Lily would see the picture of her mother and her father. She wanted to be with her when she discovered it.

As expected, Lily looked at Terri and then pointed to the frame.

"Mama," she said, continuing to point. "Papa."

She tried to reach for the frame, but it was too high. Terri retrieved it and pointed towards the bed where they could sit down and study the picture more closely.

After placing her doll next to her, Lily wanted to hold the frame on her lap; Terri let her.

"Your mama," Terri said, pointing from Lily to Michelle, "was très joli."

Lily smiled at the French words Terri had somehow managed to remember from school that meant "very pretty" and at the compliment. She nodded.

"Oui. I miss Mama."

She spoke the words slowly but correctly.

"I know you do, sweetheart."

Lily didn't understand what Terri had said, but she saw the look of concern on her face and knew she empathized.

"See Papa?" Lily asked.

"Maybe soon," Terri said, trying to give the child some hope.

"Soon?" Lily repeated.

"Maybe," Terri said.

She made a mental note to tell Jonathan to translate what she had said to Lily.

Lily didn't want to let go of the photo. She pointed towards the pillow on the bed.

"Sleepy?" Terri asked, placing her hands together and laying her cheek on top of them.

Lily nodded. She let Terri remove her sandals and then she stretched out her small frame onto the large bed. With the picture tucked underneath one arm and her doll firmly planted in the other, she closed her eyes. Terri sat on the bed for a while, just enjoying watching the child sleep.

When she was sure Lily would be okay and wouldn't fall off the bed, she covered her with the same blanket she had used the previous night, and then she headed for the living room to make herself comfortable on the couch.

She had just gotten settled with a mystery novel she had found when there was a knock on the door followed by Jonathan's entrance.

"Terri, there's a phone call for you. You can take it in the den."

"Thank you. Will you please stay with Lily? She's sleeping on Thomas' bed."

"It would be my pleasure."

Terri ran to the main house and said a breathless "hello" once she reached the phone.

"Terri, it's Ron."

His voice sounded excited. Terri took that to mean he had good news.

"What is it?" she asked, hoping for the best.

"I thought you'd want to know that Thomas has been moving is fingers and his toes on command. We think he's starting to come out of the coma."

"Yes!" she squealed, and then willed herself to calm down. "That is the best news."

"We're trying to motivate him to want to wake up. Any ideas how we can accomplish that?"

Terri immediately thought of the sleeping angel lying on her father's bed.

"Oh, yes," she said, not wanting to waste any more time. "The best motivation I can think of will be there soon."