It was all over the morning news two days later, of course, but Lilly didn't even register it. She had taken the day off and was spending it sitting by Sunshine's "bed" in the NICU, since Christina hadn't shown any interest in her past the first day, when Lilly had snapped and stormed and Scotty had stayed and comforted her.

"Poor Sunny," Lilly crooned. "You don't have a family, do you, Sunny? Where's your daddy now, hmm? It'll be okay, Sunny. I'm sorry about your mommy and daddy, Sunny. Your daddy, he's a good guy, but he's got a nasty habit of attaching himself to the wrong people…and…your mommy isn't the greatest mommy in the world, but we can't blame her for that, she doesn't know any better. That's okay." She stroked the baby's soft, translucent skin gently, observing her tiny size—her hand, when spread, could wrap nearly all the way around the baby's back. "I'll take care of you. You won't have to be like your mommy. I won't let you be like your mommy."

Across the city, Scotty didn't register the news coverage, either. He, too, had taken the day off, but was spending it in a cemetery, under a willow tree.

"Why aren't you here, Elisa? None of this would have happened if you were here. Why'd you have to die? I didn't know how to help you, but I would've if I could've." He stopped long enough to wipe his eyes, then raged onward. "I hate that you're not here, you'd know what to do." He punched the ground near the gravestone. "I have a daughter," he said quietly. "I have a daughter, and she's in the hospital. I can't see her…because I'm too scared. I'm scared she's going to die too, so I can't make myself love her if she's just going to go away, just like you. You'd hate me if you knew whose baby she is. You'd at least have a decent reason to jump off the bridge if you knew what your logical, rational Scotty did. And it's your fault, don't you know? If you hadn't died, she wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be scared she was going to die. I'm leaving now, Elisa, if you were listening." He gave the gravestone a good kick and walked away angrily, ignoring the pain in his foot. He was going to go see that baby. Nobody else would.

He walked into the hospital, still limping slightly because of the force of his kick to the gravestone, and asked to be directed to the neo-natal intensive care unit to see Sunshine Rush. He was led upstairs and down a long hallway into a spacious room full of babies of varying sizes. He was directed to a tiny baby in a corner by a window, whose cot was decorated with her name (with a sun behind it—What had Chris been thinking?) and a few pictures—one of which he recognized from Lilly's house. He sat down awkwardly in a chair by the cot and was told that he could talk to her, touch her, anything—being involved with loved ones helps to make a speedy recovery. When the doctor left, he reached in and gently touched the tip of the baby's ear with his smallest finger for a fleeting second.

"Uh…hi," he said. "I'm…your dad. My name is Scotty…but…uh…you can call me Daddy…because I'm your daddy. And, I wanted to say I'm sorry. But I'll take care of you. Just as soon as we can bust you out of here…um…I guess I should call you by your name, huh, Sunshine? You know, I used to know somebody else named Sunshine. Well, her name wasn't really Sunshine, I just called her that, cause she was sunny…she was bright. Her real name was Elisa. Logically, she should've been your mommy…but…uh…she died. And that's when I got mixed up with your mom…now, don't get me wrong, Sunshine, your mom would be great, but she's not real good at responsibility. That's where I come in. Anyway, like I was saying, once I can bust you outta here—I hate hospitals—once I can bust you outta here, we're going to have lots of fun. I'll take you to the park and on walks and stuff. Oh, and to Disneyland. We're going to go to Disneyland. And if you don't like your name, don't worry, I don't like it much either, so we can change it if you want. And we'll have swimming lessons and McDonalds and…" he paused for a moment and glanced up to see Lilly standing there, silent and smiling. "Uh…just a second, Sunshine." He straightened his tie and looked sheepishly at the baby. "Hey, Lil…what are you doing here?"

"Listening."

"How long have you been…uh…listening?"

"I just spoke to a social worker."

"About?"

"Sunshine's situation. I assumed she'd end up a foster kid if I couldn't be granted custody…and…so we were discussing our options."

"I'm her dad." Suddenly, Scotty was upset. What if Sunshine was taken away?

"And that's why you need to talk to a social worker. Since you're fit she'll probably get to stay with you. I hope."

He nodded, processing what he'd been told. "Just another second, Sunshine. I have to go do some grown-up stuff. You stay here with your aunt Lilly and I'll be right back." He ran his finger along her ear again and stood up to leave, offering his chair to Lilly as he went. "I promise I'll be back."

Several hours later, when Lilly was home again, curled on the couch with her cats, she finally had a minute to breathe—and to reflect. Who knew that you could possibly cram so much (both good and bad) into the space of a year, let alone a month and a half? She picked Claire's picture up off the coffee table again and studied it.

"Do you feel better now?" she asked no one in particular. "After holding that in for so long, do you feel better? Because I do." She stroked Olivia's head and put the picture down. "Sometimes it hurts so much that we don't even notice it until someone else brings it to the surface…but then once it's there, it doesn't hurt so much anymore. You weren't wrong; you weren't even bad…" an image flashed through her head, Marjorie and Grace and Claire, off to play. "It was just a game. Just a little game among schoolchildren." Sighing, she set Olivia down and headed to bed with the promise of something new residing pleasantly in the back of her mind.

A/N: Well…there you go. I can't believe it's finished. I'm amazed. While this story is done, there's a new story to be told…the story of Sunshine.