Chuck sat next to the suitcase on their bed and watched as Susan packed it with her things. She stopped for a moment and gazed worriedly at Cosmo who slept soundly next to him.

"Don't worry," Chuck said. "We'll be fine." She smiled at him and turned to go into the bathroom. She came out with a small makeup case and her hairbrush.

"I know you will," she said and kissed him. She tucked the makeup case into the suitcase and looked around to see if she'd forgotten anything.

"I wish you were flying," he shook his head and leaned back against the head board.

"I don't know what I am going to have to bring back with us," Susan sighed. "Besides, a little road trip might give the two of us a chance to reconnect a little bit." She dropped down onto the bed.

"I can't believe it's been four years since I have seen her," she sighed sadly. "Too long."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Chuck comforted her as he reached up to massage her neck. "Joe is the one that moved her to Toledo...and New York before that. You sent presents and called now and then." Susan scoffed and looked at him.

"That's not enough..." she said. "Especially now." Chuck pulled her gently down into his arms and held her as the tears began to flow again. He kissed the top of her head. She turned in his arms and watched Cosmo sleep again. She reached out to brush his thick, stick straight hair away from his face and tucked the sheet around him again. He snorted and rubbed his nose before throwing the sheet off again. Susan smiled.

"Well, we will concentrate on turning that extra bedroom into a bedroom again and not a storeroom," Chuck said softly. "It will be ready by the time you get home." Susan sat up again.

"She may have her own things to bring," she said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Don't go overboard." Chuck shook his head.

"Nah...just a bed and dresser...some black lights...neon posters...," he said. Susan turned and hit him with a pillow.

"Chuck, she is twelve years old," she chuckled softly. "Don't rush things." Susan stood up and closed the suitcase. She sighed.

"Well, I think I have everything," she said. Chuck moved off the bed and picked up her suitcase. Susan leaned over and kissed her son's cheek and frowned a little. She was going to miss him. She followed Chuck through the house to the garage. He put her suitcase in the back of her red Aztec and shut the door. Susan buckled her seat belt and looked out the open window at Chuck. He gestured to the box he'd put on the passenger seat.

"There's some apples and caffeine to keep you going," he said.

"Thanks."

"Be careful." Chuck leaned in to kiss her. Susan smiled and held her hand to his cheek for a long moment and then started the car. As she pulled out of the garage into the night he kissed his fingers and waved to her. Susan waved back and he shut the garage door.

It was a seven hour drive from Iowa City to Toledo across three states. Fortunately for her it was a straight shot on the interstate highways. She debated about stopping in Chicago to see her dad but decided to wait until the drive back. She needed to talk to him anyway...about Chloe...and Susie.

Susie. Her namesake. The baby she had been there for at birth and after when her mother had left her behind. They had made quite a little life for themselves in the beginning, snags and all. Then Chloe had returned with Joe and the court had seen fit to return custody to them. Susan had been devastated with Susie gone from her life. But then she moved to Phoenix to be closer to them and had gone from surrogate motherhood to being just 'Aunt Susan'. Chloe was doing so well when Susan decided to return to Chicago. She still wasn't sure what had precipitated the downward spiral that happened after. Joe moved the family to New Jersey to be closer to his extended family and Chloe disappeared one day with Susie. Susan had gotten a telephone call from her niece and rushed to New York only to be dragged through some of the seamier drug hangouts with the police looking for her. She never found Susie but soon got word from Joe that Susie was safe...and with him. Chloe had apparently dropped her off at a nearby McDonald's, called him and then disappeared again. Joe had been great about allowing Susan to have access to her niece. Chuck was right. She had tried. There had been telephone calls on her birthday and other holidays, gifts and an occasional letter with school pictures. It still wasn't enough but there was only so much you could do when you lived so far away. She should have tried harder to actually see her when they moved to Toledo but then there had been her job...and then Chuck...and Cosmo.

It was so hard to believe that with everything she had already been through, Susie's world had flipped upside down again. This time Joe was gone. Susan had talked to his sister. He was a heart attack waiting to happen. He'd gone suddenly while Susie was in summer school and she'd found him on the livingroom floor when she came home. They weren't going to have a funeral...just a memorial service when they could get his body back to New Jersey. Susan was Susie's guardian now and would she please come and get her as soon as possible. Just like that. As soon as possible. Susan shook her head. What kind of family was that for a little girl? She sighed. Probably no better than the family that couldn't make time to be closer to her. Well, that was about to change. Susie was coming home.