Chloe thought that they'd be going straight home, but a little detour occurred.

Big chapter, sorry! This was originally meant to be in Chapter 1, but I decided to split it.

Despite her mother's sweet smile and soft words back at the school, being inside the car was a whole different ball game.

Chloe sat in silence in the backseat, constantly dodging Thor's snout, worried that he'd accidentally knock her nose. She knew he meant well; he didn't like her being upset, but the big boy was a typical clumsy doggo. Her heart raced once again at her mother's abrupt and unexpected silence; something wasn't right; the radio was off, and her mom would always speak to her, even when she had done worse at school than the events of today. Her mother ALWAYS had the radio on, and she would always at least utter SOMETHING. Had she backtracked on her own words? Was Chloe going to actually be in trouble after all?

She gripped Thor's thick coat and pulled him into her side as the black SUV thrummed down the road between the tall, reaching buildings of the city. Grounded. She was probably going to get grounded again. She looked up and stared at the sky beyond the large sunroof, beyond the tips of the shiny apartment complexes and office towers, wishing now to be anywhere except here, and she roughly rubbed her dampening eyes. The Shepkita dog by her side worriedly licked her tears, but she sucked her teeth at his clumsiness, and a hot searing pain shot through the nasal cartilage. Her nose began to bleed again, and a fresh bunch of tissues appeared in front of her. She took them without a word and placed them against her nostrils.

"Pinch just below the bone, sweetie." her mom gently commanded. Chloe did as she was told, but her mother's soft tone didn't help to dissolve her increasing anxiety. The crawlies rippled against her muscles, and she clenched Thor's fur harder. He whimpered softly and rested his big head on her lap, nuzzling her thigh.

"Chloe? I know you can't help it too much but please stop kicking the back of my seat."

Shit. She didn't even realise that she was kicking her legs out. She held them as still as she could manage, but the unbearable urge to wobble her knees about only grew stronger.

The car took a right, slowed down to a vehicular crawl, and then was set into PARK. Chloe looked up out of the window and saw rows of marble headstones that rose up and over a little hill like a gentle wave of black, grey and white. Her heart slowed, and the crawlies scratched at her again. She shifted her eyes to the rear view mirror, and met her mother's eyes as she adjusted it.

"Chris isn't here is he?" uttered Chloe, a shuddering tone of panic in her voice.

"No. He visited this morning," replied her mother, "Alone." Chloe saw her blue eyes soften as she looked away from the mirror, and the corner of her mouth twitched, but she said no more. They both exited the car, Chloe taking Thor's leash, and she glanced over at the little flower kiosk by the large iron gates, by the side of the gravel parking lot.

"Mom, can I use my birthday money to buy some flowers?" she asked, pointing, and her mother sighed.

"I'll pay, it's fine, don't worry." her mother waved her hand in a gesture of fair dismissal.

"But Mom I-"

"Chloe," her mom spun to her and reached for her hand, "just because Chris wants you to start paying for your own purchases doesn't mean I do. He's only joking, anyway, he doesn't mean it. I'll pay for the flowers. Buy yourself something nice with your birthday money. Treat yourself, or save it. It's up to you."

"Mom I-"

"I'm not arguing with you, Chloe. Stop." her mom snapped, but not entirely coldly. Her mother could snap her voice and still be gentle, and she liked that skill that she possessed. Chloe lowered her head in sorrow, and her mother braced her shoulders with both hands.

"Chloe. Don't worry."

She slowly raised her eyes to meet her mother's, and managed to crack the tiniest of smiles. Her mother returned her own trademark smile, filled with the warmth she would frequently seek when she needed it, and they picked out some flowers together.

She walked down the bright clean corridors of the hospital, her uncle's hand tightly wrapped around her own. He had picked her up from preschool, but she thought Mommy was going to pick her up today! He had knelt down outside of her classroom, embraced her until she could barely breathe, and she heard him cough softly. In silence he had led her to his car, and he put on Mommy's favourite band…Queen, were they called? She wasn't sure, she only recognised the songs. She knew this one was something about how a show must go on. She had watched her uncle from her car seat in the back. He was gulping heavily, and frequently, and he was sniffing a lot. Maybe he had allergies? She didn't know if he had allergies, but she knew that she herself did. Grass and flowers made her sneeze. She had heard Mommy call them allergies before.

They stopped at a closed door, Uncle Chris once again crouched down to her level, and she had noticed his eyes were glassy, and his smiles weren't his normal smiles. He brushed his hands down her arms and gripped both of her hands. After a long pause and after a doctor in a long white coat walked by, he finally spoke.

"Chloe. My little pebble. I need you to listen very carefully to me. Can you do that for me?" he asked, but his voice was shaky, like when he leant his face on the spinning washing machine whilst talking to make her laugh. But she didn't laugh this time.

"I'm listening." she confirmed.

"Good girl." Chris whispered, and he sniffed again, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. "Mommy…Mommy's been in an accident. A very bad accident. She looks very different at the moment, ok?"

Uncle Chris' voice cracked, and he looked to her feet, sniffing again. After a few seconds he looked back up at her, but she could see a single tear rolling down his cheek. She had never seen Uncle Chris cry before.

"She's very, very sick. She can't talk to you, she can't see you, but she can hear you, alright? And she needs to hear you. Mommy might never wake up, so you need to make sure she can hear you and you need to tell her how much you love her, ok? I need you to be a big and brave girl, you hear me?"

"Mommy might never wake up? What do you mean?" Chloe asked curiously. Uncle Chris bit his lip. "Uncle Chris, I could get a HUGE alarm clock! That would wake her up!" She held her arms out as wide as she could, showing Uncle Chris the size of the alarm clock she was imagining. Of course, only being four years old, her arms didn't stretch out as far as she thought they did.

Chris smiled at her enthusiasm. It was a level that he wished dearly she could share with him, because he was certainly not full of positivity and enthusiasm right now. The childlike innocence he had possessed at a time in his life was well beyond the boundaries of a distant memory for him. He kissed her cheek, scooped her up onto his hip, and carried her into the room.

Chloe first noticed the nurse in blue at a desk in the corner, scratching ink into paper, occasionally typing numbers into her computer. The room smelled very…well, it kind of smelled like when Mommy cleaned the kitchen very hard. She twisted in Uncle Chris' arms to face a bed; a person lay there, draped with blankets, and also lots of thin tubes. That must be Mommy, Chloe thought. Chris carried her closer, seeing that she was looking, and stood her on the seat by the head of the bed.

Chloe could see a large tube inside Mommy's mouth. But wouldn't that hurt Mommy?! She followed the big tube with her eyes until she could see a machine on the other side of the bed, and it made a loud hissing noise every now and again, as well as beeps. As if Uncle Chris knew her thoughts, he spoke up.

"It's helping Mommy to breathe, little pebble," he explained, "Mommy's very weak and tired, she needs a lot of help, and a lot of rest."

Chloe said nothing, absorbing his words. Mommy wasn't awake at all. Her eyes were closed, one of them looked like that one time Chloe got hit in the face with a ball at the park, and she had thin white strips on her head. Underneath the strips was a deep red mark, right on her hairline. She moved her eyes down Mommy's body; she was wearing one of those hospital gowns that she had seen on tv. One arm was tightly wrapped, just like when Uncle Chris broke his arm last year on a work trip. She held her hands up and created L shapes with her thumbs and forefingers; it was Mommy's left arm. She saw big thick bandages on both of Mommy's legs, and one leg had big metal rings, and metal sticks going into the bandages. It was also on her left side; her left leg.

"What's that, Uncle Chris?" Chloe asked, pointing at the metal rings and sticks. He put his arm around her and pulled her into his side.

"Mommy's legs are badly broken, and one of them had to have special metal inside to hold both of the leg bones together. I'm not even sure why they did it, if they think she might not wake up."

Chloe squatted down and shuffled her feet off the chair, and pressed a finger against Chris' lower leg.

"You mean the tibia…and um…" she poked his shin, and traced her finger to the side of his leg, "...um...and the fibula?"

The nurse spun around in her chair with a faint gasp, and she looked at Chris, who himself was staring at Chloe, his mouth agape in awe.

"How the…Chloe…you're only four…how do you know the names of bones?" Chris whispered. Chloe in turn shrugged and looked up at his face;

"Everyone does, don't they?" she replied nonchalantly. Chris smiled and sighed, but he saw that her eyes wandered about on Claire's body again.

"Uncle Chris…Mommy had a baby in her tummy, he was a big tummy bump. Where's Mommy's tummy bump gone?" Chloe pointed at the flat belly of Claire.

Chris sucked air in through his teeth, and glanced over at the nurse, silently begging for help.

"It's your choice, Mr Redfield." the nurse said quietly.

"Where is he?"

"Being cleaned up. I'll be notified when they're done."

"Thank you." Chris nodded, and he picked Chloe up off the chair, sat down with her on his lap and began playing with her auburn pigtails.

"Chloe…I said Mommy was in an accident. And um…" Chris gulped, and he looked back to the nurse, before pressing his nose into Chloe's scalp. "Mommy's accident was so bad that her baby became an angel. Some babies are born like that. As angels." His voice trembled, and Chloe looked up at him.

"Corey became an angel?"

"Yeah. He's with Granny and Grandpa Redfield." Chris no longer tried to hide his tears from his niece. "They'll take good care of him."

Chloe watched his face as more tears fell, and she gently wiped his cheeks with her little fingers.

"Uncle Chris, don't be sad. You said Granny and Grandpa will look after him." Chloe chirped.

"I know. I know I did," Chris sobbed, and he looked over to Claire, "I'm scared for your Mommy."

"You're Mommy's big brother, you're going to be scared. But Mommy will be ok. I know she will be." Chloe spoke into his face, her voice flowed like sweet warm honey. A beep came from the nurse's desk, and she held a device to her ear, sometimes speaking into it. She turned to Chris, still holding it.

"He's ready, Mr Redfield."

Chris looked down at Chloe, then to Claire. Was she too young for this, he thought. He thought and thought, before finally nodding at the nurse. She nodded back, and spoke into her device again.

"Chloe," Uncle Chris sighed, "Corey is an angel, but his little body is still here in this world. And I want Mommy to hold him. She hasn't held him yet, ok? Are you going to be alright?"

Chloe scrunched her face and thought hard herself. She believed in ghosts and spooky things, and she thinks she has seen them before, she just wasn't sure if she remembers them from dreams. Though she has never seen Granny and Grandpa; maybe they moved on a long time ago. That was strange though, because Mommy would see them a lot. Maybe only Mommy could see them.

"I'll be alright, Uncle Chris."

The door opened, and another nurse stepped in, pushing a little trolley of some kind. Chloe tiptoed and craned her neck around Uncle Chris to see, and she was taken by surprise when he suddenly squeezed her shoulder. She couldn't hear the whispers, but she saw Uncle Chris reach into the top and lift out a pile of blankets. Both nurses exited the room, one of them picking up a black bow ribbon and sticking it to the door as she left.

Uncle Chris stood there for a while, and Chloe thought she could hear him trying to talk, but every time he did he sounded like a frog. Is this what adults meant by "having a frog in the throat"? Uncle Chris turned and pointed to the chair, and Chloe dutily sat in it. He knelt down in front of her and gently pulled the blankets down a little, so she could see the tiny face of her baby brother. His lips were together, and his eyes closed, and Chloe thought he looked like he was sleeping, but she knew he was being cared for by Granny and Grandpa.

"This is the only time you will see him, ok? If you want to talk to him, you have to talk to him now." Chris whispered.

Chloe stared at his little face, and she looked to her uncle's. Corey looked just like Uncle Chris! He had the same hair colour, same cheek shape, same eye socket shape! And Corey had the same nose as all of them, the Redfield nose! But then again, Chloe didn't remember seeing Corey's daddy, so she didn't know what to compare to. Her Mommy always said that his daddy worked away a lot, but died on a business trip months ago. Her daddy was dead too. The closest she had to a daddy was Uncle Chris.

She didn't know what to say, and she simply leant forward and kissed him softly on his forehead. She looked again to her uncle, a silent affirmation that she was done. He understood, and embraced the little boy himself. She watched him slowly pace, whispering in hushes.

It probably wasn't a situation where she should smile, but she did. Chris had always been a good role model for her, a good substitute for a daddy. She wished she could call him so, but he wasn't her real daddy, he was just big Uncle Chris-ris. But even if her real daddy was still alive, she knew that Chris would be the better daddy. If Uncle Chris ever did become a daddy himself, his babies would surely be very lucky babies, she mused to herself.

He stood up and, with the assistance of the nurse, placed little Corey inside Mommy's hospital gown collar line. Mommy was holding her new baby for the first time and-

"Chloe? Hey, hey Chloe, back to Earth, please."

Chloe shook her head, and she found that she was standing at the family graves. Her mom gawked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"You didn't hear a word I said on the way here, did you?" Claire questioned.

"No, Mom. Sorry. Daydreaming."

"Anything in particular? Anything you want to talk about?"

Chloe looked at Corey's tiny headstone, next to the equally small headstone of Minnie, her big sister. She placed a white rose at their stones, and looked at Granny and Grandpa's shared grave, before placing two more by their names. Louise and Paul Redfield.

"Yeah. I do." she declared. She slowly sat down on the grass, cross-legged, and she rubbed her hand hard down her thigh. Did she over extend her leg when she kicked the knife out of Stacey's hand? Probably. Nothing some freeze spray couldn't handle when she got home.

She passed her azure gaze over each stone until she reached Corey's name. Corey Paul Redfield.

"Does it hurt, Momma bear?" Chloe asked.

"What's that, sweetie?"

"Your leg. Is it hurting today?" Chloe nodded to her mom's leg. Her mom looked down at herself, and gave her heel a wiggle into the grass.

"Not so much today. The weather is ideal. I've not stretched it today though, so I might have to spend tonight in the hot tub, get some bubbles to the ache that I know I'm gonna have."

"Can I come into the hot tub too?" Chloe asked. Her mom shrugged.

"It's your birthday, do what you want."

The pair went silent, and Chloe looked at Minnie's grave.

"Sorry, Mom. It must've been hard. To lose two babies, I mean." she said. Her mom touched her shoulder with her fingertips, and leant her knee ever so slightly against Chloe's shoulder blade.

"You're old enough now to know, I think…" her mom began. Chloe threw her head back to look at her, puzzled.

"Know what, Momma-bear?" she asked. Her mom took a long, deep breath before looking to Corey's grave.

"Corey was my fifth pregnancy." her mom spoke, her words blunt, monotone. Chloe felt herself freeze up. Fifth? Mom had five babies in the works in total?

"What?!"

"Before him I had miscarried twice; one very early on, and one that was declared miscarried at the first scan. I lost Minnie first. Her father was your father. Then a few years later, you came along. You changed my life for the better. You changed Chris' life too."

"Wouldn't believe it." Chloe mumbled.

"But he's always been there for me, Chloe. Please understand that."

"Lucky you, Mom, lucky you indeed." she grumbled some more.

"Sweetie, listen to me." her mother began, and she slowly lowered herself to the ground next to her daughter, "You're not the first teenage girl that your uncle has raised. He was just as harsh with me back then as he is with you now. He had to be. By the time I was your age," she gestured at Louise and Paul's headstone, "my parents had been dead for three years. He was harsh because he cared. He continues to be harsh with you because he cares so much about you. I know you're his niece, but us two? We're all he has in his life. Just understand that occasionally he may be grumpy to you, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't adore you."

"I remember how upset he was after the accident." Chloe stated, and she stopped her mind from wandering over the memories of that hospital trip.

"How do you remember that? You were four!" gasped her mom.

"I don't know, I just sort of…remember." Chloe looked ahead to the trees lining the edge of the cemetery, watching the leaves slowly wave and sigh in the slight breeze. "Do you mind if I ask what happened, Mom? In the accident? Oh, but, you don't have to tell me."

"No no it's ok." Claire took another deep breath, and her eyes wandered underneath her red framed glasses. "I was thirty five weeks pregnant with Corey, I had just gone on leave from work, literally a few days before. I drove through a four way junction, a pick-up ran a red light at speed trying to escape the police, ploughed straight into the driver's side of my car. My car got flipped over, hit another car, which then hit another…"

"Mom, you can stop at any time if it upsets you."

"It's fine, sometimes it's easier to talk about it. Anyway, I remember being in a lot of pain. More pain than I had ever felt in my whole life. Both of my legs had been broken, my pelvis was fucked, my ribs were broken and so was my arm, basically, almost all of the left side of my body was broken. I couldn't move, and I knew I was bleeding. A lot. The damage to me was so bad that once Corey was born, I had to have my womb removed, and I would never be able to be pregnant again. I couldn't see well either, I think I hit my head hard. I remember hearing sirens, voices, the medics trying to talk to me, but it became more muffled. I remember hearing the fire department trying to cut my car to extract me. By the time I was being wheeled into an ambulance, I was almost unconscious. I literally thought that that was it, that I was actually going to die. But one thing will always stay with me. It will haunt me until the day that I do finally die."

"What's that?"

"As I was being taken to the ambulance, even though I was half dead and barely awake, I could hear a woman screaming. Screaming for her child. Blood curdling screams. I found out a few months later that a little girl who was the same age as you at the time was crushed to death by the last car in the pile up. Against a concrete wall. It had killed her instantly. She had been to a dentist appointment and was walking to school with her mom. She had stopped to pick flowers and her mom was only a few steps ahead, waiting for her. I still hear her screams as clear as if it happened only this morning."

Chloe gulped, and considered trying to summon the images in her mind, but decided against it.

"Wait…is that why at the junction for Crichton and West there is that tiny garden? The one with the flowers and sometimes teddy bears?"

"Yeah…that's the one. The city authorities set up a tiny flower garden in memory of her, and the other victims." her mom sighed.

"What about the driver of the pick-up? Did he get caught?"

"He died on the scene. Went straight through his windshield and over my hood, and then my car landed on him."

"He deserved it." Chloe spat. Her mom remained silent, just for a brief but noticeable second.

"Damn, Chloe."

"What?! He did!" Chloe raised her voice, "He nearly killed you, pretty much killed Corey, killed a little girl and how many other people were injured or killed, all because he wouldn't stop for the cops?!"

There was another pause, and Chloe heard her mom sniff once.

"What if I told you that that is Chris' attitude to it?"

"Then for once I'll agree with Chris! I saw what Corey's death and you toeing death's door did to him! I know I don't get along with him now but it was heartbreaking to see him like that, I'll even say it now!"

Her mom simply stared at her, but Chloe had more to say.

"I don't get along with him, but he tried his best to keep everything together back then! I can acknowledge how hard he tried to look after me while you were in hospital. Is this why he's so different now? Is it, Mom?! Did it change him?! I don't blame him for being of the opinion that this guy deserved to die!"

Chloe stood up and bounced on her toes as she paced in a circle, wiggling her fingers as the crawlies crept back upon her, before sitting back down cross-legged.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"What for?"

"I don't know." Chloe croaked, and she rapidly opened and closed her fists.

"Oh, Chloe," her mother hummed, "You've nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry that I'm a bad niece, a bad daughter."

"What the fuck, Chloe, you're not a bad niece, and you're certainly not a bad daughter, where did that come from?"

"I don't know."

"Baby girl…"

"Why does Chris hate me? What did I do wrong?" Chloe whimpered. The crawlies suffocated her pores; she could feel herself becoming nauseous and full of spite, and she hit herself in the forehead, but her mom snatched her hand away by the wrist.

"Nothing sweetie, nothing at all. Please don't hit yourself again."

"Why can we be fine on some days, and other days we hate each other's guts? Why, Mom?!" Her mom, still holding her wrist, softly stroked her thumb on the back of her hand.

"I wish I could tell you why, but I just can't."

"I hate it all. Why can't we all be happy like we used to be? Every time things get nicer, like how things were before I started high school, it goes to hell again, Mom! I don't want us to fight! I don't want you and Chris to fight! Why can't we just be happy?! Why does he put me on a pedestal to others but hates me any other time?!" cried Chloe, and she rapidly stood up, scrunching her face at the graves. The crawlies weighed down on her like an elephant, and she could feel each muscle in her body coil up. No, she can't, she knew what would happen if she got worse than this. Her mother too stood up, and brushed the tears that fell down Chloe's cheeks before holding her in a gentle bear hug. The Momma bear hug.

"You need to calm down, you know you need to. You can't make yourself worse. Chris doesn't hate you. He never has, and he never will. He loves you like a daughter, Chloe."

Chloe listened to her mother abruptly stop her words and cough…though it had gotten to the stage where she knew her mom was faking a cough, and it always coincided with herself or someone else referring to Chloe as "like a daughter" to Chris. The warm breeze picked up a little, enough to feather the flowers by the family names, enough that Chloe pushed a few stray strands of her red hair from her eyes.

Maybe there was a reason why her mum reacted that way? Chloe had her theories; her main one being that maybe Chris is incapable of physically becoming a father, and her coughing is a way of trying to divert attention to make him not feel bad for it? Or maybe he even was a father at some point? Was.

Pah.

It didn't matter to Chloe. She didn't care. He chose which days to care about her, so she should be able to do the same for him. So what if her mom said that he doesn't hate her? He's still an ass to her, over the most trivial of things! She really, really wants to meet him on his level but if he's not willing to meet her halfway on that slowly decaying bridge of their relationship, then she doesn't care.

"You know what else hurts me, sweetie?" her mom spoke up, pushing her own hair from her face, "The strain between you and Chris. You need to remember that I'm your mother, and I'm your uncle's younger sister. I've told you in the past how close I was to him, how much he means to me. To see you both fighting…it really hurts. I want things to be like they used to be too, but that is something that both you and Chris need to talk about. I just wish you both could have a conversation that didn't devolve into insults and door slamming."

Chloe wrinkled her nose and clenched her teeth in disdain.

"The day that he stops being an ass to me is the day I stop being an ass to him. So probably never."

"Chloe. I can't tell you how painful that is to hear. Please. Speak to him."

"Mom I can't even breathe in his direction without him getting mad at me for literally no reason."

"Chloe he's frustrated because-"

"Because what?"

"Because he's just frustrated, ok? He has his reasons for being frustrated and I cannot disclose those reasons to you."

"The man has a permanent rod up his ass, he's a jerk, and his ego is so big that I'm surprised he can get through his bedroom door in the morning."

"Chloe May Redfield." Her mum turned her harshly to face her, and Chloe dared to make contact with those blue eyes that she had inherited. She didn't often push her mother, but any ill words toward Chris was almost a guarantee of her anger. "Chloe. You're my daughter. Ok. I just said that. But I also literally just said that I'm his little sister. I have never taken lightly to ANYONE who chooses to insult my brother. If you insult him, then you also insult me. No one insults my brother. Being just us growing up that's how we rolled; you never would piss off just one of us, it would be the both of us. And I'm sorry, sweetie, but just because you're family it doesn't make you immune or give you the right to insult him. Do you understand?"

"He insults me though!"

"Yeah, almost always after you've insulted him! I'm sorry to say Chloe, but these arguments that you have with him? It's normally you who starts them! Chris doesn't want to argue or fight with you, but he's not the kind of guy to back down if he's insulted! He isn't just going to let it slide!"

"Because when he starts the arguments, you're not around! How convenient for him!" Chloe seethed, but a few unsatisfactory thoughts drifted in her mind. Maybe her mom was right. Was she so bitter about Chris suddenly becoming colder to her that she felt the need to berate him? Was she too blind to see that she may be the problem number in this complex equation?

"I want the both of you to talk. Tonight. I want you to tell Chris exactly what happened today at school. He's under the impression that you started it. You see? He's fallen into that mindset of believing you start everything. But I know you don't. You're too good for that." Another strand of hair was brushed from her face after another brief pick up of the wind.

"What's the point?"

"The point is," her mother hugged her again and pressed Chloe's head into her chest, "I'll be happy. All I want right now is for us to be a happy family again, you know? The baby, the Momma bear, and the Chris-ris."

"Oh my God, Mom, I'm not five anymore!" Chloe shouted, but she let slip that snicker in her voice. And oh boy did her mom hear it.

"You should call him Chris-ris again, just to see the look on his face!" laughed her mom.

"I couldn't, Mom, jeez!"

"Do it! I dare you!" her mom laughed again. Chloe found fingers being dug into her ribs, and like a vaccine against all of those viruses that her mother and uncle had told her about, she felt her crawlies slowly draw away from her body. She tried to curl into her mom's body to escape the finger prods, but failed, and her punishment was one more hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"We're going home, sweetie. Let's wrap your birthday up nicely. For you, for Chris, and for me. Please. And just remember, today is a very black and white day for me; I celebrate your birthday, but I mourn my parents. Even after thirty seven long ass years."

Chloe heard a howl from her side; this entire time she forgot that she had Thor's leash wrapped around her wrist. The two Redfield females smiled, and Chloe watched her mom plant a kiss on her fingertips, and press them against each headstone.

"Love you all, as always I hope that you're proud of us three. Rest easy, Redfields."

Chloe nodded silently. It was the spiel that her mom gave every time. She looked at the headstones, and silently hoped the same thing. Her mom stood up and brushed grass from her knees, and beckoned for Chloe to lead the way back to the car. For a time she hung back in silence, but Chloe felt that she had pressed her mom's emotions enough with that harrowing story of the crash that nearly killed her. She heard her mother's footsteps quicken, and two hands landed on her shoulders.

"How's the jacket?" she asked, brushing her hands down the back of the red denim material.

"I like it!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Cool design, right? I had it made by the same designers who made mine and Chris' jackets from the 90s! I can't believe that company is still going!"

Chloe handed the leash to her mom and slipped the jacket off, turning it around to see the delicate embroidery work; a genderless, winged demi-god holding a silver threaded sword aloft, the words 'Heaven For Everyone' in brilliant gold curvature writing at the top, across the shoulder blades. At the bottom, at the feet of the demi-god lay three kinds of flowers, but with her allergies, Chloe had never taken an interest in them. It was only pure luck that the flowers she had lain at the graves hadn't kicked her allergies into overdrive.

"Does the flowers mean anything or are they random?" Chloe queried, and her mom reached a hand over her shoulder, pointing to the jacket.

"The tall purple flowers; larkspur. The white ones are snowdrops, and the others, the ones with a tiny variation of colour, they're honeysuckle. They actually represent positivity, rebirth and happiness."

"You trying to turn me into a hippy, Momma bear?" Chloe twisted on her heels and walked backwards to face her mom, an eyebrow raised. Her mom grinned.

"Not at all, but I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to be one!"

"So is this one from you?"

Her mom shook her head.

"Not quite. Chris and I got you this. We decided on this one in the morning, and Chris wants to give you another later. Which, by the way, I don't know what it is. He wouldn't tell me."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure, so I'm kinda curious to see what he's plotting." Chloe clicked her tongue at her mom's presumption.

"Chris and plotting don't mix well, Mom."

"Well, we'll have to see."

Chloe slipped her jacket back on and regained the leash. She thought of Chris; was he gonna be mad with her again?

To her side she could hear the padding of Thor's paws under the gravel path, and he deliberately pushed gently into her leg. She smiled. He always did that when he knew she was worried. Like he was trying to reassure her that everything was fine.

Maybe her mom was right.

Maybe she herself was right.

Maybe she was bitter.

Just like her mom mourning her own parents, maybe she mourned the close uncle-niece relationship that had slowly ebbed away from the Redfield shoreline. The distance between them in the ocean of disparity and conflict was great indeed, but was there any feasible way that the two vessels could find one another again? All it could take was a simple beacon, a ping through the vast, dark depths.

Maybe it was possible.

Maybe her mom could be right.

The song for this chapter is Over The Rainbow by Judy Garland.

Another one I got stuck on for songs...I guess I didn't plan ahead well XD we'll see it as a double meaning to this chapter.

I read this over and over but there's something about this chapter that I'm not too pleased with...but I actually don't know what XD

Also, for those that haven't read it, this chapter makes references to the xmas special; Thank God It's Christmas.

Y'all ready for our lovable boulder punching Alpha?