"You ok?" Mary asked as they walked up the hill from the creepy funeral home tent and grave covered in flowers. She knew it was a silly question. Her niece Hazel, had just buried her mother. The one person that meant the world to Hazel was gone. Of course she wasn't ok, but that was obvious. She shrugged. The rain beat down on their umbrella as they dodged mud puddles and a whole hoard of Rileys, Reagans and a host of their close friends who were rushing to their cars.

"You going back to the house?"

"No, we've got to get back to Bay Ridge… unless you need us to hang out for a while and we absolutely will."

"Come with us," Frank said. "Why don't you just come home with us? Pack a bag and spend the night in Bay Ridge. We'll do anything you want… or nothing if you'd rather do that. Just get out of town. You need it."

Hazel's mind was a thousand miles away as it had been the past few days. People would talk and while she knew they were talking, nothing registered. "Did you see that slutty blonde in the back that Kyle kept talking to? Who was that?"

"There's no telling Hazel," Mary said. "There were a ton of people there. She was probably one of the nurses or something."

Hazel stopped in her tracks as they continued walking. The rain poured on her head, but she didn't even notice. She stood still, letting the water drip off her hair that had begun the morning straight and was now nothing but curls the wetter it got. It was almost like the world was now in slow motion. People were swirling around her trying to get to their vehicles. It was a cool spring day that had once looked promising but was now nothing but a mess of a summer storm. It was a pretty good indicator of Hazel's life actually. Thirty minutes prior she had watched as they lowered her mother, the one person in the world that understood and cared for her, into the dirt and covered her up. She had no emotion left. No tears, no anger, no feeling whatsoever. She could barely breathe. She stood in the rain, hoping that it might either wash her away or eventually bring her back to life. It did neither.

"Hazel! Get out of the rain!" Kyle yelled as he slid into his car. "Let's go! People are waiting. And watch where you step. Stay out of the mud!"

Mary and Frank looked around to see the girl still in the rain. They hurried back over to where she was and huddled around her. "You're coming with us," Frank said. He'd had enough. If no one else was going to protect her, he was. The newest Gold Shield Detective in the NYPD, at that moment, became and would forever remain, one of his niece's staunchest allies. Hazel nodded as they walked to their car. Mary climbed in the back and wrung the excess water out of Hazel's hair as Frank drove us back to the Riley house. Poor Hazel sat completely motionless.

They got out and went inside to find the house full of Kyle's brothers, sisters, and all of their kids. "Let's get some clothes together," Mary said as she pushed Hazel inside. They walked into her room where all of the little kids had set up camp. Hazel found a gym bag and mindlessly skimmed through the clothes in her closet. "Let me help. Like this?" Mary asked. Hazel shrugged as she tossed a few tops and some khakI shorts and jeans into the bag.

While the girls were looking for clothes, Frank made his way over to Kyle. "Hey Kyle, I am so sorry for your loss. We'll be praying for you. If you need anything, just let us know."
"Thanks Frank. And thanks for all the food that you guys brought."
"Yeah. Look, we're going to take Hazel off your hands for a few days. She needs to get out of here for a while and I think some time with Mary would do her good. Is that ok with you?"

"Are you sure? She's rather… difficult."

"She's thirteen. I'm pretty sure we can manage. Besides, our kids would love to spend some time with her. She needs to be a kid right now and our four will be more than happy to help her heal."

"Ok. Let me know if I need to come pick her up."
"Don't worry about it. We'll bring her down for Saturday lunch."

"Do you need me to give you some money for her?"

"No. We'll be fine."

By the time Mary and Hazel collected clothes, Frank was already standing with one hand on the doorknob. He'd had all of the Riley family time he could handle. Mary's extended family is huge, loud, and he had never quite known how to take them. "Ready?" They both nodded. "Want to go say 'Goodbye' to anyone?"

"Not really."

"Can't say I blame you," he thought.

They drove in silence for a while. Even though she was with a future top cop, Hazel took off her seatbelt about ten minutes in, curled up in the back seat, and took a nap. It was the first time she'd slept in over thirty hours and the poor kid was exhausted. She woke up when they entered Bay Ridge. Frank had phoned Betty and Henry who were keeping their four kids for the afternoon and asked them to just go ahead and keep them for the night. They had decided total chaos in the Reagan household might be a bit much and they wanted to have undivided attention in case the stoic Hazel decided to finally break.

"Hazel, you hungry?" Frank asked as she sat up and stretched as they exited off the interstate.

"Nah. I'm fine."
"Have you eaten?"

"Not today."

"Better question," he continued, "when is the last time that you had something to eat?"

"I don't remember. Two or three days ago. I had a couple of pain relievers."

"How many are a couple?" Mary asked, as she turned around to look at their niece, knowing her well enough to assume she had decided to self-medicate the pain away, both emotional and physical.

She wasn't wrong. "I don't know… like six a day…"

"Hazel Riley!"

"Well I know you don't eat meat," Frank continued. "What can you eat? Want pizza? Salad? Cereal?"

"I'm good, Uncle Frank. Let's just go to your house."

"Fries? What if I stop at a restaurant and get you some cheese fries?"

"I'm ok."

He looked to Mary, clearly wanting her to make Hazel pick something.

"It's ok, Babe. We'll find something when we get home."

They drove up to the huge brick home in Bay Ridge. Hazel grabbed her bag out of the back as Frank typed in the alarm code and they all walked in. Mary gave her the ten cent tour and showed her up to the third floor loft where she would be sleeping. Their master bedroom was on the first floor. All four kids had a room on the second floor, and there was a loft off beside the playroom in the attic. Hazel liked it. It was almost completely hidden away and a very quaint, quiet spot. Met dropped her bag beside the bed and sat down. Mary had been talking nonstop and didn't even notice until she began to walk out and didn't see Hazel beside her. She came back, took a seat beside her, and grabbed her hand.

"You're going to be fine, Hazel. You are. Trust in God. Lean on Him. You are going to get through this and Frank and I will be here the whole way. No matter what."

"Yeah," Hazel said as she made herself disengage again before she had a meltdown. Hazel rubbed her eyes and stood up. "I need to take a shower. I'm gross."

Mary showed her where the bathroom was and got her a towel and a washcloth. Hazel had fully expected to have a good cry in the shower so that she wouldn't have it in public, however, she didn't know if she was so tired or had pushed all of her emotion so deeply inside of her that it couldn't make its way out, but Hazel couldn't cry. Much like a zombie, she just showered and put her pajamas on before making her way back downstairs. Hazel found Frank in the den. He had also put on his comfy clothes and slippers and was kicked back on the couch with his feet resting comfortably on the coffee table. Mary was in the kitchen making a small assortment of goodies in hopes of me finding something she might like. Hazel walked over and took a seat beside him. Mary soon joined them.

"Eat something. I don't care what. Just eat something."

They all nibbled on the goodies and watched a fascinating documentary on the history of the Dalai Lama. Mary sipped a glass of wine and read a book as Frank and Hazel sat, completely enthralled in the show. As it got late and Hazel got tired and rested her head on Frank's shoulder. He kissed her forehead and continued watching the show.

"Hey Uncle Frank."
"Yeah?"

"Thank you for bringing me with you."

"You are welcome. You can come here any time."

Hazel ended up falling asleep on the couch. Mary liked the idea of being close rather than two floors away anyway, so she just left her where she was. The Reagan kids were up and back at their house by 9:00am. They came in very loud and very excited to have company.

"Hazey!" Jamie yelled as he ran and jumped on the couch beside her.

"Hey Jamie!" Hazel gave her youngest cousin a hug as the rest of them came in on the greeting.

"Hey Danny. Hey Erin. Hi Joe!'

Erin, the most knowledgeable in matters of the heart, sat down beside Hazel and gave her a long hug. Hazel knew she would've taken her pain away in a second. She's that kind of girl. "I love you so much!" she said.

"Love you too, Sister."

Frank was right. Two days with the Reagan kids could just about cure anything. Hanging out with the four of them truly did turn Hazel into a kid again and took her momentarily out of the crappy adult world into which she'd been thrown. They had a picnic, played Frisbee, had an ultimate dance party, played around in the park, spent a day at the lake, went to a baseball game, and even made time to fit in a movie at the MoviePlex. Hazel was so sad to see Saturday morning. She didn't want to go back to her new, real world. They got up and had breakfast and then headed to the Riley house for lunch.

Mary, Frank, and the kids all had lunch and hung out for a little while before they decided it was time they headed back to Bay Ridge. Hazel walked them out and stood sadly as they all piled into their car.

"Call me anytime. Day or night. Got it?" Mary said with a hug as she got into the car.

Hazel nodded. "Thanks again. I couldn't have handled this without you."

Hazel hugged Frank next and held on just a little longer. She didn't want them to leave and he could sense her hesitation. Up until this point Hazel could avoid reality. Not anymore. She had to return to the house. She now had to get back to doing everything she had done before, only without her mom. "Love you, Sweetie. Come over anytime. Ok?"

"Thanks, Uncle Frank."

The kids were next. They all gave Hazel their strict instructions on how quickly she needed to be making her way to Bay Ridge. She loved that idea. They didn't just stop with Hazel. They continued for the entire two hour journey home, drilling Frank and Mary on how quickly they could return to Hartford to pick up their favorite cousin. While Mary's heart was so sad about the loss of her sister, she was equally filled with joy that her four kids had taken it on as their personal mission to take care of Hazel. They were all hoping to move her in permanently… and they had no idea how quickly those hopes would be coming true.