It was not long after Kenny went home that Amy woke up from her nap "Uncle Stan are you alright?" she asked looking up at my face as she slowly approached me.

"Yeah," I replied giving her a reassuring smile "I'm fine."

Her eyes never left my face until she was within arm's reach of me and then she hugged onto me tightly. I hugged her back "I'm making macaroni and cheese for dinner," I said slowly pulling away from her "do you want to help?"

"SURE!" she exclaimed her face lighting right up. "Great," I said walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a box of macaroni and cheese "and you're going to get the most important job of all."

"What's that?" she asked all wide eyed "You get to mix this cheese packet into the noodles once they are done cooking," I explained handing her the cheese sauce packet before asking her playfully "do you think you can handle it?"

She giggled and replied, "I can do that."

When the pasta was done cooking I quickly drained the water and placed them a large bowl where Amy emptied the cheese packet onto the cooked pasta then started to mix it together. While she was mixing it I got out two bowls, a couple of spoons and poured our drinks. "FINISHED!" she shouted happily looking extremely proud of herself.

"Good job," I replied as I spooned some out into our bowls. I carried her bowl over to our spot on the floor where a couple of milk crates sat thanks to Kenny bringing them over, they may not have been much but at least they worked as something we could eat off of. The two of us ate our dinner in silence but I kept noticing Amy glancing at my face where Alex had punched me.

"So," I said trying to distract her from asking any questions "how's the macaroni?"

"It's really yummy," she replied, "thank you." "You're welcome," I replied.

After dinner I put on some cartoons for her while I washed the dishes, it was not long before I joined her on the couch and she was cuddled up next to me. If you would have told me last year that I would be raising my sister's daughter that I did not even know existed until a couple months ago I would never have believed it. It was weird having to care for someone who could not take care of herself. Whenever Wendy would talk about having kids in the future I kept quiet not because I did not want any but because I was not ready for them. Even when Shelly reached out and asked me if I would raise her daughter in the event if something were to happen to her I was not sure if it was something I would ever be ready for. A part of me knew that Shelly was hiding something from me the day we met, I could tell just by the way she looked. When I received her death certificate in the mail I could not bring myself to open it because that would mean that it was real. Sure, I had already had custody of my niece, but it still meant that my sister was really gone and not away on a trip. Through the years Shelly had changed and was no longer the sister that beat me up or called me names, she wanted to fix our relationship and improve it. She told me how Chris knocked her up then just left her and how soon afterwards he got arrested for armed robbery.

"Uncle Stan," Amy said pulling me out of my deep thoughts "why do you have that mark on your face?"

"It's nothing," I replied, "I dropped a box on my face today at work."

"Does it hurt?" she asked sitting up and laying her head on my left arm.

"Not really," I told her "it's just a little tender."

"I'm sorry you got hurt," she replied nuzzling her face against my arm and wrapping her own arms around my arm. I did my best to reassure her that I was fine and that she really did not have nothing to worry about. She nodded and went back to watching cartoons but remained attached to my arm like glue. Tomorrow I was going to march right into Sid's office and tell him how Alex and the two cooks cornered me after my shifted had ended. My cheek was already turning an ugly purplish color and the arch of my back was really starting to hurt now. Even though Amy had a nap earlier it still did not take her long to fall asleep and soon I carried her to her room where I carefully tucked her.

The next morning before starting work I went straight to Sid's office and told him had happened. Just like the many times before he yelled at me for bothering him about such nonsense, he kept saying I had no way of proving it. There was no point in arguing with him even if the evidence was right in front of his face, he still defended Alex no matter what. He then dismissed me from his office just as the dickwad came walking in with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Hey," he said to me giving me a quick head nod.

I said nothing to him as I turned and walked out of the office and off to grab my plastic apron so I could start my job. I had just finished setting up the dishwasher and letting it fill when Alex knocked into me.

"HEY!" I snapped quickly turning to face him "What the hell is your problem?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and asked, "Why are you trying to get me in trouble Shit Bag?"

I knew it was best to ignore him and just do my job "Alex," I said glaring back at him "I am trying to do my job here. So, if you don't mind stepping out of my work area that would be great."

He cracked his knuckles trying to intimidate me, but I just shook my head and said, "I'm choosing to be the bigger person here and I am going ignore you."

"Boys!" Chef Sid snapped walking out of his office "I believe it's time you BOTH get to work."

"Yes sir," we both said at the same time. I watched as Alex stomped away angry that Sid was making him go work instead of being allowed to harass me. Once the dish machine was done filling I quickly loaded the dirty dishes into it and sent them through. Thankfully with Sid watching Alex stayed in his own area and I could get my job done without being bothered. The hours passed by and soon it was time for me to clock out, I hurried to the time clock and quickly punched in my numbers.

I rushed to the bus stop and took it all the way to the school so I could register Amy before finally heading home but not before stopping at the store and picking up something quick for dinner. I was waiting in line to check out when a light tap on my shoulder startled me and I turned around to see who was bothering me. The person standing behind me was some woman who looked slightly familiar but I could not place where I had seen her before.

"Hey," she greeted giving me a wide smile that I recognized as the waitress from Carlino's though she looked a lot different without her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing her normal clothes.

"Oh, hi." I replied returning a small smile feeling stupid talking to someone I hardly knew.

"I haven't seen you and niece in a while," she said trying to make small talk with me even though she looked just as awkward as I felt "how are you guys doing?"

"We're doing alright," I said laying my items down on the belt so the cashier could begin ringing them up not knowing what else to say. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good," she replied bushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear "Well it was nice seeing you again."

"Yeah, you too," I said as my voice cracked slightly and hoping that she did not notice.

"That's $24.75," the cashier said after ringing my stuff

"Right," I said pulling out my debit card and paying for my things. "Have a good one," I said turning back to Carol before turning back and grabbing my bag.

"You too," she replied flashing me another smile.

I had to hurry to get to the bus stop before it left without me and I would have to wait an hour for the next one. Today was Friday and it was already bad enough to have ride the damn thing but because of the day it meant extra people on the bus. Stepping onto the bus I shoved to the back where there wasn't even one seat available, I sighed as I grabbed a yellow bar to hold onto. I was so relieved when my stop came into view and I could get off this God-awful thing. Walking into my apartment I met with both Kenny and Amy sitting on the floor leaning their backs against the couch as the sat staring at the tv with their mouths open slightly playing a racing game.

"I'm home!" I said as I walked past them on my way to the kitchen to put away my items.

"Hey," Kenny replied without even taking his eyes off the screen "what are you doing home so early?"

"Early?" I repeated walking into the living-room "Dude it's almost 7pm."

"What?" he asked standing up really fast "I got to go home and get ready for a hot tinder date."

"What's tinder?" Amy asked looking back at me.

"It's a grown-up app," I replied not knowing what else to say.

"A grown-up app so they can have fun," Kenny added wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh," she said, "so they can have sex?"

"Well that's my que to leave," Kenny said patting me on the shoulder "see you in a couple days."

"Bye Uncle Kenny!" Amy called as he walked toward the door.

"Amy about what you said," I said taking a seat next to her on the floor "who told you tinder was for that?"

"I heard a boy from my old school say that when adults talk about tinder they are going to have sex," she explained "but I don't know what that means, can tell me?"

"Um…not tonight," I replied starting to feel awkward, so I quickly changed the subject "tomorrow we are going school shopping because you start next week."

"Can I pick out my own outfits?" she asked all excited.

"Sure if you want," I replied giving her a smile.

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"Uncle Stan..Uncle Stan!" "Wha?" I slurred back still very much still asleep. My eyes half opened and could just make out a form standing above me and I'm not going to lie to you it kinda scared the shit out of me. I quickly sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes..."Jesus..." I breathed "you scared me."

"Sorry Uncle Stan," Amy frowned "I didn't mean to."

"It's okay," I smiled sitting up and stretching "what's up?"

"We get to go shopping today!" she chanted

"Whoa hold up," I said trying to calm her down "it's too early to go shopping."

She groaned "But when are we going to go then?"

"Later," I replied getting to my feet and making my way to the bathroom when I came out and checked the fridge for something to eat.

"Uncle Stan can you make eggs?" she asked as she bounced over to me.

I sighed "I can make scrambled eggs."

She smiled and nodded "Okay..."

After breakfast I had her pick out an outfit once she got dressed, I pulled her hair into a loose messy ponytail. I went back to my room and picked up the first pair of jeans I could find and a shirt that smelled the cleanest and put them on. I grabbed my wallet out of the corner on the floor and the way we went. Walking down the street I couldn't help but to notice how much energy she had for getting up so early. She skipped along beside me all smiles and you could tell how wide awake she really was.

I am going to honest shopping for a little girl was a lot different than shopping for myself was. You see in my mind shopping for a seven-year-old was going to be easy but it's not. Amy is a very picky little girl, she either has to have something pink or a light blue and it has to have glitter. After what seemed like hours of shopping in the same store we walked out of with only two new outfits and a pair of shoes.

"Uncle Stan?" Amy asked looking up at me "Can we get some hair ties for my hair?"

"Yeah, sure," I shrugged as we entered another store where she picked out a couple hair ties and bows. Standing in line to pay for her things I heard a few women comment on how cute it was to see guy shopping with 'their daughter'.

After shopping most of the day it was time to head home and as we got closer, I noticed a familiar little red Ford Focus parked in front of our apartment. The person saw me and stepped out of the car.

"Wendy?" I asked surprised to see her standing there "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to patch things up between us," she replied sweetly

"How did you find me?" I asked

"Kenny gave me your address," she said "I hope that was okay?"

I nodded while thinking to myself "Note to self I have to kick Kenny's ass." I walked over to unlock the door "Why don't you come in and we can talk?" I asked turning my attention back to Wendy.

She walked in and I could tell she was a little taken back by the lack of furniture I had but she sucked it up and went to go sit on the couch

"Here," I said to Amy handing her the bags "why don't you go put your things away and wait for me to call you back out." She nodded and went to her room carrying her things.

"Nice place you got here," Wendy said when I returned and sat down beside her on the couch.

"Thanks," I replied with a half-hearted smile "now what did you want to talk about?"

She twisted herself around to face me and placed her hands on her lap "I know it was wrong of me to accuse you of cheating on me and having a child with someone else when you told she was your niece. But Stan you got to realize it came as a kind of shock to me. I mean you told me you didn't want to have any kids and the next thing I know you show up with one that looks almost like you, well aside from the hair color."

"I never said I did not want kids" I replied "what I did say I was that I did not want any right of way."

Wendy stared at me for a minute or two before leaning forward and running her fingers gently across my cheek "I should never have broken up with you." My heart began to beat faster as he hand traveled down my neck to my chest, it took all my strength not to start kissing her but she always did this to me when she wants to get back together.

"Wendy….I…." I started to say but she stopped me by planting her lips against mine in a hungry kiss, I felt nothing from her kiss.

"I want to get back together," she whispered as she slowly pulled away and placed her forehead against mine "and I know you do too. Stan, I forgive you."

I blinked "You forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you," she replied trying to lean in for another kiss but I turned away from her.

"I don't understand," I said trying to figure out what I had done wrong.

"It doesn't matter," she whispered using her hand to turn my face back towards her "all that does matter is that we can get back together now."

"Wendy, I don't know if I can do this right now," I said very carefully removing her hand from face. I watched as her face changed from to sweet to angry.

"Are you seriously telling me that you don't want to get back together with me?"

"It's not that," I tried to explain "it's just that I have a lot going on right now."

"This is ridiculous," she sighed "you know I love you."

"Then why did you hookup with someone else when we were together?" I asked remembering what Cartman had said to me when he found I got dumped. I knew he was telling the truth at the time because of how funny it was to him.

"You're allowed to make mistakes but not me?" she asked placing her hands on her hips "Terry meant nothing to me, not like you do."

"But why?" I asked

"You know what!" she hissed as she quickly stood up and started walking towards the door "I don't have to sit here and listen to this anymore!"

"Here!" she snapped reaching up and grabbing a tiny pendent she had around her neck since the day I gave it to her and yanked it off tossing it back at me. I stared down at the broken chain that had laded on my lap, I remembered the day I picked it out and how excited I was to give it her for her birthday knowing that I had earned the money to pay for it with my new job. Her face lit up when she opened it and I placed it around her neck.

"All the times I defended you to my friends when they told me I was making a mistake by being with you!" she argued "It looks like they were right all along."

"Can you please just go," I sighed not wanting to argue.

"You're making a mistake," she said opening the door and walking out "because once I am gone I am never coming back."

"All the times we broke up in the past was because I was never good enough for you," I said standing up "and it hurt every single time you left me not knowing what the hell I even did wrong. You want to know the truth Wendy? The truth is you have changed through the years and have become a completely different person."

"I wish I could say the same about you," she said "but you haven't changed at all, you still have crappy job that you hate and still act like a child."

With her words said she walked out the door leaving me standing in the middle of the living-room still holding the broken necklace in my hand. Soon I felt Amy pulling on my sleeve to get my attention "I'm hungry," she whispered. I let out a heavy sigh and nodded as I turned to walk to the kitchen. I pulled out a can of raviolis and warmed them up for her.

Later that evening I was sitting in the middle of my floor looking through an old box of things from when I was a kid and came across my old red poof ball hat. A small smile found it's way onto my face when I thought back on how many memories of the adventures I went on in this hat. I gently picked it out of my box and the moment I did an old picture of Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and I fell out, I slowly picked it and looked at it.

"What's that Uncle Stan?" Amy asked as she skipped into my room

"Just looking at some of my old things," I replied carefully placing the picture back inside the box

"Neat," she said "can I see?"

"Sure, if you'd like," I shrugged.

She walked over to my side and sat down beside me, she looked at the picture and started giggling. "There you are Uncle Stan," she laughed pointing to the boy with a goofy smile.

"Hey how did you know that was me?" I asked

"Because my mommy use to have a picture of you and her together and she would show it to me all the time," she replied with a wide smile before noticing my hat in my right hand.

I saw her staring at it "Do you want to try it on?" I asked. She smiled and nodded as I carefully placed the hat upon her head, once it was on her head she rushed over to my closet door mirrors...

"COOL!" she exclaimed "Now I look like you Uncle Stan!"

I couldn't help but to laugh at her as she admired herself in the mirror, the more I looked at her in my old hat the more I could see how much she did looked sorta like me. She came bouncing back to me all smiles... "You like the hat?" I asked

"Yay," she nodded

"You can burrow it...if you want," I replied

"Really?" she asked all smiled "I promise I'll take good care of it."

"You better," I said playfully Amy kept the hat on the rest of the night until it was time for bed and even when I tucked her in she still had it on. I told her it was okay to sleep with it on because of all the nights I fell asleep with it on my head. That hat may have seemed like just a normal hat to everyone but to me it was a sense security and it was what she needed right now.

"Goodnight," I whispered as I tucked her in

"Night," she whispered back snuggling herself down even more under the covers. I turned out her light and walked back to my room where I changed into my pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Once I was comfortable I pulled out my laptop and tried to do some studying before I went sleep.

Okay here is another filler chappie...next coming one coming soon