Author's Note: Reading Andrea Barber's book and learning about her real-life struggle with anxiety made me think about how that's something Kimmy would know NOTHING about. That got me thinking about Ramona, and this resulted. Please review! :)

Ramona couldn't believe she was doing this. Five years ago, she hadn't even wanted to move in here, and now she was packing for college, and she didn't want to leave. At first, she'd been so sure that going to school on the east coast was the right thing. As the future began to seem more and more real, she was having second thoughts. Maybe Jackson was actually smarter than she'd thought. Staying home was safe.

She kept thinking about the past five years. Photos on the wall showed the priceless memories she'd made with Jackson, Lola, and Rocki. Then there were pictures of her mom, Stephanie, and DJ. Steph and DJ were always talking about when they grew up in this house. How Stephanie snuck out to her friend Gia's house, or how her mom had pierced Stephanie's ears. No matter what the problem was, there was always an adult the girls could turn to for advice.

"Wait, it's still like that," Ramona said, wondering why she hadn't thought of it sooner. She threw the pile of clothes she was about to pack down on the bed and walked out of her room. It wasn't far from DJ's room, which had been Stephanie and DJ's dad's room years ago. DJ was in there, going over her schedule of appointments for tomorrow at the vet clinic.

"Um, DJ, can we talk?" Ramona asked. She hated to disturb DJ's important work.

"Sure," DJ said. "But if it's about Jackson, I can't talk sense into that boy. He listens to Uncle Jesse way too much." She shook her head. At least her oldest son knew now what he wanted to do. Computers were the one thing Jackson had talent for. "What's up?" she asked, putting aside thoughts of Jackson's career path.

"Well, it's about moving away. I'm starting to think my mom was right. I mean, what's wrong with staying here? Jackson's doing it."

"Are you nervous about going to a new school and making new friends?"

"A little," Ramona admitted. "I can't talk to Mom about it, because she wouldn't understand. She never worries what anyone will think. She wears those crazy outfits, and she doesn't care. I can't be that confident." As she spoke, she walked into DJ's room, taking a seat on the bed.

"Your mom definitely does her own thing," DJ replied. "I've known that since we were ten. But I know exactly what you're going through. I felt the same way when I went to college. And I felt like I was weird, because I never really got to do a lot of things when I was a teenager. You don't have that problem."

"What do you mean?" Ramona asked.

"My dad was pretty overprotective when we were growing up. I think that's part of why Michelle moved to New York. Dad always gave us curfews, and we never got to drink, or smoke, or anything. Not that I think you should try those things," DJ quickly added. She was doing her best not to be exactly like Danny, but some things were unavoidable.

"So what did you do? Like, how did you make friends?"

"Well, I stayed friends with your mom, of course. That helped. And pledged my sorority. I found some good friends there. And then of course, there was Tommy." DJ couldn't help smiling at the mention of her late husband.

"So, you met a boy," Ramona said, seeing that DJ had apparently forgotten what they'd been talking about.

"Well, Tommy and I were just friends for a while. I was still getting over Steve, of course. But he was sweet and thoughtful. He understood me, because he came from a strict family too. Eventually, we fell in love, and…." DJ shrugged. "You know what happened after that."

"Yeah, I guess so. But you were OK, right? I mean, you found friends?"

"Not only that, but I decided what I wanted to do with my life. I thought about how much we all loved Comet, and I knew I wanted to take care of animals. See, that's what college is about. Not just parties, or stupid pranks."

"I get it. So I might love Women's Studies, or I might end up doing something else, like business."

"Exactly. I'm sure whatever you do, you'll be great. Maybe you even have a little more of your mom's confidence than you realize."

Ramona shrugged. Right now, she couldn't imagine ever being like Kimmy Gibbler. But they did have the same DNA. That had to mean something. "Thanks for the talk, DJ. You're pretty good at these."

"Hey, you couldn't live with my dad for as many years as I did, and not get good at these talks." She hugged Ramona close. This was one of those mother-daughter talks she could never have with Jackson, or even Max. Yet another bonus of having her sister and her best friend living here.

As Ramona walked back to her room, she felt better than she had in days. Maybe this new chapter, scary as it was, could be a great thing for her. It had worked out well enough for DJ. This very full house was proof of that.

The End