"Hey, mister!" A voice yelled out and startled Jesse into jumping to his feet clumsily, bouncing about in the door like a ping-pong ball being battered across a table. The liquor had started to settle in; he felt more than a little inebriated.

"What?!" Jesse yelled in a snarl, stumbling out onto the small porch and scanning the yard with fuzzy eyesight. "Who's there?!"

"Whoa!" The voice yelled as Jesse whirled around to face a young man with bright green hair and it made Jesse stumble backward, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt before looking at him again to see that it was in dreadlocks rather than a short cropped style. "Easy dude! Mom told me to come get you, Santana told me how to find the cabin!"

"Mom?" Jesse asked, leaning on the rail of the porch to hold him up, "Who's yer mama boy?"

"Look, man," The kid looked like he could be sick just looking at Jesse. "You don't look so hot, why don't I give you a ride?"

"I ain't that far gone," Jesse grumbled, looking down at his half empty bottle of liquor, "Who'd you say your mama was?" Jesse looked the kid over and thought he reminded him of someone. His skin was a dark tawny color, offset but complemented by his dark green dreads that were pulled up into a short ponytail with a few hanging strands. He was dressed in soft blues and golds—a t-shirt and jeans and an oversized varsity style jacket, "I ain't talking to the weeds boy!"

"My names not boy," The teen growled and rolled his green eyes upward, "It's Tosh,"

"I ain't worried about your name," Jesse took a swig from the bottle and started to turn his back to the kid when he heard.

"Look, my mom is gonna like, put my balls in a vice if you don't come to dinner. All she's done since I got here is talk about you. And I can't take any more teasing from my sibs, so please, sober up and come to the hotel?" Tosh looked Jesse up and down, "Don't know what Mama Sarah sees in you, but…whateves."

Jesse dropped the bottle, and it shattered against the wood as Jesse stared at him, disbelieving. His hand falling to his side as he pushed back from the rail, a sinking feeling a dread spreading through him, he could feel his heart picking up in speed, and his head began to swim.

"Rosa…has kids?"

"Whoa, dude that looks nasty, hope it wasn't expensive." Tosh sucked his teeth in a hissing sound. "You okay?"

"I'm fine….tell her…tell her I'll be down in a bit…" Jesse waved his hand and turned his back to Tosh before stumbling into the house before shutting the door and leaning on it. It was even darker in the house now than it had been during the storm, the sun had finally sunk and hours had been lost to his drunken daydreams and memories.

"She had kids." He murmured to his feet, "So she got hitched and had a good life…" He gave a dry scoff and looked up a the ceiling where a spider the size of Jesse's palm had made a web. "More than one by what the kid said…Sibs…" He smacked himself on the forehead with his metal hand and then wish he hadn't, it hurt him worse than he had expected. "Not like I sat around waitin' for her, no sense in her doing the same for me." He shook his head and shoved off from the door, swinging his arms up in an x of denial before swinging them back down—proclaiming to the room, "She's not my…" He stopped himself, "She's not Rosa." He could feel a look of doubt from a ghost somewhere in the house and grumbled to himself, "She's not." He realized he was trying to convince ghosts brought on by lack of sleep and alcohol, "She just can't be."

Jesse moved through the house, slowly getting better control of his body as he walked, the effects of the over drinking slowly fading out as he wondered about dinner and ran through the conversation he had with Sarah in the bar. She had mentioned being in town on work and looking for her long lost friend. She hadn't talked about being married, or about any children, he hadn't seen any ring on her fingers either.

He went and shut off the light in the closet, putting away the blue jean jacket, holding a moment with his hand on the knob before closing it securely and stumbling in the dark back toward the living room. He paused by the dingy bowl and his hand hovered over his keys, trying to decide if he wanted to go to this dinner. He didn't have any food in the cabin, and Santana would get to worrying about him if he didn't show back up to check on him. With a weary sigh, Jesse picked up his keys and walked through the door, doing the particular ritual to get the door to lock correctly before groaning at the mess he had made on the porch.

'Mama Sarah' Tosh had called her. Wait, Jesse's eyes narrowed as he paused on the steps, How old was that kid? Had to be late teens….eighteen? Nineteen? Hell, way kids look now-days he may even be older n-that. Or younger… Jesse looked toward the spot in the yard where Tosh had been standing, noticing the beaten down path in the weeds around the cabin. It seemed he had not seen Jesse at first and walked around the side of the house to see if anyone was home, or maybe he was just smart enough not to walk right up on a guy drinking in his home—half out of his mind. It's what I'd done, Jesse gave a slight tilt to his head before following the beaten path around the house to the back door. He gave it a yank to make sure it was locked before heading out to the small storehouse where he kept an old beaten down truck.

When he was still a teen, long after losing Rosa, Jesse had gotten fed up with borrowing vehicles from friends or relying on Overwatch and Blackwatch, so he'd saved up and bought his own clunker. He pulled the door open and smiled with a little relief when he saw that it was still there in the same shape he had left it—the sky blue paint giving way to rust, the leather seats old and worn—faded with age. Jesse pat the hood and pulled it out, trying to not think of anything. He looked down as he slowly drove forward, messing with the radio to find a country station that was still able to be picked up by the old tech.

"HEY!" A voice made him slam on his brakes, the old hunk of metal lurching to a stop, Jesse was pulled forward by force. When he looked up, saw a girl with teal colored hair cropped short around her cheeks and bright blue eyes staring wide-eyed at him from just in front of the truck's hood. He had nearly run her over.

"Where the hell you youngin's coming from?!" Jesse shouted, throwing the gear into park and opening the door, hanging out of it by leaning on the space between the door and the cab. "Dropping from the got-dang sky?" The girl's eyes widened, and Jesse could see a bit of heat flush through her pale cheeks, showing off a splash of brown freckles across her nose. "Who the hell are you?"

"You didn't hear me yelling at you?" The girl protested, "Are you deaf? Cheese and crackers!" The girl put a hand to her chest, and Jesse realized she was dressed in the same style as Tosh. Her oversized white and hot pink jacket struck her just below her small breasts, a black belly shirt stopped at her midriff that showcased her colorful music note tattoo by her pierced belly button, and her jogging pants patched the design and fit of her jacket. She turned and yelled over her shoulder, and another kid appeared, a boy. "I found him! Poe!"

"Just how many of you are there?" Jesse demanded as the boy jogged up to the truck and he gave him a once over—just like the other two kids, this one was odd. Scarlet red hair with what Jesse guessed here cosmetic contacts to give his eyes an unnaturally bright yellow color. "First that Tosh fella and now you two, is the whole lollypop guild here? Ya'll gonna start poppin' up from my bushes?"

"I'm Pep," the girl waved a hand over herself before gesturing to the boy, "This is my brother Poe, we're Tosh's siblings."

"Some of them anyway," The boy called Poe shrugged, "Still lots to the guild you haven't met yet." Jesse noticed this boy was different too. His skin was darker than Pep's, but not nearly as dark as Tosh's.

"Sarah's kids?" Jesse asked skeptically, eyeing each kid once more. Pep's face was heart-shaped, and her eyes were wide and around while Poe's face was square and his eyes narrow with a broad brow. Neither they, no Tosh looked anything like Sarah.

"Yes," Poe said quickly, what seemed like much to Pep's displeasure. "We were told to come here to make sure you'd come to dinner. Mum's orders." A small, evil sort of grin spread across Poe's face that made Jesse narrow an eye at him. "She said you'd give us a ride back to Santana's place." Poe stuck his hands in his white hoodie pockets and kept a level stare with Jesse.

"Ya'll ain't gonna leave till I do…huh?" He looked between Pep and Poe who shook their heads in unison, making Jesse sigh heavily, "A'ight….get in the truck." Jesse slammed himself back down into the driver's seat as Pep bounced around the side of the truck and climbed in with Poe behind her, making her scoot to sit beside Jesse rather closely. "Just how many more you kids are there?"

"Well you met Tosh, me and Poe," Pep started counting on her fingers, and Jesse had to resist letting his face showing his shocked and horrified feelings. "There is Clover, Maple, and Jubie. Markl and Rife are back home, college kids—midterms are coming up, and they can't miss. Who am I forgetting?" She looked to Poe who pulled out a phone and ran through the names Pep had already said before adding more.

"Rube, Tale, and Coast." His voice, Jesse noticed, was very monotone— utterly opposite from Pep's bubbly voice.

"Right, they have jobs and families, they didn't come with us."

"So eleven…" Jesse double checked his math and felt very lost when Pep nodded with a bright smile, "And how…old are you all?"

This caused laughter from the two, Pep's like tinkling bells while Poe's sounded like dry, sarcastic 'ha's rather than a genuine laugh. They refused to tell Jesse their ages and insisted that they let their mother tell their family story-it was better that way. Poe got out and helped Jesse close the storeroom doors and lock them before they climbed back into the truck and started down the dirt road that lead back down the hill to the hotel.

"And where is Tosh?" Jesse asked, keeping an eye out as they drove somewhat slowly. These kids of Sarah's seem to appear from nowhere, and he didn't want to responsible for running anyone over.

"He took the chopper back," Poe said flatly, arm hanging out the window as he watched the scenery pass by lazily. "Said you were pretty knackered and he didn't trust you driving him back safely."

"He tends to exaggerate." Pep explained with a grin, "We stayed behind to see you for ourselves—all we've heard about since we decided to come here was about the amazing cowboy Mom knew."

"That so," Jesse murmured tensely, "How long it'd taken yuns to get here?"

"Overnight drive," Pep answered absentmindedly, studying the dash of the truck, "We were already in the state, Clover had a show to do and has another tomorrow night, here in town if you wanna come." She looked over at Jesse and smiled, it was hard not to smile back at her—she seemed very friendly and kind, but something was eating at Jesse hard, and his mood seemed permanently soured. Still, he managed to curl one side of his mouth into a cocky grin and shrugged lazily with one shoulder. "Mom said you liked music, country music to be specific."

"Clover does old country songs that nobody remembers anymore," Poe added dreamily, "She loves all that old crap,"

"It's not crap," Pep jabbed Poe in the side with her elbow, "She just likes bringing life back to things lost by time and people love it," She turned to Jesse, "You'd like it, I promise. She—well, you'll see when we get there. Mr. Santana wants to hear her sing, so she's going to do a mini show for him after dinner. You'll stay won't you?"

Jesse didn't want to give a yes or no answer and was thankful when they pulled up to the hotel. Jesse followed the old vehicle entrance and stopped in a rounded parking space; however, before he was stopped entirely, Poe and Pep had jumped from the truck and slammed the door.

Jesse put the truck in park, debating on putting it in reverse and just leaving. He could do that, but Pep and Poe and Tosh and the whole gang might come banging on his door. At that thought he sighed and got out, heading around the side of the building before shock froze him and he took in what he couldn't believe he saw: out in the distance the dining area for the restaurant had been cleaned and fixed so that it looked like new. Sarah was helping Tosh place plates with food on them down on the tables, Santana was sitting nearby, laughing happily as two dark-skinned girls—who could have been twins, chatted with him. Pep and Poe ran up like two small kids and yelled loudly—Pep with all the excitement for both of them.

"MOM!"