A/N: I've taken a few liberties: this is set six years after the fifth season so anything that happened in the last two seasons has kind of been disregarded.

Prologue: January, 1981

"Aunt Rhoda?"

"Yeah, kid?" Rhoda looked over at her six year old niece. To be fair, she wasn't really her niece. Rhoda was the girl's legal guardian and had been for her entire life.

"Tell me about my momma."

The rough edged New Yorker froze. There were some things she just couldn't talk about, although she knew the poor girl had a right to know about her mother; she didn't want to be the one to tell her. Still, one look at Rose's face, so very much like Mary's made her sit down.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Rose insisted. "Why isn't she here?" There was a bit of pout in her tone, and Rhoda knew the girl well enough to note that this meant tears were coming if she wasn't satisfied soon.

The older woman sighed heavily. "I told you, baby. Your momma died after you were born."

"I know, but tell me about her," Rose demanded as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Your momma was the best woman I've ever known. She was kind and funny, and...she was my hero." Tears were starting to well up in her eyes, and she knew that she wasn't ready to have this talk, some day when Rose was older maybe but not now. No first grader should have to carry around such a weight if she wasn't even likely to understand.

"Did she love me, Aunt Rho?"

"Oh kid," Rhoda breathed. "She loved you more than anyone and anything. Now, I think it's time for bed."

She mentally pleaded with the little girl to let them drop the subject, and eventually Rose relented.

"Okay, tuck me in."

Rhoda nodded and followed the little dear to her bedroom and pulled the covers up around her.

"I love you, doll face."

"I love you too," Rose yawned before turning over which gave Rhoda her cue to leave.

Clearly, she thought about Mary all the time, but she wasn't looking forward to the day when Rose wouldn't relent until she had told her everything. Her mind started to head back seven years prior, and she realized that it wasn't good for her to be alone so she called up Georgette.

"I'll be right over," her friend said in her soft voice before they both hang up the phone.

Rhoda waited anxiously, knowing that they were going to be spilling their guts and recalling the death of their friend. Naturally, she knew that cheesecake was going to be a necessity to get them through this, so she reached into the fridge and pulled one out.

Georgette arrived about fifteen minutes later, and Rhoda helped her friend with her coat. They both embraced for probably longer than was needed, and then they sat down, and Rhoda handed her friend a slice of cheesecake.

They both ate their cake in silence for awhile, and when they were done, the brunette cleared her throat, and indicated her friend's rounded abdomen.

"Are you nervous?"

"After what happened to her? Of course I'm nervous, but I just keep telling myself that everything will go according to plan."

"But..."

"Please Rhoda, I'd rather we didn't talk about me."

"Right, I'm sorry, kid. When Rose asked me about her- I froze. Help me remember so I'm not afraid," her friend's pleading tone was not something that Georgette was accustomed to, and she nodded.

"Of course, let's start where it all began..."

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