A/N: Sorry, but I just realized I went back and forth on Elizabeth's last name, probably because I subconsciously hadn't decided on it yet. For the record, it's officially "Williams." Again, sorry about that.

Chapter 3

"Chloe, put that down!" Katie Williams said, taking the decorative figurine from her little sister's hand and carefully placing it back on the nearby table. The two were at their aunt Emma's house, and sneaked in the living room from the backyard, where their mother thought they were.

But her mother had said they were leaving soon, and Katie just remembered that she'd left her favorite doll there a few days ago. When it wasn't in the spare bedroom, she remembered that she'd brought it in the living room when she was playing tea party. "Come on, Hannah, where are you?" she muttered, looking through a cabinet.

"Hannah?" Chloe asked, sitting next to her on the floor. While Connor was fine with waiting in the backyard, Chloe had insisted on coming.

Katie nodded, whispering, "Yeah. I left my Hannah Montana doll here on Tuesday, and I want to bring it to camp tomorrow for show-and-tell."

"But I wanted to play with her tomorrow!" Chloe whined.

Rolling her deep brown eyes, Katie argued, "But my friend Fi got one for her birthday a few weeks ago, and she wants to play with them together. You can play on the weekend."

"But then Tess won't be there!" Chloe said, her lower lip forming a pout.

"Okay then. I'll leave the doll on Monday. That way, I can take it tomorrow, and you can still show it to Tess," Katie reasoned, letting out a few, deep calming breaths. She would normally argue more, but she didn't want her mom to know she was in here. Both her mom and aunt Emma were in the kitchen, and they sounded like they were having a fight.

Shaking her head to get her light brown, almost blonde hair out of her face, Katie moved further into cabinet under the TV. "It has to be in here…wait, Chloe, can't you and Tess play with your Hannah Montana doll?"

Chloe still pouted. "Mine doesn't sing like yours."

"Only because you kept pressing the button until it broke," Katie reminded her. Under her breath, she added, "Thank goodness."

"No, Elizabeth!"

Katie paused her searching to listen for why her aunt Emma sounded so mad. Chloe also stopped her whining and glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

"Emma, it's not like I'm asking that much! It's just one date!"

"How many times am I going to have to say 'no' before it gets through your head?"

"But his name is Andrew, he's really cute. Gloria said he was 'otherwise committed,' but I'm sure if I ask him enough he'll agree to one date."

"Once more, apparently. No!"

"Come on, Em! Maybe not a date, but at least go hang out over the weekend. I never realized how much you moped around the house until I moved here. And I'm glad I did."

"Well, for your information, I do have plans this weekend. Daphne invited me to her son's family birthday party and I told her I'd go!"

"That's wonderful! Good for you!"

"…oh, be quiet…"

Hearing footsteps, Katie panicked and bumped her head on the top of the cabinet, the doll in her hand. Tears in her eyes from the pain, she dropped her doll on the rug –

"The other side, the other side, I want you to see…"

"No, no!" Katie whispered as Hannah Montana's voice came out of the doll. She quickly pushed the button, but it wouldn't stop.

"The other side, the other side, the other side of me…"

Clutching the doll in one hand and Chloe in the other, Katie made a mad dash for the spare bedroom. As she made it to safety in the hallway and closed the see-through dividing door behind her, she overheard her mother ask, "Emma, did you hear something?"

"Yeah. The kids probably left the Disney Channel on in the living room."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief as she and Chloe met up with Connor in the backyard. He barely glanced up at them while he kicked a soccer ball around. "Hey. What took you so long?"

"Couldn't find Hannah," Katie explained, keeping the doll in her hand while she stole the ball and kicked it back to Connor. "And I wanted to show her to Fi tomorrow. If I didn't have it then, I would've had to wait until Chris' birthday on Sunday."

Pausing with the ball under his foot, Connor remarked, "Fi's weird." Then he kicked the ball to his sister.

"She is not!" Katie argued, catching the ball with her feet again and kicking it back. The two continued their game of passing the ball as they talked, with Chloe watching on the sidelines playing with the dolls she'd brought. "Fi is not weird! She's nice!"

"But weird. She talks about angels a lot. She said Tess was one. Tess isn't an angel – she's our baby-sitter," Connor pointed out.

Katie thought about that, kicking the ball between her feet before passing it to her brother. While it did make sense that Tess wouldn't be an angel, she couldn't find it in heart to completely disagree. She and Chloe agreed that there was something different about their new baby-sitter, and she could tell that Connor agreed, even though he didn't show it. "Whatever," Katie finally said. "Fi is not weird."

"Is too."

"Is not. Times infinity."

"Aw!" Connor pouted. "Why'd you stop it?"

Katie shrugged. "I felt like it."

They looked up as their mother stepped onto the porch and called, "Kids! You had your warning five minutes ago. We're going now – come in and say good-bye to Aunt Emma. You won't see her until Monday."

"Okay, Mom," Katie replied. Her grip tight on her doll, she led the way back into the house.

Elizabeth pulled up to her house on Friday, barely checking to make sure she wasn't hitting the curb before jumping out her door. It was around five, which meant she was an hour late. Bursting into the house, she called, "I am so sorry, Tess, you probably have a million places to be and I just screwed up the rest of your night…"

As she skidded into the dining room, she trailed off, amazed at the site. There was no impatient baby-sitter glaring at her, tapping her foot with impatience and threatening to charge double for over time. Instead, she found all three of her kids sitting at the table.

And they were eating.

Gawking, Elizabeth numbly walked further into the room. Each of her children was working hard to clean their plates, which had remnants of what looked like pasta and tomato sauce. Of course, they chatted with and teased each other while they ate, but…there was peace. And they were eating dinner. Dinner that she now didn't have to cook.

If she didn't believe in miracles before, she did now.

After each of the kids got up out of their seats to hug her hello, then went back to their dinner, Tess emerged from the kitchen. "Elizabeth, I hope you don't mind, but it was getting late so I thought I'd make them dinner. You don't mind, do you?"

Mind? Elizabeth thought in amazement. She thinks I'd mind? The organization who brainwashes all other available babysitters into incompetence must not have gotten to her yet. "W-what…h-how…whatever you did to my kids to make them sit down and eat…can you tell me how to do that?"

Tess let out a hearty laugh. "It's nothing I did – they're just tired after a long week at camp. And Chloe and I were so busy today that she never took her nap…again, I hope you don't mind."

"N-no, not at all," Elizabeth managed to say, still in disbelief. And now Chloe's going to fall asleep early. This woman is an angel. "U-uh, like I was saying, Tess, I'm so sorry I was late. Work was hectic, and Mark had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day, so he'll be there late too…"

Waving a dismissive hand, Tess assured her, "Don't worry about it, baby. You want some pasta?"

"Sure," Elizabeth answered, feeling her stomach growl. For the first time since she skipped lunch that day, she was realizing just how hungry she was. "You know, Tess, now that I'm here, you can go if you want."

Tess shrugged. "I don't want to. Now, would you like me to make you some tea?"

"Yes, please," Elizabeth answered, perching on one of the stools and facing Tess. This is surreal. And so wrong – I'm not paying her to be my maid. Still, she couldn't help but dig into the plate as it was placed in front of her on the dividing counter. Oh Lord, but this is so, so good…"Tess! Where did you get this sauce?"

Her smile modest, Tess explained, "I brought it from home."

"You made this?"

"Well, I learned from the best," Tess answered. "I was in Italy years ago and learned from a friend I made there."

"You were in Italy?" Elizabeth exclaimed. Though feeling foolish over her childish excitement, she was just beginning to realize how much she didn't know about her kids' newest babysitter.

Tess nodded. "It was a long time ago, though. In fact, I was surprised I was able to remember the recipe."

"I'm glad you did," Elizabeth replied, taking another big bite. "Because this is amazing. From what I saw, I think the kids may actually finish what's on their plates."

Pointing towards the living room table, Tess remarked, "I think they already did."

Elizabeth peered at the table over the counter, seeing that Tess was right – the kids were gone, headed up to their rooms, their clean plates left behind. Before Tess could move, Elizabeth jumped out of her seat and headed for the plates. "No, no – you made dinner, you're making me tea. At least let me clean up, otherwise I will feel like the horrible mother you probably think I am."

"I do not think any such thing," Tess assured her, laughing. "Oh, I should tell you that Emma called to tell you she's leaving for the party at six, and wants you to call her before then."

"Oh, thanks." Sighing, Elizabeth remembered her sister's plans for that night with mixed emotions. True, it was great that Emma was getting out. But hanging out with her boss' family was not what she had in mind. She'd feel much better if her sister agreed to that date with Andrew.

Not that he agreed it yet, Elizabeth admitted to herself. But it's only a matter of time. After all, how important can his "other commitment" be that he can't go on one lousy blind date? She was sure the two were perfect for each other. And it might be her imagination, but she could've sworn that Andrew was warming up to the idea. Instead of becoming uncomfortable and stuttering when she asked him that day, he just gave her a weak "no" as he shook his head. I'm wearing him down. I know it.

Looking at her with concern, Tess asked, "Are you okay, baby? You've seemed stressed ever since you walked through the front door."

"It's nothing, really. You must have enough of your own problems…" Elizabeth trailed off, losing her resolve at Tess' steady gaze. "Okay, um, I suppose you've heard about the situation with my sister?"

Thinking, Tess answered, "Yes, I think the kids have mentioned it a few times over the course of the week. How aunt Emma divorced 'cool Uncle Shawn'?"

"Well, 'Uncle Shawn' had a motorcycle and taught Connor to belch the alphabet. Of course he's 'cool Uncle Shawn," Elizabeth explained, not without some resentment. Even now, when other people asked her son his name, she had to remind him to spell it, not make the other person pass out from the fumes. "But in the adult world, we consider him a class-A jerk."

"What happened?" Tess asked. The kettle whistled, and Tess poured a cup. "How do you take your tea, baby?"

Distracted, Elizabeth almost didn't hear her. "What? O-Oh, right – milk, two sugars. Thanks."

"No problem," Tess replied, handing Elizabeth the steaming mug.

Taking a much-needed sip, Elizabeth gulped it down and explained about Emma's disastrous marriage to Shawn, who clearly wasn't her soul mate, and unpleasant divorce. "…honestly, I can't wrap my mind around why she married him in the first place."

"There must be some reason," Tess pressed, her own cup of tea in hand.

Elizabeth shrugged, realizing a bit too late that she probably shouldn't be gossiping about her sister's business. But there was just something about Tess that made her feel like a little kid again, coming home to tell her mother about her day at school. Of course, her mother barely listened, always on the phone with friends or grumbling about doing housework. That thought in mind, Elizabeth decided to take full advantage of Tess' willing ear and pressed on. "I don't know, she says that he brought out this 'other side' of her. All I know is that it gave her some magic excuse to hang out at a bar until all hours in the morning, and now I have to pick up the pieces."

Raising an eyebrow, Tess asked, "Have to? You feel like you're responsible for her?"

"Well, she is my sister," Elizabeth reminded her, but still felt a little shame as she circled the rim of her mug with her finger. Mark always told her she was too involved with Emma's business, but she always dismissed it. "Mom and Dad don't care, off traveling or whatever the heck retired people do. I love my sister, and I'm worried about her. So I made sure I'm here to help her get back on her feet."

Tess thought for a long moment, finishing her tea and putting the cup in the sink. On her way out, she paused at the door into the dining room and looked back at Elizabeth. "I don't know your sister, but from what I do know, she's a big girl. If you aren't there all the time to push her to move on, I'm sure she'll find a way there by herself."

"I don't know about that. She's never been one to take care of herself," Elizabeth explained, squirming at Tess' eerily all-knowing gaze.

Giving her a reassuring smile, Tess replied, "You never know. Maybe it's her time to surprise you." Heading towards the front door, she called, "See you Monday!"

"Have a good weekend, Tess!" Elizabeth shouted back, left in a contemplative state that had her staring into her empty mug.

She shook her head as she put her mug in the sink. The advice Tess gave may have been sound, but Elizabeth moved her family all the way up to New York from Florida to be near her sister in her time of crisis. Emma was getting her help whether she wanted it or not.

Standing on her boss' front porch, Emma let out a few deep breaths. "Ten…nine…eight…" she said, trying to calm her jittery nerves. Even after spending a half hour on the phone with her sister, she still wanted to turn around on her heel and get back in the car.

"Are you okay, Aunt Emma?"

Emma looked down at Katie, who was equipped with a child-size pocketbook filled with toys to share. After thinking about it all day, Emma decided she wasn't ready to show up at a party alone yet, but she wasn't ready to bring a date. Bringing her niece was her only other option. As an added bonus, Katie provided an easy excuse to leave early.

And it wasn't like she dragged the kid into the car, kicking and screaming. While on the phone with her sister, Elizabeth mentioned that Katie was bouncing off the walls in anticipation of that party on Sunday. That gave Emma the idea to ask to bring her niece. After Emma reasoned that bringing a little kid along would help break the ice with a room full of people she didn't know, Elizabeth agreed. Katie was so excited that she was ready and waiting by the door when Emma picked her up.

Emma would've brought Connor too, but he muttered something that sounded like "Fi's weird" and headed back up to his room.

"Aunt Emma?"

Realizing she never answered Katie's question, Emma replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Remember what your mom said?"

"Yeah. Be on my best behavior and don't touch anything," Katie recited.

"Good girl," Emma said with a chuckle. Taking another deep breath, she added, "Let's get this over with, then," and rang the doorbell.

The door opened a moment later to reveal Daphne, dressed in a formal skirt and blouse. "Emma! So glad you could make it! Come in, please – can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Emma replied, still clutching her niece's hand as they walked in the average-sized house. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Katie. I know you said it was alright on the phone –"

Giving Emma a reassuring smile, Daphne interrupted, "Please, she's welcome any time." She then bent down so she was eye-level with Katie, who had become shy and held on to her aunt's pant leg. "Hi, Katie! I'm Daphne, Chris' mom. He and Fiona are upstairs if you want to play with them. They should be coming downstairs soon though."

"Thank you," Katie managed to squeak, then ran up the stairs to find her friends.

"Second door on your right!" Daphne called after her.

Embarrassed, Emma explained, "She's a little shy around strangers. But she warms up after a while."

"Takes after her aunt, does she?" Daphne joked.

Blushing, Emma answered, "I guess."

"Well, I have some hostess duties to attend to," Daphne said, guiding Emma into the living room, the main area for the party. It was already about a quarter-full with guests.. "But as you can see, there are plenty of guests already here, so go mingle. If you need a familiar face later on, Adriana, Monica and I will be in the kitchen getting dinner ready."

"Thanks," Emma almost whispered, feeling her throat close up at the sight of all those strangers. Most were in small groups, so Emma stood there for a moment, not quite knowing what to do. Spotting a buffet table against the wall covered with appetizers, Emma wove her way through the crowd towards it.

When she reached for a potato chip, she didn't notice that a man's hand was already in the bowl. She quickly grabbed a chip and lowered her eyes. "Oh, sorry."

"No harm done," the man assured her, giving her a warm smile. "Hi, I'm Andrew."

Emma gaped at him for a moment, Elizabeth's voice echoing through her mind. His name is Andrew, he's really cute… Then she shook her head. There's no way this can be the same Andrew. "Oh, uh, hi, I'm Emma."

"Emma…that sounds familiar…" Andrew said. "Wait, you're Monica's coworker, aren't you? I'm a friend of hers."

"Oh. Good friends?" Emma asked.

Nodding, Andrew answered, "Very good friends. We worked together for a long time."

"Worked together?" Emma asked, surprised. She couldn't help but wonder how Monica got from an apparently steady job to working as an assistant. "Doing what?"

Andrew hesitated, then explained, "Helping people. Right now I'm working as a therapist in a local office. It's run by Mark and Elizabeth Williams."

"Oh my God," Emma groaned, putting her face in her hands. I'm really beginning to hate coincidences. But Liz was right – he is cute. With an incredulous laugh, she explained to a now confused Andrew, "Elizabeth is my sister."

His face paling, Andrew sputtered, "Y-you're Elizabeth's sister? The one she was trying to…oh…I'm sorry, I-I – "

"No, I'm sorry," Emma interrupted. "She had no right to pressure you like that, and I can assure you that there are no hurt feelings on my part. I can only imagine how uncomfortable she must have made you. She can be pushy like that."

Andrew lowered his eyes and squirmed where he stood. "Well, I wouldn't say pushy. She just…cares about you."

"She can care about me without putting eligible bachelors on the spot," Emma argued.

"Yeah, well…" Andrew trailed off, his gaze resting on the foyer. He smiled with relief when he spotted someone. "Oh, that's my friend Gloria. I'll talk to you later."

Emma nodded in acknowledgement, watching as he nearly ran out of the living room. "No, that wasn't awkward at all. Thank you so much, Liz," she muttered, taking another chip and chewing down on it hard.

A/N: Okay, with all the kids in here, I couldn't go the whole story without at least referencing the Disney Channel. And since my seven-year-old sister Lindsay is obsessed with her, I decided to give Katie a Hannah Montana doll. The song the doll sings is called The Other Side of Me. I have to admit I'm jealous of Katie - Lindsay hasn't broken her doll yet.