Izzie walked out the auditorium with her mother in silence. The air between them was hard to describe, it wasn't tension, more like an empty void. It had been more than ten years since she'd seen her mother and about three years since they'd spoken. They walked aimlessly through the school and ended up at the football field where they climbed the bleachers and sat next to each other. For a while they just sat and watched the students practice, there was a group of cheerleaders in the far corner practicing stunting, a group of soccer players in the middle of the field and some more guys running laps around the oval.

"So…how have you been?" Izzie asked making the first move.

"I've been good." Her mother replied slowly. "I got a job at a bakery."

"That's great." Izzie smiled. When she'd left home her mother hadn't been working.

"Yeah…" silence fell between them again. There were so many things between them that hadn't been said, that needed to be said. "You did really well up there today." Her mother began again. "I'm really proud of you."

Izzie didn't say anything. She couldn't remember her mother ever complimenting her on anything. The words seemed out of place.

"I mean it." Her mother continued. "You've grown into such an amazing woman."

Izzie didn't look at her mother, instead she stared out onto the field. She didn't know what to say to that; this woman wasn't the mother she remembered. The silence between them dragged on. Her mother moved closer to her and placed a hand on her knee. "Cricket?" she said the name like a question, like she was trying to get a response.

Izzie closed her eyes and breathed. She knew what she should say but that wasn't what she wanted to say. She didn't want her mother to think that by showing up today she could make up for everything else. So she didn't say thank you, she didn't say I love you, she asked the question she wanted to know the answer to.

"Why did you come today?"

Her mother smiled at her but she couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes. "Because you're my daughter. I wanted to see you."

"But why today? Why not three, six, nine months ago when I needed you?"

Her mother looked away from her, her eyes were glassy like she was about to cry. "I did come. I came as soon at it happened, I just couldn't stay. You were so sick. I thought you were going to die. I couldn't watch it." She paused for just a moment. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I thought you were dead."

Izzie didn't know what to say. It wasn't the excuse she was expecting. "I love you so much." Her mother continued. "I couldn't sit there and watch you suffer. I couldn't sit there and watch another one of my children die. I'm so sorry."

Izzie's mind skipped a beat. She wasn't sure she'd heard right, she wasn't sure she'd understood. "Mom?" She asked. "Who else died?"

Her mother used her hand to wipe the tears that had fallen from her face and looked up at her. "You had a brother, Luke." She began. "He died of leukemia when you were an infant."

"What?" She said, shocked. That wasn't the response she was expecting. "Why didn't I know?"

The events of her childhood suddenly were playing through her mind. She was trying to think of a time, anytime at all where there was some mention of a brother but there was nothing.

"After everything happened, after he was gone, it just hurt too much."

Izzie reached out and took her mothers hand. She squeezed it tightly. This was the first time she'd offered any type of affection to her. Her mother smiled at her and wiped some more tears from her eyes.

"Lets not talk about this."

They went back to sitting in silence. But there was a closeness between them that wasn't there before. They hadn't exactly built any bridges but they'd broken the ice. Izzie was thinking more about her childhood, about the relationship she had with her mother, why it had always been strained. This new information it didn't make the way things were okay but there was an understanding. The silence lasted a long time. They watched the students finish their practices and leave the field. They watched the sun begin to set. Izzie shivered.

"Are you cold?" her mother asked.

"No." She replied pulling her coat tighter around her.

"I am." Her mother replied. "We should go inside."

"Yeah." Izzie sighed but she didn't make any effort to move.

"Do you want to come back to the trailer?" She didn't respond. She was thinking. She didn't know if she wanted to go back there just yet. "I baked cupcakes this morning, the chocolate ones you always liked."

"I don't know." She wanted to go but she didn't want to as well.

"We could have coffee and cake and just talk some more."

"We've been sitting here for hours and we've hardly talked."

"I know, but I like being with you."

"I should probably call Alex. He's probably wondering where I am."

"Don't worry about Alex." Her mother said standing up and holding out her hand. "He can look after himself. Come on."

Slowly Izzie stood up and they began walking the half mile back to the trailer.

/\/\/\/\

"Would you like something to drink?" her mother asked pulling two mugs from the cupboard. "Tea? Coffee?"

Izzie was standing in front of a small radiator trying to warm up. After the sun had gone down it had gotten cold quickly.

"I don't drink coffee anymore. Can you make hot chocolate?"

"Sure." Her mother said smiling. "I can't promise you it will be any good. I haven't made one since you were eight."

"It'll be fine." She smiled back. Since they'd gotten back to the trailer things had become more easy between them. They were relaxing into each others company.

Her mother handed her the drink and they sat down next to each other on the sofa. "You've done a lot of good things with the trailer." She offered looking around the room, it was nothing like she remembered. It seemed bigger and it was a lot cleaner.

"Yeah." Her mother smiled taking a sip of her drink. "When you left…" she paused to think of the right way to word what she wanted to say. "It was the wakeup call I needed. It made me realize what I'd done to myself, what I'd done to you." She took another sip of her drink. "I cleaned this place up and myself. I got a job."

"You mentioned that."

"My hope was that you might come back, that if you did you…" her mother's voice trailed off, she couldn't say what she really wanted to say so instead she said. "I wanted to impress you."

"Yeah, you've done good." Izzie smiled, taking a sip of her drink. They were still sitting there looking around when the door opened and Alex walked in.

Izzie was surprised to see him, she hadn't phoned him, but her mother looked like she'd been expecting him. "I was wondering when you'd show up." She said standing up and giving him a hug.

"Things took a little longer than expected." He whispered to her and then walked over to Izzie and gave her a kiss and sat down next to her.

"How has your afternoon been?"

"It's been good." She replied sounding genuinely sincere. "Mom and I have been talking."

"That's great." He smiled at both of them before asking. "Are you ready to go?"

"Go?" There was a hint of hesitation in her voice which made her mother smile.

"It's a long drive back to Seattle. We don't want to get home too late."

"Oh." She didn't want to leave; she wasn't ready to leave just yet.

"You can come back and visit some other time." Her mother offered noticing her disappointment. "This doesn't have to be good bye. We can keep talking."

"You can." Alex offered. "We really should get going."

Izzie sat for a moment thinking before nodding slowly. "Okay. We can go."

They said their good byes and made promises to come visit and phone and within a few minutes they were in the car driving. At the edge of the town Alex turned off the main road.

"Where are we going?" Izzie asked. She could tell they weren't heading towards Seattle.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Alex smiled. "Why don't you get some rest."

"I don't want to sleep." She stated.

Alex shrugged. "I can't make you sleep." He smiled to himself and kept driving.

The end is near. Only one more part to go. Seriously. Please leave me some reviews.