...Chapter 3...

I took a quick little detour and decided to go over to the cemetery for a minute. I found where I wanted to go, then I parked the car. "Come on, Baby Girl."

"Where are we, Mommy?"

"Remember I told you about where the people go... after they pass away?"

"Yeah... like Daddy did?"

"Yes." I paused. "Okay, well my mommy and daddy is here... do you wanna see?"

"Okay." she nodded, then I got out of the car, and helped Lilly out. "Where are they?"

I grabbed her hand. "Follow me." then we walked twenty feet away from the car, and stopped. "There they are." both of us looked down. I couldn't stop thinking about how my time is going to be running out and soon I'll be underneath a slab of concrete. A few minutes later, I noticed Lilly looking up at me. "What is it, Baby?"

"Why are you crying?"

I didn't even realize it, but I wiped away the tears, and gave Lilly a weak smile. "Mommy is just sad right now... I miss them, is all."

Lilly hugged my leg. "It's okay, Mommy... I'm here for you."

As much as I wanted to just throw myself on the ground and sob like a damn baby, I had to hold myself together. I couldn't cry or be this sad in front of either of the girls, so they don't think anything is wrong, but Daisy is really smart, so I think eventually, she'll figure it out. I took a deep breath, pushing the rest of the tears back, that were threatening to spill from my eyes. "Come on, let's go."

"Okay." she nodded, then we walked back to the car, go in, and I drove off.


Author POV:

There was a knock on the door, then Daisy yelled. "I got it, Uncle Jake!"

"Okay!" he yelled back.

Daisy opened the door and saw a woman standing in front of her. "Yes?" Daisy said, with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Gemma, is your moth..." she stopped mid-sentence and gasped. "Holy shit." she whispered. "Is... is Valerie here?"

"No, she had to find someone to fix our TV's."

"Did you know when she's coming back?"

"Nope."

"Okay... what's your name?"

"Daisy."

"It's nice to meet you Daisy... I'm really good friends with your mommy."

"You are?"

"Yep." Gemma nodded.

A few minutes later, Jake walked up to them. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Yeah." Gemma started. "I was just talking to Daisy here, but I was looking for Valerie... you don't know when she'll be back?"

"She didn't say."

"Okay... can you tell her that Gemma stopped by."

"Sure." Jake nodded, then Gemma got into her car, and drove away as Jake shut the door and locked it.


Valerie POV:

I pulled up to Teller - Morrow and parked the car, then turned around to face Lilly. "You want to stay in the car or come with me?"

"I wanna go with you."

"Okay." I smiled. "Unbuckle and come on." then both of us got out of the car, Lilly grabbed my hand, and we walked up to the garage. I smiled, because I recognized someone I knew. "Excuse me?" I started. "Is Carlos Ortiz here?"

"Who wants to know?"

I laughed. "Juice, it's me... Valerie." his eyes widened, then he gave me a bear hug. "Oh good, you do remember me."

"Holy shit!" Juice yelled. "Where have you been?"

"Language." I smacked his arm. "There's five year old ears listening."

He let me go and looked down at Lilly, hiding behind my leg. "She's adorable, Val."

"Thanks." I smiled. "Come on, Lilly, don't be shy."

"Hi." Lilly said, with a little wave.

Juice got down to her level. "My name is Juice."

"Juice?" she giggled. "Your Mommy named you Juice?"

"It's a nickname... all these guys around here have crazy nicknames too."

"Okay." she smiled. "I like your name."

"Good." he smiled back at her, then stood back up. "It's looks like Uncle Juice will have to look out for her and make sure none of the boys come near her."

I laughed. "That's good."

"So where have you been, all this time?"

"I've been living in Boston."

"With who?"

"My best friend, my late husband, and my other daughter."

"Late husband?"

"Yeah, he got killed in a traffic stop, about year ago."

"Awe, I'm sorry, Val."

"Thanks." I said, with a weak smile.

"And you have another daughter? What's her name?"

"It's Daisy."

"Ah... Daisy and Lilly." Juice nodded. "Your two favorite flowers."

"Yep."

"So what made you come back to Charming?"

"I missed being here, so I decided it was time to come back home."

"I'm glad."

"Question." I started. "I'm staying at my parents' old house, is it possible if you could come over later and hook up the TV's and my computer?"

"Yeah." he nodded. "How 'bout six?"

"Six is good." I said, then I heard yelling across the lot. I turned around and saw a bunch of familiar faces. As they got closer, I smiled. "Hey Clay... Tig, Chibs, Ope." they gave me funny looks and I just laughed.

"Can we help you with something?" Clay asked.

"Yeah, don't you guys remember me? It's me... Valerie."

Tig's eyes widened. "Miller!" I nodded, then Tig scooped me up in a bear hug, like Juice did.

"Can't... breathe." I choked out.

He let me go. "Oh, sorry, Val."

I just laughed, then gave the rest of the guys hugs. "It's good to see all of you."

"Yeah, you too." Opie nodded.

Clay looked down and said "Who's this little lady?"

"That's one of my daughters... say hello, Lilly."

"Hello." she said, with a nervous wave.

Clay kneeled down and smiled. "I'm Uncle Clay."

"Nice to meet you." she smiled.

"You;re the prettiest little girl, I have ever seen."

She giggled. "Thank you... my big sister is pretty too."

"You have a big sister?" Lilly nodded. "Well, I bet she is... what's her name?"

"It's Daisy."

Clay smiled at her and stood up. "You two have pretty names."

"Thank you, Uncle Clay."

I was just watching Lilly talk to Clay, like it was nothing, because she's usually shy, when meeting a new person, but I'm enjoying this. Her and Daisy will be around these guys for the rest of their lives, way after I'm gone.

"So." Juice started. "I'll be at your place at six?"

"Why do you need to go to Val's?"

Whoa, Clay is still over protective of me, even though I've been gone for so long. I chuckled. "Juice is coming over to hook up the TV's and my computer."

"Oh." he nodded. "Okay."

I smiled at all the guys. "I have to get going, but I'll see you all later."

"Gemma's having a dinner at the house tonight." said Clay. "Bring your girls at eight thirty."

"Okay, sure... bye guys." I waved.

"Bye-bye." Lilly waved too, then both of us got into the car, and I drove off. Damn, it was good seeing them again. I've missed 'em so much.