The next day, Diana came home. Dan had to admit that shook things up quite a bit.

Her memory was gone. Everything from the past twenty-some years... gone.

She remembered him, but that was only because she knew him in college, which she could still remember.

She didn't remember Natalie. Dan cringed when she asked, "And who is this?" Natalie's worst fear, realized.

He couldn't spend his time with Natalie anymore; he had to help Diana. There was nothing he could do to change that- though he knew Natalie wanted him to help her over Diana, he knew he could only handle so much. He tried his best on getting through the day, but couldn't stretch himself too far. It was all her could do to try and help Diana remember everything. Well, everything except...

But he wouldn't think about that. Diana was goign to be fine. Natalie was going to be fine. It was gonna be great.

On the plus side, now that her mom was home and so distraught, Natalie seemed to sense that they needed her home. She didn't sneak out anymore. She stayed out late sometimes- prompting more arguments between her and Dan, arguments that Diana neither understood nor approved of- but was always back by midnight. An improvement for sure.

And Henry kept stopping by. He never stayed long, Dan noticed, but long enough to talk to Natalie. He usually just went upstairs to her room, and was back down within ten minutes, seeing himself out.

I hope they work things out, he thought to himself. He's a good kid.

But for now, life was hard. Frightening and an uphill climb just to get through the day. He would wake up, find out what kind of day Di was having (did she remember things today? Was she willing to try, or would she get frustrated and give up?), say goodbye to Natalie, go to work, come home, work with Di with pictures, drive her to therapy, make dinner for Natalie, watch to make sure she didn't try and sneak out...

It took a lot out of him. Why couldn't he just be a normal guy for one day, and just get up, make breakfast for his kids, and go to work? Dinner would be on the table when he got home, and they'd all laugh and tell each other about their day.

Well, he knew that. Because he didn't have 'kids,' he had one kid, and that was the whole problem. His wife wasn't reliable about making dinner, and that was the very least of his problems. His daughter was struggling even more than he was, or so he gathered. So his little fantasy of an easy life was probably the most far-fetched dream he'd ever had.

After a couple of weeks of this, though, Diana seemed to be getting better. She remembered most things, but not all (and that was a good thing). But with Natalie, he was never sure.

One Friday night, Henry stopped by, again for only ten minutes. Diana let him in, and Dan wasn't paying much attention. But this time, after he left, Natalie wandered downstairs.

"Hey Dad?" she asked, looking at the floor. Dan put the book he was reading down right away, and gave her his full attention, hoping that whatever she had to tell him was a good thing.

"Yes, Nat?"

"Can I have some money?"

Oh, no... "Why?"

"To buy a dress." Dan raised his eyebrows in question, and she explained. "Henry kind of asked me to go to a dance tomorrow, and I don't really have any money, but I need a dress-"

"Where's the dance?" he asked, but his mood had already gone up exponentially.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "It's at school. Like a student council thing."

"Done," Dan said. "I suppose you're going shopping tomorrow morning?"

She nodded, and he got out his wallet, handing her about what she'd need for a dress.

"Did he just ask you to go tonight?" Dan wondered. "It's kind of last minute."

"Err... no. He's sort of been asking me for like over a month, and I only just said yes." She shifted back and forth on her feet, looking nervous. "Anyway it's not a big deal or anything, just something to do, you know."

"That sounds like a great idea," Dan said, smiling at her sincerely. Best thing I've heard about in weeks, coming from you, he thought. "Have fun, Nat."

She went upstairs again, and Dan kept smiling to himself. Maybe things really were going to work themselves out.

The next afternoon, Natalie came home, refusing to show him the dress she'd bought ("No, leave me alone- stop being embarrassing-") and going straight upstairs with it. Well, one couldn't ask for too many improvements in just one night, could you? One step at a time.

He was just settling into a chair when Diana came home from therapy, which she'd just taken to driving herself to.

"Dan," she said, hanging up her coat and walking towards him. "We really need to talk."

"What about?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Our son."

Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought it best to end it there. Please tell me what you think!