So...I would like to first and foremost say that the angst is almost over. Remember when Jenny found out she was sick? Recall; when did Jenny stop acting like a...ummm...mean director? That- is when the angst shall be over. But then what happens? As I said, this story is only AU because of Lilly. And she won't meet her father until much later. THANKS for sticking with me! Love ALL the reviews! :)

-Alivia

(P.S. Someone PM'd me about how I came up with all these horrid angsty mother-daughter scenarios. Well, folks, I've kept a writing spiral since age five.)

The shirt she wore was making her skin itchy and red. Her mom knew she didn't like itchy things. But the shirt had been on her bed to wear. Why had she bought her something like this?

The pink shirt smelt funny too. Like vanilla, instead of the usual lavender. She didn't like the color pink, anyway. Momma knew that.

Lilly got a funny feeling, sitting at the breakfast nook in late August.

She did not like it.

Nor did she like the man who stood next to her gorgeous mother at the stove, watching as his hand reached down to stroke the bare skin of Jenny's hip where the shirt had ridden up a bit.

Momma said his name was Todd.

The Todd guy was nice enough, she thought, as she ate her steak and asparagus willingly. She liked it when her mom cooked this.

He had a nice smile, and his eyes were nicer than Bob's had ever been. He was nice. Nice. Todd wore really fancy clothes though, and he wouldn't stop looking at her mom and touching her hand.

Therefore, Lilly decided that although he was nice, she didn't like him at all.

"So, are you ready to go back to school?"

Lilly glanced at Todd and nodded. Her blue eyes fell to her uneaten food, and she began gnawing on her bottom lip furiously.

Jenny cleared her throat, shoving a strand of short red hair behind her ear roughly.

"Tomorrow I thought Todd and I would take you to the circus. Would you like that, Lil?" her mother asked quietly.

Saphire met emerald, sharply.

"No."

The silence descended immediately, and passed for what seemed like minutes. Her mother's expression was unreadable.

"What? Why not?"

The little girl pursed her lips, looking at the brown wood of the table. The suface was worn from use.

"I just don't wanna."

Jenny's cheeks were tinged red as she looked at Todd. He seemed to be embarassed as well.

"Well, young lady, you're going anyway."

Lilly scrunched up her petite features, but didn't say a word the rest of the meal.

She liked the bears the most. They were big, and mean, and strong, and invincible. If she were a bear, the mean girls at school wouldn't dare bother her. Mommy would be a Mommy Bear, and never ever leave her; the cub. And there'd be a Daddy Bear.

But it would be her real Daddy.

Todd is holding her mother's lithe hand; Lilly can see it from the corner of her eye in the dim light.

If she was a bear, she could eat Todd.

Mommy makes her say 'thank you.'

But even then, she just mumbles it.

Todd stands outside the car with Jenny and smiles and hugs her.

Says, 'This won't work', in a quiet and resigned voice.

When they get back to the Gorgetown home he gets in his car and leaves. Jenny doesn't mean to, it's almost unconcious, but a small part of her blames her daughter. Just a teensy tiny bit.

"Lilly," she starts, sitting up a little straighter, flipping off the television and holding her daughter's eyes firmly.

The eyes that are a carbon copy of Jethro's. The eyes that make her head hurt if she looks at them too long, and her heart sting.

"The way you acted towards Todd this past weekend was unacceptable."

The young girl bit her lip and began twisting a strand of her hair.

"Todd was stupid," she said bleakly.

"Lillian-"

"How come you can't get back together with my Daddy?"

Jenny sighs, reaching a hand up to rub her temple.

"That's not going to happen," Jenny stated quietly, her tone conveying the exhaustion of the subject. It was sore. She didn't want to talk about it.

"Why not? Prince Charming is always with the Princess and I'm sure Daddy wants you back! And besides that fact, everyone has their own Daddy, and Todd is not a real one and-

"Enough."

The words are ice in veins, heat to frostbite. They halt the commotion. They make Lilly's eyes water.

Jenny doesn't notice.

She's too busy thinking about the fact that Jethro is in Mexico and that he is gone and retired and that he had a family. A real one, like she and Lilly. One that was demolished. Torn. One that he deserved, and never got. One that she and her daughter would never be the replacements for.

"Lilly, you are living in a fairytale world. Princes aren't real, baby-

"I bet Daddy still loves you."

Something inside Jenny ripped a little bit.

"You haven't even met the man, Lillian! He's gone, and he's not coming back. And the sooner you stop acting like such an igorant child and just grow up-

Jenny breaks off, her eyes going wide at her own words, her breath catching in her throat.

There is a rush of air, and then a door slamming.

Her daughter gets on a plane tomorrow and leaves for third grade on another continent, to another life.

Jenny hugs herself and her eyes sting as she realizes she keeps pushing her daughter further away.

A week later, a man is identified as Rene Benoit in a photo. Director Jennifer Shepard begins going in early and staying late.

There is a job to be done. A vengence to be sought.