Left behind

"Here I am, lost in the ashes of time, but who wants tomorrow?
In between the longing to hold you again
I'm caught in your shadow, I'm losing control
My mind drifts away, we only have today
Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow
Heal me from all this sorrow
As I let you go, I will find my way
I will sacrifice 'til the blinding day when I see your eyes
Now I'm living in your afterglow."
-Afterglow, INXS

A/N: Thanks again to my girl Mauveine for this fantastic song!!

He was a good man his son. Strong and loyal and dependable. Always there with a sympathetic ear or a way to get you out of jam or even to lend you some money. Four kids and mortgage payments and car insurance and staggering bills aside, he was the one you could go to if you were strapped until pay day. He never asked what you needed it for or had to remind you to pay him back. He was the kind of guy you wouldn't think about screwing over like that because he had so much faith in you. He was a hell of a husband and an amazing father. And an incredible cop. Not that the latter mattered much in the grand scheme of things. When his time came, God wasn't going to judge Donald Flack Jr by how many busts he'd made in his career, how fast he'd made detective or the long standing record he'd shattered by being promoted to Lieutenant at the ripe young age of thirty-eight. Arrest records didn't make a damn bit of difference. What mattered was how he lived his life and treated the people in it.

He watched his first born now. Struggling with his immense grief and sorrow while taking loving and attentive care of his four children. And Flack Sr was overcome with an immense feeling of pride for this young man that he barely knew. And regretted not getting to know better. Or his daughter in law. That initial announcement of a baby and a marriage had been complete bombshell. His reaction had been mean and spiteful ten years ago. He'd said things he'd regretted almost instantly but never had the pride of the courage to take them back. Accusing his son of only wanting to marry a girl because he'd knocked her up, telling him he was throwing his career down the drain and that the baby could always be aborted to save said career.

He'd been a monster that day. All his son's life, for that matter. He'd thrown away a chance of having a good relationship with his first born and his precious grandchildren. After that night, Donnie never came around again. He would call on Christmas Day or each time he found out he was going to be a father and when the babies were born. Each time he'd speak to his mother and Sr would refuse to even acknowledge him, let alone speak to him. He kept track of his son's career through Gerrard and Sully the duty captain at the twelve. Every great bust or fuck up his kid had. When that sonofabitch Truby first got out of jail, looking for revenge and raped and beat his daughter in law and left her like a piece of trash in an alleyway in Queens, it had been Mac Taylor that had called with that news. Saying that maybe now was a good time to try and patch things up with his son. That his son needed him to help him through this.

Flack Sr had simply hung up the phone, cutting Taylor off mid sentence and never stepped foot in that hospital.

And now his daughter in law was gone. He'd never gotten the chance to thank her. For blessing him with those grand kids.

And for making his son a better man.

On the job, Flack was not know for his patience. He had always been a hot head with a hair trigger temper and a dry, sarcastic wit that either had you in stitches or cringing. He had zero tolerance for bullshit no matter who handed it to him. Which was why, when Danny Messer sat back and watched his best friend take off that badge and gun and become a father, he was filled with the utmost amazement at Flack's skills as a dad. He'd never imagined Flack being able to handle one kid let alone four. Yet he was a hands on, loving, attentive father with the patience of a saint. He was the guy with the framed pictures and hastily, yet lovingly scrawled crayon pictures proudly displayed on his desk.

The guy who'd risk the wrath of brass by taking an extra long dinner break so he drive out to wherever his kids happened to have a soccer or baseball games. Made sure he had Saturday mornings free to watch them play hockey in the winter. He was the dad who got up at all hours to do diaper changes and feedings when they were just babies, regardless if he'd just gotten off a double or a triple and was practically sleeping on his feet. The guy who had managed to get to all of his children's births, although two of them just barely and always made sure he got Christmas Day off if it meant working every Sunday for two months. The guy was incredibly proud of his family and would stop at nothing to protect them.

Which was why Flack had made the decision that he had. Unbeknownest to Danny, he had decided to take his own ife. To spare his children of the inadequancy of his parenting skills and putting them in the hands of people who could properly care for them. Samantha's death had destroyed him. Everyone saw it and commented quietly on it. He was a shell of the man he had been only a month ago, sitting in that very backyard at nine thirty at night, wrapped in a flannel blanket with the love of his life, lying on the grass and staring up at the stars. It had been Sam's idea. She thought it would be romantic and he'd gone along with it. Anything to make her happy.

They had talked about how the last ten years had seemed to fly by. Of all the fun times and loving time they had shared. All the hard times they never thought they'd get through but had somehow managed to survive. They had talked about everything they had achieved. A nice house, great, successful careers, four amazing children. And then she'd reached under that blanket and pulled out a pregnancy test she'd hidden in her jeans pocket and had handed it to him with a bright smile on her face and a guess what?

Three days before she died, the doctor had confirmed the pregnancy. She was two and a half months. Their fifth child would also be their last. They had reached their limit and she had decided to get her tubes tied a couple months following giving birth. They hadn't even told anyone. Sam had wanted to wait until she got past that crucial first trimester. The minute her autopsy results were released to the crime lab and the investigating detective, the news was out. Word had spread through the lab like wildfire. Everyone knew within an hour of those results that she had been pregnant. Rage simmered towards the perpetrator. Not only had he taken a away someone they'd all loved and respected, but had destroyed an innocent, precious life that never stood a chance. The team had agreed to keep it quiet for the sake of the kids. Flack didn't want them knowing. Their mother's death was confusing enough.

She had looked at him at night with the moonlight sparkling in her eyes and that smile on her face. God how he missed that smile. He missed the touch of her kiss and the feel of her skin and the sound of her voice. He missed everything about her.

He'd see it all again very soon.

Right now, he was determined to make the last hours with his kids the best ones he could. He gathered them on blanket under the big oak tree in the back corner of the yard and got them something to eat and drink. He sat with them. His suit jacket and tie long gone and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top three buttons undone. He held his daughter in his lap, her back pressed against his chest as she drank a sippy cup of grape juice and started to doze off. He breathed in her soft baby scent and ran his fingers through her thick black curls. He listened to Mackenzie and Kieran bicker incessantly back and forth. They were always arguing about something. Mackenzie wanted to be just like his big brother and Kieran thought his little brother was the biggest brat on the face of the earth. Daniel ate quietly, making sure all his different foods were neatly arranged on his plate, nothing touching each other. Eating in a clockwise motion over and over again. Each forkful no bigger than the one before. If he felt there was more food than the previous helping, he'd dump it back on the plate and start all over again.

Daniel was taking his mother's death worse than the other two boys. Flack wasn't surprised. He was the extremely sensitive one. Just like his mother. Flack reached out, ran a hand over his son's hair.

Daniel looked at him with this doe brown eyes and smiled meekly.

"I love you, daddy." he said through his missing front teeth.

Flack's chest tightened and tears threatened. "I love you, too, buddy." he said. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

Daniel smiled and went back to his food. Eating once again in a circle. First one thing, then another, then another, over and over again in a cycle. All part of his OCD. Just like...

Flack sighed heavily and looked at his children. Finding some solace in the fact they'd much better off, very soon.

Carmen led the way through the crowded, noisy house, Lindsay in step beside her. She was surprised at how little the girl from Montana had changed. Except for her hair being a few inches longer, her face hadn't changed one bit.

"What are you doing here, Lindsay?" she asked.

"Angell and I have kept in touch since I left." she replied. When she called me and told me what had happened I knew I had to come. I would have been at the church but my flight got delayed."

"How'd you even know where Flack lived?" Carmen asked.

"I called his father's place. It's the only Flack that was listed in Queens. He told me the address."

"Why?"

"Why what? What do you mean why?"

"What are you even doing here? You've been gone for ten years and you just decide to show up out of the blue?"

"I was shocked when Angell told me about Sam. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to come and see Flack and give him my condolences."

"And you couldn't have done it through a card or over the phone? Not like you and Sam were the best of friends. I know the two of you were starting to get on track when you took off, but it seems out you'd come all this way."

"I just thought that paying my respects in person was the way to go." Lindsay reasoned. "And that it would be nice to see everyone."

Carmen stopped walking and affixed the country girl with a hard gaze. "There always was an ulterior motive to everything with you, Monroe." she said.

"It's Keswick now." Lindsay corrected. "I got married six years ago."

"I heard you were dating the governor but I never knew you'd married him."

"Actually, I married his son." Lindsay told her.

Carmen snorted. "Nothing like keeping it in the family, huh?"

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Carmen. I came here to see Flack and express my sympathy. And I have no ulterior motive so..."

"He's moved on with his life." Carmen interrupted her.

Lindsay frowned. "Who?"

"Danny. And don't try and tell me that you weren't getting yourself in a knot about seeing him again. You didn't think it would be nice to come back and see all of us. You thought it would be nice to come back and see Danny."

"That's not true." Lindsay defended herself. "I wasn't even thinking about Danny."

"Oh bullshit, Lindsay. You never were a good liar. Look, if you came here to cause problems for Danny and think he's going to fall back into your arms, the best thing for you to do is turn around and go back out the way you came in. This day is about Samantha and helping Flack and his kids cope. Not about you getting a piece of ass."

Lindsay's face hardened. "I can't believe you'd think that about me." she huffed.

"I've thought worse of you." Carmen said. "Believe me."

A few feet away the patio door opened and Erica stepped into the kitchen, Daniel and Mackenzie in tow, their faces and hands covered in sticky chocolate.

"Come on, guys." Erica said. "Let's get you two cleaned up before you get chocolate all over the place. How you two manage to get so messy is beyond me.'

"'Cause we're boys, Auntie Erica." Mackenzie reasoned. "That's why."

"Well you two need to be scotch guarded." she declared.

"Whoa..." Carmen said, taking in the sight. "What happened to you guys?"

"Run in with the ice cream." Erica explained. "Have you honestly ever seen two kids this dirty? Especially coming from parents who are obsessed with cleanliness"

"They're characters all right." Carmen said. "Guys, you go into the small bathroom and clean yourselves up. When you come back I'm going to check what a great job you guys did and maybe tomorrow we can talk daddy into taking all of us to Coney Island."

"Awesome!" Mackenzie exclaimed. "We haven't been there in forever! Come on, Daniel, let's go." he yanked his brother by the arm and two boys ran out of the kitchen and down the hall, nearly knocking people over and yelling and figthing with one another over who got to sit by the window in the car tomorrow.

Erica sighed and wiped sweat of her forehead with her arm. "Those two are handful." she declared. "Especially Mackenzie. He's enough to give me grey hair. And I thought my kids were fearless and energetic. But those two..." she shook her head "adorable as all hell but complete hellions."

"They're awful cute." Lindsay commented. "Whose are they?"

"Those are Sam and Flack's twins. Fraternal." Carmen told her. "Daniel and Mackenzie. Daniel has the brush cut."

"Sam and Flack's? Really?" Lindsay looked and sounded surprised. "They look nothing like either one of them. For a minute, I thought they belonged to Speed and somebody. Is it me or do they look just like Speed?"

"It's just you." Carmen and Erica answered in unison.

"Introductions." Carmen said. "This is Erica. Samantha and Adam's cousin. And Danny's wife."

Lindsay stared blankly at the pretty blond.

"Not legally." Erica laughed. "Ten years and two kids and I still can't get the ring. Always was a chicken shit when it came to making it official. Oh well. When you love someone as much as I love him, you just take things as they come. Are you a friend of Sam's?"

"An old colleague." Lindsay answered and offered her hand. "I'm Lindsay Keswick. I used to be..."

Erica blinked but shook the outstretched hand anyway. "I know who you used to be." she said. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to pay my respects to Flack. I feel terrible about Sam."

"I bet." Erica said. She'd heard the stories about Lindsay's rumor spreading. "I should get back outside. Trying to play happy hostess and all. Carmen, you're okay with the boys?"

"Of course. But..."

"Nice to meet you, Lindsay." Erica said politely and hurried back out into the back yard.

"She seems like a nice girl." Lindsay commented. "Are they happy?"

"Disgustingly." Carmen said. "So don't even think about..."

The twins came back down the hall and into the kitchen. Speed following behind. Seeing all three of them together nearly stopped Carmen's heart. The physical resemblance is so strong it was almost scary. And if she noticed it, so did everyone else who saw them together. The whispers that still lingered at work that those kids were not Flack's were definitely going to resurface.

"Auntie Carmen!" Mackenzie shrieked. "Look what Uncle Tim gave us!" he held aloft a twenty dollar bill.

Daniel waved his own in the air.

"Buying these kids off or something, Speedle?" Carmen asked.

"Just 'cause they've been holding it together pretty well. Doing so good cleaning themselves up. Now they can go and buy something they like."

"Uncle Tim made sure we were all clean!" Daniel informed her. "Even behind our ears and made sure we brushed our teeth."

"Why don't you guys go outside?" Carmen suggested. "Maybe Uncle Danny and Uncle Shelly will play soccer with you or something. It's too nice to be inside."

"You gonna come too, Uncle Tim?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Sure. But I warn you, I am not much of a soccer player." Speed said.

"Me either." Daniel assured him and grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the sliding door.

Carmen excused herself briefly from Lindsay and followed Speed and the kids. Catching Speed's hand before he could get outside and telling the boys to go ahead, that Uncle Tim would catch up. She spoke in a low, discreet voice. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"They're my kids, Carmen."

"No. They're not. Maybe in blood, but not in name."

"I have a right to spend time with my sons. I haven't been able to do that in almost seven years."

"Don't do this, Tim. Please. Don't do this to those kids. To Flack. To yourself."

"I wanna spend some time with them, Carmen. As Uncle Tim. That's it. I deserve that."

"Promise me you won't..."

"I promise you. Now can I go?"

She nodded.

Speed reached out and touched her face softly. Fought back the urge to kiss her senseless right then and there.

"Come on Uncle Tim!" Mackenzie bellowed. "Hurry up!"

"Please." Carmen begged. "Don't do anything or say anything..."

"I won't." he assured her and turned to leave.

Flack was coming up the deck stairs, a sleeping Mikayla in his arms. The two men looked at each other but neither said a word. Flack watched Speed as he headed across the deck and down the stairs and then joined the boys. With heavy, pained sigh, he turned to head inside and found Carmen staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, Don. He figured it out. It's so obvious and..."

"I'm fine." he assured her. "Why wouldn't I be fine? I dealt with it all those years ago so why wouldn't I be fine now? I'm gonna go and put Mikayla in her crib and be alone for a while."

"Don...'

"I need to be alone, Carmen. Okay? I just need to be alone. Give me that, okay?"

She nodded. "There's someone here to see you, Don." she said.

"I just want to be alone, Carmen. Can you just tell them that..."

Lindsay approached cautiously. "Hi, Flack." she said simply.

He stared at her in disbelief. "Lindsay..."

She stood on her tip toes and hugged him, minding the baby in his arms. "I am so sorry, Flack. It was such a shock when Angell called and told me. I am really, really sorry."

He hugged her loosely with one arm. "Thank you...you came all this way for Sam?"

"I would have been at the church but my flight was delayed." Lindsay told him.

"All the way to New York for someone you hated?" Flack asked.

"I never hated Samantha." Lindsay replied. "We just didn't get along sometimes."

"Sometimes." Flack chuckled lightly. "You made her life hell when she first started at the lab."

"I know." Lindsay sighed regretfully. "And I'm not proud of that. Believe me."

Flack nodded. "Look, I need some time to myself. It's been a hell of a three weeks. Feel free to stick around and have something to eat or drink and mingle a bit. If you're still around when later, maybe we could talk."

Lindsay smiled. "I'd like that." she ran a hand over the baby's silky neary coal black hair. "She's beautiful? How old? What's her name?"

"Mikayla." Flack said. "She's two. Well, almost two."

"She's gorgeous, Flack. And your boys...they're adorable."

"They are. But they're handful. Trust me. Especially three of them."

"Three?" Lindsay asked.

"We had Kieran pretty quick into our relationship." Flack replied. "He's almost ten now. We'll talk later, okay? I just really need some time alone."

"I understand." Lindsay assured him. She watched him disappear from the kitchen and turned to Carmen. "Think he'll be okay?" she asked.

Carmen sighed. "God I hope so." she said.

He sat in the yellow and white striped rocking chair in the nursery. His eyes closed and his daughter cuddled tightly into his chest, his arms around her tightly and securely, almost as if he was afraid to let go of that one thing that reminded him so much of her mother. That if he put her down in that cherry wood crib on the left hand wall, if he released her, he'd also be releasing every memory he had stored away. That little girl with her soft skin and her tiny features and the freckles on her nose and electric smile, with her bubbly personality and heart warming giggle. She was the mini version of Sam, and the longer he held on to her, the longer he was able to to keep his wife close to him.

He tried to block out the voices coming from downstairs. Lost himself in the memories of standing in the doorway of that very room and the own in their old apartment in lower Manhattan, watching Sam as she sat in that very rocking chair, the sunlight streaming through the window and making her hair shimmer, in awe of the sheer beauty of her and the way she bonded with each baby she'd given birth to over the years and the way her face and eyes exhibited pure joy and unconditional love as she looked down at the baby in her arms, stroking their soft cheeks and smoothing their silky hair and talking to them in a quiet, calm voice that he'd never heard up until the day she became a mother.

She had suffered with horrible morning sickness and migraine headaches and in later months excessive heartburn and insomnia, and not one of the three births had been easy or had gone according to plan. But the moment that her children were placed in her arms, she was filled with nothing but love and acceptance for the life they had managed to create and bring successfully into the world. Each child was nothing short of a miracle. And despite her insistence at the time that she would never, ever, ever go through the pain of child birth again, it wasn't long before the discussion of having another baby came about. It was something they seemed to agree on rather quickly. She was an amazing mother and adjusted to her role as one quickly and efficiently. She was born to be a mother she was that good at it. And he thanked God that he had found someone like that, someone with that much love and pride and compassion.

But why had God decided to take her away from him when things were going so good? When they had so many plans and dreams for their future and their childrens futures? Why her?

He asked that question every day and was still waiting for an answer.

"Hiding out?" a voice asked from the doorway.

Flack opened his eyes and glanced over. "Hey, dad...I just needed some quiet time...my mind is racing and my brain feels like its going to explode."

"I can leave if..."

"No." Flack said quickly. "You can stay. I don't mind if you stay. I want you to stay."

Sr entered the spacious room with the large window and cushioned set below it. It was a little girl's room through and through. Light pink walls with white wainscoting and crown moulding, shelves upon shelves of stuffed animals and collectible dolls. A pink, yellow, blue and white weave area rug on the polished hardwood floor and white eyelet crib bedding.

There was a small stool in the corner that belonged to the rocker and he pulled it over and sank down on it in front of his son. Wathed as he rocked back and forth with his daughter cuddled close.

"She's a pretty little thing, Donnie." he said with praise in his voice and eyes. "They're all beautiful. And so damn smart."

"Like their mother." Flack said. "She is...she was incredibly smart. Daniel's amazingly intelligent but he has some issues."

"Your mother told me. About the OCD. How'd that come about?"

"Apparently, in his case, it was genetic. Passed down from his..." Flack sighed heavily before continuing. "From his real father."

"I was hoping that wasn't true." Sr said sadly. "That what your mother was saying and the the gossip from the department wasn't true."

"Well it is. Unfortunately. I'm not their real father." Fuck it hurt to admit it out loud like that.

"You are their father." Sr told him firmly. "Maybe not DNA wise, but love and care wise. That other fella, the one from Miami. He's their..."

"He's their father. He used to work here and then left and Sam and him met up and...it's a long story, dad and I'm not going to disrespect my wife by bringing it up. It happened and she got pregnant and I forgave her and accepted the twins. We never looked back on it."

"You're not angry?" Sr asked.

"I'm still a little pissed. I've been pissed for a long time. But I love my wife and my kids and there was no way I was walking out on them. And if that makes me a chump to some people, then that's what I am."

"You're a bigger man than I am, Donnie. But you always have been."

Flack didn't respond. He just kept rocking slowly and staring up at the ceiling, trying to formulate something to say in his weary brain.

"You're a damn good father, Donnie. Seeing you with your kids and how much you love them. I only wish I could have been like that for you and your brother."

"Don't even get me started on Chris, dad. Still going on his golfing trip this weekend even though his sister in law was being buried. He was worrying about loosing his deposit on the room. He's a fucking bastard and if I never see or talk to him again, it will be too soon. But I wish that, too, dad. Me and you."

"We could start now, Donnie. Rebuild things."

"It's kinda late, don't you think? I mean, my kids don't even know you as their grandfather. Sam's dad was grampa and Mac Taylor is their papa as far as they're concerned. You're a stranger to them. Doesn't that bother you? They're your grand kids and you never gave them a chance. You never called or came around. Even when Mikayla was so sick in the NICU and we didn't think she'd make it. You treated my wife like crap and never got the chance to get to know her. And now it's too late 'cause she's never coming back."

Flack closed his eyes once again, fighting back the threat of tears.

"I am so sorry, Donnie. But the job...it hardens you. Somehow you're not like me."

"No. I'm not. But I could have been and my wife wouldn't let that happen. You don't even know me, dad."

"I know. And I'm not proud of that son. Believe me. I'm sorry. I wasn't a good father to you. I did horrible things to you and your brother and your mother. But I am reaching out to you now, Donnie. Give me the chance to get to know you. Because I'd really like that son. To get to know you."

Flack sniffled noisily and opened his eyes. "I'm forty years old, dad. Don't you think it's too little too late? You hurt me. You disrespected my wife and ignored my kids. You treated all of us like we were the lowest of the low. Sam's my..." he wiped at the tears that spilled down his tired face. "She was my everything and the way you treated her..."

"I'm sorry, Donnie. I am so sorry. Please believe me. And I know you're hurting, son. I know it hurts like a bitch. Loosing her like this."

"It does. It hurts like a bastard, dad. This pain...this is the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I miss her. So much I can't sleep. I can't sleep and I can't eat. I can barely function. I miss her and I love her and I can't..." he took a deep, shaky breath. "I can't do it, dad. Without her. I don't want to live without her."

"Don't talk like that. You're a strong man. You can get through anything. You will get through this. She'd want you to get through this. For yourself and those kids you brought into this world together. It took the two of you to make those kids. Not just her. And they need their father."

"I just...all these thoughts, dad. Sam was...you're the first person outside of the team I am telling this to. Sam was almost three months pregnant when she died, dad."

"Jesus, Donnie."

"So I didn't just loose my wife. I lost my child too."

"Son, I am sorry...so, so sorry."

"My heart is shattered, dad. I don't think it'll ever be the same. She was my wife. The mother of my kids. And all I want is to see her again and touch her and kiss her and tell her I love her. Say all those things I never said while she was here."

"She may be gone, son, but she can hear you."

"Can she? Then she must be ignoring me as usual." Flack managed a small laugh. "'Cause she's not answering me. Typical for her."

"Tell you what. Why don't you let me and your mother take the kids for a few days. Give you some time to get yourself straightened around before you go back to work."

"I don't know..." Flack considered it. "The boys have school and Mikayla has day care."

"And your mother and I will make sure they get there. Your mother would love to have them around. And honestly, so would I. Give me a chance to get to know them. Especially this little angel, here. She's beautiful, Donnie."

"She reminds me of her mother. Personality wise. She's bubbly and outgoing and she giggles a lot. And mouthy. She's only two but she can mouth off in that baby talk. Feisty little Brooklyn girl." he smiled and kissed his daughter's head. "Just like her mother. I miss her dad. So much. This should have happened. She didn't deserve that. To see her like that. To watch her die. Christ dad, she didn't deserve that. To have to take her off those machines and watch her die..."

Sr reached out and laid a hand on his son's leg.

"It shouldn't have been her. I let her down. I should have been me. I promised I'd protect her. And I failed. Twice. First with Dean Truby and now with this. I failed her."

"No, Donnie. You didn't. You couldn't have known this was going to happen."

Flack squeezed his eyes shut. "It hurts, dad. Knowing I'll never see her again or kiss her or make love to her or see her smile or hear her voice. It hurts so bad. I can't take it. I can't go on without her."

"Yes. You can. You have to, Donnie. For yourself and your kids. For her."

Flack nodded. You don't understand, dad, he thought. I'm not strong. I'm weak. I'm weak and it's the only relief from this pain. And I hope one day you'll understand why I did it and forgive me.

The sound of loud, arguing voices coming through the window captured Flack's attention and his eyes snapped open. People fighting. Sounded like Rick, Carmen, Speed and Danny.

"Better check on that." Sr said. "Here...give me the baby."

Flack stood up slowly and placed the baby in his father's strong arms. Went to the window and peered out. Sure enough, Rick and Speed were arguing toe to toe while Danny played referee and Carmen stood between the two men.

"Hey, dad." Flack said. "How about playing grampa for a while?"

Thanks to everyone out there R and R'ing!! I appreciate it and it keeps me writing. And for those of you (you know who you are) who have sent me messages saying Flack would not be this torn up over his wife's death and would 'get over it and find someone qucikly', you have obviously never experienced that kind of love.

Today I am plugging:

Aphina: Devine Intervention and Finding Kate (over in Miami land)

Madison Bellows: Positive

laplandgurl: Magnet for Trouble

Bluehaven4220: Samson and Delilah