Jeff looked at the area of trees Lexi had directed him to. They didn't seem any different from the many other trees the two of them had passed on the trail they had taken. But apparently these trees had to have held some significance to Megan, since this is where her ashes had been scattered.

When Lexi said she wanted to see her mom, she made it very clear that she had no intention of going to the cemetery where her headstone was erected. In her own words, "It was just something her parents did to keep up with appearances. That's not where her body is." So they got up at dawn and drove to Ridgway state park, where they took a nature trail until they got to the spot Megan's remains had been spread.

Jeff looked over at Lexi as she let out a shaky breath. "We used to come here every summer and camp for a week ever since I was seven. That first year we were walking on this trail and I saw a rabbit at this very spot, and she took a picture of it for me. And every year I'd always insist that we take this trail and come back to this same spot, because I thought the rabbit would come back. And we'd always come back, no matter what. No matter how silly it was, she did it so I'd be happy." She shuttered as she hugged herself. "Last summer was the first time we didn't go camping. I thought I was too old for it and told her I didn't want to go. And now…"

Jeff made a move to hug her just as she looked at him. "Can you just give me a few minutes, so I can talk to her by myself?"

"Yeah, sure." He walked a little ways away, far enough so she wouldn't be overheard, but close enough so he could still see her. As his daughter knelt on the ground Jeff shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I let her take us all the way over here," he said out loud. "It's not like Megan's ashes are still here. They've probably blown away. And anyway, does it even matter? It's not like there's real proof there's an afterlife and it doesn't just all end when we die. She could just be talking to herself."

He shook his head as he found himself looking up at the sky in spite of what he was saying. "Though I really hope there's an afterlife and when I die I can see you again, because I have a lot to say that you need to hear. Like you leaving me without a word when you were pregnant with our daughter. I know you're the mother and everything, but she was my kid too, Megan. You had no right not to tell me you were pregnant with my child. Maybe I wouldn't have been the greatest father, but I deserved to raise her and find out for myself, instead of you automatically taking that away from me.

"And while I'm on that subject, how the hell could you let her think I was a deadbeat dad who abandoned you? After everything I told you about my own father, you just let her think I was like him. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

Jeff looked down at his hands, seeing that he was digging his nails into his palms. He unclenched his fists and looked at the half moon marks in his skin before glancing back skyward. "You really did a number on me when you left Megan. I opened up to you and trusted you and in the end, you hurt me just as much as my dad did. Maybe even more, since you knew how fragile I was and you still left me anyway. And I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for it all. For leaving me, and not telling me about Alexis until you had to, and for how you made her imagine me to be."

Jeff paced a little, feeling kind of stupid to be essentially pouring his heart out to himself. But he kept going, as if somehow Megan could actually hear what he was saying. "I have no idea if you know anything that's happened to me since you left, but you should know that I've met someone. Her name's Annie and she's, nothing like you. She's pushy and annoying and never lets me take the easy way out of things. There have been plenty of times she's driven me crazy. But in spite of all that, and sometimes maybe even because of it, I love her. She's strong and kind hearted and gives people the benefit of the doubt more completely than anyone has a right to. You'd think it's due to being naïve, and believe me, that's how I judged her for quite some time. But she's seen too much darkness in her life to say that about her. She's helped make me a better person, and on some level I think I've done the same to her. I couldn't imagine not spending the rest of my life with her."

As he finished his Annie speech Jeff let out a laugh that was devoid of any humor. "But despite everything that's happened between us, I don't hate you Megan. Even after you left me, and everything you did with Lexi, and after I moved on, I actually miss you. I may hate what you did, but I don't hate you. I wish things had gone differently for us. And I wish you were still around. I'm not saying I regret meeting and falling in love with Annie, because I don't. But I never wanted you to die, no matter how much you hurt me. And I hate that my last memory of you was telling you not to eat those crackers because I was going to surprise you by taking you out to dinner. I just wish I had had a chance to talk to you before you died."

He looked over at Lexi, who was standing and looking at the ground, before again glancing back upward. "I'm not going to give up on her. I'm going to raise her and be there for her. So you don't have to worry about her being alone. And, I still have no idea if I've just been talking to myself this whole time."

With that Jeff walked over to Lexi, who hadn't moved from where he had left her. If she heard anything Jeff had just said she was making no indication. Instead she continued to look at the spot Megan's ashes had been spread. She was sniffing loudly and had tears running down her cheeks. Jeff wished he had some tissues or something he could give her.

Instead he reached over and took hold of her hand. She glanced over at him, but made no move to remove her hand from his. The two of them stood next to each other, not saying anything as they reflected on the woman they had once known, and how they had been brought into each other's lives.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie opened the oven and took the casserole out, setting it on the table before taking the baked potatoes out of the toaster oven. She glanced at the clock, seeing it was 5:44. Jeff had called a couple of hours ago and said they should be home by six, so she had a little time left to finish dinner.

She was glad the two of them had gone on this trip together. Annie knew how badly Jeff wanted to bond with his daughter, and she hoped this would help him do that. Plus it would give him a chance to say goodbye to Megan. Annie knew that Jeff was really upset by her passing, and going to where her ashes had been scattered might give him a sense of closure.

Just as Annie finished taking the crescent rolls out of the oven and putting them on the table the front door opened and Jeff and Lexi walked in. "Hey you two. How was the trip?" she asked.

"A barrel of laughs," Lexi responded coolly.

Jeff glanced disapprovingly at Lexi before saying, "It was intense, but we're glad we went."

"Well I'm glad for you two. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes."

"I'm not hungry. We already ate," Lexi said as she went to her room, leaving Jeff and Annie by themselves.

Annie looked over at Jeff in disbelief. "You already ate?"

"Yeah," Jeff said sheepishly. "Lexi was hungry, so we stopped at a diner on the way home."

"Well why didn't you call and tell me you were eating?"

"I don't know. We just started talking and it just slipped my mind."

Annie didn't say a word as she doled out some food on her plate and began wrapping everything up into containers.

"It looks great," Jeff said as he helped her clean up. "And we can reheat it and have it tomorrow."

"Right," she said dully.

"Annie wait. There's something I want to talk to you about. Can we sit down?"

Annie put the Tupperware container of green beans in the fridge before sitting down at the kitchen table. "What is it Jeff?"

"I want Lexi to be in our wedding."

"Jeff, that's not a question. Of course she's invited to the ceremony."

"I meant I want Lexi to be in the wedding party." He sat down next to her as he continued. "It would really mean a lot to me if she was in the actual party instead of just being a guest. She's my family, and I want her there."

Annie sighed as she took in what Jeff was asking. She didn't want to seem catty, but given how Lexi had been treating her, she wasn't sure she wanted her in her wedding party. But she could see this was important to Jeff. And in regards to their wedding, he hadn't put up any real arguments with anything she wanted. So if this was the one thing in their wedding he wanted, it wouldn't be fair to say no.

"Alright, she can be a bridesmaid." She smiled in spite of herself at seeing Jeff's face light up. "You're right, she is family and she should be in it. But that means we have to ask someone else to be a groomsman then."

"Okay, I'm sure we can find someone."

"You know, there is someone who would love to be in the wedding."

"No, no way!" Jeff yelled as he correctly guessed who Annie was talking about. "I'm not having Craig Pelton in our wedding. He's lucky he got an invite."

"Well who else can we ask? Because it's either him or Chang and between them Craig's the lesser of two evils."

"I don't know…" He drummed his fingers on the table, trying to think of someone else. "There's Franklin from my job."

"Jeff, I don't want someone who hits on me every time he sees me."

"Oh, but it's okay to have someone who hits on me whenever he sees me?"

"We don't have to decide right now Jeff. Let's both think it over and I'm sure we'll someone."

"Alright. In the meantime, how about we go ask Lexi?"

They went over to her room, with Jeff knocking on the closed door. "Lexi, it's me and Annie. Can we come in for a sec?"

"Fine," they heard. They opened the door and stepped inside, seeing Lexi sitting in a chair working with her scratch pad. She glanced up from her work, making a point to only look in Jeff's direction. "What is it?"

"Well, we wanted to talk to you about something important," Jeff said. "As you know we're getting married in three months. And we would like you to be a bridesmaid in our wedding."

They waited a few minutes for her response. But after Lexi simply went back to her drawing Annie jumped right in. "This day isn't just about us, but about the people who mean the most of us." She ignored the cold chuckle Lexi gave her as she continued. "And I know we haven't known each other for very long, but you're family now, and it would mean a great deal to both of us if you were in our wedding party."

Lexi looked up at Annie, frowning at the woman's smiling face. "I'll think it over, Anne."

Annie's smile deflated at again hearing Lexi deliberately not call her by her preferred name. Before she could say anything Jeff went over and asked her about her drawing. Annie stood off to the side, watching the two of them talk about the girl's artwork. Although she had just said that Lexi was family, right now she felt like the odd person out.