Aaron POV

January 16th

It took me longer than usual to get home after work, because there was some car crash. Two of the lines were basically paralyzed, leaving only one line open in the rush hour. It was an incredibly slow drive home. But when I finally did get home, I made my way straight to the kitchen, from where I heard chatter coming.

"I got two tickets to baseball!" I announced as I walked inside the kitchen, joining my family. Callie and Markus were sitting at the kitchen table in front of empty soup bowls. Amy took off the pot off the stove and carried it to the table and placed it on the middle.

"Who wants to go with me?" I asked looking to the two kids as I sat down next to Markus

"Where did you get the tickets?" Amy asked as she was pouring soup into Callie's soup bowl. Once the soup bowl was full, she placed it in front of the girl. Next, she took Markus bowl and started to fill it.

"George from my project team, had bought two tickets for him and his son. His son got sick, chickenpox, so they can't go. We are good friends, so he gave the tickets to me," I explained

"Which game it is, dad? The one this Thursday or the one they have on Sunday?" Markus asked curiously. He's a fan of any kind of sport and if he would have the chance, he would not let the opportunity to see a game live go by.

I had to think about it for a moment "Umm...I think it was the one in the middle of the week," I replied as Amy handed bowl back to Markus. While Amy walked to sit down at the table, I poured myself some soup.

"Callie, you wanna go?" Amy asked, pressing her elbows on the table. We both knew, Callie was not the most talkative person. She didn't even tell us that she was in pain the first day she was here. So, I was not surprised that Amy asked her directly. That was the only way of getting an answer out of the girl.

"I have Music school," Callie replied quietly and took a spoonful of soup without batting an eye. I might been wrong, but I thought I saw a little spark in her eyes, when she mentioned Music School. It made me believe, that Callie was enjoying her guitar lessons more than she was letting on. Callie had started week ago, but from what Amy had told me from talking to Mrs. Rivers after her classes, her teacher seemed to be very impressed with Callie's guitar skill and the ability to learn new notes.

"Do you like baseball?" Amy asked the girl as she finally got some soup herself. Callie only shrugged her shoulders back. No spark in her eyes – she probably doesn't care for baseball at all. Not many girls do.

"Markus?" I asked looking to my son, who was sitting by my left shoulder

"Fine, yes...if I have to!" He replied, pretending to not be interested about it. I pushed him playfully for pretending and teasing me.

Markus laughed back "I'm eating dad! Don't make me spill soup on my clothes!"

"I guess, you and I will have a little girls night at Thursday night," Amy said excited, while looking at Callie. The girl did not look excited. Without replying anything or even looking up to Amy, she continued to eat her soup.

Amy turned her attention to our son "Markus, but that means, you have to do your homework for Friday before!" Amy pointed out to Markus "You will be home late and I don't want you sitting up till 2 in the night!"

"Yes, I know mom!" Markus replied with a little attitude as he rolled his eyes

Callie POV

January 19th

It had been 10 days since I started going to guitar lessons. The first few times, either Amy or Aaron took me to music school. Today was the first day I needed to walk to music school on my own. And I did just that.

The thought about skipping music school to go look for Jude didn't even cross my mind. Probably, because after the first few tries, I realized just how pointless my search was. The chance of me finding him in one of the address I had gotten, while in Juvenile Detention, were very slim. I didn't even know if he was in San Diego anymore. He might as well be in the next state. I'm not saying that I have given up, but going to random addresses doesn't seem to be working out. I needed to find a better way how to look for Jude.

To be honest, I was enjoying music school too much to skip it. Finally I was able to do something that I liked and enjoyed. My teacher was actually a lot nicer than I had thought she would be. She wasn't hitting my fingers with ruler every time I got a chord wrong. She was kind and patient, and she was a good teacher.

The hour and half at the music school went by fast. But unlike the previous times, Amy was not there to pick me up. She should have been, but she wasn't. I looked both ways of the hallway to see if maybe she was sitting somewhere a bit further. When I didn't see her, I decided to go outside, to the street and parking lot, to see if maybe she was waiting for me in her car. But no luck. I didn't see Amy or Aaron's car anywhere.

Confused as to what I should do, I walked back inside the music school building and sat down on the lounge chair in the lobby. I tried to think back to the morning to remember, if maybe Amy said that I will need to walk home on my own as well, not just walk to music school on my own. The longer I thought about, the more I realized, that I should probably listen a bit more careful to what Amy and Aaron say in the mornings. If I had a phone, I could call and ask, but I don't have one. I decided that I will wait another 10 minutes before I will walk home on my own.

Maybe a minute had passed after I had sat down in the lobby, when I was startled by a voice coming from somewhere behind me "Are you Callie?"

I didn't get up from the chair, but I did turn to see the person who was talking to me. A boy, looked to be around my age, was standing in the lobby. I think I had seen him around. If I wasn't mistaken, he was the boy that I had seen playing piano the day, when Mrs. Rivers was giving me and Amy tour of the Music school. The boy had dark brown, messy hair. He was wearing an incredibly ugly shirt with buttons on top of a white t-shirt. I thought I had no fashion, because I usually wore clothes that I had gotten from second hand stores. But his fashion sense or should I say- the lack of it – was surprisingly bad.

"Yes?" I replied warily

"Your mom is going to be here in like 5 min or less!" He informed me as the boy walked towards the couch that stood by the wall in the waiting area. The boy took off his backpack and tossed it to the end of the couch before he took a seat himself.

"My mom is dead," I stated coldly

"Sorry to hear that," He replied sincerely "But the message still remains the same,"

"How do you know that?" I frowned up my face looking at him, confused as to how he knew who I was or who Amy was

"My mom knows your mom. And your mom asked my mom, to tell me to tell you, that your mom is running late, but she hasn't forgotten to pick you up!" the boy rambled. I could barely follow what he had said.

I started at him dumb folded for few seconds "What?"

"Our moms work together," the boy explained

"Foster mom!" I corrected him

"Ugh...fine. My mom and your foster mom work together!" So that made him the blond woman's, who I met in the movie theater around Christmas, son.

We sat in silence for a little while, till he decided to speak up again "I'm Brandon!"

"...Okay..." I dragged not sure what he wanted me to say back

"I'm in Mr. Bryce class. I play piano. Have been playing piano for few years now," He explained, even thought I didn't ask.

"Good to know," I muttered blankly, but kept my eyes on the entrance doors

"Who is your teacher?" he asked me curiously

"Mrs. Rivers," I replied, hoping he would leave me alone after that

"Oh! She's really nice! She's one of the best teachers in this Music school. I like her, I like her a lot!" He paused briefly before he added with a small chuckle "She reminds me a little bit of my grandma - my moms mom,"

"Cool," I said indifferently not caring at all

"So, how long have you been playing guitar?"

Thankfully, I was saved by the entrance doors opening and Amy walking in. Right behind her was the blond woman – her partner. I instantly felt a little uneasy and uncomfortable, when I saw that they were both dressed in their police uniforms. Amy usually changed after the shift. I can only assume that she hasn't changed out of her uniform today, because she was running later today.

"Sorry that I'm late," Amy walked up to me apologizing "We got held up at work," Amy explained

"It's fine," I mumbled back quietly

"Hi, Callie!" The blond cop greeted me as she walked pass me to get to her son "Hey, B! How was your day?" she greeted Brandon and took his bag from his hand, when he was standing up

"Hey, mom! It was good. I finally managed to play the song correctly I was telling you about yesterday!"

"Oh, that's amazing. You can play it to me, when we get home!"

"So you must be Brandon. Your mom talks a lot about you," Amy said, when Stefanie and Brandon briefly stopped two steps away from Amy

"She does?" Brandon asked back surprised and looked up to his mom. Stefanie ruffled her sons hair and smiled back at him.

"She told me you write your own songs and play them on piano. That's quite impressive!"

"Thanks," Brandon blushed a little "I like to compose my own songs. It's a lot more fun than learning to play other composer songs!"

"I'm Amy by the way," Amy extended her arm to the boy "I'm your moms partner!"

"Mom mentioned a while back she had a new partner. She used to work with my dad before. Do you know my dad as well? He still works in the same precinct!" Brandon asked Amy after they were done with the handshake

"I think I have met him and talked to him once or twice!"

"Cool!"

"Okay, Brandon. We should get home!" Stefanie patted Brandon's shoulders

"Bye!" Brandon said to both us

"Bye!" Amy smiled back at him

"I will see you tomorrow Amy!" Stefanie called to Amy, before she and her son walked out of the building

"Yeah, bye! Have a nice evening!" Amy waved back at her partner and then turned back to me

"Did you get my message?" Amy asked as she waited for me to stand up

"Yeah," I tossed my bag over my shoulder "Brandon delivered it to me,"

"So, the boys will be home late tonight, because of the baseball match. Do you want something specific for dinner?" Amy asked as we walked out of the Music School

"No," I replied simply

"We could order Pizza! The boys would be jealous of us, because we don't usually order pizza on workdays!" Amy smiled down at me as we walked to the car, that was parked by the street instead of the parking lot next to the music school

"Pizza sounds good," I said indifferent as Amy unlocked the car from distance. I hopped in the front passenger seat, while Amy walked around it.

"It a settled then - pizza for our girls night in!" Amy concluded, when she sat in the car and started the engine

Aaron POV

On our way to the game, I made a quick stop at the gas station. The red, blinking gas light was reminding me whole day, that I need to fill up gas. I pulled up to a gas station, where you need to fill it up and then go pay inside. Markus remained in the car, while I went inside the gas station to pay.

When I walked out of the gas station, I saw how an older version of Volvo slowly drove in the station. It stopped a the side, away from the gas tanks and a woman got out of the car. She walked around the car to the passenger side and stopped at the front of the car, by the tire and looked down to it. Her facial expression told me exactly what had happened – a flat tire.

I walked up to the car, tapped on the window. Markus rolled down the window "What is it?"

"Drive the car around. I will help that woman change her cars tire," I said handing him the keys. When I was by the end of the car, Markus got out and walked around the car to get to the drivers seat.

As I got closer to the dark green Volvo, I saw that there were two kids in the back. One was just a baby. A girl, I think. She was in a car seat. The other kids was a boy, who by the looks, couldn't be older than 10.

"Hello, there!" I greeted the woman, who was standing by hood of the car, looking like she was completely confused as to what she is suppose to do "Flat tire?" I make an educated guess

The woman looked slightly startled by me at first "...Hi!" The woman greeted me back and gestured to the tire "Yeah...I think it burst! It's completely flat! Don't really know how that happened. It was fine minute ago!"

"It happens!" I answered and then pointed to the car and offered "I could change it for you, if you would like!" The woman started at me for a moment. Felt like she was reading me, trying to tell if I was good or bad guy.

"I would appreciate that, thank you!" She said once she had made up her mind about me. I guess I look friendly enough.

"Do you have a spare?" I asked walking around the front of the car to where the woman stood. When I was by the tire, I crouched down to examine it. It looked like it had gotten cut on some sharp rock or nail or something on the road.

"Yeah, I think!" she replied rubbing her forehead. The woman did not sound too sure about it.

I stood back up and looked at the woman, who was still standing still by the front of the car "We will need that spare tire!"

"Oh, right...right! Sorry," she snapped out and sat in the front seat to get her keys. While she was leaned in the car, I stood up. As I was walking to the trunk, I heard the woman assure her two kids that everything was okay and that they will be home soon. Markus stopped the car in front of this car and got out, only to walk around the car and get back to passenger seat.

"Your kids okay?" I asked her, when the woman walked up to me

"It scared them a bit a little bit, but I think we are okay," The woman replied as she unlocked the truck. I reached in the trunk to get the needed instruments and the spare tire out.

Once I had everything I need, I rolled the tire and carried the instruments to the front of the car "I'm gonna have to ask you to get the kids out of the car, till I change the tier. I will have to tilt the car and it's just safer, if no one is inside,"

"Right," It seemed like the woman hadn't thought about that part

"It won't be long. 10 minutes tops," I reassured her. While she got her kids out of the car, I made sure that the car is off, that it was in gear and the handbrake was pulled.

"Jude, honey," I heard the woman say as she was unbuckling her kid out of the car seat "Unbuckle and get out of the car. We have to wait till the nice man changes the tire for us. It won't be long."

"Here!" the woman handed me wet wipes after I had put the flat tire and the instrument in the trunk

"Thank you!" I said closing the trunk and then taking the wipes from her

"Again, thank you so much for your help! It would have taken me 10 times longer to change the tier myself," The woman was very grateful

"Happy to help," I smiled at her as I cleaned my hands "Well, I have to go, otherwise we will be late for the game," Once my hands were clean, I crumpled up the now dirty wipe in my left fist

"Have a safe trip home…" I paused, wanting to add a name

"Lena! It's Lena!" she smiled at me

"Have a safe trip home Lena!" I repeated

As I walked pass their car, I waved at the two kids, who sat in the backseat. The young boy, Jude, waved back at me energetically. The little girl, who's name I learned was Frankie, was already sleeping in her car seat and didn't see me wave at her.

"Good Samaritan!" Markus smirked at me, when I sat back in the car. He was holding his phone in his hands, probably, texting with Beth.

"What can I say – I'm a saint!" I grinned back as I pulled over the seat belt

"The game starts in 30! We need to go if don't want to be late!" Markus said as I started the car

"We are not going to be late!" I said confidently as I drove out

It was already dark, when Markus and I were driving back home after the game. The streets were pretty full even thought it was close to 10PM. The radio was playing quietly in the background.

"Call, mom!" I told Markus, when I made a turn at an intersection "Tell her that we are on our way home, so she doesn't worry!"

"Sure," Markus replied instantly as he reached in his pants pocket to get his phone

As Markus was dialing his phone he thought out loud "I wonder what mom and Callie did while we were at the game,"

"Don't know. Probably had a quiet evening at home...watched some movie...maybe ordered a pizza," I replied shortly before Markus raised his phone up to his ear. I reached for the radio and turned the volume down, while Markus was on the phone.

"Hey, mom!" Markus said cheerfully, when Amy had picked up "We are driving home. We should be home in-" Markus paused and glanced to me "Dad, how long till we get home?"

"Some 40 minutes in this traffic," I estimated

"Dad says 40 minutes," Markus told and after a little pause he spoke up, answering his mom "It was pretty fun. I almost caught the game ball!" he paused again, listening to him mom speak "Yeah...it was hit to our section. Some dude 2 rows lower caught it."

Markus replied after another pause on his end "I know right...such a bummer!"

"So, how was your girl night?" He asked, even though he could have waited to ask that to mom, till we get home

"Poker?" Sounded like Markus repeated what mom was telling him. I briefly glanced to Markus in the passenger seat to see his facial expression, but I returned my attention back to the street the next second.

"Callie does have a poker face. I can see why she won, mom!" Markus laughed back. It sounded like Callie had beaten Amy in a poker match. I was glad that Amy and Callie had a nice time and bonded.

When we drove into the next intersection, I heard Markus say "Okay, mom, we will see you at home. Love-" before another vehicle smashed into the left side of our car, ending my life at the exact moment of the impact...