A/N: Meowser deserves a lot more than I give her :) Love you girl. This was a prompt from Meowser Hotchner. She wanted to read a chapter where Rick comes back. Always did like him. Enjoy! xoxo Mariah

Ages:

Jim - 45
Melinda - 41
Rick - 43
Katie - 16
Aaron - 12
Mackenzie - 6

It'd been more than a few years since Professor Rick Payne was outside Melinda Gordon's little yellow house on Hazen street. Almost twenty years, just under seventeen to be exact.

He hadn't seen, talked to, or heard from Melinda since he'd left for the Himalayas. He had come back, after five years, and took a job in the city until now. He hadn't thought about her in so long until he heard one of his colleagues talk about this perfectly cute antique store that was in town.

Maybe it was for the best that he hadn't been back. He'd seen how great her store was doing from afar this morning because Delia had opened for her, and even when he lived there before she hadn't given her that job on her own yet. There were even a few other people working the registers that he didn't recognize.

He'd also thought about writing, but he didn't think he could have handled a letter from her. The smooth cursive and how she would talk about spirits she was dealt with, maybe even talk about Jim. He'd always wondered what had happened to them. He didn't doubt their love and knew they would definitely still be married if they were both still alive, but he didn't want to put that kind of energy out there and just continued to drive.

Familiarity took over and he was soon parked outside, seeing two cars in the driveway.

Melinda had the same jeep, still looking well taken care of after all this time. There was another one that he didn't remember. It was a small SUV, silver and a little dented around the edges but well taken care of. A Grandview High Track bumper sticker was on the bumper and he wondered if they had children together now. Maybe even one that drove?

Rick still didn't know about that. They had been trying when he'd left and had trouble conceiving, he thought. He noticed how her cheeks were tear-stained a lot during his last few months home, but she hadn't confided in him. She'd noticed his distance, and gave him the same.

He had parked outside her house just before eight in the morning and waited, mostly because if she did have kids they would be heading out soon for school. And that's when movement from the house started. The door opened and the first thing he noticed about the girl that stepped out was that she was too tall to be Melinda and too young.

She looked in a hurry, a concentrated look on her face that he knew all too well from Melinda, so that confirmed his suspicions. Melinda and Jim had had a daughter not long after he left. The girl struggled to dig in her purse with a gym bag that kept swinging into her side, but once she found them she opened the driver's seat and tossed her gym bag in the back before getting into the car.

She then backed out not long after and honked the horn. Another girl came running from across the street with blonde hair and got into the car with a gym and school bag as well. They drove off just as a younger boy ran from the house, and he looked just like him.

Jim

The same stance as he stood and hair with a furrowed brow. His hair covered his eyes more than it should and he brushed it away, turning around as Melinda came out of the house right after him with a paper bag and a white robe tied tightly around her, the hint of a skirt at the end of it from her nightgown.

"Mom, she left me!" The boy muttered, leaning into the railing.

"Your sister was running late and needed to leave to finish an AP test or whatever," Melinda said, sipping her coffee. "Here don't forget your lunch. I packed two deserts because I need you to take the bus." She kissed her son's cheek just as he groaned, but she turned him around and pushed him in the right direction. "Have a good day at school, Aaron."

"But the bus sucks, mom!" the boy groaned, still walking down the lawn all the same.

Jim came out of the house a moment later, arm slipping around Melinda's waist as he kissed the side of her head, whispering something that made her blush, bringing the coffee mug back to her lips as she glanced at him.

"I'll give you a ride," Jim said, straightening his tie. "I remember how much I hated the bus. My mom would only drive me on my birthday."

"Thanks, dad!" The boy said, running to the truck parked on the street. He must still work late nights, having come home after his daughter and not wanted to block her in.

"Have a good day," she said, smiling up at him and giving him a quick kiss.

"You too. Give Kenzie my love when she gets up. I'll stop in on my lunch to check her fever." Jim said, smiling as he kissed her again. "I'll bring Lento's home. It's just across the square."

What job did he get that had him wearing a tie and earning enough money to get his daughter a newer car? Or maybe Mel's store took off more than it already had? What didn't he know?

Jim had just said he still worked in the square like he had at the fire station or had he gone through with becoming a doctor and worked at the hospital now? It had only been a conversation last he'd heard, but he supposed it did make sense now that they had three kids.

The next thing he said he couldn't quite hear, but she nodded and kissed him again.

"I love you," Jim said as he jogged toward his truck.

"I love you too," she waved to them both and stood there watching until the truck was long gone.

Rick pondered what the reason was. Maybe there was a ghost or maybe she was just thinking, enjoying the silence, but then he noticed her glancing at him again and she smiled, waving to him and pointed to the mug as she heard the footsteps of her youngest child.

The little blonde girl crept up behind her and pulled on her hand. "Mommy...?"

He got out of the car, crossing the street as he watched Melinda hug the little girl, the small arms wrapping her around her. Her voice was so soft, as she spoke with her daughter, healing whatever her little worries were this morning. He'd almost forgotten how her voice sounded since he'd last seen her, but how could he at the same time? She was still so important to him.

"Hey there, Kenzie. Good morning," she whispered, picking up the sickly child "Are you feeling any better?"

"No," the girl groaned and laid her head on her shoulder. She cried as she spoke next, holding onto her mother. "My belly. It hurts, mommy. It really hurts."

Rick was almost to the steps, and he could already smell her perfume. The same lavender as always. He smiled, stepping up onto the porch as she looked over at him.

"Let's go lay you down," she said softly, rubbing her back. "What took you so long to visit? You never called."

He bowed his head, not knowing what to say. What should he say? That he'd left because it hurt too much to see her love Jim so endlessly? Or that he'd left because he'd wanted some type of adventure in his life, and something to feel proud of.

"Can we watch a princess movie?" The little girl whispered, making him chuckle. "We can watch something new. It doesn't have to be Tangled or Ariel."

Her children were bargainers. He liked that in kids or in the few kids he'd happened to know over his life.

"I suppose we can watch a princess movie, and we can watch whatever you want, baby girl." She said, kissing her cheek as she stepped toward the house.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, Melinda," he said as he took the last step up onto the porch.

"You're here now," she smiled, waving him in. "Come in. I have food."

"You still know me so well," he laughed and they walked inside.

It smelled like bacon and he smiled.

She had built a life for herself. Three kids, an antique store, and her husband. Maybe there was room for a goofy old professor now than there ever was.