Thank you to everybody who read the last chapter. I also want to say thank you to everybody who has been with me on this rewriting journey. This is the first time I've ever heavily rewritten a story; it's been an exciting experience. (Which convinced me to do the same thing to scenes from freshman year my high school musical story a.k.a. my almost first story.)

This is the final chapter of previously written material. Congratulations, we made it this far.

After this all-new chapters from here forward. I now know where the stories going. I will be taking some cues from Alex Suarez. So there will be some time jumps. I know you want to get to Betty and Daniel's wedding sooner rather than later. There are twins to be born. Of course, the most important question of all is, will Matt ever grow the fuck up? You're just going to have to keep reading to find out.

Chapter 36: The Art Of Starting Over and Moving On

Amanda was half asleep as they walked through the London Airport. This flight was a lot harder than the one just three months ago. Amanda's back hurt, and she has lost count of all the times that she has gotten sick on the way there. Maybe it was a lot worse because she is farther along in her pregnancy. Perhaps it was because she was here under much worse circumstances. Even if Betty reassured her yesterday that she was okay with being a stepmom to the twins, Amanda still felt uneasy.

Maybe once upon a time, she wanted to be Mrs. Daniel Meade, but that was a long time ago. He deserved to be happy after everything that happened with Molly. Betty was like sunshine, and Daniel needed that. Amanda did not want to take that away by being here.

Of course, she wasn't expecting to be put on a plane overnight. After coming home to find another "strongly-worded" suggestion to stay away or else from Matt's mother, she decided it was best to leave now. Or rather, she was forced into it by Betty. Betty was already texting Candy to get Amanda on the next flight to London before Amanda even realize what was happening. Betty has become too manipulative for her own good in her old age.

The letter could have been from Marc's ex-boyfriend, but she doubted he cared if she was around Matt. Regardless she had babies to worry about, and she couldn't stay here. So did Marc for that matter, but she knew that he was staying with Cliff for the foreseeable future because Cliff now had custody of Jade. Marc's text messages were rambling, but Wilhelmina may have done something that requires Cliff to now have custody of the baby. Considering all the meetings, Amanda had with Jodi's lawyers, Amanda is okay with that.

She is a little afraid to turn her phone back on because she is sure by now Marc received her letter. He probably hated her for leaving. But with Jade around, she helps that he will understand sooner rather than later.

Despite the situation, Amanda still turned down the invitation to stay with Daniel and Betty. She's not that much of a masochist. Although Amanda thinks this is why Candy offered her the other wing of the large apartment that Candy was staying in. Amanda didn't know Monique's former assistant and friend that well, so it had to be Daniel or Betty asking her to do this. She was grateful for it anyway. She didn't have the energy to look for someplace right now.

"Do you need to rest? We can get something to eat before we leave the airport." Candy asked, breaking Amanda out of her memories. It was just the two of them. Betty and Daniel would be staying on another day. Something about a forced family brunch. She would have to text Justin for the details later. He is an excellent source and won't press for more information.

"No, I'm still too baby sick to eat. I don't think I can take the subway or whatever they call it here. Can we take a cab?" Amanda pleaded.

"I thought about that. Somebody is picking us up." Candy said with a grim expression. "A friend of yours, actually." Amanda did not ask any more questions as they kept walking despite being curious. She couldn't think of who else she knew that would be in London right now.

She was shocked to see that it was Becks picking them up. She only knew that her former fun buddy was in the country because of a long conversation with Betty and their email conversation last week.

"What are you doing here?" Amanda asked as he kissed her on the cheek. When she thought she was in love with Daniel, she may have screwed around with his friend. They slept together a few times (although all of it happened on the same night) before realizing that they were better as friends. Occasionally he would email her or send her trinkets from where ever he was in the world. They were somewhat close, but he was still a friend that would sometimes disappear for months.

The first time that she heard anything from him since his awful breakup last year was a week ago when he finally sent her some strange email out of the blue. Because she was so mad at Matt, she decided to use Becks as a sounding board. Unlike everyone else, he could see things from the outside. He also went through something similar with his ex-girlfriend the year before. He also talked a lot about this one girl that he worked with recently that he liked, but things were complicated. He wasn't sure he was ready to do a relationship again after things went so badly last time. Because of this, he was the perfect person to talk about Matt. He was team move on. And that's precisely what she was doing.

"Apparently, picking you and my girlfriend up from the airport." So Candy was the girl he was talking about in his email. That was interesting.

"When did you get so pregnant? You didn't mention anything in your last email. Although that explains why the Matt situation was so complicated, and you wanted my advice on things." The way he said that it seemed really fake. It was evident that he already knew even if their email conversation focused on Matt.

"I guess that Matt guy you're dating doesn't know how to use a condom." Those words made her cry again. As much as she tried to run away from everything in New York, it was going to come back. Maybe she couldn't run away from the past, but she could start over. She would start over as soon as she finished crying.

XXXX

"That was really the wrong thing to say." Candy said with an angry scowl directed firmly at Becks once they were in the car. Seriously why did she agree to this? Now Candy was stuck dealing with a hysterical Amanda again. The flight to London was already difficult enough, with the woman breaking into rants about Matt in between throwing up. At least she was in the back seat right now.

"Amanda, if you stop crying right now, I will take you to Harrods next weekend." Candy offered not knowing what else to say. Daniel owed her hazard pay for putting up with his baby's mama.

"You're dating Becks?" Amanda asked between sniffles now in the front of the car. That just annoyed her more than when Becks told her that.

"I am not his girlfriend." She groused. "I only agreed to see the moron again under these circumstances because I thought you could use a friend right now." Candy said in her defense. Amanda just gave her a very strange look. Who was she to judge Candy when she had sex and subsequently got pregnant just to help a friend get over the death of his wife? Okay, when you look at what happened like that, it doesn't seem so bad.

"If you really didn't want to see me again, you would've agreed for me to come to get you." She knew that he was right as soon as he said it.

"Did you think that maybe I didn't want to see you again?" She argued back as he drove.

"Yet you agree to this anyway. Besides, this lets me catch up with Amanda. Like I told you yesterday, we have known each other for a while. Obviously, some things were left out of our last conversation." He said with an annoying grin.

"It's obvious you are such great friends considering you did not know she was pregnant. You two can catch up as soon as she stops crying because you said the wrong thing." She said in a huff. "Amanda, we can try to get pizza after this if you stop crying." Surprisingly she almost stopped for a moment before starting again.

"Seriously, did you have to say whatever you said that set her off?" She said, still glaring. She hoped he saw it in the rearview mirror.

"I didn't think she would start crying like that. I assume that the bastard abandoned her." His answer was more sobbing. "I'm surprised Daniel hasn't called Alexis' doctor to take care of him. I got that threat in a voicemail from your boss. Daniel is very protective." Now that actually got Amanda to stop crying.

"He should," Amanda said without tears.

'He probably will,' Candy thought to herself.

"The situation with her and Matt is complicated." Candy started.

"He was planning to do the noble thing until he found out he didn't get me pregnant. Apparently, I was that way before we got together. Not that he believes me because he thinks I will sleep with anyone, but Daniel knows better even when I lied to do the noble thing." She was just happy Amanda was angry now. She can deal with angry Amanda better than crying hysterical Amanda.

"Considering I haven't seen you since July, I know it's not mine. Besides, it's been years since our one night together." She wondered if he was actually joking, but she wasn't sure.

"The babies are Daniel's," Amanda said just before the two try to explain everything. Although it seems that he probably already knew some of what was going on. She wondered how much Daniel told him.

"You and Daniel have a very interesting friendship." He joked after the explanation.

"I'm an interesting friend to have. You should write to me more often. How's Katie? You said you would send me a picture." Amanda said, obviously trying to move the conversation to non-Daniel related ground.

"Who's Katie?" Candy asked for an irritation. She would be beyond angry if he was married or had a girlfriend. She hates when that happens. Why does she keep ending up with assholes?

"My daughter, she's almost a-year-old. Daniel wasn't the only victim of a broken condom. But sometimes accidents can be a wonderful thing. Her mom is the ex I told you about last time." Why does that last part not surprise her? "Bad break up, but at least I have Katie."

"So, she's the reason why you're not in Afghanistan right now?" Candy asked skeptically. She doesn't think it's a possibility, but after spending time with Daniel, she's starting to believe that not all men are like her father that she never met.

"Don't be so skeptical. Yes, my daughter is the reason why I'm here. My lawyer finally managed to work out a decent custody arrangement."

"I'm glad it worked out. That can be a nightmare. I'm glad Daniel won't put me through what Jodi is putting Marc through. Oh God, I didn't tell you about Jade. Marc has a kid." Amanda told him.

"How the fuck did that happen? He is really really gay." Becks asked, surprised. Honestly, everybody was surprised when the truth about Jade came out.

"Being manipulated into straight sex for a job and the condoms being expired. It's a goddamn miracle considering the mommy was almost 50. Now Jodi's being horrible about the whole thing, and Marc had to get a whole team the lawyers just to get visitation."

"We really do have a lot to catch up on," Becks remarked. "I can tell you where to buy the best baby furniture. I almost have the nursery set up at my new place." Candy rolled her eyes because she couldn't believe that he had the nursery all ready set up. Becks didn't seem like the type of person who would have a nursery for his accidental baby.

"You don't know me, so don't judge me. Contrary to what you may think, I actually want to spend time with my daughter. Therefore that's why I'm here taking the photographer equivalent of a desk job. You think you know me, but you have no idea who I am Candy. Just because I enjoy sex doesn't mean I am a complete bastard. If you stop making stupid assumptions about me, you might find out that you actually like me. All I'm asking is for you to give me a chance." Becks told her.

"You want to just start over?" she asked.

"If that's what it takes. It's a nice day to start again."

"Maybe," was Candy's only response.

xxx

Daniel thought he was going to avoid the great family brunch when Monique's wedding literally went up in flames yesterday and that idiot David destroyed his first issue. No such luck. Now that the magazine was done, he had no excuse to avoid a very uncomfortable breakfast at his future father-in-law's house with everyone there. This was the unfortunate side effect of your (almost) father-in-law and your mother being good friends. He was sure that they conspired against him. He wanted to be flying back to London this morning. Due to last-minute arrangements to get Amanda safely out of the country, their flight wouldn't leave until 4 PM, allowing for a very late breakfast/brunch.

So far, this breakfast, his mother and sister got into a screaming match about her decision to get treatment in Cleveland. As well as the fact Alexis kept the fact that she was very sick from everyone here. DJ said a couple of interesting things in French to his mother. Daniel could only understand the curse words, but it wasn't good. Alexis Junior also could understand the curse words. Therefore DJ now had to give her candy for swearing.

Daniel's mother also said something to Betty about backing out on the spa time Friday. Daniel is personally surprised that wasn't mentioned during their alone time yesterday. He knew that his mother and his fiancée spent several hours together yesterday preparing for Monique's surprisingly wonderful wedding (despite computer viruses, pyromaniacs, and Marc's ex-boyfriend crashing the ceremony. You could also add Marc's baby's mama getting arrested but technically that didn't happen until after the wedding.)

Daniel purposely stayed away from anything alcoholic because he may say something to his sister about the fact that he was upset that she had two kids, and he didn't have any yet. Even though he would be taking care of Amanda's twins as much as she would let him. He didn't want anything Amanda related to come up during the morning, either.

The dysfunctional nature of the brunch was not solely confined to the Meade family. The Suarez sisters got in a fight with their father about him neglecting to mention that he was offered a job in California. He defended himself by stating that he was just thinking about it and wasn't going to take it. That's when Betty gave him a sweet pep talk and convinced her father to take the job. Although judging by facial expression alone, Daniel was not entirely sure his almost sister-in-law was okay with that.

After all the fighting, they moved on to wedding planning. 5 minutes into everything, Daniel realized he got off very light with his first (not that legal) marriage. His mother and Hilda have already decided that he and Betty would be having a Christmas wedding in New York. It would be easier for everybody to attend. It will also be at the hotel that Monique's wedding was supposed to be at if Vivian was amenable. Bree was already sketching dresses on a sketchpad that she borrowed from Justin's room.

He and Betty were successfully able to get it changed to the day after Christmas stating that it was the day of their first real kiss. That led to more uncomfortable questions that he really did not want to answer. Daniel is glad that Justin spent the day at his boyfriend's house and not an active participant. He would make it so much worse.

Justin was able to get out of this insanity by arguing that he deserved to spend as much time with his boyfriend as possible. Because he would be going to London earlier than planned. DJ was mad about this because Justin wouldn't take him with him.

Justin did so well the day before that he convinced Monique to let him spend most of the summer in London. Instead of just for a few weeks like before. Now he will be there for all of July and August even if his mother was slightly apprehensive. Maybe that's why she's giving him annoyed looks right now.

Daniel decided it was in his best interest to just let mother, sister, her baby's mama, and Betty's sister planned the most fabulous wedding ever. They were now arguing over the guest list. The strange thing was no one was really listening to his or Betty's suggestions, so much for a small wedding. Despite doing enough wedding issues over the last five years to actually contribute to this discussion, he was ignored. He was genuinely happy when Monique called. He was too frustrated to stay in there.

"Thank you so much for getting me out of hell," Daniel said now that he was safely in another room. "They already have half of our wedding planned out, and they won't let us do anything. Although why did you call?" He asked as soon as he stepped into the Suarez kitchen. "Shouldn't you be enjoying copious amounts of honeymoon sex right now?" He joked before realizing that is exactly what should be going on, and Monique would not call him unless there was a reason.

"What is wrong? Please tell me the magazine didn't go to hell again?" Knowing his luck, there would be another computer virus that would destroy everything.

"The magazine is fine, in both countries. Also, we just found out my 15 year old isn't pregnant. Although we have confirmation that the guy that manipulated Antonella into sex was 19. Thankfully she's under 17, and we can press charges according to Fernando." If Monique called Fernando, things were not good at all. He was the fixer of the company's legal counsel. They didn't even call him in for the domestic violence incident at the State Department. Although maybe they should have.

"Gio is not going to let her out of sight anytime soon despite not becoming an uncle. I'm probably not going to be having sex until after Christmas." Monique joked.

"According to my mother and sister, I'm getting married the day after Christmas, even though Betty and I actually wanted a long engagement. So your second marriage will probably still be legal before my marriage," Daniel joked.

"Thankfully, the marriage was consummated in my office right after we sent Marc on his way. I expect to be a bridesmaid." Daniel blinked at that.

"I know from personal experience how important it is to make your marriage legal, but I did not need to know the details. Because you missed out on being a bridesmaid at the not legal wedding, I guess you should be in the bridal party this time." His words were mildly sarcastic.

"You watched the DVD from Molly?" Monique asked with sadness in her voice. He knew yesterday was a bad day for Monique. The purpose of having the wedding yesterday was to keep her so busy that she wouldn't think about Molly. He's not so sure how well it worked.

"This morning before coming to the family brunch," Daniel explained.

It was so hard to see Molly again. Maybe that's why he avoided watching the DVD. Of all the things he could've seen, he didn't expect her to apologize for being selfish.

"I'm sorry." Those were the first words out of Molly's mouth in her video. They were repeated multiple times.

"I think I figured out early on in our relationship that you were destined to be with Betty," Molly said at some point during the dialog. "I saw the signs. Why do you think I was laughing yesterday at your Jim and Spock comparison? Even though I knew it wasn't going to work out between us, I couldn't do this alone again. I tried to leave but just couldn't do it. I love Monique dearly, but it just wasn't enough. I needed you there. I didn't want to die alone." Daniel actually yells at the screen to say that he would have been there regardless, but it doesn't make a difference now.

"I need you to say it was going to be okay even though we both knew that it wasn't. I was so selfish. But I'm going to make it right. I'm going to make sure that you do not drown in your own grief. Hopefully, my planning has worked, and you are already with Betty by the time you watch this. If not, you should be. I know you love her. I am okay with that because I know she loves you too. Because of her, I can leave this world in peace, knowing that you will be okay." The screen went black, and Daniel was in tears. He spent the next half hour in Betty's arm as she repeatedly told him that she loved him more than anything else in the universe. It was the reason why they got to brunch late.

"Betty made me because she says I needed closure." Daniel started after returning back to the present. Daniel will blame his Molly related thoughts for what he accidentally said next. "She did it right after she returned from dropping Amanda off at the airport way too early this morning. I mean, Candy, not Amanda." He tried to correct himself after he realized what he said, but it was too late.

"I believe you the first time. At least I now know Amanda is safe." Monique said, sounding lighter. "Now, I don't have to fill out a police report. We were worried after what Marc found in the trash."

"Amanda left Marc a note," Daniel said, remembering what Betty told him."

"That could've been faked, and Marc didn't have time to give me details. There is a time limit on your one phone call, and I only got enough information to know Amanda was missing. Jade only cooperated long enough for Cliff to give me a slight outline of what happened. Which just made me even more concerned. Psycho mommy already tried to have one of Mr. Hartley's fun time friends taken out. Who knows what she could've done. Faking a note seems like something she would do, so no one would go looking for Amanda." Monique explained.

"That's why Betty convinced her to leave last night. No, I can't tell you where but she's safe. Did you say one phone call? What happened?" Daniel asked Monique as soon as his mind caught up.

"According to Cliff, Marc found a note from Amanda, overreacted, and punched Matt out. In front of the baby, which is going to make the custody situation even worse. Jodi is already dragging this out, and I don't even know why. No, I do not know what the note said because Jade is very fussy with both of her parents in jail. One of the neighbors heard the whole thing and called the police." His mouth was opened wide in complete shock. Daniel couldn't believe that. Marc has an asthma attack at least twice a week.

"Marc got arrested for beating up Matt?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes, Matt two. I'm going to bail Marc out of jail right now. Matt can find his own person." Daniel should probably tell Bree to get her nephew out of lock-up. He would tell her, eventually. Some quality jail time can probably do Matt some good.

"Put it on the company card. I'll pay for it myself. Think of it as my way of saying 'congratulations on doing something I wish I could, but my girlfriend won't let me.' Also, call Fernando again. Tell him I'll take care of it." Daniel suggested. "Matt has a lot of money and may want vengeance."

"This is the only company I know that keeps a criminal law firm on retainer; however, it does come in handy." Monique quipped.

"You should probably call PR too. Two top employees fighting is not going to look good." Daniel suggested.

"Already did. They're busy. The wicked bitch of Isabella just did an interview this morning with that new girl on fashion TV that they're bringing in to replace Byron when he goes on to his new job." Okay, Daniel was confused. What did this have to do with Mode PR being very busy?

"Who's Byron?"

"Suzuki is Byron. Byron is exhausted being Suzuki, so he's taking a new job on Wake up America where you can be himself. Look, that's not important. What is important is that as of three minutes ago, the world now knows that you got Amanda pregnant." That's when he heard an explosive argument coming out of the living room. Apparently, even with Justin not there, the television was stuck on Fashion TV. Hilda is currently yelling at her sister for not telling her about the baby. Alexis was thankfully already pulling the kids into the kitchen to get out of the blast zone. They lived through enough of their parents arguing to know the kids do not need to see this.

"I hate that bitch," Daniel said as the room behind him descended into a combination of rapid French and Spanish.

"We all do. I'll send you a text message if anything changes. Have a safe flight, and I will see you in September. You still can't tell me where Amanda is?" She asked as an afterthought.

"No. But I promise Amanda is somewhere safe away from this mess. I'll tell her to text you when she's ready." Daniel said, ending the call.

"I don't know why you're so upset now," Betty said as Daniel entered the living room. "You knew Amanda was pregnant before I did. You even knew that it was a possibility before I did that Daniel was the father. Why are you screaming at me now?" Betty was looking directly at Hilda. She was furious.

"But now we know for sure." It was a feeble excuse.

"It doesn't change anything. You have no idea what's going on here. You should be the last person to judge anyone." Betty said, biting her lip. He knew all the lying was hard for her.

"We have to leave for the airport soon, and because papá is moving to California, I will need to take extra stuff with me. I need to finish packing." Betty said, leaving the room.

"I could just stay here and let you yell at me, but I don't have the energy. Yes, Amanda's babies are not Matt's. Yes, I am going to help her raise the children. No, I'm not leaving Betty, so don't ask. The wedding is still on. Betty knew about the situation before she said yes to my proposal. No, I didn't propose just because I found out I got someone else pregnant. Yes, I am fully aware that Betty is too good for me." Daniel said before Hilda could say anything. DJ was back in the room because, of course, he was curious.

"Thank you for having us in your home, and we will see you soon." He said, turning to Mr. Suarez. "Mom, we'll speak with you later. DJ be ready to leave in 30 minutes. Also, Bree, your nephew got arrested for getting in a fight with Marc. You should probably get him out of lock-up eventually, but a few hours in jail might be good for him. Also, please make sure he doesn't screw up Marc's chances to be with his daughter."

"I'll take care of it. Text me when you get to London." Bree came over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for keeping my niece and nephew safe." She whispered in his ear so only he could hear. With that, Daniel left to find his girlfriend. She's currently repacking her suitcase for the eighth time.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Not really. Did you hear what Hilda said?"

"Not all of it. I know Hilda is not happy that I got someone else pregnant and thinks that you can do better." Daniel placed the kiss on her cheek. "I'm not offended because even I think you can do better."

"Essentially, although I think there's more. I think Hilda is jealous that Amanda is pregnant with twins and had a miscarriage. I think she still angry about that, even if she says otherwise." Betty said in her sister's defense. "And I'm sure she's not happy with me for convincing dad to move to California, but he should have his dream to."

"I'm sure she's mad about that as well."

"I know she is. Hilda shouldn't have said that about you, especially because she doesn't know what's really going on. Everyone else defended you." That made Daniel feel slightly better. Of course, moves the people in that room know the truth.

"The last part is true. You really can do better." He said, putting an arm around her.

"I don't think I could. You're pretending to be the father of someone else's children to keep three people alive. You're a good person Daniel." She said, kissing him gently on the lips.

"Are we doing the right thing?" he asked as she pulled away.

"You didn't read the letter from Matt's mom last night. We have to do this." Betty reassured him.

"Protecting innocent life is always the right thing." Mr. Suarez said as he entered the room.

"How much of that did you hear?" Betty asked as she pulled away from Daniel's arms.

"Enough. Daniel's not the father of Amanda's babies, is he?" He asked.

"Not biologically, but that really doesn't matter," Daniel told him. Those children deserve someone that will be there.

"No, it doesn't. That's why I am okay with you marrying my daughter." He said, smiling before giving some other advice.

"Take care of yourself in London." He said a few minutes later when he finally left.

"I promise we will come to see you in a couple of months. It's going to be weird coming out to LA, but DJ wants to go to Disneyland." His girlfriend said, realizing that this would probably be the last time she would be in her childhood home. He wonders if she realizes that they already have a new home together.

XXXX

Tiffany stood in her kitchen, making lunch for the two teenagers in the other room. Her husband of seven years was out. He's usually out when her son's boyfriend is over. She likes Justin despite the fact that he's a boy, and her husband's only consolation is his stepson is still a proud member of the baseball team. She is sure said husband will be happy that Justin will be spending the summer in London. He was already coming up with girls to try to set up his stepson with. She already knows that it's futile. His boyfriend may be bisexual, but her son is gay.

Fortunately, Austin will be able to avoid his stepfather by spending the summer at Meade publications with his half-brothers. She doesn't know how she feels about that. If she knew Matt Hartley had anything to do with Mode Magazine, she would have said no to the paid internship. But she couldn't back out now. Austin would ask too many questions, and she wasn't ready to answer any of those. He knows nothing about the circumstances of his birth. He actually believed that she went to a sperm bank because she was so lonely after all her family died. She wasn't ready for him to know the truth. He had no idea that most of his life was based on a lie or that he has a lot of family that he has never met. She's already thankful for the fact that Austin looks a lot more like her than his father. The more time he spent with Matt, the more likely he would start asking questions. She wasn't sure she could keep lying.

Her thoughts were broken by a knock at the door. She assumed that her son would get it, but he didn't. This causes her to leave her kitchen.

She realizes why he did not when she notices that neither teenager is in the living room. She was sure she knew what they were doing in Austin's bedroom. Unfortunately, neither her nor Justin's mom can really say anything about that. They both had the misfortune of getting pregnant by the wrong guy.

At least in the case of Justin's mom, her only consequence was being a single parent. Tiffany spent the last 15 years living under an assumed name, unable to see her mother on her deathbed. She didn't want to come back to New York, but the economy was terrible, and this was the only place her husband was able to get a job. It's been 15 years, and she didn't expect to run into anybody from her old life. But then seven days ago that all changed.

When she looked out the peephole, there was nothing there but a bouquet of roses. She wonders if this was an apology present from her husband. He would do something stupid like getting her almost dead roses. However, the note told her that they obviously did not come from him.

Do you remember what I said last time what would happen if you came back to New York? You didn't listen. Remember, I don't make empty threats. Leave now.

The letter wasn't signed, but she knew who it was from. 16 years ago, she allowed that woman to take her life away, but she wouldn't let her do it this time. She wasn't going to run away again. She wasn't going to take her son away from his new life, not this time.

To be continued. (Really, I mean it this time)

We have reached the end of the old material. New material only from here on out. With me down to only three stories and not doing anything crazy like buying a house, I think updates will be significantly faster. (Although since I originally typed this I decided to start rewriting Scenes from freshman year.) I've already started drafting the next six chapters. Also, because I'm doing new chapters instead of just revising old ones, this story is now going into my regular rotation. Instead of being a project that I work on when I have spare writing time. Fingers crossed for more consistent updating.