Three Months Later

Adam set the box down, "that's the last one, the house is going to be quiet without you, you know" he still felt his anger rise when he watched her try to navigate around on crutches, her leg had required surgery to repair the ligaments in her knee.

Zeke Waters was sitting in a maximum security prison in Illinois, Adam had roughed him up pretty good a few days after Annie was finally found. It took Kevin, Jay, and Antonio to separate the two, afterwards Adam thought he would have felt better but he was wrong, the hate remained.

He shook the memory from his head, "Kim was a wreck when I left, she's really going to miss you, the kids too" he told her.

She couldn't help but laugh "Adam, I'm just a few minutes away, not Siberia" she stacked the books on the shelf, "I will be over a lot" she paused, "thank you for everything Adam, I'm so glad I found you" her voice soft, "I will never forgive mom for what she did to you, Kim, and Harper, but if it wasn't for that I would have never known about you"

Adam sat beside her and draped his arm over her shoulder, "you're the silver lining" he smiled.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, "I'm the what?"

Adam sighed, "every dark cloud has a silver lining, at least that's what people tell you when dark times come, and for me you're the silver lining from what happened with Harper" he kissed her forehead, " I love you, sis. Be good for dad, and Amy"

"I will Adam"

"I will miss you too, you know" Adam told her, "don't be a stranger"

"Sean, this is beautiful" Kara told him as he put the finishing touches on the playground that he had built in memory of his sister Sophie.

He took his gloves off, and wiped his brow with a towel and tossed it in the bench, "thank you for putting up with me the last few months, I know it wasn't easy"

"Love isn't easy, but it's worth it" she smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist, "I love you, but you stink" she laughed, "you ready?"

"Can I have a few minutes?" He asked her, "I'm okay, just need a few minutes" he explained, he knew she still worried about him.

She stuck her hands in her pockets, "I'll be in the car" he watched as she walked off.

He sat on the bench, his mind had gone back to that night, he remembered her scream when they heard the glass break. Their parents had gone out for dinner to celebrate his dad's promotion at work.  They saw the man come through the door, Sophie told Sean to hide and call the police.  He did just as he was told, and hid under their parents bed, he called the police and waited. Her screams filled the small house, he didn't dare move from underneath the bed. The house became strangely quiet, and within a few minutes the sounds of sirens filled the neighborhood but it was too late. Sean was found hiding under the bed, his sister was found in the kitchen she had been killed. They never caught the guy, and it was because of that Sean wanted to be a policeman, he wanted to protect people to make up for not protecting his sister.

Kara watched from the car as his shoulders slumped, she hated that he felt so much guilt over what happened. No matter how many times she tried to tell him, or his parents tried to tell him it wasn't he fault he insisted he should have done more. She hoped building this park would help him some, she watched as he closed the gate and headed towards the car.

"You okay?" She asked as he sat in the driver's seat.

"I am, or at least I will be" he leaned over and kissed her, "because of you, you've helped me more than you'll ever know"

"Call her, please" Daniel pleaded with his wife, they had already visited with Phil and had seen Helen and the kids.

Elizabeth put the mug on the table, "she hates me, and so does her husband" she folded her hands, "what do I even say? I'm sorry I've been a bitch to you most of your life, I was a fool?" She stirred in a spoonful of sugar, "Daniel, I think I burned that bridge when I told them Adam's son wouldn't be included in our will"

Daniel stood behind her, "that was wrong what you said, but it was during the worst time of our lives, it's when we got in bed with that monster" he patted her shoulder "maybe if you talk to her, and I mean really talk with her, she'll understand"

"I don't know, honey. You didn't see the hurt in her eyes, I didn't even give Adam a chance" she sighed, "she threw a dirty diaper at me, she was furious"

Kim sat on the couch, she felt silly for crying, she heard Adam pull in the driveway and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, offering him a smile when he walked in "Annie settled in?"

"Yea" he could tell she had been crying, "where are the kids?" He asked when he found no trace of them.

"Phil took them to the park with Charlie" she sat crosslegged on the couch, "I hate it"

"What?" He sat next to her, "what do you hate?" He pulled her close to him.

"Annie not living here," she fought back tears, "what are we gonna do?"

He laughed, "don't laugh at me Adam"

"I'm sorry. She's not even twenty minutes away, I'm sure she'll be here a lot" he told her,  "its good she moved in with my dad, it will give them a chance to form a stronger relationship"

"She's my best friend Adam, she's my tv buddy" she hated that she was gone, "who else am I going to talk to?"

Adam put his hand up "you can talk to me you know"

"I can't talk about you to you" she smiled, "I know I'm being silly"

He hugged her "no, I get it. She was here when I was at work, she helps with the kids when I can't" he smiled, "and just so I'm clear on this, what do you say about me to my sister?"

She swatted at him, "you know we are alone right? Do you really want to spend it talking about the conversations I have with your sister?" She crawled into his lap, "we can if that's what you want, but I had other things in mind" she leaned in and kissed him.

"No, I'm good" he laughed.

He stepped off the plane and felt as if he was finally home, it had been a long time and he felt the ghosts from his past indiscretions were dead and buried, literally.

"Hey Mr.Ruzek, is Annie here?" Trey asked.

"Please, call me Bob, and yes she's in her room. Down the hall second door on the right". He stepped aside so Trey could enter the house, "how are you Trey?"

"I'm good thanks, life's gotten back to normal" he laughed "well as close to normal as it can get"

Trey knocked on the open door, "sick of living with my aunt and uncle?" He asked her, "let me help" he told her as he watched her struggle to put an empty box on the floor, "how much longer are you on crutches?"

"Not sure, I go back to the doctor Friday. After everything that happened with Zeke, I decided I needed to get to know my dad" she explained "don't worry I plan on visiting Kim a lot, I already miss her and the kids"

"You going back to school next semester?" He asked as he stacked the empty boxes in the hallway, "I hope so, I am and it'll be weird without you"

"I am, I'm ready to get past what happened, you know? I'm hoping getting back in to a routine will help" she plopped on the bed, "are you okay, I mean really okay?"

He sat on the desk and stared at his a hands before answering, "I am, I guess. It all feels surreal still, you know? Thank you Annie"

She looked at him perplexed, "for what?"

"Aunt Kim told me that you got Zeke to admit to killing Mallory and that Uncle Adam heard it, it was why I was released so quickly"

"Oh that, yeah no worries" she smiled.

"That was fun" Adam said, "we should do that more often you know" he teased as he watched her pull her robe on, "come back to bed, please"

She turned at looked at him over her shoulder, "I can't, my brother will be bringing the kids back any minute" she went in the bathroom, and started the shower. "You're welcome to join me you know" she called out to him.

"Sounds like a plan"

Daniel put the car in the park and turned the ignition off, he looked over at Elizabeth who looked terrified. She had aged over the last two years, the death of their eldest son, the loss of their company had taken its toll on both of them.

"Honey, you know as well as I do that Kim is a wonderful person, she'll listen to you" he patted her leg, "you need to let her see the real you though, not the 'country club' you" he explained. Elizabeth had perfected the 'country club' version of herself when she and Daniel first started dating, she became one of them so she would fit in. Somehow along the way she lost who she truly was and became a version of herself she wouldn't recognize.

"I don't know if I can handle being rejected, Daniel" she whispered, she had so much to make up for, her own mother would roll over in her grave if she knew how she had treated Kim.

"Come on, we have to do this. We owe Kim and Adam an apology at the very least"

"Do you have to go in tomorrow?" Kim asked as she finished dressing, "I was hoping we could take your parents out to eat, it's been awhile"

"I took some furlough days, I don't go in until Wednesday" he told as he pulled a shirt over his head, the door bell interrupting their conversation. "It's probably Phil, I will get it"

Daniel and Elizabeth waited for the door to open, each a nervous wreck.

"Phil, you know--" Adam said as he opened the door expecting to find his brother in law "Mr and Mrs. Burgess, what do you want?" He asked them.

"We need to talk Adam, do you think we could come in?" Daniel asked him.

"I will get Kim, it's her call not mine" Adam left them in the foyer.

"Darlin', your parents are here, they want to talk" he told her.

She sat on the bed, "I don't know if I want to see them" she whispered, "Adam, my mother hurt me deeply when we visited them and she was so cold to you and Anthony"

"Listen, it's totally up to you, but I'm willing to hear what they have to say." He told her.

"Okay, tell them I will be out shortly"

Adam returned to the foyer, "Come on in, Kim will be out in a minute" he directed them to the living room, "can I get you a drink or something?"

Daniel shook his head, "no thank you"

Kim stood in front of the mirror, her stomach doing flips. "You can do this" she told herself, growing up all she wanted was a relationship with her mother. Though it seemed she lived at the bottom of her mother's priority list everyone and everything coming before her.

She could hear her father's booming voice, he was asking Adam how the children were doing, she knew she needed to join them.

As she entered the living her father stood, he looked as if he wanted to hug her, she wasn't ready for that, she joined Adam on the couch. She grabbed his hand, and clutched it drawing strength from him.

"It's okay" he whispered in her ear.

Elizabeth clutched her purse on her lap, she kept stroking the zipper pull, "Kim, I know I have been horrible to you and Adam, but I was hoping we could find a way to fix us" she spoke her words all running together it was if she was afraid she wouldn't be to say it.

"We've made mistakes, Kim, mistakes that cost us everything" Daniel spoke, "we will never forgive ourselves for what happened to you, we lost Daniel and we lost everything" he told her, "I'm hoping that we can gain you and your family, life is fleeting and I don't want to miss anymore of your life or the lives of your children"

Kim was skeptical, "my life includes Anthony, he's my son in every way that matters. Mother, what you said to Adam the day we visited I will never forget. I have to protect that little boy and I won't allow you to hurt him" she spat, her face red with anger.

"I was wrong Kim, so very wrong" Elizabeth told her, she could tell this wasn't going to be easy, "how can I prove it to you?"

Kim released Adam's hand, "I don't know if you can" she stood her gaze focused on the window, "all I wanted growing up was to please you and dad, nothing I did was ever good enough. You put me down every chance you had, you made it painfully obvious I had disgraced the family in more ways than one" her voice shaky, "I grew up thinking I wasn't good enough and that I never would be"

Adam felt horrible he had never heard her speak so freely about her childhood, he wanted to take her in his arms but knew she needed to tell her parents how she felt.

"We are the ones that weren't good enough Kim, not you" Daniel said, a hitch in his voice, "somehow without any guidance from us, you grew up into a wonderful person with more integrity than your mother and I have combined" he walked to her, "please, let us make it right, for you, Adam and those beautiful children" he put his hand on her shoulder, "please Kim"

She felt her defenses fail, and found herself wrapping her arms around him, letting him hold her.

He searched the newspaper for available apartments preferably close to campus, it was time he finished the degree he had started before he had fucked everything up. He had enough money saved up for a years rent and once he found a place he would look for a job.

He stared at the picture he had carried in his wallet for years, the edges yellowed and creases ran across the face, it was his reminder. He had found it on the Internet and printed it off, at first he found himself constantly staring at it, now he would pull it out occasionally when he needed that extra motivation.