“Can I put the flowers on the stone?”

“Sure Lexi-bug.”

“Stephie?”

“Ya-huh?”

“Do you think mom and dad are happy without us?”

“Mom and dad love us, all four of us, very very much. They will always be happiest when they are with us.”

“So they’re sad right now?”

“Hmm…maybe not very sad. Just a tiny little bit. They understand that we will see each other again someday. So it’s not too bad Lexi-belle.”

“I’m sad sometimes. But just a tiny little bit, like mom and dad.”

“I know baby. So are Dom and I.”

“But we’re happy too most of the other times, aren’t we buggy-boo?”

“Yep!”

“Bug, is there anything you wanna say to mom and dad?”

“Just like how I tell Jaxon my secrets?”

“Yea. Just like that baby.”

“Mmmm…just that I miss them. I miss daddy singing me to sleep every night. I miss mommy’s cookies. I miss you momma-bear…poppa-bear…”

“They miss you too baby. How ‘bout I try and sing you to sleep tonight and we bake cookies baby?”

“Can we really do that Stephie?”

“Of course. Anything for my babygirl.”

“Is there anything you want to say to mom and dad Dom-Dom?”

“Come on Lexi-belle, let’s give Dom some time alone with mom and dad. Come walk around with me.”

“Ok. Oooh! I want mom’s cinnamon-oatmeal-raisin cookies!!!”

“Yea-yea…come on Lexi-belle.”

…

…

…

“Hey dad. Hey mom. Been a year; a whole year for me to fully get my act together and shape up. Stephanie’s been a huge support for me. Your daughter, my sister…she’s godsend. And

dad, mom, your little angel has been behaving. Random ice cream cravings every now and then, but a good child nonetheless. She’s mature for her age. Heck both your daughters are mature for their age. I wish they didn’t have to be, but as it is, I am proud of them and I know you would be too.

Jaxon’s same old same old. Kid won’t get off his , I have half the mind to smack some sense into him… Doctors say he’s stable and that there is essentially nothing we can do but to wait. So we’re waiting. Not so patiently, but still…waiting.

I miss you. We all do. I hope…I hope I am still the son you were proud of, even though I know I let you down quite a few times along the way. Miss you mom and dad. More than words can say.

…

…

…

“Hey…you ok Dom?”

“Yep. Would you like some time with them?”

Stephanie just stood there for a moment, staring at her parents’ tombstones. She knelt down slowly and brushed away some fallen leaves and debris, polishing the black marble with the sleeve of her sweater.

We’re a little less than ok. It seems we’re always going to be a little less than ok. Without you, mom and dad, anything beyond that seems unattainable. At least for now. But I’m ok with that. I’ll work hard to make sure babygirl doesn’t settle for a little less than ok. It might be too late for me and Dom, but not for Lexi-belle. She told me she wants to be a paramedic. Six-years-old and she wants to be a paramedic. She says she wants to help people when they are ‘the most hurt’, like her mom and dad. She wants to stop that from happening to anyone else. Six-years-old and she has such a dream. Can you believe it?

You’d be proud of her.

I know you would.

Me? Daddy…you’ve always known I had my heart set on med school. I’ve pushed it out of my mind for a long time now since you left. I couldn’t bear to think of it. But now…now that we’re a little less than ok…that desire in me is suddenly stronger and clearer than ever. Before, I just wanted to become a surgeon. But now…I know exactly what I want to do.

…

…

…

I want to fix broken hearts daddy.

I felt yours’ stop. I felt it stop beating. I held you when your heart failed. I heard it…felt it…

Never again.

I want to fix broken hearts.

Because I couldn’t fix yours, I will fix others. Because I couldn’t fix yours, I will see your face every time I hold a beating heart in my hand and mend it like I couldn’t do for you. Because I couldn’t fix yours, I will share in the joy of others when I tell them the heart of their loved one is still beating. Because I couldn’t fix yours…I will fix broken hearts until I feel I’ve done enough to pardon me for failing to fix the one heart I wanted to fix the most. I can never do enough for me to be worthy of that pardon. But it won’t stop trying.

I want to fix broken hearts daddy.

…

…

…

“Ok…I’ve said all I wanted to say…let’s go home Dom.”

“Home.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For over a year, things were a little less than ok.

The three of them managed well and they took solace from each other, drawing on their combined strength and love.

Stephanie made Dominic teach her how to fight. Because although she was at a better place in her life than before, she still never forgot that feeling of utter helplessness in the face of that man that first night in crap-ville. She never forgot how liberating it was to see the shock in the face of the second who tried to take advantage of her. Never forgot how it felt to know she had power over these beasts. Never…ever…forgot how it felt like to be Tiffany.

She attended his self-defense classes after school, while Lexi-belle would sit outside and watch, sometimes doing her homework, but mostly just enjoying seeing her older brother and sister interact.

Stephanie also forced Dom to teach her some of his street fighting techniques, arguing that if she were ever in danger, she could use it to her advantage. Dom initially disliked the idea of his sister fighting, he was more an advocate of her running away if she could. But he agreed that his sister had a point to.

Better safe than sorry.

So he taught her everything he knew. He even threw in some techniques he had learned when serving in Afghanistan. What resulted in the end was an amalgam of fighting styles whose purpose was to exact maximal amount of damage at the quickest speed with the least risk to the user.

Stephanie loved these sessions with Dom. She had even begun to spar with him. It was highly unmatched in the beginning and there was almost no way Stephanie could overpower Dom. But as they went on, they discovered that Stephanie possessed a huge amount of speed and great control of her body. She also had great stamina and often used that advantage to tire her brother out before she made her move. She could dance rings around Dominic with little to no effort.

Both brother and sister were quite pleased with Stephanie’s quick and steep learning streak. She had a knack for anything to do with her body. That much was clear.

Towards the end, Stephanie and Dominic were almost evenly matched.

Dominic shuddered to think of the damage his sister could do in a ring with those beasts. He had seen a ruthless side of Stephanie he didn’t know existed in these sessions. And in many ways, he surmised Stephanie could be a huger threat than he ever was in the ring. Stephanie was strong, both physically and most importantly, mentally. Something Dominic had yet to overcome.

Stephanie would indeed be a force to be