"Morning." I rubbed my tired eyes. "Do you want coffee?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Coming right up," I said, fighting back a yawn.

Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, I tossed the covers off my body and moved to get out of the bed. A grip on my arm held me back.

"You're coming back... right?"

For a split second, I wanted to laugh, assuming she was joking. Catching the pained look in her eye told me there was no humour behind her question; it was a genuine ask because she was scared I wouldn't.

"Of course I am." Taking hold of her hand, I raised it to my lips and kissed the inside of her palm. "I promise, baby. I'll make us some coffee and come right back."

TJ hesitated, allowed a forced smile to appear, and responded with a slight nod of her head. "Okay."

Closing the bedroom door behind me, I released a breath. Shit. Something was going on in her head. That was stating the fucking obvious. I couldn't imagine what she was thinking following the events of last night.

What was I supposed to do? Try and make her talk about it? What if that only resulted in everything being worse?

Giving Doctor Khan a call might be my best option. But there were only so many minutes I had before TJ would get worried about me not returning fast enough.

Play it by ear - that was my plan. Get her coffee. See if she voluntarily wanted to talk. And then, give Doctor Khan a call later.

But first, my girl needed coffee.

Ma was the first one to spot me as I entered the room. "Good morning," she said in a quiet tone as if she was unsure of her greeting. "Sleep... well?"

"As well as we could, I guess." I kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you for helping."

"I didn't do much-"

"You did," I affirmed. "Trust me. I think she needed your type of warmth last night."

I made my way towards the coffee maker and turned it on.

"Well, your father and I are going to go explore a bit. Someone," Ma looked at Rory, "Was supposed to join us but decided this morning that she didn't want to anymore."

"It's not nice to break a promise, Rory," Dad said, getting into his wheelchair.

Rory, who sat at the table, rolled her eyes. "I'm six years old now. I can change my mind."

"You're going to hurt Papa's feelings."

Dad waved it off. "That's alright. She's too sassy for me this morning anyway."

With some help, the two of them were out the front door and off on their adventure. Knowing exploring was something the family enjoyed doing - Rory, especially - I ensured that Big Mike was around to be their transportation.

"Where's TJ?" Rory asked before stuffing her mouth with a spoonful of cereal.

"Uh," I looked over my shoulder. "She's not feeling well."

"Why not?"

"Rory, don't talk with your mouth full."

I caught the glare she sent her father as she slowly chewed her food, looking as if she was planning his demise. "Thanks for... you know, getting her out and cleaning up the-"

"Don't worry about it," Aidan said as he made his way over. He dropped his voice to a whisper, "I can't imagine a parent saying that shit to their kid. When Rory woke up I couldn't help but give her the biggest hug and smother her with attention."

"Ah, so that's why she's in a bad mood."

"Yeah, probably," he laughed, looking over at his child. "Ma wants you to bring TJ home for Christmas."

Filling the two cups of coffee, I silently mused over his comment. "Yeah, well, Ma's thinking about twenty steps ahead of me right now."

"I'm just giving you a warning. At least you'll have a few hours of peace before she subtly starts sliding it into the conversation."

"I need to figure out where her head is in general with me before I go and push holiday plans on her." I still had to apologize to her for starting this mess in the first place. Asking her opinion of whether she wanted to come home to Seattle with me was not a top priority - at least, it wasn't at the moment.

"Are you not having any breakfast?"

I kissed Rory on the top of her head. "Not yet. Maybe in a bit, okay?"

Rory pouted her bottom lip. "Okay," she said, disappointment evident in her tone. "Tell TJ I say feel better!"

"I will."

The child-like innocence she had was precious - and very needed - at a time like this. Returning to the bedroom, I gave TJ her cup of coffee and made my way back onto the bed.

TJ took a sip. "What did you do with her?"

"Someone drove her hours out of Los Angeles and dropped her off at a rehab. She's there for at least seventy-two hours and then," I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe she'll stay. Maybe she won't. That will be up to her."

"How far away is she?"

"Five or six hours."

"Good," she mumbled. "Why'd you do it? Give her money, I mean."

"I kept hearing you talk about how you wished she was there and I could see how sad you were about it. So, I called to see if I could change her mind," I said, rubbing the back of my neck to relieve some of the tension in my muscles. "She brought up how her stint at the rehab you paid for was almost up and she was worried about how she was going to afford living arrangements while she looked for work. And, then she mentioned she didn't want to ask you because of how much you had already helped her, but it was taking a lot of time to figure out so she didn't think she would have the time to also come for dinner. It was a stupid reason, I know. But I was desperate to get her here so I offered to help. Half when she showed up, half when she left." Letting out a disappointed sigh, I ran my hand across my chin. "TJ, baby, I am so sorry for ever thinking it was okay to give her money."

She turned her head to the side. "I'm not mad at you."

"You're... not?"

"No, I'm not." She sipped her coffee. "I was mad when I got the phone call from Jeff. I was mad when I overheard that she had to be paid to come to dinner. I was mad at myself when I realized she fucking hated sitting at that table. But what set me off was seeing that needle. Knowing that she-" TJ pressed her lips together. "When all the shit about my dad happened and the public found out, and she showed up at the office, she told me she was worried about how I was dealing with it all. I thought she showed up because she finally cared about me. I've believed that lie this entire time - that was her last saving grace for me." TJ placed her cup down on the side table. "I was already upset when I overheard your mom. Knowing you paid her didn't make me mad at you. It just made me more upset with her. She's never changed and I've fallen for her bullshit every single time. I'm just... fucking stupid."

"You are not stupid, TJ."

"I am. I'm stupid for ever thinking she could care about me when, well, you heard what she said last night. That's how she truly feels about me."

Wrapping an arm over her shoulder, I pulled her close. "What she said last night was fucking disgusting. Sorry-" I cleared my throat. "I couldn't help myself. I bit my tongue all night."

"I don't want her in my life anymore." With a delicate touch, her finger outlined one of the ink marks on my arm. "I'm done helping her and having it always thrown back in my face." Her green eyes found their way to mine. "I don't think I could go through all of this again and survive."

I'm alive - if that counts for anything.

"She knows where we live now."

"We can move."

"Carter, you love this house."

No, I love you. "It's just a house. There will be other houses to fall in love with." I kissed the top of her head. "Might be nice to find a new place... create some new memories together."

TJ rested her head on my chest. We laid in a silence so quiet, I thought she had fallen asleep. I wasn't able to know for sure - and, I was too scared to move and risk waking her up.

There was a light knock on the door. "Tee-jay!" a little voice shouted in a whisper. "It's me, Rory!"

"Rory!" Aidan shouted from down the hall. "Get away from there! I told you no!"

Under the small gap at the bottom of the door, I could see her foot stop on the ground. "But, Daddy!" she whined.

"She can come in," TJ whispered.

"You sure?" With a response of her nodding her head, I smiled to myself. "Hey, Rory?"

A small gasp was audible. "Yeah?"

"It's okay, you can come in."

The door creaked open and a head popped through. "Really?"

Before either of us could answer, Rory made a break for it and ran towards the bed with Pebbles in one hand, and a plate in the other. Taking the plate from, I helped her up onto the bed.

"That's not for you! It's for TJ."

"You didn't bring me a cookie?"

Rory raised a brow. "TJ doesn't feel well. You said nothing about yourself!"

"How did you know I needed a cookie to feel better?" TJ asked, taking a bite of her treat.

"Cookies always help!"

There was another knock on the door. "Sorry - she ran off when I wasn't looking. Do you want me to take her?"

"No!" Rory yelled. She climbed under the covers, which muffled her yelling, "You can't make me go!"

TJ laughed as she looked over at Aidan. "I don't mind at all."

"Are you sure? I'll just be out there if you need me."

The moment the door closed, Rory poked her head out. "Is he gone?"

"Yes, don't worry."

She snuggled herself against TJ, resting her head on the pillow. "Can we watch a movie?"

"Sure. What do you want to watch?"

"Something with princesses!"

Picking up the remote for the television, I searched and read countless titles out loud until - finally - one sparked her interest. TJ appeared content as she kept her eyes on the screen, watching the cartoon princess sing and dance her way around the talking animals. By the time the film had finished, she had fallen asleep.

"Hey," I whispered to Rory, "Are you hungry?"

Her eyes widened as she nodded her head eagerly.

"Why don't we go make some lunch and leave her to rest for a bit."

Rory raised a brow, looked at TJ, and slowly returned her eyes to me. "Okay," she said, sounding unconvinced of my suggestion. "But I'm leaving Pebbles for her."

"That's a nice idea."

"I know!" She tucked the stuffed toy under the covers, next to TJ. "Now we can go."

Lifting Rory out of the bed, I carried her out of the bedroom and down the hall, listening to her babble about the movie that had just finished.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked her as we entered the kitchen.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know."

"I thought you were hungry?"

"I am!" she whined.

"How about some mac and cheese? Or do six-year-olds not like that anymore?"

"No, I like that! Mac and cheese, please!"

Placing her down on one of the stools at the island counter, I began to get to work on her lunch. Filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove, I opened the fridge. "Cheddar or mozzarella?"

"Mottz-are-ellah!"

I grabbed the one she wanted. "You got it."

"Is TJ going to spend Christmas with us?"

Dammit - this kid had super hearing now too? "Uh," I hesitated on how to answer her question. "I don't know yet. I have to ask."

"Do you want her to?"

"Of course. But I need to ask her first. Okay?"

Rory nodded. "Okay."

"So, don't bring it up. This stays between us."

"Okay, Uncle Carter!" she giggled. "The water is bubbling!"

The pasta was cooked and the amount of cheese was mixed in to her exact liking. Rory was happily eating at the table and - thankfully - there had been no more questions about Christmas and TJ. It was adorable to see how much Rory wanted her around. I just needed to teach the kid a thing or two about timing. Springing Christmas plans on TJ after she had just lost not only the relationship with the three boys but now her mother was not something I wanted to do right now.

"Sorry I fell asleep," TJ said as she made her way towards the table and took a seat next to Rory, placing the cow on the table. "Thank you for leaving Pebbles with me."

"Did Pebbles help you sleep? Pebbles always helps me sleep." Rory picked up her fork and pretended to feed Pebbles pasta. "We made mac and cheese!"

"It smells delicious."

"Do you want some?" I asked. "There's plenty left."

She nodded. "Sure, thanks."

Bringing over two bowls, I placed one down in front of her and took a seat across from the two of them. I dug into my food, smiling as Rory aggressively blew on the piece of pasta at the end of her fork.

"It's still too hot!"

"Here," TJ leaned over and mixed around the pasta in her bowl. "That will help cool it down."

Rory looked down at her bowl, took a bite, and giggled to herself.

"What's got you all happy?"

She raised her head and failed to contain the sounds that escaped her. "Because of TJ!"

TJ looked at me with a furrowed brow before turning her attention back to the child. "What did I do?"

"You're spending Christmas with us!" 

rory's the main character and she knows it.