Matt came in silently.

"Hi, Babe," Catherine said softly.

"Hi, Honey," Matt sighed, kissing her cheek.

"How do you feel?" Cath frowned, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Same as yesterday."

"And how did you feel yesterday?"

"The same as the day we lost him," Matt mumbled, shoving his lunch in the fridge.

"I'm sorry, Hon," Catherine sighed. "I know this has been hard for you."

"Have you seen my laptop anywhere?"

"On the coffee table."

"Thank you," Matt said, briskly picking it up and heading toward their room.

"Love you too," Catherine mumbled sarcastically under her breath. "God, he drives me crazy sometimes."

"Lotte d-drives me craz-zy," Logan sighed from the doorway. "Is Daddy s-still s-s-sad?"

"I'm afraid so. Maybe send your sisters in. He's got a soft spot for them."

"I g-guess that makes us t-the o-outcasts."

"Something like that," Catherine chuckled.

—————

"Daddy!" Lizzy squealed, running into her parents' bedroom. "Daddy, come play."

"Not right now, Darling."

"But I want to cheer you up," Lizzy pouted.

"I know, baby. But I gotta do something important today."

"That's what you say every day," Lizzy frowned.

"Today's different," Matt said slowly. "I gotta say goodbye to something."

"Fine," Lizzy sighed, running off to play with her sister.

Matt grabbed a bouquet of roses from a nearby vase and wrapped them in some sackcloth. "I'll be back in about an hour, Cath."

"Mhm," Catherine hummed, not paying attention as she read a book.

Matt slipped out the door and made his way to the opera house. Slowly, he made his way down to the old apartment, only to find Amy reading Emma by Jane Austen on the couch.

"This crap is in a foreign language!" Amy mumbled, turning the book upside down.

"Amelia," Matt stammered, "what are you doing here?"

"I came here to wait for Daddy," Amy said casually, "like I do every day."

Matt leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Never lose that optimism, jelly bean."

Amy shut her book and set it beside her. "No one else thinks he's coming back...do they?"

Matt shook his head. "I'm afraid not, kid."

"That's alright," Amy said with a little sigh, taking Matt's hand. "I know he'll be back."

"I hope so, jelly bean," Matt sighed.

"Come in," Amy nodded, leading him to Josh's old apartment. "I'll show you."

"Show me what?"

"Me and Daddy's room we built."

Matt smiled sadly. "Alright."

Amy stood on her tippy toes and unlocked the door to the dark room before flipping a switch. A small city of cardboard revealed itself across the floor, a twinkling light in each window. An entire scale model of the city.

Amy stepped gently over the Eiffel Tower and sat in the middle of it all. "Come."

"What's all this?" Matt chuckled.

"France," Amy said softly. "Look." She pointed to the train station and tugged her socks on tighter. "This is where the pirates took him, right? So, there's three exits."

"So he could have gotten away," Matt nodded.

"So they could've taken him to the docks," Amy said, leaning over to a small sailboat pond made of construction paper. "Or the warehouse."

"How observant."

—————

"Mommy?" Lizzy said softly. "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, Sweetheart. I was just looking through some old pictures," Catherine shrugged.

"Is that Aunt Charlotte?"

Cath nodded. "Fifteen years ago was when she died."

"You must miss her," Lizzy frowned thoughtfully.

"I do," Catherine sighed. "But hey, don't tell Daddy about this, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want Daddy to feel like he has to comfort me. I can deal with it on my own."

"Alright...but I can comfort you, right?" Lizzy said thoughtfully.

"Of course, Sweetheart," Catherine chuckled, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "I love you, kid."

"Mommy?" Lizzy asked slowly. "Amy doesn't have a daddy anymore."

"I know," Catherine frowned. "I didn't either. I know what it's like...I feel bad for her."

"I'm not going to lose my daddy, am I?"

"Of course not, Sweetheart," Catherine sighed, kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Then could Amy borrow my daddy sometimes? When she gets sad?"

"If she wants."

"Can Aunt Mariah come for dinner? Maybe she can borrow daddy too."

"I don't think it would be the same, but sure," Catherine chuckled.

"Uncle Josh is dead, isn't he, Mommy?"

"We...don't know for sure," Cath said slowly, pulling Lizzy onto her lap. "But they're trying to figure that out."

—————

"And so today, Daddy went to the moon," Amy blabbered as the came inside. "And he fought all the moon monsters away. The end."

"Josh never told me about that one," Matt chuckled.

"And then one time we fought dinosaurs and they ate his toe."

"Wow. That's fascinating."

"And then today I think he was fishing...yes, today was fishing."

"He wasn't fishing," Lizzy mumbled. "He's dead."

Amy's eyes filled with injury and her head snapped to her friend. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Lizzy said quickly. "Lotte, Logan, Amy's here!"

Lotte immediately ran over and embraced her friend. "Hi Amy," she grinned.

"Hi Lotte. I brought those dolls you wanted."

"Let's go play!"

"I don't feel like playing right now," Amy shrugged. "Do you want to play a board game or something?"

"Like what?"

"Monopoly Junior is her favorite," Mari said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Okay," Lotte nodded, dragging Amy off.

"Hey," Matt said hugging Mari. "How are you?"

Mari smiled weakly. "As well as can be considered. I haven't slept in weeks."

"I haven't either," Matt sighed.

"I miss him," Mari frowned.

"I know," Matt mumbled. "It's so-"

"Quiet?" Mari sighed, pulling at her sleeves. "I know. Hi, Cath. How are you?"

"Don't get me started," Catherine sighed.

"I've been think about it, Matt...and I think I will take Josh's job, if I'm qualified. I won't live off pity."

"The job is yours," Matt nodded.

Catherine quietly slipped away to the kitchen. "How's the ricotta looking?"

"I t-think we can put m-more noodles on," Logan nodded.

"Perfect," Catherine grinned. "This is going to be my best batch of lasagna yet."

"Can I help, Cath?" Mari asked softly, entering the kitchen. "I feel bad about not being able to bring anything."

"I've made enough for twenty. Don't worry about it," Catherine chuckled.

"It looks amazing. Thank you. Thank you, Logan. Amy's out there, if you want to go play. I'll help your mother."

"Is Lotte out there?"

"Yes."

"Then no, thanks."

"Suit yourself," Mari chuckled.

"The twins got in a fight because Lotte said that it was wrong for the Phantom to mislead Christine in the Wandering Child scene," Catherine explained.

"God in heaven, you're all obsessed," Mari sighed, shaking her head.

"Says the woman who just quoted the musical," Catherine chuckled.

Mari gave a little wince and reached into her bag, grabbing some Advil.

"Are you alright?" Cath asked with concern.

"Just headaches. Like I said, I haven't slept," mari sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. We get by. She starts school next week...I just thank god it was negative."

"What was negative?"

"I took a pregnancy test," Mari shrugged.

"Are you absolutely sure it was negative? The last time you were pregnant, you thought it was negative when it was really positive," Catherine recalled.

"I'm sure this time," Mari chuckled.

"Okay," Catherine nodded, "good."

"Besides, I didn't want it last time. This time, it would have been all I had left of- well, you know what I mean. It's just me and Amy now."

"Well, I'm always here. I can help out whenever you need," Catherine smiled.

"Thank you, Cath."

Logan gave a small sigh and ran off. He went into Lizzy's room, only to find her watching something on their mother's iPad. "Are you watching what I think you're watching?"

Lizzy nodded. "Come watch with me. You haven't missed much. It's only at Angel of Music."

"Okay," Logan sighed, sitting beside his sister.

—————

Amy grabbed Matt's hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Matt chuckled.

"I want you to unlock it," Amy said with hopeful eyes. "Mommy locked it and I haven't been in since."

"Unlock what?"

"Daddy's old apartment," Amy said with a shameful look in her eye.

"Alright, Sweetheart," Matt smiled. "How about this? I'll unlock it tomorrow. It'll be the first thing I do when I get to work."

"Okay," Amy grinned.

—————

Josh held the drawstring back to his chin, his elbow lifted slightly for maximum power. He let the arrow slide quickly through his fingers and pierce a computer screen, sending millions of sharp fragmentation flying through the air. "Omega is down. Heading for Beta."

"Taylor, report to the main office immediately, and stop your shenanigans. Those aren't even the real practice targets," came a man's voice in his ear piece.

"But I looked awesome, didn't I?" Josh mumbled, grabbing his arrow. "A mission, they said. And I get stuck thirteen hours a day behind a laptop."

"Taylor, now!" The man's voice said sternly.

"Fine," Josh sighed, setting his things aside and fixing his tie. He made his way quickly to the office. "What?"

"I'm pairing you up with a partner. A girl. Master computer programmer. Even better than yourself," the man nodded.

Josh scoffed. "I don't need a partner."

The man behind the desk rolled his eyes. "Come in, Miss Daei."

The girl entered slowly, sauntering inside the office. "Hello," she said coldly, hoping that her act was good enough to fool this newcomer.

Josh gave a little salute and stared at his shoes.

"Miss Daei, you are to assist Mr. Taylor on a mission," the man said, reclining in his chair.

"I work alone," the girl spat, trying to maintain her 'chip on the shoulder' facade.

"Yeah, well, so do I, kid," Josh spat back.

"Which is exactly why I'm placing the both of you on the same mission. I think you could both learn a lesson or two," the man grinned, propping his feet on the desk. "You'll start now. Miss Daei, lead Mr. Taylor to your office."

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, swiveling on her heel. "Keep up because I'm not turning around."

"I know where your office is," Josh muttered, shoving past her.

"Apparently not," Miss Daei smirked, stopping at a door and producing a key. "It's in here, Isaac. Keep up."

"What did you just call me?" Josh frowned.

Miss Daei's smirked vanished as they stepped inside the somewhat large room. "Nothing. I said to keep up."

"Right," Josh said, furrowing his brow. "Curious name...Daei. I have a friend by that name."

"Oh?" The girl replied, trying to slow her heart rate. "What's their first name?"

"Cath," Josh sighed. "She's friends with my wife."

"Cath...short for?"

"Catherine," Josh said slowly.

"Oh, wow," Miss Daei whispered, laughing nervously. "Is it unbearably warm in here to you?"

"I'm always cold," Josh mumbled, playing with his wedding band.

"Catherine...that's...that's gotta be my sister," Miss Daei breathed. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've properly met. I'm Charlotte."

"Charlotte?!"

The girl nodded.

"No," Josh stammered. "No way."

"What?"

"Y-you're dead."

"Clearly, I'm not," Charlotte chuckled.

Josh went to say something else but stopped himself. Instead, he pointed at her with an accusing finger. "Do you have any idea what she's been through?! The pain she's had to endure?! How could you? To your own sister? To your own mother and family!"

Charlotte looked down in shame. "I didn't have a choice. They wouldn't have been safe."

"Theres always a choice!"

"I was sixteen and stupid and I didn't have a choice. You weren't there, so you can't say that there was," Charlotte spat. "You don't know what I've been through."

"You don't get into this mess at sixteen," Josh said, grabbing her arm, "unless you choose to be here."

Charlotte quickly twisted out of his grasp, spinning his arm behind him and holding his wrist between his shoulder blades. "I was recruited and betrayed. I lost my two best friends. My life has been a living heck. Don't mess with me, Taylor."

Josh swept her legs out from under her and pinned her to the floor. "Don't talk to me about losing people. Don't."

Charlotte swiftly grabbed him by the arm, throwing him to the floor beside her. "Let's just get the job done and go our separate ways."

"Fine by me," Josh muttered, getting up and brushing himself off.

"Is she at least happy?" Charlotte sighed, getting up herself as she tried to hide the tears in her eyes.

"I wouldn't know," Josh mumbled, heading toward the desk and sitting down. "I haven't been home in about three months. Besides, Lizzy's giving her a run for her money."

"Lizzy?"

"Oh, right sorry. Um, Matt- Matt's my best friend. He married Cath. and now, there's a...a Logan and a Lotte- those are the twins- and a Lizzy."

"Matthew Collins," Charlotte chuckled sadly. "My best friend married a guy named Matt. She died years ago, though. So did her husband."

Josh looked up, his green eyes sparking with what could only be described as a panic in the bottom of his chest. "Right, then," he said, clearing his throat and flicking the computer on. "Where to start, eh?"

"We have to tap into the main system."