I was sitting beside her bed, watching some kind of talk show and laughing about how ridiculous the things on it were when the door opened. Figuring it was the nurse to get Alice ready, I was out of my chair before it was fully opened. I was a little surprised to see Shane and Jenny walk in with Ryan instead of the nurse, although I suppose I shouldn’t have been.

“I told you she’d be here,” Jenny told Shane as soon as she saw me, and Shane shrugged, although I could see the residual worry on her face and instantly felt bad.

“I’m s-“ I started, but Shane didn’t let me finish.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” she told me, taking a seat next to Jenny after kissing Alice hello. Ryan did the same, telling Alice how sorry he was that he hadn’t been able to get out here sooner. She waved him away, looking almost normal in doing so. We sat and talked for a little while, and as we did I couldn’t help but think back to the old days once again.

**********

After Ryan had moved in, things had settled into a fairly predictable routine. Things still happened out of the blue, as they do in everyone’s life, but we seemed to know where we were going. There were the usual career and relationship issues, but we all seemed pretty stable in the lives we’d chosen, and I truly believe that the great majority of the group was happy. Al and I definitely were, Shane and Jenny obviously were too, and Bette and Tina were working things out again. They never really got over everything, I don’t think, but they stayed together and tried, and most of the time they seemed happy with that decision. Helena was back with Dylan and things seemed to be going well for them, too.

The kids were great, and everyone made them as much a part of their lives as they could. Not just Charlie and Kallie, but Angelica when she was home on breaks from school and Ryan too, as well as the other kids Shane and Jenny fostered for. Helena’s kids were around pretty often too, and we all adored them just as much as the others.