"Shoot!" Nancy cried as she knocked the skillet off the stove simultaneously as the doorbell rang. "Great, now I've made a mess!"

Laurie giggled from her perch at the kitchen counter. "Mommy almost said a bad word!"

Nancy glanced at her daughter "Almost. Not quite - see I caught myself." She sighed as the doorbell rang again. "Kevin, could you please?"

Kevin grinned. "So much for having eggs for breakfast. You really should let me cook. It's never going to be one of your many talents."

Nancy just stuck her tongue out at him as he passed by, then set to work cleaning up her mess.

"I can help," Laurie offered, scooting off the stool.

"No," Nancy said. "It's hot and I don't want you to burn yourself. Go help Kevin answer the door."

"Okay," she said and left the kitchen.

Nancy dumped the eggs and paper towels into the trash can. As she wiped the floor with a damp cloth, she thought wryly that at how correct Kevin was. She was never going to be the world's best cook. Oh well... Tossing the cloth into the sink, she grabbed the egg carton and started over.

*****

Kevin opened the door to find himself face to face with Joe.

"Joe," he said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for..." Joe paused a moment, not sure exactly how much Kevin knew about Nancy's situation. "..Rebecca. Is she home?"

Before Kevin could answer, Laurie came flying past him, straight into Joe. "Uncle Joe!" she cried. "You're here! Did you come to play with me?"

"Sure," Joe said, bending down to pull her into a hug. "You know I couldn't miss out on spending time with my new best girl!"

Laurie giggled and Kevin relaxed. No matter what was going on between his friend and Joe, you couldn't help but be happy for Laurie. She had taken an instant liking to her new uncle, and anyone could see that the feeling was mutual. "Is that why you're here, Joe, to spend time with Laurie?"

Joe released Laurie. Laurie had spotted the basketball Joe had dropped when he picked her up and had now latched onto it.

"For me?" she asked.

Joe started to say yes; then thought of the murderous look that would be in Nancy's eyes if he gave Laurie another toy of any kind so soon. "Actually, that's mine, from when I was in school. I thought maybe you and I could shoot some hoops today."

Laurie bounced the ball once. "What's shooting hoops?" she asked.

Kevin laughed. Joe smacked himself on the forehead. "Well, of course," he said. "I forgot you're only four. You've probably never done that, have you?"

Laurie shook her head back and forth solemnly.

"Well, there's this basket that sits up high, and you have to try and throw the ball in the basket." Joe told her.

Laurie's eyes widened with excitement. "I know that game! Uncle Kevin plays it with me. But you have to lift me up to the basket. 'Cause I'm so short!"

Joe grinned and looked back at Kevin. "Guess I'm here to play basketball then. I did need to talk to Rebecca, too, though."

Kevin nodded. "Okay, but I don't want you getting her upset. She told me what your connection is to both her and Laurie and I know she's confused right now. Just don't make it worse."

Joe agreed. "Sure, Kevin. I don't want to upset her either - it might scare her off. How much did she tell you anyway?"

"Everything," he said. Laurie disappeared inside the house, still holding Joe's basketball. "Don't bounce that in the house," he called after her.

"Including her real name?" Joe inquired.

"I've known that all along," Kevin said.

"Good," Joe said, feeling relieved. "Because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to only call her Rebecca in front of you guys. It just doesn't sound right."

Joe followed Kevin inside. He could here Laurie's voice coming from the kitchen.

"See, Mommy! Uncle Joe brought it. He said it was his in school and we could shoot hoops with it!"

"Did he now?" she asked, glancing up to see Kevin enter the kitchen with Joe following behind him.

"Uh huh? Can I? Please, Mommy?"

"Yeah," Joe chimed in. "Please, Mommy?"

Nancy shot Joe a dirty look. "I am not your mother, Joe. If I was your mother, I would've strangled you before you ever reached the age of 5."

Joe laughed. Walking over to her, he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Good morning to you, too." He turned to Kevin. "She's such a ray of sunshine in the early hours of the day, isn't she?"

Kevin laughed. "That she is. Move over, Rebecca. I'll finish the eggs before you manage to burn the house down. Joe said he needed to talk to you, so you to can go out on the deck for some privacy. I'll send Laurie out to get you when I'm done."

Nancy reluctantly turned over the spatula to Kevin and led Joe outside to the backyard. Soft sunlight gently danced on the grass through the leaves of the trees that bordered the right side of the yard. Laurie's bike lay overturned near the swing set.

"How many times do I have to tell her to put her stuff up when she's done playing?" Nancy sighed.

"I had the same problem as a kid," Joe said. "Mom was constantly after me for leaving my stuff scattered everywhere. I still do, for that matter."

Nancy rolled her eyes at him. "That's not very comforting." She took a deep breath. "Kevin said you needed to talk to me."

"Yeah." he said. Glancing at her face, he grinned. "Don't look so scared, Nan. I'm not here to tell you that I told Frank about you. Although, it did come close to slipping out. I simply wanted to ask for a favor."

Nancy felt herself relax. "A favor?"

"Sure. I told Frank that my friend Rebecca and I would try to track down a couple of those girls who reported their babies missing."

"And how do you propose we do that?" she asked.

"Well, I thought maybe your friend Greg could help. You said he deals with runaways, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe he could cross reference the girls who lost their babies against the runaways and see if anyone matches. If any of those girls have returned home or ended up at a shelter, we could go talk to them. You and me."

"I don't know," Nancy said thoughtfully. "It sounds like shot in the dark."

"It is. But if we come up with something, wouldn't it be worth it? Do it for me, please," he gave her what Ashlee called his best hurt puppy dog look.

"Joe," she began.

"If not for me, then for Frank. You owe him big time, Nan."

She sighed. "I was going to say, yes, you moron. And that was low."

'Hey, whatever it takes," he said matter of factly.

"Did you want to work on it today?" she asked.

"Nah. I wanted to take you and Laurie to the park. Shoot some hoops, feed the birds, have a picnic maybe. Do some fun stuff."

"Well, I guess that's good then because Greg is out of town on business anyway. He won't be back until sometime next week."

"Did he say what day he‘d be back?"

"I don't know for sure - he just said sometime late next week. He travels sometimes, giving seminars to law enforcement, educators, and anyone else interested in working with teenagers."

Joe frowned. "I had really hoped to get on this sooner than that."

Nancy grinned. "I may not be your brother, but I know my way around a computer. If you want, we'll go to the center tomorrow and see what we can find."

At that moment, Laurie stuck her head out the door. "Uncle Kevin said breakfast is ready. Get in here and eat so I can go play with Uncle Joe!"

"Yes, ma'am," Joe said, saluting Laurie. Laurie giggled and disappeared back inside.

"Well you heard her Nan," he said. "Let's go eat. I've got a play date waiting on me!"

*****

By mid afternoon Nancy was beat. She sat sprawled on a quilt in the grass next to the basketball court, watching Kevin and Joe play with Laurie. Kevin had decided to join them since Greg was gone. He said it beat sitting around and watching TV all day. He was right. She couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed herself this much.

"Oof," she said as the ball hit her on the shoulder. Laurie was giggling.

"Sorry, Mommy," she said.

"It's ok sweetie," she said, tossing the ball back onto the court.

Laurie caught it by literally falling over it. As soon as she had it firmly in her arms, Joe grabbed her around the waist and scooped her off her feet. He swung her around, amidst more giggles and lifted her up toward the goal. She tossed the ball at the hoop, and watched as it hit the backboard, then bounced into the basket."

"Yay!" she cried. "I got another one!" She reached out one tiny hand up and high-fived Kevin.

"She shoots! She scores!" Joe crowed as he brought her back down to the ground. "And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you play the game!"

Laurie ran off the court and plopped into Nancy's lap. "Did you see me, Mommy? Did you see me? I scored!"

"You certainly did," Nancy said, proudly ruffling her daughter's hair.

"I'm good!" she announced.

"You sure are," Joe said, dropping down next to them. "We'll have you playing professional basketball in no time!'

Laurie looked at him for a moment, so Joe added, "like the guys on TV.'

"Oh," she grinned. "Yeah. Like the guys on TV."

Kevin bent over and dropped the ball onto the quilt. "Are we taking a break?" he asked.

"I know I am," Nancy said. "Keeping up with the three of you requires more energy than I have."

Kevin smiled. Joe tilted his head toward the refreshments stand someone had stationed near the edge of the park. He nodded back.

"Laurie, why don't you and I go see if they carry ice cream over there. It seems like a perfect day for ice cream, don't you think?"

Laurie's eyes lit up. "Ice cream! I love ice cream!" She turned to Joe. "Come with us, Uncle Joe!"

"I'm going to sit here and keep your mom company," he said. Laurie's face broke into a pout. "I won't go anywhere, I promise. You can bring me back something with chocolate in it."

"Ok," she said slowly. "But you better still be here." With that, she took Kevin's hand and began to tug him in the direction of the refreshment stand.

"What are you doing tonight?" Joe asked.

Nancy looked at him, surprised. "Renting movies to watch with Laurie, like I usually do on Saturday night. Why?"

"I thought maybe you might want to go out with me tonight. Have some dinner, see a movie, maybe go out dancing a little." He watched her expression carefully. "Not like a date or anything," he added hastily. "Just two old friends, getting the chance to reconnect. You catch me up on the last five years of your life and I'll catch you up on every one else's."

"I've already told you everything there is to know about mine." Nancy said.

"No," Joe replied. "You told me how you managed to pull off your disappearing act. I want to hear the everyday stuff - like what it's like to be a mom, what Laurie's first words were." He stopped. "Share with me and I'll update you on your friends' lives."

She hesitated for just a moment. "I know a little about my friends' lives already."

"Really? Like what?" Joe asked.

"Well," she took a deep breath. "I know that my dad finally remarried three years ago. George opened a gym with her boyfriend last year in River Heights and that supposedly it's quite successful. Bess is here in LA, doing quite well acting. I watch her show every week. Ned is now married to a girl he met in college and has twin boys. Frank joined the NYPD and made detective already last year. I think I heard that Callie married one of your other friends, although I can't remember which one. Your friend Chet bought the pizza place that you guys liked to hang out at when the owner retired. Vanessa is still single and is working in graphic design. She's probably waiting for you to come home, you know. That's one girl that was head over heels in love. And you," she finished, "have been in LA for two years dabbling in modeling."

Joe looked stunned. "How did you know all that?"

She shrugged. "You think I wanted to leave everything behind? By keeping up with your lives, I felt like I was holding onto a tiny piece of my own. Besides, you talk to Kevin on shoots, and he talks when he gets home. It didn't take long to figure out who this Joe guy was based on the tidbits Kevin dropped."

"You knew all along I was in LA! What kept you from leaving? Especially since I was working with your roommate from time to time. It was only a matter of time until I ran into you!"

"Maybe some part of me wanted you too. The part of me that tried to go home once before but chickened out. I figured if fate meant for it to happen, then it would."

Joe glanced up at the clouds. "Then you won't mind if I tell Frank that you're still alive. And that I know where you are."

Nancy lay back on the quilt and stared up at the clouds. "Look at that one," she said, pointing at the fluffy white ball of cotton floating in the cerulean blue sky. "It looks a little like a bird, doesn't it?"

Joe lay back next to her and searched the sky. "I don't know," he said. "Looks more like a turtle to me." He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. "You didn't answer me. Always trying to change the subject."

She sighed and looked up into his eyes. "You know that old saying? How you're not supposed to burn your bridges behind you. Well, I not only burned my bridges, but I feel like I scattered the debris over a ten mile area. I still love him and I know how much it's going to hurt him when he finds out what I did.

"Try a 2,500 mile area," he said.

"You're not helping here," she said sarcastically.

"Look, I know a little bit about those bridges of yours. Anything that has been destroyed can be rebuilt with a little time and effort. I wasn't very helpful once before when you needed me. Let me help now. I can pave the way for you to rebuild those bridges."

"Give me a few days to get used to the idea of going back, Joe. Then I'll call Frank myself and tell him everything."

"Deal," he said. "So how about going out with me tonight? Ashlee's out of town visiting her mother and I'm going to be all by myself."

"You could keep Kevin company," she pointed out. "He's going to be home alone this evening too."

"Not likely," Joe said making a face at her. "Let him baby-sit Laurie. C'mon. You know you can't say no to me. No girl ever turns me down when I ask her out!"

"Oh, brother," she started. Joe grinned.

"No, I'm not yet, but if I have my way, I will be. Brother-in-law that is. So how about it?"

"I don't know..." she started, but didn't get to finish. Joe had sat up and leaned in over her, fingers outstretched.

"Sorry, Nan, but I have to do this. Any girl that says no to Joe Hardy has to get tortured." With that he placed his fingers just below her rib cage and started to tickle her.

"Oh, STOP THAT!" she screeched, laughter bubbling up inside her. "Cut it out, Joe. Okay, okay, I'll go with you. Just...stop...tickling...me!" she tried to roll away, but Joe caught her.

"Promise," he said, still tickling her.

"Yes," she managed to get out between fits of laughing. "Just let me go!"

"Oh," Laurie's voice cried. "Tickle time! It's tickle time! Let me help, Uncle Joe! I know where to tickle Mommy the most!"

Laurie shoved her ice cream into Kevin's already overflowing hands. She pounced Nancy from the other side and joined Joe.

"I give up," Nancy cried. "Waving the white flag here! Enough! Have mercy!"

Joe fell back onto the ground, laughing. Laurie landed in his lap. "That was fun!" she said.

"Yes it was!" he said, putting his arms around her. Kevin reached down to hand first Laurie, then Joe, their ice cream.

Nancy sat up and glared at Joe. "That was so not fair." she said, her face still red from laughing.

"That's life," he said, winking at her. He reached over and picked a stray twig out of her hair.

"I'm never letting you near me again," she said as Kevin handed her a vanilla ice cream cone.

"Sure you will," Joe said. "Cause I'm family. You'll forgive me before the sun sets." He grinned down at Laurie and she grinned back.

Nancy took a bite of her own ice cream as Kevin sat down beside her. Joe was still a hopeless nut!

"So, did I miss something?" Kevin asked, feeling slightly left out. Nancy's eyes met Joe's and they both started to laugh.