Frank glanced back at Kevin occasionally through the rearview mirror. Judging from the turmoil written on the young man's face, Frank had come to the conclusion that he really hadn't known what his friend; no, boyfriend, Frank amended; had been up to. Still, Frank wasn't sure where Kevin's loyalties would lie if it came to a showdown. This made him uncomfortable. He'd rather not have Kevin with them when they picked up his daughter.

'His daughter.' There he went again, thinking in terms of possessive pronouns. She was an unknown variable to him, and he had to admit, he was more than a little scared at the prospect of meeting her. Would he feel any kind of connection to her when they met? And would he recognize it if he did? Would she want him for a father? Would he even know HOW to be a father? How does one learn what to do, what to say, or how to react to a child that is yours? He would've loved to have discussed this with his father first before meeting her, but then he would have had to explained how he had a four year old daughter he'd never met. And that would have been one really long talk that they didn't have time for now.

"We're here," Joe announced, swinging the car into the studio's parking lot. He showed the special visitor's pass that Bess had given him some time back, along with his driver's license to the guard at the gate, and then followed the guard's direction to the parking lot. After they got out of the car, the four young adults went through the only available exit, back past the guard. After the guard checked Kevin, Frank, and Nancy's ID's, he placed a call to the soundstage Bess worked on. With a curt nod, he handed them visitor's passes and gave them directions to stage 5A.

As they reached the large building housing the set to Bess's show, Frank paused to take a deep breath. Nancy regarded him carefully.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Hate to admit this, but I'm a little nervous. It's not every day that you meet your only child. Funny isn't it? I'm afraid of a four year old not liking me."

Nancy slipped her hand in his. "You'll do fine. She'll like you. She has great taste. I know these words sound foreign, coming from me of all people, but trust me on this one."

He nodded, then followed Joe and Kevin through the door, still holding Nancy's hand.

Nancy glanced around the soundstage, straining her eyes in search of her daughter. After being separated from her for so long, she could no longer wait to get her hands on Laurie. She wanted nothing more than to pull her daughter into her arms and hold on tight, assuring herself that she was fine and safe from harm. Security personnel wouldn't let them past the viewing area, where tourists had gathered to watch the filming of a scene. She wanted to call out her name, but thought better of it. All visitors had been told to stay quiet when the red light was on, indicating that the cameras were rolling.

Nancy heard the shriek before she actually spotted Laurie. "Mommy!" Laurie came tore herself away from a tall, auburn haired woman who was emerging from near the back of the set, and seemed to be in charge of several small children. She streaked across the building, right through the middle of the set where Nancy could see Bess going through lines with two other actors, and flung herself into Nancy's arms. "You're here!" she shrieked again, peppering Nancy's face with kisses. "Bad Mommy, being gone so long!" she admonished. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Cut!" Nancy heard the director yell. "What was that, Marie? I don’t need the kids out here for another hour. It’s your job to keep them occupied until then. Now we have to do the scene all over again."

"Give it a rest, Larkin," she heard an actor say. "You can't be pleased today, anyway. We've already shot this scene four times, and chances are, you would've made us do it again." He said something to Bess, who was now watching the reunion between Laurie and her mother. Bess's eyes were wide with wonder as she realized that Joe was standing there, and exactly who the pair was that Joe had brought with him. She turned to say something to the actor who had spoke up, then slipped off the set. The actor turned back to the director. "We're taking a fifteen minute break, Larkin. If you don't like it, tough. Figure out how to film without us." Slowly, he sauntered along behind Bess, curious to see who the visitors where who had caused this commotion.

Bess stopped a few feet short of Joe's little group, observing the scene Laurie was creating. Joe had told her that Laurie belonged to Nancy and Frank, but for obvious reasons she hadn't believed him. There was that whole Nancy was dead, after all. Yet here she was, big as life, holding Laurie tightly, with Frank standing uncomfortably next to her.

Nancy pried Laurie loose and looked at her. "Are you okay, sweetie? Mommy's so sorry at having to leave you for so long. I missed my baby."

Laurie nodded. "I'm fine. I'm having fun! That's Aunt Bess," she continued, pointing at Bess, standing a few feet away. "She bought me new clothes and fixed my hair, and took me to McDonald's, and let me be on TV yesterday, and showed me how to do this!" With that final word, Laurie slipped out of Nancy's arms, stepped backwards, threw on hand over her eyes, and with a dramatic cry, "fainted" into a crumpled heap on the floor.

Joe laughed. "Hey, way to go Bess! Now there's a skill that will be useful in life. Every time she gets a bad grade in school, she can faint at the teacher's feet. Get some sympathy."

Frank smacked Joe on the back of the head. "Hey!" he cried. "It might work. She won't know until she tries it."

Nancy turned her eyes toward Bess. "Thank you for taking care of her, Bess," she said. Bess just nodded, unable to quite yet find her voice. "I know that you probably thought Joe was nuts when he told you who Laurie belonged to, and it shows what a good friend you are to him that you still took care of her for so long..."

Bess shook her head. "No, I just thought he made it up to get me to help..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced from Nancy to Laurie to Frank. "Wow," she spoke softly. "She looks just like you Frank! I mean..." her eyes wandered back to Nancy. "Wow." Then, without warning, as if the reality of the entire situation had just hit her, she, too flung herself at Nancy. "You're alive," she breathed. "Really and truly alive! Oh my God! Flesh and blood! This is so great!" She held onto her friend tightly, tears beginning to flow down her face, streaking her makeup.

"Oof!" Nancy cried as Bess grabbed her. She held her friend for a moment, then managed to gasp out. "Ok, needing to breath here. Bess. Please. Oxygen is going to an issue here in a minute!"

"Oh!" she cried, turning Nancy loose. "Sorry," she grinned sheepishly, stepping back to look at her long lost friend again. "It's just that, wow! Alive!"

"And you!" she said turning to Frank. "A father! How weird is that! Not that I can't picture you as a father," she added hastily, "but still. Wow!"

Laurie was watching the interaction between the adults intently, her eyes finally landing on Frank. A perplexed look crossed her small face as recognition settled in. She tugged on the hem of Nancy's t-shirt. "Mommy?"

Nancy was still in the midst of reuniting with Bess. "I'm sorry, Bess, that you spent so much time thinking I was dead. I never meant to hurt anyone. I just didn't think - I reacted. And then I was afraid to straighten out the mess I made and..."

"Mommy?" Laurie tried again.

"...you have every right to be angry with me..."

Laurie frowned, her face beginning to turn pink. "Mommy!"

"No," Bess said. "I can be mad later. Right now I'm thrilled! You're alive! My best friend is still alive!" she clapped her hands like a small child. "I want to celebrate!"

Laurie grew tired of being ignored. Screwing up her pretty features into a full fledge pout, she bellowed out "MOMMY!" simultaneously with stomping her tiny foot down on the toes of Nancy's right foot.

"Ow!" Nancy shrieked. "What was that for, young lady! You know better than to do something like that. That hurt!"

"I'm sorry," she said. "But you wouldn't listen. I know that man!" she pointed to Frank. Frank smiled. She recognized him? To quote Bess, 'wow'.

"Oh, Baby, I'm sorry," Nancy said, kneeling down next to her daughter. "Laurie, I want you to meet someone..."

Laurie cut her off. "He's the Daddy. The Daddy in my picture."

"Yes," Nancy said softly. "Laurie, I want you to meet your father. This is your dad." She turned her eyes up toward Frank's. "Frank, this is your daughter, Laurie."

Frank knelt down beside Nancy. "Hi, Laurie. I'm happy that I finally get to meet you."

Laurie became suddenly very quiet. She pressed herself as close as possible to Nancy and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Her eyes never left Frank's face. Everyone else in the cluster of people became as quiet as Laurie was, holding their breath to see how she reacted.

"Did I scare her?" Frank whispered.

Nancy shook her head as she smoothed Laurie's hair with one hand. "No, I don't think so."

"This is the opposite of the way she reacted to me," Joe observed.

"She's had uncles before," Nancy told him. "So that wasn't so new. But she's never had a father, just a picture of one. All she's talked about since starting preschool is having a Daddy, like a lot of the other boys and girls. And since I never would let her call Kevin or Greg 'Daddy',...." her voice trailed off.

"Right," Kevin said softly. "You're her only daddy, Frank. This is a big thing for her."

The entire group waited quietly for Laurie to say something. Finally, she turned loose of her mother and reached a tentative hand out to touch Frank's face. Frank felt a strange sensation fill his body, something akin to the fluttering of butterflies that started in his stomach and spread throughout his chest. 'Please,' he prayed quietly. 'Please, God. Let her like me. I'll never ask for anything again if you just let her like me.'

"Are you Uncle Joe's brother?" she asked, her fingers, moving across Frank's cheek and stopping on his nose.

"Yes," he said softly, afraid that if he spoke louder, he'd break the spell she seemed to be weaving over him.

"You have hair like me and Mommy," she observed as she gently tugged on a strand of short, wavy brown hair that had worked it's way over his forehead.

"Yes, it's like yours," he said, suddenly understanding the reason Nancy had dyed her hair. To look more like her, no their, daughter. He grinned at the little girl. "I saw your pictures last night, Laurie. I really liked your Halloween costume from last year. The Raggedy Ann one? You were very cute in it."

Laurie's face broke into a grin that mirrored Frank's. She turned to Nancy and spoke. "I like him. Can we keep him Mommy?" At that, the gathered crowd of people broke into laughter and scattered applause.

"Well, Nan," Bess said. "I've got to say this for her. She really has a flair for the dramatics. Ever considered getting her into acting?"

"No," Frank spoke for Nancy as he drew Laurie in for a hug. "Not my little girl. She's going to have a normal childhood, with playmates and school; and later dates and dances and finally college. We're going to keep her feet on the ground and her head out of the clouds, no offense." His eyes met Nancy's. He saw she was smiling. "Right, Nan?"

"Right," she said.

Bess was still smiling. "Well," she said, turning to Joe. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend here," she said, noticing Kevin for the first time, "and we'll give these guys time to be alone." She linked her arm through Kevin's. "How would you like a tour of the lot. I'm sure I can get a few more minutes for a break. Especially if I turn the waterworks on for Larkin." She called back over her shoulder, "You guys can use the dressing room if you want some privacy. Some of Laurie's stuff is in there, anyway, and I'm sure she'll want to take it with her. Marie will show you where it is."

Nancy hung back and followed as Laurie chatted up a storm with Frank. Frank seemed to be completely engrossed by Laurie's every word, and each moment of his attention seemed to be endearing him firmly into Laurie's heart. It was amazing at how quickly a bond seemed to be forming between the two.

In the dressing room, Laurie quickly grabbed up a Barbie coloring book that she had acquired from somewhere and was showing Frank her latest work of art. "I'm going to be an artist when I grow up," she was telling Frank. "And I'll color great big pictures and sell them on the sidewalk like the artists do downtown sometimes."

"You know," Frank said. "Most artists use paints or chalk, Laurie."

"I know," she shrugged. "I like crayons though. They're better." She moved her attention to a Barbie doll. "And this is Superstar Barbie. Bess said it was hers when she was a little girl and she gave it to me. It's got an all pink dress and a diamond necklace, and a ... a ..." she puckered her lips as she tried to grasp the words she'd heard Bess use. "A ward, like what Bess wants to win."

"You mean an award?" Nancy asked.

"That's what I said, Mommy. A ward."

"Oh," Frank smiled. "Not an award, Nan. A ward."

"See," she said. "My daddy gets it!" She gave Frank a big smile.

Nancy laughed. She left Frank and Laurie to continue getting acquainted, while she went in search of Joe and the others. Time was growing short and they needed to head out, if they were going to get to the police station in time to get Detective Rodgers before he was left for the day to do fieldwork on whatever cases he might be on. Rodgers was a detective she'd worked with on missing children's cases here in LA, and she thought he'd make a good choice for Frank's Los Angeles contact. Frank needed to explain his case to the LA police department and get their cooperation in getting a warrant for Greg's arrest and for a thorough search of Greg's home and office, since LA was such not anywhere near Frank's jurisdiction.

She collided with a familiar blond figure as she turned the corner in search of her friends. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" she cried as she realized who she'd ran into.

"No," Ashlee said. "Actually I was just looking for you guys!" She laughed. "Interesting way to find you, though!"

Nancy was slightly confused. "Well, you found one of us. How did you know we were here? And what are you doing here, anyway? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but..."

She laughed. "Joe called me from his cell phone right after you guys arrived. He told me some of what happened to you guys this morning and where you were. We were supposed to have lunch today, so I decided to come join you guys. He said you'd all probably go somewhere to eat before heading back home. I don't have a shoot today, and I would love to meet Bess Marvin, so..." she gave Nancy a smile. ''Joe said Bess was one of your best friends growing up. I don't suppose you'd introduce me to her?"

"Sure," Nancy said. "Maybe between the two of us, we can find the others in this maze."

Finally, after gathering everyone up, Nancy was ready to leave. Laurie clung tightly to one of Nancy's hands; her other small hand was swallowed by Frank's much larger hand. Bess was wishing them a safe trip; after extracting promises from Nancy that she'd come back in a few days with Laurie so that they could begin to catch up on the past five years. Nancy promised to do just that, then slung Laurie's now bulging travel bag over one shoulder.

"Oh, my," she exclaimed when she felt it's weight. "I can tell that you packed this thing, Bess. It weighs a ton."

Frank chuckled. "Yeah, Bess never could pack light, could she?" He kissed Bess on the cheek, promising to return to visit also, the first chance he could get.

Ashlee linked her arm through Joe's and together, with Kevin, they followed the new 'family' out into the bright sunshine of the warm March day.

"My Barbie!" Laurie cried as they reached the car. "Mommy, do you have my Barbie?" Nancy checked Laurie's bag.

"No, Baby, I don't have it."

Laurie twisted her face into a pout. "I want my Barbie," she said.

Frank looked down at her. "There's a Barbie in the backseat, Laurie."

"Not that one. I want the one Aunt Bess gave me." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Pretty please, can't we go get it?"

Nancy sighed. "Welcome to parenthood, Frank," she told him. "Where did you last see it?" she asked her daughter.

Laurie shrugged. "In Bess's room. I put it in my bag there. Do you think she fell out?"

Nancy motioned for the others to go on ahead of them. "We'll go get it," she said. "Just give us a minute." She took Laurie by the hand and started back in the direction they had come from.

"Wait," Frank called out. "You're not going alone. Strength in numbers, remember?"

"I'll go," Ashlee said. "You guys go get the cars and meet us at the entrance." She handed Joe the keys to her car. "I think I'm parked near Nancy's car. If I found the right one, that is. Could you get mine, too? It'll save time."

Ashlee hurried off with Nancy and Laurie as Frank, Kevin, and Joe walked toward the parking lot. Sure enough, Ashlee was parked only 2 spaces over from theirs. "Hmm," Joe mused. "She's pretty good. She's only seen the car once, and that was last night in the dark, and yet she recognized it today. Guess I'm good at finding the women that are smart and beautiful at the same time."

Frank made a face at Joe. "Don't think too highly of yourself that you get a...." his voice trailed off as a watched a light gray van pull out of the lot and turn in the direction of the soundstages. Warning bells sounded in his head. "A gray van..." he said aloud.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"A gray van," Frank repeated. Tossing Kevin the keys to Nancy's car, Frank took off in the direction the girls had went. "I'll be back." He disappeared without another word, leaving Joe and Kevin looking lost.

Frank's heart hammered loudly in his chest as he saw the familiar red haired figure step from the passenger seat of the van. A second man, younger, closed the door to the driver's side and followed Greg into the side exit of soundstage 5A. He put on a burst of speed and went through the front door, which was closer; stopping only to show his visitor's pass to the security guard; then headed straight for the dressing rooms before Greg and his companion got there first.

He was out of breath by the time he reached Nancy and Ashlee. "Thank goodness you guys are alright!" he exclaimed.

Nancy started at Frank's worried face. Her grip on Laurie's hand automatically tightened. "Frank, what's wrong? What are you doing here? And why are you so out of breath?"

"Greg's here," he said. "I'm sure it's him. He just got out of a gray van and he's in the building now." He took Laurie's bag from Nancy. "We need to get her out of here!" He started out the door, looking back over his shoulder to make sure that the girls were following him.