JC hissed as he shifted, the pain in shoulder pulling him out of sleep quicker. He did a full body stretch - or as much as he could considering his left shoulder was still wrapped and confined to a sling. It became more frustrating with each day that passed, and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to put up with it.

It'd already slowed him down enough. As soon as they'd returned from the courthouse, the guys had forced him to take his pain meds and get in bed. He'd done his best to object, but they had been stubborn. Alice had ended up falling asleep next to him as she'd refused to leave his side and no cajoling from the guys about games and ice cream changed that. He had no idea what'd happened when she was with Gabe, and he doubted he wanted to know. What was obvious was that she'd needed to feel safe and secure, and quite honestly he welcomed her sticking by his side. He hadn't wanted to be parted from her so soon, even if his exhausted body had been begging for some relief. And she'd ended up sleeping almost as long as he had, clearly having needed the rest just as much.

He opened his eyes and turned his head to the left, checking for Alice even though he'd sensed she wasn't asleep next to him. It'd been three days since the court hearing and she'd slept with him each and every night. But yesterday JC had kicked the guys out and put her to bed in her room. Part of him was surprised because he hadn't really thought she would stay there and would climb into bed with him in the middle of the night. Unless maybe she hadn't because she couldn't.

The thought caused panic to bloom across his chest as his fear clenched his heart tightly. It propelled him to get up and quickly cross the hall to the first door on the right where her room was. The door was half closed and for a second as he slowly pushed it open, he had the thought that Gabe's two dumbass friends had broken in and taken her away again. But it immediately vanished as his gaze landed on the bed in the corner of the room where Alice was fast asleep, the butterfly comforter down around her waist.

He sighed in relief, practically sagging against the doorjamb. Adrenaline spurred on by his temporary fear was still running through his body, but it was fading quickly as he reminded himself that the two men Gabe had used to do his dirty work had been arrested. They had confessed to what they'd done - killing Beth and kidnapping Alice - as they'd thought they would get off easy since they'd done both things under Gabe's direction. But with Gabe dead, that left the two of them to take the fall and with their confession they'd earned themselves both a life sentence in prison. There was no danger anymore, any reason to fear that Alice would be taken away from him. She was legally his daughter now.

His daughter. That was a strange thing to say. It was crazy to think that in just mere hours he'd gone from being just a single man who'd been mourning the loss of a dear friend to a single father of her child. He was sure his parents had always wanted grandchildren, but he felt confident in saying they had never imagined it happening like this.

His mother had called the day he'd returned from the courthouse, but he'd been asleep and Justin and Chris had taken it upon themselves to pick up the phone and explain what they could. JC appreciated them trying to help and take some of the stress away from him, but he'd known he owed it to his parents to explain the whole situation to them. So once he'd woken up and had gotten Alice fed, he'd allowed the guys to watch her while he excused himself to his study where his parents had put him on speakerphone and he'd explained everything.

It'd been one of the hardest conversations he'd ever had with his parents, and it was one he'd rather have had face to face. That hadn't been possible though and he'd had to make do with just listening to them. And though he couldn't see them, he'd easily been able to picture their reactions. They'd both been shocked, which was natural. What JC hadn't expected though was hearing the hurt in his mom's voice. She'd been upset that he hadn't bothered to tell them any of this before, especially given that he'd been in danger and shot. That had been totally understandable, but what he hadn't anticipated was that she would be hurt by him not asking her advice on gaining custody of Alice and the impending parenthood that would follow.

He'd felt guilty for not involving them at all and keeping them out of the loop when it was such a life changing decision. It wasn't something he could take back, but he'd tried to make up for it by asking for her opinion on the kinds of things he should stock the house with to make Alice feel comfortable. His mom had been more than happy to comply, and the guys had helped him to execute every idea she'd given him.

They'd helped him grocery shop for all of the foods that Alice would and should eat. It was a big help, but what they'd done to turn the guest bedroom into a room that was strictly hers was huge. In just two days, they'd painted the room a soft purple upon Alice's request and swapped out the adult furniture for something that was more suitable for a child's room. They hadn't allowed him to do much as they hadn't wanted him to risk hurting his shoulder further, but he had talked them into letting him paint the trim and baseboards. He'd been more than grateful for their help, but he'd known it'd be next to impossible to create a new semblance of normal for Alice with them around all the time.

As a result, the house was silent. He didn't know how long it would stay that way though, so he decided to head downstairs and get some time to himself before Alice woke up. It would be important to take advantage of those moments the more he got into a routine with Alice as she would take up a lot of his time. And if there was one thing he'd learned through everything that'd happened it was that it was just as important to take care of himself.

JC walked into the kitchen and paused for a moment, trying to decide what he wanted. He wasn't hungry just then and knew he'd probably eat breakfast with Alice whenever she woke up, so he decided just to make some tea. Maybe he'd take it out onto his patio and enjoy a little bit of quiet time outside before he had to run around after a five year old.

He crossed the room to his stove, picking up the tea kettle before going over to the sink. Once there, he stopped, realizing he'd been in this exact position before. This time the guys weren't there to interfere and he was going to prove that he could do it without their help. So he reached out his arm, only he knew there was no easy way to do this.

Sure he could turn the water on first and then stick the kettle underneath. The problem with that though was that the kettle would get wet and he'd have to try to dry it. Maybe it wasn't a big deal - it's not like water on the outside of the kettle would cause it to burn. What was really the problem was that it was just one of many things he couldn't do the way he usually did. It was keeping him from allowing things to get truly back to normal, and worst of all, it was serving as a constant reminder of everything that'd happened the last few days.

With a frustrated grunt, JC lifted the sling up and over his head before easing his arm out of it. He groaned slightly as the movement pulled on the sensitive muscles. Once the sling was completely removed, he set it on the island. He rolled his shoulder slowly, experimenting with his range of motion and trying to loosen his muscles. Pain spiked and ran down his arm, causing him to grit his teeth as he waited for it to pass.

When it did, he released a deep breath. He stepped forward to make his tea, picking up the kettle with his right hand and moving to the sink once again. He'd just turned the water on with his left hand and was started to fill the kettle when someone spoke behind him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

JC jumped, his hand jerking the kettle out of the stream of water. He shut the water off and turned around, glaring when he realized that not only was Chris standing in the middle of his kitchen but so were the rest of the guys.

"You can't leave me alone for even a day?" JC demanded.

"It's a good thing we didn't. You clearly think you can do whatever you want," Chris said, gesturing to JC's shoulder. The frown on his face conveyed his disapproval.

JC narrowed his eyes. "My shoulder is-"

"Healing," Justin interrupted. His tone was softer than Chris's, but it was clear that all of the guys agreed with his opinion that JC shouldn't have removed his sling.

"I can't keep it in the sling forever," JC argued. "And it's just slowing me down."

"But you know what the doctor said. You have to keep it still longer than you did the first time," Lance said. "If you don't, you can cause serious damage to your shoulder."

With the gunshot wound, he'd had to keep his arm in a sling to prevent pulling on his healing shoulder muscles for a couple days. That had been bad enough, but then Gabe had ripped the stitches and reopened the wound, which also tore at the muscles. It had made the wound much more severe than it'd been when it was just a gunshot wound, and the doctor had stressed that he allow it to heal by leaving it in the sling for a week. Then he would return to have the stitches removed and would begin daily exercises to strengthen the muscles again. If he didn't follow the doctor's orders, he ran the risk of it mending wrong and could end up with limited mobility in that arm. And while he was frustrated, he understood he couldn't allow that to happen.

JC sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I'm just tired of not being one hundred percent."

"We know," Joey said, offering a sympathetic look. While he spoke, Justin stepped up and grabbed the sling off the island, helping JC to put his arm back into it. Joey continued, "But you need to take care of yourself. It's not like you won't have help if you need it."

JC grimaced as Justin lifted the strap of the sling over his head, the movement pulling on his sore muscles. He wanted to object to what Joey said - he knew they would all jump to help him if he asked, but the point was that he didn't want help. It was hard to feel like a proper guardian for Alice if he had to rely on everyone to assist with the smallest, dumbest things. But before he could say all that, Alice scurried into the kitchen.

Even though he was annoyed with the guys, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight of her. She was adorable, especially when she walked in rubbing at her eyes like she was currently. The last few days she'd been getting up later, no doubt working on getting caught up on sleep she'd missed out on at Gabe's. It was something JC hoped would continue because he didn't really want to go back to getting up at six on his days off.

"Hey, sweetie. You want some breakfast?" JC asked her.

She nodded, still looking sleepy. He was going to ask her if she wanted waffles. It was a breakfast he could handle without burning, especially since popping it into a toaster wasn't nearly as complicated as making pancakes.

Again, he wasn't even able to get a word out. This time because Justin asked Alice a question of his own. "You want to help JC make some tea first?"

At once she looked much more awake. "Yeah," she said, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Justin..." JC started to object, only to cut himself off when he saw that Chris was carrying in the plastic step he'd bought for the downstairs bathroom so Alice could reach the sink. He wasn't sure when he'd left the room, but he didn't like where they were going with this. "Chris, you can't-"

But as usual, Chris ignored him as he put down the step in front of the kitchen sink where JC was still standing. He beckoned Alice over to him and she happily stepped up on the purple plastic, looking at them as she awaited her next instruction. Lance had grabbed the forgotten kettle and dried it before pressing it into JC's right hand.

"JC's going to hold the kettle under the faucet and you'll turn on the water, okay?" Lance told her.

JC wanted to stubbornly refuse to participate in what the guys were doing, but he knew that even if he tried he wouldn't get far. He was outnumbered, and what really kept him from fighting them on it was the look on Alice's face. She seemed so eager to help; he didn't want to be the one to take that away from her.

He positioned the kettle underneath the kettle and gave her the okay to turn on the water. They stood there for a few seconds until it was nearly full and he told her to go ahead and turn the water off. Thanking her, he turned towards the stove and placed the now full kettle on top of one of the burners, turning it on.

"Good job," Joey told Alice, holding up his hand for a high five and she obliged him. "You'll have to probably help him out with this small stuff. You think you're up for that?"

Alice nodded enthusiastically. "I can do it."

"Joey," JC started, but Justin interrupted.

"C'mon, Alice. Let's go find some cartoons while these guys make breakfast, okay?"

Alice agreed, letting Justin take her hand and lead her into the living room. JC waited until they had turned on the TV and were settled in front of it before he turned back on the guys, glaring at them.

"You can't put that on her. I'm the one that's supposed to be taking care of her. Not the other way around," he said.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You know that's not what we're saying. It's not like we expect her to drive for you or something. But she's completely capable of helping with small stuff that you're too stubborn to ask for help with - like making tea."

"I don't care. I don't want her doing it. She should just enjoy being a kid."

"But she wants to help," Lance pointed out. "She loves you and she knows you're hurt. This would allow her to feel like she's helping you."

JC opened his mouth to object once again, but Joey cut in before he could. "We know you just want her to be a kid and play, but she hasn't been like that. She's gone through more than any kid should, and you know she acts older than she actually is."

"Joey's right. She's lost both parents in a pretty traumatic fashion, and she'd been put through God knows how many psychic experiments. I doubt she's had much time at all to just play without any worry or fear," Chris said.

That was part of the reason JC was fighting so hard. He wanted to her to be able to relax now and let him handle everything. She was much too young to be dealing with everything that had been thrust on her. He'd already decided he wasn't even going to say anything about the potential psychic ability that she may have. If it continued or she wanted to talk to him about it, he was more than willing to listen. But he wasn't going to bring it up; he wanted her to know she could just let it fall to the wayside...if it even existed.

He was about to argue all that when the phone rang. A groan left his lips before he could stop it, aggravated that he'd been continually interrupted already. It didn't bode well for the rest of the day. He didn't even really want to pick up the phone as the press had just finally quit calling the day before. They'd hounded him for days following the brief statement Johnny had given at the courthouse, but yesterday JC had left the house with Alice, purposely allowing an outing so the press could see her in the hopes that would appease them. It seemed to be working so far, but this could be another interview request. Still, he couldn't ignore it in case it was something important.

It turned out it was Johnny. JC forced himself to hold back a sigh, not really in the mood for this right now. All he wanted to do was have breakfast and hang out with Alice, which would be much easier for once now that the press were no longer camping outside his house. So he skipped right over the small talk and pleasantries.

"What's up, Johnny?" he asked.

"I have someone on the other line that you need to talk to." JC began to protest, not at all interested in talking to any more press. He'd already given a statement. But Johnny quickly cut in before he could get going, "JC, it's Beth's mother."

That made JC pause. He wasn't sure how to respond because he hadn't ever considered he would hear from any of Beth's parents. Beth had certainly never mentioned them, likely still hurt by how they'd treated her when she'd gotten pregnant in college. Now she was gone and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

"I don't want to talk to her," JC said.

Johnny sighed. "JC, please. You should at least hear what she has to say."

JC considered that for a moment before he relented. It did seem like he at least needed to hear what she wanted before he decided if he would continue Beth's silence and lack of contact with her parents. Johnny patched her through then, waiting until it was clear that she was on the line and JC could hear her before he hung up so as to give them privacy.

"JC. How are you, dear?" Beth's mother asked. At the sound of her voice, JC instantly called up a memory of her standing in her kitchen and asking him the very same thing one of those days when he'd gone home with Beth after school. It didn't sound like she had changed at all. He'd always gotten along with her, but given how she and her husband had treated Beth, JC felt obligated to not treat her as warmly as he might have otherwise.

"What do you want, Mrs. Carlson?"

She was silent for a second. "I guess I deserved that. Will and I didn't handle things well when Beth first got pregnant. We realized our mistake shortly after, but we had no way of contacting her. She completely cut us out of her life." There was a long beat of silence before she said, "And now she's gone."

JC frowned at her soft, broken tone. It sounded like she was trying to hold back tears, and he felt some of his own come to his eyes. They'd both lost someone they loved dearly, and it wasn't something they would get over for quite some time.

"We missed our chance to make things right with Beth - to be there for her. But it's not too late for her daughter. Alice?" she asked, sounding unsure if that was the name of Beth's daughter.

JC nodded even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Yeah."

"We want to meet her."

"I-" JC wasn't sure what to say. He could appreciate what she was saying and that they were trying to make amends for how they'd treated Beth. But he didn't know what she would've wanted. Would Beth would have wanted her parents to know her daughter? She'd certainly never taken the steps to make that a possibility before. Unless perhaps she was waiting to get away from Gabe before she reached out to them.

"JC, please. We need to see her. She's our granddaughter. She's already so big, and..." There was a deep breath, like she was trying to collect herself. "We don't want to miss out on anything else."

He felt the pressure to answer right then and to say yes. The way that she pleaded he would seem heartless if he outright refused her request. But at the same time, he wasn't comfortable to agree to take Alice to see them either. He at least needed to think about it.

"I understand, but you have to know I need to do what's best for Alice. Can I get back to you?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied immediately, but he could tell she was disappointed that he hadn't agreed right away. "Please just get back to us."

JC promised he would and after they exchanged good-byes, he got off the phone. He held the cordless handset in his hand and leaned back against the counter. He'd nearly forgotten he wasn't alone in the kitchen when the kettle whistled loudly, jerking him out of his thoughts.

As Lance grabbed it, Joey looked at JC and asked, "That was Beth's mom?" JC nodded, and Joey continued. "And she wanted to do something with Alice?"

"She wanted to see her."

"And you said you had to think about that?" Chris asked, his tone clearly indicating that he didn't agree.

JC glared at him as he put down the handset. "Yeah. So? I'm looking out for her. I have to do what's in her best interest."

"And you think that means keeping her away from her grandparents?" Chris didn't even wait for JC to respond as he shook his head. "You can't do that. She has a right to get to know them."

"Well, Beth never made an attempt to contact them."

"Maybe because she couldn't," Lance said as he placed a mug with a tea bag steeping in hot water at a place at the table before turning back to make one for himself.

JC sat down in front of the cup of tea, picking up the string to the tea bag and began bobbing it up and down in the water as he waited for it to steep. As he did this, Joey sat down across from him and said, "Chris is right. You don't want to keep her away from them. They're family and she's already lost more than any kid should."

"I just want to do what's right - what Beth would do if she were here."

Chris stepped closer and gently squeezed his uninjured shoulder. "But she's not," he said gently. "You're her guardian now. You're the one that has to make the decisions. And years from now when Alice asks, can you really tell her that you knew about her grandparents and kept them from her?"

JC sighed heavily, dropping his eyes to look into his tea. He knew they were right; it would be wrong to keep Alice from them. She deserved to have a chance to know her grandparents. Of course, that was assuming Beth's parents didn't make Alice uncomfortable in any way or give him the idea that they wouldn't be a good influence on her. Though he had a feeling that wouldn't be the case, he knew he had to be cautious...just to be on the safe side. But that meant giving Beth's parents the opportunity to connect with Alice.

"I'll set something up," JC said at last. He looked up at them as he added, "But if anything happens that I don't like-"

"You'll have at least tried," Lance replied.

JC nodded, still feeling a bit reluctant but also resigning himself to what he had to do. It was the right thing, but that didn't meant it was going to be easy. He was anticipating Beth's parents would have a lot of questions for him about Beth - questions that even he didn't know the answer to. Regardless of how things went with Alice, it was going to be an emotional day.

"Dude, don't you have any eggs?" Joey asked, his voice keeping him grounded in the kitchen instead of tumbling through thoughts of grief.

JC blinked and turned to look at him. "Whatever's in my fridge is what I have."

Joey sighed and shook his head. "How are we supposed to have pancakes without eggs?"

"We'll make sausage instead," Chris said, pulling the frozen patties out of the freezer. He gave Joey a look. "They go better with pancakes anyway."

JC sat back watching as Joey and Chris moved through his kitchen, beginning to make breakfast and acting like nothing had happened. Lance had sat down in Joey's seat with his own cup of tea and unfolded the newspaper he must have swiped from his front porch. As much as he hadn't wanted the guys there, he had to admit that they made this whole situation feel more normal. He knew it would get easier and he would eventually be comfortable taking care of Alice on his own, but for now he was glad for the help.

Alice's childish laugh carried in from the bedroom, and JC couldn't stop the small smile from spreading across his face. He leaned back in his chair and saw that she and Justin were sitting on the couch, laughing at something on TV. It was such a sweet sound, and it made her look much more like her age. And he vowed then and there to do what he could to make it happen more.

*************

Chris stood back, allowing himself a moment to look out into JC's backyard take in the scene in front of him. Joey was at the grill, manning the hot dogs and hamburgers, and nearby Roy and Justin took turns putting numerous golf balls on a fake grass mat with a hole in a raised platform at the end. JC and Lance were sitting at the patio table talking, though it appeared JC's attention was only half on what Lance was saying because he kept glancing over at the other end of the table where Alice was coloring with Karen.

It was a picnic atmosphere, even though it was only sixty degrees outside. The whole thing felt strange and unnatural because back in Pittsburgh it was probably only thirty and snowing. He couldn't blame JC for wanting to do a cookout though because they'd all been cooped up inside for the last week with the rain being steady enough that it kept you from wanting to venture out for long. With the sun out the wind didn't seem as cold, but it was already beginning to set and it would get even colder.

Chris moved across the yard and plopped himself down in the chair across from Lance. They both glanced at him, but Lance continued with what he was saying. When he finished speaking, Chris quickly moved in to ask the question that had been on his mind all day, even though the conversation wasn't finished.

"How did it go with Beth's parents?" Chris asked.

"Hey!" Lance objected. "I asked him a question first."

"He doesn't need to answer yours. Mine on the other hand..."

JC sighed and shook his head. "You know, you're like the tenth person to ask me that today."

"Which means I'll probably get the extremely condensed version, but that's okay. I'll pick up whatever you leave out from everyone else," Chris said.

"There's nothing to tell," JC replied. "It went fine. They were nice enough. Alice was pretty shy, but she started to warm up to them towards the end."

Chris sat back in his chair, narrowing his eyes as he took in JC's appearance. Being up close made it easier for him to see the bags under his eyes, obviously tired but there was a haggardness to his appearance that indicated that wasn't all. It was similar to the look he had right after Beth died, only on a smaller scale. He was positive Beth's parents had asked him to tell them everything that'd happened and made him go into details about it - things that he'd been working hard to move on from. Even though it would continue to get easier, there would always be moments where the grief would resurface. It looked like it was still lingering from his meeting with Beth's parents, which had been just hours ago.

JC shrank back from his stare. "What?"

"You okay?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," JC said, giving him a look that said he thought the question was ridiculous.

Chris glanced over at Lance to see if he believed JC, but Lance gave a subtle shake of his head as a signal not to push it. JC had been pretty forthcoming with them about the things he was feeling and thinking as he dealt with everything the best way he knew. So far he'd been handling things pretty well, and they had to trust that if there was anything he really needed to talk about that he'd reach out to one of them.

"Okay," Chris said, letting the subject drop.

A sigh left JC's lips and he slumped back in his chair, seeming happy that he wasn't going to be interrogated. He was relaxed and looked like he could easily fall asleep in just a few minutes. But that was before there was a cry of "Daddy!" and the sound of the chair scraping against the patio's concrete as Alice pushed away from the table.

Chris exchanged a surprised look with Lance across the table. He wasn't aware that Alice had taken to calling JC dad already. Though, one look at JC told him this was the first time she'd done it. He looked shell-shocked, like his heart had jumped into his throat at that single word. Chris knew it was likely because he'd figured she would always think of Gabe as her father, but what he failed to realize was that JC had already been more of a father to her than Gabe ever was.

JC had tears in his eyes, and he cleared his throat, trying to dislodge the emotions that had gotten stuck there as Alice came running up to him. He lifted his right arm, a clear signal for her to climb up into the chair with him. She did so easily but carefully before she proudly displayed the picture she'd colored with Karen.

"It's beautiful, Alice," JC praised, smiling down at her. "You want to put it on the fridge when we go inside?"

Alice nodded enthusiastically.

"Maybe you should take her inside now," Karen said from the other end of the table. "It's getting pretty cold now."

JC rolled his eyes. "She's wearing a coat, Mom."

Karen sighed a little, but she smiled at him. "Okay, honey. It was just a suggestion."

JC looked down at the little girl cuddled up to his side. "C'mon, let's go check on Joey and make sure he's not burning the food."

He wrapped his right arm around her tightly, while she put her arms around his neck and interlocked her fingers. As he got to his feet, he stumbled a bit at the extra weight and they all started to get up to offer assistance, but JC shook his head.

"I got her," he said. Chris had to admit he was managing pretty well for having to deal with his left arm being in a sling. Though he knew JC was counting down the days until he could finally remove it and move onto the next stage of recovery where he could begin exercising those muscles again. Something that would happen in the next day or two, and then he'd have plenty of time to allow his shoulder to fully heal before they got back into the studio and on tour.

They'd decided to finish their open projects before getting into the next album so they'd be more focused. Besides, it would allow all of them to adjust to having a five year old with them.

JC walked off with Alice, bouncing a little and causing her to giggle. Lance got up from the table, saying that he was going inside to get another drink. As he left, Chris looked over at Karen who was still watching JC with a small smile on her face.

"Damn kids. Always think they know best," Chris said, his tone mock serious.

Karen laughed lightly, turning her head away from her son only briefly to glance to him. "He'll learn," she said wisely.

Chris looked over at JC and knew that was true. He'd already come pretty far and it'd only been about a week. The house was completely childproof now, and he was quickly learning what Alice did and didn't like. For not knowing much about kids, JC was doing extraordinarily well. It was like he was meant to have children, and Chris knew that he would be an awesome dad.

He watched as JC let Alice down, and she ran off towards Justin and Roy to announce that Joey was nearly done cooking. Then she bounded back to JC, taking his hand when he turned away from Joey and headed back this way. As they walked, JC swung his arm wildly, making her laugh and him smile widely. It seemed like he was doing whatever he could to allow her that carefree life she deserved, and it was something they were all more than happy to help him with. She'd certainly dealt with more than enough.

When they were within a few feet, they didn't retake a seat at the table like Chris thought they would. Instead, they kept walking and JC said over his shoulder, "In case you didn't hear, food's about ready. C'mon inside so we can eat."

Karen raised a knowing eyebrow at Chris, and he laughed loudly. Things may not have turned out like JC wanted, but it had ended as happily as it could have given everything that'd happened. Adjustments would have to be made on all their parts and there was still a bit of healing that needed to be done - both physically and emotionally - but Chris wasn't worried. For the first time in a while, the future was bright and promising, and things could only get better from here.