"Don't," he whispered. "I haven't heard this in ages." We lay there listening to the song. It got to the final chorus of the song. Brian's voice was harmonizing with the rest of the Boys. "When the morning comes," he sang on the radio. "When the evening falls. I'll be there, Baby Girl." As his voice sang the words, "Baby Girl," Brian looked at me. He stared at me for a long time. "Baby Girl?" he asked gingerly.

I looked in to his baby blue eyes. Very slowly and softly, I answered, "Yes. It's me Brian."

Brian just stared at me. "But how? Why?" I rolled off of him and grabbed my robe, getting up and wrapping the silk around my body. Brian got out of bed and stepped into his boxers. "Baby Girl," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Please," he begged.

I turned to look at him. "The how was easy. The why is more complicated." I sat down on the edge of the bed and Brian sat down beside me. "When I came home from Hawaii, I received an acceptance letter from the University of Kentucky's Graduate School. They were letting me in. My father had passed away at the beginning of 2000, leaving me with a substantial amount of money."

"How much money?" Brian asked.

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen thousand?"

"Million," I said flatly. Brian's eyes widened and his jaw fell open. "My father was very wealthy. He did a lot when he was younger," I continued. "I don't remember how he got his money, but he was very adamant in the will where it was to go to. He willed the entire estate to me. My mother had died shortly after I was born, so I was the only living relative he had left. My father put five million in a high interest trust account for me. I'm living off the interest."

Brian let out his breath slowly. "But what about the other thirteen?"

I took a breath. "My father had me give one million to thirteen different charities. Places such as the American Heart Association, the Elton John AIDS foundation, VH1's Save the Music, CMN, your foundation."

"But why mine?"

"I was born, as you know, with a hole in my heart, and well, I was saved by the Lord. When you created the foundation, my father was very ill. He made me promise to donate in my name to the foundation as long as I could. He took a big interest in it, especially since I was born at St. Joseph's."

Brian stared at me. "You were born here?"

"Yeah. You were actually in the hospital when I was born." I smiled at him. "My family's estate is northeast of town, in the woods."

"Wait a sec." I saw realization cross Brian's face. "Was your dad Jim Carlson?" he asked.

"Yeah, Jim Junior. My grandfather was Jim Senior."

"You guys are royalty in this town." He then laughed. "And you've never been to the Derby?"

"I've been, when I was younger. I remember the Downs. My father owned several racehorses. When I turned eighteen, I moved to California. My father was sick, but we had the best nurses taking care of him. When he died, I put on 'Millennium'. The music helped me. 'The Perfect Fan' still makes me cry. When I was on MTV with you guys for 'Miracles,' I wanted to cry so badly. My father would have been so proud. He had always wanted me to meet you, but I was never around." I smiled at Brian. I didn't know what else to tell him about my past, so I skipped ahead to my moving. "After I was accepted to UK, I left everything in California, donating it to charity. I had been going down the list over time donating to the various charities. The last ones I had were CMN and yours. When I had donated to the Elton John AIDS foundation and the others, the recipients' jaws hit the floor. So I decided to donate in smaller amounts. I knew I would probably run into you here, so I dyed my hair, changed my outfits, everything, even brought back the accent. The how was easy."

Brian got up and paced the floor. "So it's all been an act then?" He laughed. "You're wealthier than I am, you realize that, don't you?" I nodded. "Why don't you live on the estate? I hear it's huge."

"I wanted to live in town. If you've ever had a big house, you know how lonely it can get when it's empty. I do wanna go back, I'm just not ready yet."

"But it's all been an act though. The accent, everything." He continued to pace.

"On the contrary, I have been my real self."

Brian stopped and stared at me. "But you're not the same Baby Girl I fell in love with."

"And you're not the same B I fell in love with. Face it Brian, we both grew up."

"But why were you so willing to hop into bed with me?"

I closed my eyes. I didn't like to think about my foolishness. "Because I was upset," I told him. "I had just miscarried a baby from my previous boyfriend."

"What?!" Brian exclaimed.

I looked up at the ceiling for a moment. I had never told anyone what had gone on. I was too ashamed. Not even my father knew. "My boyfriend had left me as soon as I had found out I was pregnant. Within days I had miscarried. I was so upset about it that I didn't care anymore. I thought that I could break you and Leigh up and that maybe I would get a chance to get to you. If I didn't get to you, I thought I'd take AJ. I knew I was aiming high, but STDs run rampant where I was living. I wasn't going to go there." I placed my head in my hands and thought for a while. After a long silence, I said, "I would ask you why, but I already know."

"But why the facade? Why didn't you just come back to me?"

I sniffed. I was on the verge of tears. It was breaking my heart. "Because I wanted you to love the real me and I wanted your real love." A few tears trickled down my cheeks. "I knew that you were still in love with Leigh and that was why you jumped into bed with me. I didn't want to be a rebound for you, and I didn't want you be a rebound for me. That's one of the main reasons why I was so 'let's wait' for so long."

Brian kneeled down before me. He placed a hand on my knee. "But you never were a rebound, Baby Girl. I love you. I always have."

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'If you love someone let them go'?" Brian looked into my eyes. Smiling, he nodded. "I guess we were meant to be," I said. "You came back." I couldn't hold my tears in any longer. I started sobbing. Brian got up and wrapped his arms around me.

"Yes, Baby Girl, I came back. I'll always be here for you." He took my face in his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

I opened my eyes and looked into his blue ones. "Would you come with me today?" I asked softly.

"Where to?"

"To meet my family." Brian nodded. I got up and dressed in a dark pants suit. Brian and I then headed to his parent's house so he could change. It didn't take him long, and before I knew it, we were buying flowers, carnations, at a roadside stand. We drove to the cemetery in silence. I led Brian up the tiny hill to where my parents lay. The headstone read:

Samantha Johnson-Carlson 1960-1980
And
James Edward Carlson, Jr. 1970-2000

I laid the red carnations down near the top of the slab of cement. I squatted down and said to the stone, "Momma, I miss you. I wish you could have met Brian. He's such a wonderful man. Daddy, Brian's here. I know you wanted me to meet him. I know you were watching that day, the whole world was. You knew all along, didn't you? You had Momma write in my baby book that I would marry him." I chuckled through the tears that had formed. "I love you Daddy," I whispered.

Brian stepped forward and placed an arm around my shoulder. "Mr. and Mrs. Carlson, I'm gonna take good care of your Baby Girl, I promise," he whispered softly.

A slight breeze rustled our hair and blew through the trees. I looked at Brian. "He'd like that," I said. We stayed there for a long time not saying anything. After a while, I turned away and Brian followed me. "I wanna show you something," I told him. I allowed him to take me home where I pulled out my baby book. We sat down on the sofa together as I flipped through the pages. I stopped about a third of the way through the book. There was a handwritten letter from my parents. Beneath the letter was a note. "My Baby Girl. I know this may sound strange now, but you'll understand when you're older. You're gonna marry Brian Thomas Littrell. No, you're not betrothed. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I hope you meet him. He's a sweet boy. I hope I'll be around to give you to him, but if I'm not, I'll be there, Baby Girl. I love you, Daddy."

I heard Brian gasp at what was written and smiled. "I know why you called me Baby Girl," I said. "He gave you the words. He called me Baby Girl all my life. He knew." Brian placed his hand on top of mine. "He knew B. He knew."

"I meant what I said earlier," he whispered in my ear.

"I know you did, B." I rested my head on his shoulder as I turned the page in my baby book. There was a picture of my mom and dad holding me. It was the only family picture I had. I stared at it and ran my fingertips over it. "Daddy, I love you."

Brian whispered in my ear, "I love you Baby Girl." When he said this, he sounded exactly like my father. A sense of peace filled me. I was finally happy with all that had happened.

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