After several meticulous hours of surgery, Dr. Feindenberg came out into the waiting area.

Tara looked up hopefully, "How is she? Can I see her?"

The doctor stared down at the ground and began his technical spiel, " We were successful in injecting the marrow, but...because of the high fever, your sister is critical. We are keeping her under very strict observation for the next few hours."

"Critical? What exactly does that mean?" Aj asked. He wanted to know everything, he needed to know.

"I am sorry, you are?" Dr. Feindenberg asked.

"A close friend of the family." Tara interjected, "This is Aj McLean. Aj Dr. Feindenberg, Topaz' cancer specialist."

The two men shook hands and then the doctor continued, " What this means is that Topaz could incur an infection. Her body could reject the marrow so these next few hours are very critical in determining whether the procedure was successful." He left the waiting area leaving Aj and Tara in silence.

"I should go pick up Kayla, if anything happens to Topaz, she'll need me." Tara thought outloud, a look of sheer exhaustion and worry on her face.

"Where is she right now?" Aj asked curiously.

"At daycare. It will take me about ten minutes to get there and back." She got up and grabbed her purse from a nearby chair. She began to walk toward the exit.

Aj walked after her, "Tara, wait. Can I go with you?"

Tara didn't object, she had a feeling she couldn't stop him from coming even if she tried. "Yeah, you can come along."

They left the hospital and were on the road in record time.

Aj looked over at Tara and asked, "So, does she look just like me?"

Tara smiled, "You'll see soon enough." She pulled into the daycare parking lot and turned off the ignition. They climbed out of the car, and walked into the building. It was decorated brightly with murals of Disney characters on the walls. The sounds of children laughing could be heard from room to room and a cute little girl came walking down the corridor toward them. She couldn't have been more than 2 years old, with pale blond hair in pigtails, and cute baby blue eyes. "Da." she said to Aj, holding onto his pantleg.

"Hey cutie, why don't we take you back to your teacher okay?" He said, kneeling down to scoop up the pretty little girl. He walked down the hall until he saw another grownup who appeared to be working there. "I think she was out exploring." he said with a smile.

"Thanks. She loves to run off like that. Don't you, Sarah?" The nice lady said to the little girl. She just laid her head on her shoulder and stared at Aj.

"Bye Sarah." He said waving at the little girl as they walked by.

"You're good with kids." Tara commented as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I love kids." Aj said, still grinning from his encounter with Sarah.

They arrived at the room for toddlers. Tara walked in first searching for Kayla. There was no mistaking her. Aj just stood there with his mouth agape. He didn't need the paternity test. It was clearly obvious that Kayla was his little girl. She was the spitting image of him. The only thing distinguishing her from him was her emerald green eyes. Her mother's eyes, Aj thought. He couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful child walking his way.

"Kayla, I'd like you to meet someone." Tara said to the little girl.

Kayla just stood there looking up at Aj. She cocked her head to one side as if thinking something over. Then she said, "Hi."

He knelt down on one knee before her, so he was at her eye level, "Hi...Kayla. I'm Aj. Nice to meet you."

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