"Hey," I called to him, "Are you lost?" I asked him.

"No, I heard a girl named Ali takes in runaways and I'm looking for her
house," he told me.

"Well, lucky for you, you found her. I'm Ali," I said shaking his hand.

"Timmy," he replied quietly.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Six," he yawned.

"Well, come on in. My family will take care of you," I said smiling. He
smiled back and nodded. We walked inside and I took him up to Mary's old room.

"You can stay in here. The real shelter's in the basement, but you'll be
my special little guy," I said and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you," he said shyly.

"The only requirement is that you call your folks in a few days," I said
pushing his nose in.

"My parents died, my uncle hit me so I came here. I saw it on the TV," he
told me.

"I'll get it all figured out for you. Don't worry," I patted his head, "Do you want to sleep with me and Nick tonight?" I offered. I knew how comforting it was to sleep with other people when I was little. I thought he'd feel the same way.

"Could I?" he asked.

"Yeah," I smiled, "C'mon," I said picking him up. I carried him to mine and Nick's room.

"Nick, we have company for tonight," I said opening the door. Nick was in
his boxers and watching TV.

"And who's this little guy?" he asked.

"I'm Timmy," he said quietly.

"Hop on in Timmy!" Nick encouraged. The boys watched TV while I got
ready for bed.

"Ali's really nice," Timmy said shyly.

"Yeah, but you haven't met Turn or Kat yet. They're our kids, you'll love
them," Nick told him.

"Can you and Ali not send me back? I don't ever want to go back. My
uncle hits me," Timmy requested quietly.

"We'll figure that out later," I said coming out of the bathroom. We all got in bed and fell asleep.

The next morning I was up at 6. I made sure everything was ready for
strangers who came to my door. Kat and Turn were up bright and early to play playstation.

"We have a new guest," I told them, "His name is Timmy and I want you two to be nice to him," I told them putting breakfast on the table, "C'mon
breakfast!" They ran in the kitchen and began to eat.

"Daddy's taking us to the studio today," Turn announced.

"Well, you guys be on your best behavior while your there," I told them.

"Morning," Nick grinned with Timmy on his shoulders.

"Morning," I replied and kissed him lightly. Nick sat Timmy down by Kat
and Turn, "What do you want for breakfast?" I asked.

"I'll fix it this morning," Nick volunteered.

"Cereals fine," Timmy said not wanting to put us to work.

"Okay, cereal...at least I can't burn that," he laughed fixing a bowl.

"Mommy, when we get famous are we still going to have the shelter?" Kat
asked.

"Most definitely," I grinned at her.

"So, what're we going to do today?" Nick asked putting the bowl in front of
Timmy.

"Daddy!" Kat yelled, "You said we could go to the studio!" she whined.

"Oh yeah, we'll go," he smiled. Kat looked mad, "Oh c'mon Kathleen, don't be mad at me. The tickle monster will get ya," he said taunting her.

"Okay, okay," she said not wanting Nick to turn into the "Tickle Monster."

"So, Timmy, you like playstation?" Turn asked.

"Love it," he replied.

"Wanna play?" he offered.

"Yeah," Timmy said getting excited. They ran off and Kat followed behind.

"We have such great kids," I commented.

"Yeah," Nick sighed, "So, Mrs. Carter...when do we get to celebrate?" he asked and pulled me into his lap.

"If Timmy sleeps in his room tonight then tonight," I smiled as he kissed my neck. He massaged my shoulders, "Thanks," I smiled back at him.

"You're so beautiful," he smiled at me.

"You're not so bad yourself," I grinned, "You better get dress and get to that studio before Kat throws a fit."

"Yeah, I'll be down in a few minutes," he kissed my cheek and went
upstairs.

"Okay kids, time to get ready, your dad's gunna take you," I said to the
children. The kids and Nick soon left. They even took Timmy along. I checked in guests to our shelter all day long and we were halfway filled by nighttime. The kids had a slumber party in Turn's room.

As planned me and Nick had our own little celebration after the kids fell
asleep. I felt guilty they were there, but I couldn't kick them out and hey,
Nick's a guy after all. We both got dressed right away just incase someone had a bad dream. Then we just layed in bed.

"I'm gunna love you for always," I whispered to him.

"Same here," he smiled. The doorbell rang, "You stay here, I'll check them in." I heard Nick talking to the person. I knew the voice and he shouldn't
have been there. I had a gut feeling something was wrong. The next thing I knew I heard a gun shot.

"No," I said quietly. I ran out of my room quickly. I grabbed the cordless and called Brian, "Get over here now!" I said worried. I ran to where the
shot sound came from. I opened the door scared.

"Al," Nick whispered holding his chest.

"Nick," I gasped. There was blood everywhere.

"Al, thank you for loving me. Tell Kat and Turn I love them," he said as I pulled him in my lap.

"The isn't how its suppose to be!!! I love you and you love me and we're
suppose to be together forever," I cried.

"I love you Al," Nick whispered. He kissed my lips softly and closed his
eyes and fell into his eternal sleep. He was gone. I pulled him closer to me and cried. Nick had died in my arms.

"Al, what's...oh Al," I heard Bri come in.

"He's gone," I looked up at him tearfully. The worst thing was Dan had
done it. I knew it was coming from the second I heard his voice.

Brian called an ambulance and they came and got Nick. I cried watching
them take him away.

I went up to the kids room and explained what happened. We all cried all
night long together. Even Timmy. I received thousands of sorry gifts and
pictures of Nick that people had taken. I knew they thought that would help me, but it only made me cry more.

For the rest of my life I never dated or tried to love anyone every again. Timmy stayed with us. I raised them in the same house and still ran the
shelter.

After I retired it was made a memorial. My kids grew up and had families of their own. I lived a sad life. Nick was the only love I had had my whole life. And now I'm old. I will see him in a few minutes.

I knew Nick for 6 years. I spent 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days actually with him. I wasted so much time with stupid arguments, but now my wait for him is no longer. It is my turn. Now for my eternal sleep, but I will never forget my last night of love.