Wesley home, mid Sunday morning.

"Nigel, please stand still," Nancy Wesley pleaded with her fifteen month old adopted son as he tried to scoot away from the bath tub.

"Noooo," the little blond boy says, seeing something of interest on the other side of the room, something he would like to play with rather than finish drying off after his bath.

"Nigel, if you don't stand still, I promise you, there will be no playtime at the park this afternoon," Nancy tells him in a tone meant for toddlers.

Nigel stops his movements, knowing it would not be pleasant to be couped up in the house rather than at the park. "Kay," he says, admitting her victory, his defeat.

Nancy smiles and hugs the little boy before she finished drying him off, wrapping the towel around his body. Picking him up, she walks him out of the bathroom through the hall to his bedroom, hearing Chloe's voice on the way.

That girl was always singing. And it always managed to bring a smile to her face.

"Doesn't your sister's voice sound absolutely beautiful," Nancy asked her son as she moved into his room, setting him atop his changer.

Nigel simply giggled.

Putting baby oil over his skin, Nancy listens for Chloe's voice in the background, but doesn't hear it. A second later, the young woman walks in.

"Hey Nigel," Chloe greets her brother. She had been amazed when Craig and Nancy had told her at the end of her Sophomore year that they were adopting a child, not ever taking the time to have one of their own. It was at that same time that Craig had taken her to side for a private conversation.

"So, how do you feel about this," Craig had asked after Nancy had suspiciously disappeared from the room.

Chloe simply shrugged, not seeing it her business to interfere with their business. This was just a temporary stop in her life. After she graduated, she'd move on, find something new, hopefully get to sing professionally. What right of it did she have to tell them whether or not to adopt a child.

"You know, it was my fault we've never had a child. Nancy would always ask and I would always hold her off, telling her next year, and then the next, and then... Then, it just became understood that we would wait until the time was right."

Chloe sat still, listening.

"We started trying a little before you came. Then we started seeing the doctors, the experts on fertility, on and on, more and more. They basically told us we had waited too long. Some women are fertile all of their adult life, but others... Well, Nancy fit in that category." Craig sighed, this being hard for him. "I should have just taken a year off, had a child with her, made her happy. I waited too long and now it's too late. That's why we're doing this."

"You don't have to explain anything to me Craig. I'm sure you and Nancy will make great parents." She watched as Craig nodded, seeming to be in great thought over something.

"Well, you know that this child will have my name, Wesley."

Chloe nodded her understanding, "Yeah. So what?"

"So," Craig stalled. "So, I want you to have it too."

They both sat in silence, him waiting for her reaction, her trying to find one.

"I don't really know what to say," she began.

"Not trying to rush you. It's just that...Well, you're Nancy's little girl, the only one she has and...well, I want you to be mine too." Placing his hand over hers, he finished, "Just think about it."

She had thought about it for weeks, neither of them asking for an answer. She'd finally told them at dinner one day that she would be okay with it, tyring to sound as far connected as she could, though she was secretly flying. She would finally belong somewhere.

But even today, standing here as a Wesley, as a part of a group, a family, she had never felt so alone in her life.

Nigel clapped his small hands together, excited at his sister's presence.

"Here, I'll finish dressing him. Mrs. Weston from the Hospital Board just called. She says there's a small emergency that needs to be taken care of right away."

"Oh no," Nancy groaned. "I was going to spend the whole day with Nigel. I feel like I've been neglecting him, what with all the fundraisers and charities I've been organizing at the hospital, coupled with the business meetings and society dinners--"

"Nancy, just go," Chloe laughed. "I'll take Nigel to the park. And you can probably meet us there later. How long could the emergency take to fix," she asked, already knowing that it could take up the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon.

"Thank you Chloe. And don't forget to take my cell phone with you. And don't forget to give Nigel his lunch. And don't forget--"

"I won't! Now go," Chloe said sternly, pointing towards the door. Giving Nigel one last hug and kiss goodbye, Nancy left the room.

"How do we live with her everyday," Chloe asks Nigel jokingly while the little boy smiled.

Salem Park, later that afternoon.

"Oh come on Shawn, that was the easiest pass I could throw you," Phillip hollered.

Shawn retrieved the football from the bushes it hand landed in, cursing Phillip's ability to throw.

"Phillip, don't be mean," Belle said, watching from a blanket with Ginger Holly, Phillip's newest girlfriend since Ashley had been out with the flu. Poor girl, sick and dumped.

"I think he has a great talent. It's not his fault Shawn can't catch," Ginger said sweetly.

Belle restrained herself from saying anything, knowing it would only make an awkward situation unbearable. Ginger was also a cheerleader for Salem High, but nothing like Belle. While she took her studies as seriously as her after-school activities, Ginger did not. Her main agenda was to look pretty for the boys, and that she made sure of everyday.

"Shawn can catch when the ball is thrown to him," Belle replied in a calm tone. "Anyways, they're just having fun. It's not a game or anything."

"Yeah, I know," Ginger said in a condescending tone. "But Phillip has an amazing gift. I'm sure he could get a scholarship to any school he wanted, all he'd have to do is choose."

Though she hated to admit it, Ginger was right. But his athletic abilities would be the only way Phillip could catch a free ride through school, though with his family background, he wouldn't really need it. Belle wheedled Phillip's test score from Chloe over the phone. Though the next test was two weeks away, Phillip would need all the help he could get and as far as she knew, he still hadn't apologized to Chloe.

Belle looked up as the two guys walked over and took a seat on the blanket. She sat quiet as Ginger gushed on and on about how great Phillip was.

"Hey, isn't that Chloe," Shawn asked before he took a sip from his water bottle. Looking in the direction Shawn was, she saw that it was Chloe, and she was with her little brother. She said a silent prayer of thanks to God before she called her friend over.

Chloe heard her name, but couldn't place the location of the voice.

"Over here Chloe," Shawn called louder, standing up and waving his arm in the air.

Chloe caught sight of him, and Belle, but then she saw Phillip and the girl draped all over him. While debating whether or not to go over, her brother took the lead, his chubby legs carrying him the short distance to their picnic blanket. Taking a deep breath, she followed.

"Hey little man, how are you doing today," Shawn asked the toddler.

Nigel replied with a wide smile, taking Shawn's outstretched hands. 

"Hi Belle, Shawn." Turning to the other inhabitants of the carpet, she offered a general greeting and returned her attention to her friends.

"So, what are you two doing here," she asked them, making sure to be exclusive in who she addressed.

"Well, Shawn and Phillip wanted to practice throwing that stupid football around. They somehow got Ginger and me to come along."

Chloe nodded, making sure to keep her attention on only Shawn, Belle, and Nigel.

"What are you doing here," came a girl's syrupy voice, one she didn't know. Must be Ginger.

"I'm just doing a favor for Nancy and bringing Nigel to the park.," she answered without turning.

"Oh, that's nice of you," Belle said as Nigel tried to pull at her earrings.

"Nigel, stop that now," Chloe admonished in a gentle tone. Reaching into the bag she had packed for him, she brought out his favorite toy, Mr. Teddy. "Here, play with this," she said, putting the bear into the little boy's hand.

"Why don't you have a seat, I'm sure we have a spare bottle of water in here somewhere," Belle said.

"I'm sure she has better things to do, don't you Zoe," came Ginger's voice.

"It's Chloe," Phillip said before anyone else could correct the purposeful mistake.

Turning, she looked at him for a brief second, and lowered her eyes.

"So, what are you two doing in the park today? Just playing around," Shawn asked.

"Actually, we were walking through the Community Gardens, looking at the different flowers they have planted there. It's really beautiful," she said.

Not as beautiful as you, Phillip thought.  Whoa, where did that come from, he asked himself. Had he said it out loud, he wondered as he looked at the group surrounding him. "Ah, did you here that," he asked cautiously.

"Here what," Belle asked, unsure of what he was talking about. "What Chloe just said about the gardens?"

Releasing a breath that he hadn't spoken aloud, he nodded to Belle's question. "Yeah, that's what I meant. I mean, the gardens? They're the most boring part of this park. They should tear it down and build something useful, like a roller rink. That would be cool."

"It's time to go Nigel," Chloe said, fighting to hold her anger in check. Of course he would say something as cold and unsensitive as that. It was who he was.

"Chloe, don't leave," Belle pleaded. She did not want to be stuck here with Ginger for company.

"We really have to go. We're meeting Nancy soon and I wouldn't want her to worry about us. It was nice seeing you guys. Bye." And in a whirlwind, both Chloe and her brother were gone.

"Great going Phillip. Smooth, very smooth," Shawn said with a laugh.

"It doesn't matter Shawn, she was ruining the mood anyway, wasn't she Phillip" Ginger asked.

But Phillip's eyes were trained on Chloe's retreating form, wondering if his earlier thought could be attributed to his lack of hydration, or if he really thought Chloe Wesley to be beautiful.

And if he did, what was he going to do about it?