As the children disappeared out of the door, happy to be going to share their new found knowledge with their parents, Jimmy and Ellen were left alone with one child, Kennedy. She was in first grade, with a female teacher, and seeing as Brian was going to meet Zacky and a wedding planner, Jimmy had offered to take her back to her grandparents once he was finished clearing up his classroom. She was stacking paint pots in the corner, washing the brightly stained plastic pots in silence, while Kennedy tugged at Jimmy’s sleeve, trying to get his attention.

“When do we get to go see Daddy again Uncle Jimmy? I miss him…” she asked, dumping a pile of paintbrushes in the tiny sink and standing up on her box to be almost up to Jimmy’s hip.
They called him Giant. Because at six foot three, he towered over kids that were barely 4”9.

“Sweetheart, you know we can only go and see Daddy once every month. If we were allowed to, I’d take you to see him every single day, but we can’t. Can you pass the bubbles please?” he replied softly, squirting some of the washing up liquid into the bowl of warm water and starting to rub the paint out with his fingers. He should never have agreed to let them do painting on a Monday, but he loved seeing their little faces light up when he gave them paper and let their imaginations run free.

“When does Daddy get to come home?” Kennedy asked, taking the paintbrush from Jimmy’s hand and drying it clean, slotting it back into the jam jar that held the art supplies. He sighed, wondering how he could break it to her that it might be a while before either of them saw Matt again.
Apparently, he’d gotten into another fight in the courtyard and his probation had been pushed backwards even further. It would be a few months before he was set free again.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. It might be a long time or it might be a short time. You just focus on when we get to go and see him” Jimmy said again, picking up another paintbrush to clean. The bright door to his classroom swung up open and Zacky walked in, his arm around a tired looking Brian.

“Come on Kennedy! Uncle Brian and I are taking you for ice cream!” Zacky said as Kennedy jumped down from the sink, running over to the little hooks where the kids left their coats during the day.
“I thought I was taking her back to her grandparents tonight? What happened to the wedding planner?” Jimmy asked, playfully wiping his soapy hands on Brian’s expensive looking jacket.

“The wedding planner thought it was a straight marriage. We were thrown out almost as soon as we walked in the door” Brian muttered, watching Zacky kneel down to do up the little girl’s raincoat. He loved how adorable the two of them looked, and couldn’t wait until he and Zack could get one of their own.
“Aw that sucks. Hey- I’ll plan your wedding for you!” Jimmy offered and Brian’s eyes widened a little. Much as he loved his best friend, he couldn’t stand still for more than five minutes, let alone plan a whole wedding.

“Maybe, maybe…”

“Come on Uncle Brian let’s go!”
“Alright, baby. You gonna say goodbye to your Uncle Jimmy?”

Kennedy detached herself from Zacky and ran over, hugging his knees tightly. She was a small little kid and could barely even get to his knees, but he knelt down and picked her up, hugging her tightly.
“Bye bye Uncle Jimmy. Will we see Daddy soon- pinkie promise?” she asked, kissing his cheek like they always did when they said goodbye. Jimmy looked over at Brian and Zacky, both of whom were looking down at the floor. They’d both heard about Matt’s probation being pushed backwards, and no one was sure when Matt was going to get out of there.

“Of course, sweetheart. Pinkie promise” he said, kissing her softly and handing her back over to Brian, almost sadly. He needed to get someone in his life- yet Gabriella still haunted him. Maybe he’d visit her grave again today; he always did when he needed someone to talk to. She never said anything back.

Once the couple and Kennedy had left the room, Jimmy turned back around, almost bumping into Ellen as she carried her jar of clean paint brushes over to his side of the sink.
“Who was the little girl talking about?” she asked softly. He’d learnt that about her, from the little snippets of time they’d spent together. Ellen was quite the opposite of him, slightly calmer and collected when it came to the kids, but like him when they had all turned their backs. A little bruised, but still going strong.

“Who Kennedy? She was talking about her dad, Matt Sanders”
“Wait, Matt Sanders? From high school?”

Jimmy glanced over at her, suddenly remembering that she was Gabby’s sister. He’d been trying to push the thought of his mind for a while, just in case it wasn’t true at all and he’d gotten her confused with someone else. He had a habit of doing that sometimes. Throughout high school Matt had been the one everyone wanted to be- until he got kicked out in senior year. Jimmy only stayed put because of what he wanted to do with his life, and he was the one that ended up going to college. That’s where he met Brian, in his teaching class.

“You remember him?”

“Yeah, everyone remembered him. Got kicked out four weeks into senior year for blowing up one of the science labs. What happened to him now? Obviously he got married, had a kid. What’s going on with him?”

Jimmy sighed, glancing down at the sink full of dirty water and swirled it around with his fingertips, hoping to dispel the awkward silence that had settled between them.

“He’s…in prison. His wife upped and left him after Kennedy was born. She was a gold digger, and he was so head over heels he went out and bought her what she wanted. When he didn’t have the money, he stole it. He got caught stealing a necklace and was put in for six years. He’s got two years left, but they were going to let him out early on good behaviour. He got in a fight a few days ago, and Kennedy was asking…when she would get to see him again. She only sees him once a month”
Ellen didn’t say a word for a moment, just poured the water out of the sink, watching it get sucked down the drain with a loud gurgling noise.

“Do you…remember me?”

He looked over at her then, and noticed the long thin scar that trailed down her throat, almost as if she had been scratching away at her skin. He took a look at the bright blue eyes that were almost identical to her sister’s, the pale skin, the dark brown hair that fell in waves and framed her face better than a portrait.

Taking a step forward, he took the paint pot out of her hands and pulled her into a rib crushing hug, pretending like it was Gabriella back with him all over again.

“Of course I remember you. You’re my babygirl’s little sister”