Chapter 7

"Jeff! Sam's wet again!" Drew yells backstage of their concert in Salem, Massachusetts, four months after they had all said good-bye to Amaya.

"Then change her! I need to change into my performance clothes," Jeff responds.

"She's your daughter though!"

"Give me her," Justin says, taking a squirming Sam from Drew. "It isn't as if you haven't changed her at least a few times in the past few months."

"I have to change though!"

"Then go! Your work is done here."

"Justin, do you need help?" Jackie asks, seeing that poor Sam has been passed off yet again.

Justin smiles down at his girlfriend and says, "I'd appreciate it. These dorks are too immature to handle it, even though we've been doing this for four months now. You know, feeding her and changing her, as well as just caring for her hasn't been so bad. I'm glad that Nick, Drew, and I are able to help Jeff raise Sam."

"I'm glad you guys are too. I wish that I could spend even more time with you guys to help take care of her but my job just keeps me so busy. All four of you have done wonderfully though, at least after that first month when none of you knew what you were doing and were torturing the poor girl."

"Hey! We did manage to get it eventually. It is all worth it though to see Jeff happy, even if he still isn't the same."

"I doubt he ever will, not as long as he and Amaya are separated," Jackie says, laying Sam down on a mat to start changing her. "Speaking of separations, what exactly happened between Nick and Jessica?"

Justin gives her a startled look but says, "He never was quite the same with her after the incident so she dumped him. The truth is that he realized how much he missed his ex, Carrie. I believe that they have a real bond and just pray that somehow they will get back together. I don't think I could stand being around two guys who are mourning for their lost loves at the same time."

"So is anything happening between Jessica Simpson and him?"

"Used to be but he is still ensnared by the memory of Carrie. The present Jessica and Nick are still friends though, which is why they are about to start "Where You Are" right now as part of her opening number."

The opening notes begin and Jessica starts singing, followed by Nick: "And we'll be dancing in the moonlight, just like we used to do. And you'll be smiling back at me. Only then I'll be free, where I can be, where you are... And I can see your face, your kiss I can still taste, not a memory erased... Baby there are times when selfishly, I wish that you were here with me, so I could wipe the tears from your eyes and make you see... Every night when you were dreaming, I am here to guard you from afar. And every time I feel alone, I close my eyes and dream of where you are... And we'll be together baby."

Jeff closes his eyes and sits down off-stage, allowing his thoughts to go back to Amaya. 'It's weird. I keep feeling as if she is here with me, no matter where I go. Her presence is felt even stronger here. Could it be possible that she really is here with me?' he wonders as he begins looking around but sees no Amaya.

Nick finishes the song and exits the stage, thinking of Carrie. Like Jeff, Nick has been thinking of his love, Carrie, ever since the crumbling of the warehouse. 'I really wish that Carrie was here where I am right now.'

"Nick!" a female voice calls out, interrupting his thought.

Nick looks up, expecting to see a fan, but finds a huge smile cross his face as he sees a beautiful sight walking towards him. "Carrie!"

The two run towards each other and embrace one another tightly. "I've missed you so much!" Carrie says while still in Nick's arms.

"God, I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry for screwing up. I don't want to lose you Carrie, and it made me really sad lately thinking that I did lose you over something so stupid. I promise never to give you another doubt about me and the trust you can have in me," Nick murmurs. "Can we start over?"

"I would like that Nick," Carrie says, pulling back and smiling at him.

"Good. Come here," Nick says, leading her away from the crowd that began forming at the sight of their reunion, out of Jeff's sight.

'If only Amaya could appear to me like that. I should have died with her in that building. Wait! Stupid, what would have happened to Sam? You've gone over this several times. You need to move on to ensure Sam's happiness. Don't be selfish here Jeff. You have a beautiful daughter to raise,' Jeff thinks to himself.

"Jeff, are you ready to go on buddy?" Drew asks Jeff, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Oh yeah! Where's Justin and Nick so we can pray?"

"Already at the meeting center. Come on!"

The two join Nick, Carrie, Justin, Jackie, Sam, the band members, and crew in a short little prayer, ending it in memory of Amaya Timmons, as they have in the past couple of shows. Once that is done, Jeff kisses Sam good-bye and hurries to his platform that has started to rise without him. He watches as Jackie and Carrie begin to fuss over Sam and smiles as Sam lets out a giggle.

The group kicks off the show with "Fly With Me" and continues by doing songs from all of their albums except for the Christmas one. Jeff sees a stupid grin on Nick's face through the entire show and envies him. However, the group's mood saddens as they prepared to sing, "The Hardest Thing."

In honor of Amaya, since Salem is her hometown, Nick, Drew, and Justin put together footage of her to show on a screen during the song. Jeff wasn't told this though and chokes up as he sees an image of Amaya, during college, cross the screen. As the song goes on, Drew, Justin, and Nick find themselves silently crying with Jeff, remarkably not tarnishing the quality of their singing by much. The film contains images of Amaya with Jackie and Jessica, with Jeff, with all of the guys, as well as with Sam. The concluding image is of Amaya, the day before she found out about Lacey, when she was free of all her worries that came after it.

During the song though, each guy experiences not only sorrow but also wonder. It appears to each that Amaya is actually sitting in the audience but they all push it aside, knowing that it isn't possible. They were each just imagining her, wishing so hard that she was actually there that they visualized her sitting in the audience. That is the only logical reason all four of the guys would accept, although Jeff has a harder time with accepting the Amaya he sees in the audience as just an image when he feels her there so clearly.

After taking their final bows, the guys run off the stage and into the van, which takes them immediately to their hotel.

Nick instantly vanishes into his room with Carrie in tow while Justin ducks into his room with Jackie, leaving Drew and Jeff by themselves with Sam.

"Well, that was really subtle," Drew comments sarcastically, following Jeff into Jeff's room.

"What do you expect? They're people in love," Jeff answers. "I once knew that."

"You will again, I promise. Want me to put Sam to bed?"

"Naw, I'll do it. You go out and have fun. Just promise to get a good night's sleep. It's time that I start taking on the full responsibility of being a single parent in this world."

"Okay Jeff. I'll talk to you later. Night Sam!" Drew says, leaving father and daughter alone in the room.

"Well Sam, I guess it's you and me now," Jeff says, picking his daughter up and carrying her to the bathroom to wash her up. After she is changed into fresh pajamas, Jeff lays his daughter on the other double bed in between extra pillows on the edges to make sure she doesn't fall off, a routine thing he has done since they've been on tour. After he sings Sam a lullaby and kisses her good night, Jeff goes back into the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time he gets out, a sense of Amaya being near has built up completely and has left him feeling more lonely than he has since her death. He tosses on a T-shirt over his boxers and gets into bed after checking to make sure Sam was all right. After staring at the ceiling for a long time, he finally falls asleep, only to be woken up two hours later.

Jeff is awoken when he feels his body start getting really warm and pushes the covers off, finding it only intensifies with the result. He opens his eyes and nearly screams as he sees Amaya standing over him, at least someone that looks like her.

"Amaya?" Jeff murmurs, puzzled as to whether he is dreaming or not.

"Hi Jeff. I've missed you," Amaya responds, smiling down at her husband.

"But... How could you be... How?"

"I needed time to rebuild myself and gather my strength again. It was a tough battle and the trap worked perfectly but I was left very weak. I barely got myself to my mother's house here in Salem before passing out. No doctor could have saved me and I needed to get here right away."

"Why'd you let me believe so long that you were dead?"

"I basically was in a coma for the past few months and had to wait for the right time to approach you. Even in my coma though, I was always with you, as I promised I would be. You did a good job with Sam these past few months."

"Well I love her and I'd do anything for her. Kind of goes along with being a father, to protect my baby girl."

"I'm glad."

"So wait. Are you alive?"

"Yes."

"How do I know I'm not dreaming?"

Amaya smiles down at him and leans over, brushing her lips over his. "Does that feel like a dream kiss?"

"Yes, but luckily it is a dream kiss that only exists in reality when you're around. God Amaya, I've missed you. Lie down with me?"

Amaya nods her head and gets in as Jeff scoots over, wrapping his arms around her as she lies down. "I've missed you and Sam both so much. I think that if you two weren't waiting for me here in this world that I would have passed on without a second thought but I love you both so dearly."

"I think I can speak for Sam when I say that we love you just as much if not more. I don't ever want to lose you," Jeff says, giving Amaya the kiss he has been dreaming of for so long.

"So you aren't upset with me?"

"Why would I be upset? I'm grateful that you saved us from Lacey and more than feeling blessed that I now have my two girls back in my life. Don't ever think that I could live without you happily because that's wrong. Even with magic in our life, I think we could have a real happy ending if you're willing to bear with me through thick and thin."

"I promised that on our wedding day and swear that I will always live by it. Thank you for being so accepting and making me feels so wonderful. I hope we will never part. After all, we do share a magical love, one that burns for all eternity."

Jeff smiles at Amaya and pulls her even closer to him, enjoying the feel of her back in his arms, where she belonged.