Lainey's POV

"Mommy, you're back!" As soon as I pulled into the driveway Summer bolted out the door and jumped on me, hanging onto my waist as I walked up the stairs of the house.

"Hey, what have you been doing, sweet pea?" I asked, picking her up in my arms and going inside, heading down the hallway in search of April.

I wasn't intending on just putting Summer in the car and going, I needed to talk say thanks to April for babysitting Sunny and most nights I'd have dinner there with her, I might as well since she openly hated being in the house alone without Dale there and I had trouble cooking anything more complex than instant noodles so it worked out pretty well. Sunny loved being around April, April enjoyed the company of the both of us and I got to spend another night without forcing Summer to eat my atrocious meals.

"We were painting," she said gleefully, holding up her hands and showing me the dried paint on her palms, arms and fingers with a broad grin. I hope that paint is kid friendly, April's smart enough to think about those kinds of things but I know for a fact that she does forget on occasion.

"Oh cool, that sounds like fun. Do you want to know what I did today?" Sunny nodded at the same time as I walked into the living room where April was cleaning up the spatters on the wall that come with the consequence of teaching Summer to paint. "I met one of the girls I used to know when I was in school, her name's Iris. We're going out with all my other friends for lunch and you get to come too and meet her."

"Sunday or Saturday?" April asked as she straightened, wiping her hands on her jeans then reaching up to adjust her scrunchie.

"Sunday for brunch because Iris, unlike me, is still willing to spend an entire morning in church." Even if I wasn't an atheist it wasn't only my memories of Gerard that kept me from going like I used to. It was Summer, there was no way I could mentally or emotionally handle getting up at six in the morning to dress the both of us, make breakfast and get us to the local church by seven; it just wasn't possible.

"Great! Saturday is officially dress up day." She grinned happily then walked towards the kitchen, me trailing her with Sunny - who had finally let go of my waist and was on her own two feet - enthusiastically following the conversation out of the living room.

"What do you mean, April? You know any sort of cryptic stuff after work for is a giant no-no for me, my brain just wants to slow right down." Some days on the drive over to April's place when I finish my shift at work I want to pull the car over to the side of the road, curl up in the backseat and go to sleep. I've never been high functioning when I'm tired and most days when I'm exhausted, any brightness I have left in my is reserved for my daughter.

"Dale called, he and the band are finishing up the Australia and Japan leg of their tour tomorrow and they'll be back in San Diego on friday for the RRA's. Because I'm doing ink for a couple of bands there I already get to go but since All The Cool Kids have finally decided they're gonna make it there on time Dale said he wants to take you and Sunny." Although I felt like I should have I didn't recognize the term RRA, I was excited because I knew I'd be seeing my brother again soon but according to April's face clearly not enough for her standards. "RRA, Red Radio Award? It's supposed to be for rock bands. How did you forget that ATCK was nominated for best album of the year?"

Well it's pretty reasonable for me to not know about it. I haven't seen Dale for nearly a year, April has never mentioned even once that All The Cool Kids had been nominated for any kind of award and I haven't recently - nor will ever - sit down and check out what my brothers band was doing. I always got to hear what happened first hand when he gets back from tour anyway so there's not much of a point.

"Uh-"

"It doesn't matter. RRA's a big outdoor music awards night, think AP Awards but for more pop-rock and it's only for newer bands. All The Cool Kids will be playing a couple of songs and because it's pop influenced there's not that much swearing so Sunny will be completely safe if she were brought along. Plus you can do whatever you want because Dale will be able to vouch for you." April presented me with a damn good offer and I knew for a fact that Summer would love to go to something like an awards ceremony, especially since bands would be playing and she loved to listen to music.

"Yeah, it sounds great. I'll definitely go," I said before looking down at Sunny who was standing beside me in the kitchen. "Do you want to see Uncle Dale play guitar in front of everyone?" I asked her, picking Summer up and sitting her on the breakfast bar that by the looks of April's cooking was about to turn into a dinner bar.

"Yes!"

"Then that's what we'll be doing." I took a bowl of pasta from April then sat it in front of Sunny watching her put all of her enthusiasm for the RRA's into her eating.

"Get your friend Bree to take you clothes shopping, she's got great taste in clothes." At her suggestion my eyebrows went up then April responded by rolling her eyes. "I didn't mean you don't know how to dress, I'm just saying Bree's got a better sense of the term 'black tie' than you do. Don't forget it was you who showed up to the engagement party in jeans and a shirt." April loved to remind me of how I'd rocked up to her and Dale's engagement party more than slightly inappropriately dressed.

She never held it against me though, to April it was more of a funny occurrence than a life-ruining mistake like some bridezillas might think.

"Yeah, I'm sure that all the guys at the RRA's will dress exactly according to the rules. I can dress myself, you know?" As soon as she heard my reply April opened her mouth to protest me picking out my own outfit I held up a finger and stopped her. "It was a rhetorical question but you know more about it than I do so if you think it's best I'll get some help in the fashion department, we good?"

It's not that I was exactly incapable of putting together something suitable, I was mostly lazy and also a girl that didn't feel completely comfortable in skirts and dresses so I'd go with some kind of pants every moment I could get. I also didn't have any interest whatsoever in walking around a mall for a couple of hours to try on countless dresses for a one night event I'll probably never go to again. To tell the truth it seemed like an utter waste of time and money but I did want to get out and about more often and I knew Sunny wanted to go, plus I had April pressuring me into it.

April smiled as soon as I'd finished talking, she was proud of herself for convincing me to go out. I don't know why, I'm not overly ecstatic about moping around my apartment all day, I'm not as angsty as I used to be when I was a teenager.
Then again I'm also not suffering from a myriad of confusing feelings for a priest.

I leant forward, resting an elbow on the countertop and picking at the spaghetti as I thought about my previous problems that now seemed so distant.

Leaving Gerard was easily the hardest thing I've ever done, nothing before that night or even after ever made me feel as bad as the look on Gerard's face when he waved goodbye. As soon as I'd arrived back in America I locked myself in the room Dale had given to me and pretty much refused to leave the house for over two months, the only exception being an ultrascan and a doctors appointment. I'd ended up having to take specialty antidepressants during my entire pregnancy to keep my emotions and thoughts in check.

Luckily I was off them nowadays, I basically hadn't needed to touch them since the day Summer was born, I don't know how it worked out but it seemed like the second I had her I felt better. She brightened my dark world, that was the reason that I named her Summer, why I call her Sunny. A beam of light in my dark world.

"Do you want to go to the movies now?" I asked my daughter, picking up a cloth from the bench and wiping sauce off her face. I'll give it to her that she's got good taste in music for a kid and can run faster than I can now but she doesn't seem to have taken much of a shine to taking her time and being careful as she ate. Here's hoping she doesn't grow up to be a teenager who constantly has food on her face....kinda like my brother when he was younger actually.

"Can Wumpy come too?"

Wumpy was one of her countless imaginary friends and the only recurring one, Summer didn't talk much about him - at least I think it's a him - but she would often talk to him as if he were a real person standing in the room. Apparently he lives inside a stuffed turtle I gave her as a present, he also doesn't like being left alone and that's the reason for her wanting to bring the toy everywhere with her.

"Sure, why don't you get him and we'll go?" As soon as I made the suggestion Summer jumped up from her chair and bolted out of the room.

"Is it just me or does Wumpy kinda creep you out?" April wondered once Sunny was out of the room, pulling a beer out of the fridge and twisting the lid off. "I mean there nothing wrong with a kid having an imagination but you've gotta admit, Wumpy's probably the weirdest imaginary friend ever." No kidding, he came with a backstory where his family drowned, I don't even know how Summer was able to come up with him.

"Mmm, my daughter has befriended the antichrist," I said jokingly before sitting up straighter and being honest. "It's kinda weird sometimes but I guess I'm used to it. Don't forget I also had imaginary friends when I was little." Mine didn't come with a disturbing backstory of course but I knew everyone's mind was different and that didn't necessarily mean Sunny's creation - Wumpy - or her imagination were bad.

"I'm ready!" Sunny called out at the top of her lungs as she walked back into the kitchen, carrying the stuffed turtle with both arms and wearing her coat backwards.

I couldn't help but giggle as I got up and walked over to her, kneeling on the ground to help her take off her coat and put it on the right way, Summer always did things like this. She knew she was wearing it wrong but her view of the world was slightly different from everybody else's and I couldn't have cared less if she wanted to walk around wearing ten hats all piled on top of each other.

She was my little girl and undoubtedly the best thing in my life, now or ever.

"Come on you silly pumpkin. Let's get you drssed properly."

Notes