Back to Where We Started From (Miracle)

Chapter Ninety-Five

"You know, I'm more like you than you think," Julia told her uncle proudly. He sat behind his desk, barely glancing up at his niece as she spoke.

"And why is that?" Herb asked with the tiniest bit of a smile.

"Well, you wanted your boys to play the Soviets in New York and you made it happen. I wanted my label to move our album release party to New York and I think I've just about made it happen," she said happily. This caused Herb to look up at her.

"So you're going to New York City next week?"

"I sure am," she nodded. Herb continued to stare at her, raising an eyebrow.

"And until then? Where will you be?"

"I was hoping I could stay in my bedroom at our house," Julia said as if it was obvious. Her face turned into a wicked grin as the opportunity to mess with her uncle arose. "Unless, of course, you'd rather me see if I could stay with Jack in his dorm."

"No, no," Herb argued quickly. "You know you're always welcome, but I'm just a little surprised. I thought you'd be back to Los Angeles."

"Well, I figured it would be a lot less traveling to stay here instead of going back and then going to New York," she shrugged. Herb just nodded, turning his attention back to his work.

"It'll be good to have you around for another week," he said.

"I'm gonna go find everyone else. I'll see you after the game," she told him. She made her way out of his office, going to find a seat in the stands. It was the team's last home game, and to say that Julia was feeling emotional was an understatement. When she saw Gayle, she nearly teared up.

"Gayle!" She called out. The young woman turned, her eyes lighting up in recognition and excitement.

"Julie!" Gayle smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. I missed you," Julia told her as the two of them went to find their seats. They spotted the McClanahan's sitting beside Patti, Danny, and Kelly and headed their way.

"I missed you, too. That's a pretty necklace you've got," Gayle commented. Julia's hand automatically went to the heart-shaped locket resting on her collarbone, and she smiled fondly.

"Thanks," she blushed. "Jack gave it to me for Christmas."

She popped open the clasp, revealing the photos she had just put into it. One was a picture of Jack that she had snagged from an old BU hockey picture that Silky had been hanging onto. Jack had initially complained about his face being removed from a team photo, but Silky had drawn a smiley face on a piece of notebook paper and stuck it onto the photo in Jack's place. The other picture was one of the two of them that Rizzo had taken on a nondescript fall day, weeks before Jack and Julia shared their first kiss in Boston. Rizzo had finally pulled out his camera, determined to create some photographic evidence of his time on the team. Sitting in a booth at their favorite campus bar, Rizzo had lifted the camera toward Julia, who stuck her tongue out right as Jack leaned over to ruin the picture by giving her bunny ears and a sly grin. While she had been in rehab, Rizzo had gotten a roll of film developed and found the forgotten picture. As they took their seats beside Kathy, the two girls looked at the pictures inside the locket.

"Julie, that is precious," Gayle cooed. Even Kathy had to smile at that.

"That is really sweet," Kathy agreed, before she smirked. "Remember the day we met Gayle and we were arguing in the bathroom over whether or not you liked Jack?"

"I remember it well," Gayle laughed. "Getting her to admit she liked him was like pulling teeth."

"I remember all the times we had to hear 'Jack is annoying' and 'I don't understand what his problem is.' Those were the days," Kathy teased, much to Julia's chagrin. She rolled her eyes at her friends.