Choices the third of four in the Shattered Series, (Shattered, Forgiven, Choices, and The After,with)

Chapter 12

Three Months Later

Adam set the box down, "that's the last one, the house is going to be quiet without you, you know" he still felt his anger rise when he watched her try to navigate around on crutches, her leg had required surgery to repair the ligaments in her knee.

Zeke Waters was sitting in a maximum security prison in Illinois, Adam had roughed him up pretty good a few days after Annie was finally found. It took Kevin, Jay, and Antonio to separate the two, afterwards Adam thought he would have felt better but he was wrong, the hate remained.

He shook the memory from his head, "Kim was a wreck when I left, she's really going to miss you, the kids too" he told her.

She couldn't help but laugh "Adam, I'm just a few minutes away, not Siberia" she stacked the books on the shelf, "I will be over a lot" she paused, "thank you for everything Adam, I'm so glad I found you" her voice soft, "I will never forgive mom for what she did to you, Kim, and Harper, but if it wasn't for that I would have never known about you"

Adam sat beside her and draped his arm over her shoulder, "you're the silver lining" he smiled.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, "I'm the what?"

Adam sighed, "every dark cloud has a silver lining, at least that's what people tell you when dark times come, and for me you're the silver lining from what happened with Harper" he kissed her forehead, " I love you, sis. Be good for dad, and Amy"

"I will Adam"

"I will miss you too, you know" Adam told her, "don't be a stranger"

"Sean, this is beautiful" Kara told him as he put the finishing touches on the playground that he had built in memory of his sister Sophie.

He took his gloves off, and wiped his brow with a towel and tossed it in the bench, "thank you for putting up with me the last few months, I know it wasn't easy"

"Love isn't easy, but it's worth it" she smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist, "I love you, but you stink" she laughed, "you ready?"

"Can I have a few minutes?" He asked her, "I'm okay, just need a few minutes" he explained, he knew she still worried about him.

She stuck her hands in her pockets, "I'll be in the car" he watched as she walked off.

He sat on the bench, his mind had gone back to that night, he remembered her scream when they heard the glass break. Their parents had gone out for dinner to celebrate his dad's promotion at work.  They saw the man come through the door, Sophie told Sean to hide and call the police.  He did just as he was told, and hid under their parents bed, he called the police and waited. Her screams filled the small house, he didn't dare move from underneath the bed. The house became strangely quiet, and within a few minutes the sounds of sirens filled the neighborhood but it was too late. Sean was found hiding under the bed, his sister was found in the kitchen she had been killed. They never caught the guy, and it was because of that Sean wanted to be a policeman, he wanted to protect people to make up for not protecting his sister.

Kara watched from the car as his shoulders slumped, she hated that he felt so much guilt over what happened. No matter how many times she tried to tell him, or his parents tried to tell him it wasn't he fault he insisted he should have done more. She hoped building this park would help him some, she watched as he closed the gate and headed towards the car.

"You okay?" She asked as he sat in the driver's seat.

"I am, or at least I will be" he leaned over and kissed her, "because of you, you've helped me more than you'll ever know"