~~~Calling All Angels~~~

A/N: So, I got really stuck trying to write this epilogue here so I called upon my good friend, a novelist. She happily said that she would finish the chapter so the second half of this is written by her. Hope you enjoy!

The little girl stood at the window, watching the snowflakes drifting down into the yard. A bright smile crossed her face, alight with the joy of the first snow of the season.

She leapt down from her chair and dashed into the kitchen, her black braid flying behind her. She skidded to a halt at the doorway and gazed at the sight in front of her chocolate brown eyes.

Her mother was standing at the counter, head bent over the cake she was decorating. She could see the tiers of chocolate and orange that were beginning to take shape. A little grin pulled the corners of her mouth up, wonder coming up at what the cake was going to look like. Her mother had planned for it to look like a turkey. She had to admit, that was the only thing that her mother was bad at, cooking.

Her father was working at the stove. She could see the mounds of mashed potatoes that he was stirring into a huge pile, oodles of butter oozing down the sides. Her mouth watered at the sight. Her father was the real cook of the family. He always made dinner, which was always some amazing dish. With it being Thanksgiving, he had made almost the whole dinner except for the cake that he had begrudgingly allowed her mother to make.

Being the tender age of six, Jessamyn Cecily Oliver was quite observant. She knew about many things that had happened in her parents's pasts and she knew about her big sister and what horrible things had happened to her. She also knew that her father was forever scarred by that.

But being there in that moment, being there on Thanksgiving day, watching her parents, her best friends, creating something wonderful in the kitchen for their family to wolf down, made it different. Their family had finally healed.

"All right, dinner's ready. Where's your brother?" Beck asked his daughter twenty minutes later.

"Right here!" came a call from the top of the stairs. Beck looked up to see Andie walking down the steps, something clutched in his hands.

"Whatcha got there?" Beck asked, eyeing the booklet that his thirteen year old was holding in his hands.

Through his olive skin, Beck could see a blush starting to spread across his son's face. He tried to hide it behind his back but Beck was too quick for him.

"Dad! Hey, give that back!" Andie shouted, trying to reach for the book but Beck's long arms kept it out of reach.

"What are you hiding from me?" Beck asked, holding the book up and looking at it. "Okay, this is major sucking up. What do you want?"

"Nothing!" Andie cried, looking embarrassed. "Why do you think I want something?"

"Well, because when you wanted that new iPod from your mother, you pretended to take up music. Now what do you want?"

"Just because I am thinking about auditioning for my school's production of Our Town, you think I am sucking up? I am insulted!" Andie snatched the book out of his father's hand and stomped away and into the kitchen, his bottom lip sticking out so far that he could have swallowed his head.

Beck looked down at Jessamyn who was seated at the table. "Is he a really good actor or what?"

Jessamyn started to laugh. "He's not acting, Daddy. He really is thinking about auditioning for the play."

Beck's thick eyebrows shot up. "You're kidding!"

Jessamyn chuckled. "Nope."

"That stinker," Beck chortled, taking a quick sip out of his water before following Andie into the kitchen. "Andrew!"

"Don't call me that!" came a loud pout from the kitchen, followed by a stifled laugh.

Beck glanced over at Jessamyn. Her head was buried into her arms and her shoulders were shaking.

"Oh, shut up," he snarked in her direction. The shaking got even heavier.

Beck continued into the kitchen and saw Tori bent over the stove, almost stuffing her head into the pot of gravy. Andie was standing at the window, his arms crossed and his nose stuck up in the air.

"Andie, come on!" Beck said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Andie whipped around, glaring at his father. "You know, I work and I slave and this is the thanks I get! I want to give something a try and you accuse me of sucking up! I can never trust you again!"

Beck watched him for a second before bursting out laughing. "Okay, Camille. You can do better than that," he chuckled.

Andie was biting his lips in his attempt of holding back his own laughs. "Didn't work, huh?"

"Nope."

Tori finally gave in and started snorting into the potatoes. "Oh, shut up Tori. And get your head out of the potatoes! We don't need boogers all over them!"

"Why don't you shut up!" Tori cried. All of the sudden, a lump of white hit Beck in the back of his shaggy head.

Andie's eyes widened in shock at what he had just seen. Even Tori, who had thrown the wad of potatoes, looked surprised at what she had done.

"Oh, Beck. Uh, I'm really sorry about that," Tori said, stepping backwards and eyeing the cake that Beck was now slowly walking towards.

"You're sorry?" Beck said, picking up the cake and turning back towards his wife.

"Very sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It just flew out of my hands! I had a momentary lapse!" she babbled, backing right into the sink.

"Oh, yeah?" Beck said nonchalantly.

"Yes! Please!" Tori held up her hands towards the cake.

Beck's face softened. "Did you think I was going to hit you with this?" he lowered the cake. But the moment that Tori lowered her hands, he creamed her right in the face.

"You dirty rat!" Tori shrieked. She whipped around and grabbed the sprayer that was beside the faucet and quickly turned the faucet on, spraying Beck right in the puss. "How about you let me wash that potato off, Beckett?"

"Okay, this is war!"

Immediately, Tori reached for the container of flour sitting on the counter, open. A moment later, the entire room was filled with a cloud of white.

Their children cried out in shock and delight. Jessamyn squealed with laughter as Andie grabbed a handful of flour and threw it in the direction of his sister, joining in the fight.

Tori coughed as she sucked in the powdery substance. As the room slowly began to clear, she suddenly caught sight of her husband, who was ducked low on the floor in a desperate attempt to escape.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Tori lunged for Beck, catching hold of his ankle and bringing him to a sudden stop.

Laughing uncontrollably, Beck turned over so he was lying on his back. "Alright, alright, truce," he said. "Truce. Please."

Tori smiled. "That's what I thought," she replied. She leaned down and gently closed her mouth over Beck's in a passionate kiss. "I love you," she murmured.

He smiled in response. Then, he gently pulled her closer and caressed her flour-covered cheek, returning the favor with a kiss of his own.

"Eeew! Mommy and Daddy are kissing again!"

As the couple broke apart, Beck rolled his eyes and pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Alright, that's enough for now." He stood carefully and brushed himself off.

Tori smirked as she stood. "You're going to have to do more than that to clean up, babe." She tossed him a towel. "You're white as a sheet."

"Mommy, look at me!" Jessamyn cried. She bounced toward her parents. "It's like snow!"

Tori laughed and scooped her youngest child into her arms. "Yeah, it is, baby." She kissed her forehead gently. "We need to get you cleaned up." She glanced at Andie, who was trying to salvage what was left of his script. "Both of you. Your grandparents are going to be here in an hour."

Beck groaned. "I completely forgot about that. Now the house is a wreck, and I know how your mother is about having a clean house…"

But Tori waved the matter off. "She can deal with it." She wiped her hands on a towel. "Come on, Jessamyn. I'll get your bath ready. Andie, go get in the shower – you can use the downstairs bathroom." Wordlessly, he disappeared downstairs.

Tori sighed. She gave Beck a weak smile before starting toward the bathroom. "Babe, can you try to clean up the kitchen a little?" She shooed her daughter down the hall. "It doesn't have to be perfect – just improved."

"Sure thing."

Beck dug through the cabinets until he found the white vinegar. He then filled a bowl with warm water, poured a bit of vinegar into the bowl, and soaked a rag. He got down on his hands and knees and began to scrub. Slowly, he was able to make out the fine lines of the wooden floor.

Suddenly, he noticed something on the floor. One of the pictures that once hung on the wall now lay on the floor, knocked off during the battle from minutes before. He sighed and scooped it up. He found himself looking into Cily's dark, beautiful eyes.

Beck sighed and gently ran his fingertips over the photo. He smiled softly as memories of a little girl of two sitting on his lap one Thanksgiving evening filled his mind.

Suddenly, Andie came bouncing up the steps. "Hey, Dad, have you seen…" he broke off, stopping at the counter, inches away from the grieving father. "Are – are you alright?"

Beck nodded and stood, brushing himself off. "I'm fine." He gave his son a quick hug and sighed. He looked around the messy kitchen. "I think that's good enough. Don't you?"

Andie giggled. "Mom's completely gonna freak."

Suddenly, the water shut off in the bathroom. Andie's eyes widened as he nodded toward the stairs. "Let's get out of here before she finds out."

Beck gingerly placed the photo back on the wall next to the other children before following Andie up the steps.

They had barely reached the top step before they heard Tori's irritated voice cry out, "Beckett Oliver!"

Laughter erupted from the father and son duo as they rushed down the hallway.

Less than an hour later, the family of six gathered around the dinner table – Beck and Tori sitting beside on another, their children across from them, and Juan and Maciella Vega on either end.

Jessamyn sat in her chair, a giant pink stuffed Teddy bear sitting next to her – a wonderful gift from her two grandparents.

Beside her, Andie was leafing through his script, excitedly pointing out random lines to his grandfather. His eyes lit up and a huge smile crossed his face. He spoke much faster than normal as he interacted with the older man. Juan smiled genuinely at the enthusiasm.

Across the table, Beck didn't miss the great amount of passion found in his son's eyes. He smiled at the sight.

Thanksgiving – a time for family, and a time of thanks. And that evening, as Beck Oliver sat beside his beautiful wife and across from his children, he realized their family truly did have plenty to be thankful for.

Someone gently took his hand. He looked to his right. Tori was smiling at him. "Do you want to say grace, babe?"

He looked around the table slowly. His loving family – his children, his wife, and even his in-laws – looked back at him.

So much to be grateful for.

He nodded once and squeezed Tori's hand gently. "I'd love to."

In an entirely different world, a beautiful girl of six watched her family from Heaven. She watched as slowly, they joined hands and bowed their heads. She watched as her father – the one who had been through so much over the past several years – began grace.

And she watched as for the first time in a long time, he seemed to finally let go. Cily smiled softly at the sight.

Finally, her family had truly healed.

Okay, that's it. It's finally come to an end. Special thanks to everyone has stuck with this story right from the beginning. Love to you all.

Be sure to check out "Angel Eyes", the story that a novelist and I are writing together. She's got the first chapter up and my chapter will be up soon.

Best!

Abbyli