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AJ attended AA meetings a couple of times over the next two weeks and he made an appointment to see Dr. Miller again. Nick offered to drive him because he was having problems with his truck.

 “Dude, you don’t have to hang out here. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

 “I don’t mind AJ. How long are you going to be?”

 “I dunno know, maybe an hour?”

 “That’s easy. I can get in a nap!” Nick winked and followed AJ into the office. He settled himself into one of the chairs and watched as AJ went in to meet with the doctor.

 True to his word, Nick was sound asleep when AJ came out of the office to make another appointment. He planned a time with the receptionist and then kicked Nick shoe with his foot.

 “Hey, Sleeping Beauty! I’m all done. Do you want to finish your nap or drive me home?”

 “Funny.” Nick said stretching. “I guess I can take you home instead of making you walk.”

 “You’re real cute blondie.”

 “Yeah I know. At least that’s what the girls say!” Nick nudged past AJ and out into the hallway. He was waiting for him when he saw a woman come out of one of the other offices. She had her back turned to him but he could have sworn it was Kat.

 “AJ!” he hissed. “Get out here now!”

 “What?” AJ asked getting pulled into the hallway.

 “I saw this woman.”

 “Seriously Nick? You dragged me out here cuz you saw a cute girl. Really?”

 “No! I think I just saw Kat.”

 “Yeah sure. Thanks for making fun of me.”

 “I’m not freaking kidding. She came out of an office a few doors down.” Nick pointed to one of the other suites and AJ’s mouth dropped open. It was the same one that he thought he saw Kat at.

 “Where’d she go?”

 “Out to the parking garage.”

 Both men sprinted down the hallway and just caught a glimpse of the woman heading towards her truck.

 “It’s the same truck as I saw before.”

 Nick told AJ to watch for where she went while he grabbed the truck. He barely made it to pick AJ up before the woman headed out of the garage.

 Nick threw the truck into drive and the force pushed AJ against the seat.

 “What are you doing?”

 “I’m following her. What does it look like I’m doing?”

 “Oh really. Are you becoming a stalker?”

 “Look J. We’ve both seen the woman now and she definitely looks like Kat. Don’t you want to find out if it really is her?”

 AJ had to admit that it had been bothering him since he saw this woman two weeks ago. He wanted to at least know if he was right or not.

 “What are we going to do when we find out?”

 “I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

 They didn’t have to wait long. After about ten minutes the woman’s truck pulled into the driveway of a small two story house. Thankfully it’s wasn’t set back far from the road so they could watch her get out.

Nick shifted in his seat.

 “What if someone sees us and calls the cops?” AJ asked quietly. “What do we say?”

 “I don’t know….Wait she’s getting out.”

 Both men watched the woman exit the truck and walk down the driveway to the mailbox. They slouched down so they couldn’t be seen.

 “That is definitely Kat dude!”

 AJ was too stunned to speak. Here was the woman he had loved with all of his heart, standing just a stone’s throw away. She turned and walked into the house closing the door behind her.

 “What do you want to do J?” Nick asked turning towards AJ.

“What’d you mean what do I want to do? What the hell can we do?”

 “Um, I don’t know. How about get our asses out of this truck and go knock on the door.”

 “Seriously!?!?! What ifs it’s not her?”

 “Then we tell her she was randomly selected for a surprise visit from two of the Backstreet Boys.”

 AJ burst out laughing so hard that he actually started crying.

 “That’s a horrible idea!”

 “Well, do you have a better one?”

 AJ tried to stop laughing and think about what he could do. After a while he just shook his head. He had no idea what they should do.

 “That’s it. We’re going up there.” Nick opened his door, stepped out and started to cross the street. AJ’s feet were moving forward while his brain was telling him to stop. A few minutes later, the two of them found themselves standing on the woman’s porch.

 “Are you gonna ring the doorbell or am I?” Nick asked.

 “I don’t know. Maybe we should go…”

 Before AJ could finish his sentence, Nick rang the doorbell and stepped out of the way. AJ knew it was Kat before she opened the door because he recognized the sound of her voice saying that she would get it. He was still standing frozen in his spot seconds later when Kat opened the door.

 “Hello……..” Kat’s jaw dropped. She and AJ stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally AJ cleared his throat and was about to say hello when he noticed some movement down by Kat’s legs.

“Momma, momma!”

 Kat knelt down and this little boy came around to grab her arms. When the boy turned around and looked up at him, AJ lost all ability to speak. He was staring into his own eyes.