Promises were made when the Brady duo had finally touched down in their latest city to conquer, and some of them were a little more outlandish than others.

To even get Dylan back into the car when they were back at her parents place, she had to promise at least two days of exploring, doing all of the tourist things - and that included a guided bus tour. She hadn't even bothered to ask when he'd like to meet his other grandparents, that would probably break her weekly budget in half.

"Look at that!" Dylan's outstretched finger zoomed past Angelica's face as he pointed out the old building he'd probably seen whilst watching an old silent type movie she had never heard of.

Her eyes shot past the outstretched hand and looked, really looked, at what he was pointing at, and it was something that the the 118 fire truck was passing, probably going back to its fire house. For a moment her eyes were solely focused on the truck, but blinking to make sure she didn't miss what her son was pointing at, and it was those old timey horse drawn carriages.

"Later, if they're still in service, we can go on one, if you'd like. Just for a little while."

A happy little nod followed by the quickest side hug a seven year old could muster, before eyes were quickly back on the front of the bus as the tour guide spoke.

Though, there were speakers, the man was kind enough to give the duo a written copy of what he was saying, so whenever Dylan felt audibly overwhelmed, he could sit and read, whilst still learning everything there was to know about LA, from the age of the Hollywood sign, to the person who lived in one specific house everyone flooded to see year on year, back in the sixties.

The feeling of joy that spread through her eyes every time Dylan looked up and beamed at her was enough of a confirmation that this move was actually for the good. Of course, they had only been there for three days, but he had already made a friend within their apartment building, in their next door neighbour, Anya.

He made the friend first, and that then followed with Angelica becoming friends with her too. They were close in age, and she knew basic levels of ASL, which made Dylan sing her praises. He asked her questions about LA, and she did everything she could to take the weight off of Angelica's shoulders.

"How long is later?"

Questions that almost always were hard to answer. The desire for Angelica's shoulders to rise and fall in a shrug almost overwhelmed her but no one should answer a question with a nonverbal movement of the shoulders, she was t trying to teach open communication and that meant answers.

Even if sometimes she didn't have them.

"After we eat, okay?" With that, Dylan took the time frame and said nothing else on the matter.

If they had been back in Milwaukee, he would've had a thousand other questions lined up, about where they were going for food, or how long they were planning on staying after they'd finished, but she didn't complain. She took the one question and one reply as though gaining a new badge of honour from the department of parenting.

The tour continued and Angelica found herself staring out of the window, wondering which buildings she would see on a more personal basis when she got back into the flow of working again, after almost two months off.

She remembered the last time she was in her firefighter get up, and how it made her feel and although she'd need to learn some things before she felt settled, she was excited.

More so for meeting her new team, but excited nonetheless.

Maybe she'd find some true friends, instead of the people she went to high school with, the ones who promised they'd call after summer break and then — never did. Maybe she'd even stumble upon someone she went to college with, her journalism class was full of people from California, and even though she'd only take the class for three weeks before swapping to calculus, she was sure if she saw someone, she'd be able to at least recall where she could've possibly met them.

Maybe Dylan would find comfortable role models within the first responders, like he had tried to at her last firehouse.

Hoping and praying wouldn't do much but turn her hair grey, so, for the last time, she looked out of the window and cast every single non Dylan thought out of her mind. Today was about exploring, and not about the what ifs and maybes.

As the little bus passed the walk of fame, a Hard Rock Cafe and a few historic buildings of cinematic importance, it concluded right outside the boulevard full of upmarket eateries and restaurants. Places that no seven year old would want to eat from.

She made a mental note of bringing Dylan back to the walk of fame when there was a little more daylight, so he could find Vin Diesel and Shania Twain to take pictures of. Angelica wouldn't mind a memory photo of her at Elvis's star... that was, if he even had one.

Her thoughts quickly were back onto food as the smell of someone's rather cheesy crisps wafted through the bus and her stomach sang like canaries, eyes glancing towards the slowly opening doors of the bus to the seven year old beside her. The idea of a nice Italian meal, watching the sun set across her new city sounded like an amazing idea to her, she knew it wouldn't have much on the menu for the fussy Dylan who enjoyed the simple things in life, like chicken strips and fries.

Pulling out her phone, she typed in a couple of fast food places that came to mind and landed on the closest one to their location. Walking was enjoyed by the pair of them, but walking long distances just to eat, and then having to do the same to get back to the car?

That wasn't on anyone's wish list, especially not someone who had spent the last three hours sat in a seat with very little padding.

"How does Wendy's—"

Dylan hadn't even bothered to give his mom a second to finish her sentence before he snapped back his response in the same light, and giddy tone he had used earlier. His head was shaking as fast as it could, up and down, as though he was one of those slinky dog toys from Toy Story.

"Amazing." Dylan finally verbalised, his hands signing in sync to really give emphasis the response.

Though, he didn't quite sign the word amazing, but rather a close hybrid of yes and amazing, but she knew what he meant. Or, she assumed she did, since the nodding and the spoken word was around about what he had signed.

"C'mon, let's stand out of the way, so others can get out." Angelica said, her hand never leaving the hood of Dylan's jacket.

It wasn't necessary, but sometimes when there was too much noise, he often forgot his surroundings, so she just liked to make sure he knew where she was, because everyone could always tell when there was an added weight to the back of one's jumper.

Even if the hand was only there briefly.

They walked in almost complete silence, but every now and then, Dylan would point out something that he had read about on the internet, or just mention that a building looked far too old next to the ones around it. Angelica found it fascinating how he could just ingest knowledge and keep it within his back pocket for whenever he might need it, he definitely didn't get it from her.

She barely remembered birthdays, her phone calendar was jam packed full of important dates and yet, she still often forgot to check it.

Aside from the two dates tattooed on her inner arm, days blurred into one and if she could celebrate everyone's birthday on one day, she'd be the best birthday gift giver in the world. No one would ever be forgotten and nothing would prevent everyone from feeling loved and wanted.

But alas, everyone just had to have vastly different birthdays.

The big logo of Wendy's shone in the dimming June light, illuminating at least a block south of where they were, the smell of chicken sandwiches and fries wafted through the air as if on cue. Both Dylan and Angelica glanced at each other before taking a few more steps forward.

Usually, Dylan would've ran right in and found them a seat, but he was a little more apprehensive more than usual, but she understood. She was too, it would've been a tall order for things to have just stayed the same as if they were still thousands of miles back, and a five minute drive from Diana's baking and Daniel's smoked brisket.

"Do we have to go and see Grandpa Tatum tomorrow?" Dylan's voice cut through the silence like a red hot poker through ice.

Yes, but it wasn't as simple as just yes. Angelica had been making empty promises year after year, but they were his dad's parents, even if she felt that it'd be re-ripping a bandaid that had only just healed after three years.

Luckily, Dylan had waiting for the exact moment that the duo walked into the busy Wendy's, meaning she'd have all of the time from ordering their food to finding a place to sit to consider his question with everything she had, and give him the truth.

Because God knows he deserved that.

Steering him around a few people who were just stationary in the middle of the restaurant, she ordered two of the same thing, one a small and one a medium meal, paid and stood to the side, waiting for their dinner.

"We do, I think they'd both really like to meet you in person."

They could've come to them when Dylan had started off his life, but of course they had always been too busy, and they hadn't wanted a child at a funeral, so Dylan and Angelica both didn't attend. They paid their respects as and when they could, going to the grave site long after the funeral party had left, continually visiting year after year when the weather permitted - and when Dylan felt up to it - but not once did they say they were coming to visit.

They weren't big hot shot doctors who couldn't take time off in case someone needed a skill only they possessed. They just — didn't feel the need, because they knew one day Dylan and Angelica would come to them.

As unfair and rather selfish as it was, Angelica wouldn't bad mouth them to her kid, she didn't have the gall. They'd never done her wrong, aside from some off the cuff comments on their first meeting, but nothing to the extent where it made her hate them.

She just hated the idea of them forcing their grubby little hands into the impressionable Dylan's mind.

Grabbing the food from the woman on the other side of the counter, Angelica and Dylan moved towards a vacant and clean table, plonking themselves down, and grabbing a box of fries each. A medium water and a small orange juice placed in front of the right recipient, and a few fries into the mouth, Dylan leaned forward as though he was about to speak.

His face contorting in such a was as though what he was about to say was as hard to swallow as too big of a bite of anything.

"What if I don't want to meet them?"

That question shot an arrow directly into her heart. Her instincts had been right, the question was far too hard to swallow but he had asked and she'd promised to answer.

How stupidly naive of her.

"Sometimes, we all have to do things that we don't want to. You might like them once you get to know them, but they are just as much your family as I am."

His eyes dropped down from her face onto his drink, knuckles whitening as he clenched and unclenched his fist, and after a few moments of agonising silence, he finally looked back up, a small, and somewhat forced smile on his face.

"If you promise to be with me, I'll do it."
"I promise you a thousand stars, Dylan. I won't make you do this by yourself."

He nodded at that and all of his focus left the conversation and went straight onto the food, his hand reaching to disconnect the cochlear implant, giving himself just enough time to place it into her hand, and continued in silence. With the device securely in her small bag, she decided to do the same.

To enjoy the moments of silence with her son, eating an okay meal, but in his presence. Something that others don't get to do all that often, something that she had to sacrifice on occasion.

They continued to eat in silence until Dylan began to play with the rest of his chicken tenders, a clear sign that the boy had grown bored of eating, and was probably half way to falling asleep right then and there.

For a moment, Angelica thought to herself, before doing the only thing that she knew would help — ordering a car to take them to the car park, and once that was one, her fingers gently tapped him on the arm, which caused his head to fly up, eyes watching - waiting.

"Let's get you back home, trouble."

Signing every letter singularly, Angelica helped Dylan up onto his feet, his half eaten meal placed in a to go bag and placed on the crease of her elbow, she guided him out, where the car was waiting for them.

They had only been at Wendy's for less than an hour, but that was still the most time either of them had spent outside without having the comfort of their house being seven steps away from the back garden. Angelica, too, was just as tired as Dylan was, he just showed it quicker than she did.

Years of practice that she was determined to not instil within him.