Jarod and the twins were waiting on the porch for Rachel, Ciara and AJ when they drove up. As soon as Ciara got out of the car, the twins ran to her. Ciara held on to them as she looked at Jarod and mouthed "What happened?" to him.

"Alex, let me help you with the bags." Jarod said. He kissed his sister on the forehead as he passed her to get to the back of the car.

They all went into the house and sat down. Dan was asleep in a spare bedroom, Jarod explained to Ciara and AJ, but wanted Jarod to explain what happened.

"Mom had a brain embolism early this morning. They believe it stemmed from the accident. It is one of those freak occurrences. They were monitoring her and everything but had no warning, which is usual for the type of occurrence." Jarod explained as Suzie joined them all in the living room.

"Was she in pain?" Ciara asked.

"The nurse told me she wasn't." Jarod answered.

"Arrangements?"

"Uncle Pete is making them." Eddie spoke up.

"Uncle Pete?" Ciara asked.

"PJ... Ciara... the boys call him uncle." Jarod explained. PJ was Jarod and Suzie's next door neighbor. He was Dan and Ciara's mom's lawyer.

"I want to see Dan." Ciara said.

"He's in the far back bedroom. Eddie, why don't you go with her and get your dad whatever he needs, okay?" Suzie suggested. Eddie nodded and led Ciara to Dan.

"Where are we going AJ?" Ciara asked once they were at the airport. AJ knew he had delayed telling Ciara the news as long as he possibly could. He let out a big sigh and sat her down on the nearest bench.

"I'm going to tell you exactly what I know." he started, looking directly into Ciara's eyes. She nodded as he spoke. "Baby, that was Jarod on the phone. He and the twins need you. Your mom died last night." AJ moved both his hands to the sides of her face as Ciara let the reality of his words sink in. "I don't know all the details... Jarod just said that he and the twins needed you to come home so we're going. Rachel's going to meet us at Jarod's." he explained.

"You don't know anything else? How it happened or anything?" Ciara asked between sobs.

"Nothing... I didn't ask... Just wanted to get you to them as soon as possible." AJ answered. She threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry, C..." AJ began to cry.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It'll be okay... we just gotta get to Jarod and the boys." Ciara said as they were still embraced.

"Ready to go then?" he asked.

"Yeah... let's get there." Ciara said. They both dried their eyes and went about checking into the airport.

---

"Rachel... thanks for meeting us." Ciara said as she and AJ greeted Rachel when they got off the plane.

"Not a problem... let's get your things and get you with the guys." Rachel said as she embraced them both.

---

He made the plane reservations and hastily called his mother to tell her what had happened and ask her to take care of the house while he was gone.

Before going upstairs to help Ciara finish packing, he hesitated at the bottom of the stairs and sat down on the bottom step. How was he going to tell her that her mom died. He didn't know any more than that and he knew that despite everything that had happened between mother and daughter, that Ciara was going to be really upset about her mom dying.

"AJ... we're ready to go... could you come help me bring the bags down?" Ciara called from the top of the steps.

"Sure thing... I'll be right up baby." AJ said and dried his eyes on his shirt before bounding up the stairs two at a time.

"What's wrong? Who was that?" Ciara asked.

"I need you to go pack our bags... I'll tell you all I know on the way to the airport... I need to make some plans." AJ said, trying to hold back tears that were screaming to come out. Ciara was not going to take the news that her mom was dead very well. He needed a few minutes to compose himself and prepare himself to tell her what he knew. First, he wanted to call Kevin and Rachel. Rachel would know how to deal with it.

"Rach..." AJ began as soon as he heard her pick up on the other end of the phone.

"Jarod just told me. If you think Ciara can handle the news, tell her. She should know so she can help the twins deal with it. I'm heading out to Jarod's now." Rachel explained.

"Kevin and the guys?"

"I'm sending them back to Florida. Nick needs to see his own doctor and they need to check in with Management. Kevin's going to cover for you. She'll be okay, AJ... try not to worry." Rachel told him.

"Okay... okay... we'll see you there." AJ thanked Rachel before hanging up the phone.