Maria was no exception, even though she was only six at the time. She was at her mom and step-dad's wedding reception. Her dress had been making her itch for the last two hours so she skittered over to her mother, who was chatting with some guests.

"Mom," she whined. Her mother held out a finger as if to say 'one moment.' So, of course Maria grabbed her mother's arm and tugged on it while whining some more. "Mommy! Please!"

"Okay Ria, what is it? It's not polite to interrupt."

Maria sighed while scratching her side. "I know, but I wanna get pants on so I can play with dufus."

"Maria, please don't call him that. And if you want to get changed, hurry up and go into the house. Your dad is helping your brother get out of his tux." She hated the way her mom kept on saying 'dad' and 'brother.' It had only been an hour. Not that she felt any differently, though. She was kinda happy that she would be apart of a family. She would belong. But Maria also didn’t want to seem too excited by the prospect because then Kyle would tease her.

She skipped her way over to their new house and walked inside.

"Sheriff?" she called.

"Ria, we're back here and I wish you wouldn't call me that." Maria followed his voice to the back of the house and rolled her eyes, a gesture she had learned from her mom.

"Hey dufus," Maria greeted her brother in her usual way.

"Hey lamebrain," he replied.

"Kyle, Maria, be nice!" Maria gave Kyle a sly smile behind the Sheriff's back, which he returned.

That was the moment it happened. The first time that the newfound siblings shared a secret smile was also the moment that the bomb hit.

The light was excruciatingly blinding and she wasn't sure if she was knocked down because of the force of the blast or by the strong arms of her father. Maria remotely felt herself being carried somewhere but the only things that were registering in her mind were the tears that seemed unending and the small and equally frightened Kyle holding her hand.

And then, she knew. She knew that her mother had died in the explosion. Maria turned in the comfort of her dad's arms to look at Kyle. He knew too. The tears stopped flowing from both of them and they just stared at each other, holding hands. He didn't say anything, though Maria probably wouldn't have been able to hear anything anyway, but she knew what he was trying to tell her.