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Seeing the spitting image of my peanut standing there holding the gift I'd bought for her and staring up at me with those big blue eyes, did something to my heart. Maggie argued the groundkeepers would've taken it anyway if she hadn't. I barely listened as she went on with that continued look of awe in her eyes while she stated her case.

Then there it was, the familiar lift of that stubborn jaw, something Maddie had done so often. "It was a long walk. I didn't have any breakfast, so I got hungry, okay? I can refill the candy."

Any other time I might've smiled, chuckled even, at her haughtiness. Instead, the pain in my heart was brutal. Not only did she look and sound exactly like Maddie, it was like over the years, the once timorous Maggie had found her stauncher side. It almost felt like a cruel joke God was playing on me.

Forgetting about the gift and ignoring the ache in my heart, I had to ask the obvious question. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

It felt impossible not to