| Alex |

I'm im the Uber with my sleeping daughter. I'm happy she finally fell asleep, albeit for twenty minutes. She bugged me the entire flight and I used all my willpower not to snap at her constant barrage of pointless questions because I know she's nervous and trying to hide it. Her knee was constantly bounching, she couldn't maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds and her concentration level was at a -10%.

The behavior reminded me of the time she woke in the nurses office in her high school, only to fall into multiple anxiety attacks, and if I had to suffer through her annoying interrogation to stop her falling into another attack, then I would do that. Over and over again.

Cody hasn't told me a lot of her childhood with the Dennings, but she has mentioned that she has never met a single grandparent, and while it made me happy that her meeting my mom would be her first, it made me cautious. I didn't want to overwhelm my daughter with a lot of new faces, more backstories, childhood stories from my own past. I didn't want to upset her at all.

Maybe it's because I knew what she went through because of those monsters, maybe it's because I know about her addiction issues that she's fresh off from meaning she'll be increasingly irritable. Maybe it's just because I don't want her to compare her childhood to my own, I know it'll just mess with her head given how she was raised, but she already gets compared to me enough, she doesn't need to think that way herself.

I'm so enthralled in my thoughts that I don't realize that we've pulled up to my mom's house and I see one of my sisters at the front door, you honestly wouldn't tell she's older by the way she's jumping up and down in the air - clearly overly excited.

I shake my daughter awake, as gently as possible, but she jolts awake regardless, immediately looking for me.

"I'm here, Cody." I cooed her, taking her hand in mine and my brows furrow when I feel that her hands are shaking but I decide not to question it, not till we're alone. "We're here."

"Already?"

"You fell asleep."

I pay the driver, thanking him for bringing us here knowing not a lot of people like to drive anywhere near an airport. We get our bags from the trunk and proceed to the front door, where my sister is, until Cody stops abruptly.

""What's wrong baby?"

"I just...I've never done this before." She mumbles, biting her lip but I still hear her. I pull her in for a hug after setting my bag on the ground. When I pull away I lift my daughter's chin gently, holding eye contact with her even though I can tell she would rather be looking anywhere else except at me.

"I'll be with you every step of the way. Remember what I said, they'll love you. They're not just my family, Cody, they're your family too."

"Family..." She trails off, and it breaks my heart as I realize that she's never had a real family. Overcome with emotion, I pull my daughter in for another hug, this one longer and tighter than the last and I only pull away when I hear someone clearing their throat. I look up to see both of my sisters are now standing at the door, waiting like little small school children and I roll my eyes.

As I witness their behavior, I begin to wish I had told them even a sliver of what Cody has been through, so that they would know not to behave like...well, like this.

"Hello, you must be Cody. I'm Jeri, your favorite Aunt." My sister announces, as Cody looks at me. I don't blame her, I'd be skeptical too.

"Don't listen to her Cody. I'm the fun one, we all know that means I'll be the favorite. I'm Jeni, by the way." My daughter looks to me again, but before I can add my input, I'm cut off.

"Oh, don't look to Alex. It's hopeless, you can't argue with greatness." Jeni says as she flips her hair. I smile as I hear Cody chuckle.

Maybe it's a good thing that my sisters don't know anything about how Cody was raised.

"It's nice to meet you-" Cody begins, extending a hand out for my sisters to shake, to which they both scoff.

"Honey, no. In this family, we hug!" Jeri states and pulls Cody in for a hug before she can even comprehend what's happening. Jeni joining in on the hug. I, on the other hand, watch in concern as I see my daughter physically tense, and Jeri sends me a questioning look before she lets Cody go, Jeni taking her inside. Cody looks back to me, obviously checking if I'm following her.

"I'm right behind you, I'm just grabbing the bags." She seems hesitant, but proceeds with my sister, while Jeri hangs back on the pretense that she's helping me, I know better though.

"What the heck was that?"

"What?" I ask my sister, playing dumb.

"You know what, Alex. Why did she tense like that? Are you not hugging your daughter?"

"What the f-. Yes, I'm hugging my daughter." I sigh, glancing towards the front door to see that it's still open. "There's a lot you don't know Jer, I need you to be patient with her." I finish, looking to her with pleading eyes.

"I'll always be patient with her, sis. I've waiting this long to meet her!" She nudges my shoulder. I break eye contact, suddenly finding the ground incredibly interesting. "I didn't mean it like that. You know what happened that day wasn't your fault. You're together now and that's the important thing." My sister kisses my head, then walks into my childhood home, leaving me alone with the bags.

"Of course." I grumble out, annoyed that my sister is just as helpful as she was when we were kids.

| Jack |

"Ugh. Why do you have to go?"

"Because I haven't seen my family in...fuck, it feels like years." Ellie replies as she throws clothes into her suitcase, only for me to take them out and throw them across the room.

"Jack."

"Ellie." I mock, smiling innocently when she turns to glare at me after picking up the clothes I had thrown.

"I'm serious. I have to go."

"I know, I know. I'll miss you, that's all."

"I'll miss you too." She walks over, putting the shirt and pants in the suitcase once again. "Have you told Cody about us yet?"

"No, she's in Cali with Alex visiting family for the holidays." I inform my girlfriend. I instantly feel like crap when I think of my best friend being miles away. I mostly just hope she's doing fine.

"She'll be back soon, don't worry. She's with her mom, nothing bad can happen." Ellie reassures me, leaning over her suitcase to plant a soft kiss on my lips, pulling away to finish packing despite my best efforts to continue kissing her.

"I hope she takes it better than Hope does." Ellie mumbles, obviously not meaning for me to hear, but I do and it makes me chuckle.

I tried to hide it from Hope, but I'm either an awful liar or shes highly observant and intuitive...I choose to believe it's the latter. Hope wasn't against my relationship with Ellie, she was just cautious because Cody and Ellie made it clear that they had a date pact, everyone had those two together for a while even if nothing happened, so I guess for Ellie and I to become an item was a bit of a shock.

I love that Hope is protective of me, as each day goes by she's beginning to feel like my birth mother. I miss her so much.

"Are you okay?" I hear Ellie ask, and I look up to see that she's watching me, her expression filled with concern. I stand up, walk around the bed, stopping infront of her I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her in to me but meeting her halfway as I hold her close.

"I'm fine now."