| Cody |

I don't think I've ever felt more uncomfortable than I feel right now. I know mom told me that this is my family but at this very moment, I just feel like a visitor, a guest...an intruder.

Jeri shows me around the house that my mom grew up in, and I find myself immediately comparing my past to hers, but mostly what runs through my mind is, how different would my life have been if I hadn't been snatched from the hospital.

"What'cha thinking about?" Jeri asks, noticing that I've stopped to look at a wall. It's pretty much a dedication to my mom and her accomplishments throughout her athletic and soccer career, starting from a young age. It's both impressive, and intimidating.

"Nothing." I meekly replied.

"You're as good a liar as Alex and Alex is the worst liar I've ever met, and I've seen liars, I've watched every episode of Criminal Minds." She states, matter-of-fact.

I glance at my newfound Aunt, thoughts running through my head such as - Is she crazy? She knows that's not real right?

"You know, being a good liar isn't a good thing, right?" I ask my Aunt, watching as she smiles. Probably because it's the most I've said to her since she started this tour. I have no idea where my mom is right now, she said she would be by my side.

"Of course, but having a game face is never a bad thing. What's on your mind? And please, don't say 'nothing', because you look like Alex when she tries to get a triple word score in scrabble." Jeni states, and I can't contain the laughter as I imagine my mother being completely stumped by a board game. She's highly competitive, so to see her losing to an inanimate object would make my day.

"This is just...new to me." I tell my new family member. I try and be vague but I should have known it was the wrong option, she is my mom's sister afterall. Seeing through the bullshit must be a family trait.

"What do you mean? California, or family?"

My attention immediately snaps to her, and my body subconsciously tenses, which she notices.

"Relax. Whatever you're worried about, Alex hasn't told us anything. If it will make you feel better, I'll even ask her not to tell us. You should know though, that we're good people. Alex is probably the best person you'll ever meet in this entire world, she'll always be there when you need her, trust me. It's like she has a sixth sense and seems to know when something's wrong or someone she cares about isn't okay." I'm about to verbally doubt her when my mom shows up.

"Is everything okay, Cody?" Alex asks, and I look to my Aunt who is wearing a knowing look on her face. Is my family magical?

"I'm fine, mom. Just getting the tour." I nod toward the wall donning pictures of Alex playing sports, medals hanging with pride and a few trophies fill the shelf. It doesn't sound like a lot, but my moms bedroom is still filled with trophies, I guess they couldn't all fit on the shelf out here. "You're practically a trophy hoarder." I nudge my mom when she looks like she starts to worry.

"You heard the kid, Lex. She's fine. Relax. She's with the best Aunt." I chuckle when Jeri raises her voice loud enough for Jeni to hear her, and she does.

"You wish! I'm the best!"

"I thought you were the youngest, mom?" I ask Alex, who smirks when Jeri feigns hurt.

"Only in age, Cody. In every other way, she's the old, boring one." Jeri winks at me before she takes off running, trying to flee from Alex, only to collide with Jeni who, I'm guessing, came to see what all the fuss was about.

"Ha! That's what you get, grandma." Alex teases, walking by both my Aunts, who are sprawled on the floor, rubbing their butts.

_________

| Alex |

"So, when are mom and dad getting back?" I ask Jeri, since Jeni is a little occupied with Cody. We're having coffee while we wait for our parents, and I'm glad that my sister is keeping my child busy. Cody doesn't have time to worry about meeting her grandparents.

"Um...about that."

"What?" I ask my sister, who suddenly can't look me in the eyes, and I get a bad feeling in my gut. "What's going on?"

"They've been having...issues lately."

"Are they divorcing?" I ask in haste, the words cracking in my voice.

"No, no." My sister stands to hug me, and I accept it. She continues, "They're just taking some time apart, so dad won't be here later, only mom."

I dry my eyes as my daughter comes into the room, my sister in tow.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I look up, my daughter by my side before I even know it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, baby. Don't worry." My sister steps away in order for my daughter to hug me. It's the one thing that Cody has never struggled with, despite everything those monsters put her through, she never thought twice about throwing her arms around me, she never flinched away from me.

"Aunt Jeri was right." She begins and I look to my sister who throws her hands up in mock surrender, I turn back to Cody, silently asking her to continue, "You're a terrible liar."

"Like mother like daughter." I hear Jeni mumble, and watch as she high-fives Jeri.

"Have you two been drinking?" I ask my siblings "You're not usually this hyperactive."

"We're just excited to meet our niece, shut up Alex."

"Yeah, Alex. Shut up. She needs to learn that I'm the favorite." Jeri finishes, only to be glared at from Jen.

"Cody knows who the best is, am I right, kiddo?" Jen winks at my daughter, only to be shoved to the side by Jeri.

I'm beyond happy when they're interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"Hello? Offspring? A little help!"

"Oh. Mom's back. About time, I was getting hungry." Jen says as she scurries off to help mom, I swear she's such a kid. I pull Cody's arm, rooting her to her space when she moves to go and help my mom.

My daughter throws me a questioning look, one that resembles Jeni's, which is uncanny and unnerving.

"Just wait." She does as she takes the seat next to me, waiting for the family to put the groceries away. I notice her leg start to bounce when my sisters come back in, knowing that she's about to meet my mom. Her grandmother. "Relax, baby." I coo her, placing my hand on her knee, hoping to calm her.

"Yeah, relax. You've already met the best, nothing to fear now." Jeri says, and elicits a laugh from my daughter.

"Is my baby girl here yet?!" I hear my mom yell from the kitchen and my daughter nudges me.

"So that's where you get it from?"

"Get what from?"

"Calling me baby girl all the time." My daughter chuckles. I only smile and nod at her.

"You are my baby girl." I tell her in a stern voice as I throw my arm around her, pulling her close.

I get up and walk to the kitchen, greeting my mother who cries with happiness when she sees me. I don't get to hug her for too long though when a loud bark demands my attention and I drop to my knees to greet my other baby - Blue.

"Woah boy, you've gotten big. What are you feeding him?" I ask my mom who just shrugs in response.

"A grandma has got to treat her grandchild. It's pretty much a law, baby."

"Speaking of grandchildren..." I trail off as I rise to my feet, watching my mom's face carefully.

"Is she here?" She asks me, in a quiet voice. Cody's 'disappearance' as my mom calls it, because kidnapping made her think of someone seriously hurting her...but she doesn't know that's exactly what happened, it had the biggest impact on my mom. While I felt like a failure as a mother, my mom felt worse. She felt like a failure as a mother and as a grandmother. She couldn't do anything to help Cody, and she couldn't do anything to help me. I didn't understand why she felt the way she did until Kristie broke my daughter's heart and I was powerless to help her, I couldn't make her feel better.

"She's here, mom." I wipe the tears that fall from my mom's eyes as she raises her hands to hold mine. Her hands are shaking and I can see she's just as nervous and scared as Cody is. They're a lot alike, even if they've never met. "Are you ready to meet her?"

"Are you kidding? I'm this close," she holds up her fingers, the width of a strand of hair apart, "to pushing you out of the way right now and running to her. Show me my grandbaby."

I chuckle but nod at my mom, knowing exactly where my sisters get their craziness from. I take my mom's hand and lead her to the living room. We stop outside when we hear playful arguing.

"I'm the best Aunt!"

"Uh. No. I'm the best Aunt!"

"They've been like this since we arrived." I tell my mom and we both quietly chuckle.

"They've been waiting a long time to meet her, we all have. Then we seen the news stories about her, those pigs calling her awful names. But we could see it, the resemblance."

I only nod, not wanting to think about the press reports. Right now it's about my family, finally together. Almost. I just hope my parents work everything out. I open the door and the arguing stops.

"Cody, baby?"

"Yeah?"

"There's someone I want you to meet." I tell her, and move aside so that she can see my mom. Cody immediately stands, I can tell she wants to meet my mom, but she's obviously nervous as she bites her lip and plays with her fingers, a habit I know she has when she gets anxious. "Cody this is my mom, Pamela, your grandmother. Mom, this is Cody, my baby girl."

"Mom." Cody whines, she hates that I call her that sometimes, other times I know she loves it. I watch as my mom takes tentative steps towards my daughter, who doesn't move. It doesn't even look like shes breathing. My sisters move to stand beside me, wrapping their arms around me as we watch our mom and my daughter.

"Oh my..." My mom starts. "It's...uncanny. You look just like Alex when she was your age." My mom cups my daughter's face, who smiles warmly at her before she wraps my mom up in a hug. I'm happily surprised by her reaction because she hasn't felt that comfortable with anyone else that she's met, not even Jen and Jer.

"I love you, .grandma" I hear my daughter say, and it's all Cody needs to say to my mom before she breaks down in tears, wrapping her arms around my daughter and holding her tightly. I know exactly what my mom is feeling because it's exactly what I felt when I first found Cody, when I first held her. I didn't want to let her go.

"I love you too, baby girl." My mom answers her after a few minutes of sobbing and silence.

"Ugh, not you too." Cody replies, making everyone in the room laugh.

She can try all she wants, but she'll always be my baby, and my mom will always call her it, because she still calls me that, to this day.