Chapter 39 I Missed You Too
~Felicity~
"No fucking way," I breathed, staring at the Echo Show screen in disbelief.
I ran quickly to the door, throwing it open—tears already starting to spring to my eyes.
There, on my front doorstep, stood my sister Maliyah with a duffle in one hand and two backpacks in the other.
Behind her, I could see my niece and nephew—Zoe had her curly hair up in the cutest little pigtails.
She was clutching a stuffed elephant like her life depended on it.
Standing to her right was Lucas. He was slightly taller, but twice as energetic.
You could almost see the energy trapped within him as he stood there bouncing on his toes, a toy truck in his hands.
"What's wrong?" Macy asked, coming up beside me at the door. "Who's here?" She gasped as soon as she saw them. "Aunt Maliyah?"
Sandy rounded the corner at the same time, exclaiming, "Maliyah? Oh, my goodness!"
I looked at her, saying, "What are you doing here?" Peeking behind her at the car, I realized it was her actual car—not a rental—which meant that she drove all the way here—from Orlando. With two really young kids, it must have taken her days!
Before Maliyah could answer, Zoe dropped her elephant and launched herself at my legs with a squeal. "Aunt Fliss!"
"Oh my God, Zoe!" I scooped her up immediately, spinning her around as she giggled. She smelled like strawberry shampoo and joy. "Look how big you've gotten! And these pigtails are adorable!"
"Mommy did them last night in the hotel!" she announced proudly, patting her curls. "She said I looked like a princess!"
"That's because you are a princess," I agreed, settling her on my hip. Over her head, I caught Maliyah's eye. "Seriously, May. What are you doing here? Not that I'm not thrilled to see you all, but this is—"
"A thirteen-hundred-mile surprise," Maliyah finished with a tired but satisfied grin. "We left Friday afternoon. Spent Friday night in Savannah—which was an adventure with these two—then we drove all day Saturday. When I say we, obviously it was me—I drove all day Saturday."
Maliyah pushed past me with Lucas, throwing all the bags at the foot of the stairs.
She continued rambling, telling me all the fun times she had with the kids while driving all day.
They stayed in Connecticut last night and got up early to drive here this morning.
I'm still dazed while I'm listening to her chatter.
At this point, Lucas had hugged my legs and run over to Macy to hang out. Lucas is six and has a minor crush on Macy. She's always a trooper about it though.
"Come on Lucas, I'll teach you a new game I learned. It's called 'spit!'" Lucas followed after her like she hung the moon and stars.
Zoe was still hanging out with me, perched on my hip—arms wrapped around my neck. God I love this kid.
"Aunt Fliss, I missed you so much," Zoe whispered in my ear, squeezing tighter around my neck.
"I missed you too, sweet girl. How was the big car ride?"
"Long! But we had snacks and movies and Lucas threw up in Georgia."
"I did not!" Lucas called from across the room while following Macy toward the kitchen. "I just felt sick!"
"You threw up McDonald's nuggets all over me," Zoe announced matter-of-factly. How she even explained this without throwing up herself was beyond me.
I looked at Maliyah, mortified on her behalf. She grimaced, clearly remembering her experience. "That was a fun stop. Nothing like cleaning vomit off a four-year-old in a gas station bathroom at midnight."
"Oh honey," Sandy said, immediately switching into grandma mode. "You poor thing. Come here, let me get you something to settle your stomach."
"I'm fine now!" Lucas protested. "Macy, what's spit? Is it gross? I like gross games!"
"It's a card game," Macy explained patiently. "Really fast and fun."
I watched Lucas's face light up like Christmas morning. His crush on Macy was adorable and so very obvious—the way he hung on her every word, tried to copy whatever she was doing. Macy handled it like a champ, treating him almost like a little brother.
"May," I said, still trying to wrap my head around this surprise. "I can't believe you just packed up and drove here. With work, and the kids' schedules, and—"
"Felicity." She stopped unpacking random kid items from her bag and looked at me.
"You're my sister. With all that's happened recently, I just can't—.
" She leaned back, looking like she was searching for the words.
She looked me in the eyes and said, "you were there for me with everything.
I wouldn't be anywhere else than right here with you.
I just can't imagine not paying it forward.
" She smirked then and continued, "besides, you know you're my favorite sister. "
"I'm your only sister Maliyah."
"Semantics."
Zoe patted my cheek. "Mommy said Aunt Fliss was sad and needed hugs."
"Did she now?" Zoe nodded before I continued, "well, I feel like you've got a lot of work to do. I counted only like ten or so hugs so far. A trip from Florida feels like it's supposed to come with closer to like seven or eight hundred!"
"Eight hundred! Auntie Fliss, I'll have to hug you like forever!"
"Better start now!" At that, Zoe threw her arms around me and started counting every squeeze.
Once she hit the thirties, Caden rounded the corner. It looks like he finished his call with Morrison. "What's going on over here?!"
"Uncle Caden!!!!" Zoe started to push me away and climb down from my arms, all memory of hugs forgotten. Caden has a swing and toss that Zoe loves and, let's face it, I don't compete.
Caden swooped her up into his arms, hugging her and then throwing her over his shoulder. He leaned forward and gave Maliyah a kiss on the cheek. "Maliyah, it's great to see you. Not sure about what made you think to come, but I'm fairly certain your sister is over the moon to see you right now."
He looked between us and continued, "why don't I steal this munchkin away!
" As he said the word 'munchkin' he pretended to nibble on Zoe's side sending her into screams of delight.
Looking back over to me he said, "go spend some time with your sister.
Mom, Macy, and I will handle things with the kiddos for a bit.
I'm sure Maliyah could use a break too."
He turned away, tickling Zoe's side and through the giggles I heard her squeal and yell out, "I have to pee!!" Caden switched course, dropped her to her feet and sent her off yelling out to her, "okay kiddo, you do that, and Uncle Caden will go make you a snack."
"Okay!" Zoe yelled back.
With all the sounds of chaos and happiness we could hear from every corner of the downstairs, Maliyah and I took ourselves upstairs to help her get settled, laughing the whole way up the steps.
Zoe and Maliyah will take one room. Lucas will get the other guest room.
Macy has a twin daybed and a trundle, and while I'm guessing Zoe will want to start the night off staying with her, the last time we tried that, she ended up scared in the night and called out for her mom before ultimately settling in with Maliyah.
"This is exactly what I needed," I said, opening the door to the larger guest room. "I didn't even know I needed it until you showed up."
Maliyah dropped her duffle on the bed and turned to face me. "Okay, now that we're alone—how are you really doing? And don't give me the 'fine' answer. I want the real story."
I sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling the weight of everything that had happened. "It's been... a lot. But also, good? Does that make sense?"
"Not really. Start from the beginning."
So I did. I retold her some of the stuff with Caden from before my trip to Miami, and some of the highlights she already knew about everything with Jessica and Macy.
I showed her the text I'd received from Caden from earlier when he was downstairs and me upstairs.
I shared what we knew so far about Jessica, even talking through the custody of Macy.
We talked about Macy starting therapy and Caden and me doing so too—essentially unloading weeks'—years' worth of craziness in what felt like no time at all.
But then I told her about the garden and all the work Caden had been doing.
I told her about how it wasn't just doing things, it was about how he was acting too—talking with me, sharing, going back to the days when we were truly partners.
I mentioned Macy's therapy and the permanent custody situation.
About the garden and the locket and the slow, careful work of rebuilding trust.
"Jesus, Felicity," Maliyah said when I finished. "No wonder you sounded overwhelmed. That's like a lifetime of drama crammed into two weeks."
"The weird thing is, though—Caden and I are better than we've been in years. Like, really better. Not just crisis-better, but actually better."
"It sounds like it. This is all huge, Fliss."
"Macy goes back to school tomorrow. Caden and I go back to work. I guess time will only tell for us—and now that we are going back to normal scheduling, I wonder how everything will unfold.
"That's what I'm here for," Maliyah said firmly. "To help you figure it out while things get back to a more normal cadence. I'm off for the next couple of weeks, so let me help you with whatever you need."
"I can't tell you how much that means to me." I twisted my wedding ring around my finger. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Like things are going too well, and something's going to come along and mess it all up again."
"Like what?"
"Ugh, I don't know. Like Jessica finding some way to manipulate the situation to her benefit.
" I shrugged helplessly. "Like me screwing up this whole stepmom thing because I have no idea what in the hell I'm doing.
Like Caden getting overwhelmed with work and reverting back to his old patterns—though I'm worrying less and less about that last one. "
Maliyah was quiet for a moment, then said, "You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think you're borrowing trouble. You've got a good thing happening here—Caden's stepped up, Macy's safe, your marriage is healing. Instead of waiting for it to fall apart, maybe just... enjoy the moment?"
From downstairs came the sound of something crashing, followed by Sandy's voice calling out, "It's fine! Everything's fine! Just dropped the syrup!"
We looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"See?" Maliyah grinned. "This is what family chaos looks like. Messy and loud and perfect."
"Should we go rescue Sandy?" I asked, standing up.
"Probably. But Felicity?" She caught my hand. "Whatever happens next, you've got this. And you're not alone."
I squeezed her hand back. "Thank you. For making the drive with two little ones—all by yourself. For dropping everything. For just... being here."
"That's what sisters do. Though a glass of wine tonight wouldn't get declined.
I can promise you that—early though, I'm going to need an early bedtime.
I have to sleep off the trauma of the drive and the kidney kicks I experienced from sleeping with both of my kids these last two nights—apparently, hotels are scary so everyone sharing a queen-sized was necessary to avoid bad dreams." Maliyah rolled her eyes at this and started making her way to the stairs.
As we headed back down, I could hear Lucas trying to explain the rules of spit to Caden while Zoe demanded to be tossed around like a "sack of potatoes"—a game he liked to play with the kids when they visited.
The sound of my family—expanded and chaotic and wonderful—filled the house with exactly the kind of noise I'd been missing without even knowing it.
Whatever challenges tomorrow would bring, at least I wouldn't face them alone.