Before Spencer even had a chance to close the car door she was engulfed in yet another hug, this time by two people who still gave her hope that she would end up ok…. Chelsea and Clay had both run up the driveway and taken Spencer in their arms.

“Oh my god Spencer, we missed you so much!” Lovely Chelsea, always kind and always there and she was with my brother, the mother of my gorgeous little niece who I couldn’t wait to meet

“Yeah sis, don’t ever do that again will ya?”

“I promise Clay, never again”

“Where are your manners babe, get Spencer’s bags already”

“Sorry Chelsea, can’t a guy give two out of three of his best girls a hug?”

“No he can’t, not when one of them hasn’t met Amelia yet”

And that was when Spencer saw both the person she was most excited to see and the person who she could go without seeing.  Paula Carlin stood in the doorway of their home holding her granddaughter, and Spencer’s niece, in her arms. As if in slow motion Paula made her way out to Spencer and gave her a very formal greeting, a quick kiss on her cheek and that was it.

“Hello Spencer, it’s nice to have you home”

“Hello mother, can’t say it’s that nice to be home”

Without another word, Spencer took her niece in her arms and immediately fell in love with her, cooing away at her like there was no tomorrow and as though she had never seen a baby before.

“She’s absolutely beautiful, you two are so lucky”

“It didn’t seem like it in the beginning Spencer, but with the help of your folks and with one look into her eyes we knew we were the luckiest couple on earth”

“You’re living here now right, so I get to fuss over her and you guys as much as I want?”

“Yeah, we’ve taken over Clay and Glen’s room so we’ll definitely count on you to baby-sit once in a while” Chelsea giggled as she took her daughter so that Spencer could head upstairs and unpack.

Alone in her room Spencer finally had more time to think, just what she needed…. in her worst nightmare.  So much had happened since she had left, Clay and Chelsea were now parents, Glen had left home and decided to join the army hoping they could sort out the mess he’s made of his life, and the woman she loved was happy with someone else. Not to mention the fact that tomorrow, she would be face to face with the very reason she ran away in the first place.