Page 98 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
Caden: Sweetheart, Jessica has tried to call multiple times this morning. Comes from unknown number. I know you're still upstairs with Macy, but didn't want you blindsided. Maybeignore her calls if she gets through to you, for now. Let's talk later when alone.
I felt my stomach start to churn. Closing my eyes, I got my expression under control and stood up. Turning toward Macy, I asked, "ready to go see how your dad and Grandma are doing?"
As we headed toward the stairs, I could hear Caden's voice from below, talking with his mom.
In the kitchen, Caden asked Macy, "better?"
"So much better. Felicity's magic cream works on everything," Macy said, settling at the kitchen table. "Can we have those egg sandwiches now? I'm starving."
"About that..." I looked over at Caden and definitely got a whiff of something burnt. He told us, "I may have had a small cooking incident while you were upstairs. How do you feel about cereal?"
"Dad!" Macy laughed. "Who burns egg sandwiches?"
"Apparently your dad!" I said—to her, and the room. So many things to worry about, egg sandwiches seemed like such a non-starter. "Good thing your grandma brought enough food to feed an army. How about some of whatever's in these containers?"
As we unpacked Sandy's containers—some fried chicken, pasta salad, and what appeared to be homemade brownies, I grabbed a brownie to start—secreting it away, don't want to be a bad influence, but a brownie and coffee felt like the right next step for me at the moment.
Caden's phone rang, and he looked at his phone, showing me it was someone from the office. He announced, "Work thing, give me two minutes." I nodded, and as I turned to go brew myself a cup of coffee, I heard Alexa announce:
"Someone is at the front door." I turned toward the screen to look at who it could be and was shocked.
Not caring who heard me in my shock, I said aloud, "No fucking way."
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 youarea 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?"
