Who: Amelia, Jasper & Gavin Where: Green Street When: Sunday afternoon 11/05 Status: Complete Warning: Cry
Amelia had used the phone in her room to call the sheriff's station to ask for Grady. It was a Sunday morning and she figured that if he was at work he'd have nothing better to do than to hold her hand through her first meeting with her brother. She'd been wrong and that meant putting it off for a few more hours - or another day. She sat on her hotel bed for a few minutes, mind racing as she thought about all the ways it could go wrong - and all the ones it could go right. Half an hour later she was walking toward Green Street, using a map in the phone Lettie Amari had given her because she still wasn't entirely sure about the way there - especially walking.
There were so many cars on the way there and so many of them were the kind of old that made them easy to hotwire. Amelia stared longingly at them as she walked but she honestly wouldn't know how to navigate with so many other drivers on the road even if it wasn't illegal to just take a car she found. She doubted that it being her birthday would get her off the hook, even if Sheriff Barrett was very understanding and patient with her.
She practiced what she might say if she knocked on her father's door because at this point she just wanted to see him and Jasper, no matter what else might happen. Every little plan she came up with faded a little when she saw her brother's car in the driveway of the familiar house and she stopped on the other side of the street, momentarily unable to breathe. This was a bad idea. This was a good idea. Grady had said her family had been through hell and she couldn't bring them a ten year old Amelia Lucas no matter how hard she wished to shrink herself back to that age just so they would recognize her.
I can't she thought and kept walking, sitting down at the corner for a long time just poking at her phone as she tried to think about how the hell she'd even explain this to them, or how she could tell them 'Amelia was safe' without them thinking she was someone who had hurt her. Because what if they looked at her long and hard and still didn't recognize her? She wanted to call Barrett again but at this point the battery was dead on the phone and she'd have to find her way back to Juniper without it. Idiot.
She got up and walked slowly down the street again but this time she crossed the street and walked up to the door. The dogs inside started barking and she realized with amazement that of course they were still alive and young, it hadn't been nine years for them like it had her. They already knew someone was outside so she knocked and stepped back, fairly sure that if her anxiety ramped up any more she might just have a heart attack.
Jasper hadn’t been up for long. It was Sunday, so he could sleep guilt-free, and he’d been doing that for most of the morning. He’d only gotten up because he had to take a piss, and then he’d been thirsty, so he was standing in the kitchen with a big cup of water and a cigarette, listlessly staring out into the backyard. It was Amelia’s birthday. He’d been painfully aware of that for the entire day before, and he was sure his father had too. Jasper was dully grateful that he wasn’t home.
He was just thinking about packing a bowl and seeing if he could smoke himself back to sleep when the dogs started going nuts at the front door. Jasper jumped and cursed under his breath, scrubbing a hand over his face. It was too fucking early for visitors. After setting his water down, Jasper shuffled to the front door. He was only vaguely aware that he was just in a pair of cotton lounge pants and nothing else -- whoever was bothering to knock at this hour got what they deserved. “Shut up,” he told Max and Rude testily, kneeing his way past them to unlock the door. “Stop it. Sit.”
Their butts touched the ground but not for long as Jasper pulled the door open. There was a girl standing there. A pretty girl with big eyes. Jasper barely got a good look at her before the dogs were pushing past him to rush at her, noses and tails going madly. “Goddammit,” he cursed through his teeth, lunging forward to grab their collars and try to drag them backward. They were scary to most people, just by virtue of their breed, and he didn’t want this girl freaking out. “Sorry,” he said, straining against both dogs. “They don’t bite.”
Amelia promptly forgot whatever it was she had meant to say. It had been something dumb anyway, something about her phone being dead and needing directions? It didn't matter anymore. Seeing her brother for the first time in nine years made her face get all screwed up and tears well up in her eyes and that didn't go hand in hand with any sort of lie. He looked the same, only... from a different angle. The dogs looked the same and they were whining now and eagerly trying to get to her after looking at her in confusion for a moment. "Hey Jasper," she said timidly and she couldn't imagine him not knowing her now, not when she was standing right there and he looked the same and the dogs knew her, they so clearly knew her.
The stupid dogs were not obeying him, and it was starting to piss Jasper off. For a second he thought the way the girl’s face was crumpling was because of that ... but there was something familiar about it. Really, the more he looked at her, the more familiar she seemed. And then she said his name. Jasper’s expression went slack and the dogs’ collars slipped out of his hands. Max and Rude charged in to madly sniff at the girl, then started bouncing around her, Max giving off his happy bark. Jasper barely heard it, he was too busy staring at the girl’s face. It was slimmer and more grown up, but he’d been looking at that cry-face since she was a baby, and it was impossible for him not to know it, no matter how insane it was. “... Amelia?” he barely said, staring at her with a mixture of disbelief and something akin to hope.
That was not supposed to make her cry more but it did, even as she smiled and nodded frantically. He knew her, of course he knew her because he was her brother and he loved her. She could feel the dogs licking at her hands and if she hadn't been so focused on Jasper she might have crouched down to hug on them some. It felt weird to ignore them though so she glanced down with a barely mumbled 'hey Max, hey Rudy' before looking back at Jasper with tears streaming down her face. "You know me," she said with a touch of wonder and a little apprehension because he might still decide he didn't trust what he knew. Like she was a shadow person who'd disintegrate into smoke if he shot her.
Jasper might not have believed his eyes if the dogs hadn’t been acting like they knew the girl too. They were friendly enough with strangers, but they were treating her like she was their long lost best friend ... so maybe she was. She couldn’t be, but there was something so deep inside of him that was screaming that yes, this was her. This was his baby sister, only not a baby anymore. Jasper didn’t know what that meant -- was she a ghost? Some other kind of spirit? Just his brain finally going haywire from all this stress and grief? Max and Rude were yet more proof of her solidity, though. Jasper just stared back at her for a long moment, then swallowed hard, tears starting to sting the backs of his own eyes. His lips moved to form a ‘how,’ but nothing came out of his mouth. Tentatively, Jasper took a half step in closer, one hand lifting to gingerly touch her arm. She felt real. A heartbeat later he was pulling her into a hug. “‘Melia, ohmygod,” he mumbled.
Amelia didn't care if he didn't have a shirt on or that he smelled slightly sweaty and sleep rumpled. She squeezed him tightly as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck, all the noise in her head gone for now as all she could focus on was that Jasper knew her and he was right there. For so long she'd imagined what might have happened to her family while she was gone, forcing herself to imagine good things only because the more realistic things would have broken her. Maybe Jasper had gotten married, had kids of his own, or maybe he'd left Point Pleasant behind. But no, he was here and he was the same and she didn't want to let go of him for the life of her.
She was definitely solid, and Jasper closed his eyes and felt her arms around him and he knew. He really, really knew. She was taller than she’d been, of course -- though she was still pretty short -- and her body felt different, but something else didn’t, something more fundamental. This wasn’t some stranger pretending for some sick game or something, it was really Amelia. That began to viscerally sink in, and Jasper was overwhelmed with emotion. He’d been in that state a lot in the days since she’d disappeared, but this wave felt so intense. He started to cry, something he never would’ve let himself do on the front porch, but he was holding his sister again. She was alive somehow, older, but home, and he didn’t understand any of it, but God, he couldn’t deny how strong that feeling of love was. Jasper squeezed her tight, turning his face in toward her hair even though he couldn’t smell anything at the moment.
"I missed you so much," Amelia squeaked against his neck and she had no idea if he understood the weight of her loss versus his but it didn't matter. They were reunited and he hadn't turned her away. The dogs wanted in on that hug and kept jumping up on their hind legs to press their paws against her back but didn't bother her. If anything it just made her happier to the point where her chest felt like it might explode.
Jasper didn’t answer for another couple of minutes, still caught up in the emotional purging. When he did quiet down to sniffles, he pulled back to look at her. “How -- ... I can’t believe it’s really you,” he whispered raggedly, more awe than disbelief in his face. His hands moved from Amelia’s shoulders to cup her face and then back down again. “I don’t understand.” That much was probably obvious though. He realized all at once that they were still standing outside, and that was no good. “Fuck. Come in, come in, ohmygod,” he muttered, backing up a step and moving so she could come into the house.
"It's crazy," Amelia said, wiping at her cheeks somewhat uselessly. "I know, I know it's crazy. I thought you'd all moved on and gotten older too but... Everything's the same." Some of the things were literally the same, like some of the shoes and jackets in the hallway were still in the exact same place as the last time she'd been there. The smell of the house hit her like with a ton of memories and god she was reeling so she hugged Jasper again, partially for something solid to hang on to. "The dogs are the same, I thought they'd be old by now."
He hugged her back, feeling his breath catch in his throat again. His body wasn’t used to feeling that again yet. Jasper had been sure she was gone for good, as much as he hadn’t wanted to admit it out loud. At least gone for a long time. And ... that seemed to be true, in some kind of weird way he hadn’t wrapped his head around yet. Jasper ushered Amelia to the couch and sat down with her, giving her a tighter squeeze for a moment before he pulled back to look at her again. “Are you okay, are you ... do you want anything to eat or anything?” he asked, feeling compelled to offer that kind of stuff before he started pestering her with ‘what the fuck’ questions. The instinct to take care of her was strong and currently useless.
Amelia nodded because yes she was okay and then again with a sheepish expression because she was also hungry. She'd had a little breakfast at Juniper but she'd been nervous and hadn't eaten much. There was so much to tell him and she didn't know where to start or when because all she wanted to do right now was just enjoy that fact that she was home and Jasper was there with her. "Does dad even have anything?" she asked with a pained little laugh because she remembered very clearly that Gavin hardly ever had anything unless he knew she was coming, or at least nothing a nine year old wanted to eat. Maybe that had changed when Jasper moved in.
Jasper let out a little laugh of his own, and it sounded a tiny bit hysterical, but maybe that was okay. Amelia was back from the dead and older now, he had a right to feel unbalanced. “There’s so much in the fridge,” Jasper said, already standing up again. He snagged Amelia’s hand to pull her up with him, even though he’d just sat them down. “People keep bringing us pity food. Come on and eat some of it.” How fucking ironic was that? He led her to the kitchen and opened up the fridge, then started pulling out containers and naming off what he thought they were. She at least had a lot of variety to choose from.
"I'm not starving or anything," Amelia babbled on the way to the kitchen, not wanting him to think she'd just shown up freshly out of her hell with no food in her belly. "The sheriff got me a room at Juniper and bought me food and everything." Now she just felt bad about not coming directly here but she didn't think about that for long before her eyes went wide at all the food in the fridge. Even when she'd spent the night there hadn't been this much and she covered her mouth and laughed too because yes, it was crazy. Pity food because she'd gone missing a couple of weeks ago. Her dad must have loved that, she thought. He might not have shown her much of his bad side when she was little but she'd heard plenty about it from her mom and her dad was not a fan of people in general. She picked up one of the containers he'd put aside and looked at the note attached. The handwriting wasn't familiar but then she'd been gone for a long time. Sort of. "Is this from Roxy?" she asked, emotion seeping into her voice again. Jasper knew her but what about everyone else? How did she even explain this?
Jasper peered over at the one she had, and nodded. “Yeah,” he confirmed, reaching over to give her shoulder a squeeze. He gave her a crooked little smile to go with it. “You want that one? It’s not old.” Roxy always made good food, and she’d made sure to drop some more of it by over the past couple weeks. The first part of what Amelia had said hadn’t passed him completely by, but he waited until they were sitting down with food in front of Amelia before he started asking. “You said you saw the sheriff? What ... what happened to you, Ams?” Jasper asked it carefully, some instinct telling him that it had to have been something Big.
"I don't really know," Amelia said through a mouthful of food that tasted amazing in a completely different way from restaurant food and she didn't think about table manners at all. She was hungry but she also had a lot to say. She told him what she did remember about being somewhere strange, about making it out and being found by a deputy. "It was snowing so I knew I wasn't there anymore," she mumbled and then realized it hadn't snowed since and that gave away how long she'd been back. "I was in the hospital," she said apologetically, pausing her eating for a moment. "I didn't want to- I didn't know you'd recognize me so the sheriff had me do a DNA test and everything. I mean, they thought I was crazy. I was starting think I was crazy."
Jasper listened with open fascination. It did sound pretty fucking crazy, but he believed every word of it. He just knew by instinct that it was true, and Amelia wasn’t nuts -- how could she be? She’d aged and it really was her. He wasn’t even thinking about the snow and what that meant, and he didn’t realize what she was sounding apologetic for until she started explaining herself. Like he could possibly blame her for waiting, this whole thing was fucking weird, of course she’d been scared to come home. “Wait, they did a DNA test?” he questioned, trying to absorb everything she was telling him. It was a lot to wrap his head around. “And it came back positive? Like proof?” That might come in handy later, Jasper knew that not everybody would know her like he did. He just hoped to God that Gavin would.
"Yeah," Amelia said and actually swallowed before going on this time. "I told them my name when I first came out, I mean, I didn't know it hadn't been years here too and I just wanted to find you and everyone right away and then he told me what year it was and definitely thought I was just crazy." She remembered to breathe and gave Jasper a sheepish smile. "I totally picture you like... married to your cheerleader girl with a kid or two or something. Are you guys... still together?"
He sat back in his chair, gazing at her with awe. She had proof. Or the cops had proof. He wondered now if they eventually would’ve come to him and his dad, or if they were leaving all of that up to Amelia. Jasper blinked a little at the question, then gave a faint smile. “Yeah, we are,” he murmured. “I mean, it’s only been two weeks, to us. The longest two fucking weeks of my life, but ... still.” And Jules was good, Jules hadn’t abandoned him when he’d been at his lowest. It made him want to see her as soon as possible, kiss the shit out of her, share the good news. She would probably think he was nuts for a while, but that didn’t seem like a big deal at the moment. Amelia was back, she was alive. She’d been through hell, yeah, but she was home now, and that meant everything would be okay. Jasper reached over to squeeze her arm. “It’s your birthday, did you know?”
Amelia relaxed into a little smile as she nodded. "My dead phone has a working calendar," she said with some amazement before grasping his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Best birthday ever." It made her feel a little sappy all over again and the thing with crying was that once she'd already started it was so easy to start again. Her eyes watered and she let out a little laugh, ducking her head down to press her forehead against his hand. "I missed you so much, I thought about you every day and hoped you'd somehow find me even if- even if I wouldn't have wanted you to end up there too." She straightened up again. "If you end up... Go through the black. It's gross and you'll think you'll die and it's terrifying but you have to do it to get home." It was all so vague now and she struggled to remember details to tell him, something more than she already had. "It's... like tar."
Jasper squeezed his fingers, feeling that insane joy bubble up in his chest again. Best birthday ever, in-fucking-deed. He nodded a bit at her instructions, though he hoped neither of them ever saw that place again. It sounded horrible, and maybe it was a blessing that she was already forgetting it, like she’d said. Amelia was still eating, but Jasper was compelled to get up and move around the table closer to her. He slid down to his knees at her side and wrapped his arms around her again. “I missed you too,” he murmured thickly. “So fucking much. We all have. Dad’s gonna ... he’s gonna shit a brick, for real. He’s been miserable without you. We searched so hard for you, everywhere. I just ... I would’ve come for you, if I’d had any idea where you went.”
There hadn't been a whole lot of hugging unless Amelia initiated it, she remembered that much, and this constant touching was like a drug. She draped herself over her brother as best she could, clinging to him and patting his unruly hair. "I know," she whispered because she couldn't imagine her brother not looking for her and that had kept her going for a while when she was still little. Any day now, Jasper would show up and take her home. "But I found you." She smiled a touch and there were those easy tears again, dripping down her cheeks. "Where is dad?" she asked then and almost asked if their mom was okay but they hadn't been on the best of terms. Maybe that had changed when Amelia went missing but she doubted it.
That lack of hugs had been a regret that had flashed through Jasper’s mind more than once while she’d been gone -- he should’ve hugged her more, spent more time with her, stolen her away from both their shitty parents and started a new life with her somewhere far away from Point Pleasant. He would make up for it now though, now that they’d all been given this bizarre second chance. Speaking of shitty parents ... Jasper sat up with realization on his face, like he hadn’t thought of the most obvious thing in the world. “Oh shit,” he said. “I dunno, but I should call him.” He stood up and glanced around for his phone, but it wasn’t in the kitchen, Jasper dashed off down the hall to grab it from his room, then came back to his sister, thumb hovering over the screen. “Unless ... I mean, you don’t wanna wait, right?”
Amelia shook her head even if she did kind of want to wait. She needed to know and at least Jasper knew her so if her dad was weird about it Jasper would come with her and she wouldn't end up all alone bawling her eyes out at Juniper Inn. That was something to cling to and it'd be horribly mean to keep her dad in the dark much longer. She did want to wait though, mainly because she was scared. It was just less scary with Jasper there. "Do you think he'll know me?" she asked quietly even if she knew damn well Jasper didn't know that that any more than she did.
Jasper’s heart broke for her a tiny bit. Of course she was nervous about that, she’d probably been scared to death to turn up on the front porch and knock. The whole thing was so fucking nuts, but he couldn’t imagine Gavin not knowing her. That was his daughter sitting there, and if Jasper knew her on sight, Gavin surely would too. If not, well ... maybe they could get that paperwork from the cops, and at least he knew his dad believed in weird shit. “I dunno how he couldn’t,” he told her with a little smile. “You just ... you radiate Amelia. You’re her.” Without hesitating any further, he hit the button to call his dad.
Gavin picked up the phone almost instantly. It was something he did now after Amelia went missing, even if he was barely conscious or had his hands full. He didn't even say hello, going right to, "Everything okay?" He was obviously driving with Jasper on speaker, there was that annoying tinny sound and an echo going on that was unmistakably the bluetooth.
Amelia was biting her thumbnail as she watched Jasper and she could hear her dad's voice on the phone, loud as it was. It was surreal and her stomach did that coiling thing again that made her leg started bouncing.
He felt a bit of nerves himself when his dad answered, but they were the good kind this time. Mostly, anyway. Jasper had the vague notion that Gavin might not believe, and might kick Jasper’s ass for trying to trick him or something, but as he stared at his sister, he couldn’t imagine that actually happening. “Hey dad,” he said, unable to keep from grinning briefly. “You uh, need to come home. Like, now. It’s good news.” He wasn’t sure if he should just blurt out ‘Amelia’s home’ before Gavin had actually seen her, but it would probably be pretty obvious what he was talking about anyway.
Gavin was quiet for a few. He just wasn't sure what could be good news if it wasn't that they'd found Amelia. Ollie died and we can sell the house? Reagan stopped by with some information about a possible location? "I'm on uh," he muttered and tried to remember the name of the street he was on but he was a little drunk and very tired so just no. "I'm almost home. Did you let the dogs out?"
Amelia couldn't help but laugh. It came out a quiet hiss and was far more from nerves than any actual amusement and she covered her mouth, looking at Jasper with a mix of exasperation and humor.
At least he was close. They wouldn’t have to wait on pins and needles for forever. Jasper gave a little huff of his own and rolled his eyes for Amelia’s benefit. “Yeah, I let ‘em out,” he told Gavin. “They’re fine. Just get here.” He disconnected the call before he could slip up and say something else, drop some stupid hint. Gavin deserved to have the same kind of unbelievably joyous shock as he had. Jasper grabbed a soda out of the fridge and plopped down into a seat at the table again. “He’s almost here,” he told Amelia, even though she had already heard.
Amelia was both glad and not because waiting meant being nervous for longer but meeting her dad was terrifying. Meeting Jasper had been terrifying too, she reminded herself, and look at them now. But that was Jasper. She was glad she hadn't come with the sheriff after all, even if he probably would have left once he knew things were okay. This was better, just her and her family. "He's on uh," she said. "I heard." Still smiling but there was that quiver inside of her that wouldn't stop and she shoved some more food in her mouth just to keep herself occupied, slowly chewing as she listened for the sounds of any car going by.
Gavin hadn't been wrong, he'd been very close and minutes later his truck parked out front and he headed on inside. Amelia had thought Jasper looked a little rough but her dad looked like hell. He looked older, weirdly enough, dark shadows under his eyes and a sort of slack in his expression she didn't remember ever seeing before. Even his jacket didn't seem to fit him quite right. He tossed his keys on the counter and looked at her, then Jasper, then her again, a question dying on his lips.
He stared at her, then looked back at Jasper, then back at her, this young woman who looked just like his little girl, eating his food, staring back at him with a worried look on her face and his dogs lounging by her feet looking at him like he was an idiot. His son's greeting barely registered with him, the look on his face was far more telling and after opening his mouth to speak a few times like the world's dumbest goldfish, he finally croaked out a bewildered, "Amelia?"
Her expression was all the answer he needed and as soon as she got up from her seat he'd stumbled unsteadily through the kitchen to wrap his arms around her. It didn't make any sense and maybe he was just drunk enough for that not to matter but that was Amelia, that was his little girl - not so little girl - and at that moment he didn't care if it was a trick if he could just hold her for a minute.
Jasper stayed where he was at the table, watching the two of them, that hard lump in his throat melting into a few more tears. He let out a soft laugh just to release some pressure and swiped at his eyes. He was aware of what absolute messes they’d become, and now that Amelia was back, he could see just how bad Gavin looked, but that didn’t really matter. This was perfect and everything would be better now. No matter what the rest of the world thought, the two of them knew her. Against all odds, they had her back, even if she’d lost some years, they could make it through whatever came next.
Gavin had a lot of questions but they only came out half way, so many of them, halved by wonder and bewilderment. How are- how did you- how, how, how. He let go of Amelia only to look at her and he could swear he'd sobered up in two seconds flat when he first realized it was her, like his mind had gone clear but his body hadn't gotten the message, still a little unsteady. His fingers felt too thick and while she wasn't as small as she used to be she was so thin now, falling apart really. "My little girl," he mumbled. "How did you- I don't understand. You're so thin, did you- where'd you come from?"
Before Amelia could say anything to any of his half-questions he'd pulled her back into a hug so tight it took her breath away and she laughed a little unsteadily. He smelled so bad but she didn't care right now because he recognized her and that was all that mattered.
Jasper almost piped up to fill in the blanks, so Amelia wouldn’t have to say it all again, but he kept quiet for now. Gavin probably wouldn’t hear him anyway, not really. The questions were probably coming from the shock, and she would have to tell her story multiple times, he felt sure. He got up from where he was sitting and moved over to his dad and his sister to wrap his arms around the both of them from the side. They needed a family hug, in Jasper’s opinion. He just hoped that Amelia wasn’t going to get sick of all the love, because he was sure they were going to be smothering her for a while. Jasper kissed her head.
Amelia was never going to get sick of it and she was only crying again because she was happy, but also maybe a little worried about her dad because he was such a damn mess. She was quickly catching on that the questions didn't require answers yet, Gavin was just drunkenly trying to make sense of the situation and she could give him a little time to do that before she tried to explain anything.
They stood there for a long time, just hugging, before Gavin pulled back enough to look at his kids. Jasper looked the same so he hadn't just accidentally time -travelled but that meant Amelia had and every question he thought to ask sounded so ridiculous in his head. "Are you-" he started again but this time he managed to actually finish the thought. "A time traveler?"
Amelia laughed and opened her mouth to say no but really, maybe she was. Maybe she'd gone through a portal or something and come out at the wrong time - or the right time here just not the right time over there. "I don't know," she said. "Not on purpose?" He was petting her face and crying and she'd never seen her dad cry before and it stung in a weird way. At least he was happy crying, or confused crying, probably both. He'd pulled her and Jasper into a tight hug before she could really suss it out and she didn't mind, slipping one arm around Jasper too as she pressed her face against her dad's beardy cheek.
It wasn’t an unreasonable question considering the weird-ass circumstances, but it still made Jasper snicker a bit too. When he thought of time-travelers, he thought of sci-fi and shiny suits, or big bright whirly portals to step through. Or like ... old-fashioned time machines. Or the Delorean from Back To The Future. Not his baby sister crawling through some black goop. Seeing Gavin cry would’ve been more unsettling if it wasn’t such a happy occasion and they hadn’t been crying at each other for two weeks now. Fuck. Jasper kept clinging to the both of them, feeling something fundamental shift in him. They were a family again, and they would be better. It was some crazy second chance, and they weren’t going to waste it this time.
Eventually though, they did have to breathe, and Jasper lifted his head and gave a watery little laugh. “Think we’re worrying the boys,” he murmured. Max and Rude had been circling the three of them, letting out little whines in between sniffs. They weren’t used to this love fest or all the sniffling, he guessed. Jasper squeezed the back of his father’s neck and pulled away so he could make himself useful and start making some coffee. Gavin would want some, he was sure.
The dogs did look puzzled but Gavin was too busy staring at Amelia to even remember he had dogs right now. He kept staring at her and she stared back with a little cry-smile and the two of them communicated with just that for a long time while Jasper started the water running to make coffee. "Come on," Amelia said finally because it was obvious her dad wasn't going to know what to ask or how to ask it before he had all the facts. "Let's sit down and I'll tell you everything I know, okay?"
Gavin nodded dumbly. "Does your mom know?" he asked quietly as they shuffled to the kitchen table and he didn't quite let go of her yet, like he needed to be sure she really was there and not just a hallucination. When Amelia told him her mom didn't know yet he couldn't help but feel good in a vindictive and selfish way. He was sure Amelia had come here first because of her brother but still, he knew before Olivia did. He didn't let it show, his kids didn't need more toxic shit from him or Ollie, that was for damn sure. He'd said they'd be better if they got Amelia back and here she was. He was probably going to have to stop drinking now, to really show he'd meant it. "Did you eat enough? There's so much food," he said even as he looked at her plate.
"Jasper gave me lots," Amelia told him and smiled over at her brother. "We were kinda laughing at how weird it was, eating food people made for you 'cause of me... I don't know. It was funny when Jasper said it." Or maybe she'd just been on the verge of hysteria and anything could have been funny. Pity food he'd called it. It still made her smile. "You look like shit, dad," she said then, more softly. He smelled awful too but she didn't want to rub that in. "Maybe you should eat something."
Oh right, their mother. Jasper guessed somebody ought to call her too, but he wasn’t going to be the one to suggest it. He was going to leave it up to Amelia to tell them when she wanted that to happen. For all the issues that existed amidst the three of them, both he and Amelia felt closer to Gavin than Olivia, he knew that. When they did call her, Jasper found that he didn’t even want to talk to her. His dad could do it. Even if Amelia wanted to, Olivia might take some convincing that it was really her. Jasper had the instinct that his mother wouldn’t be so quick to believe. He leaned his ass against the counter to wait on the coffee, looking at his family, a warm feeling in his chest. “People telling him that,” he muttered with a little smirk. “Bet he actually listens to you.”
"He better," Amelia said and gave Gavin's hand a squeeze since he still hadn't let go of her. She nudged the rest of the food over the table with her free hand, arching a brow at Gavin but he just shook his head and let out a shaky little laugh.
"Start with coffee," he said and wiped at his cheeks. "God, it's your... Happy birthday, Amelia." It damn near broke him again and he fought back tears as Amelia patted his hand soothingly. He'd often thought about how it would be if she came home and he was drunk or stoned or both because that had pretty much been the state of him since she'd gone missing. It had made him want to sober up a few times but each time the pain had been too much. Now here she was but she wasn't a child who didn't understand what was going on and why daddy was such a mess. There was patience there and understanding and Gavin wasn't sure how to handle any of it. "Coffee, shower, then we all get something to eat, something good, whatever you want. You sleep in my room tonight, I'll take the couch..." he was rambling and he stopped himself from going on, grabbing her hands with both of his. "Then you tell me everything."