062:

They're good babies, she admitted to herself, with her laptop on her lap, humming a tune that kept repeating in her mind, one she thought might be the makings of a new song. She liked to compose, but mostly she used to do it with Megan. Now.... Megan was off pursuing her own life. She had spoken to her tonight; she was filming in Australia with Stevie. Filming what? Well, he was filming and she was doing artwork or something, building sets. Weird, not what she'd pictured for her sister at all. But she seemed happy, so she guessed that was all that mattered.

Maille was out of touch. She'd called and found that Maille was off her phone, and probably hanging out with Kell Stevak. Her mother reported that Maille had tried to run away and Kell had brought her back. Run away? From what? And how does one run away exactly at age nineteen? Her mother had told her it was complicated. But not to worry. That had seemed cryptic.

Sisters... weren't they supposed to keep in better touch?

She'd even called Cassie. And she had texted her back that she was busy.... Busy what? Busy taking Matthew Lawrence to Pizza. Are you kidding? Matthew was hanging out with Cassie? So, did everybody have a guy except her?

And hot on the heels of that thought was the one about that guy. Ryan. Where was he? It was midnight. Of course, that was early at a party like this. Melia had no way to know. He didn't answer his phone and hadn't come back for dinner. So, where was Robert? With another one of the cute little starlets floating all around this place? That thought made her mad. She wanted to have fun. She wanted to have a life. This whole campout thing sucked.

It was supposed to be a break, relaxing. Instead, for her, it was torture. She had to sit here, away from home and family, and do nothing. She glanced back down at her laptop and flipped to the script she was supposed to be memorizing. Pirates and captains and dead guys and treasure. Now this would be fun. She should concentrate on this.

Her phone buzzed and thinking it must be Ryan she flipped it open ready to be quite sarcastic. The voice that greeted her wasn't Ryan though.

"Hi, Dad." She said contritely.

"Hello, sweetheart." Came his very dynamic and reassuring voice.

"What's up? Can't sleep?" She asked softly so as not to wake the babies.

"I heard you and Ryan are out camping in Lucerne. How far out are you? You need to come home to Montana right away." His voice was fairly clipped. That meant he'd been making a lot of calls.

"Why? What's wrong?" She immediately sensed this was something out of the ordinary and braced herself, because her Dad usually just blurted it out there without any fanfare.

"Grandma Lorraine has passed away."

As if a steel band had gripped her heart, Melia held her breath and pictured her grandmother and tightened the clamp on her tears.

"It would be ideal if I could tell each of you children this kind of news in person, but I can't. There are just too many of you, and you are all scattered all over the place." He said, and his voice was weary.

"I know, Daddy, it's all right, I'm all right." She was all right, she thought, I'm not building, I'm not hallucinating... I'm fine. "How is Mom?" Grandma Lorraine was her mother's biological mother. She'd already buried her adoptive mother when Melia was two. As she asked that question and she pictured her mother's face, she felt her throat clog with emotion.

"About as good as can be expected. She's faced a lot of death in her life. I worry about you two getting a complex. But this wasn't totally unexpected. She's been going downhill for awhile now." He acknowledged. "I'll be expecting you and Ryan later, all right?"

Melia would have said no, she didn't even know where Ryan was, but her father clicked off and she was left sitting there with her phone in her hand. Grandma... Grandma.... She pictured Grandma.... That's where the red hair had come from.... Her grandmother had auburn hair the exact color as Megan's and Melia's, and their slender build. The fair skin, the green eyes. All came from Grandma Lorraine.

But Grandma absolutely couldn't sing! That talent had come through their mother and their Grandfather, Lorraine's lover, Ray MacCaffrey. They'd never been married, in fact, Lorraine, as a young teen had actually been a groupie, or something for Ray's very famous rock band. But that was ages ago, and past history not worth thinking about. What mattered was that her mother needed her children gathered around her for this event, and Melia needed to pack up and go. She swiped blearily at her eyes, sighed deeply, waited for the torrent of tears which didn't come, and finally reached for her phone.

She dialed Ryan for the tenth time, and waited while his phone rang and rang and finally his answering machine came on. She clicked off in a rush of anger, and stood up, running her hand through the ponytail Robert had placed there hours ago. Robert....

She stepped outside the motor home and looked around. The camp had quieted down quite a bit, but there were still campfires going and lots of friends gathered around them. She softly closed the door, taking the baby monitor with her and started off toward where she thought Robert's fifth wheel might be. There were three other fifth wheels parked close to the turnaround, and she could see people in the window. She peered inside the first one and didn't recognize anyone, but the second one showed her a young boy playing cards at a table and Jenny across from him.

She knocked on the door. Movement inside, and then Jenny's face peered out at her. "Oh, hi!" She said brightly, "Come on in!" She recognized Melia instantly and was very welcoming.

"Ah, no, I can't...." She held up the monitor and waved it as a reminder. "I don't want to... you know.... Is Robert around?"

"Who is it, Jen?" Came his voice and then he was there in the doorway.

"Melia!" He was very surprised to see her, and she was very surprised to see him in boxer shorts and a very loose and lightweight t-shirt, practically threadbare, hairy legs and chest showing, hair wild. His eyes took her in without explanation. He stepped past Jenny and down the stairs to study her face for an instant before enveloping her in a hug. "What is it, honey?"

Melia felt the tears, the tears she only cried when he was there. Why, dammit, why? Here they come! Oh, crap.... She struggled to hold them in, and then the dam burst and she sobbed one heart-wrenching sob. He cupped her cheeks, looking into her flowing eyes with worry. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head vehemently. "My grandmother died." She choked, and his dawning expression was comforting. He pulled her into his chest again, and cradled her head to him, whispering nothing into the air around them. It's okay, she told herself fiercely. It's okay. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm okay.

"I need to get home." She said as he released her slightly to pull her into the light from the window above them. He nodded.

"I'll take you there." He said without concern.

"No, I can't find Ryan. I don't know how to drive the motor home, and I think I should just go to the airport."

"There's an airport in Apple Valley about a half an hour away." He kept holding her hand, kept cupping her shoulder and rubbing it gently. "I'll unhook the trailer and take you in the truck."

"Do you know where Ryan is?" She asked, hiccupping and then covering her mouth in embarrassment. Robert pulled her hand down.

He looked around at the assembly of RV's, and shook his head thoughtfully. "No, but I'll send Kyle out for him. Kyle?" He knew Kyle was listening and the boy appeared as if by magic, ready to run. He didn't need to be told.

Jenny came down the steps and embraced Melia. "I'm sorry about your Grandmother." She said softly. "Do you want me to pack the girls things?"

Robert nodded at her gratefully and propelled Melia back toward her own motor home, one hand holding hers, the other against her lower back. He felt so... steady... stalwart...

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