Saying goodbye to my grandparents is harder than I thought it would be. Thankfully it's not too long, as we're running a little late after our trip to the graveyard. But it's long enough for my granny to burst into tears at my departure. I assure them both that I will keep in touch, and I make them promise they'll do the same. Then I turn around and start my journey through security, knowing that I've got a really long day ahead of me.

Once I make it to my gate, I shoot off a quick text to my mom letting her know what time I should be landing in New York. Then I pull up Baker's contact and text him, "At the airport now. Feels weird to be leaving. Like I just got here."

A few moments later and I receive a response. "Don't know what you're talking about. Feels like you've been gone forever."

I bite my lip as I suppress a smile. "Going to start boarding soon. See you soon."

He replies with a heart emoji that kicks my pulse up several notches. Carefully, I slide my phone in my pocket as the line starts moving. When I board the plane, I put my phone on airplane mode and stare out the window, knowing that by this time tomorrow I'll be home. Feeling comforted by this thought, I close my eyes, allowing the rumble of the plane to lull me to sleep as we fly out of London back toward the United States.

My plane lands in Spokane, Washington almost a day later, and after the longest trip of my life, I find that I simply can't wait to be home. When the seatbelt sign turns off, I jump to my feet, ready to get in the exit line as soon as possible. I bounce up and down, excited as the door opens and people start walking off the plane. Several minutes later and I'm able to grab my things before getting in line myself. Slowly (so, so slowly), I shuffle off the plane and start walking toward the airport exit.

The moment I round the corner, I see my mom and stepdad standing next to the baggage claim. Tears burn my eyes as they see me. My mom's hands fly to her mouth as my stepdad stands there with his arms wide open. And I can't wait a moment longer. I drop my things as I run to them, throwing my arms around my stepdad in the tightest hug I've ever given in my life. He returns it with equal enthusiasm, and a moment later, my mom decides she wants to join in on the action as well. For several moments the three of us just stand in the airport, hugging and crying as people stare at us.

Finally, they let me go, both wearing teary smiles as they stare at me like I've been gone for years. Really, that's kind of what it feels like. My mom presses her hand to my cheek, and we both giggle at the same time. "My sweet Summer," she says with a sniffle, and I beam at her. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, mom," I reply, wiping my eyes with the palm of my hand. "And you, dad. Both of you. God, I am so happy to be home."

My dad nods his head as he slides an arm around my shoulder, walking with me to the baggage claim while my mom goes to recover the bags I left behind in my excited run toward them. "Are you hungry?" he asks me as we wait for my bags to come by via the conveyor belt. I nod my head, because I'm absolutely starving. "Good. Thought we could go out for dinner tonight. Anywhere you want."

"Wow, I get to choose?" I ask, smiling from ear to ear as I grab my bags off the conveyor belt. "Maybe I should leave the country for five months at a time more often."

My mom laughs as she pulls me closer to her. "That's funny that you think you're ever going to be able to leave us again," she says, and I laugh as I rest my head against her shoulder while my dad carries my bags out of the airport and toward his truck. After loading everything in the bed, we leave the airport, my stomach roaring with hunger.

"Whoa, I can hear that all the way up here," my dad chuckles. "Any thoughts on where you want to go?"

The truth is, I don't care where we go for dinner. I'm just so overwhelmingly happy to be home with them after so long. I wish I could agree with my mom that I'm never going to leave like that again, but I know that that trip was just practice for college. If I get into Columbia. Which reminds me that I'm going to have to start working on my applications soon. God, the work never truly ends.

I finally decide on a Mexican restaurant in Spokane that I know the three of us like. We place our orders, and as we wait for our entrees, they ask me all sorts of questions about my trip. Some of the questions they ask I've already answered, but I'm happy to tell them all about it again. I'm just so stoked to be home that I'll repeat the same words over and over again if it means I can keep talking to them.

"Oh, and Elsie wants to come visit next summer," I say excitedly after taking a bite of my enchiladas. "She was hoping you'd be okay if she stayed with us? Thought it would be fun if we kind of hosted her. It obviously won't be part of the program. But I think it would still be great, right?"

My parents look at each other, and for a moment I'm afraid they're going to say no. But then their lips curve up in a smile before they turn to look back at me. My mom gives me a soft smile as she reaches across the table to put her hand on my arm. "Summer, before we say yes to Elsie staying here for the summer, we have to talk to you about something else."

I set my fork down on my plate, my heart beating faster in my chest at how they're acting. "Okay...." I reply nervously. "What's going on?"

My mom gives me a smile, shooting a quick look at my stepdad before saying, "We... well... I guess it's kind of hard for us to say. I mean, I never thought.... But... well... I'm kind of... pregnant."

For a single moment everything around me comes to a complete standstill as I process my mother's words. I feel my jaw fall open in surprise as my parents just beam at me from across the table. "Are you serious?" I ask, because I can't think of anything else to say.

My mom nods her head enthusiastically as my stepdad squeezes her hand. "We are. It's okay to be surprised. Honestly, we were absolutely shocked. I mean, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but we stopped trying years ago. We decided we were more than content with having you as our only child. So when this happened... I still can't believe it."

There are tears in her eyes now, and my stomach leaps with joy. "Oh my God! I'm actually going to have a little brother or sister?" I ask, and they both nods their heads. "Oh my God! Mom! Dad! This is the best news ever!"

My stepdad lets off a watery chuckle of his own. "We were hoping you'd think so. I mean, we were a little nervous, with you being an only child and everything—"

"Are you kidding?" I ask, feeling like I'm going to explode with how happy I am. "I am so excited! I always wanted a sibling! This is so great!"

"Oh, honey," my mom cries, and my stepdad pulls her into the crook of his arm. "I am so relieved you feel this way. And of course Elsie can stay with us. Just make sure she knows there's going to be a baby in the house."

I laugh. "She is going to be so excited when I tell her. You know she has a little sister, right? Lily? I was a little jealous of Elsie when I was there. I never said anything to her, but I thought it was so cool that she had a little sister. I can't believe I'm going to have a little... I don't know! Brother? Sister? Do you guys know yet?"

My stepdad shakes his head. "Not yet. We'll find out in a few weeks. We're sorry we didn't tell you while you were gone. We wanted to get past the first trimester before we said anything. And then we decided to wait to tell you when you got home, so we could do it in person and really gauge your reaction."

"I'm just so happy you're happy about this," my mom cries. "Really, I was so nervous about telling you."

I playfully roll my eyes. "Come on, mom. What did you think I was going to say?"

She gives me a wet smile as she shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Bert said you would be thrilled about it, and I knew he was right. But... well, you'll understand someday if you ever get pregnant. The emotions... they don't always make sense. But I am just so happy. I've wanted this for longer than you even know, honey. I'm a little older than I wanted to be, so it's a bit of a higher risk pregnancy. But I feel so blessed that it's happening at all."

My stepdad rubs her shoulder, smiling wider than I've ever seen him smile before. "So, anyway... now that we have that big news out of the way, we want to hear more about your trip. Tell us everything. How was the school? And your friends?"

I dive into the stories of my trip, even telling them about the day I skipped school with Elsie after her breakup with Harry. Part of me expects them to be a little disappointed in me when they hear this, but they aren't. They actually praise me for taking a day to have a little fun. God, my parents are so weird.

Over dessert I tell them about my trip with my grandparents, which I know is something my mom has been dying to hear about. I start with how awkward it was for me when I got there, staying with people who seemed to know so much about me when I knew so little about them. But eventually things got better, and by the time I left I made them promise to keep in touch with me. My mom is happy about this news, and of course she starts crying all over again. Jeeze, I am not sure how I'm going to be able to keep up with these hormones for the next however many months.

When we finish dinner, we pack up our leftovers and make our way back to the house. My house. And the moment I step through the doors, I feel all the stress from the past five months melt away like snow in the spring. I'm finally home. I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of my house. It smells like cherry blossoms, which is my mom's favorite candle scent. She burns it year round except for the fall when she lights up her pumpkin candles and the whole house smells like Halloween.

"Welcome home, honey," my mom says sweetly as she wraps an arm around my shoulder and squeezes.

I give off a contented sigh. "It is so good to be home."

"It is," my stepdad says as he slides an arm around my mom's waist. "By the way, we got you a little surprise. Sometime to celebrate your homecoming. It's upstairs in your room."

My eyes widen as a smile creeps up on my face. "Hold on. First, you tell me I'm going to be a big sister. Then you tell me there's a surprise waiting for me in my room? What, did you adopt a dog or something while I was gone?"

A laugh bubbles up out of my stepdad's throat. "You wish. No, it's something better than a dog. Why don't you run upstairs and see what it is? It's late anyway, and mom and I are going to get to bed."

My brow furrows. "You don't want to see me open my gift?" I ask apprehensively.

"Naw, you go on," he replies. Then they each give me a quick hug and kiss before saying goodnight and going off to their bedroom. I'm a little disappointed that they're going to bed already, as I was hoping to stay up a little later to talk to them. I've missed them, and due to the jetlag, I'm not even remotely tired yet. But, I remind myself, I have the rest of the summer to spend with them before I have to go back to school. So I decide to go up to my room, open my present, and try to get some sleep so I can get an early start the next day.

Author's Note:
This chapter was very hard to write, but I love that Ashley is pregnant! Fun fact: Ashley was named after one of my best friends, who once asked me if I would ever name a character after her. Funny thing though... she doesn't like to read. So she'll never know that her name did end up in one of my stories. But just in case she ever does happen upon this story, I love you, Ash-el-ley!

Can't wait to read your thoughts about this chapter! Be back very soon with the next one! Stay safe and healthy until then, my dears!
XOXO,
~Aly