A/N: Just wanna give a very huge shout-out to @samcrosfaith for the awesome cover she made for this story of mine.

Definitely check out her profile on here if you are a fan of SOA!
Her stories are amazing!

Alexandra Case-Michaels, or Alexa as she was known by most, stared out of the front passenger window of her mother's 2007 blue Escape, watching the scenery pass by as the car crossed from Nevada into California.

Even after almost two years, Alexa still struggled to process just how much her life and that of her small family had changed during that time.

A little over two years before, Alexa had to be rushed to the hospital near their old home back in Arizona due to a severe case of appendicitis.

While both her mother Wendy and her then nine-year-old sister Isabella, or Izzy as her family mostly called her, had little issue with being at the hospital with her, during and after the surgery that thankfully saved her life, Alexa's father Evan had been a very different story.

Unbeknownst to his wife and daughters, Evan had been secretly cheating on Wendy for close to a year before his eldest daughter ended up in the hospital.

The woman who had been involved in the affair with Alexa's father was actually a close friend of her mother's, which made the betrayal even worse for her.

Evan's affair had come to light after his mistress had stupidly inquired about Alexa being rushed to the hospital for her appendix to Wendy, despite no one outside of their family being aware of the exact reason why Alexa had to have an emergency surgery at that point.

To make matters even worse for their family, Evan ended up being involved in a horrific car accident while rushing to the hospital after receiving a call from Wendy saying that Alexa had been taken there in an ambulance.

Evan was so severely injured that he ended up on life support for a year and a half before his mother finally agreed to allow the doctors to remove him from the machines keeping him alive.

Unbeknownst to Alexa's mother though, her grandmother had apparently blamed her for what had happened to her son.

She had actually gone so far as to tell the teen to her face multiple times that if she hadn't been foolish enough to have to be rushed to the hospital that day, her father would still be alive.

Alexa knew that her grandmother was dealing with a lot of grief over losing her only son, but it still hurt her to hear that her grandmother blamed her for something that was completely beyond her control at the time.

That was the reason she was pretty much ecstatic when her mother sat her and Izzy down and explained that she had gotten a new job as a doctor at a hospital in a small town called Charming, out in California.

Alexa knew that Izzy was pretty bummed about having to leave her school and her friends behind. The younger girl knew that their mother really needed to get away from the bad memories of their dad's affair, so she eventually accepted the idea of the move.

Someone else who was looking forward to the mother and daughter trio moving to Charming was actually Wendy's older sister Danielle.

She had been living and working as a CPS worker in the small town for nearly five years but managed to call and Facetime with her sister and nieces on a pretty regular basis.

Danielle had also flown out to Arizona after both Evan's accident and his funeral later to be there for Wendy and her daughters.

Alexa and Izzy both adored their aunt and were definitely looking forward to seeing her more often once they made it to Charming.

Alexa felt a hand gently nudge her knee, breaking her from her thoughts.

She saw that her mother had pulled into a gas station, presumably to fill up their vehicle.

She decided to take the opportunity to stretch her legs and use the bathroom before they had to get back on the road.

Turning slightly towards the back seat where her sister had been riding since they left the motel they'd spent the night before, she asked the younger girl if she also needed to use the bathroom while they were there.

"Yeah. I'm kinda thirsty too, sis."

Alexa assured her sister that she would ask their mother if they could each get a drink from inside the store.

Wendy was okay with her girls wanting drinks and asked Alexa to also grab her a Dr Pepper while she was inside before handing her a ten.

Making their way inside the store, Alexa asked the girl behind the counter, who looked like she was in her early twenties, where the restrooms were.

After being told by the girl that they were in the back of the store, Alexa ushered her sister towards the back, stood directly outside the door while the younger girl used the toilet, and then did the same with her sister, who stayed right outside the door while she was inside.

After washing her hands, Alexa exited the bathroom and led her sister to where the sodas were. She grabbed a Cheerwine for herself and a Dr Pepper for her mother, while Izzy grabbed a Sprite.

Both girls also picked out a pack of Twinkies each before making their way to the register to pay for their items.

The girl behind the counter smiled and rang up the drinks and Twinkies before informing them that their total was $7.45.

Alexa handed the girl the bill that her mother had given her, and while the girl was counting out their change, she asked Alexa if she was into Harry Potter.

Alexa was slightly confused for a second before remembering that she was currently wearing a Slytherin Quidditch shirt that she had gotten from her parents on her last birthday along with three other ones just like it that had the other Hogwarts houses on them.

"Oh, yeah. I have three other shirts like this one too, but with the other Hogwarts houses on them."

"Cool."

After paying for their items, Alexa grabbed her drink along with her mother's, while Izzy grabbed her own as well as both packs of Twinkies.

The two sisters bid goodbye to the girl before making their way back outside to their mother's car.

Climbing back inside the car, Alexa handed her mother the drink she'd requested before buckling her seat belt. She then accepted her snack from her sister and settled back in her seat.

A few hours later, when it was nearly dark, Wendy pulled their vehicle off the highway into the parking lot of a motel located in Stockton, a few towns away from their destination, Charming.

Getting a room with two beds for the three of them, Wendy led her daughters to said room. Entering the room, she suggested to them that they take turns in the room's adjoining bathroom while she went to the diner next to the motel and grabbed them some dinner.

"Make sure you girls keep the door locked until I get back and do not open it for anyone, okay?"

Alexa and Izzy both assured their mother that they would be okay on their own until she returned. Once Wendy had left the room, Alexa made sure to lock the door behind her and also latch the chain on it just to be safe.

The older girl then told her sister to go ahead and take her shower first and that she would do the same once the younger girl had finished.

It only took Wendy about fifteen minutes to get dinner for herself and her girls. When she got back to the room, Alexa, who had been keeping a lookout for her return, unlocked the door and helped her bring the bags of food and drinks inside.

The trio watched TV while they ate their dinner, and then Wendy informed the pair that she was going to take a quick shower before they headed to bed for the night.

She did just that and when she exited the bathroom after using a towel to dry her wet curls, she found both girls curled up together under the covers of the bed closest to the bathroom.

She noticed that Izzy was already beginning to doze off.

Leaning down to kiss her forehead, she whispered good night and that she loved her very much.

Making her way over to the other bed, Wendy crawled underneath the covers on it and began to send a short text to her sister to let her know that she and the girls were staying at a motel in Stockton for the night and that they should be arriving at the new house in Charming around ten-thirty or eleven the next morning.

A/N:
I know that this is a bit of an abrupt end for this chapter but I couldn't think of another way to close it out plus it was getting a bit long.

So, should I continue with this story?

Please feel free to leave a vote and/or comment below and let me know what you think of this chapter and this story as a whole so far.

Hope that you all have an amazing day/afternoon/night wherever you may be and remember that you are all amazing, beautiful and wonderful just the way you are !!

Stay safe out there, everybody!!
🥰🥰🥰