My stomach flutters as the cab turns down the gravel drive and makes its way to the front door. Ash is upstairs getting the kids dressed so I can watch for my parents and Gwen, who are all coming for a visit. Unlike my sister who is the epitome of a free spirit, my parents haven't done much traveling. When I agreed to the five-year contract, I insisted on them coming for at least a week, and when Gwen quit yet another job, she offered to play tour guide for them. She was barely home just to turn around and come back.

For the next two, Joey and Chloe will be sleeping in cots on our bedroom floor while my parents take Ash's old room (now Chloe's bedroom), and Gwen will sleep in Joey's bed.

Absolutely zero privacy for me and Ash, but I'm excited to have my parents and Ash come face-to-face. They've chatted enough over video chat that I shouldn't be worried they won't get along, but there's still this grain of doubt that refuses to grind down to nothing.

The cab stops, and I open the front door, rushing out to envelop my mom into a hug while my dad pays the fare. Mom squeezes me tight and rocks me back and forth for a few beats, breathing me in.

One of the things I never truly appreciated about my parents until I had Joey was just how much they must love me and Gwen. Before I had Joey I thought I understood love, but once he was born, the word took on new meaning. So when my mom inhales a deep breath of me, I understand exactly what she's feeling, and it makes me squeeze her a little tighter.

"Paigie," she says, drawing back to frame my face with her hands. "It's been too long since I held my favorite oldest daughter."

She's always done this—I'm her favorite oldest and Gwen is her favorite youngest. Although Gwen has tried to pump my mother full of wine to find out who she really loves more, my mother has never wavered.

Even though Joey is of my flesh, I understand now how you can love children equally but differently. I might not be Chloe's mom, but she feels like mine in all the ways that matter.

"Let me grab one of your bags," I say as Gwen tries to heave them out of the trunk.

Once their luggage is scattered across the laneway, I grab what I can carry and head for the door. Joey tears out, a flash of yellow and black, as he makes a beeline for my mother.

"Grandma!"

"Jo-jo!" My mom drops her bags to scoop him up. "Oof. You're getting heavy. What are the English feeding you?"

"Only the best things," Ash says from the doorway. He set Chloe on her feet to toddle after Joey and then he takes the bags from me. "Your parents?"

"Yeah, that's theirs." I go grab some more from the ground and follow everyone inside. We trudge up the stairs and sort out the various pieces of luggage.

Once that's all done, we stand in the hallway, and I finally get to introduce Ash to my parents. My father shakes his hand, but my mother sweeps him into a hug.

"Goodness," she says, "you're tall."

"I've been told that once or twice." He chuckles.

"Do you think Chloe will inherit your height?" my mother asks, eyeing Chloe's stature.

"Don't know. Imogen is quite short. Hard to say, really."

He says it so casually, and there's a little burst of relief in my chest. One of the best things about having her reappear has been the evolution of his ability to speak about her. There's no hesitation, no sense of sadness, and no worries about regrets. The hold she once had on him is gone, and I couldn't be more grateful.

"Let's get to the important part," my father says. "What's for dinner?"

"We thought we'd treat everyone to a curry," I say.

Gwen groans and then laughs. "Why is it always a curry? You'd think you'd singlehandedly discovered the joy of Indian food."

Ash chuckles and glances at me. "Could do fish and chips."

"No, no." My mother waves off Gwen's criticism and Ash's suggestion. "I want to get to know all the things my daughter has fallen in love with here in England."

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and tilt my head to hers. "Thanks, Mom."

~ * ~

The two weeks pass in a blur of food and laughter and local trips to historical sites. As their visit comes to a close, I'm no longer concerned about whether they'll love Ash as much as I do—that turned out to be completely unfounded—I'm nervous for a whole new reason. Kate, the real estate agent who found me this place, has heard that the owner wants to sell rather than continuing to rent, even with us potentially locked in for another five years.

After checking my accounts and calculating what I could likely get for my house back in Michigan, I'm sure I could afford to buy this house.

There's just the small matter of my sister living in my other one.

And that's how I find myself driving me, my mother, and Gwen to a pub the night before they're set to leave the country to broach the subject of Gwen leaving my house.

Once we're settled in and I've gotten all of us drink, my mother, ever the one to break the ice, turns to Gwen.

"My darling, what's your latest plan for employment?"

"I guess we'll see what interests me when we get home," Gwen says with a sigh. "I have some money saved, thanks to Paige not charging me rent. I don't have to rush into anything."

"Um." I clear my throat. "There's a good chance that arrangement is coming to an end."

"What?" Gwen looks between me and Mom. "You have to be kidding. You just signed a five year contract. If I was a betting person—and let's face it, I'm totally that person—you're never going to move home. You love it here."

"That's the thing," I say. "The house we live in right now is coming up for sale."

"You can move back in with us," Mom says. "Temporarily. While you find somewhere else."

Gwen releases a deep sigh. "You're selling your house to buy the one here?"

"If it works out, yes. I don't know timelines or anything, but I didn't want to spring it on you," I say.

"Maybe you can go back to school," Mom says. "If you've got money saved, now is an ideal time to really consider what will make you happy."

"I don't have that much money saved," Gwen says. "Besides, I have a degree. It's just that supply chain management has turned out to be incredibly boring."

"You could follow your art," I suggest. "Graphic design."

"I don't know. Maybe." Gwen bites her lip. "Or I could travel."

"Gwen!" My mother harumphs her disapproval.

"What? It's not a bad plan. I have the time and the funds. Why not? Pick a country. Give myself six months to make a decision about school or job or life or whatever."

"You're going to be thirty in six months," Mom says.

"Exactly!" Gwen points at her. "Before I'm thirty, I'm going to have an epiphany about what I want to do with the rest of my life."

Now it's my turn to sigh. Her previous epiphanies have involved men who are "the one" for a few months until they're not, and a string of jobs she knows are going to be "just the thing" only to discover whatever she's taken bores her as well. I have no idea what it'll take for either a man or a job to truly click for Gwen, but it hasn't happened yet.

At least she's not upset about the house, which had been my main concern.

"There's no need to make a decision right now," Mom says. "Paige isn't putting her house on the market yet."

It'll have to be soon if the owners here are keen to move on, but I don't want to cause a fight between Mom and Gwen. While I know our parents love us both equally, my parents tend toward pragmatism, like me. How Gwen ended up the flightly and mostly directionless, is beyond my comprehension. A recessive personality gene somewhere.

"I think this could be a good thing," Gwen says. "The wheels are turning." She swirls her finger next to her temple. "Get me out of my comfort zone."

Gwen has never had a comfort zone, and I almost laugh at the absurdity. She's lived on the edge ever since I can remember—sometimes quite literally having to be called away from something that seemed highly dangerous when we were children. Her fearlessness would be admirable if it didn't so often frustrate me.

"A toast," Gwen says, raising her pint glass. "To my sister who found happiness in an unexpected place."

"Aww, Gwen." I raise my glass and clink it with hers and my mother does the same.

"You've definitely built a very full life for yourself here," Mom says. "It's been really nice to see."

Warmth floods my chest at the approval from both of them. "Here's to your last night in England, but I'm hopeful there are many more vacations here in your future."

We clink glasses again and settle in to finish our drinks.

~ * ~

The kids are asleep at the bottom of the bed on the floor, and we're both sneaking around like teenagers trying not to get caught by our parents. Once we're changed into pajamas, we slide under the covers into bed, and Ash tugs me close.

"Seemed like everyone was in a good mood when you returned," he whispers. "Went over alright?"

"She was really good about it," I say. "Things were okay here?"

"Your dad and Joey played football in the front garden for ages. Chloe and I played tea party."

Images of what he described float across my vision. I'm so lucky to have such good men in my life.

"I want to ask you," Ash says, "whether you'd be alright to hand off Chloe to Imogen on Sunday? If you're not, I won't go to football. But she can't collect her until I'd already be playing."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," I say, even though I have no idea if it'll actually be fine. While we've seen each other from a distance, it's felt as though Ash has been deliberately keeping us apart. Not that I blame him. Awkward for everyone. But if Ash and I are going to be together long term, Imogen and I will have to get used to each other. "What about her parents? I didn't think she was supposed to be alone with Chloe."

"They'll be with her. They're picking her up on the way to a family reunion in Milton Keynes."

"Do you think we'll ever be friends?"

Ash grimaces, and he toys with his lips with the tips of his fingers. "Honestly? I doubt it. As long as we're all doing what's best for Chloe, that's the important bit."

It's the answer I expected, and likely the safest course of action. Whatever our personal feelings are about each other, we each set them aside for the sake of peace and harmony for the kids.

"I'm excited about the house." Ash snuggles in closer. "Strange to think this could be ours."

"Except it already feels like ours."

"Even if we don't get it," he says. "For the rest of my life, this'll be the building that started it all." I can feel his grin against my skin as he presses a kiss to my neck. "But it's you, and Chloe, and Joey, and whoever comes along to join our little crew who make this building feel like home."

"Mommy?" Joey says from the floor. "Mommy!"

"I'm here, Joey. Did you have a bad dream? Do you need a cuddle?"

He climbs into the bed and deposits himself between me and Ash, and before I can say anything else, Chloe appears on Ash's side of the bed. Then the two kids are between us, and I smile at Ash across the expanse of covers and bodies.

This isn't a life I ever thought I'd get, never knew to wish for, but I'm so glad it's the one I'm living.

"Nothing better, is there?" Ash says.

"No," I agree. "I don't think there is."

Reads: 87,218 Unique readers: 719