"Do you see him?" Clem demanded.

"You just asked that five minutes ago," Jamie sighed. "If one of us had seen him, we would have said something."

"She's excited," Abe soothed. "As are we all. Mitch has been gone a long time. But he will be here soon. Chloe, what time is it?"

Chloe checked her watched. "2:30," she replied. "When was his plane supposed to land?"

"Fifteen minutes ago," Jackson stated. He smiled down the line at Clem. That means he should be coming very soon."

"I hope so," she nearly whined, standing on her tip toes to scan the crowd.

"I see him!" Abe finally called.

"Posters at the ready," Jackson ordered. Everyone scrambled to pick up their posters. Jackson nodded to Abe. He had the loudest voice after all.

"Professor Morgan!" Abe yelled.

Mitch's head snapped up at the sound of his name. The sight that greeted him straight ahead forced a bark of laughter from his lips. His team was there with Clem and they were all holding signs. The four adults were holding poster board of alternating pink and purple with the word "PROFESSOR" in all capitals spelled across them in glitter with fake sequins and rhinestones around to accent it. Clem's poster was as wide as she was tall and mounted on a ruler so she could hold it up high. On a background of sparkly golden poster board was the word "NERD" also in all caps spelled out in rhinestones. He laughed again as he approached them.

"Professor Nerd," he read, unable to keep the smile from his face. "That's…I think this might be the most colorful welcome home I've ever had."

"It was Clem's idea," Jamie said as they put their posters down. "We pitched in to help her buy the stuff and put it all together."

"Did you at least clean up the glitter?" he asked.

"Most of it," Chloe nodded. Mitch raised an eye brow and she gave an elegant shrug. "Jackson and your daughter had a…disagreement."

"We got into a glitter fight," Clem stated.

Mitch blinked in surprise. "What exactly was this glitter fight about?"

"She kept insisting 'professor' had two f's," Jackson said. "Jamie had to google it for her before she would even budge."

"And because my 10 year old couldn't properly spell professor, you got into a glitter fight with her," Mitch said slowly as though trying to understand.

Jackson shrugged. "It was a matter of honor," he insisted.

Mitch felt another chuckle leave his lips. There wwere no words. "Two smiles in one day," Abe grinned. "And your face hasn't cracked. I think you are making progress, professor."

Before Mitch could respond, Clementine tugged at his pants. "Did you like it, Daddy?"

Mitch wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. "I loved it," he told her quietly. He looked at his team. "Thank you."

"We missed you," Jamie squealed, moving to hug him as Clem let go.

"I missed you too," he promised. Once she let go, he turned to hug Abe. Which was like hugging a bear. "Keeping everyone in line for me?"

"As much as I can," Abe said. "Your daughter is very willful."

"Wonder where she gets that from," Jackson grinned as he hugged Mitch.

"No idea," Mitch replied. "Maybe her mother." He turned to Chloe but stopped. She extended a hand and he squeezed it tight. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she replied. And that was all they needed to say to have a full conversation.

Clem broke into the tension. "Dad, we need to celebrate," she informed him.

"So…strawberry milkshakes?" he guessed.

"Strawberry milkshakes!" Clem squealed. She handed her sign to Chloe so she and her dad could walk together. "Dad, did I tell you about the new musical Jamie took me to see?

"No, but you can tell me all about it at the restaurant," Mitch promised her. "You can all tell me everything. Seriously, don't skimp on the details. I've been gone too long."