Based on the Gallagher Series by Ally Carter. I do not own the Gallagher Girls.
The Return Of Matthew Morgan
Joe had no clue how he was going to say it or even what he was going to say. He had been told by a good friend that this was the time to explain. Joe knew that Rachel wasn't going to believe it at first but that was his job. To get Rachel to believe the story, because well it was the truth. He knocked on Rachel's office door. "Come in!" she shouted.
Joe walked in to see her at her desk doing the usual. Paperwork. "Hey what's up?" she asked still looking at the papers she was filling out. "Well I need to talk to you. It's extremely important and somewhat hard to believe so I really need your full attention." Rachel got out of her desk chair and sat on the couch; Joe sat beside her. He started to speak.
"Rachel, you aren't going to believe this but Matthew, your husband is alive and well." Rachel looked at him astonished.
"Joe what are you talking about? We found his body. He is dead."
Joe sighed.
"Rachel the body was fake; it was part of the plan." Rachel grew silent, not knowing what to say next and so Joe kept talking. "After being locked up by Catherine for a while, she was going to kill him. You all think I killed him. Well I actually saved him."
Rachel looked completely bewildered. Joe continued. "Catherine ordered me to kill Matt when really I let him go. I told Catherine I killed him and pushed him off the cliff. Matthew trusted me. He completely trusted me. All he said to me before he escaped was that he needed everyone to think he was dead, to believe he was dead for his plan to work. No matter how long it was until he returned, he ordered no one except me should know the truth. Well he escaped from Catherine and he went undercover as a different person. He went in hiding. The last thing he wanted was his family to be in emotional pain knowing he had died. But he realized it was the only way he could stay off the grid and return to his family."
Rachel just sat there speechless, listening to every word coming out of Joe's mouth.
"He wanted me to come here, to watch over your family. Make sure you were okay until he came back. He put that fake body there in order to make sure his plan would really work. He was heartbroken that his family had to believe that and feel that way but he believed it was the only way to be off the grid and come back to you all as soon as possible. Well it's been quite a few years and he has decided that it was safe and time to come home. He is here Rachel. Matthew Morgan never died. He is alive. He is here."
As Joe Solomon walked to open her office doors, Rachel sat there balling her eyes out completely believing Joe's story. She knew her husband would do everything to keep his family safe. To be there for his family. She knew that he would never want to hurt them with faking his death but that he would do anything to get to his family. As Joe opened the door Rachel wiped her eyes and when she was able to see, she saw him.
"I am just hoping my beautiful wife and daughter didn't forget me." Matthew Morgan said as he walked into his wife's office, wearing a nice suit and tie. He looked exactly the same as Rachel Morgan remembered him, just a couple years older. Rachel kept crying and ran into her husband's arms. She just couldn't believe all of this. It was completely outrageous to her. As they hugged for several minutes and told each other "I love you" exactly 23 times and "I missed you" exactly 19 times, Joe brought Cammie in her office and she was now in her mother's office, confused as she saw the back of a handsome man's body and her mother on the couch hugging.
"What is going on?" Cameron Morgan was a bright young Gallagher girl who thought about her father every day. Thinking he was dead. Dead for years. She would of never guessed this was possible. She stood there completely confused as her mother walked over to her and hugged her. "Cameron. Your father is still alive. He had this whole plan to come back, and now he is back."
Rachel kept crying her eyes out as Cammie stood there completely shocked not knowing whether to believe it all or not. Her father turned around to look at her and smiled, crying himself. "You have grown up so much. I'm disappointed I didn't get to see my little baby girl grow." Cameron was completely shocked and crying her eyes out the same way as her mom. Cameron looked at her Dad. Her dad. Her dad that she went to the circus with, a little more than 12 years ago. Matthew put his arms out gesturing for a hug and Cammie ran into her father's arms just like she did many years ago. She missed her father so much. But she still had tons of questions. She stopped hugging her father for a moment looking very baffled. "But what about your body? We….we saw your body. You were…" She gulped, her voice cracked. "…dead."
Matthew looked at his daughter smiling. "Ahhh, questions. Your mother has taught you well." He looked at her while holding her hand. "Cameron, trust me. I didn't want to make anyone hurt by my plan to come back. I felt sick thinking about all of you in pain from thinking I was dead. But it was the only way for me to get completely off the grid, so I could come back home. You know that sometimes you have to make everyone believe something so it really becomes the truth to everyone. They wouldn't doubt it." Cameron sat next to him on the couch listening to his every word. She missed talking with her father. Rachel sitting on the chair across from them was still sobbing. She never thought she would see her husband and her daughter talking ever again. Matthew continued.
"You know how everyone thought Joe killed me?" Cameron nodded. "Well you had to think that he killed me, when in fact he actually saved me. He let me go. I trusted him completely. So he went with my plan and I told him he had to be known as the person who killed me. He couldn't tell anyone the truth. He did that all for me. For me to get back to my family.
Matt smiled at the two girls he loved so much. They were all hugging each other when Abigail walked in Rachel's office already aware of the whole plan Abby's genius brother in law pulled off. Joe explained it all to them while Matthew was with Cameron and Rachel. Matthew looked at Abigail and could tell she had been crying quite a bit, then stood up and smiled. He laughed and Abby smiled, laughing and crying at the same time, then leaned in and hugged Matthew which she never thought she would ever be able to do again.
"Of course you pulled this off. You are one of the smartest people I know." She released the hug and tried to regain some power over her emotions. She smiled, so happy he was back. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy he was back. It was a miracle to them. They were not expecting him to be back. They all sat down in Rachel's office and talked; making sure Matthew got caught up with all the recent things going on in the Academy and their lives.
Rachel, Cameron and Abigail were smiling widely, sitting on the couch with their last piece to the puzzle, Matthew Morgan. They all sat there and talked and enjoyed each other's company.
Everyone missed Matthew and they were extremely happy and blessed that he had returned.
