"Are you ready for this?" Amelia laughed as she took Owen's hand and followed Carolyn from the car up to the house. They could hear the chatter and laughter of the 20 odd members of the Shepherd family from the porch. Growing up in the chaos, Amelia wasn't fazed but for Owen who only had his Mom and his sister, it was going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

Making their way inside, they'd only just managed to put their bags down before it began. Six year old Paige was the first to spot them and broke out in a run before leaping into her Aunt's arms.

No matter how Nancy, Kathleen, Elizabeth and even Derek felt about Amelia, they never relayed that to their kids. The youngest Shepherd was beyond thankful to her siblings for allowing their kids to form their own opinion of their Aunt Amelia. After hurting her siblings so much over the years, Amelia wouldn't do that to her nieces and nephews. She never wanted them to know her as the junkie and never wanted them to see that side of her. She may not always be around especially for her nieces and nephews on the East Coast but she was always checking in over the phone or skype. While she didn't have amends to make with them, she just worked to keep them proud of her.

"Aunty 'Melia" Paige beamed as Amelia twirled around with her niece held tight in her arms. Placing an overdramatic kiss on the six year old's cheek, Amelia set her down on the ground.

"You've grown so much!"

"I'm in Kindergarten now!"

"No way?!" Amelia gasped. Paige grabbed Amelia's hand and pulled her through the house toward the kitchen. Owen followed closely taking in everything about the Shepherd home. He'd heard stories from Derek but had yet to see it for himself.

The Shepherd home was everything Owen hoped for in a future home. The snow boots and jackets belonging to a multitude of children hanging by the door, the handmade patchwork blanket draped over the couch and the photos hung on every wall and standing proudly on every shelf. He could see himself and Amelia growing old together in a home like this with kids and grandkids under foot.

"Mom! Mom! Aunty 'Melia's here!" Paige announced as she pulled Amelia into the kitchen to see Lizzie and Kathleen cooking away. By far the best cooks of the family, Elizabeth and Kathleen took over the role of preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas meals from their mother years ago.

"Amelia" Lizzie smiled brightly as she embraced her youngest sister warmly. A Pediatrician, Lizzie had the kindest and most forgiving heart of the Shepherd family. She never held a grudge for long and always had hope for Amelia despite her relapses. Growing up, it was Lizzie and Derek that took care of their youngest sister when their mother was working hard to raise them all on her own. Amelia's fall into drugs and her relapses through her recovery tore at Lizzie's heart but she would always celebrate her little sister's triumphs.

"You look fantastic" she smiled as she stepped back and surveyed her little sister "I've always envied your metabolism"

"Might be more because I'm always on my feet at work and always working" Amelia laughed. She was thankful for her sweet reunion with her sister when she knew Kathleen and Nancy wouldn't be so kind.

"How are you going taking on the extra work?" Kathleen asked from the kitchen counter where she was chopping vegetables. She could never shake the Psychiatrist that she was and Amelia spent most of her time avoiding her older sister's constant analysis.

"Good" Amelia answered "It's been difficult explaining to some of Derek's patients the situation but they've been understanding"

"And you're doing ok? Feeling ok?" Kathleen continued. She couldn't help but sound like she was sitting in her office with one of her patients.

"That's Katie for 'how's the recovery going… again'" Nancy quipped as she entered the kitchen with a bottle of wine in her hands.

"Nancy!" Kathleen gasped angrily at the eldest Shepherd. While Kathleen may not have been her little sister's biggest supporter over the years, she was working on being more understanding. She knew addiction was a terrible disease that took a lot of strength to overcome "I didn't mean that, Amelia"

"Good to see you too Nance" Amelia seethed only to be calmed by the gentle hand on her lower back from Owen. That simple connection dampened the fire building within the young neurosurgeon, bringing her back down to calm.

"Can I offer either of you a glass of wine?" Nancy asked as if Kathleen had never snapped at her. The eldest Shepherd only saw the flaws in her little sister and wondered why their siblings even bothered to indulge Amelia. Nancy had no faith her sister would stay clean given her history.

"Did I see the boys out shoveling the yard? I might go re-introduce Owen" Amelia answered plastering the best smile she could muster and took Owen's hand. Making her way through to the back yard, she ignored Lizzie calling her back. It was times like this that Derek would have shot Nancy down or changed the subject. It was times like this Amelia missed her brother.

Stopping just inside the back door, Amelia took a few deep breaths just to calm herself down. "Amelia" Owen tested softly. He could see anger radiating off the young woman and was so incredibly proud of her restraint. The Amelia that Nancy chose to remember would have taken that bottle of wine and hidden away in her bedroom. That wasn't the Amelia Owen knew and loved.

"I'm ok" she smiled silently thanking him for his presence. There was no way she would have gotten through this visit without him and they'd only been there a few minutes. Owen pulled her into a gentle hug feeling her relax with every passing moment.

"Hey Aunty Amelia" a little voice sung from beside the couple making them step away from one another. Looking down, they both saw Amelia's eight year old niece Chloe smiling brightly back at them. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

"Only if they give warm hugs!" the young doctor laughed

"Oh no!" Tanner, Kathleen's youngest son groaned loudly. He had come to hate the tune in which his cousin was now happily humming "Don't get her started!"

"I'm confused" Owen laughed. Amelia on the other hand wasn't, she had watched Frozen a few too many times with Zola who was suitably obsessed with the Disney movie.

"Owen this is my niece Chloe, you remember Paige and nephews Tanner and Harrison who are all going to help us build snowmen" Amelia smirked as she got excited high fives from both Chloe and Paige.

"Do we have to?" Tanner and Harrison chimed in unison. The 12 and 14 year olds were sick of hearing the songs from Frozen especially when their cousins sang them at every chance they got.

"Y'know, three on three are good snowball fight teams…" Owen chuckled trying to coax the boys into coming outside. With that peaking their interest, they grabbed their coats and raced outside closely followed by their cousins.

"A snowball fight?" Amelia smirked "You're going down Soldier boy"

"Oh we'll see about that" he winked and made his way outside.

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