Erin handed her gate pass and ID to the TSA officer and smiled; the woman gave a half smile back, checked her ID against her pass, signed it and gave it back. Not for the first time Erin thought the people working airport security looked sad. She wasn't sad though she was happy, today she was going to see Casey again and it wasn't behind some rouse, there was no pretending this time.

She was nervous about seeing Casey again, nervous and also really excited. It had taken over six months of planning for this day to finally arrive. In that time she'd had numerous conversations with Casey's mom. The two had come to a mutual understanding of each other, and while not friends they got along okay. All their conversations centred around Casey, how she was, what she'd been doing, and planning this trip. She'd avoided talking to her dad entirely, she was warming to the idea of a relationship with him, but she needed to do it on her own terms.

Spending a few days with Casey was the first step, if the visit went well she knew she'd have to consider a return trip to St Louis. While she waited she phoned Jay, he was waiting down by baggage claim. The airline wouldn't give him a gate pass but he said it was okay. He'd wait for them; entertain himself by crowd watching.

…

Time ticked by slowly but finally Casey's plane landed. Erin watched as the plane pulled into the gate and the aero bridge was put in place. She stood up, walked as close to the door as she could and waited. As the people started coming through the doors she took a step back to give them space. Slowly at first but then like a wave the people started exiting the plane, she looked at the people, faces, searching for the one she was waiting for. The flood of people slowed to a trickle again, she stepped closer to the door. Her heart was racing in her chest, her hands were sweating, she was getting worried maybe she had the time or gate wrong, she checked her gate pass; she was in the right place.

What felt like forever but was maybe only a minute passed, and there was Casey walking towards her, chatting away to the flight attendant who was carrying her bag. Erin's smile grew wider as she watched the girl walk towards her; it had been over a year since she'd last seen her and boy had she changed. Casey wasn't a sick little girl anymore, she was three inches taller, and her hair had grown out in thick brown waves which hung just below her shoulders. She had colour in her face and a spring in her step.

"Erin!" she exclaimed as their eyes met and then she was running towards her. They greeted each other with a big hug and for a moment they just stood there holding each other. The moment may have lasted longer but the flight attendant interrupted them. Erin showed them her ID; signed some paperwork and then the two of them were walking off together.

"Did you have fun on the plane?" Erin asked trying to get a conversation started.

"Yeah," Casey said a smile spreading across her face, "I got to meet the pilot, he came and said hello to me and mommy before we left and gave me a colouring book."

"That was nice of him," Erin smiled.

"Yeah," Casey said nodding, "and on the plane I sat right at the back, and Kelly the flight attendant you talked to sat with me when she didn't have other jobs to do and we played games."

"Sounds fun," Erin smiled, "was that your first time on a plane?"

"When I was little I went on one but I don't remember it."

They kept talking about the plane as they made their way through the airport. Erin could feel a warmness inside her, she hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

…

Jay stood up as the people from Casey's plane began to arrive at baggage claim. He watched the crowd until he finally spotted Erin and Casey. Erin looked happier than he'd seen her in a long time, she was practically glowing and there was a bounce in her step.

He felt a big goofy smile spreading across his face and when he met eyes with Erin he saw the same smile spread across hers. When they were close enough he walked towards them.

"Casey, this is my partner Jay," Erin said introducing them, "Jay, this is Casey."

"Hi Casey," he said holding out his hand, "It's nice to finally meet you. Erin has been telling me all about you."

"Hi," Casey said back suddenly acting shy.

Erin casually put an arm around her and gave her a little hug. "Shall we get your bag and go get some food?"

"Okay," Casey said, relaxing again.

…

On their first day together they didn't do anything exiting, just went out of burgers, and then came home to watch movies, eat popcorn, and plan the rest of the week. Casey had never been to Chicago so there was lots of things for them to see and do. Erin had the whole week off work but Jay was working a few days so they planned things for the three of them to do, and stuff for just the two of them.

They planned trips to the aquarium, museum, navy pier, Millennium Park, Willis towers, the beach, Wrigley field. Casey was a ball of energy who seemed to be excited about everything, in the evening when they'd come back to the apartment she'd scoot up close to Erin's side and they'd sit together watching movies. Their week together was perfect but as the last day wound to an end Casey started throwing out the hard questions.

"Erin, are you Jay going to come to St Louis?" Casey asked as they ate dinner.

Erin looked over at Jay, he shrugged, this was all on her, "maybe," she said not wanting to commit to anything.

"I'd really like you to come," Casey said persisting, "I want to show you my favourite places."

"That would be nice," Erin smiled, "but it's not that simple."

They hadn't mentioned their dad all week. For Erin the omission had been intentional, she had her issues with him, to her he'd done something which was maybe unforgiveable but he was still a fantastic father to Casey. She didn't want to confuse Casey, she didn't want to cloud her opinion of her dad, because despite everything she knew he was still a good person.

"Sure it is," Casey smiled, "you just go on the internet and buy the plane tickets and then you come visit."

"There is a little more to it than that," Erin smiled.

"Like what?" Casey asked, as she put a carrot in her mouth. Erin and Jay exchanged a look, Casey chewed and swallowed her food, "is this because of Dad?" she asked getting more direct.

Erin swallowed her mouthful of food, "why would you think that?" she asked.

"I know you don't talk to him," Casey said looking straight at her, "sometimes when you'd be talking to mom, dad would ask if she'd let him talk to you. She always said no, and sometimes she'd even go sit in another room."

"Oh," Erin said looking at Casey, she hadn't realised how perceptive the girl was. "Do you know why I don't want to talk to Dad?" she asked.

"He said it was because he went to jail when you were little."

"That's part of it," Erin said trying to pick her words carefully, she hadn't planned having this conversation with Casey, "we might have been okay, but then when he got out of jail, he didn't talk to me either."

"He said you had a new Dad, that you didn't need him."

"I didn't need him," she sighed, "but I wanted him, he was still my dad."

"You could have him now," Casey offered, "I really wants you."

"I know," Erin sighed, she was having a hard time trying to explain this to Casey, "I love you Casey," she said taking a different approach, "I love having you in my life, this week has been great but if you'd never been sick, if you didn't need something from me we never would have met. I wouldn't even know you existed."

"Oh," Casey said, that sentence she seemed to understand. Erin watched her closely as she processed the information. "You don't have to come visit," she finally said, her eyes were down cast she looked sad, "I'll just take some photos and bring them next time."

"No," Erin said reaching out, she hated seeing Casey look so sad, "I'll come visit you, we'll work something out."

"Really?" the light came back in Casey's eyes almost instantly, "you're not just saying that."

"No," Erin said smiling, "I'll come visit you."

A smile began spreading across Casey's face, she stood up and walked around the table, she wrapped her arms around Erin. "I love you," she said, her words muffled in Erin's shoulder.

…

Later that night after Casey was in bed, Jay came and sat down beside her.

"You really going to St Louis?" he asked her.

"You're coming too," she said smiling at him, "I said I'd go so, we're going. I'm not going there alone."

"We're going, right," he said reaching out and wrapping an arm around her. "What made you change your mind?"

"I didn't really," she said sighing, "I just wanted to make her happy."

"She did get pretty excited when you said yes didn't she," Jay smiled.

"Yeah," Erin said letting out a small laugh, pictures of the rest of their evening were running through her mind. Casey always seemed to have a lot of energy but she'd been off the walls all night. She kept thinking of new things they could do. The list was getting so long, they gave her a note book to write them all down in.

The evening had been fun, a great way to end their week together.

The next morning as they drove to the airport Casey was still talking about it.

"So when are you going to come visit?" Casey finally asked. They were waiting at the gate for her plane to board.

"I don't know," Erin told her, "I've got to book some more time off work, and I need to talk to your mom."

"Mom won't mind you coming," Casey offered.

"I'm sure she won't," Erin smiled, "but I can't tell you a time now without talking a few things through with her first. I don't want to tell you a date and have to change it later."

"I think you should come this summer," Casey told her, "or you could come for Thanksgiving, or Christmas. We have the best Christmases."

"Really?" Erin smiled, "tell me about them."

For the rest of the wait, Casey told Erin all about how the family celebrated Christmas. Hearing how excited Casey was made her smile, she hadn't celebrated Christmas properly for years.

…

A few months later

Erin pulled the car up in front of the plain red brick house with the pitched roof.

"We're here," she said turning to Jay and letting out a long sigh. They were in St Louis, in front of the house Casey lived with her mom and dad. A lot of thought and planning had gone into the trip, and while she felt nervous about seeing her dad, there were other things she was really looking forward to.

"We're here," Jay smiled back at her, "you good?"

"Yeah," Erin said reaching for the door handle, she climbed out the car, and walked to the front door with Jay beside her. She rang the doorbell and seconds later she heard the thump thump of feet running to the door. The door unlocked and there was Casey standing in front of them.

"It is them," Casey called back into the house before giving Erin and then Jay hugs. While they were hugging Casey's mom came to the door as well.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person," Casey's mom said holding out a hand, "I'm Sarah, Casey's mom." Erin took the outstretched hand and shook it, "and you must be Jay," she said holding out her hand again, "I'm glad you could finally make it."

"We are to," Erin smiled.

The three adults stood looking at each other; an awkward silence filled the space.

"Frank's just gone to pick up pizza," Sarah said, filling some of the silence, "you guys should come in. Would you like a drink?"

"Some water would be great," Erin said stepping into the house. They were standing in the living room; it had a sofa, and two arm chairs and a big screen television in it. Across the room was a door leading to the kitchen and another door to the side leading to more of the house.

"Come look at my bedroom," Casey said, taking Erin's hand. Erin reached for Jay and the three of them began walking through the room. Casey led them through the door, and up a flight of stairs. Casey's room was a finished attic, at one end of it were two twin beds and along the wall was a chest of draws, a dolls house, and a massive bookshelf full of books.

Erin and Jay sat down on one of the beds, as Casey began pulling out toys and books to show them. Erin smiled and let herself get wrapped up in Casey's excitement. None of them heard the front door open when Frank arrived with the pizza. The first sign he was there was when they heard him climbing the stairs.

Before she had time to process that this moment was about to happen, he was standing in the room. "Come on kids, dinner is here," he said looking from Casey to Erin, and then smiling. Casey took off down the stairs but Erin lingered a moment, took her time to stand up.

"I'm glad you could come," her dad said extending his hand, "it's good to see you again Erin."

"You too," Erin said shaking his hand, "this is my partner Jay."

"Jay," Frank smiled, "Casey's told me about you too." The two men exchanged handshakes, and an awkward silence followed. "Lets go downstairs and eat," Frank finally said, "if we stay here too long Casey will eat it all."

They all let out a little laugh, and Frank turned to walk out the room. Erin and Jay followed a little way behind, "that wasn't so bad," Jay whispered as they walked down the stairs.

"Yeah," Erin smiled, "I think it's going to be okay."

AN: Thanks for reading, I'd love some reviews. :-) . I think I'm going to leave the story there.

I have some ideas for a new story and want to go back and try and finish my other story.