Chapter 36

Arriving at the Indianapolis International Airport a little after noon, Cassidy grabbed her suitcase and headed toward the car rental place. Lindsey was at work, so she couldn't pick Cassidy up like originally planned. Her parents didn't know she was coming either, both sisters deciding it would be a nice surprise for them. So Cassidy acquired a black Ford Focus, went through airport security and was on the road an hour later headed to her parents. Cassidy sent Jon a text message to let him know she made it safely, along with Peyton, Elissa, Trista and Trish, so nobody worried about her. She missed Jon, deciding it would be best to mostly text with him because Cassidy wasn't sure if she could handle hearing his voice. Jon texted her back not even 30 seconds later, making her smile at his message.

Fine, miss you.

I miss you more. Don't forget your promise. Cassidy texted back and turned the radio up when a good song came on. 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica instantly reminded her of Jon. "Christ, I need help." She muttered, picking her phone up at a red light when it buzzed back with another message.

I won't.

Cassidy had to put her faith and trust in Jon, already noticing the changes within him, hoping this time away didn't put a dent in his progress. Her thoughts turned to Ryder, wondering what she would say to him when they saw each other for the first time in a few years. Lindsey hadn't wanted to talk about him when she called, only saying that he'd gotten a job. Hopefully he started growing up and started saving it to support himself instead of mooching off their parents. Around 1 PM, Cassidy pulled into the driveway of the 2 story house she grew up in and put the Focus in park, staring up at it. So many fond memories, she had missed her family and would always consider this to be her true home. Sighing wistfully, Cassidy stepped out of the car and barely retrieved her suitcase when a scream echoed behind her.

Turning around, Cassidy watched her mother run out of the house toward her, arms outstretched with tears streaming down her cheeks. Cassidy couldn't stop her own from falling, no matter how hard she tried and instantly enveloped her crying mother in her arms, both of them sobbing openly. Burying her face in her mother's neck, Cassidy felt all the guilt rush out of her for staying away so long, hoping her parents could forgive her. Judy couldn't believe her daughter had come all the way from Florida, having gotten a text message from Lindsey saying they had a surprise coming between 1 PM and 2 PM that day. She'd asked Terrence if he knew anything, knowing how Lindsey and him enjoyed giving her surprises on occasions. Terrence had no idea what their oldest had planned…until now. He stood in the doorway of the house with tears burning his own eyes at the sight of Cassidy.

"It's so good to see you, sweetie pie." Judy whispered, finally pulling back and cupped Cassidy's face, the brightest smile lighting her features. "This is the best gift you could've given me."

"I'm sorry, Mom." Cassidy hugged her again, feeling her mother run her fingers through her hair and cried harder, appreciating her parents a lot more since meeting Jonathan Good. "I'm so happy to see you."

"You too, Cassie." They were the only ones allowed to call Cassidy that since they were responsible for giving her life. "Come on, your Daddy is standing over there and I know he wants his shot at you."

Cassidy laughed, not surprised when her mother took her suitcase and headed toward the front door, stopping on the porch in front of her father. "Hi Daddy." She murmured, apprehension glittering in her tear-filled azure eyes and slammed them shut when he hugged her tightly against him.

"Good to see you, Cassie." He whispered, not trusting his voice at the moment and looked up at Judy, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Judy smiled, walking over to discreetly wipe his tear away because he didn't like crying in front of the children, no matter how old they were. "If I had known you were coming, I would've prepared something for lunch."

Cassidy pulled away from her father and waved her mother off dismissively. "You don't have to go to any trouble, Mom." She felt her father wrap his arm around her shoulders, guiding her inside.

"Nonsense, I'll prepare something right away." Judy wasn't easily dissuaded and swept into the kitchen to start cooking while Terrence guided Cassidy upstairs to her old bedroom.

"You know how your mother is." Terrence rumbled softly, opening the bedroom door and smiled. "She refused to change anything, left it exactly the same."

Cassidy laughed, not surprised a bit and stepped inside, inhaling the scent of home. The walls were still plastered with her favorite bands and pictures of all her friends throughout high school. She was very popular in school, graduated with high honors and pursued college shortly after, always wanting to be in journalism. Being the Chief Editor for the high school's newspaper, which still printed to this day, was an accomplishment Cassidy always cherished. Walking over, Cassidy picked up a photo of her, Lindsey and Ryder, sighing deeply, wondering when life decided to screw everything up between them.

"Forgive yourself, Cassie. It's in the past and we don't resent you for leaving." Terrence said from behind, remembering that photo well.

He'd taken his children to a baseball game downtown and Ryder caught a homerun ball with his new baseball glove he'd gotten for Christmas that previous year. The girls were so proud of him and lifted him on their shoulders, bouncing him up and down carefully so he wouldn't fall. Terrence had captured a spectacular moment with his children, wishing he would've done more things with them when they were younger.

"Where is Ryder?" Cassidy asked softly, setting the picture down and turned to face her father.

Terrence grinned, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes. "He's working at the mill with me now. We got him sobered up and he's doing grunt work, but enjoys it. We opened up a savings account for him too, so all of his money is directly deposited into it and only Mom and I have access. So far, he's saved every dime." He explained, placing a hand on Cassidy's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "Remind me to congratulate Lindsey on a job well done with this surprise."

"Will do." Cassidy walked out of her room with her father, both of them going downstairs. "So how are you doing?" She asked, sitting down at the kitchen table while her mother made some sandwiches.

"Good all things considered. Got a little thing going on with my heart, but with medication it's controllable." Terrence sounded indifferent, not letting a little heart condition bring him down. "What about you?"

"What heart thing, Dad?" Cassidy demanded, refusing to let the subject drop and looked up at her mother worriedly. "Is everything okay?"

"Terrence." Judy scolded gently, wishing he wouldn't have brought that up. "Everything is fine, sweetie pie. Daddy just has to eat a little better and take some medication for his heart."

"What do you have, Dad?" Cassidy ignored her mother for the moment, placing her hand over his. "Please don't keep it from me."

Terrence sighed, knowing he couldn't keep anything from his youngest daughter. "I have heart valve disease. In a nutshell, one of my valves isn't working properly and causing me to have a heart murmur. It's not serious right now, but if I don't change my diet and take these medicines the doctor prescribed, it will get worse."

"And it won't because he's been taking medication every day and has laid off the fatty foods." Judy chimed in cheerfully, winking at Cassidy while cutting up some fresh fruit to add to her husband's salad, deciding on low-fat turkey sandwiches and salads for lunch. "Cassie, what do you want on your sandwich? I had some ham in the fridge and gave that to you since you don't like turkey."

"Just the usual, Mom." Cassidy replied absentmindedly, not believing Lindsey hadn't called her about father's condition and wanted to ring her neck.

Then again, it was her own fault for staying away as long as she did. Cassidy hoped her parents weren't sugarcoating his condition because, if there was something seriously wrong with him, she had a right to know. Accepting the sandwich and salad, Cassidy watched her father drizzle a little fat-free ranch dressing on his salad, trying to focus on eating her own food. She suddenly grabbed the fat-free ranch when he was finished using it and drizzled her own salad, ignoring the regular ranch.

"So, what's been going on with you, sweetie pie?" Judy asked, taking a bite of her sandwich and knew a change in subject was in order.

"Nothing much, just working really hard on this story about a little girl that was bullied." Cassidy had no reason to lie to them, though she refused to mention the hit man after her. That would send her father into cardiac arrest.

"Oh dear, how old?" Judy frowned, hating hearing stories of children bullied because it really was a serious problem the country faced.

"6 and her name is Madelyn Stratus. Her mother is a teacher at Bell Elementary School and has become a dear friend of mine. The cafeteria had a grease fire about 2 months ago and the little girl was trapped in her locker during it. A fireman heard her screams for help and saved her." Cassidy smiled at the thought and mention of Jon. "It's been a big deal. They're talking about putting her story on 20/20 or one of those other major programs." She explained, taking a bite of her sandwich and was just thankful Madelyn was sparred because she was possibly the sweetest little girl on earth…aside from Lucy.

Both Judy and Terrence blinked in shock at their daughter, their hearts going out to Madelyn and her family. "Her mother didn't notice she'd been bullied?" Terrence had to ask, his curiosity too strong to ignore. "And is her mother changing schools for the little girl?"

"Trish has talked about it because Madelyn's best friend that lives next door to them goes to another school in the Tampa area. I think she's going to do it and I know the school won't give her problems because of what happened. Madelyn's story is all over the news and newspapers, so they would be pretty foolish to deny the Stratus family anything." Cassidy said matter-of-factly, taking a bite of her salad and waited until she swallowed before continuing. "And no, Trish didn't know anything about Madelyn's bullying. She suspected something was going on, but couldn't figure it out because Madelyn wouldn't tell her."

"So who did it? Or they don't know?" Judy questioned next, sipping her lemon iced tea thoughtfully.

Cassidy swallowed another bite of food, nodding. "It's the Mayor's daughter, Surana Levesque. She's 10 years old and has a really bad reputation for throwing parties and getting into trouble. We've been covering a lot of her history in it, which dates back to the same age as Madelyn. Sad. This little girl has a lot of problems, both mental and emotional. And something tells me there are problems going on in the home behind closed doors, but they refuse to give me an interview." She was also convinced it was Mayor Levesque that sent the hit man after her, not having any other people in mind wanting her dead.

"That is awful, my god. This world is going down the tubes fast. It just goes to show you there's no safe bet when putting people in office." Judy shook her head, dabbing her face and stood up, placing her dishes in the sink. "I just hope that little girl gets some sort of justice from this. I know the Mayor's daughter is only 10 years old, but she is definitely old enough to understand that bullying is wrong."

Terrence had listened to what his daughter said, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Why didn't Madelyn go to her mother about the bullying?" That hadn't been touched on, his cool azure eyes mirroring Cassidy's slightly narrowed. "Most kids would cry to their parents."

"Right and there's a reason for that. Turns out, Surana threatened if she told anyone about what was going on, Trish would lose her job. So Madelyn didn't want her mother losing her job and kept her mouth shut. It's sickening, really. Makes me wonder what the Levesque's are teaching their daughter." Shaking her head in disgust, Cassidy stood up and waved her mother off when she tried taking the dirty dishes away, kissing her cheek. "I got it, Mom. I'll do them, you cooked."

"No you will not." Judy snatched them with a sweet smile, brown eyes twinkling while her strawberry blonde hair remained in its same beehive style. "Why don't you go upstairs and unpack? Your father needs to take his medicine and then lay down for a nap. You look like you could use one too, sweetie pie."

Not able to argue with her mother, Cassidy just nodded and hugged her, kissing her father's cheek on the way out of the kitchen. "Get some rest, Daddy. I'll see you guys for dinner." She then walked out and headed upstairs, a nap suddenly sounding like a fabulous idea.

After dinner that night, Cassidy played a game of cards with Ryder, both of them getting reacquainted with each other. He looked a lot healthier, the dark circles gone under his eyes and genuinely happy. Maybe leaving had been the right decision because Ryder started getting his life together after Cassidy moved to Tampa. Ryder didn't resent her, both of them ending up crying over what happened and her little brother pouring out apologies left and right for chasing her off. Cassidy told him it was over and done with, wanting to move on with the rest of their lives so they could become a family again. Nothing more was said about it. Around midnight, Cassidy was asleep peacefully in her old queen sized bed like hers back in Tampa, when a knock sounded at her door. Rolling over, she ignored it and waved her hand when the door opened, not wanting to be disturbed. She'd been having the greatest dream about Jon and tried hanging onto it with every fiber of her being.

Then Cassidy heard her brother's voice.

"Cassie, there's a huge man downstairs asking for you. Dad is holding him off with a shotgun."

"What?!" Cassidy jumped out of bed, wearing midnight blue cotton shorts and a matching camisole, flying past Ryder down the stairs. "Dad, what's-" The words died on her lips instantly.

"Cassie, do you know who this is?" Terrence demanded irritably, eyes never moving from the large man standing on their porch.

It was Jon.