Chapter 59- Welcome Home Party
"Ugh, what is taking the doctor so long?" Skye groaned and ran her hands through her greasy hair. "I want to go home."
"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Rae assured as she sat in the chair by Skye's stretcher. "Your dad and Tony want you to take it easy, but we can still watch a movie or something when we get home."
"Oh! Can we order pizza and invite Dad and Uncle Stuart over instead? Then maybe we can play a board game. And… John can come too."
Rae was slightly taken back since Skye was obsessed with watching movies before the kidnapping. "That should be okay, as long as you won't over do it."
"Do you think Dixie would let Junior come too?" Skye asked but frowned. "Probably not…"
"Well, Junior just returned home too," Rae said. "Dixie might want to keep him home for a little while."
Skye lowered her gaze. "Yeah, she especially won't want him around me. She and Tad didn't even want him to say hi to me when we thought Uncle Stuart was dead."
Rae frowned.
"All right, Skye." Tony walked in with a chart. "You are free to go, and I will see you next Thursday to remove your stitches. Keep the area clean and dry for the first 24 to 48 hours. Then, you can gently wash around the site 1-2 times daily. Wash with cool water and soap. Clean as close to the stitches as you can."
Skye wanted to say goodbye to Lila and invite Alan over before they left and when Skye went in to see her, Rae found a payphone and dialled Tad and Dixie's number.
"Hello?" Dixie's voice came through.
"Hi, Dixie? This is Rae Cummings. How is Adam Junior doing?"
"Better, thank you for asking. I heard Skye was found."
"Yes, I am so relieved. That's actually why I'm calling. We're going to have a small welcome home party later with pizza and Skye would really like her brother to come."
There was a pause.
"We might play a board game after," Rae continued. "And Stuart will likely be there."
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Dixie said.
"Dixie… Skye helped get Junior and the other children safety. She really cares about him and wants to have a relationship with him."
"I wanted that before too, but Skye's behaviour through the years…"
"Dixie, she said you wouldn't even let him say hi to her at Stuart's funeral when everyone thought he died."
"Is that what she told you? Things were getting very heated between Adam, Skye, and Hayley, and Adam was getting into how he was the cause of Stuart's 'death', so we sent JR and Jamie out of the room. We were going to let him see her when things calmed down but there wasn't a chance. Stuart and Hayley have proven to be good influences on JR, and legally I can't completely keep him from Adam, but Tad and I have done everything we can to protect him from the Chandlers through the years. I would love for him to have a relationship with all of his siblings, but I have trouble trusting Skye because of her behaviour."
Rae sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, but if you can just give Skye a chance. She's really working on changes in her life, and she cares about her brother. The party will be a group setting and you're welcome to join if you want to keep an eye on them. Just let her prove to you that you can trust her to be around him. I think it would be good for both of them to have each other."
"I'll have to think about it."
FargateFargateFargate
When Rae and Skye arrived home, Myrtle greeted them at the door.
"Oh, darling, darling, darling!" She wrapped her arms around Skye and squeezed her tightly. "Oh, darling, I don't believe it! Let me look at you." She stepped back and cupped Skye's smiling face in her hands. "Oh, you are still so beautiful and lovely. And only a small nick on your cheek that will go away."
Skye rolled her eyes. "I look awful. My hair is a mess. I've worn the same clothes since your party. And my cheek will probably scar…"
"Both your dad and Tony said it probably won't scar," Rae said.
Myrtle beamed and held both Rae and Skye's hands. "I'm just so happy to have you both home!"
Skye raised an eyebrow. "Both?"
Rae nudged Myrtle. "She just means she's so happy the three of us are together again. Come on, let's go sit down." She prodded Skye forward.
The three generations sat on the couch and Myrtle held Skye's hands. "Oh, welcome home, darling. You know, I opened your gift for me, and I just love it! We need to take a good wack at those moles together."
"I couldn't pay for it myself," Skye said. "Mom bought it, but I'm going to pay her back when I get my first paycheck. Though it'll be small pay since I haven't worked at all this week…"
"Skye, that's not necessary," Rae said. "Save your money."
"No, I want to pay you back. I insist. Because it was supposed to be my gift for Grandma." She started to frown. "Though I'll probably have to start job hunting again. Renee will probably fire me for being a no show."
"I took care of that. I spoke to Renee and she's holding onto your position until you're ready to go back."
Skye smiled. "Thank you. Now, I really want to go shower and change. I feel disgusting."
"Remember Tony said to keep your stitches clean and dry," Rae reminded her. "It might be easier if you just take a bath and use a jug to wash your hair. And make sure you don't get your cheek wet."
Skye groaned. "Okay, Mom… A bath will feel good anyway."
As Skye made her way upstairs, Rae hugged Myrtle. "I'm sorry, Mama."
Myrtle patted her back. "You don't need to keep apologizing, dear. We're all together again, that's what matters."
"You're right. I'm so relieved she's okay."
"But what is this? Skye doesn't know that you were out looking for her?"
Rae sighed. "I don't want to bring it up. You should've seen how touched she was that Alan found her and saved her. She's wanted Adam to that her entire life, but Alan was the one who came through for her."
"But Alan wasn't the only one out there searching for her. Erica told me how you stormed into a mob boss' house demanding answers. Don't you want Skye to know the lengths you went through to find her?"
"It doesn't matter," Rae said. "I don't even want to take the slightest bit of thunder away from Alan right now. He is her hero. Let her have that. She's home now and she's feeling loved. That's what matters."
"She still needs to know."
"Things are good right now. Better than good. I was afraid being kidnapped she would regress, and I would lose all the progress I made with her. But it's the opposite. If anything, I feel even closer to her than before. I told her I love her for the first time, and she received it well. I was worried that would scare her. She didn't exactly say it back but wasn't expecting her to. She did however tell me how she feels about me in other words, and I don't think there's an ounce of hate left. She said Alan is becoming everything she wanted Adam to be, but then she went on to say that I'm becoming everything she wanted Althea to be. And that to me is everything. So, let it be."
FargateFargateFargate
"And then Axel held the pocketknife to my cheek!" Skye pointed to her stitches dramatically as she explained the story for the fourth time to Alan, Stuart, Myrtle, Rae, and John sitting around the table eating pizza. "And he cut into it! It was the most horrible pain ever. And I was just so certain he was going to slit my throat like what happened to Hayley, or worse, stab my heart or something. But then out of nowhere, I hear this huge bang! And Axel drops to the ground. I whip around and see no other than—" She placed a hand on Alan's chest. "My wonderful, brave father standing there with a gun! He shot Axel in the back and saved my life! And that was after searching for me for days—"
"He wasn't the only one searching—" Myrtle started to say, but Rae shot her a look.
"And he had to take time off work and everything," Skye said proudly. "And if it wasn't for Dad, I wouldn't be sitting here with all of you."
"All that matters is you're home safe," Alan said with his mouthful of pizza.
Stuart beamed. "We were all so happy to hear that you came home safe. We missed you so much, Skye."
Knock. Knock.
Rae wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'll go get that." She patted Skye's head as she walked by and went to answer the door.
Dixie was standing on the porch with JR who was holding a game.
Rae smiled at them. "You came!"
Dixie nodded. "JR has been asking about Skye since he came home. So, I thought I'd go with your suggestion and give Skye a chance."
Rae led them to the dining room. "Skye? I have a surprise for you."
Skye slowly turned and her face lit up when she saw her brother. "Junior… You came."
JR showed her the game. "I brought Cranium. Have you played it? Mom, Tad, Jamie, and I love it. There's a bunch of different categories and we can play in partners. Maybe you can be my partner, Skye."
Skye's eyes started to tear up, but she fought them from falling. "As long as you play to win, then that shouldn't be a problem."
"Thank you, uh, for getting me and Jamie and Colby out of there. I wanted to get help for you… it was just…"
Skye rose to her feet and hugged him. "I—I—I love you, kid."