It should be clear to everyone by this point that I suck at these AN's.

Mari & Ilna-you're the best.

McRollers-thanks for reading.

No Place Like Home (1/1)

"Thanks for letting me leave my stuff here," Kendra said as she and Grace carried several large cardboard boxes into Danny's garage and stacked them in the corner. "It's a lot easier than shipping it home then having to ship it all back in the fall."

"No problem." Danny smiled. "I just can't believe your first year of college is over already. It feels like it just flew by."

"Well, up until this last week at least," Grace sighed.

"That's true." Kendra pushed back a piece of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. "My calculus final felt like it lasted a month."

"How do you think you did?" Danny asked, unable to curb his fatherly instinct.

"Pretty good," Kendra replied with cautious optimism. "Those study sessions with Elizabeth, and the practice tests she made up for me, really helped."

"Are you excited to get home for the summer?" Gabby asked.

Kendra beamed. "I am. I really miss my family and my horse and the ranch. But …" She looked at Grace and two shared a watery smile.

Danny glanced at Gabby whose eyes were suspiciously damp as well. "But what?"

"But I'm gonna miss all of you," Kendra sniffled right before being enveloped in a tight hug from Grace.

"We'll Facetime every day," Grace promised.

"Every. Day." Kendra wiped her eyes. "Pinky swear."

"We better get the last of the boxes out of Grace's car if you two are gonna get to the airport," Danny said. He'd been through enough similar situations in his life to know that he needed to slow down the flow of emotion or they'd never get Kendra to her flight on time.

Grace's roommate headed to the driveway to get another box but as she passed Danny she paused and said, "Thanks for making me part of your family and helping make my first year of college so awesome."

Danny smiled. "You're very welcome."

Just as they reached Grace's car Steve's truck pulled into the driveway. He and Catherine exited and helped DJ and Angie out of the back seat.

"We were afraid you'd already be gone," DJ said as he rushed to Kendra's side.

"Already on da pwane," Angie said as she joined her brother.

Kendra knelt in front of them. "We're leaving in a few minutes. I didn't know I was gonna see you guys today."

"We wanted to say goodbye," DJ said. "And give you this." He handed her a small, wrapped package.

"This is so sweet." She smiled at the children then as Steve and Catherine. "But you didn't have to get me a present."

"We wanted you to know we're gonna miss you over the summer," DJ said.

Kendra unwrapped the gift and found a picture of her, Grace, DJ, and Angie taken on the beach at Steve and Catherine's house on one of her many visits there.

"Thank you!" She hugged first DJ, then Angie. "I absolutely love this. And I want to thank both of you for helping me miss my little brothers and sisters a little bit less."

Angie held out a white paper bag. "We got you cookies for da pwane."

"You did? Thank you." She accepted the bag from Angie. "These will come in very handy on the long flight."

"There are two less than there were when Mommy packed the bag because we let Angie hold it on the way here," DJ admitted.

Catherine snorted a laugh. "Mommy anticipated that and put in a few extras."

Danny checked his watch. "Well, I hate to break this up, but you girls better get going."

Kendra said her goodbyes to everyone and right before she got in Grace's car she turned and waved. "See you in August."

"Thanks so much for letting me leave this stuff here over the summer," Casey told Aaron and Mary. "It's so much better than lugging it home and then having to bring it all back in the fall."

"No problem," Mary said. "As long as we can keep Joan from unpacking everything and assembling her own dorm room to pretend she's at college 'just like Casey'."

Aaron nodded. "Her trips to campus to visit you have been the highlight of her year so far."

"So far maybe." Casey smiled. "But I think I'm about to be eclipsed by the trip to Disney World."

"Maybe by a little," Mary replied, "But honestly, we want to thank you for everything you did for Joan this year. Taking her to so many places on campus, letting her spend the day with you, eating in the dining hall which she still tells everyone about … it was very sweet of you."

"It was my pleasure," Casey said sincerely. "I love spending time with Joan. She's awesome."

"Hopefully, it helped keep your big sister skills polished up because I'm sure you're gonna be needing those over the summer," Mary chuckled. "I talked to your mom yesterday and she told me the kids have so many plans for you you may not be able to get to everything before school starts again next year."

"They sent me an email with a partial list," Casey said. "It's gonna be a very busy summer."

"They've missed you," Aaron said.

"I've missed them too," Casey admitted. "I mean … I definitely want to catch up with some of my high school friends when I get home and see how their year has been but honestly, I'm more excited about spending time with my mom, my brothers and sister, and all my extended family."

"Well, you won't have to wait long," Mary said. "I hear Catherine and Steve are planning a big barbecue for Memorial Day."

Casey clapped excitedly. "I can't wait."

As they grabbed the last of the boxes from Aaron's car a school bus pulled up and stopped at the end of the driveway. An excited Joan bopped down the bus steps and ran up the driveway to greet Casey.

"I was afraid you were gonna be gone by the time I got home," she said as she wrapped Casey in a tight hug.

"No way." Casey pulled back and looked at Joan with a smile. "I'd never leave without saying goodbye to you."

"I'm gonna miss you sooooooooooo much," Joan said.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Casey told her. "But you have your trip to Disney World to look forward to and I wanna hear every detail when you get home. Then before you know it, I'll be back here again for my next year of school."

"Can we Facetime when you're back in Hawaii?" Joan asked hopefully.

Casey walked down the runway into the airport expecting to meet Cody, who had offered to pick her up, as planned. Instead, what she saw in front of her brought a huge smile to her face. Jenna, Cody, Jess, Jadon, Dylan, Kaitlyn, and Jacob all waving handmade 'Welcome Home, Casey' signs and cheering excitedly.

As she ran towards them one thought filled her mind. 'There's no place like home.'

THE END

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