A/N: Hey guys long time no write, sorry about that. Anyway the Helmsley family is in a little bit of chaos right now, so read and find out why.

Chapter 9

Sasha and Charlotte had searched the whole house for around 30 minutes before they figured that Hunter wasn't there. Though, they had no idea where he would go to since he said he was working from home all week. He barely left the house and said last night that he would pick them up from school before he put them to sleep, but when Charlotte woke up to find their father passed out in bed, she decided to take matters into her own hand. She doesn't want to say that she didn't trust her father, but he just wasn't always responsible and all he had to do was get them to and from school and yet when she tried to wake him up that morning he wouldn't even budge.

"Maybe he did come to the school to pick us up and now he's wandering around lost at school" Sasha said

"I didn't see his car at school, besides, that was like an hour ago. I'm sure he would've noticed we weren't there and came back by now." Charlotte looked over at the mattress, " Maybe he went to get a new mattress"

Sasha nodded and sat down on the couch to keep watching the cartoons she had put on before while Charlotte inspected the mattress. There was nothing wrong with it, actually, it looked brand new. Well besides Sasha small shoe prints on one side.

"Or maybe he got kidnapped by aliens" Sasha said as she leaned over the back of the couch looking at her sister, "Like in those movies he always watches when we go to sleep"

"How would you know about those if we were asleep?" Charlotte question causing Sasha to stop in her tracks and slide down into her seat on the couch so she wasn't looking Charlotte in the eyes.

"I'm just guessing"

"Yeah...yeah, I got it. Yes babe I went to the store and…" Sasha and Charlotte's eyes looked from each other to the door where they heard their father come in.

Hunter pushed open the door, dressed in a tight fitted black shirt and jeans, with his phone pressed on his shoulder by his ear as he carried a small twin mattress in his arms. He had stopped talking once he got into the house and saw his oldest staring back at him.

"Crap." Hunter groaned and looked at the time on his watch before he quickly ended his call with, "Babe I'll call you back."

After he hung up Charlotte stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at him. Giving him the same look Stephanie always did when she was mad and she was furious, not just because her father failed to pick them up from school but because he had scared the crap out of them. For God's sake they thought he was upstairs dead.

"You guys are out of school" Hunter said slowly in almost as if it was a question only to receive a nod by both his daughters.

"For almost an hour now" Charlotte replied, glaring at her father

"I'm so sorry guys I was out all morning. The delivery guy came to the door and they dropped off this mattress but its too big so I ended up on hold with their customer service for hours before I just went to the store to get it." Hunter stumbled as he tried to explain himself to his daughters, "I had to make sure that everything was right and I...time just got away from me. I'm sorry I didn't pick you guys up from school I just.."

"I don't care that you didn't get us, we took the bus, but you scared us" Charlotte said punching her father in the stomach as she let out her anger, "We didn't know where you were"

The punches didn't hurt Hunter being that she was so small but the impact behind the punches and the words his oldest were saying made him visibly upset. He put down the mattress and apologized before hugging Charlotte, "I'm sorry..time got away from me, I'm trying here...I really am princess, I just got a lot of stuff on my mind with your mother being gone, I have a lot of responsibilities around here and I'm not used to doing it all yet."

"It's your job to be responsible." Charlotte shouted, "You're our father. You have to look out for us, you have to be here when we need you. I asked you if this was too much to handle and you changed the subject."

"Charlotte I-"

"No you aren't mom, you aren't...responsible. You think you can handle this by yourself but you can't."

There was a silence before Hunter spoke up, "No I'm not your mother, but I'm trying, for both of you. Charlotte I know that I may not always act like your mother and I joke around with you guys alot but that doesn't mean that i'm not a responsible parent."

"When is mom coming back?" Charlotte asked in near tears not wanting to talk to their father anymore. She hadn't known what had really brought on these feelings but she just couldn't stand the fact that her father was so irresponsible. Charlotte didn't want anyone to have any kind of leverage over her adopted family. If social security though that Stephanie and Hunter were unfit parents then her family would be torn apart like before and they couldn't let anyone try to rip them apart for any reason. They had to be perfect, she knew that Stephanie was pretty much the image of perfection while Hunter tended to fall short.

"Char, I'm just…"

"I want mom, when is she coming back"

Hunter sighed as the girl had fully pushed him away and held herself as she silently cried, "Your mother, Bayley and Rebecca are coming tomorrow and.."

"She's coming home tomorrow?" Sasha said, referring to rebecca, as she quickly stood up on the couch, "No...I don't want her here. I don't want a new sister...I already told you I don't want to share"

Hunter turned to Sasha, shocked at her sudden outburst, he hadn't known that him going to get a mattress would leave his two oldest in such distress. They hadn't acted like this since they when the girls were first adopted, they were very clingy and angry and neither him nor Stephanie would be able to leave them alone for even a few minutes. Now he had a house full of two angry girls and no Stephanie to help calm them down.

"Sasha, Rebecca is coming to live and stay with us, she is now a part of this family. She will not be sharing anything of your toys, you two are only sharing a room, that is what i was getting the mattress for."

"No..I don't want to share anything...I don't want to share my toys, I don't want to share my room, and I don't want to share you guys. You guys are my family, mine and I don't want to share with another person"

"Sasha! Do you really feel that way?" Sasha nodded with her arms crossed and a pout placed firmly on her face, "Sweetie you know that your mother and I give children opportunities to have a real, loving family. I know this is a sensitive topic for you girls but we are giving Rebecca the same opportunities that we have given you all. A loving home and family, someone to care for you, and a place where you can be yourselves, and that is offered to all of our children. Rebecca is one of us now..she is a part of this family whether you like it or not and you will learn to accept her as all have you done for each other. But Sasha, saying that you don't want to share us and your home is like robbing this girl of a chance at happiness, and I know that you don't want to do that."

"No...I just..I don't want anything to change, I don't like sharing my things and what if she's annoying?" Sasha asked seriously causing hunter to smile a little at her last words but covered it with a cough, "We've never met her before, this is like stranger danger or something"

"That's not how it works Sasha...stranger danger is for like adults that you don't know...not this" Charlotte said wiping her eyes clear of tears as she seemed to have calmed herself down.

"Well she is a stranger to us and I don't want to share with a stranger"

Hunter sighed, usually Charlotte would step in and get Sasha to see why she was wrong and why the girls should be more accepting of their new sister. However, in the current situation Hunter knew that she wa in no mood to be the grown up in the family and he needed to take charge of things.

"Sasha how do you think the others felt when you joined our family? They were very nervous about you staying with us as well, but they decided to give you a chance and now look, you all are one big happy family...that's about to get bigger. It's not fair fo you to judge Rebecca and not want her to have a family like you do"

"I want her to have a family just not mine"

"Just shut up already, she is coming tomorrow and she's staying. So deal with it" Charlotte shouted at her younger sister, fully fed up with her constant complaining

"You can't say that...mom says it's a bad word"

"Mom's not here and we didn't want you either when they adopted you" Charlotte said walking around the couch so she was staring right at Sasha

"Girls" Hunter tried

"Yeah...yeah..well you're dumb" Sasha shouted back at her older sister

"Says the girl who can't tell time"

"I can tell time!"

"Girls both of you-"

"Oh yeah then what time is it right now?" Sasha paused for a minute then looked around the house for a clock.

"It's like almost night time" This caused Charlotte to let out an obnoxious laugh

"See you can't tell time, you couldn't even zip up your own jacket."

"I can too"

"Can not"

"Girls"

"I can too"

"Can not you baby" Charlotte stopped after saying this upon remembering what she had overheard Sasha saying to herself at recess. She really hadn't meant for it to come out but she was so angry with her dad and she was tired of all of Sasha's complaining, but as she saw tears well up in Sasha's eyes she knew that she went to far.

Sasha jumped off the couch and ran past both charlotte and Hunter, rushing upstairs to her room, followed by a slam. Charlotte hung her head and Hunter groaned running his hands over his face before his daughter spoke up.

"I'm sorry..I didn't mean to call her a baby. She was just getting on my nerves with her not wanting Rebecca to come live with us"

"I understand that Charlotte, but you could've handled that much differently" Hunter walked to his oldest and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You know how Sasha can be sometimes"

"Doesn't make it any better, she just doesn't get that you guys gave us a better life, she didn't go through family abuse, she doesn't understand that sometime you guys were the only option for us to have an actually family"

"I know..I know that all of your backgrounds are different and you all came from different homes before us, but we all love you girls, Rebecca included, and we want you girls to have the best homes and the best opportunities possible. You girls are special, that is why we chose you and we saw that same specialness in Rebecca as well. I know that it all may seem like a lot at times but your mother and I are a team and together we can handle anything...now with your help every now and then of course." Hunter smiled as he heard his daughter laugh for what seemed like the first time in a while, "Things are gonna be okay for us, all of us, no one is going to take you girls away, and no one is ever going to come between all of us. Trust me okay?"

"Okay"

"Now let's go talk to your sister"

The next day -Dublin Airport

"I've never actually been in the airport before" Rebecca said in wonder as she tugged on the straps of the new backpack Stephanie had bought her and looked around at the large airport and the people rushing to and fro, "This place is huge"

"Yeah, that's what I said" Bayley smiled as she grabbed Rebecca's free hand with her torn, stuffed bear in the other. The girl had managed to tear the bear, practically in half, when one of the bear's string got caught back at the hotel. Bayley had cried for hours, much to Rebecca's confusion as she had never had any special toy or blanket to hold on to, but the young girl eventually cried herself to sleep and continued to carry the torn bear around ever since.

"Are there places this big in America?"

"Bigger"

Stephanie smiled at her two girls in front of her, she knew that this airport was actually much smaller than the one in California but she was glad they had bonded. Seeing as that was one less daughter she had to worry about when it came to accepting Rebecca. Bayley had insisted on Rebecca doing everything with her and it was easy for Stephanie to tell that Rebecca was going to be Bayley's favorite sister to hang out with now. The younger of the two wore a long sleeve grey shirt, a pair of light jeans and her light up shoes with her long hair down and flowing. While Rebecca wore a oversized black shirt, camouflage pants with stephanie's shades over her eyes. She had taken to a much more tomboyish style when Stephanie took the girls shopping, as she picked out a series of black T-shirts, baggy pants and snapbacks. She was also eyeing a skateboard causing Stephanie to consider buying the girl one especially after her saying that one of the kids in her foster home had one and taught her how to ride a little.

"Okay, our flight isn't for another hour, do either of you girls have to use the bathroom or do you want a snack?" Stephanie asked once they got to their terminal which was across from a couple restaurants and a bathroom, "It's a long flight and I don't need you girls going back and forth to the bathroom"

"I have to go" Bayley said, stopping in her place to look back at their mother, causing Rebecca to stop as well.

"Okay come on" Stephanie took Bayley and guided her to the restroom

"I'll wait right here" Rebecca said softly as she leaned against the wall beside the door

Stephanie looked confused for a second before she reluctantly agreed but not without saying, "Okay, just stand right there and we'll be right back"

Rebecca nodded and Stephanie went to usher Bayley into the bathroom, only for the small girl to stop and look at the torn bear in her hand before handing it to Rebecca. She told her older sister to watch it for her, smiling once she agreed and then went with their mother to the bathroom. It took the two around ten minutes to come back with Bayley saying she no longer had to go. Stephanie checked herself in the bathroom mirror once more to see her wrinkled, blue jean jacket was slightly out of place over her white tank top and her green jeans now had a water stain above her knee thanks to Bayley playing in the sink. However, once they walked out the bathroom stephanie immediately noticed that Rebecca was no longer standing where she said she would be.

"Rebecca?" Stephanie called out as she looked around for the girl, "Bayley did you see her wander off anywhere?"

Bayley looked around, trying to stand on her tippie toes to look over the crowd of people that suddenly seemed to form the more they looked for Rebecca. Stephanie checked her watch, slightly glad that she had decided to get them there a hour early as they now only had thirty minutes until their flight was to be boarded. She looked around once more, calling out for the young girl only gaining perplexed looks on the faces of other travellers than passed by and the more and more she went without answers the more frustrated she was becoming. After a couple more minutes she decided that staying here was worthless and the girl had probably went off, so she went to check at their terminal to see if the young girl had went to sit down.

"Bayley come on, let's go see where she could have went off to" Stephanie took Bayley's hand and guided her down the hall to where their terminal was only to see a few people. An old man and his wife cuddled in the corner, a young looking woman with vibrant red hair and two twin boys running around her as she red the paper, and a middle aged man with dirty blond hair and a suit. "Fuck"

"She's not here" Bayley said sadly before looking around again only to see nothing.

"Yes I can see that Bayley. God where did she go?" Their time was running out and she was beyond scared of what happened to her newest daughter.

"This would be much easier if everyone here didn't have red hair" Bayley said sadly as she wrapped her arms around herself and watched as her mother began to pace back and forth.

Stephanie didn't have the heart to laugh as she was beginning to get an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach, why would Rebecca run away like this? She knew that the young girl was kind of scared about going to America and being in this new family because she overheard her and Bayley talking before, but she thought Rebecca was over it. She was sure that the girl had grown more comfortable with Bayley and was open to coming home with them, but with her running off she wasn't so sure. Her stomach turned, and it practically felt worse than when she had that mental break when she was going to first see Rebecca at the hospital. She couldn't have that happen again, at least not in front of Bayley again, but she was about this close to freaking out.

The two walked around for a couple more minutes before they walked past all of the stores, checking inside to see the young redhead girl. There was a mcdonalds, a place called Dixons that sold electronics, and a few other stores before Stephanie let out a loud groan. She was getting nowhere and she couldn't find her daughter and they only had about ten minutes left before they had to be back at their terminal.

"Flight 2253 will be boarding in six minutes" came a voice over the intercom causing Stephanie to curse under her breath for her timing being off and to the fact that Rebecca was still nowhere to be found. The tickets were nonrefundable, not after Hunter managed to get the switched to a later flight in the first place.

"Mommy...I think I have to pee now" Bayley said, tugging on her hand causing Stephanie to groan but she agreed to take her youngest to the bathroom, only to see Rebecca standing against the wall where she said she was going to be, "Becky!"

Rebecca looked up slightly startled then looked in confusion towards the bathroom door, "I thought you guys went to the bathroom"

Stephanie rushed up and hugged the small girl, taking her by surprise, before she checked the girl for any harm, "Where did you run off to Rebecca, we came out of the bathroom almost half an hour ago and you weren't here"

Rebecca noticed the distress on her mother's face and instantly felt guilty. She had noticed a nearby shop that had souvenirs in the windows and she wanted to get something to remind of her Ireland, of her home. The nurses and doctors that had grown fond of Rebecca, had all pitched in and gave her a card that held five euros in it, which was enough to get a small keychain and a couple pieces of candy. However, when she went up to pay for it the woman behind the counter saw the torn bear in her arm and offered to repair it. The shop was small and held all kinds of things like hand made clothes and knick-knacks, so rebecca didn't doubt that she could fix the bear and after seeing how much it meant to her younger sister she decided to take the chance. She offered the woman the rest of the money she had but the woman shook her head and smiled at the girl saying that she too had a daughter that loved her stuffed animal and she knew how much it meant to her.

"I'm sorry" Rebecca said sadly before holding out the now fixed bear to Bayley, which the girl happily took, squealing in delight, "I saw something in the shop over there that I wanted to get, and the...the lady offered to fix it for you Bayley"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you…..aw Mr. Beary is all fixed" Bayley hugged Rebecca, tightly thanking her repeatedly

"Rebecca I understand that you wanted to be helpful but you wandered off without telling me. I was worried sick" Stephanie said placing her hand under Rebecca's chin so she was looking her in the eyes

"Sorry...I'm not used to people worrying about where I go and when….or caring about me at all. I'm sorry I won't do it again...but I...i just wanted to get something to remember Ireland by. This is mi home after all"

Stephanie nodded and stood from her spot before she sighed and looked to see that their plane would be boarding in a couple of minutes, "Okay, come on Bayley actually has to use the bathroom this time and Rebecca you're coming in with us"

Rebecca nodded, following the two into the bathroom and pulled out the small Ireland keychain, smiling at her new mother and sister. She was glad that she had people that cared about her as much as Stephanie obviously did, but she was also glad that she got her keychain, it represented who she was before them. Even though it wasn't great, and her life was practically miserable, she did have a friend here once and it wasn't always bad. This keychain, a small,silver lucky horseshoe with Dublin written on it in green, meant that she would never forget what made her like this. If she didn't have a horrible past, then she would have never gotten the chance at a better future, in America with Stephanie and her family, and rebecca understood that.

Rebecca kissed the horseshoe and put it back in her pocket before Stephanie and Bayley finished and the three of them left and rushed to the terminal where boarding was beginning. Rebecca was ready for America, she was ready for her new life and she was ready to face her new family.

The Next day with Hunter at work

Hunter looked anxiously at his watch, 12:45, Stephanie and the girls were supposed to be home any minute. With the six hour time difference, the girl's twelve hour flight only correlates to six hours in America, it was a weird paradox thing that Stephanie tried to explain to Hunter several times the before their flight but he tuned her out. He had debated on if he should leave work and go pick the girls up from school early seeing as how they wouldn't be out for another three hours but with Sasha still unreceptive to Rebecca he didn't want to rush it. That and Stephanie would have a fit if the girls missed school again under his watch, especially after one time when he was left in charge and he took all of the girls out to the movies on a Wednesday. He looked at his computer which held thousands of graphs, number and a whole bunch of jumble that he couldn't think about right now. No, all of his focus was on finally getting to see rebecca face to face after what felt like years.

"Hey uh...boss, these charts just came in and Sarah told me to bring them to you" Came the voice of Tom Phillips, a skinny man in a suit that worked in Hunter's lower offices as he opened the door.

Hunter was the CEO of the McMahon Communications industry, they controlled basically all of the technology as they were a major telecommunication service provider in California. He reported to the Board of Directors only, which Stephanie happened to be on with her older brother Shane and her father who was in the top seat as he inherited the entire company from his father and his father from his and so on and so on. He dealt with numbers and charts, bring the board different ideas, and problems for them to decide on for the best of the also managed the people under him, raises, promotions, hiring, the whole works and he especially managed their growth and development in the company. Tom was one of his favorites as he was basically the voice of his section, with Corey Graves and Michael Cole being the other voices of the two other sections under Hunter and they reported to him on the progress and sales of their sections.

"Boss?"

"Oh yeah...uh, just leave them on my desk..I hope these aren't about that Newsie deal again. You know what Stephanie thinks about that" Hunter said as he straightened his tie and looked at the man in front of him.

"I actually have no idea, i know I'm in charge of team red down there but I tend to keep out of stuff wrapped up in folders with do not open printed on it. Besides this is for you and the people upstairs" Tom joked causing Hunter to laugh as well, "Okay boss, I'm gonna head out for my lunch break...do you need anything?"

Hunter thought for a bit, "No..I'm good. Thank Sarah for the charts and I'm going to head out for the day. I'm leaving you in charge of this place once you get back from your break"

Tom looked surprised and began to stutter on his words as he watched Hunter pull on his grey, suit jacket and get together his suitcase, "H-h-hunter are you...are you sure. I mean you usually leave Corey in charge.."

"I'm sure Tom...you got this, don't worry. But if you do screw up at least it's your head that's gonna get chewed off by Stephanie and not mine. I get enough of that a home." Hunter laughed once more before giving Tom a good pat on the back and heading out, "Good luck"

"Yeah...thanks…"

Hunter looked one last time at his watch as he made his way to his car, the girls were sure to have been home by now. He decided to be a good husband and pick up a huge order of take out meal for the family. He order a bunch of sesame seed chicken, lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, some wings for himself and some egg rolls. Once he arrived at the restaurant he made small talk with the old man who owned the restaurant as he joked that Hunter was trying to field a small village somewhere. Hunter merely laughed and took his food and headed to the house where he saw Stephanie's car pulling up in the driveway just before him.

"Looks like you beat me here" Hunter said as he exited the car only to have his youngest run into his arms for a hug, "Hey baby girl, I miss you"

"I missed you too daddy. Ireland was so pretty, and their food was really good."

"Better than mine?" Hunter asked playful as he looked his youngest in the eyes with a bright smile

Bayley nodded her head, giggling at her dad before remembering, "….oh..Look Becky got Mr. beary all fixed"

At this Hunter looked at the small toy bear that he had given the girl her first week with him and Stephanie, to see that there was a long stitching along the bear's right arm down to his stomach. He smiled at the toy before looking over at Stephanie to see her standing by her car with a hand on Rebecca's shoulder. The girl was smaller than when he had last seen her, the girl obviously losing several pounds, unhealthily probably, and her hair seemed brighter than before. Stephanie leaned down and whispered to the girl to say hello as they could both sense her nervousness.

"Hello" She said so low Hunter almost didn't hear it

"Hello Rebecca" Hunter said with a smile, "It's good to see you again"

Rebecca nodded at this leaving them in an awkward silence before Bayley, who seemed oblivious to this tension shot up from Hunter's arms and wiggle out of his grip and over to Rebecca, "Come on Becky, I'll show you the house. You have to share your room with Sasha, but it won't be that bad. We got a huge TV and a movie room...oh and we have a big Treehouse and play set in the backyard."

Rebecca smiled and nodded to her little sister as she took her hand and guided her to the door with Stephanie right behind them so she could unlock the door for them. Once inside Stephanie turned back to go where Hunter leaned against his truck, running his hands down his face in frustration.

"That was awkward wasn't it?" Hunter asked sadly as Stephanie came up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him softly, "You can tell me it was awkward"

"Okay" Stephanie said thinking for a minute before saying, "It was awkward...but it's not that bad. I nearly had a panic attack when I was going to meet her. Besides, she's still adjusting, give it some time"

"Alright" Hunter said, grabbing Stephanie's face and placing a kiss on her forehead, "I got some chinese food, I didn't know what to get Rebecca so I just got a bunch of stuff."

"Well that was sweet, come on and help me get all this stuff in the house and then we can set up those two with a movie or something until Sasha and Charlotte get home from school"

"Then you can tell me all about your Ireland trip...deal?"

Stephanie smiled and placed a kiss on Hunter's lips before whispering deal.

A/N: Sorry the ending felt a little rushed, I was gonna split it up into two chapters but I promised that Becky would be in America this chapter. So she got to meet Hunter again and it's gonna be a little weird at first but not as weird as when she is face to face with Sasha. So read, review, follow and favorite so I can get that chapter out next. Thanks.