Mary Anne looked at her watch again. In about a half hour, she would be going with Richard and Sharon to pick up Dawn at the airport. The past few days had been a flurry of phone calls back and forth between California and Connecticut. It had been decided that she would fly in on Friday night. That way she would have the weekend to get settled, and would be able to attend school on Monday. She was going to have to work awfully hard to catch up in school- she would be starting two weeks into the school year, which ensured a lot of extra homework.
It was certainly going to be interesting to have Dawn living here again. Mary Anne smiled when she thought of the first few weeks that they had lived together following the marriage of her dad to Sharon. She and Dawn had been so excited at the idea of being sisters that they had tried to share a room. That didn't last very long. They were sisters, and best friends, but they hadn't been that close. Mary Anne wondered if that time was the defining point of their relationship. It seemed almost as if they had been growing apart since then.
She tried to work on her homework, but found that she couldn't concentrate. That certainly wasn't going to help her grade point average any. But still, it wasn't everyday that her family life changed so dramatically. She had reason enough to not think about her homework. Right?
She let out at sigh and finally put down her pen. There was no way that she was going to be anything constructive done tonight. Instead, she went down the hall to Dawn's room. Dawn had never really spent any significant amount of time in this room- it looked like no one had ever really lived in it. Dawn had already moved back to California when the old house burned down, and had just spent her holiday and summer visits in the new house. The longest of these visits had been the summer after eighth grade, when she and Jeff had come out for a month, bringing Sunny with them. Mary Anne wondered if Dawn would be able to see this house as home. She wondered if Dawn would be able to ever really consider any place home. Maybe that was part of the problem.
She straightened the framed picture of herself and Dawn that had been taken on the day of their parent's wedding. They looked so young, so ready and excited for whatever was ahead. Mary Anne smiled at the memory, but was saddened by the reminder that they had both changed so much from the younger versions of themselves. Would they ever be able to capture that magic again? She hoped so.
"Mary Anne," Sharon called out, interrupting her thoughts. "We're leaving. Are you ready?"
"Coming," She responded.
She shut the lights off and headed downstairs and out the door. Her dad and Sharon were already in the car, further discussing the logistics of the next few days. It was a lot of work to transfer ones child across the country. Mary Anne opened the copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn that she had brought along, and started to read. Before she knew it they were pulling into the Stamford Airport.
Climbing out of the car, Sharon gave her a big hug.
"I know you're just as excited as I am," she said loudly, for Richard's benefit.
Quietly, in Mary Anne's ear, she whispered: "remember that everything that I told you is just between us."
Mary Anne pulled away and nodded ever so slightly. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced a smile, and thought of Dawn and the great times they always had, and what a great friend and sister she was. Regardless of what Dawn had done in California, things could still work out here. Mary Anne needed this more than anything, and she had a feeling that Dawn did as well.
They found the gate where Dawn's plane would be coming in, and settled themselves in for the wait. About half and hour later an attendant announced that Dawn's plane had landed. Shortly thereafter the people started streaming into the airport, and Mary Anne found herself searching frantically for any sight of her sister.
Suddenly, she saw her in the crowd.
"Dawn," She called out. "Over here!"
Dawn saw them and started running over. The first thing she did was set down her things and give Sharon a big hug. This gave Mary Anne time to look her over, as she always did, searching for changes. Her once long blonde hair was now cut in a simple, shoulder length style. Dawn hadn't mentioned anything about that on the phone. She looked a little too thin, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked about as tired on the outside as Mary Anne felt on the inside.
But she was smiling her famous smile, and that gave Mary Anne hope that coming back to Stoneybrook would be exactly what Dawn needed.
Finally it was her turn. She reached out to hug her sister tight.
"I missed you so much," Mary Anne said, tearing up.
"Me too. Mary Anne, you have no idea how much I needed to come back here. I'm so glad to be home."
Dawn didn't elaborate any further, which Mary Anne hardly expected, with her dad and Sharon standing right there. They went to the baggage claim, and then the four of them walked out of the airport together, a family heading home.
------------------------------------------
Dawn was quiet the whole ride home, while Sharon and Richard chatted non stop. Mary Anne was really happy for Sharon- she was practically beaming. Mary Anne was ecstatic inside, but she wanted to be careful about showing too much emotion. She was trying to be wary of the whole situation- recent developments in her life had taught her that she was very likely to be disappointed by the people she cared about.
Arriving home, she helped Dawn carry her bags up to her room. They set the bags down, but Dawn made no effort to start putting them away. The two of them stood together in her room not really saying anything for awhile. Mary Anne turned to head downstairs, and Dawn followed her.
"It's so nice to see the two of you girls together again!" Sharon exclaimed "I've planned a whole night for us. We're going to watch some family videos and put together a family scrapbook. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Mary Anne was alarmed. They hadn't had a family night like this since…well, she didn't remember. Maybe since before Dawn had moved to California for the last time. Sharon was clearly trying to sway her daughter with wholesome fun, but Mary Anne had didn't know how long it would last. Her dad and Sharon hadn't really been so family oriented in the last couple of years.
"That sounds really great mom," Dawn said half-heartedly. "But I'm really jet lagged. I think I should just get to bed so I can work on unpacking everything tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I completely understand honey. Now that you're living here we'll have all the time in the world to spend together."
With that Dawn headed upstairs. Mary Anne could tell that Sharon was disappointed. She didn't feel sorry for her though. If Sharon couldn't remember that California was three hours behind Connecticut, making it relatively early California time, that was her problem.
"I think that I'm going to go to bed as well," Mary Anne said
"Good night Sharon, good night dad."
With that she head upstairs to her room, as she walked up the stairs she heard her dad and Sharon discussing going out for a movie and drinks. The fact that Mary Anne and Dawn hadn't wanted to attend their family night hadn't seemed to phase them.
Mary Anne sat in her room, waiting for Dawn to come to her. She had promised to tell her everything that was going on right away. She felt silly just waiting, but she didn't really want to seem to eager, and also, she wasn't sure how Dawn would react if she just invaded her space. Maybe she really was just tired.
After waiting an hour, Mary Anne decided to go to Dawn. Even if Dawn didn't fill her in on what was going on, maybe the two of them could just hang out. Like sisters. Just as she was raising her hand to knock on the door, she heard Dawn's voice. She was talking on the phone to someone. Mary Anne strained to hear the conversation.
"I really am glad to be here," She paused. "No, I'm not running away from my problems. And like you're one to talk. Tell me the truth, have you had anything to eat today?" Dawn paused. "That's what I thought."
Dawn was talking to Maggie, one of her close friends in California. Mary Anne didn't know many of the details, but Dawn had told her that Maggie had developed an eating disorder when they were thirteen, and despite help from many professionals, along with support from her friends, had never seemed to get completely over it.
"Listen, what happened that night is something that no one else needs to know," Dawn continued. "I wasn't exactly in a rational state of mind if you recall."
Mary Anne really wished she could hear what Maggie was saying on the other end of the line.
"No, I haven't talked to Sunny since then. It would just be… too weird."
Now this piqued Mary Anne's interest. The last time she heard, Sunny was Dawn's best California friend, and things were going well between the two of them.
"Maggie, have you talked to Sunny at all?" She paused. "When you do, will you call me and let me know how she is?"
Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was starting to tear up. What was happening between her and Sunny? Was this what Dawn was running away from?
"I miss you too Mags. Try to eat something for me, okay?" Dawn asked softly. "I'll call you tomorrow night," She paused. "Bye."
Mary Anne heard Dawn put down the phone. She was about to knock on the door when she heard her start to sob. She wasn't so sure if she should go in or not. A few years ago she wouldn't have even hesitated. Now they were certainly at a different point in their relationship, and Mary Anne didn't want to invade Dawn's space, especially while she was crying. She wasn't sure if she would be a comfort, or a bother.
Eventually Dawn's crying ceased, and Mary Anne heard the heavy breathing that indicated sleep.
"Good night Dawn," She whispered. "I love you."
Sighing, she headed to her room and began to get ready for bed. It was certainly going to be hard work to get through to Dawn. She just hoped that tomorrow would go a little smoother.