CH. 3 Welcome Home

It was midnight by the time they pulled into the driveway. "Finally," Linda was happy to be home. Danny and Linda were quick to get out of the car, and start unloading their luggage, unlike Tayler who held back. She had gotten out of the car, and she had one of her duffel bags draped over her shoulder. Danny and Linda had started to make their way up the walkway, when they realized Tayler wasn't following. Tayler remained unmoving, as she stared up at the house. She didn't know if it was fear, that was keeping her in her place. Or the fact that Danny and Linda were so willing to take her in to their home. Sure, she was Linda's daughter, but that was just genetics. And it didn't erase the fact that she was a complete stranger, and they knew little to nothing about her. There just had to be a catch. But what? No matter what, she just couldn't put it all together, and she had been thinking about it, almost the entire drive to her new parent's home. "Tayler," Linda retraced her steps, until she was standing next to her daughter. She wasn't sure if she was over stepping, and there was no way she wanted a repeat of what happened earlier, when her daughter felt overwhelmed, and needed to get away. But she decided to forgo her concerns, and place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now. But maybe it would help, if you thought of this as a new life. A chance to completely start over." Linda paused, letting the words sink in for a moment. "Welcome home."

Tayler took a deep breath, and took a small step forward. It took a moment, but eventually she took another step, followed by another, until she reached the doorway, where Danny was waiting for them both. After unlocking the door, Danny ran his hand alongside the wall for the light switch. The room was soon illuminated, and Tayler began to look around the room, at least as best she could while standing in one place. She was curious, regarding her new home. But she was too nervous, to make herself too comfortable. Immediately walking through the front door, Tayler observed the living room, there was a couch on one side of the room, and a tv on the opposite side of the room. With a coffee table in between. Directly adjoining the room, was the dining room table, and the kitchen through a small doorway. On the left side of the room, was a set of stairs that led to the second floor. "Feel free to look around," Linda offered, hoping it would help make her daughter feel more comfortably. "Danny and I are going to finish unloading the car."

"I'll help," Tayler set the duffel bag she was still holding, onto the floor next to the ones her parents set down just seconds ago.

"You don't need to do that," Linda was quick to say, knowing how late it was, and figuring that it was way past her daughter's usual bedtime. Even if she didn't know what time, that usually was.

"It's my stuff," Tayler shrugged, following her mother out the door, and over to the back of the jeep where her stepfather was unloading her television. With the three of them working, they had the car unloaded in minutes. Tayler and Linda were standing in the middle of the living room, when Tayler noticed a doorway just across from the dining room table, the door was open, insinuating that, that was where Danny had carried her TV, considering she didn't see either of them when she and Linda returned to the house. Tayler and Linda stood in the room in silence, Tayler's gaze settled on the floor.

"It's late, so I'll only give you a quick tour of the upstairs, before we get you settled in your room," Linda knew she had to say something, and started to lead the way up the stairs and down the hall. "Until we get your bathroom renovation completed, you can share this bathroom with the boys." Linda opened the door to the bathroom, and began to show her where the towels, washcloths, among other things were kept. The bathroom was located on the left side of the hallway, in between Jack and Sean's room, which Linda didn't even bother to open either of the boy's bedrooms, knowing they were both probably in shambles, and instead chose to just point at the closed doors, and say who they belonged to. After showing her, where she and Danny's room was, she and Tayler returned to the bottom floor, and proceeded to make their way down the basement stairs, where Danny had already carried all her luggage. Tayler had been curious about the basement, ever since they had told her about the room she would be occupying, so she tried to observe as much of her surroundings as possible, as she reached the floor. The room was just as they had described, and Tayler couldn't believe why her mother had been putting it down so much. "We would have had it fixed up better, but," Linda stopped, deciding not to continue with that she was saying.

"But none of us were expecting this," Tayler didn't mind finishing her sentence. She knew what she was trying to say. There were a few moments of silence, neither of them knowing what to say.

Tayler was looking around curiously, and Linda finally spoke up. "I'm taking the rest of the week off. So, we can get started on making it more into a room tomorrow."

Tayler didn't know why her mother was so concerned about the conditions of the basement. It was nice of her, she had to admit. But inside, she didn't see anything wrong with it. Sure, it was a little messy. But who's basement wasn't, it wasn't like they ever expected her to come live with them, never in their wildest dreams. "You don't have to do that," Tayler didn't want to be an inconvenience for them. And she figured that her mother wouldn't have taken the rest of the week off, otherwise. Initiating that she was an inconvenience.

"I know I don't have to," Linda said gently. "But I want to, I'm looking forward to making this space yours."

"You mean, this whole thing is going to be my room?" Tayler made a complete circle, looking around the room, having a little trouble believing how nice things appeared to be turning out for her.

"We'll have to take some of the space, since we are going to separate the washroom from your bedroom." Danny was quick to say. "But it shouldn't be too much," Danny stepped away so he could get a better look at the amount of space he was going to need to section off.

"I know it needs a little work." It was obvious Linda wasn't seeing the room at its full potential, as her daughter was.

"Are you kidding me, it's wonderful. I love it," Tayler was showing a glimmer of excitement. The first bit of happiness, Danny and Linda had seen from her.

"We're glad you like it," Linda wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm going to call Dad, and let him know we made it home," Danny excused himself, before leaving the basement.

"I'm going to go too," Linda didn't want to hover, knowing how her daughter reacted when she was feeling overwhelmed. "You can go take a shower and get ready for bed," Linda checked the time, remembering the lateness in the hour. She knew they still had a lot to talk about, but she knew that now wasn't the time. It was much too late to get into a lengthy conversation such as that, and she knew that they were all on overdrive. Especially that of her daughter, who had already had an emotional day. She woke up in a hotel room with strangers, then she had to go to her father's funeral and face family that only treated her coldly, on top of that she was leaving everything she knew to travel to something completely unknown to her. Linda felt bad, that she had pushed her, earlier in the car. It wasn't by any means intentional, but it happened none the less. Tomorrow was another day, and there would be plenty of time to get into the logistics of the family and all the changes that were going to occur later on.

"I am tired," Tayler looked through the bags of luggage that Danny had left in the corner of the room, so she could find her pajamas.

"If you need anything, help yourself. If you can't find it, all you have to do is ask," Linda nodded.

"Yes Mam, thank you," Tayler had just found the correct bag, and tossed her pink pajamas onto the bed, followed by a clean pair of panties, and robe.

The two made their way up the basement stairs, Linda stopping on the first floor and went into the kitchen. Danny was on the phone in the living room, and Tayler made her up to the second floor, for the shower. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn for her father's funeral that morning, and she was grateful to get them off. She wasn't sure what to do with the dirty clothes, so she folded them nicely and placed them on the floor in the corner of the bathroom, near the door. She had seen the clothes hamper, noticing, that it appeared to have clothes already in it, clothes she figured that belonged to her mother and stepfather's sons. She knew her mother would want her to add her clothes to the hamper, but Tayler had her own ideas. She planned on getting her own hamper, and wash her own clothes, not wanting to cause the family any more work than she had to. And it wasn't like she didn't know how to wash clothes, she had known how to wash clothes, since her father thought she was old enough to use the machine, and wash on her own. And that was years ago. Remembering where her mother had showed her where the towels were kept, Tayler pulled one of the soft blue towels out from the cabinet and placed it on the counter. After fiddling with the water faucet for a moment, she found the right temperature, and eventually figured out how to get the water to come from the shower head, rather from the bathtub faucet. Tayler stood under the water for several minutes, before looking through her half-brother's bottles of soap and shampoo they had lining the inside wall of the shower. She had packed her remaining bottles of bath supplies before she left. Unfortunately, she forgot them in her room, and didn't notice until she was already standing in the shower. She didn't know the boys, but at this point she couldn't be choosy, and she hoped they didn't mind her using a small amount. Her hair wasn't very long, so it wasn't like she required more than a quarter size of shampoo, or soap for that matter. The water felt amazing, and she figured she could have stood there all night, given the choice. The aroma of the shampoo filled the shower, and Tayler had to admit, she liked it. The soap suds were covering both her and the shower, and Tayler had to laugh as the bubbles piled one on top of the other, covering the shower floor. Tayler couldn't really remember the last time she laughed out loud like that, and at something so trivial. When you spent a lot of time alone, there wasn't much to laugh at. And when her father was there, he was always so distant, that there wasn't anything to laugh at then either. He hadn't always been that way, she remembered, in fact, when she was younger, he seemed to be a different person entirely. She remembered what her stepfather had said about him being involved in the Valdez crime family for the past five years, and after thinking back, she realized, that, that was right around the time frame that everything changed between the two of them. As much as she didn't want to leave the warmth and comfort the shower provided, Tayler knew she couldn't stay in there all night, even if it did help lower the stress level. She was nervous about returning down the stairs, and she was dreading coming out of the bathroom and descending the stairs. She was somewhere new, with new people, and the last thing she wanted was to end the night with an awkward conversion, that was sure to come. Figuring her mother would be sitting on the couch, just waiting for her to come down so she could talk with her. Tayler descended the stairs at the speed of a turtle, she didn't know why she was so nervous, then again, she had never lived with strangers, nor had she ever stayed overnight away from home. She was surprised not to find Linda waiting for her, and instead only found her stepfather, relaxing on the couch, watching a little tv before bed. Danny didn't say anything, all he did was glance at her, when he heard someone on the stairs. She was just about to head down to the basement, when she stopped. She hadn't had anything to drink since the restaurant, and she was exceptionally thirsty. "Can I have a glass of water?" She asked hesitantly, looking over at her stepfather.

"Sure," Danny nodded. "Do you know where the glasses are?" He asked, when he noticed she hadn't moved.

"N, no sir," she shook her head. Her mother had shown her around the kitchen, but it was just a quick walk through. Where everything was, was still a mystery.

"I'll show you," Danny set the remote down, before getting up.

"You can just tell me," Tayler didn't want to bother him.

"It's fine," Danny shrugged her concern away. "I could use something anyway."

Tayler followed him into the kitchen slowly, she wasn't exactly used to a man helping her, especially someone that she was suppose to see as a father figure. Her own father, certainly didn't help her much. Then again, he really didn't have to, she knew where everything was at home. As for the groceries, he would go one evening after work and stock up on enough to groceries to last the next couple of weeks. As for clothing, he would usually just take her to the mall, let her pick out a coat, a couple of new pairs of pajamas, a couple different outfits for weekends at home, and several different outfits for school, and two pairs of shoes, and that oud have to last her the entire year. She didn't know her stepfather, but he seemed to be willing to help her. At least he seemed to be she thought, he bought her dinner, was willing to work in the basement to make it more of a bedroom, and now with the glass. On the other hand, however, she wasn't sure how much help she really wanted. According to her father, with his line of work, people that helped you, we're only people that wanted something in return, like money. She remembered hearing things about foster families that were only in it for the money, and then ended up treating the kids harshly, especially when the money wasn't much. And money was short for her. After filling a glass with ice and water, Danny handed her the glass. "Thank you," Tayler said gratefully, before taking several sips. She appeared to be in a hurry, trying to down as much as she could before bed.

"You can take it with you to your room," Danny noticed the hastiness in her actions.

Tayler stopped her guzzling, and lowered the glass from her lips. "That would be better," she sounded grateful that he said something.

"Linda went upstairs to get ready for bed," Danny told her, as the two left the kitchen. Getting the feeling, that the girl was wondering where her mother was.

"I think I'm going to go to bed as well," Tayler stopped at the basement doorway. It was nearing 1:00 am and she was beyond tired.

"Goodnight," was all Danny said, before picking the remote back up. Trying to do what he told Linda to do earlier, when they had to pull over, by saying they had to make her come to them, when she was ready.

"Yes Sir," Tayler couldn't believe that was all he said, as she turned to descend the stairs again, glad to avoid the stilted one-ended conversation. Tayler set her glass down on the small table nearest the bed, immediately reaching the basement. She wanted to take a little more time to look around the basement now that she was alone. But she was too tired, and instead removed her robe, planning on turning in for the night, or morning, seeing the time. There wasn't a clock in the room, but she remembered seeing the time on the microwave when she was in the kitchen. She held the robe in her hands for a moment, as she looked around the room for a place to set it. There wasn't any bedroom furniture in the room, but she did see a shelf across the room. There wasn't much sitting on the shelf to her advantage and she decided to take the opportunity to drape her robe across the top, before returning to the bed. She took a seat on the edge of it and bounced up and down a time or two, trying to determine the level of comfort it held. Then again, it wasn't like it mattered. She knew she wouldn't have said anything even if it felt like she was sleeping on rocks. To her enjoyment, the bed was soft, certainly nicer than the one she had slept on the night before at the hotel. After pulling the blankets back, Tayler crawled in between the sheets. She was surprised by the fresh scent of the sheets. She wouldn't have been nearly as surprised, had her mother known she was going to get custody. But that wasn't the case, and she remembered her mother saying something along the lines, that as soon as she got the call, she called Danny at work, then called Frank, and within an hour and a half, they were on the road. Unless her mother always kept clean sheets on the bed? She figured that was an option, but in the end, it didn't really matter. She had yawned at least three times since she returned to her room, and she had only been in there for five minutes. She was exhausted, but part of her wondered if she would be able to sleep. She hadn't slept very well in the hotel, and she contributed that to one of the reasons why she was so tired. That, along with being in a strange place, with new people of course, could not be overlooked. Tayler had just closed her eyes, when she realized she forgot to turn off the light. She was just about to get up, when she heard the basement door open. The hell with the light, she figured it was her mother coming down the stairs and she immediately pretended to be asleep. Part of her felt bad, for doing so, especially after everything she had done for her already with coming to get her out of family services, helping her pack, paying for the hotel, and her meals, as well as for taking her to her father's funeral. That was a lot for someone to do for a stranger, considering she could have shrugged and said I don't have a daughter, and simply say she didn't wish to take custody, and tell them to make her a ward of the state. Yet, even with this knowledge, Tayler couldn't bring herself to sit up, still not wanting to get into a deep discussion that she wanted to avoid. She was just too tired, and for the life of her, she couldn't come up with anything to say. Linda descended the stairs quietly, just in case her daughter was sleeping. She didn't think she would be, considering the light was still on, but that was a chance she didn't want to take. She had planned to tell her goodnight, and remind her that if she needed anything in the middle of the night she knew where their room was. She seriously doubted that her daughter would come get them, thinking that she would have to be dying to come upstairs and wake them, but that didn't keep her from wanting to try and make her daughter feel as if she was a concern to them. Linda looked over at the bed, and saw her sleeping daughter. She gently pulled the blankets up to her daughters chin snuggly, and then placed a kiss on her cheek, before turning off the light, and returning up the stairs. Tayler opened her eyes, when she heard the door close. She was surprised by her mother's warm gesture, knowing there was no way her mother would have even have tried, had she been awake. Again, she closed her eyes, but sleep refused to come.

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"Tayler's asleep," Linda came into her bedroom, where she found her husband sitting up in bed.

"Probably faking," Danny mumbled.

"What makes you say that?" Linda took her place, into the bed next to him, before turning her bedside lamp off, leaving his lamp, as the only one glowing.

"Experience," Danny replied with one word.

"So what do you think of her?" Linda asked, realizing, that this was the first time they had been alone, since they picked her up. Then again, she didn't even know what she thought of her yet, herself. Admitting, that she hadn't had much time to think on the subject.

"She reminds me of you in some ways," Danny thought about it. "Very observant, and she looks like you too."

Oh, she's much prettier," Linda smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"I think your beautiful," Danny kissed her, before turning his own light off.

XXXXXXXX

That night, unable to sleep, Tayler quietly made her way into the kitchen for a refill on the water glass. Filling it back up, Tayler took a seat on the sofa. She was tired, of remaining in the same room, considering she was used to having an entire house to herself. At least most of the time, when her father was away at work. She saw the tv remote, her stepfather left on the coffee table, and she was tempted to pick it up and turn it on. Unfortunately, she just couldn't bring herself to do so, too afraid that she would disturb them. Setting the glass down, Tayler pulled her legs up to her chest, and rested her head on her knees. She was so tired, and wished with everything in her, that she could get some sleep. At this point she didn't even care if it was restless sleep, all she wanted was sleep.

XXXXXXXX

"We have a rough job ahead of us," Linda found herself unable to sleep, the same as her daughter. The room was dark, but that didn't keep her from voicing the concerns, that had been, plaguing her every thought. "You more than me," Linda figured, looking over at Danny. Keeping him awake, in the process. "You are going to have to be a father to my child. The child, that hasn't had the greatest relationship with her father." Linda's mind was racing, thoughts running through her head. "Meaning it may take some time for her to trust you, or to even form somewhat of a relationship with you."

"I've never been a stepfather before," Danny didn't know what else to say.

"At least she talks to you," Linda shrugged. "It isn't much, but at least she's respectful enough to answer your questions."

"She is quiet," Danny nodded. At least from what he observed, at her father's house, the hotel, and the car ride home.

Linda didn't reply, her mind slowly drifting to her main concern, of not being able to form a relationship with her only daughter, fearful that as soon Tayler was given the opportunity she would leave. "Then again, it will probably take just as much time for her to form a relationship with me as well." Linda didn't mean for it to sound like she was talking to herself, but Danny hadn't exactly had the chance to get a word in edgewise. Even if he wanted to. "She doesn't see me as a mother," Linda came to realize, after the several minutes she spent talking to her herself.

"Linda," Danny rolled over so he could face her. Giving up on sleeping. He knew he couldn't leave her alone with those concerns, even though he, himself had no idea how to answer her, considering what she was saying was 100% truthful.

"I've just never had the same last name as her, and maybe that's part of the reason she doesn't see me as her mother," Linda's brain was on overload, by now, trying to come up with a way that would make her see her as not only a mother, but as her mother.

"Well you and Tim were never married. And now we're married," Danny simplified, what she already knew.

"I know," Linda sighed, knowing there wasn't anything she could do about it, unless Danny was to adopt her. And she really didn't want to have to ask him to do that. Considering, it really wasn't necessary. Kids had different last names than that of their parents all the time. And there were hundreds of families out there that had stepparents.

"You're just going to have to take it slow," Danny figured that was all he could say. Knowing that now, everything was just so different for the three of them, and they all just had to get to know one another, so they could adapt, and forge a family.

"Something neither one of us are any good at?" Linda rolled over, hoping to fall asleep.

A few minutes later, and Danny glanced over at his now sleeping wife. Groaning inwardly, jealous that she was able to find sleep. Knowing there wasn't much of a chance of him getting any sleep, now that she woke him up. Tired of laying in bed, Danny gave up, and made his way down the stairs to watch a little TV.

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Danny had just reached the bottom step, surprised when he saw Tayler already there.

Tayler heard someone on the steps, and she turned around to see who it was. "I'm sorry," she started to stand when she saw her stepfather. "I wasn't doing anything," she tried covering for his actions, as she walked past him, and over to the basement door. "I just can't sleep."

"Stay." Danny replied with one word. Tayler noticed he didn't hold any malice in his voice, as he pointed for her to retake her place on the couch. "It's your house now too," he added, before walking into the kitchen. He wasn't gone long, before he returned with a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and took a seat on one of the single chairs near the sofa. "Midnight snack?" He asked, holding the bag out to her.

"Thanks Mr. Reagan," Tayler managed a small smile, while reaching into the bag. "Can I have two?" She asked carefully.

"You can have as many as you want," Danny started to say, until he thought better of it. "On second thought, don't eat too many. Your mother would kill me, if I let you get sick by eating too many cookies."

"I won't," Tayler nodded.

The two fell silent again, Danny still standing by what he said earlier, and not wanting to force her into a conversation, and thought the best thing to do was to let her come to them. Tayler took a sip from her glass of water, to wash down the cookie crumbs, and Danny followed suit with his own glass, after sealing the bag and placing it on the coffee table.

"Is everything okay, Tayler?" Linda had woken up, when she realized her husband wasn't sleeping next to her, and she was surprised to not only find him, but her daughter as well.

"Yes Mam," Tayler said quickly.

"The bed okay?" Linda asked another question.

"Yes Mam, the bed is very comfortable," Tayler hoped to ease her concerns enough, to keep more questions from coming.

Linda nodded, but she fell silent for a moment, doing her best to remember her husband's warning, despite the fact, she wanted nothing more but to have a conversation with her daughter. "I guess neither one of us can sleep?" Linda reached for the bag of cookies. She normally wasn't one to delve into cookies as a midnight snack, but she decided to forgo her own credence, hoping to ease the tension between the child and the adults.

"I think cookies will help," Danny was already yawning, now that his belly was full of cookies and milk.

"Hope so, because we're all going to be dragging tomorrow," Linda pulled her feet up on the couch, and tucked them up under her. Hoping that by having a relaxed conversation around Tayler, one that wasn't centered solely on her, that it would help her loosen-up.

"I have to work in the morning," Danny agreed.

"You should be sleeping then," Linda had forgotten that her husband had already been called by his partner, about an open case waiting for them.

"I would be, if you wouldn't have woken me up," Danny sounded sarcastic, still surprised that she would have even suggested it, considering it was her fault that he was awake to begin with.

"And here I thought you learned how to tone me out a long time ago," she teased.

Tayler was doing her best not to laugh at their banter, but she had to admit, it was getting more and more difficult, all the while, silently wondering if she could learn how to tone them out as well, thinking it might come in handy later on.

"You said it," Danny was hiding his smile behind his hand.

"The last time I stayed up this long was when I was worried about Jack when he was real sick," Linda rubbed her eyes, changing the subject.

"I do it with work regularly," Danny propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Frank will be here early dropping the boys off on his way to the office," Linda remembered. "And Tayler and I will need to get started on the basement."

"No need to hurry on my account, Mrs. Reagan." Tayler didn't want her to feel obligated, especially if she was tired.

Linda hesitated for a moment, but after a while she summed up the courage to say something that had been bothering her since they picked her daughter up, and that was the name she kept referring to her by. "Tayler, I understand that you may not feel comfortable calling me Mom," Linda said the words as gently as possible. Hoping with everything in her, that she wouldn't upset the child again. Tayler's face expression was solemn, and her lips held a straight line. But she didn't appear to be in the same mind set as she was earlier that evening, and she acted calmly, making Linda forge ahead with her words of hope for a better future. "I hope you do someday, but I would like for you to at least call me Linda. Mrs. Reagan is so formal, considering you will be living with me," Linda gave her a small smile.

"Yes Mam," Tayler didn't say anything else, but she did nod in agreement.

"And while we're on the subject," Danny figured that now was as good a time as any to voice his preference. "I prefer Danny. Every time I hear Mr. Reagan, I start looking around for my father."

"Okay," Tayler at least smiled at her step-fathers comment.

Linda was content with Tayler's reaction, and she finally felt like sleep would come, knowing that they were all in need of it. "I believe I'm going to try and get some sleep," Linda stood. The mother in her, wanted to send her daughter to bed, but she refrained, knowing that it was a little soon to get started on giving orders, especially after the progress that was made. The progress was ever so slight, but at least it was something, Linda figured.

"Me too," Tayler stood, before crossing the living room, for the basement door.

"Goodnight," Linda said before making her way up the stairs.

"Goodnight," Tayler replied, before closing the door behind her, leaving Danny in the room alone.

"Better late than never," Danny figured on the couple hours of sleep he was going to get, as he turned the lights off, and slowly made his way up the stairs.

Hope you all enjoyed the update, as I enjoyed writing this chapter... Thanks for all the follows favorites and reviews... JusticeStandsTRUE