Feet on the ground in the US! I'll call you once I'm settled in at my brother's.

Dave smiled as he looked at the text. Thirteen hours later and she had finally arrived at her destination. Glad you made it safely. Talk to you soon.

Alex turned the corner from the international gate and made it into the hallway that would take her to the public area of the airport. She spotted her brother immediately because of his height and went into a full run. She was caught up in a hug as he lifted her off the ground and spun her around.

"Why is it that distance makes it so much harder? I just saw you this morning, but it feels like it's been days," Alex said as she lay on the bed in her guest room at her brother's house. It was late afternoon in North Carolina and she had excused herself to make her call before she went out to dinner with her brother's family.

Dave adjusted his head on his own pillow as he held the phone so that he could still see her and be seen. He had gone upstairs to his bedroom to hide from the kids for long enough to talk privately with Alex before releasing the kids on her, via video call. "I don't know. But it is different, isn't it? I guess it's the knowing that you aren't just a few minutes away. I'm sure the long flight doesn't help you. What are your plans for the night?"

"We're going out for dinner in an hour. I'm hoping it doesn't take me long to adjust to the time difference. I'll probably end up going to bed early tonight to make up for it. In the morning we go to the funeral home to finalize arrangements."

"What's the tentative plan?" Dave questioned.

"We're hoping to have the service on Monday night, at his church. Then we'd drive the four hours back to our hometown for the burial on Tuesday," she replied.

Dave nodded. "How are you doing?"

She shrugged, looking off in the distance a moment, then back at the face on the screen. "You were right. It's not so bad with Nathan here." She then smiled. "Everyone asked about you."

"Oh?" He smiled back. "How are the boys?"

She chuckled under her breath. "They hoped I'd bring them kilts. Nathan was mortified. We'll have to find some when I get back and ship them over."

He moved his free arm up under his head to help cushion it. "Maybe they could come and visit sometime?"

She smiled. "That would be fun. I think the kids would get along."

He nodded. "I think so too." They were quiet a moment, and her eyes shifted from the screen to look around the room. He continued to watch her, and broke the silence a moment later. "I miss you."

She looked back at him. "I miss you too. But I can feel you here with me. Does that sound weird? It sounds weird doesn't it." She paused. "I wish you were here with me."

He hesitated a moment, but before he could say anything else, there was a banging at his door.

"Dad! We want to talk to Alex, too!" Paul yelled through the door.

Alex grinned wide. "It sounds like my fans are calling."

He shook his head in annoyance at the interruption. "Yes, but are you ready for them?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, unleash the crazy." She giggled.

"Alright!" Dave yelled towards the door. "You can come in now!"

It sounded like a herd of cattle coming in, then suddenly faces started popping up around Dave's on the screen as his kids all piled onto the bed with him.

"Alex!"

"Hi, Alex!"

"Hiya, kiddos! Are you behaving for your dad?"

"Not really. Besides, it's better that we keep him on his toes, so he doesn't mope around and miss you," said Lucy with a grin.

The rest of the weekend had flown by for Alex. Not that she hadn't missed Dave terribly, even with their video calls and messaging. Just as planned, when she and her brother went to the funeral home on Friday, service arrangements were made for Monday evening.

Her brother had been taking calls on and off from work through the weekend, as he had taken time off since Wednesday and was having to direct his co-workers and employees on how to handle things without him. On Sunday it seemed to be particularly busy as he took a few calls that must have been important as he stepped out of earshot, usually into his bedroom, for.

She and Dave had decided to communicate via text on Sunday evening (afternoon for her) and Dave had let her know then that he'd be busy with clients all day Monday. After a little back and forth before he fell asleep, she drifted off as well.

The next day she kept busy with the boys most of the morning. They had lunch at the house, from all the food that had been brought by the members of the congregation of the church her father had attended when he was still in good health. After clearing the table and washing the dishes, they argued over what board game to play and settled on Monopoly. Then, they began to set up to begin the game. Her brother had left the house just after eating to run into his work to pick up a few things. It was just after three when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hello." she said.

Hello!" Dave cheerily replied. "Hope I'm not catching you at a bad time."

"No, just about to give my nephews a beating at Monopoly." She grinned and both boys started booing at her. She continued to talk as she heard the door that led from the garage into the kitchen open behind her. "As you can hear, they're not too happy about it."

Suddenly, her nephews grew quiet. She raised her eyebrow at them. Then, she heard a voice—behind her and over the phone, "You sound quite confident. And I came all this way thinking you might need some comforting."

She froze, staring at her nephews whose mouths were both hanging open looking behind her. Slowly she lowered the phone from her ear as she rose from her chair. She was almost afraid to look behind her, thinking she must be dreaming—but slowly, she turned.

There, standing next to her brother, who had the wide grin of a cat who had just caught a mouse, was Dave—backpack slung over one shoulder, held in balance by his hand gripping the strap; the other hand holding a large duffel bag.

Alex's sister-in-law slipped into the room from upstairs, having heard the car arrive. Everyone was quiet as they stared at each other a moment. Dave let the duffel bag drop out of his hand, and allowed the backpack to slide off his shoulder and dropped it more gently to the floor. He held his arms out slightly, palms up, presenting himself to her. "Surprise!"