Kevin woke up when he heard a muffled noise downstairs. Addison was soundly asleep beside him, and through Henry's baby monitor he could only hear silence.

Slowly and carefully the man stood up and went to the door, cautiously looking in the corridor. Someone was walking up the stairs, but in the dark he couldn't see anything. He closed the bedroom door behind him and made a step forward. He heard sniffing, then a quiet sob. "Betsy?" his daughter appeared before his eyes in the dark, her cheeks wet by tears and an exhausted face. "Hey..." he opened his arms, and the girl immediately hid her face in his chest, letting more tears fall as Kevin rubbed her back. "What happened, beautiful? Is it Cameron? Did he hurt you?"

Without a word, Betsy shook her head no, clinging to Kevin's t-shirt for dear life.

"Betsy, you're scaring me. Are you hurt? What happened, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." the young girl sobbed, and the man hugged her tighter.

"Do you want me to wake Addison? Is it girls stuff?"

"Kev?" he turned towards the master bedroom and saw Addison on the threshold. "I heard you talking and – what happened, Love?"

"Nothing." Betsy repeated, and Kevin led her inside the room.

Betsy sat on the bed, took a big breath, and finally tried to stop crying. She looked up, biting her lip. "I got scared." she admitted.

"Scared? About what?"

"There's so much to do." the girl whined. "All I can do is study, because there ain't much time for anything else. When I'm free, I sleep. I barely saw Cameron this week, and, I don't know, I thought it would be perfect. I don't like my roommate, she's... cold. And it's all difficult to understand. I miss you guys and the year's barely started..."

"Whoa, sweetheart. Calm down, take big breaths." Addison sat next to her and put her left arm around the girl's shoulders. "You can do it, honey. I know you can. You're a strong, amazing girl, and you've been through so much already in your life that really, after a while this will all look like a game to you."

"My dad once told me that since a lot of bad things happened to me everything was going to be good from that moment on." Betsy mumbled, forcing the tears to stop.

"And he was right. I know there were some other bad things along the way, but now you're safe, and you're loved, more than anyone else in the world. We, love you, Betsy. And we believe in you."

"You'll be great, Betsy. I'm sure you'll soon find time to see Cameron, and your roommate can't be that bad." Kevin added, sitting at her other side.

"She is." the girl grumbled. "But I'll try!" she sighed, finally wiping her face. "When can I come visit you again?"

"Whenever you want." Addison smiled at her softly, caressing her hair.

"Maybe in a few weeks time I'll have a free weekend. I hope so, at least. I'd like to come here with Cam and talk to you properly, and see Henry."

"You miss our little guy, huh?"

"I do." she nodded, and let herself fell back on the bed.

"Stay here tonight. Kevin or I can drive you back in the morning." Addison told her worried.

"I have to be there really really early."

"Don't worry, okay? I'll drive you early. Get some sleep."

"Okay." she started to stand up, but Addison grabbed her wrist.

"Stay in bed with us. We missed you."

Betsy rolled her eyes, thinking it was a thing only little kids did. But then she remembered she hadn't slept in a bed with her parents since before her father's death, and it would be a good feeling to feel even more loved for one night.

x

The next morning, the three of them were awoken by Betsy's alarm on her phone. The girl sat up abruptly and turned it off, then rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned.

"Jesus Betsy, you gave me a heart attack." Addison told her as she sat up as well. "What the heck was that?"

"It's just a song." she mumbled. "And I won't wake up without it, it's what I need to start the day."

"Yeah, skipping a heartbeat or too."

"It's only five." Kevin said looking at his alarm clock. "Do you get up this early every morning?"

"No, I just set it at five the other day to finish studying, and I forgot to change it back. I think I'll get up anyway though, I could take a quick bath."

"Okay." Addison yawned. "I'll go check on Henry."

"Oh, no, I'll do it!" Betsy exclaimed, stopping her.

She walked to her little brother's nursery and looked in the crib. He was still asleep, but he stirred slightly when she entered.

"You're such a perfect baby." she whispered. "I'm sure you're gonna be an awesome little boy in a few years time. And then a very handsome guy... but don't grow too fast, okay? Be my little brother for a while." gently, she caressed his head, careful not to wake him.

"She's perfect too, isn't she?" Addison asked Kevin in the corridor, from where they could hear Betsy's words. "I didn't expect her to change so much, yet she became the daughter I've always wanted."

"I think deep down she's always been this way. She just never showed it, she built walls around herself... but we're all good now, huh? And I love you."

"I love you too."