George slipped his arms around his wife's waist and kissed her neck as she cooked tea.

"Spaghetti Bolognese, salad and garlic bread. We haven't had that in ages!"

Nora smiled over her shoulder. "It was the one meal they could agree on when they were teenagers." She turned and looked at her husband. "Derek called me 'Mom'." She said, her eyes filling with emotion.

"I know. I heard." He said, and they shared a moment of quiet joy.

"I mean, obviously I can't replace Abby, but it was a lovely thought."

George smiled. "You've always had a good relationship with him. Just the right balance of tolerance and frustration." They laughed.

"I need someone to set the table." Nora said.

George smirked. "Ask Derek and Casey, it's more than their turn!"

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"DEREK, Casey! Get your butts down here and set the table!" George shouted up the stairs. Derek swung round on his computer chair and regarded Casey, carefully. She was sitting on his bed looking through all the CDs he had left behind.

"Now I feel like I'm home." He said, motioning towards the door. Casey laughed.

"Me too!"

"Come on. Let's go before they start taking away our privileges."

They started out onto the landing, but Derek paused beside Marti's door. Casey touched his arm in understanding.

"Go on. Sort it out. I'll set the table."

"Thanks Case." And Derek knocked on Marti's door.

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She opened the door and on seeing it was him let go of it and moved back towards her bed. He decided to assume that was an invitation to go in, did so and closed the door behind him.

Her room had lost most of the soft toys of her childhood and he smirked at the Zac Efron poster on the wall above her bed. She had a computer of her own now and he decided to perch on her chair backwards, leaning his arms on the back.

"S'up Smarti?"

She looked up then. "Only Smerek calls me Smarti. You aren't Smerek."

"Because I didn't come home?"
"Because you made Dad and Nora, and Mom unhappy. Because I haven't seen you in three fucking years…"

"MARTI!" He said, shocked at his little sister's curse.

"Derek. You haven't been here for three years. You have no right to tell me what to do. You no longer hold the big brother card."

"No. You're right I don't. I'm sorry Martha." He paused. "I did it for a good reason though."

"But you won't tell anyone what that reason was." She stated bitterly. Derek looked at the girl who was trying to be a grown up but was still too young and decided to tell the truth.

"I won't tell anyone else." He said. "But I will tell you."

Marti couldn't hide that she was interested.

"I did it for a girl."

She rolled her eyes. "We sort of guessed that."

"I did it because I thought my best friend was making the biggest mistake of her life and I didn't want her to get hurt. So I followed her to LA."

"You left college." She said accusingly. It sounded as though teenage Marti had taken on Casey's keener instincts.

"Marti. How would you feel if someone you loved decided to jump off a cliff into shark infested waters? Would you let them or would you run to the shore and pull out the rescue boat?"

"What was her name?" Marti asked.

Derek smiled. "Think about it Marti. Think about when I did it and where I went."

Marti was quiet for a moment. "You went after Casey!"

Derek nodded.

"Because she's your sister?" Marti asked. But she didn't believe it.

Derek shook his head.

"Because she's your best friend?"

He shrugged. "Something like that." He said. Marti nodded.

"You gave up a lot."

"For Casey." He said as though that explained everything.

Marti's eyes widened. "You're in love with her!"

Derek looked at her in astonishment. "You have grown up." He turned serious. "Marti, you can't tell anyone. Casey doesn't feel that way about me and it would make things really messy for the whole family if anyone found out. I told you because I want you to understand that I had to choose between the two people I love most in the world. And it wasn't that you come second. It was that I knew that when I saw you again you would understand. At the time, Casey's need was greater. Although it was three years before she needed me, and I was nearly home by then."

"You were coming home?"

"Yes. No money, no job, no home."

"Having you in LA when Casey was taken sick made the world of difference to Dad and Nora." Marti said. "I heard dad say at one point that he had never been so glad for one of your mistakes."

Derek chuckled. "I've no doubt at some point I will be getting the benefit of his instruction on the last three years."

Marti laughed. "Oh yeah. He's been practising."

Derek winced.

"I love you Smarti." He said.

"I love you too Smerek. Welcome home."

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"Marti! Derek! Lizzie! Edwin!" Nora hollered up the stairs.

"Coming!" The house seemed to chorus. Nora looked at Casey and grinned. They both knew that Nora had been desperate for that sound for the last three years. Casey saw the tears in her mother's eyes and felt a lump in her own throat.

…which only got worse when Derek came pounding down the stairs with Marti strapped to his back. They were both laughing.

Casey helped her step-sister from Derek's back and then eased Robbie into his seat next to Nora. The table had been reorganised slightly, Casey still sat next to Lizzie but now Derek was beside her rather than opposite her. As they took their seats, she glanced at him and he winked at her, and grinned. It was the biggest genuine smile she had seen on his face in more than three years. It said, 'I'm home with my whole family and my youngest sister is talking to me again. Life doesn't get any better.'

Personally, Casey agreed.