A/N: I'M SO SORRY I took so long..but for some reason everytime I tried to write more for the story…I couldn't come up with anything satisfying…instead i'd just come up with new ideas.

So I re-read the host and finally found my muse for the story again.

It took me 13..count it… THIRTEEN drafts…before I came up with this chapter. I hope you're satisfied and I'm sorry if it's not long enough.

*** I totally forgot to mention this in my earlier chapters but I PURPOSEFULLY made it so that Maggie was Jeb's wife and not his sister. If you haven't realized by now I like to stick with the original story..but I also like to twist it up a little bit. Also this story took a path towards marriage and I need two couples that didn't work out so well… I already had doc and Sharon..and since Maggie and jeb never got along I made them a couple.***

p.s. excuse any grammatical errors, its two in the morning and I just finished and finally was semi satisfied so I decided to put this up because I've made you wait too long as it is. So if you do find any errors just kindly notify me and I will fix them. I will go back and read this chapter when I am more conscious and fix any mistakes but until then. Happy reading :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the host. Just the plot and Maudy.

:)

Last Chapter:

All of them were seated with delicious steaming pancakes stacked high on their plates. I pulled up a chair next to Wanda's and sat down in front of the plate they had filled for me.

"This looks delicious!" I drooled, and stuffed a big bite into my mouth. I shoved it in so hastily that a little bit of the syrup dribbled down my chin.

Wanda giggled at my barbaric behavior, kissed me lightly on the cheek, and wiped the excess syrup off my face.

I was about to take another bite when, Jeb rushed into the dining area toward our table.

He was clad with what looked like bunch of antique, torn photo albums.

All of us looked at him suspiciously and questioningly as he slammed the albums on the free space of the long rectangle table.

A mushroom cloud of dust emerged from the albums and with a closer look I could see how worn out they were.

"Uncle Jeb, what is all this?" Mel asked curiosity enveloping her tone.

Without a word, Jeb opened one of the albums to a page that he had tabbed with a clean new sticky note. Then he stuck his finger on to one of the photos.

We all stood up and walked to stand behind him.

He was pointing to a family portrait, but more specifically to a face that we had just seen yesterday.

Maudy.

Chapter fifteen

-MPOV-

"Jeb… is that my parents? And Nanna?" I asked surprise coloring my tone. I was staring at the family portrait that was placed neatly in the old worn out album. The picture had faded slightly, but it was still really easy to recognize the faces.

"Yup. That's your mom and dad, and your Nanna and her best friend Maudy." He replied.

My eyes grew wide, as I finally took notice of the other people in the picture. Sure enough Maudy was sitting on a chair right next to Nanna. The same Maudy I had seen yesterday, just with less wrinkles and darker brown hair.

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to the little girl in Maudy's lap. She was grinning widely showing off the few baby teeth she possessed. She was adorned in a very familiar baby blue polk-a-dotted dress and was grasping my Nanna's index finger with all her might.

"That's you." Jeb replied simply.

While I registered what he said, I heard Jared's guffaw breakthrough the mute atmosphere.

I heard a light smack and then Jared said, "Ow. What was that for Wanda?"

"For Mel. If she wasn't so preoccupied she would've done the same." Wanda explained.

"What's so funny Jared?" Jamie asked curiously.

Jamie chuckled and replied, "Mel in a dress."

This time I turned around and smacked him on the head.

"Ow. What'd I do this time?" Jared defended, sounding like a five year old getting scolded.

"Jared, are you implying that I look funny in a dress?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow at him.

"N- No I- m-mean that I jusst ne-ever pictured you as the type of child to wear dresses." Jared stumbled through his response. He actually looked really scared of me at the moment.

I tried holding back the giggle that threatened to escape through my lips; I wanted him to think I was serious.

"I guess then you don't think I'm the type of bride that should wear a dress. Right? I mean that is what you're just saying." I stated with fake venom in my voice.

Jared's expression turned fearful and he looked so unsure of what to say.

Despite my attempts, the laughter slipped through my lips and I began to laugh hysterically.

As Jared's expression changed from fear to confusion; Wanda, Ian, Jeb, and Jamie began to laugh too.

"Relax, Jared. She won't bite." Ian exclaimed through chuckles.

Jared finally caught on and his befuddled expression disappeared.

He quirked his eyebrow up and exclaimed amusingly, "Are you sure about that Ian?"

Before I could scold Jared for discussing what went on between us between closed doors, Ian cut me off.

"TMI. That's sick man. I really don't need the visual of you and Mel going at it. It would just add to the sounds I hear every night." Ian responded shuddering playfully in disgust.

As if our thoughts were still synched and connected, Wanda and I both smacked our partners on the head.

"Uncle Jeb, where am I in this picture?" Jamie asked turning my attention back to the picture.

"You weren't born yet Jamie." Jeb answered.

"So Jeb, how is Maudy related to you guys?" Ian asked curiously.

"She's, well how do I say this." Jeb started. He pulled out a chair and took a seat and motioned us to sit too.

We all pulled a chair out from under that table and took a seat. The kitchen filled with the echo of the chairs scraping against the ground.

Then there was silence, as we all watched Jeb tap his chin thoughtfully.

"I could easily say she was a family friend, but that would be an understatement. When Nanna, my mom, lost your grandfather she was the only one able to put your grandmother back together. Without her our family would have fallen apart. Maudy was the one who introduced my brother to your mom. She is your god mother. I don't know how your mom knew but she just had a feeling that if anything happened to her or your father, Maudy would still be there to look after you. So I guess to put it simply she is family, just not through blood." Jeb explained, and then let out a deep breath.

I sat there processing everything that I had just been told. Maudy knew who I was when I walked into that store. She has been part of my family even before I was born. And she was my guardian.

"We have to go back and bring her here." I vocalized my thoughts.

I felt Jared's hand rubbing circles in the small of my back.

"Mel, we can't. You heard what she said, it's too dangerous. Not only would we be putting her but everyone who lives here in danger." Jared explained soothingly.

I shook my head slowly and blinked twice to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. "NO." I whispered sternly.

"Melanie, Jared is right. And if Maudy has already said no to the offer I really think we should let her make her decisions."

"She said no only because she thought I was asking her out of politeness. If she knew that I remembered who she was, then she will be willing to come." I argued like a child, my voice blubbering from the fact that I was starting to choke up.

"Mel, I know you want her to move here and leave the life she has created for herself out there, but did you ever think that maybe she likes living out there?" Jared asked warily.

I know he was just trying to get me to see this from Maudy's point of view, but I was too stubborn to.

"Why would anyone want to live out there? If she moved in, she would never have to tiptoe around hoping that no one would notice that she wasn't one of them. She wouldn't have to live on the edge. She'd be safe and always near me." I stated, the last part coming out as a whisper.

"Do you really think that?" Jeb asked, in his philosophical way. "Aren't we living more on the edge than she is? Aren't we always tiptoeing around hoping that no one catches us?"

"Mel, he does have a point. I think she's in less danger out there than she would be in here."

I wanted to scream. Didn't they see that she was too old now to hold out on her own? Sure she is safe now, but she is getting weaker and older. She is going to need someone to take care of her. Once those souls decided the "host" wasn't functioning properly for the soul, they would try to persuade "the nonexistent soul" inside Maudy to be switched into another host. If she refused that would make them curious and then her façade would be over. They would find out that the soul that was inserted in Maudy had long gone, and they would end up killing Maudy instead.

I wanted to tell them that, but as I looked around at the faces of everyone around me, I realized that they just weren't going to see it that way. I would just have to wait and one by one explain it to them, because if I explained it now and rebuttal to my argument would seem less harsh of an outcome for Maudy and my argument would be overlooked. Because, we, as humans tend to avoid thinking about tragedies. We only believe in happy endings.

I'd talk to Wanda alone first; she was the only one who would understand everything clearly.

"I guess. I just don't want to lose her. She's the only connection I have left to my parents. She's my guardian." I exclaimed sadly and a lone tear rolled down my cheek.

A/N: so was it worth the wait? I'm really sorry if I disappointed anyone. I'm exhausted and I feel like this is the worst chapter I have ever written and though I want to scrap this version and start over I won't. Because I really don't think I can take writing this over anymore otherwise I really will start to hate the way my story is going. I promise now that everything is set and I have overcome the worst of the worst the rest of the story will be written faster and updates should be sooner. I'm swamped with graduation and college orientation stuff but I should update soon.

I hope you'll stick with me till the end, though I'm a pain in the ass with the whole lack of updates. I won't give up on this story and I sure hope you guys don't because you're the reason my story has gotten so far. It was supposed to only be three or four chapters.

While you're waiting for an update on this story, please check out my other stories and hopefully you can support them as much as you have supported this one.

xoxo

rmla