Eyes closed in her partially reclined seat in first class, Laura glided her hand down the length of her daughter's hair. No doubt Remington had caught on, although he wouldn't have mentioned it, but Sophie had been faking the suddenly happy affect she'd shown everyone throughout the day and when they'd arrived at LAX. She hadn't dropped the mask, until the wheels of the plane left the ground, when she'd grabbed her pillow, and shoving it between her seat and the wall, fell fast asleep. When she was awake during transfers, she'd grown quiet and jittery. By the time they were on the ferry to Oia, one thing was very clear…
Her instinct to bring Sophie here was dead on the money.
When the island appeared in the distance, her mind drifted to the past and the first time Remington had brought her here to meet the Androkus family. The healing that had begun at Ashford Castle had been finished here, culminating in their wedding on the terrace of Marcos and Elena's home. They'd returned every year since on their anniversary and each time, she found herself reflecting on how much they'd grown from the last year to the current year, how much they'd evolved in the last decade, two decades. Strangers to friends, friends to partners, partners to lovers, lovers to husband and wife, husband and wife to mother and father. There was what they both considered their biggest and most valued accomplishment. From deciding not to 'not try,' to the birth of the first of two of Remington's doppelgangers, Livvie, then planning for Holt and enfolding Sophia into their clan they'd expanded…
And so had the love within their close family unit, despite Livvie's comes-by-it-naturally griping.
They'd watched with pride as the children had advanced through the stages and still found themselves staggered by the fact they were now the parents of a pair of teens and one preteen…
With another child on the way. She and Remington hadn't even had a chance to digest that shocking news, before she was on a plane to Greece with their oldest child.
Four children, a quintet of homes in the States and Europe, a mind-boggling financial portfolio and a thriving Agency. She'd hoped for the last and had worked hard to bring it to fruition, but the others? Never could she have predicted this tremendous life they shared.
One thing was for certain: She was looking forward to seeing what the year ahead would bring, beginning with restoring their daughter to the confident, happy, thriving young lady she'd been before Julian and Gabriel Castoro had tried to destroy her… and the Steele family in the process.
Now, in that second, in that moment, however, her head heeded she answer her heart. Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she flipped it open and rapidly tapped out a series of characters then hit send.
I just realized I forgot to tell you something very important.
Closing the phone, she tucked it into her pocket to await the 'ding' she knew would come.
"When I was growing up we lived next door to the Johanssen family. They were the perfect family. They never fought or argued, there wasn't even any of the typical sibling squabbling. Mr. Johanssen kissed Mrs. Johanssen on the front stoop of the house each morning at precisely 7:15 then left for work, returning each evening at 6, to his family waiting for him and dinner. They went on family vacations together, both parents attended all of their kids sports events and functions. And, on Sunday mornings, they walked out of the house at precisely 8:40 dressed in their Sunday best, then depart for Church where they spent most of the day, it seemed. I was jealous of them," she finished, looking at Sophie.
"Why were you jealous?" Sophie pried.
"Because they were the perfect family," Laura lifted and dropped her hands. "Two supportive parents in the same picket-fenced home, time-honored routines and stability. It was everything I'd dreamed a family to be, but not in my home. After my father abandoned us, it was all the more diffi—"
"Wait!" Sophie interrupted, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Your father abandoned you? You mean like just left? You didn't know here he was?" she rambled. "Livvie, Holt and I thought he died since you, Grandmother and Aunt Frances all talk about him like he's not around-around. You know what I mean."
"Well, technically he was and isn't around-around," Laura pointed out. "I've referred to Oia as home since the first time he brought me here. Have you ever wondered why?" Sophie shrugged.
"Not really. I just assumed it was because you and Da had a house here. But you don't call anywhere else but our house in LA home, do you?"
"No, I don't." She nodded her head towards the village where they could now clearly see both the house about which they were speaking and the sprawling, Androkus cliff-side home. "This is home because of the people. When your father and I arrived here that first time, we'd been working on fixing what we'd done to each other and were still struggling to be completely honest about what we wanted. Being surrounded by this family who loves absolutely and unconditionally, who drew both of us into their fold the first time we met them, allowed us to finally find our footing and be completely honest with one another about where we wanted this relationship of ours to go."
"You decided to get married," Sophie filled in a bit dreamily. It was an easy enough conclusion to reach.
"Yes." Laura paused to turn around and lean her backside against the railing while staring at her left hand. With a nod, she worked first engagement ring then wedding band off her finger. It only took a look at Sophie for the teen to turn around and mock Laura's position while tilting her head with open curiosity. Laura took Sophie's hand and placed her wedding band in it, almost reverently.
"Your wedding ring?" Laura stroked her throat, carefully choosing her words.
"Yes, but they're far more than that, as well. They are Androkus family heirlooms." She raised a brow. "We're not talking in terms of decades, either, but centuries." Sophie's eyes narrowed and she examined ring she'd barely glanced at before. It had always just been a part of her mother. "The rings, according to history, are given to a couple who share a great love. Your Yaya and Papouli believed your father and I to be that couple. However, Elena challenged your Da that he could only accept the rings if he acknowledged the inscription was how he really felt. He couldn't deny it." Sophie hurriedly located and read the inscription.
"That's so romantic," she sighed.
"Very," Laura agreed, then directed the conversation back to lesson. "This," she drew an arm along the visage of the charming island rapidly drawing near, "Is the family your Da and I strive to emulate. Yaya, Papouli, Thea Lina and Theos Christos and Zeth, embraced first your father and then me as family. It didn't matter your Da shared no blood with them, only that their hearts had claimed him as a son and a brother. As for me? It only mattered that your Da loved me and they believed I would take care with his heart. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"The Androkus are the perfect family, not the Johanssen's?" Sophie posed the answer in the form of a question.
"Well, yes, but that's not what I mean. The Androkus family has shown us how we want our family unit - Da, Livvie, Holt and you," she emphasized the last giving Sophie's shoulders a squeeze, "To be: Warm, loving, judgment free, supportive, with expectations on how to conduct ourselves, while surrounding ourselves with trusted friends and family." She slanted her eyes to be certain Sophie was taking in what she was saying. "This is not a family that cares about who someone's parents are or what they did for a living. It's the person that matters. That's all."
"Julian said you felt sorry for me, that's why you let me stay at first, and –"
'Let's forget whatever Julian said. He wasn't there when Deputy Chief Jarvis brought you to us or any day thereafter!" Laura insisted, passionately. "You are a thoughtful, intelligent, kind, beautiful young woman. We looked beneath your fear and trauma and saw the same thing in you as a child. You stole our hearts before we realized it had happened!"
"Mom!" Sophie whispered, embarrassed. Ducking her head, she assessed those around them to determine how many had keyed in on her mother's unexpected – and unintendedly loud – outburst.
"Sorry," Laura puffed out the apology. "I may have been a bit pass—"
"Sophia! La-ra!" A familiar voice screeched, giving a split second warning before Lina plowed into her for a hard hug…