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The distinct, pungent aroma of Sarah’s mother’s cooking struck her the second she opened the door. Perhaps it was that things didn’t just completely fall apart with Katelyn’s parents, or perhaps it was that four-letter word Katelyn used, but Sarah practically danced into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Margaret’s waist.

Margaret, who had been standing by the counter, staring down at her grandmother’s cookbook - one of the few possessions she packed to bring with her everywhere she went ‘just in case she needed it’, turned back to face Sarah, and though she wrapped her arms around her daughter carefully, she shook her head and chuckled.

“Young lady, I hope you realize that I’ve had to cancel a dinner date with Peter for this meeting.”

“Who?” Sarah asked, blinking. “Oh! Em and Beth’s dad!” She giggled, but only a little. “I’m sorry Momma. But can’t you just reschedule meeting her folks?”

“If it were only me, I suppose, but your ‘aunt’ Ashleigh is flying in tomorrow. She didn’t mention Zoey so I don’t know if she can make it or not.”

“Oh my Gawd. She’s coming already?!”

“That’s right,” Margaret answered in that motherly tone of hers. “Here, set the table dear, while I get the roast.”

“Sure thing,” she answered cheerfully, quickly opening the first cabinet to find fine glassware awaiting her. “Uh, where’re the plates again?”

“All we have right now is fine china,” Margaret replied, pointing with her free hand to another cabinet over the counter, while herself pulling the oven open.

“Oh, here they are,” Sarah answered as she very gently took down two finely crafted and ornately decorated plates. She deftly side-stepped her mother as she dug through drawers looking for flatware. “I wonder if the silverware’s real silver?” she teased, causing Margaret to laugh.

“Very funny. The sooner we get our old things moved, the better. I thought we could drive a moving van back to Arkansas this weekend, but perhaps it might be faster to fly out, hire someone to move our things, and then fly back?”

“Fly? Wow, Momma,” Sarah giggled. “I thought you hated flying.”

“I’m getting used to it. Besides, we need to decide what goes and what to keep, and I need to turn back our apartment.”

“I’d like to see Christina again too. Things’re too crazy with Katelyn and all to bring Chris up here yet, but maybe in a couple of months. I can at least chat with her online for now though. Zoey left me this awesome webcam.”

Margaret carefully set the roast and potatoes, now neatly arranged on a large serving platter, at the center of the dining table and seated herself. Sarah looked puzzled up at her mother. “That’s a lot for just two people isn’t it?”

Margaret grinned. “I was wondering when you were going to ask me that. You might want to set out another couple of plates, sweetheart.”

“Why’s that?” Sarah asked, but did as she was told. Hardly a moment later, she got her answer, as someone knocked at the front door.

“Go and get the door. I’ll take care of setting the table.”

“O-kay,” she answered suspiciously, but walked to the door anyway. LeAnn grabbed her in a hug the moment she opened it.

“Hi sweet girl,” LeAnn cooed as she kissed Sarah’s forehead.

“LeAnn, hey! Um, who’s your friend?” she asked, nodding to the pretty twenty-something with dark red hair, dressed in a Yale University hoodie. The other woman smiled warmly as she offered her hand.

“Hi there. I’m Stephanie, LeAnn’s roommate. You must be Sarah?”

Sarah blushed a bit as she shook Stephanie’s hand and nodded. “Come on in. Mom’s just got supp-I mean, dinner ready.” Sarah led the two inside, and though both were taking their time looking around, Stephanie spoke first.

“Sarah your house is absolutely gorgeous. This blows our apartment out of the water.”

LeAnn laughed. “Yeah, and it’s a nice studio place with a view, too, not one of those crummy undergrad cockroach rooms.” She grinned as they entered the kitchen. “Momma, still takin’ that cookbook everywhere you travel I see?” she teased. Margaret smiled broadly.

“At least until I convince Sarah to teach me how to use that contraption she calls a computer upstairs to save them digitally. Come in girls, have a seat and enjoy yourselves. Stephanie you must be starved, dear. You’re all skin and bones!”

Stephanie laughed as she took the offered seat. “I’m just naturally thin, ma’am. I eat like a horse. Just ask LeAnn.”

“She does, too,” LeAnn giggled. “But I bet you’ve never had a southern-cooked meal either. Only thing I missed about livin’ at home was Momma’s cooking.” She paused midway through dishing herself up a hearty spoonful of potatoes to grin at Sarah. “Well, that and having my baby sister close by. I’m so glad you’re here sweet girl. Did you tell Momma about how your visit to the therapist went?”

Sarah bit her lip, glancing between LeAnn and Stephanie. Stephanie for her part smiled though. “It’s okay sweetie. I’m LeAnn’s best friend, and I’m also a psych major. I’m not going to judge you for having the guts to be who you are, especially after everything you’ve been through.”

Sarah started to smile again, nodding. “Thank you. Well, um, it actually went really well. She said that at first she wasn’t sure if I was ready, until I told her that it wasn’t that I wanted, but needed to do this. I told her everything I already told you and Mom, LeAnn, about how I was ready to kill myself and everything.” She paused, shaking her head softly.

“Anyway, everything went really well.”

“I know how you feel about needles. How did the blood test go?” Margaret asked. Sarah smiled brightly. “Doc Logan used this little tiny needle so I didn’t feel a thing either when she drew my blood, or when she gave me a booster shot to kickstart my puberty. I have some pills I’m s’posed to take starting tomorrow.”

The three women giggled to themselves, as though they shared an unspoken joke, and Sarah wasn’t in on the punchline. She slowly looked around the table at the three.

“Oh man,” Stephanie gasped. “Margaret these are the best potatoes I’ve ever had.”

“I lightly seasoned them with garlic and just a dash of butter to help it stick.”

Sarah frowned. “Okay, I give. What were you guys just laughing at?”

LeAnn glanced at Margaret. “We really should tell her Momma.”

“Not at the dinner table,” Margaret advised gently. “But after we eat, we can talk about the changes you’re about to go through.”

Sarah groaned. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess this is ‘the talk’ that I should’ve heard in health class right?”

Again the three giggled quietly. LeAnn just smiled and nodded, while Stephanie shoveled a mouthful of roast beef between her delicate lips.

~oOo~

After dinner, on Margaret’s insistence that Sarah leave the dishes for her to take care of, she took her house guests for a grand tour of her new home, and on reaching the master bedroom, paused for a moment. “You’re going to absolutely love the big bedroom. I mean the small ones are ‘big’ in their own right, but the master bedroom is huge.”

She paused as she reached for the doorknob, closing her eyes for a moment.

“Sarah? Are you okay?” LeAnn asked. Sarah nodded after a moment.

“Yeah, sorry. Just a little off I guess.” She smiled back at her sister and Stephanie, pushing the door open for them to follow her.

“Wow. This is like the size of our kitchen and living room area combined,” Stephanie said, looking around. “Hey, cool grandfather clock! I haven’t seen one of these in ages! It’s not ticking though.”

“The key to wind it’s supposed to be inside the door, but we haven’t tried to yet,” Sarah mused.

“May I?” Stephanie asked. “My grandparents had one of these, but it was lost in a house fire when I was a kid.”

Sarah smiled as she nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Sweet. Thanks Sarah.” Stephanie approached the old clock, admiring it from one side and then the other, before carefully opening the facing. “Hey, there’s an envelope here.”

She knelt to pick it up, the key sliding out into her hand, along with a note. “Hmm. Sarah or Margaret, if you’re reading this, you decided to wind the clock after all. Just wanted to apologize for its placement, but we didn’t know where else to put it. All our love, Zoey.”

Sarah giggled. “Oh, and here we thought they were just messing with Mom. I kinda like having it here though. It really brings the whole room together.”

“Oh I agree,” Stephanie answered as she wound the clock carefully then glanced at her watch, turning the hands to the current time.

“Hey, I never noticed that door before,” Sarah mused, nodding toward what looked like an outside door at the far corner of the room. She moved past Stephanie, turning the lock and opening it. Outside, a small covered balcony extended out over the back yard, with a patio table and chairs at its center. From her vantage point she could see a large trampoline, and something that looked like a tarp stretched out over the ground.

“Hey, guys? What’s up with that tarp down there?”

Stephanie, being the nearer, stepped out onto the balcony first. “Looks like a pool cover.” She smiled. “Looks like you got yourself a swimming pool.”

“Oh my Gawd,” Sarah whispered, giggling. “This is so cool.”

She backed up, stepping back inside. “Mom’s going to love the balcony view,” she added, making her way back out with her sister and Stephanie following close behind. As she reached the bottom of the stairs again, she stepped aside to wait for them.

“So now can someone tell me what all the giggling was about?”

“Well, puberty’s hard on girls. Besides obvious stuff like acne and, of course, periods, which you’re lucky enough not to have to worry about,” LeAnn smiled, “there’s going to be stuff like bloating, muscle cramps...”

“Oh, and your breasts are going to get super-sensitive. If you’re not already wearing a training bra you really should be,” Stephanie advised. “There’s little things you can do to help with it, but you’ll probably want to talk to a doctor about the specifics.”

“I’ll try and put together a list for you,” LeAnn concluded and smiled as she pulled Sarah into a hug.

“Thanks LeAnn, Stephanie.”

“No problem sweet girl. Let’s go find Momma. There’s so much we need to catch up on.”

Sarah giggled. “Yeah, like when did you change to using Momma’s maiden name?”

~oOo~

Sarah, her family and Stephanie chatted and giggled well into the late evening about everything from what Sarah liked to do for fun, to how things with LeAnn or Stephanie’s studies were progressing.

They spent precious little time talking about the past, which is how Sarah preferred it anyway, though she did admit to Margaret that she was thinking of using Cameron now, like her sister. She wanted to cut all her old ties except for the friends she left, and surprisingly, Margaret seemed agreeable.

When it came time for bed, Sarah thought long and hard about whether she wanted to wear her old sweats again, or the frilly lavender nightie Katelyn or one of the twins had bought for her. She opened the door to her walk-in closet, where a full length mirror, framed in ornately carved wood, hung fast, and held the delicate cloth up to herself. She turned this way and that, admiring the way the hem fell just at her knees.

“It’s beautiful, like you,” Margaret spoke softly from the doorway. Sarah jumped, trying vainly to hide it behind her back as she turned to face her mother.

“Oh, honey,” Margaret cooed as she approached, pulling Sarah into a hug. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I mean it. It looks absolutely darling, and I really think you should wear it. That is, if you want to.” She carefully cupped Sarah’s face in her hands.

“Listen, sweetheart. When you were little, I tried not to encourage your feminine tendencies. I allowed your father to convince me that it was only a phase, and that you’d grow out of it. I was wrong. I was so very wrong. The night he... hurt you, I realized I was holding my baby girl for the first time. You have always been my other daughter, even when you acted out and got in trouble with the law.”

Sarah burst into tears as she listened, bawling into Margaret’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Momma,” she wailed. “I’m so sorry.”

“No sweet darling,” Margaret sobbed. “I’m sorry. I deprived you of the life you should’ve had because of my arrogance. I just hope someday you’ll be able to forgive me.”

Sarah slowly stepped back, holding out the lavender nightie. “W-will you help me?” she asked softly.

“Of course honey,” Margaret answered.

Once Sarah was dressed for bed, Margaret pulled the sheets back and tucked her in, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Good night Sarah. God bless you, my precious little girl.”

“‘Night Momma,” Sarah answered, squeezing her hand before Margaret turned to step out. As Sarah lay her head against her pillow, just barely holding onto the last measures between reality and dreams, she wondered how much of what she now felt was her new hormones careening around her system, how much was seeing how distant Katelyn and her Mother had been until today, and how much was genuinely her.

~oOo~

As it turned out, ‘shopping for a new car’ rather quickly had become ‘heading into New Haven to collect a new car’, but Katelyn invited Sarah along nevertheless. She insisted Sarah should be there to give her opinion of the new car, a sleek, hybrid-electric sport sedan that Sarah immediately fell in love with.

“I need to get used to the way this thing handles,” Katelyn mused as they pulled away from the lot together. Eleanor had driven the girls in since she had her own errands to run anyway, but now they were on their own with a brand new car, and Katelyn had her own plans. “So I was thinking we could spend a day in New Haven, maybe even meet your aunt at the airport. I’m sure she’ll want to rent her own car, but I really want to show her that I’m serious about you.”

Sarah smiled thoughtfully as she nodded. “That sounds great. She should be here this afternoon some time. What else did you have in mind for the day?” she asked innocently.

Katelyn grinned, reaching down to squeeze Sarah’s hand. “Well, there’s this huge beginning-of-summer sale going on all over New Haven. Old Navy, T.J. Max, Macy’s,” she paused. “Oh, I bet you’ve never been to Macy’s have you?”

“Or Old Navy, or T.J. Max,” Sarah answered sheepishly.

“Oh my God, you poor thing! We’re going to fix that right now!”

Despite Sarah’s insistence to the contrary, on several occasions in fact, Katelyn dragged the poor girl all over New Haven. Each attempt to convince her not to spend so much money on her was unerringly met with ‘But it’s good for the economy, remember?’

It wasn’t even that Sarah wasn’t enjoying their time together. She loved it, not for the shopping, but for just being close to Katelyn and bonding with her as they talked about their lives and shared interests. As they day pressed though, she seemed to get progressively quieter.

Eventually the girls arrived at their last destination for the day, a large, well air-conditioned two story shopping mall with cobble-stone styled tile floors, large, ornate pillars supporting the second floor, and a white brick facade between stores. Despite the half-full parking lot, Sarah was surprised to see that it actually didn’t look that crowded inside. She laughed to herself.

“What?” Katelyn asked, cracking a smile at the contagious expression.

“It’s bigger on the inside,” Sarah joked.

Katelyn blinked at her. “What?”

“Sorry. My friend Christina is a huge Doctor Who fan. I expected this place to be packed from all the cars outside, but it really doesn’t feel crowded at all. It’s like it’s bigger on the inside than on the outside, you know? Anyway... Sorry,” she mumbled.

Katelyn just shook her head. “If you say so. So are you into music at all?”

“I do a little Jazz tap,” Sarah admitted sheepishly. “I ended up moving before I could really get into it, but I’d love to find another teacher like Belinda. She was such a sweet lady. She really made learning dance a lot of fun.”

She stopped to turn to Sarah. “You dance? Wow, that’s so cool. Can you show me a few steps?”

“What, right now?” she asked, and began to blush.

“Sure. Just name a song and I’ll grab the MP3 off iTunes.”

“Oh, no I couldn’t. I mean, only know some basic steps. Maybe after I find another teacher though,” she insisted, shaking her head.

Katelyn smiled and wrapped an arm around Sarah’s neck as they continued, playfully nuzzling her shoulder. “Okay, but I’m holding you to that, Runt,” she teased. “Hey, is everything okay?” she asked a moment later. Sarah nodded.

“I guess. I just don’t feel well. My sister warned me that this would happen, that I’d start getting all moody and stuff.” She looked up at Katelyn, wrapping an arm around her waist, and buried her face in the girl’s shoulder, sobbing softly.

“Hey, come on. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Sarah whimpered as they stopped, turning embrace her fully. “Nothing’s wrong. I just feel, I dunno,”

“Vulnerable?” Katelyn asked. Sarah nodded.

“Yeah. Like I said my sister warned me this’d happen.”

“It’s just part of being a girl. You get used to it. Hormones do some fucked up shit to your head.”

Sarah smiled meekly back at her. “Did you mean what you said last night? That you … Um, that you love me?”

“Of course I did,” Katelyn answered. “I don’t know yet if it’s like want to spend my life with you love, or puppy love or whatever, but I just know that I care about you a lot, and I want to protect you. I want to make you happy because seeing you smile makes me feel happy. Does that make any sense?”

Sarah nodded slowly. “Yeah. Thanks for, you know, putting up with me like this.”

“Honey, I told you, it’s part of being a girl. You take the bad with the good, and trust me, the good is very good. Hey, do you want to go get something to eat? I’m so hungry I could eat two steaks.”

“I’ll have a deep-fried buffalo,” Sarah giggled a little, and started to smile as she added, “I’d love a chili dog with extra cheese though.”

“Oh that sounds so good. Damn you Sarah. I was just going to have a salad, too,” Katelyn laughed. “Food court’s just this way, near the center on level one. They’ve got just about every major vendor you can think of.”

“Awesome. Mind if I pick this up though? I really do feel so guilty about you spending all this money on me.”

“I want to,” Katelyn insisted. “I hardly ever get to spoil the few people I can really call friends because I don’t want them to feel like I’m flaunting my parents’ wealth or anything, but with you it’s different. Your wardrobe needed an infusion of color,” she teased and giggled, kissing Sarah’s cheek.

Shortly after the pair paid for their lunches, they started to scan the food court to find a table. Sarah suddenly reached out to grab Katelyn’s arm. “H-hey, isn’t that Nikki? Who’s that she’s with?”

“Huh?” Katelyn asked, following Sarah’s gaze. “Oh! That’s Moira. Hey guys!” she cheered warmly, waving as she approached with Sarah following close behind.

“Hi Nikki,” Sarah added cheerfully.

“Sarah, hey!’ Nicole offered warmly as she stood to pull Sarah into a hug. “Katelyn too? What’s going on? What are you guys doing here?”

“I should ask you the same question,” Katelyn teased. “I thought you and Robin were doing that Girl Scout stuff.”

Nicole laughed. “No, I had rock camp this week. Moira and me just got back. She’s giving me a ride back to Alpine Springs later, but since we were in town anyway, we figured we’d hit a Mall or two, maybe pick up something for Robin for when she gets back. You?”

“Helping Sarah fill out her wardrobe. Poor thing’s never even seen a Macy’s before today,” Katelyn giggled, squeezing Sarah’s free hand.

Nicole grinned slowly. “So are you two like, an item now? Here, sit. Moira, I you remember Katelyn I think? This is our friend Sarah. Sarah um,” she paused, looking sidelong at Sarah as the girls took the offered seats. “You know I actually don’t know your last name.”

Sarah laughed. “It used to be Stevens, but I’m thinking of using Mom’s maiden name, Cameron.”

Moira stared blankly back at Sarah for a moment. “Wait a minute, yer maiden name’s Cameron? Yer not related to Samuel Cameron are ya?”

“Samuel Jefferson Cameron? H-he’s my great grandpa. Supposedly he and his family moved to America from Ireland in the late 1800s or something.”

“Aye that he did. The Cameron brothers, Donald and Seamus, had a grand fallin’-out over whether or not to return to the old country. Donald moved t’Arkansas or Oklahoma I believe, while Seamus returned home, tried t’make a life for his family in Dublin. We sorta spread out from there. Da has eleven brothers an’ sisters I haven’t spoken to in a couple of years,” she chuckled.

Sarah stared in awe back at Moira as she slowly shook her head. “A-after Mom divorced my dad, we lost touch with her brothers and sisters. We moved around a lot, and I think Mom was just afraid of what they’d think of us, or me,” she shrugged. “But they didn’t know what my Dad was like either.”

Moira smiled as she extended her hand, squeezing Sarah’s. “Believe me, you don’t have t’say another word. My Da’s a drunk old fook, may he rot in Hell if he weren’t still alive an’ well,” she smirked. “By the by, you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before? I never forget a face.”

Nicole leaned closer, whispering something in Moira’s ear. Moira turned to stare at Nicole briefly before returning her gaze to Sarah. She smiled.

“That’s why you look so familiar. You poor thing. The girls and I were talkin’ about you, how you burst into that tent lookin’ terrified, an’ then come face to face with us all makeup and shite.” Moira started to laugh. “But that’s gettin’ ahead of myself aye? I’m glad everything worked out though.”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re... Wait a minute, you’re talking about at the county fair when Nathan was chasing me aren’t you? Holy shit. You’re-”

“Shh,” Moira instructed, winking as she nodded sideways to indicate the other customers nearby. She grinned. “But yes.”

“Oh my God. I have a famous cousin? This is so cool,” Sarah giggled. Nicole and Katelyn started to giggle as well.

“Wow Sarah,” Katelyn teased, “I didn’t know you were rich AND famous. I’m glad I grabbed you up before anyone else found out.”

“Infamous maybe,” Sarah balked, but laughed. “This is so cool though. Moira are you going to be in Connecticut awhile?”

“I am, actually, at least for another month. The girls want me back in London for a recording gig, but I just finished teaching bass at the rock camp Nikki was talkin’ about earlier, so I’m taking some downtime first to just catch my breath. Why d’ya ask?”

“I’d love to learn more about our family history. You sound like you know a lot about the Camerons.”

“Aye, I do,” she answered. “Before my fallin’ out with my parents, Mum taught me the history of the Clan. I’ll happily share everything I know with you some time. Here,” she turned to the side, taking a small post-it pad and a pen from her bag and scribbling something on it, passing it to Sarah. “The first one’s my flat, but the second one’s my cell. Ring me day or night, or just text if ya prefer.”

“Wow, thank you.”

“My pleasure,” she answered cheerfully. Nicole glanced between the two and grinned.

“So how did you two meet anyway? I think it’s awesome by the way.”

Katelyn and Sarah both blushed, Sarah giggling as Katelyn answered. “It’s a long story.”

~oOo~

“You know my Mom’s gonna freak, right?” Sarah teased as the girls rolled past the familiar Alpine Springs sign, Ashleigh’s bright red Focus following not far behind at a leisurely pace. The meeting at the airport had gone well, and though Zoey sent her love, regretting that she couldn’t make it, she promised to be there in spirit.

Katelyn giggled. “Eh, she’ll get over it. If she says anything I’ll talk to her though, okay? My mom really does make a lot of sense when it comes to financial stuff. I doubt this is what she meant exactly, but hey.”

“Oh God, did you see that guy staring at us when we tried to get your trunk closed?”

Katelyn laughed. “Yeah. Why do you think I kissed you right there in the parking lot? Other than you know, because I wanted to,” she added. “I just like messing with people who act like sheep, y’know?”

Sarah giggled to herself. “Katelyn, I’m sorry about how I reacted last night. I just don’t know what ‘love’ is yet. But I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?” Katelyn asked, smiling reassuringly back at her as they pulled into Sarah’s driveway.

“I love spending time with you. Even when I feel like crap, just having you hold me makes me feel so much better. Thank you.”

Katelyn smiled softly as she leaned over, kissing Sarah’s lips. “That’s enough for me. I don’t want to make your life any more complicated than it already is, but I can’t help how I feel either.”

After Katelyn popped the trunk, the pair began bringing in the brightly colored bags and boxes. By the third trip, Ashleigh had pulled up behind the BMW and stepped out.

“Good heavens, girls,” she offered, surprised. Katelyn giggled.

“My mother says that it’s important for those of us with expendable incomes to spend when we can to boost the local economy because it puts money into circulation, helps people keep their jobs and stuff.”

“Your mother’s a smart woman,” Ashleigh answered cheerfully. “Just try not to make too much of a habit of it, hm?”

“Oh don’t worry. I paid for all this,” she added as Sarah returned. She laughed.

“Yeah, hard as I tried to talk her out of it. I’ll get these last bags if you’ll get the shoe boxes in the backseat?”

“Sure thing,” Katelyn answered warmly. “Ashleigh could I get you to close the door behind me please?” she asked, stepping back from the car with a stack of three shoe boxes teetering in her arms. Ashleigh chuckled as she carefully closed the door, following the girls inside. By now Margaret, dressed in a simple knee-length gray skirt, white blouse and black heels had come around the corner from the kitchen. She smiled brightly as Katelyn disappeared upstairs.

“Ashleigh, it’s good to see you again.”

“Hello Margaret,” Ashleigh responded cordially as the women shook hands.

“What was all the commotion a moment ago? I had a homemade cake mix stirring and couldn’t get away.”

“Oh, Sarah just bought out half of Macy’s,” she teased, laughing to herself as Margaret turned just a slight shade more pale. “But Katelyn insisted she paid for all of it. She’s really bringing out the best in that girl, isn’t she? At first I had my concerns, but it seems everything is working out.”

“Are you guys talking about me behind my back?” Sarah asked as she appeared in the kitchen door. Ashleigh laughed.

“No, sweetheart. We were talking about your girlfriend behind her back.”

“Hey!” Katelyn chided. “Anyway Sarah, I’ll wait down here if you want to go ahead and change for tonight. I’m okay with what I’m wearing, but I know my parents. They’re meeting Ashleigh McGreagor so they’re going to turn it up to eleven.”

“Oh that reminds me!” Sarah practically squealed. Apparently her moodiness had shifted from incredibly down to incredibly up. “You’ll never guess who we ran into at the mall. Apparently I have a rock star cousin...”

---

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