When Kat Came Back

Chapter 59

"Merry Christmas, Ashlynn!" a very loud and annoying voice called out, pulling Ashlynn up and out of her comfortable place - sleep. Ashlynn buried her face in her pillow and groaned. She felt her bed shift as someone sat on it.

"Come on, Ashlynn! Wake up!" the annoying voice continued.

"Go 'way!" Ashlynn mumbled into her pillow.

"It's Christmas!" the voice she had now recognized as Patrick's said.

"So?" Ashlynn asked. "What's so great about it?"

"It's... Christmas! That's what's so special about it."

"I don't get it, Patrick. Why are you waking me up at," Ashlynn peered at the clock on her bedside table and groaned again. "Nine in the morning!"

Patrick stopped but stayed sitting on the bed.

"Ash, didn't you celebrate Christmas before?"

"Define 'celebrate', Patrick. We didn't 'celebrate' anything. She might have had private celebrations after a particularly bad beating, maybe."

"Did you never have a Christmas tree?"

"No. We just told people we didn't celebrate Christmas and left it at that. No one ever really questioned it," Ashlynn said.

"Well, come downstairs!" Patrick said.

"Why?" Ashlynn whined. "I was asleep and having such a good dream."

"Yeah? What we're you dreaming about? Jonah?" Patrick teased his little sister.

"Ew. No. Jonah's a friend. And now that it seems you're not going to let me go back to sleep, and I'm now wide awake, can you get out of my room so I can go to the bathroom and get dressed?"

Patrick grinned at his sister as he stood up.

"Hurry up. Everyone's waiting for you," he said as he closed her bedroom door.

Ashlynn rolled her eyes and dragged herself out of bed, grumbling about being awake so early during her school holidays.

After using the washroom, washing her face and brushing her hair, she went back into her bedroom, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, threw a Twentyone Pilots hoodie on, and went downstairs, where she could hear voices. She knew Patrick was over. And presumably Elisa, but who else was here?

Walking into the family room, Ashlynn was engulfed in a hug before she had a chance to see who was there. Pulling away, she saw Andy Hurley's grinning face.

"You look so much better than the last time I saw you," he said, pulling her into another hug. She threw her arms around him.

"Thank you, Uncle Andy," she whispered, hoping he heard her.

"Any time, kiddo," he whispered back. Ashlynn smiled.

Then she was engulfed in another hug and looked up at Pete Wentz's smiling face. Ashlynn finally looked around and saw not only her aunts and uncles and cousins but also Patrick's bandmates. Joe, Andy and Pete were also all here. Ashlynn smiled. Patricia went up to her daughter and hugged her as well. Ashlynn didn't stiffen but rather relaxed into the hug from her mother.

"Merry Christmas, Ashlynn," she smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Mom," Ashlynn smiled back.

"Come, open your presents! We've been waiting for you to wake up!"

"Presents?" Ashlynn was confused.

"Did you think all these wrapped boxes were for decoration?" Patrick asked, handing Ashlynn a small box in Christmas paper and a ribbon.

"I've never gotten a Christmas present," Ashlynn smiled. "This is cool!"

Patricia's smile fell. Whenever she heard something indicating how deprived Ashlynn's life had been before being returned, Patricia felt sad and guilty for her daughter. Sad because that was not the life she would have known had she not been kidnapped. And guilty because, well, she's a mom, and she felt that she should have been able to protect her child better, and didn't, which had resulted in her losing her daughter for fifteen years.

But she watched as Ashlynn opened the first gift. It was a small but long box. Patricia knew it was a new Apple Watch. Patrick had bought it for Ashlynn and when she read the card she smiled. Patricia didn't know what Patrick had written, but it made Ashlynn smile and that made Patricia happy to see.

Ashlynn hugged her brother then tore the paper off her gift and threw herself at Patrick.

"Thank you, Patrick! I love it!" She gushed. Seeing Ashlynn smiling, laughing and being engaged made everyone feel so much better. But most importantly, Ashlynn herself felt good. Even though it had only been a couple of days since she'd gotten out of the hospital, the family was making a much better effort at making sure that Ashlynn felt included, and when they wanted to talk about something that had happened in their childhoods, or in the past fifteen years, they were much better at not making it sound like something Ashlynn should remember, because she hadn't been there.  They were much more sensitive about Ashlynn's feelings and would acknowledge that they were telling her about something they knew she hadn't experienced.  They no longer just talked about the past as if Ashlynn had just been off at school or living with a relative.

The family continued opening presents, the bulk of which were for Ashlynn.

When they were done, Ashlynn's face fell a little.

"I feel bad that I didn't get anyone anything. But I, we, Christmas wasn't a thing when, with, while I was growing up."

Patricia wrapped Ashlynn in a hug.

"It's okay, Ashlynn," she said. "You're home. That's the best Christmas gift we could have gotten this year."

"Yeah, but that was because of Patrick," Ashlynn said.

"Be that as it may, you're home. You're here. That's what matters," Patricia smiled at Ashlynn. Ashlynn leaned back against her mom and smiled.

Finally, she was feeling like maybe, just maybe, she did belong here.  These people really did seem to care about her.  Whenever something had happened, either by accident or by design, someone had been by her side at all times. With Brian and Karen, she was left in her room if she couldn't manage after a beating. Brian might check in on her, make sure she had something to eat, but otherwise she was left to her own devices.

Ashlynn felt something in her chest that she had never felt before. It was warm, and fuzzy. Ashlynn marveled at the feeling when she realized what it was.

It was love. Her family loved her, and she loved her family.  Finally, she felt loved and understood what it felt like. She smiled to herself, and her mom wrapped her arm around her and hugged her.

"Welcome home, Ashlynn," her mom smiled at her. Ashlynn put her head on Patricia's shoulder.