"Mom? Do I really have to go?" I ask through the phone as I get out of my cab, grab my stuff and make my way to the entrance of the airport. "I really don't want to go back there and you can't make me."

I hear my mom sigh on the other end of the line. "You're not doing this for me or yourself. You're doing this for your father. You know how bad he wants you there with him."

I roll my eyes at her words. She's one to talk. She never went back to Wade Valley after she divorced my dad and moved away three years ago. Not only did I leave in a rush back then, I never went back to visit after.

All the times I have met with my father he visited me, or we spent a weekend together somewhere in the middle. And yet, here I am. Standing at JFK airport, ready to go back to where I grew up, for the first time in three years. And I am nervous.

"You have an easy way of talking. You're not the one going back after three years. You're not the one who has to face everything and everyone you left behind. You're not the one who gets a step-mom and a step-sister!" I whisper yell through the phone.

I have never met the woman or the girl, maybe they are great and maybe they are the spitting image of the step-family in Cinderella. Who knows? All I know is that I'm not too excited to find out.

"Come on Kat, you're twenty-one years old. Don't you think you're a little overreacting about all of this?" My mom lets out a deep breath, signaling she is losing her patience.

"Look, mom, I got to go. It's almost my turn to check-in. A rental car will be ready at LAX and I'll let you know once I arrived at Dad's. Bye, Love you!" I hang up before my mom has a chance to reply. She'll survive.

When it is finally my turn to check in I step forward and give the lady my passport and the confirmation of my ticket purchase. She types some things on the computer and then gives me back my passport and a boarding pass. "Have a nice flight miss."

I grab my passport and boarding pass, smile at the lady, and then make my way to the waiting area of the gate my flight was boarding at. I arrived late so there is no time to roam around the stores in need to pass my time.

I sit down and take my phone from my purse to see if I received any new messages. There was one from my dad, wishing me a safe flight and there was also a message from my ex, begging me to take him back.

Vince and I broke up a year ago and somehow he still didn't get the message. It's sad really. How a twenty-two-year-old guy can't let go of a girl and just move on.

What am I saying? If that's sad then I must be pathetic.

Here I am, biting my nails to calm my nerves. All that because I'm now traveling back to the place where I grew up. A place with memories and people I left behind without looking back.

-

The flight was long and I'm glad I can finally stretch out my legs. Luckily I have already retrieved my luggage and picked up the keys to my rental car.

I decide to grab a sandwich first before I have to drive two more hours to get to Wade Valley.

When I have finished my sandwich I make sure I have all my stuff and load it in the car. It's a two-hour drive and I had told my dad I would be there at four. I set the navigation for Wade Valley, start the car and drive off. As I come closer to the little town that I used to call home, I feel the nerves welling up inside of me.

Come on Kat. Grow up!

-

After a two-hour drive, I arrive in my used to be hometown. I park the car in front of my father's house. The house I once called my home. To my surprise, I was relieved to see nothing has really changed and that the house still looks exactly the same as I left it three years ago.

I get out of the car and finally get a chance to stretch my legs. After a six-hour flight and a two-hour car ride my legs are rather stiff. I walk up to the door I used to go through so many times when I went to school or when I went out with friends.

I lift my hand to knock on the door but the door swings open before I have the chance to actually make contact with the wooden surface. In front of me now stood a dark-haired woman in her mid-thirties, who I have never seen before but I know she's my father's fiancé, Lillian.

Trying to find the words for an appropriate greeting I feel my mouth go dry. I tried to pull myself together and just give her a simple greeting when I'm cut off by the surprise of two arms wrapping around my body. I am currently caught in a hug by my soon-to-be stepmom. She lets me go off the hug and takes a step back to look at me. "You must be Katherine. It's so nice to finally meet you. Your father told me so much about you." She says with a big smile on her face.

She steps aside to let me in. "Come on, get in. You've had a long journey to come here." I gave her a small smile and step into the house I know like the back of my hand.

I walk straight into the living room and drop my bag on the couch. I look around and see that, besides a few new decorations, everything was still the same as it was three years ago.

"Kitty Kat!" I turn around to the person calling me by my old nickname. Truth is, I hate to be called that name, but there is only one person who still calls me that every time he sees me. My father.

He walks up to me and wraps me up in a tight embrace. "Welcome back home, kiddo," he says. In his eyes, I could see that he wishes it was the truth. He wishes Wade Valley is still my home.

"Hey dad," I say greeting him, deciding to ignore the comment about coming home. This isn't my home. Neither am I home with my mom in Florida. My home is my shared apartment in New York and it had been for two years now.

I look into the hallway and see a little girl standing on the stairway, looking at me with wide eyes. She must be my step-sister-to-be. She has the same dark hair as her mother with big hazel-colored eyes. She looks to be around the age of seven and I have to say she's really cute.

I walk towards her with a smile on my face."Hi there, you must be Mia. I am Kat. You see, my dad has told me a lot about you. He says you're the best drawer he has ever seen." I see her eyes light up and she takes a few more steps down.

I follow her with my eyes, waiting for her to speak up. But instead, she just smiles at me and nods. I am genuinely surprised when she takes my hand and pulls me up the stairs. "You want to see the drawing I'm working on?"

Before I can answer she is already halfway up the stairs and waiting for me to follow her. I follow her to her room and I can't help but notice that she was staying in my childhood room.

The walls are still the same shade of purple and in the corner of the room still stands my old desk. When I came here I knew things would have changed around here, but never would I have expected that my dad gave my room to someone else. To be honest, I don't know how I feel about this. I said goodbye to this place a long time ago, so why does it bother me?

A pull on my hand breaks my train of thoughts and pulls me back to reality. Mia pulls me over to her desk to show me her drawing. I look at the drawing and see a woman in a white dress and a man standing in a black tuxedo. It's a drawing of a wedding. When I look closer at the drawing I see the woman has dark hair and the man carries brunette hair just like mine. The drawing clearly pictures my dad and soon-to-be stepmom.

For me, it never came as a shock that both of my parents would find somebody to spend the rest of their lives with. When they had me in their senior year at high school at the age of eighteen, they were both still rather young when they separated three years ago.

My parents were forced to marry because that was the right thing to do. They were never married out of love. Sure, back then they thought they were, but once I hit puberty and got to high school they wanted different things for themselves and me.

"That is a beautiful drawing Mia. Is that your present for the wedding?" I ask and she just nods. I smile, seeing a lot of myself back in the little in front of me.

There is a knock on the door and I look back to see Lillian standing there with a smile on her face. She really doesn't look like a horrible stepmom and my dad seems to be happy. Maybe this week wouldn't be all that bad.

"Lunch is waiting downstairs. You're coming to eat?" She asks and Mia storms off immediately. I smile at her and start to make my way out of the room, but am stopped by a hand on my upper arm. The hand belongs to Lillian and I look up at her and give her a little smile.

For a minute, I could see a nervous expression on her face but she recovered quickly. She cleared her throat and then spoke up."Kat? Do you have a minute? There is something I want to ask you."

My mind wanders off to what she would ask me, but I can't think of anything. So I just nodded my head at her, not completely trusting my voice.

"I know this might be weird for you. A new stepmom, a little step-sister. But I want you to know I really love your father and I am really glad you're here." She says with a genuine smile on her face.

I let out a sigh and give her a reply. "I'm not going to lie, I wasn't all that excited to be here. Which has to do with other things than the wedding. And I will also admit that you're nothing like I expected you to be. Maybe I read too many books. Anyways, I'm glad I came too. Mia is the cutest little girl I have ever seen and I can see you make my dad really happy. Something he hasn't been in a long time. So thank you for that." I say and I see tears welling up in her eyes. Maybe she's just emotional about the wedding? Or could it be something else?

She smiles through her tears and looks me in the eye. "I know this is unexpected, but Kat, will you please be a bridesmaid at the wedding? I already have a dress for you and we can go to the shop tomorrow to make sure it fits you perfectly."

This time, it was my turn to have tears well up in my eyes. "I would absolutely love that. But only if you're sure it isn't too much work. I am just as happy to attend the wedding as I originally planned to."

"Absolutely not. You will definitely be one of my bridesmaids. That is where you belong." She says with a bright smile on her face. "Come on, let's go downstairs and have lunch. I bet you're starving after your long journey here."

And right at that moment, my stomach growled and both me and Lillian laughed at it before we both descended the stairs with a smile still plastered on our faces.