Coming Home 2

"Mommy?" Quinlan asked his voice bright and full of that childlike excitement. "Is this it? Are we really going to live here?" He sat at the edge of his seat shifting with what she knew was nervous energy. Despite the fact that Quin always seemed to be calm and collected she knew that he was nervous.

"Yeah this is Home." She assured him with a calming smile as she reached across and ruffled his shaggy hair. Kinley let the driver open the door for them and let the kids scramble out first before she nodded to Melody who quickly followed them. Her flats hit the gravel of the drive and she looked at the well kept manor noting that almost nothing had changed. She had made sure that even while she was halfway around the world that this place had been taken care of though she had only kept a skeleton staff. The housekeeper Mrs. Parks and the old Butler Owens kept the house in working order while Mrs Parks grandson helped keep the garden and lawns in pristine condition. The two maids, gardeners, and even the full time driver had all been given generous pensions and dismissed after signing legal gag orders not to talk about anything or anyone in the manor. She took great care to make sure the secrets behind these walls would never get out to. She would protect those who had saved the broken girl she had once been.

Butler Owens stepped forward eager to greet her after so many years. He was even more eager to see the children that were now running around the car ans up the steps. This house had been missing the laughter and the sounds of children. And as he looked at Mrs Cross he felt his smile falter slightly. Her looks hadn't changed. She was still petite at barely 5'3" and thin and her hair was still worn long down to her waist in large waves and reddish brown and her bright green eyes drew your attention. But there was something missing. The smile that usually graced her her face and the wild and happy energy that had always surrounded her was gone. Instead she stood there coldly regally like an unwavering rock of confidence. Still he supposed that after what she had gone through it wasn't surprising. "Miss Cross, its an honor to have you home again."

He held out his hand for her to shake but Kinley ignored it and leaned forward to wrap the old man into a warm hug. "I never thought you'd say that to me considering all the times you wanted to throw me out of here." she teased him quietly before pulling away from him. the shocked expression on his face as he tried to stutter out a response almost made her giggle, but she managed to keep it together. She called the kids to her and they followed Owens inside where Mrs Parks waited to take their coats and wave them into the house.

While the kids raced ahead to the stairs Kinley pulled the kind plump gray haired woman aside. "Have you prepared everything as I requested?" The housekeepers bright smiled paled a bit but she nodded and withdrew a single key from her pocket to place into Kinley's hand. " The north wing has been locked and sealed as you requested and the east wing now hosts the bedrooms and your office will be in the West wing" The key felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and Kinley felt they sickening panic starting to well in her heart. Reganne's hand tugging on her arm brought her back to the present and she simply tucked the key in her pocket before picking up her daughter and heading up the rest of the stairs. She'd get the kids settled this week and then in seven days she'd make her appearance and begin a new chapter in her life.

In the City the rumors kept spreading. Spread until not even those immune to rumors and gossip heard the whispering of the mystery.