Bryce Fitzgerald

Erica knew her husband wasn't one to show negative emotions stronger than annoyance. In all her years of knowing him, she had only seen him cry a few times and it was never for very long. She had never seen him break down like he did they day they got word that the trial had been lost and Jenna would spend the rest of her life in the Witness Protection Program.

He had obviously been upset and worried sick when she got shot but had done his best to stay optimistic for everyone else because it was supposed to be temporary. It wasn't temporary anymore and everyone was a wreck.

Adam continued to be the glue that held his family together the way he always was but broke down in front of her more often. He was especially worried about Jonas and went out of his way to try and cheer him up—they all did—but nothing seemed to work.

They had all lost a daughter/sister/aunt but he had lost his other half. If Adam was the glue of the Mitchell family, Jenna was the sun. She was the universally beloved youngest child. Without her warmth and light, everyone else's lives had gone dark.

Erica was both heartbroken and furious. Why? Why did this have to happen to this family who had already lost their father too early? Why Jenna too?

Adam thought it was worse, in a way, knowing that she was out there but that they would never see her again and Erica had to agree. It was horrible. She loved Jenna too because she had been around for most of the girl's life but her pain was nothing compared to those who had loved her longer.

People were still trying to figure out how to live without her when they were hit with another shock. Jonas had to join her in the Witness Protection Program because he came up with a hare-brained scheme after he and Colton ran into her on accident.

Adam ranted that he should have known Jonas was up to something when he suddenly showed signs of life and decided to do a student exchange out of the blue. He was furious that his idiot baby brother had caused more trouble and pain for everyone, especially their mom, but that fury turned to further heartbreak and hopelessness before long.

"At least they're back together," everyone said. As if that actually made anyone feel better. Now instead of being down one extra family member, they were down two.

But there was nothing anyone could do but try and keep living without them. Adam was particularly upset when he found out she was pregnant with their third child because they would never know their aunt and uncle.

That didn't stop him from being excited at the same time but it was bittersweet. As so many things were now.

A lot of the time, Erica didn't know how to make him feel better. She couldn't fix anything. All she could do was continue to be there for him the way she always had.

Even experiencing such a horrible tragedy couldn't keep him down all the time. Adam had always been able to power through things no matter how he was feeling. He didn't let his feelings get in the way of his responsibilities and hadn't since he was just an eighteen-year-old kid.

No matter how sad he was or how much he missed them or worried about them being out there on their own, he remained the wonderful husband, father, brother, and son that he had always been. She was both impressed and saddened because she knew he was putting up a strong front so much of the time. She just wanted him to be happy.

Everyone was shocked when they got the news that the twins were not only coming back but coming back with the son no one knew Jenna had in tow. Everyone worried about what to do about that but especially Adam. Even with how thrilled he was that they were coming home.

Erica had been concerned that it would be awkward at first and it was definitely an elephant in the room since they had all sworn to Sarah that they wouldn't speak of it and do anything to make the twins uncomfortable since they had been gone for so long but it didn't end up being too much of an issue. They were all too relieved to have them back.

Having a new family member aside, the twins were the same weirdos they had always been. They fit right back into the thick of things in no time at all.

Despite everyone's ongoing worry for Jenna, the hole in their family had been filled. Things were finally able to go back to normal and that came as a relief for everyone.

Life went on. Peter got a girlfriend, Jenna graduated from vet school, Evan and Katie had their second child Madison, and Peter got engaged to said girlfriend. Now the only ones unattached were the twins. They had all really wondered for a while if Peter would ever find someone to settle down with but were glad he had. Marina fit in well with everyone.

She had a big family too but was from California and they had all scattered to the winds at this point. She had only moved here for grad school but would be staying because she fell in love and knew Peter could never leave Gainesville.

Adam was convinced that the twins would never settle down because Jenna clearly wasn't over the father of her son since she refused to even go on dates and Jonas was a classic commitaphobe whose girlfriends had never lasted longer than six months in his entire life.

Right up until Bryce Fitzgerald actually showed up. That came as a real shock to everyone.

Erica knew that Eli and Wesley had gone on a bike ride but when they were gone too long and Eli wasn't answering his phone, she got worried and asked Anna if she knew where they had gone. Her daughter's lying tell—tugging on her earlobe—gave her away even as she said no.

Erica put her hands on her hips. "Anna Louise Mitchell, tell me where they are right now!"

Her daughter quailed under her stare. "Okay, okay! They went to go find Wesley's dad at Uncle Peter's work. That's all I know."

"Wesley's dad?!"

"Wesley overheard Aunt Jenna talking to Uncle Jonas and found out he was at Uncle Peter's work so he wanted to go and Eli offered to take him. That's really it. I don't know anything else. Please don't ground me!"

Erica sighed and rubbed her forehead. "We'll continue this conversation later. I need to call your uncle."

When Peter picked up, he already knew why she was calling. "They're fine! Don't worry. I found them and we're on the way to your house right now."

She nearly wilted with relief. "Thanks, Peter."

She knew she didn't have the right to chew Wesley out since he wasn't her son so her lecture was primarily focused on Eli, who looked like he wanted to sink into the ground. "So. You thought it would be a good idea to go off on your own and take your little cousin with you? What if something had happened to the two of you?"

"We were fine! I knew where I was going because I was using the GPS."

Eli knew he wasn't supposed to use data unless there was an emergency because they didn't have an unlimited plan. When Erica pointed that out, her son got defensive.

"It WAS an emergency! We had to find Wesley's dad! I was just helping him out. I didn't mean to worry you, Mom."

Erica sighed. Being loyal to your family was a good thing in most cases but this had still been a bad idea. She didn't get the chance to say more because Wesley spoke up. "Please don't be mad at Eli, Aunt Erica! It was my fault. I really wanted to meet him and didn't have any other way."

"…did you?"

"Yep!" Wesley said happily. "He said he'd come to my baseball game on Saturday."

Erica didn't know how to respond to that so she simply took Eli's phone and said he wouldn't be getting it back for three days for doing something so dangerous and sent them off to play. She needed to talk to Peter.

Eli didn't even seem mad about it. More relieved that he had gotten off easy than anything. He definitely knew that what he did was wrong. That was something anyway.

"What in the world happened, Pete?" she demanded.

Peter sighed and shook his head. "Wesley's dad is doing an external audit at my work. He found out because he overheard Jen and Jonas talking after she ran into him when she came to bring me something Colton baked. I still can't believe this."

Neither could Erica. What were the odds of that?! More importantly, "Is Jenna going to be okay?"

"I…don't know. I assume those two are talking right now but I have no idea how it's going."

Erica grimaced. It could be going very badly. Everyone was under the impression that Wesley's dad had broken Jenna's heart. This confrontation would be difficult for her.

"Poor Jenna…"

"Yeah," Peter said awkwardly. "Anyway, do you still need me for anything?"

"No, you're good. Thanks for bringing them back."

"No problem. See you, Erica."