5 years later…

I get out of my car, slamming the door shut and looking up at the house I haven’t seen in five long years. Everything has changed, but the house still looks the same. It still holds the same feeling of bad memories mixed in with the rare good ones. The same brick walls and large windows, the same front door is daunting. I pull my suit jacket on and walk up to the door. I lift my hand, knocking on the door of my old home. I don’t think I’ve ever knocked before.

“Luke?” Maisy asks as she opens the door, shock written all over her face. Maisy doesn’t look older, and she’s still just as beautiful with long, black hair and big, blue eyes. She holds the door open as I walk in, and she stands, keeping it open and not saying a word. The last time I saw her was in the courtroom with all my family when I was sentenced to prison. Not that I spent the whole five years there; I never did. Only, the price of being out of jail early was never seeing my family. Pretending I hated them all. Pretending for five years to be someone I’m not.

“Who is it?” I hear my sister shout just before she walks out of the living room in her wedding dress. Her long, blond hair is up in a complicated bun, and her long, white dress looks beautiful on her. I’ve seen photos of them over the years, but it’s still strange to see her so grown up.

“Luke?” she whispers, dropping the flowers she was holding to the ground before running over to me and wrapping her arms around my neck. I let her hug me for a second before stepping away. “Where the hell have you been? It’s been five years since . . .” she says, her green eyes locked onto mine.

“Izzzzzyyy!” I hear a male child’s voice, and then I look up to see a small, dark-haired boy running down the stairs with a little red-haired girl next to him. They look the same age, but I don’t know who he is. I recognize the five-year-old girl as Hope, but the boy isn’t Jake, the only boy in the family. I’ve kept my eye on them all enough to know what they look like. The boy and Hope run over to Izzy, both of them dressed for the wedding. Hope has a pretty blue dress on, her long red hair flowing around her shoulders and the little boy has a tiny suit on. He seems to be inspecting me for something before crossing his arms, a stubborn look clouding his face.

“Luke . . . what the hell?” Harley asks, walking down the stairs and stopping on the last step as we stare at each other. Harley cut his hair shorter, the sides ending around his ears and even shorter in the front. All the years of being married and having Hope to look after has made him happy. I saw photos of their wedding in Spain. It was just him, Tilly, and Hope. They seemed happy, and it was hard to see those photos. It was difficult to look at any photos that John snuck in for me.

“I know I have a lot to explain, but I wouldn’t miss my sister’s wedding,” I reply with a small smile.

"A lot to explain? Is that all you have to say?" Harley growls out, stopping right in front of me. Harley used to scare me, almost, when he got mad. He was always more of a father to me than my actual father ever was.

"If my timing is right, the car will pull up outside in five minutes. We don't have time to discuss everything," I reply, crossing my arms as the room gets very awkward, very quickly. Tilly comes out of the kitchen, only pausing briefly when she sees me and then her eyes dart to the children.

"Hope, Parker, can you come into the kitchen with Isabelle and me? We need to check something important," Tilly firmly suggests, and the kids quickly run to her side. I look once more at the boy, Parker, as he looks back at me, and I wonder who he is. He looks familiar, really familiar. I watch only him until he disappears into the kitchen.

"No fights, today. I mean it. I'm just happy to have you here," Izzy warns, placing her hand on my arm. "I missed you, Luke."

"Luke fucking King," Allie's loud voice exclaims, and Izzy moves to the side as Allie walks in the room dressed in a long, light blue dress that’s the same as Maisy's. Allie couldn't look more shocked if she tried. "Elliot is going to murder you. I'm not even joking. Where the flipping hell have you been?"

"That's what I want to know," Harley says.

"But this is Izzy's wedding day, so it's about her," Maisy interjects, stepping to Harley's side and placing her hand on his arm. He looks once more at me before nodding once at Izzy in agreement.

"Promise me you won't disappear for a while. I mean it. Promise me?" Izzy asks, looking up at me with those big puppy dog eyes she has. "Or I will cancel this wedding so we can grill you on everything that has happened in the last five years right now."

"You're marrying the love of your life, Izzy, and nothing should come in the middle of that. I promise I'm sticking around for a bit," I tell her, seeing the relief instantly fill her eyes. I knew coming back would be difficult, and this is just the start. There is someone more important than my family to see, and whatever she will say will hurt a lot more.

"Good," Izzy says, just as the car beeps outside. “I’m keeping you to that promise.”

"Who is Parker?" I ask as Izzy walks out, followed by Allie. Maisy disappears into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Harley. He rubs the back of his neck, looking damn awkward at answering the question.

"You've missed a lot," Harley replies instead, and I don’t have a clue why I press him on it, but I do.

"I know. Did you adopt him?" I ask.

"No... not exactly. We’re watching Parker because his mum is hosting the wedding. She’s an event planner," Harley tells me, but I figure there is a little more to it than he is telling me. I’m sure there is a lot more to everything I’ve missed that I want to find out. I’m back here for two months, and then this is all over. The final plan is in the works, and I will finish this. I just hope my family doesn’t hate me. I hope she doesn’t hate me in the end.

"Who is her mother?" I ask, and Harley only smirks, patting my shoulder.

"It's annoying when you don't know everything, isn't it?" he asks, before walking back into the kitchen. I shake my head, telling myself to leave it alone before walking back out the door. I light a cigarette as I lean against the wall by the door, waiting until the girls come out of the house. I watch as Maisy gets into the white limo last after Izzy, Allie, Tilly, and the children. Parker doesn’t look my way this time, but Hope waved with a little giggle. I can’t wait to see Jake, even if he won’t remember me. I used to enjoy babysitting the little guy. As the door shuts, and the limo drives past my Audi, Harley comes out. He glances at the cigarette as I take one more puff and drop it to the floor, stomping it out with my foot. I don't smoke them often, only when I'm nervous, and I know I need to quit. I can see the disappointment without him saying a word. He must really not want to argue with me today as he leaves it.

"I'm coming with you. I hope you're a fucking better driver than you were five years ago," Harley says.

"You could say that," I say, feeling a false sense of comfort of being around my brother again. I quickly shut that emotion down, knowing I need to keep my cool and not fuck this up. After all, five years’ work can’t be over in one day. It’s just a wedding after all.