Step out into the sun Skies above they radiate me

 

They had a long-running text for what seemed like months. Siouxie smiled about it now when she thought of Cam. Oh, he didn't want it to be anything more than that. He kept telling her she was so young and he was so old. She'd find love again.

Of course, it always made her tear up when he sent her a text like that. She didn't think so. No, she was certain she'd found it with him.

And then when she found out he would be at Gabe and Sammie's when Gabe's dad (the ex that changed her life forever) would visit she told him she wanted to be with him.

She bet he laughed when he saw that text. She imagined his smile, but of course he texted, "Why would you want to do that?"

This meant a phone call, which seldom happened. She told him then how he felt about him. "I..I want us to be more than just friends."

"Oh, Siouxie, you don't know what you're asking," Cam laughed at the notion, but she told him he was wrong. 

"I know what I want," of course, the words were hard to put together. "I like being with you."

"We just..went to the museum together and caught that play when you won those tickets at work."

He made it sound like something a friend would do. He reminded her of his track record. It was easy for him to fall in love, but he wasn't very good at sticking around. Of course, that was well over a decade ago when he was trying to make a living in offshore drilling. He needed to pay the bill and child support back then.

"I don't believe that, you're a great Dad. You-" 

The more she said. The more she knew he would fight her on this, but in the end he said, "I'll do this much. We can let Chase think we're a couple."

So Easter started with a bang. The surprise on Gabe's face when she held Cam's hand was priceless when she and Cam arrived together. Definitely, inseparable. Sammie smiled the most while Rico came alone with a basket of cookies that he and Mona made. Siouxie immediately got a hug from him and a kiss on the cheek with approval. Naturally, Gabe was a stick in the mud. She knew he took after his father. 

She knew Rico's significant other wouldn't be there (Siouxie felt Mona was a little bit of a drama queen), but he said she'd come down with something. 

Then the long-awaited guest arrived. Gabe and Pan's father, Chase.

Siouxie thought of the young man she'd fallen so hard for but knew he was a stranger to her, even then. She didn't know him now. She didn't want to know him, and Pan and Wade were late. Siouxie could see the look on Chase's face. He was disappointed.

She knew he would say it was all her fault as to what had become of Pan, but she would take it in stride. She was with Cam now. And she was happy for Pan who was thriving with his partner. She liked the man he'd become.

Somehow, it felt like a new beginning. Cam led the way. She followed. It was all so cordial. How could that be? No one with seething comebacks to make the other look the worst.

She remembered what a hot head Chase reverted to, but he seemed a little beaten down. As if he knew truly who the outsider was now. It was him. And he'd have to get used to the idea that this was her family not his.