All of a sudden I realized that Raven’s friend Valerie’s mom was in the driveway. Chatting with my dad, just like normal families do. All the crap was gone from in front of the house. Sure, the grass was dead in giant appliance—shaped crop circles, but the first thing you noticed was the house.

I whirled to look at Raven. “What happened?”

She was absolutely glowing. “You have to see inside. It’s not done but…”

As we rounded to the front door, I saw a giant garbage dumpster parked a little bit behind the house.

I followed Raven up the steps. The steps were really wide. Normally, we had an uneven footpath to navigate. The deck had parts that didn’t look sturdy, but I could see all of it.

After following her inside, it was clear they had been working on this place nonstop since I left.

“We still have to do Dad's room and the garage, but check it out.” She flung her hands around like she was presenting a PowerPoint.

“This place is so much bigger. There’s even an echo. A freaking echo!”

Raven twirled in a circle. “We were going to have it done by the time you got home, but then you were kidnapped and now you get to see it too early.”

The front door closed behind me and I faced my father. He had a proud bloom when he met my gaze.

“What brought this on?” I touched the cushion of the couch that had not been fit to sit on in a long time. Sure, there were stains, but it was actually a couch.

He shuffled into the kitchen where Raven went from drawer to drawer flinging them open. “We hired a service for a few days to help us get started. It was long overdue.”

Overdue was an understatement. But I didn’t want to make him feel anything but proud. “It’s fantastic. Looks great. So calming.”

I walked over to my dad and gave him a congratulatory hug, Raven joined to turn it into a double whammy. Dad hugged back so hard, it was obvious he needed the contact.

“Proud of you, Dad. I know this wasn’t easy.” I let him see my smile.

“Yeah. It was a lot. I started small, and Raven’s helped me every step of the way. Once we had a pile taller than her,” Dad lifted his chin in Raven’s direction, “then it was time to rent the dumpster.”