The house in front of me is a giant two-story, light yellow, stone-like house with blue shutters and a big dark blue door, which has a WELCOME HOME sign hanging above it. This house looks shiny and new compared to where I used to live. There are cars lining the curb and in front of the two-story, three-car garage down the driveway.

She gets out of the car and I follow her. We were quiet most of the drive. She’d occasionally mention a favorite restaurant or the exit toward the beach. I stared out the window, with my nose practically pushed against the glass, just like Baxter used to do. A pang in my stomach happens when I think about Baxter. He must be so confused and wonder where I am. And Dad. Baxter’s simple little life has also been overturned.

Push it down, push it all down, I remind myself. It’s the only way to get through this.

Grandma Amanda opens the front door. Paula and Craig are in a large living room with a small girl next to them. She has Paula’s heart-shaped face with sandy-brown hair. Her arms are crossed, and her face has the complete opposite expression of Paula’s. She clearly does not want to be here. Or is it me she doesn’t want here?

“Welcome home,” Paula says as she gives me another hug. “I’m so glad you made it home safe.”

My stomach drops every time she mentions the word “home.”

“And this,” Craig says as he pulls the girl in front of him, “is Sarah. Your sister.”

“Half sister,” Sarah clarifies.

Craig bends down and whispers in her ear, but I can still hear. “What did we talk about?”

Sarah grimaces at me and then extends her hand in a formal manner. “Welcome to our home,” she repeats in a robotic voice with the slightest inflection on the word “our.”

“It’s your home now,” Craig says to me.

There’s a moment of awkward silence between us. I’m sure this isn’t the grand homecoming they were expecting.

“We want to give you a little tour before we go out to the back and have the family descend upon you.” Paula gestures to the large living room with cozy couches and a huge flat-screen TV. I follow her into a kitchen with shiny stainless steel appliances and a refrigerator that’s at least twice the size of the one we had back home. The kitchen leads into a dining room with a long rectangular table that seats six. On the other side are two French doors that open to a screened-in backyard with a pool, patio, and, oh, about a few dozen pairs of eyes staring at me.