Sinclair- Mackenzie

"You're sure you can't come with me? Free food and booze?" Mac is trying very hard not to beg but she's sure it's still coming off that way.

Veronica is smiling at her loading her suitcase on the weight scale.

"Just to the airport Mac, you know I have to be in court tomorrow."

"Every time I hear you say that I have to remind myself that your a lawyer now and I won't be called in as a character witness."

"Yeah now I'm definitely not going."

She must look miserable because in true marshmallow form Veronica pulls her into a hug.

"You'll be fine Mac."

"That's easy for you to say you don't have to go back to Neptune to watch your brother marry your 'sister'!"

Okay that was definitely too loud people are looking at her funny and Veronica has her hand clamped to her mouth.

"Call me when you land." Veronica just smiles brightly and takes her leave.

Leaving her standing in the airport with all the tourists on their way back from there fabulous stay in new York city. All of which must think she's on her way back to the Ozarks. She could swear she hears a pig call.

First class is absolutely worth the extra coin.

A bright faced handsome man stops at her seat in his attendants uniform and asks her if she would like a drink, sparkling apple juice, coffee, soda?

"My little brother is getting married before me and making me go back to my home town without a date can we age up those drinks a little, Roger?"

The smile on his face shifts into something genuine, "we absolutely can Miss. Mackenzie."

"Thank you."

She doesn't see the bottom of her tiny cup until they are about to land.

She is absolutely flying with this company forever.

Roger even makes sure she gets into her cab all right. If he wasn't leaving for the east coast in four hours she'd invite him to the wedding.

The cab pulls up to her parents house and she really considers just not getting out of the car but the cab driver is already pulling her suitcase out of the trunk.

There are a bunch of cars in the driveway and she recognizes Ryan's and that's about it.

God they're in there.

The Sinclairs.

She steps out of the cab and can't help but find it funny that she'd be standing there even if she hadn't been switched.

She rolls her stupid little rolly bag up the sidewalk. This is going to be awful but it will end.

It will end.

She opens the front door like normal and the house is a burst of sound.

She rolls her bag in and closes the door behind her. She just needs to greet everyone and then fake some sort of airplane related fatigue and hide in her room until everything is over.

Until her sister becomes her sister in law.

God that was fucked up.

She gets four steps down the hall when a pair of hands grab onto her leg.

Looking down she finds a small blonde child has attached themselves to her leg.

Sitting down hard on her shoe. Hands hot and clammy against her skin.

"Mom!" She yells out, "is someone missing a child!"

"Cindy! We're in the kitchen!" Her mother's voice bursts out happily from deep inside the house.

There's a clamour of noise and at the end of the hall Madison Sinclair appears.

She looks way better than she was prepared for. Its like she bathes in virgins blood for Christ sakes.

She lifts her leg and the child giggles happily at being lifted from the ground.

"I believe this is yours?"

Madison pulls her eyes from her and she watches them light up as she looks at the child.

Madison crosses the short distance and removes the child easily from her leg. Setting the...boy? On her hip. God she's been jutting out that hip for years and it appears she's making good use of that talent.

"Benny this is your Aunt Cindy." She pulls at the name and the smile that crosses her face is that same cruel smile she remembers from high school.

Benny's fist shoots out and surprised Mac bumps it with her own. The kids face just seems to be the happiest thing she's ever seen.

"Where's your family?" She asks looking around Mac and her fingers dig into her palm waiting for the punchline.

Just remember you can not punch her in the face until after the wedding photos.

"Oh right. You don't have one...is it true that you're not even seeing anyone? Not that I can really blame the rest of the world."

"I've been busy." She tells her moving around her to the stairs. Her suitcase slams unhappily on every stair and she makes no move to quiet it.

Pushing the door to her bedroom open she feels sick.

There are suitcases already on her bed, in fact her grandfather is taking a nap on the bed.

Oh god.

She steps back out of her room and closes the door.

Leaving her suitcase in the hall she barrels down the stairs, her shoulder slamming into the same piece of hallway it always does when she swings around the banister.

She skids to a stop in the kitchen doorway.

Both families are at the table, Benny is climbing all over the handsome brunette that had the ill fortune to end up with Madison, her mother and her biological mother are sitting beside each other gushing over the grandchild and Ryan and Lauren are doing there best to play cards with her fathers... God this is just surreal and she can tell by the insane motherly calm all over Madison that she doesn't understand why this is weird at all.

She's alone in bizarre-o world. She's considering shattering her world just so she isn't alone in this sick feeling but being alone is probably better than being with Madison.

"Mom...please tell me you did not sixteen candles me."

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean honey..."

"Don't be silly Mac no ones going to think your boobs got bigger." Ryan snickers from the table and Madison follows suit.

She digs her nails further into her palm and takes a breath.

"Where am I sleeping mom?"

She looks between both women and her mother seems to notice.

"Honey I thought you might share with your cousin May..."

"No."

Cousin May likes to get handsy in the middle of the night and just because they aren't actually blood does not make it any less creepy.

She is not about that.

"I'd offer our house but its full up with out-of-town family already." Mrs. Sinclair offers and all eyes look at Madison.

"Your welcome to stay with us Ghost world if you don't mind Benny...he has night terrors."

"I'll find a hotel or something."

Something being sleeping in Ryan's SUV.

She picks Ryan's keys off the kitchen counter.

"I'm taking your car and I'm going to find a place to stay..." She knows her voice is too dark and sharp but she can't pull it back, this whole thing has her on edge and the airplane booze isn't taking off any of the edges like she had hoped.

Lauren looks up at her with big wet eyes and she bites the inside of her mouth.

She sighs.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours for dinner."

Ryan helps her load the suitcase into his car.

"Sorry Mackie." He smiles lopsidedly at her handing her his keys. His fraternity letters dangle between their hands.

"Its okay...I'd rather have an excuse not to be around Madison."

"Oh yeah you went to school with her right?"

"Yeah." If only their connection ended there.

She grabs the Greek letters and pulls them from his loose grip.

"It's only for the weekend and then you can jet off back to the big apple and immerse yourself in culture."

He says it like a bad word, like he knows she just goes to late night movies with Veronica and she hasn't done anything properly social in a year and a half and it was an office party.

"You know you can come visit me right..."

"I know Cindy. It's just its been weird for years..."

Its been weird since she found out her actual sibling is still in the house with her real mom and dad.

"You know I love you right. I mean why else would I have bailed out your entire pledge class..."

"Oh god please do not talk about hell night. Lauren doesn't know and I'd rather she never found out its embarrassing."

His face is flushed at the memory and it gives her some sort of big sister super power.

"So I guess I should rewrite my speech then?"

"Cindy!"

She moves around the car.

"Oh come on the part where you thought that rock was just a really quiet cat was adorable."

"Cindy I'm serious."

She just laughs at him and get a into his car.

She's several blocks away before she realizes she doesn't know where she's going.