"Evie!"

The teen narrowed her eyes on the brown-haired boy who was bolting towards her at full speed to where she stood on the snow layered sidewalk, a wide grin on his face. Disbelief settled at the bottom of her stomach as she heard the taxi behind her drive off down the street, away from the Bennett household.

Is that Jamie?

She smiled, She almost didn't recognize him. The sixteen year old set down her case and opened her arms as wide as she could, despite the bags that she awkwardly held. Jamie threw himself into the teen's arms, almost knocking the pair off-balance. Her smile widened as she steadied them both, chuckling as she lifted him slightly off of the ground and swung him from side to side. She had to place him back down on the sidewalk though from the unbearable weight of her bags that were still slung on her arms.

"Jeez, kid, I barely recognized 'ya! Look at how much you've grown from my last visit! You used to be this small-!" She leveled her hand in the air just below her armpit. "You're now passed my shoulder! Even, maybe, up to my chin?" She examined the young boy with her brown eyes.

Jamie laughed. "Uh-huh! I didn't recognize you either, I mean, look at your hair! It's bright red!" He stared up at the pillar box red hair, slightly dazed. The last time he and Evie had spoken, she had mentioned the idea of having red hair. He never thought she'd actually go though with it, though.

"Ha, yep. Like it? Granny Sophia loved it when I stayed at Christmas."

"It's awesome, Evie. Granny Sophia won't be the only one who'll like it, Sophie's gonna go nuts-"

"Elmo!"

The two cousins turned their heads in the direction towards the front door, where a small, blonde four-year old stood, face awestruck as she pointed towards the sixteen year old. Behind her stood Evie's aunt Marie, Jamie and Sophie's mother. Her hands on her hips, she stared agape at the teen, who was nervous to say the least. Her great-grandma loved her colourful hair, would her aunt...?

The little girl was now hopping towards the teenager excitedly, springing up and down on the path despite her lack of warm clothing. Setting her bags down this time, as a precaution, she crouched down and let the young child bounce up into her arms. Evie groaned as she lifted her blonde cousin, grinning as she set her on her hip. But the child in her arms wasn't staring specifically at her, just her crazy red hair. Before she could utter out a single word, the girl's small hands were smoothing her coloured hair, running her little fingers through it. Evie laughed.

"Well, hey there, Sophie."

"Elmo," The little girl whispered breathlessly.

"No, Sophie, it's Evie, remember her?" Jamie laughed, rolling his eyes at his young sister. Sophie narrowed her emerald eyes on the teen, hands still in her hair. Marie Bennett approached, eyebrows raised. The teen had grown since she had last seen her the Christmas before. From the small, thin blonde haired fourteen year old Marie had seen, Evie had blossomed into a taller, more proportioned young woman. And also, undoubtedly beautiful.

Marie cleared her throat. "Evie, hon, interesting colour of hair, sweetie." She chuckled at the young woman in front of her. Evie turned her attention to her aunt, her grin widening. From Marie's tone she could tell that she wasn't unimpressed or disappointed with her radical decision to dye her hair this colour. The sixteen year old awkwardly untangled Sophie's small hands from her hair and set her down onto the sidewalk, stepping forwards into her aunt's open arms.

"It's great to see you, Marie," She hugged tightly onto her aunt, smiling into her shoulder. The woman after a few moments pulled away, holding her niece away from her at arm's length, emerald eyes trailing over the teen. She was as tall as her now, maybe a bit over.

"You too, sweetie. You've grown so much! What has New York done to you, huh? You weren't this tall when I last saw you,"

Evie giggled. "Hey, maybe you've shrunk-" The sixteen year old remarked.

"Oh, enough of that. I'm glad to know that my niece is as witty as she used to be." Marie shook her head, taking her arms from the teen's shoulders and stooping down and picking up her four-year old daughter. Sophie didn't take her eyes off of her older cousin, fascinated by the bright mop of hair on her head. Marie also grabbed Evie's case before she set off towards the front door, beckoning her niece after her.

"Let's get out of the cold, I'm freezing."

Evie chuckled to herself and swung her backpack up onto her shoulder, swatting her eleven year old cousin out of the way when he reached for the cardboard box that she had left on the concrete when getting herself out of the taxi.

"Jay, I've got-"

Jamie ignored her, snatching up the cardboard box. "Whatever, c'mon!" He rolled his eyes, running off up the path towards the front door. "The sooner you're unpacked, the sooner I get to tell you about everything that's happened. Hurry up!" He yelled, disappearing into the house. Evie began to trudge up the icy drive, pursing her lips. It was good to be back in Burgess.

"Call me, okay? If anything goes wrong, I mean-"

"Yeah, of course. It's okay, Marie, everything'll be fine, you have my word."

It was 5:14 in the morning, the sun hadn't even risen on the small town yet. Sophie clung tiredly onto the teen, drifting between consciousness and sleep. Jamie was standing in the snow beside Evie, boots on his feet as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. Both kids had refused to let their mother drive off to the airport without a final goodbye, so Evie had kept her promise and woken them to do so.

Marie climbed into the cab, blowing a kisses to her two children. Sophie yawned as she waved goodbye, trying to keep her green eyes open long enough.

"Bye-bye, mommy." She mumbled as the woman shut the taxi door. The three kids watched as she buckled her seat belt in the back of the car and peered out of the window. Jamie, Sophie and Evie waved after her as the taxi drove away down the street on route towards the nearest airport. As soon as the car had started moving, Evie felt her blonde cousin's head droop between the crook of her neck. Sophie was sound asleep.

"Right, c'mon, kiddo." Evie sighed, ruffling Jamie's already disheveled hair, nudging him gently. The eleven year old didn't protest, leading the way back indoors.

Jamie sniffed. "How long do you think that it'll take for Granny Sophia to get better? I hope mom isn't away too long..." He mumbled as he stepped indoors, Evie following suit. The teen shut the door, slipping out of her sneakers as her cousin clambered out of his boots. He looked exhausted.

"She'll be home before you know it, okay? Now go to bed, squirt, you look as if you're gonna do a Sophie in a minute." She smiled softly as her cousin. Jamie grunted and began to climb the stairs, Evie following up after him. She needed her bed too.