A/N: I guess a lot of people didn't expect to see this update... The funny thing is that this chapter was almost written, but I have absolutely no idea where I saved it, so I had to start over. It wasn't an easy chapter to write during my first attempt, then I decided to take a little break to gather my thoughts, what eventually resulted in me not updating in quite a while because life got in the way, and even though it's still not out of the way, I managed to write this little chapter, which I hope you will be happy with. I definitely didn't give up on this story but I do not promise regular updates, either. It's something I can't promise recently when it comes to either of my stories. Still, I certainly hope that those of you, who enjoy this story are going to like this chapter and let's get to it!

CHAPTER 20

Megan Hudson took a deep breath when she stopped her car in front of her family house; the building, which she knew every little corner and nook in, which she had so many memories connected to. Back when she was a teenager and living there, she couldn't wait to start college, move away from this place, which she couldn't say that she hated, but found extremely boring. She's always been the kind of person, who liked adventures, life full of challenges and surprises, and her hometown definitely wasn't a place, where she could have it. That's why she escaped as quickly as it became possible and never paid visits, which would last longer than a week. This time was supposed to be a little longer and she wasn't sure if it was actually a good idea.

She glanced to the left, at the rental car standing on the driveway – the unmistakeable sign that her brother was there, too. There has been so many years since the last time she saw him; it was probably during Christmas almost seven years earlier. It was so difficult to believe, especially considering how close they have always been. Yet, he wasn't able to come to Wisconsin the last time she came home for Christmas and during her other visit, just before leaving for Africa, because work got in his way. They have talked on the phone a couple of times, but it has still been a huge amount of time since she had any contact with him and she couldn't wait to see him.

She also knew that Jack most probably didn't come alone. When she called her parents to mention that she wanted to come home, her mother immediately stated that she would invite him as well, and that he would hopefully bring his girlfriend home. From what she gathered, he knew the woman for quite a bit of time now and their relationship was serious enough for him to move to New York for her, something he didn't even want to think about considering when Allie tried to convince him to do that for the sake of their relationship. It also seemed that despite hearing quite a lot about this woman, their parents has never had the chance to meet her because he didn't bring her home during his previous visits – he had no reason to, as her mother made it rather clear that he was in absolutely no hurry to make their relationship something more, while Sue didn't seem to be the sort of woman, who would take matters into her own hands. Megan couldn't fully agree with this comment; obviously, she had no idea what this Sue was like, but she knew her brother well enough to be certain that if there was something standing on his way to pursue this relationship – and the anti-fraternisation rule definitely was a meaningful obstacle – he would probably guard his feelings quite carefully, so the woman could be unaware of their strength and nature. She was very curious to meet this mysterious woman, who according to her mother, made his brother completely lose his head for her, and it definitely wasn't something easy.

"Mommy?"

She was brought back to earth by her daughter's voice and turned around. The girl was watching her carefully with a questioning look in her eyes. It was the first time she was going to bring her home, and she was definitely the main reason why she was so nervous about this visit. Her parents had no idea that she wasn't coming alone; even though she really planned to tell them, she just didn't know how to do it and was quite scared about their reaction. Not that she was afraid that they wouldn't understand, but they were surely going to be shocked.

"Let's go. It's time to meet your grandparents and your uncle." she said, taking another deep breath and gathering her whole courage and smiled at the girl, who just nodded.

Megan knew that she was a little anxious at the thought of meeting the family, afraid that they weren't going to like her, no matter how strongly she assured her that they were going to love her. She was certain that they would, even if only after the initial shock passed; one of the things, which she was shown and taught during her whole childhood was that the family was the most important and should stick together, and being her daughter, Zuri was a family. It was a matter of moments before she was standing in front of the door, with her daughter's hand in one of hers and a bag, which they travelled with, in the other. She could hear the sound of approaching footsteps and just a second later the door opened and she found herself standing face to face with her brother.

One of those things, which she was absolutely jealous about when it came to him, was that he didn't seem to change much while aging. There's been a very long time and the truth was that at first glance, he didn't look like he changed at all. It was only after a moment, that she started to see differences between the Jack Hudson she saw the last time she was home and the man, who was standing in front of her in this very moment. He matured, it was quite obvious; there were still those mischievous sparkles in his eyes, which suggested that the playful boy she remembered from her teenage years wasn't quite gone, but other than that he definitely matured. His hair didn't seem as thick as it once used to be and she was quite certain that if she looked more closely, she would spot some gray hairs here and there. And, what she noticed with a bit of a surprise, he also put on some weight; it wasn't like he was out of shape or anything, but the change was still visible.

"Come here, Sis." he said with a smile and soon she found herself squeezed in his tight embrace, but she didn't mind.

Her arms went around him as well; it was only in this moment that she realised just how much she actually missed him. For a very long time they were pretty much inseparable; even before they were born, they were sharing their mother's womb and growing up together they were as close as only siblings could be. During their teenage years they drifted a little apart; even though they were very similar in appearance, they were each other's completely opposites in character and it resulted in them having different interests, hanging out with different people. They remained close, though; they could be like ice and fire, and have very little in common, but they still cared about each other and knew that no matter what, they would always be there for each other. Jack definitely was there for her; he could be older than her for barely a couple of minutes, but he definitely fell into the role of the protective, older brother perfectly and even though at the time it was driving her crazy, she thought about it quite fondly now.

Sparky was very excited at the thought of seeing his sister again after such a long time. It was astounding how people could be so close, and yet so far away at the same time. Their relationship has always been very good, but now that they were adults life was getting between them. It definitely wasn't helping that Megan was very happy with her never boring life, what resulted in her going all the way to Africa and contacting them quite rarely, while his occupation made it difficult to make any real plans as a new, very important case could appear pretty much any moment and he needed to adjust his plans to it.

Now, however, he did everything he could to make sure that he was going to meet with Megan, especially that he had no idea when would be the next opportunity to do so. It was now, that he had two very important news to share with her; not only had he gotten engaged, but in a few months he was also going to be a father and he really wanted to share his happiness with her, too. He was a little bit worried as to what her reaction to Sue was going to be like. Even though back at school Megan and Allie didn't really like each other, they grew closer at one point and became friends, what made his sister rather happy with their relationship. She did hint quite a few times that she hoped to see him settle down with the woman, so what was she going to say upon finding out that there was absolutely no way it would happen?

He was the first one up, when the sound of someone knocking to the door spread around the house. He practically jumped up from his comfortable on the sofa and hurried to the door as he knew that it couldn't be anyone other than Megan. A huge grin made its way onto his face, when he opened the door and his eyes fell on the very familiar face of his twin sister. It amazed him just how much she changed during all those years; it could be up to the fact, that in his eyes she has never really stopped being this little girl with bunches on her head, who he would chase after around the garden, but she really changed a lot in his eyes. She matured, obviously; he could see the hint of wrinkles on her face, as her make-up was very light. Her hair was much longer than he remembered it to be when she was leaving; she usually kept it shoulder-length, but now it was reaching down almost to her waist, while her skin was really tanned. And there was something in her brown eyes, which he really wasn't able to name, but what definitely wasn't present there before her stay in Africa.

"Is something wrong, Megan? I thought you'd be excited coming home and seeing your family after all those long years… We definitely are." he spoke, when they moved away from each other after a moment.

"I am excited, Jack, just a little nervous…" she said with a smile, which left no doubts about the honesty behind her words. "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Zuri."

She looked down and he followed his gaze, shocked by her words. His eyes fell on a very beautiful little girl, who was standing partially behind his sister and watching him with a mix of curiosity and anxiety. Her skin was a colour of chocolate, her head was full of unruly black curls and she was also the owner of the biggest and blackest eyes that he had ever had the chance to see. For a moment he completely didn't know what to say or do; he stared at the child, unable to get over the surprise. It was definitely something, what he didn't see coming.