Most people in her life seemed to dread the idea of visiting home to see their family. Chey, however, felt vastly different. Her trips back to her small beach town to spend some much needed time with her family was the exact kind of vacation she longed for these days. She had been working more than ever lately and was beginning to feel the effects of burnout. It felt like a good time to take a summer off from projects and just live her life. Whenever she saw her father waiting for her at the airport, she wasted no time and ran to him like she was a little kid all over again. It was a little surprising that her mother didn’t insist on coming as well, but according to him, she got stuck finishing up some pieces for her pottery shop.
Driving away from the Corpus Christi airport, she took in the changing environment and though some things looked different, she still felt like it was home. It didn’t take long for the two to reach Port Aransas, and Chey almost immediately rolled down her windows to breathe in the salty air that brought her such a warm nostalgia. Their home was near the beach and stood tall at three stories high, like most beach homes in that area. There was some sort of relief in her whenever she saw it- maybe because she knew no place would ever feel so warm and safe like this home. Her father grabbed her bags and promised he’d carry them up to her room and urged her to just go inside. Chey obliged and walked up the steps to the home. Whenever she opened the door, she was immediately greeted with something she hardly expected - a fully decorated home, all three of her brothers yelling out of unison, her mother, and… Tyson? Chey stopped dead in her tracks and looked at them all as they yelled surprise. “What the hell?” she laughed with a large, toothy grin. Her brothers attacked her with a hug and she nearly fell over, but of course gave back the same energy. “Happy Birthday, sweetheart,” her mother greeted and gave her a tight hug, as well. Chey was left to look at Tyson with both a happy and menacing expression growing on her features. “Wow, they really just let anyone come into this house, huh?” she teased. “What’s up, liar.” And then she couldn’t help it, she pulled him into a hug, too.