I was thankful for the girls arranging this day out.

We caught up over breakfast. I clued in everyone about helping Amanda out when college came back around for her. Darien and Max were looking to get an apartment together. Madison was still going strong with Gabriella, which was good for her. As for Kendal, well, it was hard to say what she was up to. For all I knew, she could have started a Sherlock fan club on Facebook. Knowing her, it was possible.

Thankfully, nothing about London came up in conversation.

From breakfast we went for a spa day. We started off with massages, which made me enjoy the day even more. I just hoped we didn't go out to a bar or anything later, I probably wouldn't make it there.

When we were all relaxed, we moved on to manicures and pedicures. Darien got both, Kendal and Madi settled for pedicures while Mandy and I got manicures. While the ladies did their work, we ended up talking more.

"So...what's life like with a stepmother?" Kendal asked. She was on the far left of me.

"She's not evil, so that's a plus."

"That didn't really give me much, Rachel."

"It's not as much on my mind since we're so far apart."

"They'll be at your wedding, won't they?"

"Whoa, hold on. Who said I was getting married?"

"Nobody, I was just asking."

"Do you know something that I don't, Ken?"

"Nope. Again, just saying."

"Someone tell me she's lying."

"She isn't," Darien piped. "I'm telling you, Rach, married life is great."

"It can be if you're with your soul mate," Amanda chimed in. "If not, it's Hell." Mandy would know, her parents divorced when she was ten. She never blamed herself for it happening, but she had a hard time dealing with it.

"Well, take your time and find the right guy." Darien shrugged. "I know we're all not getting any younger, but don't rush into something you'll regret."

I swallowed, a particular affair popped into my head. Quickly, I shoved it aside. It doesn't need to be thought about. It's done, it's over with. For the love of God, don't make any of them suspicious. Despite being the closest to me, I hadn't even told Mandy about the affair, or the fact that I was going to have a sibling in less than a year. The baby thing I could tell her easily, the affair...not so much.

"I think the next time you fly down you should take me with you, Rachel," Ken chirped.

I laughed dryly. "Yeah, okay. I'm not going to let you stalk Baker Street. You'd probably faint if you saw him."

"I would not!"

"Yes, you would," everyone said together.

"You'd get arrested probably," I voiced. "But don't worry, I'd bail you out. Then I'd ship you back here."

"So long story short, don't ask to go," Madi told Kendal. Kendal pouted.

"The only person who I'd take is probably Bayley."

"Gee, thanks, Rach. Pick your boyfriend over your best friend," Amanda snorted.

"Hey, I gave you all invitations to the wedding last month, but none of you showed."

"If we'd had the money, we would have."

"You didn't miss much. A wedding is a wedding. They're all the same."

"Yeah, okay," Madison said sarcastically. "We all know that's not true."

Eventually, the topic was veered onto other things.

* * *

"Wait, none of us live down this way," I said, peeking out the window.

Night fell, and honestly, I was worn out. I wanted Mandy to drop me off at Bay's so I could change and sleep.

"Trust me, I know where I'm going," Amanda told me.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

As we got closer to Mandy's destination, a sick feeling crept into my stomach. She was leading me to the airport. I'm getting sick of coming here.

"Turn around," I squeaked.

"No chance, Rachel."

"I said turn around."

"Fat chance."

"What do you think you're doing?"

"We're helping," Darien voiced.

"Wait." Mandy pulled to the side, leaving the car idle. I stole glances at all of my girlfriends. "Just what the hell is going on, you guys? This isn't funny."

"We know about how you've been feeling since your dad got married," Amanda told me. "We know about the baby, Rachel."

"How...?" I smacked my forehead. "Bayley told you."

Mandy nodded. "He got a hold of me first, and then I told the others."

"He clearly failed to tell you that the three of us had a nice talk and things are okay."

"Yeah, but that's not sincere enough," Madison said.

"So you're shipping me back? I was just there last month!" I snarled. "I might as well stay there. Wait...who's paying for my flight?"

"We all chipped in," Kendal explained. "We knew you probably couldn't afford another trip."

"Look, we know you hate us right now. You have a reason to, we pulled the rug out from under your feet," Mandy said. "But, Rach," she rubbed my arm, "we just want you to spend some time with them, without Sherlock roping you guys into a case. We promise we'll never do this again if you go."

"You all promise?" I looked at each one of them. They either nodded or said "yes." I sighed, for the first time noticing Bayley, who had my bags at his feet.

"You'll thank us for it when you come back."

"We'll see." A little grumpily, I slipped out of Mandy's car, walking to Bay. He threw me a sheepish smile. "So, you're the mastermind."

"Guilty." He ruffled his hair.

"You're not coming with me?"

"They're more your family than mine."

"You could still come along."

"Nice try. Besides, I'm sure it will be a very short visit. You'll be home in no time." He took my waist in his hands. "I promise I'll make it up to you when you come back." He stroked my face. "Now, you better get in there and checked out. Your flight is leaving in a few hours."

I scowled. "I've got to stop with these late night flights."

"Listen to music, then. That could help."

"Maybe."

"Or just don't think bad thoughts."

"Bay, that doesn't work all the time. And you're delaying me."

"It's because I'm shipping you off again when I just got you back." He fiddled with the double heart necklace resting on my skin.
"Like you said, I'll be back real soon." I smiled. "No worries. Wait. How am I going to know where they live?"

"You can ask, Rachel. Now, leave, before I make you miss the flight."

"What if I'm doing this on purpose?" I teased.

"You're not getting away with it." Bay beamed.

I hugged Bay tight; praying to God this visit wasn't so long. I wanted to be back within a few days, a week at the most. He kissed my cheek before I gathered my bags and headed into the all too familiar airport.

Everything seemed to blend in, really. It felt like there was no time that passed in between flights down to London. It seemed like only yesterday I was flying down for the first time for vacation.

Déjà vu seemed like it was becoming my best friend with as much as I ran into it. The novelty of airports was long gone. I was getting a bit sick of them, to be honest. I couldn't imagine being that person who wanted to travel the world. Maybe it's because I only flew back and forth to London that I found airports annoying now.

The routine for the airport was dull. I was more than grateful to get past all the usual checkpoints. Waiting in the terminal wasn't so bad, as I didn't have to wait that long. I'd found my journal in one of my bags. I figured an entry or two could help pass the time.

In a way, night flights were my favorite, because you'd have people sleeping the majority of the flight. If you were lucky, everyone was quiet. So far I hadn't gotten a plane that involved a whiny, bratty child or a crying baby.

Once the plane was up in the air, the low hum of the engines started to lull people to sleep. While I was still conscious, I flipped through my journal, finding a good blank area. I noticed I never dated my entries. Eh, why should I bother to try at this point?

Dear Journal,

Well, I'm going back to London. Again. I feel like a magnet, gravitating towards England constantly. I guess that's what happens when your parents are England-born. I think I should be living there instead of in Maryland. If I'm dead serious about it, I may just do it, if I have enough commitment and money, that is.

Nothing major is really going. This trip is a blindside. Bayley, Amanda, and the girls all decided to ship me off to London to allow me to further bond with Dad and Mary over the coming of my sibling, even though we had had a good talk about it. I had been okay with the Skype call.

The only perk to this is that it will be short (I hope) and that they all paid for my plane ticket. If I ever make any future trips down, I'll have to mooch off of other people. That will be the only way I'll be able to fly anywhere until I find a stable job.

I'm hoping to not stay longer than I intend to, like the second time I'd come to London, the time when I'd been convinced to hunt down Sherlock so he could find my biological father. I smile as I write this, because now I'm reminded of those months, of all the ups and downs I'd gone through.

As much as I'd love to write for the entire flight, doing so for eight hours will kill all feeling in my hand, so I'll quit now while my hand is still alive.