Emily nodded her head vigorously when Pam offered to let her hold on to the puppy a little while longer. Matt's family was so<span style="font-style: italic">nice!</span>Why hadn't she met them before? He got defensive whenever she would ask about them, like he was guarding some closely-kept secret. Pam had said that a lot went on between Matt's family and Maude, but he hadn't even told her that much. Emily had told him countless times before that relationships were built on trust and being able to talk about these things, but it was like talking to a wall. At least no one else seemed to get any more out of him that she could.<br/><br/>Matt used his shoulder to push himself away from the threshold, offering Aunt Pam a look of solemn gratitude. He'd needed to hear that, that Grandma didn't seem to hate him for being a shitty grandkid. Maybe he was the one who hated himself for it. This was probably one of those existential experiences people talked about how you never knew what you had until it was gone. After all of this is over, he'd probably have some startling epiphany that he should actually get to know his family before they were gone, too, and just embody the entire cliche.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Yeah, I see that...Will you tell Aunt Bess that my dad and mum will be here, before the funeral? They just didn't want to drive late at night."</span><br/><br/>Matt couldn't help but listen in on Alexis and Pam. Why did he have to wait until this was over to have that epiphany? They were all<span style="font-style: italic">right here</span>for the first time in years. "How are they?" Matt asked, nodding over to Alexis. "Your parents."