Sitting in his seat, tea in hand, Rufus was almost tempted to stand and grab something stronger. He looked at the girl, his eyes wild and unbelieving, head spinning.

“Seriously, where did you come from, how’d you get here and what is your name?”

“Heehee, I came from the water, I just kinda arrived here and you know my name,” the girl giggled.

“Same smart mouth. You really are...” he trailed off.

He took a sip of his tea and in walked Gloria and Cynthia. Claire wasn’t with them, but Gloria told him she’d be here soon.

“So, Roofie, anything good happen last night?” Cynthia asked.

“Um, I kinda just blubbed, drank tea and fell asleep, nothing too exciting,” he said.

“Ah, well. You need a bit of mundane stuff to even out the extraordinary crap,” Cynthia giggled and went to make herself tea.

“No, let me,” the girl said, peeking out from her hiding place.

Cynthia just reeled and called Gloria over.

“Is it?” They asked each other.

“Looks like it, doesn’t it?” Rufus asked.

In walked Claire, who greeted everyone in the room, the girl included.

“Good morning, Amy? Where’d that come from?” She thought aloud.

“Well, probably because I’m here. Hello all,” she smiled.

Claire grabbed her phone and called work: “Listen, Gary, I know I said I’d be in for my shift tonight, but something’s come up. I can’t make it I’m afraid.”

Gary’s voice was so loud, it could be heard on the other end, “oh, c’mon, girl, you’ve had enough time off! Place is fallin’ apart here! We need ya. Folk’re dyin’ here!” He shouted.

“Sorry, family comes first,” Claire said and then hung up, not caring.

“But, Claire, you only just decided to go back last night. Apologised and everything!” Cynthia told her, “come on, you need to go back in, or you won’t have a job,” she carried on protesting.

“I don’t care.”

Amy made tea for everyone, still remembering how they took it and put the tray on the table.

“Claire, I know you’re wigged out, don’t worry, I’m fine,” Amy smiled.

“But...”

“Yes, you’re all wondering why and how I’m here. I’ll tell you,” Amy told them, “but first, I’m having a shower,” she went to the bathroom, kissing and hugging everyone on her way, “great to have you all back, guys!” She smiled.

“Rufus, there’s a bottle of whisky on top of the cupboard in a cardboard sleeve. Get it,” Gloria told him.

Rufus handed her the bottle and she poured a large quantity of it in her tea, passing it around the room.

“Nothing for you, Rufus, you’ve had enough to last a lifetime!” Gloria forbade him.

“No worries,” he smiled.

Amy came bouncing out of the shower, fresh and wearing clean clothes.

“So, family, I guess you wanna know what happened to me,” she smiled.

Everyone, but Rufus, looked nervous as all buggery.

“Please, tell us,” Cynthia finally broke the silence.

“Okay, well, you remember that monster that was pretending to be William?”

“Yeah,” they collectively sighed, not really wanting to recollect that.

“Well, after the battle, when I was laying there in Rufus’ arms, I disappeared, right? It turned out that you all thought I’d died, but you didn’t believe it. That was one of the things that brought me back. Your hopes that brought me back from Limbo. Again.”

“Limbo?” Claire asked, dumbfounded by the new knowledge.

“Yes, but when I was there... Well, let’s just say that Limbo is a mega scary place.”

Amy went on to tell them about her time in Limbo and all the trials she had to face. That’s what she called them, anyway. She believes that she had to be tested before she was allowed back into this dimension.

“The fact that you all had faith, even if you weren’t consciously thinking about it, helped me to escape.”

“So, are you... Are you really human?” Cynthia asked.

“Well, I come with some powers, it seems. You see, before being granted permission to stay with you all, I was told... Asked, really, to protect you all.”

“Protect us?” Gloria asked.

“Yes, it seems you’ve angered a few people. See, Gloria, your husband made some enemies when he was an exorcist.”

“That, I knew,” Gloria laughed nervously.

“Yes, so I’ve been tasked with protecting you from them. We may need to fight from time to time, but we’re a pretty tight family, so I’m sure we’ll be okay.”

“That, we are,” Rufus smiled.

Rufus got up and stretched, walking over to Cynthia, hugging her.

“Cynthia, I’m sorry I was such a bugger when I thought Amy was gone,” he sobbed laying his head on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, you were grief-stricken, I understand,” she held him.

“I promise, I’ll never be like that again,” he sniffled.

Cynthia just held him and hugged him. Amy came up and hugged them both.

“Cynthia, will you and Rufus be my mum and dad?” Amy asked them, her big green eyes twinkling.

Cynthia and Rufus looked at each other, smiling.

“Of course we will!” They said in unison.

“And Claire, can you move in permanently?” Amy asked.

“What, um, well... I-I’m gonna have to think about it.”

“Okay, I understand,” Amy smiled softly, then her expression got more serious, “Gloria, I need to talk to you about something. Can we talk in private?”

Knowing what it might be about, Gloria suggested she and Amy go to her place to talk. The rest of them just sat there, not knowing what to think, a little scared.

“That looks serious, doesn’t it?” Rufus asked.

“I don’t like this,” Cynthia gulped.

“I guess we can only wait and see,” Claire frowned.