Scenes From a Soap Opera

An Abbott Family Welcome

Allie Nguyen walked up to the front door of her newly discovered grandfather's house full of nerves. She had only spent three days with the man in Los Angeles, would he even be happy to see her? Jack did tell her before he and Phyllis left that she was always welcome in Genoa City, but was he just saying that? He could have just said that because he felt like he had to, he and his son Kyle, her uncle, were the only family she had now. Her mother had taken off years ago and clearly didn't want to be found. These thoughts bounced around in her head like a tennis ball on the flight to Genoa City.

She didn't even know where this courage came from; where the nerve to pick up her entire life and move it to Wisconsin had developed. Fresh off graduation with a degree in chemistry, she hoped that she could be of use at her family's company. Not that she was visiting her grandfather to get a job, she did want to meet the rest of the Abbotts. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened to reveal a confused Jack Abbott, his confusion quickly became excitement upon seeing who was standing on his step.

"Allie?! How wonderful to see you. Come in at once." He exclaimed, ushering her into the house. Jack was thrilled to see her again; he had been wondering if she would take him up on his offer to come to Genoa City. He led her into the living room to introduce her to the family. "Everyone I have a fantastic surprise. My granddaughter Allie has decided to visit. Allie this is your family, the Abbotts." The family, Ashley, Traci, Billy, and Kyle, all turned their attention to the young woman standing next to Jack looking like a deer caught in headlights. Clearly, she was not expecting to meet everyone all at once.

Traci stood up to greet her, wanting to help ease Allie's obviously present nerves. "Jack" Traci said chastising her brother, "stop overwhelming the poor girl. She hasn't even been here for five minutes." Turning her attention to Allie she threw a welcoming smile on her face, "Hello Allie. I'm Traci, your great Aunt. I want to welcome you both to Genoa City and the Abbott family."

Despite her nerves, Allie felt oddly at ease with Traci. She could instantly tell that her great aunt was a kind and generous woman; the kind that made you feel welcomed and never judged. "It's okay. I just was not expecting all of you to be here when I arrived. It's so nice to meet all of you." Traci walked over to give her a warm hug as Ashley and Billy got up from the couch to introduce themselves. 

"Hello, I'm your other great Aunt Ashley and this is your great Uncle Billy." Ashley explained with a bright smile. "Welcome to your family home."

"Great Uncle? God, I'm too young to be a great Uncle." Billy joked before extending his hand for a hand shake, not wanting to bombard the poor girl with hugs before she was comfortable. His sisters both rolled their eyes. 

"My daughter Abby isn't here at the moment, but I'm sure you'll meet her soon." Ashley changed the subject wanting Allie to that her introductions weren't over just yet. 

"Same with my kids. They're at school right now, but I'll bring them by one weekend. Assuming you're staying here of course." Allie hadn't thought that far ahead. She noticed Traci standing off to the side with a far away look on her face, almost like she was trying to hold back tears. Clearly something about the subject of kids was uncomfortable for Traci. Allie made a mental note to ask Jack not wanting to bring up a painful topic for her. 

Jack smiled as he watched his siblings talk with his granddaughter; that smile turned to a frown when he noticed Kyle standing off to the side, a guarded expression plastered on his face. Curious he walked over to his son to see what was wrong.

Kyle had stayed in the back throughout Allie's introduction cautiously observing the scene. He was weary of people just popping up at the house after the return of his mother. Especially since Allie was confirmed to have known his mother in L.A. He wanted to trust his niece, God that was weird to say, but he just couldn't bring himself too. At least not yet, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. The Jabot co-CEO noticed his father walking over to him and braced himself for a round of twenty questions.

"Is everything okay, Kyle? You've been awfully quiet." Jack asked him in a concerned voice.

Not wanting to reveal the truth and upset his father Kyle told him a half-truth, "I just didn't want to overwhelm her. It's a lot meeting a bunch of people at once. Besides, I've had enough surprise relative meetings for a while." Kyle shrugged as he explained his reasons to his father. "I'm fine. I'll introduce myself to my niece later. You don't need to worry about me. Go spend time with your granddaughter." Kyle shooed Jack away wanting to be alone. Jack picked up on this and left to go back to Allie, but not before giving Kyle a worried glance. There was plenty of time for him to meet his niece, right now he just wanted to be alone. Kyle slipped out of the living room when no one was looking and headed upstairs. He wanted to call Summer and give her the latest updates on the Abbott family drama, plus he really needed to hear her voice.