⫯ 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔩𝔶 𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 ⫯ (HIATUS)

𝟔 - 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭

to make your monday better.
the picture above is the food they will be eating
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I had decided today was the day I would go to surprise my parents. I had two motives for doing this; firstly I wanted to visit my parents because although they aren't that far from me I rarely visit and I've missed them; and secondly, my professors are breathing down my neck with new assignments and I needed a break from school before it completely drowned me.

I saw the view out of the car window as we made our way to my family home. The lights of the city dimmed and faded as we drove away from the bustle of the city towards a more suburban landscape, where you are more likely to see children riding their bicycles than a shiny red sports car zooming down the street.

I reached the house soon after I smiled widely as we pulled up to the driveway, happiness triggered by the good memories the sight of the place brings. I walk up to the door, and in lieu of just barging in, I ring the doorbell primarily for the satisfaction of their reactions when they see me at the door, and not another solicitor.

My mother answers the door and I have to look down at her with her 4' 10" stature. She looks up at me and her eyes widen almost comically as she recognizes who I am and then I'm crushed in a hug but not before seeing the beaming smile my mother has.

"Mom...mom I need to breathe..please?", I say while struggling to inhale from the sheer force my mother is hugging me with.

"Mya honey it's so good you're here. Here," she says, pulling away, holding me an arm's length away to survey me, "let me get a good look at you. You seem so thin, hon' are you eating properly at your apartment? You know me and Dad can pack you some stuff up or lend you some money if you're struggling? I mean it Mya know your father and I are always here for y-"

"Mom I'm fine I don't need any money and I've been eating fine so no need to worry, ok?"

She looked at me skeptically and then angled away from me to scream deeper into the house, "Charles! Come see who it is at the door!"

I heard a groan from what seems to be the living room down the hall, I'm assuming my Dad was in his favorite recliner 'Dave', probably on the verge of a nap. 

"Who is it, Elaine?" He asks as I hear his footsteps getting closer toward the door.

Soon he is in front of the door making both my mother and I look like dwarfs. I always, even as a child, saw my father as this massive skyscraper at 6'3", he was much taller than I at 5' 7", but as a child, his height was comparable to a mountain and my only wish was to be just as tall as him. I guess I had gotten my wish in some way. I was in the median between my parents and Arden was a bit taller at around 5' 10". 

"Sweet pea! What are you doing here? Don't you have school?"

"I came as a surprise Dad, and no I don't have any classes today," I say lying to my dad, but I needed their company at the moment so I would have to deal with it.

"Well come in, come in we were just starting dinner when you stopped by.", my mother says shuffling me inside the cool house.

"What were you making tonight Mom, maybe I can help you?"

She looked at me skeptically once again at my comment.

"Mom, I can cook now. I've definitely improved, at least I'm not Arden, they can't even open a can and I've seen them burn water while trying to make mac n' cheese. The instructions were legit on the box and they still managed to mess up."

My mother laughed as she thought of her other child's hopelessness with cooking.

"Alright, you can help as long as you promise not to burn water like your sibling. We're making, ironically, one of your favorites: my special recipe" she said, turning away from our cluster and walking towards the kitchen with me, right on her heels.