An Exchange

Chapter Sixty-Nine - Home

October 2007

Giles

I was going home.

Two years goes way faster than I realized. Looking back, I wondered where the time had gone. The moment I'd prepared for and looked forward to for so long, was over.

Sitting on the plane, a deep melancholy came over me. All the faces of the people I taught came to mind, and the love I felt for them, especially the ones who were baptized, filled my heart. I'd never forget that. Never. That love was just a glimmer of the love Christ felt for me and them, and it blew my mind.

Slowly, I made my way out of the plane. It was really all over. Glancing back, I remembered climbing on the plane to go out. I was so nervous, so excited. My eagerness had driven my trainer crazy. I laughed at the memory of him trying to curb my overenthusiasm.

And now, here I was; finished.

Making my way through the terminal, I finally reached the public area. My family became visible right away; flashing their signs, standing in a tight group. My sisters looked so different! Sarah was seventeen now, and Cassie fifteen. They were so beautiful.

Cassie screamed and ran toward me, stopping only because she had to at the security line. As soon as she could, she threw herself at me, wrapping me in her arms and legs.

"Oh, wow." I stumbled to catch her so we wouldn't fall over. Although strange to hug a girl after two years, I loved holding her again.

She cried into my shoulder as Dad pried her off. "Cassie."

"I miss you so much, Giles!" She sobbed as she let me go.

A deep voice spoke. "You're so dramatic, kid."

"Holy..." I looked Jonas over. "Wow, you're huge."

Jonas smirked. "Thanks for calling me fat."

"Not..." I shook my head, heading toward the rest of my family. "I mean, you've really filled out."

"I'm not a bench warmer anymore." He stood taller, puffing out his broad chest. "I played first string."

"Of course you did." I patted his hard shoulder.

"Giles." Sarah slid her arms around me, far more conscious of my discomfort with hugging girls.

"You've grown." I gave her a quick squeeze and looked into her eyes. "Several inches, I'd bet. And you're gorgeous."

She shoved my shoulder, turning red. "Stop that."

Mom wrapped me in a tight hug, tears pouring down her face. "I'm so proud of you, son. I missed you so much."

As she released me, I didn't miss Jonas and Sarah looking away from each other. According to Mom and Dad, they'd dated a little bit, and hung out in the same crowd, but nothing serious was between them. Something told me that wasn't true. I had a feeling they were holding back only because Jonas would get his own mission call soon. Amazing how things seem so familiar.

Having missed the beginning of the fall semester, Dad gave me clerical work at his firm so I could save money before the spring semester began. In my spare time, I worked on my car again—after taking it back from Jonas who had been driving it while I was gone. I found plenty of things I no longer liked about it that I could change or fine tune, or that Jonas had just completely neglected.

Seth arrived home from his mission not long after me. We hung out for a while, before he headed south to get enrolled for school. While down there, he attended institute and was surprised to find Zoe there. He was even more surprised to find she was still single, and because he had always liked her, he began dating her. Within three months they were engaged. When he called me and told me, I couldn't be happier for them, and he told me they would be heading back up during the summer to get married near their families.