𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

25: The Story

Alex dropped me off in front of my house. The sun was setting. I saw Logan's bedroom light on. I smiled as I stepped out of the RV and walked to the front door. I fixed my backpack and knocked on the door. Dad opened the door and hugged me tight.

"I missed you, Mama!" He said, squeezing me.

"We saw each other like a day or two ago!" I said, laughing a bit and hugging him back. "Still," He let go and grabbed my bags off the porch where I dropped them when he hugged me. "Fulton and Ken are in the living room." He said, pointing with his arm, my bags in his hands, closing the door with his foot.

I dropped my backpack in the living room threshold and ran and tackled both of them. They were sitting next to each other, so it was easy. One arm was around Uncle Fulton's neck, and the other was around Uncle Ken's.

"Hey, Deuce!" Uncle Fulton said as I let go.

"Welcome back!" Uncle Ken said. "It feels good to be home." I smiled then sat in between them. I saw a picture of Shawn and I on the wall, and my happiness and excitement to be home turned into sadness really quick. I heard Dad's footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Del," Dad said, peaking around the corner. "Come here. I have something for you." I scrunched my eyebrows and looked at my uncle's. They shrugged and acted clueless. I didn't know if they were faking it or if it was real.

I got up and followed him back upstairs. He held my door knob. "You ready?" He asked. "Yeah!" I said, nodding a bit. He opened the door, and I walked in. Uncle Ken, Fulton, Dad's, and my old Don't Bothers jerseys were in a frame hung along my wall next to my door.

I smiled and admired them. "Thought your room needed a bit more duck decor!" He said, crossing his arms and looking at the jersey. I turned around and hugged him again.

When we broke the hug I saw a big box on my bed. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to it. "Shawn was gonna mail that before, uh, you know. I never got around to mailing it, so I decided to wait till you got home." I became more sad at the mention of his name. "Can I have privacy?" I asked. "I wanna open it." I said, putting my hand on top of the box. "Yeah, yeah, that's fine." Dad said, leaving my room and shutting the door.

I took a deep breath and opened the box. It had green tissue paper on top of it. I took it off, and it fell onto the floor. I started to adventure in the box. It was a photo book with pictures from the living room and the hallways upstairs and downstairs.

The last four photos in the book were of Logan and I. I began to tear up, looking at all the photos. I pulled out a letter from Shawn. I opened it frantically.

Dear Delilah,

The house is too quiet without you and your rambunctious behavior. (I mean that in a good way, don't worry.) Dean won't stop asking when you're coming back home. I see Logan staring out his window a lot. (I assume he's waiting for you to come home as well.) He came over a couple days ago and asked about you. I asked him why he didn't go to EPIC. He said he wanted to spend the summer here in Minnesota than in Los Angeles. The way he was talking, it sounded like he regretted his decision.

Since you're not home (sadly), I took more hours at the hospital. It's been very weird working more hours, but it's worth it. I hope you're doing well. I heard the camp director was an ex-NHL player. Hope he's not too tough on you. Did you make any new friends? Did anyone else join your team? Are you still with the Ducks?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm a dad so I have to know everything! I can't wait for you to come home so I can get my big hug you promised. Don't squeeze the life out of me! I might be old, but I love life as much as the next person.