The Convict

Welcome Home

They let me go home after a week, with a wheelchair of course. Mom and Dad drove me to the house where Lesly and Dakota awaited. According to Lesly, she and Dakota have gotten up to some pretty random adventures and kind of bonded.

When I open the door, I see Lesly on the couch watching TV.

"Hey," She smiles and gets up.

"Hey," I wheel myself into the house.

It's back to normal. The holes are patched, the furniture fixed or replaced, not a hair out of place.

"Looks good, right? We worked hard to get it back to normal." Lesly admires her work.

"Wow, almost looks better than before," I admit.

Dad shuts the door after bringing in my stuff. The moment the door hinges click into place, Dakota runs out from the hall and tackles me in a hug. I hold her close.

"I missed you," she says softly.

"I missed you too," I pull back and kiss her.

She smiles at me.

"You changed your look?" I ask.

Her fake dark tan skin tone has almost completely faded. She still has a bronze hue to her, but for the most part she is back to her usual pale skin tone. Her hair is blond again. Not back to her natural color, it has a copper hue to it. I am guessing she tried to bleach it back to normal, but her hair was too dark for it to go back in one sitting.

I run my fingers through the bleached hair, feeling its now coarse and damaged texture. She leans into my touch, rubbing her head against my palm.

"No use in hiding, everyone knows now." She says softly.

"Hmm," I gently pull her hair.

She doesn't fool me, I knew she never liked the Dani disguise since the beginning. Before I can chastise her, Cali rubs against my leg and distracts me. I look down just as the fat Calico cat jumps up to sit on my lap.

"Aw, my baby. Did you miss me?" I pet her.

She meows in protest and rubs against me.

"Yes, I am definitely the spare human," Dakota jokes.

I giggle.

Mom clears her throat, forcing me to turn and face her.

"What?" I ask.

She gives me the bug eyes.

"You can go now, Dakota can take care of me," I say.

"Absolutely not!" She protests.

I sigh.

"I think we need to address the elephant in the room," Dad says.

I look down at Cali and scratch behind her ear. If only my life were as simple as hers. Oh to be a cat.

Dakota shifts uncomfortably.

"Fine, you want to address the elephant, let's address it." I turn my wheelchair to face my parents.

Cali jumps off and walks away from me.

"Dakota and I are married. Yes, you heard me correctly, I agreed to marry the girl who kidnapped and tried to kill me. I am in love with her. Nothing you do or say will change how I feel about her. I understand none of you will ever be okay with this, but I don't care if you like it. It is my choice and you will respect it." I say sternly.

"Melony—"

"Ah!" I cut mom off. "Let me repeat it slower. Nothing you do or say will make me change my mind. So don't waste your breath."