Everything Has Changed (Completed)

epilogue

The plane jolted as the wheels made contact with the runway before we glided down the pavement. Eventually, we slowed down and the pilot directed the plane over to the terminal doors.

"Finally," my father muttered quietly enough that only my mother and I could hear. "That was probably the roughest flight I've ever been on."

"Well, at least we made it safely," my mother said, giving my father a look. "At least be thankful for that."

One of the flight attendants spoke through the intercom, thanking us for choosing their airline, announcing that it was 5:34 in California, and wishing us luck if our journey continued. Luckily, this was out last stop; San Francisco.

I pulled out my backpack from its spot underneath the seat in front of me and we waited for our row to exit the plane. The flood of people seemed to continue forever, and I was itching to get out of the crowded space.

Finally, we exited the terminal, heading to the baggage claim to pick up our many suitcases. After spending four months away from home, you have a lot of stuff to bring back. I had two full suitcases myself, and I'm pretty sure my parents had at least three each. We definitely suffered from baggage fees at check-in.

I spotted my grey suitcase, pulling it off the conveyor belt before locating my other black bag. Once we had all the suitcases tracked down, we pushed the cart towards the waiting area of the airport. My heart pounded knowing who was waiting to pick us up.

Exiting through the doors, my vision was filled with throngs of people waiting for loved ones. The teary-eyed reunions made me long for my own as I looked through the crowds for one particular face. "Over here!" My mother motioned, and my head to the side snapped so fast I swear I had whiplash.

My parents lead us through the crowd until Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson were finally in view. My heart dropped a little when I noticed there was nobody else with them.

I hugged Mrs. Jacobson, but she must have noticed the look of disappointment on my face. "He really wanted to come," she whispered in my ear, just loud enough for me to hear, "but he got called in to work and couldn't get out of it. But he'll be there when we get back."

I pulled back and gave her a relieved smile, and she just laughed. Mr. Jacobson gave me a pat on the shoulder and a knowing smile before we headed off towards their car. It took a while for us to get our suitcases in the back, but once we had managed it we took off down the freeway.

"So," Mr. Jacobson started, "I know we've talked to you on the phone since, but I am so happy to have you back, Jason," he directed at my father.

He laughed. "I gotta say, it's great to be back. New York's great and all, but the air never smells right and it takes an hour just to drive a couple blocks."

Both the Jacobson's laughed at that. "Nothing beats the country," Marie replied.

"How're those kids of yours doing now? How old's the youngest?" My father asked, rubbing his chin.

"Sophie just turned ten a couple weeks ago. Luke is thinking of heading off to community college in the fall, and both my older to are in university down by LA," Marie said, smiling. She was always so proud of all her children. However, the piece of information that piqued my interest was the piece about Luke. Could we be planning to go to the same community college?

Originally, I wanted to go straight to university after high school; I had gotten in to most of the ones I applied to. However, after the whole fiasco with my father's unit being found, I decided it would be better if I spent some time at a small community college close to home before moving away anywhere, and I was ecstatic that Luke was planning on staying in California.