Years, Life

Life|| 32 years old (6.5/10)

Dan's POV
*Knocking*
"Hello, is this the residence of Mr Daniel and Phillip Howell-Lester?" A man spoke in a strong German accent. He was a big, burly man, and he reminded me of the kids who bullied me in high school. I pushed the link to the back of my mind. I was better than that.
"Yes..." The anxiety was noticeable in my voice, I could tell as Phil came and stood beside me, instinctively knowing that something wasn't right.
"Have I been correctly informed that you have signed papers to be the career of Emma Hendry."
"Yes...?" Where was he going with this, and why did the name Hendry set off alarm bells in my brain?
"And am I correct in thinking you are the parents of Emily Howell-Lester?"
"That's correct, yes." Phil cut in from beside me, squeezing my hand tight.

He ticked a few forms, then spoke the words which I'd been dying to here for years.
"Then I believe this is yours."

I looked at Phil, and he grinned at me in the same state of disbelief that I was in. The man stepped to one side, and stood behind him was Emily and another girl (I'm presuming Emma) holding hands nervously.

We didn't have to speak first.
"DAD'S!!" Emily ran towards us and we both engulfed her in a huge hug. There was the brief faff with basic small talk, and general parental fussing, before we all went into the house. If you weren't familiar with our story, we could just be an average family who had lost a child. Of course, we all still missed Izzy, but I guess in time it gets easier to cope with those feelings. We could allocate time in our brains to remember her, and then just get in with our lives when we had to.

Phil's POV
I was over the moon when I saw Emily. She looked so happy and healthy, and so in love. She has obviously been watching Dan closely, as she looked at Emma the same way he looked at me, in total admiration and care, though God knows why he thought of me that way. It was so goddamn cute. The heart eyes, my mum used to call them when she teased him. Heart-eyes Howell.

Dan and Emily seemed more excited than me. They were literally dragging poor Emma around the house, showing her every room and telling her all the things that had happened. She already knew about Izzy, thank god, so at least we didn't have to get upset explaining that one. We had come to terms with the loss in our heads, but it was still difficult to talk about.

"And we've enrolled you both in our old high school..." Dan was still explaining, and speaking at a million miles per hour.

Once he stopped for breath, I cut in.

"Dan and I are going to go and make reservations for a meal so we can all catch up." I grabbed Dan's hand. "You two, don't get up to anything inappropriate!"

Dan and I both laughed as they went red.

"Daaaaad" Emily whined, but she was laughing through it.

We left, but not before we saw them flop onto the sofa, giggling and still holding hands. I hoped we had made Emma feel welcome, and my worries were diminished when I heard her whisper,
"I think I'm gonna like it here."