They went home excitedly, though they were tired from that trip, they were both running to the house, eager to have a hug from any of them. Didn't even care how heavy those bags were and how fast they ran.
Elizabeth saw them when she was in the porch, probably telling stories with the people there. Far away from there, Clarissa saw that she genuinely grinned, stood and jogged to meet them. Then she was followed by the others including Vanessa and Lucas, who was briskly walking along the way with the baby. "Look who we got here!" Giana said and hugged Clarissa. "I missed you, mom." She said, putting down her bag and hugged back. Next was her father whom hugged her. "Was it good in Greece, kid?" He asked her after the hug. "It's perfect in there. Almost didn't want me to come home here." She replied. Afterwards, everyone else traded hugs. "So good to see you!" Vanessa said, standing there in front of her. "So good to see you guys, too." She replied, looking at Lucas and everyone else. "Let's all go first inside. As we could see these two are very tired from the long, long trip."
"And smells like airplane." Vincent added, grinning. "Even that you noticed, bro?" Jake asked, joining the people's laugh. They entered, Jake and Clarissa hitting the couch so forcefully, their butts as if it couldn't handle the carrying of loads of weights inside. "So, what up?" Billy started the conversation. "We're good, fine." Jake answered as he looked at Clarissa. "Tell us about that country." Giana said, leaning her back. "There are beaches there. Incomparable beaches, they are really beautiful. And there was a cliff beside the water, and we sat there, watched the sun disappear." Jake said, once again looked at Clarissa.
"We went to different places, too. Hiked mountains and stuff. You couldn't really compare anything to Europe."
"We agree, really do. That's why we chose that thing." Lucas suddenly spoke. "Thanks, by the way. Sincerely appreciated it." Jake told him. "Don't mention it, brother." He smiled, shaking his head. "Were those guides' services good?" Vanessa asked, at the same time playing with the hand of Andy. "Yeah, we appreciated it. They're kind. Good choice, Nessa." She answered.
"And we made friends." Jake added. "Seriously?" "Yeah. We all talked about things. We really considered them as one of our friends that time. They were funny." He replied, laughing. "How could the baby grow up so fast?" Clarissa asked, staring right at him. Chris looked at him, smiling. "It's normal, kid. Since he's a pure vampire, not human." He informed.
"Speaking of the baby, how was your honeymoon?" Vanessa's face was full of hope. And that again broke Clarissa's heart do easily. "I mean, this talking is not that much of private, am I right? We're all adults here." She added, making her voice a little bit high as she looked at everyone. She still smiled, somehow. And she looked at the floor for a long time, then back to everyone when she knew it was for long already. Why couldn't you move on, she said to herself angrily.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Vanessa worriedly asked. She didn't know everyone noticed her expression. "I.. am not pregnant." She muttered under her breath, wished she didn't say that. It made everyone worried, but somehow in their faces, there were flashes of hope in their eyes. And that made Clarissa smile, deep inside, fully hopeful. Hopeful enough to give it another try.
"It's okay." Lucas told her, and Clarissa expected everyone to say that. "You've got nothing to be upset about, Clarissa! Why won't we just eat?" Vanessa finally stood. "I've served junk foods and glasses full of blood here on the table." Cara said from a distant voice. Glasses full of blood, maybe those were the answer. Maybe those were what Clarissa needed after all. Who knows- the lack of blood may affect her emotions. She stood the first, then went there and sat in the chair.
Quickly, she drank the glass in one gulp. "Incredible." Vanessa whispered, with her eyes widened watching her. After she rested the glass on the table, she smirked at her, then gave just a shrug. "You want some more, miss? I suggest you really should." Cara said, nodding her head. "Yes, please. And thank you." Clarissa grinned. It felt tasty. "How is your thing with the blood, Nessa?" She asked as Jake sat by her side.
"So far so good, Clarissa." She seemed confident with her answer. "That sounds great, makes me proud." She replied. "Did you miss us?" Lucas suddenly asked, making Clarissa wonder because of the sudden change of topic made by him. "What do you mean?" Jake asked it for her. "I asked because I'm wondering, you guys have been there for two weeks. And it's way too far from what we've expected, honestly." He said quickly. "Honestly, yes. And we've visited all of the good places there, we believe."
"We're barely ready to show you something else. Are you ready?" He said as he stood from his chair. "Ready to show what?" Clarissa said, with complete confusion in her face. Lucas looked at Vanessa, then he raised his eyebrows, nodding his head once. Asking for something just by giving a look. "Let them finish whatever's here on the table first." She grinned.
"No, no. It's fine. You guys have already said it, so I'm looking forward to see that surprise." Clarissa said, and she meant it.
"Alright."
