3059

Chapter 47- Thomas

Thomas walked down his street to find that many houses still remained, even after all the bombings that had just happened. His house was among them. The front steps, which were made of brick, were still cracked in the same places, and the knocker on the door was still only hanging on by one hinge.

Thomas reached out with a trembling hand and knocked three times on the door. A few moments later the shadow of his mother appeared and she pulled open the door. Thomas felt the tears on his cheeks before he even realized he was crying. "Hi mum."

"Thomas." His name was barely a breath of air as his mother reached forward and wrapped her arms so lightly around Thomas that he could hardly breathe, but he didn't care. His mother was alive and she'd stayed safe.

When they finally broke apart, they were both crying and Thomas found himself stepping over the threshold into the house. He asked the question that had been bothering him for so long, that he'd been dreading to know the answer to, but knew he had to ask all the same, "Has Dad come home?"

His mother's eyes misted over with fresh tears and not happy ones, "No, Thomas, he's gone, the telegram arrived only a few days after you left." She suddenly collapsed on the couch in a state of grief, "It's been horrible Thomas, so horrible without you! The word of your boat being attacked had me terrified that you'd been taken,"

Thomas cut in straight away, "I wasn't. I made it to America."

His mother looked up at him as she wiped her tears, "You did?"

Thomas sat down beside her on the couch and pulled her into his arms, "I was fine, everything was okay, I made it back to you, the war has been won, I'm safe."

They sat there for what might have been hours, just holding each other as Thomas felt his heart leaping in his chest. While he may have lost his brother and his father, his mother was still here, in one piece, and he'd survived. Thomas reached up to his neck where his dog tag still hung and he clutched it in a shaking hand. His mother sat up when she saw the dog tag and pulled out her own from under her collar. It was his fathers.

"You kept it, through all these weeks you kept Jacob's tag." His mother said.

"Of course, I did." Thomas replied, "It was like Jacob was there with me, helping me through everything."

His mother smiled, "I'm sure he was."

"Just like I'm sure Dad was there for you." Thomas smiled back.

She tucked the dog tag back under her collar and met Thomas's gaze, "They will always be with us."

Thomas nodded, "Always and forever."

"Always and forever." His mother echoed.

Thomas sat there, his hand clasped around his dog tag as he soaked in the comfort of his mother's arms and the familiarity of his childhood home. There would always be a hole that would never be filled in Thomas's life, but he knew that at least one good thing had come out of everything he'd been through; the war was over and he was home. Right where he belonged.