She Never Came Home

Chapter 3

"That was a delicious dinner, mom," Claudia said as she stood up from the table and started to gather plates. "Becca, why don't you go play some video games with your brother until we're ready for movie time?" She told her daughter.

Jason, Claudia's husband, grinned ever so slightly as he asked, "Would you prefer I help you clean up or should I fire up the Xbox on the TV for the kids?"

"Smooth way to get out of dish duty," Claudia poked fun at her husband. "Fine, go ahead. I think Mom, Carla and I have everything here under control."

"Really?" Carla's husband, Richard spoke up from his seat at the dinner table. "I mean, you wouldn't mind if I helped Jason with the Xbox...?"

Carla couldn't help but smile at her husband's large, pleading puppy eyes. They'd been married for almost two years, so they were still in somewhat of an extended "honeymoon" period. "Oh, go on....it's not like I'll find you and Jason playing Call of Duty right along with Becca and Brandon after we're done here..."

Rich gave Carla a quick peck on the lips before almost running to the family room to join in the video game fun.

"You sure you don't need extra help?" Chuck asked his mom.

Joyce noted how her son's eyes were almost at half-mast. She knew that he'd worked right up the last minute before he had to catch his flight from Montana to California and that he was exhausted.

"We're fine, you go get some sleep before you collapse." She'd prepared the guest room for Chuck to stay in; her daughters Claudia and Carla lived nearby and wouldn't need to spend the night. Unless, of course, their respective husbands had too much to drink and were unable to drive... "Not likely," Joyce thought to herself as she rinsed a bowl before placing it in the dishwasher. "They're too absorbed in that gaming thing on the TV." Her husband had purchased the Xbox a year ago, and his son-in-law Richard had hooked it up for him and also advised him on which games to purchase.

"It gives our grandchildren something to do when they come to visit," Stephen had explained to Joyce at the time.

"I remember when I was a child and used to visit my grandparents that I was expected to actually talk to them and not stare at the TV," she'd replied.

"Whatever it takes to keep family together..." her husband had remarked at the time. Joyce had nodded in response and kissed the top of her husband's head. They'd been married for almost 39 years, and in all that time she'd learned that one of the things that mattered the most to her husband was family. As such, when their two eldest daughters had gotten married, Stephen had embraced their respective husbands into the family circle, and luckily both Jason and Richard had responded in kind. There was a warmth and serenity at the Crowley house that radiated throughout each holiday season...even if Claudia and Carla sometimes chose to spend actual holidays with their in-laws, they always returned a day or two after the fact to celebrate with Joyce and Stephen.

"I'm not that tired," Chuck told his mom as he struggled to suppress a yawn. "I thought Reeny was going to be here for dinner," he added. It had been almost a year since he'd last seen his baby sister, and it wasn't often that he was able to get enough days off from work to come home to visit.

"That was her initial plan," his mother replied as she began scraping dinner plates in the garbage disposal. "But Chris is sick with the flu, and she stayed at his place longer than expected to take care of him. But she promised to be here later tonight." Joyce looked at her only son as his head started to droop down to his chest. "Chuck, you're falling asleep right here at the table! Go to bed; I'll wake you when Coreen gets here."