The Smile Always Fades

26. Welcome Home

The moment she stepped onto Oregon ground, Anna felt multiple emotions surge through her: happiness, for being home; sadness, for having to leave New York when things were just starting to become exciting; confusion, as to how she could go from pining away for one boy, to kissing another. It seemed like the week that Anna had spend in New York had run in to months.

"Jason!" Anna screamed, as she ran over to her older brother standing behind a large crowd of tourists.

"Hey, you," he said, and wrapped her up a warm hug. "We missed you."

"I... sorta missed you too." She winked. "Just you here to pick me up?"

Jason rolled his eyes at her first comment and turned around to walk over to the baggage claim. "Yep, just me. Any good stories from the City That Never Sleeps?"

"More than I can tell within five seconds."

Jason turned to Anna with his eyes wide. "It's gonna be a long drive home, then," he said in disbelief and a small twinge of wonder.

"Guess so," she said with a twinkle in her eye. Jason wasn't Anna's first choice of spilling her stories to, but she felt that if she didn't tell someone soon, she'd explode.

"Well, you've missed quite a bit while you've been gone."

Anna looked at her brother, he seemed so strong and confident...and happy. "I've been gone a week, what could I have possibly missed?"

"Mom and Dad are starting to talk again."

Anna's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "You're kidding me."

"Nope. She could see that you and I were actually starting to take a small liking to Sandra--"

"More like a toleration, but alright."

Jason looked at Anna pointedly. "Come on, Anna, you spent an entire day with her shopping and playing dress up. Mom isn't stupid, she knew we were coming out of the phase of hating her and she figured maybe now was the time to start making an effort at getting to know this new person who will be a part of our lives."

"Okay...," Anna began, trying to wrap her mind around this. "So then she's just forgiving Dad for what he did?"

"I think she's warming up to the fact that what's done is done and if she doesn't want this weird awkwardness for all of us, then maybe she should try to mend the bridge that had been broken. Anyway, they've talked on the phone a few times--without screaming at each other--and things have actually become a little more civil, I think."

"Well, that's good. That's a really big step for Mom."

"It is. I think it's something that I admire her for." Jason looked off into the distance. "I can't believe I'm actually saying that. I always thought Mom was so embarrassing for suddenly thinking of those inventions that she thought would get her rich quick, but now I see that she's a pretty strong woman deep down."

Anna smiled. "I actually really miss her."

"She misses you too, Anna. You guys should talk once we get home."

Talk? To Mom? Anna thought. Now that is something I have never done. The more Anna thought about it though, she began to entertain the perfect relationship with her mother. One where they could sit on the couch and talk and laugh for hours about random or serious things in life that they were going through. That would be nice.

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The moment Anna got back to her house, she immediately felt a small calm rush over her. It was good to be home.