Birds of a Feather

eleven

   "Hey guys!" my voice surprise even me, as I sounded much more TV-show-host than normal. Rachel's eyebrow drew in suspicion, but ultimately took it as me being silly. After the press conference I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I was bat-shit crazy.
  The familiar sound of my dad hanging up his keys filled my ears, even though it felt like the last time I'd heard that noise was mere days ago, in reality it had been months. "Dylan, what was your deal at that press conference? You acted-"
  "-Crazy?" Jenna interjected.
  This made me grin. "That was the idea. Kinda hoped it was payback for displaying my naked body on national television." I shrugged, as if this act of vengeance should have been anticipated. I moseyed over to the fridge and flung it open, searching for some sort of a snack. "Damn, I was kinda hoping that after like six months we might have more to eat in the fridge," I scoffed.
  There was a moment of silence, I turned around to see my sisters and father ogling me like some sort of side show freak. There was a moment of silence, before Jenna ran to me. She grabbed me by my shirt pulling me astride with her. Her arms flung around me in a way that was almost aggressive, but upon arrival was soft and somber. I felt the warmth of her silent tears as they stained my shirt. "Hey now, why the long face? We should be celebrating! I'm home!"
  I lifted Jenna's face to look at mine, her long eyelashes wet with tears, but she was still pretty as ever. When her eyes met mine, i was surprised to find her smiling. "I just never thought I'd see you in this house again, or open the fridge again, Dyl. I never thought I'd say that I missed the sound of your complaining,"
  Jenna's remark caused my father and Rachel to start to laugh, and when I looked to them, they too had tears silently wetting their cheeks. However, their smiles were just as big as Jenna's. They both enveloped me and Jenna in a huge hug. For a brief moment, I felt almost cold and calloused. Why wasn't I crying? But then I reminded myself that the way time had passed for me was not how it had passed for my family. This thought, thinking of them searching for me worriedly. No closure, cleaning my room just with the hopes of finding a clue as to where I might be. In my state of depression did they thing that I'd possibly committed suicide? The thought had to have crossed their minds. Thinking of this pain and suffering my family had gone through sent me into my own fit of tears. I felt as they welled up and stung my eyes before pouring down my face. It was a weird sort of cry, because I was sad for what my family had to endure, and stressed over Brandon and the media and my powers, but also so happy just to be in my family's arms again.
   "Alright now, let's quit being a bunch of babies long enough for us to eat something," I remarked hoping to lift everyone's spirits. It worked. Everyone laughed, almost the way you release air from a pressurized can.
  My dad caressed my feathers absentmindedly, almost as if this new me was not so new at all. "You got it, I'll make one of your favorites. Go get some rest, re-mess up your room if you need to." He laughed.