Chapter 18 - The Homecoming I Should Have Had
Three years after that first homecoming, I returned from another assignment.
Shorter this time.
Safer.
When the car turned onto our street, I saw balloons tied to the porch.
The front door opened.
Leo came running.
“DADDY!”
I dropped my bag.
He crashed into me.
I lifted him.
Grace toddled behind him.
Sophia stood in the doorway.
Healthy.
Smiling.
Safe.
That word mattered more than any other.
Safe.
I carried Leo toward her.
Grace lifted both arms.
“Up!”
“Apparently I need more arms.”
Sophia kissed me.
“Welcome home.”
Two words.
The words I had not heard that first night.
Welcome home.
I closed my eyes.
For half a second, I smelled sour formula again.
Saw the cracked vase.
The facedown monitor.
Sophia on the floor.
Then Leo pulled my ear.
“Daddy, look!”
Reality returned.
Sunlight.
Children.
Sophia.
Home.
That night, after they slept, Sophia and I sat on the porch.
“Do you ever think about that night?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Me too.”
I took her hand.
“Does this feel like home?”
She smiled.
May you like
“Yes.”
Finally.
