Seeing You Again

A week later, as Molly accompanied Adeline to the front door of her house, she gave her a warm hug before finally bidding her farewell.

"Thanks for bringing me home." Adeline gripped the luggage handle.

"Remember that you're always welcomed in my apartment alright?" Molly patted her back. "If Nicholas hurts you, you know where to run to."

"I won't be the same old immature Adeline. I've learned to let go didn't I?"

"Alright, alright. Just give me a call when you need something."

"You better get going now. You'll be late for work." Adeline grabbed Molly's arm and pulled her towards her car.

Molly then brought out her car keys, opening the car door. "Remember not to make the same mistake again, Adele."

A few minutes later...

Taking a deep breath before pressing the doorbell, Adeline tried looking around to see if anyone was home, but before she could even do that, Carol abruptly opened the door.

As soon as Adeline saw her mother, tears began filing her eyes as she grabbed the garbage bag that her mother was holding and placed it on the floor.

Carol held onto her arms, telling her softly, "Adele, honey is that you...?" she smiled.

"Mom, I'm back." Adeline gave her a hug. "I'm sorry..." she tried her best to hold back her tears. "I'm sorry for running away. I'm sorry for letting you worry..."

"I'm glad you're alright. That's all that matters."

"I just couldn't take the pain... I needed to—"

"Have you eaten breakfast?" Carol asked, her voice cracking as she hugged her tightly. "We still got some pancakes."

"Y-You still left some for me...?"

Teardrops swelled in Carol's eyes, before flowing out onto Adeline's shirts. "Your father and I waited day and night... We just had this feeling that you'd come back...and you finally did..."

"Thank you...mom...for waiting..."

When Adeline got in the house, her mouth dropped as she saw Dave in the kitchen, washing the dishes. Dave never did any household chore for the past twenty four years of her life and it was surreal that he would be doing such a thing.

"Dad, I'm back." Adeline touched his shoulder.

Dave sighed, "Who is that—"

Turning around to see who it was, Dave's eyes widened as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Adele?" Dave grabbed her shoulders. "Is that really you?"

Adeline bursted into laughter. "You and mom sure have the same reaction."

"When did—"

"I came back just now."

"Give her a break," Carol interrupted. "We've got a lot to tell her about."

As Adeline sat in front of her parents to tell them what happened over the past year she was away, Dave abruptly placed his hand on top of Adeline's.

"Honey..." Dave looked away. "Your mother and I...we're sorry for hurting you."

Adeline leaned back on her chair. "Do you still plan on divorcing now that I'm back?"

Dave and Carol then looked at each other as Adeline waited for them to give her an answer. "What?" Adeline folded her arms. "If that's the case then—"

"We're not." Carol took a deep breath. "We still love each other, honey... We've decided to stay with each other..."

"At least one problem's down. How about the debt?"

"Nicholas...he's paying off our debt..."

As soon as Adeline heard that, she slammed the table as her eyes flashed angrily at them. "Didn't I tell you that I was gonna pay for it? After all these years, you guys still have no shame?"

"But didn't you run away because—"

"Yes, I did runaway, but I found myself a high paying job. I worked my ass off to make money!"

"Ho-How much do you have?"

"That's it, mom? Aren't you gonna even ask me how I'm doing?"

Dave stood up. "Adele, we're thankful for you and Nicholas. Please don't get angry at your mother. She's just asking."