Capturing Memories

°•°Chapter 55°•°

"For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end, the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

― J.R.R. Tolkien.

Zach's POV.

The exhaustion washes over as I get out of the cab, "Are you sure, Chloe wouldn't mind?" mom's voice gets my attention as I drag our trolleys. I enter the password, opening the gate before directing mom in, "You know her, she'd love having you home,"

Closing the gates again, we walk in while the chilly wind of the night numbs my cheeks. It's 2 a.m. already and I don't think Chloe would be up after the exhausting day she had. She did wait for us until we got into the flight which got delayed by two hours and it is beyond annoying cause I'm sleepless. The best part though, Chloe is in for a surprise when she wakes up because she didn't know mom was coming along. It's two weeks earlier than the actual plan but Chloe sure would love mom home.

I grab the keys from my pocket before locking the front door of the extremely silent house and that sets off Snowy's excited bark causing a smile on my face, "Shush fella, Chloe is asleep," I ruffle his fur while mom walks in. Snowy follows her in silence as she watched the house in adoration; she needed this simple vacation, which didn't involve luxury.

"You both have a lovely home," she smiles as I take off my trench coat and boots, "Chloe bought this place last year and well I just happened to move in," I say with a smile before helping her out of her coat.

Dragging the suitcases in, I direct mom into the guestroom past the living room in quick strides because I couldn't wait to just jump in bed next to Chloe and fall asleep. Turning on the lights, I sigh looking at the freshly painted walls for Molly and the crib that I pushed to a corner, "This is your room," I tell her while grabbing the blankets and towels from the cabinet for her and place them on the bed.

"Thank you, Zach," mom says pulling me down in comforting hug, "Love you, mom," I say kissing her forehead before pulling back. She pats my chest with a smile before walking away.

"Good night Zach. Stop wasting your time here, you were so darn impatient these three days so go and see her," she says with a smile making me chuckle at how easily she reads my mind, "Good night, mom,"

I say, walking out as she pushes me out and locks the door up, "Snowy," I sigh as he nudges my leg and I kneel to give him a quick kiss before walking towards our room. I leave the luggage out before opening the door to see Chloe fast asleep, curled up against a pillow.

Wasting no more time, I walk up to the bed and sit down next to her before tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. I lean down and kiss her forehead with a smile. Finally, I'm at ease, seeing her after three days and it was torture cause I couldn't fall asleep without her next to me. Her hand clutches mine before she opens one eye.

"You're back!" she grins through her sleepy eyes, "Yup. I'll just fresh up and be back but go back to sleep," I say caressing her cheek before she lifts herself enough to peck my lips. Oh, how I missed her touch.

~•~•~•

My eyes flutter open, feeling a hand on my cheek and I smile at a wide-awake Chloe, "Good morning, Sugar," I whisper, pulling her closer before kissing her neck, "Good morning, Zach," her little laughter rings in my ears.

"I missed you," I murmur, pulling back enough to look at her beautiful face once my eyes got accustomed to the brightness, "I did too but you made it pretty clear by holding onto me all night," she smiles, before pulling me into a kiss. I caress her cheek while sliding my tongue past her lips, exploring her mouth while she smiles against my lips.

Something crosses my mind and I pull back, "What time is it?"

"Eleven thirteen," she shrugs looking at me in confusion. Wow, I really needed sleep but now, I'm wondering if mom is already up or if I'm already making her starve on the first day, "What's wrong?"

"Come on, I've got a surprise for you," I say taking the duvet off our bodies and pulling Chloe off the bed while she's giving me an excited grin. I'll never get tired of her childish excitement though.

As soon as I open the door, Snowy is quick to get off the floor before seeking Chloe's attention, of course. I look around for Mom and hear dishes clinking in the kitchen, "Is someone home?" Chloe asks confused and I smile, grabbing her hand before pulling her into the kitchen to find Mom already pouring herself some coffee.

"Nancy!" I slap a hand over my ear as soon as Chloe's squeal gets mom all smiling, I knew she could be loud, but in bed is much different from having her squeal in my ear. Nevertheless, her excitement is always contagious.

Mom pulls Chloe into a hug and I smile while Snowy stands back, nudging me this time around. He sure is a smart one, he knows to stay away from two overly excited women, "Come on fella, I guess we'll be left out today,"

I say with a small laugh while Chloe and Mom jump right to catching up in an endless chat. Refilling Snowy's food bowl, I walk back into the room to freshen up while my thoughts wander around Molly. I've had no update on the adoption process and it's now turning into me getting mad at myself for probably being the reason for this delay or probably never getting to adopt her.

Chloe sure makes things sound more sensible because she always knows the right words to make me stop thinking but I don't know if she'll be fine if Molly's adoption slips past us again. She's the strongest woman and stays that way so that I don't lose it most of the time, which she thinks I don't know but I do. It's maddening to even imagine how Molly is holding up and Chloe ended up in tears the last time she had to leave Molly with the caretaker.

See, what I'm talking about? I am enough stress for Chloe to take and this adoption thing is multiplying it by another ten times.

~•~•~•