Eva Sun's no stranger to loss. At the age of seven, she lost her mother and was forced to live with her godmother, godfather, and their two children. Of course, she grew to love her new family and adopt them as her parents and siblings. For the next...
Five and a half excruciating hours later and I arrived in Seattle Washington. For the past five years, I have been living in New York. Columbia University offered me a full ride and I couldn't say no. Things were very different in New York than they were back home but I managed to survive. The tri-monthly care packages full of Mom's lasagna and baked ziti helped. Now that I've completed my degree, I am ready to come home. My plan was to always come home but an unforeseen circumstance with my roommate held me back a year.
As the bus drove the last three and a half hours from Seattle to Forks, I wondered how I would be treated at home. Mom and Dad will, more than likely, smother me with affection and all their pent-up worry. Hopefully, Seth, my baby brother, will jump up and down with excitement. I know these past few years have put a strain on him. I'm most worried about Leah, my older sister. When I left it was not on the best of terms. She basically told me that if I left, she would no longer consider me a sister. I left anyway. I would not let her bully me into giving up on my dream and on Bio-Mom's dream of me attending her alma mater.
Bio-Mom refers to Tae-Young Sun, who gave birth to me. When I was just a few years old, she died and left me in the care of my godmother, Sue Clearwater. The two of them were best friends. Sue told me that they met after college when Bio-Mom moved to Forks. They were lucky enough to fall pregnant around the same time and listed each other as the godparent. I never knew who my father was and I've never given a thought to finding him.
One short cab ride later and I finally arrived home. I thanked and tipped the driver as he helped me unload everything on the front porch. With a deep breath, I knocked on the front door. I could hear Seth yelling for Mom that someone was at the door. I could hear a yelp before heavy footsteps walked closer to the door.
The door opened to reveal, Harry Clearwater. "Hi, Dad," I said. Instead of replying, he wrapped his arms around me and brought me in for a hug. A few stray tears leaked out as I wrapped my arms around him.
"Harry!" Mom yelled from inside. "Who's at the door?"
Dad unwrapped one arm and brought me to his side. Together we walked inside to greet Mom. "Surprise," I said. Mom's eyes filled with tears and her hands flew to her mouth.
"Eva?"
"I'm home, Mom."
This seemed to shock her out of her daze and she rushed to bring me into a hug. I'm not ashamed to say that I started crying when I felt her arms engulf me. I finally felt like I was home. I hadn't felt like that in five years. Visits home never left this impression.
"How- How are you here?" Mom asked when she pulled away.
"A plane, a bus, and a cab," I said sarcastically. She tutted and playfully swatted my arm.
"Seth is going to freak out." Mom led me further into the house where I could hear Seth watching TV. "Seth, we have a guest," Mom hollered.
He turned around and in an instant, the bored expression turned to one of shock and awe. "Evie!" He yelled, practically jumping over the couch to tackle me in a hug.
"Hi, Sethy," I whispered in his ear. His body broke out in quiet sobs. I ran one hand up and down his back while keeping the other at the back of his head. "Sh, sh. I'm home and I'm not going anywhere," I whispered over and over again until he calmed down.
After Seth calmed down, the four of us migrated to the kitchen table. Mom had been in the middle of setting the table, so she just grabbed an extra plate, cup, and silverware. We happily ate dinner as we discussed my future plans.
"So, how long are you back for? Where is your stuff?" Mom asked.
"Well, some of my stuff is outside and the rest of it is in a truck heading to Bio-Mom's house. As for how long... I was thinking permanently," I revealed. Another round of cheers and hugs were passed around the table. Seth immediately started making plans for the upcoming weekend. He wanted to go surfing and eat at Lola's diner and he wanted to show me off to all of his friends who refused to believe that his older sister went to Colombia. I promised him that there would be time to do everything he wanted.
Mom and Dad were asking more practical questions. They wanted to know if I had a job yet or if I would need help setting up the house. I took up their offer of help, knowing that Bio-Mom's house would need more than some light cleaning. I also told them that for the moment, I was jobless but I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I told them that I wanted to take a few weeks to get settled and catch up with people that I haven't seen in a few years. They understood and were proud that I at least had a direction of what I wanted to do.
"Mom, whose stuff is outside?" A new voice hollered from the front door. The person kept walking further into the house. "Oh. What are you doing here?" Leah asked, disdain dripping from her voice.
"I'm moving home," I answered. "It was always my plan to come home after college."
"Don't expect your old room back. I converted it into a new walk-in closet."
"I wasn't." We held eye contact for a few seconds before Leah started chatting about her day. She raved and ranted about her shift at Carver's diner in Forks. As much as she complained about the customers she sang praise to her co-workers. I quietly excused myself to go and grab my two bags from outside. Seth jumped up and followed me outside.
"I'm sorry that Leah took your room. I tried to talk Mom and Dad out of it but they said that she needed a project to distract herself. I managed to save your stuff. Leah wanted to just throw it away. I boxed it up and put it in the attic, one day when she was at work," Seth ranted.
"Seth," I said, stopping his rant. "I'm okay. Thank you for saving my stuff. I'm looking forward to putting it in Bio-Mom's house. Here, take this bag inside. Tomorrow we can tackle the house so sleeping on the couch for a night is no big deal."
The tension in him seemed to ease with my words. I knew it was hard on him when Leah and I started fighting. I knew he felt like he had to play the peacemaker between us. I promised myself that no matter what Leah made me feel, I would never show it to Seth. I truly didn't mind that she took over my room. What affected me the most was how carelessly Leah wanted to treat my stuff. I had more than old art projects and trophies in my room. There were momentos from Bio-Mom that she gave to Sue to give to me on certain milestone birthdays. I took one more deep breath and walked back inside.
When I got back to the living room, Leah was gone. Dad told me that she went to go shower and change. I nodded my head and rejoined them at the table. We spent many hours just chatting about my adventures and about things that I missed at home. They told me that Charlie Swan's daughter had returned and that Charlie was happy she was home. They also told me that she was developing an obsession with the Cullens. A knowing look was passed between Mom, Dad, and me.
Night descended upon us and Seth and I bid Mom and Dad a good night. He wanted to camp out with me in the living room so we made a tent out of various white sheets that Mom had in the cupboard. We laid several comforters on the ground and used Mom's decorative pillows to make it comfy. As we lay on the floor, I listened to Seth chatter. He would talk about his friends, school, and things to do together or rant about Leah. There was tension in their relationship and I didn't like how often they fought. But Seth is a good kid with a giant heart. Even if he gets mad at Leah, he will never stop loving her. We slowly fell asleep and it was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time.
Fort Idea
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
