Shock

-31-

I didn't let go of Cam for a solid five minutes, afraid that if I did, he would disappear somehow.

When I looked over the top of his head, I noticed a dark-haired, dark-eyed figure standing a few metres away.

My dad.

He noticed me at the same time I saw him. His eyes doubled in size as he realized what was happening.

I released the twins and skipped over to him.

We stood face to face for a few seconds, too shocked to speak.

Then, he pulled me into a bear-hug.

"I missed you so much!" I said.

"I missed you too! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Where were you during the earthquake? Did you get hurt? How did you know where to find us?"

"I was at Rhonda's. I took over Willow's shift, remember?"

He nodded, but didn't interrupt me.

"I'm not hurt," I pulled my sleeve over my injured hand as I spoke those words.

"We didn't really know you'd be here, but-"

Before I could finish my sentence, dad was tackled by Peter, who crashed into him at full speed, throwing his arms around him.

Dad reacted quickly, using the momentum to lift my brother up high into the air and twirl him around.

I laughed and took a few steps back to avoid getting hit by Peter's boots.

But I since I didn't look where I was going, I bumped into someone who had been standing behind me.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. I spun and saw it was Nathan who I'd crashed into.

"Wow, two times in two days? You must really like me."

He grinned mischievously.

I was confused by his words at first, but then I remembered the time I bumped into him when I'd been walking out of the kitchen at Rhonda's.

I snorted.

"I really should stop walking backwards in jam-packed rooms, huh?"

"I would advise it."

Suddenly, I felt something near my leg. When I looked down, I saw it was Cam. Now that Peter had gone to hug dad, he was alone again, and he was tightly grabbing my skirt.

He'd never admit it, but I knew he'd missed me.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." I assured him.

He smiled slightly and offered me his pinky.

"Promise?"

I looped my pinky through his, to seal the promise.

"Promise."

Then, his eyes darted away from me, to the side, and he grinned.

I turned to see what he was looking at. Extacy ran through me as I noticed the dark-skinned, purple clad woman steering her wheelchair towards us. Her smile lit up the entire room.

"Charlie?" she breathed.

"Mum!"

I met her halfway and threw my arms around her.

"I missed you so much!"

"I assure you, I missed you more. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I reassured her, just as I'd done my dad, then proceeded to ask her the same exact questions.

"Yes, honey, I'm fine. Where's Peter?"

"He's with dad."

When I turned to point, dad had put Peter on back the ground, but the two still hadn't let go of each other.

Mum saw it too. She smiled.

Then she turned back to me.

"So," I asked "How did you guys get here?"

"Mrs. Freeman," she motioned to the woman standing next to us.

"She knocked on our door right after the first shock to let us know she was going to the school, because she knew they had emergency plans for situations like this. She asked us if we would like to come along, and we did."

A huge wave of relief washed over me. For over fourty-eight hours, I'd made up all sorts of scenarios in my head about what could have happened to my family. I'd been worried sick. It felt incredible to hear that they'd been safe after all.

I turned to mrs. Freeman to express my gratitude, but she waved it off.

"That's what neighbours are for, aren't they?"

I nodded and smiled. From the corner of my eye, I could see Cam walking over to Peter and dad, taking Haley, who had stayed behind when Peter ran off, with him so only Nathan remained. He seemed happy for us, watching the family reunion from afar, yet I could see he felt out of place, as he awkwardly shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Having overcome the first shock, I remembered my manners.

"Uhm, mum, this is Nathan. Nathan, this is mum."

Mum offered Nathan her hand.

"I'm Anne."

I mentallly face-palmed myself for introducing her as mum. Nathan didn't seem to mind though. He just shook her hand, and I hoped he wouldn't say anything about the chair. Sure, most adults meeting her for the first time didn't, that was more of a second date question. Still, I was relieved when he only said: "Nice to meet you."

I still wasn't entirely sure of how much Paisley had told him, but I figured he hadn't known. I wasn't even sure Paisley had known.

As we finished our greetings, dad approached us. He kissed mum on the head and then turned to us.

"Are you ready to tell us your adventures then?"

I chuckled. "it's a long story."