Saving my Own Soul

XII

Update! And an extremely long one, I hope you all enjoy it!

I rang the doorbell in the hope that my mom would be the one to answer the door, but of course, the one time I wanted it to be my mother, it was my father.

He appeared at the doorway, looking more drained than I seemed to be. His laugh lines seemed to be more apparent, trailing down to his full-grown scruffy gray beard. Normally he would have had his face shaved, or a simple goatee, but it had appeared as though he had just rolled out of bed, and had completely disregarded his shaver.

His smooth wavy curls, no matter how old my father was getting, he still tried to hold on to the color of his hair. He would frequently use this spray to revert his smooth gray curls to a black, leaving a beautiful wavy streak of gray hair on the side. I will say, my father doesn't look a day over forty, he's managed to take very good care of his body, over the years. "Black Don't Crack!" He would always say.

"Daddy," I whispered, My eyes welled up with tears.

"Come here, baby girl" He smiled, gently, his arms wide open.

I immediately lunged forward, throwing myself in his arms. Without hesitation, his arms held onto me tightly, just as I was. I tried not to cry again, after I had a crying spell, just minutes before we came to the door. Nonetheless, it was as if my mind had programmed itself to initiate waterworks, and so, they fell. Laying in the crook of my father's neck, it seemed as if everything had paused, with my dad and me in the center of it all. It had been a minute since I relied on the comfort of my father's embrace.

"I'm sorry, daddy." I sniffled, wiping away the last flow of tears.

Still holding me, he said, "You don't have to apologize, I overstepped. I still have to understand, that you have your own life to live, outside of your mother and me. I guess in some way, I still wanted to hold onto my baby girl."

"I know daddy, and I always will be your baby girl," I reassured him.

"However," I lifted my head from his neck, to give him my full attention. He always had a but.

"I meant what I said that we really just want to be there for you. We're your family, that's what we're here for." He advised, giving me a stern look.

"I know this too, and I promise I'm gonna do a better job at it, spending time with you guys, besides just calling. Sometimes it just feels like there are not enough hours in a day." I sighed, feeling embarrassed.

"As long as you're making an effort, that's all I care about!" He beamed.

Suddenly I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see my brother still standing at the doorway. My eyes widened, in surprise that he had been waiting outside, this long.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were still waiting outside. If I would have known..."

He held up his hand to stop me before I could finish. "Don't even fix your mouth to say anything. I liked the view of you and pops hugging it out"

"Aw! You big softie!" I cooed, moving towards his direction to give him a hug.

"Hey, Hey...you've already wet two shirts today!" he joked, pushing me away slightly, then reeling me back in for a brief hug.

"Ugh! You're still on that?" I laughed.

"Hey, I was serious about the whole shirt thing. Now I gotta wait 'til it dries." he cackled.

I slapped him on the chest. "Oh hush up with that. You act like you can't stuff that shirt in the dryer."

"Okay, but I don't wanna have to walk around shirtless, while it's drying." he pointed out.