Written in the Stars

Chapter Eight

~ Nathan ~  

Seventeen hours.

It took seventeen uninterrupted hours in a plane to fly to Sydney.

I really hadn't understood how long that time is. For a while, I couldn't remember a time when I wasn't on the aeroplane back home as I sat there, bouncing between napping and watching movies on my phone. This flight wasn't as bad when I flew home for New Year's. That time, since I was moving home, it felt longer. Maybe it was the excitement of not having to do that flight again. Maybe it was seeing both my families, real and surrogate, again. Either way, I came back to life sitting in the backseat of mum and dad's car. As I stared out the window, I was reminded that Sydney is a different place in March than it is in January. You'd never know the dip in temperature from the greenery out the window, but the scorching days had given way to milder autumn days. I kept my eyes out the window, even when mum and dad asked me about the flight home.

My body was telling me that I should have been in bed but it was only the afternoon according to the clocks. Jet Lag. The bane of coming home to visit. Luckily, I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. I answered as best I can, feeling tired from travel. I drummed on my thighs a little, telling mum that it helps me stay awake, but really, it's nervous energy about seeing Vanessa again. It had not been that long, but I still remembered the kiss on New Year's.

I hoped to talk about it with her the next day, but work got hectic and I couldn't see Vanessa before I left. I tried to talk about it online, but I kept chickening out. On top of that, she never brought it up so I figured she wanted to put it behind us. So I didn't bother to ask. As we got closer to me moving home though, something about our chatting felt different. Maybe I should have brought it up already.

The car stopped at Vanessa's place and we all piled out, getting my two oversized rolling bags of stuff from the back. My furniture was being shipped back and was due to arrive next month. That was fine with me as I would probably be moving into my own place by the time it got here. Everything I needed was already in Vanessa's place. As we rode in the elevator, I did my best to look like I didn't know what I was walking into. It was easy; tired was a good stand-in for uninformed-surprise-party-guest.

My dad offered to take the bags and roll them along. I hid a smile as I realized he was preparing me for the surprise at the door. I walked along as my mum took my arm and smiled at me.

"It's so good to have you home again. You just get in there and relax," She said as she stepped back to 'help with the bags'. I tried not to roll my eyes as I stepped up to the door and knocked. I chuckled to myself as I could hear Hannah shushing Kate and Lewis.

Then the door swung up to a thunderous....

"SURPRISE!"

The bleariness in my eyes must not have tipped anyone off, so I tried to react appropriately to the shouting that was still bouncing off the walls in Vanessa's place. As usual, Kate and Lewis were the two who were the most enthusiastic yellers. Children's lungs must have extra capacity in them or something. They launched themselves at me the moment the door was flung open. As much as surprise parties turn me off, I couldn't be a stick in the mud for moments like that with my brother's kids. I had to take a knee to hug the excited youngsters as they hopped up to try and hug me around the neck. They weren't quite big enough to do that when I left for school, but I'm sure I'll have time to make it up to them now that I'm home again.