Time With You

Clarissa stood outside the big brown door, listening to the loud, booming voices coming from the inside. She smiled - she remembered that noise; she remembered it all too well. Slowly, she placed her hand on the door handle and giggled, almost in glee, when she heard the sound of dogs barking. As the door opened, the girl's mom came into view and the way her face lit up caused Clarissa to drop her suitcase and all but run into the woman's arms.

She took a deep breath and breathed in the scent that radiated off her mother. A small sigh of relief left her as she squeezed her arms tighter - letting go was far from her mind. She felt the dogs jumping at her back and while at any other time it would annoy her, she soaked the feeling up. Finally, after minutes of just holding the elder woman there, she pulled away and smiled at her.

"So, where is he?" Was the first thing her mom asked and she knew what she meant. Clarissa laughed and shook her head. "I've been waiting for both of you to visit, you know!" her mother admonished.

"He couldn't make it this time, and work is keeping him too busy." She smiled and made her way to the couch, plopping down and allowing the three dogs to jump up and see her. She giggled as they sniffed her and licked her; it had been a while since she last saw them. She took her hands and patted their heads one by one, kissing them on the side of their faces as she always did. "He did say to send his love, of course."

Her mom smiled in return and sat down in her signature chair. She took the remote in her hand and turned the TV down, the booming voices from before now being lowered into background noise. "I can't wait to see him again. He makes you happy, and I couldn't ask for someone better for my baby girl to spend her life with."

Clarissa stared fondly as her mother talked, but glanced around when she heard a faint whisper of her name. She brushed it off and looked at her dad's chair. "Where's Dad?" She looked at the clock and noted that he should have been home.

"He's over at Anna's, and she needed help with moving things." Clarissa nodded at that and leaned back on the couch. "Don't go falling asleep, you've just gotten here." Her mom said and she laughed, remembering all the times she would drift to sleep on the couch after staying up all night.

She looked to her mom when she heard a faint whisper again, and tilted her head. "You hear that, Mom?" Her mother shook her head and she huffed, letting it fall to the back of her head once more.

"I'm sorry I haven't come home in some time." She felt something tug in her heart and she clutched it, eyeing her hand in confusion. "I feel.. I feel like I should be," she paused and looked into her mom's eyes. "Saying sorry to you repeatedly..." Her voice was soft as she spoke.

"Oh honey, you've always been one to apologize for no reason." The woman chuckled and went to her daughter, giving a soft pat to her head. "You've done nothing wrong baby girl, why should you be sorry?"

Clarissa looked down at her hands and jumped at a quick memory which played in her head. It was a voice - the voice of her sister - saying "she's gone sissy, she's gone." Her head jolted up and she looked into the eyes of her mom. "I think I'm going crazy," she paused and then hugged her. "Mom, am I going crazy?"

"You aren't going crazy," her mom chuckled and pulled her back so she could look her in the eye. "You've always been crazy, my dear." This caused Clarissa to laugh, it was a running joke in her family, that all of them were absolutely mad.

Her laughter came to a stop though, when another whisper of her name entered her ears, and she shook her head. "Mom, do you hear your name whispered sometimes or am I actually crazy?" Her mom nodded and glanced down at her hands.

"I do... I hear the whispers of our family calling me to come back," she paused to look at her daughter who looked confused. "You mostly," she stopped her words to let out a sad sigh. "You're always asking me to come back," she puts her hand on Clarissa's cheek. "Apologizing to me for things you couldn't control," she gently kissed the girl's forehead. "Or things that I forgave you for long ago."