"Where is father?"
Caspar asks as he is done with the meal and recounting his overall experience in the army.
His mother looks at Caspar with a lost look on her face as she answers.
"He is still at work in the ministry. He should be coming back in an hour or so."
Soon though they hear a knock on the door, Natali, his elder sister, answers the door.
"Mrs. Wendel, How are you?"
The person who knocked on the door was Berta Wendel, their direct neighbor. She is a kind old lady that lived alone with her husband. She cared for the Hahn children a lot since she did not have children of her own.
"Oh, I heard that little Cas came back, so I wanted to come over and check on him if that's alright with you."
"Of course, welcome in."
Natali welcomed old Mrs. Wendel in, as soon as she saw Caspar she called.
"Oh my child little Cas, you must have suffered a lot out there, come let me take a look at you."
Caspar complied as he smiled and walked over to Mrs. Wendel. She held both of his arms as she said.
"It is all your father's fault for sending you to the army at such a young age. You should have been playing around in the city, not carrying those heavy guns and fighting people."
Mrs. Wendel was very blunt, and due to her old age did not care what other people thought of her.
"It's alright, Mrs. Wendel, I wanted to join the army and do something productive for once."
Caspar's soothing calmed Mrs. Wendel down as she sat down with the rest of the family and started asking everyone how they were.
While they were conversing and having fun, the door opens and in walks a middle-aged man with back hair with streaks of silver, he was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase with his right hand.
He stands there for a minute, looking at Caspar and the rest of his family. The atmosphere was obviously tense, he stood there for a couple of seconds until Mrs. Wendel breaks the silence with a frown.
"Oh dear, look at the time, I should be heading back before the old man back home starts worrying."
Marie, Caspar's mother, walks Mrs. Wendel to the door as she says.
"Thank you for the visit, Mrs. Wendel, We will invite you later to the celebration for Caspar's return."
Soon, Mrs. Wendal leaves, and silence returns until Caspar's father, Jakob, asks his son.
"How have you been, Caspar?"
"Alright... I guess"
Answers Caspar awkwardly. His father was one of the main reasons he joined the army. He did not hate his father, but things got awkward very quickly once Caspar told his parents that he might be attracted to men.
To Caspar's surprise, His father puts his briefcase down as he walks towards Caspar and pulls him into a tight embrace.
"Welcome home, Caspar..."
Caspar can hear the concern from his father's breaking voice as his eyes start getting watery, and he hugs his father even tighter.
Marie, Who is the only other person that knows the whole story starts quietly crying again.
It is only at this moment that Caspar finally feels that he has returned home as tears start flowing down his face.
"I'm home... Dad!"
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The entire family gathers together and talks for the rest of the day, before retiring back to their rooms for a night of sleep.
Even his sister and brother in law decide to spend the night here even though they have their own home so that their children can get to know their uncle more.
As Caspar lays in his bed in his quiet room that remains unchanged even after four years relishing in the comfort that he felt today, he suddenly remembers Lothar's words from the square.
"He said he will see me tomorrow, but we did not choose a place to meet?"
Caspar talks to himself as he rests on his bed.
"Oh well, I guess I'll see him at the ceremony in three days."
Caspar throws the conversation to the back of his mind as he drifts into dreamland, not knowing what chaos those words will cause tomorrow.
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Caspar wakes up at first light, a habit that he picked up from four years in the military. It takes him a minute to figure out where he is until he finally remembers what happened yesterday, and a satisfied smile appears on his face.
Caspar washes up as soon as he gets out of ben and makes his way downstairs. He looks at the empty living room and dining room as he makes his way to the back yard.
As soon as he goes through the back door that leads to the yard, he sees some chairs. He makes his way to his father's chair and sits down to look at the sun that has started to rise.
His father always liked to sit on this chair when the weather was good, he would sit here for hours reading his newspaper while smoking his cigar.
"I can hear you walking, you know!"
Caspar says, knowing who was trying to sneak up on him.
"Damn! I thought I had you."
Felizia walks up and sits on the chair right next to Caspar.
"Why are you up so early?"
Caspar asks since his sister was never a morning person.
"I heard you waking up in the room next to mine, so I woke up."
"Was I too loud? sorry."
"No"
Replies Felizia as she softly shakes her head with a smile.
"It's just that that room had been empty for a long time, so I just kinda woke up when I heard you."
They both stay quiet for a couple of minutes, enjoying the sunrise until Felizia finally speaks.
"I missed you, Cas."
Caspar smiles and replies.
"I missed you too, Fel."
Soon though, the quite is broken as the rest of the family wake up. Marie and Natali were preparing breakfast while Niklas was playing with Wulf and Lore, his nephew, and niece. Jakob was reading the morning paper while talking with Patrik while Felizia would jump into the conversation every once in a while.
'It's good to be home' thinks Caspar to himself as he sits next to Felizia in the living room, until they hear a knock on the door.
"I got the door!"
"No, I got it!"
Wulf and Lore were racing to see who would get the door first.
As soon as they open the door, they see a tall and handsome brown-haired young man standing at the door. Next to him is an older middle-aged gentleman who seems to be frowning.
The handsome young man greats the children.
"Good Morning young ones, is Caspar home?"
Caspar, stunned and confused by the familiar voice, turns and looks at the door, only to see the man he was thinking about last night standing at his doorstep.
Lothar reveals a smile that takes the breath out of Caspar's lungs as he greets.
"Good Morning, Caspar!"