Claire approached her family's house, and the closer she got, she heard people conversing.
Getting close enough, she made out the voices to be those of her parents, Garrett and Meghan. Turning the corner, the house got into view. She saw those who she heard only moments ago. Those were Meghan and her parents surrounding Garrett as he had his bags around him. Getting ready.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She felt herself relax upon her realisation that she was on time.
'Garrett is getting ready, everyone is outside. That must mean that its getting close to 8,' Claire thought to herself.
Garrett looked Claire's way, he saw her with her basket.
She looked back at him. No words had to be exchanged, they both went over this a thousand times.
'1... 2... 3... 4... 5.....' Garrett began to count to himself. By the time he reached 30, Claire should have emptied her basket, placed it back in its place and walked over to him. '... 24... 25... 26...'. He saw Claire. '27... 28... 29... 30...'. She reached him, the group.
Joining the group, she looked at her parents, Meghan and her brother. "Good morning," she greeted everyone, to which everyone replied back with a "good morning.".
She saw the way her parents gazed at her, smiled her way. "Were there much grapes ready this morning, Claire?" her father asked.
At first, she nodded. "Quite a bit, there are still more left tho.".
"That's alright. We will pick it up from there altogether straight after this then," he replied.
"I can help you too, if you need another helping hand," Meghan volunteered, stepping that bit closer to Claire.
"That will be superb. But if you do have any errands to take care of, please place yourself first before helping us out, is that okay?" their father replied.
"I do have something to take care off, but that's not until like this afternoon. So I'll be free to help out.".
"Alright, that's perfect then. Thank you so much, Meghan.".
Then, Claire's and Garrett's mother approached Claire. "My daughter..." she whispered under her breath before giving her a hug and her cheek a kiss. Next, she gently pulled Garrett towards her. "My children... my gorgeous children.". She embraced them tightly, giving them another kiss each.
Garrett looked at his mother, a small smile of empathy grew on his lips. "Mom, you said you weren't going to cry.".
"I know, I know I said...". She took a pause in order to let the lump in her throat cure itself. But not only that, she stopped herself to allow for her tears to recede from her eyes. "I know I said I won't cry. But you are my child. A part of me... and seeing you parting from us again, it's like taking a part of me away with you.".
Garrett nodded understandingly. His mother's words left a greater impact than he anticipated. He felt a lump grow in his throat as his eyes swelled with tears ever so slightly.
"And me too. I feel the exact same way," his father said, walking over and embracing his loving wife and two children. Then, he looked up at Meghan, and with a smile, he said, "Come here, Meghan. Join the family hug. You are a part of our family now too, you know!".
Meghan did as she was told. She joined the hug, giving pats and rubs of reassurance to Garrett's and Claire's mother, Claire herself and whoever else needed it.
Then, they all heard a sound, a sound of which nearly everyone dreaded the most. The sound of a truck.
They all broke from their embrace, looking back. In the distance, they saw it. The camouflaged truck.
Briefly pulling out his pocket watch, Garrett checked the time. 7:59 AM.
They all moved a step back to allow the truck to pass. Claire hoped that the truck wasn't Garrett's. She hoped that the truck would pass their house and continue to drive on. But her heart dropped when it stopped.
A man, dressed in clothes that resembled something to that of what Garrett wore, hoped off the back of the truck. Claire glimpsed inside the truck, she saw more men, some dressed in clothes the same as her brother.
"Soldier Garrett Emerson!".
"Yes, Sir!!" he replied, saluting the man in front of him.
Claire gazed at him. At Garrett. She never saw this side of him. She knew her brother was tough, but seeing him with such an attitude, it made him a thousand stronger in her eyes - if that was even to be possible.
"Right, you may say your goodbyes to your family members. We will take are of your stuff. But make it quick.".
"Yes, sir!". With that, he turned around and faced Claire, Meghan and his parents. A total change in his demeanor had occurred. A small smile stretched on his lips as he approached his family.
His mother was leaning against her husband, a tissue right beneath her nose, attempting not to cry. But it was obvious that she was slowly failing.
"Mother..." Garrett voiced softly, trying to reassure her. He stepped closer to her, and suddenly, she hugged her son tightly. That was her breaking point. She began to sob.
"M-my son! My son is going again!".
"M-mom... please..." Garrett began, he couldn't help but let his voice tremble. The fact that his mother, the strongest person he knew, cried against him. It made him upset, hurt. She was crying for him. Because of him.
"Promise your mother that you'll be back," she whispered her request to him.
His brows quivered to her words as his heart sent a thump of pain through his body. He took a deep breath before nodding against her. "I promise, mother.".
With that, he then turned to his father. They looked at one another, smiling before giving each other a manly hug. They both patted each others' back.
"You make me proud, son. Not only because of you are busying yourself with the military, but because of everything you did that led up to this moment right here. You hear?". A pause. For the first like in a long, long while, Garrett saw his father tear up.
Without a warning, Garrett was pulled in for another hug. His father's breath quivered. "I love you, son. Don't every forget that, and don't ever think otherwise.". Parting from their embrace, his father held Garrett's head in his hands before giving his forehead a kiss.
Next, he turned towards his sister, Claire.
He smiled at her as she smiled at him. With that, they both approached each other.
"Garrett..." Claire muttered under her breath before she hugged him. He hugged her back. Claire tried to control herself, but began to cry, she couldn't help herself. No matter how hard she tried to fight her tears, she felt a greater degree of pain with her trying not to allow herself to sob, compared when she allowed herself to let it all out.
Garrett felt this. He tightened his embrace around Claire that bit more. "Don't worry. I'll be okay... I'll come back.". A pause. "But until then... please, take care of mom and dad, okay?".
At first, she swallowed whatever was in her mouth before she nodded against him. "Yes. I-I will take grave care of them. Don't have one speckle of doubt in that.".
He let out a chuckle. "I know. I have no doubt in you.". From there, they both split from their hug. Garrett kept his eyes on Claire. "I love you, Claire. I love you, my sweet, sweet sister.". He took her face into his hands and pressed his lips against her forehead, kissing her.
He kept her, in this short embrace of theirs for a few more seconds, allowing a tear to roll down his face.
"I love you too, brother," Claire replied.
With a smile, he turned around to the final person to send his goodbye to. Meghan.
He could see that she was on the verge of tears. She only came closer and closer to letting a tear from her eyes the smaller the distance between them became.
"Meghan, my love..." Garrett voiced. It were these words of his - actually not even that, but simply the sound of his voice - that broke Meghan.
"G-Garrett..." she whispered, embracing him as she cried into his chest.
"Hey, hey, now. There is no need to cry. I'll be back before you know it!" he voiced gently.
"It's easier said than done..." she replied, hitching a breath from her tears.
He couldn't help but chuckle melancholically at her words.
Then, from their hug, he took a small step back and picked up her face. She gazed into his eyes as he looked into his. From there, slowly, he lowered his lips until they met hers.
It was this action of his that caused, evoked more tears to descend from Meghan's eyes.
Lifting his lips from hers, he looked at her, smiling empathetically and wiping her tears away.
And then, his hands descended down, down past her neck, shoulders and all the way to her stomach. From there, Meghan's hands descended and embraced Garrett's.
Then, his lips connected with her forehead.
"I am going to miss you so much..." Meghan began. "We will all miss you so much.".
He nodded against her head. "I-I... I know...". He sniffled as his eyes once again filled with tears. He took a step back and once again looked at everyone of his family members present in front of him. "I will miss you all so, so much.".
"Alright, Soldier. We have to get going.".
With that, he gave everyone a final look before turning around and hopping onto the truck.
He saw the way his mother was held by her husband, and how Claire was embraced by Meghan. They were all in tears.
That thought itself broke his heart, it made him shed another tear himself.
Moments later, the truck started up. And with a large, dark cloud of smoke, the truck drove off. Drove off and carried Garrett away with it...