After a few hours of traveling in silence, Sydney seemed to remember something important and look at Theo. "I should mention, mom and dad are a little out of it and have been ever since they heard about what happened to the carriage, so be aware of that." Sydney said. Theo nodded.
"I take it we're almost there...?" He asked hesitantly.
"That's correct." Sydney said.
"You've become less talkative..." Theo stated.
"I... Found it hard after..." She trailed. She looked Theo dead in the eyes. "We've missed you." She stated. "For the first few weeks after the wreck was found, we worried that you might've died..." She said with a melancholic expression. "Mom was stressed. Dad couldn't focus on work... I... Spoke less..." She said.
'I feel worse about forgetting now... I have such a caring family and I just forget all about them... I'm awful...' Theo thought to himself.
"But don't blame yourself!" Sydney added on a more serious note. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. You had no control over the situation. You were seven." She said.
"Speaking of what happened... How many died?" Theo asked.
"Everyone except for you. They spread the bodies in the woods to make it look like they had run and gotten killed, which is why we were worried you might've been dead, but they never found your body." Sydney explained. Theo nodded.
"I see." Theo said as the carriage came to a stop.
"It seems we've arrived." Sydney stated as she stood up and went to open the door. Theo immediately stopped her. She glanced at him with a confused expression.
"Sorry..." Theo said as he retracted his hand. "I just..." Theo said shakily. "N-nevermind, forget about it." He said as he tried to ignore his fear instinct.
"Right..." Sydney said with a confused tone as she opened the door, then exited the carriage. After a few moments, Theo stood up and exited as well. Upon exiting, he saw a familiar structure with some minor differences. New scratches on the walls, it was dirtier, almost less taken care of.
He noticed Sydney walking through the front gate and going to the front door, so he quickly went to catch up with her. As they approached the door, it opened, and standing in the doorway is his mother. She has bags under her eyes, and her clothes have wrinkles strewn throughout them.
Her eyes began to tear up. "Theo..." She said as she reached out towards him, but stopped. "I'm sorry..." She said as she began crying and closed the door. Theo looked at Sydney.
"She's just a bit overwhelmed, don't worry about it." She said then opened the door and entered the house. She looked back and saw Theo just standing there. "You coming in?" She asked.
"Ah, right..." Theo said as he walked in. He looked around and saw the dusty interior, clearly, the house hadn't had a deep clean in years. He saw his mother sitting at the table, trembling as she cried.
"Dad's probably in his crafts room. I'll get him, you go talk with mom." Sydney said.
"Okay." Theo said as Sydney walked to the stairs. He walked over to the table and sat next to Kendra. "Hi, mom..." He said as he paused, uncertain as to what he should do. "I'm home..." He said hesitantly.
"Yeah... You are..." She said as she tried to stop crying and looked at Theo.
'What am I supposed to do here!? Am I supposed to hug her? Am I supposed to let her hug me? What do I do!?' Theo wondered as he saw his mother cry.
"Sorry, I didn't want you to see me like this, but..." She trailed as she tried to stop crying. "You know... Don't worry about it..." She said as her tears slowed. "What matters is that you're here now." She said as she wiped her face and put her hands on Theo's shoulders. "Come, give your mother a hug." She said as she pulled him into a hug.
'I guess I didn't need to do anything...' Theo thought to himself. After a few moments, hurried steps could be heard coming down the stairs and soon running towards the table.
"Theo!" John yelled as he joined the hug being given by Kendra. Sydney watched from next to the hall with a warm smile as her family was reunited.
A while later, they ate dinner, they spoke, told stories, it was like nothing ever happened. "Theo, you'll be taking the guest room tonight until we can find something more permanent. We managed to find your staff, it's in there." Sydney said after their parents went into their room.
"Right." Theo said. 'Makes sense, Sydney is an adult now, it'd be weird for us to share a room.' He thought to himself. "By the way, aren't you around the age that girls would usually get married?" Theo asked. Sydney blushed.
"And what of it!?" She asked with a flustered expression.
"Not much, just wondering if you've gotten any proposals or admirers." He said with a light laugh.
"Oh... That's all?" She asked as she calmed down. Theo nodded. She leaned against the wall as she took a sip from her cup. "I've gotten a couple, but I'll probably turn them down. I'm not interested in any of them." She said.
"That's fair. Mom and dad got married at twenty, right?" Theo asked. Sydney nodded.
"They did." She stated.
"Then you've got plenty of time. Life is long, so take your time to choose your partner." Theo said.
"I don't really need you to say it, but it's nice to hear a fresh viewpoint. Mom's been ragging on me to choose someone for months." She said as she took another sip. "I know she just wants me to be happy, but it can be tiring..." She added.
"Well, I may not be that old, but five years alone gives you time to think, and what I've thought about is life. Take your time." Theo said.
"You sound like a philosopher." She said blandly.
"A philosopher is just a man that was paid to think and pretend to be wise." Theo said. Sydney laughed a bit.
"Yeah, I guess that's true." She said. She took a drink from her cup. "It's getting late, we should sleep." She said as she pushed off the wall slightly and put her cup on the table. "Night." She said as she walked away.
"Night." Theo said.