Page 64 of Save Us
Before anyone can say anything else, Beth crosses the room at lightning speed. She sinks inside of her parents’ arms as they descend into sobs, all clinging tightly to one another.
“Oh my God, Riley, look at you!” Beth cries when she finally comes up for air.
However, Riley is looking anything but friendly. He looks angry, hurt, and unsure of how to react toward his big sister. Instead of joining in with the reunion, he shakes his head, then stomps back into the living room with a scowl all over his face. The protective side of me wants to beat him to a pulp for being such an ass. However, I reluctantly leave him to walk away, knowing I have to let Beth deal with this herself.
“Give him a minute,” Jen says before she pulls Beth back in for a long hug, inhaling her scent as if indulging in a nostalgic memory. “Beth, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. Look at you, you’re so thin and…pasty!”
“Thanks, Mum, I can always count on you to put things into perspective,” Beth laughs as she begins wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.
“Beth!” Mal descends into gut-wrenching cries as he grips hold of the daughter he had lost even before she ‘died’ all those years ago. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart! I’ve missed you so, so much!”
“I’ve missed you too, Dad,” Beth says over his shoulder, and he seems to squeeze her that little bit harder. “Both of you,” she says to her mother who joins in with the group hug once again.
Stephen nudges my arm with a grin on his face while we watch the happy scene before us.
“Why is everyone crying? Don’t they want my mommy back?” Rosie asks, looking utterly confused over all the tears.
“No, baby, they’re just so happy to see her again,” I try to explain. “They haven’t seen her in a long, long time, just like us.”
“Oh,” she says, completely accepting of the explanation. It’s so cute I have to pick her up and give her a tight squeeze. “So why is Uncle Riley angry? Doesn’t he want her back?”
“Some people react strangely when they’re emotional,” I reply with a sigh, “he’s just finding it a bit hard to see her again. He’ll be fine.”
Upon my words, I notice Beth looking back at me with concern. She seems to nod at me before making her way out into the living room to go and face her brother
Beth
I find Riley pacing around in the living room with a furrowed brow and a whole lot of attitude exuding from his entire body. I take a moment to study how much he’s changed. He’s definitely not the little boy on the verge of puberty I left him as. Instead, he’s tall, broad, and probably already has a girlfriend. He would have told her his sister died years ago and they would have talked about it while she comforted him. But now, here I am, back from the grave, living and breathing, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. I remain hanging back and wait for him to make the first move, being careful not to spook him before he’s ready. I jump when he suddenly grabs hold of his hair and emits a roar in angry frustration.
“What?!” he barks when I let out a small gasp. “What do you want Beth? A cheesy reunion to make yourself feel better? You want me to hug you and say it’s ok that you vanished for years, making us think you were dead?”
“I’ve not been off enjoying myself, Riley,” I mutter a little bitterly.
“So, you want me to feel sorry for you, is that it?” he snaps, and I can’t help hiding the hurt expression from my eyes.
“No, but why are you so angry with me?”
“Because you left!” he shouts. “You have no idea what it was like, Beth, thinking you were dead!” His tone drops to a sad lull and his whole body seems to slump over the memory of it. “Mum cried for months, so did Dad. Even though he tried to cover it, I could hear him. We moved back to England, and I felt so out of my depth, trying to comfort both our parents on my own.”
“I had to, Riley,” I say to him, but my voice cracks. “Carl would have come after you, it was the only way to stop him. I couldn’t let them get you and Rosie; can’t you see that?”
“I know,” he cries, and on the first sight of his tears, I brave it by running over and throwing my arms around his shivering body, even if he is now towering above me. “But I’m still so mad at you, even if it doesn’t make sense and makes me sound like a complete brat!”
“I get it, Ri, I’m mad too,” I whisper, and feel immediate relief when his hands finally reach around to my back. “Are we good?”
Riley pulls back and unceremoniously wipes his nose against the back of his sleeve as any true sixteen-year-old boy would. He smiles and nods at the same time as I screw my face up over his less than charming reaction to crying. I’ve missed this more than I realize. When he sees me grimacing, he grins with his teeth and we end up laughing for a few moments.
“Don’t ever leave again,” he says, trying to sound manly, but I let him have it. I nod without comment.
When we return to the kitchen, Mum starts crying all over again, and Riley tuts like the moody teenager that he is. I throw my arm around her and kiss her cheek before moving over to Xander, who still has hold of our daughter in his arms. It’s a sight I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing. I just regret all the years I missed with the two of them when she was growing up. She soon cheers me up by throwing her little arm around my neck and smiling at me with those pearly white teeth of hers.
“I would have liked to have had my folks here too, but I can’t hold it in any longer,” Xander beams at me before looking back over at my family and Stephen. “Beth has agreed to marry me,” he announces, and everyone stares at him, all looking a little lost for words. “Because she wants to!” he clarifies with his hand held up defensively, to which they all finally laugh and cheer for our long-awaited engagement.
“That’s fast work, Xander,” Riley teases from his slumped perch on the stool.
“Not really,” he says looking at me with a stupid, lop-sided grin on his face. “It’s taken five, long years, a death, a birth, and a return from the grave to get this girl to agree to become my wife.”
“I love you,” I mouth before we kiss, only to have our daughter make a loud ‘eww’ noise from beside us.