She didn't wait for the butler to announce her, she barged right into the castle without any haste. Her quick footsteps rebounded off of the stone floor as she gained speed, nearly sprinting up the stairs to the bedroom where the butler had told her they were occupying. Her chest felt tight as she climbed the steps two at a time, a hard feat in her slim dress, but Phoebe and Monty were worth it. She would do anything for them.
She had checked the papers every day, the morning edition and the evening edition, almost obsessively over the past week to see their names. Lionel had wanted to throttle her for refusing to get rid of any of the papers, just in case she missed their names. He was rather annoyed that the postman now came twice a day, only to be greeted by Sibella's frantic questioning and a quick snatch of the paper, to be followed by sheer disappointment and crying.
It was a cycle that the Holland household had become accustomed to for the past week, much to Lionel's chagrin. He could practically hear the rustling of the paper in his sleep as Sibella flipped to the survivor's list, only to not find the two names she was looking for, and then she would disappear into her room, reappearing only for the evening paper. Lionel had considered calling an asylum if she didn't snap out of it. After all, it had been a week. Lionel himself had figured them both dead, but Sibella refused to give up hope, and now it seems like she had been the one who had been right all along.
She finished climbing up the stairs, nearly running over a poor maid who held a stack of blankets in her arms.
"They're in the master bedroom, Mrs. Holland," the girl stammered out, curtseying to the woman before her.
Sibella nodded, murmuring a quick thank you before briskly walking towards the bedroom. She almost snapped the door handle off as she entered the room, her stomach was in shreds, her bottom lip had teeth marks on it, her hair a mess.
Relief immediately flooded her entire body as her eyes laid on Monty and Phoebe, sitting in bed, right as rain. She let out a sigh, which soon turned into a harsh sob, and before Sibella knew it, she was quietly sobbing as she looked upon her two lovers.
Monty stood then, and she crashed into him with all of her might, wrapping her arms around him tightly as if he might slip through her fingers again if she held him in anything less than a death grip. She was deathly afraid he might just turn to dust… that this was all a dream. The thought terrified her. Tears fell from her eyes again, gasps escaped from her lips, the sound so loud she could barely hear Monty's sweet murmurs in her ear.
At some point Monty placed a hand under her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. She gripped the front of his shirt tightly, her nails nearly digging into his skin as she started to cry all over again.
Monty's hand ran over her cheek and he gave her a smile. She burst out into nervous laughter and smiled back at him. She wiped at her eyes with a few fingers, her hands shaking.
"You didn't think we'd ever leave you, did you?" Monty said quietly.
"I was… I was so terrified Monty," she expressed after a moment, her fingers curling around the collar of his shirt. "I checked the papers every day, and every night… and there was nothing. Lionel told me to give up… that it had been too long…" she trailed off into sobs. Monty embraced her again, his hands in her hair, his mouth pressing soft kisses to her temple.
"Lionel's an idiot. And besides, I'd never let him be right on anything, not even this. He's a monster for saying such things and making you so upset."
"How did you escape, where were you two?" she asked suddenly, picking her head up to look at Monty, and then to look at Phoebe.
"A fisherman found us, it was rather fortunate as a matter of fact. He took us to some island while we rested since we nearly froze to death," Phoebe said as she played with her plait. "We had a hard time securing passage back to you, my love, otherwise we would have come sooner."
Sibella stepped back from Monty in order to go to Phoebe, and Monty let her willingly, knowing that Sibella had missed Phoebe as much as she had missed him.
Sibella engulfed her in a tight embrace, before kissing her lips passionately, running her hands through her hair to secure that she was real or not. Their forehead touched once Sibella pulled away, her hands on either side of Phoebe's face, both of the women were crying.
"Were you scared, my love?" Sibella asked.
"Terribly," answered Phoebe, "The water was so cold… I was so sure that we wouldn't make it, but we did. It's quite a miracle."
"I'm so glad you two are alright," confessed Sibella in a whisper as she grabbed Phoebe's hand and Monty's. Monty came to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist tightly.
"I told you, we will never leave you," he said softly, "God would have to take you with us if we ever left you. We will never leave you alone."
"Besides my love, black isn't your colour, we'd never make you wear it on our account," joked Phoebe, "That is only reserved for your Neanderthal of a husband's time."
Phoebe pressed a light kiss to Sibella's hair. Sibella closed her eyes and breathed in deeply for a moment, trying to collect herself.
She had been in such a state of utter panic these last few days that it was quite hard to get control of herself. She had been so used to be frantic and distraught that finally having them home, safe and sound, was comforting, if not a bit unsettling. They were here, alive and well.
"Promise me you'll never decide to go on a trip to America without me. I don't care if Lionel throws a fit, on the next trip I'm coming or none of us are going. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you two, actually losing you two-" Phoebe squeezed her hand tightly while Monty leaned his head on her shoulder.
"We will never go without you again. It's either all of us, or none of us," swore Monty and Phoebe nodded in agreement.
Sibella breathed a sigh of relief, tears threatening to fall again, out of sheer happiness that her loves were alive and here before her.
Soon enough Monty was pressing sweet kisses to her neck while Phoebe was rubbing comforting circles on her back.
They stayed in the room for the rest of the day and well into the night, all together… like they were meant to be.