Hi! Welcome to my first PTTR story in well over a year :) I don't know how this one is going to go! I don't know how long it will be, or how large of a timeframe it will cover. I honestly don't even know how often updates will be! But here's chapter one, and it would mean so much if you let me a review :)
It had been their home for the best part of twenty five years. And yet there they were, driving away from it, with all the people they loved waving from the footpath. While it would always be their home, it wasn't theirs anymore. And not even twenty five years of memories could change that. Over twenty five years of Christmases, birthdays, sleepy Sunday afternoons, all behind the yellow door of their little house.
Julie and Dave Rafter, with the company of their youngest daughter Ruby, were off on the adventure of a lifetime. They were leaving their Carrs Park home and heading off into the unknown, leaving behind three of their birds, and a menagerie of extras.
Three birds that had flown the nest long ago.
Rachel, who had left for uni but had returned after an abusive relationship, living abroad in New York City. Ben, the middle child and still their baby, living only on the other side of the Colourbond, and Nathan. The real baby, for over twenty years, who had endured heartbreak after heartbreak but had his ex-wife and love of his life to piece his and his son's lives back together.
As hard as Julie tried, she still saw the baby faces that stared back at her from the photo frames in the backseat, beside their youngest daughter strapped into her five point harness, kicking her little feet sleepily.
They'd flown the nest long ago, and this time, their parents were too.
"It's so weird not having Mum and Dad next door", Ben commented, and Carbo shrugged.
"They're the best fake parents".
"They're the best real parents", Nathan added, as Retta tossed him the bottle she had just pulled out of the microwave. "What time did Rachel say she was Skyping?"
"She'll be calling in a few minutes", Sammy said, taking Edward from his arms. "It is weird though… we always went there".
"If Mum had her way she'd still be there when the new people move in", Ben chuckled, plucking the laptop up from in front of Sammy.
"Ben!"
"What?" he protested.
"Maybe we should have gone through the house one more time", Retta said instead, breaking the argument between the dark haired people beside her. "To make sure they didn't forget anything".
"They wouldn't, Mum's paranoid".
But they all knew what Retta was saying. Maybe they should have all wandered through the house one more time, to say goodbye to the place where Rachel, Ben and Nathan had grown up, and the others had called their home away from home.
They had, in a way. When Dave and Julie were farewelling their home and gathering Ruby's toys into the back of the van, they had wandered through, bringing up memories that were long forgotten. All the sleepovers together in Rachel's room when their babysitters got weird, the games of cricket in the backyard, the hundreds of thousands of dinnertime conversations in the dining room. That they were there for, and that they'd heard. Memories of Christmases, birthdays, the cake tin on the counter, filled with their favourite chocolate mud cake.
Everything that they knew.
But all that was changing.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Julie said suddenly, breaking Dave out of his reverie.
"Jules, they'll be okay". Dave smiled at his wife, taking his hand off the gearstick to squeeze hers. "They're all grown up. I think they'll be more worried about us, out here in the big bad world".
"Do you think Mum and Dad will be okay?" Rachel wanted to know, leaning on Jake as they crowded to fit in the webcam window. "I mean they've never done anything like this before".
"God you're like Mum", Ben scoffed. "They're adults too Rachel, I'm sure they'll be fine".
"And if anything happens we'll be the first to know about it", Nathan added, rocking Edward gently. "Sorry Rach, you miss out".
"Nathan!"
"You're in a completely different time zone; you deserve to find the news out last".
"Nathan you suck, you deserved that time I hit you with a cricket bat!"
Retta laughed, having heard that story a countless number of times.
"They'll be back. I don't know when, but they'll be back", Ben said confidently. "And then you can all lumber on them again and force Mum to make chocolate cake".
"Yes, we really forced her", Rachel said sarcastically, grinning at her brother, who stuck his tongue out in the most adult retort he could manage. "Grow up Ben",
"Grow up Rachel".
"They'll be okay", Sammy said firmly, grinning.
It was the end of an era, but the start of something new.