A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! They keep me motivated to write.
Forelsket: (n.) the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
A knock interrupted them, and he noticed her entire face light up as their kids walked back in. They each hugged their mother and looked at their dad.
"Mom can go home after she has breakfast."
Stevie grabbed her sister's hand and they rushed to the door. "We will find you breakfast, mom."
Jason's eyes never left his mom as if to determine how much pain she was in. There was no wince as she moved, and he took it as a good sign. His hand grabbed his mother's and felt her fingers tighten around his. They slipped between them to tighten the grasp and he finally looked her in the eyes.
"I'm okay, slugger." Tears glistered in his eyes as he heard his mother say his nickname. He hadn't heard it for over a year and it was a nice reminder his mother was really back.
"Are you sure?" Jason asked, unable to disguise his doubts.
"I'm back home with my family." He knew she avoided answering his question, but let it go. She had enough to worry about at the moment. He has a feeling that there would be plenty of conversations to come about what his mother had gone through.
"A lovely breakfast for two." Stevie said as she walked in again, holding the door open for Alison. The youngest of the pair was balancing a tray with food for both their parents. They knew her dad hadn't left her mom's side and skipped dinner last night.
Silence fell as they watched their parents eat. Alison closed her eyes, and though part of her didn't want to do it in front of her mother, she let a few tears she had been holding back fall. When she opened them, she found her mother's arms stretched out towards her, motioning for her to come. She sighed as she sat beside her and let herself break down in her mother's arms.
"It's okay." The soft, gentle tone of her mother soothed her, and she slowly calmed down. Once she pulled back, she found her mother staring at her with worry, her eyes showing the deep exhaustion of the past couple of months.
"Just a day ago, who would have thought that we would all be together like this." Alison tried to lighten the mood and returned to sit next to her sister. She was grateful when Stevie put her arm around her for comfort.
"We're alive, we're together and right now I just want to go home." She looked at the food she had barely touched. She knew she wouldn't be allowed home until she ate everything, but she just couldn't eat anything. At least not until she was back home.
Jason shared a look with his siblings and they moved to stand beside her bed. Her eyes flickered to her husband in confusion, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"Promise you will eat when we get home?" She nodded and awaited what her kids had in mind. They each picked up a part of breakfast and ate it. Before Henry could even start to protest and tell them their mom had to eat, most of breakfast was already gone.
She ate the last few pieces of fruit on her plate with much effort. Henry frowned at this but chose to let it go for the moment- not wanting to bring it up with their kids around.
"Why don't you guys find mom a doctor that can release her." Henry suggested, and all three kids got the hint. They left their parents alone for a moment.
"Are you sure you're ready to leave?"
It was the heartbreaking sadness and loneliness within her that allowed her to open up to her husband. With near panic in her voice, she told him what was bothering her. "I can't stay here, Henry. I spent more than a year locked up. I want to be free to go and not be stuck in a hospital room."
"I get it." Henry told her with a short nod of understanding. "but promise you take it slow. Your doctor didn't want to tell me the details, but he did mention you needed your rest."
"I promise."
Her kids returned with the doctor and she signed the release papers. When the nurse wheeled a wheelchair in the room, she sighed. She knew it was hospital regulations, but that didn't mean she liked it. Reluctantly, she let Henry help her sit down and he wheeled her out of the room.
What surprised her were the two agents following them closely. She was aware a year had passed, and a new Secretary of State had been appointed.
Stevie seemed to notice the confusion and cleared it up. "There is an army of media outside, so we can use another exit."
She nodded and continued to look straight ahead.
As they waited for the elevator, she felt Henry lightly place a hand on her shoulder. The gentle contact warm and soothing in a way that made her heart flutter. She smiled and then lifted a hand. She placed it over Henry's, letting their fingers touch.
The ride home was quick, and she now noticed the media swarming their street as well. She was glad they weren't near the house. Her family and the two agents formed a shield around her as she walked into the house once again.
"Let's get you in bed." Henry already guided her to the stairs, but she held up a hand in protest.
"The couch, please?" The pleading look she gave her husband was one she knew he wouldn't be able to resist. She just wanted to be around her family. Watch them move around the house and get her sense of normalcy back.
If even she could.
After over a year, she didn't even know what that meant anymore. What she did know was that she needed her family close.
Her body fatigued and sore and her head pounding slightly, she thought nothing of these things as she collapsed on the couch. Henry draped a blanket over her and Alison quickly took a seat next to her mother. Jason did the same, only he took place on the floor next to his mother.
She was finally home.
The Mccord house was finally at full capacity again. Everyone was home and that was the way they all liked it.
Elizabeth was aware her children needed a constant reminder that she was home. Alison refused to leave her side and Stevie and Jason came in every now and then to see if she needed anything.
Henry, on the other hand, had mastered the art of avoiding her. She knew it wasn't anything to take personal, but she still wondered if it was something she needed to worry about.
He had lived for a over year without her. He had moved on- She caught her thoughts for a moment. What if he had actually moved on? He had been under the assumption that his wife was dead. What if he had started seeing other women? Was he dating? The thoughts caused her to go crazy and she sighed as she swung her legs on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Alison asked worried. Her mother was supposed to rest, not walk around.
"I need to talk to your dad." She tried to push herself up and afterwards, needed the couch for stability. She waited for the dizziness to pass and ignored the worried stare from her youngest daughter. Slowly, she made her way through the house and found her husband in the office.
"What are you doing up?" He shot up and part of her wished they would all stop fussing over her. She knew they meant well, but she was still capable of doing things by herself.
"Since you're avoiding me, I figured I would come and find you." She collapsed on the chair in the office and Henry kneeled beside her. He kept his mouth shut because he couldn't lie to her. He had been avoiding her and he had hoped she wouldn't notice. "I know it's been a year and if you've moved on, I understand."
The tears that the words brought to her own eyes matched the ones she found in her husband's eyes. She closed her eyes for this had been the worst thing that she could have imagined. He had moved on and she didn't blame him, yet still it hurt.
"How could you ever think I could move on from you?" His hands grasped hers and her eyes opened again. His hand left hers and he showed her the chain from around his neck. He took it off and placed it in her hand before closing it with his own. "You're the love of my life and if I can't be with you, I won't be with anyone."
She opened her hand and found her wedding ring on the chain. She felt a tear roll down again and looked up at her husband, lovingly.
"What is it?" He asked worried and she allowed a flashback to fill her mind for a moment.
The second time she woke up after being taken, she once again tried to listen if anyone was around but was met by silence. She dared to open her eyes and found she was alone in a bedroom. She scanned herself for any injuries and saw a cut on her right hand and a chain around her ankle. Her arms where free and she guessed she was allowed to go as far as the chain let her, which from the looks of it wasn't more than two or three meters to a side.
For a moment her thoughts wandered back home. Henry had warned her not to go and look where she now was, half way around the world kidnapped by a psychopath who also happens to be a world leader.
Elizabeth had a habit of touching her wedding ring when she missed the comfort of home or just needed to feel close to her family. When she touched her finger, she found no ring and she quickly looked around to see if she had dropped it. Tears sprung to her eyes as the entire thing became too overwhelming.
She had lost it. The one thing that could bring her any kind of comfort. The thing she had worn with much pride for over two decades. She fiddled with the now empty spot of her finger, but it wasn't the same.
She just wanted to go home, to go back to her husband and be with her kids. She never should have gone to Iran, and the result was this.
Henry's hand on her leg brought her back to reality and she realized she had zoned out for a moment. With tears in her eyes, she cupped his cheek.
"I thought I lost it."
He took it off the chain and grabbed her left hand. As he put it on her finger, he realized it no longer fitted due to his wife's weight loss. It was another reminder things had changed. He put it back on the chain again and put it around her neck, leaving his arms to gently rest on her shoulders.
She moved forwards and put her head against his, foreheads touching like before. She moved a bit more towards him and pressed her lips against his. She knew she was pushing herself, but she wouldn't let anything else get taken from them. She had missed out on a year of her family's life, she was about to let him take this from her as well.
Henry refrained himself from kissing her back this time, hoping she would be more comfortable. When she pulled back a little and he felt wet cheeks against his face, he realized she was crying. It broke his heart to see his wife in so much pain and he wished he could take it from her.
"But Henry, it's been a year and I was just thinking-"
"Stop thinking, stop thinking about thinking. Don't think about it. You hung in there and here you are. You made your way back to us. It's over."
The fact that she still wasn't convinced he didn't move on from her, felt almost unbearable to watch. He needed her to know she was the only one he wanted. Ever.
She threw her arms around him and found herself back in his strong embrace. The soothing sounds he whispered in her ear calmed her down and she found herself being able to relax in his arms. She had missed him and their kids so much, no words could even describe it.
"I swear I'm going to try harder. I know now what it's like without you and I almost checked it in without you. If it weren't for the kids, I would've. I can't do it without you, Elizabeth."
"I can't do it without you."
He helped her up and guided her back to the couch where they found Alison still in the same place. They knew their kids were all coping differently, and Alison just needed to stay close to her mother.
"Why don't you make your mom something to eat." Henry suggested as he watched his wife collapse on the couch again. She seemed to have very little energy and he knew she skipped breakfast.
Alison, though, had a frown stretched across her forehead as she continued to study her mother carefully, like she thought that if she just looked hard enough she would understand everything that had happened to her, and then knew exactly how to make her better. How to make her strong and fearless again.
"Noodle?"
"Yeah." Her eyebrow lifted, and her mouth opened, and he knew that she was about to argue, but then with a loud sigh she got up and headed towards the kitchen to gather her siblings and make lunch.
With an undignified thumb, Henry dropped on the couch, sitting in the exact same place that Alison had been all day.
"Babe, the FBI will be coming by later today. Are you up to answer their questions?" His hand stroked the legs she had now placed in his lap. The small nod was enough to tell him that, though she wasn't ready, she wanted to get it over with.
"Will you stay with me?" The plead was soft and gentle but told him she was scared to go at it alone. Not that he was about to let her.
"I'm not going anywhere." He promised as he squeezed her hand softly. A smile involuntarily spread across her lips. How had she gotten so lucky?
Only two days ago, she had been in captivity. Unsure of when, or even if, she would ever see her family again. Never did she imagine at that time, that two days later she would be back home surrounded by the people she loved so dearly.
TBC