Robin's plane flew in right on schedule. Anna stood at the gate, her hand in David's, bouncing up and down on her feet eagerly. David grinned. "If you're hopping around like this now, you'd better let go of my hand when Robin steps off the plane. I think my patients would appreciate it if my hand was in one piece at the end of the day."
"Very funny," Anna said, rolling her eyes. She breathed short, wound breaths. She glanced down at the hand that was not holding David's. The slender wrist above it was ebbed with pink scars. The turning in her stomach shifted from pleasant anticipation to guilty discomfort. Yes, there are scars on my wrist, she thought, but there are no scabs. No dark gashes. Twenty-one days, and not one cut. I just have to make it through the next minute. And the minute after that. And after that…
David felt Anna's hand begin to tremble, and smiled at what he thought was simply another sign of his wife's excitement. In the second that Anna's eyes had drifted, David's had caught sight of a dark head emerging from the crowd. "Anna, is that Robin?" he asked.
Almost immediately, Anna had left David's side and was embracing her daughter.
"Mom!" Robin shouted gleefully.
Anna hugged her daughter tightly. "Robin," she whispered into her ear, "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too," Robin said. Though the statement was friendly, she let little time pass before inquiring quickly, "And who is this gentleman behind you?"
"Oh, Robin, this is David," she said, breaking away from her daughter's embrace with all but her eyes. "David, this is Robin."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet the man that stole my mother's heart," Robin said as she offered her hand
David shook it with a smile. "It was a fair trade. She took mine."
"Good response," Anna replied, and the three laughed. "So, how was your flight, sweetheart? Are you tired?"
"I slept almost the entire flight; I'm actually feeling a little hungry."
"Well, how about we go pick up your bags, and then we can head to the Valley Inn for some lunch?"
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Robin responded.
"Alright," beamed Anna.
David had started towards the luggage carousel already, discreetly offering the two some time alone. Anna started to step in the direction of the luggage carousel, then stumbled for a moment, and whirled back to Robin. She looked her daughter up and down, pausing to look at her daughter's chocolate-brown eyes last, and then finally looked solemnly into them. "Oh, Robin," she said softly, "You've grown into such a beautiful woman."
Robin had been smiling a girlish grin, sheepish with excitement, but now the grin dissolved into a look of proud contentment. Her eyes shone with earned tears, and the pleasure expressed by her lips faltered as they began to quiver. "Mom," she choked. She threw herself gracelessly into her mother's arms, Anna catching her firmly. As they held each other, Robin pushed with a strained voice, "when you hold me like this, I don't know if I can ever let go."
As she felt the words being said, Anna's face was cut by three lines: the line of her mouth, fighting the lump at the back of her throat, and the two lines of her eyes, damming the tears that repeated Robin's words beneath her tightly shut eyelids.