Cora leaned in on Robert, they were sitting on the settee together. Robert had both arms wrapped around Cora, he had put on some music of Ludovico Einaudi and for a while they just sat there. Enjoying each other and the music.
"I can't tell you how relieved I am." Cora said breaking the silence.
Robert was rubbing his thumb over Cora's arm. "I feel the same darling. She is back home. We can breathe again. We should go down and check on the girls."
Cora nestled a little bit more into Robert. "Can we stay here for a little longer. I missed this feeling so much, being safely in your arms." She turned her head to look at Robert.
"Of course, we can." Robert kissed her lips softly. "We can listen to Charlotte's story later tonight."
"Thank you." Cora rested her head against Robert's shoulder.
Charlotte walked upstairs. She needed to talk to her parents, but they had left her alone with her sisters. She appreciated that, but she wanted to talk with them. She opened the door to their bedroom and found her parents asleep on the settee. After Sybil's story about them separating, this was a wonderful sight. Her mother curled up against her father. His arms safely wrapped around her. She had hoped to have this with Kieran, but it had turned out totally different. If she hadn't run into Sybil, she would have never gotten back. Charlotte stepped into the room and put a blanket over them. Her mother moved when she tugged the blanket in around her shoulder but didn't wake up.
Robert opened his eyes when Cora moved. "Charlotte?" He said in a whisper, to not wake up Cora."
"We will talk tomorrow dad. Just sleep for now. I will be here." Charlotte said.
"Sleep well darling. I am glad to have you home again."
Carefully Robert moved Cora, so he could get up. He picked Cora up and walked her over to the bed. She opened her eyes when Robert laid her down again.
"Robert?" She asked confused.
"Sssst, go back to sleep. Everything is well." He kissed her forehead and crawled against her on his side of the bed. He fell into a deep sleep, the moment he rested his head against Cora's back.
"Mama?" Cora got woken up by a soft voice. Charlotte was standing next to her bed, putting down a cup of tea on her nightstand.
Cora got up and pulled Charlotte close. "I was afraid it would be a dream, but you are truly home."
"I am, Mama. I am." Charlotte said, burying her face in her mother's chest. Feeling her arms around her, reassured her. Everything was going to be alright. Whatever happened she was going to be alright.
Cora brushed her back and hair with her free hand. The other one she held firmly on Charlotte's back as if, when she loosened her grip, Charlotte would leave.
"I am sorry, Mama."
"No, don't be. It is alright. You are back and that is what is important."
Robert had woken up and cupped Charlotte's cheek. "Darling, your mother is right. We are happy you are back home."
"Can you tell us what happened?" Cora asked.
Charlotte crawled onto the bed and sat down in between her parents, facing both of them.
"Kieran, wanted to live together and he had convinced me, that would never happen, as long as I was living near to you. He told me we were going to Ireland, to live with his parents. I agreed to that, because Papa would never accept Kieran." Charlotte stopped for a second and looked at Robert.
He just breathed in but didn't say anything. He felt Cora's fingers touch his hand.
"Once we were on our way, Kieran changed directions and we were all of the sudden driving towards Scotland. Kieran said we would be found in Ireland and that you, dad, would drag me back. I believed him. He had taken my phone away. He forbade me to make contact with anybody I knew. Once we were in Scotland, he still denied me, my phone back and at that moment I started to worry. It was never my intention to disappear completely." Charlotte looked at Cora. "Mama, I mean that. I truly thought, I would tell you where we were as soon as we would stop driving."
Cora took Charlotte's hand in hers but didn't interrupt.
"I wasn't allowed to go anywhere the first days and had to stay in the house. After a few weeks, I was finally allowed back out. He gave me a simple phone, so I could tell him where I was during the day. He got very angry on days I forgot the phone." Charlotte saw her dad's face. "Dad, he never did anything to me. He never laid a hand on me, he was just very demanding."
"How did Sybil, know where you were?" Robert asked.
Charlotte looked up. "She didn't. It was all a coincidence. Sybil and Tom happened to end up in the village, Kieran and I were living. I can't describe the feeling when I saw Sybil." Charlotte stopped to swallow away her tears. Cora brushed a tear of her cheek and smiled at her.
"I know, that this was the moment, I could go back home. I was really scared. But knew Tom would talk with his brother. And he did. Kieran left, to go to Ireland, he said Daddy would kill him, if he ever came back to London."
Cora looked at Robert, she knew Robert would indeed flip, the moment he saw Kieran. "Darling, I am sorry you had to go through this. But you are back home and safe now and we will take care of you. Do you want breakfast?"
"Thank you, Mama and Papa, thank you for letting me come home."
Robert leaned forward to hug Charlotte. "You are our darling, daughter and will always have your home here with us.
After breakfast, Cora had gone back upstairs to take a shower and change for the day. She heard somebody come into the bathroom. It was Robert. "I can use a shower as well." He said with a cheeky smile on his face.
Thank you all for reading this story. All the reviews, truly mean a lot to me. I am working on a next story already, so in a few days, I will start uploading that one. Hopefully that one will be liked by you too.
