A/N: Hi! Thank you for the massive response to the last chapter. I loved each and every review you sent my way. Thank you.

So this is the last regular chapter and I'm issuing a kleenex-warning for this. You've been warned.

Chapter-10: Prodigal

When our rented car hit the driveway to the place I grew up in, it felt like walls were closing in on me. For a moment … just one moment, I contemplated begging Bella to turn the car around and drive away, not wanting to face those estranged relationships again.

But just like she always had been my rock, my Bella squeezed my thigh and said, "You've got this, Edward. Remember the little boy, Habib? Remember how you took care of him? Carlisle is like that, baby. He's alone without you by his side. He's an old man who hasn't seen his only child in years. Now it's time for you to make him feel cared for. Show him what he has been missing by pushing you away all this time."

"What if we get into a fight?" I asked, hating the way my voice cracked just a little bit with nerves.

She shrugged. "Then you'll fight. You'll fight for getting your family back together again. And I know that the Marine I love won't walk away without a victory."

It was her last words that gave me the strength to open the car door.

The first time my eyes landed on the man sitting on the porch with a newspaper in one hand and a beer in the other, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The frail gray-haired man with worry-lines crisscrossing over his forehead and a pair of thick glasses perched on the bridge of his nose looked more like my grandfather than my father.

I felt my feet stop in their steps as it dawned on me just how much my father had aged in the last seven years. A warm soft hand clasped mine tightly, pushing away the chills from the sight before my eyes. "You've got this," she repeated in my ears like a mantra. "He loves you."

As if he could feel our gazes on him, Carlisle lifted his head from the newspaper and looked ahead at us. For a moment, our eyes held each others before he stood up from the porch swing, prompting me to walk up to him.

"Ed-ward?" The broken whisper of my father's usually commanding voice was something I never dreamed of hearing.

"Dad," I managed to rasp through the lump in my throat.

His eyes took me in slowly, his gaze travelling from tips of my combat boots to my uniform and finally came back to rest on my face.

"Is that really you, son?" There wasn't any bitterness or resentment in his voice like I had imagined. No, instead, there was amazement and relief as he reached out to place a hand on my shoulder, clasping it tight.

"Yeah, Dad. I ..." the rest of my words died in my throat as my father pulled me into a fierce hug. When I proceeded to hug him back, his arms tightened around me, making me feel like the little boy who had returned home after a day at school.

He kept murmuring "Thank God" as he held me.

When he pulled back, I could see unshed tears shining in his eyes. He tried to glower at me then. "Do you know how worried we've been, boy?" he asked me like he used to when I was a mere child. "Your mom has been worried sick and I have spent the last seven years combing through every newspaper article about this wretched war, hoping I'd never have to read your name on it."

That broke my heart all over again. Realizing it was his way of telling me how much he had missed me, I smiled at him. "I'm fine, dad."

"That you are, son," he said at last, returning that smile. "Let's go surprise your mother."

Esme, my mother, ever the perfectionist, was busy craning her head one way or the other as she tried to straighten a photo frame on the living room wall when we walked in. "Es, look who's here," Dad called out to her from the doorway.

As if in slow motion, mom turned around. Her eyes spotted me immediately. And then, she was running ... right into my arms. "Edward!" a whisper of my name was all she managed to utter before dissolving into tears.

She hugged me for a long time during which I kept murmuring reassuring things to make her believe that I really was alive and fine. It was when she let go of me that her eyes found the one who had given me the courage to face my parents … to come home.

"Bella?" she asked in a wavering voice. "You're here!"

My beautiful girl blushed, biting her lips. "Hi, Esme," she said. And letting go of me, mom tackled her then, hugging her tightly. "My sweet darling girl," she crooned. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You brought my son back to me. Thank you so much, honey."

"I'm the one who drove him away in the first place," Bella said, her voice cracking a little with sadness.

"No," my dad contradicted her. "We did that. I did that." Turning to me, he said, "Edward, son, I'm so sorry for pushing you away the way I did. I'm glad you decided to find yourself instead of following me blindly. Today I am proud to be called your father. I'm sorry for forcing you to follow my footsteps blindly."

I shook my head, wrapping an arm around my girl and smiling at my parents. "It's all in the past, Dad. What matters is that I'm home now."

Bella kissed my cheek. "We both are."

A/N: So … thoughts?

The Epilogue shall be posted on Monday.

Till then, stay smiling and keep reading.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great weekend. :)

Ann