It had been a whirlwind of a day and Sylvie was exhausted but it was a whirlwind and exhaustion she welcomed with open arms, she was turned in her seat facing the back, never taking her eyes off the most beautiful little boy she had ever laid eyes on. "Hey" she heard Antonio squeak out and she could tell there was something he wanted to talk about but he was scared to ask. She glanced at him and returned her attention back to their son, she was bound to never take her eyes off him again, "Are you okay?" she asked.
She noted the nervousness in his face and the uncertainness in his body language, "Can I come home now?" he managed to ask just barely above a whisper while keeping his focus squarely on the road, he didn't want to see the look on her face if she rejected him. In that moment she felt horrible for how she had treated him the past year, she blamed him for everything that had gone wrong and taken everything from him in the process, she broke him into a million pieces the exact way Laura had when she left him after Diego was kidnapped.
"I'm sorry" she started, and Antonio interrupted her, "Never mind, it was a stupid question, we can talk about it when you're ready." He tried to play it off but his heart was shattering knowing that he wouldn't be able to be with his son and family.
Sylvie grabbed his hand and pulled it toward her chest, "Let me finish, I'm sorry for the whole past year, I know words don't make up for all my selfishness and the hell I put you through but I truly am sorry, and I just really want our family back together and for us to move on from this."
His heart was beating a mile a minute and he could barely contain his excitement. "Are you sure?" he asked still apprehensive that she would change her mind. "Tonio…he's going to need both of us, he needs to get to know us and I think maybe we need to get to know each other again, we're not the same people we were a year ago." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "remember, we're okay, even when we're not."
He hadn't heard those words since the night he left over a year ago, he turned and gave her a small smile, "Thanks" he said simply not really knowing what else there was to say. The rest of the drive home was complete silence, he had hoped that one day they would bring Elias home but also knew the statistics on missing children ever being found alive and he was thanking god that he didn't have to wait any longer than they had to make their family complete again.
The next several weeks flew by in a flash, Sylvie couldn't believe how easily Elias fit back into the family, there were temper tantrums and lots of crying but he took to Sophia immediately. He clung to her and she was more than willing to have someone else her age to play with and boss around, it was as if they had never been separated. Sylvie watched as Sophia took toys from Elias and gave them to Wyatt then told Elias that he had to share.
"I'm glad you called, I missed this." Kim didn't want to make a huge deal but she loved Sylvie and hated seeing her so broken. "So did I, I'm sorry I was so distant, it was just hard." Kim shook her head, "You don't need to apologize, nor do I want you too, you were doing the best you could to keep yourself together, I know that, Antonio knew that, and so did everyone else."
Antonio leaned against the doorjamb watching Sophia, Elias, and Wyatt playing in the front room as Kim and Sylvie sat on the floor playing with them, thinking about the anger and frustration that had led them to this moment. The last several weeks had been difficult with a parade of social service workers demanding access to his son and mandatory therapist visits and doctors' visits but he would do it all over again to have Elias home safe and to be back home with his family. "It's hard to look away from him for even a second huh" Adam startled Antonio out of his thoughts.
"It's just weird, last time we saw him he was this tiny little thing that did nothing but scream at us and now he walks and plays, we missed so much that we'll never get back and he's still unsure of us." Antonio shrugged knowing that it wasn't all going to be perfect right away. "Ya'll will get there, he just needs more time to know that you're mom and dad." Adam clapped him on the back. "Wyatt really took to him, I think he knows Elias will keep him out of trouble." Adam laughed as he watched his son try to copy everything Elias did.
"How's it being back home?" Adam was treading lightly knowing that there was still strain there. Antonio cocked an eyebrow, "I'm here and that's all that really matters, the rest will fall into place eventually." He shrugged his shoulders knowing that the hardest part was getting back home, this was where his family was, even separated Eva and Diego opted to stay with Sylvie and he wouldn't have let them leave even if they wanted to, sure they were both adults now but this was their home and he wasn't going to give up on it no matter how long it took.
Kim watched her friend for a minute, Sylvie clearly couldn't take her eyes off her son, she glanced at Wyatt and couldn't imagine not being able to hold him or love him for over a year, she knew that watching her best friends go through this shaped how she acted as a mother. She was over-protective from the moment he was born, limiting the people who had access to him, it had scared her beyond belief seeing that even the child of a police officer could be stalked and kidnapped and just disappear without a trace. "I'm pregnant again." Kim laughed and smiled at Sylvie who wrapped her in a hug, "Congrats, how far along?" Sylvie was giddy with excitement, it was the first time she had heard really good news since getting Elias back.
"About ten weeks we found out the day before Elias was found but we decided to wait for stuff to settle down before we told anyone." Kim couldn't stop smiling, she was excited to finally be able to share it with her family. Sylvie jumped up and ran to Adam and wrapped him in a hug, "Congrats, I'm so excited for you two and little Wyatt who's going to be the best big brother, Yay!" Wyatt clapped his hands when he heard the yay and started babbling in his baby talk, obviously excited about whatever was going on.
Antonio noticed Sophia went quiet and looked like she was scared, "Hey SoSo, what's wrong?" he asked kneeling in front of his upset daughter. "Is Wyatt's baby going to go away like Eli?" Antonio scooped her up and held her tight, "No honey, Wyatt's baby is going to stay with him, no one else is ever going to go away, I promise." Sylvie was stroking her daughter's hair, trying to soothe her fears. They knew everyone was affected but they underestimated how much Sophia was, she was so young when it happened they hoped that it wouldn't be as much of an issue with her but she had to live through all the emotions and turbulence also which caused her to grow up faster than either one of them liked.
Kim stepped forward and grabbed Sophia out of Antonio's arms, "Look here little lady, this baby will have you as a big cousin which means nothing can happen to it because you're the best and it will love you just like Wyatt loves you, so can you help me keep it safe?" Sophia nodded her head and smiled, "And it has uncle Adam so it's 'specially safe." She giggled as she reached for Adam who gladly took her and wrapped her in a hug.
"When do I get my new baby?" Adam laughed, "Your new baby will take a little while to get here but I promise you'll be the first to hold it, okay?" Adam made his deal with his favorite girl, "Okay!" Sophia nodded her head in contentment and wiggled to get down, eager to get back to playing with her brother and cousin.