"Max is gonna sit next to me on the way home!" Jakob proclaimed.
"I'll sit with Amon, then," Laura volunteered. The Brimmers were in their van, on the way to the airport to pick up Max, who was flying home with Stephen today. Laura couldn't decide whether she was more eager to see her brother or her boyfriend again. How much had they changed in the two years they'd been gone? she wondered. She knew they'd been through some harrowing experiences and had witnessed things she herself had seen only in nightmares. She knew they must have been changed by those tragic events and wondered what they were like now.
As Paul parked the van and they got out and walked into the airport, Laura was taken back to the last time she'd been there, two years ago. Max had been with them then. He wasn't now, but he would be when they left, and that thought made her heart beat faster.
In the waiting area, she saw the Bishops had already arrived, along with some other families.
"Hey there!" Reuben greeted them.
"Hello," Paul replied.
"Well, this is the day," said Reuben.
"I've been waiting for it for two long years," Martha sighed.
"So have we," said Elizabeth.
While her parents and Stephen's parents engaged in idle chit chat, Laura kept glancing at the entrance from which Max and Stephen would emerge. She jumped every time an incoming flight was announced. The third announcement was for Max and Stephen's flight.
All conversation ceased as both families anticipated the arrival of their loved ones. As the former soldiers began to appear, Laura stared into each approaching face, until at last she saw Max and Stephen.
Their arms were around each other, and Max seemed to be supporting Stephen, who was pale and much thinner than the last time Laura had seen him. Max looked somewhat thinner as well. When he saw his family, his face lit up, and he beamed!
"Mom!" he shouted, reaching for Elizabeth and pulling her into a bear hug. Stephen embraced Martha at the same time.
Laura watched as Max hugged Paul, then reached for her. In the warmth of her brother's arms at last, she felt ecstasy flow through her.
"How's it going, Sis?" Max asked after a minute or two.
"Oh, Max, I'm so glad to see you again!" she cried.
"Let me look at you." He held her at arm's length so he could gaze into her eyes. "All grown up now, and just as pretty as ever!"
"Thank you." In his eyes, she thought she could see something that hadn't been there before - something dark and troubled, deep and sorrowful.
"You look so grown up now!" she told her brother.
"War does that to you." She thought his voice sounded just a bit too grim.
She turned to Stephen, who'd finished greeting his family.
"Hi, Stephen!"
"Hello, Laura." He tried to smile as he gave her a weak hug. "How have you been?"
"I graduate in two days," she told him.
He managed a small smile. "That's good."
"You will come, won't you?" A sudden trickle of uncertainty niggled at her spine.
"Of course I will!" He grinned, and relief swept over her.
Two days later, she stood on the field with her classmates, waiting to receive her diploma. Her eyes scanned the audience, searching for Stephen. There he was, sitting with Max and her family, smiling.
She was one of the first dozen students called forward to receive her diploma. After accepting it and shaking the principal's hand, she returned to her seat to wait for the ceremony to be over. Her parents had promised to take her out to her favorite restaurant afterwards, and she hoped Stephen would ask her on a date later.
At last Yvette Zimmerman received her diploma, and all the graduates cheered and threw their caps into the air. Then their families swarmed onto the field to congratulate them.
"I'm so proud of you!" Elizabeth cried as she hugged her daughter.
"Thanks, Mom," said Laura. Paul was next, then Max, then Stephen, then Amon and Jakob.
"I hope everyone's hungry," said Paul.
"Yes!" the others all shouted together, and he laughed.
"Come on, then."
Laura sat beside Stephen in the van, holding hands with him, on the way to the restaurant.
"You must be so glad to be home," she remarked.
He chuckled. "That's a mild way of putting it. Things sure have changed in the past couple of years."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, music, for example. There's all these weird sounds now, like exotic Far Eastern stuff. What ever happened to good old rock and roll?"
"It's still around. I don't listen to the new stuff all that much. I still like the Seekers and the Mamas and the Papas."
By now they were at the restaurant. Laura ordered her favorite dish, shrimp scampi. She sat beside Stephen and tried to initiate conversation several times, but he hardly said a word in response. By the end of the meal, she wondered whether he was angry about anything.
Later that evening, he came by to visit her.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked her. "There's something important I need to talk to you about."
