Chapter 3 (Sidney's Pov)

• Present day
• “Hey mom. How are things at home?” I was packing my things and getting ready to leave college campus for good this time. I managed to finish everything up before Christmas and now I was packing and calling my mom at the same time. I have not yet told them about the good news because up until today I was not sure if I would be able to pull it off, but once again I managed to surprise even myself.
• “Hey sweetie. Everything is great here, well, except your brothers. You know those little devils.” At her words I could hear my brother’s yelling from somewhere in the house, “Mom! Come on we are not that bad!” a chuckle escaped my lips, because in this situation I was more on my mom’s side. They were my brothers and I loved them wholeheartedly just as I knew mom did, but they sure were little devils. They reminded me so much of me and Michael once upon a time when we were younger. I bet mom and Michael’s parents grew more than a handful of grey hair because of all our trouble making.
• “Boys! Upstairs right now! You know what your father said. If you do not start behaving, I am allowed to take away your x-box!” at this point I could hear a lot of complaints and moaning from my brothers and was barely keeping my laugh back, but it was time to get serious because suddenly my mom was speaking to me and if she caught me laughing at my brothers misfortune I would be punished even if I was already twenty one years old, “Ok. They went upstairs so now you have all my attention. What is wrong sweetie? Why are you calling me so late? Did you get into some kind of trouble? Do I need to bail you out of jail? Oh no, wait. If you were in jail, you would not be able to call me from your phone.” At her last statement I lost it and started laughing like crazy. My mom was really one of a kind and add to that mix my crazy aunts Becky, Ana and Rachel and you bet I had the craziest family around, but I loved them just the way they were, “No mom I am in no kind of trouble, did you forget that boys took over that assignment? I am a good girl now. And I am most definitely not calling you from jail, but I do need to talk with you and dad both. Is he there?”
• “O-ok baby girl just give a second. Dad is in the basement gathering all the things we would need to make our house scream Christmas. DEVIN! GET UP HERE OUR DAUGHTER NEEDS TO SPEAK TO US BOTH!” I could hear it in her voice she was nervous, and, in a way, I hated that I made her that way, but the bigger part enjoyed making her sweat a little. A moment later my dad’s voice could be heard through the phone line, “Did she get into trouble? Do we need to bail her out? God please, do not tell me she is pregnant. It is ok if she is we will help er out…” what is wrong with my parents seriously? Why does a girl need to be in trouble if she calls her parents at… I looked at my clock and saw it was just a few minutes past 8 in the evening, “MOM, DAD! Calm down, I am in no trouble, and I am not pregnant! Can you shut up now and listen to me? Please?”
• They did as I told them, but I could still hear my dad whisper either to himself or to mom, but I was obviously on speaker, so I did not miss it when he said, “She sure became bossier since I last saw her. Are you sure this is our Sidney?” I could not help it so I chuckled at his comment before I told them the big news that were almost bursting out of me by this point, “I finished my last year of college already and I will be home for Christmas this year, and probably will stay under your roof and watchful eyes for the foreseeable future if you two will allow me.” A long moment of silence followed and I actually had to check if the call was still connected, but than my mother started screaming and shouting, “MY BABY GIRL IS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! MY BABY GIRL FINISHED HER COLLEGE DEGREE! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! JUST TELL ME WHEN YOUR PLANE LANDS AND I WILL BE THERE WAITING FOR YOU! BOYS! YOUR SISTER IS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!”
• All I could hear were shouts and screams of happiness and it made my heart swell so much more with love for my family, suddenly I heard my dad’s chuckle before he spoke, “Well baby girl you have heard your mother. Just let us know when you arrive, and we will be there to pick you up. And I do not need any gifts this year, my baby girl will be home and that is the only thing I wished for this year. Oh, and I almost forgot. Congratulations, we really are proud of you Sidney.”
• A genuine happy smile stretched across my lips, “Thanks dad. I will be there the day after tomorrow at ten in the morning. If you have other work to do I do not mind getting a cab you know that.” And I meant it. I would never hold it against them. After all, both my parents were busy with their work. Well, they were never too busy to spend time with us and once again dad proved that point when he answered, “You are not going to get a cab because we will be there. Nothing is as important as you and your brothers to me and your mom and you know that. Gabriel can take care of our business for a few days, and I am sure your aunts would be more than happy to take care of mom’s part of the work, well that is if they are not going to be at the airport even before we get there once, we tell them their favorite niece is coming home for good.” I would say he was joking but we both knew he was dead serious. My aunts loved me just the same as my parents loved me probably.
• And I sure missed them like crazy just as much as I missed my parents and brothers. We spent a few more minutes on the phone with dad before we said our goodbye and all the while I could hear mom making chaos in the background, running around to get my room ready, making list for all the ingredients she would need for my favorite cookies and so on. Me and dad though? We just chuckled at the crazy woman we both loved with all our hearts.
• It will be good to be back after so long and I had no plan to leave my hometown any time soon. I could only think of one more person who would make my return better than it already was. Michael. But we lost our deep connection somewhere along the time at different colleges. I remembered that time when he promised me, “It will always be you and me against the world, Sidney.” Well, I guess the definition of always did not always last so long.
• With a small pinch in my heart, I got back to packing. No matter if he would be there or not, I will enjoy my time with family before I make any big decisions about my future.