Chapter 33 — Lilian…

While I was sitting on the passenger seat staring at the unfamiliar streets of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, I felt a sense of remorse for not being here all these years to see all of it changing. I thought I would be coming home to the exact same city I left when I was fifteen, but I was wrong. Four years was a long time.

It was long enough to make a city that used to be my home turn into an unfamiliar uncharted land. And with that I felt a wave of anger for Ivanov and his twisted ways of trying to “take over” the world by kidnapping kids like me from our own homes. I wish he rots in jail and gets burned in the flames of hell once he dies.

I wonder how are my high school friends Gemma and Clarisse doing now? Did Gemma get into UCLA? I wonder if Clarisse followed her parent’s legacy of graduating law from Yale? Or did she pursue her passion for fine arts?

The streets are packed with people holding groceries and boxes of pies while some are running around looking for a bakery that would still sell them pie without a reservation. It’s Thanksgiving today. I’m actually surprised Alexander was able to buy business class tickets for us, considering all the families coming home for the holidays.

As three high school girls stepped out of a bakery with big smiles on their faces while holding white boxes of what I assume to be pecan pie, a memory from Thanksgiving 7 years ago appeared in my mind.

“I think Jason Smith likes me.” I giddily said as we walked towards Bradley’s, the best bakery in all of Monroeville, for us anyway.

“And why is that?” Gemma skeptically asked, raising an eyebrow at me. It’s our Thanksgiving tradition to always pick up the pecan pie after having breakfast at Hailey’s diner. After that we would go to Clarisse’s house to watch a movie or two while waiting for the sunset.

And then we would go back to each other’s homes to enjoy our own family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Clarisse lives in the same street as me and Gemma lives only a block away from us so we always spend our time there. But it was more because of the fact that she had a massive entertainment set in their house.

“Because he looked at me for ten seconds straight during Chemistry!” I dreamily said as I picture in my mind Jason Smith’s beautiful and breathtaking grey eyes that swept me off my feet.

“That was not ten seconds, I was there Lilian,” Clarisse sarcastically said. “It was merely a glance.”

“Oh, come on! It was ten whole seconds! He’s totally into me!” I whined with a pout, still picturing Jason’s eyes and his smile. Oh heavens, that smile should be made illegal! It had stolen my heart completely!

“No, he’s not, Lilian.” Gemma with a shrug. “He likes someone else.”

“Wait, really?” I said, immediately stopping on my tracks to hold Gemma by her shoulders and force her to face me. “Who is it? Who’s this viper, trying to steal Jason from me?!”

“Uhmm...I don’t know, just someone else who’s not you.” Gemma hastily said which made Clarisse laugh her head off.

“Ugh! You guys are so mean!” I groaned while dramatically stomping my feet and crossing my arms. “But I don’t care, Jason Smith is my prince charming, my Edward Cullen, my—”

“He’s not a vampire.” Gemma sarcastically said. I paid no attention as we rounded the corner towards the bakery.

“My Romeo, my Prince Maxon, my Jace, my—”

“He’s a boy, Lilian.” Clarisse bluntly said with a roll of her eyes.

“My Percy Jackson, my Harry Potter, my Irene Adler—”

“I thought Irene is a thief or something that keeps on making Sherlock more of a fool and less than a world-famous detective?” Gemma said in a skeptical voice.

“Look, the point is I love him.” I said with a shrug and a giggle.

“Love him?!” Gemma said in surprise. “A couple of minutes ago you said you just like him.”

“Did I? I can’t remember that’s so far back in the past.”

“You’re like the mad hatter, Lilian.” Clarisse said while shaking her head.

“Oh yeah, madly in love with Jason Smith.” I nodded with a huge grin on myself.

“Jason Smith? Ew, is that why you three left me behind?” a disgruntled voice said from behind. We sheepishly turned around to face Gemma’s 18-year-old sister, Hailey, who acts as our chaperone every time we buy the pie for dinner. Because the last time we went out to buy one, it ended up with us crying on the pavement without money and a pie. Long story.

“Seriously, girls, you need to improve your standards when it comes to guys, you can’t settle for mama’s boy losers who still need permission to get a second bowl of cereal. ” Hailey said with a disgusted look on her face as she wrapped her arms around us and led us towards the bakery.

“It’s not us, it’s just Lilian who wants those losers.” Clarisse defensively said. “I for one want someone older, someone who’s in college.”

“Ew,” Gemma and I said in unison.

“Yeah, ew, Clarisse, nice dream, but your boyfriend would be in prison before you could even say you liked him back.” Hailey explained with a grin on her face.

“And you, Lilian, get your head off the clouds. You have to choose your man,” Hailey added, sounding like my Aunt Tilly who visits us every Christmas to tell her “adventure” stories. But mom said she’s never actually been anywhere outside America despite her extravagant “expedition stories” in Europe.

“They don’t just come around on some white stallion wearing an armor to save you like the damsel you are.”

“Oh, I can totally see Lilian as the damsel in distress!” Gemma said, before acting out a dramatic fainting scene from our last year’s school play Romeo and Juliet. And yes, I was Juliet. And yes, I overdid it.

“And let me guess, this Jason Smith guy is Romeo?” Alexander suddenly said from beside me which almost made me yelp in surprise.

“What?” I asked in confusion. “Oh right, shit, I forgot I have a boyfriend who can read my mind.”

“Fiancé.” he corrected.

“No, I think you’ll be demoted to boyfriend if you keep on reading my mind like that.”

“W-What? You said I could do that.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Okay, you implied that I could—”

“You assumed that you could do it.” I snapped back. “Now you will really be demoted.”

“Well, then give me back the ring.” he teased with a scoff.

“Do you really want me to?” I said in a serious voice which made him look at me then back on the road for at least five times.

“Cali, I’m only joking, I-I didn’t—” he nervously said but I cut him off with my loud laugh. “Ugh, can you please stop making jokes like that?”

“Sorry,” I said in between fits of laughter. “Making fun of you eases my nerves.”

Alexander just shook his head in defeat.

“So those people in your memory, are they your childhood best friends?”

I nodded, feeling a sense of dread and pain from that memory.

“We used to call ourselves the Impossible Brides Squad.” I said with a snicker.

“Impossible Brides Squad? Why?”

“Well because of our horrible tastes in men,” I chuckled. “Clarisse likes older men, like old enough to get him into prison if they ever are in any kind of relationship. And Gemma always goes for the baddest most troublemaker guys that would have like five girlfriends all at once.”

“Oh wow,” he said with a snicker. “Now I get it. And you?”

“Well, as for me, I was the hopeless romantic. I don’t have a specific taste in men, as long as they are good looking and they hold my gaze for a couple of seconds. It doesn’t matter if they’re a loser, I will make up a romantic fairytale about how our love story will play out.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was Gemma’s sister Hailey who first called us the Impossible Brides Squad for having horrible taste in men that would never make us a bride in the future.”

“Well, I guess now you’re officially off that squad.” Alexander said with a smirk before taking my hand and placing a kiss on it.

“I have been off that squad for a very long time, Alexander. “I said with a sad tone that I never expected to come out of me right now.

“I was so different and naive back then.” I added, looking away before I could see Alexander’s pitiful eyes. “I would give up everything that I have if I could just go back to that time and properly meet you again after college or something.”

“Cali…”

“You know, it’s like I had a rapid growth spurt from everything I have been through.”

We were silent in the car for a while before he spoke again.

“Would you like to pay them a visit?”

“If they still live here,” I said, without removing my gaze from the window. “But not today. One healed scar at a time.”

...

When we arrived at the familiar driveway of my home, I couldn’t help but shake uncontrollably. It was so bad I had to hold on to Alexander to keep myself from falling on the ground. They’re probably all inside because at this time of the day mom should be busy with the pumpkin pie and her famous mac and cheese while dad cooks the turkey. As for Kyle he’s probably being their all-around assistant chef.

We used to take turns. He will be their assistant chef for Thanksgiving while I go out with my friends and by Christmas, we would switch places. Although he usually just goes to his best friend Dudley’s house to play some video games all day, it was something he always looked forward to for the whole year.

I wonder if he was still able to do that tradition of his for all the past Christmases that I wasn’t around. I bet he didn’t. Thinking about how their holidays had been for the past six years shattered my heart into pieces. How difficult it was for me must’ve been a thousand times more difficult for them because they didn’t know if I was alive or not.

“I’ll be beside you every step of the way.” he reassuringly said to which I slightly gave a nod before walking towards the front door. With shaking fingers, I pressed the doorbell and waited as my heart thumped louder and louder against my chest.

“Who is it?” When I heard the familiar deep voice of my father from the other side of the door, my heart broke and I couldn’t hold my tears any longer.

The door flew open and my father whose face had grown much older than I expected from when I last saw him up close four years ago, stared back at me with wide eyes as if he’d seen a ghost. He tried uttering some words but his voice failed him.

“I-I’m home, Dad.”

“P-Pumpkin?” he asked in a faint voice as he walked towards me. “I-Is this a dream?”

“No, I’m really home, Dad.” I said as he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked at my face before hugging me so tight, I couldn’t even breathe.

“Oh, Lord, please let this be real.” he cried out.

“It’s real, Dad. I really am home. It’s me, Lilian.” I reassured him as I patted his back. He was sobbing now and so was I, I have waited for this moment for so long. I can smell the pumpkin pie scent on his sweater which means they are cooking it right now for dinner. This just made me sob even more.

“Hey, Dad, Mom’s asking who it is,” when I heard Kyle’s voice approach us, I didn't think my heart could break again, but it did. My father reluctantly let go of me to see my brother and when Kyle saw me, he literally screamed in surprise.

“Lilian?! I-Is t-that—” he stammered as tears started streaming down his face.

“Hey there, brother.” I simply said before I let him pull me in a tight embrace, I noticed that he had grown thinner and also taller since I last saw him four years ago. I didn’t get a pretty good look at him when I visited them last year.

“I-I can’t believe this,” he cried out with his head buried in my shoulder. “Where have you been all these years?”

“What’s going on? I heard someone screaming.” I heard my mom’s worried voice said from behind Kyle. I parted from him and showed myself in front of my mother. Her state caused my heart to shatter into pieces, her once surreal glow had gone out and anyone could see from her face that she’s barely holding on to life. Her smile that used to bring me warm and comfort faded as grief took over.

She’s still beautiful though but not as much as before since now she seemed to look like a lifeless Barbie doll.

“L-Lilian?” it was all she could mutter before she fell on her knees, I was able to catch her though. I thought she was going to collapse but knowing how strong my mother is inside and out, she didn’t, I guess that’s where I got all the strength to hold on this much longer after everything, I’ve been through. I got it from her.

“I-I’m home, mom.”

She screamed in joy before throwing herself at me and giving me the tightest hug. It was even tighter than Dad’s.

Dad and Kyle joined us in the hallway and they all wrapped their arms around me. And in this moment, after all these years, I felt completely, perfectly, happy. I am finally home.

…

The story I told my family was not that very different from what really happened. I just omitted the part about me being an assassin because if they find out about that it would literally break them. Instead, what I told them was that I was kidnapped by a Russian organization, used me for their mutant experiments for three years. Then I was able to escape from their grasps and find myself on the doorstep of Deviant Heritage Academy where I met Alexander.

For the next three years, that’s where I would be spending my time honing my skills, making friends and helping Alexander save other mutants from that organization. I told them that I didn’t come home for three years because it would be dangerous for them since that organization was searching for me. And that the only reason why I was able to come home today was because we were able to finally gather enough evidence to put those bastards behind bars.

At first, I thought they didn’t buy it but when I showed them my telekinetic skills and Alexander briefly explained to them the world of the mutants, they simply nodded with tears in their eyes and hugged me one more time.

I looked around the house and it was exactly how I remembered it; from the front door there are two rooms, the living room on the left and the dining room on the right. And when you stand in front of the door you will have the steep staircase in front of you and the small hallway leading to the kitchen and the backyard.

As we sat in the living room, it was still the same way as I remembered it, the cream-colored walls, the flower painted curtains, the bookcases filled with my most favorite books and my mom’s delicate figurine which made getting books from there a challenge. There was the old chimney with our family pictures on top. And the smell of freshly baked pastries in the air, now since it’s Thanksgiving, the scent of pumpkin pie hung in the air.

“I’m so sorry we weren’t there for you all those years, pumpkin.” Mom said in an apologetic tone. “It must’ve been so hard for you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you, Lilian.” Kyle added with tears in his eyes. “You must’ve been so scared.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize, I know you all did your best to find me. There are just some things that we can’t control.” I said as my mom tightened her hug around me. She had never let me go the minute she saw me as if she does, I will just disappear into thin air.

“And Professor Alexander, right?” Dad said, turning to Alexander who had been standing by the window for a while now.

“Alexander would be fine, sir.” he said in a stern voice but I could sense that he looked nervous.

“Alexander, I would like to thank you for taking care of my daughter all those years and bringing her home to us now.” My dad said as he stood up and shook Alexander’s hand which I noticed that caught him by surprise. I suppressed a laughter when I saw how nervous he was as my father towered over him.

“Where did you get this beautiful ring?” my mom suddenly said, holding my hand as if only noticing it now. “It looks expensive.”

“What the—? That looks like an engagement ring!” Kyle said in surprise when he went over to me to take a closer look. “I saw it on one of Leila’s magazines. But I guess that was just her hinting that I should propose or something.”

“Wait, who’s Leila?”

“My girlfriend.” Kyle shyly answered with his ears starting to turn red.

“You have a girlfriend?”

“You have a fiancé?” he snapped back, imitating my surprised tone.

“A fiancé?” Dad said with a hint of rage in his voice, turning to me. “Who?”

I slowly looked at Alexander who did the same before turning back to my mom who covered her mouth with her other hand in shock. While Dad, who was still towering over Alexander and his hand still shaking his, stared back at him with a hardened look on his face.

“Is this true?” my dad said tightening the grip on Alexander’s hand.

“Yes, sir. I love your daughter and I would—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Dad bellowed before walking back to sit back on his retractable chair with his hands covering his face. “I can’t believe this.”

“The last time I saw you, pumpkin, you were fifteen! Spending an entire day in the library reading books! And now you’re telling me you’re getting married?!” My father yelled at the top of his lungs.

I thought after years of being an assassin and working for the mafia I would still be used to men yelling at me but I guess it just hits differently when it’s your own father because I still found myself shrinking in fear.

“Dad,” I said, breaking away from my mom to kneel in front of him. Mom didn’t want to let me go at first but she finally did when I gave her the look that I have to do this.

“I know this is all too much to take,” I began. “Me coming home and telling you everything that happened to me for the past four years and now I’m getting married. I understand if you want to take some time to let this sink in.”

I turned to my mom who still had her hand over her mouth and Kyle who just stared at me wide eyed and mouth opening so wide he looked like he was about to take a bite off a turkey leg.

“It’s okay if you want to take some time to think this through,” I said to all of them.

“But I want you to know that I will not call off this engagement.” I firmly said, staring into my dad’s eyes who are also filled with tears like mine. “I love him and I want to marry him. And I need your support in this because you all mean the world to me.”

Dad looked at Alexander with an expression I have never seen him wear before. He stood up and walked towards him.

“Do you love my daughter?”

“I love your daughter more than anything, sir.” Alexander said without hesitation. “And I promise to protect her with my life.”

“Give me some time to think about this.” Dad said before walking out into the backyard.

“Mom?” I walked back towards her and grabbed her hands in mine. “What do you think?”

Kyle is now wearing a stern overprotective brother look on his face as he glared at Alexander with his hands on his hips.

“Well, let me see the ring again.” she said with teary eyes and a huge smile on her face. “It’s really beautiful, pumpkin. Is it real?”

Her smile. Oh, how I missed that smile.

“Yes, mom.”

“Well, if you do love him like you said you do then you have my blessing,” she said with a smile. “But promise me that you’ll never leave again. I just got my pumpkin back.”

Shit. Alexander! What am I supposed to say? Are you willing to stay here in Pennsylvania or… Maybe we should just postpone? I thought in my head hoping that Alexander would hear. Prior to this we had an agreement that he can read my mind during the entire time that we’re with my family for instances like this.

“But Alexander’s family and life is in Sweden and—” I began but Alexander placed a hand on my shoulder as if stopping me to talk further.

“We will move here after the wedding,” he declared. “Sweden’s weather is too harsh to raise children, anyway.”

With wide eyes, I turned to him, searching for some sign that he’s lying or only fooling around but he wasn’t. His eyes were so filled with determination, it’s like he had thought about this for a very long time now.

“Raise children?” I said, squinting my eyes at him. “I’m not pregnant, don’t worry mom.”

“You’re going to move here after the wedding?” we turned our heads towards Dad who’s now standing by the entryway of the living room with his red face and teary eyes.

He had been crying out in the backyard.

“Yes, sir, we would buy a house around here and—”

“Do you promise to take care of my daughter?” my dad cut him off while staring deep into his eyes as if trying to intimidate him. But I know Alexander, when he sets his mind at something he will not be easily swayed.

“Yes, sir, I promise to take care of her.”

“And this wedding? Where would it be?” Dad asked without removing his stern look at Alexander.

“I was hoping that it would be in Sweden since we’re already going to live here permanently.” After Alexander said that, Dad just stared at him while the three of us watched them silently.

“Fine, you will have my blessing.” Dad began which made me jump in joy. “But you’re going to have to postpone the planning for the wedding for a couple of months. We need to make up for the four years that our pumpkin is not with us.”

Alexander nodded at him as I jumped at my dad to give him a hug.

“Thank you so much, dad.” I whispered in his ear. “I love you.”

“Kyle?” I turned to my brother after I parted with my dad.

“Oh, you want my opinion? I thought I was just furniture here.” he sarcastically said.

“Kyle, come on, you know how much I want your support in this.” I groaned at him with a chuckle.

“Whatever makes you happy, little sister.” he said before giving me another hug and placing a kiss on my forehead.

“Why don’t we now all have dinner? There’s so much to be thankful for this year.” mom offered with a huge smile on her face.

“I’ll just call the airport to get myself a ticket back home tomorrow.” Alexander said, bringing out his phone and started heading for the door but my dad stopped him.

“Hey, you’re more than welcome to stay with us for the next couple of months or something,” dad said in his deep but friendly voice. “I also want to get to know the future husband of my only daughter.”

When he heard this, Alexander’s face was a mixture of surprise and joy which made my heart beat faster for some reason.

“But you two are not sleeping in the same room together,” dad declared in a stern tone. “You will be staying at Kyle’s.”

“Now, for old time sake, can we please just go to dinner? I haven’t eaten since the plane ride!” I whined like a child which made them all laugh.

As we sat in that familiar dining room where I was taken from six years ago, I had a mixture of emotions. Fear, anxiety and all the trauma coming back to me but Alexander’s hand in mine reminded and reassured me that nothing’s going to happen. That I’m not going to be taken away by some armed men again.

His hand in mine reassured me that I am here just eating Thanksgiving dinner with my family. And with that, after all these years I can finally say to myself that everything will be okay for I am home. I am finally home.