Chapter 95 – Reluctant Farewells

"You two really want to go?" Ria didn't want Alex and Emily to go. She grew attached to them in the past two months. She was going to miss them a lot.

But it had been a month since Sarah and John had visited them. Sarah's constant phone calls, urging Emily and Alex to come, finally convinced them to make the trip. With work in the field slowing down, it seemed like the perfect time to go.

"Don't worry, it's just for a week. We'll be back before you know it," Emily reassured Ria, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Alex added, "And I promise to call you every single day. You won't even have time to miss us."

"My precious kids are going; I really don't want you two to go," Ria said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh, Mom, don't get emotional now." Emily said as she gently brushed off Ria's tears.

"Do you guys want to go or not?" Freddy, who was sitting inside the car waiting for Alex and Emily, said. He knew the drama between the trio was never going to end, but he had other things to do.

"We will come back soon," Alex said, planting a quick kiss on Ria's cheek before grabbing the luggage and walking towards the car.

"Okay, I should go too. But don't worry, we will be back soon." Emily said and hugged Ria once again.

"Okay, then. Goodbye!" Ria smiled, trying to hold back her emotions.

Emily smiled back and then walked towards the car before sitting inside it.

"Bye!" Emily waved through the car window at Ria, and Ria waved back at her.

Ria Stayed there until the car started and drove away. She watched the car drift away from her and then fade behind the large trees.

She sighed and turned around. She knew she was going to miss them both so much.

***

"Hello, Mom. Hello, Dad," Alex said to Sarah and John as he entered the house.

Sarah and John, who were sitting in the living room watching TV, immediately rose from the couch as they heard Alex's voice.

"You came sooner than I expected. I thought it would take one or two more weeks," John said as he walked to Alex and gave him a tight hug. "I missed you a lot."

Alex returned the embrace, his smile growing wider. "I missed you too."

"Hello, Mom, how are you?" Alex retreated from John and walked to Sarah before giving her a hug.

"I'm much better after seeing you here. So many days have passed since I last saw you," Sarah said, touching Alex's cheek and smiling.

"Hello?" Sarah said to Emily as she walked to her.

Emily smiled and greeted Sarah. "Hi, Mo-mom," though last time Sarah allowed her to call her mom, she was still hesitant. For her, it was like a dream. She was afraid to make any mistakes in case she broke the dream and woke up in a different reality.

"How are you?" Sarah asked, giving Emily a tight hug.

"I'm good. And how about you?" Emily replied, returning the hug.

"I’m good, too. I missed you a lot. But I wish we could have spent more time together last time," Sarah said as she retreated from Emily.

"I wished the same thing. But don't worry. Now we can do that. We are here for a week," Emily replied happily.

Sarah glanced at both Emily and Alex with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Just a week?"

"Why? What happened?" Alex walked towards Sarah as he asked.

"We were thinking of keeping you two for longer, but as you wish," Sarah said, taking both of them towards the couch.

***

Alex, Emily, Sarah, and John were sitting at the dining table, eating, laughing, and talking about anything and everything.

Alex was so happy. He had never had such a day with his family before. After going to Emily's house, he realized what family means and how much it makes you happy to spend time with them.

"So how's life going on? And... what about the company? I mean, how is it?" Though Alex had left the company, not even a day passed when he hadn't thought about it. It wasn't only a company for him; it was like a child to him, whom he raised with love and hard work. He remembered how he spent all day working on it. From the idea to reaching so far, he did so much for it. So leaving it suddenly was like leaving his beloved child. But then, for Emily, he could do anything. Though it was hard to decide between something he created with so much love and Emily, he knew if Emily was with him, he could create more companies like this.

"Your company is just like you left it. And it is waiting for you to come back and own it," John said, looking up from his plate.

"What?" Alex asked. He didn't understand what his dad was saying.

"He is right. Come back and take care of your company. I did that so you could see Emily's real face, but instead it showed me her real face. She is the best. She is perfect for you," Sarah said with a smile.

Alex looked at Emily and smiled. He knew for a long time that she was perfect for him.

"I…I can't. There's a lot of work at the farm. I can't leave dad alone," Alex said, twirling his fork around on the plate. He didn't know what to say now. First, his mom suddenly took everything away from him, and now she was giving it all back to him. "What if I say no? I can't do it," Alex said.

Sarah shook her head and put a paper on the table, which she had been holding the whole time while sitting for dinner.

As soon as Alex and Emily looked at the paper, they knew what it was. It was the same paper that Alex had signed before leaving this house two months ago.

"Why are you giving all this back now?" Alex looked at his mom. "I've started a real life now. I don't want it anymore."

"Really?" Emily looked at Alex. She knew more about him than he did.

She placed her hand on Alex's hand and said, "You really don't want it anymore? But then why do you talk about it every day? I know how much you want it back." Emily looked into Alex's eyes, and she could see it. There was pain in his eyes, a thing that Emily hated most to see on Alex's face.

"Ah, really, man. Stop overthinking and just do what you really love to do." Emily slapped Alex's arm and continued eating.

But soon she realized what she had done. She slapped Alex in front of his mom and dad.

"Sorry… It's my habit." Emily bit her tongue. She was embarrassed to death. "Sometimes, I do it unconsciously."

Sarah laughed and shook her head. John smiled, too.

"You're soon going to marry him, so you do whatever you like to do," Sarah said, smiling.

Hearing the word "marry" from Sarah, Emily's heart started thumping. She had been waiting for this, like, forever. She wanted to marry Alex.

"Ma-marry? What are you saying?" Emily blushed hard.

"What? Don't you want to marry him?" Sarah looked at Emily and then at Alex, wondering if they don't have a plan to marry each other and are going to stay like this forever.