Chapter 9 FAMILY

Juanita jogged happily to her parents seeing the love, warmth, and longing in her mother's eyes. She had missed the woman so much and it felt good seeing her after not being home for a long time.

"I am home, mother!" Juanita excitedly announced as her mother's warm embrace enveloped her.

"My baby is back, let momma look at you," Pearle excitedly spoke as she looked at her daughter to see if she was in a good condition.

Juanita giggled happily and let her mother look at her all she wanted, after a minute or so, Pearle finally stopped and took the suitcase from Juanita.

"Mother, I can carry it. You don't have to," she tried to dissuade her mother but the old woman shook her head in rejection.

"I am still strong, let mommy do this for you. Come along, your daddy should be on edge by now," Pearle laughed as she looked at her husband who couldn't stop staring where the two of them were.

Juanita smiled and looked at her dad who was serving customers, the old man was truly fit but she hoped to see them retired and relaxing.

"Okay, let's go and give a helping hand," Juanita said as she followed her mother.

The two walked side by side and couldn't help but attract the attention of the people around. It wasn't a secret in this small town that the couple's daughter was unique and special.

So, those who had never seen her before, couldn't help but look at her a couple of more times. A lot of emotions were in their eyes and mostly pity but the people concerned didn't care about a single thing.

Juanita rushed into her father's strong arms and stayed there for a while; tears were already falling down her cheeks. It felt good being in her dad's arms especially after everything that had been happening to her lately.

It was a good thing that she chose to come back home and spend some time with them than remaining in that city she didn't have any good memories to think of. If it wasn't because she had school and had to make a loving and also didn't want to stay far away from her parents even though she has to be on the bus for four hours, she would have left already.

"It's good to see you, dear," Randall patted Juanita's back in a soothing manner that made Juanita feel that she was truly back home.

"You guys can hug all you want later; we have customers to feed. Hurry up!" Pearle urged the father and daughter pair after seeing the dissatisfaction on the customers' faces.

Juanita shyly extracted herself from her father's embrace and glared at her mother. The scars on her face made her look a bit ferocious but she didn't even notice that.

Her mother flashed a smile seeing how cute her daughter was acting. To her, her daughter was the most beautiful and it didn't matter how others look at her as if she was some freak or ugly girl.

Juanita wanted to help her parents but they didn't allow her, in the end, Juanita found a chair to sit on and have some of the food prepared by her parents. It has been too long since she ate some home-cooked food and her parents' food was the best.

Her parents worked practically from twelve o'clock to six o'clock in the afternoon. So, Juanita who had nothing to do after eating her food, helped her parents with cleaning the dishes as she couldn't leave the job to her parents who were busy with the cooking and serving.

Around six, the family of three were now packing up their stuff and loading it into the truck so that they may go to their home. After cleaning up the place and leaving it spotless, the family got into the truck, and Randall drove the three of them home.

On their way home, Juanita was busy listening to some fresh news of the town and she couldn't help but laugh, her mood improving drastically with every second.

When they arrived at their home, they unloaded the truck once more and brought everything inside the house. Juanita carried her suitcase and went to her room, the room she stayed in for many years.

She felt very emotional as she looked at the beautiful pictures of herself on the walls, most of them were before the fire accident and she still looked very normal and beautiful.

After the fire, she rarely took any photos but forced herself to do so on important days, as she didn't want to miss out on that. She unpacked her suitcase and placed her clothes in her wardrobe before leaving her room to join her family.

"What do you want to eat, me and your dad will cook it for you?" Pearle asked as she looked at her only child with sparkling eyes.

Juanita felt teary but held herself back from crying. She didn't want them to feel anything fishy with her, so she decided to hold herself back as much as she can.

"Anything you want, I just miss your food," she decided to make things easier for her parents.

Pearle knew her daughter well so she didn't push her but simply looked at her husband with those understanding eyes.

In the end, her parents made something simple but she enjoyed eating the dish. They made her some fried rice with eggs and it was accompanied by coke. The atmosphere was very cool and beautiful; they were all very happy.

After eating, Pearle took the dishes to wash them and sternly told Juanita to sit down and not make a move. They wanted her to rest so she did as ask and sat with her dad as they talked.

"So, how long are you going to stay this time? We really missed you," Randall asked his daughter.

As a father who had last seen his daughter about six months ago and only talked on the phone, he just wanted to be with her a bit longer and have his wife have peace of mind.

Pearle was in pain and sometimes he will wake up only to find her crying, tears wetting her pillow and he knows just how much her heart was aching, and how much she was missing Juanita.

He knows just how much pain his family went through and is still going through and he wished that he could do something and change everything for the better.