Jerome

Later that same day, Robert went outside his house to take a little walk, he was wearing his distinctive black clothes and a light hoodie where he liked to put his hands inside the side pockets. He walked all the way to the nearest park where he then, lay on the grass and closed his eyes. He got deep in his thoughts about everything.

He was thinking about the promise his father had made his mother, but he was so afraid that he would not fulfill it just as he haven’t done before. But deep inside his heart he hoped that his father could finally be there for his family once and for all. He was also thinking about his little sister who was his main reason not to go away from home. Many times he had thought about running away, but thinking about how Claudine would feel all alone and disappointed of him, was what had stopped him from doing it. His mother was, of course, another of the strongest reasons he had not to give up on his family and just run away. He had seen and he knew, how much she had suffered due to James absence, having to rise two children on her own most of the time hadn’t been easy for her, to Robert, she was  the strongest person he had ever known, she was like his heroine. She was the one who had given him the biggest example not to give up on anything and of course he was not thinking about leaving her alone with Claudine.

As he opened up his eyes, he looked at the dark sky and smiled before getting up and walk back home. Those moments alone allowed him to think and reflect about his life and feelings. On his way back home he saw a strange car parked outside Nerissa’s house, but he simply past walked her house.

It was her big brother Jerome’s car, he had just returned from the service in Europe and was gonna be with them for a week. But instead of telling them about his vacation, he simply surprised his mother and sister.

“Oh my god! Mom its Jerome!” Nerissa screamed as she opened the door and jumped on Jerome to hug him.

“Hey little bum, I missed you so much!” Jerome told her as he hugged her tightly and kissed her head.

Then Tess came to the living room and she was crying from the joy she felt to see her son after so many time.

“Oh my god, honey you are here!” She screamed opening up her arms for her son to hug him.

Jerome run to her arms and hugs her very hard, and kissed her forehead.

“I’m home mom!” He said to her as his voice was breaking.

“My baby I’m so glad to see you and to know that you are safe!” Tess couldn’t stop crying, she was more than excited to see her soon.

“Yes we missed you a lot dork!” Nerissa said to him smiling and wiping the tears off her eyes.

“Well I came to stay with my two favorite girls in the world” Jerome said.

“Oh and who are they?” Tess jokingly said.

“You know it mom!” Jerome replied.

“So how long are you staying?” Nerissa asked

“One week” Jerome replied.

“Just one week? That’s not a lot of time!” Nerissa protested.

“I know, but that’s the time I was allowed…for now” Jerome said

“It’s all right honey, we’re so glad to finally have you here, aren’t we Nerissa?” Tess said

“Yes, of course! But I wish you didn’t have to go again” She said hugging him.

“Oh, little bum come here” Jerome said opening his arms and hugging her. “I love you so much lil sis” Jerome said as he hugged her.

“Well but let’s eat something, it was a long trip and you must be hungry” Tess said to Jerome

“Actually yes, I’m starving mom” He answered touching his stomach with his hand.

During dinner Jerome told his mother and sister all about his experiences in his missions and how he would love to just stay there with them, but to their surprise he also told them about his new girlfriend Anabelle.

“So how long have you known this girl?” His mother asked him very curious about Anabelle.

“I met her in a bar…” He said.

“In a bar!?” Nerissa shouted interrupting him.

“Yeah…what? Is that something bad?” Jerome asked her confused.

“It’s not bad, but is she a decent girl?” Nerissa replied.

“Oh, I see where you are going…oh no, Anabelle is not that kind of woman you are thinking, she was there just having some drinks with her friends” Jerome said.

“And how you met her?” Tess asked him.

“Well I needed to get fresh air and so I went outside the bar and then I saw her lifting the hood of her car and I assumed that she needed help, so I asked if she needed help, she said yes, I checked her car and we started talking and introduce ourselves…”

“Oh so cute!” Nerissa interrupted him.

“After a very interesting conversation about cars, I asked for her number and yeah, we started talking and talking until we became good friends and then a couple” Jerome said almost blushing and he couldn’t hide the happiness he felt so he was smiling as he talked about it.

“Honey that is so sweet and I really hope to meet her someday” Tess said, smiling at him. She sure was happy to see her son being happy.

“What about you bum, any boyfriends?” Jerome teased Nerissa, playfully pushing her to the side.

Nerissa just looked down and started to nervously play with her fingers.

“No, no boyfriends yet” She answered and then quickly got up from the table. “I just remembered I have to study for a test I have tomorrow so I better go to my room to study” She said as she got up and begin to walk away.

Tess and Jerome confusingly looked at each other.

“This girl, she has been acting so strange these past days”

“Well maybe she is in love mom” Jerome said.

“She is too young to be in love”

“There is no age to fall in love mom, and besides she is not a little girl anymore, she is a teenager almost an adult” Jerome said to his mom.

“Yeah, but anyway I don’t think there is a decent guy she can date in that school so she better don’t”, Tess said getting up from the table and turned around to wash the dishes.

Jerome got up as well and he walked to Nerissa’s room. Even he have been away for a long time, he noticed that something was not right with his sister.