Slowly, he stepped through the door, and shimmied out of his shoes. In any other situation, he’d almost burst into laughter at how closely they were watching his every movement.
But there was something almost comforting in the way their eyes followed him as he moved past them, down the hallway and into the living room. It’s the most he’s ever felt seen by them.
As he reached their living room space, he leant his back against the couch, crossing his arms. Seth’s parents stopped, just a metre or so from him.
The air around them was imbued with a heavy silence, an almost tangible one that seemed to envelop Seth in an uncomfortable embrace.
Finally, it was his Mum who spoke first.
“Seth, darling. My baby boy. There-there is nothing we can say, to make up for the past. We fucked up, we really did. We were selfish, we were toxic, and didn’t even stop to think who we were hurting. And I’m sorry, I’mso, sosorry.”
Her voice broke on the lastsorry,and that’s when Seth glanced up. His Mum was inching forward, close to Seth, her eyes shiny with fresh tears. The sight of her, so raw and stripped bare with her emotions, brought tears to Seth’s own eyes. He glanced away, swallowing hard.
“I’m yourson,” he whispered, and he despised the way the wordsoncaught on his throat, like a thread that’d gotten stuck, “Youshould’vecared.”
Something tickled his cheek, and he reached upward to brush it away. His tears, which now paved a path of it’s down, staining his face.
“We did care, Seth. Wedocare, and we will always care,” it was his Dad now, stepping forward, so that now both his parents surrounded him.
Encasing him in this bubble that he craved years ago.
“We love you more than you could ever believe. But it is 100% our fault. Your Dad and I, our relationship isn’t perfect. And yes, we reached our lowest of lows years ago. And yes, for a time, we did fall out of love. But we fell in love again, we fell in love with the good, with the bad, and realised that we were willing to work through it together. I’m sorry that our love scared you. But I hope that us getting back together can teach you that … that….”
“Love can heal. Love was what healed us, Seth, and I hope you see that. When your Mum and I were at our ugliest, love brought us back together. And I hope that it can heal you too.”
Love can heal.
His throat refused to move, to form words. He wanted to forgive his parents. Wanted the love that he had for them, as ason who wanted their love more than anything, to healhim.No matter how long it took.
He let himself lift his gaze, and meet his Mum’s eyes. Her face was damp now, stricken with her tears, but they held onto his stare. Held it, and didn’t let go.
She saw this one small action as an opening. Stepping forward, she gently took one of Seth’s hands into her own.
“I’m sorry we weren’t the greatest parents back then, and that’s a price we’ll always have to pay. Those years we’ll never get back, and we’ll forever be tormented by it. But no matter how old you are, you’ll always be our baby. If you let us…I hope we can…”
“We want to be in your life, properly son. We want to know you, as we should’ve.”
Seth’s chest heaved, a sob threatening to break through.
Love can heal.
It wouldn’t be an easy journey, and it wouldn’t happen overnight. He understood that there’ll still be days, many of them, where he would lay in his hatred for his parents, hatred he’d become so accustomed to. But he’ll let himself embrace their love, now.
He was done running.
“We can start by making sure you ask me if you need to go through my stuff,” Seth whispered, with a small chuckle.
A strangled laugh left his Mums mouth, one that mingled with her sobs. She fell forward, pulling Seth into her arms, squeezing him with an intensity that he hadn’t felt in a while. His Dad joined, embracing them with his large arms, as if holding up a fort and trying to keep it from falling.
This time, Seth would help too.
They ate lunch together, the three of them, a proper one that involved genuine conversation. Not once did his parents let Sethstop speaking. They asked him countless questions, about his capstone project, about Jae. About his jogging, and about his favourite video games.
Then, his Mum addressed what’d been weighing on them.
“What about this girl, if you don’t mind me asking, Seth?” she asked, her fingers stroking the top of his hand.
Just the thought of hernamemade Seth’s throat close up. He shook his head. He wasn’t ready to talk about Nina yet, at least, not before he figured out his next steps with her.
