Then I open the garden gate. Before us lies a gravel path lined with frost-covered bushes, leading to the dark wooden porch and farther to the front door.
A "Welcome" sign hangs above the doorbell, and I know I am.
My parents have tried to reach out to me countless times. And just as often, I punished them with my silence, not realizing that they were likely trapped between the desire to protect me and the knowledge that they were even lying to me.
I feel Sky's hand in mine and the security she provides. At this moment, something I couldn't see before becomes clear to me.
"I've been running away for far too long," I say, incredible that it's taken me this long to realize it. Both of us were on the run.Sky from her identity, and me from a truth I'd convinced myself I already knew.
Sky steps beside me, our arms brushing against each other. She remains silent, and it's exactly what's needed.
I exhale deeply one last time. I'm ready.
Determined, I press the doorbell, and a few seconds later, a key turns in the lock. The door opens.
My mother stares at me with her mouth agape. Six years have passed since we last saw each other, but she appears to have aged decades. Gray hair frames her temples, and her forehead is lined with wrinkles.
"Kjell." Her voice is barely a whisper.
I attempt a smile to mask the ache in my heart that her appearance brings. I sense that I'm the cause of it all. The coldness with which I treated her over the years has taken a toll.
She swallows hard and looks toward the hallway. "Carl, come he..." Her voice cracks, and now her light blue eyes fill with tears.
"Hej, Mom." I choke back tears myself, locking eyes with her and taking a step closer.
She gazes at me in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing without uttering a word. And she doesn't need to.
I pull her into my arms and finally do what I should have done a long time ago. "I'm so terribly sorry," I whisper in her ear.
