Chapter 204 - Forever

"Are we going to watch a movie or something?" Emily asked as she took a seat beside Kaiden on the sofa in the living room. 

"That's the plan," Shadow replied as he went to choose a movie and ended up selecting a sci-fi movie.

Within a minute all three of them were seated on the sofas with snacks and cold drinks filling up the entire coffee table as they waited for the movie to start.

Kaiden wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder before he loosened up and started to enjoy the movie which started with a scene of the apocalypse.

Emily let her three little treasures came out from their space and the fox spirits were more than happy to accompany their master.

One of the fox spirits climbed up into her lap and started rubbing its head against her belly, making her giggle as she rubbed its ears to show her affection.

She loved spending her time with the three of them and they too seemed to be more than happy to get some attention from their master.

--

It was around six-thirty in the evening when Emily heard the doorbell ringing. 

"I'll go and check," Kaiden said as he hurriedly stood up and moved towards the door. A small smile was playing on his lips as he felt the nervousness of those who were standing outside the apartment.

Emily waited in the living room and after a few seconds, she watched Mark and Simon walking into the room with Kaiden.

Without saying anything, Mark followed Kaiden towards the hallway leading to their bedrooms, while Simon stood rooted to the floor near the entrance.

"I'll go and get ready," Shadow said as he stood up from his seat and after giving her a quick nod he too escaped from the room.

But Emily was confused by his choice of words. What did he mean by getting ready? They had no plans of going out, then why he had to get ready?

"Em..." 

Her attention was pulled over to her brother who had finally walked closer to her and was now standing right in front of her. His eyes were filled with so many emotions that Emily was taken aback for a few seconds.

Suddenly, she felt very nervous. Recalling how she had reacted towards her brothers in the morning, she was both embarrassed and scared. Embarrassed because she actually ended up losing her calm and scared because she dreaded about what would happen to her relation with her brothers. 

Unlike how she failed to grasp the many emotions that were swimming through Simon's eyes, her brother did not fail to see and understand her emotions that were clearly visible on her face.

"I... I... T-today... I... I didn't..." 

Emily tried to speak but she could barely make a single sensible word come out of her mouth. Her fingers were fidgeting as she grasped the hem of her shirt. 

The very next second, she found herself surrounded by the familiar warmth that belonged to Simon. His strong muscular arms were wrapped around her as he rubbed her back to calm her down and she indeed felt herself relaxing in his embrace.

"Brother..." 

A low cry escaped her lips as she found her heart crying. She was afraid of losing her brothers but she was also grateful to receive the familiar warmth from one of her brothers.

"Sssh...! It's alright, Em. Everything is alright. I'm here with you and we are here to take you back home. Everyone is waiting for your return." Simon told her in a soft voice as he kept patting her shoulder.

"Home?" Emily found herself asking as she pulled away from the hug to look at her brother's face who nodded his head with a soft smile as he replied, "Yes, home. Our home." 

The relief and warmth that immediately took over her mind and body almost made her collapse on the floor but Simon hurriedly caught her before she could fall. 

As she was trying to regain her strength, she felt another set of hands helping her to stand up before his voice entered her ears.

"What's wrong with her? Is she not feeling okay? Is her foot still hurting? But they told me that she..." Mark trailed off when Emily suddenly turned to face him. Her tear-filled eyes looking at him in surprise but also hope.

As a tear rolled down her cheek, he found himself brushing it away with his thumb before he cupped one of her cheeks in his hand as he spoke, "Little Star, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being the worst brother possible. I was so selfish. I only cared about my feelings and neglected yours. I'm sorry for not... for failing to understand you..."

His own voice was shaking as he acknowledged his mistakes and shortcomings. It was true that he was really hurt and scared of her decision of leaving the city four years ago but after listening to her in the morning, he realized that the one who's the most scared was no one else but his little sister.

She was the one who's hurting the most. She was the one who's scared the most and she was also the one who stayed strongest throughout all her pain and fears.

"I'm sorry. To be honest, I don't know what I'm supposed to do at the moment to make up for our faults... but we really want you to return. That house... it's just a mansion without you. There's no feeling of home and warmth in it. The six of us are always incomplete because of your absence. Will you come back with us? Will you return to your home and your brothers? We promise to not repeat the same mistakes." 

Emily threw her arms around Mark's neck as she let herself fell into his arms which immediately pulled her securely in his embrace.

The two of them were shaking as they cried together in sadness but also happiness. Soon enough, another person joined them and the brother and sister moved to give space to Simon whose eyes were looking red as he tried to be the big brother at the moment and not cry. 

Their hug lasted for a few minutes before the three of them pulled away with puffy eyes and tear-soaked faces.

"Come and help me to pack up. I have a lot of clothes and stuff to take with me." Emily said in a low voice as she tried to wipe her face with her hands but got stopped by Kaiden who took out tissues to help her wipe her face.

"It's already packed. Everything is packed and ready to move." He told her as he finished tidying up her face.

Emily frowned as she looked at him with a confused expression. In response to her unasked question, Kaiden tapped her shoulder, and the next second she was dressed in black jeans, a black tank top with a white cardigan. Her hair was pulled back in a high bun while her face was back to normal, free of all the evidence of her crying.

Realizing that Kaiden and Shadow had used spells to pack up all the stuff, she nodded her head in understanding before she turned to look at her brothers.

"Let's go. I wanna go back." Her voice still quivered because of emotions but her eyes were filled with sparkles at the thought of returning to her home where the rest of her brothers were waiting.

She kept holding her brothers' hands throughout the drive back to the Alessandro mansion. Her heart was beating rapidly at the thought of returning to her home after so many years. She felt both excited and nervous.

"Emy..."

"Hmm..."

Emily turned to look at Mark who was sitting in her right. His hands were holding her right hand as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let her go even by an accident.

He looked directly into the emerald-like eyes of his sister as he asked, "We can start all over again, right? We can try to learn about each other at a better level. We can learn to respect and value each other. We are going to be together forever, right?" 

Even he was not aware of how much he needed to hear her replying with a 'yes'. His heart was beating rapidly as he waited for her response.

Simon was too looking at his sister as he also waited to hear her response. Just like his brother, he too wanted to hear a positive reply from her.

His hands tightened their hold on her small slender hand but made sure to not hurt her. He watched as she turned to look at him with a soft smile playing on her lips.

And then, she nodded her head as she replied, "As long as we are together, we can do anything. This time we will make sure to not hurt each other's feelings and we are going to stay together forever. I promise... I won't leave you guys ever again. I will always stay with you all unless you guys will become tired of me and kick me out." 

Her brothers chuckled lightly at her last sentence but they immediately wrapped their arms around her to hug her again.

"We will stay together... forever..."