After that hellish nightmare Lanister and Nevayah had gone through... It was the best thing in the world to feel his wife's emotions again... to be with her again... The moment they had escaped the clutches of that terrible angel-thing, the two had set off immediately for home, specifically, for the house of Lanister's boss. He always sent the kids there when he and Nevayah went out for one purpose or another and Boss was always more than willing. After all, Emia and Izayah had grown to be good friends with her own kid... Perhaps even best-friends... Lanister smiled lightly as a pleasant memory washed over behind his eyes. Lanister and Nevayah often walked in on the three of them playing in the living room of Boss's massive house, chatting, telling stories, sometimes play-wrestling with each-other... it was so cute... He couldn't believe he allowed himself to not care about them... to not care about his family for even a second... They were his life, they were what drove him to be the man he was today... They were only a few minutes or two from Boss's house, already in town and just now making their way through the seemingly endless crowd of pedestrians as always and every so often... he couldn't stop looking back at his beautiful wife... his Nevayah... He felt he had hurt her the most... by dying... by allowing himself to fall under the heel of that creature of the abyss... for allowing himself be convinced to go on that vacation... It was all his fault, wasn't it...? In truth, the whole thing was something he'd like to forget, to push aside as if it never even happened... He wanted to resume his with his wonderful family... Unfortunately, Lanister was smart enough to know that it was never that easy... This was one story that would have to be told at some point, one that would need to be worked out... Some day, but that day was not today... Today, they were going to reunite with their children...
Emia was a nervous wreck the whole time she was at Boss' house... Even among the air of comradary, love and acceptance that floated about the home, she felt more off, more alone thane ever before... Sure, her brother was there and she loved him with all her heart, but she was alone somehow... she couldn't feel her parents... The blood-bond she was born with connected her to both her mom and her dad and when they had both gone on their little vacation, it wasn't long before their presence just... *blinked* out of existence... Whenever Boss' son, Brandy, tried to pull her into a game, to be her friend, Emia shrugged him off and inched away into the deepest darkest corner she could find, wrapping herself up in her mother's scarf... She hardly ate, she never talked... it was as if her mommy and daddy had died... Oh gods... please don't let that be the case...
A firm knocking could be heard from within the inside of the house and instantly, Boss' face flooded with relief. She had to put up with the tainted kid for several days and it was like raising 3 children... Difficult and taxing, but somehow incredibly worth it... Their behavior, however, had fallen drastically... violently... as if... something had happened to their parents... The large woman opened the door to be met with the exasperated smile of Lanister with Nevayah right beside, eager to find their children.
"Hey.... How-it-do, boss...?" He greeted, reaching out a fist for her to bump. Instead, she took a step outside and wrapped her massive arms around them both, pulling them into a hug.
"I've been so worried about you two..." She murmured to her close friends before pulling away "Especially your kids... they haven't been the same since you left them here..." Lanister looked over at Nevayah, sharing a knowing glance before walking into the foyer as per Boss' allowance.
"Izayah! Emia! Come here please!" Boss called throughout the house. Emia didn't feel like moving... she was comfortable, curled up into a ball on the floor, ignoring everything but her on volatile fears and anguishes of her mom and dad... But Boss was a kind of person that treated other people's children as if they were her own... and getting disciplined by her was not something Emia ever wanted to experience... Hesitantly, shakily, the little girl got to her feet, stumbling to the foyer, her sanguine eyes downcast. Immediately, Lanister's expression bloomed into a smile upon seeing his little daughter and hopefully Izayah right behind.
"Come here and give us a hug..." Lanister called, beckoning with his hands. Immediately, Emia's eyes shot up, her eyes widening, then welling up with tears as she saw the smiling, exhausted faces of her mommy and daddy once more. Without skipping a beat, she ran into their welcoming arms, held to their chests as she cried and cried her little heart out, letting all her fears pour out in her tears and voice...
"Mommy... Daddy..." She moaned.
"It's okay, baby..." Lanister whispered, holding her gently. "It's okay..."