HOMECOMING.

TEN YEARS LATER.

Mr. Williams walks slowly down the stairs to pick up his ringing phone from the sitting room. He groans as he takes his seat on the couch, the phone now in hand and displaying a missed call on it. He missed the old days when he used to be agile enough to run down the stairs, but sadly, those days are past since his arthritis set in.

The phone begins to ring again, and he smiles at the familiar international number. He picks up the call with a smile on his face and asks,

"How's my favorite surgeon doing today?"

Camille's cheerful voice fills up the phone.

"I am doing good, dad. How about you?"

"I am doing as well as I can. How's everything going down there? I have been meaning to call you before your timely call."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I just wanted to inform you that the building of your hospital is complete; it was designed exactly how you wanted. I mailed some pictures to you already."

Chuckling over the phone,

"That's good news, Dad; thank you so much."

She was happy to hear that her hospital has been built and completed exactly as she planned. It's been months since she has been working on the designs with her father, exchanging emails back and forth, having video calls, and discussing ideas to put everything in order. Despite the fact that the construction put a huge dent in her finances despite her parents financial contribution, it cost millions to build, and she was satisfied that everything went according to plan and all was set for her homecoming.

"You are welcome, Camille; you deserve it by making us proud. I mean, just the other day, your mother and I were talking about the successful operation you performed on the UN ambassador, earning you a feature in the Neuro Medical International magazine and making you gain recognition worldwide. You have indeed surpassed our expectations in a good way."

"Thanks so much, Dad. It's all you and Mom's doing; I couldn't have done everything without you both. You gave me the push I needed when I was at my lowest. I actually have some news for you."

"What's that?"

"I am coming home next week with Mitch. Now that my hospital is completed, I want to get it up and running as soon as I can."

Whistling with joy, he quickly calls to his wife, who comes running down the stairs to sit beside him.

"I am so excited. I can't believe we haven't set our eyes on you in ten years. We can't wait to meet Mitch too; I am sure he's the perfect gentleman."

"Wait till you see him; he can't wait to meet you both too. He's been asking for days now when our flight's going to be."

"Finally, daughter, the Lord is good. Your mother is here; you should talk to her."

He hands over the phone to his wife, who excitedly collects it from him.

"How are you doing, daughter?"

"I am doing very well, Mom. Did you hear that I would be coming home next week with Mitch?"

She shouts for joy, looking to her husband for confirmation. He nods at her questioning gaze.

"Oh my God! I will be counting the days until you arrive. I have missed my only child so much that I have been having restless dreams of late. What day is your flight going to be? We would love to come and pick you up."

"It's on Tuesday, Mom. I will send you the necessary details via email. I would appreciate it if you could pick us up. And please make up a room for Mitch too."

"No problems at all. There are lots of spare rooms in the house as it is. Tell him I really look forward to meeting him."

"I sure will. What about Lara, Mom? I haven't heard from her in a long time."

"I honestly can't say. The girl is kind of weird. You won't believe I haven't set my eyes on her since we dropped you off at the airport years ago. I keep calling her to arrange a dinner or a hangout, but she never shows up. I have since given up on trying to figure out what makes her tick."

"She has been avoiding my calls since I informed her a few months ago that I would be coming home soon. Maybe she's just concerned about my emotional well-being due to what happened before I left."

"Don't let that disturb you one bit; just come home to us."

"See you next week." Mom, I love you. Say bye to dad for me."

"I love you too. My regards to Mitch."

Turning to face her smiling husband after ending the call, Mrs. Williams beams at him.

"All is well that ends well, isn't it?"

"Yes, darling, it is."

He murmurs a response absent mindedly.

SIX DAYS LATER.

Camille and Mitch checks out of the airport to see Camille's parents with the inscription,

"WELCOME HOME CAMILLE." on a poster in her mother's hand.

Running over to meet her parents, she throws herself into their warm embrace, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was a very emotional moment, as her parents couldn't hold back their tears either. It was with a struggle that they disengaged from each other's embrace to focus on Mitch, who was standing aside, looking at the ongoing drama.

Sniffing, Mrs. Williams walks up to Mitch to envelop him in an embrace.

"Welcome home, Mitch. We are so excited to meet you. You are so handsome."

Blushing shyly, he smiles.

"Thanks so much, ma'am."

Camille and her father walk closer to them, and Camille makes introductions.

"Mom, Dad, this is Mitch."

Turning to Mitch,

"These are my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Williams."

Mr. Williams draws Mitch closer, patting his back.

"We are so glad to have you here with us; you are the best thing that ever happened in our daughter's life and ours too. Welcome home to family."

"Thank you so much, sir; I am also glad to be here,"

Mitch responds.

Mrs. Williams steps in to break the moment.

"We should all head home; we have a lot to discuss. James is waiting for us in the car outside."

"Who is James?"

Camille asks.

"James is our driver; he has been with us since Henry left."

"Henry's gone? You never told me."

Walking hand in hand, dragging Camille and Mitch's luggage behind them, they all head outside.

"Surely you can't expect Henry to still be with us after serving us for many years. His entire life doesn't revolve around us."

"You are right, mom."

They get outside to see James leaning by the car, waiting for them. He runs over to help with the luggage as soon as he sees them. He loads the luggage into the car and opens the car door respectfully for them to enter.

"Welcome home, Miss Camille. It's so good to have you home."

He says to Camille, smiling at her.

"Thank you, James. I hope we can get to know each other better. Thank you again for your services to our family."

"You are welcome."

Turning to Mitch, who is now seated in the car,

"Welcome, Mitch. I am eager to show you the wonderful sights in Nigeria."

Nodding shyly, Mitch grins.

"Thanks, James; it would be my pleasure."

James enters the car and drives off with Camille, her Mom, and Mitch seated at the back while Mr.Williams takes the seat in front beside James.

The mood throughout the drive home is joyous, and Camille comments about the many wonderful changes that have occurred since she left the country.

They soon arrive home, and Camille hands James the package she got for Henry. He thanks her and takes his leave after taking the pieces of luggage inside. He takes his leave soon after to give them some private family time.

"It's so good to be back home."

Camille comments, taking her seat tiredly on the couch.

"You should take a shower, eat, and rest."

Mrs. Williams says:.

"I would do that later; Mitch needs it more than I do. He didn't sleep a wink throughout the flight. He has been so excited."

"Let me take him up to his room then. Let's leave you two women to talk."

Mr. Williams says, leading Mitch up the stairs.

Mitch looks back at Camille, and she nods her assent to him.

"So, how was your trip?" Mrs. Williams asks, taking her seat beside her once the two of them are alone.

"It was eventful, Mom, but it's nothing compared to the joy I am feeling from being home."

"That's good. What are your plans now that you are home?"

"There are not many plans as such; I would go and take a look at my hospital tomorrow and make plans to get it fully operational. My colleagues are arriving sometime next week on a temporary basis to get the lay of the land. Then, I would go about hiring staff to work with me. I need to hire cleaners, nurses, doctors, and so on. It's going to be really tiring, but I intend to get everything in order before the end of the month."

"That's really good. What do you mean by your colleagues coming here on a temporary basis? Aren't you going to be working together?"

"We are going to be working together, of course, but not all of them have gotten their affairs in order yet. I had to come home early ahead of them because of the things I needed to do."

"I see. How did you convince them to leave their comfort zones to come and work in Nigeria?"

"It didn't take much convincing; some of them are Nigerians like myself who left the country to have their residency outside Nigeria and want to come back home; others are foreigners who want to work in another part of the world. We all just teamed up to work together."

"I get it now. I know we have said it many times already, but it doesn't hurt to say it again. We are so proud of you."

"Thanks, Mom; it's all thanks to you and Dad."

Raising her left hand to scratch an itch on her head, her mother sees the glowing ring on her finger, a ring she recognizes too well.

Frowning disapprovingly, she says,

"Don't tell me you haven't gotten rid of that damned ring yet; just tell me it's another one that looks similar."

Sighing and dropping her hand to her lap, she responds.

"It's the same ring, Mom; I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It's part of the memory I have of him."

"Why are you doing this to yourself? He is gone; you have to forget about him completely. You should be thankful you have Mitch now and forget all about him."

"I have tried, but it's hard. I haven't stopped dreaming about him since."

"How can you continue to torture yourself like this despite all he did to you? If you had listened to Lara, all that happened wouldn't have happened. She warned you about him being in a gang that rapes and kills, and yet you didn't listen. If only you had."

Frowning in puzzlement, "What are you talking about? Lara told you all that?"

"Yeah, she did the day we dropped you off at the airport. Why didn't you listen when she warned me?"

Her eyes darkening in anger, she asks,

"Why would she tell you all that? I mean, he wasn't a saint and was involved in a lot of vices society frowned upon, but not like being in a gang that rapes and kills."

"You might not have known, but she warned you. You know, sometimes we ignore the obvious because we want to see the good in people."

"She and I didn't have any conversation like that; she warned me not to date him, but not because of that. He definitely didn't belong in a gang. I won't have her taint his memories with maliciousness because she didn't like him. I have half a mind to seek her out and slap the lies out of her mouth."

"Calm down."

Mrs. Williams admonishes.

"Don't make a big deal out of it; it's been years already; the matter is best forgotten. You shouldn't blow it out of proportion now."

She relaxes and crosses her legs.

"It's all good, Mom. Speaking of which, you still haven't seen Lara, or have you?"

Shaking her head slowly,

"I still haven't. I don't even know anything about her at the moment. I called and called, but she refused to show up. That girl has a certain darkness inside her, I tell you. She emanates a certain kind of vibe I can't quite place when I am with her."

"I am sure you are just overthinking it. You know she has been through a lot. Her father's issue took quite a toll on her."

"I guess you are right."

She concedes.

"I want to see her; I just don't know how to go about it. I don't know if she would still be living in her old house."

"You can check on her there, and if she's not there, you can always go to her parent's house. They would surely know her whereabouts."

"Yeah, Mom, I would do just that."

"There's something else I want to discuss with you."

She says seriously.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I know it must be the last thing you want to hear, but it has to be said. The events of the last ten years don't define you; you are successful now and will soon be in the public eye. People would still remember the events of the past years, but you should stand tall and don't let that affect you at all."

"Lifting her head to meet her mother's gaze, she sniffs, trying to hold back tears.

"Thanks, Mom. I am so grateful for your never-ending support. I am way past what happened; the trolling only made me stronger."

"That's the spirit."

Getting to her feet, she pulls Camille up and embraces her.

She steps back to regard Camille, searching for signs of unhappiness. Satisfied with what she sees, she's smiling.

"We have left your father too long with Mitch; I am sure he must be regaling him with endless stories by now. You also need to take a shower, eat, and rest in that order. Let's go up the stairs."

"Okay, Mom. I need to unpack and give you the gifts I got for you and Dad."

"Let's go then."

They make their way up the stairs, hand in hand to meet Mitch and Mr. Williams.