Tiny bit of belief

The remaining days of their trip went by with as much laughter, excitement and intimate moments as they could have wished for. Jason finally shaking off his newly acquired title of 'adorable' shortly after gaining it and spending the rest of their days keeping it that way. Now the day to leave the resort and head back to their regular lives had arrived and he was sad to leave. Even so, he didn't have any regrets. He had made the most out of every day and he could say with confidence that all in all he had made the most of his well deserved reward. Being able to spend these days alone with Jenny had also made him feel glad he had helped out when he did and had laid back when the situation called for it.

Though he would have been fine if no such reward was given, he was happy that Jenny had chosen to show her appreciation in this way. While he loved being the one to prepare such surprises and trips for Jenny, being on the receiving end once in a while felt really good in its own way. Adding to the enjoyment he had felt during this trip. After he glanced at the room one more time to save all the memories and to check if they had left nothing behind, they were off on their way to complete their little family of three again after leaving their brave and uncommonly mature son behind for a full week. "Let's go.", he called out as he reached out his hand for Jenny, who had finished zipping up the perfectly repacked suitcase. Together they headed to the car and started their long drive back.

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When they arrived at Prism mansion, little Charlie was already standing outside waiting for the both of them to arrive and to be reunited with his beloved mother. When Jenny spotted the little bundle of joy of hers, sitting on the steps to the front door with his knees pulled up and looking absolutely adorable with his small pout from growing impatient, her heart strings received a firm tug. She imagined that he had been waiting there since morning, maybe alternating it with going inside upon his great-grandparents' request. After more of the day had come to pass, she was certain that he had started to wonder whether they had changed their minds about coming back today, feeling anxious about whether they had left him behind like this, while holding onto just a tiny bit of belief in that little heart of his. And her prediction were true.

As they had left the resort quite late and the drive was quite long as well, they had arrived close to dinnertime which the small boy had not expected. Somehow, just like how he had been dropped off just around lunch, he had assumed that he would be picked up somewhere around lunch as well. Hoping that it might be earlier, he had woken up early as usual and had insisted on playing around outside as soon as he had finished his breakfast. Though his playing consisted mostly of him staring in the direction of the gate every few seconds, his great-grandparents decided to let him be as they could understand what he was probably feeling at that moment. Understanding how impatient a child can grow, they were already impressed with how well he had behaved for these past few days without having either of his parents around.

Despite their concerns for his feelings when he would have to face of the disappointment of them not arriving in the morning, he took it extremely well. In fact, when Jenny and Jason didn't arrive in the morning and lunch was announced, he jumped for joy. This was because he was thinking if they hadn't returned in the morning, they would certainly be close to picking him up now as lunchtime had finally arrived. Placing himself on those very steps as soon as he was dismissed from the table, he had been waiting for hours. All by himself and refusing to come inside to wait no matter how many times he was asked by Jason's grandparents. In the end they were forced to watch hopelessly as the boy was testing his perseverance and the strongness of his believe in his mother's words of coming back to pick him up on this day.

So, when Charlie heard the sound of a car driving onto the driveway in the distance, he immediately glanced up anxiously and spotted the car that had dropped him off a few days ago. Maybe it was because he didn't want to hold onto false hope or maybe it was just a state of disbelieve now that the moment he had been waiting for all day had arrived, but his face stayed expressionless and he just quietly observed while his great-grandparents observed him from behind the window. As his eyes remained fixed on the approaching car, he was slowly starting to be able to see more details. And the moment he noticed his mother in the front passenger seat, smiling and waving at him, his face finally lit up and shone more brightly than the sun on this hot summer day.