text: (WELCOME HOME) Passengers moved swiftly, tourists, businessmen, families, unknowns, pilots laughing and slyly grinning at women they pass. I sat at my departure gate waiting like the rest of the ancy anxious travelers wanting to board and relax for the long trip back to the states. Airports for some reason excited me, so many possibilities to change your future. Go left and you are off to the Caribbean, go right and you are headed for the mountains deep in the alaskan forrest. traveling was a freedom i enjoyed, and lived for. My simple lifestyle and easy yet reckless plan had payed off for these past months. I had been gone for over nine months traveling off the money i had earned the previous year working sixty six hours weekly, 6 days a week. I had very little luggage and a few bags of gifts for my waiting family who would pick me up at the airport. I pulled up their pictures on my phone that was scratched, beaten and had a cracked screen and a constant flashing "silent mode on, silent mode off, silent mode on" Too many drops, falls, and near fatalities had taken its toll on it. Yet through it all it preserved what i had held dear, the photos, the power to connect me, the voices, the recorded sound of each of them saying i love you. I smiled at each face, and kissed all their foreheads in my mind. As i sat back and waited for the boarding announcement i called the house, no answer, i called her cell, no answer. I was annoyed even though it was selfish of me since they had waited for me to live my life alone and abroad for nine months and calls from me that came only when i had reception which would be weeks at a time Usually static filled and muffled. I sent a text to her cell. "Love are you still planning to pick me up when my flight arrives?" No response.... *flight 32 is now boarding, flight 32 is boarding. Heathrow to New york City* I grabbed my bags and headed for the gate. I turned in my ticket. I rolled my battle travel scarred suitcase through the claustrophobic tunnel to the plane. I inched by inched my way through the people to my seat at the back of the plane. Flying home in luxury was not my style, i took my seat in the back of the plane and prepared for the long flight i hoped to sleep through. As i sat in my seat and laid my head back my phone buzzed, stopped, buzzed, and stopped. I pulled it out of my cargo pocket and read the message. *cant make it sweetie, i'm sorry, kids have a doctors appointment and i wont be able to pick you up and get them back there on time, you know how if we cancel it takes months to get rescheduled. Get a Uber home, we all cant wait to squeeze and kiss the life out of you. Mmwahhhh* I smiled, i could see her face in my mind blowing kisses at me from her bed as she laid in her pjs and her brown curly hair pulled back as her cold toes wiggled back and forth. I had been gone too long. The announcement to turn all electronics off was made and i shut my phone off. The flight passed rather quickly and i got a good 6 hours of sleep. Which was amazing given my seat location and the bathrooms. As the flight landed, and we waited to exit i awoke out of my zombie no sleep mode and got my shoes back on. The plane parked up to the tunnel and we all started to exit. I rolled through the tunnel, past the gate, into the main airport and past the food court. I could smell the breakfast and the coffee, i passed on the idea of stopping and continued on to the first level to get a ride home. I picked the first uber my tired strained eyes saw and headed outside into the freezing cold NYC temperature. We got into his honda and headed off. He was quiet and i didn't mind in the least, i gave him the directions and laid my head back again to rest. This jet travel lag was kicking me. But i wanted to be fully alert and awake to savor every second of my home coming. The noise killed most of it though, i couldn't sleep through the screams, sirens, horns blasting, and construction noise. "sorry its taking longer, an accident made us detour" I smiled with my eyes shut. "Home sweet home" I had not been used to this traffic for nine months. It would take some getting used to. As we pulled up to my building i paid my fare and stepped outside grabbed my bags and headed in. I rode the elevator to the 6th floor and stepped into my old familiar hallway. I walked to my door and unlocked every lock from the handle to the floor. Laughing as i went. My hands were shaking, i was nervous just to step inside my own home. Nobody was there, they were at the doctors and i would be alone in my home for the first time in months. As i pushed it open and walked inside a rush fell over me that i had not felt before. a sense of belonging, a total knowing that this was my home, this was our home. I had created every memory i held most dear in this apartment. This apartment was a part of my life i had been away from for far too long. As i walked into each room i looked around and memories jumped out in front of my eyes to great me. Moments with my children as they fell asleep to my voice as i read them a children's story. Private intimate moments with my wife. her hands on my chest, her legs tucked under mine. Her toes curled up. I walked into the kitchen as i looked at a homemade banner strung across the wall. *WELCOME HOME DADDY! IF YOU LEAVE AGAIN WE WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!* On the table sat a total mess of a cake that was slathered in red frosting. I sat down and smiled as i pictured the kids making it and my wife just laughing at the disaster piece of their gift to me. I could still see a little red frosting finger print left behind on the counter. I sat there and waited for them to join me shortly and complete the missing part of my heart. I pulled out my phone and realized i had not turned it on since the arrival. I powered it up and waited for the signal sign. As i was about to text my wife i received two new push notifications. I opened the first my wife sent hours ago before my flight landed. I opened the message and downloaded the video. The video played and i watched as my wife first appeared on the screen and blew a kiss at me. She was driving and filming at the same time. "We hello my love, so we decided that waiting through a doctors visit was not worth the the price of missing you for another two hours, the kids and i decided to screw the doctor because We Want to see our daddy and hubby!" At the last moment she held the camera so i could see her and my two daughters in the backseat as the three of them joined in and shouted "WE LOVE Y...." The video ended without the final word. I played it again. And again. And again. I opened the second message from my father in law. Two words. "They're gone" I sat back... Silent. Numb. I could still hear the words... "An accident made us detour" Everything faded to black as my life's camera slowly pulled away from me as i sat dead still staring at the cake and what was my shattered home coming.