Welcome home..

[Salene]

Salene made her way back into the mall, she began to head into the rooms to awaken the others, then decided against it...She could already imagine the other's faces when they realized Bray was home, but maybe it was best if he was the one to surprise them. As she made her way through the lobby she couldn't help but wonder whether or not she was dreaming,
How did he make it into the city? He had always been good at going unnoticed , but ebony could be just as cunning and far more brutal if she wanted to be. He had taken a big risk in coming back.
Salene's thoughts fell short when she suddenly saw him at the sewer entrance, Instinct kicked in and ran to embrace her old friend.
"welcome home, Bray" she whispered.

[Bray]

Thoughts raced through Bray's mind as he wondered which of his friends would meet him first. He could barely contain his anticipation as he approached the inner entrance into the mall. He took his usual safety precautions, but he still was inevitable anxious. He must

"Salene!", he exclaimed quietly. He was overjoyed to see her. He accepted her embrace greatfully and then smiled at her when she let go. "Is it safe in here?", he asked her. A sudden worry came about him. He remembered the last time he's snuck into the mall like this, Salene had screamed. That had been back in the days of the Chosen. He looked at her with a mixture of concern, and an overbearing joy to be back at home again.

[Trudy]

Trudy

It had been a long night, for Brady had had multiple nightmares. Trudy was just glad to get some well earned sleep, and it seemed that she had just drifted off before a voice was heard shouting through the halls. Turning over and pulling the cotton sheets over her head, Trudy tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, our teenage mother had quite the difficult time.

It didn’t take long to realize that the voice heard through the halls was Salene’s, and that there was obviously something big going on. Trudy tossed and turned for what seemed to be hours, when in reality it was only a few minutes. Finally getting up off of her feather down bed and opening her door to see what was wrong, Trudy had to turn right back around. Yup, Brady had woken up again, except this time she was throwing up.

“Aww, it’s okay baby. Momma’s here. Momma’s got you. It’s gonna be all right.” Turning just a bit, to shout out the door, Trudy yelled “Can you keep it down?! Brady’s sick!”

Tuning in to listen to what the commotion was about, she heard bray, back, wake up, he’s back, and one could only guess what those words meant.

OOC- Sorry this took so long.

[Salene]

"yes, it's safe.." Salene replied "For now anyway..." She sighed. Her mind again wondered to the city she had witnessed from the roof top just moments earlier.
Salene looked up at Bray, noticing how worn down he appeared. her motherly instincts suddenly kicked in. "Bray, you must have had a long journey.. why don't you go into the cafe and rest for a bit, i'll go wake the others, Amber and trudy will be so happy to see you! It's good to have you home." and with that Salene turned and headed up the stairs to share the news.

[Bray]

Bray smiled at Salene. "Thanks", he whispered. He followed Salene up the lobby stairs, anxious about what she had said. He was glad it was safe, but he was worried about what it might have cost to get that way. He wearily ascended the steps, his troubles were clearly evident in his tired movements.

Amber's name also produced a wealth of emotions in his mind. The last time he had seen her, she had been in labor. He had abandoned her, and he didn't know if he could ever face her again. He wanted her to be alright, and he wanted to see his baby, but he doubted that even Amber would be able to forgive him for leaving her. He looked down at the ground in shame as he entered the cafe.

[Amber]

Amber walked though the Cafe going Into the lobby, Holding on Bray Jr. She looked at her son. Remembering all the things She had done to get to bring her son into the world. The last time she ever seen Bray again. Amber didn't want to think about this stuff but had to. Everytime she looked into Bray Jr. Eye's she saw Bray. She missed him alot but didn't let anyone know. Not even her best friend Trudy.

Amber looked up to see someone standing right infront of her. She couldn't keep her eye's off the person standing right there. "Bray!." Amber said holding Bray Jr. Tight next to her hip. She couldn't get anymore words out. She wanted to say something more but couldn't. Amber looked down than back up at Bray Tearing coming down her eye's. "This can't be real."?

[Amber]

The clot in her throat just didn't seem to go away, and Amber didn't know how to be suddenly. She turned her tear-strained face away from him, looking down at their son who was tugging her top. She didn't want Bray to see her cry, or maybe it was because of Salene.
Although they'd all lived together for so long, it was hard for Amber to let anyone see her weakness.
And the child was something safe to look at until the information that Bray was really back slowly sunk in.

[Bray]

Bray looked up momentarily at the sound of someone entering the cafe. He could tell they were carrying a baby from the way they walked. It sounded like the calm and sure steps of a mother. Instinctively he thought of Trudy, and for a moment he forgot about his hesitation to enter the cafe. The idea of seeing Trudy and his niece again was something that made him feel a little more sure of himself, despite the impending confrontation he knew was coming with Amber.

When Amber appeared before him, Bray was taken completely by surprise. He had been so sure of himself that it was going to be Trudy that he was completely unprepared from the emotional swing that came upon seeing the love of his life step into his

Bray never really cried very often, but the sight of Amber standing before him was too much to contain within himself. A tear rolled innocently down his cheek. It was the same kind of tear that he had shed for her on Eagle Mountain.

As he looked at Amber, she was the exact same way he had remembered her. Having a baby had done almost nothing to her figure. Her sense of warmth and determination still radiated from the woman who stood before him

"Amber...?", Bray managed to say. when she turned her head away from him, a deep feeling of regret came over him. Instantly, he wished he hadn't come back. He still wanted to be there, but the sight of Amber turning away from him was completely crushing to his low spirits. A look of helpless pain crossed his face at seeing her visually reject him.

[Amber]

The sound of his voice when Bray called Amber's name made it so much more real, that he really was back and she wasn't dreaming. Thoughts were racing through her head, as if she was standing by a highway, the thoughts like cars passing her by and she felt she had to fight to keep the cars' tailwind from pushing her to the ground.
Where had he been all this time? A prisoner? Or had he really left her? That she couldn't believe of him.
Gathering her thoughts, she turned towards him again a bit, still using the child as a lifejacket.
"This is little Bray," she looked at her lost love who so suddenly had returned, smiling with mothers pride when holding her son up.

[Amber]

Amber looked at Bray, how tired he seemed....it must've been a long road he's been through, she thought to herself, now she had calmed down a little. It didn't really matter, probably, the past. Or did it?
"Come, let's not stand here in a middle of the room?" she offered, as he seemed unable to do anything but staring at the baby and her.

[Bray]

Bray was completely bewildered when Amber held the baby up and announced him as theirs. Of all the things Amber could have said, it was the most hurtful to his already wounded consience. The fact that he had abandoned his own child was almost too much for him to withold, and the only thing he could do was look into the child's innocent eyes with the pangs of regret eating away at what was left of his self respect.

At Amber's suggestion, he faltered again. He knew in his heart that he couldn't let the past go so easily. He could sense Amber's expectation and had to say something to break the tension that was building up.

"Amber...I'm sorry.....I should never have left you in the barn", Bray whispered quietly.

[Amber]

"I should never have left you...." If it's possible to live when your heart's not beating, it certainly felt that way for Amber when she heard him say that. It really was worse than being hit in the face would've been, and Amber grabbed the reiling with spare hand. Slowly, she took a deep breath in.
"Why did you?" she asked him very quietly.

[Bray]

Even though Amber's reaction was only a breath, Bray noticed the shattering impact of his words all too clearly. He suddenly felt the need to touch her. He wanted to hold her and tell her something to soften the pain that his mere presence was causing so abruptly.

The real reason he had left was so unclear to him. Everything had made sense back when he had willfully dropped the ring on the ground outside of the barn and ran toward the woods. Now than he was on the spot, Bray considered himself a mess.

"I thought it was for the best", he said regretfully. "I had reasons, but none of them turned out to be the right ones", he added with softly.

Bray took the impulse that was pushing him and walked over to her cautiously. Part of him wanted to take Amber into his arms right away, but he kept an umcomfortable distance.

[Amber]

"For the best? Oh I see. I'm sure you did...." Amber shook her head and laughed bitterly. "Don't!" she backed away, seeing as he stepped closer to her.¨

"My god, I almost died out there! You just took off and left me, alone, in a middle of nowhere when I was having your child, Bray! How could you do this?" Amber raised her voice with every word a bit, but she was beyond caring, the anger welling up inside just took over too quickly.
"If Trudy hadn't found me, I'd be dead now...and my son, too, and you left? You just got scared and left? You idiot!" Amber paused to take a breath, but there was plenty more coming.

[Bray]

"It wasn't like that", Bray protested with bewilderment. "I heard the planes flying...saw the trucks coming...I didn't want them to you find you in the barn", Bray tried to explain. "I tried to lead them away from you....!" Bray hushed suddenly when he realized his was speaking in an authorative tone. It was the one he used to use with the Mall Rats back whhen Ebony was up to her usual schemes. A small lump formed in his throat.

Bray stepped away from Amber at her insistence, and stood against one of the cafe tables with a very tortured pose. He knew she was right, he had been an idiot. The thought was overbearing and he knew that her reaction to some of the other things he was hiding would be far worse. "Do you want me to go?", he asked simply.