“I’m shocked you didn’t pack them in your suitcase and bring them back with you”

Colorful Welcome Home signs papered the door, and the flowers and lace placemats were still adorning the dining room table after the gala dinner that Tziri and Layale had prepared in her honor last night. Still, sitting now in her quiet kitchen, hand wrapped around her hot coffee mug, Ayala found it oddly disquieting to realize that nothing in her home had changed in the three weeks she’d been away.

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Three weeks’ worth of dishes piled in the sinks? Moans about eating tuna sandwiches every night for dinner? Sure, Naftali had told her quietly how much he’d missed her, and Levi had clung to her leg the entire afternoon. But at bedtime, he’d cried when Ayala had tried to put him in his crib, pointing insistently at Tziri.

Yes, her family was happy to have her back, but they’d managed fine without her. Why should she find that realization so upsetting?

Ayala only dimly registered the knock at her front door, and looked up in surprise when it opened.

“Well, hello, stranger!” Bracha’s cheery voice rang out in the quiet apartment and Ayala stood up, grinning.

“It’s so good to see you.”

“Same here.” Bracha gave her a hug. “You know I was having nightmares that you might decide not to come back.”

Ayala raised an eyebrow. “Oh no, why?”

“I thought you’d find it too hard to leave your parents.” Bracha winked. “It sounds like you were doing a lot for them.”

Ayala gave a little sigh. She’d been wondering all morning how her parents were managing without her. Had her mother remembered which pills needed to be taken with food and which ones without? Had her father fallen asleep in the living room armchair and woken up in the middle of the night with a stiff neck because Ayala hadn’t been there to gently rouse him and lead him to his bed?

“I was. I have no idea what they’re going to do now.”

“I’m shocked you didn’t pack them in your suitcase and bring them back with you.”

Ayala frowned at her friend’s flippant tone. Did she not realize how challenging her parents’ situation was?