Winter Vacation
“Charlie, I have to go–“
“N-no! Thandi! You can’t go anywhere without me! What if something happens?!”
“Nothing will happen, it’s okay. You don’t need to worry–”
“I’m not worried!”
He cries into her sweater, hugging her around the waist as always. Except today she informed him that she was going to spend the winter holidays with her family, so he became a little more stubborn than usual. “You have no right to go!”
“I’ll be back, I promise. We’re riding on the train together still, all right?”
The day has arrived. Charlie has refused to let her go on the train, yanking her to sit on him so he could give her a full-body hug for the hours-long commute.
She hasn’t had him get this weepy since this past summer, when they parted for the three months. When they met on the train after that, he didn’t let her go for nearly the whole day, crying through her robes. It’s actually pretty flattering, how attached he is. Thandi can’t help but smile to herself.
All she needs to do is be present and he’ll eventually cry himself out and sleep the rest of the way, mumbling into her ear about how much he adores her.
They get off at King’s Cross. Charlie is holding her hand as she directs their luggage on a tram.
He tilts his head when she puts it all on the same one.
His brows wrinkle in confusion as he notes the distinct absence of Thandi’s parents at the station.
His mouth drops open when his mother approaches, hugging them both.
“Are you ready to come home?” Thandi nods and his grip tightens. “Let’s go, you two.”
Two??? Charlie looks between his mother and Thandi. Both of them are smiling at him as he works it out, then gasps.
“Thandi, my family? Is your family?!”
She nods enthusiastically and he throws his arms around her. “Of course we are, we couldn’t let a pitiful creature like you go to those people! Because you’re mine, obviously!!”
“Obviously,” she giggles. Ruth shakes her head, smiling at them. They go home.