Where I Belong

She was standing alone at Heathrow Airport. Her hands were holding tightly on the handle of her luggage and carry-on. The airport was busy and she was wondering if she’d ever find her designated driver. Over the intercom, names were being called, flights were being announced and numbers were being repeated. Twenty-two year old Ellinor Brin, or simply Ellie, was London bound for two good reasons: 1) to reconcile with her mother’s side of the family and 2) spending a semester at Cardiff University to study business.

Ellie stood in the middle of everything. People walked passed her and to their terminals. Many were just sitting around, waiting for their flight number to be called. She scanned the place, looking for the right somebody.

“Ellinor! Over here!” The tall brunette turned around and saw an elder couple walk towards her, huge smiles plastered on their faces. She smiled and ran to them, her arms wide open.

“Nain…taid!”

The three of them all came together. Ellie had her bags lying on the floor while her arms were wrapped around her grandparents. She hadn’t seen them for a few years, ever since her mother and father had a disagreement prior to leaving the UK. This summer, she was planning on fixing what her parents had done, become closer to them, and to learn more about her Welsh ancestry.

“Oh my, Ellinor,” her nain, or grandmother, said. She reached for her granddaughters hands and held onto them tightly. Her taid, or granddad, went to grab the luggage and bags off the floor. “You’re beautiful, much like your mother, much, much like her.”

“You have her lovely smile dear,” said her taid. Ellie turned to look at her granddad. His face was wrinkly but nice. She had forgotten how he looked and how her nain looked. It had been years. “How long has it been? Twelve years?” She nodded.

The grandparents looked at each other and gasped, wrapping their arms around each other. As her nain pressed the side of her face against her taid's chest, her eyes began to water. “Oh my… it’s been more than a decade.”

Ellie nodded and reached for her nain. “Please don’t cry, I’m here now and I’m staying for 8 months.”

“Well then, let’s go back home. It’s a two hour drive back to Cardiff.” The soft voice of her nain sort of broke Ellie’s heart a bit. She could feel the pain that they had went through, not having seen their only granddaughter in more than ten years. Ellie watched them turn away and walk towards the exit. With her trailing behind, she looked up and saw that they laced their hands together; they were still in love and that was enough to mend up her pieced-up little heart.