3rd person pov
Nyara's hand trembled as she held the phone to her ear, the ringing echoing in the quiet room. Each ring was a pulse of anxiety, a drumbeat against the wall she had built around herself. She almost pressed the end call button, her courage faltering, but then, a voice, warm and familiar, filled her ear.
"Nyara, sweetheart, you're finally calling me back," Naomi's voice was a mix of relief and concern.
"Hey, Mom," Nyara said, her voice barely a whisper, a wave of guilt washing over her. "Sorry."
"How have you been, darling?" Naomi asked, her voice laced with worry. "We've been so worried. Months, Nyara, months without a word. What's been bothering you, sweetheart? You know we're here for you."
Nyara's heart pounded in her chest. How could she explain? How could she tell her mother that she had a five-year-old daughter, a child she didn't remember giving birth to? That she had somehow abandoned her, lost five years of her life?
"The nightmares," she said, her voice strained. "They've… gotten a little worse."
On the other end of the line, she heard her father's voice, firm and concerned. "It's time for you to come home, Nyara. You're not okay. You shouldn't be going through those nightmares alone."
"I can't," Nyara said, her voice tight. "I mean, I don't want to move back home. I'm not a little kid anymore. I want to be an adult. I don't want you guys looking at me like I'm broken, fragile."
"Nyara, darling," Naomi's voice softened. "We don't see you that way. We just want to help. We miss you."
"Please, Nyara," Amir's voice cut through the static, a hint of pleading in his tone. "Just come home for dinner. One night. That's all we ask."
"Yeah, Nyara," Zaila added, her voice warm. "We miss you. We just want to see you."
Nyara hesitated, the longing for her family battling with the fear of revealing her secret. "Okay," she said finally, her voice laced with reluctance. "Okay, I'll come for dinner. But I'll pick the night."
A collective sigh of relief echoed through the phone. "That's wonderful, Nyara," Naomi said, her voice filled with warmth. "We'll look forward to it. Just let us know when."
Nyara hung up, the weight of the conversation settling on her shoulders. She had bought herself some time, but the truth couldn't be hidden forever. She had to tell them about Iyla, about the missing years, about the nightmares that haunted her waking hours. But how? How could she explain something she barely understood herself?
The phone clicked off, leaving a charged silence in the Alister mansion. Naomi held the device close, a fragile smile playing on her lips, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"She's coming," she breathed, her voice a mixture of relief and disbelief. "She's finally coming home for dinner."
Isaiah, his usually stern expression softened, placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's a start," he said, his voice low. "It's a step in the right direction."
Amir leaned back in his chair, a sigh escaping his lips. "It's been too long," he murmured, his eyes reflecting a deep-seated worry. "Too long since we've seen her."
Zaila, her gaze fixed on the floor, spoke up, her voice laced with a quiet determination. "We need to be careful," she said. "She's still… guarded. She's not ready to tell us everything."
"Then we'll be patient," Isaiah said, his voice firm. "We'll earn her trust. We'll show her that she can rely on us."
"But what if she never tells us?" Naomi asked, her voice trembling. "What if she keeps pushing us away?"
"She won't," Amir said, his voice filled with a quiet confidence. "She's coming home. That means she wants to reconnect. She wants to be a part of this family again."
"We can't pressure her," Zaila cautioned, her brow furrowed. "We have to let her come to us in her own time. But we also need to be vigilant. Something is wrong. We all heard that scream on the phone. And she is hiding something."
"We'll find out what it is," Isaiah said, his voice resolute. "We'll protect her, no matter what."
"I just want her to be safe," Naomi whispered, her voice filled with a mother's desperate plea. "I want her to be happy."
The room fell silent, the unspoken anxieties hanging heavy in the air. They were a family fractured, a family desperate to heal. And they would do everything in their power to bring Nyara back into the fold, to unravel the secrets she held, and to protect her from whatever darkness threatened to consume her. They knew that the dinner was a fragile bridge, a tentative step towards reconciliation. They only hoped it wouldn't crumble before they had the chance to cross it.