Being a Demigod is Rough

Josh Goes Home

Josh slowly trekked up the slippery, sagging, paint chipped wooden staircase.  He had a white knuckled grip on the railing, for he was afraid he'd fall face first.  He didn't need that especially not when he's about to see them.  Josh shivered as he made his way up.  He was drenched from head to toe, soaked all the way to the bone, sopping wet.  His sneakers made a sloshing, squishing, disgusting noise as he walked, but he never quickened his pace.  In fact, more often than not, he stopped.  He would sway from side to side shifting his weight from foot to foot as he glanced up at the off-white door ahead of him.  He'd study it as it came closer and closer, the numbers becoming crisper through the downpour as he advanced on his destination.  Rusted gold coated numbers sat just above a peephole, and below that was a knocker.  The knocker was a rusted gold as well.  It matched the door knob and the numbers.  214.  Apartment 214.
Josh finished his trek and glanced to the doorbell, then the knocker, then finally raised his fist to knock when the door flung open.

"Joshua!" Alana Miraldi said as she threw the door open to greet her only son.  She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.   She didn't seem to care about the downpour, nor the lightening overhead, all she cared about was her handsome boy.  She held him at arms length and got a good look at him.  Josh studied Alana as well.  Her once dark brown hair was now ombre'd into a golden blonde and much shorter.  Her face had aged from years of tanning, and she looked older, not her age.  She was thirty-one, but she could have fooled him into thinking her forty.  When she smiled at him, Josh realized, the smile didn't reach her eyes.  Her dark mocha eyes looked lifeless, sad, almost defeated.  His heart clenched at this.  He'd always remembered her being so full of life, but she wasn't.  She had lost a significant amount of weight and looked almost sickly.  Her wrist bones protruded and there was hardly any fat on her arms.  Josh had no doubts he could easily break one of her bones.  
Alana smiled at him, and Josh couldn't help but return the smile.  He couldn't stay mad at her.  He loved her, and no matter what she did it wasn't all bad.  Josh couldn't hate her.  Though he'd claim to at camp and try his hardest to find a way to absolutely detest her, Josh couldn't bring himself to do it.  He didn't know how to hate, and he was positive there was nothing she could do to bring about that emotion.

"Come in, come in, I've just set some cookies out to cool, there's a pot roast in the slow cooker, I was going to start the mashed potatoes any moment now!" Alana said with a slight southern twang.  Josh didn't have the heart to confess to her that he was a vegetarian, and decided he'd have to suck it up and eat her food.  She was his mother after all, and they hadn't seen each other in eight years.

"Oh, thanks ma," Josh let Alana usher him in and he bent down to untie his sneakers.

"Mama! Mama!" A little girl came bounding into the entryway from down the hall.  Josh looked to her in shock as he stumbled out of his sneakers.  He looked to Alana.

"Ma?" Alana smiled down as the little girl ran to them.  She wore a red poofy dress, white shoes with lacy white socks, and a red ribbon in her dark hair.  She had the same dark eyes as both Josh and Alana, and her smile was just like Alana's.

"Joshua, this is Jessalyn.  Jess, this is Joshua." Josh looked down to Jessalyn after steeling a glance at Alana.

"Big brother Josh?" Jessalyn asked.  Alana smiled and nodded.

"Yes, big brother Josh," Josh blinked and knelt down to Jessalyn's height.

"So I have a sister," He stated quirking a brow.  "An adorable one too," He poked Jess's cheek and she giggled.  Josh opened his arms and Jessalyn ran into them.

"Ick! Joshy! You're all wet! Let me goooo!" She cried as he hugged her.  Josh let out a laugh and let her go.

"Joshua go change into something dry," Alana said heading toward the kitchen.  Josh sighed and stood.