Embrace — A Vocabulary Story
Something Quietly Shifting
The removal van had barely left before Nico decided he hated everything about Whitmore.
He hated the wallpaper, the bedroom that smelled of someone else's life, the fact that Darius was forty-seven miles away. His mum told him to embrace the change. He put his headphones on.
Embrace means to hold someone closely in your arms to show affection. It also means to accept or support willingly and enthusiastically.
That evening his mum sat with him on the bare mattress. She had her own doubts but didn't voice them and just held him in a supportive embrace.
"I know," she said.
"You don't," said Nico.
She didn't argue.
Weeks crept past. Then a boy named Felix knocked and asked if Nico fancied a kickabout. His mum watched from the window longer than she'd ever admit.
By October, he was settling in and had a friend who texted more reliably than Darius ever had.
Before he went out on his birthday, his mum pulled him into a long hug on the cold doorstep — the kind of embrace that only his mum could give him. She held on a few seconds longer than usual. She needed it too.
He still missed home.
But when Felix texted — happy birthday, chips on me — Nico found himself smiling. Maybe embracing Whitmore hadn't been a decision at all. Maybe it had just quietly happened.
Word Definition
embrace
meaning
to hold someone closely in your arms to show affection; to accept or support willingly and enthusiastically
synonyms
hug · accept · adopt · welcome · encompass
antonyms
reject · exclude · release
example sentence
She embraced her friend warmly after not seeing her for years.