Loss of an old friend

I've been away on a big escapist amusement park trip with lediva, and it's been really lovely, but I came back last night to a call from bard_bloom letting me know that Omaha, our cat and family companion for the last 17 years, passed away. I think that I'm going to come home this morning. I want to be with my family, and I'm pretty worried about Rhys being afraid or confused, since from his perspective I think it might look like Daddy just left Omaha at the vet and is being stubborn about not wanting to go pick her up, and since I'm away, but *am* coming back. I don't think I should be leaving all the talking about this for Bard to do, since Omaha was really his cat and he's got a lot of his own processing to do I'm sure. And I just don't feel like rollercoasters and cotton candy right now. So even though that will mean driving than roller coasters, I think I'm going to go home as soon as I can get lediva up, and try to owe her the rest of this trip when we get together in July.