Time outside the US during N400 - maintaining residency

[Waitinggame16 91]

Hi. We applied in May for our N400 Naturalization and at the rate my field office is going we will be in to next year by the time it's done. Unfortunately we have a sick family member in our birth country and we need to go back (for now planning for November with our current apartment lease ending November 30) in order to be with him and to help our family after he is gone. We applied for an expedite and it was declined with them saying that we could come back for the interview when it came up . However we will be there for we think about 3-4 months meaning we can't afford to keep our apartment rental. My question is, if we show we were back taking care of a terminally I'll relative and have maintained our car and bank accounts and phone bills here but not a physical residence, will that be enough to prove that we didn't give up our resident status? Or will we be subject to decline? We don't plan staying away for more than the allowed time frames and my husband will be returning to work in March -April. His work means he can be off for Winters and maintain his job for the Summer . 

 

Thanks and hope that all makes sense to get an answer.