Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 29

Brewing

Bailey sat in her Math class looking out the window of the portable. Early December meant that it was the wet and cold season, and this year was no exception. It had been raining for three days now but today the lightning and thunder had struck with a vengeance unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was standard practice for Bailey to wear a sweatshirt and have a jacket or sometimes even two with weather like this. Her dads were both working 24-hour shifts though so she was home alone for the night. They were both a bit nervous about leaving Bailey alone for the night. They trusted her explicitly, trust was not the issue, the issue was a mixture of the weather and the moderate unpredictability of Bailey's thermoregulatory dysfunction. Safe to say that even though she had promised her fathers that she'd be fine, Bailey was anxious about spending the night alone in the current weather conditions as well.

"Bailey." Somebody called.

            Bailey looked to the front of the classroom where her teacher was looking at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry what?" She asked.

"The problem on the board, come and complete it please." Mrs. Daniels said.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Bailey said, blinking out her daze and walking to the white board.

            She was halfway through the problem when the wind picked up and they could hear things hitting the side of the portable, drawing her attention from the board. The portable was separate from the main school building, it was one of the few classrooms on campus while part of the main building was being renovated. Her phone started to vibrate in her back pocket and she furrowed her brow. It wasn't common for her to get notifications throughout the day and soon enough the vibrations quit. However, not even a minute later it was vibrating again. Something wasn't right, she pulled out her phone and saw that it was her dad calling her. Bailey put down the marker, her problem half completed and approached her teacher.

"Mrs. Daniels," She said, getting her teacher's attention. "My dad's calling me. He's on shift at the fire house and he never calls me while I'm at school if he can help it and I just...I need to take it."

            Mrs. Daniels could see the anxiety on Bailey's face and nodded.

"Of course, head to the back of the room, I don't want you going outside in this weather." She said.

            Bailey nodded and walked to the back of the room quickly before accepting the call.

"Dad, what's going on?" She asked, holding the phone up to her ear.

"Oh good," Her dad breathed a sigh of relief. "Bails listen, there are some serious high wind warnings coming through and I just want to make sure you're safe."

"Dad, I'm fine," Bailey looked outside again and then thought again. "Maybe a little anxious, but fine."

"Okay, I know you're supposed to be home alone tonight, are you still okay with that?" TK asked.

"Yeah," Bailey replied. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Because I can call in or maybe you could stay with Noah and his family for the night-"

"Dad," Bailey said, interrupting her father's stream of worry. "I'll be fine."

            She heard her dad take a deep breath on the other end of the line.

"Okay, as long you're sure." He said.

"I am." Bailey said.

"Alright sweetheart, go on back to class and papá and I will see you tomorrow morning." TK said.