Dakota was half-sleeping, trapped in a place between dreams and reality. He was having a strange dream about a goth ghost boy wandering around in the red fiery depths of the underworld. His legs dangled off of a cliff; almost sadly, he looked below at the world of dead beings below him. Then the boy said, "I wonder which is worse, life or death?"
Then his dream ended, and Dakota could feel his own consciousness resurfacing. He thought about the dream and whether it meant something. He swore he read something about it somewhere. Maybe his dream stemmed from that.
When he gained the feeling in his body, he reached over to Lucas's side of the bed. Instantly, he was confused when his hand hit the mattress- not Lucas.
He sleepily opened his eyes to sit up and glance around. Still, no Lucas. The room was empty; he was the only one in the bed.
Quite a few weeks had gone by, and not once had Dakota woken up without Lucas by his side. Where was his obligatory morning kisses? If Lucas had woken up first, then Dakota was owed a few smooches.
Dakota decided to investigate.
What time was it? Nine in the morning. Everyone should have been up and out of bed by now.
The shower wasn't running, Dakota observed, after listening carefully for any sound coming from the bathroom.
Maybe he was at breakfast? Dakota thought, still a little shocked by Lucas's lack of appearance in bed.
Dakota stumbled to his feet, rubbing his eyes, and wandered out the door down the hall. It was quiet...too quiet, Dakota decided. For a family of eight (including Lucas, excluding Dakota), there was usually no point in time in which there was complete silence.
It was eerie, especially during a time where at least one person should be awake. Dakota even stopped to place an ear to Avil's door, since- if anyone- Avil should have been awake already. However, Dakota heard nothing.
Strange, Dakota concluded, continuing down the hall.
He came upon the kitchen. It was empty. No Nick. The lights were off as if no one had touched it since the day before. The toddlers weren't running around, no one was sitting at the table. The T.V. from the conjoined living room was off.
Dakota was starting to freak out.
"What the..." he mumbled to himself. He circled the clean kitchen counter as if it was a ghost. He suddenly felt like a kid alone in the store- confused and unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the lights flicked on.
"SURPRISE!" a bunch of voices said all of the sudden, scaring Dakota out of his skin.
He whipped around to see people's heads poking out from behind the sofa and chairs, from behind the curtains by the window. His family and boyfriend.
Then there was Nick, who was hiding in the stairwell. He came down the stairs, smiling happily, with a stack of waffles on a plate in his hands. The waffles looked like perfection topped with berries, whipped cream, and syrup.
"Happy Birthday, Koty!" Lucas said happily, attacking Dakota with a big hug.
Right. His birthday. It all made sense now.
Lucas kissed him on the cheek, as he processed what had just happened.
"Happy birthday, birthday boy," Nick cheered sitting the stack of waffles on the tables, "Usually people do birthday pancakes, but I figured you would prefer birthday waffles instead."
YOU ARE READING
Finding Yourself
RomanceBDSM was not the lifestyle Dakota Moore had in mind. He had spent most of his teenage career running away from orphanages and taking care of his homeless little sisters. Once they were adopted by two rich gay guys, everything in Dakota's life sudden...
