Celestial ~ JJ Maybank

02.

Celeste woke up the next day, the sun's rays shining through the sheer curtains of her bay window. She laid still for a minute, relishing in the calmness of the world outside her bedroom. She had trouble processing that the storm was finally over. Thoughts of the storm and her fears made her heartbeat rise and her breathing go uneasy. 'Everyone's okay, stop being so stupid' she berated herself. She could feel her heartbeat steady as the smell of cooked food floated through her bedroom. Instantly, a smile grew on her face at the thought of her mother, and hopefully, father being home. They were safe.

She stopped to stretch her body out after her night's sleep curled in a ball before making her way downstairs. As she walked towards the kitchen, she heard the humming and soft conversation from the kitchen making her speed up.

She watched as her mother was stacking pancakes onto a large plate as her father stood drinking his usual morning coffee, beside her. David looked up to see his daughter and a more sympathetic smile grew on his face, knowing how scared and anxious she would've been the night before.

"There she is, how are you feeling?" he spoke, making Luna turn around to face Celeste with a matching sympathetic look on her face.

"Better than last night, that's for sure dad" Celeste said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I turned off your music for you when I got home, honey" Luna came straight into her daughter's bedroom when she got home late into the night. She was later than she intended to be and she knew Celeste would always try to stay up for her. She could hear the music blaring over the wind and felt guilty already. Once she looked into her daughter's room, that feeling grew tenfold. Her daughter, curled up under multiple blankets with tear streaks down her cheeks. Luna walked to her phone and turned off the music. Instantly, all that filled the room was the sound of the wind outside. The mother of one watched her daughter as she slept, only imagining how she felt falling asleep alone. She was surprised none of the others stayed with her. She was sure that she would've been able to convince one of them to stay - not that the group normally need any kind of persuasion. But that was a question for the morning. She simply stroked her cheek and gave a loving kiss to her daughter's forehead before leaving the room, going to have a well-deserved sleep. She hated leaving her daughter alone during storms, knowing they were the a big reason behind her fear.

Celeste couldn't help herself rushing over to throw her arms around her mum. She didn't care if it was childish or stupid. She loved her parents more than life itself.

"Thank you" Celeste mumbled. They all knew she wasn't just thanking her for turning off the music.

They were safe and that's all that mattered.

"Enough of the lovey dovey stuff, let's eat, I'm starving," Celeste pulled away from her mom's arms with a bright smile.

"Now you're speaking my language" David spoke before wrapping an arm around her shoulders, taking her to the dinner table inside the kitchen, which they rarely used unless there was a storm.

"David, if you could've married food, you would've never looked my way" Luna brought the stack of pancakes over to the table, placing it in the middle, looking over at her childhood sweetheart, who was getting the maple syrup from the pantry.

There was a pause before he mumbled, "food would never speak to me like that"

The girls laughed at him, shaking their heads.

"Why am I married to you again?"

David moves behind Luna, who was now sat down, putting his hands on her shoulders, "Because you love me"

"No, that's not it" she replies jokingly.

As they continued bickering, Celeste watched with a wide smile on her face. This is the kind of love she wishes she will have one day. If only she was that lucky.