I sat between Ben and Nathaniel in the audience, waiting for the curtain to go up. Alexis was doing a dance recital today and the three of us had woken up early to watch.
"Dad, can I still go to the party tonight?" Nathaniel asked.
"Sure you can. We already said you could." I replied.
"Can I stay out late?"
"How late?" Ben cut into the conversation.
"Um, midnight?" Ben was going to say something but I laid a hand on his knee to stop him.
"As long as you're comfortable there. If you feel like you want to come home, you let us know."
"Okay. Thanks, dad." Nathaniel turned back to play with his phone, his fingers lightly dancing over the screen. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Ben.
"Ben, he'll be fine." I whispered to him, leaning a little closer so Nathaniel wouldn't hear. "He'll have his phone with him."
"I just worry, that's all." Ben whispered back.
"I know." I pecked Ben's cheek and then sat back, holding his hand tightly. On the other side of me, Nathaniel gasped, nudging me with his elbow.
"Dad, what was the address we were at last night?"
"Um, seventy-something Bowman Street. Why?"
"There's a huge house-fire on that street." I leaned over to look at the image on the screen of Nathaniel's phone, my eyes going wide.
"Which house?"
"It doesn't say." The house in the picture was two-stories tall but I couldn't remember if Nick's house had been a single or double story. "It just says that there are firemen on the scene and they're working to put out the fire."
"I hope everyone's okay." I muttered, pulling out my phone to send a message to Nick just as the lights started to dim.
Heard there's a fire in your neighbourhood. Hope everyone's okay. ~ Charlie
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After Alexis' recital had finished, there was still no reply from Nick but I didn't worry too much; he was probably helping out where he could and didn't have access to his phone. If I didn't hear back by the time I went to bed, I'd start worrying then.
"Daddy Charlie? Can we get ice-cream? Please?" Alexis begged, skipping along beside me as I followed behind Nathaniel who was focused on his phone.
"Sure. You did so good, Alexis. I'm so proud of you." I agreed, smiling down at her. She grinned and looked to Ben.
"Was I good, Daddy Ben?"
"Of course you were. You were the best ballerina on the stage." Ben praised her. That seemed to satisfy her and she let go of our hands, running up towards Nathaniel. The two of them chattered quietly together as we walked towards our favourite ice-cream shop. I took hold of Ben's hand and leaned into his side.
"We've got the best kids." I muttered.
"Mm. We do. We're the luckiest guys in the world." He whispered back, kissing the top of my head. I sighed happily and we fell silent as we followed our kids.
"Dad! Dad, look! Look!" Nathaniel came bounding over to me after a moment, waving his phone in my face. I flinched back a little and reached out to take the phone.
"Whoa. I can't see it if you're waving it in my face like that."
"Sorry. Dad, Matt just told me that Emma's going to be at the party tonight."
