Book 5: I'll Wait, Dear (Steven Adler FanFic)

Ch. 35: Thriller

I awoke to an empty bed and the far off sound of music being played. As usual, it was music that I had never heard before. I sat up groggily to see if maybe Steven or Cathy were still in the room, but maybe off in a corner somewhere. I wasn't too shocked when I saw that the bedroom was empty, which meant that they were probably out in the living room playing together.

My entire body protesting, I sat up in bed and forced myself to get up and head to the bedroom door. Without missing a beat, I tore open the door and stepped into the hallway. Music poured out all around me, a little too loud for my taste, and now I could hear the laughs and shrieks of my daughter coming from the living room.

Silently, I padded towards the source of the music, ready to yell at Steven to turn it down. I opened my mouth to yell for Steven once I arrived in the living room, but I paused when I noticed the drummer and my daughter dancing together in the living room.

"I can do it this time, Stevie! Watch me!" Catherine squealed over the music.

"Alright, Kitty Cat. I'm watching," he replied. True to his word, he stopped dancing himself and turned to Catherine.

We both watched her as she began to do some dance I'd never seen before. It was clumsy, and I was fairly certain she had forgotten some of the steps, but Steven clapped for her anyway before joining in.

"'Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike.
You know it's thriller, thriller night.
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight."

There was a man in a red jacket singing on TV. He appeared to have a hoard of zombies following him from behind, all doing a much better version of the dance I had seen Catherine performing only moments before. Looking again, I noticed Steven was nailing every step of the dance. He wasn't even breaking a sweat.

He did a turn at the end, his eyes finally catching sight of me. His face immediately lit up. "Rory!"

My heart lurched slightly at the excitement in his voice. Flashbacks of our kiss from earlier were immediately relived at the sight of him, and made it difficult for me to smile back from the embarrassment I suddenly felt. I knew I probably looked like a hot mess at this point, so I simply nodded and waved back at him, trying to hide in the shadows of the hall.

Catherine gave him a quizzical look before following his gaze and spotting me. "Momma!"

I peeled my eyes away from Steven and dropped to my knees, my arms outstretched to hold Catherine. "Cathy!"

She charged at me, hopping into my arms and wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. I grunted at the impact, and my heart practically shattered to pieces. I hadn't felt so loved by my daughter in a while. I knew it most likely had to do with the fact that I hadn't allowed Steven to come back into our lives. But I didn't care. If she was happy with Steven, so was I.

I crushed her to my body until she wriggled free, a huge grin on her face. "Momma! Stevie was teaching me how to dance!"

"I see that," I replied, giving Steven a questioning look.

"She saw the music video on MTV," Steven added, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. "I know it's kind of scary, with the zombies and all that, but Kitty Cat likes it. She wanted me to teach her how to dance like Michael. Ain't that right, beautiful?"

Catherine nodded her head furiously. "I'm doing real good, Momma. Watch!"

I rested my gaze on her, my eyes full with adoration, as she began to dance again. It was just as clumsy as before, her movements too jerky and excited. Nonetheless, it looked perfect to me, and I giggled as she swayed to and fro.

As I watched her dance, I realized that for the first time since I'd met Steven, my daughter actually reminded me of Steven rather than her actual father, with the infinite amounts of energy. I had never connected the two as being even close to the same person. But now, with David out of the picture, it was almost impossible not to see it.

"Steven," I began softly. He stopped dancing to give me a tiny smile. Despite his attempt to hide it, I saw the wary look in his eyes. "Will you teach me how to dance too?"

His smile widened and Cathy giggled beside him.

"We'll both show you how, right Kitty Cat?" Steven nudged Cathy on the shoulder with a hand. The little girl bounced in place excitedly before rushing over to me.

"Come on, Momma! You have to watch Michael do it first!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" I laughed appreciatively as I followed her over to the front of the TV to where the music video was still playing. The main guy in the video-Michael, I'm guessing-was doing the dance again, and I studied him carefully so I could try to mimic his movements.

As I watched, my eyes lingered over to Steven, who was standing off to the side and smiling over at Cathy and I. He winked at me as our eyes met and I blushed furiously.

"Momma, you're not watching!" Catherine scolded me, causing Steven and I both to laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry, Cathy honey. Momma's watching now," I lied, my gaze still fixed on Steven.

Staring after him, I wondered if this was how it felt to be a family. If it was always this fun. I liked the fact that I woke up to a noisy house, my daughter fully immersed in dancing and playing with somebody. She wasn't bored or playing all by herself like she usually did. Steven was her playmate, and that made me worry less about her socializing and the fact that I couldn't afford any preschool or daycare or ballet or something-anything-for her to play with someone her own age.

It felt good as a mother to know that she now had someone other than her mom as her friend. Not only that, but she finally had a father figure in her life. Multiple ones, if I counted the rest of the band.

Steven was a a hero. My hero. Catherine loved him and now, I loved him too.