Dedicating Every Day to You

Chapter Sixteen

That night, I'm studying in my room and eating microwave popcorn. The house is strangely quiet. Normally John is watching bad TV and Alex is blasting music from his study and doing paperwork. The only sounds now, however, is rain pattering down and the chords of the Miranda soundtrack.

It's some tropical storm or something outside, but John and Alex decided to walk all the way to the grocery store to buy chocolate chip cookies and 2% milk or something random. Alex gets random cravings at nine thirty exactly, and he has to go out and buy stuff like fried chicken or baby spinach. Even though he is a grown adult and physically capable of grocery shopping on his own, he always makes John go with him.

That leaves me home alone, during a tropical storm, doing homework for math, eating bad junk food, and listening to Miranda on top volume.

"Lin-Manuel Miranda!" My iPod belts, and I sing along. "My name is Lin-Manuel Miranda. And there's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait, just you wait!"
I can't tell you how obsessed I am with this musical. I know every single word. I know all of the actor's names and preferences, and I have made Theo draw fan art for me.

A crack of thunder outside makes me jump out of my skin. I pull my blanket tighter around me and frantically write down an algebraic formula on my paper.

I hate thunderstorms. Once, a few years ago, I was outside during one, looking for Catticus Finch (my foster mom's cat). I almost got struck by lightning- I literally came so close that the sleeve of my shirt caught on fire. I was really scared, and I've never liked the rain ever since.

The lights in my room feel too bright all of a sudden, the house too warm and too closed off. I need to get outside, to be out in the cool darkness. I don't get the chance, however, because there's another crack of thunder, and the house is bathed in darkness.

The only light now is from the screen of my phone, which chimes loudly to indicate dead battery and then shuts down. I'm alone in the dark, with nothing to do because I can't see anything. I huddle under my blanket, trying not to see the flashes of lightning outside.

******

I don't know how long I lie there, but it seems like an eternity. The darkness and the quiet make a sense of time impossible for me. I try to sing a song, try to keep myself occupied and busy my brain. The song I pick, however, is about halfway over when I just absolutely burst into tears. It's not a sad song. It's pretty and optimistic, sung by Miranda's wife, Phillipa. That Would Be Enough, it's called, and I know every word. Somehow, there are tears running down my faces, and my voice shakes as I finish the song.

I hear a door open downstairs, and laughing voices.
"And then, she has the nerve to ask why I have seventeen packages of Oreos and a cake that says Happy Birthday Jimmy!" I can tell by the laughter that Alex is the one talking.
"It's dark in here. Where are the flashlights?" John sounds tired. I would run down to them, but tripping down a flight of stairs in the dark does not bode well during ballet season.
"We don't have any flashlights, because someone took all the batteries out to run their new battery-powered ice cream maker. Remember?"

A few minutes later, I hear the stairs creaking, and the door slides open. John and Alex stand in the doorway, surrounded by a halo of light that comes from the candle in John's hand.
"Kathryn?"
I squeak from under the blankets. There's a shift in the mattress, and they're both sitting on the bed.

I slide out from under my comforter and look up at my fathers. Alex is sitting nearer to me, and John is right next to him. The candle is resting on my bedside table, casting a flickering golden light about the dark room.
"What's the matter, Kathryn?" Alex speaks softly, as though I'm a wild animal that he's afraid of scaring.
"I hate thunderstorms," I admit. "Once I came really close to being struck by lightning, and it was really scary. My sleeve actually caught on fire- the bolt missed by a couple of inches. I just got a little terrified when the power went out."

Alex strokes my shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to be by yourself for that. I don't like thunderstorms much myself, if I'm being honest." He laughs softly.
John looks at him for a moment. Alex nods decisively, as though they're having a conversation that only they can hear. He turns to me and takes a deep breath.

"The reason I don't like them is because of something that happened when I was a bit older than you."
"Back in the Dark Ages," John quips.
"Ferme le bouche, cherie*," Alex retorts, then returns to his previous train of thought. "I used to live in Nevis, in the Caribbean. When I was seventeen, this massive hurricane came. I was trapped in a basement for three days. I didn't have any food or water or any way of communicating with anyone. When it was finally safe for me to come out, I looked around and realized that there wasn't much of anything left."

His voice hitches a little, but he keeps talking. "The town was kind of a wreck. I kept calling out, but nobody heard me. Everything was just kind of gone. I walked to the next town over, found a family who would take me in. I ate some food, I slept for an entire day, and then I grabbed a pen and a paper and I started writing.

"I wrote an entire notebook full of my experience. I didn't eat or sleep until I was finished. The family saw the notebook, and brought it to church. It got me a scholarship to King's College, a new life in a new land. They say that in New York, you can be a new man. I guess they're right."

I hug Alex tight, and feel him relax a little. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Dad."
"I'm not. I never would have gotten to King's College without that storm. That's where I met your father, the college. If I hadn't met him, we wouldn't have you. That hurricane changed my life for the better, because it washed me up here with the two of you."

John squeezes his hand. "You're so cute, baby."
"You're cuter."
I laugh softly and then yawn. Alex checks his watch. "We've got to get you in bed, Kitty Kat. It's almost eleven at night."
I rub my eyes. "But I don't want to be alone."
"Then Alex and I will lay with you until you fall asleep." I nod sleepily, and John ruffles my hair.

Alex flops on the left side of the bed, and John rolls onto the right side, leaving me sandwiched in the middle. Within two minutes, I can hear them both snoring softly. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep, feeling safe and warm.

(A/N) Thank you guys so much for 1k reads! This is rising faster than I could have imagined! Also, this chapter was going to be short and fluffy, and now it's like 1300 words. Whoops! Love y'all