Alice's Umbrella

Chapter 1: Alice

"Mommy!"

Then I heard a crash.

My eyes shot open.

"Alice?" I called, throwing my bed sheets off my body.

"Mommy!"

The noise from the kitchen became more insistent, so I padded quickly down the hallway, images of my apartment going up into flames already rooting in my mind. Her back was to me when I came around the corner. She was perched on a stool, upper half deep in the pantry, humming to herself. I couldn't suppress my smile. At least she wasn't poking forks into toasters.

"Whatcha doing, button?" I wondered.

She was startled at my words, spinning around the stool and nearly losing her balance. (Which gave me a minor heart attack) The look of surprise on her face instantly melted into a grin when she saw me, though. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

I glanced at the table in the middle of the room and saw two bowls, two spoons, and the jug of orange juice sitting there.

"You were making us breakfast, baby?"

"Yeah!" Alice smiled at me.

"If it was a surprise," I began, "then why were you calling me?"

"I wanted to see if you'd wake up." Alice shrugged.

"When did you get so big?" I asked, coming forward to scoop her off of the stool and spin her around. She giggled. Alice was seven (almost eight) with big blue eyes like mine, light skin with freckles, and dark brown wavy hair down to the middle of her back- she refused to get it cut. She was mischievous, tireless, and determinedly stubborn, but she is also the light of my life.

"So, what are we having?" I asked her once I set her down.

"Cereal!" Alice said in a sing song voice, climbing back up on the stool and pulling out a box of apple cinnamon Chex. I let her pour it into the bowls, but decided it was best if I handled the milk after seeing her try to pour her own juice on a daily basis; more usually ends up on the counter than in the actual cup. The Chex was a bit stale and I'd accidentally bought orange juice with pulp instead of without, but it was still the nicest breakfast I'd had in a long time.

"Thank you for that, button. It was delicious." I pecked a kiss on top of her head as I collected our dishes and took them to the sink. While I washed up, Alice plopped contently in front of the television.

The Phineas & Ferb theme song floated in to me every now and then. I was starting to believe this might actually turn out to be a good day when the telephone rang and the hope died a slow, painful death inside me. Grabbing the dishrag to hurriedly dry my hands, I lunged for the phone to stop the shrill noise. "Hello?"

"Miss Young?" I recognized the oily voice on the other end immediately and felt my teeth grit in disgust.

"Mr. Braxton. To what do I owe the honor?" I said dryly. Tom Braxton was my douchebag landlord. He kept terrible apartments, and an even more terrible beard.

"Oh, I just thought I'd call to chat. See how everything's going." I bristled, not liking his tone.

"That repair guy never came to check on the thermostat last week."

"Ah, yes... I forgot about that. Must have slipped my mind, I suppose."

"What do you want, Tom?" I snapped, wishing he'd just get to the point. I heard him sigh heavily.

"Your rent check is overdue again, Alaska."