Brave the Storm and Embrace the Rain

I looked around my new room once more before I glanced at Wyler and Maddox who stood quietly, watching me.

"Do you guys want to show me your room?" I questioned.

"Yeah!" They shouted together, pulling me back into the hall. I chuckled and followed after them again, seeing my father standing at the bottom on the stairs with a small smile and his arms folded over his chest.

I ignored his presence went with Wyler and Maddox. Their room was painted pale teal. The layout was exactly the same as my room. They had a white bunk bed on the far wall, the left wall. The closet was next to the door and the window was across the room on the opposite wall. They had two dressers shoved inside their closet so that they'd have more room for the large amount of toys that they had. A large amount of light shone through their window and made the hard wood floors seem even shinier than they really are.

On the wall across from their bed they had their names put there with huge stickers. There were random things hung up on the wall including a chalk board that seemed to be over flowing with pictures. Under that were two toy chests that were overflowing with trucks and cars and other things that little boys like. The boys each climbed into their beds, Wyler taking the ladder up to the top bunk and bouncing onto his bed. Maddox had to push toys off of his bed before he could even get onto it.

"Do you like it?" Maddox questioned while motioning to everything.

I nodded, "You boys have a lot of toys,"

Wyler and Maddox both picked up one of their toys when I said that. I smiled at them and crossed my arms over my chest, watching as they did identical things even though they couldn't see each other.

"Mommy and Daddy bought them," Maddox grinned, "This one is for our birthday!" Maddox held up a remote control air plane.

"It really flies!" Wyler shouted leaning down over the edge of his bed to grab the remote control from his brother's hands.

"Give it back!" Maddox shouted, jumping off of his bed and trying to get his controller back.

"No! I want to play with it!" Wyler replied, "Turn it on!"

Maddox shook his head firmly and hid the toy behind his back, "No!"

"Maddy! Turn it on!" He demanded, sliding farther over the edge of his bed to reach down.

"No Wyly! I want to play with it!" Maddox screamed at his brother angrily.

The two of them started to shout at each other loudly, back and forth, back and forth. It was so loud that I was sure the neighbors from down the street would be able to hear them. Wyler was laying on his stomach on the top bunk but he was hanging off the edge and holding himself up with the bars that were there to hold him in at night. Maddox stood in the middle of the room with the toy air plane behind his back still. He was swatting at his brother yet he never hit him. Just when they began to swing at each other did my Dad show up. He flew through the door and stood in between the twins, not caring if he accidently got hit.

"What are you two fighting about now?" My Dad asked as he pulled Wyler down from the bunk before he could fall.

"Wyly is trying to steal my toys, Daddy!" Maddox shouted, pointing as accusative finger at his slightly shorter brother who now stood on the floor.

"Am not, Daddy! Maddy won't share!"

My Dad looked at me and rolled his eyes over dramatically. "Wyler, where's your air plane?"

Wyler looked around the room for a moment and then shrugged, "I don't know."

Maddox glared at Wyler and reached over and yanked the remote from him.

That fight ended quickly and soon enough I was back in my own room unpacking all of my things. I pulled my Macbook out of my bag and set it on my bed after checking to make sure it wasn't broken in anyway. It didn't take me very long to put all of my clothes away seeing as I didn't have that many. Soon enough I had my one bag of things put it was supposed to go, the rest of my things were being shipped here sometime this next week.

I was laying on my blue blanketed bed staring at the ceiling when my Dad knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called out, waiting for him to enter.

"Hey Indiana, can I talk to you for a minute?" He questioned, peeking his head in.

I shrugged and sat up, "Sure, I guess."

My Dad walked in and for the first time I noticed what he was wearing. His shirt was a button up black dress shirt and he was wearing dark wash jeans. His hair was cut shorter and his blue eyes looked calm and experienced.

"I'm glad you're here," He told me as he sat down on the bed next to me.

"Mm," I mumbled as my only reply.

My Dad sighed, "I know you don't want to be here with me, Indy. And I'm sorry that you have to be here but I'm glad you're here. I'm glad that you'll finally get to have a relationship with your brothers. They like you."

I shook my head and pulled a cigarette out from the pack that was in my back pocket, "I like them. But why am I just not finding out about them? It's been five years and how many months?" I questioned as I lit the smoke and took a drag.

My Dad stared at me, shocked. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Having a smoke?" I said with a hint of a question in my voice.

"Since when do you smoke?"

I shrugged, "Since after you walked out."

My Dad acted like I had just smacked him in the face. He groaned and ran his fingers through his dark hair, "Is that why you're mad? Because I left when you were young?"

I scoffed and took another drag, "Of course, Dad. Why else would I be mad at you? Because you left me with my Mother?" I ranted angrily, tucking my feet under me and wrapping my arms around my knees.

"Indiana, I'm sorry," My Dad said, "But that was so long ago. That's the past, I just want to move on with everything. With you, Indy. I want to start over." He murmured, reaching out towards me but pulling his hand back when he noticed that I was glaring at him.

"Dad, It may be your past but it's my life." I replied quietly while resting my chin on my knees.

Dad shook his head and I watched as his hair flew around his head. He began to speak, "That hasn't been your life since you were 12 years old, Indy."

I shrugged, "It's barely been better." I put the cigarette out on the ash tray that was resting on my bed.

Dad sighed and stood up. He reached his hand out for me and I took it with a guarded look. Dad pulled me into his arms. I wrapped my own around his neck and hugged my father for the first time since I turned nine. I took in his scent, a scent that had barely changed in eight years. "You're here now, Indiana. You don't have to worry about that stuff any more." He whispered into my hair before he kissed my forehead. "But on a lighter note," He chuckled as he pulled away, "Karli will be home soon. How do you feel about a sit down dinner with the family?"

I shrugged, still adversed to sitting down with the family.

"Come on," My Dad murmured while already walking out of the blue room, "You've got to be hungry. Plus, Karli really wants this."

"What's Karli like?" I questioned as I followed him down the stairs.

"She's nice, kind. She's a doctor. She works in the ER during the weekends and on the pediatric floor Monday through Friday."

I nodded and hopped down the last stair, "Does she know that you left Wyler and Maddox home alone when you came to come get me?"

Dad sent me a glare and I smirked. I looked around the house. The room where the stairs ended seemed to the the living room. The walls were a deep scarlet color and in the middle of the fair sized room was a modern ceiling light. The couched were black and leather. There was a huge flat screen t.v resting on a dark wood coffee table in front of an even bigger window. The wall across from the window was an archway that led into the even bigger kitchen area.

Dad led me through the archway into the kitchen. The walls were a bright yellow and the sun from the sliding glass door seemed to illuminate the room. The kitchen counter was wrapped around slightly and opened up into the rest of the dining area were the table sat. The kitchen table was made of glass and there were six chairs situated around it.
The twins were standing on chairs at the counter, they seemed to be cooking but I wasn't sure what it was.

"Hey guys," I greeted as I walked in, "What're you up to?"

"We're making cookies for Mommy!" Maddox shouted, holding up a ball of cook dough.

I smiled and nodded my head, "Cool."

My Dad walked over to them and pulled them down from their chairs one at a time, ignoring their complaints. "Go wash up for dinner, boys." He told them, watching as they hurried back into the living room so that they could climb the stairs to the bathroom.

"When's you wife going to be home?" I questioned, taking a seat in one of the boys' chairs.

Dad glanced at the clock, "Any minute now," He told me while cleaning up the mess of cookie dough that Maddox and Wyler had left behind.
Wyler and Maddox came rushing down the stairs as the front door opened and a woman called out into the three bed room house.

"I'm home!" She shouted with a laugh.

The sound of her voice made me nervous all of a sudden. My Dad grabbed my arm and tugged on me. He pulled me towards the front door in the living room.
I stood back as he went to his wife and embraced her in a hug. Her hair fell to her shoulders, pin straight. Her eyes were blue and shined with pride at her family. She was wearing scrubs and holding a bag in her hands.

After a moment she turned to me with a polite smile, "You must be Indiana!" Her voice was welcoming and pleasant. She grinned and pulled me for a hug. She didn't smell like hospital or sick people but instead she smelt like a fragrance that you would find at Bath and Body works.

I nodded softly after she released me, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Darling. Ever since Nathaniel found out you were coming he hasn't stopped talking about you! But I'm sure you've grown since you were nine." She chuckled while picking Maddox up from the ground as my Dad picked up Wyler.

I followed the family into the kitchen quietly and watched how they interacted. They chatted like they had the most important news. The twins hung all over their parents. Wyler and Maddox sat on the counter as Dad continued to cook us all dinner. Karli smiled at me as she raced past me to go change into 'something more comfortable.'
I stood off to the side, admiring the inner-workings of a functional family. (Something I had never been accustomed to.)

"Come sit down, Indy!" Wyler shouted as Dad helped them off of the counter.
I walked over to the table quietly with my hands shoved as far down into my sweatshirt as possible.

"You can sit there!" Maddox pointed to a random chair.

I chuckled and sat exactly where he told me to. Maddox took the chair next to me and his brother took the seat across from him.

"What's for dinner?" I questioned while tapping my fingers on the glass table anxiously.

"Imitation Chinese food," my Dad joked as he brought a bowl of it over to the table, "Boys get the good plates."

Maddox and Wyler raced over to the counter and attempted to reach up and open the cupboard. I laughed as I watched them jump around is if it would help them grow taller.

"Nathaniel!" Karli scolded as she walked back into the kitchen, wearing a baggy purple t'shirt that fell off of one shoulder and a pair on grey sweatpants.

"What?" My Dad inquired innocently, "They can help."

Karli glared with just barely a hint of anger, "They are too little to be getting things out of the cupboards. What if something falls on them?"

My Dad looked to me and rolled his eyes dramatically, "Sorry, Honey."

Karli grabbed five plates out of the counter and handed them to Wyler and Maddox who went and put one down in front of the chairs on the table.

"Is the food ready?" Karli questioned, taking her seat.

The boys scrambled into their spots while my Dad brought over five cups slowly, "Yeah," He said as he handed everyone a cup of what looked to be juice for the boys and I. Dad sat down and Karli began to dish out the Chinese food.

"Thank you," I murmured as she dumped a pile of it onto my own red plate.

"You're welcome, Indiana."

After a while of the boys rambling on and on about what ever was going on with them Karli looked to me, "Tell us about you, Indiana," She demanded politely, "I'd love to hear about what you like, hate, and everything in between. I want to get to know you now that you're living here."

I bit my lip nervously, "There's not really much to tell." I replied truthfully.

"Well, tell us about you anyways." Karli insisted.

I nodded my head, "I..." I trailed off unable to think of anything that would really be considered me.

I pretended not to see the look and Karli and Dad shared because when I looked up they looked away from each other quickly. I knew that they were having one of those silent conversations that I'd heard parents do.

It was awkward after that as we all ate and didn't say anything. But after about five minutes Maddox cut through the silence.

"What's your favorite color?" He questioned before shoving another bite into his mouth.

"Purple," I told him honestly.

"Mine's green," He replied.

"I like blue!" Wyler added.

Dinner was over quickly and I excused myself to my room with excuse that I was tired from the jet-lag. Dad kissed my forehead before I left and the boys both wrapped their arms around my waist.

"Goodnight, Indy!" They both said at the same time.

"Goodnight, boys." I replied before wandering up to my room and closing the door.
Already hearing the conversation, in my mind, that Karli and Dad would be having about me as soon as the twins would leave the room.