Innocence

I’m not sure what I was really expecting. Maybe just some random music as everyone around the house went around doing their business, not even paying attention to it. Or maybe Gloria in her underwear doing the hokey pokey. That would have actually been believable. But what was in front of my eyes was just not something I thought I would ever see in my lifetime.

My mom and Nathan had changed clothes since I had seen them at breakfast. Nathan, who I thought had gone to work, wasn’t in a suit and tie like normal days or even his fancy 500 dollar jeans and button up shirt. He was it pajama pants and a Metallica t-shirt. My mom was in pajama pants as well with a matching top. I hadn’t seen my mom in pajamas since we moved here. Before at our old house, she would come down stairs in the morning with her wrinkled pajamas still on. But now that we lived in a squeaky clean home where you had to be dressed and look presentable at the dinner table, I never saw her in her pajamas. But that wasn’t even the oddest thing, seeing them both casual.

Music blaring from speakers surrounding the living room, I couldn’t hear if they were singing, or just mouthing the words. But their lips were defiantly moving. Still even weirder, they were dancing. With fake microphones. They both were skipping around the couches, doing little twirls here and there as they each sang into a candle stick. They didn’t notice me as they turned to each other, brought the candle sticks up into their faces and started to belt the chorus to each other.

“I need a hero! I’m holding out for a hero til’ the end of the night. He’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast. And he’s gotta be fresh from a fight.”

“Oh…my God!” I dropped my shoes on the ground and continued to watch they sang some more of the song screaming from the speakers.

As Nathan turned around to do another spin, he spotted me, my mouth open in a large O, but otherwise normal compared to them. That did not stop him however. He continued his song, but instead of singing to my mom, he began to come towards me.

“I need a hero. I’m holding out for a hero til’ the morning light. He gotta be sure and it’s gotta be soon, and he has to be larger than life!”

My mom noticed my presence now too, plucking another candle stick from the table and coming to me, pushing it against my chest.

“Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy, somewhere just beyond my reach there’s someone reaching right for me.”

My mom grabbed one of my arms and pulled toward the couch while my dad twirled beside me.

They’ve gone insane!

I didn’t hear my mother’s words. But saw her lips form around the words, “Sing with us!”

I did not. I watched as they both twirled around in their pajamas. They had been dressed when I went out with Aiden. So they changed into their pajamas for lunch? Who were these people and what had they done with my parents?

“Come on Candace!”

They looked happy to be letting their hair down, my mom especially. She was never the fancy feast, always look presentable type. This was good for her.

I’m not sure what came over me, but I followed their lead. I knew this song well, just like my parents obviously did. My mom use to play Holding Out for a Hero plenty of times when my dad first left. But I didn’t think of that now. I caught on to where we were in the song, and began to sing along.

“Racing on the thunder, rising with the heat; it’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet!” I laughed as my mom jumped over the back of the couch and landed on the cushions. Nathan jumped too, but cleared it easily, landing on his feet on the other side.

He leaned closer to me as the chorus was coming again. I leaned close to him too, not really caring what he had done to me at that moment. After all, he was family right?

“I need a hero! I’m holding out for a hero till the end of the night! He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast and he’s gotta be fresh from a fight!”

Maybe it was because I was already excited about the time I had spent with Aiden today, but I was enjoying this.

I noticed my mom on the couch, her eyes closed as she sang along with the women on the speakers. Nathan ran around the couch and took my hand, pulling it above my head and pulling me into a spin.

When he let go of my hand, I grabbed his back and did the same to him. He laughed for a second and did a spin of his own.

My mom stood on the couch cushions, steadied herself, and got on top of the back of the couch. She bent her knees and continued singing as me and Nathan stood underneath her, making circles around her as she performed with her arms.

“I can feel his approach like fire in my blood. I need a hero! I’m holding out for a hero til’ the end of the night. He’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast and he’s gotta fresh from a fight. I need a hero!”

My mom brought her hand down; Nathan took hold of it and helped her down onto the ground. She kissed his on the cheek, then on mine, and began to sing again.

“He’s gotta be sure and it’s gotta be soon and he’s gotta be larger than life!” The song ended and we all planted ourselves on the couch. Out of breath, I began to laugh. This was something I was not expecting to ever be doing here, especially not with Nathan. And it was the most fun I had had in that house since I was here.

Nathan was laughing with me, his arm around my mom’s waist. But my mom wasn’t laughing. Sure she was smiling, but the look that was her face made me stop laughing. She narrowed her eyes in a way that made me think she was analyzing my every move. It was as if she was trying to understand why I was having so much fun.
And why was that? I had done this a million different times with my mom, and yet I had never had so much fun doing the norm. So what changed today?

Nathan stopped laughing too just as a new song started to ring through the room. I stayed for a few more seconds, looking back at my mom as she stared at me. I analyzed her just like she was doing it to me. I could say one thing for certain; she was most definitely and whole heartedly in love with my father, Nathan Heart.

So there was no going back to Georgia. No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how much I tried not to like it here, we were here to stay.

“I think,” I said standing up, “I’ll go and do some homework.”

Nathan only smiled as I inched closer to the entryway.

The song filling my ears was slow, only instruments. My mom peeled herself away from

Nathan, leaving him to stare after her as she took me into the entry way.

Placing both hands on my shoulders, she said, “You’re in a fine mood.”

I shrugged, “I had a good time with my friends.”

Remembering this, she smirked. “I told you, you were going to make friends here. I knew you were going to happy!” Gathering me in a hug, she continued, “There is nothing for you back in Georgia, nothing we left behind. You’ll have a good life here Candace, I know you will.”

Why did that make my stomach curl into knots? Hiding the wince I wanted to give in to, I hugged my mom back. She was happy. She hadn’t been happy for so long. I could give her this. I could.

At that moment, my phone in my pocket began to vibrate, making me jump a foot in the air.
“Oh, sorry Mom, it’s just…”

When I looked up she was already gone, back into the living room to be with Nathan.

“…Mike,” I finished, but there was no one there to hear me.

I answered the phone with a swift "Hello?"

"Hey! You busy?"

I waited until I was up the stairs and lying on my bed before answering. “Yeah, well no. I was just singing actually.”

“Singing?” Mike asked. His laughter filled the speaker with his breath. “How much were you paid?”

“I wasn’t paid!”

He laughed again. “Did someone hold a gun to your head?”

I swung myself off my bed and went to the doors that led to the balcony. “Hey! I actually like singing. I sing all the time thank you very much. I just don’t like an audience.” The sun was still warm as I stepped into it, basking myself in the breeze that accompanied the warmth.

“So you were singing alone? That’s what you were doing?”

I sighed, “No, I was singing with my parents.”

“Your parents? Are you serious?”

Laughing caught my attention to below my window. A black and white soccer ball rolled from underneath the trees that separated my yard from Aiden’s. Some more laughing sounded, ringing through the forest. Then two guys stepped out of the trees, running straight for the ball, full on. The taller one got to it first, kicking backward and sending it back into the trees.

“That was so uncalled for Trev.” The shorter one said. Both boys stood still and I could see who they were. Aiden and Trevor Westcott, both looking like they had been running for some time, were underneath my window.

“Candace?” Mike asked form the other line.

“Oh, ah yeah I’m here.”

Trevor and Aiden both looked up at the same time, their faces bright with the excitement of the competition between them.

“Everything okay?”

I turned the receiver away from my mouth trying to think of something to say. “Yeah, um no. I have to go, okay?”

“Again?”

“Bye Mike.”

I ended the call with Mike not even bothering to wait for him to say it back. I leaned over the edge of the railing, putting a smile on my face. “Are you trespassing you guys?”

Trevor was the one to answer first. And I was glad to see he seemed pleased to see me. “My bad actually. I kicked it harder than I meant to.”

“More like harder than you should have right at my face,” Aiden said, punching his brother’s shoulder. “At least I know how to duck.”

“You playing soccer again?” I asked.

Aiden nodded. “Yeah. We’re waiting for Ryan and Clark so I don’t have to keep kicking Trev’s butt.”

“Oh yeah?” Trevor hopped up and down on the balls of his feet. “Rematch, now.”

“You’re on!” Aiden ran for a few feet, turned around, and waved before disappearing into the trees right behind Trevor.

How odd was it that they could be so upset with each other one minute then be best friends the next.

Isn't that what siblings were like though? I had never had a brother or sister before, so it was weird to think that you could love someone so much that you never take your fights, your words, your actions to heart because you know that none of it will mean anything in the end.