Page 33 of Summer With You

“Is my momma gonna be okay, Auntie Ames?” Summer sat next to me on the couch, looking out the window at the hammocks that looked like they were about to fly away in the furious wind.

“She’s just been very worried about your dad, but she will be perfectly okay, sweet girl.” Pulling my little niece into a hug, I stroked my hand through her golden locks. They were so much like her mother’s.

“And the baby?” she whispered, her voice so soft that I barely heard her over the rain pounding against the house.

“Perfectly healthy. Don’t worry about that now. It’s time to have fun with your cousins. It’s not every day you get to skip your shower, now is it?” I teased, and she pulled away and laughed.

“Does that mean we can get in our pajamas?” she eagerly asked.

“Yes, but no running up those stairs, do you hear me? And take a flashlight with you. I think I saw Uncle Ryan bring in a bag of them. They should be near the front door.” She flew to the front door and came back with a big bag of flashlights.

“Found them!” she shrieked, and I quickly placed a finger over my mouth to shush her. “Sorry,” she whispered with a grin before grabbing her cousins and tip-toeing up the stairs, being extra quiet so they wouldn’t wake Celine.

The sky rumbled violently, just as lightning illuminated through the sky, lighting it up for a brief moment. My mind instantly went to my husband who was outside in the pouring rain.

Tonight was about to be an adventure. It was our first hurricane together as a family, and we had already lost power. What else could possibly go wrong?

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