Page 62 of Fire

“Mama?” Her normally sweet voice trembles.

“Nope. Guess again.” For some reason, I speak in a terrible accent that twists itself around Russia and ends up in Italy.

Nell giggles. “Micah.”

I step into her room and flick on the light. “Dang. You’re a good guesser.”

“You’re just bad at accents.” Nell sits up, crossing her legs and looking sheepish. “I had a bad dream.”

“Does that happen to you a lot?”

“Sometimes.” She shrugs.

“Was this one about the fire?”

She shakes her head. “I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

Considering she’s only lived with me for a few weeks, I fight back a smile. Time is trapped in perception. Nell’s version of forever is over in a snap for me.

I sit on the edge of her bed, the mattress creaking under my weight. “That’s good to hear. I’m glad that’s not bothering you anymore.”

“Giuseppe said I was being a big baby, but I told him he should wake up with his whole wall on fire and see how he feels about it.” Nell smiles, fiddling with the edge of her comforter.

I lean down to meet her eyes. “I bet he’d cry,” I say in a conspiratorial whisper.

“I did.” She hangs her head.

“And I bet he would too. What happened to you is a very scary thing.”

“You wouldn’t cry.” Nell stops fidgeting and meets my gaze. Earnest. Trusting. “You aren’t afraid of fire.”

“Not when I have my gear and I’m prepared. But if I woke up and my wall was on fire, you better believe I’d be afraid.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“I might even cry a little too.”

Nell scoffs. “Now I know you’re fibbing.”

“I never say things I don’t mean, Super Girl. It’s easier for everyone that way. No games. No guessing. Just real stuff.”

My daughter cocks her head and wrinkles her nose. “Super Girl?” She sounds less than impressed.

“What? No good? Every superhero needs a nickname.” Thunder booms and lightning flashes and we look to the window.

“How about Lightning Girl?” she asks, her focus returning to mine with a smile.

“I like it. Maybe even LG for short?”

She nods. “And you can be Captain Thunder.”

“Captain Thunder it is,” I say. “And Mom? What about her?”

Nell taps her finger on her chin, pondering the question. “Poison Ivy is already taken, but Mom’s not evil, and Poison Ivy is, so that name isn’t good anyway.”

“Maybe we’ll need to noodle on a good one for her.” I boop Nell on the nose. “Feel like talking about that bad dream?”

She returns to fiddling with the hem on her comforter. “I think it was the storm,” she says, hesitantly. “I was dreaming about Julian yelling at Mom because she’s scared of them.” She lifts her gaze, suddenly nervous. “Don’t tell her I know. She doesn’t want me to.”

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