Jason grilled burgers on their private deck off from their apartment away from the other guests. Caroline was showing me the sea glass that she wanted to find yet on her IPad. My mom was in the kitchen making side dishes. I asked her if she wanted help, but I think she was happy to see Caroline and me hitting it off so well. She even sat on my lap as her finger swiped the pages on her handheld computer.
Jason got onto her for not cleaning her plate and then made her get down from walking across the banister with her hands out, balancing herself. I was amused. This was what a real family was supposed to be like, and I hoped to someday have a little girl just like Caroline.
“Want a play a game?” Caroline asked, joining us back at the table.
“Let Morgan eat, Caroline,” Jason scolded.
“It’s not that kind of game dad. She can eat and talk, can’t she?”
I laughed as I grabbed my napkin from being taken away from the wind. I knew too that there was a storm brewing. I could feel it.
“I can talk and eat,” I said. I wanted to do whatever this little girl asked me to do.
“Okay, it’s called the nosey game,” she started to explain.
“No, Caroline,” her dad insisted. I took it that he knew exactly what game she wanted to play.
“She can say, Nosey Rosy if she wants to,” she exclaimed.
“It’s fine,” I assured him. He shook his head.
“Okay. So I ask you a question and you have to answer. If you don’t want to answer you just say Nosey Rosy, but I get to pinch your cheeks,” she explained.
“Caroline is an expert at making up games to figure people out,” my mom said. I didn’t mind. I thought it was cute.
“You can go first,” she said, ignoring our mother.
“What grade are you in?” I asked.
“I’m going to be in second when school starts.
What is your favorite color?” she asked.
“Pink. What is your favorite subject?” I saw her eyes light up when I said pink. I was sure that it was her favorite color too.
“I hate school, my favorite subject is art. What’s your middle name?”
“Joyce, after my grandmother.”
Her mouth plopped open. “Mine too, were we named after the same grandma, mom?” She asked, turning to our mother.
“Yes. You were both named after the same sweet lady,” she smiled.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” she asked.
“I have a husband,” I wasn’t about to tell her that I had both. “Do you have a boyfriend?” I countered.
“Nosey Rosy,” she giggled. We all laughed, and I pinched her cheeks.
We played the game until Jason said that was enough. The wind was really starting to get strong, and we needed to get things carried into the house.
We ate pie and had coffee later on with the guests in the dining room. The wind was howling, and we could hear the thunder in a distance. It wasn’t even close to being time for it to be dark yet, but the storm made it look as if it was ten o’clock at night.
“This is going to be a good one,” Caroline said, standing in front of the glass doors.
“Get away from the glass, Caroline,” Jason demanded.
She was like me. She couldn’t stop staring out at the wicked weather. The lighting looked like it would strike the house at any second. The waves were massive, coming from an angry sea. The wind whipped through the house like it was trying to carry it off, and the thunder set it all in stone. About ten minutes later the lights flickered and then went out. I was a little scared. Caroline on the other hand was excited. I assumed she had been through many storms, living that close to the ocean.
“I’ll get the generator going,” Jason said, excusing himself.
My mom ushered us all into the sitting area, and we played charades with the guests by the dim lit generator lights. I laughed so hard at Caroline. She was quite the little ham and wasn’t shy a bit.
The storm had quieted down, and everyone retreated to their rooms. Caroline had her own bathroom, and we both grabbed very quick showers in the dark. The lights still hadn’t come on when Caroline and I crawled into our beds.
My mom came in as soon as we were in bed. “Are we reading tonight?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Caroline said, grabbing the hardback book from the nightstand between us. “Can we start over, so Morgan knows what’s going on?” she asked.
“I guess since we are only on chapter three.”
“Okay,” she said, sitting up and crossing her legs Indian style. “We have to read three chapters, so Morgan can read too.”
My mom smiled and rubbed her back. “Okay,” she agreed. Caroline leaned into my mom’s chest and began to read. I’m not even sure what she was reading. I was too busy reading into what I was witnessing. I didn’t remember my mother ever reading a book to me or my brother.
“Tran, tranq, tranquitity,” Caroline paused, trying to sound out a word.
“Tranquility,” my mom, said helping her out.
“What’s that mean?” she asked, looking up to her.
“It means quiet, calmness, stillness,” she answered.
“Oh, like peace. That makes sense,” she decided and got back to her reading.