Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

As soon as the words started rushing forth, she knew they weren’t hers. These weren’t the words a loving sister says to her little brother when he was already struggling so much as it was. They weren’t meant for him; no, this pain, this frustration, this was for their mother, their father, their teachers, anyone else but him. Yet, there Sunny stood, pain and anguish plastered over his face as she spoke more and more. It wasn’t his fault. She was the one who needed it to be perfect. She’s the one who kept it all in, kept it all bottled up until the dam finally gave way, and here he was, caught in the torrent. Every word, louder and harsh, made the pain on his face grow more and more, and seeing it spread made her heart beg and plead to stop. They wouldn’t, though. It was too late. The wall had finally cracked. It all needed to come spilling out. When it was over, she told herself, she’ll do everything she could possibly do to make it up to him. She loved him more than anyone. She knew this, and he knew this, they just needed to get through this one moment. All siblings fight, she thought, surely this was no different. She couldn’t always be like Hero, so calm and charming, and ever the people pleaser. No, life was rarely so perfect. I’ll stop soon, Sunny, she swore to herself, please just hang in there a little longer.
A light flashed through the window, a brief glimmer in the otherwise dark house. It was only a moment; a car taking the wrong street, turning around and leaving without a second thought. That’s all it was. There was no need to pay it any sort of attention, and yet, her eyes followed the light for that flash of time it was there. Illuminating part of Sunny for only a second, but that’s all she needed to see. His arms were tense. Muscles taut and fist clenched with so much pain and anger. His eyes were dark and his face twisted in anguish.
He’s overwhelmed. A voice in the back of her head said, He’s going to push you away. Time seemed to slow down to a standstill in her mind. Her heart felt frozen, able to see the danger, yet unable to stop herself from continuing the venomous rant.
You need to move. The voice had begun to shout at her. You need to move, NOW! The rushing in her ears had become so loud, it seemed to finally snap her out of her rage. Upon hearing the voice yell ‘now’, she stepped to the side only a little, but it was just enough. Sunny’s body came dashing forward right where she was standing, his eyes closed and face taut. Had she been only a moment slower, he would’ve sent her down the stairs, possibly to her demise. Time remained slow as she watched Sunny continue forward. In his shock, he was unable to stop himself, and she could see it now; his broken, crumpled body laying at the bottom of the stairs. Willing herself to act once more, she reached forward and wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling them both back from the staircase. As they fell to the ground away from the staircase, time flowed normal yet again. A few moments of silence held the air, broken up only by the panicked breathing the two shared, before her tears flowed as fast as her words before.
“I’m sorry.” She said.
“Mari…” his voice cracked, and tears of his own started to pour forth.
“I’m so sorry.” She said again, and again and again, cradling his weeping head in her arms. The siblings sat there in their sorrow and their tears, sobs and sorrys the only sounds to be heard anywhere in the sad, shadowed house.
Looking to the bottom of the stairs, Sunny could see where his violin had landed, twisted and bent and broken beyond recognition. The apologies his sister spilled grew quieter and quieter as the house grew darker and darker. Long, black tendrils started to slither forth from the violin’s frame. They grew and grew, becoming more and more menacing as they writhed and wriggled, until finally a human head arose from the wreckage. A girl’s head, twisted in rage and despair, and all too familiar despite its warping. His sister’s face emerged, finishing the violin's transformation. With a shriek, it darted up the stairs, hands outstretched, heading straight for him. It grasped onto his legs and dragged him back down the stairs into an inky abyss, leaving only the sound of dear Mari’s scream ringing in his ears.

Sunny awoke with a start, shooting straight up from his pillow. His chest felt tight as he gasped for air, Mari’s scream still haunting his ears. With his heart beating its way out of his chest, he did his best to control his breathing and calm his panic, though to little avail. A voice was calling to him from his left, but he couldn’t make out its words over the blood rushing through his ears. A pair of arms pulled him down, bringing his face into the chest of another. The warmth of her body helped bring him from his panic; the rushing blood easing up enough to finally hear her words.
“It’s ok, Sunny.” She said, “I’m right here. It’s ok.” Sunny reached out and wrapped his arms around the torso of his companion, pulling her closer to him.
“I’m sorry, Aubrey…” He said quietly, “It’s…”
“I know.” Aubrey replied, “I know.” The two remained embraced as Sunny slowly got his breathing under control; until his heart no longer fought to escape its confines. Finally feeling the panic ebb some more, Sunny pulled away and leaned his back against the headboard. Aubrey wrapped her arms around his and laid her head against his shoulder; she clasped his hand in both of hers and squeezed tight. Through it all, however, a gnawing pit in his stomach refused to cease.
“Was it that dream again?” She asked tentatively. All Sunny could do was nod and she let out a sigh, “That’s the fifth time this week, Sunny. Three nights in a row now. What’s going on?”
“I…” He started to reply, “I don’t know….I…” his voice drifted off as images of his old broken violin intermingled with images of a broken Mari flashed through his mind.
“Do you want to call your therapist?” Aubrey asked, squeezing his fingers again, “Maybe we should go back to more frequent visits.”
“No.” Sunny shook his head, the pit growing more, “No I just… I need to see her.”
“Sunny.” Aubrey’s voice took a slightly commanding tone as she straddled him, “Look at me.” He could barely move his head, barely bring his eyes to meet hers as the pit roared at him. A gentle hand took his face and pulled it up, forcing their eyes to look at one another.
“I just….” Sunny started.
“No.” Aubrey shook her head. “Sunny, Mari is fine. Ok?” She placed her other hand on his face, rubbing his cheek bones with her thumbs, “She’s with Hero, and you know he takes such good care of her.”
“But I.”
“No.” Aubrey said again, “We can’t just drop in on them unannounced, especially with how Mari is right now.” Sunny continued to look into her eyes. They were tired, slightly annoyed at being woken up in the middle of the night yet again this week. Her face was filled with concern. He took her waist in his hands and pulled her closer, laying his face into the crook between her neck and her shoulder. Aubrey wrapped her arms around him and started to rock him gently. All of this should have been enough; it had been enough before. Yet this time, this time the fear wouldn’t leave. The angry gnawing in his stomach refused to be quieted.
“Aubrey, I’m sorry, I…” He felt her place a hand on his arm, and only then did he realize how much he was still trembling. He heard her sigh, and then gently pushed him back, running her other hand through his hair.
“Well, it has happened… five times this week…” She said, “It shouldn’t hurt if we just see them for one day.”
“Thank you…” Sunny said, a small wave of relief washing over him. Aubrey glanced over to her left, towards the clock on Sunny’s nightstand.
“Ugh…one in the morning.” She let out a yawn, “C’mon. Let’s get back to bed. We’ve got a long car trip ahead of us.”
“It’s only a couple of hours.” Sunny huffed as he lowered them both down into the bed.
“And you’re going to be the one driving it.” Aubrey chuckled, wrapping herself around him, “So get some rest.” Sunny followed suit, bringing her into as tight an embrace as he could. The weight of her body resting on top of him, the steady rise and fall of her breathing, the scent of her hair brushing against his nose; all this and more helped to finally quell the angry pit in his stomach. Slowly, but surely he drifted back into sleep, eager for the coming drive.

The harsh glow of the afternoon sun blazed down at the pair as they zipped down the highway, AC powering through the strain to keep their car cool. Aubrey sat with legs up on the dash, tapping away on her phone.
“Summer’s starting off extra hot this year.” She groaned. Sunny could only nod in response, keeping his eyes fixed forward. Traffic was moving rather steadily despite the large number of cars packed onto it.
“Would’ve liked to have been on the road sooner…to avoid all this.” He sighed. His comment earned him a quick finger jabbing softly into his cheek.
“Nuh-uh” Aubrey snorted, “You’re lucky my workplace even let me take a half day. Besides” she sighed, “One of my regulars had quite the emergency this morning. I needed to be there.”
“Is a bad hair day that much of an emergency?” Sunny asked.
“Of course it is!” Aubrey huffed, “Especially when it involves something as sticky as GUM.” She shook her head, “That poor girl. Thankfully she’s young enough, her hair will grow back in no time.” Sunny felt the finger remove itself from his face. A quick glance showed Aubrey had taken to twirling the small pink highlight in her hair, face still on her phone.
“What did you even tell your boss to get out of work today?” Aubrey asked, tilting her head towards him.
“Family emergency.” Sunny stated plainly. Aubrey’s face twisted into a look of mild frustration.
“Your bad dreams don’t count as a family emergency, Sunny.” She scoffed, “And watch your speed. You can’t see Mari if you get arrested for speeding.” Sunny eased off the gas. Glancing down, he noticed he was going perhaps too fast over the limit, even for the highway. The nerves must have been eating him more than he originally thought.
“Guess I’m glad he doesn’t ask too many questions then.” He said.
“Lucky you.” Aubrey sighed. She tapped a few more buttons on her phone, “Should probably call Hero, give him a heads up that we’re on our way. May as well call Kim, too, while I’m at it.”
“What for?”
“SOMEONE has to feed the rabbit while we’re gone.” Aubrey sighed, “And she’s the only person I know with a key to our place.”
“When’s the next time you’re going to take her out?” Sunny asked.
“Next time you need to work the weekend.” Aubrey answered. Sunny shook his head.
“You don’t have to wait that long, if you don't want to.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t you worry about me and her.” Aubrey chuckled, waving her hand at him. She pressed a button on her phone and Sunny could hear the ringer sing. They sat in near silence as he continued to drive on, the air only broken by the occasional car he passed and the repeated chirping of the phone. Eventually someone picked up, though Sunny could only hear Aubrey’s side of the conversation.
“Hey Hero, it’s Aubrey!”
“Yes, I’m doing fine. How is everything?”
“I see, I see.”
“Yeah, Sunny’s with me, he says hi too. Listen, uh, just wanted to let you know that we’re on our way over to you guys”
“Yes.”
“Yes, right now.”
“I know, I know. You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just, Sunny’s real insistent on seeing Mari right now.”
“I don’t think a phone call would help, no. See, he’s been having real bad nightmares all week, and they’ve been waking us both up at odd hours in the night.”
“I tried to tell him. ‘You can’t go to your sister every time you have a bad dream. You’re a big boy now.’ But I don’t know, Hero. Something about last night. I could almost feel the fear coming out of him. I won’t lie, it’s got me a little worried, too.”
“Yeah, I think if he just sees that she’s doing ok, everything will be fine.”
“No.”
“No, you don’t even worry about that right now Hero. We’re more than happy to help with whatever it is you need right now.”
“Yeah, just leave the guest room as it is. Sunny and I can put it together how we need it. We’re only gonna be there one night anyways.”
“Yeah.”
“Mhmm.”
“Yeah, we’ll see you in a few hours. We should arrive in time to help with dinner.”
“Ok.”
“Yeah, give Mari our love. See you soon. Bye.” The phone beeped as Aubrey ended the call.
“Did he sound stressed?” Sunny asked.
“Of course he sounded stressed.” Aubrey sighed, “He’s got a busy job and with Mari in the state she’s in, he’s got a lot to deal with right now. And us showing up out of the blue, probably isn’t going to help.”
“I know.” Sunny sighed.
“Hey.” Aubrey reached over and took one of his hands, “I meant it when I said I was worried too.” Sunny could feel the warmth of her lips gently pressed against his knuckles, “Let’s just make sure that we can help take some of the pressure off of Hero’s shoulders for the night. You know he’s taking on more than he can handle. That’s just how he’s always been.”
“You think he’ll ever learn to relax?” Sunny chuckled.
“Nope.” Aubrey replied. She dialed another number on her phone, causing it to sing once more. This time, however, the ringer was cut short, and once again Sunny could only hear Aubrey’s side of the conversation.
“Hey Kim, how are you?”
“Good to hear, I’m doing well. Sunny says hi, by the way.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, we’re actually heading out of town for the weekend.”
“I know, it’s pretty sudden.”
“Just going to visit his sister and brother in law, check in on them, you know how it is.”
“Yeah, he’s such a worrywart when it comes to her.”
“Anyways, I wanted to ask a big, big favor of you. You still have your key to my place right?”
“Good, good. I just wanted to ask if you could go over later tonight and check on Cinnabun. Make sure he’s still got food and water.”
“Once should be fine, we should be back by tomorrow afternoon. If he looks like he’s eating a lot, maybe stop by in the morning, if you can?”
“Thank you.”
“Seriously Kim, this means a lot to me.”
“Yeah.”
“Love you, too.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe.”
“Buh-bye. Mwah.” The phone beeped once more, and then gave a satisfying snap as Aubrey closed it shut.
“Glad to hear she was available.” Sunny said.
“Me too.” Aubrey yawned loudly, “Man I’m tired.”
“We’ve still got about three hours until we’re there.” Sunny nodded, “If you want to nap, you can.”
“You sure? I can take over the drive if you start to feel tired, too.” Sunny could feel her hand squeeze his shoulder, “We both had our sleep interrupted.”
“I’ll be fine.” Sunny shook his head, “I just wanna get there.”
“I know.” Aubrey said, a touch of concern leaked into her voice, “Wake me before we get there, ok?” She took her legs off the dashboard and Sunny could hear her rustle around into a more comfortable position. Soon enough the only noise in the air was the hum of their car, the whirring of the AC, and Aubrey’s slow steady breathing. He reached over and turned the AC down a notch, quieting its constant hustle. With hours of road ahead, he focused his attention on the cars ahead of him, hoping that it would help keep his mind from racing back to the images it held last night. His hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel. We’ll be there soon Mari, he thought to himself, Please be alright.

As the long stretches of highway slowly gave way to more urban settings, the sun slowly made its way down through the sky. Even hours later it was still shining as bright and as hot as it was when they first set out. A few turns here and there, and eventually Sunny could see that old, familiar sign approaching on the horizon. Faraway Town, Get Away from the World! Population: XXXX. Sunny drove past it without much thought; Faraway Town had certainly gotten larger since his childhood days, but only by so much. True to its name, it certainly was rather far away from everything around it.
Another couple of turns and eventually he could see Faraway Plaza appearing on his right. With a brief glance, it appeared to have remained mostly untouched; Othermart still dominated the space with its large red sign. The red and white of Gino’s Pizza remained as bright as ever, and even Hobbeez and Fix-It seemed mostly intact. The fountain, meanwhile, looked like it could perhaps use a good scrubbing. The Plaza came and went and was replaced with Faraway Park, which sadly looked a little worse for wear. Sunny fought the instincts in his muscles to turn left and head into that part of town, towards his old childhood home where his parents still resided, and instead kept going straight. Mari and Hero managed to get a decent home on the other side of town between her music performances and tutoring, and his respectable hospital wage. With Faraway Park fading away behind them, Sunny reached over with one hand and gently shook Aubrey.
“Huh, hmm, what?” Aubrey gasped, shooting up from her slumber. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched her arms out wide, “How long was I out?”
“We’re just about there.” Sunny replied.
“You couldn’t have woken me sooner?” She whined.
“You looked like you could use the rest.” Sunny replied. Yet more turns and finally their journey was at its end. Sunny carefully pulled the car into the driveway of a quaint looking house, painted in a lovely yellow with a dark roof. The pair exited the car and Sunny took a moment to grab his backpack out of the backseat. He locked the car up and went to stand next to Aubrey, who was admiring the house.
“They really did get a lovely place.” She smiled.
“A slightly different color and it’d look exactly like Hero’s parent’s house.” Sunny mused, “Only smaller.”
“Not bad for a first home, though.” Aubrey nodded. The pair approached the front door and Sunny knocked on it gently. Aubrey took his other hand in hers as they waited, squeezing it tight. Sunny squeezed back, hoping the pressure from her grasp would ease the worries starting to form in his heart. It worked only slightly. He could hear some shuffling from behind the door as someone approached. The door opened up and Hero appeared in the doorway.
“Aubrey, Sunny!” He smiled at the pair as he walked forward.
“Hey Hero!” Aubrey smiled back. Sunny gave a small smile and raised his free hand in greeting. Hero hugged Aubrey first, who wrapped her arm around his shoulder in a tight squeeze, then he took Sunny in his embrace in the same way.
“Please, come in!” Hero stepped back and waved for them to come in, “I’m sorry about the house, it’s a bit of a mess right now.” The two walked in and the house looked more or less immaculate; a bit of dust here and there, the tv was at a slight tilt, as was one of the couch pillows, and the blanket at the end wasn’t folded quite right.
“A mess, you say.” Aubrey giggled awkwardly, “This place is in better shape than our apartment.” Sunny nodded in agreement; he made a mental note to clean extra hard when they returned tomorrow.
“I’ve just been busy, you know, between Mari and the job. Haven’t had as much time to help keep the place up.” Hero chuckled, completely ignoring Aubrey’s comment. Or perhaps, he was simply oblivious to her words. Sunny looked over at his face and could see the amount of exhaustion through his smile and cheery demeanor.
“Where is Mari?” Sunny asked. Already the nerves were starting to come back in force.
“Oh, she’s upstairs. She took a nap shortly after Aubrey called.” Hero replied.
“Sunny, no.” Aubrey huffed, annoyed look on her face, “She’s probably very tired and needs her rest.”
“It’s alright, Aubrey.” Hero said, waving his hand, “I needed to get her up for dinner soon anyways. Besides, if she naps too long, she’ll have trouble sleeping later tonight.”
“That’ll make two of us.” Aubrey sighed.
“Oh, and before you head upstairs, Sunny.” Hero turned towards him, “Mari could probably use some water and maybe a light snack. Would you mind helping me with that real quick?”
“Yeah, of course.” Sunny nodded.
“I’ll start tidying up in here then.” Aubrey said, “Your duster is in the closet, right?”
“Yup, that’s right! Thanks again, Aubrey!” Hero nodded, a big smile plastered over his face. Aubrey waved him off as she headed to the closet door. Sunny followed Hero as he made his way into the kitchen.
The kitchen itself was about as spotless as a kitchen dining room combo could be. The counter, however, less so; it appeared that Hero was just starting to make dinner when Sunny and Aubrey arrived. Bread and other sandwich ingredients were carefully laid out along the counter and the stove had a large pot on it with some water starting to boil; a soup and sandwich night was in the works.
“The glasses are…up here.” Hero tapped on a cabinet door above the counter, next to the fridge, “And…oh. Apple slices will probably be a good appetizer for her.” He grabbed an apple from a small basket, as well as a peeler from a drawer, “If you could peel the skin off first for me, that’d be a big help.”
“I thought Mari liked the skins on them.” Sunny said, taking both the apple and peeler in his hands.
“I know she’d prefer it that way, but it’ll be easier for her to chew them without it.” Hero chuckled nervously. Sunny got to work peeling away the apple while Hero worked on the soup. Silence hung between them, broken up by only the sliding sound of the peeler or the sharp clicks of Hero’s knife as he cut the vegetables for the soup. Eventually, a forced cough from Hero broke the tension.
“Aubrey tells me you’ve been having some pretty bad nightmares this week.” He said, his voice thick with worry, “Are they about anything in particular or?” Sunny shook his head. Hesitantly he described the recurring terror that had been plaguing him that week. Always starting with the fight between him and Mari, the shadows in the house twisting and warping, the narrow miss of his outburst as she dodged his push, a thousand sorries and a stream of tears between the two of them, before Mari would vanish or fade out of view and some horrible monstrosity bearing a warped version of her face would rush at him, dragging him down into the thick, inky black void. Hero nodded along with the description, his face unchanging, but his eyes filled with concern.
“You know.” He sighed, “Mari doesn’t talk about that night very often. I’ve tried to pry some details from her before but…” He shook his head, “She’s always hesitant to get into it. I think maybe she’s afraid of what we’d think if she told the whole story.” Sunny closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He could already feel the old guilt coming back, ensnaring his chest in their crushing grasp. Hero stopped what he was doing and put a hand on Sunny’s shoulder, squeezing it tight.
“If I may, Sunny.” He started, taking a deep breath himself, “It might be strange to say, but in a way, I’m kinda glad you two had that fight that night. Whatever situation the two of you were in, wherever the pain was coming from, it was clearly becoming unbearable for you both. If that moment was what got you both the help you needed, then I’m glad it happened.” Sunny could only nod slowly. He finished peeling the apple and reached over for a knife. With a few quick, precise slices, the apple was now in a nice handful of very consumable pieces. He moved them to a plate and opened the cabinet to get the glass. A small chuckle came from Hero, causing Sunny to look at him in confusion.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just,” Hero rubbed the back of his head, “You’re scarily good with a knife. Are you sure YOU don’t want to be a chef?”
“Very sure.” Sunny nodded. He pressed the glass into the fridge’s water dispenser and waited for it to fill most of the way.
“Let Mari know I’ll have dinner ready soon.” Hero said.
“I will.” Sunny nodded back. He started to head out of the kitchen.
“Oh, and Sunny!” Hero called after him. Sunny turned around to face him, “Thanks for coming out to see us. Both of you. Honestly.” Even with all the exhaustion on his face, Hero gave Sunny his warmest smile. Through it all, he was still the same charming Hero. Sunny smiled back as he left the kitchen.

Sunny headed up the stairs as quickly as he could while holding Mari’s snack. A deep black puddle was sprawled out lazily over the top of the stairs, dozing peacefully in the early evening heat. Sunny carefully stepped over the little void.
“Mewwoooo.” The void yawned.
“Hey Mewo, old boy.” Sunny smiled, “How are you doing?”
“Mewwwwwww” Mewo purred back.
“I’ll pet you in a little bit. I gotta go check on your mom first though.” He tried to reassure the beast, who still hadn’t moved.
“Mewwoo.” He yawned again, this time with a bit more disappointment in his voice. Sunny could only shake his head at the old cat. He turned to make his way to Mari and Hero’s room, stopping for a moment as his eyes fell upon a picture frame on the wall. It was filled with not one picture, but several in a collage of moments from Hero and Mari’s time together. Their wedding photo serves as its centerpiece; Mari in an absolutely beautiful white dress with short sleeves and ballroom skirting, and Hero in his best suit, a white collared shirt and deep blue tie. The pair appeared to be caught mid-dance, Hero’s hand on her waist, holding her in a half dip as one would in a waltz. Around this photo were several others; there was one from prom, a pair from both of their college graduations, one Basil had snapped during a group outing, and another one Basil had taken during high school. That one Sunny recognized, as it was a copy of one Basil had kept in his original photo album. The last day of school from when they were still kids, Mari’s chin in Hero’s hand, his face in both of hers, smiles on them both. It was even captioned with part of Basil’s original memory: “A match made in heaven.” In fact, looking at the top of the sleek black frame, those same words were etched in a nice gold across it. A whole frame filled with memories, and plenty of space for more to come. Seeing the two of them so deeply in love filled his heart with warmth, easing away some of the fear that had been building up. Spurred on, he made his way down the hall and found the door to their bedroom cracked slightly ajar. It was likely left that way so Hero could bring whatever he needed to Mari without needing his hands. Sunny pushed his way in as quietly as he could, closing the door part way with his foot. The lights were off, and the room was darker than the hallway, but the outside sun did its damnedest to push as much light in through the closed blinds as it could. Yet despite that, there was Mari, dozing beneath the covers of her bed. Even in the dim lighting, Sunny could see how pained her face looked. Her hair looked a bit disheveled, there were some small bags under her eyes, and her cheeks looked a little gaunt. Her overall state caused some of his previous panic to creep back into his heart. There was a small table set up next to the bed, and Sunny put Mari’s snack down on it. He knelt before her, reaching out a hand to gently shake her shoulder.
“He…Hero?” Mari muttered sleepily, her eyes fluttered open. She raised her hand, grasping at the air, looking for her husband. Sunny took Mari’s hand in his.
“Hey Mari.” He said quietly, doing his best to smile, “Hero’s still making dinner.” Mari stared up at Sunny for a few moments longer, before a smile spread wide across her face.
“Sunny!” She exclaimed. She pulled Sunny forward and laid her chin on his shoulder, bringing their heads together, “I’m so happy to see you! Hero said you and Aubrey were coming. Where is she?”
“She’s downstairs helping clean.” Sunny said. Mari pulled back to look at him.
“Oh, she shouldn’t have to worry about that.” She frowned, “You’re our guests.”
“It’s no big deal, Mari.” Sunny shook his head, “We’re here to help with what we can.”
“That’s so sweet of you, little bro.” Mari chuckled. Despite the pained look on her face and the exhaustion in her body, Sunny could still see the light of life in her eyes. A light that twinkled a little as she smirked at him.
“But you didn’t drive nearly four hours just to help us around the house.” She said, “What are you really here for?” Sunny could feel his face fall, the guilt from earlier gripping at his chest again, and the pit from the night prior rearing its ugly head. He took her hand in both of hers and buried his face into her shoulder. Mari took her free hand and started to run it through Sunny’s hair, just as she’d done when they were kids. Sunny relayed again the events of nights prior; the horrible nightmares and all their details, how he could hear her scream ringing in his ears even after waking up, and the constant feeling of dread boring a pit into his stomach. Mari’s grip on his head tightened as he spoke, trying to pull him further and further into her embrace.
“Oh Sunny.” She finally pulled back, her face full of sorrow, “I’m so sorry you’ve been going through that. Part of me wishes we were kids again, so I could hold you in your sleep and keep those awful dreams at bay.” She shook her head, “But, sadly, we’re adults now, and even then, there isn’t room in this bed for all three of us.” Sunny huffed a small chuckle.
“I brought you some water and a snack.” He said, “Do you need help sitting up?”
“I can sit up on my own just fine, thank you.” Mari huffed. She pulled away from Sunny and tried to push herself into a sitting position, though she succeeded in only straining her arms. Sunny eased himself onto the bed to get one arm behind Mari’s back and give her something to lean on, gently getting her sat up. As the sheets fell away, Mari’s very swollen belly came into view. Sunny pulled away to give her space as she took a few deep breaths.
“You’re certain you’re ok?” He asked, failing to keep the fear out of his voice. Mari gave him a pained smile.
“I’m fine, Sunny, I promise.” She said, taking one of his hands again and putting it against her belly.
“You look like you’re in a lot of pain.” Sunny said.
“I’m practically 8 months pregnant, Sunny.” Mari chuckled, “A baby this size, it’s going to be uncomfortable.” She looked down at her swollen midsection, “But yes, everything does ache a little. It’s nothing I can’t handle though.” She placed her other hand on her stomach.
“Here, let me get your water.” Sunny tried to pull away, but Mari kept his hand on her.
“Hang on.” She pleaded, “I want to see if they’ll kick for you.” A touch of sadness broke over her face, “I haven’t felt them for weeks now and it has me a little worried.” She looked up at Sunny, “Maybe if you…tried talking to them?”
“What would I even say?” Sunny shook his head.
“Just say hello.” Mari pleaded again. The worry in her voice didn’t help his growing unease. Sunny looked down at her belly and sighed. He tried to direct his voice towards the unborn child as best he could.
“Hey there, uh, little one.” He started, “I’m your Uncle Sunny. Your mom hasn’t felt you kick in awhile. Can you, uh, give us one? Maybe? Just to let us know that you’re-” He was cut off as a very small, very subtle movement could be felt with Mari’s stomach. She almost yelped with joy at feeling it.
“Oh they’re ok!” She sighed a huge sigh of relief, “That really puts my heart at ease.” Sunny finally broke his hand free and grabbed Mari’s water.
“Here, please have some.” He begged.
“Ok, ok!” Mari laughed. She took the glass from Sunny, arms shaking as she held it, “Thank you.” Her arms continued to tremble as she drank the water. Sunny positioned himself to help her hold it in case her arms decided they didn’t want to hold the glass anymore, much to Mari’s chagrin.
“I’m not helpless, Sunny.” She huffed after lowering the water glass. Sunny took the glass from her hands and set it on the table.
“I know, Mari.” He nodded, taking both of her hands in his, feeling them shake and tremble much like his own arms had the night before, “Are you really sure you’re ok?”
“I’m fine. I promise.” She tried to smile, “I’m just…tired.”
“I’ve never seen you shake like this before.” Sunny said. Mari could only nod.
“I don’t think I really have before. The only time that comes to mind is, well…” She pressed her forehead against his. Sunny squeezed her hands tightly, before grabbing the plate of apples.
“Eat.” He said. Mari looked at the apples and puffed her cheeks in a pout.
“I told him to leave the skins on.” She sighed.
“I peeled it.” Sunny chuckled, “He told me it was easier for you to chew on.”
“I struggle ONE time….” she grumbled something else but Sunny couldn’t quite make out the rest of the sentence. Mari sighed before taking one of the slices, “Well, better to eat them anyways. I am feeling quite hungry….” She munched the apple slices down one by one, “What’s Hero making down there anyways.”
“Soup and sandwiches.” Sunny replied. Mari rolled her eyes.
“This baby cannot come soon enough, if only so I can actually eat something else for a change.” She sighed, “That’s almost all he’s been making since the doctors put me on bedrest.” Her mouth quivered as she bit into another piece of apple. Sunny looked on in concern until a knock on the door caused him to turn around. A worried looking Hero poked into the room.
“You ok in here, Mari?” He asked, “I thought I heard a…yelp?” He walked in and sat on the bed next to his wife. Mari’s face lit up instantly.
“Oh that was me, I’m fine though.” Her smile widened so broadly Sunny thought it would jump off her face, “The baby kicked for Sunny!”
“That’s great to hear, Mari. I’m so glad.” Hero breathed a sigh of relief. He took a moment to kiss Mari on her temple, “Dinner’s ready, so Aubrey and I will bring everything up.” Mari’s smile immediately fell and she placed a hand on Hero’s shoulder.
“Hero.” Her tone shifted to serious.
“W-what is it Mari?” Hero asked, nerves rolling off his tongue.
“When this baby finally gets here.” Mari started. Hero chuckled nervously, putting his forehead against Mari’s.
“I know, I know hon.” He gazed lovingly into her eyes, “I’ll make you whatever dinner you want.”
“You’d better, mister.” Mari’s face broke into another smile. Gently she pushed her face forward and the two kissed ever so softly. Sunny politely looked away.
“I’ll be right back.” He heard Hero say. Sunny looked towards the door as Hero started leaving the room, only for Aubrey to appear in the doorway, tray full of sandwiches in her hands.
“Ahh, Hero!” She shrieked. Hero nearly pitched forward into Aubrey, but managed to stop himself just short of a nose going into the nearest sandwich.
“Oh, well, that could’ve ended poorly.” He chuckled.
“Geez, Hero, look where you’re walking next time.” Aubrey huffed.
“Sorry Aubrey, sorry.” Hero let out a half hearted chuckle, “I’ll pay more attention next time.”
“You’d better.” Aubrey chuckled back, “Oh, and I turned off the stove, and grabbed the bowls and utensils, so all you have to do is grab the soup.”
“Thanks Aubrey.” Hero smiled, making space for Aubrey to get into the bedroom, and then hurrying away once she was in.
“Where should I put these?” Aubrey asked.
“Oh, there’s a folding table against the wall.” Mari pointed towards the north wall with the window. Sunny looked over and spotted the table in question; it was decently long, but relatively skinny, white and looked well worn. All it was missing was a checkered cover. Sunny stood up and grabbed the table, setting it up as close to Mari’s bed as he could.
“Thanks, Sunny.” She smiled at him. Sunny nodded in response as Aubrey put down the tray of food. She then immediately rounded the table and sat next to Mari.
“Oh Mari, it’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed.
“I’m so glad to see you, too, Aubrey.” Mari replied, “I’m happy the two of you came out here today, really.”
“Sorry it’s so out of nowhere.” Aubrey sighed, “Poor Sunny just couldn’t help but worry over his big sister.” She looked up at Sunny, an annoyed look in her eyes, and a wry smile on her face. Sunny simply stared back at her as blankly as he could muster.
“Yeah, we talked about it already.” Mari smiled over at him. Aubrey glanced down at Mari’s arms, laying a hand on one of them, “I’m fine, honestly, but any excuse to see my darling brother and one of my dearest friends is a good one.” She reached down and grabbed the closest sandwich off its plate. Aubrey gently ran some of her fingers through Mari’s hair.
“Your hair’s looking a little rough there, hon.” She huffed, “Is Hero not helping you take care of it?”
“H’n’stl’y” Mari started talking through her sandwich, pausing for a brief moment to swallow, “We’ve had slightly more important things to worry about than how my hair is.”
“I know that.” Aubrey chuckled, “But it’s still something nice for him to do, and keeping it up will help keep some of the stress off your head.”
“Iits n’t l’k h’ d’sn’t.” Mari said through another bite, “He normally does it after helping me wash. We may have missed a day here or there though.”
“Sunny.” Aubrey looked over at him. He’d only just started to grab his own sandwich. “Can you please grab Mari’s hairbrush for me?” Her eyes went wide and innocent, a slight pout on her face. Sunny sighed and nodded his head.
“The one with the purple handle, right?” He asked. Mari nodded.
“Tamk yu, S’nny.” Mari said, “The bathroom’s through the door behind you.” Sunny turned around and entered the bathroom, flicking the light on. It was smaller than the one he and Mari had shared growing up, but still had all the necessities packed neatly into its denser area. Of all the rooms he’d seen in the house, it was definitely the messiest; a single purple toothbrush and toothpaste laid out near the sink, Mari’s hairbrush was further in on the counter, and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner was sat just next to the bathtub. Inside the bathtub was a single white plastic footstool. He grabbed the brush off the counter and hurried back to the bedroom. As he handed the brush to Aubrey, the other door opened and a soup bearing Hero walked.
“Ah, Sunny!” He said, “There’s a pad for the pot, under my arm, can you grab it for me?”
“Yeah.” Sunny nodded, taking the small cloth square from its current hostage situation beneath Hero’s right arm and setting it on the table. Hero followed suit and set the pot down on it, whipping out the ladle from his other arm and placing it in the soup. He then turned to round the table and sit beside his wife, only to be met with the stern gaze of Aubrey.
“O-oh, uh.” He started. Aubrey held her gaze without budging, pointing to the floor next to Sunny, “Right then.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be as gentle as possible.” Aubrey reassured Mari, running the brush through her hair with slow, practiced movement. Sunny sat down beside the table and finally picked up a sandwich. Looking down, he noticed that it was a plain peanut butter and what looked to be strawberry jelly. After a bite, he noticed the presence of banana slices as well. An odd combination to be sure, and while it certainly wasn’t his first choice of sandwich, it didn’t taste particularly bad. Mari had already started on her second half, munching away as Aubrey brushed her hair. Hero sat next to him on the ground and the small talk between the three of them started. What was going on with their jobs, how were they doing out in the apartment they lived in, small trivial things family discussed when they hadn’t seen each other in a while. Sunny remained mostly quiet while Aubrey recounted the events of the morning; a poor girl no older than six years old getting a piece of gum shoved into the side of her hair by a jealous classmate, the tears over having to cut so much, and the miracle it was to give her a normal hairstyle after such an endeavor. She finished up the story as she finished brushing Mari’s hair and moved off the bed. Hero quickly traded places with her, getting right next to his wife. Sunny doled out the soup into the bowls. Hero ignored the bowl in front of him and instead focused on feeding Mari her own soup.
“Ya know.” She said after two spoonfuls, “I sometimes think you only make food I can eat with a spoon just so you can do this.”
“Is a loving husband not supposed to dote on his sweet wife when she isn’t feeling well?” Hero countered, charming smile on his face.
“I’m feeling just fine, loving husband.” Mari huffed, smiling back at him. Despite the affirmation, she continued to let Hero feed her. Sunny and Aubrey both politely looked away. A sudden yelp from Mari, turned them back around.
“You ok?” Sunny asked. Mari nodded, hands on her stomach.
“They kicked again.” She giggled.
“They?” Aubrey asked after a bite of her sandwich, “Are you having twins? I thought it was a single baby.”
“Oh, it is!” Mari nodded, “We don’t know if they’re a boy or a girl yet.”
“You don’t know your baby’s gender?” Aubrey raised an eyebrow, “At eight months pregnant?”
“Oh I asked them not to tell us.” Mari smiled, “I want it to be a surprise when they finally get here.”
“I see.” Aubrey continued, “Hasn’t that made picking out a name harder, or clothes for that matter?”
“Not really.” Hero chuckled, “We’ve got it narrowed down to a couple each on both sides, and all the clothes we’ve got so far have been neutral in color.”
“Besides, kids grow rather quick.” Mari sighed, “Once we know, we can start getting things maybe more geared towards who they are.” She looked down at her stomach, rubbing it gently.
“Have you finished the nursery then?” Aubrey asked. Both Hero and Mari looked away.
“Ah….not quite.” Hero admitted sheepishly.
“We had…started on it, and then the doctor told me I needed to be resting, and we just kept putting it off.” Mari giggled, also sheepishly. Her eyes lit up for a second, “Oh, but we did get the crib made.” She pointed over to the far corner of the room. Sunny turned to look and noticed the small simple crib exactly as Mari described, as well as the large pillow and slightly misfolded blanket resting beside it.
“It works out, though.” Hero nodded, “Mari wants the baby in the room with us, at least for the first few months.”
“It just gives me a little peace of mind.” She sighed, “Knowing that they’ll be so close in case they wake up in the night.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Aubrey agreed, “I hear they wake up quite often those first weeks.”
“The doctor said the same thing.” Mari nodded, “There’s going to be quite a bit of night feeding. It’s important to maintain a steady flow of milk for them.”
“That sounds very overwhelming.” Aubrey frowned.
“I’m talking to the hospital about having a nurse come and help us through the night.” Hero nodded, “It’s still in the works but it should help out immensely.”
“I’m sure your moms’ will also want to help, too.” Aubrey snickered. Both of their faces fell.
“Now THAT sounds overwhelming.” Mari sighed.
“Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate how much they both already help Mari out when I’m at work.” Hero shook his head, “But having them both here, at the same time, I shudder at the thought.”
“Regardless of all that, I’m still very much looking forward to the day we can finally meet our little one.” Mari rested her head on Hero’s shoulder.
“I am, too.” Hero kissed Mari’s temple.
“I bet you’re also looking forward to sleeping in a bed again.” Sunny quipped. Hero laughed as Mari covered her face with her hands.
“What are you sleeping on the floor for?” Aubrey gave Hero a weird look.
“Mari needs all the room she can get right now.” Hero laughed, “I mean it’s not exactly a small bed, but it’s certainly not ‘married couple’ size.”
“Why didn’t you get a bigger bed when you moved here?” Aubrey asked.
“Well, we already had this one from our previous place.” Mari sighed, “And it was nice and affordable, and we’re both serious cuddlebugs, so at the time it didn’t seem like it mattered. We could’ve moved it to the spare room for guests but…”
“It just felt wrong.” Hero finished, “We’d spent so many long nights in this one, it just didn’t feel right to get rid of it like that.”
“Long nights, huh?” Aubrey snickered, “I bet that’s exactly how you ended up in this situation.” Sunny grimaced at the images flashing in his mind.
“Yeah.” Mari sighed, “A couple of forgotten pills and one surprise empty box of condoms, and, well, here we are.”
“Sleeping on the floor every night doesn’t exactly sound pleasant.” Aubrey mused, “How’s your back feeling?”
“It’s…doing fine.” Hero sighed, “ Besides, it’s not every night, only most nights.”
“You aren’t sleeping in here every night?” Sunny asked. Mari fidgeted sheepishly.
“I’ve been doing lots of tossing and turning and recently the false labor pains have started up.” Mari admitted, “So I end up keeping him awake for most of the night.”
“But I only sleep downstairs when work wants me in for an early shift or meeting.” Hero said reassuringly, “Otherwise I’m in here with them both.” Sunny could feel the fear slowly creep back into his stomach, and it only continued to grow as dinner continued on. The conversation came to a halt when Mari stopped talking and a slightly pained look swept across her face. She leaned over and whispered into Hero’s ear, who then nodded and stood up.
“You ok Mari?” Aubrey asked.
“Oh, I’m fine.” Mari waved her hand dismissively, “Just need to use the bathroom is all.”
“I’ve got her.” Hero nodded, “If you two could help clean dinner up.”
“Yes, of course.” Sunny replied. Hero placed a hand on Mari’s back and carefully helped her to a standing position. After she took a moment to catch her breath, he helped Mari navigate around the table and then over to the bathroom. Sunny and Aubrey quickly gathered the dishes up and took them all and the pot of soup back down stairs to the kitchen.

With night finally fallen, Sunny sat on the guest bed and watched Aubrey brush out her hair in the mirror. Her face was freshly washed, and she was already in her pajamas; a simple cream tank top and a long pair of cotton bottoms with a cute bunny print. While waiting for her to finish, he clasped his hands together and tried to take some deep breaths to calm his nerves. Sadly, the pit in his stomach had simply returned and refused to budge. The whole trip was to see Mari and confirm that she was ok, so he could finally put away his feelings of fear and worry, and yet it had only done the opposite. With each breath, the pit grew angrier and angrier.
“I see that look on your face.” He heard Aubrey say. He looked up and saw her staring at him through the mirror.
“She’s in bad shape, Aubrey.” Sunny sighed, looking down at his hands.
“Yeah.”Aubrey nodded, throwing her brush towards Sunny’s backpack. She approached Sunny and pulled apart his hands, sitting down in his lap and wrapping her legs around his waist. Sunny wrapped his arms loosely around her waist.
“I’m worried for her.” Sunny continued.
“I know, Sunny.” Aubrey pressed her forehead against his, “I was hoping this trip would keep your nightmares away, but seeing her like that? Now I’m afraid I might start having them myself, I mean. Did you see the way her arms trembled just from sitting there? The way she winced as I brushed her hair?”
“I did.” Sunny nodded.
“It’s all very concerning.” Aubrey sighed again, “I think she’s definitely lying about the amount of pain she’s in. However,” she took Sunny’s face in her hand, “I don’t believe we have anything to really worry about.”
“But Aubrey-” Sunny started, but Aubrey hushed him with a finger over his lips.
“I think that, maybe, it was a mistake to tell us that this was a high risk pregnancy.” She started gently rubbing the side of his face, “All it’s done is get everyone, especially you, all wound up and anxious.”
“I can’t not worry about her, Aubrey.” Sunny shook his head, his face starting to get slightly flush, “You saw how she was in there.”
“I did, but Sunny.” Aubrey sighed, “There’s nothing we can do to help her, alright? We are not doctors. I cut people’s hair, and you write computer code, and sometimes music. There is…nothing we can do for her right now, except give her some space to rest.”
“I just wish there was something more I could do for her.” Sunny placed his face into Aubrey’s shoulder, his eyes starting to grow wet with tears.
“I do, too.” Aubrey squeezed him tight in her embrace, “But all this pain she’s in, she’s just gonna have to endure it for now. And if something starts to go wrong, Hero’s here with her. It’s going to be alright.” Despite all her words, the pit in Sunny’s stomach continued to blaze furiously. He sat there for a few moments longer, hoping that her embrace would quell some of the raging fear but to no avail. Eventually she pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
“Hey.” She said softly, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Sunny nodded. Aubrey leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, holding him there for a moment and two.
“Let’s try to get some sleep, ok?” She said as she pulled away, clambering over him to get to the other side of the bed. Sunny got up briefly to pull back the covers and the two climbed into bed. Aubrey immediately pulled Sunny into her arms, wrapping him in her warmth.
“Good night Aubrey.” Sunny whispered.
“G’night.” Aubrey yawned, burying her head into Sunny’s chest. As before, the warmth from her body, the pressure from her embrace, and the scent of her hair helped Sunny find just enough peace to drift off once again.

Shadows danced around Sunny, twisting and turning in malicious delight. He looked around him, trying to gauge his surroundings. He was back in his childhood home once again, reverted back to his childhood self. The nightmares always started the same way, but something felt off this time. He wasn’t at the top of the stairs, and Mari wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Looking around only revealed more and more shadowed corners. Sinister whispers floated through the air; jabbing taunts from spirits unseen. Sunny could feel his heart pounding harder and harder.
“Sunny!” He heard Mari’s voice and spun around. She was standing on the other side of the sliding glass door, “Come quick! I have something I want to show you.” She disappeared into the backyard. Sunny hurried to the door and pushed it open. This was most certainly not the same dream as before. In fact, he couldn’t remember a dream like this at all. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what memory this was from, but nothing came to mind. This was something new altogether, and whatever it was that Mari wanted to show him couldn’t be good. Moving as fast as his younger legs could carry him, he ran to the back yard. Mari was at the other end, waving to him, beckoning him to follow. The treehouse they had built was back that way, but what could possibly be there that he didn’t already know existed? Mari disappeared into the treeline before Sunny could say anything. He chased after her, the familiar feeling of soft grass gracing the soles of his feet. With his fear steadily mounting, Sunny ducked into the treeline.
What should have been a small open space surrounded by trees was replaced with a massive overgrown forest. A narrow path unfolded before him, turning sharply after only a few feet. Fog started to crawl all around him, coming from deep within the woods. More shadows danced and flicker under its cover, haunted laughter filled the air. Sunny could feel his chest tightening as his lungs gasped for air.
“Sunny!” He could hear Mari say again. Her voice sounded distorted and came from an unknown direction, “Hurry up! You need to see this!” What else could he do but move forward? Mari clearly needed him. Gathering what courage he could, Sunny started through the dark forest. The path before him twisted and turned at sharp angles, occasionally splitting into two, sometimes three different paths. Sunny could discern no real means of finding the right path, and he was starting to get desperate. Every wrong turn would end in an impassable cloud of fog, with spidery legs lashing out and forcing him to turn back and take a different path. On and on he ran for what felt like ages; more twists, more bends, more branching paths all leading him in what felt like circles. With his legs feeling more and more like jello and his lungs starting to seize, Sunny was about to give up when at last the final turn freed him from the forest’s grasp and placed him properly in the small clearing he knew. He looked up and saw not the tree he remembered, but a much larger, more menacing looking tree, with sharper branches and ghostly black tendrils swirling through its leaves. Mari stood at its base, facing him.
“Suuunnnyyyy!” She called out, her voice warped and echoing in his ears, “Come here!” Every nerve in Sunny’s body screamed at him to run away, to flee, to escape from this hellish place, but he couldn’t just leave Mari there. His legs trembling, Sunny crossed the field. As he got closer to Mari, he could see nothing wrong with her. She appeared to lack color, but she was still the same Mari, warm smile and all.
“M-mari?” Sunny could barely hear himself as he spoke, “Mari, what’s going on?”
“Isn’t this a wonderful tree?” Mari asked him, her voice still distorted. She turned to look up at the dark behemoth. Sunny followed her gaze and noticed that the tendrils were starting to wriggle about with great ferocity. He looked back to Mari, who had turned back to face him.
“Mari, we shouldn’t be here.” He tried to call out, but the wind was stealing his voice.
“Won’t you help me, Sunny?” Mari asked him. Before he could even ask what she needed help with, the tendrils shot down at blistering speed, pulling her into the air. They wrapped around her arms and neck, growing tighter as she struggled against them. A vicious looking beast made of shadows, eyes and teeth revealed itself, a menacing grin stretched across its body. Sunny’s body felt like lead as he tried to reach for Mari.
“Suuuunnnyyyy” He heard her voice ringing his head. She struggled more and more against the beast’s limbs. It lowered her down in front of Sunny, just out of his reach. He gazed up into Mari’s eyes, her face full of fear and anguish.
“Won’t you help me?” She asked him again, her voice back to normal. Harder and harder, Sunny pushed himself to reach for her, but time seemed to get slower with every muscle he moved. The beast raised an inky black tendril and struck it through Mari’s stomach. Blood poured from her mouth and eyes, her limbs went limp. Cruel laughter echoed through Sunny’s ears as the beast pitched Mari’s body onto him.

It was a miracle Sunny didn’t scream as he jolted awake. His lungs felt tight as he hyperventilated. All he could hear was the rushing sound of panicked blood dashing through his ears. All he could feel was the rapid beat of his heart as it tried desperately to run away from him. Every muscle, every nerve, every fiber of his being screamed at him in pure and utter terror. Sunny tried to get out from beneath the covers, but his legs lost themselves and he fell to the ground with a soft thud.
“What the fuck?” He could barely hear Aubrey’s voice as she spoke, “Sunny what’s wrong?” He’d only just managed to stand when Aubrey appeared in front of him. His tongue refused to cooperate as his body continued to gasp for more and more air.
“Hey. Hey hey hey.” Aubrey hushed him, pulling his head into her chest, “It’s ok, it’s ok. I’m right here.” She ran her hand gently through his hair and started to rock him. All things that had worked in the past, but tonight, things were different. Her touch, her words, her presence were nothing against the deluge of fear coursing through Sunny’s body.
“M-Mari.” He finally managed to say, though his voice was weak and strained, “I…”
“Ugh!” Aubrey couldn’t hide the anger in her voice, “Sunny, she is asleep! You need to stop this, ok?” She clasped his face with both of her hands and he could see the frustration in her eyes. Exhaustion and hurt lined the rest of her face.
“I had a feeling seeing her like that was only going to make things worse.” She sighed, “We shouldn’t have come here.” Maybe it was true, maybe they shouldn’t have come at all. Perhaps the sight of seeing his sister bearing so much pain all by herself worked up his anxieties even more. Yet there was something continuing to scream at him; that angry, furious pit in his stomach refused to be quieted and it set every hair on his body to full attention. No, something was definitely wrong.
“Aubrey…” He said, gripping both her shoulders. She jumped a little in shock, “Where’s Hero?”
“Hero? He’s with…no..” Aubrey looked down for a moment, thinking back to their conversation at dinner, “He mentioned at one point he had a meeting tomorrow so he’s…”
“Downstairs.” Sunny finished, swallowing hard, “Aubrey you need to go get Hero.”
“What? No! He has a-” She started to hiss at him, but Sunny pushed past her and opened the door to the hallway.
“Aubrey, get Hero.” He repeated, rushing into the hallway.
“Sunny!” Aubrey hissed behind him, trying to keep her voice down, “Oh my god.” Feelings of dread overwhelmed the lead like feelings in his legs as Sunny hurried down the hall towards Mari and Hero’s bedroom. As he approached, he could hear muffled whimpers and occasionally Hero’s name. He pushed into the bedroom and went straight to Mari’s side. Her face was scrunched up in pain, tears running down her face.
“H-hero?” Mari asked, her voice weak.
“Aubrey’s getting Hero.” Sunny said, “He’ll be here any second. Where’s it hurt?”
“I’m sorry Sunny.” Mari cried, “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to call for Hero…”
“It’s ok.” Sunny shook his head, “You didn’t wake me up. Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere…” Mari sniffled, “The…fake contractions hurt especially bad.”
“Mari!” Sunny turned to see a very worried Hero and a very annoyed Aubrey walking into the room, “Are you alright?”
“Hero…” Mari reached her hand out towards Hero, her arm trembling. He was by her side in an instant. Aubrey walked to Sunny’s right, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“So sorry he woke you.” Aubrey sighed. Mari shook her head.
“No…I wasn’t really…” Mari sniffled, “The pain was just…I couldn’t…” Her tears started coming a bit faster. Hero started stroking her head, shushing her gently.
“It’s alright.” He said, “It’s alright, I’m here now. Let’s get you what you need.” He bent over to kiss Mari, placing his hand on the bed. Aubrey squeezed Sunny’s shoulder.
“We’ll leave you to it then, Hero.” She started. Hero lifted his hand, a confused look on his face.
“The sheets are wet.” He said. Mari let out a small groan.
“Oh I had hoped I only dreamed that…” She sniffled, “I need to…I tried to get up myself…I couldn’t…I didn’t…” Her sobbing only furthered.
“It’s ok, Mari.” Hero shook his head, “It happens! Nothing to be embarrassed about. Let’s get you cleaned up, ok?” He started to lift the covers off of Mari.
“Let’s leave them be.” Aubrey whispered into Sunny’s ear. She straightened up, readying to leave when Hero pulled the bedsheets away. Her stifled shriek nearly sent Sunny out of his skin. Hero’s face twisted from tired to panicked. Sunny looked down and felt his veins run completely cold. Both the sheets and Mari’s legs were covered in dark, crimson blood. Mari looked at the three of them in confusion.
“What’s….wrong?” She asked.
“Aubrey, call 911!” Hero nearly shouted. Try as he might to contain his panic, Sunny could see him start to tremble.
“Ah! Ah! Phone!” Aubrey frantically looked around the room.
“There!” Sunny pointed to the back wall. Aubrey grabbed the phone and immediately started dialing.
“Sunny, keep Mari talking.” Hero instructed, moving towards Mari’s lower half, “I’m gonna try and figure out if there’s anything I can do.” Sunny nodded and took Mari’s hand. Mari’s gaze followed Hero, finally seeing her blood spread across the bed.
“Oh…” Sunny could see the color leaving her face, “That…can’t be…good….” She collapsed into her pillow a little. The tears had finally stopped.
“Hey.” Sunny whispered, “It’s gonna be ok.” Mari looked up at him, her eyes full of fear. He tried his best to push down his own fear, the fear that had gripped him all week, from showing.
“Sunny…” She sniffled.
“Everything is going to be okay.” Sunny continued. Sirens could be heard in the distance as Hero frantically tried to stop the bleed, “The ambulance is on its way. Everything is going to be okay.” Over and over, Sunny kept the reassurances going, stroking Mari’s hair, trying to keep her awake, but she was so tired. She was so tired and he could see it. He gripped her hand tighter, trying to will some fight into the darling sister he loved so much, trying to give her anything as the sirens grew louder and louder.
“Stay with us, please.” He sobbed, unable to fight the tears any longer. Mari mumbled something in response. All he could do was repeat the phrase, begging and pleading, as Mari’s hand grew colder and colder.

Solid white walls, dotted with occasional paintings of flowers and the odd paper flier, surrounded them on all sides. Stiff fibrous chairs lined the room in rows, sometimes broken up with a two seater or leather couch against the wall. A dim buzzing sat in the air; its presence a nuisance to endure and only broken up by the rare telephone ringing somewhere in the receptionist area. Sunny looked up at the clock on the wall across from him. Forty five minutes had passed since they had arrived at the hospital.
“Hey.” Aubrey nudged his shoulder with hers, “She’s gonna be ok.” Sunny nodded his head slowly. She took his right hand in hers and squeezed it tight, leaning into his shoulder. Together they sat, waiting, dreading, fearing whatever news might come from the doors behind them. Sunny closed his eyes. The images from his nightmare flashed before him, intermixed with images of Mari’s bloody legs and the dreadfully cold feeling of her hand. He squeezed Aubrey’s hand and tried to take some deep breaths. The clock continued to tick on and Sunny tried to focus his mind on the sound. The image of one of his mother’s old grandfather clocks appeared, and slowly edged out the horrifying thoughts. His heart finally started to calm itself, if only a little. Aubrey let out a sigh, causing him to open his eyes.
“Sunny, I’m…” Her voice wavered slightly, “I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.” Sunny looked down at her face; her eyes were still slightly red and puffy.
“It’s ok.” Sunny pressed his head against hers, “Were this any other kind of situation, you’d be right to be upset with me.”
“Still.” Aubrey closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, “I’m glad you listened to your gut. If you hadn’t, Mari might have….” Her voice caught in her throat. Sunny put her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. He again looked up at the clock. Hardly four minutes had passed. Time was certainly in no rush tonight.
A sudden flurry of movement near the front door caught his attention. His heart started to race, but it was just three people entering into the ER and speaking with the receptionist. One was dark haired, another blond, and the third…blue? Aubrey looked up and waved at the trio. The blond one looked over and his face lit up in recognition. He pulled on the sleeve of the dark haired one and pointed at Sunny and Aubrey. The dark haired one looked their way, then said something to the receptionist before the whole trio hustled their direction. Sunny stood up and was immediately embraced by the first one in a very tight hug. He hugged back as hard as he could.
“It’s so good to see you again.” He said to Sunny, his voice shaking slightly.
“It’s good to see you, too, Kel.” Sunny squeezed his friend, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Where’s Hero?” Kel asked, pulling back from Sunny.
“He’s still with Mari.” Sunny shook his head, “We haven’t heard anything yet.” He looked to his side and saw Aubrey embracing Cris, and then Basil.
“We got here as soon as we could.” Cris said, “And Kel made sure we got Basil as well.”
“They’ve told me everything.” Basil nodded. He turned to Sunny and embraced him in a tight hug. Sunny squeezed him back.
“How long has it been? An hour?” Kel asked. Aubrey shook her head.
“Not quite.” She sighed, “I don’t think we’ll know anything for some time.”
“Then we’d better get ready to be here for the long haul then.” Cris nodded. Sunny let Basil go and looked down, noticing his camera dangling from its strap on his bag. He scoffed a small chuckle.
“You brought your camera?” He asked. Basil’s face went red.
“N-not intentionally, I swear.” He shook his head, “I just grabbed my jacket and my bag, and it just happened to still be attached. I didn’t even get changed out of my pajamas.” Sunny looked down and noticed Basil was, indeed, still in his pajama bottoms; ankle length cotton pants similar to Aubrey’s own pair, but colored in a soft green with a sunflower pattern on them. Basil looked between Sunny and Aubrey.
“Glad I’m not the only one, though.” He chuckled. Aubrey looked down at herself.
“Aw, jeez!” She huffed, sitting down quickly and wrapping her arms around her chest, “I look so immodest.”
“I’m sure it can be forgiven, given the circumstances at least.” Cris chuckled. She took her own light jacket off and wrapped it around Aubrey’s shoulders, “Here.”
“Thanks, Cris.” Aubrey smiled. The others all took their own seats. Basil sat to Sunny’s other side, and Kel and Cris sat opposite. Difficult though it was, the friends engaged in some more small talk to help pass the time and ease the nerves. Sunny nodded along for the most part, his mind still focusing on Mari. Between Aubrey holding his right hand and Basil gently wrapped around his left arm, Sunny could finally feel his nerves start to calm down. He wouldn’t be free until he knew Mari was safe and sound, but for the moment, at least, his body was no longer screaming at him. At some point Cris’ cell phone began to hum quietly and she excused herself to take the call. Kel decided to go find a vending machine, and Basil left to find the closest restroom. Aubrey and Sunny were left alone again for the time being. Sunny looked back to the clock. An hour and a half had passed. Aubrey nudged his shoulder again.
“So.” She started.
“So?” Sunny looked at her, eyebrow raised.
“When’s the next time you’re taking Basil out?” She asked him. Sunny shrugged his shoulders.
“Next time you’re gone for the weekend.” He said flatly.
“Anything in particular you have planned?” Aubrey asked, tilting her head to the side.
“No, nothing much.” Sunny shook his head.
“There’s that new garden center that opened up near our place.” She smiled at him, “I hear it's quite lovely.”
“You don’t want to go?” Sunny asked, kissing the back of her hand again.
“It’s not that.” Aubrey shook her head, “I would love to, but I also think Basil would appreciate it a lot more, and it’s…been awhile since you two had some time together.”
“Don’t you worry about me and him.” Sunny chuckled softly, “But, thank you, Aubrey. I’ll keep it in mind.” The pair snuggled up while they waited for the others to return. Basil and Cris returned around the same time. Cris had a slightly annoyed look on her face.
“Everything ok Cris?” Aubrey asked.
“Yeah, yeah it’s fine. That was just my mother.” Cris shook her head dismissively, “It’s nothing to worry about, really, just…” she paused for a moment and looked around, “Where’s Kel?”
“He went to find a vending machine.” Sunny answered. As he did so, Kel reappeared and slumped into his chair next to Cris.
“Didja bring me anything?” Cris pouted at him. Kel waved empty hands in the air.
“I couldn’t even get myself anything.” He sighed, “Darn thing was sold out.” Sunny noticed a slight puffiness around Kel’s eyes.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kel.” Basil chuckled before turning to Cris, “Is your mom ok, Cris?” Cris sighed again.
“Yeah, she’s fine.” She put her chin in one of her hands, “She had some work done recently, and it’s nothing life threatening or anything, but she still needs some help around the house and my dad’s being a bit of a brat about the whole thing, and this just been no help at all with the wedding planning and.” She stopped and took in a deep breath, “It’s fine. She was in some pain, but was more concerned about us flying out so suddenly.”
“That’s why we were so close by.” Kel nodded, taking Cris’ other hand in his, “Helping mom around the house and what not, but why were you two here?”
“Yeah, you mentioned on the phone you were just stopping by to see Hero and Mari.” Cris agreed, “Was it for any particular reason or?”
“Well, you see.” Aubrey started, looking over at Sunny. He took in a deep breath before explaining again the week prior; the nightmares, the overwhelming feeling of dread, and the most recent nightmare right before they found Mari as she was. The whole group’s faces twisted in shock.
“Oh, Sunny.” Aubrey said, her voice breaking slightly as she wrapped around his arm.
“That’s horrific.” Cris gasped, “I can’t imagine having anything like that.”
“Well, Sunny’s always had quite the imagination.” Basil sighed, “But for it to turn out like that. I can understand why you felt like you needed to see her.”
“Those brotherly instincts sure are something.” Kel nodded, “I’m really glad you made it out here. I would…I would hate to see the state Hero would be in if he lost her. The state we’d all be in if…” His voice drifted off and he covered his face with free hand. Cris leaned over and kissed the side of his head.
“It’s alright Kel.” She tried to reassure him, “She’s gonna be ok.” Everyone else could only nod their heads. Sunny yet again looked to the clock. Two hours and fifteen minutes had passed. Silence enveloped the group once more. The clock’s ticking marched steadily on, dragging time ever forward. Whether towards doom or salvation no one could really say. Sunny felt Aubrey slump slightly against his shoulder. He looked down to see her starting to doze a little. It was only fair, he thought to himself, she’d suffered enough lack of sleep this week because of him. Better to let her rest now while they were still waiting. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Drawing in through his nose, letting out through his mouth, just as his therapist had taught him. He wanted nothing more than to slip away into the fantasies of his mind, but he also knew that the only things that awaited him there were more darkness and demons hellbent on tormenting him with images of his sister, broken and beaten. Even without those, he needed to be here, in this moment. He needed to be strong, needed to be there for Mari, as she had been there for him so many times before.
“Sunny!” He heard Kel say, his voice urgent. Sunny opened his eyes to the clock. Three and a half hours had passed. Kel and Cris were standing up and Aubrey had awoken. Sunny stood and turned around with Aubrey and Basil. He felt his chest tense up as he looked towards the medical doors towards the back. Hero had finally emerged and was deep in conversation with a doctor in surgical scrubs. They carried on for a moment, before Hero looked over and noticed the group. He shook the doctor’s hand and headed over, placing both his hands behind his head. The group formed up in a semi circle around him. Hero said nothing as he approached. Sunny could tell from the look on his face that he was barely holding it together.
“Is everything alright?” Aubrey asked.
“Please tell me Mari’s ok.” Basil said.
“She’s safe, yes?” Cris asked. Hero ignored all of them. Instead, he pulled Sunny into a tight hug, one arm across his torso, and the other around his shoulder, holding tight to the back of his head. Wordlessly he squeezed Sunny tight. Sunny could hear small gasps come from around him. A small ‘no…’ from Aubrey, an ‘Oh Mari..’ from Basil, sad sighs Kel and Cris, but Hero finally spoke up and his voice cut through them all.
“Remind me, Sunny…” His voice cracked, and his face finally broke. It broke, shocking the whole group, into the biggest smile. Tears streaming down his face he continued, “Remind me to never doubt your instincts again.” He laughed gently.
“She’s ok?” Sunny asked.
“Mari’s ok.” Hero nodded, “They’re both….our baby…” He inhaled sharply, “Our daughter’s ok.”
“She’s here?” Aubrey squealed slightly.
“Yeah. Yeah, they had to operate right away.” Hero struggled as he recalled the scene, “It was very scary, things were touch and go for several moments. But she’s ok. They’re both ok.”
“That’s wonderful, bro.” Kel said.
“Oh what a relief.” Basil sighed. Aubrey threw her arms around them both in a hug, causing a cascade of bodies to clamber together into one big group hug. Sunny found the sudden feelings of claustrophobia from being in the center a bit overwhelming, but nothing could compare to the relief washing over him. Mari was ok, her baby was ok. That was all that mattered in the moment.
“Hero?” A woman’s voice spoke up from behind Hero. The group pulled apart and Hero turned to face the individual.
“Oh, Nancy!” He said, “How’s Mari doing? Is she finally resting.” The nurse shook her head.
“Unfortunately not.” She sighed, “I tried to encourage her to get some sleep, but she’s insistent on speaking with her brother. Which would be…?” Her voice trailed off as she looked them over. Hero put his hand on Sunny’s shoulder.
“This gentleman right here.” He said. Sunny looked over at him, “Go ahead. I’m sure it’s important.”
“Alright then.” Sunny nodded.
“Follow me.” Nancy waved Sunny over, “I’ll take you to your sister.”

Despite the relatively straight hallways the hospital had, every turn Nancy led Sunny down made the building feel more like a twisted, winding labyrinth. More bare white walls and somehow the same flower paintings from the lobby repeating themselves certainly didn’t help the notion. Thankfully, without much delay the two arrived at Mari’s room.
“Keep in mind, she’s only just woken from surgery.” Nancy said firmly, but quietly, “Try to keep the conversation short, and, if you can, maybe encourage her to finally rest.”
“I’ll do my best.” Sunny nodded. Nancy pulled the curtain aside to let him into the room. His breath caught in his chest for just a second the moment he laid eyes on her. Sweet Mari, covered in blankets, an IV bag pinned to her arm, and a heart monitor gently beeping beside her, hadn’t noticed him enter the room. Instead her attention was held by the long plastic box to her right. It was clear and had two, decently sized circular holes in its side. Mari was gently rubbing her fingers against one of the openings, humming quietly. The box itself housed a small, fleshy pink alien swaddled in a small blanket. Sunny took a moment to take in the sight; his sister was safe, and he finally felt a semblance of peace enter his body. Mari finally looked his way and her face lit up.
“Sunny!” She said, her voice still weak. Sunny knelt down beside her.
“How are you feeling, Mari?” He asked, keeping his voice down.
“I’m…still in pain…” Mari chuckled, “But honestly, I’m feeling…much better now.” Sunny took her free hand in his as she looked back to the box, “Look at her….haven’t you seen anything so beautiful?” He glanced over and had a much better view of his infant niece. She was decidedly small, her skin looked bright and angry, and her face was all scrunched and wrinkly. Sunny grimaced slightly.
“I don’t think I have.” He said.
“And she’s alive!” Mari turned back to him, a touch of color finally returning to her face as she smiled, “She’s alive…” She took a deep, shaky breath, and her eyes started to brim with tears, “When I saw that blood, I was…so worried I was gonna lose her. I was so…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Sunny. He squeezed her hand tight, feeling the sting of tears in his own eyes.
“Thank you, Sunny.” Mari said, “I’m so happy that you’re here.” Sunny could feel his heart cracking at her words. She was safe, both of them were safe, that should have been enough, and yet, there was still this ugly feeling gripping at his heart. Unable to hold them back anymore, Sunny felt his tears start flooding down his face. He leaned into Mari’s shoulder and let the sobs come. Mari looked at him with a puzzled face.
“What’s wrong, Sunny?” She asked, but all he could do was mutter sorry after sorry, “What do you have to be sorry for? This isn’t your fault.” She took her hand from Sunny’s and started rubbing his head, “You have nothing to apologize for? Ok? Nothing to…” Her face fell into sorrow as a realization dawned on her.
“Is that what this is about?” She asked, a deep frown on her face. All Sunny could do was nod, “Oh Sunny…” Mari pulled him into her, squeezing his head as tight as she could at that moment.
“I’m so sorry, Mari.” Sunny sniffled.
“Sunny, listen to me.” Mari pushed him up, looking into his eyes, “You…have nothing to apologize for, alright? What happened that night…was not entirely your fault, ok? I share some of that blame.” She took a deep breath, her own tears streaming forth, “I have already forgiven you. Even if I hadn’t moved out of the way and got hurt that night, or…or heaven forbid, in some cruel, cruel world I died?” Mari pressed her forehead against Sunny’s, “I know, in my heart, that I would still forgive you. I will always forgive you, little brother.” She turned away and put her other hand back on her daughter’s box.
“And better still, look at me, Sunny.” She smiled at him, “I’m here, I’m alive. In a lot of pain and very tired, but I’m alive. She’s…my daughter is alive, because of you!” Mari took his hand once more, “You saved us tonight, so please, please, I’m begging you. For both of our sakes…allow yourself a little grace.” Sunny could only nod, burying his face back into Mari’s shoulder. Silence fell between the siblings as they sat there, holding each other in the moment. The guilt that had been strangling him finally ceased to be. A few more moments passed between them before a knock came from the wall. Sunny wiped his tears and turned to see Hero in the doorway.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He asked with a half chuckle.
“Oh, not at all. We just got done with our little chat.” Mari also wiped her own tears away.
“Good, cause everyone was getting a little anxious to see you.” Hero pushed the curtain open, revealing the others all gathered outside. Mari’s face lit up as she smiled at them.
“Aww!” She giggled, “You all came to see me, I’m so happy.”
“Cris and I happened to also be in the neighborhood.” Kel smiled, “So when Aubrey called, we grabbed Basil and got here as quick as we could.”
“How are you feeling, Mari?” Basil asked. Aubrey hurried over to the spot to Sunny’s right, leaning over and kissing Mari on the top of her head.
“Everything aches, and I’ll admit I’m feeling rather tired.” Mari sighed, “But honestly, I feel much better. Especially now that I’ve gotten to see all your faces.” She looked up at Hero as he sat on the side of the bed closer to the baby box. He took her hand and kissed it gently.
“How long did they say you’d have to stay?” Cris asked. Kel gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and she shot back a look.
“It shouldn’t be that long.” Mari chuckled, “Just enough time until they think I’m well enough to recover at home.” She looked over at her daughter, “The little one might have to be here a bit longer than that. We shouldn’t miss the wedding, though.” Mari smiled up at her. Cris placed a hand on Mari’s leg.
“Don’t you worry about that. You take whatever time you need to recover.” She smiled, “If you can’t make it, we understand completely.”
“Thank you, Cris.” Mari’s head turned back towards her baby, a smile plastered all over it.
“Have you decided on a name for her yet?” Aubrey asked. Hero and Mari shared a loving look between them.
“With all the chaos going on, we didn’t exactly have time to really think about it.” Hero sighed, “Even after things were ok and Mari woke up, we had a dozen other questions to focus on first, but…”
“I think we finally found one with the perfect fit.” Mari smiled, “We’ve decided on the name…Summer.” There was a moment of silence in the air, before a snicker came from Kel. It was quickly turned into a grunt with a quick elbow jab from Cris.
“Kelsey!” She hissed at him, “Have some tact.”
“Ooh. You got the full name for that one.” Aubrey teased. She turned back to Mari and Hero, “But I think part of me kinda agrees with Kel. I mean, don’t you think that name is a little…obvious?”
“It just felt right.” Hero laughed.
“It’s our favorite season.” Mari nodded, “It’s the season we got married in, and all…well, most of our dearest memories were made in it, too. So it just…clicked for us.” Mari and Hero both turned their gazes to Summer in her little box. All focus was on the small little family as a click sounded in the air. Mari jumped slightly, covering her face with her hands.
“I think it’s a beautiful name.” Basil chuckled, lowering his camera, “It feels very fitting for a child of Hero and Mari.”
“Baaasillll.” Mari pouted, “Nooo, I look horrible right now!”
“You look wonderful as always Mari.” Basil smiled at her, “Besides, the moment was just too sweet to pass up.” Mari looked back up at Sunny.
“Won’t you come see her?” She asked.
“I can see her from here, Mari.” Sunny chuckled softly.
“Nooo, come over here. Just for a moment.” Mari whined, a slight pout in her cheeks, “Please.”
“Alright.” Sunny sighed. Hero stood up from his spot on the bed and let Sunny sit there. Up close, Summer looked even more like a tiny bulbous pink alien. Sunny put a hand near her on the box, and Mari placed hers over his.
“You’ll look out for her, won’t you?” Mari asked him. Sunny turned towards her and saw her eyes were beginning to wet with tears again, “Like you look after me?”
“Of course.” Sunny nodded, “I promise.” Another click had Mari burying her face again.
“Weehhhh!” She whined dramatically.
“Oh come now.” Basil chuckled as he knelt next to her, “Such a loving moment between siblings certainly deserved to be kept, don’t you think?”
“Oh maybe so.” Mari turned over at him, “But you owe me a nice one. When we get out of here, you’ll take one of the three of us, right?”
“Absolutely.” Basil nodded.
“Oh, make sure you call me, too.” Aubrey clapped her hands together, “I’ll bring my stuff and we can get your hair nice and done up.”
“It doesn’t need to be that nice.” Mari chuckled, “But still, I’d like nothing more.” She let out a big yawn that turned into a small grimace.
“Alright everyone.” A new voice came from behind the group. Nancy pushed past and turned to address them all, “This is too many people in one room and you’ve visited long enough. Mom needs to get her rest.”
“Yeah, it’s getting…pretty early in the morning.” Kel said, looking at his watch, “Probably best to start heading home. Oh!” He turned to Hero, “Do you want me to tell Mom and Dad when we get back? We’ll be just across from them.”
“Thanks Kel, but I’ll call them in a little bit.” Hero laughed nervously, “You know how Mom is. Probably better I do it that way.”
“Yeah. That’ll probably save me an earful.” Kel laughed back.
“Let us know when you’re both home safe, ok?” Cris smiled at them. Sunny rounded the bed and was about to link up with Aubrey when Mari grabbed his hand.
“Oh, Sunny!” He turned to face her. She looked a little pensive, “Speaking of…can I ask you to do me one last favor?” Sunny gazed into Mari’s eyes as he nodded silently. Something told him he wasn’t going to like this.

The noon day sun sat high in the air, blazing down on Aubrey and Sunny as they drove. Faraway Town was slowly fading from view as they sped along. Sunny had his phone open while Aubrey drove. He went to his contacts list and started to scroll down.
-Aubrey
-Basil
-Cris
-Dad
He hesitated a moment as the highlighter hovered over his Dad’s number. A chill ran down his spine and he rapidly started to press the down key to keep going. Passing a couple coworkers, his boss, Hero, Kel, Kim, and Mari until finally he found his Mom’s number. His thumb hovered over the call button as he took a deep breath.
“How are you feeling?” Aubrey’s voice broke the air.
“Better.” Sunny answered, “Tired.” Several more cars started to appear as they got closer to the highway, “Would’ve liked to avoid all of this.”
“Well, we did have quite the emergency last night.” Aubrey huffed, “Plus, Mewo definitely needed to be given some love and care, and I certainly wasn’t going to drive the next four or so hours on no sleep and empty stomach.”
“I know.” Sunny nodded, “And Aubrey?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.” He closed his eyes. The horrific images he had dreamed no longer haunted him.
“I’m glad I trusted your gut.” Aubrey smiled at him, “Are you gonna call your mom?”
“Yeah.” Sunny sighed.
“You sure she shouldn’t hear it from them first?”
“Hero’s probably busy as it is trying to keep his mom at bay.” Sunny let out a large yawn and stretched his arms, “And Mari’s in no shape to handle our parents right now, so. That leaves it up to me.”
“Well, I’m here if you need me.” Aubrey said, fixing her eyes ahead of her.
“Thanks.” Sunny nodded. He hit the call button on his phone, causing it to awaken and sing gently in his ear. The ringer went on for a few moments before he heard a click.
“Hello? Sunny?” He heard his mom’s voice on the other end.
“Hey mom.” Sunny started, “How are you?”
“I’m doing fine, sweetie. Your father is, too.” She answered, “You don’t normally call first, is everything alright?”
“Yeah, it’s uh.” Sunny took a deep breath, trying to relax the tension in his shoulders, “It’s about Mari.”
“Mari?” His mom’s voice immediately filled with concern, “What’s wrong with Mari? How…how would you know something’s wrong with Mari?”
“Aubrey and I came to visit her yesterday.” Sunny started.
“You’re in town?”
“We just left.”
“And you didn’t stop by to say hi?”
“Mom, listen-”
“I mean, a simple hello would’ve been nice. I know you and your father don’t really see eye to eye, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come and see us every now and then.”
“Mom-”
“I know she’s your sister and how close the two of you are, but she’s married now, Sunny, and heavily pregnant. You can’t just stop by on a whi-”
“Mom, Mari’s in the hospital.” Sunny finally snapped.
“What?!” His mom’s voice was now flooded with panic, “Why didn’t you start with that? Is she ok? It’s the hospital Hero works at right?” Her voice got quieter suddenly. Sunny could only make out some words as she presumably started yelling at his dad to get his things.
“Mom!” he half shouted, trying to re-grab her attention, “Mari’s fine!”
“She’s what?”
“Mari’s fine, Mom.” Sunny sighed, “Things were…scary, but she’s doing fine.”
“What about the baby?”
“The baby is also fine.” He took in another deep breath, “The baby’s here.”
“Really?!” His mom shouted, all traces of panic replaced with squeals of joy, “Oh we have to go right now.”
“Mom, no!” Sunny exclaimed, “Mari’s very tired right now. She needs…the two of them need some time alone.”
“Oh…oh I see.” He heard his mom sigh.
“Mari will call you when she’s ready to see you, ok?” Sunny continued, “The two of them just need some time to recover, is all.”
“Well…you’re probably right.” She sighed again, “But, tell me. Does the baby have a name? What is it? It’s healthy, right?”
“Mom, mom, breath!” Sunny sighed.
“Sorry, sorry!” His mom apologized.
“It’s a girl.” Sunny said quietly.
“Ooohh, I have a granddaughter.” Sunny could hear his mom tearing up through the phone, “A sweet little granddaughter. Oh what’s her name? Can you tell me?”
“Yeah, it’s uh…It’s Summer.” Sunny nodded. There was a solid moment of silence from his phone, “Mom?”
“Summer.” She finally said, “You’re serious?”
“Yes.” Sunny said.
“Those two…” His mom sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Sunny asked.
“Nothing! Nothing. It’s a beautiful name, it’s just…” She sighed again, “Don’t you think that’s a little on the nose? Even for them?”
“I think it’s perfect.” Sunny said flatly. This was followed by another moment of silence.
“I guess so.” His mom chuckled, “Oh! Oh there’s Hero and Kel’s mom. She’s on her phone…seems to be quite the commotion.”
“Hero’s probably trying to keep her from going to the hospital.” Sunny sighed.
“I’LL handle her.” He could hear his mom smirk through the phone, “and Sunny?”
“Yes mom?”
“Text me when you and Aubrey get home, please?”
“I will.” Sunny nodded.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mom.” A small beep signaled the end of the call. Sunny shut his phone and put it away. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
“She seemed to take that well.” Aubrey chuckled.
“Better than Hero’s mom is, at least.” Sunny laughed, before letting out another yawn.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” She reached over and squeezed his hand, “You hardly slept a wink when we got back to their house.”
“I think I’ll do that.” Sunny nodded, “Wake me when we get home?”
“I will.” Aubrey smiled at him, “Sweet dreams.” Sunny nodded as he readjusted himself in his chair. With warmth from the sun shining upon him, and his feelings of fear and dread finally put to bed at last, Sunny slowly let himself drift off to sleep. Surely this time when he reached the other side of his dreams, they would be sweet ones indeed.