My week long vacation from Santa was wonderful. Even if a good portion of it was spent convincing Amelia there was no reason to doubt him and making her rest.

  The problem was that I honestly didn't know when that week off started. My guess was New Year's meant crime was back on the menu, but I had plans that night.

  Ones I refused to miss out on.

  Though I would probably patrol before or after. Potentially both.

  My train of thought is derailed by a door clicking shut. Spinning around lets me see Bianca trundling out of the hallway, no necklace to be seen.

  I wasn't particularly surprised. Using the necklace was clearly exhausting for her. More than that, I'm not sure Bianca knew what to do with having the power to speak.

  Amelia and I had already talked at length about it. While it would be easier for us if she used the necklace, and I did want to understand better, we had already been planning on taking family sign language classes. Bianca had been and probably still was excited for them.

  That was enough for me.

  How she felt mattered more than anything else.

  “Hi Bianca!” I greet walking over as she raises her arms, waiting to be picked up. “Did you sleep well?” I ask moving back to my spot in the armchair.

  Bianca nods as she nestles her head against my shoulder. Seeming content to be a little cuddle bug instead of doing anything this morning.

  “I'm proud of you, sweetie.” I said gently, running a hand through her hair. “It is very brave of you to do what you want. I promise if you don't want to, you never have to wear the necklace.”

  Bianca stiffened at first before relaxing again, her grip still tight.

  “Bianca, I promise I know you. And I know how you feel. Long before you said the words and I always will. Talking is hard. And you will never have to do something you don't want to do.” I promised, head resting against hers.

  Bianca lets out a content little sigh, seeming to feel much better about all of this now that I've assured her.

  “Do you want me to turn on music or a show or just sit here, the two of us?” I ask.

  She seems to think about it for a moment before pointing at me, which I think is a pretty obvious desire.

  Quietly, I begin to sing to Bianca, going for any song I can think of that would be enjoyable for both of us.

  There are many songs I know only parts to because I rarely sang the melody in choir, and there are more songs I know the melody do that strain my voice because they're on the edge of my range.

  There were still many songs that were comfortable in my range, so I sang those.

  “Oh, this is definitely going to be my new screensaver. I mean, look at you two!” Amelia chirps as she throws her arms around my neck, leaning down from above.

  “Did you at least take the picture this time before saying it?” I ask, tilting my head, is to look into her eyes. Between when I last saw her and now, her hair is now out of the braid. Her hair cascading down as she looks at me with a grin.

  “I've only accidentally done that like a dozen times, ruining the photo.” Amelia pouts.

  Bianca shifts, also looking up at her mom with a pout that she's ruined singing time.

  “Well, I was wondering if you two wanted to go goof around with popper powers for the day?”

  “Do you have a place in mind?” I ask while I try to formulate my thoughts on the idea. I certainly wasn't against it, I supposed.

  “Well, the clock tower should be pretty empty. I know Cass wasn’t planning on heroing for the day, and you made me promise that I don’t do any superhero stuff till the second.” Amelia says, not sounding entirely pleased about the promise still, but I ignore it.

  “So, Bianca, do you want to go play with our powers or just stay home today?” I ask differing from my own opinion. Hopefully, they wouldn’t disagree, and I would have to specifically take one of their sides.

  I always feel like I am the worst person when I do that.

  Bianca looks between me and her mom before hopping out of my lap and running to her room, which I interpret as a decision to get changed into new clothes for adventures.

  “So how are we going to handle the Caleb thing?” Amelia asks with Bianca occupied.

  “Well, just like Santa said, there’s nothing going on or hasn’t been recently. And hopefully there’s nothing big tonight. But if there is, I’ll head out afterwards.”

  “Going to leave me to warm our bed all by myself?” Amelia pouts as I stand up, her still hanging off of me by virtue of pulling her feet up so she could dangle properly.

  “You can have a snuggle with Bianca?” I offer kissing her on the cheek.

  “Well, yeah, but I want to cuddle you after a long night of gaming. Besides, she’s going to be asleep by the time we get back,” Amelia says.

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “You always do. I’m just being fussy so you spoil me.”

  “I’m always happy to. So what made you want to actually play with super powers?”

  “Being dreadfully bored,” Amelia shrugged. “I love being all cute and domestic, and hanging out with you and B at home has been absolutely delightful, but I want to be active and do things so.”

  “And at least super powers are a family activity?” I finish for her.

  “Exactly. Besides, you need to work on your walking on air thing because you’re the family member with the least mobility in that department, so you should stop slacking.” Amelia teases.

  “I am working on it!” I defend. “It’s just that turning the air into a solid object that I can stand on is… wrong.”

  “More wrong than you being able to see everything that surrounds you or the fact you can moonwalk through a steel wall without even trying?” Amelia teases.

  “Yes, that’s substantially different. It’s not like I ask you to light things on fire.”

  “Entirely unrelated, you have a power to make things more I don’t know but yeah. I don’t have the power to set things on fire; that would be silly!” Amelia complains.

  “Well, I have the power to walk through things, so why would I have the power to walk on things?”

  “You don’t realize how hard it is to not make the joke, but you’re pretty good at making the world gloomy around you, so I’m sure you’re slowly improving.” Amelia assures me, finally letting go and landing on the ground.

  “And if slow was all we needed, then that would be great.”

  “Jason, you’re still not even public with the whole superhero thing, might I remind you. You don’t need to worry about saving everyone and protecting people at the moment.” Amelia says, hugging me as we sway back and forth.

  “I just don’t want to be unable to help.”

  “Then figure it out. Or live within the means you have. It’s not like we’re weak. But you felt it at the party; we’re small fries. But that’s okay; we just need to focus on maximizing that. If that for you is making solid constructs, then go for it. And I’ll tease you relentlessly for deciding to copy me.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “Of course I would choose to copy you. You’re incredible.”

  Before Amelia can come up with something witty to say, Bianca rockets out of her room, jacket and hat in hand, having decided that it is too much work to put those on by herself when Amelia and I could help her.

  “Shoo, Jason, go finish getting ready while me and Bianca decide where we should go.” Amelia says before giving me a kiss on the cheek and sending me on my way.

  Not one to disagree with such simple orders, and actually needing to get ready if we’re going out regardless, I comply.

  Sweats and a random clean t-shirt were fine when all my plans amounted to staying home and being a vegetable till it was time to play tabletop games with my friends. But now there were things to do, so I had to get ready.

  Finding somewhere secluded where we felt comfortable enough to ignore secret identity rules ends up being impossible, so we just go to the clock tower.

  Unlike training by myself or training with the others when they’re here, playing games with our powers is so much more fun. It also pushes me to use my powers in ways I’ve never thought of before.

  Though I still regret the fact that I don’t have the ability to phase through my own body, that would make things much easier.

  By the end of it, I was consistently after a minute or two of concentration able to warp the air into a simple block of whatever junk my power creates.

  Both Bianca and Amelia took turns standing on the blocks of magic stairs I made, and I was able to handle that.

  Mostly without issue though anytime I try to join them in walking on my constructs, something in my brain breaks.

  The power fled from me, and I stumble and the stair I had aimed to step on was no longer there.

  After the third failure, Bianca used wires to pull herself up to eye level to give me a comforting pat on the head, her expression saying something akin to there, there.

  “I’m okay Bianca, still learning. We haven’t had our powers for long.” I assure her while putting her on my shoulders.

  While I’ve made no progress in expanding the dimensions, I use my ability both Bianca and Amelia have more success with our games.

  Amelia and Bianca had begun a game earlier of seeing who could outdo the other Amelia’s blocks of ice or the wires Bianca used to cut it.

  Between every bit of training or trying new things, we play more games, Bianca’s favorite having been tag where she got to swing through the air as both Amelia and I try our best to chase her, neither one of us getting her often.

  The wires were being made slower though, and they didn’t sparkle nearly as much, which told me Bianca was approaching her limits.

  In all honesty, we should probably take her home so she can have a nap before Cass gets here, but that would require stopping the fun, and I’ve found it incredibly hard to do that.

  Bianca lets out a silent laugh as she does a flip through the air, catching herself with wires.

  “You know, for our next kids, do you hope they have powers from the jump like B or do you think it would be easier if they developed powers in their late teens?” Amelia asks, sidling up to me.

  Bianca, hearing her nickname, spins around to look at us, smiling brightly as she waves and gives a nod.

  A nod?

  There unfortunately wasn’t enough time for me to put the pieces together before I started shrieking in surprise as I dance around trying to get the snow off of me and out of my shirt and anywhere else she conjured it, Amelia having decided it was a perfect use of her powers to accost me.

  Amelia is on the ground howling with laughter by the time I actually remember what my powers are, and I phase all the snow and water just dropping to the ground, the only thing left on me to tell what happened being my expression.

  “Alright, gremlins, should we head home so you can have a nap before spending time with Aunt Cass tonight?” I ask, catching the swinging and laughing Bianca out of the air and nuzzling her cheek.

  Bianca seems to consider for a long moment before releasing the wire that was swinging her around and curls up against my chest, letting out a sleepy yawn.

  “I can’t believe you forgot you could phase.”

  “I’m going to remind you of this next time you complain it’s too hot.” I say, nudging her with my foot as she continues to roll on the ground with laughter.

  “I don’t remember doing that.” Amelia lies as she gets up, planting a kiss on my cheek and then one on Bianca’s before heading to the corner to grab our stuff.

  The ride home is peaceful enough, everyone more occupied with the music playing and the waters we brought that Amelia begrudgingly chilled for us to help replenish our energy.

  I didn’t take it as a good sign that Bianca was not willing to go to sleep during the car ride home and even more so that she didn’t seem to want to go to bed by the time we got home.

  Though if she was just going to collapse when Cass gets here is also acceptable.

  And despite Bianca’s valiant attempts to stay up as late as she wants, she just barely fell asleep fifteen minutes before Cass arrived to watch her while Amelia and I go to gaming.

  “You’re a lifesaver, Cass.”

  “Dude, I do literally nothing when I’m not out there being a superhero. Getting to be Bianca’s aunt is great for my mental health.”

  “Well, the little goober is asleep right now, but I have some shows and books you should watch and read so we can have more things to text about,” Amelia says, running off to grab the list.

  The three of us chat for a little while longer before Amelia and I head out on our adventure, both of us handling the excitement poorly.

  Thankfully, the drive to Reyna’s place is a short one, and everyone just wants to jump right into it, starting with our usual session zero rules.

  Gaming was lovely. Though as we were leaving I had to wrestle with the fact that the last time I had been playing had been the same day I had kidnapped and by the time we were home even Amelia could tell that I was wigging out.

  “You good? I mean, clearly you’re not, but is this the kind of not good that’ll be better if you talk about it or not really?” Amelia asks, pausing before we head up the stairs.

  “I don’t think it’ll change anything.” I admit pausing as well. “It was just the last time we played a game was the night I had been kidnapped.”

  “Wait, are you having flashbacks to all of that?”

  I pointedly don’t look Amelia in the eyes while I consider my answer. “I’m fine.”

  “Mhmmm. You’re lucky I’m fluent in introverted soulmate.” Amelia says, looping an arm through mine and nearly dragging us up the stairs.

  I try to protest, but whatever comments I am making seem to be falling on deaf ears as she continues to drag me up. “

  “How was y’alls night?” Cass asks, opening the door, Bianca nowhere to be found. Unsurprising since she should most certainly be asleep at this point.

  “It was great!” Amelia cheers quietly. “We had a blast, and I’m honestly ready to do more stuff tonight, but you two already had dibs on patrolling, so I’ll probably read or something.”

  “You can always patrol as well? Jason was planning on doing some of the more non-superhero kind, so I wouldn’t hate having you along?” Cass asks, exchanging a look with Amelia I can’t read.

  “Don’t worry. How was Bianca, sleeping soundly?” Amelia waves off whatever their interaction is supposed to be, already having come to its end.

  “She’s always great. She was delighted to show me all the Christmas presents she couldn’t show me during New Year's.” Cass laughs. “I hadn’t realized she'd got a necklace like that. Is she… you know?”

  “She and us are still figuring out what the necklace means, and she’s working on deciding if it’s going to be commonly worn or not.” I shrug.

  “Are we going to one day chase after the people that funded the lab?” Cass asks, her hair flaking off into sparks as her emotions rise.

  “We will, I promise.” I say, keeping my voice calm.

  Before the conversation can spiral any further, Bianca, clad in her pajamas, comes out of her room, stumbling towards Amelia and me before Amelia picks her up, holding her close.

  “Did you wake up just for us, sweetie? Do you want us to tuck you in and read with you?” Amelia coos, bouncing Bianca gently.

  Bianca nods.

  “Guess that’s my cue to leave. Jason, if you come across anything needing a direct punch, just call, okay?” Cass says, placing a hand on my arm.

  “You’re a lifesaver, Cass, and I promise I will.”

  “I’m always happy to help.” Cass says before leaving, ash already beginning to flake off of her.

  Bianca doesn’t even make it through the first page of the story she picked out before she’s sound asleep, curled up in bed, bunny clasped to her chest.

  Amelia and I both give our goodnights to our daughter before leaving, the door closing with a silent click.

  “You’re going to go out tonight, especially because you feel like shit, right?” Amelia asks with a sigh.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “That’s because you would rather go and solve anyone else’s problems than sit here and solve your own.” She grumbles.

  “Hey,” I say, gently wrapping my arms around her. “I’ll be home before you finish reading web-comics for the night. We can talk and figure things out then. Just think of this as me introverting about for an hour before talking about emotional stuff like back in high school.”

  “Yeah, but back then the worst that could happen to you is getting tilted at a video-game, not never seeing you again,” she grumbles.

  It clicks for me.

  There’s a large difference between us doing super stuff separately but at the same time and there being actual stuff going on.

  But when there’s nothing for Amelia to do, when the last time I left after a gaming night was myself getting kidnapped, which led to the worst experience of her life.

  I think both of us might have more scars than we realize.

  “I’ll stay home tonight. Asher is already going to be at the tower anyway, and I can tell him that I wanted to go dark and not have any chance of being tracked.”

  “But why?” She asks, her smile returning.

  “Because I love solving problems,” I quip. “And solving one for my favorite person is always my priority.”

  “Cass or at least Asher is going to be mad if they find out.”

  “Not if I share all the information I’ve collected in the week while spying on places with my mind map.”

  Amelia just barely manages to stifle her laugh in time but she pokes me in the chest as we return to the front room to read together.

  Discord

  Patreon