What Dreams May Come

Chapter 29: surprise

Both Levi and I changed before heading out to my parents' berth. Levi had to help me pull on a new shirt, and I thought I would have been embarrassed by his aid, but I didn't mind. Levi was gentle and kind about such things, and it would have taken me ages to do it on my own.

"What are the chances of your father being there?" Levi asked.

"Not good," I answered. "Why?"

"He scares me," he admitted. "And I know that he dislikes me."

"You had a shouting match with the captain of the base this morning, and you're worried about my papa? What is my papa going to do to you?"

"Talk at me sternly and glare," Levi said.

"And?"

"That's probably it," he admitted. "Okay, so it's a little irrational. Walsh makes me feel like I'm ten years old."

"Stick up for yourself then," I told him.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know if you're the right person to give me advice on this front. You're an entirely different person with your father in the room."

I want to protest, but I knew that Levi was right. I wanted my papa to be proud of me, and I felt that everything that had happened this week was driving a greater wedge between us. He was a grumpy, absent man, but he was my papa.

"Any idea what we're eating?" Levi asked. "And by 'we' I mean you, since I'm still a couple days out from trying printed food for the first time."

He wrinkled his nose at the idea.

"I don't know," I said. "And it's not all bad, just different, I suppose."

We stopped at my parents' door and I knocked before typing in my code to enter. The keypad flashed red, and I was dismayed to find they had taken away my access. I entered my code once more, hoping that I had simply made a mistake.

"What's wrong?" Levi asked.

"My code doesn't work," I sighed, resigning myself to knock once more.

"You don't live here any more," Levi pointed out, just as the door slid open.

I took a step inside and startled backward when the occupants shouted "Surprise!" at my face. Levi caught me as I tripped on his feet and guided me into the room. Alcott and Lully were grinning broadly at me. Marcus was holding a cake and my madre was beaming at the group.

"You are all terrible people," I snorted. "And I'm shocked that Lully kept it a secret at all."

"That's because we told him twenty minutes ago," Marcus explained. "He couldn't spoil it then. Come on in."

"Emerson wanted to come, but Walsh still has him printing siding," Lully said. "It's a rotated mess out there. I only left because I've been there since midnight."

"No work talk," my madre ordered. "Now I know it's a couple days late, but we always have a birthday dinner, and now is as good of a time as any."

"Especially when no one has any time off," Alcott groaned. "I've been climbing through the duct system all morning, trying to divert oxygen."

"Still work," Marcus chided. "Levi, help me get the chairs moved, will you?"

They shifted the table and chairs so that Lully and Marcus could sit on the couch and still be at the table. I helped bring the spaghetti to the table and smiled at my friends.

"Thanks for coming," I said, passing out the plates.

"It's not everyday you turn eighteen, sunshine girl," Lully pointed out. "And we can celebrate that no one died yesterday and no one seems too angry we snuck out to the Aeneid."

"I'm pretty peeved you left me," Marcus cut in. "What did your papa say? Has he talked to O'Keefe yet?"

I glanced over at Levi who had frozen in a grimace.

"We ended up talking to the captain this morning," I admitted reluctantly.

"Oh? How did it go?"

"Not well," Levi answered. "I lost my temper, and..." he sighed. "It's not very good birthday dinner conversation. We'll talk about it later."

He took a sip of his water and patted my hand. I hadn't meant to dampen the mood, but it was impossible to ignore everything that was happening in the base.

"We're going to need a trip out to the lake after this earthstorm," Lully noted, passing the pasta to me. "And not for excavating, for lying out in the sun and doing nothing for a day."

"If we can find the lake after this earthstorm," Alcott pointed out. "We'll have to teach Levi how to swim."

"So long as you aren't the actual teacher," Marcus sniggered. "You float like a rock."

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Very short chapter; but I wanted to preserve a little happiness for the couple. Thanks for voting!