Away // Snowbarry

XVIII

"Barry! Wally's on TV!" Caitlin yelled so that I could hear her from upstairs in our bedroom.

I stopped folding the laundry and headed downstairs. Just as Caitlin had said, Wally was on the news. They were playing a video of him rescuing two adults and a child from a car wreck. They replayed the video again, but in slow motion. Even in slow motion it was hard to make out Wally as a person, he just looked like a streak of light.

"He's doing good over there," I smiled as I listened to the witness reports gush about Kid Flash.

"You're happy?" I looked over to Caitlin as we set out the pizza and drinks in the living room.

She plastered a ridiculously big smile on her face, "Always."

We sent Nova to her friend's house for a sleepover and Oliver was in our bedroom behind the closed door. Tonight was going to be just the adults for game night, a tradition that is upheld once a month to get everyone together to catch up. At first, game night was where Caitlin and I would update the newly informed family members on our life, but it evolved as our stories from our time away got told.

Wally was the first to arrive. We greeted him with hugs, but his immediate attention went towards the pizza. Us people with the speed force inside us do tend to eat an abnormal amount so it wasn't overly surprising when he started to eat right away.

Cisco was the second to arrive. Unlike Wally, he was more concerned about the drinks which is not surprising for him at all. The four of us started to talk, but not too in depth more-so about arbitrary things like my apparently awful outfit choice. When Cisco mentioned my outfit, I got an "I told you so," look from Caitlin.

After I changed, Iris was the third to arrive. Just like Wally, she accepted our hugs but kept them brief so she could get to the pizza. According to her, she hadn't eaten lunch and so she was very excited for this meal.

Shortly after Iris' arrival, Joe was the last to arrive. We greeted him and he apologized for being late. There had been a situation at the police station and some paperwork got lost. Like Cisco, he went for the drinks first.

With everyone here, we jumped right into our usual catching up conversations. The idea that many years ago no one knew I was alive and Caitlin and I were essentially alone seems foreign now. During that time on a Friday night, we would be cuddled up on the couch in sweatpants scrolling through TV channels and movies to decide what to watch. I looked over at Caitlin and made eye contact with her. I put my hand on her knee and winked. Somehow she knew exactly what I was thinking because she rested her hand on top of mine and smiled.

Going away hadn't been an easy decision. Leaving the Flash, Central City, and our friends and family behind was a lot to adjust to. But to get to this point where we are sitting in our own house surrounded by pictures of our daughter and dog and hosting the entire Flash family for a game night, it was all worth it. 

The End 

560