Lightning Bugs

Kratos sat on the front porch of their current home, his arm resting on his leg. It was a pleasant summer evening, something he was not entirely used to, really. With all the moving around they had done recently, it was strange not having the chaos. A little further off, he could hear Lloyd running around, giggling happily. Kratos smiled; he was glad to know Lloyd was doing alright, considering.

"I finished cleaning up the dishes." Kratos turned his head slightly to Anna, his smile still on his face. He watched her as she sat down next to him, a smile on her face as well. "And what has you smiling, hmm?" she said, poking him in the side. He waved his hand at her, who only started giggling softly. She turned to see Lloyd running around, trying to catch a firefly in his hand. "Ah, Lloyd. He seems energetic tonight."

"And that is why I let him run around this evening." he said, returning his gaze to Lloyd. "He seems happy to be chasing the fireflies around. I think he has been trying to catch one for a while now."

Anna giggled some more, leaning closer to Kratos. "That's our boy." she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. They watched as Lloyd continued his attempt at chasing after the fireflies; they seemed to have been confusing him, with all of them flashing at once. He was spinning around a lot, looking absolutely dazed. "You think he's ever going to catch one?"

"He will. He takes after you in stubbornness." he said with a quick chuckle, planting a kiss onto her cheek.

Anna playfully smacked his shoulder, pouting slightly. "Well, he has your patience. I know I wouldn't be out here this long chasing something I couldn't catch." She felt his arm wrapping around her, pulling her in. "Oh, look, I think he has one."

They watched as Lloyd ran over to them, his hands cupped together and a smile beaming on his face. "Daddy! Daddy! Wightning bug!" he said, carefully lifting his hand carefully to show the firefly on his hand, its glow still shining on as always.

"A what? I thought they were called fireflies." Kratos said, scratching his head with his free hand. He looked down at Anna, hoping she understood.

"Dear, did you forget he's still having trouble with his L's? Which is pretty ironic, seeing his name has two, but," she said, giggling weakly and waving her hand to change the subject, "anyway, he's saying lightning bugs. I think that's adorable."

Kratos lifted his eyebrow. "Lightning bug?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Lloyd said, cupping his hand again. He jumped excitedly up and down, carrying on happily. "They fwash wike wightning! Without the boom!" he said, shouting boom as loud as he could and trying to imitate the sound of thunder. Kratos felt the need to let that one slide for now; he did not want to ruin Lloyd's little moment.

"I see. And what are you going to do with this lightning bug?" he said, watching as Lloyd gasped lightly. He put his hand into a slight fist and put it against his mouth, as if trying to come up for an answer. He forgot he had the firefly on his hand and looked down, spotting the bug getting ready to take off. Quickly, he cupped his hands together, preventing its escape. "Well, did you figure out what you are going to do?"

Lloyd tilted his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I dunno…"

Kratos smiled, taking his free hand and ruffling Lloyd's hair. "Well, why not play with it for a bit and let it be on its way?"

"Uh-uh!" Lloyd shouted, shaking his head. "He mine!" He jerked his hands back and placing them close to his face. He stared down between the cracks of his hands, watching the firefly continue to flash on and off.

"Why not? Do you know what the lightning bug eats?" he said, watching as Lloyd widened his eyes. Apparently, a bug eating was a major surprise for him. Kratos almost chuckled; leave it to Lloyd to only think about it half-way through. "And I do not think it would like being bottled up when it could be out in the open. Would you like to be bottled up?"

Lloyd looked downward, staring at his hands. "No…" he said, shaking his head.

"Then have fun playing with him now, so he can rejoin his family, okay?" he said, placing his hand onto Lloyd's head. Kratos smiled as he played with Lloyd's hair.

Lloyd let out a loud giggle. "Okay, Daddy." he said, opening his hands and throwing them up into the air. The firefly took wing as it flashed, flying off to join the other fireflies. He turned to Kratos, smiling. "Daddy sit!"

Kratos chuckled lightly, leaning back slightly so Lloyd could sit on his lap. "You are not going to play with him?"

"Nope!" he said, cuddling up against Kratos' chest. "I watch wightning bugs with Mommy and Daddy!" he said, staring out into the forest, all aglow with fireflies.

Kratos listened to Lloyd sigh contently and smiled. There was something magical about an evening full of fireflies. He ran his hand through Lloyd's hair as they watched the fireflies dance across the evening sky, the sound of crickets chirping in the background. He took a deep breath; he had never felt so alive. He felt Lloyd cuddling closer and looked down, finding him fast asleep. "I suppose someone is ready for bed."

Anna giggled softly, stroking Lloyd's forehead gently. "Well, he did have a busy evening chasing after lightning bugs."

"That he did." he said, holding onto Lloyd's back as he leaned forward to get up. "Would you, please?" he said, turning his eyes to the door. With a nod, Anna walked over to the door, opening it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she said as he walked through, looking back at him. She smiled. "Are you sure you didn't have any experience with children?" she said, walking into the house after them.

I was out on a walk last night, and saw all of the fireflies out. It was really nice, and it brought back a memory of when I was younger. I would chase fireflies - which we happened to call "lightning bugs" (and still do sort of, as old habits die hard) - around with a friend and brother, and we would have a grand old time. That was maybe ten years ago? I feel old.