Roy quietly closed the door behind him and shrugged off his coat. It was soaking wet and he held no intentions of leaving it to drip in the hall. He briskly kicked off his boots and set them next to the door.
"Roy? Is that you?"
"Yes ma'm"
"I thought I told you not to say that."
"Sorry. Bad habit."
"Well, your home early."
"On account of the first floor being flooded."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Hawkeye and Furey worked all morning to moving files upstairs."
"Sounds bad."
Roy nodded and moved to the laundry room. He wrung as much water out of his navy blue jacket as possible and hung it up next to the next of the air-dry garments.
"Is Elysia awake?"
"Yes, I think she's in her room playing."
Roy smiled and exited the kitchen. Elysia normally was standing by the mail box waiting for him, but of course on the account of the horrible storm outside, she was nestled in her warm room. Roy knocked quietly and waited for a reply.
"Come in!"
Roy opened the door and poked his head in. Elysia lay on the floor drawing in one of her many notebooks. She didn't look up at first but, when Roy made no movement she looked up. A grin spread across her face and she leapt up and hugged Roy.
"Uncle Roy!" she exclaimed snuggling her face in his chest. Roy smiled and hugged her back. He picked her up and held at eye level.
"What's up kiddo?"
"Uncle Roy did you hear the thunder this morning? It was sooooo loud!"
"I did. Did it wake you up?"
"Uh huh. I thought the roof was gonna fall in!"
"Were you scared?"
"No. I'm not a baby!"
"Ok. I believe you."
Roy gently set her down and she grabbed the notebook on the floor.
"Look at what I drew today!" she exclaimed, holding out the notebook. Roy took the note book from her and flipped through it. The notebooks had been his idea. They were for her to write or draw about anything she wanted. Even about how she felt about her father's death. Roy told her to write or draw something in them everyday and that they could talk about what she wrote or drew if she wanted to. On the page for today she had drawn what looked like a man standing by her window.
"Elysia. Who's this?"
"That's Daddy of course."
"Ah, when was this?"
"Last night, when the storm first started. It was so loud!"
"Last night?"
Elysia nodded, a smile ferreting across her small features. Roy smiled gently and ruffled her hair. She giggled and took the notebook from his other hand.
"Hey, why don't you go get cleaned up for dinner?"
"Oh, alright…" Elysia said distastefully.
When she had gone Roy sighed. He had been dreading this encounter for months.
Later that night after the dishes had been cleaned and Elysia had taken her bath, Roy told Gracia what Elysia had shown him in her notebook. Gracia sighed and smiled sadly.
"She misses him so much. I can't help but think that she really believes she sees him watching over her during a bad storm."
Roy nodded grimly and looked out the window, rain streaking the blacking sky.
Roy was the last person in bed that night. He turned off his light and lay in the darkness. He listened to the soothing sounds of the falling rain and soon felt himself drifting off to a light sleep. A few hours later he was awakened by the first loud cracks of bad storm. He merely rolled over and drifted back towards sleep. Another loud roar of thunder rolled across the room and brought Roy back to consciousness.
Before the thunder could dissipate Roy's bedroom door flew open. A startled, scared Elysia stood in his doorway. Her hands were covering her ears and she squinted again the flashes of lightning. Thunder rolled again and she pounced on his bed. Roy started as Elysia grabbed him by the shoulders and jarred him awake.
"Uncle Roy?! Wake up!"
"Hnn?"
"Uncle Roy!"
"Elysia?"
"…"
"Are you all right?"
"I think so."
Thunder bellowed loudly, shaking the entire house. Elysia yelped and grabbed Roy. Roy pulled her close and stroked her hair. She hid her face in his shirt, glancing around every few minutes. After a few minutes the thunder started to grow less and less deafening. Elysia asked if she could stay in Roy's room for the night and he duly agreed. Roy lay next to her until he was sure that she was asleep then he grabbed his pillow and moved to the couch.
Gracia woke up as the storm died away. She went to Elysia's room. She was startled when she couldn't find her any where. She quickly moved through the kitchen where she just happened to notice Roy on the couch.
"Roy?"
"Hey."
"Where's Elysia?"
"She's in my room."
"…"
"She was scared of the thunder."
"You're so good to her."
"Yeah, I guess."
Roy and Gracia moved to the door. Roy quietly opened the door. Elysia was sitting up, cross legged at the edge of the bed. Roy listened intently to her. She was talking to someone.
"…he's a good man Daddy. He misses you a whole lot too. He reads to me and tells me funny stories about you and him. He even makes me pancakes, just like you!"
She laughed and waved a good bye to the invisible person she was talking to.
Gracia rushed past Roy and fell beside the bed. Elysia was startled and screamed when her mother grabbed her. Roy sprinted across the room and knelt next to Gracia. Elysia grabbed Roy and pulled away from her mother. Roy picked her up and held her, swaying gently. She wrapped her arms around Roy's neck and cried into his neck. Gracia sat on the bed, one hand covering her eyes and cried quietly.
"He must be here." Roy heard her whisper.
Roy moved to the window.
"Elysia, who were you talking to?"
"Dad…Daddy."
Roy bit his lip.
"He misses me and Mommy. He really misses you too."
"He…he does?"
"Um hm. He says he watches us all the time."
"He wants to talk to you some time…"
Roy strained to her what Elysia was saying but she had drifted off to sleep. Roy walked back to Gracia and handed her Elysia. Gracia smiled and walked out of the room. Roy walked back to the window and leaned against the ceil. He looked out into the night sky; the clouds had parted giving away to the moonlight night. Roy smiled at the single star. Maes had done it. He had transcended the after life and given Roy the hope he had been searching for since his death almost a year ago.