"Mommy!"
Olivia's eyes shot open, her bare feet hitting the hardwood floor before Etta had even screamed the entire word. Her daughter's voice was full of panic, making the hairs on the back of Olivia's neck stand straight up and sending her prominent motherly instincts into overdrive.
She raced to Etta's room, her heart pounding so hard that it made her entire body feel like the booming bass of a stereo. The second she burst through the door, Olivia's eyes fell upon her small daughter sitting on her bed, looking like a tiny island in a sea of blankets and stuffed animals.
Suddenly a flash of lightening illuminated her tearstained face. Her big, beautiful eyes were open as wide as they could get, their pupils so dilated from fear that her baby blue irises had almost completely vanished.
Olivia then understood exactly why Etta was so frightened, and her anxiety began to dissipate, realizing her daughter was in no real danger.
Etta had never been a fan of thunderstorms, and for some reason, mommy was the only person she wanted when they were occurring, which secretly pleased Olivia.
With a tender, comforting smile, Olivia crawled into Etta's bed and took her small, terror-stricken body into her arms, cradling her like she'd done countless times when Etta was an infant.
As Olivia held her close, Etta's stiff body gradually began to relax until she was completely melted against her mother. Although Olivia hated seeing her daughter so distraught, she loved how the rain always drew Etta near, Olivia's presence being the only thing that calmed her. It made Olivia feel indispensable to know that she was the only person in the world who could soothe Etta of her deepest fears. She felt like more of a hero being able to comfort her child than she did saving the universe.
Running her fingers through her daughter's long, blonde curls, Olivia gazed down at her affectionately, marveling at how much she had matured both mentally and physically in the last few months. It seemed like the only time her remarkably bright 4 year old ever needed her anymore was during these rare nights when the clouds masked the moon, the thunder and lightning exploding in the sky while the rain pounded harshly against their home like an unwanted stranger.
Olivia loved watching her daughter learn and grow, but she couldn't deny that a part of her wished Etta would forever stay her sweet little girl who needed her mommy during a thunderstorm. Olivia knew that someday Etta would get over her fear and would no longer need her mother to comfort her, but that someday wasn't tonight.
A sudden crackle of thunder rumbled through the darkness, making Etta jump and grip Olivia's shirt as tightly as her little fingers could, a tiny whimper escaping her throat.
"Shh it's okay," Olivia soothed, kissing Etta's forehead softly. "Mommy's here, baby. Mommy's here. You're safe."
Rocking her back and forth, Olivia began to sing the special lullaby she saved just for stormy nights— the same lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl afraid of the pouring rain and clapping thunder.
The sound of Olivia's voice instantly calmed Etta, and soon her shivers subsided, her body relaxing once again. She stared up lovingly at her mother as she sang, her breathtaking pale blue eyes always so full of wonder vivid in the darkness. It didn't take long for her eyelids to flutter closed, a small smile teasing the corners of her heart shaped lips.
Gently, Olivia placed Etta down on the bed and lied down next to her, pulling her close. She rested her cheek on top of her daughter's head, inhaling her delicious scent deeply while her hand rubbed soft circles on Etta's small back. Feeling her daughter's cadenced heartbeat in perfect sync with her own, Olivia knew without a doubt she would be perfectly happy staying in this moment forever with her beautiful baby girl wrapped in her arms.
Just as Olivia was about to drift off into a peaceful slumber, she heard Etta's tiny voice, nearly inaudible in the roar of the hammering downpour.
"Why does the rain get so mad sometimes, mommy?"
Olivia smiled and leaned back to meet her daughter's curious gaze. She never got tired of her child's endless wonder of how the universe worked, or how she believed that her mother had all the answers to life's most dazzling childhood mysteries.
"Well sometimes the rain gets mad, just like you and me and daddy and everyone else in the whole wide world. But that's okay, because we don't stay mad forever, do we?"
Etta shook her head.
"Even though the rain gets mad sometimes, it doesn't last forever. And when we wake up in the morning, the world will be beautiful. The rain helps make the grass green, the rivers flow, and even the pretty rainbows you love so much," Olivia spoke softly, resting her hand on her daughter's rosy cheek.
Etta was quiet for a moment, absorbing and analyzing her mother's words carefully. She was much like Olivia in that way.
"Can we look for rainbows in the morning?"
"That sounds like a great idea," Olivia intoned. An ephemeral memory flashed in her mind of a time years ago when her own mother had explained to her the nature of rain, and that without it, there would be no rainbows.
Afterwards, Olivia had made sure to always look up after it rained, in search of that colorful prism of hope. And even though most of Olivia's life had been a storm, she'd never stopped looking up.
Then, just when it seemed like the rain would last for eternity, Etta had come along, putting an end to the storm and bringing with her more rainbows than Olivia could've ever asked for. Olivia had gone through some inconceivably difficult times throughout the years, experiencing more pain, death, and unworldly Fringe events than anyone should ever have to face. But being blessed with this unprecedented little girl was worth every bump and bruise and timeline alteration, and if she had to, she would do it all over again just to hold her baby in her arms.
"Mommy?" Etta's voice sounded, breaking Olivia from her reverie.
"Yes?"
"You are like a rainbow."
"I am? How come?"
"You help make the world pretty 'cause you turn the scary things into happy things."
Olivia's heart smiled at the sweet, touching words of her insightful daughter, storing the compliment in her perpetual memory. She wondered for the trillionth time how it was possible to love someone so unconditionally.
"Well, I helped make the world pretty by bringing you into it, that's for sure," Olivia whispered, peppering kisses all over Etta's face before touching their noses together in an Eskimo kiss. "Time for sleep now, baby. Mommy loves you more than anything."
"Love you, too, mommy," Etta yawned, cuddling in close to her mother. It didn't take long for her to slip into a deep, peaceful sleep, regardless of the relentless rain still pelting against the glass outside.