Tobio sat on his bed, watching the rain out the window. He picked two of rain drops on the top of the window pane, deciding to see which one would win the race to the bottom, wishing for one to win more so than the other.
"Darn," he muttered as the other raindrop suddenly picked up speed and passed his, falling to the window sill. His mother leaned against the door frame, smiling at her son. Tobio fell back dramatically, sighing in defeat. His mother chuckled softly to herself.
"Mom!" Tobio gasped, a wide smile spreading across his face as he turned to look at her, "You're home."
She moved from the doorway and sat down on his bed, looking out the window. Tobio quickly moved so that he was next to her, their arms wrapping tightly around each other.
"What have you been up to this afternoon, Tobi?" his mother asked, glancing down at her son.
"Watching the storm," he said cheerfully. His expression became more serious and he looked down.
"...and...," he hesitated a moment before he mumbled, "praying that you would get home safe." His arms became tighter around his mother briefly before releasing her from his embrace. His cheeks lightly dusted pink, he shouldn't be so worried. He should be able to trust his mom when she said she would be back home safely. That he couldn't do that and was scared, just because of a storm, it was embarrassing. He looked at the floor.
His mother smiled, a little sadly, at her son. She knew her taking this new job had been hard on him, it had been hard for all of them. While it gave them more financial flexibility and was a job that she enjoyed more than her previous one, she genuinely wanted to go to work, the longer commute made spending time with her family more difficult. She often left before Tobio got up for school and got home just before dinner. She looked out the window up at the sky again, begining to sing softly.
"You and I share a love of weather. Now you are beside me and we watch together. Bright and brave,"
"Safe and warm," Tobio sang, still looking at the floor.
"At the end of a summer storm," they finished together. They sat for a while in a comfortable silence.
"Your father made curry for dinner," his mother said, noting how Tobio's eyes sparkled at the mention of his favorite meal, "It should be ready pretty soon. Why don't you go wash up and get the table ready?" Tobio nodded, standing up eagerly. His mother followed behind him, glancing around the room before turning of the light.