"So, I just thought I'd tell you guys that I called out today."
Luke had gotten up early that day, and immediately called Okay!Food and told them he had a "family obligation" to take care of. Aaron, his boss, wasn't too happy, but Luke really wasn't bothered. Michael was more important than his job anyways. He didn't want Kurt or Blaine to call out of work, so he took their place as Michael's caregiver.
"Are you sure? One of us can stay with Michael…" It was early enough for everyone to still be in their pajamas, and Kurt and Blaine were currently half asleep. The three men were gathered in their apartment kitchen, which was by far one of the smallest rooms, besides the bathroom and Liz's room. The size limited how many people could move at once, so Luke stood in the doorway, Kurt sat at the table, and Blaine made his way around.
Blaine was the early bird of the family, so it was his job to make coffee for everyone. His hair was curly and disheveled, and his beard hadn't been combed yet. He wore an old NYU sweatshirt. Annoyingly, for Luke, Blaine kept turning on the coffee grinder every time he tried to speak.
"Well, I don't want you guys to-"
BRBRBRBRBRBR.
"What?"
"You guys shouldn't have to-"
BRBRBRBRBRBR.
"Honey, quit teasing him!"
"Sorry!" Blaine wore a manic grin and ground the coffee one last time. Once he was finished, he turned to his son. "Continue."
"Okay." Luke yawned, not yet fully awake. The sun was just starting to come up and highlight the side of the building next to theirs. "You guys make more money than me anyways, so I figured I would take one for the team and stay home with Michael."
"It seems to me like you just wanted to call out." It was clear from Kurt's expression that he wasn't serious, but Luke still felt a twinge of guilt in his stomach, not unlike a wave of nausea. Kurt continued with a soft smile. "But if that's what you want to do, then I think Michael will be more than happy."
Luke heard a door opening and closing, and he knew from years of living in the apartment that it was Lizzie's door. It was more hollow sounding than the others, and the knob rattled slightly after closing. What followed was a fit of tired laughing and the jingling of Tracy's collar.
"Did I wake you up, pretty girl? Oh, I'm sorry!"
Luke chuckled, rubbing his eyes. He shifted his weight off of the doorframe, all too aware of the cold tiles beneath his bare feet. As he moved, he accidentally bumped into his barely awake sister, who weakly protested.
"It's too early for this hostility…"
Naturally, Luke elbowed Liz even harder, sending her stumbling back into the hallway with a snicker. This quickly turned into a shoving match between the two, complete with growling, swearing, and friendly insults. Just as they had made their way to the front door of the apartment, right around the corner, Liz got a bit too excited.
"Dodge this, asshole!"
She shoved him hard enough to slam against the door, the doorbell ringing to echo the assault. Luke doubled over in both pain and hysterical laughter. His pajama shirt rode up as he slid down the door. Liz put a hand to her mouth, laughing as well, and offered to help him up, extending her other hand to help him up.
"When is it gonna sink in that I'm just better than you?"
"What is the matter with you two?!" Luke and Lizzie turned to see Kurt, looking very agitated. Despite this, he sighed, readjusting his glasses, and joined Liz in helping Luke off the floor.
"Do you want our super to yell at us?" Kurt hissed. In their brief moment of sibling rivalry, Luke and Lizzie had forgotten that they lived just above their apartment's superintendent. They had gotten quite a few noise complaints over the years they had lived there, so Luke had to be constantly reminded to step lightly and not start violent fights with his brother and sister.
Easier said than done.
Their three bedroom apartment was far from quiet most of the time. When they weren't making much noise, someone else in the building was. The couple next door fought every other day, the man across from them played loud music early in the morning, and the family above them stomped around like horses on cocaine. The building next to them was full of barking dogs and crying children, as well. Despite all of this, after sixteen years, it was just white noise to Luke.
"Lizzie, come on, you have to leave soon." Kurt pointed in the direction of the hall bathroom. "Shower and dressed in thirty minutes, get to it." His usually tidy hair was sticking in every direction, and Luke could tell his sister was struggling not to laugh. To avoid getting yelled at again, he gently nudged Liz towards the living room, muttering, "C'mon, do what he says."
"Okay, Mom."
"You're goddamn right, I'm your mother, and you do what I say! Now go take a fucking shower!" Luke fought back a smile at how ridiculous he sounded. As Lizzie begrudgingly obeyed, snorting angrily, Luke occupied one of the empty kitchen chairs, across from where Kurt had sat earlier. The cold tile floor sent chills up his spine, and the stiff wood of the chair made him grimace. Freshly brewed coffee was beginning to bless the kitchen with its rich, dark scent, and every few seconds, the bulb hanging from the ceiling would flicker. Luke yawned and stretched, making the chair creak miserably underneath him.
"So," Blaine broke the silence, cracking his knuckles. "Now that you have a day off with Michael, you got anything specific planned?" Kurt shuffled back into the kitchen, awkwardly attempting to clean his glasses with his shirt. He promptly gave up, put them back on, and enveloped Blaine in a tight hug from behind, burying his face in his husband's shoulder and sighing deeply. Blaine almost instantly flinched away with a visible shudder.
"Your hands are freezing!"
Kurt pouted, looking very disappointed. "But you're so warm…"
And that was all it took for Blaine to cave, chuckling softly and dropping his head. "Okay, make me freeze, then. It's not like I just made coffee for you."
"Oh, you poor thing!" Kurt had resumed smothering Blaine, wearing a warm smile and kissing his shoulder. Luke wasn't exactly sure how to describe the combined feeling of contentment and mild disgust, so he just called it 'My parents are being weird.'
Kurt and Blaine had been disgustingly sappy for as long as Luke could remember. True arguments between the two were rare, but spats were more common, occurring about once a month. Their spats were hilarious, and entertained their children to no end. It was like indoor sports. They usually revolved around chores, and whoever had neglected to do them, leaving them for the next person. However, they lasted fifteen minutes at the most, and were usually resolved with more sappiness. Luke knew the cycle well. After all, he had been observing it for nineteen years at that point.
Ding!
Luke fished his phone out of his pajama pants pocket to check the new message on his phone, and lo and behold, it was from none other than Superman himself.
'I'm awake and my throat is killing me slowly. Please either bring me something to numb it or bring a blunt object to knock me out so I can sleep some more.'
"Well, duty calls! I gotta go attend to His Highness."
Kurt, who had now released Blaine and was finishing preparing his coffee, reminded Luke, "Make sure that he takes his medicine before noon, okay?"
"Got it."
—
"Alright, it's just you and me today, what do you wanna do?"
"Sleep sounds nice." Michael's words were spoken in only a hoarse whisper. He was buried among a cascade of pillows and blankets, and Diggory sat atop it all like a god among men. Michael began to cough so harshly that Luke was concerned he might hack up a lung. He made his way towards Michael's bed and plopped himself down, disturbing the bedding. Luke began to pat Michael on the back, only for his hand to be pushed away.
"I'm not dying, it's just a sore throat."
"Don't care, you're sick, now hold still." Luke grabbed two handfuls of comforter and pulled it back up to cover more of his brother, which was met with weak, raspy sounds of protest from Michael. Since the door had been left open, they heard the pitter-patter of paws on the dilapidated wooden floor in their bedroom, and Luke was suddenly greeted with an icy cold wet nose right where his shirt had left his lower back exposed. He yelped, dropped the comforter, and turned to see a blonde furry head and innocent brown eyes staring adoringly at him. Michael was sent into a laughing fit, which soon turned into another bout of coughing. After finishing with the comforter, Luke turned to address the dog.
"Tracy, don't do that!" Luke shivered, still feeling the wetness as he tugged his shirt down. Despite this, he reached forward and took her head in his hands, caressing her with a chuckle. Tracy might have been a working dog, but she was still a dog. She begged for food, was desperate for attention, and loved being pet. Her tongue hung out the side of her mouth as she panted, and Luke reeled at her horrible breath.
"Ugh! We need to get you some dental chews…"
"She's a dog, she can't help it." Michael began to cough once more, and Luke sighed. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, and ended up woefully miscalculating where the top bunk was.
WHAM!
Luke doubled over, clutching his head and falling onto the mattress. After a solid few seconds of inconsiderate laughter from Michael, he pulled himself back into an upright position. He turned to his brother, still rubbing his throbbing head.
"You aren't gonna even ask if I'm okay?"
"Well, you do hit your head on the bunk all the time…" Michael received a cold glare from Luke, but persisted. "It's not my fault you don't pay attention."
"I-" Luke thought to himself, and then admitted defeat. "Yeah, you're right."
The rest of the day passed by with ease. Luke spent most of the day planning out his next DnD campaign with Liz and Michael. He was always the Dungeon Master, much to his sibling's disdain. But, he was the oldest, and those were the rules. They had been playing for a few years at that point, but finding the time to play a session was becoming more and more difficult, with Luke working and his brother and sister going to school. They hadn't played since July.
"Hey, Superman, you wanna have a late lunch, or you wanna wait for dinner?"
No answer.
Luke got up from the session he was planning and made his way to their bedroom, along the way dodging Fester, who seemed determined to trip him. He gently nudged the cat away with his foot, and peeked in to see Michael face down on his bed, snoring like a wildebeest. Luke covered his mouth to keep from making any noise, and he gently shut the door. He once more glanced down towards his feet and saw Fester staring at him. Luke raised a brow right back, and bent down to scoop the cat up. A fair bit of struggle ensued, but in the end, Fester was purring contentedly in his arms, rubbing his head on Luke's shoulder and making biscuits on his arm. Of course, this resulted in a few scratches, but Luke didn't mind one bit. He sat on the couch with a resounding flop, and released the cat to wander where he pleased.
"Alright, am I forgetting anything?" Luke thought aloud to himself, leaning forward on his knees and staring at the cluttered coffee table. There were several circular water stains from all the times they (mostly Lizzie) had forgotten to use coasters. There were also a few lottery tickets, several pieces of mail, and a coffee table book, entitled '101 Musicals You Should See Before You Die.'
After a few moments, Luke grabbed the remote and switched on the TV, turning on YouTube. He spent the better part of an hour flipping through power washing compilations and video game reviews. The sun had begun to cast longer shadows, and before he knew it, Luke was dozing off. Work had been relentless, and the start of the holiday season was approaching, and that meant more stress. So, calling out was more than just watching Michael. It was a well-needed break.
Luke wasn't sure how long he was asleep, but he awoke to a pair of worried hands shaking him awake, accompanied by the frantic voice of his sister.
"Luke!" Her book bag was still on her shoulders, and hit the back of her head with every shake. "Michael's having a nightmare, and I can't wake him up!"
"What?" Luke was standing in an instant, sending Fester flying off the couch with an angry meow. Michael had nightmares once every few months, and even though Luke knew how to handle them at this point, that didn't stop him from entering a state of mild panic each time.
He and Lizzie rushed into his room to find Michael curled into a ball, face in distress. He had somehow removed all the bedding from the bottom bunk, save for the fitted sheet. Pillows and blankets littered the floor, and Diggory was nowhere to be seen. As Luke kneeled next to the bed, he heard a loud 'THUMP' behind him, so Liz must have dropped her book bag. He gently shook Michael's shoulder, which was only met with muffled groans and whimpers.
"C'mon, dude, wake up…"
"No…" Michael protested in his frightened slumber. He weakly attempted to push Luke's hand away, but his brother refused to take no for an answer.
"Mike, please wake up."
"Michael, you're scaring us!"
"Lizzie," Luke said. "I know you're trying to help, but shush for a moment, alright?"
"Oh, okay…"
Luke resumed his efforts to wake Michael up, gently patting his cheek. "It's okay, come on, come back to us…"
—
November 2030
Luke had always loved rain. He loved the cool clouds that came from thunderstorms, jumping in deep puddles, and counting between thunder claps and lightning strikes. It was currently late November, so the Brooklyn days and nights had begun to get cooler, and the weather definitely reflected that. It wasn't quite cold enough for snow just yet, but freezing rain had become a common occurrence. It had been a few months since they had begun fostering Michael, and he was adjusting slowly, but every day was better than the last.
Until Monday, November 25th. During the day, things were fine, but once night fell, that's when things became worrying. The last named storm of hurricane season had begun to make landfall, Hurricane William. The category 4 storm had knocked out power in much of southern Brooklyn, and was wrecking Coney Island. One couldn't be sure when night had fallen, as it had been dark all day. Branches had been ripped off trees, trash cans were traveling several blocks in an hour, and every minute or so, lightning would illuminate the dark sky.
Michael had been quiet all day. School had been cancelled due to the hurricane, so all three Anderson-Hummel children had been holed up in the apartment. With every clap of thunder, and every window-creaking gust of wind, Michael would shift uncomfortably, occasionally jumping and wincing. Luke had tried his best to keep him calm throughout the day with various video games and puzzles, but nothing could distract him from the tumultuous weather. After a day of increasing nerves and worry, Luke drifted off to sleep with Michael in the bunk beneath him, thinking that everything was calm.
BOOM!
Luke was startled awake by the loudest clap of thunder he had ever heard. He sat up, blanket falling off his chest and settling on his lap in a soft wrinkle. He scanned the room. He couldn't see much, relying on the occasional flash of lightning to illuminate his surroundings. Luke was slightly unnerved by the almost otherworldly shadows being cast on the walls of his bedroom, appearing like creatures from a campfire tale. He felt a sudden twinge of worry, and carefully hung himself over the edge of the top bunk, stomach digging into the metal frame and blood humming in his ears. What he saw worried him even more. Or rather, what he didn't see.
Michael wasn't in his bed.
After a bit of shimmying, Luke slid from the top bunk to the floor, wrapping his blanket around himself. He searched from room to room, being careful to not step on the creaky floorboards, adjusting his makeshift shawl as he went. He squinted through his glasses for every new search for a lamp or a light switch, getting more concerned with every empty room.
Eventually, Luke reached the kitchen, the only unsearched room, and found it empty like all the others. His heart now hammering against his ribs, Luke rushed to his parent's bedroom door, almost dropping the blanket that was wrapped around his shoulders. He couldn't hear much besides thunder and light snoring. He braced himself.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Luke drew back his hand as he awaited either an answer from beyond the door or an invitation inside. There was a slight bit of shuffling and tired mumbling, and after a few moments, the door opened to reveal a very tired Blaine, rubbing his eyes.
"It's way past your bedtime, what's up?"
"Michael's not in his bed, I can't find him anywhere!"
"What?" Blaine looked much more alert all of a sudden, and Luke could see Kurt sit up in bed in an instant, fumbling to turn on his bedside lamp.
Once he was out of bed and next to Blaine, Kurt asked, "Are you sure that you've checked everywhere?"
"Um, I-I'm pretty sure?"
"Okay…" Kurt shut his eyes and took a deep breath, raising his hands to rub his face. "Let's check your room again and we'll go from there. He can't leave the apartment, the knob won't turn without some effort, and he's too little to do that by himself." Kurt led the way back to Luke and Michael's bedroom. "He's in the apartment somewhere…"
Luke trailed behind his parents, feeling slightly guilty for waking them up so late, but he figured he would get in even more trouble had he let Michael disappear. Blaine walked beside Luke to the bedroom, quietly assuring him that everything would be okay, which did little to help, but Luke appreciated it nonetheless.
They reached their destination, and once again began to search for Michael. A few moments went by and Luke heard Blaine remark, "Uh, honey, you might want to see this."
Kurt turned to where Blaine was standing, and Luke did the same. Blaine was gesturing towards the bottom bunk, concerned. As Luke got closer to the bed, he noticed a large wet stain on the mattress.
"Oh no, he must have been scared by the thunder, poor thing." Kurt said.
With this, Luke had an epiphany. "I know where he is!" He rushed towards their bedroom closet and opened the door, and breathed a massive sigh of relief.
"I found him!"
Michael was curled into a ball on the closet floor, knees brought up to his chest. He had a blanket wrapped tightly around him, and he was trembling like a leaf in the wind. Upon seeing his hiding spot discovered, Michael buried his face in the blanket, sniffling. Luke tried to pull him into a hug, but Michael squirmed away with a small whimper.
"I did a bad thing, I need to be in here!"
"You got scared by the thunder, it was an accident, it's okay!" Luke once again attempted to comfort Michael, but he flinched away once more.
"No!" Michael shook his head frantically, messing up his already unkempt hair and causing tears to fall and stain his blanket. Luke heard shuffling behind him, and turned to see his parents lowering themselves to the floor. Once they were settled, Kurt motioned for Luke to do the same. After Luke was seated, as well, Blaine spoke.
"Alright. You've only been here a few months, and it's obvious that Kurt and I haven't been clear on how we do things around here, so I'll be very clear." Blaine shifted into a cross-legged position. "We will never be angry with you over things you can't control. If anything, we want you to be honest with us, so we can help you, okay?"
Michael sniffled, wiping his nose on the blanket. Luke had to stifle a laugh.
Blaine continued. "We only know about a few things your mom did that might have scared you, made you angry, or made you feel like you weren't wanted. You don't have to tell us anything more than you want to. But we do want you to tell us if you think we're doing anything that makes you upset, and we'll stop. Are you following me so far?"
Michael hiccupped. "Yes…"
"We brought you into this family for a reason." Kurt picked up where his husband left off. "All of us know what it feels like to be picked on. And we knew you needed a loving home that accepts you for who you are, and who you're going to be." Another flash of lightning lit up the room, and Michael recoiled. Once he was calm again, Kurt continued, "We haven't had you for very long, and this is gonna sound a bit weird to you, but our family is now that much more whole because of you."
"Really?" For the first time that night, Michael sounded relaxed. Luke felt relief wash over him, and he smiled at his brother. He paused himself mid-thought, and wondered,
Brother?
Yeah, that sounds good.
"Now, we're not going to force you to come out here when you don't want to. But when you do, we can clean you up, get you some fresh sheets, and you can get some sleep." Kurt said. "And if the thunder is going to scare you, then you can sleep in our bed, if you want." Luke felt a hand gently nudging his shoulder. "Or, I'm sure Luke can sleep in your bed with you. It's your choice, Michael."
Michael let the blanket fall a bit, showing his pajama shirt. He swallowed, and asked, "Can I sleep in your bed?"
Blaine answered, slightly choked up. "Of course you can. Now, you wanna get cleaned up?" Luke heard his parents getting up behind him as he pulled Michael up and gently led him out of the closet. The younger boy leaned on Luke, clearly tired.
"Okay."
—
"I thought he was a light sleeper!" Lizzie exclaimed, having joined Luke in trying to wake up their brother. She kept shaking his shoulders, while Luke gently tapped his cheek, but Michael stayed asleep.
"This calls for desperate measures."
"You're not screaming to wake him up!"
Lizzie threw her hands in the air. "You got any better ideas?"
Dusk had just begun to shine through the windows, and the early sunset pierced the glass. Luke suddenly had an idea.
"Open the curtains!"
Lizzie rushed to the window and frantically pulled open the curtain, leaving the harsh orange rays to directly hit Michael's face.
"What…?" Michael groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, thank god." Luke sighed in relief, hand on chest. Then, he shot a sly smile at his sister. "When is it gonna sink in that I'm just better than you?"
Liz ignored Luke's obvious superiority. "Welcome back! Are you okay?" She hopped onto the bed, jostling her younger brother.
Michael shook his head and struggled to sit up. "My first thought was to push you off the bed, but then again, I was having a nightmare, so, thanks, I guess." He gave his brother and sister a tired grin and a weary thumbs up. Lizzie flashed a metal smile and attempted to hug him.
"I'm thankful, but I'm not open to hugs!"
"Sorry!"