Blue...it was Rose and Luis's dad's favourite colour. Rose probably could have thought up a million memories just from seeing or thinking of the colour blue. Rose remembered when her dad had wanted to paint all of the rooms in their house blue. She was standing in one of the rooms that was half painted, because her dad hadn't finished the job before he disappeared. The paint tins and grimy white cloths that covered the floor were still strewn about.
Rose didn't know if her father would ever come back, but what she did know was that she wanted to do something, maybe even finish the painting job herself. She picked up one of the paint rollers that was still covered in paint. Rose hadn't heard the footsteps of her older brother as he entered the room.
She turned around to see Luis leaning against the door of the empty room, the room that the three of them had been painting together. Now it was just a reminder of all they had lost, and what they would probably never get back.
"Do you think Dad will ever come back?" Rose asked, turning to face her brother with a frown on her face. It was a question Rose had asked herself over and over again. But now she was voicing it to her older brother. Luis was the only one who understood how their father's absence made her feel.
Luis looked around the empty room, and then he stepped in and picked up one of the paint rollers.
"I don't know, Rose, but let's paint the room together." Luis affirmed. The offer of help warmed her heart, and it made her realise that she didn't have to face any of this alone. Even with something as simple as painting a room, she had her brother with her, and he would be willing to listen. He was a good big brother that way after all.
Rose had heard that Luis had told her he thought their dad would come back home, but she didn't know when that would be. The silence stretched out between them. It wasn't an awkward silence, but Rose had decided to fill it when she suddenly asked another question that had been on her mind. "When do you think dad will come back?"
Luis paused in response to her question, and she could see the cogs turning in his head as he considered how to answer her question. "I'm not sure when he'll come back, but I know he will, regardless of what he's got himself caught up in, and I know we don't know what happened yet, but I believe that we'll find out." Luis resumed painting, and after another moment of silence passed between them, Rose spoke up. "You're right, Dad will come back, or we'll find him and find out why he had to leave us."
Rose nodded, because she knew that Luis was right as she resumed painting the wall that she had been focused on. The notion of painting was quite soothing and Rose felt herself calm down slightly, and she felt better having her brother with her. Rose and Luis eventually finished painting the room, and Rose felt it was a job well done.
"It looks good, don't you think?" She asked as she put down the paint roller and admired the room. It looked a lot better, a lot brighter. She just hoped Dad would like it if or when he returned home. Rose remembered when they had bought the house. It had been a fixer-upper to say the least, but her, Luis and their father's hard work had made it into a home. Even when it was just Rose and Luis living in the home, there was still elements that made it feel like home.
"It does look good." Luis confirmed as he put down his paint roller as he stepped next to her. She couldn't help but lean against her older brother. Luis wrapped an arm around her as she leaned against him.
"We'll have to do the other rooms as well, so Dad will be surprised when he returns." But Rose knew she had left the most crucial part unspoken. If he returned. Rose knew that, just as well as Luis did but none of them seemed willing to do or say anything that would open the can of worms.
The silence stretched between them, filled with unspoken thoughts and feelings. Things that the siblings hadn't shared with each other. Rose didn't think that was a bad thing, but she wondered if Luis would ever open up to her beyond what he had shared with her. But she knew she couldn't force him to open up to her.
"Well, the painting's done, why don't we get dinner on?" Luis finally spoke up, leaving the freshly painted room and Rose behind. She then scrambled to follow him.
"Luis, wait!" She called out as she ran down the stairs, as her brother sauntered into the kitchen. When Rose got there, she found her brother already preparing dinner in the kitchen and he was chopping up...mushrooms. Rose's least favourite food in the whole world.
"Ugh, come on Luis, mushrooms really? What are you even making?" Rose asked. She grimaced as she saw her brother place the mushrooms in a frying pan along with some chicken. He also had some pasta in a pot and had that cooking as well.
Rose huffed and wandered into the kitchen, earning a chuckle from Luis as she sat at one of the stools in the kitchen. "I don't know how you can even eat mushrooms, Luis, they're gross." She muttered. But even she had to admit that the food smelled good, and Luis was actually a good cook.
"Mushrooms are delicious, Rose, you just don't enjoy good food." Her brother teased her as he glanced over at her, a slight smile on his face. She huffed and rolled her eyes, but she was grateful to her brother for looking out for her. She eventually moved to set the kitchen table, grabbing some glasses and a pitcher of orange juice she had placed in the fridge.
The notion of setting the table and the smell of cooking food gave her a sense of happiness, something she hadn't felt since their dad had vanished. And even joking with Luis about the fact he had chosen mushrooms to include in their dinner made her smile. But she would eat the food anyway because her brother had made the effort to cook for both of them. She watched as Luis added some sauce to the chicken and mushrooms.
"Bring the plates over, Rose." Luis spoke up. Rose immediately stood and went over to the cupboard and got two plates out. It reminded her of when her and her brother used to come home from school to see their dad cooking dinner, with music playing in the background.
But she pushed that thought aside because she knew if she thought about that, then there was a very real chance she would cry, and she didn't want to do that in front of her brother.
Dinner was a quiet affair, but it was a comfortable kind of silence. For once, and probably because all they had was each other, the siblings were getting on better than ever.
Rose only hoped it would continue after they found their father and brought him home...