.........
Good morning, Brightside! Here is your favorite presenter, Mr. Sky whose name has become much less funny, giving the good news from the early morning of January 3! 7 o'clock on the morning of the final day before the dome descends on us! Remember to take many pictures of the sky as you can, since we will be missing for a few months!
Take out almost as many photos like our fans, how send us photos of our beloved dome from all over California, arriving riding a real ground-air convoy! According to our contacts, Black's beloved dome came out last night from the Barstow base, where it had been built in secret! One more of the many pleasant mysteries that our government hides us for our own good, without a doubt!
Well, now let's stop joking for a moment. As you will have read in the message sent to us last night at midnight and if I dont tell you, the dome will be officially installed at 8 o'clock this evening. That the president doesnt deign or come to give us his strength is one more of the shame we have to resist ... but dont worry! I swear we will!
Brightside radio will remain firm and independent, issuing until the day we see the sky again, that's for sure. We will continue fighting from wherever we can, denouncing the injustices that make us pass every day! That is why from this radio we want to invite everyone to a great party tonight at the headquarters of Brightside radio! They try to hide behind a dome because they are unable to understand a simple virus, so we will respond smiling as we always do, because if there is someone in California who knows how to see the bright side of each situation we will be-
.........
"A party now? Idiots ..." Erika muttered under her breath, turning off the radio and leaning back in her seat behind the wheel to see how the jam was still in the same place for the last 7 minutes.
"I dont know, I think it's a great idea! I like this city more and more!" Fraje Holm, Erika's little brother, bounced in his seat too excited for his sister's taste. "Do you think we'll get to the airport soon? Nellie's flight has landed already"
Erika looked to the side, smiling at her brother as much as at the sight of Anne's baby chair, the largest her grandfather could buy online. "And tell me, how your girlfri-"
"Friend, Nellie is your little sister and my best friend and you know it!"
"Anyway" Erika stuck her tongue out at her little brother, watching him cross his arms in the passenger seat. "How has Nellie managed to convince the orphanage to come to Brightside?"
"According to what she has written to me, dad has managed to convince the owner of the orphanage to 'adopt' her without taking our last name ... I dont understand why, but if Nellie cares so much not to change her last name and that is the only price to bring her with us it seems absolutely great!" Erika chuckled, delighted by her brother's innocence. (Although a part of her wanted to reveal the reason for Nellie's decision)
Nellie Sköld had been Fraje's friend from the earliest childhood, since Fraje and Erika's mother had taken their children to the orphanage where she worked. Although the brothers (especially Fraje, who was only 5 years old at that time) had to say goodbye to his mother too little, Ravel decided to continue working side by side with the orphanage in which her wife had dedicated all his life; so the logical step if both Ravel and Fraje were locked in Brightside was to bring the "adoptive" daughter of the family.
(Although Nellie fought from small to not become Nellie Holm in an attempt to be able to get married without problems with Fraje when both were old enough)
"If she likes to come and live in a city that is going to be locked under a dome, I will not be the one to say no ... Nellie is like my little sister and her well-being is the most important thing" The traffic was merciful, making enough progress so that Erika could take the exit to the airport (which inside Erika began to miss), suffering to see how stupidly full the parking lot was. "Well ... this is going to be much worse than I thought. Let's see, Fraje-" Erika turned to her brother, putting both her best voice as an older sister and her best mother voice (in practice). "If I leave you at the door-"
"I'm going to find Nellie and bring her back to the car, I understand! I'm carrying my phone and I swear on my new US citizenship that I will not talk to any stranger!" In an almost parodic gesture without meaning to, Fraje raised his right hand placing it on his phone while putting the left over his heart.
"My little brother ... now the uncle of my baby and without even wanting to mature ..."
"Maturing is what fruits do! I will mature when I have to be a good uncle to Anne!" Fraje said as he opened the door without even waiting for his sister to park in front of the airport doors, leaving the terminal running inside.
Between sighs of mother (Or that Erika wanted to think), the novice mother advanced to get away from the taxi stand, stopping later next to a car "injured".
And by injured one should understand problems of rear wheels, one that two men (Both bald and physically similar except for the height, with one lower than Alanna and the other not much lower than Erika herself) couldnt solve. At the same time, the desire to be a good Samaritan and to make room to park comfortably to get the phone to play joined in a single decision: Get down to try to help.
"Something wrong, gentlemen?"
Both men turned at once, leaving the spare wheel on the floor while they wiped their hands discreetly. "Just a puncture, nothing more. Are we bothering you to park?" The shorter of both said as he handed the handkerchief to his partner, offering his hand to Erika. "Oliver Romero, and he's my cousin Carlos Romero"
"Erika Barlow Holm, delighted" Erika took the man's hand in a formal and quick grip, as she well liked. "I really have no problem parking, but I have seen you with a face of not knowing very well what to do, I beg you to excuse my expression, and I have not been able to resist offering you my help. It may not look like it, but I was working as a mechanic for a few years to get a career as a nutritionist"
As if she were a saint, the expression of both men became an infinite joy while they invited Erika to approach. "We were arriving at the airport to look for our boss when it happened, I wish I could give you more details" The greatest of men, Carlos, explained in a voice too deep. (Making Erika belly vibrate just by listening to her)
"Ummm ..." Erika inspected the broken wheel, taking very little time to see the problem. "This wheel and from what I see all are all very worn, so you have been lucky that only one of them has been broken at a time. I have a hydraulic jack in the trunk of the car, if you give me a moment we can change it quietly" The duo nodded to help Erika to get up gently, staying by the spare wheel commenting on the age of the car while Erika took out the necessary tools and began to change the wheel helped by the duo. The condition of the car was much worse than Erika expected, so for that need to be a good Samaritan to set an example for her daughter what started as a wheel change became as complete a revision as it could be without being able to lift the car completely.
"You are from Brightside?" The duo nodded, which made Erika pity them a bit and they sympathized with her. "This is the number of my trusted mechanic, call him and tell him that you are on my side. Minimum need a change of oil, full wheel and it would not hurt to check the engine"
"You're an angel, you know boss?" The duo said at once, inflating Erika's ego to the fullest in such a simple comment.
"I'm not an angel, I'm just a new mother who wants her daughter to grow up in a kind world, so I must also set an example with my actions-"
"Storasyster!" Nellie's voice snatched all of Erika's ego at once, spinning just in time to catch her in the air.
"Look Nellie! How you've grown!" Hugging her as hard as Erika could, the first-time mother could see how Fraje approached them accompanied by a man dressed and quite thin. Erika's instinct for protection shot up, grabbing Nellie unobtrusively with one arm while she waited for Fraje to be near to open the car with her remote control.
"Carlos, Oliver! You will not be bothering Miss Barlow Holm, will you?" The costumed skeleton tried to impose itself by leaving his briefcase on the floor and standing with his hands on his hips.
"Not at all, boss! Quite the opposite, since it was the young lady who helped us with the car!"Oliver defends himself by opening the back door with a small bow.
Ignoring it completely, the skeleton went to Erika offering her another reverence. "Miss Erika, your little sister has spoken very well of you on the trip! When the stewardess wanted me to sit with all those who came to Brightside taking me out of the first class I was expecting a boring trip, but Nellie has made it so much more enjoyable! Huy, wait, I have not submitted! My name is Cascadio Black, humble owner of the Torna movie theaters in Brightside"
"Are you the owner of Torna?" Erika opened her eyes wide, managing to place the man's face too thin in his memory. "I should then thank you for your international night sessions, I didnt think I could easily watch Swedish films when I moved here to the United States!"
"As my mother taught me, movies are much more enjoyable if you nourish yourself from all sources, learning and comparing how different film directors approach the same topics from their own personal and national perspectives! Since you have helped my assistants and Nellie has made my trip back a joy, let me reward your kindness!" Cascadio glanced at his suit, pulling out a checkbook with the logo of the movie theaters. "Here you are, a free year for you and your movie family!"
"Mr. Cascadio-"
"Please call me Black. My brother may have placed our last name a bit in the wrong direction, I am still one of those who trust that tomorrow will bring better moments!"
"Well Mr. Black ... I accept your reward in good taste, but it seems excessive! I've only changed one wheel!" Erika laughed much more calmly, letting go of Nellie without fear.
"That wheel can make the difference! Do you believe in luck, Erika?"
"Of course! I have been blessed with the best of luck last year, if we ignore the whole issue of quarantine"
"I must say exactly the same! Last year one of my dreams was lost because of my two idiot assistants, but good luck blessed my determination making my mother's vision come true!" Erika could quickly relate Cascadio's words to the grand opening of Torna's newspaper archive last year, a place to see, enjoy and share movies of all times for a small price of $ 10 for 3 hours; and considering how much she and Alanna had enjoyed the movie library and the desire that both had to be able to begin to share the passion for cinema with their daughter, the feeling became mutual.
"Precisely because luck never stops blessing those who believe is why we should reward smaller actions! So that luck and good will dont stop flowing, so that the dreams of all those who wish to see a better world like that of the movies can come to pass"
"I see that General Black wasnt the only one with a good speech in the family!"
Cascadio hid a smile as best he could, pretending to be upset. "Who do you think taught him to speak in public?! We may be the little triplets, but when it comes to fighting for my dreams, nobody wins against me! I would love to continue chatting, but we must go through San Francisco before they close the dome" Returning to offer his hand to Erika, the first mother accepted her willingly. "I hope we have some time to chat more quietly, Erika! Give memories to your wife and family, tell them there are still good Blacks in Brightside!"
"I will, Mr. Black! See you soon!" Erika said goodbye as the trio drove away in her car, taking advantage of the fact that there was no one at the exit to skip a pass. "And now ..." Grabbing her little brothers by the neck, Erika turned to her car. "Do you want to meet the new addition to the family, Min varg?"
Taking a breath, Nellie prepared to surprise Erika. "Of... of course!" Listening to her speaking English was something that Erika did not expect, and that made her fall in love even more with her little sister.
"What a coincidence, right Boss?" Oliver took the detour to San Francisco while Cascadio was entertained watching the reports on his mobile. "Meet with an ex-mechanic who also came to pick up your flight partner!"
"A very grateful coincidence, without a doubt" Cascadio took a sip of the coffee Carlos had prepared for him, a loose cup of black coffee with half a glass of whiskey. "As long as things are going as well as they have been doing up to now, we can smile; but that doesnt mean that we should rest under our laurels. Without the MM to be able to alter the mutation and without being clear how my theory ended up becoming a infected reality to the whole city, the results will be much more unexpected ... in a good way, of course. I hope. I trust-"
Cascadio almost drowned taking another sip, filling the screen of his coffee cell phone. "Pair of idiots, do you remember what day you went to steal the data of Professor Cole and the MM?"
"Ummm, I think on April 7 or 8 of last year," Carlos said, stroking his beard that he did not have, as hairless on the top of his head as underneath. "Why are you asking, boss?"
"For nothing ... for nothing" Oliver opened the hidden files about the recent birth of Erika's partner, illuminating his face as he read. "It seems that the first daughter of dawn has already been born ... Barlow Holm, eh? Pair of idiots, remember that surnames, then I need you to pay a visit to my middle brother to look for some records"
"Visit at night?"
"Of course! I have no interest in paying you to be just my assistants, you know?" Cascadio stopped talking, taking another sip of coffee while blocking his phone. So that the luck does not stop flowing, one must be corresponding with the same gratitude, always said the mother of the triplets.And that's exactly what Cascadio always wanted to follow.
(Erika and Alanna's apartment, 13:15 noon, January 3, 2019)
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"As if it were thunder shaking the apartment, Anne's cry pierced her mother's ears completely becoming a taciturn, dark being. Maybe her wife knew about babies thanks to having a little brother, but Alanna was 100% new to the matter and, as the first mother had found, understanding a baby wasnt something one could learn in a tutorial. (And as a member of the Millennial generation, that was something Alanna had trouble understanding)
After the preview visit of Theo and Amelia (the trusted pediatrician Theo had chosen) the medical duo had given Alanna the growth forecasts that Amelia had calculated for Anne, much larger than Alanna and certainly Erika expected. As Theo had been sincere, hiding Anne in a city closed by a dome and with a paramilitary team watching would be almost impossible; so the best solution was to wait a couple of months after the closing of the dome to begin to take Anne out to the street normally.
If the existence of such an incredible girl had to be revealed, the only correct way was to do it once everything was calmer.
"Waaaaaaahhh!" Anne was still crying, while her mother gently rocked her in an attempt to cut the crying at the root.
"Come on my life ... You dont want to eat, you arent sleepy and you havent pooped or pipped! Make it a little easier, please!" Alanna pleaded, sitting on the couch, once again checking her daughter's body for any anomaly. The tension of her daughter's crying (The noise that she and Erika had agreed to consider the most annoying ever created by the human being), the tension of having to start receiving her family in groups of 2 (as Theo had ordered ) to present Anne formally ... and evidently the tension that they were going to close all fucking Brightside under a dome was almost too much for the poor new mother, attacked by too many fronts at once.
But as always when Alanna looked too stressed, the guardian of her heart keys appeared to turn everything around. "Alanna! I left my house keys inside! Open Please!"
The return of Erika was a miracle, one that managed to silence Anne completely, leaving an expression of total innocence and motionless on the sofa with arms and legs extended. "You do it on purpose, dont you?" Alanna asked raising an eyebrow at her daughter, watching the baby stare at her with the drool falling from the corner of her lip and her cheeks still wet from the tears shed. "Silly ... you dont have to look at me like that, I'm your mother!"
Drying and getting her daughter ready, Alanna sat her down in one of the few things her family had hit with size, a highchair given by Alanna's younger uncle. "You behave well while moms prepare your uncles, okay?"
The baby seemed to nod, which Alanna took as a yes, giving her the stuffed toy that until now had been holding her hands the longest. (A Megaman.exe plush that Erika had secretly bought and sent to the house as if it were a distant relative present, an act that Alanna discovered within 13 seconds of seeing the stuffed plush doll among the other gifts)
"C'mon darling! I have all the food in my hands!" Erika insisted by knocking on the door, entering the moment that Alanna allowed her. "Thank God, I couldnt take it anymore!" 4 bags filled with a bunch of products that Alanna didnt think she needed to have ended up on the table while Erika went straight to her daughter, holding her in her arms and making her play with the stuffed animal.
The sight of Erika and Anne together brought a smile to Alanna's lips, growing when a voice called her from the door. "God morgon, äldre syster Alanna- I'm sorry ... Good morning, big sister Alanna" Nellie tried to speak as formally as she could in English, leaving a strange and too serious version.
"Nellie! Hello again, darling!" Alanna didnt stop to think, going to the door to hug the newcomer while blocking the path for Fraje. "I have not seen you since last year, how you've grown!"
"Nåväl ... Jag är på den tiden, vet du ... Jag hoppas det inte orsakar något problem mitt beslut att vilja komma till Amerika ... Jag tyckte inte om tanken att stanna ensam i en obestämd tid i Fraje, Ravel och Erika's hus. (Well ... I'm at that age, you know... I hope my decision to want to come to America doesnt cause any problems ... I didnt like the idea of r03;r03;staying alone for an indeterminate time in the house of Fraje, Ravel and Erika)" The newcomer rubbed the back of her neck without looking directly at Alanna, waiting (or rather wishing) for a positive response that would help her not to feel a burden.
"Of course not! What really worried me was that you felt comfortable! I know you dont have much trouble translating from English but talking is your weak point ... likewise you shouldnt worry about it either! My grandfather has hired an English teacher so you can defend yourself!"
"I've been practicing ... practicing a bit on my own ..." Nellie turned red as a tomato, embarrassed by her level of English and the work that he himself entailed to others ...
But as usual, embarrassing took too much time for the person crossed arms behind them. "Can we stop this already? I want to meet my niece now!" Fraje insisted, trying to get Alanna out of the door without much success. (Not that Alanna was too strong, is that Fraje has almost no muscle mass trained)
"What kind of uncle do you think you are if you start demanding in front of Anne, Fraje?" Alanna joked, planting herself on the floor, enjoying for once being stronger than someone. "How do you ask for things?"
"Dont make me-"
"Snälla, Fraje. Även om Anne är en baby, måste vi sätta ett bra exempel! (Please, Fraje, even though Anne is a baby we should set a good example!)"Nellie's request was something that Fraje himself could not deny however much he liked to stand firm.
"Please, sister ... can we get to know Anne already?" Alanna was silent for a few seconds, enjoying the expression of defeat of the teenager. Moving aside, Alanna opened the way for Fraje and Nellie to enter carefully and silently, remembering Erika's warning to not make any loud noise.
Being the first of the family to meet Anne was a great honor, so Fraje and Nellie enjoyed every second of approaching the sofa, meeting the little person in Erika's arms much bigger than they both imagined, with even fine orange hair and strangely hypnotizing eyes.
"Dont stay there, guys! Kom och hälsar din brorsdotter! (Come and say hello to your niece!)" Erika's order was absolute, causing both teenagers to kneel in front of mother and daughter. Anne remained in total silence, studying both young people with her eyes. Although Alanna and Erika were afraid of Theo's warning that newborns tend not to like crowds or unfamiliar faces, Anne seemed to be carrying it much better than expected, swaying from side to side in her mother's lap. (Although that was really because of not being able to keep the balance correctly)
"Hi guys!" Erika took one of Anne's little hands, raising her in a salute while using her talent for ventriloquism to falsify the baby's voice. "My name is Anne Barlow Holm and I am 2 days old, happy to meet you!"
"Jag ... talar till dig på engelska eller svenska, vilket språk vill du ha? (I ... I speak to you in English or in Swedish, in what language do you want?)" Nellie asked quietly, still marveling at Anne's size and eyes.
"You can talk to her as you want, honey. We plan to teach both languages r03;r03;to Anne little by little" Erika explained, grabbing both teenagers' pants with their feet, bringing them close enough so that they could touch Anne.
Nellie and Fraje looked at each other for a few seconds, talking to each other in the ear before looking back at Anne, who had stopped studying the couple to return to their usual behavior of drooling and waving their arms. "Hello Anne..." The duo said at the same time with a trembling voice, not wanting to make a bad first impression.
"I am Fraje, your uncle ..."
"And I'm Nellie, your aunt more or less ..."
"A little more robotic and look like something out of a scyfy movie from the 60s" Alanna jokingly slapped everyone on the back, leaving a cup of tea for everyone on the dining room table and sitting next to her wife. "You know that babies dont remember anything from the first months of life? This presentation doesnt have to be as if you were in a work meeting! It is more a first contact to integrate you in the life of Anne and that she has you located" The teenagers nodded as they watched Alanna take Anne and pull up her pajamas to breastfeed her. "For you to learn, babies usually eat every few hours during their first months of age and spend much of the day sleeping. Yesterday Anne was sleeping, not often, almost 16 hours!"
"16 hours?! That's almost more than you when you went out partying, Erika!" Her sister did not answer, just continuing to stroke her daughter's forehead while she was still focused on continuing to suck. "Ok ... it hasnt been funny. The truth is that I dont remember seeing you sleep more than 8 hours ..."
"Of course not! I had to make food, take care of you and help in the orphanage, and then later I had to make the food and go or with dad to the factory or to the car workshop! Do not try to leave me wrong in front of my daughter, you fool!" Erika responded by feigning indignation and changing the subject to something much more important.
"Are you going to want to go see the dome? It is an absolutely terrible event and I am sure that unconstitutional ... but at the same time as they have explained they are going to bring it divided in half and connect it with dozens of helicopters and transport planes. It will be terrible, but surely an incredible industrial engineering work"
"Ska du åka, äldre systrar? (Are you going to go, older sisters?)"
"Impossible ..." Erika said as she seated Anne in her lap, wiping her lips and giving her a chaste and loving kiss. "Anne is too small for the weather on the night of January. We will see it from the television"
"And we can go see him with dad, gramps and Mr. Velio? Since now we live here and we can spend time with someone as cool as Velio there is no reason not to do it, right?" Fraje's argument was logical with the attitude of the teenager in recent months, one that made his own grandfather rage constantly.
Erika sighed resigned, giving the teenagers what they wanted. "Ok ... but after lunch I'll take you-"
"DONT! NO NO!" Alanna interrupted her by plugging Anne's ears so that she could raise her voice, a gesture that the baby didnt enjoy judging by her facial expression with her forehead wrinkled and her arms suddenly moving trying to coordinate them to remove her mother's hands. "I take them, I need a little while for me ... only 30 minutes, please..."
"We only have 2 days of being mothers ... as soon as you have broken, my love?"
"No, of course not! But you have already left today, I also want to drive a little and see the sky before the fucking government snatches it!" Alanna's argument was logical, and considering they had a milk pump at home for occasions like this, Erika yielded to her wife's requests in exchange for bringing donuts back home.
And it was precisely on the path of leaving the teenagers on the floor that Velio had bought for Erika's family that Alanna ran into the crowd screaming on the street in her parents' restaurant.
"Done with the Dome! Done the Dome! Done with the Dome! Done the Dome!" The crowd chanted waving posters in front of the police station at the beginning of the street, preventing the cars from advancing or retreating. "Unite people, unite for our freedom!"
A nice but useless message, especially for Alanna who brought the hot coffee and the newly purchased donuts in the passenger seat. "Come on ... there was no other place to show up?" Alanna reclined the seat as far back as she could, stretching her arms and chest as far as she could. "Now I have to ask Erika if she cant stop thinking about Anne too..." Alanna pointed at her phone, leaving it on the other seat when one of the protesters started to approach the car.
"Compatriot, dont waste your time with nonsense, our rights and our liberties are at stake!" The protester shouted too loudly for the little separation between him and Alanna.
Hiding her frustration behind the best face she could put, Alanna rolled down the window, leaning on her. "Believe me, I'm with you that locking us under a dome is a direct affront to our rights ... But do you really think you can do something against it in front of the police station? You are too far from the edge where General Black has raised the Nighthold ..."
"It is precisely here where we should be! We want the policemen who swore to protect us to join us in this demonstration! There is not much time left, no more than 2 and a half hours! We will need all the possible firepower if we want to stop this!-"
"Firepower? Not even in dreams will the police give you weapons or accept help to attack the military! I know that you want to do all the good and I share that feeling, my newborn daughter is waiting at home to come back and to give her a free future I would be able to sacrifice everything! But that doesnt mean that using weapons to be right is acceptable! That's not the lesson I want to give her!" The protester looked her up and down, losing the urge to insist to a mother with a newborn girl. "So Done the Dome? It's a catchy name"
"Thank you, we have debated that if we want to achieve something we must first start by having a name that attracts the attention of the listener. Since your daughter is waiting for you, I do not want to hold you for longer than necessary, I'll tell the others to let you pass and you can take the roundabout back to the center-"
"I thank you very much, but I must also pick up my parents, they are the owners of Charming Afternoon cafeteria and restaurant. Do you mind if I park at the exit of the street and go for them?" The protester denied without saying words, gesturing to his companions to make way for the car.
Super happy to have met the group of kind young people, Alanna parked next to the roundabout, closing the car and running to the restaurant with the blinds down. Accustomed to the situation, Alanna used her copy of the main keys to open the employee door, screaming as she moved through the kitchen. "Daddy! Mom! Where are you?"
"At the bar, dear!" Zara shouted back as well as the family (And specifically the two of them) used to do, lowering the volume of the television to make themselves heard better. Her mother was not lying at all, both Zara and Roland were sitting at the bar as if they were two customers, drinking a coffee each with enough alcohol according to what the smell revealed to Alanna. On the flat television in the corner they were giving a live report about the dome, or rather the two half parts of it.
"Mom, dad ... what are you doing? So early? Have you forgotten that now it's your turn to meet Anne or what?!"Alanna chided her parents, turning to see what was making their expressions so grim.
Transported 100 feets above the ground by almost a five dozens of transport planes and the two largest aircraft that the defense department possesses, two halves of a completely opaque hemisphere were advancing slowly. According to the posters that were appearing at the bottom of the screen, the dome was designed to contain 77.2 square miles (200 square kilometres) and with a general height of 1115.49 feet... something that made Alanna even more frightened than the mere vision of the dome.
"You have missed it, but a while ago they said that the dome is much lighter than it seems, to the point that more than half of the planes are just to ensure that the structure does not move too much. If it werent for us, that dome would seem like the best American engineering work ever seen ..." Roland said sipping all that was left of coffee, not bothering to wipe his lips afterwards.
"It's much bigger than I thought it would be ..." Zara continued to drink her own coffee, getting up to offer a can of cocacola without caffeine to her daughter. "We are not such a big city, are we? 200 kilometers is too much for us ..."
"You and your kilometers ... Right now the land of the city of Brightside is 15,44 square miles if I understand correctly" Roland offered a seat to his daughter, moving one to the side so that Alanna would sit between them. "So even though General Black was going to build a military base next to the city, there is still too much space left and I dont like that at all ..."
Alanna took the can from her mother's hands, opening it and drinking half a can directly, hitting it against the bar while the first mother sighed. "If you dont like it, dad ... it's terribly bad"
"Now I think more for my granddaughter than for us, and I am sure that the government wouldnt give us so much ground if it were to be a short time under the leadership. If you girls wait a moment, I'll get my jacket to go, I cant wait to see Anne for the first time" Roland made the gesture of removing his hat, getting upstairs to look for his things.
"Your father has spent a very bad night, all the time looking for ways to give Anne the pleasures of the outside if the dome is more than a year ... I hope you dont mind, my love" Zara apologized on behalf of her husband, something that Alanna didnt consent for a second.
"Mom! Dont ask for forgiveness for something nice! To think that Dad is so involved with a little person he doesnt know yet ... is something my little heart cant stand! And I've already stolen it from two sides!" Alanna buried her head on the bar, letting her father come out of the corner of the stairs. "Are you ready to meet your granddaughter?"
(19:50 in the afternoon, 10 minutes for the closed dome, Park Boulevard)
"Dad, how long does the pizza have to be in the oven?"
"Who loves you, Anne? Who loves you? I, I love you"
"Dad Roland... this recipe says that pizza has to be between 25 and 30 minutes ... but you have made us put it at 30 degrees less..."
"Girls" Roland got up from the couch with Anne still in his arms, rocking her as he went to the kitchen where her daughters were beginning to despair. "I'm spoiling my granddaughter... cant you take care of the pizza alone?"
Alanna and Erika looked at each other, holding their tongues as much as possible so as not to raise their voices before the man who had just changed the recipe, not one or two, but four different times to the point of also changing the temperature of the oven. Not that it was the first time (having a father cook has those things), but it was the first time that the couple couldnt complain about having their daughter in front of them.
"Your mothers arent attentive, Anne. True, no? Of course not!" In a gesture that although tender did not help with what he was saying, Roland lifted Anne up to face her face, rubbing her tiny button nose with two fingers.
While the grandfather returned to the sofa with his granddaughter in arms leaving the young couple in silence (of their own accord), the sound of the cistern of the bathroom indicating that Zara had finished was the saving beacon for the wild sea of r03;r03;indignation. "Go to the sofa with your daughter, I take care of the pizza" Zara said grabbing her daughter and daughter-in-law by the shoulder, pushing them away from the kitchen.
Before sitting down, Erika and Alanna leaned out the window before lowering the shutter so that not even the slightest drop in temperature could be seen, seeing the gigantic dome that was already covering both sides of the Brightside sky. (Leaving only one slit between both sections that will close at eight o'clock)
The inner part of the dome was made with the most powerful holographic screen in the world, showing for the moment a message of gratitude for its understanding to the citizens of Brightside. "We're going to live under something so big?... It's pretty scary ..." Alanna approached her wife, positioning herself under Erika's arm to curl up against her.
"That seems ... I recognize that it is much wilder seen close to what I expected" Erika decided it was better to stop looking at it, closing the blinds and sitting next to Roland and Erika on the sofa. Not a second later did Anne stir up to her mothers as soon as she had them in range of vision, forcing her grandfather to give her (quite annoyed by it) to their mothers, who seated her between them with a cushion to hold her back.
Maybe the baby didnt show many emotions (or rather, she still did not have the full range of expressions at her disposal), but Anne's smile was more than enough to know that at least she enjoyed being with her mothers during dinner.
"It's time, family..." Roland notified his family as he switched to the first television station to watch the terrible event live.
(Brightside, Heritage Lane: 20:00 in the afternoon, January 3)
"Brothers and compatriots! I thank all of you who are here today and those who see us from your homes-" William Black broke away from the rostrum, taking the microphone in his hands as he moved to the edge of the stage trying to keep his eyes from the two titanic structures that were closing slowly. "I wish it were in other circumstances, I hope the situation lends itself to more joy more typical of this beginning of the year; but we must all understand what we are facing! Our city has been attacked with an unknown virus, and although it hasnt caused changes in our lives we must be aware that everyone, including myself, are carriers of it.
For the sake of our health and our nation, today we must all make a great sacrifice to contain the virus before it can be activated! Trust me in the same way that I trust all of you, trust that our greatest minds will find the answer and cure us as soon as possible! Trust ... I can only ask you that, trust that soon we will see the sunrise again ... I promise you"
The general said in a voice lower and lower, kneeling in an apologetic gesture before the crowd that by the worried expressions of the soldiers the scenario was not planned. The hour had arrived, all technicians placed inside and outside the dome starting the closing. The rail that surrounded all the designated territory was closing around the dome, pressing until completely covering the city.
KLANK!!!!!!!!!
"Have faith ..." Brightside's temperature began to rise slowly, reaching 21 degrees to the surprise of everyone. The sky of the dome began to light up as if it were the night sky, creating even a spotlight to replace the moon from which people had just said goodbye. "Have faith in me, for I have sworn to protect you until the end"
People continued to look at the sky, some with fear and others fascinated by how full of stars was the projection. People went out to the balconies, looking out to see how a shower of stars illuminated the Brightside sky.
William sighed to himself, watching the sky in search of the energy to trust his own words. The resolution of the general was total, because these people were not only known from the same city.
They were from this same night his own family. And as a family they would take care of each other until the dawn came back to receive them.