Hero

May 2020:
Sinjin Sutton is 40, Audrey is 30
(Sunny Lloyd is 61, Tucker Craig is 32, Violet is 10, Baine Austin is 11)

Sinjin can honestly say that he loves his job. He was never one of those people who knew from a young age what they wanted to do. He used to be envious of the kids at school who swore that they would doctors or lawyers or teachers or writers. Sinjin never had a clear idea of what he wanted or could do.

Then his “lost” years came along and then rehab. Jumping from one dead end job to another became a sort of career for him. But Audrey made him want more, made him want a job he could be proud of, a real career he could work hard at.

He’s called to a small kitchen fire at his in-laws’ house. Sunny is on the front lawn, freaking out. She’s already gotten Sasha out of the house while Ian and Eric are still inside, trying to put the flames out before anything major is ruined.

“Thank you!” Sunny gushes once Sinjin has the small grease fire out. She smiles at him like he’s a hero. Sinjin doesn’t really feel like a hero, he’s just doing his job, but he does feel proud of the work he does.

“This is a sight I love coming home to,” Audrey says as she walks into the house that night. “A hot fire fighter in the kitchen, making my dinner.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Sinjin says. “It’s only salad.”

“I got called to a fire at your mom’s house today,” Sinjin tells her.

Audrey nearly chokes on the mouthful of salad. “Oh my god, what? Why didn’t you call me? Are Mom and Eric okay?”

“Everyone is fine,” Sinjin assures her. “I didn’t call you because your mom said not to. It wasn’t a big deal, just a little grease fire that was contained to the stove. Just some minor smoke damage. I put the fire out quickly.”

Audrey smiles at him. “My hero,” she says.

Sinjin can’t help the blush that creeps up his neck. “It was nothing, just doing my job.”

After dinner, they clean up the dishes together and then cuddle on the couch. Audrey snuggles close to him, enjoying the feel of his solid body next to her.

“I should probably go change,” Sinjin says. “I smell like smoke. And sweat.”

“No, stay right here,” Audrey tells him, leaning closer. “I’m enjoying my hero fire fighter too much.”

Audrey stays busy at the hospital and has taken on a few new patients. But she still sees some of her old patients, including eleven-year-old Baine Austin.

“Stepparents really aren’t that bad, once you get to know them,” Audrey tells Baine. They don’t talk about his mom much anymore, but they do talk a lot about his dad and his stepmom. “Your dad thinks that Viola is a good addition to your family. Maybe you should trust his judgment and get to know her.”

Baine hops off the couch. “I think it’s time to go,” he says.

Audrey nods. “It is. I’ll see you next week, okay?”

She sighs as she watches him leave the room. Even after all this time, Audrey just isn’t sure how well she’s getting through to Baine or if her talks with him are even helping at all. He’s very hard to read and insists on keeping himself distanced. The times she manages to get through his walls are few and far between.

Sinjin’s heart races as he runs toward the truck where his coworkers are already scrambling onboard. The call just came through–large house fire, flames everywhere.

The owner–Tucker Craig–is called out of work by a neighbor and he arrives just as the fire fighters are fighting the blaze.

Sinjin fights his way inside where the flames are much worse. They’ve been told no one was home–the adults at work and the daughter at school–but Sinjin does a brief scan of the area for any victims as he works at extinguishing the fire from inside.

The rest of the family arrives home and gathers on the sidewalk with neighbors and passersby.

At last, the flames are out and the family is allowed inside to inspect the damage once it’s deemed safe.

“Why did this happen?” Violet asks.

Sinjin doesn’t have an answer. Faulty wiring, overloaded circuit…who knows. But he knows Violet doesn’t want to know the technical reasons, she’s asking why this had to happen to her family, to her home?

“I don’t know,” he tells her honestly. “I’m sorry.”

When he gets home, Audrey is already there and he sweeps her into a tight hug.

“I’m happy to see you too,” she says laughing.

Sinjin kisses her cheek, happy to be home, where everything is safe and as it should be, where there are no worries for the moment other than what’s for dinner.

————————————–

• The house fire seems like an ROS, but it wasn’t. It was game-generated while I was playing Audrey and Sinjin. I had mentioned this fire on Twitter back when it happened and was asked if the house was still burned when I played the Craig household. It was, even after changing households a few times, the items were still burned and needed to be replaced.
• The “fire” at Sunny and Eric’s house was a gnome attack. But since I don’t want garden gnomes running rampant around Pine Hollow, I rewrote it as a kitchen fire. I was surprised to find Ian there visiting with little Sasha when I sent Sinjin to deal with the gnomes. How cute that he was taking his daughter to visit her grandparents all on his own!
• No babies for these two yet. Neither has a wish for a baby and risky woohoo didn’t result in a pregnancy this round. I’d be happy to see them have at least one, but I’m trying not to interfere.
• Been dealing with really bad allergies that have left me exhausted this past week, so I’ve been slow to post and comment.
  

Advertisement