The Coffee Shop (Hamilton Lams Modern AU) **IN EDITING**

Chapter 29

Alexander's POV

~Flashback~

"Where is he? Daddy couldn't have gone far, right?" my foster sister asked. She was only five, and hadn't seen as many hurricanes as I have, so she was understandably scared. Most hurricanes, however, were usually nothing. "I'm sure he's okay," I told her, even though I wasn't sure. This hurricane seemed worse than anything I'd seen, but I was trying to convince myself it only started this way. The twins, my foster brother and sister who were 19, were pacing nervously and talking. "How about we go look? We'll stick together, okay?" We all nodded, as my foster mom seemed to know what she was doing. After about five minutes of looking, the water started to rise. It had been up to my ankles, but it was getting deeper. Next thing I knew, I wasn't with my foster family. Great. I lost them, I lost my mom, I lost my dad, I don't even know if my brother's alive. He's probably being swept away by the storm.. I was almost fully submerged in the water, and it was close to knocking me off my feet. With a gust of wind, I was pulled away by the water, my head going under and my vision getting blurry. I couldn't see or get up to the top for air. I noticed bubbles coming out of my mouth as my vision darkened, turning to blackness.

~Flashback Over~

I sat up in a panic next to John, tears streaming down my face. "Alex! You were crying, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare? What happened?" I couldn't speak. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't wanna speak, as if I did I'd probably start crying. I felt Jackie's arms wrap around me and he held me close to him. I started crying, just uncontrollably crying. Crap. I can't let anyone see me like this- oh god the kids are here. "W-where are the kids?" I asked. "My room. I let them use my iPad and computer, so Henry and Mary-Ellie are playing Minecraft while James is on his phone," he told me. I nodded a little, feeling fresh tears spill out. "It's okay, Alex. It's okay. There's nothing to worry about, I promise. We don't get hurricanes in New York, and if we do it's like a category 1. I promise it's just a bad thunderstorm," he assured me. "What if it's not just a bad thunderstorm? What if it's the one-in-a-million time New York gets a hurricane? Or say it is just a storm, what if lightning strikes nearby and causes a fire?" All these 'what ifs' were spiraling in my head. "None of that's gonna happen, okay? And if anything bad does happen, I'll make sure you're okay." I curled up on top of him, just wanting to snuggle with him. I felt myself relax as all the negative thoughts I'd been having were pushed to the back of my mind as the overwhelming exhaustion took over (I haven't really slept in a little over a week, what'd you expect). This is nice. I could stay like this for a while.

~

Jackie's arms were loosely wrapped around me as I scrolled through YouTube on my phone. I hadn't been able to fall asleep, so I'd been on my phone for the past hour or so. John was sound asleep, and it was pretty cute to see him like this, considering most times I'm awake when he's asleep are when I'm pulling all-nighters, and he's usually upset with me for doing so. I was more relaxed, although I'd still flinch every time thunder echoed through the apartment. What's that noise? I wondered. It wasn't thunder, it sounded more like arguing. Probably the kids. I should go check on them. I carefully got up, trying my best not to wake John. I went into his room, only to find Mary-Ellie screaming at Henry. John's iPad was on the floor, and it looked like she'd thrown it down. "Alex! She threw Jackie's iPad down because we were playing Roblox and I got her once. She got me more than ten times but I didn't rage quit!" Henry explained. "Okay, but you have to remember she's younger than you and she can get angry more easily. Mary-Ellie, you shouldn't have thrown the iPad down. Do you realize you could've broken it? It's not yours," I told them. James was just sitting there on his phone, seemingly unaware of everything. "James, didn't you see what was happening?" I asked. He looked up at me and shook his head. I sighed and turned back to the younger two. "Look, I don't know if you two realize this, but John and I are exhausted from all of this. I haven't properly slept in over a week because I've been prepping for the case. The trial is finally over, but you two come in and act like you own the place, arguing all the time. And then, when your brother finally lets you use his things, you nearly break something that would cost a fortune to fix. You know what he was doing before you guys came? He was on Amazon, buying you guys your own phones and iPads. I expected better of you guys, considering where you're coming from. John is sound asleep right now, unaware of any of this. Let's try to keep it that way for as long as we can, okay?" They just nodded, staring at me.

2 Hours Later

The kids were asleep (finally, James was on the couch and the other two were in the extra room), and I was telling John about what happened with the kids. "Alex, I know they're a bit frustrating, but cut them some slack. This is the first time in their lives they've been allowed to be kids," he told me. "And I'm starting to think this was a bad idea.." he added. "Why's that?" I asked. "Because I'll have to go out of my way to control myself and you to make sure we don't pull any triggers. They might be kids, but they'll still have some triggers. I'm so scared I'm gonna end up screaming at them and act like my dad and-" he cut himself off, nearly in tears. "You're nothing like your dad. I know it's kinda scary, thinking that you might act like him, but just relax. I know you, and you've never snapped before. And I'm sure this situation is gonna get better. Like you said, it's the first time in their lives that they've gotten to be kids. They'll learn what is and isn't okay," I assured him. "Promise..?" I nodded. "Promise."