The Arsonist

December 25th... 15 years later

Christmas morning had finally come. The two teenagers ran down the stairs to find the presents stuffed under the tree.

“Mom! Dad! Hurry up! I wanna open my presents!” Daniel, the boy, yelled.

“Honey, you're 17, yet you act like a 2 year old sometimes.” Khloe laughed, walking down the stairs. Jake yawned and followed behind her.

“We're waiting till your brother gets up, hun. Remember?” She said, situating herself on the old recliner.

“I'm making coffee, love. Do you want any?” Jake asked her. She nodded.

“Come on, mom, can't we open just one?” Sarah asked. Khloe rolled her eyes.

“Alright, alright, just one. Then we're waiting until Junior wakes up to open the rest.”

The two teens smiled and dug into the presents, trying to find one for them to open. Khloe watched them. She loved just sitting back, watching her children be themselves. Jake brought back her coffee and she smiled. She took a sip, set the cup down, and scooped up the black fluffball that had come prancing by. “Hi, there, Missy.” She said, stroking the kitten’s soft fur.

Jake sat down on the couch that the 20 year old was sleeping on. He was sprawled out in his boxers and tank top with the blanket half on him, and he was snoring up a storm. Jake shook his leg to wake him up.

“Oh honey, don't wake him. Let him sleep, he had a long shift yesterday.” Khloe said, sympathetically.

“Dad… Stop...” He murmured in his sleep. Jake scooped up the giant kid and held onto him. Even if his kids had grown up and were much too old to be held, they were still his kids.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Sarah laughed.

“So weird…” Daniel said quietly to himself, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“When is he moving out, mom?” Sarah turned to her mother.

“Still a few weeks yet, hun. Won't you miss your brother when he's gone, though?”

“I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about dad.” She smiled playfully.

“Hey, watch it missy, I can take all your presents away in a heartbeat.” Jake joked back at her.

“Alright alright, let’s open our gifts!” Khloe exclaimed. Junior hopped up and fell to the floor with his siblings.

“I'm ready.” He said, smiling.

“Oh, of course, NOW he gets up!” Khloe laughed and got down on the floor with her children.

She picked up a neatly wrapped gift with a card on it, and read the label.

“Hey, babe, this is from the Conwells. It’s to you.” She handed the gift to him. It felt soft and squishy, like cloth. All his children gathered around him with confused looks on their faces as he opened the envelope. He took out a card with a very DIY feel to it. It was made from cardstock, and on the front, it had a large A with flames around it, printed like a superhero symbol. He opened it to reveal a message written by what looked like young kid’s handwriting. It read:

“Mr. Arsonist, thank you for saving us. You are our hero.” He sat the card down next to him and he tore into the gift. A photo fell out of the Conwell family. It was a man, a woman, and a small kid. He read on the back: “It’s been over fifteen years since you saved my wife and we recently had our little miracle. I never would have had her without you. You are our hero. Love to you; Henry, Lorraine, and Mackenzie Conwell” Jake was crying already. He opened the gift more and took out what seemed to be a costume. He held it out in front of him but it was backwards.

“Dad, it’s an ‘A’,” Sarah explained. He turned it over to reveal a neatly, stylish A logo and he knew what it was for. He started to sob. Of all the years he’s been called a villain, a vigilante, a criminal… Now, he felt like a hero. Not just a simple hero but a superhero. To the world and society but most importantly, to his family.

         Junior hugged his dad along with Sarah and Daniel and Khloe. “You’ll always be our hero, dad.”

He was The Arsonist, and he always will be. Not a murderer, not a vigilante, but a hero.