Story 23 - Part 1 - Rainbow after Rain

Carmine leaned against the building as he took a few deep breaths and stretched out a little from the sprinting he had just done. The drizzling rain felt good, even though he had been out running long enough to become fairly soaked. He had forgotten his watch, so he was not sure how long he had been running. It was some time early morning, and normal people would be getting up in a few hours.

“It’s raining,” a voice cried out as the door was opened. “How did I let you talk me into this?”

“Jordan,” Boomer laughed as he stepped out into the rain. “If you recall, it was Vire who talked you into training with me for the marathon.”

“I don’t do marathons,” Jordan grumbled. “And what are you doing out here, Carmine?”

“I decided to go for a jog,” Carmine said as he stretched. “I happened to wind up in this area and was thinking about asking for a glass of water. I figured you would all still be asleep, though.”

“Normally, yes,” Jordan sighed. “I’ll get you a glass. Why don’t you come inside for a little bit?”

“It’s really no big deal,” Carmine said.

“We can wait,” Boomer grinned. “Are you planning on entering the marathon? You rarely do and yet you run all the time.”

“I’ll think about it,” Carmine said as he followed the men into the lobby.

Boomer joined Carmine in stretching out a bit as Jordan walked off to get Carmine some water. Carmine stayed in the main hallway since he was dripping wet. He drained the glass of water and then stretched some more. He decided to join the other two for part of their run, using their warm up as his cool down.

“Despite all your complaining,” Carmine observed, “you really do want to run the marathon.”

“Vi’s fault,” Jordan yawned. “And I need to think some things out.”

“You know, adoption is pretty awesome,” Boomer said. “Tash and I are planning on adopting again, which is why we’ve been talking about moving out. More kids means more space.”

“Well, that explains why Vire’s been talking about remodeling the place again,” Jordan chuckled as they started out with a simple jog. “Kids aren’t the problem. It’s me being a father that’s a little worrisome, not to mention if the kid is young enough I could be their grandfather. Now that’s just weird.”

“You’re Tech’s dad now,” Boomer inputted. “You seem to be doing fine with that.”

“Tech and I don’t have a father/son relationship,” Jordan sighed. “I don’t know why, but fatherhood scares me more than going through an unmarked minefield, while under fire.”

“That’s because it can be just as unpredictable,” Carmine said. “But it’s worth it. Now matter how long or short a time it is.”

Jordan looked over at his in-law with mild surprise. Carmine knew that Vire had told Jordan everything about his wife and son, but he had undoubtedly been told to never bring up the subject. Carmine used to have a hard time with talking about it, but now he had been feeling better about being more open on the subject. That and running all night due to insomnia certainly helped him think things through.

“So are you going to start dating, finally?” Boomer asked bluntly.

“Yes,” Carmine said. “You can start hooking me up with blind dates. Same for you Jordan.”

“I don’t know any, but Vi will be glad to here this,” Jordan replied. “And about time it stopped raining.”

Carmine looked up and grinned as he saw the prismatic colors reflecting through the street lights and the sky. He always liked rainbows, which is why he never minded the rain. It was why he joked that his favorite color was clear. His parents had been the same way, though his mother probably liked the rain more.

“Hey,” Boomer called out. “Isn’t that the pawn shop you work at?”

“Yes,” Carmine answered, and then he sighed. “And someone either has or is robbing it.”