Page 3

A loud, rumbling sound disrupted Aurora Fitzgibbon’s painting time. She was in the kitchen with her father, Jace. They both had their easels situated in front of the sliding glass door and were attempting to paint pictures of the backyard. She was focused on the patio table with its bright green and white striped umbrella and the swimming pool with its crystal clear blue water. “Is that funder?” Aurora asked.

Jace shook his head. “I don’t think so. The sun is out and there’s not a cloud in the sky.”

“Maybe its dry funder.” Aurora loved learning about the weather. It was something she and her Daddy Kevin talked about a lot. Her favorite thing was to watch weather videos on YouTube.

“It could be, my little weather bug,” Jace agreed.

“I’m a ladybug!” Aurora announced, dipping her paintbrush into the red puddle on her palette and added several ladybugs to her painting. They were just perfect. Aurora took a deep breath. She loved the sound of silence.

Sometimes noises made her feel weird, like there was something burrowing under her skin. There were other times when Aurora didn’t like the way clothes felt and had to change into something softer. Her Daddies explained that she had sensory issues that a lot of the other kids at school didn’t have and wouldn’t understand. There were times when sound overwhelmed her, making her feel confused and scared, but for the moment, she was enjoying the beautiful day with her father.

A second rumble sounded, making Aurora frown. The thunder stopped seconds after it started. “Do you think we should check the weather to see if it’s gonna rain?” Aurora asked.

“We can if you want.” Jace pulled out his phone and handed it to his six-year-old daughter, who quickly navigated to a website with live radar. She saw there were no storms in or around Salem and pinched the map of Massachusetts, so she could see what weather was coming from the west. “Nothing. Rats.”

“You know who you remind me of?” Jace asked.

“Wonder Woman!” Aurora guessed. She loved the superhero’s red cape and her long dark curls. Aurora thought adding the superhero to her painting would make it even better than it already was.

“You remind me of Wonder Woman every day, but I was thinking that you checking on the weather reminds me of Daddy Kevin.”

Aurora’s excitement crumpled, along with the look on her face. “I’m not grumpy!”

Jace laughed. “No, I didn’t mean that. When you were looking into the weather you were acting like a detective, just like Daddy Kevin.”

“Ohhhh!” Joy swelled in Aurora’s heart. She wanted so much to be like her Daddy, but didn’t think she was brave enough to be a detective. “Do you think I can be a detective someday?”

“Of course you can! You can be anything you want to be, little ladybug. What if you became a meteorologist like we see on television?”

Aurora’s eyes widened. Daddy Kevin had showed her several videos of storm chasers in Oklahomer, who drove around to make videos of twisters. There was even a movie called Twister her daddy let her watch. It was a little scary, but very exciting. She’d laughed so hard during the scene with the cow. “I could be a weather reporter like those people who stand in the middle of a hurricane or who chase tornadoes?”

“You could! UMass has a program in Lowell, which is only about forty-five minutes from here.” Jace sounded excited at the prospect of Aurora going to college in Massachusetts.

“Really?” Aurora made up her mind. She was going to be a meteorologist when she grew up. “Can we go to Oklahomer and chase twisters together?”

“No way!” Jace snorted. “I’m too scared to do that.”

“I’m not!” Aurora crowed. “I’m super brave.” Sometimes Aurora felt scared, but when that happened, she repeated the little rhyme her father taught her. I’m okay. Let’s go play. Sometimes Everly said it along with her.

“You sure are, honey.” Jace opened his mouth to speak, but another rumble interrupted him.

Aurora set her paints down on the table. “I’m gonna be a detective, just like Daddy and figure out where that noise is coming from.” She ran toward the fridge and listened for the sound of the ice maker. Sometimes the sound made her jump. “I don’t hear anything. It’s not the ‘fridgerator.

“What about the laundry room? Is it the dryer?” Jace asked.

“Daddy, I’m the detective. I have to figure out the case by myself.” With a determined look on her face Aurora had to admit her father’s idea was a good one. He was one smart cookie.

“Huh, well Daddy has Uncle Ronan and Jude to help him.” Daddy Jace leaned against the fridge and offered his daughter a smile.

“Yeah, but they’re just sidekicks .” If Aurora had a nickel for every time her Daddy said that word about her uncles, she’d be able to buy a sparkly purple unicorn and a barn to keep her in.

“Can I be your sidekick?” Jace asked with a giggle.

“Okay, but you leave the detecting to me. You can get me a juice box if you want to help me solve the mystery.” Daddy Kevin talked about how Uncle Ronan was always going out to get drinks for everyone. It was a pretty important job.

“Here you go, Detective Fitzgibbon.” Jace handed Aurora an apple juice box with the straw sticking out.

She took a refreshing sip and handed it back to Jace. Aurora could definitely see why a sidekick was important to this mission. She’d have to tell Uncle Ronan the next time she saw him.

With a bit more energy, Aurora ran into the laundry room. The light was shut off and both the washer and the dryer were quiet and dark. She liked being in the laundry room when the dryer was turned on. It was warm and cozy and super fun to watch the clothes do gymnastics. “Nope, not the laundry room. What else could be making the noise?”

“Well, I’m just a sidekick, not a detective, but there’s a room or two downstairs that we haven’t searched for clues.”

“Good thinking! Let’s check the bathroom. Lots of rumbles come from in there.” Aurora giggled and ran on tiptoes out of the laundry room.

“Yeah, especially when your father is in there on taco night.” Jace rolled his eyes.

Aurora’s nose wrinkled. “Daddy is a stink monster!”

“No arguments here,” Jace agreed.

Aurora hurried to the bathroom, but like the laundry room, it was empty and quiet. “Wow, being a detective is hard work.”

“Do you want some more juice?” Jace offered his daughter the box, as another loud rumble sounded.

Aurora took a long sip. Daddy Jace said there were more rooms downstairs to check out. Which one was next? “The living room! That’s where we’re going to investigate.”

“That’s a great plan, boss.”

Aurora ran across the kitchen, her footsteps were loud on the tile floor. When she got to the living room, she stood absolutely still and listened. After a few seconds, she heard another rumble. Running to the sofa, she found her Daddy Kevin sound asleep. There was no sound coming from him.

“Rats!” Aurora felt like stomping her feet with frustration, but that wasn’t something a detective would do. She took a seat on the edge of the sofa to think about her next move, when a loud rumble came from Kevin. “Aha! The mystery is solved.”

Kevin’s green eyes popped open and he grabbed Aurora, tickling her.

“Daddy!” Aurora laughed, loving her father’s strong arms around her. She always felt safe with him. “I did it!”

“You solved .” Jace offered her a high five.

“I’m so proud of you.” Kevin sat up and settled Aurora in his lap. “Do you know what we do when we solve a big case at work?”

Aurora shook her head. She hoped a trip to the toy store was involved.

“We get ice cream!” Kevin announced.

“I love ice cream! I want mint chocolate chip with a cone on top.” Aurora loved ice cream so much, she wanted to marry it.

“Me too!” Kevin agreed.

“Me three!” Jace laughed.

Aurora loved it when she and her daddies twinned together. “I’ll get my shoes!” Aurora ran toward the front door and grabbed her favorite purple sandals. She sat on the bottom step to put them on. Her body buzzed with excitement over solving her first big case, but she was confused. “Daddy, I wanted to be a meteorologist, but now I want to be a detective. What do I do?”

“Weather is a mystery, right?” Daddy Kevin asked. Meteorologists have to figure out if it’s going to be cold enough to snow or if a hurricane will develop or if conditions are right for tornadoes to form. Sounds to me like a weather girl is a detective.”

“You’re right!” Aurora was so excited. “I’m gonna be a weather girl detective. I’ll be on television and have a podcast and sign autographs and chase tornadoes!”

“Well, that sounds like a lot of work,” Daddy Jace said. “I’m guessing you’ll need two scoops of ice cream for extra energy.”

“With chocolate sprinkles!” Aurora had never felt so proud of herself. She couldn’t wait to tell her friends about solving .