Superpowers

Austin didn’t know it yet, but his “superpowers” wouldn’t come into play until the weekend. This weekend was his time with Kaydence, starting tonight. She was a generally well-behaved young girl, at school and at home. Her K-5 years were spent at the local all-girls Catholic school, St. Margaret Academy. It was actually Sofia’s idea to send her to an all-girls school so that she could have the traditional education without being distracted by boys her age. But now that she was 11, Austin believed she was old enough to go to a regular school, whether or not she would get “distracted” by boys.

Kaydence was a stellar student who made straight A’s and was pretty popular with her peers. She was involved with dance, softball, and playing the piano. She’d learned to play the piano when she was just five at St. Margaret Academy, and it became a natural talent and passion for her. Because Austin worked until five every week, he never had the chance to pick Kaydence up from school, so now that he and Sofia were separated, she would offer to stay with Kaydence until Austin came home. That way, Kaydence wasn’t completely alone and unattended in the house. Their split was pretty recent, so they had yet to arrange a schedule for picking Kaydence up from school or from her extracurricular activities.

When Austin came home, he was slightly exhausted, but he tried to put on a brave face for his little girl. If there was anything he and Sofia actually did right when they were together, it was having that beautiful little miracle sitting in front of him, doodling in her little notebook while being the apple of her parents’ eyes. When she was little and at St. Margaret Academy, she’d gone by her hyphenated last name: Kaydence Perussci-Gregory. But now that she was older, Austin suggested it was better that she be referred to as Kaydence Gregory instead, dropping the Perussci as her mother’s maiden name. He didn’t think it was necessary for Kaydence to show off her partial Italian heritage. She wasn’t even fluent in it, anyway, even though Austin was. Kaydence Gregory sounded much easier to say than Kaydence Perussci or Kaydence Perussci-Gregory.

Kaydence got up to give her father a warm, loving embrace. “How was work today, Daddy?” she asked.

Austin caressed her hair. “It was great, sweetie. How was school today?”

“It was good, but thank goodness it’s Friday. It felt like an eternity for Friday to be here.”

Austin chuckled, and Sofia gave her a loving smile. Sofia gave Austin a hug. “I’m glad work went well. We’re gonna have to arrange a schedule to pick her up, you know.”

“Yeah, you’re right, sweetie. We have to figure something out soon, don’t we?”

“Yes… That’s exactly what I’ve been saying for the past year since…” Sofia didn’t want to say the word in front of Kaydence. “Since, you know. But we’ll talk more about this later… For real this time.”

“Okay, babe.” She and Austin exchanged a quick little kiss on the lips. Sofia grabbed her purse and jacket and gave Kaydence a warm goodbye hug.

“I’ll see you next week, mia cara,” Sofia said to her. Kaydence gave her a confused glance, as if she didn’t know what that phrase meant. “That means, my love, sweetie.”

“Oh, sorry, Mom.” Kaydence chuckled.

“It’s okay, love.” Sofia was a little hurt that Austin had never made a single attempt to teach Kaydence Italian. Austin escorted her out to her car, and she glared at him. “You know you really should be teaching our daughter Italian. That is her mother language, after all. Dropping my maiden name from her last name is one thing, but to not make time to teach it to her? That’s a new low, coming from you, Austin Gregory.”

Austin shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, aren’t they supposed to be teaching her that in school? It shouldn’t matter whether she knows it or not, if that’s one of the languages they offer.”

Sofia shook her head. “You just don’t get it, and I don’t have time to explain. You just do your thing with her, but you never, ever strip a child of their ethnic identity. Ever. You’d think you’d know better, Austin.”

“Okay, I promise I’ll teach it to her someday. Okay? Maybe tomorrow, before she goes off to Cassidy’s house for their sleepover. We’ll have all the time in the world to do that.”

“Start tonight. With a few simple words and phrases, like ‘Hello’ and ‘How are you.’ Can you do that, or should I regret leaving her with you and I can have her again this weekend?”

Austin didn’t want to lose spending quality time with his daughter. “No, no, I promise I’ll start tonight. Please, Sofia? Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

Sofia smirked, as if she were proud of herself for her ability to manipulate the father of her child. “That’s exactly what I thought you’d say.” She gave him a final farewell kiss on the cheek as she stepped into her car. She and Austin waved to each other as he watched her drive off. She was now living a half-hour away in Mesa, with one of her brothers with his family. As far as Austin was concerned, she was not seeing anyone new yet… And neither was he. She was only 36, and she was still fairly young and attractive enough to catch the eye of any new man.

As for Austin, he was in his early 40s, but he was still fairly attractive, as well. He hadn’t gotten the stereotypical “dad bod” yet; what with his constant work-outs at the gym every weekend and his occasional jogs at the park, he always maintained his physique. He was approximately 6’2, which was a perfect complement to Sofia’s sexy 5’7, the reason for his towering over her. His eyes were his best features, the first thing women would notice about him. Blue as the sky, and they were also bright and kind, like Austin himself. And for his early 40s, he had a slight gray in his hair, but women–even Kate–still found him pretty irresistible. He was graying in style… Which would be a cardinal sin for women. He was still attractive and desirable, and the fact that he had a young daughter would make him a more suitable candidate for women who loved children. Any woman who wanted to be with him had to accept Kaydence, and whoever disputed that was a dealbreaker for him because Kaydence was always his No. 1 priority, his flesh and blood, so any good woman had to accept her as well as Austin.

And speaking of Kaydence… Austin went back inside, shut the door and asked his precious little girl, “Are you ready for us to go grab some dinner?”

“Can I at least change first?” Kaydence smiled.

Austin gave her a knowing glance. “Why… You planning to look good for a special someone?”

Kaydence rolled her eyes. “Ew, Dad, no. Of course not… Can’t a girl just choose to look nice for a dinner out with her dad?”

Austin shrugged. “Ah, I suppose you make a great point there. Go.” He looked at his watch. It was almost 5:30. “I give you 10 minutes, and we’re outta here. Deal?”

“Deal.” Kaydence gave a thumbs-up for approval before going up to her room to change into nicer clothes. Within five minutes, she was set and ready to go.

Austin and Kaydence set out in his Honda, making their way to the local diner, Chastity’s, which was open 24/7. On Fridays, particularly in the evenings, as well as on the weekends, Chastity’s tended to get pretty busy because it was just that time of the week already. Austin loved coming to this diner because it was where he could unwind and get some downtime with his friends after work, on most occasions. Sometimes, he just wanted to have a little time to himself. And other times, he wanted to spend family time with the two lovely ladies in his life: Sofia and Kaydence. Tonight, it was a father-daughter bonding moment between himself and Kaydence. A celebration of the fact that it was his turn with her this weekend.

For their meals, Austin ordered the steak with eggs–medium well and scrambled with a cup of coffee. Kaydence ordered the Patty Melt burger with large fries and a strawberry milkshake with whipped cream. She always loved whipped cream on her milkshakes. When they ever dined with Sofia, Sofia would act like a mother hen, monitoring Kaydence’s calorie intakes and disallowing her to order sweets like milkshakes, yet alone milkshakes with whipped cream. But thankfully, Sofia wasn’t around because it wasn’t her weekend. It was Austin’s, and he had every damn right to spoil his daughter to death if he wanted to. For dessert, they shared the scrumptious strawberry cheesecake. The cheesecake was undoubtedly the best dessert on the restaurant’s menu, which almost everyone seemed to order after a great meal. It was that good.

As they were waiting for the bill, it started becoming dark and cloudy outside, and suddenly rain poured down. It was very unexpected. There had not been any weather reports at all about rain or stormy weather that day. Then again, Phoenix weather was very strange, especially in the spring. The unexpected change in weather took everyone else by surprise, as well.

“Aw, shoot, it’s raining and I left the umbrella inside the car,” Austin groaned. “They didn’t even say it was gonna rain.”

“We can just use your jacket as an umbrella.” Kaydence smiled.

“Smart thinking. I like that. But before we leave, do you mind if I use the restroom quickly?”

“Not a problem, Dad.” Kaydence started putting on her jacket.

The moment that thunder rumbled, Austin found himself doing something he’d never expect to do: he sped like a bolt of lightning to the men’s room. Yes, super speed. That was one of his superpowers that he just utilized. He sped to the men’s room and back, just like that, in under a minute. He was as fast as Superman. Everyone else at the restaurant witnessed this, and they were in awe. Even Kaydence, who was just so dumbfounded that she’d dropped her phone on the ground and didn’t even bother to pick it up.

Austin was pretty laid-back about what he just did, acting as if it were no big deal. “I told you I’d use the men’s room quickly,” he said with a huge smile.

The rest of the patrons continued murmuring among themselves, wondering what they’d just witnessed that evening, as Austin and Kaydence left and with his super speed, rushed over to their vehicle before the rain got them wet. It was still storming outside, but fortunately Austin and Kaydence were able to make it back home in time before the rain caused any flooding. Kaydence was still awestruck by her father’s actions that evening, but Austin wanted her to promise not to tell her mother about any of it.

“What just happened tonight?” Kaydence asked as they arrived in the house.

“I don’t know,” Austin replied, “but whatever you do, you have to promise me you won’t mention a single word of this to your mother.”

“Why not?”

“Because, Kay, I asked you to. I don’t want to get into any trouble, nor do I want a reason for your mom to think I’m ‘unfit’ to take care of you. You and I both know that’s far from the truth, right? I am a good father, and I’d rather keep it that way, so please promise me you won’t tell her about tonight. Pinky swear?” He let out his pinky, to which Kaydence responded.

“Yes, I pinky swear not to tell her anything about this.”

“Thanks. ‘Cause I myself don’t even know what’s going on yet, so I’d rather take time to figure that out.”

“Totally understandable.” Kaydence smiled. “Can I ask you something, Dad?”

“Anything, Kay.”

“So, at school, there’s some kids talking about how they heard that the county is gonna be recruiting superheroes for the superhero organization or something. You know, in order to expand it. The county feels like there isn’t enough protection going around for everyone, especially in a time we’re living now with the increase of gun violence everywhere. I know it sounds like I’m throwing a lot at you, but basically what I’m asking is this… Do you think it’s possible to find any good superheroes around? You know, to help protect the town, the county, state… The country?”

Austin couldn’t help but chuckle. He found it amusing that the U.S. government thought that an organization based on superheroes would help to reduce most of humanity’s biggest problems. After all, Superheroes Inc. was a government agency based in Phoenix. “What, you mean like Superman curing world hunger or cancer, or putting an end to gun violence?”

“It’s not funny, Dad.” Kaydence scoffed. “This is serious. Every year, the organization recruits a lot of ordinary citizens they believe might be helpful in committing to save the community. But within a month or two, those people drop out for whatever reason. And they’re the ones with the special powers. Like, powers used to save other people in need, like an old person crossing the street or rescuing someone’s cat. The type of powers that you just used tonight to rush into the men’s room and back. Those are the people that are most likely to get recruited by the agency, but it’s a serious level of commitment. You’d have to prove yourself worthy of their trust, Dad, if you ever want to join them someday… With me.”

“Whoa there, sugar.” He considered the idea of joining the agency, although he was a bit curious as to how the organization could conceal his identity. And how joining this lifestyle might impact his relationship with Kaydence and their overall safety and well-being. “I wouldn’t want to make a freak show out of myself just yet. So, I’d rather this stay underwraps for now. I don’t want your mother to think the worst of me.”

“Oh, you know she doesn’t, Dad. You get to choose when and how you’ll disclose your secret identity to your loved ones. There’s never any pressure from this organization. And BTW, with what I just saw tonight at the restaurant, people are gonna start to think you’re already a part of the company. Whether you want them to know or not. I think it’s really cool that you showed off your magic powers, but just take some time to think about it for a while, Dad. No pressure, okay? In fact, you don’t even have to make a decision about anything just yet.”

“Okay, sweetie, I’ll think about it.” Austin gave her a gentle smile as he kissed her forehead. She was getting ready to head up to her room for the rest of the night. “If I say I’ll think about it, will you cut out all this superhero talk, for now?”

“Of course, Dad. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you, darling. Have a good night.”

“Thanks,” she said as she went up to her room.

As Kaydence went upstairs to take care of her evening routines–brush her teeth, wash up and change into her pajamas–Austin was in the living room, watching TV and thinking about what Kaydence had just said about getting involved with the company, Superheroes Inc. He wondered if his super speed had anything to do with the company’s plan to recruit more “heroes” every year. He decided to do some research on it and find out what he could.

Superheroes Inc. was founded in 1932, which was 85 years ago and had reached a major milestone this year. They were actively recruiting new heroes for the year, but for the past five months, they have not had much luck in getting any candidates. No ordinary citizen automatically believed they had any superhuman powers that the company was seeking. But Austin had one: super speed. But was that enough?

Austin was exhausted for the day. He’d had a long, busy day at work as usual, and an unusual experience at the diner with his so-called “superpowers”, and now he was discussing superhero matters with his 11-year-old daughter. That superhero stuff was sci-fi BS, anyway. Real life was nothing like that. He wasn’t Superman. He couldn’t save the world, even if he wanted to. He was only one person. How could one person possibly save all of humanity?

When Austin finally retired to bed that night, he didn’t know it, but he wasn’t the only one with superpowers… And there was an explanation for what would bring him together with six other amazing friends.