It was the worst winter storm in recent memory. The sub-zero temperatures mixed with the near constant snow had ice building up on power lines and knocking out power all over the city. Including my house. My mother-in-law was much luckier, when we called her to let her know we lost power, she told us she hadn't. My wife and I made the decision to brave the horrible traffic and try to make it to her place.
It wasn't easy to quickly pack a weeks worth of clothes and supplies for two adults and a two year old, but we somehow managed to maneuver around a dark and cold apartment using the flashlight app on our cellphones to get everything ready. We (meaning me) then had to manage to get everything (two suitcases and a car seat with a fussy and upset baby) into the car and out onto the nearly impassable roads. The city was doing it's best to keep the roads clear, but what was normally a twenty minute drive took nearly two hours.
"Thank you so much, mom." my wife, Fiona said when we were finally settled in.
"Of course. I know you would do the same for me." my mother-in-law, Kate said.
"It's bad out there," I said, "According to the radio, over 1,000 people have lost power, and at least twice that many are predicted to be out by tomorrow. It's fuckin' bad."
"Mike!" my wife said, gesturing to our son, who was busy chewing on his fingers.
"What? He's barely two years old." I said, "He's not even paying attention to me, he's trying to eat his hands."
We were off our normal schedules because going to work was not an option, so we took advantage of the time to sleep in. I woke up late one morning (around 10, which is late for me) and decided to take a shower. Now I should state that the upstairs of Kate's house has two bedrooms, connected by a central bathroom, which is only accessible from either the master bedroom or the guest room, where Fiona, the baby and I slept. There was no entrance from the hallway. I could hear the TV playing downstairs and my son babbling along to whatever cartoon he was watching, and I was guessing my wife was on the couch reading or watching along with him.
After making sure the bathroom was clear, I took a quick shower. As I stepped out and started to dry myself off the other door opened and my mother-in-law stepped into the bathroom apparently having just woke up herself. She must not have heard the shower running when I was in there. For a moment we were both frozen in place. Me with just the towel in my hands as I was about to hang it back up and get dressed and Kate standing there with her robe half open with nothing on underneath it.
