Brothers For Always:

Thunderstorms

By Quincey Gibson

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky as it streaked down from the heavens. Some would say that it was majestic. Others would say it was beautiful. Still others would say it was indescribable. But to one little boy, huddled up in his bed this September night, it was none of those. It was terrifying!!

Young Nicholas Jonas sat curled up on his bed, shivering. But he wasn't shaking from cold, he was shaking from fright. Nick never did like thunderstorms. They always scared him. Usually, he would just run to his older brothers' room, for comfort, but not tonight. Just a few days ago, on September 16th, Nick had turned six, and he was now determined to not be a baby, even if it meant sitting all by himself in his room, listening to the storm outside rage on.

A tear slipped out of his tightly shut eyes and left a trail running down his cheek. He furiously wiped it away. Crying was for babies, Joe had told him once. Well, if there was one thing that Nick Jonas wasn't, it was a baby! Nick jumped as a streak of lightning came down and a loud bang followed closely behind it. "I'm not a baby. I don't need my brothers. I'm not a baby. I don't need my brothers," Nick chanted to himself over and over again. Another loud bang sounded and the little boy screamed. Shushing himself quickly, he hoped that no one had heard him.

In the room next door, two little boys shot out of bed. They had been woken by something. What? They didn't know. The two boys looked at each other and exhaled when they heard the bang of thunder outside. Ten-year-old Kevin sighed as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair, "You think that's what woke us up?" He watched as his younger brother thought about this. Finally, the younger boy looked up and nodded. "Okay, good. Now we better get back to sleep."

Joe Jonas continued sitting while his older brother laid back down. Suddenly a thought came to him, "Hey Kev. Why do we have to go to sleep? I mean tomorrow we don't have school, we have Friday and Monday off. We get to sleep in!"

Kevin shook his head. "Just because we get to sleep in, doesn't mean that we should stay up all night long."

"Oh, okay." Joe paused to think a little. "Kev?"

"What Joe?"

The older boy looked at his younger brother. Joe had a worried expression on his face. "Do you think we should go see if Nick is okay?"

"Nah. If he needs us, he'll come in here. Goodnight, Joe."

"Oh, okay. Night, Kev." Both boys snuggled down to sleep. Just as they were about to drift off into the wonderful land of dreams that awaited them, a crack of thunder sounded and a scream could be heard from the room next door.

"NICK!!"

Both boys were out of bed and at the door to their room in a matter of seconds.

Kevin and Joe ran into their little brother's room, and looked frantically around it. Finally they found what they were looking for. Nick was sitting in the corner of his bed with his arms hugging his knees to his chest and his head resting on them. When he heard his brother's come through the door to his room he looked up. There were trails running down the youngest brother's cheeks, where tears had dried. And yet still more came down.

Joe was across the room and next to the bed in seconds. "Hey there, Buddy. What's wrong?"

Nick shook his head and tried to wipe away his tears. "Nothing."

Another tear escaped Nick's tightly closed eyes. Kevin then walked over and wiped it away. He smirked. "This doesn't look like nothing."

Trying desperately to not act like a baby in front of his older brothers, Nick pushed himself away from them, and again, tried to stop the tears that were falling slowly down his face. "I said it's nothing," the little boy sniffed.

Older brother instincts kicked in then. Kevin reached out to his youngest brother, knowing something was amiss. "It's okay. You can tell us anything. You know that right?"

Nodding, Nick said, "Yeah, I know. But you'll just think that I'm a baby. Crying is for babies." His tone held nothing but total conviction.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where did you hear that?" Kevin asked.

"Joe told me," came the simple sentence. Looking at his brother, who was two years his junior, Kevin saw a look of utter devastation and guilt wash over his young features. Joe looked completely crushed. "I didn't want you to think that I was a baby," Nick continued.

"Oh Nicky, I didn't mean what I said earlier. I wasn't thinking when I said that. I-I-I…" Joe tried to think of something to say that would make this right, but continued to come up blank. He looked at Kevin desperately, hoping for some help from his older brother.

Kevin, seeing his brother's distress, decided to add his own thoughts. He was about to speak when Nick interrupted. "But you'll still think that I'm a baby if I cry."

There was a lapse in the conversation as the two older boys thought about what Nick had said. Kevin took the silence as a chance to speak up. "Nick, you have to understand that if you cry, we won't think that you're a baby."

"But only babies cry," Nick argued.

"That's not true." Nick looked up in confusion.

"But, Joe said…"

"Forget what Joe said! I'm telling you that if you cry, it does not mean that you're a baby. For goodness sakes! I cry, mom cries, Joe cries… dad even cries sometimes. But that doesn't mean that we're babies, does it?"

"Of course not! None of you are babies!"

"So why would it be any different for you?"

Nick shrugged. "It wouldn't be?"

Kevin nodded. "You're right. It's not any different for you than it is for us."

After a moment of silence, Joe spoke up. "Soooooooo, do you still think crying is for babies?"

Nick thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I guess not."

Kevin and Joe smiled and then looked at each other. "Well, then, we should probably get back to sleep," Kevin said. "Come on Joe." The two older boys walked towards the door. They were almost out when a small voice from behind them called out.

"Kev? Joe?"

"Yeah, Nick?" Joe looked back. Nick looked slightly panicked. "What's wrong?"

Just then a crack of thunder was heard throughout the house. Nick jumped and pulled the covers around himself tighter. "Well… the thunderstorm is still going on. And I'm, kinda, scared. D-d-do you think that you could… you know… ummmm… stay in here with me tonight?"

Kevin and Joe smiled sweetly at their younger brother and walked back over to him. "Sure. You know what?" Joe asked.

"What Joe?"

"I'm a little scared too." All three brothers smiled and cuddled together as they fell asleep in Nick's little bed.

The next morning Denise Jonas went up to Joe and Kevin's room to wake them up. She was still contemplating over what they were going to have for breakfast. Opening the door to her two oldest sons' room she looked around. When she didn't see anyone in either bed she started to panic. "Kevin?! Kevin!!"

Sr. Kevin Jonas came running up the stairs. "What? What's wrong?"

"The boys aren't here! They aren't in their beds! I don't know where they are!"

"Okay dear, calm down. Take a deep breath and now answer my next question. Have you checked Nick's room yet? There was a thunderstorm last night," Kevin Sr. pointed out to his terrified wife.

They quickly went to their youngest son's room. Again, Denise opened the door and looked around. What she saw made her eyes water. She smiled sweetly and moved so her husband could see in. Mr. Jonas looked in and smiled also. Inside the small room, lying in the small bed in the corner, were three little boys. Nick in the middle, with Joe and Kevin on either side, with their arms wrapped around him, protectively. The two parents smiled at each other and closed the door, not willing to wake the boys up.

Once the door closed all three boys started to stir. Slowly, Joe and Kevin sat up and looked down at their younger brother. He looked straight back up at them and whispered, "Thanks guys."

Joe laid his hand on his younger brother's shoulder and said, "Anytime bro, anytime."

Kevin nodded. "We'll always be there for you. Anytime you need help or are scared or just need someone to talk to or you know, just anything, we'll be there for you. Don't ever be scared to come to us."

"Thanks again guys."

"For what?" Joe asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"For everything!"

THE END