Captive

by Trevion Burns

  Veda froze in the doorway as well. The baby she held on her hip had a fairer caramel complexion than her but the same full lips and big eyes. A forest of black curls sprouted from his head and he was in the process of trying to shove his entire fist into his mouth. He appeared oblivious to his surroundings, including the gaping woman whose hip he sat on.

  Veda’s red lips dropped open from the doorway as if she were in the midst of a scream she couldn’t quite manage to produce.

  For a long moment, no one moved.

  Then, Veda finally managed the scream that’d been fighting to leave her parted lips, startling the baby, who removed his fist from his mouth and looked up at her like she was crazy. She paid him no mind, her brown eyes lighting up as she raced out of the backdoor and began charging across the grass toward them, her free arm flying all over the place in excitement, fingers splayed. Her screams rose in volume the nearer she got and the baby on her hip bounced as she ran, along with his voluminous curls, the confusion on his face ripe even though he didn’t whine or complain as the hip he sat on became something of a bumpy ride.

  Mia released her hold on Linc’s hand so his arms would be free to take Veda into the neck-breaking hug he clearly had coming. So when Veda went straight for Mia instead, slinging her free arm around Mia’s neck with an ear-splitting squeal, smashing the bewildered baby between their breasts, Mia couldn’t help a surprised laugh.

  Embracing her in return, Mia snuck a look at Linc, seeing that he appeared just as stunned—if not a little offended—that Veda had gone for her instead of him.

  “Oh my God, I’m Veda!” Veda pulled back, met Mia’s eyes, and clapped her hand over her heart, adjusting the baby since he’d fallen low on her hip.

  “I’m Mia.”

  “From that rock on your finger, I’m assuming Mia Hill?” Veda beamed.

  “You’d assume right.”

  “Oh my God.” Veda shook her head, letting her eyes run Mia’s body. “Well, no offense, Mrs. Hill, but you are not allowed to stand too close to me for the duration of this visit,” she teased. “This is my special day and I won’t have you and your gorgeous self stealing all my shine.”

  Mia laughed softly, her eyes falling as her cheeks heated up.

  Veda adjusted the baby again. “This is my son, Lincoln Blackwater. Your nephew-in-law.” She gave Mia a playful look before looking down at Lincoln Jr., who’d resumed sucking on his own fist. “And he’s really excited to meet you as well even though he’ll never be more excited about anything than he is about that fist that stays lodged in his mouth. He’s teething.” She met Mia’s eyes again, frowning softly. “And I hope you’re a hugger, otherwise we’ve just given you the most intrusive greeting ever.”

  “Definitely a hugger,” Mia said, covering her own heart. “And honestly? I needed that. A little nervous to meet you all.”

  Mia ignored the knowing look she felt Linc giving her, refusing to admit to him that he’d been right all along about her being anxious as hell.

  Veda waved a hand. “Oh, girl, you have nothing to be nervous about here. Every person in that house behind me is stone-cold crazy. And, since we’re being honest, I might be a little nervous too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

  “We noticed,” Linc said.

  Both Veda and Mia snapped their heads toward him and he couldn’t fight the smile that crossed his face when him and Veda’s eyes met.

  “Man are you a sight for sore eyes,” Veda breathed.

  His smile grew. “You, too.”

  What Mia thought she would feel in that moment—blind rage and jealousy—never manifested as Veda and Linc shared a hug. Instead, all Mia could do was wait with baited breath for Linc to interact with his nephew for the first time. Wondering whether they’d like each other. Hoping Lincoln Jr. would respond favorably to Linc, who she knew was just as nervous as she and Veda.

  Veda seemed to be on the same wavelength because when she and Linc pulled back from the hug, she immediately offered him the baby. With a deep breath, Linc snuck his hands under Lincoln’s arms and lifted him from Veda’s hip, his teeth slightly clenched and eyes apprehensive in the way they only could be when a person was taking a baby out of the comfort of his mother’s arms.

  As Linc cradled him on his own hip, the baby removed his beloved fist from his mouth once more just to frown up at the mountain man now holding him. His big brown eyes searched Linc’s face, his every bone motionless as if he hadn’t yet decided whether or not he was okay with any of this.

  “Aye,” Linc said to him, his deep voice only causing his nephew’s frown to sink deeper. “I’m your uncle. You’re named after me. You’re not allowed to reject me right now.”

  When he seemed on the verge of doing just that, Linc reached up and gave his belly—slightly visible from where his baby blue shirt had come undone from his plaid cargo shorts—a gentle scratch.

  Lincoln’s frown ebbed at the tickling sensation, but he didn’t smile.

  Linc tickled his belly again.

  Still no smile from Lincoln, but he did lean in ever so slightly, his eyes locked to Linc.

  Linc raised his eyebrows and tickled his belly again.

  And Lincoln continued leaning in, so gingerly he appeared to be moving in slow motion, before finally setting his head on Linc’s shoulder, re-depositing his fist in his mouth, and meeting Veda’s eyes as he sucked.

  “Typical,” Veda mumbled. “He already likes you more than me.” She looked at Mia. “He doesn’t even have to try.”

  “Yep,” Mia grumbled, sounding equally vexed. “It’s always the ones who could care less about being accepted that everyone loves the most.”

  As Mia and Veda waxed on about Linc’s penchant to show the entire world nothing but naked distain while receiving nothing but love in return, Linc looked behind Mia where Emma was still enamored with her iPad.

  “Aye?” Linc said, stealing Emma’s attention. “Say hello to your Aunt Veda.”

  Emma broke her eyes away from Linc to look up at Veda, clearly dying to go back to her game as quickly as humanly possible.

  “Hi,” Emma said.

  Veda gave a soft wave and then opened her arms, giggling when Emma stepped into them and gave her a quick hug.

  Veda cupped her cheeks once they’d pulled back. “Girl, you look just like your grandmother, you know that?”

  Emma’s eyes fell as redness crept up her cheeks. “My dad tells me that all the time.”

  Mia stroked the top of Emma’s head with a gentle smile.

  “Well, she’s inside,” Veda said, hands falling back to her sides. “So you’ll get to see the uncanny resemblance for yourself, soon enough.”

  Linc bent down. “Come meet your cousin.”

  This time, Emma didn’t seem like a child being torn away from what she really wanted to do, dropping her arms, and her iPad, to her sides and approaching them.

  Face-to-face, Lincoln Jr. and Emma looked upon one another for ages. He didn’t seem to need as much convincing with Emma as he had with Linc because he was instantly leaning in for her, causing the three adults to laugh softly.

  “Look at that. He already loves you, huh?” Linc said, setting the toddler down in the grass in front of Emma, supporting him around the waist.

  “Can he walk?” Emma looked up at Veda.

  “Yeah, he can walk.”

  With a soft smile, Emma took the baby’s hand and began to guide him away from the adults, bent over at the hip as the little one toddled along with his fisted hand clasped in hers, making sure he didn’t wobble enough to eventually fall down.

  “Careful,” Veda warned, smiling after them as her son toddled along. “That one’s a real drool machine. He’ll have you drowning in an ocean of saliva before you even realize what’s happening.”

  “That’s okay,” Emma said, not even looking up from the baby she was clearly already completely enamored with.

  Veda, Mia, and Linc watched th
em for a long while with gentle smiles.

  Veda was the first to break her eyes away, drawing in a deep breath.

  “Gotta admit,” she said to Linc. “I was beginning to wonder if those phone calls were real or just some amazingly vivid product of my imagination. Started wondering if it was really you on the other line. When I told you about the wedding… I knew it was a long shot to hope you guys would show, but God I’m so glad you did. And Gage owes me fifty bucks too. He’s gonna die when he sees you.”

  Linc’s chest rose at the mention of Gage’s name. “Where’s he at?”

  “Inside, napping like an old man. Lincoln has literally aged us both fifty years.”

  Linc went to respond, but the sound of his nephew whining stole his attention. He looked across the grass and caught sight of Lincoln and Emma sitting side-by-side on the ground. Lincoln was reaching for the iPad with his tiny fingers splayed, whimpering. Emma snatched it away—even farther than she already had—with a heaving sigh as her cousin continued to reach for it desperately.

  “No,” Emma cried, frowning at his tiny, glistening fingers. “Your hands are all slobbery.”

  “I warned you.” Veda winked at Emma.

  But Linc was far from playful.

  “Aye.” He gave Emma look when her eyes shot to his, still holding her iPad out of her cousin’s reach. “Share with him.”

  Pouting, Emma brought the iPad back down to her lap so Lincoln could see the screen, her lips poking out when his slippery fingers were all over it once more. He couldn’t talk yet, but his fervent mumbles and bumbles expressed nothing but pure delight.

  Linc kept his hardened eyes on Emma for a long moment, letting her know he meant business, before he returned his attention to Veda and Mia. He went to speak, but Emma’s voice came again.

  “No, Lincoln!” she bellowed, nudging his drenched hands away from the screen. “Not like that. That’s not how you do it.”

  “Aye!” Linc waited for Emma to meet his eyes once more. “What I just say?”

  Emma rolled her eyes.

  “Share with him, or it’s gonna be gone,” Linc warned.

  “But he doesn’t know how to play, Daddy. He’s too little. He’s gonna ruin my score—”

  “Share with him, or it’s gonna be gone.”

  Emma humphed, clearly having fallen out of love with her adorable cousin just as quickly as she’d fallen in love with him, cutting sour looks at him from the corners of her eyes as he continued to pound his grubby fingers all over her precious device.

  Even as Veda and Mia continued talking, barely paying the kids any mind, Linc kept his heated green eyes on Emma, knowing she’d try him.

  The moment she snatched the iPad away from her baby cousin again—this time whispering her admonishments in an attempt not to be overheard—Linc calmly left Veda and Mia and moved swiftly across the grass.

  Emma didn’t even have a moment to object when Linc zeroed in on her, bent down, and snatched the iPad out of her hand. A horrified gasp left her lips as her most precious possession was taken, and for a moment, she seemed to be in complete shock. When Linc turned and walked away without a word, her face went beet red. Lips curling, eyes filling, and fists clenching, it was a wonder steam didn’t come shooting from her ears.

  Linc didn’t even look back when she gave an agonized scream and then fell into a fit of deafening sobs, collapsing into the grass, face buried in the green shards, arms and legs thrashing as her cries took over every inch of her body. Baby Lincoln remained calm from where he was still plopped next to her in the grass, already having become reacquainted with his fist, which he was working hard to get shoved into his wide-open mouth.

  “Aw, man,” Veda said, once Linc rejoined her and Mia. “I mean she’s not totally wrong. His fingers really are slimy and gross.”

  “She’s fine,” he said, handing the iPad to Mia, who put it in her purse, never taking his eyes off Emma.

  “I know,” Veda said. “But, as her aunt, it’s kinda my job to stick up for her no matter what.”

  “Yeah, well…” He watched Emma for a moment longer, waiting until the theatrics had subsided and she’d pulled herself together. With tears still staining her crimson cheeks, she adjusted herself until she was sitting Indian-style in the grass, crossed her arms tightly over her chest with another humph, and glared up at him.

  Linc blinked lazily back at her, his eyebrows raised so high they seemed seconds from going airborne, making it clear to his daughter how utterly unmoved he was by her latest tantrum.

  Linc was the first to break the stare, looking back at Veda just in time to see a gooey smile on her face.

  “What?” he asked.

  Veda shrugged. “Just taking it all in.”

  “Taking what in?”

  “Linc.” Her smile widened. “You’re a father.”

  He hissed out a laugh. “Shit, trying. Feel like I’m failing every day. Hell, every second.”

  “You’re a great father,” Mia countered from next to Veda. “Never gives himself enough credit.”

  Veda smirked. “Guess some things never change.”

  As they continued watching him with knowing—borderline critical—grins on their faces, Linc’s eyes narrowed away and landed on the kids once more. When he caught sight of Lincoln Jr. looking off toward the house with a beaming smile—the biggest Linc had certainly seen on his face since they’d met—he followed the baby’s eyes to the house, curious what had lit him up like a Christmas tree.

  And his mouth dropped at the sight.

  Mia and Veda’s gazes moved to the house as well and the smiles on their faces grew even wider, their eyes shooting back and forth from the house to Linc as if they couldn’t decide which sight was more captivating.

  Gage Blackwater lingered at the backdoor, motionless, his dark brown eyes locked to Linc’s across the grass. His big hand rose to cover his stomach, which was heaving under the white button down shirt he had tucked into black slacks. His olive skin jumped out against the bleached fabric of his shirt but the gleaming smile that crossed his face matched the starch white cotton to a tee. The sun shining overhead gleamed across his perfectly gelled jet-black hair, so polished and glossy it almost caused a blinding reflection to flash across the yard.

  Then, Gage was moving, stepping out of the doorway and making his way across the grass, never taking his eyes off Linc.

  Linc followed suit, head falling slightly as he began toward Gage as well, running his hand down the back of his head to smooth the low bun that had already been slicked to perfection.

  “I’ve never seen him so nervous,” Mia said to Veda, her voice somewhat astonished as she watched Linc fix his hair and straighten his clothes, all while his eyes shot all around the yard, looking at anything but Gage.

  Veda didn’t respond from next to Mia, speechless, clapping a hand over her smiling mouth as the two brothers finally met in the middle of the yard. Gage was the first to open his arms, which broke down the too-cool-for-school barrier Linc had subconsciously constructed, causing him to open his arms as well. Their deep chuckles mixed and rose into the dewy air as they clapped their arms around each other, embracing in what looked to be a bone-crushing hug. A hug that would surely steal the last breath from any pair of lungs but those two enormous men.

  Veda and Mia moved closer like zombies. Not too slow. Not too fast. As if both were terrified of destroying the loving moment. The moment where two brothers who’d never known each other as brothers were meeting each other consciously for the first time. The hug was everlasting, going on for ages. Long enough for Mia and Veda to sneak up close behind them and hear every word they said.

  Linc pulled back and met Gage’s eyes, cupping a hand on the side of his neck and shaking him softly.

  Gage laughed breathily at the shake, keeping his hand on the back of Linc’s neck too, looking at him as if he were seeing him for the first time.

  “Look good,” Linc said, voice low and soft. Perhaps even slig
htly unsure.

  “You too, bro.” The smile on Gage’s face could light up the darkest black hole in space, and seemed to grow even wider the moment he allowed the unspoken word—“bro”—to live and flourish in the air.

  “How you been?” Linc asked.

  Gage nodded. “Good, man. Real good.” When a blush crept up his cheeks, he released his hold on Linc’s neck and let his head and eyes fall, massaging the back of his neck. “Shit, just inside watching the playoffs.”

  “Oh my God,” Veda mumbled, low enough not to disturb them. “I have never seen him like this. He doesn’t even watch sports, okay? He has no idea what he’s talking about. He has no idea what teams are even playing.”

  Mia covered her mouth to stifle an adoring laugh as Linc instantly lit up at the mention of sports, releasing his hold on Gage’s neck too, his eyes widening.

  “Yo, that play by Durant was brilliant, though,” Linc beamed, covering his mouth with a fisted hand and rapidly shaking his head, eyes wide, waiting for Gage to join him in his amazement over Kevin Durant’s skill.

  Gage pointed at Linc, his eyes slightly shifty, sputtering, “Yeah… yeah… Durant… he’s, uh… I mean—that play…”

  “This is painful.” Veda whispered, drawing a soft laugh from Mia. “Like, he literally has no idea who Kevin Durant is.”

  Oblivious, Linc reached out and used his fisted hand to give Gage’s shoulder a shove. “Only seven fast break points and fifteen assists? Shit was ugly. But an ugly win is still a win, right?”

  Gage’s eyes widened.

  “Let me go save my baby before he crashes and burns.” Veda moved toward the two brothers and slid her arms around Gage’s waist, drawing their eyes away from each other before Gage could embarrass himself any further. “Can we please talk about how cute you both are right now?”

  Mia slid her arm around Linc’s waist as well, sighing when he circled his big arm around her neck, pulled her in, and kissed her temple.

  “Hey, I’m really glad you’re here, man.” Gage motion to Linc, his voice sobering, clearly relieved that he’d been freed from the secret hell of talking about sports.