Safe

-25- Afraid

Kendra Lincoln

I was fuming when Rhett called me into the living room after we got home from Meghan's. Holt sitting tense on the couch, his arm wrapped around himself, holding his ribs.

Rhett had come into the kitchen where I was helping to clean, suggesting that we leave with no explanation. I wasn't naive enough to miss that it had something to do with Holt, so I gave my mother and sister a hug and off we went.

But now I want to drive back to Meghan's and give that boy a piece of my mind.

"Thank you son, for telling us." Rhett says.

"What're you going to do now?" Holt asks quietly, staring at the floor.

Rhett looks to me and I know what Rhett wants to do.

"What would you like us to do?" I ask him.

His eyes meet mine, searching them for something. He looks like he's on the verge of unraveling and I want to wrap him in a hug in hopes it might keep him together.

"Nothing." He whispers the word.

Rhett sighs, nodding his head as he looks off. I know Rhett's not happy about it, neither am I. In fact I want both kids to be punished. Shaking my head, I open my mouth to disagree with Holt, tell him there's no way we can just let this slide too. First off, Holt was assaulted but also Brody is dating my niece. And if he can do this to Holt there's no telling what he could do to Ari.

But Rhett beats me to it.

"Okay." He agrees.

"Okay?" I say slightly hysterical. "Oh-kay?"

Rhett bobs his head again. "Just one second Kendra." I sit back against the couch, more than interested in what has just happened. "How about this Holt. How about we don't go to the authorities with it. But you let me talk to both Brody's and Ian's parents."

Holt starts to shake his head no.

"I understand you're scared Holt. But what they did was assault and at the very least they're parents need to know." Rhett tells him.

"They'll just do it again." Holt mumbles, voice wavering and I watch his eyes gloss over with tears.

"We can get restraining orders. If they come near you they'll be arrested."

Holt closes his eyes, his face crinkled in pain and I wonder if it's ribs or mentally. My heart breaks for him.

"Talk to us son." Rhett urges.

Tears swell to my eyes and push over, falling down my face as I watch Holt try to hold in his tears. His chest shakes, fingers gripping his side tighter.

"You can trust us. We're in this together."

Rhett looks at me, reaching for my hand and I take it.

"I-I just want it to stop." Holt says it so quietly, so pained, I hold my breath so I don't miss anything.

"We do too." Rhett says. "We're trying."

"I'm sorry I ruined your Thanksgiving." He stares at his lap as he apologizes.

"You didn't." He did the opposite. "We're so thankful you're here with us."

My words are jumbled as I try to speak through all my emotions.

"I don't want them to come after me again." He repeats.

"Then please Holt, let us protect you." Rhett begs. "Let me protect you."

————————

I pull back the covers, climbing into bed. Rhett's already there, reading something on his laptop.

"Are you sure we shouldn't report it to the police?" I ask.

His hand finds mine, attention shifting from his screen to me. "You said we needed to let him make decisions. I did."

"I know." I nod my head. "But we have their names. What if...what if this happens again?"

Rhett closes his laptop setting it on his nightstand before he turns to me. He gently brushes his finger tips along my forearm leaving a trail of tingles in their wake.

His voice rumbles in his chest. "We don't give him a choice if it happens again."

It doesn't sit well with me. Any of it.

"I'm taking a personal day tomorrow." Rhett informs me. "I already called Chris and got Brody's mom's number and Luke sent over Ian's dad's."

"What are you going to say?" I ask.

He stops rubbing my arm, his demeanor stiffing a little. "I'm going to tell them exactly what their kids did to Holt and if they don't seem like they're going to do something about it we're going to file for a restraining order. I've already look into it, Ian at the very least should be easy to get one for. Maybe not Brody. But one has to be better than none. Did you call Dr. Aldrich?"

I nod my head. "She fit him in tomorrow."

"Good."

Rhett's hand jumps from my arm to my stomach, slipping beneath the material of my shirt. We both fall into silence, my mind on Holt and whether or not he feels like it's our fault for what Ian and Brody were able to do to him. That we didn't keep him safe like I've been telling him we would.

"What do you think it is?" Rhett asks suddenly bringing my thoughts back to his hand on my stomach and the close proximity in which he's relaxed back into the sheets.

"I don't care as long as it stays." I whisper, my emotions going haywire.

His hand makes lazy circles across my skin. "Do you think Holt wants a little brother or a little sister?"

We haven't brought up the baby since the night we tried to ask Holt if we could adopt him. I've actually been a little afraid. Not only do I not want to jinx it but I don't want to upset Holt.

"I don't know." I confess.

"We should ask him." Rhett suggests.

I don't agree right away. I'm hoping that by the time my pregnancy becomes a real thing, a visible thing, Holt will feel more secure. Until then, while I'm not showing and the only symptoms I have I can smile through, I'm afraid to acknowledge it.  I'm afraid if I get too excited, too invested, that I'll lose this baby too.

"I got a good feeling about this time baby, don't you?" Rhett asks, a warm smile on his face.

A lump has settled in my throat. I don't. I'm so scared that I refuse to have a feeling about it. But I nod my head anyway.

                             ————————

Even though I'm sick I've gone out the past two nights. Friday my friend and I went out and had a couple drinks and played euchre which turned into drunk guys trying to join us in euchre and then asking for our numbers 😂.

Last night the hubs and the brother in laws and a girlfriend and I went down to Detroit, ate a bunch of seafood, went to a Pistons game (that's Michigan's basketball team for those who don't know) and then to the casino where my husband lost money 🤣. 

I slept on the way home in the back of the car. I'm too old to party and too sick to try hahaha.