Flames

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The crying of their infant son echoed through the walls in the night. Cedric's eyes flickered open, noticing that Amber had done the same. Riley hadn't been sleeping and she had been the one mainly tending to him, having spent the last week in Adessa due to his work schedule.

He smiled as he started to sit up, reaching out and holding her cheek. "Go back to sleep. I'll take care of him." Cedric assured as he got out of the bed, bringing the blankets up over her shoulder.

She was too tired to reply, merely sinking back into the bed and shutting her eyes to attempt sleeping again.

Cedric stretched as he left his room and went into their son's, leaning over the crib as he got close enough. "What's wrong, Riley?" He asked softly, examining the crying child.

Riley's hair was getting longer, only a few inches from his eyes. He was standing in his crib, holding tight to the top of the railing. With one hand, he reached up for his father as his cries began to quiet.

"Are you lonely?" He teased in a whisper as he lifted the boy up, kissing along his cheek. Cedric carried him to the rocking chair they had placed in the corner of the room, sitting down and holding Riley close to his chest. He patted his back with his free hand, leaning his head back as the temptation to fall back to sleep in the rocking chair came across him. He had done it a handful of times, each time being caught by Amber who merely laughed at him.

Riley cooed as he laid against his father's chest, babbling to himself as he played with the loose strings on Cedric's shirt. He began to wiggle his nose as his father began to drift back to sleep in the rocking chair.

Cedric leaned his head back against the chair, unable to tell whether he was looking at the ceiling or the back of his eyelids through the darkness. However, a sudden burst of light and heat appeared in front of him as Riley sneezed and his eyes snapped open. He cleared his throat and adjusted the boy on his lap, not processing what had just happened fully. With his free hand, he rubbed at his eyes to break himself free of the delusion he thought he was experiencing.

Once again, Riley's nose wiggled. His little head began to lean back as he prepared for another sneeze.

He was more awake this time. He adjusted Riley to face away from him as he yawned, all too quickly forgetting about the warmth he had experienced moments before. Yet as his eyes watched his child, he found to his dismay that he hadn't been dreaming at all.

As Riley sneezed, a fire erupted directly from his nose and mouth. It shot towards the middle of the nursery, evaporating before it touched the ground. When the fire disappeared, the child quietly curled back into his father.

With wide eyes, Cedric found himself completely frozen in place. He knew what he had just seen and felt as though he was awake enough to not be hallucinating. He had seen fire come out of his son and had felt the heat reflect onto his hands and face. The fire had been real. Swallowing the fear of what had just happened, and trying to process how it had happened, Cedric gripped Riley and hurried into their bedroom. He rarely woke Amber, knowing how badly she needed the rest, but this seemed like a good reason to wake her.

"Amber!" He gasped, an internal worry that Riley would create the fire again growing as he held the child out and away from them. With his free hand, he shook his wife.

"What? What's wrong?" She was slow to sit up, rubbing her eyes as she tried to open them quickly.

"It's Riley! He sneezed and there was fire! It came out of him. I know that sounds crazy, but I promise you I know what I saw!" Cedric set the boy down on the blanket, linking his hands together and placing them behind his neck. His eyes were beginning to feel heavier as he tried to think more on what he had witnessed without any true explanation.