Teenage Baby

Chapter 14

"But she's gonna get your teddy, Leo. Don't worry."

"Don't want my teddy, Aar. I want you."

Aaron opened his mouth, but then closed it again and smiled instead. It felt oddly heartwarming, Leo wanting him. Feeling needed. He lay down on his side and stretched his arm through the bars of both cribs until it was in Leo's reach, and as soon it as was, Leo gripped it with one hand and held his wrist with other, shuffling his body closer so he could snuggle against his forearm with a small, blissful sigh.

Leo's steady, hot breath tickled Aaron's wrist, but if hugging his arm would lift some of his grief and let him sleep properly, then he didn't mind. Aaron relaxed against his mattress with his arm still captive of Leo, and his thoughts drifted back to everything he'd seen outside. At first, his mind was hazy: a muddle of images and depressing thoughts, but then he focused, desperately organizing the chaotic mess flaring in his brain until everything went back into place and coherency gradually filtered through the disorientation.

Think.

The windows had bars, so there was no way he could get out of those. The only way left for him was the door, but he needed keys. He had an awful feeling that getting his hands on them wouldn't be easy. Especially since the captors seemed smart and aware. The only way he had was to gain their trust enough for them to release some restrictions, and maybe then he'd have better of a chance at finding keys. But even that was going to require a lot of acting and time.

"I'm back." Mommy walked in, holding the teddybear up in her hand. She stood beside the cribs and smiled when she noticed how Leo was hugging Aaron's forearm, but her eyes carried a slight sense of worry. "Leo's got you trapped, hasn't he? He can't sleep without hugging something. But if you stay like that, you'll definitely end up with a shoulder cramp."

It was at the mention of a cramp that Aaron felt slight pain shoot through the joint between his arm and shoulder, and he suddenly realized how the position was unhealthy. Mommy peeked down Leo's crib, smiling when she saw that he'd already fallen asleep, his hands having progressed to snake around Aaron's arm. She carefully pried his finger off then quickly placed the teddy between his arms before he could begin whimpering at the departure.

Aaron brought his arm back to him, grunting at the tiny pop in his shoulder.

"Come on, love, sleep," Mommy said as she crouched down beside the crib. Aaron lay on his back, frowning when she remained there watching him through the bars. Why wasn't she going away? He turned to give her his back, or what he liked to call a signal that he'd actually like her further away from him, from the room even, but all he heard was quiet weight-shifting. The tension almost dipped when he thought she must've been moving away, but oddly, he could still hear her breath close by, bloodcurdling as it caressed his neck. So she didn't go away. He didn't know why, but the idea of her planning to watch him in his sleep made his skin crawl.

He tried to ignore it, to ignore her presence, but he couldn't, and his muscles tensed with the unease of the situation.

Mommy had chosen to settle more comfortably on the floor instead of leaving, because she wanted to be near him, to be close to him. She wanted time with her baby so badly; she'd barely had any. Her inability to carry him was a disadvantage and it hurt. She wished that she could carry her baby too, that she could feel Aaron's warmth against her more often. Almost instinctively, her index reached out to his cheek and caressed it.

It was like an icy cold blow of wind swept across Aaron's body, freezing every organ, every muscle to solid stillness. The pad of her finger rubbed his cheek, and the tip of the nail scratched it along gently, then it moved lower and began tracing his jawline.