I watched them, breathless for a moment. They were absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I had forgotten how beautiful they were.
That's what three years does, Lincoln. They're not the same girls you left behind.
But would they still love me the same way?
I paused, thinking carefully about my next move. Once I stepped around the corner, everything would change.
I looked back at Skye who smiled encouragingly.
"What's the matter?" She whispered.
"What if they don't want to see me?" I asked, their laughter floating up from behind me.
"They will." She said.
"How do you know?"
"Because once you've been in the Home, the only thing that matters is family." She replied.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, I held her tight, savouring these last few moments of normality.
We broke apart and I took a deep breath before stepping around the corner. I watched them and waited for them to notice me.
Emma paused from spinning Max around and let go of her hands, so she tumbled to the ground.
"What was that for?" Max whined, picking herself up again and dusting herself off. She paused as she realized something had caught her sister's attention before turning towards me.
I was frozen as they watched me silently. Moments passed in hollow heartbeats as I wondered what they were going to do.
I kept my gaze on Emma. She didn't move, didn't speak, didn't blink.
I slowly stepped towards her, bridging the distance that had been between us for too long.
"Hi Emma."
Still she didn't move. I wanted to sweep her into my arms and never let her go again, but the pain in her eyes stopped me.
"Lincoln..." Max said, watching me with the look of a girl I almost didn't recognize. She had grown up so much. They both had.
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked quietly, ignoring her.
I didn't reply. Didn't know how to reply.
"What are you doing here?" She repeated, louder this time.
"I...I'm not sure." I said, quietly.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I needed to see you." I replied. This, at least, I could answer with the truth.
She was quiet, considering this answer.
"What took you so long?" She asked, her voice cracking.
I didn't respond. I didn't have a good enough answer, and she knew it.
"Lincoln." My sister said, struggling to get out of Emma's hold. "Emma, let me go. It's Lincoln. He came. Just like he said he would."
"I know." Emma said, looking down at her sister. "Let's go, Max."
"But it's Lincoln. You said he wouldn't come but he did. See? He kept his promise." Max pleaded.
"He did." My sister replied, and the disillusionment in her voice hurt more than her pain.
"He'll fix things." Max said. "He said so."
"Will he?" Emma murmured.
She looked up at me and I realized that the question was directed to me.
"I can't promise to make everything better." I said, quietly.
"No." She said, softly. "You'd break it anyway."
Her words stung and I wondered how I felt further away from them than ever even though we were standing mere feet apart.
"I won't lie to you." I said. "I didn't come here for that."
"So why did you come?"
"To tell you I love you." I replied. "And also to tell you not to give up on me."
Her eyes met mine, steady and cold. I could see the pain, the disappointment in them.
"You're years too late for that." She said, her voice cold.
"Just give me a chance to prove it to you." I whispered. "That's all I'm asking for. A chance."
"A chance to break our hearts again?" She asked. "A chance to let us down?"
"A chance to make it right." I corrected.
She gave me a long look, thinking back on all the time we had spent apart. All the time we had lost. Could we really ever make up for that time?
"One chance." I repeated. "I love you. I've spent a long time trying to get back to you."
Her eyes darkened and I drank in her fury, because it was better than nothing.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
"Then why did it take you so long?" She asked.
"Just give me a chance to make it right." I repeated.
She gave me a long look, I was vaguely aware of a man watching from the front door.
"Emma? You ok?" He asked, gently.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She said, turning to him.
He gave me a long look but my gaze never left my sister.
"What are you doing here, Lincoln?" He asked, and I couldn't help but blink when he said my name.
I looked up at him. A war of emotions flickered in his gaze as he watched me.
"I needed to see my sisters." I replied, folding my arms defensively.
"Does the Home know where you are?" He asked in a way that suggested he already knew the answer.
I didn't reply.
"Right." He said, his lips pursing. "I think you had best come in."
I paused and Skye stepped out of the corner to take my hand. I saw my sister give her a look, wondering who she was and what she was doing here with me.
Silently, we made our way into the house and as the door shut, I felt my fantasy of a happy reunion fade away.
Skye squeezed my hand and I smiled at her. This was much harder than I had expected it to be but I'm glad I had her hand to hold through it.
~*~
We sat around the table with drinks in our hands. No one spoke. Amelié sat with the girls and wrapped an arm around Max who wasn't sure whether to smile or cry.
"What are you really doing here?" Emma said, eventually, breaking the prickly silence.
"I told you. I needed to see you."
"Why?"
I didn't reply for a minute, taking a sip of my coffee instead before raising my head to look her in the eye so she would know I was telling the truth.
"Because the distance was killing me." I said, slowly.
Emma's eyes filled with tears and she scrunched her hands into fists before pushing the chair away from the table and running from the room.
"Emma!" Louis called.
I stepped towards the door to go after her but Louis stopped me.
"I'll go." He said. "You stay here."
"No, I will." I argued. "I need to explain."
He gave me a look before sighing and taking a seat.
"It's upstairs. Last door on the right." He said, simply.
I went up the stairs and counted to three before knocking.
"Emma?"
"Go away." She said.
"It took me four years and all my hopes and dreams to get here." I replied. "I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me."
Silence.
I sighed and sat down with my back to the door. Knowing she was right on the other side.
"Do you remember what I said the day Louis came to pick you up?" I said gently.
"You told me to stop causing trouble in the foster homes." She replied, her voice sharp.
"I told you no matter where you go, I would always find you." I corrected. "And I know it's taken a long time. But I'm here now."
"For how long?"
"I'm not sure."
She was quiet for a long time.
"You had a choice, you know. You could have come with us." She said.
I thought about the conversation I had had with Louis four years ago.
"I know."
"So why didn't you?"
"I didn't want to mess things up for you." I said. "You deserved a real childhood."
She was quiet for a long while.
"So what happens now?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." I repeated. "And I'm not going to lie to you this time and say it'll be ok. Because I don't know if it will. But I'm here now."
Slowly I heard the door unlock and backed away, standing up to face her.
She stepped into my arms and I wrapped her in a hug, squeezing her tightly in a way I had been waiting to do for four years.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
I let her go and brushed away the tears, taking her hand and squeezing tight as we walked slowly back down the stairs.
I held my sister tightly, never wanting to let her go again. We entered the kitchen and Max looked between me and Emma before running into my arms.
I squeezed her tight and something fall into place. Something I had been missing for a long time without even realising it.
The doorbell rang and Louis went to answer it. I didn't take my eyes off my sisters. I was too scared that to look away would be to lose them again.
"This is him." I heard Louis say and Emma's wide eyes made me turn around.
Two policemen stood in the doorway.
"What the hell..." I muttered.
"Do not move. We are under orders to take you back to McCarthy Children's Home. If you resist, you may be charged." The first policeman said in a bored tone.
I did move.
"You son of a bitch." I said, lunging at Louis, fury clouding my brain. The policemen pulled me off him and told me to calm down.
"Leave him alone." Emma screamed, whilst Max burst into tears, Louis went to hold her close and she struggled to get out of his hold, her arms reaching out to me.
"Don't leave me again." Max cried. "Let him go."
"Leave him alone." Emma screamed again.
"I'm going to find a way out of this, Emma. Just trust me this time." I said, struggling against the hands that tried to secure my arms behind my back.
"Let him go." She screamed.
I glared at Louis as I was led out of the house. The door shut and the last thing I saw were my sisters tear-stained faces as I left them. Again.
How had this happened? How had we come so far, risked so much, to only end up back at the beginning?
I'll get out of this, Emma. You just see if I don't. I'm not giving up.
To be continued...