Chocolate Eyes

Brian woke with a start, confused for only a second before he threw his covers off and raced out of his room and down the hall. His sock-clad feet padded against the carpet as he ran as quickly as his could to his young son's room.

"EJ!" he called as he threw the little boy's door open. "EJ what's wrong?" He ran to his child's bed and pulled the screaming child into his strong arms, searching for something physically wrong with the little boy.

But there wasn't anything wrong with EJ, not on the outside anyways. Inside of him, his heart was breaking as he was brought back to reality. He'd woken himself from a dead sleep by a nightmare and the involuntary screaming that followed seeing his mommy's death in his imagination.

"My mommy," the little boy sobbed. He wrapped his arms around his father as he came to back to reality and tried to catch his breath.

Brian sighed and held on tighter to Evander as he grieved. "I know, Sweetheart," he apologized, "I'm so sorry."

"I want my mommy," he cried, "Please, Daddy, please." Tears soaked his cheeks and his sadness brought along a sticky heat that had his clothes clinging to him and a sweat in beads on his forehead.

"I know," Brian said solemnly, "I wish she could be here for you, E."

"Please!" Evander cried, his sobs escalating to sheer panic and pain as the little boy thought about the fact that she was never coming back. He cried into his father's black t'shirt and murmured wishes that would never come true into the cotton fabric.

Brian lifted his son into his arms and stood up from the bed. He walked out of the darkened room and down the hall, peaking into his bedroom to see if Michelle was still asleep. When he saw that she was, he continued down the stairs and took a right into the basement. Once he'd turned the light on he made his way into the family room and dropped onto the large with his child.

"What do you want to watch?" Brian questioned, trying to take the boy's mind from the subject torturing him. "What about Lion King?" he asked, flipping through the prepaid movies.

Evander just pressed his face against his dad's shoulder.

Brian started the movie and settled onto the couch, trying to get comfortable. He wasn't going to leave until morning and he wasn't going to sleep until his little boy was sleeping again without the nightmares brought on by the long day behind them.

When Brian woke in morning, Evander was still asleep on his chest. The quilt from the back of the couch, that Brian had pulled over them the night before had fallen to floor, but Evander was warm enough to keep them both sweating, even surrounded by the chill of basement.

Brian shifted his son so the little boy was laying with his head on the arm of the couch, and stood up to stretch his muscles. He groaned softly as his bones cracked and pushed the stiffness away.

"Daddy?"

Brian looked to his son quickly. "Good morning," Brian murmured, sitting down on the edge of the couch. "Are you hungry?"

The little boy pushed himself up and shook his head. Evander had a sheepish look on his face. He didn't want to talk about what happened last night. He wanted to pretend that he'd never been sad or scared.

Brian understood that without EJ having to say anything at all. So Bri relaxed into the couch and reached for the remote that was forgotten on the coffee table. "What do you want to watch?" Brian questioned EJ.

For the next few hours the two of them stayed safely cocooned in the basement, unaware of the time or anyone in the outside world. Brian's cell phone buzzed unnoticed, upstairs on the nightstand where he left it when his child screamed for him.

It wasn't until after one PM when the two of them emerged upstairs , pulled from the basement by the hunger that was settling in the pit of their stomachs. Brian, who had carried EJ up the stairs, dropped the boy onto the couch in the carpeted living room.

"Wait here," Brian instructed, a smile on his thin lips as he watched his son try to decipher the sway of the ocean outside of the large window-wall. EJ nodded distractedly as his father climbed the stairs to the second floor in search of his wife.

"'Chelle?" he called as he headed towards his bedroom, "Are you up?"

He pushed open their bedroom door and frowned when his wife wasn't in their bed. He moved to the nightstand and plucked his phone from the table, seeing that he had two missed calls. One of them was from Michelle.

He dialed her number and held the phone to his ear.

"Bri?" she answered on the third ring.

"Hey, where are you?" he asked softly, moving his phone to his other ear as he crossed into the bathroom.

"With the girls," she answered easily, "I saw you two downstairs and figured you might want some time alone together today. It's probably really hard for me to be there with him since his mom just died."

"Well, he's going to have to get used to it," Brian stated honestly, "You can't leave the house every time he's upset about his mom. You're his family too, 'Chelle."

Michelle chuckled softly on the other end. "I'm glad you think that," she said, "But he's not going to be thinking that way for a long time, Brian. It might even take years for him to accept me. What're we going to do until then?"

"What are you talking about, Michelle?" Brian questioned quickly, "I don't even understand what you're saying. I thought you were okay with him being here?"

"I am, Bri. It's just that I didn't expect him to not like me as much as he does. I know it's hard for him, but EJ's never even said a sentence to me, let alone that he won't even look at me either."

"We'll work on that," Brian promised, running his fingers through his thick and tangled hair, "He knows that you're part of my life and he's okay with that, he's just scared. You would be too, baby."

"I know," Michelle replied, still not feeling any better about Evander not liking her. "I'll see you later, Bri. Spend some time with EJ. He needs you to be strong for him."

Brian smiled softly at her words. "Okay," he agreed, "What time will you be home?"

"Before dinner," she told him, feeling a little better seeing as it was obvious that Brian wanted her there, even if EJ hadn't quite warmed up to her yet.

"See you then," Bri replied before ending the call. He unplugged his phone from the charger and took it downstairs with him. EJ wasn't sitting on the couch anymore, but instead he was staring at the fish in the tank at the bottom on the stairs. "You like fish?" Brian asked his son.

EJ was startled by Brian's words. He nodded and pointed at a large blue one. "What's his name?" he questioned, his finger following along the glass as the fish moved around the tank.

Brian crouched down next to his son and looked at the blue and black spotted fish near the back of the tank. "He doesn't really have one," he said, "We never got around to naming them once we brought them home."

Evander frowned, never taking his eyes from the nameless fish. "Will you name him now?"

Bri looked to his son's face, distorted by the lights of the large tank as they reflected off the shiny beads at the bottom and shined through the water. "Why don't you name him," Brian suggested, "He can be your fish now."

EJ looked to his dad with a large smile on his face. "Really?" he asked, "Just my fish?"

Brian shrugged. "If you feed him, then yeah."

EJ looked back at all the fish in the tank and said, "I'll feed all of them."

Brian laughed and nodded his head. "Sounds like a deal. So what are you going to call him?"

Evander stood on the tips of his toes and tried to see into the tank from the top, even though he wasn't anywhere near tall enough. Brian stood up and lifted his son from the ground so he could see the arial view of his new fish.

Brian put EJ down when he motioned for him to do so. He crouched back down in front of his son and watched the little boy as he put his hands on his hips and pressed his lips together.

"I'm going to call him AJ," he said, giggling softly, "Because it sounds like my name!"

Brian grinned. "That's a great name."

"Yeah," Evander said while laughing, "But mine's still better!"

Brian scooped his son up in his arms quickly, chuckling as the little boy screeched in laughter. They went to the kitchen to find something to eat. EJ sat on the counter as Brian cooked for them, talking quietly to his dad, his nightmares forgotten as they settled back into his new life.