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Theo's hand slipped into Lincoln's. He looked at the boy and smiled. “Was that burger rockin'?”
Theo nodded.
Lincoln grinned. “I can't wait to take you out to play catch again. You were so good. Like superstar good.”
Theo puffed up his chest, then pretended to wind back and throw. He lost balance and tugged on Lincoln's arm, eyes wide.
“I got you.” Lincoln squeezed Theo's hand. “You excited to tell your mom all about it?”
Theo's head lolled from side to side, a half smile on his face.
“Or show her. Act it out.”
He nodded.
“I bet she'll be impressed. I bet she'll be really impressed.” They reached the steps to Lincoln's porch. “Wait here?”
Theo plopped down on the top step.
“She should be here any minute.” The clock at the restaurant had read 5:45 when they left. For Lincoln it was no more than a ten-minute walk, but with Theo in tow, fifteen was more like it. Lincoln actually expected Kali to be here when they arrived, hoped she wouldn't be angry. He settled in beside Theo. Cars passed. Children passed. Mothers with strollers. A stray cat.
“Excuse me, Miss,” Lincoln called to a young girl captivated by something on her cell phone. She tore her gaze away as if it physically hurt. “What time is it?”
“6:18.” She walked on.
“Thanks.”
Theo looked up, his eyes wide.
“Don't worry, buddy.” Lincoln wrapped an arm around Theo's shoulder. “She probably got held up. She'll be here soon.”
A firetruck, lights off, passed by; Theo jumped and waved. Another cat. Two male joggers with skin-tight shorts and nothing on top. Half a dozen cars. “Sir?” The man must have been pushing his nineties, he walked with a cane and a smile. “Do you have the time?”
He turned his wrist. “6:32.”
Theo leaned against Lincoln's side. Lincoln put a hand to his head. Theo looked up at him. “Don't worry, buddy. It's okay.”
“She coming back?” The words were lower than a whisper. His little body shook.
“What?” Lincoln's heart raced. Calm. Be calm. Don't scare him. He leaned down, so his ear was closer to Theo's mouth.
“Is Mommy coming back?” Terror rested in Theo’s eyes.
“Of, course, buddy. Yes. Of course.”
“She sad. She cry and cry.”
“Your mommy?”
Theo nodded.
“Why's she crying?”
He shrugged.
“Just once or every day?”
Theo looked to the side, he wrapped his arms around his middle.
“Buddy?”
“'Cause I no talk?”
“No.” Lincoln shook his head. “No. That's not it. I'm sure of it.”
Theo stared away from Lincoln.
“I have her number upstairs. We'll go get it and then see if Sandy will let us use her phone. Okay? We'll find out what's going on. Sound good?”
Theo nodded. He stood and reached for Lincoln's hand.
From the second landing, Lincoln saw something white on his door. At the top, he tore it off.
“Oh, man.”
Theo tilted his head. “Your mom was here early. She's gone home. She wants me to drive you.”
Lincoln looked to Theo. “All this time we've been waiting for her and she's been waiting for us.”
Theo furrowed his brow.
“Isn't that silly?”
He shrugged.
Lincoln started down the stairs. A booster seat. Damn. He jogged back up, unlocked the apartment door, then scanned the living room. “Wait here.”
He picked up the one throw pillow on his couch and jogged to his bedroom—shoes still on, Sandy would be pissed—and grabbed two pillows from his bed.
His arms full, he smiled over the load at Theo. “What do you think of this?”
Another shrug, accompanied with a scrunched up nose.
“Makeshift booster seat. That's what this is.” Lincoln kept his smile on, disappointed the boy didn't talk. But he had talked. He'd do it again. And whatever Kali had been stressed about, been crying about, this news would certainly make it seem like nothing in comparison.
Lincoln started the drive with question after question and threw in an observation or two. When he looked in the rear view mirror to see Theo staring out the glass, a serious expression on his face, he kept quiet.
Kali's voice sounded almost the moment Lincoln hit the buzzer.
“Come up.”
She was standing in the hall waiting when the elevator doors opened. She ran to Theo and scooped him up. “What took so long?”
“Sorry, I—”
“Six o'clock, Lincoln. I told you to have him back by six o'clock.”
“Six o'clock at my place.”
“So you should have been here by six-fifteen. It's almost seven.”
“I know, but—”
“And what was I supposed to do? You don't have a phone so I couldn't go back over there.” She carried Theo into their apartment.
Lincoln trailed behind. “Listen.”
“No, you listen.” She was almost shaking now. Her eyes glistened. “Anything could have happened. Anything. You take someone's kid, you make sure you have a way to contact them. I should be yelling at myself, letting you—”
“You're right.”
“What?” Kali turned to Lincoln, her arms still wrapped around Theo.
“You're right. I'll get a phone. I was back by six. We were back. But we waited on the curb for you. It was nice out, so—”
“Oh.” She set Theo down. “Oh, that makes sense, I—” She bent down, smoothed a hand over Theo's brow, kissed him, stared at him. Really stared. “I didn't think of that.” She took a deep breath. “You have fun, Sweetie?”
Theo looked from Kali to Lincoln, eyes wide, seeming frightened. With his gaze back on his mother, he nodded.
Kali put both hands on his shoulders. “I'm sorry I was yelling. I was just so scared. And I missed you.” She hugged him again. “Okay?”
Another nod.
“You played catch?”
That firecracker smile lit his face. He stepped back and mimed the action.
“That's great. You catch them all?”
His head tilted side to side with a little half grin.
“He caught most.” Lincoln stepped forward. “He's definitely a natural.”
The half grin blossomed to a whole one.
Kali kissed Theo again, both hands on the side of his face. Her lips stayed on his forehead longer than Lincoln had ever seen. Something was up.
Another hug. “Go say goodbye to Lincoln, then brush your teeth and change into your PJs. I'll be there soon.”
Theo made a little dash and wrapped his arms around Lincoln's legs. Lincoln crouched down. “I'll see you again, soon. K, buddy?” He glanced at Kali. She stood with her arms crossed, no answer in her eyes or stance. “I had fun. Up high.”
Theo jumped to slap Lincoln's outstretched hand.
Lincoln stood as Theo ran down the hall. “Again, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—”
“I get it.” Kali leaned against the wall. “I should have waited. That would have been the smart thing to do.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Are you judging me now?”
“No.” Lincoln stepped back. “I just—” He ran a hand through his hair then took several steps toward her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Kali.” He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but she thrust it away before he could make contact.
“God, Lincoln.”
“I'm sorry, I—”
“You can go, okay?”
“I want to know what's wrong.”
“Why? You think you can come in here and fix all my problems? Well, you can't. Some problems don't get fixed.”
Lincoln's brow furrowed. His mouth went dry. He could see it all over her. The hurt. The fear. She pulsed with it. “Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can't fix it, but maybe talking—”
“Go. Please. Take a hint and—”
“He talked.”
“What?” Kali stepped forward. “What do you—”
Lincoln smiled. “When we were waiting. He asked if you were coming back.”
“He did?” Everything about her softened. Her eyes practically beamed with hope. They misted. “What else?”
Lincoln gave a little shrug. “He said you were sad. That you cried all the time.”
“He—” She swallowed.
“He was scared it was because of him, because he didn't talk.”
Kali glanced toward the hall. She wrapped her arms around herself. “He finally talked and that's what ...” She looked back at Lincoln. “Anything else?”
“No. I tried. Peppered him with questions in the car, but no.”
Kali let out a little gasp. “But he talked. He actually talked.” Her shoulders shook and she looked away.
“This is good. Right? Really good.”
She laughed. “Amazing. It's—” She put a hand to her head and let it trail down her face. “He'll do it again. If he did it once, he'll do it again.”
“Definitely.”
She turned back. She was beaming now. At him. Lincoln fought the urge to reach out and hug her, share in the joy.
“You should celebrate.”
“What?”
“I didn't really talk to him much about it. I was nervous to scare him out of it, you know? But maybe a big celebration would be good. Did the psychologist say anything about that? What you should do when he finally—”
“No.”
“Okay. Well,” Lincoln grinned, but it was shaky, “how about tomorrow night? I can take you both out for dinner somewhere nice. Or fun. And we can let him know how proud of him we are. How great it is. Maybe Marvin could even—”
“No, Lincoln.” Kali put a hand out. “I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. I'll call Dr. Richards, but whatever it is, whatever I'm supposed to do, I'll do it.” She let the hand fall. She bit her lip. “Thank you for giving him a fun night, and for telling me. But this is between me and my son.”
“Okay.” Lincoln pushed out another smile. “That's fine. That's great. I'm just happy—”
Kali gestured toward the door.
Lincoln nodded. “I'll get that phone. And I'll give you a call. Maybe in a day or two.”
“I don't—”
“You said consistency, right? That if I wanted to be in Theo's life it should be consistent.”
Kali opened her mouth then closed it. “Okay.”