#bitbybitwrites

What Alex also noticed was that another particular person was missing.

“Raf?”  Alex jogged down the hallway to stick his head into the guest room that his son often used when he slept over Nora’s. “Mijo?  Raf?”   Raf’s overnight bag was sitting still unopened in the corner of the room.  A cursory glance in the closet and under the bed ( two of Raf’s favorite hiding places) showed Alex his son was not there as he hoped.

Frowning, Alex quickly looked in the bathroom down the hall  to see if Raf was hiding in the shower or something, but still the little boy was no where to be found. With a thudding heart Alex rushed over to the sliding glass door that lead to the balcony.  He was relieved to find it still locked, so there was no way Raf had made it outside.

But where had he disappeared to?

“Hey Bug,” Alex yelled over the music playing as he jogged into the room.  He was faced with the image of Nora and his sister making out the moment he stepped through the doorway.

“Ugh,“ grimaced Alex.  “Get a room, you two.”

“I have one, it’s down the hall.” Nora quipped with a sly grin as she pulled June closer and planted a kiss on her neck. June giggled in response as she felt Nora’s fingers tickle her sides at the same time,

“Fool around later,” Alex said, looking around the kitchen , panic really beginning to set in as he didn’t see his son anywhere in that room either. “Where’s Raf?”

“What do you mean, where is he?  I thought he was with you.” June asked as she pulled away from her girlfriend and walked out the kitchen to check the apartment was Alex had done just moments before.

“No, Don’t bother looking, “ Alex said as he noticed his sister become as concerned as he was.  “I've already checked there.”

Panic  quickly flared in Alex’s chest.  

He recalled quickly that one time when Raf had been a toddler and had disappeared briefly in a small playground back in Texas.  Alex thought he was going to die, not knowing where his son had gone to.  Thankfully, it was a temporary blip of hysteria.  Alex was able to regain his footing once again after discovering his son had crawled under the slide to hide.   Giggling at his brilliance of finding the best hiding space, Raf had been completely unaware of the mental aguish and near panic attack he had caused his father. 

But in that brief time, Alex swore he shortened his lifespan.

And it was happening again.

“Alex,” Nora’s voice quickly cut through Alex’s spiraling, “Breathe, Alex.  I’m sure Raf’s around here somewhere.  If he’s not hiding in the apartment, he might just be across the hall.  He was just asking about my next door neighbor.  And he’s great friends with . .”

Nora barely had a second to finish her sentence before Alex tore out of the kitchen towards the front door.

🌸 - 2.) from my historical FirstPrince fic, i approach, and i withdraw

“He is too young!” Alejandro heard his mother protest vehemently.  “Do not ask this of him, Óscar.  He is a child. . .”

“I am not a child!” Alejandro proclaimed, with a fire in his eye.  “You heard Padre this past Sunday.  You know how important it is to all of us.”

Hélène took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  Her lips tightened into a thin line.  Catalina and Alejandro knew of their mother’s fiery temper. And how once her mind was made up, it seldom was able to be changed.  

“Mi vida,” Oscar said softly, pulling her aside to speak privately.  “You know this is the right thing to do. We can’t let this go by.  The grito from Dolores is only the beginning.  The rally call has been sounded and we cannot ignore it.”

“Oscar,” Hélène murmured, her shoulders sagging slightly as her husband held her close.  “He is just a boy.  I . . I don’t want him caught up in something like this.”

Oscar Diaz frowned.  “You knew who I was when we exchanged vows. I am proud of who I am and what mi familia has created here . . all this” He waved his hands about the  beautiful courtyard, its burbling fountain at its center soothing everything, but Hélène’s growing anxiety.  “This was done through blood sweat and tears of my father and his father. We deserve to be free of Spanish rule if they refuse to give us a voice in how we  are governed.”

“It is dangerous,” Hélène murmured, her voice low and wavering slightly.  “I know how you think ..  you and Rafael.   I know how you act.   You have no fear.  And Alejandro will rush in blindly to follow you both, especially Rafael. He admires him too much not to.”

🌸 - 3.) from my hollanov new circus WIP: walking the tightrope with you

The train slowly came to a halt.  It shuddered slowly, groaning under the weight of its cargo.

“Up and at ‘em, boys. .. “

Shane groaned, slowly rubbing the sleep from his eyes to peer up at his father who was standing over him.  David Hollander was swiftly rolling up his shirt sleeves with a look of determination on his face.

“Go check on the horses and the equipment.  I’ll talk to Cromwell to see where he plans to erect the corral this time.”

David smirked as he grabbed JJ’s ankle, giving it a firm shake.  “Allez, viens. Réveille-toi. Tu ne peux pas passer toute la journée à dormir.” (Come on, now.  Wake up.  Can’t sleep the whole day away.)“

Shane looked around that the pile of tangled, haphazard limbs in the small train compartment.  How he, Hayden and JJ all managed to squeeze into this tiny space and still managed to find some way to rest always astounded him.  An impressive task  especially with them being” strapping young men” as Hayden’s girl often told them .

Well as often as she could, once she found enough time in her own busy day to come sauntering by to bat her eyes at Hayden.

“Non! Encore un petit peu, maman! (Noooo! Just a little longer, mama!)” JJ groaned, still only partially awake himself.  He shook his ankle weakly in a half-hearted attempt  to free himself from the elder Hollander’s grasp.  Quite honestly, JJ would rather do anything to delay the extremely long list of morning tasks he knew were expected of him the moment Cromwell’s Traveling Circus arrived at a new city.

David’s laugh filled the small sleeper compartment, the sound was deep and warmly affectionate.  “Je ne suis toujours pas ta mère, Jean-Jacques! (Still not your mother, Jean-Jacques!)  He bent over and gave JJ’s foot a pat, and then nodded to Shane to wake his bunk mate as well.

Hayden was snoring softly, his head resting on his folded wool jacket.  Shane nudged his best friend in his ribs, letting out a yelp as Hayden sleepily grabbed his arm and started cuddling it, mumbling something incoherent in response. Shane was sure he could hear the name “Jackie” amongst the gibberish Hayden kept saying in-between yawns.

A loud rumble from Hayden’s stomach ripped through the small space, causing JJ to fully open his eyes and sit upright quickly.

“Mon Dieu ! Est-ce que quelqu'un a lâché un ours dans le train ? C'était quoi, ça ? (My God!  Has someone let one of the bears loose on the train?  What the hell was that?) JJ asked, quite confused.

Hayden moaned, letting go of Shane’s arm and clutching his stomach dramatically.  “Fuck . . I’m starving.  What time is it?”

David Hollander reached into his waistcoat, pulling out a slightly weathered pocket watch. With a deft flick of his thumb, it popped open to show its owner the hour.

“Half past 5,“ David announced as he put the cherished heirloom back in his pocket and pulled his jacket onto his shoulders.  “If you want to take care of that, Hayden,” David chuckled as another protest from Hayden’s stomach sounded loudly, “I suggest you boys haul over to the cookhouse car quick before all the good grub is eaten.  Seems to be I recall hearing the lovely ladies were planning to treat us with some golden bread this morning.”

“Pain doré?” JJ automatically appeared more bright-eyed and coherent as he piped in with a smile. “Oh, how I love those girls.  Move out of the way, boys.  I’m gonna be first in line today.”

“Like hell you will, “ Hayden crowed as he scrambled over Shane while he ran his fingers through his messy sleep rumpled hair.  Pulling his suspenders over his shoulders, Hayden smoothed out his wrinkled shirt as best he could.  Grabbing his own jacket, he practically shoved JJ aside as he peeled out into the corridor laughing.  “Besides Jackie loves me best and she’s gonna save me extra!”

JJ cackled as he rushed out after his friend. “Je ne sais pas ce qu’elle te trouve, mon ami! (I don’t know what she sees in you, my friend!)”

Shane shook his head in bemusement at his friends’ antics. His father smiled warmly, holding a hand out to his son to help pull him to his feet. With another yawn, Shane quickly got himself in order as well and followed his father.  Shane was determined to get a head start on the tasks for today, hoping to swing by  to grab something to eat after the initial chaos had died down.

Jackie was good to him as well, always saving something aside because she knew full well Shane was rather particular about his meals.

“Where are we today?” Shane asked curiously. He had sworn the next stop was Providence, Rhode Island.  But he had a strange suspicion this was not the case.

“Boston.  Boston, Massachusetts.” David replied. “Cromwell wanted to veer from the plan, for some reason. Apparently there’s someone here he needs to see.”

Thanks for the ask, @anincompletelistl💖