Inferno Part 3

~76~ Brother Isn't Strong Enough

Mason's POV

Today's the day I've been dreading for months now....The day my brother goes to basic.

I can tell he's nervous as he comes down the stairs for breakfast. Sasha made his favorite for him...Waffles

He takes one look at them and gives Sasha a small smile.

"Thanks Sash...But I don't think I should eat any."

"Why not?" She asks, putting more waffles on the plate.

"Because I'm so nervous, I'm liable to shit my pants on the plane."

She gives him a sad smile and hugs him tight. "You're going to do amazing, Dylan. How about some fruit?"

He nods as he sits down, and she cuts him up some strawberries and peels him an orange.

Josie comes down the stairs, and sees the waffles. She gets a heaping plate and smothers them with butter and syrup.

"You're seriously not eating? It's your favorite," she says as she sits next to him and steals a strawberry from his plate.

"Too nervous," he smiles sadly at her as he takes a drink of his water.

She nods as she takes a bite. "I can't believe you're leaving for 6 months. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you."

He puts his glass of water down and leans over, pulling her into him.

"You're going to love it," he teases as he messes up her already crazy hair.

"I won't have to share a bathroom anymore. That part will be nice."

He grins as he pops another strawberry in his mouth.

Drew comes over and sits in Dylan's lap. "Whose gonna play dinosaurs with me? Your T-Rex roar is the scariest."

Dylan kisses Drew's curls. "I'll teach your daddy before I go. He can do them."

Drew sticks out his lower lip and looks at me.

"Daddy, your T-Rex roar is kinda silly."

I nod and give him the best smile I can. "I'll try to make it scarier, Little Dude."

All I want to do is cry, and force him to stay here. Use my big brother/guardian powers and refuse to allow him to leave.

Man I wished it worked that way.

"We need to leave for the airport in an hour. Everybody wanted to come. You good with that?" I ask.

He grins, and I can tell that means everything to him.

"Sure," he says simply, trying to hide that he's happy about it. He's just as grateful as I am to have been accepted into this family.

As we're getting ready to go, I'm in my room, and fighting my tears hard. Sasha comes in and sees me, and pulls me into her.

"It's only six months," she whispers as I start to cry.

"It's half a year, Sasha," I choke out, trying to be quiet. I don't want Dylan knowing how upset I am. He's already upset and nervous as it is.

Once we get into the car, it's completely quiet. When I look back in the rear view mirror, I see Dylan silently reach over and grab Josie's hand, and holds it the rest of the car ride.

I have to force my tears to stay away. I'm about to lose my mind, and I can't do that. Not in front of these kids, at least.

When we finally get to the airport, we wait for the rest of the crew. Once everyone gets there, we walk with him and help him get his bag checked, and we help him find security. Once there, this is as far as we can go.