Amnesia

What Could Have Been

 The girl's face was round and pale. Her eyes were wide and bright and she cooed as Remington tapped the baby's cheeks and nose. Remington found herself grinning at the little girl, some painful tenderness building in her chest. Her knees were starting to ache from kneeling next to the crib, but she ignored the pain.

The lock on the door unlatched, and Remington paused. The baby giggled. The door opened. "Lacie!" Seokjin said, his voice musical. Remington listened to the footsteps as they approached the room. "I'm h--"

Then Seokjin stood in the doorway, his eyes wide as he stared at Remington. His eyes flashed from Remington, to the baby, back to Remington.

"Hi, Jinnie," Remington said.

Seokjin swallowed. "Hi, Remy. Get the hell out of my house."

Remington slowly stood and looked at Seokjin. His hair was long again, curly. His skin was pale and angry blotches of red peeked out from under the collar of his shirt. He was a full man now, nowhere near the boy he used to be.

The baby cooed again, clearly annoyed that no one was paying attention to her. Seokjin chewed on his lip as he stared at the little girl, then he ran to the crib and picked the baby up and walked backward until his back hit the wall. Remington raised a hand. "Peace, honey. You can't blame a girl for wanting to meet her namesake, after all." She sighed and brushed some hair back. "I can't believe you kept your promise about that."

"I didn't really want to," Seokjin said quickly. His voice was pure ice. "But it was a promise." He held the baby to his chest, a hand holding her head and neck closely.

"I won't hurt her, you know," Remington said. She brushed off the bottom of her dress and walked to a sofa chair in the corner of the room and sat.

Seokjin looked like he was fighting for the right words to say. "I know," he muttered. "But that doesn't mean she won't get hurt. What did you do to the babysitter?"

Remington scoffed. "What did I do? She's one of my employees. She's taking a walk right now."

He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Oh my God. Damn it."

The couch was scratchy on Remington's bare skin. "Come on. I needed to make sure the person taking care of your daughter was someone I could trust."

"And control?"

"I only trust people I can control. You should do the same."

The two were quiet for a minute. Remington took the time to really look at Seokjin again. It had been too long since they had seen each other, and the time was obvious when she looked at him. He didn't have any wrinkles or gray hair, but he was clearly older. His eyes were sunken with tiredness. He was thinner. And there was a baby in his arms.

"I want you to leave," Seokjin said, clearer now.

Remington sighed. "Is that really what you want?"

"No," he said honestly. "But is it safe to be here right now?"

"You and Lacie are safe," Remington said. "I swear it."

Seokjin didn't look convinced. "What do you swear it on?"

"What do you want me to swear it on? Dead people don't count."

"Swear it on your brother's life."

Remington rubbed her wrist. "Fine. I swear that you and your daughter are as safe as possible, and if I'm wrong, may lightning strike down my brother."

He nodded and slowly came closer. He put the baby back down in the crib. They were quiet as he stared at her.

"She looks like you, you know," Remington said.