His Little Boy

Chapter 3

Samantha's POV

"Keenan!" I yelled, chasing after the small child as he waddled around the shopping centre. The little rascal knew how to play his mumma. I followed the sound of his baby babble as he shrieked around patrons, somehow able to weave in and out of passerbys as if he was a running linebacker. I obviously need to keep him away from his gandpa.

"Keenan! Stop! Come back here." i sighed, picking up my pace before he reached the escalator where i have no doubt he would fall and hurt himself. I screamed as he went for it, his little legs managing to get on the first step before they caved and he fell forward. "Keenan!"

It was as if time stopped. My baby was gone from my sight and everyone in the centre turned to look at me. A mother crying and screaming her son's name as she ran over to where she last saw him. It was a sight to see I'm sure, but i had no time for this petty shit. My baby needed his mum.

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Nickolai's POV

A scream pierced the air around me and i immediately stood to attention, my eyes scouring every inch of the shopping centre for the source of the sound. It was pure heartbreak in that noise, as if somehow had just lost someone they love. It tugged at even my heart strings.

"Did you hear that too?" I turned to ask my brother who nodded his head. No matter that he was never in the air force with me or any other sect, he still stood still and did what he should. Other patrons continued to walk on, oblivious or not caring regardless of the way her scream pierced my soul. It was worse than half of the screams i have heard in battle, the first one to affect me this way. This wasn't a soldier dying for his country, this was an innocent. A civilian. And i wanted to protect her with everything in me.

"Nick!" I followed the direction he was pointing and immediately my body was moving towards the small one flying off the edge of the escalator. I bent my knees and dived off the edge, catching the small flailing boy in my arms and cradling him close as i began what i knew to be a painful descent. My body crashed through an ornament and hit the ground hard, pain radiating everywhere.

"Shit!" i swore softly, laying my head back against the cold concrete. The small bundle in my arms remained unhurt, curling his body closer to mine and nuzzling close to my neck and the warmth it provided.

"Nickolai!" Jeremy yelled as he ran down the escalator, slightly shoving people out of the way as he raced to get to me.

"I'm fine Jer. Just give me a hand up yeah?" My brother jumped the side of the escalator at a smarter point than i did. He squat down in front of me, resting his hand on the small child curled up against me.

"Is he alright?"

i nodded with a sigh. "Yeah he's fine, but i need to find his mother."

"Not hard. She's crying her eyes out upstairs, thinks he's dead."

I huffed. "Wouldn't blame her, her son just pitched off the side of an escalator that she wasn't on. She needs to take better care of him." i balanced the small child against my chest and stood up slowly, hearing my bones creaking at the movement. "Jeremy, go into one of the kids stores and buy one of those kid leashes yeah? I'll take him back to his mum and have a chat to her about watching him."

He nodded and walked off, pulling his wallet out of his pocket as he went. I sighed, looking up towards the ceiling where loud sobs could be heard. i carried the small boy up the escalator, disregarding the way he squirmed and struggled before settling down. He was what my mother would call a troublemaker. But i couldn't help the way my eyes widened at the sight of his mother curled into a fetal position on the floor of the dirty mall as people walked past her. The little boy struggled further as he saw his mum, biting my arm until i gently put him on the floor. He unsteadily rose to his feet, his little chubby legs working as hard as they could to make their way to the woman. A smile crossed my lips as he threw himself on top of her back, nestling his cheeks in her hair and babbling the way only babies knew how. I watched as she uncurled and moved him away to look at his face. Those baby blues peaked innocently beneath his dark curly hair as the woman rose to her knees and hugged him tightly to her, tears dripping down her tan complexion.