Red Begonia

CHAPTER ONE: The Dove

"When da hell are we gonna get there?" Demanded Susie, from her car seat. She was quite prestigious for a little girl her age.

Lincoln chuckled at Susie's profanity. He knew that he shouldn't, but he did anyway. He didn't have the time to correct that flaw of his. And of course, Victoria Lincoln's new wife, being the hard-core catholic she was, scolded Susie harshly.

"Susie!" Victoria hissed, "Watch your mouth! Don't say such foul words like that."

"Why?" Susie sounded offended. She wore that expression of her face, again. The one that demanded a logical and just answer. "It doesn't hurt anyone."

"Darling, the Devil makes little girls use bad words so he can get them," Victoria said. Lincoln snorted because that was most certainly not true. There was probably some huge, religious reason why children shouldn't swear that Victoria wasn't telling Susie. But Susie was only five, so Victoria would usually make up some blunt answer that just brushed the surface on the true answer.

"Why does the Devil have to ruin stuff?" Little Susie said, more to herself rather than to Victoria. She crossed her arms, and her face twisted into a disapproving pout. Eventually she let it go and went back to watching her imaginary horse racing along side the car, making the sound effects with her mouth.

Lincoln chuckled one more time, and Victoria elbowed his rib. Lincoln looked into the rear-view mirror as he drove the black 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class and saw his new family. Robert, Tess, and baby Susie. He smiled, the first real smile in a long while. His heart fluttered a little bit. This was his new family, and they were going to be a happy one. Of course, that little bit of anxiety pecked at him, but he ignored that.

This was Lincoln's time to shine.

Who the hell are these people, you're probably wondering? These are the Mansfields, the family of fosters. No one in this family, except for Victoria and Susie, is blood-related.

Time to delve into some backstory.

Lincoln Mansfield was from Alexandria, Virginia. He was of average height, with broad shoulders and short, brown hair. His eyes were gray. Lincoln married a woman named Hannah back in 2005, which was very, very unsuccessful. And it was all because of Lincoln, although he never, ever admitted it. Hannah had a part to play in the failed marriage, too, though. She would openly cheat in front of Lincoln.

Let's just say it was both of their faults.

And now, Victoria Karen--now Victoria Mansfield. Victoria was an interesting cookie. She was tall, slender, with reddish-brown hair and eyes that could pierce through the toughest soul. Before she married Jake Harmon back in 2007--who was broke, pathetic, and lazy--her parents let her do whatever the hell she wanted. She smoked, drank at an early age, met with boys, and...did things. Victoria's parents never taught her about the demons that lurked out in the real world. And Jake Harmon was one of them. She divorced him, obviously, and found solitude with God.

Lincoln and Victoria met at a bar in 2017 and fell in love instantly. They shared a similar past, and they saw each other as two-pieces-that-complete. Romance. So cheesy.

And now, time for Robert and Tess.

Robert Daniels--now Robert Mansfield--was a sixteen-year-old boy with a stout build and blonde hair who couldn't care less about school or college, and finding a "successful" career. He was carefree, and all he wanted was to live life his way. Robert lost his biological parents in 2015, who was brutally murdered by what the police said, gang members. The Latin Kings or the Bloods was what they said. But Robert's parents were murdered, and that was that.