Teenage Baby

Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"Daddy!" Leo wailed in between sobs and labored breaths, his arms held out in a desperate demand to be held. At this point, Aaron had realized he was all but helping, so he sat silently as he watched him cry, grey eyes wide and distant, genuinely shocked at the sudden outburst.

  Daddy rushed into the room but his steps weren't menacing or aggressive; they were steady and soft, unthreatening. His face seemed relaxed as he walked to Leo and lifted him close to his chest, staying still to give him a minute to calm down. Leo gathered the front of Daddy's sweater tightly in his fist and cried, his tears staining Daddy's neck where he'd pressed his face.

"Why is my baby so upset?" Daddy said as he kissed the top of Leo's head. He tried swaying around with him, but Leo didn't like the unsettling movement so he cried out, tearing all eardrums along. "Oh, okay. No moving. I'm sorry, love."

  Aaron wanted to speak, to tell Leo to calm down, to apologize to him—anything to end this situation, but he couldn't muster enough power to speak during an outburst he caused. That boy had to be brainwashed.

Mommy studied Aaron's face; the way he looked deep in thought, eyebrows puckered and lips straight and grim. She walked closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek, but he was quick to flinch and scoot aside. He thought she wanted to slap him or something for making her baby cry.

"Baby, don't worry, it happens," she said, smiling.

Aaron relaxed slightly, but then tensed again. Daddy might not think the same, he thought. Too early to feel safe.

  Daddy patted Leo's backside several times, and he calmed down a little, like the pats did the trick, like they weren't weird and offending for a teenager. The loud sobs eventually petered out to small sniffles, and silence finally fell upon the room, which all eardrums appreciated. No one had nagged about it but the noises were torturous.

Daddy placed Leo on the bed again, holding his hands as he knelt down in front of him. "Alright, baby, do you want to tell Daddy what's wrong?"

Please don't tell him about the questions, Aaron thought. Please.

"Don't wanna talk about it, Daddy," Leo said, sighing. Aaron wanted to establish that he was brainwashed, but this again made him think he was trying to save him from a potential punishment. But if Leo really was trying to help, couldn't he have just not cried so loudly? There was something missing, and Aaron found it really irritating how he couldn't put two and two together. Leo's behavior didn't make sense.

"Leo," Aaron whispered, leaning closer but Leo looked away. He tried turning his face towards him, but Leo skillfully kept his neck rigid, refusing to look at him and swatting Aaron's hand dismissively when he insisted to bother him. Something about that stung Aaron's heart—just five minutes ago Leo had been dying to cuddle with him, and now he didn't even want to look at him. "I'm sorry."

  Aaron genuinely wanted to kill himself at this point. If he had just let Leo cuddle with him, none of this would've happened—he wouldn't have managed to make a teenager bawl like a baby, which he now realized was pretty horrible. He'd never made anyone so upset. Sighing, Aaron let his eye sweep across the floor shamefully, his voice filled with distinctly audible dread as he spoke, "What do you wanna play after this?"

Leo finally looked at Aaron, revealing along puffy, red rimmed eyes and pouty lips—like he was interested in the offer, but still doubtful of the sincerity.

"Really," Aaron continued. "I'll play anything you want."

  The captors felt a common tingle in their hearts; their baby was concerned about his little brother and was trying to comfort him. Progress.