She slowly climbed the steps to their apartment, Luka's hand resting on the base of her spine. She was tired, bone weary and muscle-y fatigued. Her head pounded due to the amount of tears she had released on the drive back home from the hospital.
He was just a kid.
Luka watched her in her state of contemplation as he opened the door to their apartment and wanted to reach out and pull her body to his. He heard about the kid who was beaten to death by boys in the grade above and he had listened to Sam sob about how alike he was to Alex. Were there animals like that in Alex's school?
He did not want to think about that.
As soon as they stepped foot in the darkened apartment, Sam moved towards Alex's room, her feet thudding on the staircase as she went. He silently followed behind her, silently offering his support and watched as she slid into her son's room, leaving to door open for him to join in if he wished.
He didn't though. He just stood outside, leaning his right side against the wooden jam and watched her silently, mesmerised by the change that overcame her as she watched her slumbering son. He watched as she sat on the edge of his bed, her fingers instantly finding Alex's longer than normal hair beneath the mass of covers.
The look of contemplation that had been gracing her features melted away as she stared adoringly at her slumbering son.
Luka felt his heart skip a beat at the intense love that radiated from her. Remembering his own son and daughter, he closed his eyes against the familiar – but not so frequent – ache that enveloped his chest. He remembered Jasna and her intense look of contemplation as she began counting the number of carrots sitting in a row on her dinner plate, Marko's delicate cries in the warm nights.
He opened his eyes and saw Sam drop a kiss to her son's forehead, uttering words that he himself had not said enough – to anyone.
"I love you, kiddo. I always will," she whispered into his hair and pulled back, swiping at her eyes.
Luka waited for her to reach him before wrapping his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly to him.
"I love you," he murmured to her, glancing over at her son, his closest friend and thanked the Lord that he had met them.
"I love you, too," she whispered back and sighed into his chest.
"He's all right, Sam," he told her quietly as he saw her look into the room again.
She nodded and closed the door silently, taking Luka's hand as she walked back down to their bedroom.
"I just don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him," she squeezed out past the lump in her throat ten minutes later as she wrapped herself around his body.
He stroked his fingers up and down her back and played with a lock of hair that floated across his chest. Breathing deeply, he tucked his head against the top of hers and pressed his lips together.
"Let's hope we never have to find out."
He felt her nod and he pulled the covers a little tighter around their bodies and drifted off to sleep, knowing that Sam would follow soon.
END