The Invitation

Set Pre-Season 5. Sara Invites Lincoln to her wedding to Jacob…

Chapter One

"Sara Scofield and Jacob Ness request the pleasure of your company to celebrate their marriage…" Jacob held the pearlescent card invitation out just short of arm's length as he proudly read the embossed silver text on the front. "These really look great, huh?" He enthused.

Sara smiled across the dining table at him, pen in hand. She was midway through writing out a modest pile of invites. Honestly, they were a little too fancy for her liking, but Jacob had insisted these were the ones they should choose as they were "the best". The best presumably as they also just happened to be the most expensive. Personally, she saw them as a waste of money. A simple text message or an email would surely suffice nowadays. Her eyes fell upon Jacob's noticeably larger pile of invitations, the guest list was creeping uncomfortably into the hundreds. She allowed her mind to drift for a moment to the Miami beach upon which she wed Michael. There were only three other people besides she and Michael there that day and it had been… perfect. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the sand between her toes and the breeze on her face.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ness... kinda rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?" Jacob had interrupted her train of thought.

"Jacob." She sighed heavily.

"What?" He asked, looking up at her in feigned ignorance.

"We've already had this discussion. And I'm keeping Scofield." She answered softly yet assertively.

Jacob appeared a little dejected, "Right. I know, I'm sorry." He said, and his head was down, back to writing.

"It's important to me to have the same last name as Mike." She reasoned.

"It's fine, I understand." Jacob replied coolly.

Did she want him to argue back? Demand she take his name or the wedding was off? She didn't know but the way he just accepted it stung her heart a little bit, what was that, guilt? Betrayal?

She sighed, the awkward silence hanging in the air between them as she slipped the last fancy invitation she had written into its equally fancy envelope, stuck a stamp in the corner and set it gently on top of the pile in the middle of the table that were ready to be posted out. Jacob glanced upward and noticed the addressee, Mr. L. Burrows.

"You think he'll come?" He asked.

Sara stared at him, "You think he won't?"

Jacob made a face that she couldn't quite work out the meaning of. "What?" She pressed.

"Well, you haven't seen the guy in what, like a year now?"

Sara bowed her head. Had it really been a year? She supposed it must have been. She felt an instant pang of sadness on Michael's behalf. He had asked Linc to make sure that his nephew grew up knowing that his Uncle was never far away. How can twelve months have passed by so quickly? Little Mike had grown so much in that time.

She cleared her throat, "He.. uh.." She began, but she didn't really know what she was going to say, come up with some kind of excuse for his absence maybe? To justify it, to make it right.

"He doesn't come here because he hates me. Because I'm not his brother." Jacob offered somewhat apologetically.

Sara's mouth fell open slightly, "Linc has never not been pleasant and accommodating toward you."

Jacob stifled a laugh, "Through gritted teeth perhaps. Sara, you can see the guy's veins popping outta his head whenever he has to share the same breathing space as me, like it's taking all his energy not to deck me."

Sara tutted dismissively with a shake of her head, though part of her knew it was true. She paused, contemplating for a second. "You really don't think he'll come?"

Jacob reached across the table to take hold of her hand, "You think he's going to want to watch you marry someone who isn't Michael? No, Sara, no I don't think he'll come." He squeezed her hand gently. "I'm sorry."

Sara looked down at their hands, she could see they were touching but it was like she just couldn't feel anything. She nodded resolutely; Jacob was probably right. But how she would love it if Lincoln came, if not for her then for Mike.

"Look, send the invite, reach out. That's all you can do." Jacob said finally.