Lincoln

I wake up to a text from Michael, and I'm a little curious to see what it is.

What do you think about a kid from school asking Faith to a dance???

I'm reading the text over and over and I can't figure out what he's talking about.

What do you mean...?

I only have to wait a few minutes before he replies.

Last night Faith had a friend that she had made from school to our house, and I'm not sure if he's already asked her or not but there's a dance on the last day of school and he asked me if he was allowed to take her, he's a gentleman and I said yes... I just wanted to know if I said the right thing.

Whoa. I knew a guy would be after her soon, but I didn't know that it would be that soon!

Well, Michael, there's not much that I can say in a text about that so I'll just come to your house...

I send a smiley face and get out of bed, putting my jeans and a t-shirt on and walking out into the driveway into the Mustang.

I pull into Michael's driveway five minutes later and I see Faith outside with some kid playing basketball. I'm pretty sure that's the kid Michael's talking about. I see Faith and give her a hug, and she takes a second for her to introduce me to her "friend". "Linc, Garrett. Garrett, my uncle Linc," she says, and I shake his hand. He's got a good handshake, and that's going for him already. "I've heard a lot about you," the kid says. He seems like a great kid. "Really? I hope they've been good things..." I eye Faith jokingly and she laughs at me. "Relax, Linc. He's been wanting to meet you," Faith says, the knowing emotion behind her eyes that he doesn't know everything is comforting.

"Great to meet you, Garrett," I say, walking away. "Nice to meet you too, sir," he says after me. I'm impressed by that kid, and it takes a lot to impress a guy like me.

"What do you think?" Michael grabs me a drink from the fridge as he asks me this question. "I'm impressed, and that takes a lot. He's polite, has a great handshake, called me sir, the whole nine yards. I almost let him call me Linc." Michael's eyebrows raise. "Holy crap. If he impressed you, that says something extremely significant," Michael says. "But there's one thing that I can see," I tell Michael, and he knows what I'm thinking. "He's into her," we say at the same time. "Who's into who?" Sara says, emerging from the hallway. "Hey Sara, beautiful as always," I compliment her. We got incredibly close in the seven years while Michael was gone, by light years.

"Linc... hit on my wife again and I'll break your kneecaps," he playfully threatens, and I fake being offended. "Okay, Sara, you've kinda missed a lot," I offer to her, and she quirks her eyebrow at me. "You know Garrett," Michael begins. Sara nods, giving him a leeway to keep going. "Last night, I was going into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and on my way back to bed I saw him standing in the hallway. I asked him what he was doing, and he told me that she was changing to something warmer. He said that he had something to ask me. He asked me if he was allowed to take Faith to the dance, even though he knew 4am was an odd time to ask and he admitted it. I told him that he could, but not to break her heart whatever he did," Michael explains. "I just don't want to see her broken, when she just got back from an absolutely sucky past." Sara looks at Michael with an astonished look. "Wow. I was not expecting that much information as soon as I got up in the morning."

I look to the front window to see Faith and Garrett in the driveway, laughing, Garrett and Faith laughing and hugging each other, and I wave Michael and Sara to the window. "Aww, that's so cute," Sara says, smiling. Michael doesn't seem to approve, but I hold my arm out over his chest to stop him from going anywhere. "Wait, I want to see what happens," Sara says, not letting either of us move. And then, Faith turns around and hugs him back, chin on his shoulder. "I'm not really sure that Faith got much sleep last night, because I heard her having nightmares at least three times, so I think she's probably tired, and I think he stayed awake too, to be nice and help her. Such a gentleman," Michael compliments. But still, I don't think he likes the hugging. I don't know why.

We go back into the kitchen to keep talking while Michael walks to the window every few minutes to see what they're doing, and one particular time he looks a little surprised. I look over to find them laying in the grass on a blanket, looking up at the sky and laughing about something.

But then, out of the clear blue sky, they sit up and the mood darkens. Faith looks like she's upset about something, whether it's something he said or something she was thinking about. She lays there on the blanket, looking like she's trying to get through something painful. "The memories are coming back. I can see it," Michael puts in thoughtfully. Garrett's whispering something to her, and she nods, understanding what he's saying. But then something he says makes her start laughing again, and Michael breathes out. "Thank god. I told him if he ever said anything to upset her or break her heart, we were going to have some problems," Michael says, and Sara and I look at him. "Well, jeez, harsh much? And by the way, what's wrong with your shirt? You look better in gray," I tell him, looking at his pink t-shirt. "Oh, look who's talking! It's Mr. G.I. Joe over there!" He's referring to the slim cargo pants and green t-shirt, and Michael's being playful and I know it, but that one was pretty good. "Jeez, I take a jab and you come in with the uppercut!"

We move away from the window and we hear the front door open, and we peer around the corner to see who's coming in. It's Garrett and Faith, laughing about something that no one else but them understand. It's kind of like a mini Michael and Sara, and I wonder if they've noticed yet. "You know who that reminds me of?" Michael and Sara look at me, confused. "You two," I wave a finger at them both, and then they look at each other and start laughing again. "Thanks. You're proving my point for me."

It's a strange thing, watching Michael, Sara, Mike, and Faith all being in each other's company. Although I think Michael and Sara could use some time by themselves, which I totally get. So tonight, I'll ask if they want to stay at my house and hang out.

"Don't get cocky, Garrett Lucas Cooper. You only beat me once," I hear Faith say down the hall. Sara's eyes open wide at the sound of the statement, then she and Michael start dying laughing. "Just... like... you..." Michael manages between laughs. I throw my hands up and walk away from the table. "Bye, you guys, I'll leave you to that," I say, leaving their house and heading back to mine.

When I get home, LJ's sitting at the kitchen counter apparently waiting for me. "Mike's?" He asks, a spoonful of cereal halfway in his mouth. I nod, and plaster the stupid grin on my face.

"I think Faith already got herself a boyfriend," I joke, but then LJ takes me seriously. "I know. I drove by earlier and saw them laying in the yard." I laugh. "Apparently, they're just 'friends', but I don't believe that for half a second. Especially because the gentleman asked Michael at 4 o'clock this morning if he was allowed to take Faith to the dance on the last day of school. Michael being who he is, he told him that it was fine as long as he didn't break her heart. Which is totally a dad thing to do. I mean, the kid's got a great handshake, called me sir, the whole nine yards. His parents raised him right," I tell LJ.

I go back into the bedroom to find Vee still asleep. That's not going to last too long. "Veronica... wake up! It's 3:30 in the afternoon!" She sits up quickly, rubbing her eyes. "Really?!" She seems astonished by the fact that it's this late already. "No. It's eleven," I say, and she playfully punches me in the gut, but it was enough to hurt a little bit. "Oh, gee, thanks," I say sarcastically. "When you get a chance, come down into the kitchen. We have some... news." She quirks an eyebrow at me and shrugs.

Fifteen minutes later, Veronica decided to come down and eat some breakfast; she decided on a piece of toast and a banana, which is too practical for me. She likes it though.

"We think that Faith's got herself a boyfriend," I say tauntingly. "And what's wrong with that?" She's trying to start a debate, and eventually LJ will throw something in the pot and it'll be three-sided. "Nothing's wrong with it. It's perfect, in fact, except for the fact that it's one of Mike's best friends." Vee winces. "Ooh... but you can't say anything about that. Michael was my friend first and you know it," she playfully says. "That one hurt," I joke.

I'm driving back to Michael's for the second time that day.

We get in the driveway and see Faith and Garrett shooting hoops in the driveway. "Cute, tall, athletic, looks like her type," Vee analyzes before we get out. "Whatever you guys are doing, do it. I'm getting out of the stupid backseat," LJ says, opening the car door and stepping onto the concrete. "Hey, LJ!" Faith pauses mid-game to give LJ a hug and a high-five, leaving Garrett standing with the rebound. "Umm... Garrett, my cousin LJ, LJ, my friend Garrett," Faith introduces, putting enunciation on "friend" because she can tell what I think. Faith clears her throat and looks me in the eyes. I roll mine, and Vee rolls her eyes at me. "You're hopeless, she whispers to me. "And this is my aunt Veronica."

The adults (that includes LJ, even though I'm not so sure. So what if he's 32, he acts like he's fifteen sometimes) go inside and sit at the countertop. Apparently, Mike and Trevor have been binge-watching movies in the den and playing video games all morning. Sounds like Mike.

"So, Mike," LJ says, looking at Michael. "Your daughter has a prize and a half to take to a dance, and I heard that you still don't approve?" Michael looks at LJ and blushes just a slight bit. "Fine, but that's not as bad as the most emotionless man in the planet crying when someone prays for him," I say, taking out the secret photo I took at Fox River. Sucre said that he was praying for us when we went by the chair, and I caught a picture of Linc crying right after he said this. "Ha. Right," I challenge, knowing that Michael's referring to me. "Really? Remember this, when Sucre prayed for us?" He shows me the picture, the tear evident on my cheek. I mumble a curse under my breath as Michael passes the proof around the table. "He's got you, Linc," Vee says from beside me, which isn't helping.

I go stand by the back window for a little bit when I see Garrett and Faith walking slowly under the shade tree in the yard, Garrett sitting first, then Faith sitting beside him. "Wait. Don't Mike and Faith turn thirteen tomorrow?" My question pulls the attention from the conversation at the counter. "Yeah, they do. Faith saw this pair of shoes that she thought were really cool, so we're going to get her those," Sara explains. "Cool," I say, looking out the window over the fence again. The sky looks kinda stormy, but the sun pokes between the dark clouds in a few places. This is the good life, watching your family come together.

He's a great kid, but I just don't want her heart broken. I get Michael's point of view, a dad who's watching out for his daughter.

I go to sit back at the counter and the conversation shifted to the newspaper article. "Yeah, Linc squeezed that newspaper so hard, I thought it was going to explode or something," Sara jokes. On second thought, she's right.

Why is the hot one always the butt of the jokes?