Reckless

The February weather was particularly warm that day in Rio de Janeiro. It was a little over two weeks after carnival and the streets were still abuzz with the phantom excitement of the festivities that not so long ago had ended.

A small, warm breeze danced around playing with the tips of her damp hair as she made way to the sidewalk that opened into the street.

She was starting her on her way home from the beach with a few friends-emphasis on a few-as she never did care for being social. It was the weekend, however, so that meant that she'd either go out or hear about her 'anti-social problems' later. Tio Gael and tia Mariella were constantly on her about her reclusive lifestyle. She, on the other hand, didn't feel like she was missing much; at the end of the day, being anti-social was just who she was. Which was the reason that she decided to cut her little 'day of fun' short. She loved the liveliness of Rio but, just wasn't the type to actually be a part of it. Especially not lately; there was just too much on her mind.

As the sun began to set a beautiful mixed hue of burnt orange, yellow, and dimming blue, Dallas waved goodbye to her friends and took out her cell phone. She unlocked and immediately dialed her mother's number.

It was the third time that Dallas had made an attempt to call her that day and, yet again, she didn't answer.

During her whole day out, she was trying to contact everyone but there was never an answer-not even a return text. Dallas was steadily becoming more and more concerned about what was going on.

The spacey texts and calls had been going on for a little over a month now. Her siblings being short with her over the phone, as well as her father, and she had begun noticing her mother's forlorn tone over the phone. When Dallas would ask if everything was alright, the subject would either change she'd be poorly reassured before the call was ended. Dallas didn't like being in the dark and that was exactly where she was at this point.

While everyone had been a little finicky of late, the one person that Dallas always could count on was her mother. That day, however, she didn't even answer and it wasn't like her mother to ignore her calls. Dallas tried to call one more time before leaving a voice message:

"Mama, is everything alright? You're starting to scare me. Call me back, okay?"

She dialed her siblings, texting them, trying to contact anyone so that they would let her know if everything was alright. No one answered-not even her father. Each time she ended the call, she left a message, begging for someone to call her back. Even a text would have been okay.

She looked at the contact pictures of everyone in her phone for a while, a lump suddenly building in her throat and a heat in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong.

"Ei Menina!" A voice called out to Dallas as she walked barefoot on the sand-covered sidewalk heading home.

She paused, trying to push away from her negative thoughts. Before she turned around, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feigning a smile. When she was sure that her smile was wide enough to seem genuine, she switched her attention to the young attractive guy that came running up to her from the beach.

Dallas smiled at Aberto, the guy that seemed to have a little thing for her. As attractive and charming as he seemed to be, however, she was well aware of his reputation as a player. Dallas knew that she was only the latest attempt in his sexual conquests.

"Onde você vai?" Where are you going? He asked her with a smile on his face.

"Casa," Dallas answered. She needed to get home, her mind not at ease enough to even attempt to be out and act like she was having fun anymore.

"Por que você está saindo tão cedo?" He asked, wondering why Dallas was leaving so soon.

"Estou aguardando uma ligação." She replied, relaying to him as she did a close friend, Rina, that she was expecting a call.

"Is it a guy?" He asked in accented English this time. He knew that while Dallas was fluent, she preferred to speak English when not around her friends. His English was struggled but good enough.

Finding his inquiry amusing, Dallas smirked. "Goodbye, Berto." She said and walked away.

"Can I-at least walk you home?" He requested.

Dallas turned slightly, side-eyeing him as she kept to her stride. "I'm good. See ya."

Dallas was not too far from her uncle Gael and aunt Mariella's home. She'd been staying there for the last three or so years.

She missed her parents, Marina and Hassun Black-her siblings, Linkoln, King, and Beatricia as well. She even missed her brother's friends-one of them adopted as her brother at a young age, Black. That wasn't his real name but that was what everyone called him.

Resigned to the day, Dallas arrived at the open garage, seeing quite a few men standing in the way of the car that she'd been working on with her uncle Gael. Usually, when there were a bunch of her uncle's guys around it didn't bother Dallas. This time, however, the fact that her mind was set on releasing stress by working on the car undermined her tolerance for the gathering.

She uttered a hello to the guys as she walked past until she got to the tallest of them all. He was a ruggedly built man, brawny and masculine in his deeply tanned, sun-kissed skin and thick wavy black hair. Looking at him, he always seemed to remind Dallas of a more swarthy-more good-looking and larger Wolverine from the X-Men.

"Ah, boneca!" He called her puppet in Portuguese.

"Hi, tio Gael." She said with somewhat of a withdrawn smile.

Gael seemed to already know that something was bothering her. "You're back early, puppet." Her tio would always lapse in and out of English when Dallas was around out of habit because it was how she'd communicate with him and Mariella most of the time.

"Wasn't feeling very sociable today, tio."

Dallas, who wore a pair of loose waist jean shorts and a bathing suit top, grabbed a pair of dusty, dark coveralls and slipped them on, ignoring the others as she spoke to her uncle.

"You are never in the mood to be social, boneca." He teased.

Dallas chuckled half-heartedly at her tio's playfully heckling words. She wanted to laugh harder-she wanted to react the way that she would have had he said it any other time. But she couldn't-not this time; there was just entirely too much weighing down her mind for her to do so.

Gael seemed to notice this, his glance over at his guys was momentary before he asked."You alright, puppet?"

Dallas didn't even know how to answer that. No, she wasn't alright-not at all but also she didn't want to worry her uncle either.

Gael, never having had children because Dallas's aunt was unable to bear them, was extremely protective of his nieces and nephews; particularly, Dallas because of her past. Her coming to live with them nearly four years ago caused their relationship to grow even more over time. So, whenever Gael saw that Dallas was hurting-whether it be emotional or physical, he had a tendency to overreact.

"Fine-I'm fine." She finally answered. Still, she had to ask. "Have you...has anyone heard from anyone back home?" She asked. "Did ma or daddy call you? Ko? King? Bea?" She was starting to grasp at straws. "Black?" All of them had Gael's number but they didn't call often. Still, Dallas figured she could hope.

Her desperation was poorly masked when she asked the question and her uncle said as much with his expression.

"Still no word, huh?" He countered. Dallas started to answer but then stopped and looked away from her uncle. "Is that what has been bothering you, boneca?" He asked, touching her shoulder.

Dallas didn't want to confirm his suspicions with an answer-though he already seemed to know what it would be.

"I-I just...I usually get a call back by now, tio." She admitted. "And...I know that it may be my paranoia but...I-sometimes I feel like mama is hiding something from me-that everyone is hiding something from me." She looked up at her uncle to see his concerned expression.

"Ah, puppet." He took his niece into his arms. "It is not paranoia." He said.

Dallas looked up at her uncle curiously. "It's not?" She was suddenly nervous.

Gael looked at Dallas, an empathetic look upon his face as he spoke. "We will talk when your tia gets home, alright?"

Dallas nodded, concern gripping her insides. "O-okay." She said.

Gael then smiled. "Until then." He walked past her and opened the hood of a classic 69 Plymouth Roadrunner; a car they'd been working on for a while now. "The car is nearly finished."

Dallas watched her uncle's face light up at the mention of the car and that brought a smile to her face.

Both Gael and Mariella were quite successful in their careers, Mariella being some sort of Auto CAD designer. Dallas didn't know the specifics of the job but it was one that she enjoyed and it kept her away for most of the day at times.

Gael was the head foreman in an Electrical Engineering company; and as taxing and time-consuming as that sounded, it seemed that Gael had far more time on his hands than his wife.

Though, it didn't surprise Dallas as her uncle would never allow anything to take priority over his passion for cars-something else that brought a great deal of their money in.

"Still haven't found the problem, huh?" She finally asked her uncle as she looked under the hood as well.

Gael shook his head. "Nope." He left the hood to start the car again. Still, there sounded that annoying noise.

"Did you ever check the transmission mount like I suggested?" Dallas asked. When her uncle turned around and looked at her sheepishly, she knew the answer and smirked. "Of course you didn't." She chuckled.

"I will leave the rest to you." He said, pinching her chin and walking away, he started ushering the guys out of the garage. However, there was one left behind as her uncle got caught up in conversation with one of his other associates.

"Olá, linda,"

Dallas, whose head was under the hood, peeked from under it to see Abel, one of her uncle's lackeys standing there watching her. He had been watching her closely since she got in and always made it a point to speak to her. So, she wasn't surprised to see his face looking down at her.

Abel was someone that Dallas considered her uncle's closest associate out of all of the guys that he talked to. She didn't care too much for him, though. Abel was an older and very attractive man, but there was something about him that just seemed grimy to Dallas. That didn't even include the way he'd look at her when he was around.

She wasn't the type to cause trouble, however, and would just shrug the man's attempts at conversation off. Technically, while he'd say sly things to her that most would deem inappropriate for a man to say to a seventeen-year-old girl, he hadn't ever really done or said anything reprehensible. And as long as her uncle Gael was around, she knew that she didn't have to worry about him doing so at all.

Dallas glanced at him for a moment and then her uncle, who still seemed to be preoccupied with what looked to be a rather serious conversation with one of his associates.

"Olá, Senhor Abel." She respectfully greeted before returning her attention to what was underneath the hood of the car.

"Abel-just call me Abel, please. I insist."

Dallas paused. "I'd rather not, thanks."

She saw him shrug from the corner of her eye. "Suit yourself." He said. There was silence and Dallas was becoming annoyed by his presence. "So, my son tells me you left their little gathering in a hurry."

"Oh, did he?" She sarcastically said.

"Yes. I got a call from him while you were talking to your uncle." He replied. Dallas heard him sigh. "He was concerned."

"And I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself." Dallas pointed out.

Abel scoffed. "Of course you can. I would expect nothing less from Gael Souza's niece." He grinned. Again there was utter silence, Dallas wondering when her uncle would intervene when Abel spoke again. "You know, my son is quite fond of you, little Dallas Black." He said. "I definitely understand why."

Rolling her eyes, Dallas lifted up from the trunk. "That's nice. I think my uncle called for you." She said.

"That's funny, I didn't hear a thing-"

"Everything alright over here?" Gael interrupted the conversation.

"Ah! Of course," Abel said, looking at Gael. "Was only asking about how Dallas was getting along with my son."

Gael watched Dallas for a moment as if to see if that were really what the conversation was based on. Dallas sighed and subtly nodded her head before Gael returned his attention to Abel. "With the rumors that I've been hearing, I'm not sure I want you or him around my Dallas." He gestured his head for Abel to move along.

Abel chuckled. "Ever the distrustful man, Gael," Abel said before turning his gaze to Dallas and serving her with a wink before walking out of the garage to take his leave.

"You'd let me know if he was bothering you, right?" Gael asked.

Dallas, who had zoned out for a moment, looked at her uncle and sighed. "Of course, tio." She said.

Gael looked at her doubtfully for a second before reluctantly nodding. "Okay." He said. "I'm going to go get your tia. I'll be back." He said walking off.

As he walked away, the thought of their conversation earlier came back to mind. "And then we will talk?" She said in a hopeful way.

Judging by the expression on Gael's face, it was obvious that he hadn't forgotten what he promised. He looked at Dallas, silent, and seemingly pensive before he finally agreed.

"See you when I get back, boneca." He said and walked away.

Dallas watched him leave, suddenly anxious about what needed to be discussed. She took her phone out again to check her messages and phone calls before attending the car again. Nothing. Reluctantly, she began tinkering again to take her mind off of the dread building up in her but her tinkering on the care only lasted so long before she picked up her phone again to call.

"Come on, pick up, pick up." She whispered. Again, no one did. So she called her father. "Come on, daddy. Please." She said, concern filling her insides as the line continued to ring. She wasn't hopeful for an answer, feeling like she would just get nowhere again. She waited for the moment that her father's phone would go to voicemail.

"Hello?"

Eyes wide, Dallas was so shocked and relieved to hear a voice on the other end of the line, she was speechless for a moment.

"Jellybean?"

Dallas snapped out of it. "Da-daddy?!" She called him.

"Yes, baby. It's me."

His voice sounded...worn and solemn. Dallas was unnerved. "Daddy, I've been trying to get in touch with everyone all day." She said nervously. "It's so good to hear your voice!"

"You too, sweetheart." Her father said and then he was silent again.

"Is everything alright? No one's been answering and I-I kept calling you and mom and everyone but-"

"I know, I know, sweetie. I'm sorry." He said and then there was silence again.

His spacey conversation was becoming more and more unnerving. "Daddy? Is everything alright? You're scaring me."

She leaned against the car, listening to her father's shaky breathing. Immediately she clenched the heart of her chest as she struggled to take deep breaths. What was he going to say? "Baby there's uh....there's no easy way to say this." His words were broken and breathless.

"Daddy, what is it?"

"Is your uncle and aunt around?" He asked.

"No, he's gone to get tia Mariella." She answered. "Why? Why does that matter? What's going on? What are you keeping from me?"

"Sweetie, I don't think you should be alone when you-"

"Tell me!" Dallas snapped. "Daddy, please! What are you keeping from me? Why haven't you been answering your phone? Why hasn't mom?" She asked.

She heard her father sigh. "Dallas, are you sitting down?" He asked.

So tired of the procrastination of whatever inevitable bad news that she was about to hear, Dallas broke down, tears warming her eyes, running down her cheek.

"Daddy, what happened?" She asked again,

After another long minute of silence, Hassun Black finally answered."Dallas, your mother...was sick."

Was? Why was he using past tense? This was the first thought that plagued her mind as her father continued to speak. Next, was the fact that Dallas didn't even know that her mother was sick in the first place. She attempted to hold on to what was left of her nerve. "Wha-that's impossible! She-I talk to her every day. I talked to Linkoln, King-Beatricia-even you! No one ever-"

"She made everyone swear not to, sweetheart." Her father said. "She'd been sick for a few-a few months now, following her pregnancy. Or...at least that's when they caught it."

"Pr-pregna-she was pregnant?" Eyes wide in further shock, Dallas could barely retain this information without the temptation of completely blacking out. She tried to take a deep breath, her anxiety going into overdrive as her knees buckled beneath her. Bu-why-what-why would she keep that from me?!" Nothing was registering to her. "That's-that cannot be true," Dallas said, a harsh chuckle escaping her as she continuously attempted to hold herself together.

When her father didn't respond to what she said, she stopped talking as well. There was a reason why he was telling her all of this. It all revolved around her mother, and she had a heart-wrenching feeling of what he was trying to lead up to. He just hadn't said it yet.

"Daddy...where-where's mom?"

There was silence on the phone for a while-what seemed like forever before her father finally got himself together long enough to answer. And the news broke her.

"Boneca?"

Her uncle's voice was a distant echo as she dropped the phone, the tears streaming like waterfalls from her bright amber-colored eyes. Her mouth was open as she knelt there, dazed.

"Dallas?"Her aunt's voice rang in her ears. They both approached her in the garage, their outline a blur to Dallas as she felt herself losing consciousness...the last thing on her mind before she completely blacked out was her father's words: "Dallas, she's dead ...your mother's gone."

Six times he had called the man and each time there was no answer. At this point, his concern for his father's whereabouts slowly turned into resentment towards his absence in general. Initially, the death of his mother summoned naivety concerning his father's desertion. Steadily, however, he finally came to his senses on the matter, and it only took two days after his father's initial disregard of his grieving children and newborn daughter.

He was tired of going through the motions of contacting Hassun Black just to reassure his other siblings-mainly his sisters that everything was alright-that he'd return. His younger brother, King, seemed to be the only one that wasn't holding on to childish hope. King was the only one that seemed to realize that their father wasn't coming back, claiming that Hassun Black's eyes had lost hope the day that the doctors came back with their mother's doomed prognosis. Now, it was time for him to stop hoping as well.

"Don't worry old man," Linkoln said into the phone after he heard the voicemail ending to give him space to speak his mind. "This is the last time you'll hear from me. Still, I'd be remiss in my duties as your eldest son and your kids' oldest brother if I didn't tell you...Dallas, your daughter, is coming home. She's coming home to a dead mother-one that she only just found out was sick after she died." He emphasized. His voice was suddenly shaky as he attempted to get through the voice message that he needed his father to hear without breaking down. "And as if she needed things to be any worse, you had to top it all off by not even being around when she needs you most. She's coming home to a father-no scratch that, because by ways and actions you're no father to any of us! So, she's coming home to a dad that has deserted his children because of his own selfishness!" He hissed. As his mind lingered on the situation, he became angrier and angrier at Hassun Black. "You told her...you told her that our mother was dead through a telephone call!" He further exclaimed. "Tio y tia barely through the garage door before you dropped this bomb on her. And now...now you have the gall to leave?! Not even be there for her?!"

He sat there in silence as he thought about the fact that he was speaking to a machine and not the man that needed to hear what he had to say. Resigned, Linkoln realized that there was no getting through to this man-not over voicemail; maybe not even in person if the chance ever even presented itself. He slumped into the chair that he was sitting in, sulking in his father's study, then he took a deep breath.

"I haven't told her that part yet-you know, the part about you abandoning us," He scoffed. "Though, you deserted us well before you even made that phone call to her that day," He said, his gaze distancing out as he thought about his little sister. "I-I don't even know if I have it in me to tell her the truth about your cowardice," He added, shaking his head. "And..." He began to feel the warmth of tears in his eyes. "I hate you...I hate you for putting me in this position," He sniffled, not allowing himself to completely break down over the phone. He cleared his throat and wiped his tears. "You deserted us-you deserted your children. I hope that sits and festers on your conscience." He expelled harshly. "Don't come back. We don't need this kind of pain in our lives...we can't handle it-not right now...not after this."

Finally, he ended the call, dropping the phone against the table before taking a shot of scotch. He leaned forward and out of the chair, his head in his hands as he wondered how he was going to go about returning to college.

At this point, he was well aware of the very few choices that he had. With his father leaving, it would not be fair of him to return to school and leave King to look after everything.

King was more than capable, of course, but he, himself, was the older brother. Linkoln could never place such a burden on his younger brother to handle on his own. Doing so, as far as he was concerned, would make him no better than Hassun.

Taking all of this into consideration, Linkoln knew that he ultimately did not have even the few picks of choices that he thought he had. Either he could take a leave from college or transfer to a community college there at home and at this point, he feared that he wouldn't even have the time for school what with a new baby to take care of. Of course, in the back of his mind, he thought that maybe it would be a possibility if his sister actually decided to stay.

Linkoln poured himself some more scotch, filling the glass past the half mark before taking it down in one shot, his body starting to fill with a buzzed warmth as his light brown eyes began to tighten in his tipsy state.

Filling the glass once more, Linkoln brought it to his lips when it was swiped from his grasp. "I think you've had enough, irmão," Brother, he called him.

Linkoln looked at King and sighed, turning away from his little brother. "You sure know how to kill a buzz," Linkoln let his head fall back onto the faux leather chair.

"You're drinking Chivas, Ko," King returned. "And judging by how heavy-handed that pour was, I'm sure the buzz is still very much alive,"

Linkoln glanced his younger brother and half-heartedly chuckled before rising from his seat. Yes, he was still buzzed, but it was nothing that would restrain his motor skills.

"So," Linkoln exhaled, cracking his neck as he placed the bottle of scotch back behind the bar counter. "What's up?" He turned around. "Everything alright?" He asked. King didn't answer right away but judging by the look on his face, Linkoln could tell that whatever was on his mind was something of importance. "King? What is it?"

"Just wondering...if you're sober enough to welcome your little sister home," He said.

It took a few moments for Linkoln to register what his brother had said but after he did, his eyes widened. "Wh-she's home?" He asked. Of course, he heard his brother the first time-he knew that he had. Only, a part of him was afraid to confront the idea of what he had just expressed to his father a five-minute voicemail ago.

"Yeah," King replied.

Linkoln reluctantly walked over to where his brother stood at the door of the office. "How is-how is she?" He asked, afraid of how distraught she might be. He didn't think that he could take seeing his sister like that. Especially, after so long not seeing her or even speaking to her at all.

The last he or any of his siblings had even seen Dallas was two years prior when they decided to take a trip to Rio. With Mariella's job, it was hard to find time off, so she, Gael, and Dallas couldn't make the visit to Washington D.C as much as they would've liked. And it wasn't easy getting the whole Black family together because of Linkoln being out of state in college, King's jobs keeping him busy, and their father's business usually keeping him away. So one day, instead of planning, Marina Black, had decided, while everyone was home to take an impromptu trip to Rio before anyone could be taken away by business, or school.

Linkoln recalled how ecstatic Dallas was to be reunited with all of her family again. He hated that this reunion would leave two missing, one addition, and one extremely sad occasion.

"She's grieving, Ko," King finally answered his brother, bringing Linkoln out of his thoughts. "Just like all of us...but she's okay. Far better than I thought she'd be."

Linkoln closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Of course," He mumbled under his breath, taking consideration of the fact that she was just like his mother-always trying to keep herself together, and stay strong for everyone else.

He walked out of the room, followed by King. They both entered the hall, passing a few rooms before turning into the foyer where their younger sister still was.

There she stood, her back facing them while her hands lightly ran themselves across an old picture taken of the family when the kids were young and everyone was together.

Linkoln didn't know what to say as he watched her. She had indeed changed since the last he saw her. This brought back to mind how long it had been and for some reason, this made it harder for him to find the words to greet her with.

It was fortunate and unfortunate, that she broke the silence for him. "He's gone isn't he?" She asked. That was the unfortunate part. Dallas had already known that their father left them to fend for themselves.

Her voice had changed as well, more throaty and still feminine, but Linkoln knew that all of it wasn't maturity. She hadn't too long ago been crying.

"For now," He finally replied, unable to flat out say no; even in her possibly knowing that their father wouldn't return any time soon. He initially had every intention of being brutally honest with her and just ripping the bandaid off quickly. However, when she turned around and he saw her broken countenance, those puffy, slightly red eyes...the withheld pain behind her amber-colored gaze, he couldn't bring himself to. Remembering all of the secrets that had already been kept from her up until the death of their mother-he just didn't have the mental or emotional resolve to reveal yet another. At least not now.

Dallas looked at the picture one more time before returning her attention to Linkoln, a small frown and a saddened yet teasing smirk on her face. She simpered dryly. "It's alright, irmáo," She finally said, glancing between her two older brothers. "I kind of heard...that he hasn't been home for a while," She added, her voice breaking and her eyes starting to water.

Hurt filled Linkoln as he absorbed the pain in his sister's demeanor. Her eyes were an exact replica of their mother's-not necessarily in color as much as they were in kindness, understanding, and compassion. It was as if she had already known what responsibility her older brother was forced to take on at that moment. Seeing this relieved him for a moment, a moment being all that he really needed for the time being.

"It is...good to see you again jellybean," He said, calling her by the childhood name given to her by their father.

"Jellybean," This brought a smile to her face as she recollected what her father would say to her. "Because I love jellybeans, and I-"

"Love you," King and Linkoln finished. Linkoln hated that this kind of memory belonged to someone who abandoned them.

It seemed that she tried hard to compose herself but just did not have the strength to. She rushed to Linkoln and jumped into his arms. "I missed you guys," She exclaimed, balling her eyes out. "So much,"

"We missed you too," Linkoln replied as he wrapped his arms around his sister, embracing her.

King rubbed Dallas's back comfortingly as both he and Linkoln waited for her to stop crying.

After ten full minutes of allowing Dallas to grieve, she finally pulled away from her older brothers and took a deep breath. "I have to be better than this!" She said under her breath. "Have to be stronger than this...for Bea, and..."

"Reina," King said. "Her name is Reina,"

"My middle name," Dallas smiled.

"And Beatricia...after Bea," Linkoln added.

"That's sweet," She smiled. "Cannot wait to meet her,"

"How about you meet her now?" King asked.

"I-I'd love to!" She said.

"Where are your bags?" Linkoln asked. He looked curiously at his younger sister. "Are they already upstairs?"

"She didn't bring any bags," King told, his brow raised as he looked at Dallas pointedly.

"What? Why?" Linkoln incredulously asked.

"Apparently, tia Mariella and tio Gael booked some fancy hotel on the opposite side of town or something."

"Not on the other side of town," Dallas rolled her eyes, bemused with her brother's overdramatization. "It's only a few minutes away."

"Why? Why did they do that? It's more than enough room here?" You of all people should know that, jellybean."

"Tia Mariella-I do not think that she is ready to stay here just yet...and well, to be honest, tio Gael is still upset with daddy. I guess he is afraid to run the risk of him coming back,"

"Tio has never been afraid of dad before, so I don't understand-"

"Not more afraid of daddy as much as he is afraid of what he will do to him if he sees him," Dallas clarified.

"Right. That makes...a lot more sense," King returned.

"Besides, you know tio Gael likes his space," Dallas pointed out. "Maybe he'll come around before it's time to leave,"

"I'm sure," Linkoln countered. He was quite sure that they wouldn't be seeing his father anytime soon. Of course, he wouldn't say this to Dallas, though. He was sure that while it may have been good news for Gael, didn't mean that it would be for her. "Until then," He said, changing the subject, his brow furrowed. "What's your excuse?"

Dallas chuckled. "I just called them. They're coming over in half an hour...and they'll be bringing my luggage,"

"Great!" King said. "Now go get settled in. The guys'll be here soon and I'm sure they're going to want to come and see you." He wrapped his arm around Dalla's neck and started with her up the stairs. "Come on. Dad jacked your room a little, but there are a few spares until we get it straight."

Linkoln watched his brother and sister as they headed up the stairs, a small smile upon his face as he noticed how happy King was to have Dallas home as well. He then went outside to grab the mail. Per the norm, there was not much there-more junk mail than anything.

He sifted through the envelopes until he noticed one in particular. It was manilla and larger than the rest; on it, he and King's names were written across the top.

The emotions that Linkoln felt at that moment were mixed-none of the above being positive. Especially, upon recognizing the handwriting; it was their father's. The knots that had temporarily subsided when he reunited with his little sister suddenly returned with a vengeance and with it, more questions.

Did he get his message? Did he even listen to it? If he did, was this his response to it? What in the world could he have possibly had to say that could not even be bothered with a face-to-face conversation. Not even a phone call. His last self-asked question was the most important one to be answered in his mind. As this question stay unanswered, Linkoln couldn't help but wonder; what is this man playing at?

Whatever the case, Linkoln decided then that he would not bother his siblings-King included, with this inconvenient turn of events. All things considered, the day had not completely gone to crap with seeing Dallas home again, and he would not dare further irritate anyone's mood by this news. He folded the envelope and shoved it into his back pocket right before a car pulled up.

She watched King as he watched Linkoln standing outside. "King?" She called to him, noticing the solemn stare on his face. He looked down at her, recovering with a small smile. She could see right through it, however. "What's going on in that head of yours?" She asked.

Her older brother shook his head. "Just thinking...few things on my mind, I guess."

"Ha," She replied. "Like our brother trying to stuff whatever that was in his pocket?"

King looked at Dallas, slightly surprised for a moment before he chuckled dryly. "Of course. you'd notice."

Dallas shrugged. "Naturally," She replied in a teasing manner before her smile faded. "How is he, King?" She asked.

Dallas was very concerned about their oldest brother. Linkoln was an extremely intelligent guy but just like any other person, Linkoln had his demons that he had to work through. The worst, by far, however, was the strong drinking habit that he'd fallen into when he was a teenager.

It took three interventions and months of therapy to get him through those times. As far as she knew, he had still been attending AA meetings but with all that had been going on of late, she didn't know if he still was.

"Has he been drinking again?" She asked. Dallas could sense that King didn't want to answer this question. This in itself, was confirmation of her fears. With great exasperation, she leaned over the second-floor balcony looking over the foyer and part of the living room. Her gaze stared out for a moment in silence as she thought about what this could mean.

"Dallas," She heard her brother say. "Everything is going to be alright. Linkoln is-"

"Is what, Ki?" She cut him off. "Because he's certainly fell off the wagon!" She exclaimed. She dropped her head again in further consideration, her golden-green gaze staring out of the window in the distance at her brother as he welcomed their aunt and uncle. She sighed. "How long has it been going on?"

When King didn't answer right away, Dallas looked up at him, her intense stare alone seeming to force him to respond. "Just since dad left,"

"And how long has that been?" Dallas asked.

"Not too long," King quickly retorted.

Dallas knew that he wasn't being completely truthful and to be honest she was too emotionally drained to drag it out of him. Her concern at the moment was the fact that her oldest brother was drinking his sorrows.

"We have to get him back on track, King," Dallas expressed. "You know how bad it got the last time this happened."

Linkoln-even though he was a jack-of-all-trades in terms of intellect, always had a tendency to get into trouble as a kid. He was very attractive and always had a way with words, naturally able to charm his way out of or into anything, and because of this, he was quite popular. With that popularity came very questionable decisions, and it didn't help that Linkoln started hanging around other guys whose choices were just as if not worse than the decisions that he had started making.

Dallas could think of one friend, in particular, that was worse than the rest of them-one that he was still friends with to that day-or at least as far as she knew.

"Dallas, I think you're-"

"Overdramatizing?!" She cut him off. "King...I...this...this is a terrible time for Linkoln to be drinking like this. It'll only make things worse and...and the last time he went down this rabbit hole of destruction," She looked at King. "He nearly dragged you down with him."

King touched Dallas's shoulder and smiled. "Well, then it's a good thing that I am not the same guy that I was back then."

His words were an attempt at reassurance for Dallas. It worked a little as Dallas did realize that King wasn't the same as he was before she left. He always followed after his brother when they were younger, this making it easier for Linkoln to drag King down a dark hole of alcoholism with him. Dallas knew that it wasn't intentional; Linkoln was lonely on his path to destruction and it was nice to have his little brother ride along. He just didn't realize that he dooming King as well as himself and he admitted this in one of the family sessions.

"Listen, Dallas, we're going through a very tough time right now-Linkoln particularly. He's been doing good for five years now-"

"And this trigger could lead to bad things King-"

"No, it won't because I won't let it," He said. "I have been keeping my eyes on Linkoln."

"Then why haven't you stopped him, Ki?" Dallas asked.

"Because at the end of the day, he's a grown man and I cannot fully control what he does, Dallas. The only thing that I can do is be his conscience."

"And what if being his conscience doesn't work?"

"Then I will intervene where I can, but I can't be there all the time. No one can, jellybean" He replied. "Dallas, Ko may be tipsy but this hasn't been his norm since pop left." He continued down the hall toward the last room on the left. "It only seems to be when he's trying to open a line of communication and the man refuses that he becomes triggered."

"Then I guess we know what we have to do," Dallas replied.

"Keeping our big brother from the frontlines of problems with dad will definitely be harder than it sounds,"

"I know," She sighed. "Then again, it actually sounds as hard as it's going to be," Dallas laid her head on her brother's arm, wrapping hers around his as they started for the room. "We need to get that letter from him, King,"

"That'll make things worse,"

"How?" Dallas asked.

"Because then he'll never know what pops had to say."

Dallas expelled a frustrated breath and started to tear up again. She was so tired of crying so much over the last few days but the dark cloud of grief looming over her would not let up. "I should have been here," She whispered. "I should have been here when she...before she-"

They stopped outside of the closed bedroom door and King wrapped his arms around his sister to comfort her.

"You were exactly where you were supposed to be, Dallas. I know you feel guilt, and I know that you think that you should have been here but everything happens for a reason. It may not seem it now, but you will come out of this stronger. We all will."

Dallas stood there for a moment, weeping, yet comforted by her brother's words as well as his warmth. After a few deep breaths, she calmed down a little and when saw the damp spot on her brother's shirt, touched it.

"I'm so sorry," She exclaimed.

"It's okay," King said. "Time calls for it, so I'll let it slide this time,"

Dallas chuckled, still wiping at the spot as if it'd make it any better. "I'm such a sloppy crier," She said.

"Well, I'd like to see a put-together crier," King teased. "Speaking of sloppy criers," He opened the door to the room in which they were standing in front.

Dallas looked through the threshold of her parent's room, and beyond that, she noticed a crib, brown with pink and purple accents surrounding it. There was a small sound coming from the cradle and immediately, Dallas's heart skipped a beat. She'd fell in love with the baby in that crib before she even met her.

"Sounds like someone is awake," King said in a low voice. "Guess she's anxious to meet you,"

Dallas walked towards the crib and peered over and immediately noticed a small hand aimlessly reaching out into the air.

There she was, a honey-colored baby, hued in that rich red that her father's side carried stemming from their Blackfoot heritage. Her hair was thick and dark in its wavy curls. Dallas touched her hair and noticed a blonde patch of hair near her temple.

"Olá garota Bonita," She cooed, calling her a pretty girl in Portuguese. "She has the birthmark," She smiled looking back at King before returning her attention to Reina.

All of the females in the family seemed to come born with a hue of platinum blonde in the front right panel of their hairline, and while this little genetic write never changed, there was always another platinum blonde mark to be found somewhere in their hair. Beatricia's grew on each side of the nape of her neck, and while it took about a year for Dallas, she came into her birthmark as well, now having a tendril of blonde hair on the lower left side of her head and another mark in her crown.

"Yeah, she's definitely a Black," King smiled as he too found himself ogling and cooing at his baby sister.

Dallas chuckled and leaned against the crib. "I'm happy to meet you pequena. My little Reina," She cooed. Dallas picked up the one-week-old infant and held her close to her heart, closing her eyes as she did. "King," She said lowly so as not to startle her little sister.

"Yes?"

"Don't let him be alone when he opens that letter,"

This seemed to catch King off guard at first, but he didn't ask why she so randomly requested this of him because Dallas knew that King was well aware that it had never left her mind. Dallas always gave things a break before returning to the subject again. It wasn't in her to leave a matter such as this unresolved.

"I swear I'll be there when he opens it."

She looked at her older brother and smiled. "Thank you,"