Brisa 02

Logan takes two stairs at a time. It is another sunny morning and he is late for work. Tayla over slept this morning. That always throws him off schedule. It isn’t her fault, he shouldn’t rely on her but it’s become habit for the past 10 years together. He inhales and grins. Coffee. The fragrance is welcoming even on a hot morning. What was the joke? Coffee isn’t a drug, it’s a vitamin. Logan chuckles as he rounds the corner in to the kitchen.

“Brodie?” Logan stands in the kitchen doorway, his head cocked to the side with a questioning look. He crosses the kitchen and takes the mug from the boy’s hands. He sighs softly noting how the boy’s hands tremble. “Another nightmare.”

Brodie looks up with haunted exhausted eyes and nods slowly. “Something’s wrong with Brisa.”

Logan picks up his son and carries him back to his room. “What’s wrong?”

Brodie gratefully lays his head on his father’s shoulder closing his eyes for the first time since the nightmare last night. “She is.”

Logan rubs the boy’s back. “What is she?”

“She’s wrong.”

Logan grins. “Let’s try a new question. What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. She’s just… not right.” He yawns while continuing. “Dad, she has a tail.”

Brodie has a way of spinning tales, creating worlds and unfortunately some of these stories become part of his reality. Logan has no idea if this recent claim is part of reality or one of Brodie’s reality. “A tail… so Brisa is a dog.”

Logan sets Brodie on his bed. “Un-uh…”

“A… cat.” He waits, watching Brodie crawl gratefully under the sheet and lays his blond head on the pillow.

“No.” Brodie rubs his eyes and yawns.

“Brodie, help me out here. Who is Brisa?” Logan kisses his forehead and turns to leave. The boy is almost asleep.

His voice is a soft sighing whisper as Logan grips the doorknob. “Brisa is my baby sister.”

Logan stops at the doorway to look at his sleeping son. “Sister?”

Brodie is fast asleep and doesn’t respond. Logan watches him silently for a moment longer. He glances down the hall towards his own bedroom. Tayla is pregnant. They decided to wait until the birth to find out the baby’s gender. How can Brodie know? Or is this part of his over active imagination? Logan rubs his chin and sighs. He closes the door before heading back to the kitchen for his coffee.

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