STOIC

SEVEN

EMMERSON

Emmerson 12

Stoic 18

My body was starting to change, and I was not sure I liked it.

I felt like I was getting taller by the minute. My chest was beginning to grow, and my n*****s were very sensitive. All my clothes were starting to get shorter on me, and the new things my mom had been making for me were very… girly. I didn’t like them. I was still the same, Amelia too—the non-girly girls. My hair was growing longer. Since Stoic was not around much, I learned how to comb and take care of it myself.

I got to see Kenzo and Stoic every other weekend. They went to a different village to train. I had no idea why, and to be honest, I didn’t really care. Out of the three days he had free, Kenzo always spent one at home, and for the other two, he got lost. He didn’t come back until late at night or early in the morning before their train left.

I had heard Dad lecturing him, but I guessed Kenzo always ended up doing what he wanted. Mom didn’t like his behavior either. Ethan was so different. He never got himself in trouble like Kenzo. He was more into his studies and spent little to no time outside. When he did go out, he did it very secretly. I thought he had a secret girlfriend. He tried hard to hide it, but I knew better. I could read it on his face.

Stoic usually used most of his free time to follow me around. Gosh, did he love to bother me! At least I only had to put up with it for four days every month. There was always one day that he disappeared early in the morning and didn’t return home until it was time for dinner.

Stoic didn’t say much, just lingered around me like a creep and scared my friends away. He watched me play with Amelia and wrote things down in his notebook. Regardless of what he did during the day, he always did the same things during the evening that he used to do when I was little. Watched me eat, waited for me to be done with my shower, combed my hair, told me stories, and put me to bed. I thought he hadn’t realized I was growing and didn’t need help doing those things anymore.

Mom and I had been going to this new dance group a friend of hers started. I loved it. We danced to the rhythm of African drums. The dance was similar to my mom’s culture, so she loved it too. I must have had it in my blood because swinging and moving my hips to the beats came very naturally to me.

Amelia joined us too. Once we got good enough, we would do performances and everything. I was super excited. Dancing was so much fun, and it filled my heart with happiness. Stoic hadn’t seen me dance since we usually danced on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he only came home on the weekends.

Other than dancing, Mom had also started to teach me some of our relatives’ native language, Portuguese. I thought it would be difficult to learn, but I was getting the hang of it fast. I knew I’d be good at it very soon.

I was spending so much time with Mom that I was even learning to sew. It was sometimes tricky, but I was getting it. I didn’t like making clothes, but did like making other useful things like bags, backpacks, and quilts. So far, the things I had done were very simple. Amelia said I had a talent for it. Stoic noticed I was interested in sewing, and one day, he came back from the camp with a new sewing machine. My very own machine. I’d make something for him later. I didn’t know how he got it, but I was glad he did.

Their training was ridiculously hard, but I thought they were doing good. Somehow, both Kenzo and Stoic got taller and more muscular. They were starting to look more like beasts than humans. Especially Stoic, he was intimidating. Mainly his dead-serious face.

The other day, I was talking with my friends, and as soon as they saw Stoic, they ran. Stoic always told me that I needed to stay away from boys and take care of my body. He said I needed to start thinking about my future husband, that he wouldn’t like it if I started hanging around guys. I didn’t know why he would care so much, but he did.

Mind your own business, Stoic!

It was winter, and the weather was impossibly cold. Since it was so cold, everything was canceled, including their training, so Kenzo and Stoic had been at home for about three weeks now. That was the longest they had stayed in the last two and a half years. To make things worse, there was this massive storm two weeks ago with strong winds, snow, and freezing temperatures. An enormous tree fell over Uncle’s house and smashed part of their roof.

Since it was stupid cold out. My dad asked the Dokkens to stay with us until the weather warmed enough for them to be able to make the repairs to the house. We moved their things and food to our house, and we all stayed together.

Since my home only had three rooms, Mom gave mine to Uncle Erik and Auntie Ida. Stoic had made me a bigger bed, so it wasn’t that uncomfortable for them there. We were a little cramped since our house was not that big anyway. Even with just the five of us, I sometimes felt like there was not enough space. At least it was fun because we played many games, and playing games was more exciting when there were more people to play with.

Since I had no room, I went to sleep with the boys. In Kenzo’s and Ethan’s room, there were two beds. Kenzo chose to sleep with Ethan, which left Stoic and me the other bed. It made sense, I guess. Kenzo and Stoic were too big to sleep in one bed, so was Ethan. To be honest, Stoic was just too big for our beds, period. He needed to sleep diagonally, and even then, his feet would hang off it.

For two weeks, I shared the bed with Stoic. He was a cuddler. I had to admit I liked sleeping next to him. He was like a warm blanket, which was sort of perfect in this cold weather. One of his arms was my pillow, and the other would be wrapped around me, holding me tight. I knew that there was zero chance of me falling off the bed. Most nights, he would pat me to sleep or rub my back. It was very comforting.

For some reason, he always put a pillow in between us—he called it personal space. I thought it was ridiculous since we were so close already, but if I had learned one thing about Stoic, it was that nothing he did made sense.

Today I woke up earlier than usual. The sun was barely up, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Kenzo on the other bed sleeping with his arm above his head and Ethan beside him, snoring softly. I looked down and saw Stoic’s heavy arm over me. I liked sleeping in the fetal position, and he held me as if I was a little teddy bear. He was always the big spoon.

I turned around in his arms and studied Stoic’s sleeping figure. He looked so much better sleeping than awake. He was kind of cute when he wasn’t angry, which, unfortunately, was all the time. I let my fingers brush his eyebrows, and I softly touched his dark red eyelashes. They were so long. He would have been a pretty girl. His shirt was stretched, and I could see his neck and the strong muscles of his upper chest. I didn’t know how his body could be hard and comfortable at the same time.

I touched his straight nose and then ran my finger along his sharp jaw. Even though he shaved recently, I could still feel the new hair growth. Yep, he would soon have a long beard like Uncle Erik and Dad. His face was hard and well-defined. Very… manly. I understood why girls had always found him so handsome. He sort of was.

Stoic still hadn’t gotten himself a girlfriend. I was sort of glad about that. I didn’t want stupid girls’ dramas around us, around him. We had enough with Kenzo alone.

Stoic took a deep breath and held me tighter. He let out a low grunt and kissed my head. “Sleep, Emmy. It’s early,” he said with his eyes closed.

I didn’t realize he was awake. I snuggled closer to him, wanting to get warmer. He smelled good. I put my head on his chest, and I could hear his heart beating hard.

“Stoic?”

“Hmm…”

“I’ll make you a backpack. Do you want it black or green?” I whispered, so I wouldn’t wake Kenzo and Ethan up.

“Surprise me,” he whispered back. He put my hair behind my ear, and I nodded.

I would.

“Emmy, stone or wood?” he asked with his voice sleepy, his eyes still closed. More nonsense questions.

“Stones last longer than wood,” I said in a low voice, and he nodded.

Stoic gave me more of the blanket and kissed my head once more.

I closed my eyes, and in between his slow breathing and mine, I fell asleep again.