Tiago
"Wha… what?"I wasn't sure I'd heard Fred properly. My mind had been running at a thousand miles an hour, already planning the help we could provide to those kids. We had two nurses who had access to further medical support if we needed and a few social workers who were always available to us. I'd assumed that as a halfway house, our job was to keep the kids safe so they could be assessed and then be taken to a medical facility or back to their families.
Tears started running down my cheeks, and Vítor's arms tightened around me. It was almost painful, but I needed that to stop me from crumbling completely.
"Baby, take deep breaths." I heard Vítor, but he sounded far away. I tried to focus on his voice and count with him in my head as I took a breath and then let it out, but my brain was resisting because it was focused on those words, "It's Afonso."
When I was able to breathe again on my own, I noticed Fred was holding my hands fiercely, and Vítor had moved me so I was on his lap. There was a glass of water on the coffee table. When had all that happened?
I looked at Vítor, unsure of what to say.
"Fred knows where he is, baby, and we're going to bring him home safe, you hear me?"
I was unable to do anything else but nod.
"You met him a week ago. Why didn't you say something?" I asked Fred.
"I couldn't, Tiago. Apart from working on the investigation practically every hour of the day, I'd have been in serious trouble if I was caught sharing any information at the time."
"You said he had access to the kids. What does that mean?" I asked.
"He works for the organization. I couldn't get much out of him, but he said there are too many kids this time round."
"He works for them?"
"I don't think it's out of choice, Tiago."
"How did you recognize him?"
"Babe, I've been looking at your face for years, and I've been studying his photo for just as long. I'd have recognized him if he’d colored his hair or was in women's clothes. Besides, apart from the glasses, he looks like he could be your twin."
"What do we do? I want him home with me. I don't want him to have to do whatever he does."
Fred took a deep breath, and I knew what was coming.
"Tiago, he's an adult now. It has to be his choice."
I got up and paced the length of the living room with both Vítor and Fred's eyes on me.
"He's going to want to come home, right, Vítor? He'll want to come with me, won't he? When I tell him how long I've been looking for him?"
Vítor got up and put his arms around me. I couldn't stop more sobs from coming out.
"What if he thinks I gave up on him? What if he blames me for whatever happened to him? Oh my god, Vítor, maybe he hates me." I wasn't sure he could even hear me with my head buried in his chest, but it didn't matter because I was too scared to hear the answers to those questions.
"Baby, look at me."
I did as he asked. He removed my glasses, cleaned my tears, and pushed my hair back so he could look into my eyes.
"We have a lot of questions that can only be answered by Afonso. The priority is to get the kids out of there. My feeling is that whatever position he's in, he's relatively safe as long as we don't put him in danger by making the wrong move."
He was right. I rested my head on his chest again, trying to take in some of his strength for myself as he ran his hands in circles on my back, calming me.
I couldn't believe it. My brother had been found. I needed to be patient and have a plan, but I could see him again. Suddenly, I had the urge to laugh, so I did. It was probably not the best reaction to the situation, but I couldn't help myself. I laughed until I was crying again, but this time, with happy tears. God help me when I'd actually get my arms around my brother.
"Fred." I looked at him and saw how much his job had taken out of him. He looked exhausted. "Do you want to stay here tonight? We can talk some more tomorrow. I promise I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I want those kids safe."
"Thanks, I'd love to stay if that's okay with you, too, Vítor."
