Run, Girl (If You Can)

Keeley strapped the babies into their high chairs and decided to look through the mail while she waited for Aaron to come back. Most of it was junk but a letter with an unfamiliar return address and the name 'Graydon Meyer' above it.

She was so shocked she nearly dropped the letter. He had been in prison for more than half a year and had never reached out to them before. Why now?

When Aaron came back down and sat at the table she held the letter out to him wordlessly before serving up the lemon rosemary chicken and potatoes to everyone. She made sure to give the twins very tiny pieces so they wouldn't choke.

It had been a while since she had seen even a hint of ice from her husband but now his old demeanor had come back full force. Even the babies got a bit restless because they could feel the difference.

"What does it say?" Keeley dared to ask.

"He wants me to visit him," Aaron said flatly. "Why now? What does he want? I thought he was actually going to leave us alone."

How was she supposed to know? Gray's head was even harder to get inside than Aaron's used to be. She had no idea what he wanted with them. Maybe he was bored in prison.

She understood why her husband was upset though. If he ignored this summons, it would seem like he didn't care about his brother. Gray could get very angry and retaliate once he got out someday far in the future. It was better to give him what he wanted and Aaron knew it.

Since he didn't even like the man, taking time out of his day to go and see him would feel like an unpleasant chore. He held the letter out to her and she read that visiting hours were between 8 AM and 1 PM only on weekdays. Aaron would have to miss work and drive all the way across town.  

"You know you need to go," she said gently. "He did kill Lacy for us."

"It's not like I asked him to," he grumbled. "But you're right. I'll call them and see what I need to do to be approved for visitation."

Keeley reached out and patted his head comfortingly before offering him more chicken, which he gladly accepted. The ice completely vanished once he had eaten and everything was back to normal in the Hale household.

===

Aaron couldn't believe he was actually doing this. The gray walls of the prison loomed over him as he stood just outside the first of the security gates.

It had taken a week to become an approved visitor because he had to fill out a bunch of bothersome paperwork. He had written back to tell Gray when to expect him once he was given a time frame but he wished he could have just ignored the letter in good conscience.

He took a deep breath. He was doing this for his wife and children. Staying in Gray's good graces was imperative if things were going to remain peaceful when he eventually got out of prison.

Pressing the doorbell, a guard buzzed him in and asked for his name, photo ID, and who he was here to visit. Those questions weren't even necessary. It was obvious from the look on the guard's face that he recognized Aaron. Who else would Aaron Hale visit at a prison but his half-brother?

The guard went over the visitation rules and told him he had an hour before leading him through a set of metal detectors. They accidentally went off because he forgot his keys were still in his pocket. He took them out, handed them to the guard, and went through again with no problems.

Gray was waiting for him at a table in the visitation room. It was completely surrounded by glass windows so prisoners were under constant surveillance when in contact with the outside world.

Aaron would have thought prison would change him—that was how it was always portrayed in the media—but he looked almost exactly the same aside from being in an orange jumpsuit. His hair was still done and that false, suave air Aaron always hated was still in place.

Honestly, Gray looked perfectly at ease, as if they were meeting in a café rather than a prison. It was more than a little unnerving. The rest of the prisoners here actually seemed like prisoners. Gray seemed like he was on vacation.

"Aaron! So delighted to see you. I'm glad you received my letter. I hope your family is doing well," he said smoothly.

Aaron didn't trust this man as far as he could throw him but since he was here he needed to remain cordial. "They are. The twins recently had their first birthday party. They really liked the cake."

"How adorable. A pity I couldn't have been there. Do you have any pictures?"

He had a bunch. Learning from the mistakes of his last life, he made sure to record memories whenever he could. Especially on special occasions.

The guard had told him he wasn't allowed to hand over his phone but he was allowed to show it to Gray if he was the one holding it. Aaron swiped through a few pictures from the party, making sure Gray could see.

The last picture was particularly near and dear to Aaron's heart. The babies were absolutely covered in cake and he and Keeley had gotten in the shot next to them. Violet threw a bit that splattered on her mother's cheek and the camera had gone off right as Keeley started to laugh.

 "You each got one that looks like you, didn't you?" Gray asked with mild interest.

"Violet's face shape is more like Keeley's at that age. And Kaleb is nearly identical to his namesake other than his eyes," Aaron replied.

He couldn't help it. Whenever his children came up he got more talkative than usual. Normally he was a man of few words.

"Ah yes, I had forgotten you named him after Keeley's late brother. How is my sister-in-law doing these days?"

"She's doing well. She's waiting to go back to work until the twins are in preschool so she's a stay-at-home mom at the moment."

Aaron was getting impatient to leave and he hadn't even been there for ten minutes. "Is there a specific reason you wanted to see me?" he asked as lightly as he could.

Gray smiled but it wasn't all that genuine. "I simply wanted to see how my baby brother was doing."

"I would have thought you would do that sooner."

"I was a bit embarrassed. I thought you wouldn't want your children near a murderer so I didn't dare ask you to come until now. But my new cellmate's sister visits every week and I was quite put out so I decided to send you the letter."

He took those words with a grain of salt. It was near impossible to tell when Gray was lying. Whatever the reason, he was here attempting to keep the peace.