Gemotions

The air in the living room felt thick. Maya watched as Ben, usually glued to the TV, sat hunched over a laptop. The screen was filled with Cyrillic script. He had taken a class, it turned out. She hadn't known. He was going to surprise her with it, he said.

Her breath hitched in her chest. She stood there, feeling exposed, vulnerable. It was her family's language, the language she had grown up with.

Ben looked up, a sheepish grin on his face. "Surprise?"

She could only manage a small, involuntary movement of her head.