Mack let out a gale of laughter. Jeraine looked like he’d been caught. They laughed.
“His nose!” Blane said. “A chef’s best organ is his nose.”
Jeraine went from pan to pan to see if he could determine what Blane was making. Wyn finished his bottle. Blane set a warm towel next to her, and she cleaned up the baby and herself.
“Or hers,” Tanesha said. She pulled out a chair and sat next to Heather. “My God, that smells fantastic. Are we celebrating?”
“Don’t you think we should?” Blane asked. “We’ve all made it home and safe. Jake is well. You finished your first year of medical school.”
“You, Val, and Sam destroyed the well of suffering in the world,” Heather said.
“Heather?” Tink whined.
“But not all of it,” Blane said in a low tone, which made them laugh.
Heather got up and went into the living room. She came back a second later.
“Charlie’s at Seth’s because something happened to Dale,” Heather said. “She wants to video-call him there.”
“I can set it up. You.” Tanesha pointed to Blane. “Keep cooking.”
Blane grinned. Tanesha picked up Jeraine’s tablet and went into the living room. Blane poured Heather a cup of coffee, doctored it with cream and chocolate and set it on the counter.
“Coffee?” Blane asked Jeraine, who was standing at the cabinets.
“Sure,” Jeraine said. “But I’ll get it.”
He took down a cup for himself and one for Tanesha. Blane turned on the tea kettle for Tanesha and Jeraine poured himself some coffee. Heather watched Jeraine and Blane silently working chopping vegetables.
“You think Abi will have her baby today?” Blane asked Heather.
Jeraine squeaked and jumped. He’d been so lost in thought that Blane’s question made him jump. They laughed.
“What’s going on with you?” Blane asked.
“Trying to figure out what you’re making,” Jeraine said.
“You could ask me,” Blane said.
“What’s the fun in that?” Jeraine asked.
“Doesn’t look like you’re having much fun,” Heather said as she smoothed the hair on Wyn’s forehead. “I heard that Ne Ne and her partner are coming today.”
Heather’s voice was even, but Jeraine knew she was talking to him. He turned to look at her. She smiled.
“Her partner?” Jeraine guessed at the part he was supposed to learn without Tanesha here.
“Yvonne’s father,” Heather said.
“Yeah, who is that?” Jeraine asked.
“So, did he figure it out?” Tanesha came through into the kitchen from the living room.
Smiling, Blane shook his head.
“It’s a trick,” Tanesha said. She kissed Jeraine’s cheek as she passed.
“Trick?” Jeraine asked.
“He’s prepping dinner,” Tanesha said.
“You mean all of that chopping and sautéing isn’t for this?” Jeraine asked. Blane shook his head. “That makes more sense.”
“I try to always have one meal prepped,” Blane said. “Heather and Tanesha have been helping me, since we live together now.”
“Keeps us from buying delivery,” Heather said.
“It works,” Tanesha said. “Makes it so that even I can make dinner.”
Jeraine nodded.
“So what are you making?” Jeraine asked.
“Eggs, spinach, bacon puff pastry topped with cheese,” Blane opened the oven to show golden brown triangles of pastry, eggs, and bacon. “Hashbrowns with shallots cooked in coconut oil for flavor. Tanesha prepped some bite-sized cheesecakes, which I’ll bake at Yvonne’s.”
“Oh,” Jeraine said. “I could have guessed that. What are you prepping?”
“Barbecue vegetables,” Heather said.
“We’re heading to the Castle after brunch,” Blane said. “See if we can help with Abi’s delivery.”
Jeraine nodded.
“I’m done!” Tink yelled from the living room.
Jeraine got up and went to get the tablet.
“Did you talk to him?” Heather mouthed to Tanesha. “You know, about the cat?”
“Allergic,” Tanesha said.
“You sure it’s okay to have her when he’s gone?” Heather asked.
“We’ll be just fine,” Tanesha said with a grin.
Heather hugged Tanesha, and Jeraine came back into the kitchen.
“Time to go!” Blane said.
Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty-one
Light
Sunday afternoon — 3:15 P.M.
Tanesha sighed and spun her empty teacup along the bottom edge of the cup. They’d come straight from brunch at Yvonne’s house to the Castle. The party-like atmosphere continued at the Castle as everyone was involved in one way or another with the birth of Abi’s baby. Blane stepped right in to do acupuncture and brought Tanesha along. Within minutes of arriving, Tanesha was in the middle of it all. The last few births and a year of medical school had given Tanesha the confidence to lead.
Until Ne Ne arrived.
Even though she knew she had not met the real Ne Ne, but rather a serpent pretending to be her grandmother, the mere sight of the woman put Tanesha’s teeth on edge. At her first opportunity, she excused herself and slipped away. Luckily, she’d been in the Castle so many times that she easily found a quiet place where she could drink her tea in peace.
Tanesha had spent most of her life alone in one quiet place or another. Not so long ago, her Gran was her only real family. Her mother was lost to her and her father was in prison. Her husband was off following his penis to his next misadventure. She didn’t have a child.
For most of her life, Tanesha’s family consisted of: Tanesha, crazy Aunt Phy, and Gran.
Then she met her father, and he got out of prison. Then her mother was free. Then these fairies arrived with their secrets and stories. Jeraine came home, and Tanesha discovered she had a child via in-vitro with one of Jeraine’s crazy ex-girlfriends. That’s not to mention the fact that she was now the granddaughter of a fairy prince and, according to the Navajos, the first woman.
She wasn’t used to all of this family. She didn’t know how to respond to them all. On days like today, she came face to face with her own inability to connect.
Tanesha spun her cup again before getting up to turn on the electric kettle sitting on a long shelf along the wall of the room. She was sitting in the basement “yoga” room, which was really just some mats and cushions in a lavender-painted closet. Tanesha loved this room. Plus, her girls were the only people who knew that she loved this room. They would never disturb her when, in Sandy’s words, she was in one of her “moods.” She could languish in the still, cool, silence for as long as she wanted.
There was a tap at the door, and Tanesha groaned. She waited silently, giving the person a chance to go away. There was another knock.
“Yes?” Tanesha asked.
The door opened slightly, and the electric kettle clicked off. Tanesha got up to make her tea. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man look in on her.
“Yes?” Tanesha asked again.
The man stepped into the tiny room. He was tall and fit. He looked young but she could sense that he was very, very old. He had sandy blond hair, cut short, and stark blue eyes. His skin was sun-kissed brown. He wore a slight beard — somewhere between television cool and having been up all night. He was striking — model handsome without the cold distance carried by most beautiful people. He felt warm and kind.
“The bathroom is one door over,” Tanesha said.
“I was looking for you,” the man said. “Not the bathroom.”
His voice was familiar, like that of a famous announcer’s voice or possibly Casey Kasem’s. Tanesha looked up to assess him again. Sure she’d never seen him, before she returned to making tea.
“Would you like some tea?” Tanesha asked.
“No, thank you,” the man said. �
�You go ahead.”
He came in the room and closed the door.
“I was looking for you,” he repeated.
“Why?” She took a green tea bag out of the package and set it in the cup.
He seemed to think for a minute and then laughed.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “You?”
“I didn’t go looking for you,” Tanesha said with an irritated sniff.
He smiled.
“Who are you?” Tanesha asked as she poured water over the tea bag in the cup.
“Technically, I’m your mother’s father,” the man said.
“Ne Ne’s man,” Tanesha spit out the loathsome woman’s name.
“Serpents,” the man said under his breath. “Yes, I remember.”
Tanesha was so surprised that her full attention jerked to look at him.
“How did you . . .?” Tanesha started.
“The way you said it,” he said. “Plus, I was there.”
“You were not,” Tanesha said. She shook her head and dunked her teabag in the hot water.
“I was,” he said. “Or, I should say, a part of me was there.”
“What are you talking about?” Tanesha didn’t bother to cover her annoyance.
“You honestly don’t recognize me?” he asked.
Tanesha looked up from her tea cup.
“Should I?” Tanesha asked.
“I’ve been with you for every moment of your entire life,” he said. He gave her a kind smile.
“Fairies,” Tanesha said under her breath.
“I am no fairy,” the man said in a deep and resonating voice. “Look at me.”
His voice had the tenor of a command. Tanesha couldn’t keep herself from turning to look at him.
“What’s your name?” Tanesha asked.
“You know my name,” he said.
Tanesha looked him up and down before shrugging.
“You’re not White Jesus,” Tanesha said.
“‘White Jesus’?” The man burst out laughing. “What’s a ‘White Jesus’?”
Again, the man’s voice held a tenor of authority. Tanesha felt compelled to respond.
“White Jesus is the white guy who hangs on the cross of most churches in North America,” Tanesha said. “You know — the white guy who was born and raised in Israel and spent all of his time outside in the hot sun.”
The man laughed.
“Why is that funny?” Tanesha asked.
“I never thought of it that way, I guess,” he said. “I can assure you that the man you call Jesus was not ‘white’ of skin, only of soul.”
“What’s your name?” Tanesha asked. “Because I don’t need the drama of you being Judas or Lucifer or whatever else.”
“You know my name,” the man said.
Tanesha sighed. The man smiled, and the room lit up. Used to this effect, Tanesha shrugged.
“Parlor tricks,” Tanesha said.
“You are in a mood,” the man said.
“I’m just tired,” Tanesha said. “I wanted some peace and quiet to get a chance to talk to . . .”
Tanesha squinted.
“Who would you talk to?” the man asked.
“Myself,” Tanesha said.
“And?”
“I have this . . .” Tanesha said. She looked him up and down. “Where are the wings?”
Suddenly, the room lit up with such bright light that Tanesha fell to her knees.
“Now, none of that,” he said and helped her up.
“Uriel,” Tanesha said. “I’ve talked to you, prayed to you since . . .”
“You were born,” he said with a smile. “You saw me at your birth. We became connected.”
“Your feast day is my birthday,” Tanesha said.
“Some things are not a coincidence,” he said.
“How?” Tanesha asked.
“It’s not so very complicated. Quite by accident, I fell for the daughter of the ones you call Fin and Abi,” Uriel said. “She was so compelling that she captivated my very mind and soul. Still does, for that matter. We didn’t realize that she might have a child until she was pregnant. Then she had your Gran to care for, and . . . well, you know the rest.”
Tanesha scowled.
“I know that you were tricked by the serpent,” Uriel said. “Let me show you something. Give me your arm.”
Tanesha held up both.
“Either one,” he said.
She gave him her right arm. He turned it over so that it was palm up.
“We are marked, you and I,” he said.
He ran his hand over his wrist and hers. A small yellow star shone from her wrist, and a similar one lay on his.
“Ne Ne has one as well,” he said. “It marks you as a familiar of mine. It has caused you great pain in the form of people being jealous of you, and it has drawn to you lifelong friends.”
“That’s all well and good, but I can’t do that,” Tanesha said.
“Are you sure?” he asked with a smile. “Try it.”
Tanesha turned over his wrist. As he had done, she slowly waved her hand over his wrist. The star shown through on his skin.
“You’ll never be tricked again,” he said. “At least not by this.”
“Uriel,” Tanesha said in a soft voice. “Thank you for seeing me through.”
“Yes, well, it is my pleasure, my beautiful girl,” he said. “Now, you are necessary to help our Abi see her way to having this baby.”
“What’s the hold up?” Tanesha asked.
“A fairy queen named Fand,” Uriel said.
“That woman is a nightmare,” Tanesha said. “You know her?”
“I’ve known her, Abi and Gilfand for almost all the years of this planet,” Uriel said. He leaned forward. “Fand has always been a nightmare. Gets it from her father.”
“How can I possibly help with that?”
“I’m not sure,” Uriel said. “I only know that you can.”
Tanesha nodded. She raised her teacup to her lips.
“It’s probably best that you don’t drink that magic-reducing tea,” he said.
“Green tea,” she said with a smile.
“In that case, drink it down,” Uriel said, which she did.
He wrapped his wings around her, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in the birthing room in the medical offices. All of Abi’s attendants were taking a break. Camilla was talking to Jill in a worried tone. Drinking water out of a Dixie Cup, Blane leaned against the wall.
“Tanesha,” Abi said in a soft whisper. “I need your help. I need your light.”
Smiling to herself, Tanesha went to Abi’s bedside. Leaning down, Tanesha grabbed Abi’s hand and held it to her heart.
Screaming, Abi arched her back, and sat partially up. Her daughter was born.
Talking all at once, Camilla and Abi’s attendants rushed back into the room. In the ebb and flow of all that followed, Abi never moved her hand from over Tanesha’s heart.
~~~~~~~~
Sunday evening — 6:15 p.m. EDT
New York City, New York
Seth pushed open the door to the second bedroom in his Greenwich Village apartment. He silently slipped into the darkened room. Seeing him, his housekeeper, Claire, got up from where she’d been reading. She touched Seth’s arm in greeting and left the room.
“Dale,” Seth said in a low voice.
“Seth?” The young man’s voice was leaden and slow.
“I wondered if you’d like to eat,” Seth said.
Dale grunted and rolled over. Seth set the tray he was carrying on the bedside table and sat down in the chair Claire had vacated. When Dale didn’t respond, he lifted the plate set on the soup bowl to keep it warm. Dale’s eyes opened. Seth fanned the steam in Dale’s direction and waited.
Dale sat up and then looked like he regretted the simple action.
“Charlie?” Dale asked.
Seth pushed the tray toward Dale. He leaned over to take a long smell of C
laire’s chicken noodle soup.
“Just left to get pizza,” Seth said.
“Those people?” Dale asked.
Seth gave Dale a warm sourdough roll.
“Janet and her grandkids?” Seth asked. “Turns out there’s an apartment open here in the building. She’s going to spend the summer there.”
“Summer?” Dale asked, holding the roll to his nose.
“They will probably move out of the city in the fall,” Seth said. “Janet’s daughter will be done with school. She wants to work in a more rural setting or in a smaller city like Denver.”
Seth shrugged.
“And Janet?” Dale asked as a way of avoiding talking about himself.
“It looks like she and Malik might have something,” Seth said with a grin.
“What does Claire say?” Dale asked with a grin.
“Claire thinks they were made for each other,” Seth said. “After all, she stopped her car for him.”
“I thought that was for you,” Dale said.
“She says that she saw Malik with a sick white kid — you — hanging onto him,” Seth said. “The oldest says that Janet said something like, ‘That brother is going to get himself dead’ before she stopped.”
Seth nodded.
“Nothing to do with me,” Seth said.
Shaking his head, Dale smiled at Seth and gestured to the food.
“Go ahead,” Seth said.
Seth waited while Dale took a spoonful of soup, smiled, and ate the entire bowl. Seth went to get another bowl. When he returned, Dale was eating a roll and leaning back on the bed. Dale sat up and took the bowl. He ate another bowl of soup before setting the bowl down. He looked at Seth and nodded.
“I’ve botched it this time,” Dale said.
“Botched what?” Seth asked. “According to the doctor, you felt strong emotions, which pushed you into shock. Kind of like what they used to call ‘shell shocked.’”
“PTSD?”
“Sort of,” Seth said with a nod. “Do you remember what happened?”
Dale nodded.
“I think so,” the young man said.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Seth asked.
Dale looked at Seth for a moment before looking off into space. He shook his head and then looked back at Seth.
“Melinda’s been coming over to the apartment,” Dale said. Picking at his fingers, he continued, “She’s been helping Charlie and Ivan stretch. She does some weird ballet thing with Sissy. I don’t know what it’s called, but with Charlie and Ivan, and me, I guess, it’s just stretching.”
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