Brian came out a few minutes later, hair still damp, and let his wings out. Barrett watched, and felt his own wings wanting to join their brothers, but opted for a shower first.
“Anything else you need help with, Mary?” Brian ran his fingers messily through his thick hair, which was currently insisting on sticking out in all directions.
Oh, no, honey. You sit down and relax. You’ve done plenty today.
Mike cracked his back, waiting for his turn in the shower and wishing they had a second bathroom. “You know what we did today?”
I have an idea, she said, smiling. I do have friends on the other side that tell me things. Over the garden gate, as they say.
“Ghost gossip,” said Brian, chuckling and sitting down at the table.
Eventually they had all showered, brought their wings back, and were seated at the table. Anything that had cooled a little too much had been microwaved quickly, and the pie that had been hidden as a surprise for dessert had been set out on the counter. They joined hands and looked at each other.
“I know we’re not the grace-saying types,” said Barrett, “But I want to at least thank the universe or Source or whatever it is that’s given us all this. Our lives and everything. And thank you, Mary, for making this dinner. It’s exactly what we needed.”
She beamed. My pleasure. It’s a joy being able to cook for someone again, I do love to cook. And you’re so appreciative.
“Absolutely,” said Mike, who couldn’t wait to dig in. He’d stolen a biscuit as well, the half-eaten evidence on his plate.
Brian did a double-take at his brothers, blinking a little. Now that their hands were joined, a faint golden glow surrounded them, seeming to come from around and inside them at the same time. Barrett opened his mouth to ask what the staring was about but then noticed the same thing. They all looked at each other, Brian starting to grin, Mike with a little bit of awe, and Barrett with a look of concern.
“I hope nobody at the office will be able to see that,” he muttered.
“I’ll try to avoid touching you when we’re there,” said Mike, smirking. He dished himself up a generous helping of mac and cheese, then dove into it in like a starving man.
TWENTY
Brian awoke to the smell of fresh coffee, and padded downstairs in his pajama bottoms. He was surprised to see Mike in the kitchen, in exactly the same state, pajama bottoms, barefoot, wings out, stirring some cream into his coffee cup.
“Where’s Bear?” asked the youngest Mason, rubbing his eyes and getting his own mug.
“Still asleep.”
“That’s weird. That’s not like him.” A little concerned, Brian went back upstairs and into his brother’s room. Everything in its place, neat as a pin, except for the tangled lump of bedding, limbs and gray feathers. Brian approached quietly. Barrett was laying on his stomach, out cold, one arm over the edge of the bed, feet out from under the end of the blanket as if he’d lost a wrestling match with it. One wing was neatly tucked up, the other limply half extended and propped up like a bent knee. There was a little dark puddle of drool under his cheek.
“Bear,” said Brian quietly. The only response was one hand twitching. Brian gently grabbed the propped up wing and gave it a tugging shake. “Hey.”
“Hmnhhh.”
“You all right?”
“Hnh...?” Barrett stirred a little, then turned on his side just enough to open his eyes a crack. “Whatimeisit?”
Brian grinned. “Time to get up. After nine already.”
Barrett blinked sleepily, looked at the clock, looked at his brother, then pushed himself up until he was somewhat vertical. He scrubbed his fingers all over his scalp, the end result making his hair look as if it were a brown campfire.
“Coffee...?”
“Some downstairs. Mike made it. You must have really worn yourself out yesterday.”
Barrett merely nodded and flipped the edge of the blanket back, revealing silk boxers. Brian threw some pajama bottoms at him, which landed on his shoulder and stuck there.
“Be down in a minute,” Barrett said groggily.
When he eventually did make it downstairs, which was longer than a minute, he stumbled in and found the coffee, pouring himself an extra large mug full and taking it black.
“You sure you’re all right?” asked Brian, watching him closely. Barrett nodded, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table.
“Feel like I haven’t slept in a week and had half my blood removed, but otherwise I’m great.”
Mike looked between them. “Okay, I officially declare this a day of rest. You overdid it, Bear.”
“But we had to,” he said, sitting up straighter and looking at his middle brother. “You felt the call. You know we did. And...”
“No.” Mike sat down next to him, his own coffee long finished. “Charity begins at home, and we’re no good to anybody if we drop from exhaustion. Maybe later if you’re up to it.”
Barrett’s temper started to flare at being told what to do by his younger brother, his wings twitching with annoyance, but then he sighed and nodded in agreement. He had to admit to himself that he was in no shape to be popping off to Los Angeles and performing miracles for hours on end. He was hardly even strong enough to put up a good fight and argue the point.
Brian grinned from the kitchen doorway. “Good. Day of rest, and it's even Sunday.” Then he went in and started rummaging around. Mary’s soft voice was heard, and his brothers mentally picked up on the fact that he was going to try his hand at a little baking, just for fun and with her help.
Mike put a hand on Barrett’s shoulder and smiled softly. “Still learning our limits.”
“Yeah.” The eldest Mason sipped his coffee meditatively, then added some sugar to it. “Did all that stuff on the other side... did that all happen yesterday?”
“Believe it or not, I’m pretty sure it did,” said Mike with a nod.
“Man.”
The gentle commotion in the kitchen was a pleasant, homey sound, the morning light still coming in through the windows. He could hear Brian and Mary talking and laughing softly, a motorcycle passing by the house somewhere outside, his brother’s feathers softly rustling, as well as his own. This was their lives, together as one but separate, and Barrett’s mind wandered a little.
Helene, the sweet little angel they’d met the day before had seemed a little... something. Distant. Nervous. Maybe even slightly afraid. He didn’t like this development at all. He could see normal people having all kinds of reactions to what they were, but other angels? The idea that they didn’t really fit in anywhere was unnerving. Not with other angels, not with archangels, not even with humans, really. A chill went up his spine.
Not even with... humans.
Mike’s phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, blinking a little. “Hey, why would work be calling?”
Barrett snapped out of his thoughts and he suddenly realized he didn’t know where his phone was, then remembered he’d turned it off and left it on his nightstand the previous morning.
“Los Angeles! I told David we were going down there, he...”
“Hello?” Mike nodded at his brother, understanding, answering his phone quickly.
“If I had any hair left, I would have pulled it all out!” came David’s agitated voice on the other end. “Where are you? Are you in LA? What...”
Barrett took his brother’s phone. “Sorry, David, we’re all fine. Didn’t get caught in the quake when it happened. I had my phone off, and...”
“I kind of noticed that! Why would you turn your phone off? I mean, what if there was an emergency? And there was an emergency... you must have like a hundred messages in your voice mail...”
“David,” said Barrett, giving a little push to his voice. “I’m fine. Calm down. I’ll be better about leaving my phone on, all right? Don’t have a heart attack, I need you to run the office.” His voice had a little lightness to it as well, and he could feel his VP settling down even from that d
istance, his push working perfectly.
“Yeah... all right. Sorry. I don’t mean to be your mom or something. As long as you’re all right. See you tomorrow?”
“Mike and I will be back tomorrow morning, bright and early. Have a good Sunday.”
“Yeah, thanks. I will. I think I’ll have a barbecue, in fact, the weather’s great. You want to come?”
“You know, I think that sounds perfect.” Barrett looked between his brothers and immediately picked up on the fact that they wanted to go too. “Mind if we all come? We’ll bring vegetarian stuff.”
“For Brian, right, yeah. Cool! See you around six?”
“Around six, you got it. Take care.”
Barrett ended the call and handed his brother’s phone back over. “That’s right. He doesn’t know we all went veg,” he said with a little chuckle.
“No time like the present,” said Mike with a shrug. “Hey Bri, what the hell does a vegetarian bring to a barbecue?”
He appeared in the doorway, grinning, flour on his chest and pajamas. “There’s meat-type stuff like burgers and dogs you can bring, but I like grilling stuff like corn. And there’s beans, and... can we bring a watermelon? OH! And I can make cupcakes instead of a cake... Mary!” He went back into the kitchen, calling out for her, a little more rummaging to be heard as they looked for the muffin tins and papers.
Cupcakes in the oven, the Masons sat down to a light breakfast of cereal and toast, Barrett feeling better by the minute. Being with them, relaxed, in their own quiet home, was doing wonders. A full night of sleep helped, certainly, but time spent with his brothers was the real cure.
“I wonder if we’ll ever see Helene again,” said Mike quietly, pondering.
“She was neat, wasn’t she?” Brian said brightly. “So I guess she’s been doing the angel thing for a lot longer than us. And... she was a ghost once?”
“Apparently,” Barrett said. “That’s something they didn’t really make clear on the other side, who gets to be an angel and why. And there’s one other thing nobody’s answered yet.” He looked between them, and they looked back, puzzled.
“What’s that?” ventured Brian.
“The why of it.”
“No, they said.” Mike looked at him, confused. “We all came from some bigger dude.”
Barrett shook his head. “I don’t mean that. I mean why now? Why is all this happening to us right now, and all at the same time? And are there others out there like us, who have no idea what they are inside? Are some of them manifesting? Or all of them...?”
His voice trailed off and they all thought about this for a while, picking at their cereal before it got completely mushy.
“I think,” said Mike slowly, “That there probably are others out there who don’t know. We can’t be the only ones on the planet. As to why now...” He had an idea, but it started to slip away. Fortunately Brian picked up the loose thread and continued.
“Because now is when we’re needed?” the youngest Mason tossed out for consideration.
Mike nodded, thinking. “I was the first one, and that was to save somebody’s life. Then you,” he said, indicating Brian with a nod, “You manifested at the car wreck to heal that woman.”
“She would have died, I’m sure of that now,” he said softly.
“Right, so that set everything off, maybe.”
“I’m not even sure what happened,” said Barrett, giving up on his cereal completely. “I was in a haze, but I felt this intense pull, and I had to follow it, even if it meant going up to the roof, and...” He closed his eyes, remembering what he could, and shivered. It had almost felt like some kind of dream-like suicide. He’d let himself tip over the edge of his building that night, falling a few feet before his wings came from instinct alone and knew what to do. Clumsy at first, but enough to save him from hitting the pavement, they carried him up and all the way to Reno that night, straight to his brothers.
“But needed, like... in general.” Brian’s words brought Barrett back to the present, and he nodded.
“A lot more natural disasters, lately. Maybe they call us up as they need us.”
Mike began to chuckle. “So what you’re saying is that we were drafted.”
Barrett snorted a laugh. “I guess you could put it like that.”
“Not that I’m complaining,” said the middle Mason. “This beats the hell out of the Middle East, and I volunteered for that.”
“Yeah, I bet it does,” Brian said, right as the timer for the cupcakes went off.
They killed the rest of the morning with a little light discussion, a game of cards, a phone call and a couple of e-mails to Reverend Charles, and some shopping for the barbecue. Several times, Barrett tried to assert that he was good enough to go to Los Angeles, but his brothers wouldn’t let him. Finally, Mike grew exasperated.
“Fine. After the barbecue we’ll go for a little while, okay? Jesus, you’re like a little kid at the store asking for a toy.”
Barrett grinned, satisfied that he’d finally gotten his way. Brian chuckled softly and just shook his head, then went upstairs to change for going over to David’s place. He came back in shorts, sandals and a plain blue ringer tee, only to discover that his brothers were about to steal a couple of cupcakes.
HEY, he shot into their heads, and they staggered back a few steps. They blinked at him, and he blinked back, unsure what had just happened.
“That was kind of like my push,” said Barrett, smirking. “Nice job.”
Brian smiled a little shy crooked smile, and just packed up the cupcakes quietly while his brothers got ready to go. Mike came back in jeans and a classic line-up X-Men tee, while Barrett went for a Hawaiian shirt and slacks with loafers. Brian stood in the kitchen, waiting.
“Well? Are you ready yet? And where are we going, exactly? I’ve never been there.”
Barrett looked at him, a little confused, then realized what his youngest brother was up to.
“Bri, we’re driving. Can’t get fancy,” he said with a smirk, dangling the car keys.
Brian blinked, then blushed. “Oh. Duh. Gotta drive up, or he’ll wonder how we got there. Right.” He’d gotten so used to flying or teleporting everywhere, it had become second nature, and he resolved to be more careful about trying to appear normal. They all put their wings away, a now-familiar rippling shiver going up their spines and making them smile. The feeling not only never got old, but it was like the delicious satisfying intensity of having your back scratched when you didn't even know it was itchy.
The car ride seemed tedious and cramped, the three of them piling out quickly upon arrival, the once-comfortable Lexus now feeling like a coffin. David greeted them warmly, his eyes lighting up at the sight of all the food they’d brought.
“This is way too much, we’ll have to invite half the office,” he joked, then turned to Brian. “I don’t think we’ve ever met, have we?”
“Brian,” said the youngest Mason, grinning and shaking David’s hand after the cupcakes had been safely put on the table. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Bear thinks you’re the best.”
David smiled, genuinely honored that he’d been spoken of so highly to his boss’ family. “Well thanks... and these look great,” he said, nodding at the cupcakes.
“Made ‘em myself this morning. Well, with some help.” He stopped himself from saying who exactly had helped him and merely smiled. “I’m learning how to bake. Stained glass is my usual thing.” Brian felt a pang of yearning for the studio, and wondered how the repairs were coming along. He was eager to get back to work, and even more eager to start making new windows for the building itself, both to make it whole again, and because he felt some kind of urge to tell a new story in the glass, like a continuation of what Mr. Jefferson had started.
“So what does a vegetarian bring to a barbecue?” David asked, bringing Brian’s thoughts back. “I just have things of the meaty variety for me and your brothers.”
“We went veg too, actually,”
said Mike, coming over to join the conversation. “Just... seemed right. Can’t explain it.” It wasn’t that Mike didn’t understand why, it was that he, quite literally, could not explain to the man why he and his brothers had given up eating meat without revealing everything. David looked between them and nodded a little, shrugging.
“Well, whatever floats your boat. More ribs for me, then.” He chuckled jovially and checked the coals, and they settled into more comfortable conversations for the rest of the evening, much to the brothers’ relief. He and Barrett talked shop for a while, Mike told some war stories that were both funny and tragic, and Brian described how he’d gotten started in the stained glass business and what it was like to work on valuable antique windows. At some point Mike realized that David was getting buzzed from all the beer he’d had, but that he and his brothers were perfectly fine.
We’re healing it out, I think, he sent to them after a brief mental discussion on the topic. That’s why you get drunk, after all – alcohol is a mild poison.
Brian appeared to nod at nothing and caught himself, pretending he was making a decision on the state of the remaining cupcakes instead. David didn’t notice. Brian’s phone went off and he looked at the number, unsure who it was but answering anyway.
“Hello? Oh! Jeff! Yeah, how is that... it’s done? You’re kidding. No, I... yeah... I’ll go see it later tonight. The calls from the insurance company were driving me crazy. Thanks! Talk to you tomorrow. Thanks, man!” He ended the call and grinned at his brothers. “Skylight’s done.”
Mike lit up, careful to not actually glow a bit. “Sweet! Let’s fly over and see it!” He stopped, realized what he’d said, but pokerfaced his way out of it, David’s current state of mild inebriation helping to smooth over the slip.
“You guys going? Yeah, I guess it is getting late. Hey, what happened to your skylight, anyway?” David asked, blinking a little at them.
“I fell through it,” admitted Mike with a wry squint. David laughed loudly and folded in half as if it were the funniest thing he’d ever heard.
Triune Page 31