Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

  “That will evaporate as soon as we have to work together again.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m positive. You don’t understand how free I feel. I have Baxter helping me so I don’t collect any more males inadvertently. I have my hands full with my children, and I love my husband and, more importantly he loves me.”

  “Murphy?”

  “Well…”

  “I’m not going to push that button, Mia. I think the two of you will never be rid of the other. It keeps me from moving back in with you.”

  “Good,” Mia said. “Why are you hurting me?”

  “Someone has to remind you that you still must be aware of your surroundings. And now, thanks to Michael and the blue star, you can see them all at once.”

  “I know you came here to help me, but I’m more confused than ever.”

  “I want you to use your mind and not your body.”

  “I’m not a magician.”

  “Damn it, Mia. I want you to see the situation and look for other ways, besides the sword, in order to resolve them. Be the counselor and not the combatant. You can’t have a family and be a warrior.”

  “I choose my family.”

  “Good. When they are raised, we’ll talk again. I sense Nanny Berta is approaching. I’ll wait until she is here before I leave you.”

  “Altair, tell Adele, as soon as I’m able to transport the children safely, I’ll bring them to her for her blessing.”

  “Call me and I’ll help you. Think about what I’ve said.”

  “I can’t help it now. Thanks a load.”

  Altair took Mia’s chin in his hand, lifted her face, and stared into her eyes. “In my clumsy way, I’m really trying to help you.”

  “I know.”

  He disappeared seconds before the door opened. Nanny Berta walked in.

  “Good, you’re awake. I hear the opera singer. They always bring the noisy babies out first to be fed.”

  Mia prepared herself and accepted her red-faced daughter when the nurse brought her in. Nanny Berta comforted Genevieve until Mia finished feeding Maeve.

  “Genevieve communicated directly with Lazar’s Babcia last evening,” Mia told her.

  “The old witch must have some tricks I could learn,” Nanny Berta said.

  “I was hoping that Genevieve was becoming more independent.”

  “Too early, in my experience, but your children seem to be quick of mind.”

  “Ted’s brain.”

  “He is an excellent sire. You chose well.”

  “It wasn’t his DNA that attracted me to him.”

  “It couldn’t be his nose.”

  Mia scrunched up her face. “He’s handsome to me, and that’s all that counts.”

  “I’m sorry. Tell me what the real attraction was between the two of you.”

  “He accepted me… No, that’s an understatement. He loved me the way I was and has taken on each change in me enthusiastically.”

  Nanny Berta looked at Mia. “You’ve changed again, but how?”

  “You’re going to hear it sooner or later, so let me tell you what really happened last night. Sariel, the archangel who has been acting as my guardian, was brought in and…”

  Nanny Berta listened to Mia’s story without interruption. Maeve finished, and Genevie took her place. Nanny Berta burped Maeve.

  “I think Father Santos told your husband. Ethan brought Ted home and put him to bed. I’m sure he’s feeling the drink this morning.”

  “I would have liked to tell him myself,” Mia pouted.

  “When he comes here, shut the door and tell him all, including the conversation you had with Angelo.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “He came to see me. He was worried about leaving you alone here. That’s why I came so early, under the guise of helping you feed the girls.”

  “Altair filled in the between time,” Mia said. “He unsettled me. I think he meant well, but he does tend to find weeds when all I can see are flowers.”

  “Was he boozy?”

  “No. He seemed, if anything, too alert.”

  “Mia, you live in an interesting household. There are men everywhere. Before you say anything, I don’t doubt your fidelity. Maybe I shouldn’t have teased you about Victor and Angelo. For that, I am sorry. I think I was showing off in front of Idra.”

  “Why would you need to show off? You’re Nanny Berta!”

  Nanny Berta blushed.

  “You raised the Ahlberg brothers, Nicholai, and hundreds of others. You have nothing to prove to anyone.”

  “I’m old. I can see the judgment behind their smiles.”

  “Dear Nanny, Nicholai would not have entrusted me with you if you weren’t vital.”

  “What is it with you two?”

  “Check the door.”

  Nanny Berta walked out and looked up and down the hall before she closed the door. “Go ahead.”

  “My birdwoman soul is Euthymia. She had an immediate attraction to Nicholai hours before she died. I met him, the second time, when I returned to my childhood in an alternate timeline, and fell head over heels for him. I was a twelve-year-old with my adult mind. He was being gallant and kissed the hand of a young lady. It blew me away. It’s a crush that I fight every time I see him. On his part, I think it’s parental. Bummer.”

  “Had you not been stricken at twelve, do you think you would have noticed the attraction?”

  “I felt something, I just thought it was admiration.”

  “He loved his wife, Mia, like you love Ted. When they lost their son, it was very hard on her. In the birdman community, if the son had married and had there been children, Nicholai’s wife would have flourished. She was a nurturer of children, but they had to be her children. She and her husband only had the one child. I know they wished for a daughter, but it never happened. She fought Nicholai when he started training the boy. Nicholai was rising quickly through the ranks and spent more and more time away. When the son was killed, she fell into a depression and wasted away. Nicholai had rushed to her bedside to tell her of their son’s reincarnation, but she was too far gone to care. It was a very sad time.”

  “How horrible. He told me that he’d had the love of his life, that his wife was his moon and stars. He told me that there wasn’t room for anyone else in his heart.”

  “How did that make you feel?”

  “I could commiserate with him because Ted is my everything. Finally, there was someone else who didn’t need to follow this birdman bullshit about marrying again after spouse number one dies.”

  “That’s to continue the species. Nicholai is sterile.”

  “Oh my god, how do you know this? I can tell you, Refugia thinks otherwise.”

  “I share his confidence.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have shared that with me.”

  “I trust you not to saying anything.”

  “If he’s sterile, then why did I pop an egg when he patted me on the back?”

  “That’s on you.”

  “Figures. I don’t suppose you have any cures for that?”

  “A little self-control. You’re a very disciplined warrior; apply some of this to your interactions with Nicholai.”

  “It’s worth a try.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Mrs. Martin,” Dr. Walters said after he closed the door of her room for privacy. “Didn’t I tell you to do your best to not destroy my hospital last night?”

  “You did,” Mia said.

  He lifted a stack of papers. “There were twelve patients in the ER last night when you and your henchmen took over.”

  “Henchmen?”

  “The nurses remembered seeing you with two dark-suited gentlemen. One was definitely big enough to be a toughie.”

  “Toughie? I’m not familiar…”

  “Enforcer.”

  “That’s Angelo. He’s been here before, and
the other thug was Father Santos. For the record, the ER nurse came to us in order to have Father Santos give one of the patients last rites.”

  “That explains him. Why did you toss your babies at the nurses and run off in a wheelchair?”

  “I thought, maybe, I hit the dying man with my van. I wanted to see…”

  “You’re quite the ghoul, aren’t you?”

  Mia’s mouth kept opening and closing. Her mind was trying to find a real situation to tie into and failed.

  “Six reports of a green light, four reports of you having your hand inside a homeless man - the one that has disappeared. Did you kill him? Is his body being served as the sausage entrée in the staff kitchen right now?”

  Mia was too outraged to laugh. Later she would.

  “The other eleven patients who walked out of here were not only healed of their present emergencies but complaints they’ve had for years were gone. Can you explain this?”

  “Miracles?”

  “And the missing homeless man?”

  “He wasn’t a man. He was a…”

  “Ghost?” Dr. Walters asked.

  “He wasn’t a man,” Mia said. “I’ll swear on a Bible that he wasn’t a man.”

  Dr. Walters looked at Mia, and he was surprised. Either she was telling the truth or thought she was.

  “I’m sorry I caused such a disruption.”

  “Did you heal those patients?”

  “Do I look like a saint?”

  “Oh no, you look guilty of something, but I haven’t figure that out yet.”

  “I didn’t heal those patients. I tried to help what I was told was a man in his dying minutes.”

  “Well, he’s gone. I have a few accounts where witnesses swore the Archangel Raphael was here.”

  “Whoa. You know that when Raphael’s around, it’s said there is a green light,” Mia shared.

  “Alright, I’m beginning to understand you. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re saying that we may either have had an actual visit by the archangel or the devout put the green light and their miraculous healing together and came up with Raphael.”

  “I saw the green light,” Mia said. “Maybe he healed me too.”

  Dr. Walters put his papers down and walked to the door. “Have Margaret Mary paged to this room,” he told the nurse at the desk.

  Meanwhile he took Mia’s vitals. “Last night’s readings were better,” he said, reading the screen of his iPad. “But these are more like what I’m used to seeing with you.”

  M&Ms came in.

  “Take Mrs. Martin to X-ray, and have both… No… instead, I want a full body scan done on her.”

  “I can’t afford that,” Mia complained.

  “It’s on me,” Dr. Walters said.

  “May I ask why?” M&Ms asked.

  Dr. Walters flipped up Mia’s gown, protecting her modesty with the material kept over her breasts. “She just gave birth to twins. Is that the stomach of a new mother?”

  “No, Doctor, but Mia does heal quickly.”

  “Twins,” Dr. Walters repeated.

  “Can I feed my girls first? I’m leaking,” Mia said, embarrassed.

  He walked over to pick up the breast pump and stopped.

  M&Ms stopped at the same time as the room filled with the aroma of frankincense.

  “Please be Roumain,” Mia prayed.

  “Who else would it be?” the tall, beautiful black man said. He swept Mia into his arms and carried her to the nursery. There, Genevieve was sucking her fist next to Maeve who burbled when she saw her mother. Roumain picked up Genevieve and handed her to Mia. He scooped up Maeve, and the four disappeared.

  Mia found herself sitting in a wicker chair under a tree facing Roumain’s cove. Her hospital gown was replaced with a colorful skirt. The casts were gone, and Genevieve was sucking at her breast. Roumain cradled Maeve until it was her turn.

  “You have never been more beautiful. What does that feel like?” he asked, taking Genevieve.

  “Relief.”

  “Can you nurse them both at the same time?”

  “Eventually, but I like having one-to-one time with the girls.” Mia surveyed Judge Roumain. He stood there naked except for linen trousers which hung low on his hips. His dark eyes bored into her soul. “I’ve missed you,” Mia confessed.

  “I know you have. I’ve been busy. I had to petition for more room after the Cynosura cowards killed themselves instead of trying to make amends or living without their bank accounts.”

  “It’s so beautiful and calm. Can I stay here?” Mia asked.

  Roumain was surprised. “You can, but the babies have to go back soon. I know you’ll not abandon them. I can only slow time for so long, and they will be missed.”

  “It’s your clever way of saying that you’re not ready for a family,” Mia teased.

  “Your husband is a brave man. Me, I’m a coward. I’d enjoy filling you with child, but after that, I’m gone.”

  Maeve finished, and both girls seemed sated and happy. Mia laid them in the wicker baskets that had appeared. She looked around for a top but didn’t find one. Mia undid her hair and divided it and let it fall over her breasts for modesty. She took Roumain’s hand and walked down to the water and put her feet in. His large hand rested on her bare back.

  “I see Michael’s been puttering around again.”

  “I can explain.”

  “You don’t have to,” Roumain said.

  “As busy as you are, how did you know I was once again in peril?”

  “It was the crossroads demon who found Sariel. He told me of the birth of the twins. I compensated him, so do not fear for your children.”

  “Thank you. I’d like to reward you. Would you like some blue energy?” Mia asked.

  “For a moment I thought you were going to make love to me, but you only offer poor Roumain blue-star energy.”

  “Yes.”

  Roumain looked at Mia. “What will this do to me?”

  “I don’t know? I hardly understand what it’s doing to me.”

  “Give me time to research this first. But I accept your tribute.”

  Mia sighed. “I guess it’s time to face the music. Thank you for rescuing me.”

  “It was my pleasure. Your home is no longer Roumain friendly.”

  “Ted is trying out new force fields. He’s concerned about Lucifer.”

  “He should be. Fortunately for you, Lucifer has other interests. With luck, he will forget about you.”

  “You have other interests, but you have not forgotten me,” Mia said.

  “True, but don’t be smug about it. Before I let you leave… The crossroads demon said that there is a very powerful ghost moving through the graveyard at night. He says he is coming from far away. Be wary, Mia. Take Altair’s counsel to heart.”

  “Be a counselor and not a combatant.”

  “Yes. Because, if you die, you will come here, and I’m not ready for you yet.”

  “All this time, you were calling me a tease and now…”

  Mia looked around, and she was standing in the nursery, topless, holding the wicker baskets containing her sleeping infants. She put them in their beds and ran down the hall. She stripped out of the skirt, folded it and set it next to the baskets, tossed a gown on, and got into bed. She looked down and watched the black-wrapped casts reform on her legs. She pulled up the covers and waited.

  Time resumed its normal tempo. Dr. Walters handed her the breast pump.

  “False alarm,” Mia said. “It was just sweat.”

  “You do look warm,” he said. “How do you feel?”

  “Prickly, like I have a slight sunburn.”

  M&Ms rolled the thermometer across her forehead.

  “She’s a degree up.”

  “Let’s forget the MRI and stick with just her legs. If she no longer needs the casts, then let’s not handicap her. She’s going to need all the mobility she ca
n get to take care of her daughters.”

  Mia was helped out of the bed into the wheelchair. Dr. Walters collected his papers, dropping one in the process. He picked it up and noticed sandy footprints leading to the bed. He pulled back the sheets, and there was sand on the sheets. “What the hell?”

  ~

  Ralph clapped his hands together when Varden bounded into the house shouting, “We’re home!”

  “How is our boy?” Ralph asked, scooping up the child. “I swear you’ve grown four inches since I last saw you.”

  “I’m catching up to Brian.”

  Ralph looked at Brian and said, “Don’t worry, kid, you’ve got a few years on him.”

  Brian smiled. “Where’s my mother?”

  “Your father is picking her and the babies up from the hospital,” Bernard said. “We rented her a wheelchair that she no longer needs. How about I give you guys a ride?”

  “If they don’t take you up on your offer, I will,” Burt said, walking in with a few bags.

  Lazar showed up with one eye closed.

  “These go to their room, and these are presents for the twins,” Burt explained.

  “I’ll take those,” Nanny Berta said behind Lazar. “Lazar is not his best today.”

  “I’m not a drinker. But I am a pool player. Brian, I won you boys a ride in Deputy Chambers’s cruiser, with lights and sirens.”

  Brian ran to the vet and pulled up short before he impacted with his artificial leg. He reached out a hand. “Thank you, Lazar!”

  “Bring it down a bit, until my father arrives with my medicine.”

  “Oh, you have what Mom calls the-boys-played-video-games-all-night illness,” Brian said, retrieving his hand in mid-shake.

  “Something like that. Now go and help Nanny Berta. I need to sit down,” he said and walked back through to the kitchen.

  The boys left, and Burt sat down in the wheelchair. “I have the making-pancakes-for-three-boys-under-six illness.”

  Bernard rolled Burt into the living room. “Tell me how you ended up with three little boys when you left with only two?”

  “They attach themselves together like socks in the dryer. I think it’s static.”

  Ralph laughed.

  Varden kissed Ralph’s cheek. “He has a beautiful woman living with him.”