Waters of Oblivion

Chapter 37: The Introduction

"My God, man. What did you say to her?" Max asked as he stepped in front of the wheelchair and crouched down to Reine's level. Stroking her blotchy, tear-soaked cheek with his free hand, he looked up at Gabe for an answer.

"We were just straightening some things out." The other shrugged.

"I can see that," Max replied with a grimace. "Are you okay, darling?"

Reine forced a smile. "I'm fine, really. Can we just go?"

Jumping up from the nearest plastic chair in a row against the wall, Noor took a sip from her soda can before throwing it in a nearby bin. "If you're going upstairs, can I come, too? I've been dying to meet little Juan and Jesus." The girl pronounced the names with a distinctive Spanish accent.

Reine turned her head toward her friend. "You haven't seen them yet?"

Noor shook her head, but Max interrupted before she could reply. "Wait. Am I missing something? You didn't name them--"

Reine laughed. "Of course not. It's kind of an inside joke." She alluded to her friend's previous reference to her life being crazier than a Mexican soap opera, and the two babies on DaVinci's chalk drawing they visited in the National Gallery.

"Of course you can come, but why haven't you met them?" she asked Noor as Gabe began pushing her down the hallway toward the elevator.

"They have some rule up there about family-only," the girl grumbled. "Just the two daddies have been let in."

"What?" Reine grabbed her friend's hand as she walked next to her, fearing Noor had inadvertently spilled the secret she hadn't yet shared with the two men.

"Luckily their definition of family is both by blood and marriage," Max answered from her other side. "I hope you don't mind, but none of us were expecting two. Saying Gabe was a bit overwhelmed is an understatement, and I already had some experience with Amara . . .."

"Oh, right. Of course not," Reine mumbled, doing her best not to comment about the awkwardness as they stopped in front of the elevator's closed doors. "How's your shoulder, by the way?" She looked at his reflection in the shiny surface.

"Pretty damn painful." He instinctively touched the injured spot with his right hand. "But nothing compared to what you've been through, so I can't complain."

"So I've heard." She sighed right as the elevator doors slid open. Once they were all in the enclosed space slowly moving upward, she spoke again. "Did your plan work? With Wescott, I mean."

Max, still standing close beside her, put a hand on Reine's shoulder. "Yes, it did. Dodger's been recognized as the legitimate leader of the Order, and Emery's now going to have to quietly slip out of public view," he said.

"How did Greer Wescott fit into all of this? She seemed to be the only one from the Order who not only recognized him, but also was willing to vouch for his identity." She looked up at Max.

"Oh, good old General Agrippa and Lady Wescott go way back." He laughed as the elevator reached the fourth floor. When the door opened and the group disembarked, he continued. "They were lovers right before Emery took over as head of the Order."

"Had the prior head offed, you mean," Gabe interjected as he continued to push Reine toward the nursery.

"Those are the rumors," Max confirmed. "And when Dodger gave up his rightful claim on the position, the deal included Greer, as well."

"Dodger was the Lancelot to her Guinevere!" Reine exclaimed, remembering the Arthurian mosaic portraits in Wescott's country estate.

"I suppose," Max agreed, as they arrived at their destination. "So, here we are."