The Prophet

Chapter 88: Meanwhile In Lebanon

Mikey watched as the impala and the explorer sped away. He had never met Zad and Gabby before. Growing up, his mom had never talked much about his dad. She had explained to him best she could.

"Why don't I have a dad," he had asked. By first grade he had figured out that everyone had a dad. It was some kind of a requirement to be alive. "Everyone else has got one!" Mikey only got one parent. Heck Sarah Lawskornece's parents had something called a divorce so she had THREE dads. How was that fair?

Mikey's mom brushed a few strands of curls out of her face, pushed her paperwork aside and looked very serious at him. "Michael sit down," she had told him. The last time she had called him Michael was when she had explained that he was allergic to dogs and had to stop playing with the neighbor's new puppy. He sat down nervously across the table from her.

"You do have a father," she told him carefully, watching his face for a reaction. "He's just not here. His name is Gabriel. He's an angel."

Mikey had scrunched up his nose in confusion. "Like with wings and stuff?"

"No," his mom had chuckled "Very different than that. He didn't have wings, or a halo or a harp. People get a lot of things wrong about angels. He liked old music, he was kind of short, he was funny, and he had a sweet tooth. But he could do things.

"He loved you so much," said his mom softly. "He wanted to be here for you, he really did."

"Why isn't he?" asked Mikey.

"He had to go away to protect you. From his brothers."

"Why?" asked Mikey.

"Mikey you're very very special. You're half angel. When you came into being, the angels knew. They could feel it, because your father was a very important angel, and they were afraid, because one day you're going to be very very strong. Like Superman."

Mikey nodded. He sort of understood.

"But not yet. As long as they knew where you were you were in a very real danger. So your daddy stayed with us a while. To protect you. But it wasn't enough and your daddy had an older brother, your uncle, Michael who was very very strong and he could have hurt Gabriel and would try to hurt you."

"My name is Michael," said Mikey. "Why would you name me after someone who wants to hurt us?"

"That's a very hard thing to understand," said his mother gently. "The first thing you absolutely must know, is Michael isn't trying to hurt you because he wants to. He feels like he has to because he's scared and alone. Gabriel loves Michael, and he knows that deep down Michael is a good man."

He didn't sound like a good man to Mikey. "Why is Michael alone if Gabriel loves him?"

"Because sometimes even when you love someone you don't always get along with them. Gabriel and Michael didn't get along, and because they love each other it made them very sad, so Gabriel had to leave so Michael could be happy."

"Did you and Gabriel get along?" Mikey asked worriedly.

"We got along very well. We were all happy together. He left us for a different reason. The other angels could sense your presence. They always knew where you were to a degree. To keep us safe Gabriel had to hide you, he made it so that angels couldn't see you or come near you, but he was an angel, so for the spell to work, he had to go away. It was very hard for him to leave us. He loved you so much. But to keep you safe he had to leave. Do you understand Mikey?"

Mikey had nodded. He understood. And for a while it was alright. His mom loved him enough for two parents anyway. She was all he needed.

But as he got older Mikey had realized that he was an accident, his parents had met in a bar, and even though Gabriel had stayed with them for a couple of months after Mikey had been born, he had left them on their own and his mom had to work and take care of him by herself, whilst Gabriel was running amuck doing who knows what.