17. weird, world.
The doorbell bonged as Ben poured a cupful of water through Scout’s hair, rinsing away the shampoo suds. Huffing with frustration at the unexpected interruption, he pulled the toddler out of the bathtub, snatched up a nearby towel, and bundled her in it. “Stay right here,” he said firmly. “Like a statue. I’ll be right back.”
Rubbing his hands dry on his already damp t-shirt, he paused to peer through the peephole. Frustration vanished like flash paper in a flame, and he yanked open the door with a wide grin. “You said you were coming in tomorrow!”
“Oh, I couldn’t wait, so I caught an earlier flight. How are you, darling boy?” Gloria laughed, hugging him fiercely. “And why are you all wet?”
“Impromptu bathtime,” he explained, taking her suitcase. “Scout decided she was a mud fairy. You should have called-I could have picked you up at the airport, no problem.”
“No, no, it was no trouble,” she said with an airy wave. “No need to inconvenience. And my coming, you are sure I am not imposing?”
“Of course not. We always love having you. I’ll put your bag in the guest room-would you like something to drink?”
“Da, a glass of water would be nice. Those airplanes, so dry and stale! The recycled air makes me itch terrible bad.” She loosened her red cashmere scarf and patted at the mass of dark curls held up by a dozen barrettes. Gloria would always put him in mind of a New Age yoga guru, with her black tights, ballet flats, and loose silk blouses, her carved abalone necklace and the rings on her thin fingers. “And where are the little ones?”
“Amari’s still at school-he’ll be home within the hour-and Scout’s-”
The patter of bare feet announced her entrance just before her delighted squeal of “Baba Glory!” assaulted the eardrums. Towel streaming behind her cape-like, Scout launched herself at Gloria’s legs.
“My, my, Zhanyusha, aren’t you cold?” Gloria laughed, picking her up and kissing her ruddy cheeks. “Come now, let’s get you dry and warm. Your papa tells me you were a mud fairy today?”
“Uh-huh, and I had to bath before snacks.”
“I’ve never heard of a mud fairy; flower fairies, yes, but no mud fairies.”
“Everythin’ has a fairy,” Scout said with the firm assurance of an expert. “There are rock fairies, an’ water fairies, an’ pine tree fairies…”
“You must tell me all about these fairies. But first, shall we go get some clothes on?” She glanced at Ben, who only nodded with a smile. “Now, what shall you wear tonight, hmm?”
“Are you gonna stay forever and ever, Baba Glory?” Scout asked hopefully as they disappeared down the hall.
“For a while, Zhanyusha.”
Ben climbed the stairs to the attic guest room and set her suitcase on the chair beside the bed. Pulled back the curtains and opened the blinds. The day after Gloria’s phone call, he’d come up here and tidied up, dusted the bedside table and swept the hardwood floor, washed the sheets to freshen them and cracked the window to let some air in. He’d glanced outside often as he worked, and always there would be at least one black bird staring back at him, from the branch of a tree or perched on the windowsill. There was nothing about the birds to make him fearful-Amari was right; they were only here to watch and guard, not as ill omens-but they made him nervous nonetheless. It had been years since he had last spoken with October, and while Gloria visited frequently, the timing of her request was far from coincidental. He could sense that Charlie was in danger, that Gloria and October knew it, and that uneasy shiver he’d gotten the night of the payphone call refused to dissipate.
When he came downstairs it was to find Scout in the blue tutu Gloria had sent for her last birthday and the top from her Transformers pajamas. She was sitting contentedly at the kitchen table in her booster seat, socked feet swinging back and forth while she crunched on the ants-on-a-log Gloria had made for her. “We’re gonna dance after snacks, Daddy,” she announced. “And then I’m gonna show Baba Glory the fairies in the backyard.”
“You have to promise to stay clean, though,” he said. “You don’t want to ruin your tutu.”
“I won’t,” she agreed casually, licking peanut butter off her thumb.
“Were there any plans for tonight? I was hoping to treat you all to dinner,” Gloria said, putting the box of raisins back in the cupboard. “If everyone was feeling up to going out, I thought we might do Biagi’s.”
“You don’t have to-”
“I would like to. Please, let me spoil you all while I am here.”
“We’ll have to see how Liv feels.”
“Of course.”
While Ben did the morning’s dishes, Scout and Gloria put in the Nutcracker DVD and practiced their pliés. He could hear Gloria murmuring encouragements over the music, praising his daughter’s form. “Very good, Zhanyusha! Move like you are in a cloud, light and gentle and slow. Like a sugar plum fairy.”
“What are sugar plums, Baba?”
“Tasty fruit covered in sugar and nuts.”
“Ooh, can we get some?”
“Perhaps we can make some while I am here, sweetheart. Now, remember to bend your legs…”
A few minutes later, Ben heard the school bus pull up to the curb and left off wiping the table down to meet Amari on the porch; the boy dashed across the yard with a paper waving from one hand. “Hey, Strong Man,” Ben said, kneeling to hug him. “Whatcha got there?”
Amari held it out with a proud, gap-toothed grin. It was a watercolor painting of what could only be Harry Potter, with those glasses and the lightning bolt scar, in his Gryffindor robes. The boy standing next to him, also in wizard’s robes with a wand in one hand, had to be Amari-he’d even left a space where his newly lost tooth once was.
“What was the theme today?”
Favorite book hero, Amari signed. Jordy did Captain Underpants.
“I think Harry beats Captain Underpants any day of the week.”
Amari nodded in hearty agreement.
“Are you in Gryffindor, too?”
He shook his head just as firmly. No. I’m in Hufflepuff. We ran out of yellow because Cindy did Big Bird.
Ben smiled fondly and rubbed the top of his son’s head. “Hey, guess who’s here?”
Amari’s eyes lit up. Baba Gloria?
“Mm-hmm. She came early because she couldn’t wait to see us.”
The boy dashed past him and into the house, backpack bouncing over his shoulders. Gloria crowed in delight at the sight of him, scooping him up and peppering his face with kisses while he hugged her tightly around the neck. “There’s my Maksim, my giant! What a strong man you are, oof, so big! Soon, you will be lifting me up in such big hugs!” She set him down and sat on her knees to be at his eye level. “Now, tell me, how was school today? What new things did you learn?”
Caterpillars turn into butterflies, because they make cocoons and go to sleep, and when they wake up they have wings!
“How would you like to do that? Go to sleep and wake up with wings?”
They would have to be big, big wings because I’m a lot bigger than a caterpillar.
“Very true, very true.”
Scout grabbed her brother’s hand and tugged insistently. “‘Mari, ‘Mari, I’m gonna show Baba Glory the fairies-come with!”
“Hang on, tiny humans,” Ben said loudly over the clamor. “Amari, do you have to do anything for school tomorrow?”
He turned solemn eyes on his father and shook his head quickly.
“Alright. You can play outside for a while, but don’t get dirty-we might be going out for dinner tonight.”
“Yaaaaay!” Scout squealed. “Come on, come on, I’ll show you!”
There was a crow sitting on the swing set, calmly and silently watching as Scout dragged Gloria from the bushes against the house to the pile of rocks on the edge of Olivia’s garden to the pine tree beside the fence. Amari followed his sister’s directions dutifully, crouching down to peer into knotholes and cracks, nodding seriously at whatever she said.
Ben was sitting on the couch reading and the kids and Gloria were in Scout’s room playing with action figures when Olivia stepped through the front door, dropping her purse and messenger bag with a sigh. She kicked off her shoes, tugged off her jacket, and dropped bonelessly onto the couch beside her husband.
“Hard day?”
“Hmm, not especially. Just long.” She stretched her arms over her head until her shoulders popped. “Impossible to focus properly. How was your day?”
“Good. Scout’s still enamored with the little fairies you tucked all over the backyard. She’s convinced everything in the world has a fairy now. And Gloria’s here.”
“Thought she’d surprise us, huh?”
“You know Gloria.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Ben slipped his hand beneath her braid and rubbed the back of her neck. “Do you feel up to dinner at Biagi’s? Gloria wants to treat us.”
“Might as well-I sure don’t feel like doing anything in the kitchen tonight. …Have you talked to her yet?”
“Haven’t really had a chance. The kids latched onto her and haven’t let go yet.”
“After dinner, I’ll promise them an extra chapter of Harry Potter. That should give you a window of opportunity.”
“Sounds good. Oh, and you should see the art Amari brought home. It’s up on the fridge.”
She leaned over, kissed him, and climbed to her feet. “…Aw, that’s precious. We’ll have to do something on his eleventh birthday, you know. To soften the blow when he doesn’t get his Hogwarts letter.”
“We’ll think of something.”
“Did I hear Olivia’s voice?” Gloria called, stepping into the room. “Hello, gorgeous girl. How was your day?”
“Long,” she said honestly, returning the hug. “How was your flight?”
“Long,” she echoed. “I apologize for coming ahead of schedule-”
“No, don’t, it’s no problem. We’re really glad you’re here, Gloria. Truly.”
Scout tugged on the hem of her blouse. “Mama, can we make sugar plums?”
“Sugar plums?” Olivia said, forehead wrinkling as she picked up her daughter. “I don’t know how to make sugar plums, baby.”
“Baba does! Can we make some?”
“Uh, maybe tomorrow. Tonight we’re going to Biagi’s for dinner. How does that sound?”
“Ooh, ooh!” Scout bounced with excitement on Olivia’s hip.
“Oof, honey, you’ve gotta be more careful with me.” Olivia set her down. “But first I think you better change clothes. Transformers and tutus are okay for home, but not at nice restaurants.”
“Let’s pick out something fancy, Zhanyusha,” Gloria said, offering her hand.
“Did she take a nap at all today?” Olivia asked.
“Nope. Losing battle with Baba Glory here.”
“Well, hopefully that means she’ll sleep through the night.”
“Fingers crossed.” He glanced down at his t-shirt. “I’m going to change; if Transformers isn’t Biagi’s-appropriate, then neither is Lord of the Rings.”
Olivia swept a hand through her bangs and went back into the kitchen for a glass of water. As she pulled out a chair at the table, Amari walked in, sober-faced and hesitant. “Hey, Strong Man, what’s wrong?”
I Looked at Baba. I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.
“Oh, sweetie, c’mere.” She pulled him into her lap and settled him on her knee. He was so gangly now, legs and arms growing so quickly it was a losing battle to find new clothes that fit him for long, and she had a momentary twinge of sadness that the baby was now a full-grown boy. “It’s okay. You can talk about it.”
She’s here because she’s frightened for us. And for Aunt Charlie and Uncle Robbie. She’s come to keep us safe. From the dragon.
“The dragon?”
Amari just nodded.
“Well, Daddy and I are gonna have a long chat with Baba later, and we’ll get everything sorted out. Okay? So don’t worry. We’re going to get Biagi’s for dinner, and afterwards I’ll read you two full chapters of Harry Potter. How does that sound?”
Good.
“I thought so. And I saw your painting from school-you did a very good job. In fact, I think I’m going to take it and hang it in my office, if that’s okay with you, so my students can admire it, too.”
He beamed at that, cheeks dimpling. It’s okay with me. Thank you, Mama.
After fancy pasta and seafood, Olivia and the kids snuggled into Amari’s bed with one of the Harry Potter paperbacks. Gloria gave them each a kiss on the cheek and promised to be there in the morning-Scout was insistent about the sugar plums. Still chuckling, she stepped out onto the porch with Ben, mugs of Turkish tea in hand.
“You would be hard pressed to find sweeter children,” she said fondly, settling into a wicker chair and crossing her legs. “You are such a good father, Benjamin. Just as I knew you’d be.”
“Thanks,” he said, sipping his tea. “Gloria, tell me what’s going on.”
“There is very little to tell yet, I regret to say. All we hear is whispers. All we see is smoke.”
“So should I be expecting the fire soon?” he said. He stared at her in the early evening gloaming, stiff-backed and unyielding, so much of his uncle looking back at her.
She sighed. “…You know that there are many people in the world like us. Well, there are others that know about us. Who accept what we are without trying to rationalize our abilities away, who understand that we are not all charlatans. And some of those people, to be entirely blunt, hate us. Fear us. See us as monstrous or unclean. And as often happens when people are afraid, some band together and take it upon themselves to attack what they hate. They see themselves as crusaders. Believe that their actions are sanctified and necessary. One of these groups has been around for a very, very long time: the Order of the Dragon. And Charlotte and mushka have inadvertently attracted their notice.”
“What you’re telling me,” Ben said slowly, in a sickened monotone. “Is that people that would have been welcomed by the Nazis, or the KKK, are after Charlie and Rob?”
“They will not be alone,” Gloria said firmly, reaching over to lay a hand on his knee. “And neither will you. There will be friends along the way to guide, to watch over, to fight if need be. They will not put hands on them. The Order is large and powerful, but we know them of old. We know their tricks and ways. We have fought them in the past. Thwarted their intentions many times. Have faith and hope, Benjamin. Trust in us.”
He thought again of October, as he picked out the fluttering sound of wings in the darkness. Their first encounter and the many visits to his strange cabinet of curiosities in the years that followed that long road trip. The persistent sense that he was a man that was not fully a man, but more a timeless and elemental being. A force of nature, perhaps, though there was little of him that felt natural. He had often wondered if October had once been like Robbie, or Gloria, and had chased a rabbit down a hole in curiosity, only to emerge irrevocably changed by the experience. Perhaps spending an entire lifetime looking into the abyss would change anyone into something more myth than human…
For all that October had been unceasingly helpful in the past, Ben doubted he would ever be fully comfortable about him. But with the threat of a hateful organization hanging over his twin’s head, having someone like October watching their backs was an immense source of comfort. It would be difficult to imagine somebody who could best him-and Ben was not about to entertain the thought.
As the evening darkness deepened, they sipped their tea.
“…So you and Scout are making sugar plums tomorrow, hmm?”
“Everyone should know how to make sugar plums. I wasn’t much older than Zhanyusha when I learned, at my Nana’s knee.”
“And Scout just loves that tutu. I have a feeling she’ll be begging to take dance classes soon, so she can be more like Baba Glory.”
“I find myself wishing… That I did not live half so far away. They are growing so quickly, and I dearly treasure the time I have with them-with you and Olivia, too. I hope you know, Benjamin, just how grateful I am that you’ve let me-”
“Gloria, you’re family. There was never any question of letting you in. And don’t ever feel as though you need to ask permission to be included. You’re doing us the favor by being here.”
“Oh, Benjamin,” Gloria laughed softly, reaching over to squeeze his hand. Her eyes glittered with tears. “Precious boy. Bless you.”
Ben’s heart twisted and ached beneath his ribs. How unjust the world could be, that a woman like Gloria had to go so long without the family she’d always wanted. Because Harry was too self-sacrificing, too noble and firm in his convictions. It would always seem to Ben that Harry had chosen his niece and nephew over the love of his life; that Harry had decided to put Ben and Charlie before Gloria. And while he was equally certain that Gloria did not see it this way, or refused to harbor any bitterness for it, it still tore at him like an old scar that had knitted too tightly and pinched at unexpected turns.
“It was worth all the wait,” Gloria said softly, and Ben remembered that she was more perceptive than most. “To have a son like you-daughters like Charlotte and Olivia. You are dear to me as breathing, and I will do everything in my power to keep you and yours safe from harm.”
“I know,” Ben said. “I know it.”