“Bad Altair,” Murphy said.
Orion turned over on his back. Sleep was evading him. Thoughts he took for granted, and had long ago retired, were now keeping him awake. It was bad enough to find out Fredericka had used him as a sperm donor, but to have her treat Mia this horribly turned his stomach. But she couldn’t have engineered all of this by herself. Who else was involved? And then there was Angelo. He would seek out a private conference with Altair so they could discuss Angelo and, also, the disappearance of Quazar. Gargoyles just didn’t simply fade from existence. He had searched his mind and found that he had no memory of this Quazar past Mia’s twelfth year.
Chapter Twenty-four
Mia enjoyed her long shower. She couldn’t get it into her head that she hadn’t been gone a week. She dressed carefully, knowing that she still had company on the property. Ted had slipped out when Varden woke up so she could sleep in. She had panicked when she woke up and he wasn’t there.
“When will I ever be able to lose this fear?” she asked herself. She looked in the mirror and searched for the twelve-year-old.
Ted walked in and stood there staring a moment before he said, “Cid says if you don’t get your butt down for breakfast, he’s going to toss it all out. The Stavros family has been gone for hours. Cid says Mike and Burt are working in the office. I’m not sure where Glenda is, but Cid informs me that everyone has eaten already.”
“I’m sorry,” Mia said. She turned to Ted. “I missed waking up with you this morning.”
Ted smiled. “Varden will wait for no one. Come on, Cid’s rather testy today.”
“I’m sorry I woke everyone up in the middle of the night.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You’re so perceptive,” she said, walking over and hugging him.
“Are you ovulating?” Ted asked.
Mia stepped back and stared at him. “I keep forgetting how romantic you are, Teddy Bear.”
“No! I didn’t mean that. I was just worried about, er, last night, this morning, you know…”
“Oh, gee, would it be a problem?” she asked.
“Not with me, but you said, you didn’t want to be a broodmare.”
Mia kissed him. “We’ll just see what happens.”
Ted kissed her again. “Let’s schedule some time away from home. I miss my noisy bride.”
“Yes. I’d love that.”
“Good.”
Cid watched the entwined couple walk down the hall. He needed to ask Mia about something away from Ted. He’d hoped Ted would go to the workshop after waking her up, but instead, he looked like he was going to spoon-feed Mia breakfast.
Brian, who was sitting at the kitchen table coloring, with Varden looking on from his highchair, shook his crayon in the air disgusted. “Spit! Mom, Varden insists on sucking on my crayons.”
Mia walked over, sat down, and examined the crayons. “These look a bit gummed. Why don’t you and I go to the art store and pick out some nice new crayons?”
Brian’s face lit up. “They better not be toxic because he’s a tricky guy. Watch.” Brian set a soggy purple crayon down just out of Varden’s reach.
Varden reached over the tray of the highchair and banged on the table causing the crayon to roll towards him. Mia snatched the crayon before her youngest son scooped it up. Mia gently lifted Varden’s chin and looked him in the eyes. “These are Brian’s. Maybe we should find you something tastier than wax and paper to suck on.”
Ted, who watched from the corner, said, “I find it hard not to jump up and down with joy seeing engineering ability presenting itself.”
“Still, he has to learn not to take things just because he wants them,” Mia said. She was concerned that the taking had more to do with the birdman DNA. Didn’t Angelo behave just this way? She changed her focus. “Brian, I love your picture. You’re so creative. Why is this cat looking down from the building?” she asked.
“It’s not a cat. It’s a gargoyle.”
Ted cast a shadow over the picture as he leaned in to get a better look. “By golly, it is a gargoyle. Does he have a name?”
Mia wasn’t surprised when Brian answered, “Quazar.” It looked like the wizard. But how had Brian come in contact with him?
“Isn’t he the guy you went to see about the candle?” Cid asked, walking over to look at Brian’s picture.
“Yes.”
“Brian, when and where did you see Quazar?” Mia asked.
“When Ralph was taking me shopping. He was sitting on the edge of a building staring down at the street. He was made up of stone, but I knew he was just resting and he was really a gargoyle.”
“You’re very preceptive,” Mia said.
“Grandpa Charles taught me to not take the oblivious as the oblivious.”
“Don’t you mean the obvious?” Cid asked.
“Yes! What did I say?” he asked.
“Oblivious, which means not aware, and obvious means easily perceived,” Cid taught.
“All these words,” Brian said gruffly, “make my head hurt.”
“You have a better understanding of them than I do,” Mia said and kissed him on the forehead. “I met Quazar when I was a little girl,” Mia told him, “and I think you captured not only his image but his intent too.”
“Yes, he’s watching us,” Brian said.
“Son, do you know why he’s watching us?” Ted asked.
“No. Do you?”
“Not yet, but I’ll look into it. Maybe you and I could figure out what building he was sitting on for a start. I bet Jake can help.”
Brian’s eyes opened wide, and he said with an airless voice, “I get to work with Jake?”
Mia smiled in spite of herself.
“Yes, but you let Daddy type on the keys. Jake gets
