Fort Morgan (15 page)

“
I suppose that was you.”
Rodney’s head moved up and down in agreement.

“
No, dummy,” Yvonne said.
“The one who suffered the most was Tannie. She had to grow up with
that horrible woman. She had to have a slave as a mother. She
didn’t even know she had a daddy until she was too old to need one.
She has had to be strong for me and for you and for her Gran and
for everybody. She’s amazing and she. . .”

“
You’re right,” Rodney
said.

“
Of course I’m right,”
Yvonne said.

“
I’m sorry,” Rodney
said.

“
Don’t be sorry,” Yvonne
said. “Get over it.”

“
Get over it?” Rodney
asked. He shook his head. “It’s not that easy. I
remember
.”

“
Oh, and I don’t?” Yvonne
scowled. “I remember enough. You want a happily ever after, then
you need to get over it. Seriously.”

“
I can’t help it,” Rodney
said. “These feelings. . . they come up and take over. I
can’t breathe or think. I. . .”

“
Fine,” Yvonne said. “You
can ask me. I promise to answer you truthfully and not just get
mad.”

“
And quiet,” Rodney said.
“You scare me when you’re so quiet.’

“
Good to know,” Yvonne
said.

She shook her head at him. Without saying
another word, she turned and went into the open bedroom of the
suite. He stared at the spot where she had stood for a moment.

“
You really are an idiot.”
Her voice came from inside the bedroom.

Laughing at himself, he went into the room
and shut the door.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning — 11:31 a.m.

Denver, Colorado

Heather had heard about the power of an
Olympian over human beings, but she’d never seen it in action.
She’d certainly never experienced it in relation to anything in her
own life. But with everything that was going on, the power of
Olympia was the only thing that made any sense.

Unlike her usual bumbling life, everything
was going abnormally well. In fact, everything was going perfectly.
And not just everything — everyone was behaving perfectly.

Her girlfriends were perfect, like always.
Then again, they were immune to Olympian ways.

Everyone else was acting perfectly. The
nurses went out of their way to be nice to Heather. Her crotchety
old doctor was cheerful and calm. He even allowed Camilla, the
midwife who worked with Blane, to facilitate her labor. And Camilla
hadn’t said anything snarky to anyone the entire time she’d been
there.

Blane’s connection to the birthing room was
crystal clear and without any interference. A male nurse fixed it
so that Blane’s face was on the big-screen television, and he could
see her through a tablet computer they’d borrowed from a nurse. It
worked so well, it was almost like he was right there with her.

Heather grinned. She could get used to
this!

“
Heather?” Camilla asked
from the spot between her legs. “We’re almost there. How are you
doing?”

Jill sat on her left side and Sandy on her
right. Tanesha was standing just behind Camilla. Because Camilla
was so small, Tanesha had a full view of everything that was going
on. Heather glanced at Tanesha, and she nodded in agreement. They
would have a baby soon.

“
One, two,
three. . .” Blane counted the time between her
breaths.

“
Great,” Heather said.
“Happy.”

“
Deep cleansing breath,”
Blane said.

Heather took a deep breath and grunted.

“
Feels like he’s coming,”
Heather grunted.

“
No,” Camilla said from
between her legs. “But soon, very soon.”

“
Hang in there, Heather,”
Blane said. “You always run out of patience at the end of things.
Remember these last moments are as important as the first
ones!”

His voice was almost too chipper. She
glanced up at him, and he raised his eyebrows.

“
Breathing is important,”
he said.

She chuckled.

“
What are you going to
name him?” Camilla said.

“
They haven’t decided,”
Jill said. “They wanted to see him first.”

Heather grunted in agreement.

“
They had a name picked
out for their first son, but he was born in a MAC store,” Jill
said. “They call him ‘Mack.’”

“
How are we doing?” the
doctor asked as he came into the room.

He seemed so happy that Jill scowled and
glanced at Sandy, who shrugged. Jill mouthed “Drugs?” Sandy smiled.
Heather grinned.

“
What?” Jill leaned
forward to say in a low voice.

“
Things are working out,”
Heather said.

Sandy held Heather’s hand to her heart, and
Jill smiled.

“
Hey!” Blane said. “Stop
that! Heather, your breathing!”

“
Looks like we won’t have
to worry about that,” the doctor said. He winked at Camilla. “Are
you ready?”

“
She needs. . .”
Camilla started.

“
I know, I know,” the
doctor said. He touched Camilla’s shoulder. “You’ve got a good one
here, Heather.”

Heather nodded so as not to disrupt her
breathing. The doctor’s pager beeped. He took it out and read
it.

“
I’ll be right back,” the
doctor said.

Camilla sneered at his back as he left. When
she turned back to Heather, she smiled.

“
You’re positively
glowing,” Camilla said.

Tanesha looked at Camilla and then at
Heather.

“
No really,” Tanesha said.
“You’re glowing golden light.”

“
It’s. . .
the. . . light. . . of. . .” Heather
huffed. “Olympia.”

Camilla raised an eyebrow to Heather and
shook her head. Used to the insanity of childbirth, she went back
to checking the baby’s progress.

“
Another present from
Zeus?” Jill asked in a low voice.

“
Hera,” Heather said.
“She’s the mother of all life.”

Upon saying her name, the golden light in
the room increased. Heather had to squint to see. Jill and Sandy
were a wash of light. She couldn’t see Blane on the television. In
the intense light, she saw the barest outline of Hera. The goddess
smiled at Heather.

“
Do. . .
you. . . see. . .?” Heather gestured to where
Hera stood.

“
What?” Jill leaned
forward to Heather.

“
Oooh,” Camilla said. She
glanced at Tanesha. “You page the doctor. You.” She pointed to
Sandy, “Get the nurses.”

Jill moved to stand up, but Camilla said,
“You stay.”

“
Blane?” Camilla asked in
a loud voice.

“
Yes,” Blane’s head on the
television set said.

“
We’re having a baby,”
Camilla said.

Overwhelmed by the golden light, Heather
felt herself lifted out of the pain of child birth. She felt only
bliss and love. She saw herself as a golden spirit standing next to
Hera. The goddess gave golden Heather a hug.

“
It’s time,” Hera
said.

“
Push now,” Camilla
said.

Heather marveled that her body responded to
the midwife while she stood in golden form. The nurses ran into the
room. One nurse gave orders and another left the room.

“
One more time,” Camilla
said.

“
We’ve got this!” Blane
said. “Come on, Heather!”

“
Push, push, push!”
Camilla said.

The doctor raced through the door. He
shoulder-nudged Camilla out of the way. Heather watched her
physical self give birth to her son. From her vantage point, her
son seemed to form from the golden light itself. He looked into her
eyes and gave her a smile. Just then, the doctor rubbed the baby’s
foot. He howled hello to the world.

Blane began to weep. The girlfriends
cheered. Heather glanced at Hera, who nodded to her.

“
He will be mighty,” Hera
said. “A wonderful son.”

The goddess leaned forward to kiss Heather’s
cheek.

“
Would you like to stay?”
Hera’s voice was breezy. “You can come to join our court and leave
all this mess to these humans.”

In the birthing room, Camilla set the baby
in her arms.

“
Perses said I could have
one lifetime,” Heather said.

“
Is that your wish?” Hera
asked.

“
It is,” Heather
said.

“
It shall be done,” Hera
said.

Her golden form walked to where the baby lay
on physical Heather’s chest. Hera sprinkled golden dust on the boy
and on Heather.

“
I have already attended
to your other son,” Hera said. “Your husband and the girl
child.”

“
Tiffanie?” Heather
asked.

“
She belongs to you,” Hera
said. “They will have luck.”

“
Thank you.” Heather bowed
her head.

Hera touched Heather’s chin, and she looked
up.

“
It is I who am still in
your debt.” Hera kissed her cheek again. “Go on.”

Heather hugged Hera for a moment before
stepping back. She walked to the bed. Lying down, she merged with
her physical self. In the rejoining, she felt a flood of emotions,
pain, and immense joy. She kissed the top of her son’s head. A
nurse whisked him away to be tested for HIV and Hep C.

“
That was fun,” Sandy
said. She leaned close to Heather. “But who was that
woman?”

“
Woman?” Heather
asked.

Jill nodded to the question.

“
I’m just wondering if
she’ll come when I have a baby,” Tanesha said.

They laughed. The nurse brought the baby
back, with Delphie and Sam on her heels. Delphie took one look
around the room and grinned at Heather.

“
There’s a distinct glow,”
Delphie said with a nod to Heather.

Heather smiled.

“
And the name?” Sam
asked.

“
We don’t have one,”
Heather said. “We thought we’d wait until Blane was
home.”

“
Good idea,” Sam
said.

He leaned over to kiss her cheek. Delphie
took the baby from her and Heather leaned back. She watched her son
be welcomed into this world in the loving arms of one friend and
another.

“
Hey,” Blane
said.

“
I forgot you were there,”
Heather said. She smiled.

“
You did good,” Blane
said.

For the first time, she realized how peaked
he looked. He gave a slight nod to acknowledge the thought.

“
The excitement’s over,”
Heather said. “You should rest. I’ll bring him by as soon as I
can.”

“
You’d better,” Blane
said. “Love you, Heather.”

“
Love you too,” Heather
said.

She waved, and he clicked off the camera.
Jill took her hand.

“
He’s beautiful,” Jill
said.

“
Very,” Sandy said, as she
retook her place on the other side of Heather.

“
You should rest while you
can,” Jill said.

Sandy nodded.

Heather closed her eyes, and she was back in
the volcano that had once held the Sea of Amber. She was standing
on the edge of a cliff looking out onto the bowl of molten lava.
The Sea of Amber was long gone. The sand that she’d sunken into had
disappeared under the lava. The molten lava steamed with heat. She
was sure that by the end of the day, the lava would overflow this
bowl. In a matter of days, the entire island would be consumed with
lava.

“
Why am I here?” Heather
asked.

“
We wanted to say
good-bye.” A male voice came from behind her.

Heather turned around to see the spirit of
the dark olive green serpent. Returned to his earlier glory, he
stood among thousands of serpents’ spirits.

“
With the birth of your
son, we were able to transition,” he said. “We will be able to rest
in peace now.”

The host of serpents focused on Heather.

“
Thank you,” the dark
olive green serpent said.

With his words, the spirits of the serpents
began to fade. Soon only the dark olive green serpent’s spirit
stood before her. He bowed his head in acknowledgement of the gift
she’d given and disappeared. Heather felt her eyes well with tears.
She turned back to the bowl and watched the lava for a while. She
was just wondering how she was going to get home when a gorgeous
maroon dragon landed behind her.

“
Hedone,” the dragon
said.

The size of a large transportation truck,
the dragon coiled into itself to fit on the shelf with her.

“
Yes?” Heather
asked.

“
You did good,” the dragon
said.

With that, Heather opened her eyes.

“
Here she is!” Delphie
said and set her baby in her arms.

“
You did good,” Delphie
said and winked.

Heather looked at her son and smiled.

He’s
out

Friday morning — 5:34 a.m. EST
New York City, New York

“
I don’t believe it,” Ivan
said.

They were standing in Sissy’s room at Bestat
Behur’s palatial New York City apartment. Her private room was
almost as large as their entire apartment at the Castle in
Denver.