The Last Oracle (22 page)

Alex smiled. It was so like her to take responsibility for Paolo’s bad behavior. “Most fathers are not presented with such bright children, male or female. And please, I do not wish you to be embarrassed.”

Inside the cottage, Alex could hear things being moved around and doors slamming.

“What is he doing in your home?”

“It is all right, Signora.”

Paolo emerged moments later and his eyes narrowed at Alex.

“Bella, I believe this will suit our needs for just a few nights. I saw no indications of bedbugs or rodents. Come, see for yourself.”

Isabella glanced at Alex who was nearly shaking. He couldn't stand the idea of another man making love to his symbolon in the bedroom he created for the two of them.

She lifted her hand. “My husband, on this occasion, I must disagree with you. I will not take my tutor’s home. He is a dear friend, and that is over-stepping the bounds of that friendship. Please, Signore Alex, show us where you would like us to stay.”

Alex led them up the path and Isabella seemed delighted with the wooded trail.

“I was most pleased by your wonderful gift,” Isabella said.

“What was it?
 A tree? I do not know what we shall do with another tree. Boboli Gardens is tended to by the finest gardeners and they have informed me that they have no place for it,” Paolo said with a nearly innocent shrug.

Isabella’s face twisted. “I shall find a place for it! It has special meaning for me. Signore Alex told me a story when I was a child about a magical tree with ointments that healed. You may not know this, but he saved my life as a child with a magical ointment from the ginkgo tree. Did you know that they also bring good fortune?
 That is why it is such a special gift and has such great meaning in my heart.”

“Wild trees belong here in this untamed land. Not in manicured gardens,” Paolo said.

Isabella smiled at Alex. “Yes, at this we do agree. Signore Alex, I think I should like to think of my tree here—perhaps on the side of the cottage for some shade.” She continued up the trail. “Of course, then it will give us an excuse to come and see my favorite tutor and my favorite tree.”

“Alright,” Alex said, still battling his pain from the discovery.

“And when you see it, you will think of me?”

Alex flinched and then whispered to Isabella, “Always.”

∞

It was only a few months later when Alex had another vision and he knew then that his Isabella would die in childbirth. As soon as he
recovered from the vomiting and the shakes, he headed to Florence and the Palazzo Pitto, praying he was not too late.

Alex’s prayers were answered, and Isabella was not yet with child! But Paolo took Alex’s warnings as a ruse to keep him from his marital bed. Alex offered Paolo a transference, which he refused. Even Mani had attempted to talk reason to Paolo.

A year later, Alex received a letter from Lita, who served as Isabella’s nurse. When he entered the castle, everyone appeared in mourning. He could barely breathe and dared not utter the question that plagued him. He headed up the stairs and found Mani.

“She does not have much time left. Lita believes that Isabella has been waiting to see you once more,” he said.

Over the course of the year, Alex had written Paolo and asked to please include Mani in any medical decisions. According to Mani, Paolo had ignored his warnings.

Running up the stone steps, Alex passed Paolo and worked to suppress his anger. Isabella’s father was outside of her room and said, “She has been asking for you.”

Alex entered the chamber. It was a grand room, but entirely too ornate for his liking. In the bed, he saw her, and although his heart demanded speed, he stepped cautiously toward her.

“Tutor!” she said weakly.

“Yes,” he responded, heartbroken.

Isabella waved a thin arm to him and he approached. She was pale, and it was obvious that these were her last moments. Alex felt his jaw tremble and he turned away.

“Come,” she said and patted the bed next to her and then glanced at her nurse, Melitta, Mani’s wife. “Please, leave us for a moment,” she said.

Alex sat down next to Isabella feeling the pain of loss for her, for himself, and even for Paolo. She stroked her hand along his face.

“Dearest…dearest…Alex.” He blinked as she continued, “I prayed that you would come.”

“For you I would do anything, Isabella,” he whispered, holding back his tears.

She licked her lips and looked down at her stomach as she stroked her belly. “I do know that she is…gone.” Isabella’s eyes flooded with tears. “I can feel it.” She bit her lip and closed her eyes as another tear escaped. Her face seemed even paler and it only enhanced her beauty. “I have something that I must tell you. But please do not judge me harshly for this.”

“As always, I would only ever think the very best of you. And you should know that I will never betray your confidences.”

“My husband...he is a good man. But sometimes,” her tiny hand reached over to his and she pulled it to her lips. Unable to stop himself he squeezed her hand and she pressed it to her belly and whispered so softly that he could barely hear her, “sometimes, I dream that she is yours.”

The room grew darker. He longed to tell her that he loved her, too—that he had always loved only her. Instead, battling his tears, he nodded, squeezed her hand, and said nothing. She closed her eyes and her tiny hand released his just as Paolo entered. Alex pulled his hand from her belly and rose, unable to face Paolo.

As Alex exited her chamber, he heard Paolo cry out. And the physical pain ripped through his own heart with a vengeance as he fell to his knees, mirroring Paolo’s cries.

Valeria woke for the first time in months without her husband beside her. The sun was about to sink behind the Pitons; she had slept almost all day.
Where was Alex?
She remembered the revelation that had changed their future, and put her hand to her stomach. Then she rose and moved to the door and down a hill until she found him sitting with his face in his hands. She approached him and heard him saying, “No, I could never have taken your youth.”

She touched his shoulder, and he spun his head and pulled her into him with such grief that all she could do was
hold him.

Finally, she brushed the side of his face and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

“It will all be all right,” she said as a statement, without any of the earlier insecurity.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Alex, you’re doing it again.”

He lowered his brow.

“You’re hiding something.”

He shook his head—not so much to disagree, but to end the conversation. He kissed her forehead but his eyes were still lost in the memory.

“Please talk to me,” she urged.

He knew he needed to respond, and he didn’t want to lie to her. “It…it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“A vision?”

“No—no, nothing like that. Really,” he said with a cry in his voice.

Normally, she would have let it drop. Alex could paint on a smile and she was usually satisfied. Except now, everything was different. She sat without saying a word.

Finally, he saw the expectation of a response. Yet she didn’t force him. Instead, she smiled softly. It overwhelmed him sometimes how much he could love her. Something was very different about her—yet so very familiar. He kissed her forehead and swallowed.

“I’ve lived a very long time and I’ve seen...things.”

She brushed her hand along his face and he tried to smile.

“Things from the future?” she asked gently.

He shook his head. “If they were from the future at least I would know what to expect. Instead, I battle...memories. One can never win a battle against memories.”

“You can tell me.”

“No,” he said with finality.

She knew that his insistence was due to the pain, and she brushed her hand through his hair.

“All right then.” She hesitated a moment, hurt, but she understood. “I’m going to take a shower and dress for dinner. Why don’t you call Doc?”

“Yes, I should have called Doc earlier. Perhaps he can meet us here,” Alex said.

“Alex?” He glanced to her. “If I truly am pregnant, a week won’t make a difference. We can see Mani at his home in Puerto Rico. I’m certain he intends to run some tests,” she said, leaving out the comment that it was the year anniversary of the curse, and now there were two lives to be concerned about.

Alex nodded absentmindedly, as if he only half heard what she was saying. She brushed her hand along his cheek and turned him to face her. She could see the near tears in his eyes. She spoke soothingly, “
I meant
that you should call Mani and talk to him about all of the things that you are thinking about. The things that you feel you can’t share with me. You need someone to talk to. Call him.”

Then she took his cell phone from his pocket, opened it, and dialed Mani’s number. She heard Mani answer immediately, concerned when the call came in.

“Hello, Mani. Yes, we are all healthy. I believe Alex would like to speak to you.” She handed the phone to Alex and rose. “I’ll be in the shower and I won’t listen. Please talk to him.”

As she was walking back up the hill, she heard Alex say, “Hi, Doc. Yes, we have…some news.” She turned and watched as he moved his fingers to the brim of his nose and nodded. “Yes.” He waited a moment. “Val is—I mean—
we
are expecting.”

∞

They spent the week enjoying the room and rarely leaving it. Room service became their friend and they ate in most nights. Alex’s mood had lightened a degree. She only had a few more episodes of morning sickness and the last time she allowed Alex to hold her while she vomited—knowing that he needed to feel useful. It had taken all of her nerves to permit that because she was afraid it would disgust him.

His dark mood, she also realized, was probably coming even before the pregnancy due to the anniversary of the curse—also known as her birthday. She didn’t think that oracles could even have children, until Alex told her about his family. Still, she wondered if he was worried that the pregnancy added doubt to her immortality. At least now, he was talking to Doc every day and that seemed to be helping.

At last, they were leaving for Puerto Rico, and Alex seemed relieved. Valeria had hoped the honeymoon truly would go on forever. She thought of the last golden days on St. John and the scuba diving. She forced herself to eat some dry toast and brought some soda crackers for the trip. They took off from St. Lucia, this time avoiding any circling. In fact, the Helio was capable of lifting off almost immediately, but Valeria noticed that Alex used significantly more runway than necessary. She also noticed that his boyish grin was missing, and he hardly spoke the entire trip.

“That’s Puerto Rico,” she heard Alex’s voice say over the headphones. “There’s a landing strip right over there for Mani’s.”

Within minutes, they had landed on a private dirt strip. Lars stood next to a golf cart as they taxied to the end of the runway. Alex hopped out and tied down the plane, and then helped Valeria out.

“Glad to see you both!” Lars said, extending a hand to Alex and throwing his arms around Valeria. “Camille wanted to come down but there wasn’t room for everyone and your luggage.”

They drove over a dusty hill to an adobe red hacienda with a large wooden gate. The gate opened electronically. Alex sat in the back of the golf cart with Valeria and patted her leg. It was good to see their friends!

Inside the gate was a courtyard of matching red tiles and large planters overflowing with flowers and greenery. In the center was a fountain. The walls of Mani’s home were mostly glass. From the courtyard entrance, Valeria could see all the way through the home and out over the cliffs, with the view of the back porch and the ocean below.

Camille was waiting in the courtyard and said, “Aw, I’m sorry your honeymoon had to end with you feeling ill. But I’m sure the rest of it was fun!”

Jumping out of the slowing cart, Valeria ran to her friend. To her shock and humiliation, she found herself battling tears. Camille sensed it and whispered, “Everything all right?”

Repressing the sob, Valeria struggled and then was finally able to paste on a smile. She pushed back from Camille just as Ava and Tavish came out to greet them.

“We had a wonderful time at St. John,” Valeria said.

“And I hope you are up for the birthday celebration we have planned for you next week.”

“Next week? Oh…” She glanced down and then, without hesitation, she said mechanically, “That sounds wonderful! Thanks, Camille.”

Caleb bound out of the house with Charlie the dog in tow.

“Caleb!
Oh, my little Charlie!”

Caleb stopped just short of Valeria and looked a bit oddly at her. Charlie wiggled his back end excitedly and seemed to be begging her to
welcome him. She bent down and pet the pup—reminding her of the awful time when Alex was away from her. Valeria began to reach out for Caleb, but he stepped out of reach.

“Mani says I need to stay away from you for a while,” he said, as if hurt by the idea that he could ever hurt her.

“Mani said that?”

“Yeah.
He said it was just to be careful. But look!” Caleb pointed to Charlie. “Your friend sent Charlie back! Shinsu said I could keep him,”

“I’m glad you have Charlie!” she said without considering it. “Caleb, did Doc say that you need to stay away from me even if you have your suit on?”

“He said it would be best if I keep my distance for now.” Caleb looked down. “I would never want to do anything that would...well you know...hurt you.”

Valeria smiled at him. “I know, Caleb. And I don’t believe for a second that you would, but let’s wait and see what Doc says, okay?” She so wanted to reach over and muff his hair.

He gulped. “Yeah, okay. Are you sick?”

She shook her head.
“No, not really. Doc just wants to run some tests.”

They greeted Ava and Tavish. Mani was noticeably absent. They sat in the living room and chattered about the honeymoon.

Although things were better with Alex, she noticed that his mind was a million miles away. She would often catch him just staring out at the sea. Perhaps he was just exhausted. He didn’t really seem to sleep much lately. A few times during the night, she thought he was sleeping, only to realize that he had closed his eyes but she could tell that his mind was still racing. 

Valeria felt the tears forming, and again tried to gulp them back. When she looked back up, she saw Camille glance back and forth between Alex and Valeria and then said, “Val, let me help you unpack.”

As soon as they headed up the stairs, Valeria’s tears began to fall.

Coming from the kitchen, Ava said, “Hey, girl time! I’ll get the food.” Valeria couldn’t turn to acknowledge Ava. But Camille came to
the rescue and offered Ava a subtle shake of the head and a non-verbal,
Not now
.

“Trouble in paradise,” Ava muttered before disappearing.

Once they were alone in the bedroom, Camille closed the door and then said, “Okay! What is going on with you and Alex?”

Suddenly—and to Valeria’s horror—the tears turned into full-out sobs. Camille held her and patted her back, but Valeria didn’t seem to have any control of it.

Finally able to speak, Valeria said, “I think he’s...angry with me. I got sick and Alex asked me to take a pregnancy test—”

“A PREGNANCY TEST?”
Camille interrupted in a voice two octaves higher than her normal range.

With Camille’s response, Valeria felt even more ashamed. She looked down and sobbed and finally said in a small voice, “It was...positive.”

“Oh,” Camille said. Obviously, this was knew news to her. “Pregnant! I had no idea that was even...possible.” She thought for a moment. “Well, that explains all the new equipment Mani brought in. So what’s the issue?”

Valeria continued to sob. “I don’t think Alex wants it. And…” her voice trailed off.

“And?” Camille demanded.

“And I’m afraid that he thinks I tricked him into getting pregnant. I didn’t even think about birth control! I don’t know how I could have forgotten that. I just…”

Having actually said the words aloud, the sobs increased. After a few minutes, Camille got up and came back with some tissues. As Valeria wiped her eyes and blew her nose, Camille said, “Val, I can absolutely assure you that Alex would never think that of you! I’m sure he is just in shock at the idea of being a parent—as well as the obvious implication.”

“Implication?”

“It…well, it suggests that you are still…mortal,” she said softly. “I am absolutely certain he is just afraid.”

“I don’t understand. Alex’s parents were immortal and they had two children. I would have thought he would have been a bit excited.”

Camille dipped her brows in surprise. “I can imagine how that made you feel. You and Alex need to talk.” She glanced toward the door with a glaring fire in her eyes, in what Valeria was certain was a non-verbal command.

“Please, I don’t want Alex to see I’m upset,” Valeria sobbed. A moment later, she heard Alex’s rapid pace up the steps to the bedroom door.

Lifting her arms in an attempt to calm the situation, Camille said, “Val, I can assure you that this is all a misunderstanding, and Alex needs to talk to you! You need to ask him about Ian and Morgana.”

“Val?” Alex knocked on the door hesitantly and then opened it. Alex stood looking incredibly sheepish. He shoved his hands into his pockets, suddenly not certain that his wife wished to see him, and upset with himself that he didn’t even sense that she was upset.

Camille stood between the two of them, glaring at Alex with her hands on her hips.

“What have you been saying to your wife? Do you know what she thinks?”

Alex looked completely baffled by Camille’s silent communication, and Valeria could see that there was a
lot
of communication going on between them.

“Will you please talk to your bride? You two talk and then let’s all meet downstairs later.”

Alex was obviously stunned by Camille’s communication. After they were alone, and behind closed doors, he went to his wife and wrapped his arms around her as his mask fell from his face leaving only love and concern. 

“Val, beautiful, I am so sorry! I have been such a…jerk, as Camille so aptly reminded me. But she was right to do so! I’ve been thinking about the situation and completely forgot how…vulnerable you must feel.” 

He pulled her chin up to look at him and she could see the dark circles under his eyes from his lack of sleep. She could also see how disappointed he was in himself. He continued, “I
never
thought about anything other than how to keep you safe.
Never
. And I would have never thought that you…
tricked
me,
” he said, as if the idea were the furthest thing from his mind.