"Truth is born into this world only with pangs and tribulations, and every fresh truth is received unwillingly." Alfred Russel Wallace
It took Helena until the next morning to come back to her unanswered question. The one about why Myka had reached out to the Warehouse in the first place. Myka knew she would eventually remember to ask again… and she did, over breakfast.
"Helena…," Myka said, reaching across the table and putting her hand on her wife's, "… I have been…feeling… as if something is going on… inside… you," she finally got out and didn't mean to take such long pauses, but she wasn't as ready to say that as she had thought.
"Inside…me?" Helena asked and her voice was calm.
Myka smiled, uncomfortable with having to explain something that, perhaps, Helena wasn't aware of. "You know, how I can feel things you feel?"
"Oh, yes, of course," Helena readily agreed, but was still staring at Myka to explain further.
Myka cleared her throat and put her hands in her lap. "The buying of the buildings, the scale model of Manhattan, the… the…," she ran out of words.
"Ah," Helena said, because the examples were concrete. "I want Cate to know her legacy," came the short reply that didn't answer everything Myka was hinting at.
"I was thinking…," the skilled lawyer responded, withdrawing her touch, "… it was more… personal."
"What could be more personal than our daughter?" Helena inquired.
Myka's hand returned to Helena's as she gave the last clue to the puzzle. "HG Wells."
"Pardon?" Helena said, but a wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows as she stared back.
"I thought maybe, Helena, wanting Cate to know her legacy, might… remind you… of what you missed out on." There! Myka laid it all out on the table.
And with one swipe of her response, Helena swiped the proverbial table clean.
"Don't be ridiculous," Helena said, forcing a smile on her face. "Sometimes, I fear you miss solving puzzles and saving the day." It wasn't said with the sweetness Helena typically uttered that phrase.
"Am I wrong?" Myka asked, gently pressing on.
"I don't see what this has to do with you contacting the Warehouse?" Helena regained her footing, as she volleyed the ball back to her wife.
Myka eyes looked down as she composed her response. "I wanted you to get some of your due, Helena. I thought, perhaps, one obvious choice would be in your native country, with… the Queen."
"So, you asked the Warehouse to make that happen?" Helena asked for clarification.
"I… kinda figured… they knew… each other," Myka said, accentuating the end of that sentence with a smile.
"Indeed," Helena said slowly. "The Queen would very much be aware of her former resident."
"Was I wrong to do that?" Myka asked, unsure of what her wife's response meant.
Helena smiled as she looked in green pools of concern. "No, no, Darling. It was very thoughtful of you, indeed. And Her Majesty wouldn't have done it if she hadn't agreed, so thank you, Myka."
Relief immediately crossed Myka's face as she squeezed Helena's hand for being so understanding. "Helena, do you feel… anything else going on?" Myka asked as gently as she could.
A brief smile appeared on Helena's face. "I don't think so; but I will give it serious thought, Counselor," she teased her wife. She leaned in and kissed Myka, making sure to convey she was not upset.
"I… also… thought it might be fun for you… to meet with other… smart people," Myka said of her arrangement for a group of highly intellectual people to meet at the Algonquin Hotel.
"Other… smart people?" Helena asked, truly confounded, as if they didn't exist.
"Scientists, and uhm… inventors, oh…and literary people," Myka stumbled because of the slight look of disdain on the resident scientist, inventor, who was a literary genius' face.
"How many?" Helena asked.
"How many? Oh, uhm, twelve so far," Myka replied.
"Will you be there?" Helena asked and Myka was surprised by all of wife's questions.
"Well, I thought… you might want to meet them…," she tried, but Helena was quick to respond:
"I shan't go if you're not there."
"Oh, okay, well, then I'll go," Myka smiled.
"Very well," Helena smiled and agreed to go, giving Myka the definite impression she was doing her a favor.
"MOMMY! MUMMY!" came the small voice from the front of the house. "We're home," came the announcement.
Helena and Myka went to greet their daughter in the large foyer. Hugs and kisses were exchanged until Helena finally stopped in her tracks.
"Oh, my God," Helena gasped as Myka scooped her daughter up. Cate was telling Myka all about her stay at Grandma's.
"What is it?" Myka asked Helena.
"What was… she thinking?" the Brit asked, as Irene climbed the front steps, carrying the little girl's backpack and a bag of croissants.
"Irene! You didn't need to bring anything," Myka said and asked Cate to take her own backpack.
"Sorry, Grandma," Cate apologized because someone in the house had taught her manners.
"I thought you might need these, if Eileen and Claudia return this morning," Irene explained.
Helena was too busy staring at the woman to offer her appreciation. "Do you give any thought…," she was asking because Irene was standing there in what Helena considered to be an abomination of the fashion industry; cropped pants. "What... were you thinking?"
"I was thinking… I have good legs," Irene said, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm going to put these in the dining room. Helena?" Myka said, a warm yet warning tone to her voice. She would never quite understand her wife's obsession with Irene's state of dress. Well, anyone's state of dress, for that matter.
Irene stood there as Helena's eyes fixed on the woman's exposed shins. "I can't even begin…," Helena began, but Irene was ready.
"Good, then you won't waste our time," the older woman said, shutting the door behind her.
"There is… an age factor, Irene," Helena felt she had to say in an effort to help her friend.
"Yes, and if you want to see your next birthday, you'll stop this right now," Irene warned.
"Testy this morning," Helena pointed out.
"Yeah, that's it," Irene said, shaking her head.
"In there," Helena said, pointing to the library and jerking her head for Irene to go.
The woman sighed and walked towards the room. "If you think talking to me alone is going to change my mind, Helena…."
"Surprise, Irene! Not everything is about you," Helena huffed with exasperation, even though she was the guilty party.
"Oh, well, glad to hear we'll talk about something other than my legs," Irene said, sitting down.
"Focus," the Brit said, because she didn't have time for the woman's quips. "Do you notice…," Helena began slowly as she walked in front of the woman, "…anything odd?"
Irene's eyes rose to meet the Brit's, her mouth slightly parted because her immediate answer was hanging off the tip of her tongue. She coughed, sat up straight on the couch and asked; "Odd… as in…?"
"Odd…as in?" Helena repeated, throwing her hands up in the air. She walked around in a circle, gathering her patience because it was important. "Odd, as in… unusual, strange, and anomalous!"
"About… you?" asked the woman who thought those were daily adjectives for her friend. She was careful how she asked that.
Helena looked down at her, frustrated she had to clarify that. "Yes," she said, and put her arms out.
"Are we talking physically or…," Irene asked gingerly. She wanted to make sure she was somewhere near the page her friend was on.
Helena stared at her, unable to fathom how another English speaking person could not get what she was saying. "Because it's not really English," she answered her own silent question. "Let me try this," Helena smiled. "Myka was asking me if I am having any particular feelings of late. She senses something and I am unaware at present of any precise emotional reaction I might be experiencing… somewhere."
"You mean unconsciously?" Irene asked.
"Sure, let's go with that," Helena said because she believed she was cognizant of everything she thought or felt.
Irene leaned back and thought about what Helena was asking. "What does Myka sense?" she finally asked.
"That something is off," Helena said, pacing now.
The sound of their friends arriving and Myka greeting them did little to assure Helena they'd get to the bottom of this.
"And you don't feel anything is off?" Irene asked.
"No," she answered quickly; almost too quickly.
Irene nodded her head. If Helena was feeling something and wasn't aware of it, the woman knew only Myka could be gentle and patient enough in getting the genius to figure it out.
"Maybe give it some time, Helena," Irene suggested. "Be aware of any reactions you're having. Maybe it will offer you clues."
"Clues?" Helena asked aghast. "Fine," she finally said, realizing the woman had nothing else to offer. "She has me meeting with a bunch of…," but the group adjective failed to come. "People."
"A bunch of people?" Irene asked, standing up now.
"She thinks I need to be with scientists, inventors and literary types," Helena all but said horrified.
"Well, I could see how Myka might feel that would bring you some comfort, considering you are all three of those things," Irene pointed out the obvious.
"Oh," Helena said. "I don't know how many I can help in one sitting."
Aware that her friend probably missed the whole point of the gathering, Irene just smiled. "We each can only do what we can, Helena," she said, patting Helena's shoulder.
The two women were entering the grand hallway when there was a knock at the door. Helena opened it and there stood the woman who had frightened her the night before. She looked past Helena and saw Irene standing there. "Don't tell me you summoned her here," Gloria asked. Before Helena could explain that she had not, the nurse was handing her a peace offering. "I felt badly about scaring you last night," the nurse said, making her way into the hallway even though Helena had not invited her in. She made sure to look at Irene when she continued. "Especially since you seemed otherwise… engaged."
Irene's soft brown eyes watched the scene play out carefully.
Helena looked in the white bakery box. "It's a small token, but your apology is accepted," she said. "Now, do please come in," she said, walking to the dining room where Eileen and Claudia sat with Myka and Cate.
"Great news, HG," Claudia greeted her former mentor about the program they designed.
Irene turned back to look at Gloria.
"I'm trying to teach her… consequences," Gloria said, feeling the weight of Irene's stare. "I have her best interests at heart," she felt it necessary to add.
"If I thought otherwise…," Irene said guardedly, "… I'd put an end to it immediately."
Then, she smiled and waved for Gloria to join them in the dining room.