Spinelli and Georgie were together when Georgie received the phone call that Robin was in labor on September 14. He drove her to the hospital, but had to leave early. Jason called and said he wanted him to meet and train his successor.
He walked into the office to find Jason sitting across from a pale, skinny, shy-looking young man with brown hair and blue eyes.
"Greetings, Stone Cold."
""Hey. This is Terry Jordan," Jason said. "Terry, this is Damien Spinelli."
"Hi," Spinelli said, smiling and shaking the other man's hand as Jason smiled at Kendra, who made baby noises at the stranger.
"Hi," Terry said softly. "She's pretty."
"Thank you."
"You- you let babies in the office?" he asked Jason, then looked as if he thought he was going to be flogged. "I'm not- I mean, not that I'm questioning- I just-"
"It's OK. We usually try to keep her out of the office for her own safety; the only time Spinelli brings her is if he doesn't have someone to watch her."
Spinelli nodded.
"My girlfriend's cousin went into labor a few minutes ago and Kendra's aunt is one of the nurses attending to her."
Spinelli saw the look of concern on Jason's face and gave him the thumbs up sign. He knew Jason and Robin were good friends.
"You have a girlfriend?"
The emphasis on the word "you" showed Spinelli that this guy was a lot like he was a year ago, as did the embarrassed reddening of his face.
"For almost a year," Spinelli said, smiling as he sat next to terry.
"I need to go to a meeting," Jason said. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted and start Terry's training."
They nodded and Jason left.
"How did you- I mean, guys like you and me- we don't- I mean-"
Terry looked away and Spinelli thought that if the poor guy's face got any redder he would spontaneously combust. He knew that was physically impossible, but the image wouldn't go away.
"You will find one," he said, putting his hand on Terry's shoulder. "I did, and when I least expected it. We began as good friends and went from there."
"May I-" He hesitated. "May I see a picture?"
Spinelli smiled and showed him a picture he'd taken on Georgie's birthday.
"She's beautiful!"
Spinelli nodded.
"She's also smart, kind and strong. I still can't believe she chose me."
"You're very lucky," Terry said sadly.
"You will be, too."
"I doubt it."
"How old are you?"
"I just turned eighteen."
"Happy birthday. I'm going on twenty-one and thought like you do, until Georgie. She told me she'd fallen in love with me and she was grieving at the time, so I thought she was just confused, but she showed me that her love is true."
He told him about his past experiences with Lulu and Jolene and what had led up to his relationship with Georgie.
"So you think there's hope for me, too?"
"I know there is."
"Mr. Morgan won't be happy," he said nervously. "I don't think he's the type to approve of talk like this during working hours."
"He is very business oriented, but he's like a brother to me."
"He seems hesitant about hiring me."
"He does not wish to bring danger to anyone; this job can be dangerous. I didn't realize that when I began working for my previous employer, Lorenzo Alcazar. I glamorized the mob for a long time before Kendra was born. Make no mistake, Terry, bad things can happen to people in this business."
"Mr. Morgan has been telling me similar things, but how can bad things happen to you and me? We're only the tech support."
Spinelli sighed. Terry was naïve, like Spinelli had been two years ago. He only hoped Terry would pay more heed than Spinelli had to the advice of people who cared about him. Georgie and even Stone Cold had tried to tell him how dangerous it was to work for the organization. He had firmly believed that working for Mr. Sir and Stone Cold would make him a better man and earn him the respect and acceptance he so desperately craved. He could see already that Terry was of a similar mindset.
"Since working for Evil Al, and then Stone Cold, I've been in danger a number of times. I've even had a gun held to my head on two occasions. Other people Stone Cold loves, who are not in the business but are connected to him, have been hurt and kidnapped. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to you, and you're also young, which makes it even harder for him. He knows he needs your skills, but he doesn't want you to be in danger. I love him like a brother and I felt disloyal when I thought of leaving him, but I had to get out for Kendra's sake. I can't let anything happen to her, and if I get myself killed she'll be an orphan."
"But what about your girlfriend?"
"She's not Kendra's biological mother; Jolene died in child birth. My surrogate sister is Jolene's biological sister and she'll have custody of Kendra should anything happen to me and I'm not married. If I'm married, my wife will raise Kendra, with Nadine's help."
"Do you think you'll marry Georgie?"
"I could picture us married, but we haven't even been together a year; we don't wanna rush things."
"You said Mr. Morgan is like your brother. What can you tell me about him as a boss?"
"Stone Cold is a very fair employer. Just show him that he can trust you. Remain loyal. Do as he says and try not to ask too many questions, and in crunch situations, ask as little as possible. There won't always be time for immediate answers. Be honest, diligent and thorough. Stone Cold is a man of few words, so don't take his silence as a sign of anger."
"Why do you call him Stone Cold?"
Spinelli's face reddened this time.
"The Jackal gives nomenclatures to all he encounters."
"You're The Jackal?"
It was the first excitement or animation the kid had shown. Spinelli suddenly wondered when he'd begun to think of someone two years younger than he was as a kid. He supposed as he looked at his kid, who was falling asleep, it had somehow happened when he became a father.
But he decided to remind himself, forcefully if necessary, that Terry was a man. Spinelli had hated when people treated him like less of a man because he had not been able to defend himself, or because he understood women in a way that other men did not, or because he wasn't constantly thinking about sports or sex, or because he didn't drink alcohol. Terry was no more a kid than Spinelli was.
"Yes," he said in response to Terry's question.
"I'm TJ1990!"
"You're the guy who agrees with me about alternate realities and parallel universes!"
"Yes! How can there not be? I mean, every time we make one choice, something happens to us, but what if we'd made the opposite choice."
"I think about that a lot since the birth of my Empathic One."
They decided to go to Kelly's for dinner, where they discussed the infinite possibilities of their universe as it could have been had certain events not happened, or had they happened in a different way. Then they went back to the office, knowing they needed to get to work. But Spinelli smiled as he began to quiz Terry on his knowledge of hacking and his tech abilities; he was very impressed, both personally and professionally, and was hoping that they would become fast and lasting friends.
As Spinelli was quizzing Terry, Georgie was holding her new niece/cousin. Robin and Georgie were close and considered themselves sisters, so Emma Grace would refer to her as Aunt Georgie. She couldn't wait to introduce Emma to Spinelli and Kendra.
Unfortunately, that meeting would not occur for a few days. In the space of a few minutes, the family's universe would be in danger of being irrevocably altered.