~Epilogue~
"The turkey is sliced," stated Hobbes as he dismantled the carver. He turned to watch Mike remove the stuffing from the oven. He looked over the kitchen proudly. Despite never having attempted a dinner of such magnitude, they had managed to cook a delicious looking Christmas dinner without ruining anything other than the gravy. Claire would be able to remedy that when she arrived. Hopefully, she would come soon while everything was still hot.
"Mike! Bobby! She's here!" yelled Darien excitedly from the other room in a weird echo of Hobbes' thoughts. He entered the room as Darien pulled back from his hug and allowed Claire to come the rest of the way inside the house.
"Merry Christmas, Claire," greeted Bobby kissing her gently and enfolding her in his arms.
"Mmm, Merry Christmas, Bobby," she said snuggling closer. "I've missed you."
"Did you have a good trip?" Mike gave her a quick hug once she had separated from Hobbes.
"I was glad to get out of there. I wish I could have come up sooner but you know the Official."
"Ugh, must you discuss the Agency," grimaced Darien. It was then that Claire noticed the fifth occupant of the room. "Claire, I'd like you to meet Amy. Amy, this is Claire."
"I'm so glad to finally meet you. Darien talks about you all of the time," said the other woman smiling as she shook Claire's hand.
"Thank you but I'm sure he doesn't talk about me half as much as he talks about you." Claire looked her over carefully. She was tiny standing beside Darien. Her light brown hair fell to chin level with a few stray hairs falling in front of her vacant blue eyes. Her smile was genuine and while she was not beautiful she could be called pretty. Claire only had to look at the happiness in Darien's face and his smile when he put his arm around Amy to decide that she liked the woman. "Mike and Bobby, could you get the presents from my car?"
"As long as you get in there and make some gravy." Claire just laughed and pushed them towards the door. She headed into the kitchen telling Darien and Amy to go back to whatever they had been doing when she arrived. Since she came up to stay with them as often as she could, she was as at home in their kitchen as she was in her own and she soon had the flour browning.
"All of the presents are under the tree except Darien's, of course," informed Bobby entering the kitchen and coming up to hug her from behind.
"You and Mike could start moving the food to the table."
"In a minute," said Bobby squeezing her tighter and burying his face in her hair.
"Bobby! I'm cooking!" she said giving him a swat. "How is Darien doing?" she continued after a moment.
"He's doing much better than the last time you were up. He's beginning to plateau in therapy but he's begun to accept his limitations. I don't think we will have anymore starvation spells. He's excelling at is classes and they've helped him become so much more confident and independent. Just the other day he told me he wanted to get a job. Then, of course, there's Amy. Sometimes I think they are attached at the hip. She's been good for him. They make me miss you even more than I already do." He didn't get a chance to say anything else because she turned around and occupied his lips with other things.
"Whenever you tow come up for air, the rest of us would like to eat," said Mike leaning in the doorway smirking at them. Claire quickly turned around and poured the gravy into a bowl trying to hide the flush of her cheeks.
"Glad you joined us, Romeo," quipped Fawkes as they entered the dining room.
"Fawkes," growled Bobby.
"Aw, you know you love me, Hobbes."
"Children, do I have to put you in time out?"
"No, Mike," they chorused.
"Good. I'd hate for Santa to bring you coal. Now here's your plate, Darien. Turkey's at noon. Stuffing's at two. Potato salad is at four, ham at six, squash at eight and green bean casserole at ten. Your biscuit's in the middle. Here's your drink and here's your silverware," said Mike guarding Darien's hand. "What would you like, Amy?"
"Darien's sounded wonderful, Mike. I'd like the same in the same order."
"Coming right up, dear."
"Thanks," she smiled at him as he placed her plate in front of her. "Mmm, this food is heavenly. Bobby, Mike, you should open your own restaurant."
"I agree," mumbled Claire taking another bite of ham. Dinner progressed quietly with only a little small talk.
"Bobby, can I ask you a question? Asked Amy tentatively.
"Shoot."
"Why are you celebrating Christmas? I thought you were Jewish."
"I am but Darien and Mike are not so we celebrated both."
"That's a good idea."
"And it was Hobbsey's idea amazingly enough."
"Be nice!" She smacked him lightly on the arm.
"Yes, ma'am." Darien scooted his chain in and sat up straight as though at attention.
"She's got you whipped, buddy."
"Look who's talking."
"No comment."
"Eberts told me to tell you he's sorry he couldn't make it," interrupted Claire. "He's going to try to come up for New Years."
"We know. We got his e-mail," answered Darien. "He sent me the 'Run, Run, Rudolph' mp3."
"Mike, will LaTasha be back before I have to leave?" asked Claire.
"I don't think so. She's supposed to be staying with her relatives back east until the third."
"I hate that I missed her. Tell her that she'll have to come down to San Diego and have a girl's weekend."
"She'll love that idea. She already thinks you should hurry up and move up here."
"I have to train my replacement first. It won't be much longer though."
"What do you do?" asked Amy. "Darien's never said much beyond that you used to be his doctor."
"Well, I work for the government doing research. I also provide medical care for some of the employees in my division."
"That must be fascinating."
"Sometimes."
"Excuse me," stated Darien carefully standing up. " I think I'll go wait in the other room until everyone is finished."
"Hold up, Darien. I'll join you," said Bobby jumping up and clearing their plates from the table.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No, dear, it's just that sometimes talking about where Darien worked before brings up unpleasant memories."
"I didn't mean to upset him."
"He knows that. Don't worry about it. We'll give Bobby a moment to talk to him them we'll join them to open presents."
"You OK, partner?"
"Yeah, just thinking."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not really. It's just that so much has happened this year and I miss him." They sat for a moment. Darien took a deep breath enjoying the comforting smell of cedar permeating the house. He wished he could see the twinkling lights and the ornaments he had labored so hard to help hang. A thought occurred to him. "Bobby, why do you still call me partner? We haven't worked as a team for a long time."
"We're still partners though. We're friends. Partners in life, my friend." Reading his tone, Darien held out his fist to bump with Bobby's waiting fist. They were finishing their kids in a secret clubhouse handshake when the others entered the living room. The rest of the evening passed quickly. Darien and Bobby had teamed up to get Claire's present so she received a beautiful diamond necklace from Bobby and a matching bracelet from Darien. Darien gave Bobby a box of coal so Hobbes refused to give him his present. They gave Mike an autographed Blackhawks hockey jersey. Mike gave Darien a Braille version of the Wheel of Time series. Claire gave Bobby an antique pistol while Mike gave him a two day rental of the car of his choice. Amy wanted to wait until tomorrow to exchange any presents since they were all coming over to her house for Christmas day dinner. The highlight of the evening was when Claire gave Darien her present.
"You have one more present. I'll go get it from Mike's room."
"Why is my present in Mike's room?"
"You'll see." A few minutes later a small furry bundle was dropped onto Darien's lap. Tiny paws tickled like velvet at his hands attacking him as he tried to rub the silky, soft fur. He laughed as the little cat climbed up his shirt and perched on his shoulder purring.
"Thank you, Claire. What made you decide to get me a kitten?"
"I don't know. Sally's cat had kittens and she brought them to work to try and give them away. This little one just seemed to have your name written all over it. He's two months old. He's light grey with dark grey and black stripes. Sally's little boy called him Silver because he had silver eyes until they changed but you can name him anything."
"Silver," he said testing it out. "I like that name." Silver meowed at him as though agreeing that he liked the name too.
The cat provided their entertainment as they teased him with balls of wrapping paper and playful fingers. It began to get late and Amy's parents came to get her. Soon after Amy left, Mike went to bed. The other three stayed up talking about classified past adventures enjoying each other's company. Just as they were going to turn in Claire remembered something.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Darien, a package came for you at the Agency yesterday."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. Open it," she said taking it out of her purse and handing it to him.
He tore open the padded envelope and removed a cassette tape. Feeling in the envelope again he pulled out a think piece of paper. His fingers brushed against raised bumps and he realized that the note was in Braille. Silently he began to read.
I am not
certain why I find myself writing to you. Perhaps fatherhood has mellowed me.
Yes, you read correctly, Fawkes. I am a father. Kevin Sebastien de Thiel was
born at 9:18 am on the fourth of December. I hope that you do not mind the
name. Kevin has dominated both of our lives for so long that it seemed fitting.
Now you no longer have the gland and I no longer want it. Sometimes I miss our
squabble. You were a challenge. An honorable adversary. In comparison, acts of
terrorism seem distastefully mundane. I think we would have made good friends
had the circumstances been different. Merry Christmas, Fawkes. Enjoy your first
one as a free man.
---Arnaud
"What does it say?" asked Hobbes worriedly watching the emotions flicker across Darien's face.
"It's from Arnaud. He wanted to tell me he had a little boy," stated Darien shocked.
"The Phone had a kid!"
"The poor child," murmured Claire.
"Did he say anything else?"
"Merry Christmas." The bewilderment was evident on Darien's face.
"Amazing. You going to be all right if we head to bed?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Go. Enjoy yourselves. Just don't be too loud."
"Are you accusing Bobby Hobbes of being loud in bed? He's accusing Bobby Hobbes of being loud in bed!"
"Bobby…"
"Did you hear what he said? I can't believe my partner would say something like that about me."
"Bobby," she purred in his ear caressing the top of his head. "Come to bed."
"Um, uh, night, Fawkes."
"Night, Hobbes," laughed Darien. He stood and carefully made his way to his room making sure not to step on the kitten at his feet. 'You know, if this had been two months ago I would have tripped and fell by now,' he thought to himself. He put the cassette in the tape player by his bed and settled Silver down beside him on the bed. After a few seconds of static, Kevin's voice began to speak.
"Make sure to pick up a loaf of bread and milk on the way home from the labs….Wednesday's Dr. Johnson's birthday. Remember to get him a card…Quicksilver's thermal properties have never been tested. Set up experiments…." The tape was nothing but a collection of verbal post-it notes but Darien did not mind the banal topics as long as he got to hear his brother's voice again.
Darien wondered why Arnaud would give this to him then he realized that in his own way Arnaud was apologizing. In that moment a true Christmas miracle occurred, Darien forgave Arnaud and by letting go of his hate he truly became a free man. It was with a light heart that Darien fell asleep listening to the sound of his brother's voice, muffled giggles from the other room, and the purr of the furry little body curled up on his chest.