Max waited outside Logan's office with a sleepy Sofiya cradled in the nook of her elbow. Both their cheeks were red from the ride and slightly chilly Seattle air. She could clearly see the profiles of both Logan sitting content in his wheelchair and Asha sitting on the edge of the desk just as Max had three nights ago when she first met up with Clio etched through the wall. They were a little too close for Max's comfort—Asha might as well be in Logan's lap, an image that almost haunted Max and even frightened her a bit to know there was another chick moving in on her turf.
What are you so worried about? Max chided herself. You can't even touch. Even when you could touch you didn't touch. But then again there was that one kiss…
She had ducked low so they couldn't see her, yet nor could she see them anymore. She pressed her ear to the wall. Their voices, slightly muffled, she could hear perfectly.
"I'm glad I caught you when I could," Asha said breathlessly. "Max is always hanging around here. Around her I can barely get a word in edgewise and all she does is shoot me down."
"Give her a break, Asha," Logan sighed. Max heard the soft rumble of him rolling his chair around and then him clicking some keys on one of his computers.
"I'm trying, I really am." Max heard a soft creak of wood (probably Asha sliding off the desk) and the clicking of hard-soled shoes. "I know she most likely thinks I'm moving in on her turf or something and feels threatened by it."
"I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest," sighed Logan. There was a pause. "She actually should be here any minute."
"How can you tell? She shows up like she lives here for sobbing out loud."
"Well, if there's nothing good to eat at her house she's most likely to pop in for a bite around now rather than show up on time for work and eat later."
Asha snorted. How fitting, Max thought with a smile. "Like I said, she shows up like she owns the place. Before you know it you'll be a bed and breakfast for all her furry little friends."
"It's not like I'd mind," Logan said. Max could almost hear him smirk. This was her cue to enter.
"Hey," she strode in with a smile, nonchalant about Sofiya on her hip. Asha, who saw her before Logan did, dropped her jaw. Logan, confused at Asha's reaction, had the same expression when he saw what Max was lugging in. He swallowed hard.
"H-hi."
Max smiled wide and gave Asha a sarcastic smile, "Good morning Asha."
Asha blew her bangs out of her face, mumbled something that sounded like, "Forget this," uttered a quick goodbye and hightailed it away.
"Guess she's not much for kids," Max commented after they had heard the door's echoing from the slam in Asha's haste to leave.
"Um, about that…" Logan eyed Sofiya warily. "Why are you here? I didn't call you or anything."
Max was finally able to admit that she had no clue how to take care of a kid. "I'm completely clueless. I was hoping you had some knowledge…"
Logan raised an eyebrow. "The great Max doesn't know about taking care of a baby? The same Max who can take down a cult in a single night? The same Max who beats me at chess unless she lets me win?"
"The very same," Max added sardonically. "You gonna lend me a hand or what?"
"Oh…sure," Logan rolled closer and held out his arms. Awkwardly yet carefully, Max placed Sofiya in Logan's arms, making sure she didn't touch him. When the baby was placed carefully, Max stepped back to look at the picture. Logan looked so natural holding Sofiya like that and said so.
"It's been a long time since I held a baby," Logan said.
"When was the last time?" Max asked, sitting down.
Logan gave it some thought. He'd never really held a baby—this was almost like his first time. But from his childhood in front of the TV he had learned a few things and from watching his mother handling young kids. "I guess, um about twelve years," he lied. "I was uh, babysitting and, ah—"
Max interrupted him with a peal of laughter. "That is such bull!"
"What?"
"You've never held a baby either. Stop lying, I can read you like a book, Logan Cale."
Logan blushed. Caught in the act was the worst way to go. "I know some things," he said quickly. "It's not like I'm as naïve as you are."
"Who said I was naïve?"
"You said you were completely clueless…"
"Clueless, not naïve."
"Same thing. So, uh…you have a kid," Logan said after a pause.
"No shit."
"I take it she's not yours?"
"Oh gee how'd you figure that one out, Sherlock?" replied Max in her usual derisive tone. Then, she realized what she'd just said and apologized. "I'm not in the world's best mood today."
"The red hair."
"Huh?"
"She has red hair, unless she takes after her father."
Father. Max remembered Clio's letter and withdrew it from her bra. "This was in her bassinette when I found her on my doorstep this morning." She held it out to him.
"How cliché," Logan shifted Sofiya so he could read it. After he did, he inhaled sharply and gave it back. "Quite a situation."
"And Sofiya's father is as much a mystery as Joshua's," Max propped her head up with her hands and rested her elbows on her knees. "But at least Joshua knew his father. I mean, Clio makes him sound so puzzling and secretive."
Logan was silent for a minute. Sofiya gurgled and reached up to snatch Logan's glasses off his face. She giggled at as if she were mocking him. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I think you're rubbing off on her already, Max. I think Sofiya's training to be a cat burglar. Aren't you, Sofiya? Yes, you are…" Logan baby-talked. He unwrapped Sofiya's tiny fingers from the earpiece of his glasses frames and put them back on.
Max scoffed. "You are such a cornball."
"Hey, I'm thirty and I don't have kids. This may be the only chance I get to act like a cornball," Logan answered in his own defense. "Anyway, as you were saying?"
"Clio and Sofiya's father. About who he could be."
"Do you think there's any chance the Chosen could be involved with all this?"
"There's a huge possibility," Max agreed. "Remember when Clio said that her ex tried to get her to join and that persuaded her to take them down?"
"Yes I do."
"I'm thinking her ex is Aurelius Parvo."