"Parvo?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "I highly doubt it."
"Why?" Max flared.
"Didn't Clio's letter say Sofiya was from a copulation?"
She read the letter again, for the hundredth time. "Yeah, but who knows? It could be a cover up. How old do you think Sofiya looks? Clio didn't mention."
Logan studied the sleepy infant's face. "A month or so."
"A month or so," Max repeated with a wry smile. "Who knows if Parvo was or wasn't a Manticore-ian?"
"Because…because…" Logan sputtered. "I mean, there was no record of the Chosen or Aurelius Parvo until this reliquary thing, but still—"
"Logan, have you ever in the slightest thought of the possibility that you might be wrong for once?" Max snapped.
A tense silence hung in the air until Sofiya began crying.
"What's wrong with her?"
"You're the baby-sitter," Logan said curtly. "You figure it out."
"Oh, no," Max scoffed. "You're not gonna act all pissy just because you could be mistaken on who this kid's dad is, Logan Cale. You're holding her, you figure it out."
Mumbling to himself, Logan wheeled his chair with one arm while cradling the baby and asked Max to hand him a blanket or a towel. Max went into the bathroom and came back with a soft terrycloth towel and spread it out on the kitchen table, where Logan carefully laid Sofiya on.
"Do you have a bag or something?" he asked, keeping one hand on the baby so she wouldn't roll off.
"Uh, yeah," Max went to the foyer where she had dropped the diaper bag. "I had a hell of a time riding my bike with it….do you know how to change a baby?"
"Sort of," Logan admitted. "I spent a lot of time parked in front of the TV as a kid so I know some stuff." He rifled through the diaper bag as he spoke. "Plus when I was a senior in high school they gave us these baby dolls with built-in computers and we had to take care of them."
"What?" Max plopped on a chair to study how Logan would handle this.
"The health class teacher paired everyone up, two by two, boy and girl, and pronounced them husband and wife," Logan said as he began to change Sofiya. "Then they gave each couple a baby doll and that was suppost to be their kid. It had a computer in it and it would make the baby cry and to make it stop crying, there were different keys you stuck in it's back: one for feeding or changing or anything. If you neglected it, the computer would know and then 'tattle' on you because the teacher checked the computers for the data."
"Sounds creepy," Max laughed. "Who'd you get paired up with?"
Logan thought a minute. "Kathy Lupinski. She was a smart kid. Tall, blond, Polish. A great 'mom'. Wonder whatever happened to her?"
"You think I'd be a great mom, Logan?" Max asked softly.
"Considering the fact that you came running to me when Sofiya showed up," Logan began, as he finished changing the baby. "I think I'm the one that would make the great mom."
"I'm serious, Logan," Max snapped. "I'm just like every girl. Don't think I don't think about getting married or having kids at least once in awhile."
Logan realized what Max was talking about. When he read between the lines, she was obviously saying, "Do you think my life will ever be as normal as possible?" He pursed his lips and thought a bit. "I think there's a perfect chance of you being a great mom, Max."
"Yeah," Max smiled to herself. "It'd be nice to have some little Max juniors running around with barcodes on the back of their necks."
"Does Sofiya have one?"
"Wouldn't be surprised."
"Take her for a second will you? I need to analyze the letter," Logan nodded towards Sofiya, who gurgled to herself contently.
"For what?" Max asked, picking up Sofiya carefully.
"Anything," Logan turned his wheelchair and made his way toward his office. "Fingerprints, clues, suspicious hairs…anything that might lead and point us towards Clio and Sofiya's father. Whether they be apart or separated."
"Hear that, Sofiya? Uncle Logan's gonna find you're mommy and daddy," Max cooed, mocking Logan, speaking as he had done earlier. "Yes he is. Yes he is. Who's a pretty baby? You are! Yes you are!"
"Max, please. You're making me sick."
"Let me enjoy it," Max laughed. "I've never been with a baby before—alive or a doll. I wanna get the most out of it. Right, Sofiya?"
Sofiya laughed and flailed her arms in the air.
"I think she likes me."
"Babies like everyone. They're naturally sociable. No one can pass up a baby," Logan said without taking his eyes off the computer screen. He was typing very fast without looking at the keyboard.
"I bet you can."
"Yeah, well, I'm not the best with kids. I've seen you with them, though, Max. Plenty of times. Sage…Case…Jude…"
"You remember those times?" Max asked, surprised.
"Well, I didn't see you with Jude but from what I heard, you were like his mother."
"I don't know how I could be a mother," Max took the tiny brown teddy bear from Sofiya's bag and waved it in front of Sofiya's face, playing with her. Sofiya giggled and cooed. "I've never had a mother so I couldn't really get any instincts from her, watching her, finding out what to do about this and that."
"Either way, you're almost a natural with them. It's amazing."
Max beamed, "Thanks."
Logan sighed heavily and spun around from his computers. "Her letter's really vague. This is gonna be a tough one."
"Alec!" Max said all of a sudden.
"Beg pardon?"
"When I saw Alec today, he looked at me funny when I told him I was taking care of Sofiya for another X5."
"Maybe he was surprised that you would do something like that."
"It wasn't at me," Max said, realizing. "It was Sofiya."
"Are you sure Alec could be Sofiya's father, though? I mean, is it possible? Alec was your copulation partner, not Clio's."
"Yeah but who knows what Alec arranged? He sold his vitamins to the guards for sobbing out loud. He's a pimp!"
"First we're jumping on Parvo, who's dead, and now we're coming to the conclusion it might be Alec? Listen, Max, Sofiya's father could be guy in Seattle or even Wyoming. Hell, he could be in Florida for all we know but for now, we should concentrate on finding Clio."
"Yeah…okay. Fine."
Logan re-read the letter. "We're gonna have to pull an all-nighter on this one."