Shukran to Dreamscape for the last two lines of this chapter, for some reason I could not quite put into words what I wanted Ardeth to say, lol. Oh, and Patty: I should've known, LOL! ;)

"Alex!"

Alex O'Connell looked up to see Safti running over to him. "Yeah?"

Safti stopped, in front of him. "Your parents are coming," he said, unsure of any easier way of saying it.

Alex's jaw dropped. "Here? They're coming here?"

Safti nodded. "They have been met by some of our lookouts a few miles away, and they sent a message by falcon informing us."

Alex sighed deeply. He wanted nothing more then to see his parents; to hear his mother's voice…his father's wisecracks…but it would be too painful to see them young and vibrant, when they have been gone for so long, in Alex's own day.

"Don't tell them about me," he said. "If Ardeth tells them what happened, tell him to leave me out of the story. Please?" He sighed. "Let me know when they leave?"

Safti nodded, understanding.

********************

"Safti!"

Evy O'Connell got out of the car and ran to hug him. "How are you?"

Safti smiled. "I am very well. I have something to show you, in fact!"

Evy smiled at him, wondering what it was. Looking around, she saw that someone important was missing. "Where's Ardeth?"

Before he got to answer, Rick came over. "Hey, 'Softy'!" he said, with a smirk.

Safti laughed, as he shook his hand. He never failed to be amused by Rick's nickname for him. "Ardeth is recovering from an injury—" Safti started to tell them.

Both Evy and Rick's smiles vanished. "What?!" Evy exclaimed.

"He is all right," Safti tried to assure them. "As I said, he is recovering."

"What happened?" Rick asked, as they started to follow him.

Safti sighed. "It is a very long story…"

********************

When Evy and Rick saw Frank and heard what had happened, they were completely shocked.

Evy shook her head, practically speechless. "Why that…it's…that's just unbelievable!"

"I dunno, considering all the crazy things we've seen," said Rick. "Somehow this doesn't sound as crazy as it would've 10 years ago."

"To imagine, that you are Ardeth's future grandson!" Evy said, to Frank.

"I know," Frank said, shaking his head. "It's hard to believe."

"And you have no idea how to get back home?"

Frank shook his head. "None."

Evy sighed, looking at Rick.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Rick said. "Even if you're here for a little while, so what? Consider it a vacation."

Frank nodded, and smiled. If only they know the job he had. Vacations were a thing he didn't get many of. "I'm sure you're right," he said. "We'll figure it out eventually."

"Safti," said Evy. "You said you had something you wanted to show us?"

Safti's face lit up, and he nodded, rushing out of the tent.

Evy and Rick watched him go, surprised at the look of glee on his face. "What on Earth…" Evy said, looking at Ardeth.

He smiled, but didn't say anything.

A minute later Safti came in, holding a bundle in his arms. He went over to Evy and Rick, and knelt in front of them.

"My son!" he proudly stated, handing the bundle to Evy.

She gasped, taking the baby from him. "Oooooh! Rick, look! How sweet!"

Rick smiled, and clapped Safti on the shoulder. "Congrats, buddy."

Safti smiled. "Shukran."

"When was he born? What did you name him?" Evy asked, laughing when the baby opened its eyes and yawned at her.

"Three days ago. His name is Na'im."

Evy looked at him, eyes opened wide. "Three days!" She looked at Ardeth and Frank. "Two days after the…incident."

They both nodded at her. It was almost a funny sight; they looked like twins if it weren't for Ardeth's longer hair and facial tattoos.

"Suhaylah must be so happy!" Evy said. "I should go see how she's doing." She handed the baby to Rick, and then looked at Safti with a frown. "What did you say you named him?"

"Na'im. It means, 'to be contented'."

"Na'im!" Evy said, and started laughing.

Everyone looked at her. "Uh, honey," said Rick, "What's so funny?"

"Safti," said Evy. "What else can Na'im mean?"

Safti frowned, before realizing whatever it was she was implying. Both he and Ardeth started to laugh along with her.

"Someone gonna clue us in?" said Rick.

"Soft," Frank told him. "Na'im can also mean 'soft'."

Rick's jaw dropped, and he busted out laughing too.

Frank was the only one who didn't understand the joke. "Why is that so funny?" he asked.

"I call him 'Softy'," Rick told him, still laughing, as he bounced the baby gently. "When I first met him, and he said his name was 'Safti', I thought it sounded like 'Softy'."

"And his wife's name, 'Suhaylah'," said Evy. "Can mean 'soft' also."

Frank smiled. His smile turned into a look of shock when Safti said to him, "You also called me Softy."

"What? When?"

"When you finally regained consciousness after we found you in the desert. I told you my name and you replied, 'Softy?'"

Rick busted out laughing again. "I can't believe it! This whole 'Softy' thing is too funny!"

Frank shook his head. "I don't remember."

"Understandable," said Ardeth. "You were seriously injured."

Frank nodded, glad that the pain he still had wasn't as bad as it had been.

"I'll be back!" said Evy, still laughing as she left the tent to visit Safti's wife.

"'kay," Rick replied. He looked at the baby, and started making faces at it. "Oochie woochie coochie coo!"

Everyone smiled at the sight of the macho ex-legionnaire cooing goofily at the baby.

He is a father also, after all, thought Ardeth. Suddenly a thought struck him. "Where is Alex?" he asked.

"At our Cairo home, with Jonathan," Rick said. "We're staying there for the winter, to get away from England's cold." He smiled. "Evy and I snuck away, Alex doesn't know we're here."

Ardeth smiled. "He will be upset if he finds out."

Rick shrugged. "He has three months to hang out here!"

"True," said Ardeth.

Frank watched the interaction between Rick and the Med-jai, and wondered how they had become such friends. "How did you meet?" he asked.

Rick, Ardeth, and Safti all exchanged glances.

Ardeth nodded. "You are my grandson," Ardeth said, the words sounding odd to his ears. "And, as such, are a Med-jai. What we are about to tell you should not be shared outside our society. If there comes a time when you feel you must, please exercise extreme caution…"