Chapter 6
Preconceptions about Redheads
Ginny was glad to have followed her instincts when Harry turned up in the Citadel's atrium, accompanied by Faust. When Wolfe whisked Harry off for a private chat, she had known that whatever had driven Wolfe to return to Concordia had to be grave enough to warrant the attention of the Order of Illumination. The look on Harry's face confirmed her fears.
"Uh, it was very nice to meet you three," Ginny said quickly, returning her attention to three young witches in their early twenties, all of them prospective Artificers. They'd received a tour of the non-restricted areas of the Citadel, as well as interviews with Yousef and Commander Sanzotti. Yousef had been about to escort them back to Concordia when Ginny popped out of a portal.
"The honour was all ours, Mrs Potter," Farah, the Iranian witch replied.
Ginny shrugged. "No need for such formality. Ginny will do."
"It isn't a matter of formality. My wife is simply ashamed of me," Harry said, as he and Faust drew nearer. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter."
For a few seconds the three women were too awed to answer. Farah was the quickest to regain her wits—relatively speaking. "I know," was her breathy answer.
Yousef cleared his throat. "Ladies, the moustache next to Mr Potter is the honourable Commander Faust."
"I tolerate no such insolence from non-officers, so you'll refer to me as Commander Moustache, should you chose to join the Order of Illumination."
The women shared a giggle, before Farah spoke up again. "I can't speak for the others, but I will certainly be here next summer—and what a cute hamster you have!"
It was only then that Ginny noticed a grey hamster sitting on Faust's shoulder. Its coat made it hard to spot against Faust's uniform.
Despite his moustache, Ginny saw Faust get a wicked smile on his face. "Yes, cute, isn't he? Would you like to hold him? His name is Max."
Ginny's eyed widened with surprise, and she shot her husband a questioning look, which he answered with a nod and a grin. It was Wolfe!
Farah squealed with delight and immediately snatched Max off Faust's shoulder, and began to stroke his coat and rub his belly while making cooing noises to the increasingly irritated hamster.
"I think he's had enough," Harry said quickly, and summoned Wolfe out of Farah's hands with a casual gesture. "It's been nice meeting you, ladies. Hopefully I'll learn your names this summer."
"Oh, sorry, it was rude of us to forget," Farah said. "My name is Farah Fatemi, from Iran."
Harry's eyebrows went up. "Muggle-born?"
"Not quite. You could call me a second generation Muggle-born. My father is a Muggle-born wizard, and my mother is a Muggle. How did you know?"
"Purebloods and half-bloods still call your country Persia. We have neighbours three doors down, across the street behind us, who are from Iran—purebloods," Harry explained.
Ginny nodded. The neighbours in question were an elderly couple of retired carpet weavers. "The Sanjabis. I understand their carpets are famous throughout the East."
Farah's eyes lit up in recognition, and she nodded. "I went to school with their granddaughter."
A short silence followed, as the two remaining witches decided amongst themselves who would go first. Elisa, a short, rail thin Latin American witch with thigh-length black hair, took a deep breath, as if she was about to shout her identity out loud. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
"Elisa Gimenez … Honduras," she said in a barely audible tone, blushing profusely with all the attention focussed on her.
"I'm Matsepa Karabo, from Lesotho," the last witch identified herself to Harry, flashing him a broad grin full of big, pearly white teeth. "I'm almost late for my Portkey back home."
"Then we won't keep you." Harry smiled brightly. Part of his good cheer probably came from tormenting Wolfe. He was stroking Wolfe's hamstery head so vigorously that the beady little black eyes bulged with every backwards stroke.
After the women and Yousef had left, Ginny rounded on Harry and Captain Faust.
Wolfe jumped out of Harry's hands and transformed into a black raven, flapping his way to the floor. Then he transformed back to human form. He wasn't Ron anymore.
Harry's sudden weary look almost made her change her mind, but she held onto her decision. "Harry, tell me what's going on, and don't you dare withhold anything important!"
"Will the short version do?" he pleaded.
"All right."
He flashed her a grateful smile. "In a nutshell, Wolfe gave us some information that leads to strong suspicions about an attack at the Umbral Gate's opening ceremony tomorrow. Yamato is getting cornered in this realm, so we think he'll try to flee to the Mirror Realm. To accomplish this he'll have to draw security around the gate away, and me in particular. That's why we believe that he'll try to lure me away from Nomad Island by attacking our family in England."
"We're already taking steps to ensure that your family won't get hurt," Faust added quickly. "Unfortunately, we can't evacuate them just yet."
"Bollocks! Why not?"
Harry groaned. "Ginny, I don't like it either. But if we take the family to a safe place now, Yamato will probably pick Diagon Alley for an attack. All those last-minute shoppers…"
Ginny swallowed hard. Many of her friends would be in Diagon Alley. "I …understand," she said reluctantly. "But you'll do everything you can to protect them, right?"
Faust nodded. "We'll send anyone we can spare. I've already diverted both patrols to England."
"I'll be going too, of course," Harry said.
Ginny planted her hands on her hips. "If you're going, I want to go too," she said, resolutely. "Heidi can watch the kids for us."
"They'll be evacuated to the Citadel," Faust said.
The look in her husband's eyes told her that his protective instincts were playing up again, but he relented. "I know better than to try and stop you."
"Go home. Get some rest," Faust suggested. "You'll need it if you're going to take on whatever Yamato plans to throw at your family."
"Thank you, Commander," Ginny said, while she linked her arm through Harry's.
Then they travelled to the portal closest to their home, stopping at The Wolfe's Den to pick up the children and an unexpected meal cooked by Heidi, sparing Ginny the need to make anything. Heidi, bless her, had anticipated her need to discuss Wolfe's return with Harry.
The Potters dug in, devouring the brown rice and the baked salmon seasoned with garlic, lemon juice, parsley, and basil. Richard had to be forced to eat at least some of his steamed broccoli and carrots. After dinner, Harry bathed the children and put them to bed after reading them a short bedtime story, while Ginny used that time to set up the bedroom. Heidi's salmon dinner had done wonders for their spirits, so Ginny had decided to go through with the original plan.
She had lit numerous scented candles and spread rose petals over the bed. She had also hidden a small preservation basket containing chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and strawberries, under the bed. Then, she hurried to the bathroom and filled their large bathtub with warm water and bath foam. Her training in the healing arts had taught her that the water's temperature would detract from a man's fertility, but Harry wasn't in the habit of soaking in warm baths and she was a Weasley, so it wouldn't do any harm in their case.
It wasn't that she didn't worry about her family. She knew, however, that her family was as safe as possible for the time being, and she was not about to let Yamato's antics dictate her sex life. If Harry wasn't in the mood, she was sure she could get him in the mood by jumping into the bathtub with him.
As she took off her clothes and slipped into a fluffy bathrobe, she pondered how she'd tell him about wanting a baby…in the immediate future.
"Ginny, what's all this?" Harry asked, walking in just as she finished tying the knot of her robe's belt.
There was nothing else for it. She could sugar coat it, but it was probably best to hit him with it right between the eyes. "We should have another baby."
He frowned. "Now? Ginny, I'm not sure this is the best time—"
"Harry, I know you're worried about the future, but worrying too much means letting evil rule your life. Mum had Percy and the twins when it was clear the Voldemort was gaining influence, and she had Ron, and then me, when he was at the height of his power."
"I remember you and Ron telling me that you two were the result of the Birth-Control Charm's ineffectiveness against the Weasley legions."
Ginny shrugged. "I guess it was fate."
Harry smiled slowly. "You've been practising that line, haven't you?"
Ginny grinned. "Nope. It just came to me."
"You won't take no for an answer, will you?"
"Not a chance."
"Stubborn wench!" Harry sighed theatrically. "I guess it's my own fault. Why did I marry a redhead?"
Ginny laughed. "If you don't want a sample of the redhead temper, you'd best apologise for that."
"And if I don't?"
"You can sleep with Hedwig in the attic."
Harry gasped, pretending shock. "In that case, I sincerely apologise."
"I'd believe you more easily if you were on your knees," Ginny teased.
Harry got down on his knees. "Better?"
"Much."
"Now that we're okay again, I'd like to indulge you, but I might need some additional motivation," Harry said, as he slowly shuffled on his knees towards her.
Glancing down at his trousers, Ginny saw that he wouldn't need that much additional motivation. After all, they had been separated for nearly a month.
X
X
Wolfe stood on the battlements of the Citadel of Illumination, drawing in deep breaths of fresh air in an attempt to clear the scent of shampoo out of his nostrils. His lifestyle over the past year-and-a-half hadn't always allowed for daily, or even weekly baths, so he welcomed every opportunity he got. Still, he liked all his senses unimpeded, and the shampoo overwhelmed his olfactory abilities.
The lights of Concordia diminished slowly as the minutes ticked on. It meant that people were turning in for the night, and that fewer people would notice his approach, if anyone at all would notice a Great Grey Owl soaring to one of the homes. Though mail to Concordia was Portkeyed in crates, many people still used owls to send notes to one another, since less than half of the Concordians owned magical communication mirrors. The Ranger households had them primarily for contact with the Citadel, though they were linked to the city's mirror grid.
Wolfe took a running jump off the defensive wall and transformed in mid-air. He'd barely lost any altitude before he started winging his way to the city, taking care to fly at the altitude reserved for post owls.
A small window near the top of The Wolfe's Den was still open, but Wolfe knew that soaring through it would be tough. Since his Great Grey Owl form was among the largest of owls, he'd have to pull in his wings almost completely to drop through the hole, and unfold them in time if he expected to make a soft landing. He allowed some avian instincts to take over as he began his descent, aiming high to compensate for the sudden loss of altitude, and he was in!
One of the lesser support beams creaked slightly under the sudden increase in pressure as Wolfe changed back to his normal form. He remained in a crouch and extracted his wand from its holster and willed it to illuminate the attic. He saw there hadn't been any major changes in his absence, save for an observation deck of some sort. There was also an unfamiliar telescope next to his old one.
With a gesture he opened the hatch to the first floor, and a magical rope ladder with wooden steps rolled down. Remembering the noise that always used to accompany the process, he immediately cast a Silencing Charm on it. He didn't want Heidi to curse first and ask questions later. He didn't know whether she would pick a lethal one, but he certainly would, if someone managed to sneak into such a heavily warded place.
Not needing the rope ladder, he simply jumped down and slowed to a feather fall with a carefully cast Levitation Charm. The sound of a sweet voice singing, accompanied by water droplets hitting a tiled floor told him that Heidi was in the shower.
He quietly walked over to the bathroom, peeking through the slight aperture. Mist and matted glass obscured the details of Heidi's body, but the femininity was still evident enough to make Wolfe swallow and keep him rooted to the spot, halfway between inability and unwillingness to move. His entrancement was finally broken when Heidi stopped rinsing the lather out of her hair and reached for the shower knobs.
The scent of chocolate cake baking in the oven told him that Heidi still had to go downstairs to take it out, so he quietly descended the stairs. Once in the living room, Caesar came running up to him and leapt into his arms. Wolfe took a moment to pet the Crup before putting him down. Then he made sure that all the blinds in the living room and in the kitchen were properly closed, lest a pair of unwelcome eyes notice his presence, before casting the strongest Privacy Charm he could muster, to supplement the existing ones.
His favourite armchair wasn't there anymore, so he sat on a sofa that faced the stairs and waited, the ever-increasing scent of freshly baked cake heralding Heidi's imminent return. She returned right when Max decided that she might have forgotten about the cake, and he'd had been about to take it out of the oven himself.
Heidi stood, frozen in mid-step, at the bottom of the stairs. The flickering firelight from the hearth created continuously shifting highlights across her form-fitting nightdress of sapphire blue silk charmeuse. Almost involuntarily, Wolfe's eyes travelled from the slender straps at the shoulder, down across the snug bodice with its open keyhole front and a delicate bow closure worked in silk cord. His gaze continued to be drawn further down, past the slender fitted waist and hips to the legs, one of which was still extended as if to take a step, and the silk had slid back along one of the side-slits, revealing her smooth right leg to mid thigh. For the second time that night, Wolfe was forced to swallow hard.
"Don't let the cake burn," was the first thing Wolfe said, much to his own immediate chagrin. A polite greeting would have been much better, but years of training had conditioned him to prioritise emergencies over formalities. It was bad enough that he had come at what certainly seemed to be a bad time. Dressed in a gown like that, Heidi had to be expecting some male company.
Heidi opened her mouth, intending to say something, but then closed it as she smelled the cake, deciding to deal with it first.
Wolfe followed her a few seconds after she had rushed into the kitchen to get the cake out of the oven, and he found her ineffectually flicking her wand in an attempt to summon the cake out of it. Her mind was in turmoil, and he realised that she was far too shocked and upset to do any kind of magic. With a gesture, he opened the oven door and summoned the cakepans.
"Where do I put it?" he asked, while keeping the cakepans aloft.
It took a while for Heidi to convey her wishes, but she eventually pointed to a wire rack resting on top of the kitchen cabinet, next to the sink.
"Cooling Charms?"
Heidi shook her head. "It will taste better if it cools by itself," she began, and having gained back some composure, fixed him with a burning glare in her bright, chocolate brown eyes. Her lips quivered and her nostrils flared, and her cheeks reddened with anger. He couldn't face the accusing look in those bright brown pools which had haunted his dreams almost every night in the nightmarish time since Galatea's death, replaying the argument they'd had about his departure. "What are you doing here?"
He forced his gaze back up to meet hers. "I … wanted to see my sons."
"Dropping off a Christmas present for them?" Heidi said scornfully. "A little late for that, don't you think?"
For some reason, Heidi's words hurt terribly. Even though he'd committed several acts that had required the coldest of dispositions and had icy armour insulating his heart and preventing him from mercy and compassion, Heidi's words drilled through the ice and stabbed at his heart's most vulnerable spot. The sudden change from near-perpetual emotional numbness to this pain was almost unbearable.
"Did you know what Henry wanted for Christmas last year?" she continued relentlessly. "He wanted his father back! You have some nerve to show up here just like—" Her whispered tirade stopped suddenly, and her angry look was replaced by a mixture of confusion and disbelief. She looked at him as if he were growing a second head.
The feeling of something warm trickling down his cheeks surprised Wolfe. He touched his fingers to his face, and they came away wet with tears. His whole life he had been taught that crying was a sign of weakness. The last time he'd cried for real he was four years old. He'd made one exception in his adult life—when Master Lei had died—and only because Master Lei, in his final moments, had given Wolfe implicit permission to do so. It wasn't that he had never felt like crying, but rather that he'd never allowed himself to succumb to the urge. Now, however, he'd been unable to prevent it. The tears had taken him completely by surprise, almost as if his eyes were reacting involuntarily to chemicals.
A profound feeling of shame washed over him as he realised that, no matter how justified it may have been, his departure had been selfish. He could have persuaded the Order of Illumination to give Yamato and Medea Aconit a higher priority, but he had known that, as a Ranger, he wouldn't have been allowed to satisfy his need for pure, unadulterated revenge.
He turned to leave, but Heidi quickly reached over and grabbed his elbow. "Max, I'm sorry. I thought you didn't care—but if that were true, you wouldn't be—I've never seen you cry," she finished quietly, as she led him to the sofa and sat him down.
Wolfe lowered his gaze to the floor, not bothering to wipe his tears. Very few people had ever seen him cry.
She knelt on the thick carpet in front of him and took his face between her hands, tilting his face upwards and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Don't leave yet, all right? You can see the boys."
Heidi had that look of divine compassion in her eyes. The warmth she was exuding melted away more of his icy emotional barriers. In an attempt to avoid the torture those eyes were inflicting upon his soul, he quickly lowered his gaze further, getting a spectacular view down Heidi's nightdress. The sight of a pink nipple forced his eyes to seek a more respectable staring point, and after dismissing those beautiful, slightly parted lips as a possibility, he settled on her nose.
He groaned. Coming here had been a mistake. Whatever Yamato had planned for the opening needed ruthless opposition, but with Heidi chipping away at his defences, it suddenly promised to become very difficult. He covered her hands with his and pulled them off his face. "I shouldn't be here."
"Nonsense. You had the decency to come back to see Robert and Henry, so the least I could do is let you. Have you eaten?" she continued. "Too bad I gave the salmon leftovers to Caesar," she muttered to herself. "But I could fix you something. What would you like?"
"Nothing … I really should leave. I know this is a bad time, I mean, what will your gentleman caller think if he sees me here?"
Heidi gave him an awkward look. "What—gentleman caller? I'm not seeing anyone."
"You're not?"
"I'm not. What would you think that?"
Embarrassment and hope struggling for supremacy in his mind made it impossible to come up with an evasive yet plausible answer. "Well—I just thought—with such a beautiful nightdress— and it looks like it's meant for—"
"Oh!" Understanding blossomed on Heidi's face, followed by muffled giggles after she had clamped her hands over her mouth. "I suppose you were half right," she said, after she composed herself. "This gown was a birthday present from my grandma. It was her way of hinting that I ought to attract … gentlemen callers. Von Nettesheim subtlety!"
"It looks really beautiful on you," Wolfe whispered hoarsely.
Heidi's cheeks flushed red for the second time that evening, though this time the cause was pleasure instead of anger. He felt a pulse of positive emotion emanate out of her, and he had trouble understanding why the compliment had had such a profound effect on her until her wistful, self-depreciatory reply provided the clue. He'd forgotten that, though supremely confident looking on the outside, she'd always been insecure about her looks. That was why she'd always gone to such great lengths to always look her best. "This nightdress could make anyone look beautiful."
"Shakespeare would disagree," Wolfe said. He knew that Heidi was a big fan and would rise to the bait.
Heidi rose from her kneeling position, planted her hands on her hips, and looked down at him sceptically. "Really?"
Wolfe nodded. "'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud. 'Tis virtue that doth make them most admired. 'Tis modesty that makes them seem divine."
"What's your point?"
"That you'd be just as beautiful without that gown—" Wolfe paused, blushing furiously as he realise that it had come out completely wrong. "—uh, I mean, you don't have to be wearing that gown to be beautiful. You have beauty and virtue, and you're modest about it. I bet that even rags would look good on you, and—" His sentence was cut by her mouth covering his.
When he had still been able to think coherently, fifteen seconds ago, the rational part of Wolfe's mind had screamed at him to break the kiss. The rest of him, however, had decided that a little kissing couldn't hurt, after nearly two years without affection of any kind. Now, completely immersed in the glorious feeling of the passionate kiss, he was only dimly aware of Heidi's warm body straddling his lap. The sensation of her hands running through his hair and massaging his scalp fuelled his ardour even further, causing his hands to spring into action, lightly caressing Heidi's back and making her shiver with delight.
Heidi's hands travelled down his sides until her fingers reached the bottom of his waistcoat. She broke their kiss to pull off the waistcoat, and the precious seconds the fumbling took allowed Wolfe to blink the stars out of his eyes and regain control.
"Heidi, this is wrong."
She wriggled on his lap. "That's not what your body is saying," she whispered seductively, and leaned forward to kiss him again. He knew what would happen if he didn't stop her now, so he cupped her face with his hands to prevent her from kissing him.
"If circumstances were different, I'd go along with my body," he said, though he could tell that Heidi felt rejected despite that assurance. He sighed. "The reason I'm here is to tell you that you, Robert, Henry, and all the other Ranger children will be evacuated to the Citadel before the Umbral Gate's opening ceremony tomorrow. I think that Yamato will try to flee to the Mirror Realm tomorrow. I returned to Concordia to warn the Order of Illumination, so they could prepare."
Heidi's disappointment and anger became plainly visible on her face. She lifted her left knee and quickly rolled away from him. "So all that talk about missing the boys—"
"Was true!" He engulfed her hands in his. "I did come here to see them. Someone else would have told you about the evacuation in the morning, but I decided to tell you personally, so I would get the chance to see them, and you." He smiled cautiously. "If everything works out, Henry will have his little brother back this Christmas."
"What about his father?" Heidi asked. Her hopeful stare nearly broke his heart.
"Heidi, not wanting to be seen wasn't the only reason I came disguised as Ron. I'm no longer welcome in Concordia—not since Medea Aconit. I can't turn away from my chosen path anymore."
"But Harry—he was allowed—"
"His situation was different … a momentary and accidental loss of control. My situation—torturing Medea Aconit—it was premeditated. I was warned of the consequences beforehand, but I did it anyway."
Wolfe had always known that the path of revenge would be one that he'd have to walk for the rest of his life, and he'd always believed that it wouldn't bother him too much, for he had always been a loner. But now that he had seen Heidi again, he knew that he was in for a lifetime of torture.
"I'll have to keep hunting criminals until there aren't any left, or until one of them manages to get the better of me."
"No, you don't have to!" Heidi freed one of her hands from his grasp and caressed his face. "If you can't come to Concordia, the boys and I can leave to be with you."
"Heidi, I haven't slept much ever since Galatea died. But I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all had it not been for the knowledge that you and the boys were at the safest possible place. Here, in Concordia."
"Max, you can't continue to live in fear. Robert will have to leave for school in five years, and the boys will probably want to move out after finishing school. And I don't know if there is anyone, besides Yamato, who would be crazy enough to try something after hearing about Medea Aconit. So, after Yamato is dealt with, tomorrow, there won't be any reason for us not to be able to leave Concordia."
"I wouldn't be able to support us. No one will want to employ me."
"I could go back to work."
Wolfe smiled ruefully. Heidi wasn't going to let it go. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Ask away."
"What made you change your mind about me? You hated me for leaving."
Heidi nodded. "But I also understood why you did it. I lost my father to Anastasiou and my mother to Yamato. Most of my anger went away."
"You weren't too happy to see me earlier."
"The tears told me that you were remorseful. I couldn't continue to be angry with you after I saw them."
Wolfe blushed with embarrassment. "Don't tell anyone about that, all right? The bad guys might think I've gone soft again."
"Your secret is safe with me," Heidi said, smiling sweetly at him. Then her expression turned serious again. "So what do you plan to do after tomorrow? Will you take me up on my offer?"
Wolfe pondered it for a moment. She'd made a compelling argument, and he couldn't find any flaws in her logic. Still, he hadn't dealt with Yamato yet.
"Can I get back to you on that tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow's fine. It'll give me more time to convince you of the wisdom in my suggestion," she whispered, sliding closer and closer to him.
Wolfe knew where she was going with this, but he had no energy left to resist. As she crawled into his lap once more, he surrendered himself to her ministrations.
X
X
Wolfe gently stroked Heidi's sweaty back while she lay half on top of him, recovering from their moment of passion, or rather, marathon. He could feel her heart rate slowly return to normal, and she was purring with contentment. Her thoughts were enough to make his ego soar.
He chuckled. "I feel the same way about you."
She lifted her face off his shoulder to look at him. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
"I haven't been with anyone before or after Galatea," he said, feeling a slight pang of guilt even though it was technically true.
He hadn't been with anyone before or after Galatea, but he had been with someone else during Galatea. Even though Maximus had been in control while he'd been intimate with Moira, it was his own fault that Maximus had grown interested in Moira in the first place. He had made it so that Maximus had been able to feel some possessive kind of affection, without which Maximus surely would have opted to destroy her. Still, the fact that it ended up saving Moira's life didn't make Wolfe feel any better about it.
"Anyway, I'm flattered that you think so highly of my prowess between the sheets," Wolfe continued. "Of course, I'm not sure how well the egos of my predecessors would fare if they ever found out about your thoughts."
"Keep your ego in check, mister! You ended an eight-year dry spell, and I can count my lovers on the fingers of one hand. Also, my last lover's heart wasn't really in our relationship." Her mouth quirked in bemused recollection, then she shook her head. "All in all, this could cause my perception of your performance to be a bit skewed."
Wolfe was genuinely surprised to hear about the dry spell. "But… you've had boyfriends after Harry."
Heidi snorted. "More like dates, and I didn't like any of them well enough to allow them to get to know me more intimately."
"Really? As I recall, we went on a date too," Wolfe pointed out.
"At the time, Galatea was your whole world."
"She was," Wolfe said casually, surprising himself with the fact that he could discuss his time with Galatea without slipping into depression. "But that was another lifetime. Now, you are my whole world."
"I could tell," Heidi purred seductively. "Really, Max, I feel like I've been ridden hard and hung out to dry."
Wolfe smiled. Heidi must have learned that particular expression from Gudrun. "Likewise … and you might want to trim your nails. My back still stings."
"Serves you right for keeping me up all night. Where do you get the energy?"
"I could ask you the same thing, woman. I can barely move my legs. Now I know why they discourage athletes to indulge themselves before a competition."
Heidi's brow furrowed. "Max, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier, but I'm not on any kind of birth control. I think I'm in my fertile period, but I swear, I completely forgot. You're not mad, are you?" She asked, eyeing him with apprehension, causing Wolfe to chuckle. Clearly, she'd forgotten that he'd have known if she had been trying to trap him, being a Mind Reader.
Wolfe kissed her forehead. "I know you forgot. I'm not mad, and what happened is as much my responsibility as it is yours. Actually, it's funny." He grinned. "It was the same with Robert. And speaking of the devil, we might want to get decent." He lowered his voice before continuing, because he'd heard the subtle creak of steady pressure being applied to the door. "He's listening outside the door, and we might have some explaining to do."
Heidi groaned. "Scheisse."
"I'm sure it won't be that bad."
"It might be," Heidi whispered. "I told him about the birds and the bees last week."
"You did? But he's only six and a half."
"Really, Max, children are curious about these things much earlier than that, and it wasn't the first time that he asked how babies are born. Don't you remember him asking about it when Galatea was pregnant with—" Heidi's voice faltered again.
"It's all right to talk about it, Heidi. And no, I don't think I was around when he asked. Galatea must have told him."
"This time he needed some answers quickly," Heidi giggled. "Rachel Kelly asked him to marry her, so he wanted to know about marriage and … well—"
Wolfe smiled. Like her mother, little Rachel Kelly didn't waste any time. "Heidi, we've done it seven times over the course of the last ten hours. How can you not utter the word sex after all that?" Wolfe teased.
"I can only imagine what you would have done in such a position, mister! Be glad that I dealt with it."
"I am glad," Wolfe lowered his face to Heidi's, gave a quick her peck on the lips before pulling back. "So, how did you handle it?"
"Well, he already knew about the seed from the daddy and the egg from the mummy coming together, and that the baby grew in a special place called the womb. I guess that was enough information for him when Galatea told him about it." Heidi laughed softly. "He asked me the funniest questions, like if the egg was anything like the ones he eats, and if the daddy's seeds need to be watered."
Wolfe chuckled at the innocence of children.
"Yes, he was very hard to please. He also asked me if the baby can hear anything in the tummy, if the baby gets lonely in there, and what sex is."
"Whoa, and what did you say?"
"I explained to him that babies don't get bored very easily."
"And the sex part?"
"I told him that sex is something that moms and dads do to show how much they love each other, and that sometimes men and women can have a baby when they have sex."
Wolfe grinned. "You were threading on dangerous ground with that one. What if he'd asked you to give him a real live demonstration?"
"That just goes to show you that he really is his father's son, because he did ask me. I explained that he couldn't just ask someone to show him, because mummies and daddies and other grownups made babies the special private time alone." Heidi shook her head ruefully. "His next question was how Mary got pregnant, because she wasn't a mummy nor really a grownup either."
Wolfe could understand that. Robert had probably discerned Mary's relative youth. "How did you get out of that one?"
"By telling him truth. I told him that the bodies of boys and girls were ready to make babies before they was completely grownup, but that it was a good idea to wait until you were old enough to have a job and take good care of the baby."
"And his next question was if he and Rachel could make a baby, right?"
Heidi smiled. "Again the similar thoughts of father and son are evident. Yes, he did ask me, and I told him that his body wasn't ready yet. I didn't talk about hormones, erections, or periods—I didn't want to scare him. I told him that he wouldn't be old enough until after it was time to go to magic-school, and he accepted that. I'll discuss the finer points with him when he's nine or ten."
"So what did he tell Rachel?"
"I don't know, but I told him to tell her that marriage is a really big step, and that he'd need a long time to think about it."
"I think you handled it perfectly," Wolfe said, now in a louder voice.
He wandlessly summoned Heidi's sapphire silk charmeuse dressing gown. The fabric and colour suggested that it was meant to complement the nightdress that lay discarded over the back of a chair.
"We'd best get ready for the rest of the day. Have you got anything I can wear?"
Heidi threw on her dressing gown, wrapping it snugly around herself before tying the belt, and Wolfe idly watched her swaying bottom as she pranced over to the closet. After their activities during the night, and the wake-up session, he hadn't thought it possible to react once again—but he was.
Heidi slid open the closet door and shifted a few things around. Wolfe sensed her pondering about whether or not she ought to take out a particular piece of garment, on account of its painful ties to the past.
"That'll do fine, Heidi. We can't keep running from the past."
"Stop doing that—it's creepy," Heidi chided, as pulled out his old dressing gown, a pair of matching lounging trousers that had come with it, and some underwear he had left behind. The dressing gown was a handsome, reflective black silk jacquard one with several patterns woven into it in matte black along the sleeves and hem, and the image of a Chinese Fireball dragon on the back. His Uncle Long had given it to him as a wedding gift, six years ago. Heidi put the clothes on the foot of the bed, and headed to the door that connected the master bedroom with the bathroom. She unlocked it and pushed it open.
"So, err, who showers first?" Wolfe asked.
Heidi shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb. "Maybe I ought to go first and take a long shower that will use up all the hot water, since you seem to need a cold one." She smiled salaciously, looking at the spot where the sheet covered his midsection. "Or … we could shower together and deal with anything that—comes up—in a different way." Then she turned and headed into the bathroom, and Wolfe heard the lock of the door connecting the bathroom to the hallway click shut. Moments later she reappeared in the bedroom and placed her hand on her hips, looking at him expectantly. "Well?"
Wolfe was baffled, and he briefly wondered whether there was some truth behind the preconceptions about redheaded women. "Damn woman, I just gave you sweet loving five minutes ago! Are you trying to kill me?"
"Just making up for lost time. Can you keep up, and keep it up?" Heidi asked Wolfe, as her dressing gown formed a silken puddle around her feet.
The wicked witch knew how to push his buttons, for Wolfe never backed away from a challenge.
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Author's Note: I'm going on holiday for three weeks, but I'll take a diskette with me so I can update this fic. However, I won't be writing during my vacation, and since I want to keep a buffer between the posted chapters and the finished chapters, I'll update on the 16th instead of the 12th. I won't be answering reviews in that post, but please don't let that stop you from reviewing.
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Lioness-07863: You'll have your answers in the next chapter.
Fragarach: I'm glad you got a kick out of that. And you were right about the Star Wars reference and the cameo.
Elric Magus: You're right about that. ;-)
Foxfur: As you have seen, giving Wolfe a shot of Doxy anti-venom wasn't necessary.
Obsessed-with-Snuffles: You need not say it, but I like to hear it all the same.
maaike-fluffy: Je zult het helaas iets langer moeten stellen zonder een nieuw hoofdstuk. Ik ga bijbruinen op Curaçao. ;-)
Wat het personage betreft; voor het geval dat ik iets van haar moet beschrijven heb ik een aantal feiten nodig om haar aan jouw visie te laten voldoen. Haarkleur, oogkleur, lengte, bouw (dun of iets voller, 'vierkant' of zandloperfiguur, etc. Atletisch zal ze in elk geval zijn, omdat ze in the Martial Division zit.) Heeft ze een opvallend kenmerk op haar gezicht? (moedervlek of zo) Nog een paar dingen die ik graag zou willen weten zijn karakter trekjes. Koppig of meegaand, introvert of extravert, ongeduldig of zo geduldig als een zen monnik … heeft ze misschien een zenuw tik? Er moet met veel dingen rekening gehouden worden tijdens character creation, he?
En hoe vond je de terugkeer van Wolfe trouwens?
lluvatar: Done! How did you like it?
blah29: Sorry to take the pace out of the fic again, but I promise you that chapter 7, 8 and 9 will have plenty of action.
KEDme: Hopefully this chapter provided some of the things you've missed in the previous one.
Bluerain22: I'm glad the summary mad things clear.
Numba1: Funny that you mentioned Harry's near-adoption by Master Lei. It will come up again later in the story.
The Keymaker: Hey, you're back! Thanks for the chapter-by-chapter reviewing.
aznanarchy: If Matt gets Excalibur? What do you think that sword in the rock in Chapter 23 of Mind War was? :-)
battlefield-addict: Thanks. It would be cool to know what's so good about it, though.
Cosmos Rose: Yep, Nicolai is a king, and Mary is a princess.
Kari Lynn Cortez: I do lots of research both for information and inspiration.