part 3
They arranged to meet at Roy's apartment the next day, and Rachael organized for her neighbor to watch Sam so they could talk in relative peace.
Sitting at the kitchen table, she marveled at the landscapes that hung on the wall and the native American theme that seemed to dominate the decoration of the room. Roy had visited her apartment frequently but this was the first time she had been to his home.
As Roy busied himself in the kitchen making coffee, Racheal commented on a landscape that hung on the wall. "That's so beautiful, the colors reflect beautifully in the sun." she said.
"Arizona is one of the most beautiful places on earth...there's nothing quite like going camping and laying back at night and watching the stars..there's so many of them and the sky is so clear you feel like you could reach out and touch them." Roy said.
"That sounds wonderful...I've never been to Arizona...In fact I've never been camping." Rachael said.
"You never been camping?" Lian's shocked little voice said as she walked out of her room. "Not ever?..Didn't your Daddy ever take you?"
"No honey, my Daddy was always too busy to do things like that with me." Rachael replied.
"But my Daddy's busy and he still takes me...He say's I'm more important than anything else in the world." Lian said.
"Your Daddy's very special." Racheal said as she put her arm around the little girls shoulders. "Your a lucky girl."
"Yeah...he's ok." Lian replied snuggling against the young woman.
"Ok?..Ok?.. Just ok?..What do I need to do to impress you young lady?" Roy said feigning shock.
Lian giggled. "All right...he's the best Daddy." she said.
"That's better, I have a hungry ego to feed you know." Roy said.
"Your silly Daddy." Lian replied smiling.
"Yeah Daddy your silly." Rachael added laughing.
Roy handed her a cup of coffee and placed a cup of chocolate milk on the table for Lian, who was now busy dragging all her favorite toy's out to show Rachael.
"You have a lot of beautiful toys sweetheart." Rachael commented as she moved back so the little girl could climb into her lap. Rachael ran her fingers through the little girls hair, the long black strands slipping easily through her fingers. "And you have beautiful hair." she said.
"I've got hair like my Mommy...Haven't I Daddy?" Lian said, tossing her head for emphasis.
"You sure have Etai yazi." Roy said as he pulled out a chair and sat down with his own cup of coffee in hand.
"Etai yazi?" Rachael looked questioningly at Roy.
"Daddy calls me that sometimes...Daddy is Navajo." Lian said.
Rachael's gaze took in at Roy's red hair and fair complexion and she looked confused.
Roy laughed. "I was raised Navajo until I was thirteen...My ancestors are actually Irish." he explained.
"Oh..Well that explains the way the room is decorated." she said smiling back at him, he had a grin that melted her heart.
"My father died when I was two...and I was taken in and raised by Brave Bow before..." he paused "Lian, would you like to get my scrapbooks and you can show Rach some of what happened when I left the reservation." he said.
"Yeah" Lian cried happily as she wriggled off Rachael's lap and ran towards Roy's room...Suddenly she stopped, the turned and walked back to the table..Standing on tip toes to whisper in Rachael's ear, the young woman leaned down to hear what the little girl had to say. "Ya hafta promise not to talk about it to any one...ever." she said seriously.
"I promise." Rachael whispered back.
With that Lian was gone again.
"I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about this Roy." Rachael said looking at him.
"I'm a bit nervous myself...Look Rach the things your going to find out today...well they're pretty big. I'm not gonna lie to you, this is stuff you need to know before we can take our relationship to the next level..it''s not something all women will accept...others are attracted to it. But it's who I am and I can't change that." he sighed and reached out to take her hand in his, drawing it to his lips, then bending his head and resting his brow on it, obviously searching for the words he needed...he looked up at her again. "There's more than just photo's in a scrapbook...a whole lot more. I've been in some really dark places in my life and you deserve to know about that...But one step at a time..the scrap books first." he said as Lian returned and handed a pile of books to Rachael.
Lian climbed up on Rachaels lap and opened the first page of one of the books. Rachael suppressed a gasp as she looked at the picture, recognizing the subjects of the photo instantly. A young boy dressed in a red and yellow costume stood smiling, his bow in his hand, behind him stood an man, clad in green, he also held a bow, his hand resting on the boys shoulder.
"That's my Daddy." said Lian proudly, pointing to the smiling boy.
end part3