Pacing, Dad was pacing again, the way he always does when Mom is out on a mission alone. He was holding Renji in his arms, hoping the motion would soothe the baby's fretful state, as it usually did. But there seemed to be a strange pall over the house, one that had everyone, the three month old infant included, on EDGE. I wanted to ask Dad what was wrong, but I think all of us knew, really. This felt different than the typical wait for Mom to walk back in the door, probably bloodied and exhausted. This felt. . .almost as if Mom wasn't COMING home. I draped an arm over Dad's broad shoulder, urging him to set the baby down and get some sleep, as he did after all have an early shift in the morning. "Come on, Dad, it's almost midnight, I know you're tired. I also know you don't want to be sleeping when Mom comes home, but you need the rest. I promise I'll wake you either when Mom comes in, or when someone calls."
The bald head nodded, and Dad headed back into the room, settling Renji down into the crib. The baby finally settled into sleep, being too tired really to stay awake. I watched him sleep for a while, Rennan standing next to me with an arm draped over my shoulder as mine had been over Dad's. "You shouldn't lie to him you know." My brother's voice was a bare rumble in my ear as if he was trying to avoid waking Dad, which was actually pretty likely. Of the two of us, Rennan had always been the one who had seen to Dad's physical needs, whereas I had always been the one more worried about his emotional ones. I guess that really highlights the differences in the way women and men are wired.
The call finally came in sometime around two AM, and it was not Tseng, but Uncle Rufus, which really surprised me. Uncle Rufus almost never calls personally for anything, he normally has either Tseng or Elena or one of the secretaries cal us for things. Matter of fact, the last time any of us had seen or talked to him had been almost six months ago when he'd thrown Mom's baby shower for Renji. "Uncle Rufus? What's going on?" I asked the question quietly, even though I was pretty sure I already knew. The crack in the voice over the phone confirmed it even before he said it.
The mission Mom had been sent on had been to break up a prostitution ring, something Elena would have been sent on, but she was pregnant and on desk duty when the mission had come up, she and Tseng expecting their first. Thus, the most feminine looking of those remaining had gotten chosen for it, and Mom despite grumbling about not being a woman just because he happened to have a cunt had taken it, because it was of course his job, whether he liked it or not. The words that came from Rufus shocked me, but at the same time I really was not as surprised as I tried to let on.
We'd both, Rennan and I, known that either Mom or Dad being killed on a mission was a distinct possibility, though we had hoped it wouldn't happen. Now, as Rufus told me what had happened, I had to close my eyes against the sudden sharp pang in my chest. "I am so very sorry, Rina. Despite our best efforts to keep his identity from being discovered, he was caught. I know I do not have to tell you and Rennan that it was a possibility, you both knew it already. Death is and always has been a possibility for both of your parents. I will send the photos of the scene over your father's phone, and when he wakes up would you tell him please that I need him to come and claim the body and begin the funeral arrangements?" Uncle Rufus' voice cracked again, as If he was on the verge of tears, and he probably was.
"Of course,Uncle Rufus. Can you tell me how it happened?" My voice was much calmer really than it should be, but it was because I was locking it down and away, not wanting to lose my composure, as someone had to stay calm and composed here, because for everyone to lose it at a time like this would only make the situation even more difficult. As he explained how Mom had been basically been raped into unconsciousness and then beaten until his brain had swollen so badly it was oozing into his spine, I winced, able to hear the screams, see the terror in the green eyes. Uncle Rufus had of course used very dry, spare descriptions, but I knew how badly missions could go, having SEEN it, and what he did not say, my mind could supply.
I could not be sure what would happen from here, but I knew we would get through it. It was what Mom would want, and I knew it.