Chapter the Eighteenth

In which there is the Calm before the Storm

When Delia woke up, both her dog and her brother were gone. She looked at the alarm clock; it was ten, much earlier than she thought it would be given how late it was when she and Alexander had gone to bed. As she made her way downstairs, she could smell that someone had cooked breakfast and in the kitchen, she found that everyone, except Thomas, was still in their pyjamas.

"Someone should have told me I had to dressed for breakfast. How are you this morning?"

"Very good, thank you."

Damien was absent and she knew her father was still asleep. She went to her brother, stood beside him and punched him in the arm, "Morning."

"Morning, I'll get your breakfast," Alexander had gotten up an hour before Delia and had come downstairs just as Anna had been making breakfast and had cooked one of Cecile's chicken pot pies for his sister.

"I'm off. Xandman, I'm going to borrow your sister for a minute."

"Okay."

She followed Thomas to Damien's study and he closed the door, "Delia, it's all over. It will be on the evening news tonight. You can rest now because this is done, okay?"

"Yes," she smiled, but for her, it wouldn't be done until Damien knew it was all taken care of and that his plan had come off the way he had wanted, but a huge weight was lifted of her. She extended her hand to Thomas, "Thank you, Thomas, for everything."

He shook her hand and smiled, "It's my duty to protect your father as well as you and Alexander. I was there the day you and your brother were born, so I have an especially soft spot for the both of you. Your dad will be okay, just let him sleep. Anna is going to stay until Damien wakes up, but if you need anything in the mean time, you let me know and it gets done tout suite, capish?"

"Capisco," she saw Thomas to the door and then went back into the kitchen, where Alexander had her breakfast waiting, a large slice of chicken pot pie with some fruit and yogurt. Delia sat and began to eat.

"I thought we could bake a cake today," Alexander had already eaten his breakfast, but he helped himself to more bacon and toast.

"What do you mean?"

"I really don't know how much simpler I could have made that sentence, dork."

"Like make a cake from...not a mix?"

"Yes, it's not rocket science."

"Sure, but I don't know what I'm doing."

He laughed, "It's okay, I'll show you."

"Since when does he bake?"

Delia shrugged and looked at Anna, "He wants Cecile to teach him how to cook, but apparently he already knows how to bake a cake and make pasta and sauce."

"Okay, I'm going to nap in the family room. I trust you two won't burn down the house while I'm sleeping?"

"Well, I can't speak for myself, but I'll leave the cooking in Alexander's capable hands and we may stand a chance."

Alexander had begun to get all the ingredients ready and Delia watched in amazement as he was doing all of this without following a recipe, "So, why cooking...and apparently baking?"

He turned to her and shrugged, "I don't know, I just like putting all the ingredients together and making something new. You've eaten lots of food I've made. Last spring break, when we didn't go anywhere because father couldn't leave work and you went to the office? I stayed home and helped Cecile cook. She didn't want to teach me anymore, she wasn't sure if Damien would consider it...unmanly for his son to be cooking, but now she can properly teach me."

"Like how to make chicken pot pie!?"

"I already know how to make chicken pot pie. You like beef Wellington, don't you?"

"Don't be a food tease, you know I do."

"Well, the last time you had it, I was the one who made it," he smiled coyly at her.

"There just might yet be some advantages to putting up with you, annoying one," she let him know that she was only joking. "Xander, most of the greatest chefs in the world are men, so father is not going to care if you cook," she brought her plate to the kitchen and began to help her brother.

Whatever talents Delia possessed, they apparently didn't include baking. At one point, Alexander had to stop her from mixing up baking powder and baking soda and inadvertently ruining the cake.

Delia had chosen chocolate cake and once it was in the oven, Alexander began making frosting and if that wasn't enough, he was going to put whipped cream between the layers. Once it was done, cooled and was assembled, they put it in the fridge. Delia sent her dog to stand guard outside the chapel and fed her father's dog and sent him outside with Alexander's.

"What if we have bodyguards now," Alexander couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice.

"I hope not," like her brother, Delia didn't like the thought of having someone watching her every move; but she would also take it as a slight on her ability to keep her brother safe.

"How long do you think he'll sleep?"

"I don't know. I'm not going to worry at all today; but if he's not up by tomorrow, I'm going to get him."

Once Anna got up from her nap, the three of them had cake with milk.

"Alexander, this is excellent. You're going to make some woman very happy one day," she winked at him. "What are we doing for dinner? How about Chan's? I can go and get it and bring it back? Or ask Thomas to go?"

Delia shook her head, "Not Chan's, not without father. But I could maybe go for pizza from Vittorio's?"

Alexander nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Thomas can go and..."

"You don't have to, they'll deliver for us."

...oOo...

Everyone eventually showered and dressed and Delia and Alexander passed the day not doing much of anything.

When it was time for dinner, Anna ordered pizza, two extra large pies with the works, minus anchovies and they had Alexander's chocolate cake for dessert.

When they were done, Anna and Alexander tidied the kitchen and Delia watched the news and there it was, the top story: local businessman dead in aftermath of sordid business dealings. A cold smile sat on her face, "And that, Mr. Hughes, is what you get for screwing with the Thorns."

The three of them passed the evening playing cards. Anna taught Delia and Alexander how to play Gin Rummy, which they went along with and then proceed to beat the pants off her, later revealing that Damien had taught them to play.

Once it was time for bed, Damien's dog resumed his post outside the chapel. Anna went to sleep in her room and Delia and Alexander began to construct a blanket fort in his bedroom.

Inside the fort, there was noticeably less frivolity than there had been when they had built it in Damien's room, which seemed to upset Alexander's dog, who took it upon himself to kick start shenanigans. He got down on his front paws with his ass in the air and wagged his tail, looking to be playful, tugging at Delia's blanket for good measure. Delia's dog slept outside the fort.

"No tonight, maybe when Damien is feeling better," Alexander gave his dog a conciliatory scatch behind the ear.

Milo plopped himself down between the Thorns and closed his eyes. Delia and Alexander read for a bit and then decided they were tired. Alexander crawled outside the tent, shut off the lamp and then the two of them settled down inside their sleeping bags and went to sleep.

...oOo...

The minute Delia was awake, she knew that her father was too. Alexander was already gone, but she leaped up and took off like a shot out of the bedroom and downstairs to the kitchen where Alexander was eating his breakfast. Damien turned and waited for Delia, who was running and jumped into her father's arms.

"Your fine now!" Delia wrapped her arms and legs around him and squeezed and then let go and pulled back and looked at him. He looked better than he had since Alexander had been taken and he felt better, no anger, no rage, just Damien.

"Yes, I am, thank-you. Too bad I missed yesterday; it looks like Xander made cake."

Delia jumped down out of her father's arms, "It's very, very good. Did you try some?"

"After I've eaten."

Delia looked at the table: eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns were piled on Damien's plate and a smaller plate beside it contained a mountain of toast. Damien sat and began eating and she went to the fridge to get the leftover pizza from yesterday and turned on the toaster oven and put in her pizza and waited for it to be heated up.

"How did Anna do looking after you?"

"She attempted to teach us Gin Rummy," Alexander smiled at his father.

"I hope you didn't beat her too badly," Damien grinned and put a forkful of eggs in his mouth.

"We eventually told her that if you hadn't already been rich when you went to Oxford, you would have made your fortune playing cards," Delia's voice came from the kitchen.

Alexander and Damien continued eating and Delia eventually got to the table with her pizza.

Once Damien finished breakfast, he cut a piece of Alexander's cake, took a forkful and turned to his son, "This is really good." Damien put another forkful in his mouth.

"Don't sound so surprised, father. After all, I am a Thorn and whatever it is we do, we do it very well."

"How did Delia do at baking?"

Alexander let out a snort, "Don't ask. I've inherited the culinary genes in the family that's all you need to know."

"You know you're lucky you make food that I like, or that comment would have earned you a punch in the throat," but Delia also couldn't help being glad that her brother had found something that made him happy.

"I was thinking maybe we could go riding if anyone is interested? The house could do with a cleaning, so we could go riding while the house gets a going over."

Apparently, Damien had no intention of talking to his son today either, which, for certain reasons, pleased Delia, "Sure, I'll go!"

"I'm in."

"Xander, you go up and get dressed," Damien and Alexander left the table, Alexander to go upstairs and Damien to his study and when he came back, he did so with a newspaper and handed it to Delia; the front page was all about what had happened to Brian.

"I saw it on the news last night," Delia took the paper and would read it upstairs later. "Father, is everything taken care of? I mean as far as you're concerned?"

"Yes, how about you?"

Delia smiled, "Then everything is taken care of for me, as well."

"We'll talk later?"

She nodded and went back to eating and once she was done, she went upstairs and changed into jeans and a t-shirt.

While they waited for the horses, the cleaning company came and an hour later, the people with the horses arrived and the Thorns left to go riding.

They rode for most of the morning and into the afternoon, riding through the woods behind the house enjoying the day, which was warm but not too humid, and each other's company. At one point, they ran into one of the neighbors out for a ride and the four of them rode back with her to her house. Rumbling stomachs prompted Alexander to suggest a race back home with the loser having to buy dinner at Chan's.

While Delia and Alexander were good riders, they were nowhere near as good as their father, who easily beat them back to the house. Alexander came in second, leaving Delia last.

Damien went in to make lunch while the younger Thorns stayed outside and watched the people who had brought the horses brush them and make sure the animals were properly cooled down. They then loaded them into the truck and left.

When they came in, they washed their hands, changed their clothes and came down just as lunch was going on the table.

"I'll be glad when Cecile returns and I can go back to being the one who eats the food instead of making it."

Damien had made monte cristos and salad and everyone enjoyed lunch and after they cleaned up, everyone spent the day just hanging around the house. At one point, Damien called for a car and everyone got dressed for dinner and went to Chan's and as per losing Alexander's challenge, Delia paid for everyone's meal.

Once at home, Damien talked with Alexander, and Delia went up to the chapel and waited for her father to finish. When Damien eventually came up, he sat holding Delia in silence until she wanted to go back to her room. Once downstairs, she changed into her pyjamas in her bathroom and when she came out, she got into her bed and sat against Damien, who put his arm around his daughter.

"Are you going to talk to Alexander tomorrow?"

"Yes, I just wanted to relax today and spend time with both of you. I didn't scare you or your brother, did I?"

"We were pretty freaked out when you first got home, you looked like crap, but I figured that you just needed rest. However, if you wouldn't have gotten up today, I would have gotten you up. Are we going to have bodyguards now?"

"No, no body guards, but from now on, only certain people are going to drive you and Alexander anywhere. And when business dealings don't go so well, more caution will be taken in regard to the effected parties. I was always so focused on people who might kill me for religions reasons, I forgot to pay closer attention to things a little closer to home."

"I see," she paused, "were you a beatnik?"

"I was born in 1950; that's a little too young to have been a beatnik."

"Were you a hippie?"

"I went to a military academy...do I look like a hippie to you?"

"With a hippie van, and sandals and a Jesus beard," Delia couldn't stop laughing, picturing her father driving around in a VW van, wearing tie-dye t-shirts and sandals. "Have you ever smoked marijuana?"

"Yes, to fit in, and I've done harder drugs."

"Did you get high?"

"No, just like Alexander didn't get drunk," Damien looked at his daughter. He could feel a mixed bag of emotions coming from her, "What it is it? Something's going on."

She looked up at him, "Damien, who are you?"

At first, he wasn't sure what she was asking, but he took a guess and answered her question, "I was born of jackal and conceived by Satan, His only begotten son. I am the Antichrist, sent here to rescue the human race from the so-called god and his son. Satan lives in me so that humanity can come to embrace its true destiny."

Delia had closed her eyes. Damien didn't need to ask if he had answered her question; he could feel that he did. But there was also some sadness mixed in with her delight.

She opened her eyes, "That's the last time that I'm going to be the only one who knows that," she leaned against her father, "I won't be special any more."

"Deedla Forn," Damien made sure she was looking at him, "you will always be special. Who's my right hand, well, I guess I can't say girl anymore, so...young woman?"

"I am."

"Always, Junior...I can stop calling you Junior if you want."

She smiled up at him, "Please don't. I'll let you know if I don't like it anymore."

"I want you to know how proud I am of you. These past three years have been tough for you, having to lie to Xander, or exclude him from things. You never once lost your temper with him...you've never lost your temper with him over this particular issue," Damien raised an eyebrow at her.

Delia looked aghast, "Father, never. I am the older sister and it's my job to model proper behaviour for Alexander."

"Uh-huh...this is tougher than it was with you. First, it's more important that Alexander accepts who and what he is. Second, I had two 'ins' with you: you've always felt different and you had visions. There was never any need to convince you that something much larger than yourself was at work, you always knew. Even if he now knows that he's different, he still might not be ready to know exactly how different."

"I suppose it's pointless to tell you to get some sleep...would you like me to stay up with you?"

"No, thanks for the offer, but one of us should be well rested for tomorrow," Damien stood up so that Delia could get under the covers and lay down.

"It'll all be fine, you'll see."

"I hope so. Is there anything else?"

"Will we still keep having our talks?"

"Of course, both with you and Alexander and once he has settled down with all of this, we'll do something just us, okay?"

She smiled, "Okay."

"If you're not up already when I get up, I'll wake you up. We'll go over some things before I start talking with your brother."

"Yes, sir," Damien and Delia embraced and she held on to her father, "I love you."

"I love you, too. Right to sleep?"

"Right to sleep, promise," she crossed her heart.

Delia's dog jumped on her bed and Damien patted him and went to the door, "Good night, Deedle."

"Good night, hippie," Delia threw him a peace sign, shut off her light, turned over and pulled the covers up to her chin.

Damien closed her door and made his way to his son's room.

As usual, Alexander was a lump under the covers in the middle of the bed and as Damien stood there, he tried to push down the fear that was growing inside him. More than with Delia, he wanted his talk with Alexander to go well, and not just because it was important that Alexander accepted who and what he was.

Part of Damien was looking forward to his talk with his son. It would be the first rite of passage that the two of them would share, like when he would eventually teach Alexander how to shave and talk to him about girls. Damien had gone through all of it on his own and while he could feel his Father, Damien hadn't had anyone with whom he could have shared his thoughts and feelings; Alexander would have him.

Both he and Delia could see by Alexander's reaction to things that he was more prepared than he realized to hear what Damien had to say. However, everything in Alexander's world was about to change and how he would handle that was a mystery. He closed his son's door and made his way up to the chapel.

Once inside, he closed the door and sat with his back against a wall. He hoped that he had been exaggerating to Delia about about not getting any sleep, but he was beginning to see that might just be the case. Damien closed his eyes, not with tiredness, but in concentration, trying to find a way through all the fear, worry, anticipation, and everything else to reach his son in a way that would neither traumatize Alexander, nor hide the truth about who and what they really were.