**Persephone*
The next morning, I was standing at the stove cooking breakfast. Tristan was a few feet away in a bouncy seat. He was awake and just looking around. I wondered what his newborn eyes saw. He was just now a week old. I was singing softly as I flipped the eggs. My mind going over the conversation with Bryan.
He looked just like him, Persi. Bryan sounded distressed. The same distress he had when he found out about who I was. I sighed. There was a possibility I had a brother. I wanted to ask my father about it. I just didn't know how to approach it. I had also told Bryan what had happened at dinner. He didn't say much. We just went to sleep.
I was putting eggs onto a plate just a Bryan walked into the kitchen. His eye looked worse than it did last night. I could tell he was having trouble seeing out of it. His lip almost purple. He winced from the pain in his ribs. I tried talking him into seeing a doctor. He wouldn't. We kissed and I handed him the plate of food.
He walked to the table and sat down. He ate silently. I poured a cup of coffee and added a little bit of creamer and set it in front of him. I tickled Tristan's little feet as I passed by him. Bryan wouldn't look at me.
My cousin Cody joined us shortly. Wearing not but underwear he began rummaging through the fridge. "Cody Edward Collins, go put some clothes on."
He turned his sassy brown eyes at me. His blonde hair down in a Bieber style. "I am wearing clothes." His head still in the fridge.
"What are you looking for?" I said to him.
There were times I sounded more like his mother than his cousin. He looked fourteen to me. But he was eighteen. He had been living with me for two years. I had found him living on the streets. His father had kicked him out of the house for being gay. I shuddered thinking about his father. The same man who had driven me to suicide at sixteen.
He shrugged. "I don't know."
I huffed and shut the door. "Here." I handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. He grinned and took it to the table. He greeted Bryan. I listened at the two of them made small talk. I started to plate food for myself.
"Good morning, everyone." I heard my father's British sounding voice say. He appeared in the doorway. He had on his silk robe and shorts. He smiled to me. "Smells good, darling."
"Hope so." I kissed him on the cheek as I handed him a plate of food.
He went and sat at the table. I watched as Bryan eyes him uneasily. My father retuned the gaze with mild confusion. "My word, Bryan what happened to your face?"
"Nothing." Bryan responded gruffly.
"Looks like you ran into a wall."
"Maybe I did."
My father just looked at my husband for a moment. "Oh dear. Are you angry about last night?" My father ate a bite of food.
I set a cup of coffee in front of him and went back to the stove. I was eager to get some food for myself. It was quiet for a moment.
"Look Bryan. I am sorry about the pastor. But he had it coming."
"Don't worry about it, Lucifer." Bryan said without looking up.
I sat down next to Bryan. I started to put food in my mouth when the baby started crying. Sighing I set my fork down. I started to get up but Bryan beat me to it. He gently picked up the baby and took him back to his seat. He cradles him in his arm as he ate one handed.
I continued eating.
"Are you sure?" My father said to Bryan.
"Yeah, Lucifer. I said it's alright. I will call my folks later."
"They were pretty angry."
"Well, do you blame them?" Bryan's voice sounded angry. He sighed when he looked down at our son. "Sorry."
I looked over at Cody. He was listening to music in his head and chewing slowly on bacon. "Hey, Cody what are your plans today?"
He shrugged. "Just going to work on the blog. Why?"
"I was wondering if you would watch Tristan for a few hours?" I hated to leave my one-week old baby alone. Cody was going to be our nanny while he took internet college courses. He was taking all sorts of baby care classes. He was already great with the baby. "There is a hundred-dollar bill in it for you."
He smiled. "Sure."
"Where are you headed off to?" My father piped in.
I looked at Bryan. He didn't say anything. "An appointment." I wasn't going to tell him about the stranger in lock up. I wanted to see him for myself. There was a chance that he was the son of another angel. My father wasn't the only one with children. But the way Bryan described him.
My father didn't say anything else. He just kept eating his breakfast.
We all sat eating silently for a few more minutes. Then a horrible smell made us all gag. We all looked at the baby. Bryan sighed and got up. "I got it." He started to walled out of the room.
"Brave man, changing a diaper." My father remarked.
"Yeah, well some of us take care of our responsibilities." Bryan remarked angrily and left the room.
I stood up to clear off the dishes. My father was sitting looking in the direction that Bryan had left. "Are you sure he isn't upset about last night?" He said to me.
"Yes." I picked up his empty plate and took it to the sink with the others. I started ringing them all off. I started humming to myself again.
"Everyone is so testy this morning." My father said to Cody.
"Huh?" Cody replied.
"Never mind." My father got up and brushed past me. "I'll see you later, darling." He left before I could respond.
I finished cleaning the kitchen and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. Bryan was sitting on the bed with Tristan. I kissed the top of his head as I walked to the closet. Staring at my clothes I sighed. Nothing looked good. Things still fit me weird. My body didn't have a chance to go back to normal yet. I didn't want to rush it. Finally, I settled on a pair of jeans and nice pink blouse. I pulled my hair back in my usual ponytail.
Bryan was still on the bed with the baby. "Bryan, are you almost ready?"
He looked up. "Yeah." He had on a white dress shirt with a blue tie and black slacks. He looked so good. I couldn't stop staring. He stood up and I followed him to the nursery. He reluctantly put Tristan in his crib. I gently put my arm around him and we walked out to the living room.
My father was sitting reclined in one of the chairs. He looked up as we approached. "You kids have fun you hear." His voice was more sarcasm than anything. Bryan just eyed him.
Cody came in and as down on the couch. "See you guys later. Don't worry about Tristan." He smiled. I ruffled his blonde hair. "Hey."
I laughed and waved at my father. "Bye Dad." Then we walked out.
For a while we rode in the car in silence. The radio playing Tom Petty. I hummed to the music. My brain going over the possibility of meeting a brother. I had always wondered what it would be like. Malachi had told me about some of my siblings. They had caused destruction and death. That was why we were so closely watched by Heaven. I sighed. He said few of them made it out of their twenties. I was the only one that had been able to have a baby. I wondered if Tristan would have to be monitored too.
I glanced over at Bryan. His blue eyes focused on the road. It was nice morning. The sun shined and the sky was so blue. His jaw was clenched. I put my hand on his arm. But he didn't relax. He just kept his eyes on the road.
"So, you aren't mad about what happened last night?"
"What happened last night?" He said a little absent-mindedly.
"Um, your parents had Pastor Gordon over for dinner." I sighed. My hand still on his arm. I stroked gently. He didn't seem to notice. "Pastor Gordon questioned my father's identity and found out the hard way."
Bryan chuckled. "Oh right. I would have paid to see that." That was the first I had seen him smile in a while. "No, I'm not mad. Pastor Gordon is an ass."
"Okay. But what about your parents?" I didn't want him to hate his parents. Despite our differences. I wanted him to have a relationship with his parents even if they hated me. Call me crazy.
"I'll talk to them later." He said quietly.
We sat in silence again. We were heading to Rikers to visit the mysterious man. He had to be taken to the psychiatric facility under heavy sedation. He was placed in the maximum security. It was not going to be easy to get to him. I was going to have to use some of my persuasion gifts. But I needed to see him.
We were finally able to reach it and get to the visitor's center. Bryan had on his badge. I had mine in my purse. The guard in the visitor center let us through pretty easily. We took the shuttle to the psychiatric facility. I said a little prayer as we exited the vehicle and headed inside.