Chapter 56
A white crew cab pickup truck came barreling around the last corner and slowed to a crawl before easing to a stop and shutting off.
Rosalind sinuated towards the truck as her husband Brad exited the truck with a big grin on his ruddy face.
There was a streak of a small serpentine form and little Rosie got to him first.
Brad scooped up the tiny lamia and greeted her mother, Rosalind with a kiss, while Rosie happily coiled around her father.
Moments later, Brad smiled at Roger and said, "I don't believe we've met, I'm Brad Henderson!"
He paused to make a silly face at the tiny lamia coiling around him, making her giggle. "And this little squirm, is Rosie, my daughter."
"Roger Tate, George and I go waaay back!"
Brad grinned as they shook hands and said, "I've heard about you, you helped George bring my wife's family out of Algeria...Thank you, sir!"
Roger chuckled and replied, "Don't believe all the stories, some of them may have been embellished over time."
Brad grinned, "So, the one where you're living with a giantess is a myth?"
"No more so than the myth you're married to and the little myth holding on to you so tightly!" Retorted Roger.
Brad was about to reply when cries of "Unca Roger, Unca Roger!" barged in and Sophie and Maria sinuated up to glomp onto Roger's lanky form.
Roger grinned at Brad, "My nieces!"
At Brad's mystified look, he remarked,"George and I are like brothers from different parents, so his children are my nieces and if Mia's tummy is any indicator, I'm gonna have four nieces before too much longer!"
He grinned at the two young lamias hugging him and asked, "So, how are you two getting along, you are being nice to your mom and dad aren't you?"
Sophie giggled and batted her eyes at him as she said gaily, "Of course we are, we're always nice!"
Roger laughed, Sophie was definitely Ayesha's granddaughter alright.
"You sure about that?" he asked with a boyish grin and an impish twinkle in his eye.
Sophie looked at him coyly and replied evasively, "Well, we're mostly nice...Does that count?"
He tousled the girl's hair and said, "Keep up the good work, I'm counting on you two!"
Sophie beamed as she snuggled against him, she was the chatterbox of the two and Maria was the little shy one, although Roger had a feeling she was no pushover and gave as good as she got.
"There you two are! I've been looking for you two."
Declared Mia as she sinuated up to them, her swollen belly swaying.
She was close to her due date and looked it.
Mia pointed at Roger's feet and asked, "What's he doing here?"
Sophie cried out in protest, "He's just being curious mom, he hasn't met Unca Roger yet!"
Roger glanced down and saw the biggest Gila Monster he had ever seen or heard of, it had to be almost three feet long and looked well fed.
'He' was looking up at him and Roger swore 'he' had a curious look in his beady eyes.
Roger smiled at the large beaded lizard and said, "Well, hello, and what do they call you? I'm Roger, Roger Tate."
He felt a little silly talking to the big lizard, but considering some of the other things he'd seen and heard lately, it was the right thing to do."
The colorful lizard flicked its tongue at his booted foot a few times while Mia said quietly, "He's tasting you and since you're with us, he'll accept you as one of us."
Brad chuckled and said, "Old Gomez is the biggest Gila Monster around and is supposed to be quite old, at least that's what the Navajo medicine men tell me. They say it's very good luck to see him, though I still keep my distance. While my wife and child are immune to his poison, I'm not, as far as I know."
Roger glanced at Brad and could see the faint scars on his neck from when he received Rosalind's wedding bite and got pumped full of her mating essence when they became one.
Old Gomez, as the big Gila monster was called, finished tasting Roger's boot and having satisfied his curiosity, waddled off to his burrow to sleep some more.
Having passed muster with Old Gomez, Roger remarked, "We have a very large, old raven living in the big pine tree in our front yard. I guess you could say he is like the raven in Poe's 'The Raven'. Old Gomez is your version of our watch raven."
Brad shrugged and commented, "We kinda go after the ravens around here as they'll hunt and kill the baby gopher tortoises after they've hatched. We've brought in some peregrine falcons to control the ravens and give the little guys a fighting chance to grow up."
Roger smiled, "Our old raven just sits and watches over us, Freya has taken to feeding him and he sometimes joins me when I'm out working in the gardens.
"Although, he'll suddenly squawk and just take off like something's annoying or pestering him. Dena says the young sprites like to tease him even though he protects them from the magpies and blue jays."
"Dena? Who's Dena?" asked Brad, who was playing with little Rosie while they talked.
"Yes, who is this, Dena? You've mentioned her before." asked Mia with one luxurious eyebrow raised.
Roger chuckled, "Dena is our resident wood wife or wood elf if you prefer. She and Sasha, our giant wolf, came down from Canada to live with us."
"And Freya's okay with this?" asked Mia.
"Why wouldn't she be? Dena took care of Freya's grandmother in her final years and now she's living with us, it's not like she takes up any room, being only two feet tall.
Sasha however, does take up some room with her size and sheer presence. We have learned to simply go around her when she's snoozing in a hallway."
Brad raised an eyebrow and asked, "Just how big, is this 'Sasha'?"
Roger grinned, "She's about the size of a standard pony only a bit longer and with a big floofy tail. She has to weigh around 300 pounds and the males are even larger, her kind are larger than any other wolves ever, even the dire wolf is considerably smaller."
Brad whistled and commented,"Where did she come from, or should I say they?"
"I was told they came with the jotuns when they left Europe, the guardian wolves, the wood elves and some kind of big horse, although I have not seen any of them. I wouldn't be surprised if a few other creatures weren't still hidden in Canada's forests."
Mia's sudden groan caused everyone to look at her in alarm.
She grimaced and said bravely, "The little monsters're squirming inside me, they want out!"
She rubbed her swollen abdomen and said soothingly,"Hush girls, it's not time yet, go back to sleep. Mommy's trying to talk to the grownups now."
Moments later, she smiled and said drily,"Now, if I can only get their older sisters to listen to me!"
Brad and Rosalind exchanged knowing glances, little Rosie wasn't even two yet and already, she was asserting her own personality and identity.
Roger smiled and remarked, "Try having a teenage young giantess around the house. Freya's a good kid for the most part, but occasionally, she has a brain fart and I have to be the bad guy. Once she tried cutting school to go hang out at the mall with her friends from school."
Smiling at the memory he continued, "Thing is, she forgot about her size, a nearly seven foot tall girl with reddish hair stands out and half of Portland knows who she is. Needless to say I had to go get her. I don't even want to go into the yoga pants incident, fortunately I stopped her before she left the house and we had quite the 'discussion' over that one."
Mia smiled ,"Yoga pants incident? Tell me more..." she purred, her amber eyes twinkling merrily.
Brad chuckled and remarked drily, "Yes, they do look best on a teen aged girl...Not that I've noticed of course!"
He dodged Rosalind's elbow jab at his remark but not her long, pythonic tail which slipped around him and squeezed. "And what, did you mean by that? Dearest..." muttered she.
Roger just laughed and said, "She had gotten ahold of some yoga pants somewhere and was headed out the door with them on when I said, 'Not on my watch young lady!' Naturally she got upset and wanted to argue until I invoked her mother's name and she went to change into some jeans."
He smiled, "Yeah I was the bad guy for a while after that until one of her classmates got groped at the mall while she was wearing some yoga pants. After that, she saw my point."
Roger said wistfully, "Freya's going to be a knockout, I may be filling in for her dad but I'm not blind, I can see how she looks and how other men and a few women, look at her."
Mia smiled and said teasingly, "Freya just wants you to look at her and wearing those yoga pants got your attention didn't they? In that, she succeeded my dear."
Brad and Rosalind were treated to the sight of Roger Tate, adventurer-scholar blushing a dark scarlet at Mia's remarks and while Roger was muttering to himself.
Mia cheerfully remarked, "Mom told him that Freya loved him and they would be very happy together in the future, and you know mom, she's never wrong in that regard. Naturally, Henri DuValliere has teased Roger about it ever since!"
"And you're not helping the situation!" Grumbled Roger.
"I think it's sweet, a young girl's first crush can be sooo thrilling to her, all these new emotions and feelings just washing over her!" Gushed Rosalind as her tail remained coiled around her husband.
Roger rolled his eyes and muttered, "I think I'll go see what George is up to, maybe he needs my help on something."
Mia grinned and replied, "He should be out by the barbecue."
Roger excused himself and made his way out behind the house to find George tending a rather impressive barbecue set up.
George grinned at him, "There's beer in the cooler, grab y'self one!"
Soon he was standing alongside his old friend, a beer in one hand and tongs in the other.
Between pulls at the bottle, he would turn over bits of the sizzling meats lying on the grill and George was turning over the foil wrapped packages lying amongst the glowing coals.
After a bit, George remarked, "I was wondering when you were going to try and escape the 'estrogen zone' inside the house."
Roger took a pull at his beer and replied, "Believe me Georgie, I have my own 'estrogen zone' up there in Portland."
"Don't get me wrong, I love my life with Freya, I wouldn't trade it with anyone. But there are times when the house is filled with women and things can get a little crazy at times."
George chuckled and reached into the cooler to fetch another beer.
After a long pull off the freshly opened bottle, he remarked."I know what you mean old friend. Like you, I love my life with Mia and our kids, I love watching them grow and learning new things. Yeah they're a handful, but what kid isn't? Thank goodness I can come out here and tend to my barbecue or tinker in my shop."
Roger grinned, "Me? I'll head down to the airport and work on our seaplane, there's always something to do on that bird.
"Freya's not very complicated actually, she has a few close friends and no really bad habits to break her of, thank goodness.
"Our house is pretty big and we have some extra rooms that are reserved for our long term visitors like Anna Karlsen, she'll come up just to escape L.A. And all that it entails. She's the woman who donated her old mansion and the 25 acres it sits on for our research library and facilities.
"Naturally, she stays with us and will sometimes bring up her friend, Sheila who is one of the surviving claymores."
George chuckled and asked, "Is she anything like that crazy Helen?"
"Actually, she's pretty low key and like most of them she just wants to keep a low profile, which is kinda hard for her to do. She's quite tall and like the other survivors, she's quite the beauty so she does stand out, although not as much as Freya does." replied Roger before he peered into his bottle and muttered, "Empty already?"
"Grab y'self another one, this sounds like at least a two beer conversation."
Roger laughed and commented, "Beer therapy? Okaaay...Let's get therapeutic!" and he reached into the cooler once more.
Sometime later when Mia came to check on their progress, they were both fairly well lubricated and laughing over shared memories.
She noted they had consumed several beers each while tending the barbecue and slaking their thirst.
To her amazement, they had managed to get everything cooked without burning anything up, and the fully laden roasting pans emitted the delicious aroma of freshly grilled meats.
Her forked tongue flicked the air and she fairly drooled from the aromas she was tasting.
Leaving them to their alcohol fueled giggle fest, she took two of the roasting pans and went inside the house, where Ayesha was supervising the arrangement of the tables for the feast.
"Is everything ready?" she asked her eldest daughter.
Mia replied,"Everything's ready, including my slightly pickled husband."
"Slightly pickled? What do you mean by slightly pickled?" a moment later she got the inference and said, "Oh dear...Is he going to be alright? I've never seen him 'slightly pickled' before."
Mia frowned, "Neither have I, he and Roger are out by the barbecue surrounded by empty beer bottles and in high spirits, if their giggles are any indicator."
"Freya is going to have to deal with him once she gets back with your father from her driving lesson." muttered Ayesha.
Mia remarked, "And I have to deal with George, thank goodness he seems to be a happy drunk. Some people get real mean when they're in their cups, or so I've been told."
Ayesha smiled, "Your father gets very amourous when he's in his cups, but only up to a point, then he falls asleep, much to my annoyance!"
Mia could only smile and reply, "I have the feeling George is beyond the 'amourous' point and he'll be very sleepy tonight."
"Yes, the flesh will be weak, I'm afraid." remarked Ayesha.
Mia chuckled at the inference and commented, "I suppose we should be thankful they aren't rowdy drunks, 'cos then I'd have to hurt 'em!"
Ayesha chuckled and commented, "You deal with George, we'll let Freya deal with her man herself."
Mia laughed and said gaily, "Don't let Roger hear you say that, he'll get all defensive."
Ayesha shrugged, causing all the tiny gold discs on her bustier to tinkle faintly and she purred, "He knows I'm right, he just won't admit it."
Ayesha glanced over at the heavily laden roasting pans, flicked her forked tongue in and out a few times and murmured, "It all smells so good and they made so much! We won't be able to eat all of this at once."
"This isn't all of it, George was still cooking when I went to fetch thse two pans." Mia replied, "Speaking of...I'd better check on those two."
With that, she slithered outside with Ayesha close behind her.
They found Roger asleep in one of the wooden deck chairs while George was finishing up with his cooking.
He smiled at them and Mia stopped short.
Moments later she blurted out, "I thought you were drunk!"
He grinned at her and held a finger to his lips, "Shhhh! He's asleep."
George pointed at the roasting pans filled with foil wrapped objects and the flame blackened bean pot, "All done!" he whispered.
A buzzing snore came from Roger and George stifled a giggle, he whispered, "Leave him be for now, he's pretty tired."
Mia whispered back "You call it tired, I''ll call it drunk!"
George merely shrugged before he picked up the bean pot and headed back inside.
Mia and Ayesha took up a pan each and followed him back inside the house.
Mia set down her pan, then went to fetch a blanket to cover Roger with.
She sinuated back outside and gently laid the blanket over Roger's snoring form.
She paused a few moments to look him over before heading back inside.
Mia knew in her heart that she and her family owed their lives to this rough man turned scholar, that had come out of desert with the man she would ultimately marry and they turned their whole world upside down, for the better.
Satisfied that he was comfortable, Mia went back inside to help with dinner.
Dinner was family time and all of them participated either in preparing the food or in setting up the tables and place settings.
Mia, in her advanced state of pregnancy had been urged to 'supervise' rather than exert herself and naturally, Mia had ignored her husband's concerns and cheerfully lent a hand.
"I'm pregnant, not sick. Women get pregnant all the time and not once has the world stopped turning because a woman was pregnant. Besides...I'm stronger than you so, quitcherbitchin'!" she had declared.