Zeke and Orion were my backups for the mission, so I was sure we could work it out. “I’ll get on it today.”
“This is going to be so much fun,” Brenda said. “I can’t wait to tell Zeke you want him to let me have a party at his house.”
“That’s not—” Brenda hung up before I could clarify that I wasn’t telling Zeke what to do.
My mistake was not warning Zeke before I called Brenda. Hopefully he knew me well enough to call before accepting his sister’s word for things.
I’d started walking to my office rather than take a ride share because I didn’t want the driver to hear my conversation with Brenda. I was halfway there already, so I decided to keep going and make another call. This one I wasn’t quite as eager to make.
The phone rang and I wondered if he was busy. I didn’t think he was out of the country. On the third ring, he answered.
“Henry.” Dad sounded glad to hear from me. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
His greeting was a subtle reminder he found out Nick was myHKarlinfrom Michael. “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t call you and Mom. It doesn’t feel like we’re a true couple yet, so I wasn’t thinking I needed to tell everyone.”
“Fortunately, Uriel sent me an email explaining everything.” Dad didn’t seem mad. “It took a bit of the starch out of Michael when he told me thinking I didn’t know.”
Another example of Uriel not being the asshole everyone made him out to be. “Still, I should’ve said something. I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing,” he said. “This is a difficult mission. Between being in the middle of Michael and Uriel’s fight, finding out Nick’s your soul mate, and nearly losing him because you can’t tell him things, that’s a lot to deal with. You know we just want you to be happy.”
Yet another time I was glad I had him for my father and not Michael. “I don’t know what to do, Dad. I can’t tell him what’s happening, I can’t tell him I can help him deal with what I can’t tell him is happening, and I’m scared he’s going to hurt himself or worse use powers he can’t control because we can’t teach him to use them properly.”
“Don’t take this as a personal failure, son,” Dad said gently. “Nick’s the first angel born to human parents. It’s unprecedented. There’s no training manual to follow. Michael, Raphael and I are working with others to figure out how we can help Nick control his powers, yet not tell him who and what he is.”
I felt a little better knowing I wasn’t alone, but as Nick’sHKarlin, I couldn’t let go of my fear. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate that.”
“Of course.” I heard him typing in the background. “The best piece of advice I can give you right now, is keep him calm and happy. Do whatever you can to minimize his stress.”
Dad didn’t say anything different than we’d concluded in our meeting, but hearing him validate our decisions made me feel a bit more confident. “That’s our plan.”
“Glad to hear your generation is as capable as we’d expected.”
I wasn’t sure we were, but we knew we needed to step up if we were going to survive. “Thanks, Dad. Let me know if you hear anything else. Give my best to Mom.”
“I’ll do both,” he said. “Remember to take care of yourself as well as Nick. You’re a team. He won’t survive without you.”
Put in such stark terms, I realized I hadn’t considered what would happen to Nick without me. “I will.”
The office was another fifteen minutes away, which was good. I needed the time to think about my next step.
Nick
Isettled into my cubicle, careful not to spill my coffee on Henry’s tie. How had I forgotten mine? Henry’s silk tie probably cost half my take home pay for the week. Not that he’d be upset if something happened. To him it was just a tie, but I couldn’t change who I was so easily.
The real reason I didn’t want to ruin his things is how wonderful he’d been to me since we met. He was the kindest, sweetest person I’d ever dated. My request to just sleep together didn’t upset him, or if it did, it didn’t show. He held me all night, and I couldn’t remember a better night’s sleep. Waking up with him made Monday morning almost welcome.
Okay, Mondays still sucked, but I didn’t seem to mind getting ready for work when I did it with Henry. If this was a snapshot into how our life would be, sign me up, pick out the rings, and set a date.
Shaking my head, I realized I was gettingwaytoo ahead of things. It hadn’t been a week, but Henry was different. I didn’t know why, but I was sure he planned to stick around. The way he’d held me in bed, his warm breath on my neck, and the soft whispers that he was so glad I was there, felt right in a waynothing else ever had. Probably wishful thinking, but I’d never had this calm feeling of surety as I did with him.
I logged in, read my emails, and then moved on to my current projects. I expected to be distracted, but breezed through my tasks. Every time I finished one job, I took a moment to think of Henry. The way he smiled as we made breakfast side by side, the gentle kiss before we left his condo, and the promise of more of the same in the days ahead.
“Earth to Nick!” Brenda’s voice cut through my latest reverie, startling me back to reality. She was leaning against the edge of my cubicle, an amused smirk on her face.
I checked the time, and was stunned it was already 10:30. She must’ve been busy to not show up first thing to ask about my date.
“Hey Brenda,” I said, not feeling even the slightest bit embarrassed. “You’re late. I expected you’d be stalking me before I came in to get the deets.”
