Uriel was crying. The heartbreak he was reliving was so raw I felt my eyes tear up. I wanted to ask more, but gave him time to tell me at his own pace.
“You have her eyes, and get the same look when you find something wondrous around you. She was tall, like you, but with hair the color of sunset. Losing her nearly killed me. When I attacked Michael after I learned he’d talked her into getting pregnant, part of me wanted to die because losing her would be a worse fate.”
He sniffed, and wiped his face. “I should’ve been stronger and realized how terrible the Fentons were, but I was broken. I failed you, and for that I’m deeply sorry.”
Henry and I had only found each other a short time ago, but losing him would be devastating. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to watch him die after being together four thousand years. I reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry too. In my anger, I ignored your loss. You didn’t fail me, Uriel. I’m alive and finally happy.”
“You’re kind,” he said. “I want you to know, even though Ariel only held you for a few moments, it… it brought her immense joy.
Uriel broke down, covering his face with his right hand. I realized the cold exterior was a wall he’d constructed to hold back his grief. The anger I had for everything that happened to me, for everything I lost, fled when confronted with Uriel’s pain.
Doing what his sister asked cost him so much, but Uriel stayed true to his promise. How could I hate him for something he did out of love?
I stood in front of Uriel and waited until he moved his hand. Spreading my arms apart, I waited until he realized what I was offering. He rose, and I embraced him. Tears rolled down my cheeks for the mother I’d never know, but whose love was passed on by the brother who grieved her passing.
Uriel was the first to break the hug. “Thank you,” he said. “She would be so proud of you. I know I am.”
I sank into the chair, still overwhelmed by everything. “There’s so much I want to know, but I don’t know where to start.”
“Understandable,” Uriel said, moving his chair around so we faced each other. “Do not feel you need to ask me everything today. I’ll always be available to talk to you about Ariel and anything else you want to discuss.”
He was right, but there were some questions I wanted to ask right away. “Do you know who my father is?”
“I do,” Uriel's voice betrayed his feelings. “This is not a simple topic. There was no love between the two. My visions guided her to the angel with the necessary genetic makeup.”
The clinical description made me sound like a transaction. “Is he dead?”
“He’s alive.” Uriel sighed deeply. “I will tell you his name, but as I said, this is complicated. After you were conceived he had no contact with Ariel, or me. He made no inquiries after Ariel died as to your wellbeing. Perhaps he learned from his family you had died, but it was never widely disseminated that Ariel was pregnant or died in childbirth.”
He didn’t sound much better than the Fentons. “Who is he?”
“Eliakim Grant,” Uriel said. “Ephrem Grant’s oldest son, and older brother to Esrom Grant—Trevor’s father.”
Clearly it was complicated for more than a few reasons. “So Trevor and I are first cousins.”
“You are.” Uriel nodded. “And before you ask, Trevor does not know. Raphael and I told the world you had died. If the Grants even knew Eliakim was the father of Ariel’s child, they would have thought you didn’t survive.”
A dozen thoughts whizzed through my brain, one of which was how glad I was Trev and I never hooked up. “Are you going to tell him I’m alive?”
“I will let you decide if you want me to,” Uriel said. “Eliakim is difficult. He's not evil, but he's also not a pleasant man. He makes Michael look warm and fuzzy.”
From what little I knew of Michael that was a grim comparison, but he was still my father. Or at least my sperm donor. “Can I think about it first?”
“Yes, of course.” Uriel stood and walked to a side table. “I suggest you talk to Trevor first. When he was a preteen, he tried to speak to his father and Eliakim back handed Trevor sending him flying across the room. Trevor has a scar on his lipfrom Eliakim’s ring. Esrom nearly killed his brother for hurting Trevor.”
I was wrong, he sounded worse than the Fentons. “I think I’ll ask Trev before I decide. Besides, that means I’m a Grant now, and not a Fenton.”
“Not exactly.” Uriel removed a sheet of paper from a notebook and passed it to me. “That is your true name.”
It was a New York State birth certificate. Written on the front was my real name. “Abraham Daniel Chandler. “Why Chandler and not Grant?”
“Eliakim did not know of your birth.” Uriel returned to his seat, carrying the book. “Ariel and I use the surname Chandler so I used that to honor her. You may change it to Grant if you prefer.”
I wasn’t ready to make any name changes just yet. “I want to talk to Henry first.”
“A wise idea.” He handed me the thick leather bound book. “In her long life, your mother acquired many things. They are yours now.”
I opened the notebook, and my breath caught. Page after page of assets, accounts, properties. Numbers with so many zeros my brain couldn't process them. “How…. All of this is mine?”
