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Indeed, seeing Gabriel holding Athena in his arms would be the culmination of all our struggles. “Fine. I’ll let you have her. I’ll stay here in the study, under the protection of Shadow. The sweet Mastiff raised his giant head from his cuddly bed and searched for the person calling him. After the lazy stare, Shadow went back to sleep.
“I’ve seen several members of her retinue lurking around the castle. I believe her lackeys have been informed already. The sooner we summon her, the better,” Troy said.
“Agreed. I will send her the invite in the following days,” said Gabriel. “You may leave.”
Kira and Troy nodded and exited the study.
I looked at the love of my life and remembered I hadn’t called Athena in several days. Though, it seemed more like a thousand. “Gabriel, we must video call my parents and see how Athena is doing. They’re probably so exhausted.”
The idea surprised Gabriel. He didn’t expect the jump from planning to overthrow an insurmountable power to calling my sleepless parents. Or, at least, I hoped so. I dialed my mom’s number, praising the gods of WIFI for the decent connection. “Hello, Mom. How are you? How’s Athena?”
“Hi, Petra. So glad you called. We were wondering with your dad what happened. Now that I see your face, I feel better.” Mom exhaled in relief.
“Is everything okay with Athena?” I asked, encouraging Gabriel to join, but he still hesitated.
“Of course. She’s playing giddy-up with Grandpa.” Mom chuckled.
From the looks of it, they had a blast. “We want to see her,” I said.
“Oh, you’re not alone. Are you back to smooching with Gabriel?” She wiggled her brows several times.
“Mom,” I interjected.
“You know I have a smell for these things,” my mom said. “Hey, Grandpa, what’s with the stinky smell? Did Athena poop again? I just changed her.”
I only heard my dad grumble something.
“I told you not to eat so many dried plums,” Mom said.
“But you said I had to,” Dad said, trying to defend himself hopelessly.
“I said a couple, not two full fists. Look at you now. Slowly, you’re going to balloon yourself out of here. I’ll have to tie you down with a rope. Oh, hello, Gabriel. So nice to see you.” Mom’s voice sounded like a roller-coaster.
“The pleasure is all mine. I see you’re enjoying the time spent with Athena,” he said cheerfully, but I noticed the sad tinge in his tone.
“You and Petra had brought us a house full of joy. We’re grateful to spend every second with her.”
“Mom, can we see her?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said and placed the phone on the table. After looking at my parents’ popcorn ceiling for a while, the camera pointed at our precious little daughter, Athena.
The look on Gabriel’s face was indescribable. A mix of awe, hurt, despair, and discouragement. I didn’t realize Gabriel had never seen Athena properly. His last encounter ended with us fleeing. For me, it’s been a week since I saw her last, and she already had plumper cheeks.
“She has grown so much,” I said. “We cannot wait to hold her in our arms again. Right, Gabriel?”
Gabriel nodded quickly, still struggling to utter a word.
“I’ll call tomorrow, Mom. We have something to finish up,” I said.
“Okay, my dear. I’ll talk to you soon. Costi, can you stop polluting the air already?”
“Sharon, it’s a natural human process.”
“Go to the neighbors and share some of your natural human processes with them. See what they say.”
I realized Mom forgot to hang up and did so myself.
“Your parents didn’t change at all,” said Gabriel.
