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Excerpt: An Angel in the family

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Adam Royal

Our son’s an angel?!

          “Love this camper, but it’s getting really old!” Jo crabs, “Little Seth Junior’s driving me nuts, he can’t sleep well for some reason.”  She looks at me with a whiny-face, moaning, “Are we there yet?”

          “Jo, give Dad a break,” Seth entreats, “You know where Ethan is, on the downside of the Pacific.  Somewhere near Impossible-To-Get-To and You’ve-Got-To-Be-Kidding, as usual.  Why are you griping?  It’ll be a little over an hour, Jeff said.  Buck up, we’re in the home stretch, can see the finish line from here.”  He goes over to her, holding out his hands, “Here, give him to me, your attitude’s just making him worse.”

          Handing the baby to Seth, she grumps, “Now I’m a bad mother, too.  My butt’s sore, my back hurts, I’ve used up every possible sitting position known to man!  I’m ready to jump in and swim the rest of the way, just to get some exercise!”

          “If you don’t shut up, I just might help you,” Seth warns, “The water’s deep enough, you probably won’t hit the bottom from this altitude.  Wanna try?”

          “Okay, already,” she capitulates, “An hour, I can do that, I’ll just pace the rest of the way.”

          “You do and I’ll break your kneecap,” Seth challenges, as he’s making Daddy faces at the baby.  The baby’s responding with squeals of delight, he’s already figured his parents out at his age.  “Wouldja lookit that, he likes for us to fight.  Wonder if he’d laugh out loud if I chucked you in the sea?”

          “Two against one, I’m out-numbered,” she flops on the divan, “It’s not fair.  Ellen, how’d you ever manage with three?”

          “I’m the Momma,” Ellen kids, “You know how that goes, ‘Nobody messes with the Momma!’” she grins, “Isn’t that right, Adam.”

          “Yes, dear,” I reply dutifully.

          “You could say it with a little more feeling,” Ellen suggests, “Just to let them know your heart’s in it.”

          Looking up from the report I’m not reading, I pull my glasses down and look over their top, casting a sideways glance at her as I ask, “You want to swim there, too?”

          She grins evilly, “You couldn’t make it without me, I’m your whole reason for living.  Got you right where I want you, and we both know it.”

          Smiling back, I agree, “Yup.  Doesn’t mean you can’t swim.”

          Jeff’s voice comes over the intercom, “Fifteen minutes, strap in, folks, almost there.  Henderson International Airport, Guadalcanal in under fifteen.”

          “Why’s the airport so far away from Honiara?” Jo asks for the umpteenth time.

          “Did I know the other jillion times you asked?” I reply.

          “No,” she comes back, “But I’m Einstein’s definition of nuts, cut me some slack.”

          “Ethan said some Hounds would be waiting for us when we got there,” I remind her again, “They’ll take us to the Ginney.”

          “Well, know I’m looking forward to a bumpy Hummer ride, perfect end to an endless trip,” she pouts, “My butt’s already swollen bigger than a watermelon, just so I can have new places to be too sore to sit on.”

          “When we get in the Hummer, Ellen can hold the baby and you can sit on Seth’s lap,” I suggest, “How about that?”

          She makes a Eureka-face and laughs, “That’s why you’re the Poppa, great mind!”

          “Hey!  Since when is my lap open for negotiations?” Seth snorts.

          “Fine print, boy,” I inform him, “It’ll get you every time.”

~*~

          As we pull up to Honiara Port, the Hounds jump out and come around to help us climb down from the Hummer, well, Ellen and me, Seth and Jo bound out before the Hummer’s stopped good, Jo reclaiming the baby from Ellen.  Jo, bouncing in place, waits for us ‘old folks’ to hit the ground.  “I’m stiff as a board,” I admit, “Will be great to walk anywhere,” looking around, then out toward the water, I point, “There’s the Ginney, almost home free, guys.”

          Seth enthuses, “Hey, Dianna, where’d you get those great new uniforms?  Now that is seriously sharp!”

          Dianna, replies cryptically, “Boy! Are you in for some major input.  Brace yourselves, the world is new around here.”

          Looking around, Ellen asks, “Where are our things?  Did you forget our bags back at the airport?”

          “No, ma’am,” Edward assures her, “We have them.”

          “That’s nice,” Ellen presses, “Where?”

          Without turning to face us or even slowing her pace, Dianna holds up a little roundish metal box, stating, “In here.”  As one, we all stop dead in our tracks and look at Dianna.  “Wow!  You guys are in sync!  Center of attention.  That can’t be good,” she assesses as she turns to  face us, “Really, they are all in here.  I’ll show you when we board the Ginney,” then mutters as she resumes leading us again, “If you even remember you ever had them after you board the Ginney.”  Okay, what’s going on?

~*~

          As we walk up to the entrance to the Ginney’s Main Salon, there’s a huge box of some sort standing just past the door.  Seth stops and stares at it, “Why’d Ethan put something like this right here?  It’s blocking the flow of traffic on the deck, shouldn’t it be in the hold?”

          “Sort of looks like an elevator without a shaft,” Jo suggests, “Is it a storage container?”

          Dianna states, “It’s a portal, a Full-Sized Battle Portal to be exact, it takes you places.”

          “When was the last time I told you your idea of input sucked?” Seth asks Dianna.

          “It’s been too long,” she grins, then opens the door and ushers us into the Main Salon, warning, “Brace yourselves.”

          Looking over at her, wondering what she could possibly mean, I nearly run Seth down and stop abruptly, Ellen bumping into my back, “Adam!  Ouch!  You never stop on a green light!”

          Reaching out to catch myself on Seth’s shoulder, since he’s stopped dead for some reason, bringing the parade to a halt, I’m suddenly aware of a very bright light not far in front of him and jerk my head up to see what it is, then just stand there, frozen, blurting, “There’s an angel in the middle of Ethan’s Main Salon, a real angel.”  Staring in open-mouthed awe, I note he’s almost blinding in his brilliance, gloriously awe-inspiring and terrifying all at once, as well as being absolutely impossible to exist in any sort of reality I’ve ever known.

          Ellen puts her hand on my arm, asking, “A what?” as she looks around me, then freezes in place, too, staring at the angel, only she wonders in a barely audible whisper, “How beautiful… so beautiful… my baby’s an angel?” then mutters, “He died?”

          “Hi, guys,” Ethan says happily, “Thanks for coming.  Come on in!  Great to see y’all!”  I just nod, my eyes huge, not believing any of this.  That’s really Ethan?

          Seth blurts, “DID you die?!  How’d you finally kill yourself?!”

          Jo takes a long step toward Ethan and pokes his arm with her finger, “You’re really there, aren’t you?  You’re an angel and you’re really there.  A blindingly beautiful angel with huge, beautiful wings and a halo.  My brother-in-law’s an angel.  Even wearing angel clothes.”

          Ethan throws his hands up, “I’m fine!  I’m not dead, just going through a few, uh… changes, that’s all.”

          Seth states, “Putting on a few pounds, losing some hair, even growing another inch, those are going through a few changes, not turning into an angel!”

          “Will you guys please get off those steps?  You’re blocking traffic,” Ethan jokes.

          “If I close my eyes, it’s Ethan, just need to keep my eyes closed,” Ellen mutters, then sighs, mumbling as afterthought, “I’ll break my neck.”

          Pushing Seth’s shoulder, I order, “Let me pass, boy,” and Seth moves aside.  Going up to Ethan, I hesitate, then realize this is Ethan, no matter who else he seems to be, and grab him, giving him a big hug, stating, “You’re not dead, at least.  That’s a comfort.”

          He hugs me back, saying, “Thanks, Dad, I can always count on your level-headedness.”

          Ellen runs to him, wraps her arms around him and hugs him for dear life, “You’re still my baby boy, angel or not.”

          Ethan returns her hug in the same way he always has, wrapping his arms around her as he lays his cheek on the top of her head and closes his eyes, “That’s right, Mom, always.”

          Seth laughs as he pokes Ethan’s arm, “We can always count on you to pull some stunt like this, but this one tops everything!”

          Jo, usually babbling away, dominating the conversation, hasn’t said a word since she poked Ethan.  Looking at her, I see she’s crying about the same time Ellen does.  Unwrapping from Ethan, Ellen goes over to Jo and hugs her, asking, “Baby, what’s wrong?”

          Not taking her eyes off Ethan she says, “Don’t you understand?  He’s a real angel, real, terrible and wonderful all at once, a Messenger of God, a Warrior for God.  That’s the blinding light that’s shining from him, God’s light.”  Walking slowly over to him, she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him, laying her head on his chest, muttering, “I’m hugging a real angel,” as he hugs her back.

          All the prankster drains out of him as Seth asks in an incredulous, hushed tone, “God’s light?  An angel of God?” seeming to at last fully realize the supernatural import of who Ethan is.  His eyes glisten as he stares unblinking at his brother, a look of something near worship on his face, then whispers, “My brother is an angel of the Lord of all Creation?”

          With a gentle smile, Ethan nods, replying, “Yes, guess I am.”

~*~