Newt grabbed a cup and sat down at the table. Dee walked over to join him and Niall and chirped, "Good morning - well - technically it IS still morning although it will soon be lunch time. But I could still prepare breakfast. How late did you stay out?" and continued without giving Newt a chance to respond, "you know, Cordell was getting antsy, but we made him leave you two alone and go to bed."
"Dee!" exclaimed Niall, "Let him be. Quit giving him the third degree."
"Dee!" exclaimed Niall, "Let him be. Quit giving him the third degree."
"It's okay Niall," said Newt, "We stayed out until dawn when Cordell came looking for Delia. He wasn't happy to say the least."
"Oh?" said Dee raising her eyebrow.
"He had a right to be mad," said Newt, "We took off and stayed out all night without a word to anyone. They argued when they came up but from the sounds coming from across the hall, I am pretty sure they made up," laughed Newt.
Then he took a breath, "Dee, she has been through a lot and I only saw the tip of the iceberg last night. Delia told me she has born 18 children! How does one woman do that? She should be the parent and me the child! I have nothing to offer her."
"Did she say how she did that?" asked Dee.
"Something about potions she was able to create. She has had a lot of tragedy and uncertainty in her life while I lay asleep hiding, she has even seen and coupled with a ghost AND had a child by him. I wanted to ask her about the possibility of communicating with Adele's ghost, but it seemed like too much to ask."
"Why?" asked Niall.
"Because I have no right Niall."
"Maybe she doesn't know it's possible," replied Niall.
"She can communicate with ghosts," said Newt.
Niall thought about what Newt said before speaking again. "She communicates with ghosts she had very strong connection with. I am not saying she didn't have one with her mother, but Adele died a natural death. Delia's first husband died tragically and he probably couldn't move on. THAT is who she had the connection with. She would have to find Adele's spirit and bring her ghost to the human world so they could communicate. That can be very dangerous."
With desperation Niall replied, "But she said she had a ghost baby. She became pregnant by her first husband's ghost and her baby was stuck between the spirit world and the human world and she created a potion that allowed him to make the full transition to the human world," then turning to Dee he asked, "Dee, could she do that if we could conjure Adele's ghost like you said?"
"It's not that simple Newt and anyway Delia may not know the first part is possible. Adele would revive elderly and sick. Delia would have to cure her and reverse her aging so she could survive. Those are insurmountable hurdles Newt."
"But it's possible. We could bring Adele back. She would be alive again?" asked Newt.
"Yes," replied Niall, "Dee and I both think Delia is very powerful and has the ability to do exactly that. But it is very dangerous. Whoever performs the ritual could exchange their life for the life of the spirit they are trying to revive if not done perfectly. Think long and hard before you ask the daughter you just found to risk her life to try and find her mother. As much as all of us want that, is that what Delia wants? She has found true happiness for the first time in her life. Who are we to take that away?"
"You are right Niall. I have no right to ask her. At least not yet. But I can't stop thinking about the possibility. We could be a real family.
I need to spend some more time with her today. What about her Genie husband. They are powerful aren't they. If the legend is true, they can grant wishes - right.?"
"Not exactly," said Niall, "they use mind control to grant wishes which hurts people badly. Mind control is their one true power. Making others do their bidding. They can't bring back the dead. But he might be able to help find the artifacts and herbs required to perform the rituals."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sun was up and Cordell knew it was late in the morning and they needed to get up. He kissed Delia on the shoulder to try and wake her gently. He felt really bad about the night before but the make up sex had been incredible. They both badly needed that connection.
Delia began to stir when he continued to nibble on her shoulder. She finally woke up and turned over. She looked up and Cordell sitting there grinning at her. "How long have you been watching me sleep?"
"Just a few minutes."
She reached up and kissed him, "Well stop it. I probably was drooling!"
"I love watching you drool, but we need to get up. I smell coffee next door."
"Gahhh, I need some," said Delia as she scooted out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
"I love you too. I will try to control my jealousy while we are here. We haven't even discussed how things went last night."
Delia grabbed Cordell and forced him to look into her eyes. "Look at me you big over-protective Genie! You will hear it all. It's just...just something I have to do alone. With just me and Newt. I can't explain it. But it doesn't mean I love you less."
"I need to call the band and let them know how much longer I will be gone. I also need to call home. I miss the kids. We have never been away from them like this. Now go on. Get some coffee and bond with my family. I will be right behind you."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cordell walked over to the Thorns apartment. "Good morning! I smell coffee and maybe some pancakes?"
"Hi. Good morning to you," said Dee, "Help yourself to coffee. Where is Delia?"
Delia will be right down, she needed to make a couple of phone calls."
"Oh good. We can talk over breakfast."
Cordell walked over and began to apologize to Newt for his behavior the previous night. As they were talking Delia walked down the stairs. Newt's gaze immediately locked onto his daughter and everything Cordell was saying was nothing but noise.
When she saw her father looking at her she couldn't help but walk straight over to him. He never stopped looking at her. It was just like they had this weird connection all of a sudden.
Cordell stopped talking when he realized he no longer had Newt's attention and realized what was distracting him. Cordell couldn't help it, he wanted to punch the man that stole his wife's attention.
Fortunately Dee broke the spell Newt had Delia under calling out, "Pancakes are on the table. Get them while they are hot everyone!"
Niall started the conversation, "Cordell said you were checking in with the kids, How are they holding up without you?"
Delia laughed, "Well, I think Jewel is ready for us to come back! She is only accustomed to dealing with one 11 year-old. That's not too bad, but now she has a 10 year-old, a teenager AND a 4 year-old whose father spoiled her rotten!"
"Hey, I don't spoil our kids!"
"Yeah, who are you trying to convince Ge...uh...Cordell!"
Newt was very quiet during the exchange. He kept thinking about how much he had missed out on with Adele and Delia and how hard it must have been for Adele not to have had anyone in her life. He felt so undeserving to be here now. The more he listened to them talk and remembering the intimacy they had obviously shared the night before, the more he wanted - no needed - to have Adele back. He would do anything to make his relationship with his daughter work, but he would always have a hole in his heart where Adele was concerned. He decided he would approach Delia today and tell her what Dee and Niall said. Adele was Delia's mother. Surely she would also want her back in her life as much as he needed her in his.
After breakfast Newt pulled Delia off into the corner. "Delia, would you mind joining me again outside. I would like to continue our conversation from last night. There is so much I want to say and I want to know. I have no doubt you have many stories that I long to hear."
Delia looked over at Cordell. She knew this was going to be hard for him but she had to do it.
"Of course Newt. But I need to let Cordell know. We don't need a repeat of last night."
Newt got embarrassed thinking about the sounds he heard coming from their bedroom. He swallowed and said, "Of course. He had every right to be angry. We were out all night Delia."
Delia lowered her voice and said, "Well it was more than being worried. I am afraid he is quite jealous."
Newt laughed and leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I would be jealous too if my beautiful wife stayed out all night long with a man she just met."
Delia laughed. "Okay. One minute and I will meet you outside."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Thanks for agreeing to spend this time with me. I know it is causing a strain on your relationship with your husband. I don't want to interfere," said Newt.
"You aren't interfering and he will get over it. Cordell is a good man. He is jealous and protective, but not unreasonable."
Delia and Newt sat down at the table they were at the previous day.
"I want to know more about your experience with your first husband - uh his ghost."
"Why?"
"How did he die?"
"He froze to death outside our home. I am still not sure what happened. I was devastated. About 6 months later I dreamed that he came to me and - well he made love to me. Only it wasn't a dream. It was real. I became pregnant. But I was in denial. Our oldest son's wife was pregnant and that is how I realized that was what was wrong with me. I rationalized that I must have become pregnant right before he died. I left town to have my baby - told our sons that I needed to get away. It was horrible. I left my children to hide. I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. My first girl. I had already discovered the potion to reverse the aging process."
"Do you know how he was able to contact you?"
"Not really. He just showed up randomly. I didn't try to get him to materialize. I let him into my bed again years later. Only this time the result was the ghost baby I told you about. That was when I knew that the visits from him were real and not dreams. He began to talk to me and tell me things. He always came to me when I was sad. "
"You said you fixed your ghost baby. Made him human. How did you do that?"
"I found a recipe for ambrosia. It restores the human body to a ghost. But the ghost has to consume it. My child was in this world. But sort of caught between the two worlds. He was born a ghost but acted like a human in almost every way. That was one of the worst times of my life. His father actually visited him a few times when he was a toddler and picked him up. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen. Needless to say, I never allowed my dead husband back into my bed."
Delia started to cry, "It was awful. And so stupid. I was alone. It was just me and Alex. I was so messed up. The man I finally let into my life then was evil but he fooled me and said he could help me 'cure' Alex. I think he was a ghost hunter and thought if I could create the cure he could use it."
"I got pregnant on our honeymoon and he was not happy. When I got pregnant a second time he was furious and stopped sleeping with me at all. Alex was 16 when we finally cured him."
Delia looked up at Newt. "I have a basement full of mother's things. She was trying to find a cure for herself I think. I haven't even read all of her journals. I couldn't. But everything about that side of my life, the potions, the mementos, they are all there. He found a Philosophers Stone and was using it to conjure and transmute items. It backfired and killed him. I ran again."
Newt got up walked around behind his daughter and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm so sorry. You have been through so much. I didn't mean to make you live through it again."
"Buy why, what is this really about Newt? Why the interest in my ghosts?"
Newt sat back down. "Is he the only one you have ever seen?"
"I saw Vladimir a couple of times and talked to him. He was murdered. Victoria, our daughter that drowned, came to me when her son was turning into a wolf and we were trying to figure out what was wrong with him. She told me what to look for."
Delia got up again when it suddenly hit her why Newt was so interested in ghosts. She looked at him across the table and demanded, "Newt, again, why the interest in my ghosts?"
"I - I just hoped that if you were able to communicate with ghosts - well that we could try to summon Adele. That I could tell her I tried to find her."
Newt ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry Delia. I hoped you would want to find her too. Dee and Niall..."
"Dee and Niall?! They put you up to this!"
"NO! It's all me. They told me not to. But I had to ask."
Delia turned around. She couldn't look at him. She felt betrayed somehow and she wasn't sure why.
"Don't you understand. All I wanted was to tell her I tried and I never stopped loving her...Please turn around Delia. Don't shut me out. Without you in my life, I have no life."
"Wrong! You have a life and now it is up to you to make it worthwhile instead of chasing ghosts. I am not what defines your life. Mother made a life without you and she never stopped loving you either. But she moved on."
Newt pulled her back around so he could look at her. "Delia, you are obviously the parent in this relationship and I am the child. You are so much wiser than me. I am sorry. It's like I went to sleep and when I woke up only a day had passed when in reality 180 years passed me by. You have much more life experience than I do. Forget I asked. You are right. She is gone. I thought I had accepted it but when Dee and Niall..."
"I will talk to Dee. She shouldn't be getting your hopes up. I guess she also hoped. God. They wanted a chance to say they are sorry too." Delia hung her head and said more softly, "Newt, I don't know how to summon a ghost. They just came to me in my time of need. They tried to help me and ease my pain. If I could, I promise, I would do everything in my power to bring back my mother for all of us." 
Newt pulled Delia to him and kissed her on the top of her head. He hugged her last night when she cried and he had wanted to kiss her but was afraid. But he needed to do this now to show her how much he cared for her. She definitely has had a rough life but has weathered it like a champ. He was proud to call her his daughter. He just needed to make her proud to call him her father.
Newt didn't want to let go of her so he grabbed her around the waist and said, "Come on, It's already way past dinner time and I think there is one Genie up there that is about to come unglued missing you!"
Delia leaned into his embrace and put her arm around his neck and together they walked back up to the elegant tree house that Dee and Niall called home.
No comments:
Post a Comment