SONS OF THE FATHERS

Chapter 21: Keepers of the Brothers

Terry slipped quietly back to the landing to make sure they were all right.  He stood there silently a moment, his chin quivering with great emotion, then he turned and went back up, suddenly filled with a great need to find annsmac.  
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He found her in the Opera Theater, standing amongst the set wreckage, studying the tapestry.  When she saw him walking toward her, she smiled and said,  "Did you know this has an actual name?  It's called 'The Curtain of the Sun' and was woven near Aubusson, France."

He returned her smile distractedly, focused on her person, not her words. He came up to her, almost pressed against her, looking down at her face.  Gazing up into his eyes, she was startled to see he was blinking back tears.

"Terry?" she said softly, worriedly.

He made no reply but only scooped her up into his arms, burying his face in her hair for a moment, then carrying her off the stage and up to a small, private area he'd come across earlier.  Closing the door behind them with his combat boot, he turned the latch and lay her atop a gold velvet couch that filled one wall of the small chamber. He remained silent as he knelt beside the couch, leaning forward to rest his cheek between her breasts and closing his eyes.  She could still see traces of unshed tears beneath his lashes and curved her arms about his head, cradling it.  

"What is it?" she murmured.

Slowly his eyes opened, meeting hers."Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he asked, his voice low, almost vibrating with the depth of his feeling.

Now her own eyes blinked back tears.  "I do," she whispered.  "I truly...do."

She moved her arms as he turned his head, beginning to kiss his way up her neck. Despite her words of affirmation, he needed...desperately...to show her.

Joimus, holding her husband tightly, knew this was more than just the new baby. Somehow the old wound had been reopened, had merged with the new, making it all the harder to bear.  He had tried so hard, had been so very close when the Praetorians rode up the lane to his home.  Perhaps if it had been days...but, no, it had been no more than an hour or two...only an hour or two...and the timing of it had nearly destroyed him. To come so far, to be so close, and then...still...to have it all taken away.   She knew he could not see this new baby without the taste of long-past ashes in his mouth.  And...so...she cried with him, for that is ever the way of love...holding on and not letting go, entering the other's pain. Balm is only truly balm when applied with a broken hand.

Time passed and though his wet cheek was still sealed against hers, he became so still she thought he must be sleeping.  She moved slightly, trying to see his face, but his hand tightened on her arm and he whispered,  "Stay."  

 

Her hip and shoulder ached from lying on the tile, but she lay back, wanting nothing more than to give him what he needed.  His eyes, mere inches from hers, looked at her steadily now.  "I'm...sorry," he said softly.

She touched his cheek with her fingertips.  "No, she said, returning his gaze, shaking her head slightly.  "No." She moved her fingers briefly, lightly to his wounded lip.  

He sighed deeply, closing his eyes, pulling her closer still.  "You have surprised me with the joy of you," he murmured, his lips in her hair, "when I thought never to know it again."

His body jerked suddenly and he pulled back enough to look at her. "Dess? Where  is Dess?"

"In the car with Jack and Rose," she said.  "Just outside."  

He blew out a long breath.  "He is safe."

"Yes," she said, "he is safe...but he needs his parents."

Maximus sat up, pulling her with him, nodding his agreement.  He got on one knee, but paused a moment before continuing as she rebuckled the one side of his cuirass. Running his fingers through her hair as she performed this service for him, he murmured, "You are my heart.  You understand this?"

She smiled, moving her palm to the embossed wolf's head that now lay in the center of his chest. "I know," she replied.  "I know."
 
Gaining his feet, he went up the steps gripping the rail with his right hand while Joimus supported him a bit on his left.  At the landing he tottered slightly and Bud, at the top of the flight, dashed down, grabbing his arm.  

"Whoa, there!" Bud said, steadying him.  "Tough night, eh?"

"I've had better," Maximus half-smiled.

"Worse, too, I imagine," Bud grinned.

With Bud on one side and Joimus on the other, they reached the foyer and headed for the main doors.

"Hold on there, Mate!" the senior guard called.  "You've got to come make your statement yet."

Joimus glared at the man.  "Not tonight.  He'll be making no statement tonight."

The guard looked at Maximus, sagging between the two.  His face was pale and blood still caked part of his beard.   Himself walked up, casting a concerned eye at the General. "You guys go ahead," he said, "I'll handle this."

As Bud and Joimus continued on with the General, the guard was saying to Himself, "OK, I see the bloke in the rumpled pants and suspenders, but where's the one in camo? I need statements from both of them."

Himself looked about the large room, unable to spot Terry.  "Anybody seen Terry lately?" he called loudly.  No one had.  

"Annsmac's not here, either," Buggie said helpfully.  "Do you think there's some connection?"  

Himself smiled.  That explained it then.  "I think you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that statement as well," he shrugged.  

The guard frowned.  Bloody nongs, the lot o' em! All bloody nongs!  He snorted then asked Himself, "What about the Sid bloke, the one who locked the rabbit on the roof?"

"I have no idea," Himself replied truthfully, though as he watched Maximus' back disappear through the doorway, he expected the General might.

Aubrey had hardly taken his eyes off the Monumental Steps after Joimus and Bud had disappeared at their top.  Now, at last, he saw them coming back, Maximus between them.

"God's blood!" he bellowed.  "Will you LOOK at him!"  He fumbled with the handle of the car door, finally managing to get it open just as the trio arrived at the curb.  If he had not been so purely the captain of a sailing vessel, Rose would have sworn she saw steam coming out of his ears.  She knew well how this enforced inactivity wore on his patience,
especially when his dearest friends were imperiled in some way.  With Maximus, that amounted to not less than 98% of the the time, sometimes...more.

Joimus got in first, sliding to the far end of the third row of seats behind Jack and Rose. She leaned briefly over the seat and Rose turned so she could see Dess was fast asleep. "Good," she smiled.  "Thank you so much!"  

Then as Bud helped Maximus enter the car, Jack quickly gripped the General's arm as he was partially inside.  "You all right?" he asked, concerned by the tired paleness of his friend's face, the blood on his beard.

"I am fine, Jack, truly," he said softly, managing a bit of a smile as he settled into the seat next to Joimus.

"For a guy who wasn't breathing just a bit ago, he's doing great," Bud added, causing Jack's brow to furrow more deeply.

"Wasn't breathing?"  the Captain repeated, narrowing one eye to study Maximus more closely.

Maximus just moved his hand in a way to dismiss the remark as unimportant, but Aubrey wasn't going to let it pass so easily.  He looked at Bud.  "Why?"

"Combination of stuff, probably, Jack.  Bein' tackled handcuffed.  Seein'...things. Falling down flights of steps."  Then Bud stepped back, shutting the door, as Alex and Pat got into the front seat to drive them to Woolloomooloo.

Jack glared at Bud through the window as they drove off, then turned to ask Maximus something more, but the General had leaned down with his head in Joimus' lap and his eyes were closed.  Joimus put her finger to her lips in a silent shhhhh and shook her head in a 'not now' gesture.  

 

They circled south of the Botanic Gardens toward Cowper Wharf Roadway and the entrance to the parking garage of Woolloomooloo.  It was very late in the night by now and everyone was tired.  Soon the entire cast was all abed in the Wharf...well, except for Terry and annsmac, who had found some, um, use for the gold velvet couch
and for Sid, Bunny, and Livi, all curled together in the canopied bed. Maximus had not actually told anyone where he'd seen them and so they were, as yet, undiscovered.

For some reason Bunny was tired and had fallen asleep.  Sid expected it must be due to the labor on the roof thing.  He, of course, had no need of sleep though he finally understood better what it was.  He had learned much of human behavior and bodily functions whilst inhabiting the General's body.  It still amazed him that humanity managed to survive as well as it did.  Livi wiggled between them and as he didn't want Bunny to miss her rest, he picked the baby up and went to sit in a chair near the lamp.  He held the child facing him, one of his hands curved around each side of the tiny body.  Hmmm?  Livi's head seemed to flop a bit when held like that, so he settled him in the crook of his left arm, studying his features.  

"Not much neck strength yet, eh, little guy," he murmured.  So this was how a newly-created human was.  It was much better, far better, he thought to step fully grown from a nice blue pod.  This tiny being was utterly vulnerable.  As Sid's fingers moved exploratorily over Livi's face, the baby opened his mouth and began to suck on the tip of Sid's little finger.  He was fascinated, to put it mildly.  Bits of Sid's facial structure began to pull and twitch oddly.  He felt...strange...as though the computerized systems deep inside him were downloading some new program.  In fact, for a moment, he lost his visual abilities and everything was completely black.  Then his gears whirred with an almost rebootingish sound and Livi's face was there again before him as he still sucked on Sid's fingertip.  His jaw went slack as he looked at the child in wonder and he knew, somehow he just...knew..., that he would shed every last ounce of his blue nanosauce before letting anyone else take this treasure from him.  

Joimus had helped Maximus off with his armor then tenderly taken a washcloth to his  beard and rubbed a bit of ointment on his lip. Now they were settled in their big, soft bed with Dess fed and half-asleep on his father's chest.  Maximus had his left hand cupped  across the baby's back and his right arm curved under Joimus' neck as she lay on her side, watching her two menfolk.  She loved the size of Maximus' large, brown hand atop their child, the way his strong fingers spread like a shield over the tiny body.

He watched her as she studied it, knowing her well, knowing what she was thinking. "As long as I have life," he said softly, "I will protect him."

In the dim light, he saw her lips curve into a small smile.  "I have no doubt of that, my love."  

She saw the brief flicker of his lids, a twitch of a jaw muscle, and knew he'd just heard again the pounding sound of Praetorian hooves. "Commodus is dead," she whispered, then at her own speaking of the name, wondered had Sid named the new baby that.

How Maximus always seemed to know where her train of thought was taking her still amazed her.  "Livius Vitus," he whispered.  He closed his eyes, remembering how the baby had looked.  Then he looked at her, shaking his head slightly.  "Why would they name him...that?"  

Not quite so up on the meaning of Roman names, she didn't understand what he meant. "Is it...strange...somehow?" she asked.

"Livius Vitus," he repeated.  "Taken quite literally it means 'envious of the life of'." He licked his lips.  "I don't think Sid realizes that, so Bunny must have named him."

Joimus thought about this bit of information for a while.  It made sense...almost too much sense.  The child had been conceived because Sid was so jealous of the life that Maximus had as Maximus that he had taken it from him.  Bunny loved Sid, but, still, she was making some quiet acknowledgement of the source of the seed. "And his last name?" she asked.

"I don't know," Maximus replied.  "It was not spoken."

"Whatever it is," she said, "he is Dess' half brother.  There is no getting around that." She only wished the 9th verse of the 4th chapter of Genesis had not so suddenly and clearly sprung to her mind.  ("And the Lord said unto Cain, 'Where is Abel, thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?'") Quickly her eyes moved back to Maximus' hand over Dess.  Those strong brown fingers, yes, they could keep out swords and daggers, chains and even tigers...but could a...brother...find his way through them?  She closed her eyes, giving her head a hard shake to chase away such a totally untoward thought.  Livi was only hours old, for Pete's sake!  How much more innocent could you get than that?  And he was genetically Maximus'.  Such a silly thought!  But...then...she considered who would be raising him, who his role model would be, and she couldn't help herself.  She shuddered...just a bit.

Meanwhile, in the room under the Reception Hall, Sid smiled at the newborn he held. He had thought he had plumbed the depths of his Maximus fascination by walking the land inside his very form and substance.  And in that form, with that substance, he, Sid, had generated...life...THIS life.  This life belonged to HIM!  He and he alone was its creator.  It was a living, human, being...and HE had caused it to come into being.  Maybe he couldn't, unlike Pinocchio, become "real" and remain that way, but he had created something that was real, something that would grow, would have...red...blood.  It was more than he had expected, more than he had allowed himself to dream, that this bit of life that he now saw as a living, human extension of himself... would look so exactly like Maximus.  And here the being was, in his very hands, his to mold, to guide. It was the best of both worlds.  This child would grow up, looking like the General, but inside...he would be...Sid.

 

"I shall make sure of that," he murmured, watching his little treasure suckle his fingertip.  Dess might be a combination of Maximus and Joimus, but Livi would be MaxiSid.  How perfect! A whole new generation to carry on the legacy! Sid's lips curved into a huge, satisfied grin.  Could life get any better  than that?  He kissed Livi's forehead.

 

"Mine," he said, lifting the baby and lightly tapping its forehead with his own. "Strength and honor."  Then he laughed.