Part Seventeen: Squirrels Again

The warm desert air of Mojave fanned Rahab's face, as she stood on the back terrace that overlooked the newly landscaped garden. The house was the typical white stucco and Spanish tile of the Southwest, finally completed, surrounded by its own oasis of green palms and ice plants and palmettos, and pale brown/pink adobe walls, that stood on a hilltop covered in sage and mesquite. It was a house built just the way she wanted, a mile or so up the road from Mike's place, so Gaele could have both parents without the flak of their having to live together. After several brainstorming and often stormy discussions, Rahab, Raphael and Mike had come up with the solution: Live close but not too close. To Gaele, these were two houses in one big, back yard. Everyone seemed to be satisfied, at least for the moment.

Rahab's thoughts were interrupted by the all too familiar feeling of tiny but restless feet pummelling her ribs. Though nearly as active, this baby was easier on her than Devon had been in utero. Maybe it would be a girl, this time... Devon, now nearly a year old, was a powerhouse. His appetite was immense, and Raphael swore he could actually see the kid growing.

Rahab rubbed her distended abdomen absently, trying to ease the pressure of the baby's movements. She actually felt good, for once. Emotionally, that is. The nausea had come with a vengeance, but she was well past that stage now, in fact, she was due any day. There was no sense of urgency though, the house was finished, they had moved in, and were settled into a comfortable routine...

Comfortable, considering Raphael was still plagued with what he called his "ol' black beast spells". He eventually accepted them as some sort of inevitable part of life, just like everything else. He still refused medical treatment, and in the aftermath of a spell, he seemed to drift for several days, observing events around him with the detachment of a couch potato watching the evening news. After a while, he'd recover and act as though nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened.

This particular evening was one of those where Raphael had had another seizure, and Rahab didn't get to sleep until dawn. Since she had slept most of the day, except for feeding Devon, she now felt rested and wide awake.

The chirrup of a phone nearby startled her.

"Rahab," said a familiar voice that wasn't Mike's.

"Hi," she returned politely. "How is everything with you?"

"I was going to ask the same of you."

"Uhm, is this Don?"

"Leo."

"Oh," she said, feeling a little foolish. "How... how are you, I mean-"

"It's all right, Rahab, it has been a long time since we've spoken."

"Yes it has. Leo, you never called before, is everything okay? Where are you calling from? How is Splinter?" As she paused for breath, she could hear him laughing quietly. "What?"

"Everything is fine, Rahab, I assure you. I am still in Japan, but I was concerned about your labor."

"My labor?" Rahab frowned. "I'm not in labor."

"You will be, in three days."

"I suppose Splinter told you again, didn't he?"

"No, I knew."

"Nobody told you, then?"

"No, I already knew."

"When?"

She heard an almost inaudible sigh. "It's difficult for me to explain in a few words, Rahab."

"Explain what, Leo? You been having more dreams again?"

He was silent.

"Leo..." Rahab felt a surge of impatience.

"It might be easier to speak with you in person," Leo said at length.

"Why?"

"Because this isn't working."

"What isn't working, the connection?"

"The connection- ah, yes! That seems to be the problem."

"Maybe you should hang up and try again, then."

"I suppose..."

"Okay, talk to you later, then."

"Yes." He hung up.

Rahab turned the phone off, and wandered through the living room. She expected Leo to call back immediately, but as time wore on, she gave up waiting, and put the phone down. Her mind roiled in confusion, as she went to see if Raphael was awake.

It was late in the third day after, when she felt the familiar twinges, the dull ache in her back, the strange lightheadedness that preceded the birth. It would be her third, she was getting used to this. She went outside, but the air was thick and warm like stale breath, she felt no refreshing breeze, and no sounds. The kids were asleep. Raphael was sitting quietly on the patio, a full glass in his hand, of something with ice. He didn't drink from it, but stared intently out over the night-black hills, a vague frown on his face.

"Weird tonight," he muttered half to himself.

"There's no moon," she said, running her hand along his shoulder as she walked past him.

"Storm coming."

She sat down opposite him, and absently rubbed her abdomen. "Won't be long now, " she said softly.

He looked at her. "You okay?"

"I'm okay for somebody in labor."

He laughed once, a short, quiet kind of laugh, then shook his head. "This whole thing is just too weird."

"I thought we’d been over this."

"Yeah, whatever." He finally took a sip from his glass. "We've been over this, and over this, and over this, I'm still not sure what to think."

"You are still angry at me, aren’t you?"

He didn’t reply.

A flash of lightning lit everything up for a second, then eventually the thunder rolled off the hills. A storm, that's all we need tonight, she grumbled to herself.

The baby came early in the morning, it was a short labor, as quick and violent as the storm that had caused the lights to flicker and then go out, throwing the room into darkness. There had been Things in the room with her, Things she couldn’t see, only feel, as she shrieked in pain. She heard low voices and gibbering, and a black shadow from which was the source of her terror, and though she cried for Raph to help her, he wasn’t there. She was alone in the darkness, trembling with cold and fear, until someone came in and gently took the baby out of her arms, and spoke gently to her until she relaxed enough to fall asleep.

When she opened her eyes, it was daylight, and Raphael was dozing in a recliner at the foot of the bed. He sat up when she stirred, and stared at her.

"Wheres the baby," she asked.

"Want to see him?"

His tense question puzzled her. "Of course!"

"You sure?"

"Raph... is there something wrong with you? Is he okay?"

"You be the judge."

He went over to the bassinet, and stared at it, as though it were a hornet’s nest and he were about to thrust a hand into it. He then picked up the carefully wrapped little bundle, and set it in her lap.

She opened the blanket, and saw the baby's face was strangely pale, a sort of butter-yellow, and his eyes, which were wide open, were so light they were almost clear, like twin jellyfish. She breathed an exclamation as she stared into those odd eyes, that looked at her the best it could for a newborn. "Oh, my god... then it's true..."

She looked up at Raphael. "The dreams were true, after all. How could he have known this?"

Raphael's face showed no emotion.

Rahab felt a residual twinge of last night’s terror, until she looked into the infant's wide, impossibly pale eyes that stared up into hers. She could see the tiny capillaries in the transparent irises, giving them a delicate shade of pink. The little face tilted up at her, its mouth small in an unmistakable expression of awe. She suddenly felt calm again.

"Who are you, little one?"

The infant squirmed and settled, as though he knew it was the proper thing to do, and Rahab’s frantic thoughts slowed until her own weariness dragged her back into sleep.

"Raphael, I don’t know what else to say. I'm doing my best to help you understand."

At the sound of Leo’s voice, Rahab became fully awake.

"Oh, sure, I understand," Raphael’s voice was sharp with sarcasm. "I’m about the most understanding guy on earth right now, aren’t I?"

"Look, I’m not here to cause trouble, I just want to see them."

"Fine. Do what you want. They’re in there."

Leo’s head slowly appeared around the door. "Hi."

"Hi," Rahab said, suddenly feeling self conscious as she sat up against her pillows.

"How-how is everything?" He held his hands together as though he didn’t know what else to do with them.

"Fine. How are you?"

"I’m okay. How is, uhm..."

"Seth?"

"Seth. Right."

"He’s fine. Sleeping."

"Ah."

He stood in uncertainty, until she pointed to the chair. "Have a seat."

"Sure," he said, though he hesitated. He settled into the chair, and looked around the room, then finally stole a glance at her. When he noticed she was looking at him, he cleared his throat. "So. You are fine, then?"

Rahab covered a smile, in spite of her apprehension. "Yes. I’m fine, like I said."

"Right. So you did."

There was a short silence, and when Rahab looked at him again, she noticed he’d stolen another cautious glance at her.

"Would you like to see him?" she asked.

"Who? Oh, right. Ah, sure."

She gestured at the bassinet. "He’s in there."

He got up and peered into the bassinet a long moment, then looked at her. "His eyes don’t open yet, or do they?"

Rahab laughed a little. "Of course they open. He’s just sleeping, that’s all."

Leo looked embarrassed. "Gah, I should have known. Sorry, I’m been such an airhead, lately."

"I think for new parents, that’s pretty normal," Rahab replied.

"To be perfectly honest, I haven’t had much sleep. I got about an hour or so in on the flight out here, but it... didn’t go very well."

"Sorry to hear it."

"Yeah..." he sighed and went back to sit down. "I had some rather nasty dreams, but then I dreamed of Seth again. He was so bright, like he was reflecting the sun, as he emerged from the lotus..." his voice trailed off, and his eyes unfocused. After a moment, he shook himself awake again.

"Sorry," he said, and laughed a little. "Like I said, I haven't had much sleep."

Seth stirred in his bassinet, and yodelled softly, as though to announce to the room he was awake.

Rahab craned her neck to see into the bassinet, and saw Seth’s tiny, outstretched hands trying to grasp the small toy that hung over his head. "Do you want to hold him, Leo?"

"Sure." Leo went over and picked the infant up, holding him just under the arms so that he hung comfortably in Leo’s two handed grasp, as they exchanged looks.

Leo’s eyes widened, as he said a sibilant expletive in Japanese.

"What’s wrong," Rahab asked.

"Eee, ah-- Nothing, really. It’s just... amazing," Leo breathed. "His eyes are... there’s something about them..."

As he continued to gaze at Seth, the spines on the back of Rahab's neck suddenly rippled, as she became aware that the Thing that terrorized her the night before, was watching them.

"Leo..."

"I see it," he said softly.

She shivered, as she watched Leo move slowly toward her, his eyes still riveted to the empty corner in the room, as his mouth formed words she couldn't hear. 

Instinctively, she reached for Seth. "Give him to me," she said, her mouth dry. "Leo!"

Suddenly the tension in the room was broken, and the terror of the Thing dissipated.

"I’m all right," Leo said defensively, as he set Seth firmly into her arms.

"What was that?"

He wiped his face with his hands, then looked at her. "Nothing."

"That was not nothing," Rahab growled. "I know there was something there."

He shook his head. "There was nothing there. We’re both tired and our imaginations are overreactin, that's all."

"What about the dreams, then?"

"I dunno, I think it was all a bizarre coincidence. Please, let's not discuss this any more, or we're going to scare ourselves silly."

"How can you say—"

"Coincidence," Leo said again, the tone of his voice discouraging any further argument.

Next section... Rahab 18