More Things In Heaven And Earth

Chapter Twenty Two

I was astonished. "How is it that none of us recognized that he wasn't human?"

"Well, he is. More or less. Did you see nothing special in him?" He asked.

"Yes. The child is extraordinary, but there have been extraordinary humans through the years," I said.

"Or perhaps, through the years, the sons of the gods have dallied with the daughters of men more often than you realize," he suggested.

Point taken. "Alex is probably out back building some gadget or fixing one. It's what he does all day and half the night. We try to get him interested in other things but he is quite passionate."

"He has a gift. Sometimes gifts have a way of taking over our identity." He smiled at me in a knowing way. "We are very alike, you know," Hermes said.

"Are we?" I was curious what he meant by that. I saw few similarities.

"Of course. For both of us, our destiny is wrapped up in serving as a messenger between men and those who are not men. You were born on one side of the veil. I was created on the other, but we both stand, now, with a foot on either side.

"Do you think that our messages are heard?"

"Yes. I think it is heard and I think it is understood. As to whether or not it will be heeded, well, I suppose we will find out. I know many things. I have many gifts. Seeing the future is not one of them."

"Raziel is constantly telling me that the future is unknowable."

he said, rolling his eyes. I couldn't help but laugh. "He's right, though," Hermes continued. "None of us can know the future as a certainty. Free will is constantly in motion and creatures will make surprising choices all the time. Especially humans. There's no telling what a human will do! But there are probabilities, you know? Think of it like this: if you look at a twenty year old man who is a regular user of illicit drugs would you guess that, over the next ten years he would sober up and become a successful businessman? Or lose himself to his addiction and wind up in prison for some petty crime he had intended to commit only as a way to support his habit? You can't know the man's future because it is his, alone, to build, but some roads lead to others."

At that moment Michael ushered Alex into the room and the conversation took off in rapid Greek, punctuated with a great deal of hugging and kissing and laughter.

My heart ached for my oldest son, even as my younger one pushed himself under my arm, the fingers of his left hand corked securely in his mouth and his right arm wound tightly around my leg.

We invited the werewolves to join us for dinner. Their presence added an air of festivity. They were boisterous, unmannered, and hilarious. Gaia came with them, and I basked in the comfort of her presence. By the time the food was served, Hermes seemed like part of our group. Atsheena was right about him being like one of the popular kids at school. He was stunningly charismatic. Everyone was drawn to him. In particular, he and Michael seemed to have some sort of instant male bonding thing going on. I observed their banter from my vantage point of one whose soul is slightly detached from their body. Everything seemed so distant now. If it weren't for the warm, solid weight of little Ike on my lap, I'd simply drift up into the sky and separate into an infinite number of particles, each destined to waft through the many universes forever.

Hermes told Michael. "I respect that you are a talented painter. Art is great. I've always had an appreciation for it. But I prefer the spoken word, myself. It's clearer. There's less chance for confusion and misunderstanding."

"I'm not so sure about that. It seems to me that people get confused and misunderstand one another all the time," Michael retorted. "Plus, haven't you ever heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words."