Daffodil - Gen 8 Ch 3

"Ehehehe.. 'ey there little guy! How's my Buster today?"

I had to giggle at Denis' enthusiasm.

"How do you know it's a guy? It just might be a girl you know!" I grinned at him.

His constant excitement was starting to have a positive effect on me.  Maybe having another baby wouldn't be so bad after all.

"It's not. I can tell." He winked mischievously at me before he went back to his conversation with "Buster".

My forced maternity leave chafed on me, but gradually I started to really unwind and enjoy the extra time I could spend with Cy and Peony. I found myself looking forward to three o'clock each afternoon, when the bus would deposit them in front of the house, and we'd all head out to the backyard play area for a while, before it was homework time.

This didn't mean that I totally divorced myself from my job at the stadium - oh, no. I was constantly at the computer, firing off e-mails and keeping in contact with the coaches. I wanted to be sure to start right up where I had left off when I returned to work, or maybe even a little ahead!

One morning, late in my pregnancy, I awoke to a strange pounding noise, echoing throughout the house. Denis had been a sweetheart, and let me sleep while he saw the kids off to school, before he headed off to the art museum. Mom and Dad were gone on yet another one of their trips to Bridgeport, still trying to find my sister. Even all my dad's espionage expertise had been to no avail in that regard, so far at least. 

I threw on some sweatpants and followed the sound down to the ancient crypt. It appeared to be emanating from the unstable tunnel. Looking at it now, I can't believe I almost crawled in there! No wonder my mom had been so angry. Strange what a few years perspective will give you.

I poked my head inside the opening and peered down the tunnel. The sounds were louder now, and to my amazement, the whole length of the tunnel had been braced with sturdy beams. What was going on? Why had no one told me?

I felt a surge of anger, mixed with apprehension, as I called out sharply, "Who's there? What are you doing?"

Instead of an answer, all I heard was footsteps running toward me.

I held my breath as the footsteps approached. Suddenly from around the corner, a familiar figure emerged.

"Denis!" I yelped. "What the heck are you doing down here? I thought you were at the museum! You scared me half to death!"

"I'm so sorry, love," he replied sheepishly. "I didn't think the sound would carry like that. Did I wake you?"

"Sort of," I answered crossly. "What are you doing down here anyway?"

"Come and see!" He grabbed my hand and tugged.

I frowned at him dubiously. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Perfectly safe. I installed these support beams myself."

"Look at this!" My sweet husband pointed excitedly to the pile of rocks at the end of the tunnel.

"Um...it's a pile of rocks..." I replied, exasperation creeping into my voice. "I still don't get why you've been so busy down here. What could possibly be the point of all this?"

"Err.. well.. It all started when I was looking for a good place to .. err.. stash... stuff."

I frowned in disappointment. "You promised me and papa you wouldn't shoplift anymore."

No, it's not that, I promise, love. It's just sometimes.. I kinda pick stuff up and the warehouse, and... it's not really stealing if I'm stealing from criminals, is it?"

"Anyway," he continued excitedly, "when I came to the end here, I noticed something. Watch this!"

He retrieved the pick axe that he had obviously dropped when I had yelled at him, and began to hack away at the rocks again.

"See? They're coming loose! I think there's something behind here!"

"Denis! Be careful!"

I watched while he made contact with an especially loose piece of stone, causing a cascade of debris to tumble to the floor.

"Oh! Denis! Look!! You were right!"

He stepped back to admire his handiwork - we saw a small opening near the roof, and beyond that, there was obviously an open space behind the blockage. I paced impatiently as he worked to clear the rest. Finally we made our way forward, me wincing as my bare feet made contact with tiny rock shards littering the ground.

As our eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, the first thing we noticed was a rather large pile of dirt and debris in the center of the room. On closer examination, we discovered a crumbling skeleton half buried in the dust. I about to turn around and hightail it out of there, when I caught sight of something on the far side of the room that almost made my heart stop.

Ignoring the skeleton, I stepped in to have a closer look. I glanced over at Denis, to see if he had noticed it too. From the dumbfounded expression on his face, I guessed that he had, but his next words proved that his attention was on something else entirely.

His eyes were as big as saucers.

"Will you look at this? Wow! I never thought I'd see such a collection of antiques. Even the museum doesn't have pieces as nice as these."

"I think this bowl is solid gold! And these vases... just incredible! This one looks to be French in origin."

I let him continue to gush over the antiques, as I gingerly tip-toed over to the rough-hewn table on the far wall.

The table was piled high with moldy leather-bound books, and the painting hanging above it had long ago faded into an unrecognisable mish-mash of greens and greys. But my eyes were focused like a laser on the tiny serpent figurine perched jauntily at the far side of the table.

Slowly I reached for the small golden figure, almost afraid to examine it, for fear it wasn't 'the' serpent. I turned it over in my hand, and exhaled in a relieved whoosh, when I saw the same strange markings that decorated the dragon and the tiger.

"Yes!" My excited shriek brought Denis running to my side.

"I found it, Denis! Thanks to you! Oh, mom is going to be so thrilled! I can't wait until they get home! Oh! Ow! Ow!"

I tried to reach down and grab my poor foot, which in my excitement had landed on one of those nasty rock shards, but my protruding belly wouldn't allow it.

"Are you alright, love?"

I nodded. "I don't think it broke the skin."

"Let me check anyway."

He made a huge fuss over the tiny scratch, and insisted we head back upstairs.

I took one longing backwards glance at the stacks of ancient books.

"Come on, love. Let's get your foot taken care of, the books will wait."

The books would have to wait quite a while longer. I had no sooner stepped out of the shower after Denis had cleaned out the small cut, when I felt the first labor pains.

"You were right! We have another boy!"

Denis waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. "Of course. Now let me hold our little Juniper. You've been hogging him way too long."

"We've been home for all of five minutes!"

"Like I said...."

"Oh, you! Okay, okay, here you go."

When mom and dad arrived home, we could see by their long faces, as soon as the walked in the door, that their trip had been unsuccessful yet again.

"No luck?" I ventured apprehensively.

My dad shook his head sadly. Hot anger bubbled up inside me, as it always did when I thought about what my sister had done to our parents. How could she? It just killed me to see the toll it was taking on them. They had seemed to age right in front of my eyes in recent weeks.

The one bright spot in the moment was our little Juniper. Mom's sadness turn to instant delight when she saw her new grandson, while Juniper's proud daddy recounted all the minute details of my labor and delivery, much to my chagrin.

While mom and Denis fussed over Juniper, I tried to comfort papa.

"Did you find any leads at all?"

"Not really. But maybe a hope. We paid a visit to your mom's great uncle Mel, and he claims to have heard rumors. He promised to keep his ear to the ground, and let us know if he hears anything further."

"I'm sure she'll turn up soon, papa," I lied. What hope was there, truthfully, when she had disappeared without a trace into the vast underground vampire network in Bridgeport?

I had waited until mom and dad were settled back in, and Juniper was tucked away in his crib, for my big announcement. I proudly arranged the three figurines on the dining table, and called my mom into the dining room.

"Look what I found while you were gone! The serpent figure!"

"Dilly! How??... Where?? .. This is amazing! Tell me everything!"

"You won't believe what happened! Denis was shoring up that old tunnel - the one you told me you fell into - and he discovered a secret room at the end of it, behind a pile of rubble!"

"It was right here under our feet, all along? I never thought to see it in my lifetime - all three statues, together at last! You did good, Dilly."

"Yes! Isn't it exciting? So, now what? What's next? You've always said we needed to find the third figure, to reunite the trio, but you've never told me why. Now that we have all three, what do we do with them?"

"I'm sure I haven't the foggiest idea."

I stared at my mom in disbelief. "What?"

She just shrugged. "I guess that's up to you to figure out."

Oh great. And how was I supposed to do that? I wondered to myself.

"Don't look so upset, Dilly, you do have the pendant to guide you, after all."