“It’s okay. Don’t worry about me. I’m okay.”
She started crying again. “What’s happening to us, Lucian?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll find out, I promise. Let’s get you home.”
Brooklyn, shockingly, had given up the apartment to Evey and me a week before our wedding. She said she needed something with more space anyway. I carried Evey over the threshold, and that did earn me a smile. But once we were inside, I insisted she call the doctor.
“I have an appointment tomorrow,” she said after she hung up. “Let’s not think about it for now. Let’s plan our honeymoon.”
“Okay, but I’m going to look for Mona tonight and see if I can get some answers.”
“Maybe it’s nothing and it has nothing to do with you.”
I blinked at her. She could have been right, but I wasn’t convinced. Jesus forgives, but there are rules for a reason.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wrapped in a blanket, watching movies. We watchedDogma, and I laughed through the entire thing. Evey was curious if any of it rang true, and sadly, I couldn’t confirm or deny much except that I was positive Alanis Morissette was not God. She thought it was so strange that I knew nothing.
“I guess it’s a need-to-know kind of thing.”
“Well, you’re real, so the rest of it must be true.”
I nodded. “I am real. Jesus was a real man, and now he’s one of us, sort of.”
“Where is he?”
“He spends a lot of time in Milwaukee, for some reason.”
Evey laughed hysterically. “Stop it.”
“I’m serious. Got sick of the desert, I guess.”
“Now I don’t know if I can believe anything you say.”
“You can trust me, Evey. I’m telling you the truth. I don’t care about any of that other stuff. You’re all I care about.”
“Well, you should care about yourself too, you know.”
“I used to… I think.” The mood had gone from light to serious again in a second.
When she fell asleep, I went out to the stoop to see if I could find anyone. At magic hour, I walked the streets, seeing very few angels. I ran into Zina coming out of the St. Francis. She was kind.
“I heard you married her,” she said.
“I did.”
“And nothing’s happened so far?”
“What? Like a bolt of lightning? No.”
“Hmm. I don’t know. God works in mysterious ways.”
I chuckled. “Wow, Zina, you’re beautiful, smart, and two thousand years old. I would expect a bit more out of you than that tired old cliché.”
“Clichés are that for a reason. Take care of yourself.” She kissed me on the cheek and then took off into the air.
I walked six blocks until I finally heard the undeniably squeaky voice belonging to Mona.
“Mona,” I yelled into the sky.
