When Gabe arrived home in his bird cage, Misty rushed over to him. He hopped toward her and chirped. To his surprise, she threw her arms around the cage and hugged it.
With his paranormal hearing, he overheard his father whisper to his mother, “And you worried about that boy finding true love… I think you can put your fears to rest.”
Out of his right eye, he saw his mother’s soft smile as she rested her head on his father’s chest, and he finally understood why she wanted to see all of her sons happily married. That soft expression on her face warmed his heart. She really did love his father dearly and only wanted the same for her sons.
“Can we let him out of the cage?” Misty asked.
“Not just yet,” Antonio cautioned. “If we go downstairs to the rec room and close the door behind us, we could let him out to stretch his wings.”
“Let’s do that.” Misty smiled and lifted the cage carefully. “Does he understand me?”
Gabe chirped again. He wished he were a songbird and could make a pretty set of sounds instead of the loud squawk of his species. At least as a little bird, his sound was less harsh.
“I think he just answered you,” Gabriella said. “Why don’t you all go downstairs, and I’ll prepare a snack to bring down in a few minutes.”
“That sounds good,” Antonio said.
Gabe hoped his mother wouldn’t forget to give him some food too. He’d had a very stressful day already. Getting out of the cage for a while would be welcome, and he was grateful Misty had suggested it. He was surprised at how much of his former life he remembered. He’d thought maybe the amnesia of human infancy would be part of starting over.
As soon as they’d reached the basement level of the home and Misty had set his cage on the coffee table, she opened the cage door, and he hopped out happily. If he flew up onto her shoulder, he didn’t think he’d scare her…Only one way to find out.
He flapped his little wings and flitted up to her face. She didn’t shrink from him or turn away. Landing on her shoulder, she remained still. At last, she let out a deep breath, and he realized she’d been holding it.
“Kristine said she and Jayce had come up with a couple of ways to communicate. Do you still have the Ouija board?” Misty asked.
“Oh boy. We did until Luca saw it. He had a fit, saying something about demons using it to control kids. Sounded like a bunch of urban myth nonsense to me, but we let him throw it out anyway.”
“It’s not nonsense,” Luca said as he came out of the adjacent bedroom. “Some of my friends at Northeastern had an incident in their dorm—”
The Fierro elder held up his hand. “Don’t repeat that story, Luca. Misty just wants to talk to Gabe. Not a bunch of poltergeists that may or may not exist.”
“Fine.” Luca stood with his feet apart and folded his arms.
It was the first time Gabe had seen his youngest brother resemble a man instead of the little kid he’d always been. He probably hadn’t noticed Luca growing up with all the other drama in his own life.
“So, how else did Kristine recommend communicating?” Antonio asked.
“She said they came up with a code. If Jayce turned his head to the right and looked at her with his left eye, it meant no. But if he turned it the other way and looked at her with his right eye, it meant yes.” Misty was gently patting Gabe’s feathers with her finger, and he didn’t want to move. The love she communicated came through with every stroke.
“Okay. Let’s try that,” Luca said. “Hey, Gabe. Are the Red Sox going to win this year?”
Antonio laughed. “I think that qualifies as an unfair question.”
Luca shrugged. “Fine. You try.”
Antonio looked at Gabe head-on. “Are you happy to be home?”
“Ha. Another trick question,” Luca said. “He’d probably rather be at his own apartment in bed with his bride.”
Misty’s face heated. Gabe was so close, he could feel it. Maybe she could ask a fair question if he gave her the space to make eye contact. So he left her shoulder and flitted down onto the coffee table.
She sat down and faced him head-on. “Do you want to use that system to talk, Gabe?”
He turned his head left, so he could look at her with his right eye.
“That means yes. Correct?”
He faced her square on and then turned in the same direction to confirm his answer.
