Carlos turned on his heel in a military pivot, keeping in character as he got out of Dodge. The threesome watched his back as he melted into the crowd and disappeared toward long-term parking.
"See? What'd I tell you, huh? This, Daniel, is never gonna work!"
* * *
his nerves were already shot by the time he folded them out of the parking lot, and Rabbi Zeitloff's constant com plaining only frayed them even more. But when Dan pushed him and the rabbi to the top steps of his parents' home, it wasn't until Mrs. Weinstein started screaming and almost fell on the floor that they realized what she probably thought. Carlos's first impulse was to touch his jaw to be sure that during the transport he hadn't dropped fangs - his energy had been off. However, seeing the look in the woman's eyes, remembering the uniform, a cleric at his side during war time, he caught her before she hit the foyer tiles.
"He's my only son!" she screamed, slapping Carlos's face and knocking his hat off. "My beautiful baby boy!"
"Mom! Mom!" Dan shouted at her side, but his mother was too hysterical to even know who he was.
"Frank!" she shrieked with her eyes closed. "They took my Daniel!"
"Ma'am, your son is alive!" Carlos barked in a military voice. "Home on leave!" He sat her up so that she could see Dan's face. Her hus band had hustied into the room. Dan was on his knees in front of her, and then she began shrieking again, this time stran
gling him with a hug. There was no use in trying to introduce anyone to her. The woman was rocking and sobbing and pet ting her only son's hair. Dan's glasses were askew on his face as he stroked her back and tried to glance at his father, but it was of no use, his mother's meaty arms had claimed him.
Ever so calmly, Carlos walked over to retrieve his hat. Rabbi Zeitloff stepped back with him as Dan's father joined his wife and son on the floor. The reunion made them both stare out of the window until Heather's quiet presence caused the crotchety old rabbi to put his arm around her shoulders.
"Most times," the rabbi said, "when I come to homes like this, it isn't a good thing, Carlos. It is not a happy reunion like this. So, I should thank you for making an old man have hope."
Carlos nodded and kept his gaze on the horizon. "He's a lucky man. My mother never got me back in the daylight... so she could do that. Woulda given my eyeteeth for that."
"I hope they'll like me," Heather whispered, clasping the rabbi's arm.
"What's not to like?" the old man said, his voice unusually soft. "You're a beautiful girl... smart... and you make Daniel happy - I hope he makes you as happy." Rabbi Zeitioff leaned in. "I don't do this sort of thing for everyone, you know." Heather giggled, and that made the rabbi and Carlos smile. They looked over and finally saw Dan and his father helping Mrs. Weinstein up. Carlos secured his hat better under his arm, quietly chuckling at the wasted practice of taking it off with military precision only to have a hysterical mom slap it off his head. But not to let all of his practice go to waste, Carlos made the pivot turn on his heels that he'd worked on all afternoon to face Dan's
parents.
"This is Rabbi Zeitloff," Dan said, "the one who you've been corresponding with." He looked anxiously between his parents and watched his father and mother collect themselves.
"See, Stella - I told you the boy knew what he was doing, and all this fracas before you even heard the man out. Rabbi, my apologies."
"No harm done," the rabbi said, waving off the offenses. "You're parents; she's a mother."
"Rabbi, I don't normally behave this way, but he's my boy..."
"Yes, yes, a son is a lovely thing ... and so is a daughter." The rabbi glanced at Dan to urge him to make the introduction.
"Oh, I don't have a daughter, Rabbi," Mrs. Weinstein scoffed. "I wasn't so blessed with a girl, too. But I have my boy."
"And, uh, this is the guy I work for, uh, General Rivera," Dan said, looking at Carlos with a plea in his eye.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am. Sir." Carlos extended his hand and said no more. It wasn't his place to introduce Heather, and if the rabbi passed, then hey. Dan had to man up and tell his momma he'd gotten married without her being there ... although he didn't envy his Guardian brother at all, in that regard.
"Our son works for a general!" Mrs. Weinstein whispered, glancing at Dan and then her husband.
"Is it important, what you do? Dangerous?" his father asked, seeming skeptical. Against Carlos's better judgment, he stepped in to give Dan a little more family cover.
"What he does, sir... ma'am, is of the-highest importance to world security. Not national security, but world security. Because you don't have clearance at that level, I am not at liberty to discuss more."
Carlos waited a beat for theatrical effect and then tried to think of any incendiary words he'd heard in the media that might help Dan's parents just accept what he said on face value. His mind locked on "the axis of evil," wondering if people really knew what that meant. True, Dan was fighting an axis of evil with the team, but one that had a whole different meaning - not the one where there were a bunch of humans with disputes over land, oil, weapons, or any of the other material concerns the darkside had manipulated them to go to war over. He just wondered how long it would take for people to wake up and stop bombing each other, especially when it seemed the targets mainly included old men, women, and children. But he had to tell Dan's people something that they could wrap their minds around. Demon hunting wasn't such a thing, so he kept it to world politics as the closest analogy he could come up with.
After a moment, Carlos pressed on, knowing that the well-timed pause had probably engendered awe in Dan's parents. "What your son does is dangerous, is important, and is part of... eliminating the axis of evil. He has indeed been invaluable to our special forces." Carlos looked at Dan and gave him a crisp salute. "This is why, as his commanding officer, I wanted to escort him to his parents' home and to personally meet the fine people who made him who he is. We know this is hard on families, not knowing where your loved ones are or what they are doing, but we appreciate the sacrifice." Carlos gave Dan the eye when his mother practically swooned with pride and his father's chest puffed up, that now would be a good time to explain a quick marriage. An elbow in
the ribs from Rabbi Zeitloff helped Dan spit it out.
"Mom, Dad... because things were so hectic, and abnormal, and dangerous as Car... uh, General Rivera said - and I met someone who works with me in the same unit, who also can't discuss what she does," Dan said, bringing Heather closer to him with a hug, "I want you to meet Heather, my wife, and uh - "