Seth's brother and sister-in-law managed to control the herd of screaming, jumping creatures that somehow seemed to be everywhere in the house at once. Terry and Andrea handled them all with efficient good nature while Seth and I did little more than watch, occasionally fielding random questions tossed our way. The entire experience stunned me as a bystander; I could hardly imagine coping with it on a regular basis. It was fascinating.
At one point, catching his breath, Terry saw me alone and struck up a conversation.
"I'm glad you could come," he said. "I didn't know Seth was seeing anyone."
"We're just friends," I clarified.
"Still. It's nice to see him with someone flesh and blood. Someone he didn't make up."
"Is it true he nearly missed your wedding?"
Terry grimaced by way of confirmation. "My best man, if you can believe that. Showing up two minutes before the ceremony began. We were on the verge of starting without him."
I could only laugh.
He shook his head. "If you continue hanging out with him, make sure you keep him in line. My brother may be brilliant, but by God, he needs a keeper sometimes."
After party games came cake, and after cake came presents. Kendall lifted Seth's up expertly and shook it. "Books," she declared.
Brandy, older and therefore quietest of the group, glanced at me and explained, "Uncle Seth always gets us books."
This did not seem to faze Kendall any. She tore open the package and crowed delightedly over three books of pirate stories contained within.
"Pirates, huh?" I asked Seth. "Is that politically correct?"
His eyes danced. "She wants to be one."
As the party wound down and guests were retrieved by parents, Kendall beseeched Seth to read stories, and I followed him, the nieces, and other stragglers into the living room while the girls' parents attempted to clean up in the kitchen. Seth read in the same compelling way he had at his signing, and I curled up in an armchair, content to just listen and watch. I was therefore startled when Kayla's small form scrambled up and sat on my lap.
Youngest of the girls, she could shriek with the best but tended to speak very little. She studied me with her globes of eyes, touched my French braid with interest, and then snuggled into me to listen to Seth. I wondered if she understood any of what he was saying. Regardless, she was soft and warm and smelled like little girl. Unconsciously, I ran my fingers through the fine, corn silk strands of hair and soon began weaving it into a braid similar to mine.
When Seth finished a story, McKenna noticed what I was doing. "Me next."
"No, me," ordered Kendall eagerly. "It's my birthday."
I ended up braiding for all four of the younger girls. Brandy shyly demurred. Not wanting four copies of me, I elected other styles for the girls, herringbones and plaits that delighted them. Seth continued to read, occasionally glancing up at me and my handiwork.
By the time we were ready to leave, I felt drained physically and emotionally. Children always made me feel a little wistful; being in close contact like this made me downright sad in a way I couldn't explain.
Seth said goodbye to his brother while I lingered near the door. As I did, I noticed a small bookcase beside me. Studying the titles, I picked out Burberry's New Annotated Bible: Old and New Testaments. Remembering what Roman had said about the King James Version being a bad translation, I opened this one up to Genesis 6.
The wording was nearly identical, a little cleaner and more modern sounding here and there, but mostly unchanged. With one exception. In verse 4, the King James Version had read: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men..." This version, however, said: "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterwards, when the sons of God went to the daughters of men..."
Nephilim? A superscript number appeared by the word, and I followed it to the appropriate footnote.
The word " nephilim" is sometimes translated as "giants " or "fallen ones." Sources vary in accounts of these angelic offspring, citing them sometimes simply as neighbors to the Canaanites and other times as Titan-like creatures reminiscent of Greek heroes (Harrington, 2001).
Frustrated, I looked up the Harrington reference in the book's bibliography, finding it linked to Biblical Arcanaand Myth by Robert Harrington. I memorized the title and author, slipping the