The Twelve Zenati Pt. 18

"How often has that line worked for you?" she teased.

"I don't know. I never tried it. Do you think it would work?" Noah asked, curiously.

"Why else would you have a tandem rig?" she asked.

"Little sister, who was a bit of a daredevil before she discovered fashion and makeup. Now she would be too scared to break a nail if she did anything too strenuous," he chuckled. "Mama hated her doing anything risky on her own, so I took her, or anyone else who wanted to go, when they were visiting the same time as us."

"She didn't mind you throwing yourself off a cliff in a home-made glider?" she asked, still laughing.

"It's not like I announced what I was doing, on the morning I decided to try it out," he shrugged. "Trust me, my mother had a lot to say once I got home, with my leg in plaster. She always had a lot to say when I hatched some dumb plan, and went off and got yet another scar from the injuries I received."

"You have scars?" she frowned.

"Tons. All from the dumb shit I used to do," Noah chuckled. Pointing to a feint puckered line on his calf, he said "This one was from the glider accident. I had to have pins inserted. Not that you can see it, unless I point it out. I have a heap, but I got them all so long ago that, unless I point them out, people don't even notice."

"Yeah, I have a few like that, but it's enough that I know that they are there. I wouldn't point them out to anyone, and no one would notice, unless I did like you said," Marcella said, her face sobering and her laughter dying.

"You did dumb stuff, too?" he asked, knowing he was treading into sensitive territory here, but she was being so open this morning that he couldn't help the question.

"You could say that. Nothing as stupid as you, though." Marcella gave a half laugh. "My turn in the shower, and you should let Gideon off the hook if he isn't the reason why you asked for a break from family stuff." Marcella tossed Noah his phone, ending the conversation.

*****

"7:01 am: Noah: All good. No trouble. Be back for Halloween."

Gideon scanned the text, trying to read between the lines, but Noah had given little away, except his expected timeframe. Halloween was almost two weeks away, and Noah being gone for that long bothered him. He couldn't even be sure if he had found Marcella from that text. Although Imelda had told him that he had, he didn't know anything more than that, and what Xavier and Dominic had told him. He had already broken the rule about leaving Noah alone to do what he needed to do, by sending the text, and he wasn't sure if he should risk sending another. At least Noah had texted back, and didn't seem to be holding a grudge about his rant the day before.

"Did you hear from Noah?" Vivienne asked, coming out of the bathroom dressed for the day, much to Gideon's disappointment.

"Yeah, he didn't say much, but it looks like it won't be a quick break that he's on," Gideon grumbled.

"That's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, if he's found Marcie, they will need time to work out stuff between them. I can't imagine that she would believe in curses and fate," Vivienne reasoned.

"We only have Imelda's word that he found her. When he was a kid, he got the nickname 'Trouble' from Madrina because he used to go walkabout on his own and invariably get into trouble. Not just normal kid trouble, but being pulled out of the ocean by the Northern Border Patrol, and being returned home by the AFP-type of trouble," Gideon tried to explain his anxiety.

"Seriously? He seems so stable and down to earth. I wouldn't have picked him as a big risk taker. How old was he when that happened?" she asked.

"Fourteen," Gideon said with a frown. "I guess he hasn't gotten into any big trouble for a while now. Not since he had to be rescued from a cliff after breaking his leg when he was seventeen. After that, he did his trial. Then he seemed to settle down and start to take university seriously."

"Then I think you are worrying for nothing. It's been a decade since Noah pulled his last big stunt," Vivienne smiled, and leaned down to kiss her husband. "Don't worry so much. He'll be back, and he'll bring Marcella with him. Go have a shower, and maybe we can see if Gen and Olivia want to have breakfast at the café across the road."

"We have the day off, so I am all for ignoring the world and staying in bed all day. I can bet that is what Genesis plans for Olivia, too. Besides, we haven't had a day to ourselves since we got back," Gideon said with a smile, flopping back onto the bed. "I'm sure that Gen and Olivia are planning on taking advantage of having a day just to enjoy finally being in their own home together, even if they do get out of bed."

"You're probably right about that. Poor Olivia was like a lost lamb when I got there yesterday," Vivienne admitted. "Maybe you should check in with Xavier and Dom before making any decisions. A lot has been going on lately, and as much as Dom keeps saying he is fine, he just had brain surgery, for goodness sakes."

"Papa and the old men have pulled rank, because of everything that's been going on lately," he admitted. "We've all been told to take a few days to rest and relax, and they'll let us know if anything comes up. So, you can stop being such a good girl and strip for me, because no one is coming to drag us out of out of here today," he grinned widely at her.

"Breakfast, Gideon. We need to eat. We can't live on love alone." She shook her head.

"We could try," he mock-pouted, pulling her toward him.

"Take me to breakfast, then I promise that you can choose what we do for the rest of the day," she negotiated.

"You promise?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Even if it means that you plan to tie me to the bed to keep me here," she laughed.

"Sounds good to me," he chuckled, leaping out of bed and heading for the shower. "My knot tying skills could use some practice!"

*****