Make a Wish

"You, um, you can take the guest room, if you'd like," Julie said, not looking at him. "I don't know how comfortable that bottle is. I guess… I guess feel free to do what you need or want to while I'm work and at the hospice. I'm going to lie down for a bit now, I…" but she ran out of things to say and began walking slowly towards her door.

"Wait." Marcus swiftly crossed the space between them. He wanted to lay a hand on her arm, but was afraid of being too forward. "Thank you," he said earnestly. "I can explain more about this, later, if you want. But I don't mind cooking… as a genie, it's in my nature to help wherever I can, or do whatever I'm told. In fact, I'd like to. You're the kindest master I've had in I don't know how long. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she whispered, then dashed into her room and shut the door, leaving Marcus to stare after her and try to make sense of his new situation.

x-x-x-x-x

A few days later, Julie sat with Mindy at the same coffee shop. She chose a table outside even though it was cool, because no one else was outside. She'd finally accepted that Marcus was real, that he was a genie, and that she had to figure out what to do. She hoped Mindy would be able to help.

"I told you so," Mindy said, teasingly. She was so excited. Julie had had such an awful time lately, and Mindy was sure that the genie was the key to fixing everything.

"Yes, yes, I know," said Julie. "I believe it now, okay?"

"So what will you wish for?" Mindy asked.

"I told you, I don't make wishes," said Julie. "That's why I need your help. I thought maybe your mother or grandmother would have an idea. He says he can't go to anyone else until and unless I make my wishes. But I don't want to. There has to be a way out of this."

"You're kidding!" Mindy couldn't believe this. The answer to Julie's problems was at her disposal -- at her command -- and she was refusing it. "You aren't going to wish for your parents to be healed?"

"Absolutely not," Julie said firmly. "I told Marcus and I'm telling you, there would be a catch, a price that I'm not willing to pay or have anyone else pay on my behalf. So I need to find another way out. I can't wish him free, that's against the rules. There's no time limit, so he's here indefinitely."

"Is he cute?" Mindy asked. She winked. "My mom said he was terribly handsome."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Julie asked, amazed. Mindy simply waited and she sighed. "Fine, he's very good-looking."

"So why don't you wish for him to sleep with you?" Mindy asked. That seemed like an easy enough way out of it.

"Because I don't want anybody that way. If he -- or anyone else -- wants to sleep with me, I want that to be their own genuine desire." Julie surprised herself with the honesty of her answer, but Mindy's question had startled her and she had replied without thinking.

"Do you think he wants to?"

"I don't know. I haven't asked. And I won't."

"So what is he doing, anyway?" Mindy asked, sitting back and sipping her coffee.

"He's cooking," said Julie. "I told him he didn't have to, but he said he liked to, so…" she shrugged. "Beats having subs all the time."

"I'll ask Mom and Nana," Mindy said, "but I really think you're stuck with having to make wishes."

"I know," Julie grumbled. "But I need to explore all the options."

x-x-x-x-x

Marcus adjusted the heat on dinner -- a simple but filling chicken soup, and fresh biscuits -- while he waited for Julie to return home. He found the cooking to be quite fun. The appliances Julie had were amazing -- the blender, the food processor, and his favorite, the toaster. So much easier than doing everything over an open fire. Julie had taken to coming home for a meal after work before going to the hospice to spend time with her parents, so he tried to have things ready to eat when she got home. He laughed at himself, too, for that. In his time, it certainly wasn't the men who had to worry about having dinner ready.

Although Marcus didn't begrudge Julie the visiting -- he couldn't even if he wanted to -- he found that he wished she would stay home one night. He wanted to talk to her, to get to know her. That was happening slowly, since you couldn't live with someone for over a month and not learn some things about them. But he hoped that one night she'd simply stay in so that they could talk. He imagined how he could massage her shoulders, or her feet, to help reduce her stress. Then he sighed, wondering at the irony of a genie wanting to make wishes.

He heard the door unlock and reached into the cabinets for soup bowls and plates for the biscuits. Julie came in and he heard the familiar sounds of her purse dropping to the floor and her keys to the tray on the small table she kept in the entryway.

"Hello," she said, stepping into the kitchen.

"Hi," he said, giving her a smile. Julie smiled back. She had discovered that Marcus' smiles always made her feel warm inside. They made her feel special. Then she would shake her head at herself. Surely, with all the experiences Marcus had had, there had been women, and no doubt that smile had been used on many of them. Still, it was a killer smile, and she didn't mind having it directed at her.

"Dinner smells delicious. Thank you." Marcus found that her gratitude for his efforts gave him the same warm feeling as her laugh. He loved it.

"I hope you like it," he said. "I kind of made it up as I went along. Based it on what I had sometimes in the army."

"So I'm eating an ancient Roman soup, made by an ancient Roman?" She gave him a small, teasing smile.

"Well, I guess so," he said, setting a bowl in front of her, "although I have to say, it sure dampens my ego to think of myself as ancient."

"They say you're only as old as you feel," she said, breaking off a piece of biscuit and dipping it in the soup broth. "This is wonderful."

"In that case," Marcus said, sitting down with his own bowl, "I guess I feel no more than, say, four hundred years old." As he'd hoped, that won a laugh from Julie. At first, she'd had to tell him to sit and eat with her, and finally had told him that it was silly for her to say it every night. He'd been uneasy the first night he'd sat down without her gentle permission, but his discomfort lifted as he saw that she meant it. This was the first time, he realized, that he'd had a relationship. In the army, he'd been a low-ranking soldier, with no real hope of rising to the officer ranks. Then he'd become a genie, and that meant that every relationship had him in the inferior position. Until Julie.

"Are you going to the hospice tonight?" he asked. She nodded. He was silent, working up the courage to ask his next question; he'd thought of it only moments before she'd come in. He didn't think Julie would take offense, but centuries of following orders made it difficult to ask questions. "Could I… could I go with you?" He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

Julie stopped eating, leaving her spoon in her bowl. "You want to go to the hospice?" Not even Mindy had offered to do that.

"Only if you want me to," he said, suddenly very interested in shredding his biscuit. "I just… I guess I'm kind of curious… and it must be hard for you to go alone all the time… and like I said, it's in my nature to want to help…" He stopped as he started babbling.

"Thank you, that would be very nice," said Julie. He looked up to see tears glistening in her eyes. "It is hard."

Once more, Marcus fought the urge to pull her into his arms. He'd gotten this far, but he didn't want to push. He smiled and touched her hand, then went back to finishing his soup, although he didn't taste a drop of it.

x-x-x-x-x

Julie laughed as Marcus explored the car as best he could. He'd never been in one before, but she began to think there must be something inherent in men that came out when they were around cars, even if the man himself pre-dated automobiles. She had to look away before she laughed too much as he nearly twisted himself in knots trying look around in the back.

"Really, Marcus, all of the gadgets are up front here," she said, gesturing at the dashboard and console. "The only thing in the back seat is the back seat."

"This is amazing!" he exclaimed. "I've heard about them, of course, and I've seen them, but I've never been in one before." He had unintentionally delayed their departure as he started randomly fiddling with knobs, and Julie had stopped him to explain what everything did. She showed him the radio, the CD player, the AC and the heater. She also pointed out things like the hazard lights and noted that he should not touch any of them, especially when the car was in motion. Luckily, she had the foresight to demonstrate the volume knob before they started off, or he would have probably blasted both of them out of the car.

"Do the armies have these?" he asked. What a way to move troops! So much faster than horses.

"You bet," said Julie. "They have all kinds." She did her best to explain trucks, jeeps and tanks, before moving on to helicopters and airplanes. Marcus was about to press her for more information on airplanes when he remembered what she had said about her parents and how they had come to be in the hospice, and decided it was better not to. Besides, she had begun to show him how to use her computer to find information on all kinds of things. He could learn about airplanes there.

She grew quiet as they reached the hospice. Marcus took in the building. It was one story, with a brick front. It looked like a house, but much larger. It reminded him vaguely of some of the larger villas he'd seen in Rome. There was even a fountain in the front courtyard, something only the richest nobles could have afforded back then.

"Are you sure you want to come in?" she asked him. He turned, startled. He still wasn't used to Julie asking for his opinion, checking on his desires. She misread his hesitation and continued. "I mean, I know it's probably an odd place for you, and it's hard to be around people who are all here to die, so if you want to wait in the car…" She hoped he didn't. She really wanted his company.

"I do," he said, reassuring her. "I was just taking it in. There was nothing like this when I was growing up, and most of my past masters didn't exactly want to take me sightseeing. But this… this seems like a good idea. I've lived a long time, but I know that death is a part of the life cycle. It's better for it to be accepted, to help prepare people, than to just shove them away in asylums or something."

"Come on, then." They stepped out of the car, Julie smiling slightly as she allowed Marcus to use the keychain to engage the keyless lock. She led him into the building, signed the registry, and began to walk down the hallway to her parents' room. Unconsciously, she reached back and took his hand. Surprised, Marcus said nothing, but let her continue to keep his hand in hers as they walked. He couldn't remember any previous master doing anything like this… even such a common display of affection felt intimate to him. He really didn't know what to do about the fact that he was falling for her.

Those thoughts went out of his head when he saw the two people lying in the beds as Julie opened the door to the room. He'd never seen anyone in this state before. Julie had explained how except for things like breathing, their brains no longer worked. That was difficult to accept, even for someone like Julie, he realized, who had grown up in this time and was accustomed to such things. Spying a chair in the corner, he sat down, watching as Julie pulled a chair up between the hospital beds and began talking to her parents as if they could hear and understand.

She might have fooled anyone else, but Marcus was a genie. He was a magical being, and as such was attuned to more than just what he saw and heard on the surface. He could feel the guilt gnawing at Julie. He could also feel the spirits of her parents, as though they were tethered to the beds. They wanted to go, to move on, but Julie wasn't ready, and so they stayed. Their love flowed out of them, but he didn't think Julie could feel it; she had closed herself off from it, thinking herself unworthy. But if only she knew how worthy she was, he thought. How much her parents loved her, how proud they were, and how very much they wanted her to be happy.

x-x-x-x-x

Julie began speaking to her parents as she always did. Hi, it was a dull day at work but here's what happened, you'll never guess what Mindy wants to do… but her heart wasn't in it. Not that it had ever fully been, but tonight… tonight she wished she had stayed home with Marcus. She'd become quite used to him, although she'd chided herself for it, and reminded herself she was supposed to be looking for a way to free him, it was difficult. She was still opposed to wishing, but her vehemence was fading, probably worn down by the sheer futility of coming to the hospice for so long.

Marcus had been, aside from Mindy, the best friend she'd ever had. He never made demands, and always tried to help. Even though she knew that was his nature, she sensed that it was also his genuine desire to be helpful to her. The idea of spending an evening with him, talking to someone who could talk back, was amazingly appealing.

She didn't realize that she had let her talking trail off, nor that Marcus was watching her closely. I can't do this anymore, she thought. I just want them to be at peace, but I don't know to make it happen. Then a little voice popped in and said, yes, she did, she just didn't want to.

Oh, God, she thought to herself, feeling her heartbeat speed up in panic. I almost made a wish. I can't do that. I can't use Marcus like that. But, oh, it was so tempting. Tears welled up and began to fall down her cheek.

In a blink, Marcus was next to her. "Julie, what's wrong?" He cupped her face in his hands, lightly brushing the tears away. "Please, tell me, please, what is it." She stared into his dark eyes for a moment before finding her voice.

"I almost made a wish," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry for that," he told her. "That's why I'm here. That's what I am."

"No." She shook her head. "I can't. I won't. It will go horribly wrong, I know it."

"Julie," he said, forcing her gently to look at him. "I know what you want. I can tell you this -- your parents are here. They love you. They are sorry to leave you, but they are ready to move on, but they are waiting for you to be ready. If you wish for it, I can help you and them. I promise, no one will be hurt."

"They're here?" she asked. He nodded. "They can see me?" He nodded again. "Can they hear me?"

"Yes, they've heard every word," he told her. She watched as he closed his eyes, as though he were concentrating on something. "They want to me to tell you they're sorry. That it isn't your fault." Her eyes widened.

"But I wanted them to come home…" she said.

"They had already planned to come back early and surprise you. One of their friends advised against it, but they decided to go anyway. It was their mistake, not yours. Nothing to do with your wish. It was all just a terrible coincidence in timing." Julie listened intently, wanting desperately to believe him. Her hands gripped his, savoring the strength and warmth in them.

"I don't know if I can do it," she said. For now she knew she was afraid for them to be gone. She had told herself that they were, that these bodies lying in the beds were mere shells. The important parts of them were gone. But part of her clung to them being here. She didn't want to lose her parents, and said so to Marcus.

"You won't lose them," he told her, brushing her hair away from her face. "You'll be helping them. And they will always watch over you."

She swallowed. "Do you promise?"

"I promise," he said, placing one hand over his heart. Then he placed both hands over hers. "It's all right, Julie. Just wish."

Julie closed her eyes. I wish my parents could be at peace. Then she waited.

A calm feeling gradually swept over her, taking away her fears and sadness. This was right, she suddenly knew. It was time to let her parents go. Of course she wanted them to stay, but it wasn't to be. For whatever reason, this was their time. She opened her eyes and for a moment, saw her parents, or at least their presences, hovering in the room. They reached out with gauzy hands and caressed her face; she closed her eyes and felt a cool sensation run over her cheeks. She opened her eyes again. Her mother and father smiled, then faded slowly away. When she could focus on the present again, she looked at the beds and saw that both figures were no longer breathing.

She looked down to find Marcus still holding her hands. "That's it?" she said softly.

"Yes, that's all," he replied gently. "They're at peace now."

The next couple of hours until they arrived home were a blur for Julie. The nurse came in, and then the doctor. There were questions to answer, papers to sign, cards and papers to take home and phone numbers to dial later. Marcus stood quietly aside while she attended to the details, but she never felt that he was abandoning her. He just knew there was no place for him at that moment, and so stayed nearby but out of the way.

Julie drove them home carefully and quietly. She wondered at one point if Marcus was using his magic to keep her from being distracted, or to keep them out of danger while she drove. She'd have been worried if their positions had been reversed; after all, to say her mind was occupied was an understatement. At last they arrived, and she welcomed the warmth and comfort of the house when she stepped inside.

"Are you all right?" Marcus asked, after she dropped her purse to the floor and locked the door. She looked up at him, nodded. Without warning, surprising herself as much as him, Julie wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. Startled, Marcus slowly let his arms come up to her back, pressing her gently against him.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much." She buried her face in his shoulder, trying to keep her tears at bay.

x-x-x-x-x

"Thank you," she had said. Marcus was dumbfounded. She'd said that before for so many other things, but this was different. No one had ever really thanked him for fulfilling a wish before. But then, he wondered if any previous wish had benefited someone else, as Julie's had her parents. Certainly no one had ever hugged him like this. He never wanted her to let go.

"You're welcome," he finally said.

They stood there quietly for a few more minutes, then Julie self-consciously removed her arms and moved toward the couch in the living room. Marcus followed, able to think only of how much he wanted those arms back around him, but he said nothing.

"I feel like I should feel sadder than I do," Julie said, staring at her hands.

"You have had some time to adjust to this," Marcus pointed out. "You've probably been mourning since they were in the hospital."

"You're most likely right," Julie agreed. "But it still feels odd. Part of me thinks I should just be crying my eyes out. But I feel… relieved. It's like a cloud has passed or something. I wonder now why I didn't let go before this."

"You weren't ready," said Marcus.

"I was being selfish," said Julie.

"Now, no wallowing in self pity," Marcus admonished her, then realized that he'd very nearly issued a command. He couldn't do that to his master; even though Julie had never acted as a master, he cowered a bit after his statement and said no more.

"Marcus, what's wrong?" Julie asked. She was no genie, but even she could sense the change in his demeanor.