Chapter 45

December 24, 2003

Father Robert Lombardi looked out over his flock. The Power of God flowed through him tonight, strong and sure. It whispered through the pews, eagerly sinking into any receptive mind it found, the soft glow Lighting them from the inside. He'd seen it many times. But tonight was different. Tonight, the Power was different, and even those minds that were not receptive, those that were bored or frustrated were affected by it. Under the Light, their rebelliousness began to soften. The peace that obedience brought was gifted to them. Father Bob, as his parishioners thought of him, was ready.

"Tonight," he began, "before we begin to celebrate the birth of our Lord, I feel it is necessary to remind you all that even as we rejoice, we must not forget that evil has become strong in these last years. You see it everywhere ... loose morals, unsanctioned sexual activity, even those who would dare claim the sanctity of marriage where they clearly have no right.

"Lucifer grows strong, so we must be stronger still. We must harden ourselves for the battles to come, and make no mistake, they are coming."

He paused, looking around, drinking in the sight of so many receptive minds.

"But we have not been left to fend for ourselves. Our Holy Father will guide us and, if we are faithful to Him, protect us. We, in turn, will raise great works in His name to help us fight the upcoming battles. Do not lose faith, and you will receive great rewards. Please remember that in this time of giving, that the Church needs your support to build new these new bastions of Light, and remember too, that donations, and the rewards they bring, come in many forms."

Father Bob scanned the assemblage, noting with a smile that some of the more important players for these early stages of the battle were there. He nodded ever so slightly to the Captain of one of one of the precincts his parish straddled, sitting in the first row with his wife and two daughters.

"Now, let us turn our attention to this joyous occasion..."

Cindy was nervous, waiting for her father down by the luggage area of the airport. Ken could feel it, and put his hand on her shoulder, knowing that she really wanted her Mistress. She was holding hands with Tina, but wouldn't do more, and seemed to calm a bit more when Jane brushed her fingers through her hair.

Her father Rodger was arriving this morning. He'd flown in from Florida, of all places, and had told Cindy he had some big news for her. He wouldn't say what it was, just that it was big. Once she saw him, she squealed, letting go of Ken and Tina and racing into his arms, her tiny form almost disappearing in his hug. Rodger was a pretty big guy.

There was a big dinner planned for tomorrow for those who wanted to attend. The whole Circle would be there, but there was no play planned for the evening. Cindy was spending the night with her step-dad at their house, and as much as she was looking forward to seeing him, she didn't like the idea of being away from the Circle. Still, she was looking forward to spending some time with her dad. Jane had come in a separate car so that Rodger wouldn't have to rent something.

"So," asked Ken, as they were walking out to the cars, "will you be coming by tomorrow?"

"As long as that gal Sally's the one cookin'," replied Rodger. "I still remember the last meal she made -- best thing I ever tasted."

"You mean other than when I used to cook breakfast for you, right?" wheedled Cindy.

They both laughed -- when Cindy was younger, cooking wasn't her strong suit, to say the least.

"Cindy an' I will be over around four or so," said Rodger. "That work?"

"Absolutely," smiled Ken.

"An' thanks a bunch for the car," the man said, holding out a large paw.

He and Ken shook, and Cindy and Rodger got into the car.

"You okay Tina?" asked Ken.

"Yeah," she said. "He's not going to be in town for long, and Cindy really misses him. I'll survive the visit."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up staying at the mansion," said Ken with a twinkle in his eye. Tina looked at him, realizing that there was something he knew that he wasn't telling.

"Okay, what is it?" she asked.

"What's what?" asked Ken, with a completely innocent look on his face.

Cindy and her father slipped into the (for once) light traffic around LAX, heading to their house. They chatted about various things -- her dad asking how she was doing in school and her asking about how work was. He didn't give her any hint about the news he had to give her, and Cindy kept wishing he'd tell her. Sometimes she really hated surprises.

When they arrived at the house, he was surprised to find it had been kept up very nicely. No mail piled out front, and everything looked clean and neat. There was even some food in the fridge.

"I thought you were spending all your time over there with Tina," said Rodger.

"I am, mostly," replied Cindy. "But we come by to make sure the house doesn't look abandoned or anything, plus I didn't want you to come home to a cold house with no food in it."

Rodger put his stuff away, then took a quick shower. Afterward, he made some coffee, and then he and Cindy sat down in the small living room.

"So how you gettin' along with those folks, Cindy?" he asked.

"Great," smiled Cindy. "They're awesome people."

Rodger smiled back, happy that his daughter had friends, and apparently good friends, for the first time in her life. Then he leaned forward with a serious look on his face.

"Cindy, what I wanted to tell you is that I've met someone," said Rodger.

"That's great!" she exclaimed. "Am I going to meet her?"

"Yeah," he said, "but not for a little while. She lives in Florida."

"Oh," said Cindy, a little worried.

"I was offered a new job too," he said. "It's a good opportunity and I've decided to take it."

Cindy's heart started to beat faster as she quickly put together what this meant. Her father was moving to Florida, three thousand miles away from the Circle and she was going to have to go with him! Being that far from the Circle, and especially Tina, she didn't think she could survive it.

"Cindy, Cindy," said Rodger, unsurprised by how fast she'd put everything together, quickly moved next to her to give her a hug. "Don't worry. I wouldn't ask you to give up your life here. Not when you've finally got yourself some real friends. People who understand you."

Her breath caught, and she looked at him.

"But ... but..."

"No buts," he said. "Look, I've always wanted what was best for you. I confess I don't really understand you. You're so much smarter than me, there's no comparison."

"That's not..."

"Oh Cindy," he interrupted. "It is true, and you know it. But I never had the foggiest idea what to do about it. We can't afford a special school, but I knew that your grades would be good enough to get you into a good college. I am what I am, and that's a guy who loves long haul, or did. You are a brilliant young woman who's finally found people that accept her as she is -- especially Tina. How are the two of you getting along, anyway?"

"Tina? She's fine."

"I'm sure," replied Rodger with a smile. "But a relationship can be hard, especially if it's not exactly a standard one."

Cindy's brain skipped a track.

"What?"

"Cindy, I'm not as bright as you, but I'm not stupid," he said. "It's pretty obvious that you two are together. It's no big deal. I mean, you're young, but as long as things don't get out of hand, it's no big deal."

Cindy was stunned. She couldn't believe she'd been so obvious.

"Cindy," said Rodger, kissing her forehead, "if I'm wrong, I apologize, but I'm not, am I?"

"Nnno," she replied.

"Well, I'm telling you, it's no big deal, at least to me," he said. "Maybe you two can come and visit Florida over spring break or something."

Cindy's heart sped up at that thought. Tina with all those college guys and girls at spring break? Florida wasn't ready for that.

"That would be nice," she said, realizing that if they went together, Tina wouldn't be the only one getting action.

"Now," said Rodger, "I've talked to Ken about this, and I can sign a power of attorney form, so he's legally responsible for you. If you agreed, that is. I thought you might, but I wanted to make sure."

"Ken's adopting me?" asked Cindy.

"Adopt ... no, he's not adopting you, honey," said Rodger. "Fostering. Like they did in the old days. Don't you read?"

Cindy blushed and smacked her dad. It was a long running joke between them that when Rodger read, he liked historical novels, and when Cindy read, she read physics and math texts.

Christmas Eve was a quiet evening for the Circle. Karen was missing, but Sandy, Helene and Davyn were there. Ellen and Kim were also there, although Sensei and Nikki were not. Since Nikki was a new cop, with no family, she was covering Christmas Eve and a lot of Christmas day.

Fionna was making music with Tina and Ken. Jane was trying to get the hang of using the oddly shaped stick to keep time on her bodhran. Fionna marveled at how quickly Ken and Tina were coming along. Ken was still of the opinion that he sucked, and by professional standards he did. But he'd only been playing slightly longer than a month (practicing every day, several hours), and she knew he'd be able to easily sit in a session. He wouldn't be able to play every song, and wouldn't be able to play most up to speed, but if she hadn't known that he wasn't exactly a normal human being, she'd have thought he was a prodigy.

It was a while later when Bill finally wandered downstairs. Grabbing his wife and kissing her soundly, he walked over to Ken after breaking the kiss.

"I have news," he said.

"From the tone of your voice, I'm guessing it's not good," replied Ken.

"I got into a bunch of the computers at the station," said Bill. "They're going to go for the maximum charges they can on all of you."

"What?" asked Ken surprised. "That's insane."

"It gets worse," said Bill. "There's no footage from the holding cells. I found a problem ticket someone put in saying the system was down. The ticket said the video feeds were acting up all day, but was put in not too long after Jane was taken away in the ambulance."

"What a coincidence," muttered Ken.

"I do have some good news," said Bill. "Pretty much all of your cell phone video is safe, and I recovered a bunch of footage from the bar cameras. We have a lot of proof on our side."

"Somehow I don't think that's going to help much," said Ken. "If the DA is going for such serious chargers, it sounds like someone's trying to make a name for himself. They won't give up easily."