“Push!” I shouted.

“I AM pushing,” Ginger snapped back as she dug her fingernails deeper into my arm. I gritted my teeth through the pain and fully expected to see blood on my arm. I took the cold washcloth and wiped the sweat off her forehead before it got into her eyes.

“Breathe,” I said, trying to follow the instructions we got in our Lamaze classes. I saw her eyes flash briefly before she snapped.

“If you tell me to breathe one more time, I’m gonna burn this fricking hospital to the ground!” she growled, causing the nurses to look at each other with concern. I saw the looks and tried to reassure them.

“It’s okay,” I said. “She doesn’t really mean it.” I got close to her ear and whispered. “Remember what Smith and Jones taught you, dear. Breathe. Close your eyes and breathe deeply.” She nodded her head and followed my instruction. Soon, she relaxed her death grip on my arm and seemed to be doing a bit better. I looked and saw the deep red marks where her fingernails had been. No blood, at least, not yet.

Eventually, both children made their entrance into the world. Jefferson (Jeff) and Genevieve (Jenny) – named after my maternal grandfather and Ginger’s maternal grandmother – were cleaned and presented to me one at a time.

I was struck first by their beauty. I had never seen such beautiful children before in my life. As I held each one, I saw the gold specks in their little blue eyes sparkle, then felt a strange snap in my head as they linked to my mind. They couldn’t vocalize it, but they each knew I was their father. I never felt such unconditional love in my entire life and I saw myself, or rather, I saw myself as they saw me. I nearly cried as I held them in my arms.

“Look at them, Cam,” Ginger said. That’s me, by the way – Cameron Drake, Cam to my friends and family. “Aren’t they the most beautiful children you’ve ever seen?” she asked after I handed the children to her. Tears fell down her checks as she looked into their sweet, innocent faces. I could tell they had also made the neural link to her mind as well.

“Yes, they are,” I said. “But they have a beautiful mother, so I’m not surprised.” She looked at me with a smile.

“Do you feel them in your mind?” she asked.

“Yes, I do,” I said. It was a bit ... different ... feeling their presence in my mind. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Yes, it is,” she said. “But at least we won’t need a baby monitor.” I chuckled at that. “I’m really very sorry about what I said earlier. I didn’t mean any of it.” I knew from our birthing classes what to expect, but I was a bit surprised at the level of invective she hurled at me while she was in labor.

“I’ll give you a pass this time,” I said with a smile, which she returned. After they got Ginger settled into her room, my parents came by and we went to see the twins. They were just as awestruck as I was when they first looked at the children. For a moment, I thought my mother would lay claim to them.

Jack Peabody, Ginger’s current boss and now a good friend, came by to see the children and check up on Ginger. Her company had given her three months of paid maternity leave and Jack had talked about the possibility of her telecommuting so she could stay at home with the children. Max and Adrestia also stopped by and were equally struck by the childrens’ beauty.

“Well, if I’m going to be a godmother, I couldn’t have any more beautiful godchildren than these,” Adrestia said with a smile. We had approached them about being godparents to the children a couple months ago. They were a bit uncertain at first, but finally decided to throw caution to the wind. Adrestia, however, jokingly suggested she be referred to as their “goddess-mother.”

“I suppose under the circumstances, that might be okay,” I joked back.

I was a bit disappointed that Bill Collins, my oldest and best friend, hadn’t come by, but I knew he was out of town working to secure a new client for the company he works for – Apex Tech Solutions – the same IT company I used to work for.

He was my first choice to be the childrens’ godfather, but he turned me down when I asked, saying he wasn’t really in any shape to be much of anything to anyone. I knew he was going through a lot with his own children and the aftermath of his own contentious divorce, so I didn’t press the issue.

“How about if you let me be their god-uncle or something?” he asked when he saw the look on my face.

“Of course,” I said.

We finally got home and settled into a routine. To my amazement, the children quickly adapted to our schedule and actually slept through most of the whole night from the time we got home. They didn’t cry very much, which also surprised me.

But they did have ways of letting us know when they were hungry or when they needed their diapers changed. Since Ginger breast-fed them, they learned to associate her breasts with “food.” So, when they were hungry, for example, one or both of us would get a mental picture of Ginger’s breasts. I won’t bother describing what we got when they needed a diaper changed. Let’s just say, we got the message, loud and clear.

As for me, I got a kick out of being a father and spent as much time as I could with the two of them. More than once, Ginger would come into the front room to see me asleep on the floor with one or both of them snuggled up on my chest, also sound asleep.

Since Ginger was staying at home with the kids, Max decided I should also stay home with her as much as possible and use the time to get as far ahead in my online course work as I could, which I did. I helped him on a couple of cases, but most of my time was at home.

Smith and Jones, the two aliens whose “experiment” made me what I am today, resumed their weekly visits and examined the children. They ran their strange devices over the two youngsters and conferred with each other as they looked at the results.

“Your offspring are well within normal parameters,” Smith declared.

“Is their DNA in flux like mine?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” Jones said. “Their DNA is in flux, but not quite like yours.”

“Will they develop abilities like mine?” I asked.

“Yes, they will, but there is a good chance their abilities may one day exceed yours,” Smith added. Ginger and I looked at each other with concern. “There is no need for concern. Your offspring appear to be far more mature than their age might suggest. Nevertheless, we will work with all of you to see them through this period of their lives. Just be the kind, loving parents you are.”

The children had been home for about two months when Bill came by to visit. We had just finished dinner, and was giving the children a bath when I heard the doorbell ring.

“Go ahead, I’ll finish up here,” Ginger said. I gave her a kiss and answered the door to see Bill standing there. It didn’t require any telepathy or special abilities to see something was eating at him.

“Bill, long time, no see,” I said. “Come on in.” He came into the front room and I offered him a beer, which he gladly accepted.

“I can’t stay very long, Cam,” he said when we sat down in the front room.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I could’ve searched his mind, but decided to respect his privacy and let him tell me for himself.

“I’ve ... lost my job at Apex,” he finally said. “I just came by to let you know I’ll be moving out of the condo in a couple weeks.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“It’s been a while coming, but something happened about three weeks ago,” he said. “I came in and heard a couple of the guys talking smack about you and Ginger. They called her a round-heeled slut and said you were a wimp for keeping her.”

“Let me guess. Edward Trujillo and Ralph Banks,” I said. He nodded his head.

“Yeah,” he said. “I told them they had no idea what happened and if they had any balls, they’d tell you to your face. They didn’t like that and Trujillo poked me in the chest with his finger. Well, we got into it, and old man Jennings came in. Fired all three of us.”

“Damn. I’m really sorry to hear that, Bill,” I said.

“I just couldn’t stand there and let them talk you down like that,” he said.

“I appreciate you standing up for us, Bill. Really, I do. But you know I’ve never cared what other people think. Besides, Trujillo and Banks have always been assholes. That’s just the way they are,” I said. “So, why are you moving out?”

“I’ve been looking for a job, but with this economy ... No one is hiring right now. So, I’m going to hit the road, see what else is out there,” he said.

“There’s something else going on, isn’t there?” I asked. He slowly nodded his head.

“Yeah. Gloria and her asshole boyfriend has been giving me a lot of grief about stuff lately,” he said. “They keep filing papers with the court demanding I reveal all my income and explain where I got the condo from. They even harassed Apex before Jennings let me go.”

“Why?” I asked. “You’re divorce is final, you’ve been paying everything like you’re supposed to. Why is she harassing you?”

“Because, she’s a blood-sucking bitch from which there is no escape,” he said. “So you see, I have to get out of town, go someplace where I can start over, someplace where she can’t find me.”

“You know if she really wants to find you all she has to do is hire a PI,” I said.

“Then I’ll move again,” he said. “And again and again, if that’s what it’ll take to get her to leave me the hell alone.”

“What about the kids?” I asked.

“I hardly ever get to see them anyway,” he said. “They’ve turned the kids against me so much they hardly ever want to see me anyway.” I thought for a few moments before saying anything.

“How long have we been friends?” I asked.

“Since first grade,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. “You remember that time I slept over at your place? I think we were about what, seven years old? We had just finished watching some old westerns when you pulled out your Old Timer and we did that Indian blood brother ceremony thing.” He laughed at the memory.

“Yeah, I remember,” he said. “I thought my mom was gonna tear me a new asshole for that.”

“Me too,” I said. I held out my hand and pointed to a faint line in my palm. “See, I still have a scar from that. You see, Bill, we’re not just friends. We’re blood brothers. Which means we help each other out.”

“Yeah, but you and Ginger have already done so much for me,” he said. I felt Ginger in my mind. She had been listening in to our conversation and she knew what I was thinking.

“Go for it,” she said in my mind.

“Look, Bill, running from this isn’t going to do you any good,” I said. “Why don’t you come work for us?” He looked at me, shocked.

“Work for you?” he asked. “Doing what?”

“Pretty much what you were doing for Apex,” I said. “Business development, research, that sort of thing. You still are the king of the Google searches, aren’t you?”

“You know it,” he said.

“And you still have your Lexis/Nexus access, right?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Well, there you go,” I said. “Ginger and I have been talking about bringing in someone to help ever since the kids were born. A lot of her time is spent looking after them, and she could really use the help. I’ll top whatever Apex was paying you and you can stay in the condo. Call it a fringe benefit.”

“But what kind of business are we talking about here?” Bill asked.

“It’s kinda like a full-service investigative agency,” I said. “We’re still in the start-up phase of things right now, but once we get going full-bore, I think it’ll be ‘Katy bar the door.’ So, what do you think? You up to the challenge?” Bill thought about it for a few moments before answering.

“Alright, count me in,” he said with a smile.

“There’s just a few things you need to know before we go any farther. And I need your complete and total confidence on this. You can’t say anything to anyone,” I said.

“I won’t,” he said. “You know you can trust me.”

“I know I can,” I told him. “But you may not want to work for us after you hear what I’m about to tell you.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he said. “But lay it on me.”

“All right. Here goes,” I said. “You already knew about me being able to hear other people’s thoughts after that lightning strike, right?”

“Yeah, I remember that,” he said.

“Well, there’s a whole lot more to the story,” I said. For the next hour, I explained everything to him. I told him about Smith and Jones, my ever-increasing mental abilities, even what I had done to Chad and the goons who tried to kill Ginger. In short, I told him absolutely everything. When I finished, his eyes were as big as saucers.

“Fuck,” he exclaimed when I finished. “And you say Ginger has abilities as well?”

“Yes, but not quite as advanced as mine. At least, not yet,” I said.

“What about the twins?” he asked.

“I’ve been told their abilities may one day exceed mine.”

“And you’re still advancing?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Any idea for how long?”

“No one knows yet,” I said. “It could take another 20 years before I reach my maximum potential.”

“Twenty years?” he asked. I nodded my head.

“Any idea what kind of new abilities you might get between now and then?”

“None,” I told him. “So, are you still in?” He thought for a few moments, then nodded his head.

“Count me in,” he said. “You’ve always been there for me. It’s the least I can do for you.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I said, extending my hand. He took it and we shook hands. “Now, why don’t you go on home, get a good night’s rest and come back first thing in the morning. We’ll get your employment stuff taken care of and then work on getting your situation with Gloria under control.”

“Thanks, Cam, that means the world to me,” he said.

“Hey, what are friends for?” I asked. “How are you set for funds, by the way?”

“I’ve got a little bit left, enough for a few days,” he said.

“Alright. Well, if you need anything, let me know,” I said.

“I will,” he said. “Thanks again.” I walked him to the door and watched as he drove away. I turned around to find Ginger standing in the front room.

“That was a very nice thing you did for him,” she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

“Well, Bill and I go way back,” I said.

“Still, it was very nice what you did,” she said. “Why don’t you go say good night to the kids. They love it when you tuck them in.”

“Of course,” I said. I walked into the darkened room and instantly spotted small flashes of light. I stood in the doorway and looked to see what was going on. The kids were in their cribs, laying on their backs with their faces turned to each other. The gold specks in their eyes were flashing, almost as if using some form of Morse code. Were they communicating with each other?

The flashing stopped as I stepped further into the room. I picked them up, one by one, and gave each of them a kiss, telling them I love them. They cooed and gurgled as babies do. As I held Jenny in my arms, I thought I heard a childlike “da” in my mind. I looked at her and saw one of the specks in her eyes briefly flash. Did she just call me “Da?” I put them back in their cribs and covered them up before going into the master bedroom.

“I take it you saw it?” Ginger asked.

“Yes, I did,” I told her. “How long has that been going on?”

“I first saw it about three days ago,” she said. “I’ve seen it a couple times since then. You think they’re communicating with each other?”

“That’s the only thing that makes any sense to me,” I said.

“You think maybe we should do something to stop it?” I shook my head.

“No, there’s no harm being done. Let them develop and see what happens. We’ll need to ask Smith and Jones about it the next time they’re here,” I said. “Come on, let’s go to bed and get a good night’s sleep.”

...

Bill came by at 8:00 the next morning, ready to get to work. I walked him to the office and ushered him inside. After showing him around a bit, we went through the standard employment paperwork Ginger had already put together when we first started talking about bringing someone on board.

“So, what now?” Bill asked.

“I think the first thing we need to do is get your brain feed saved,” I said.

“Brain feed?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s all of your combined memories, thoughts and secrets.” He looked at me, shocked. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt, and it’ll help us figure out what’s going on. It’s completely confidential, by the way.”

“That’s good to hear,” he said. “I’ve done some things I’m not too proud of.”

“We all have those in our past,” I said.

“So, what do I do?” he sked.

“Shake my hand,” I said. I held out my hand and he took it. I knew exactly where to touch to get the desired result, and he felt the shock as his feed was dumped into my head. “See, that wasn’t so bad,” I said when it was all finished.

“So, what now?” he asked. I pulled out my headset and plugged it into my computer.

“Now I transfer everything to the main server,” I said. “Once that’s done, the application will process it, sorting everything out by date. Then we’ll have a fully searchable feed we can use.” I started the process and let it run. “That could take some time. So, while that’s processing, why don’t you tell me about your divorce. You never really told me much except that Gloria had cheated on you. What happened? Exactly?”

“I never told you because I was so damned humiliated about the way it all happened,” he said. “I came home from work one day and she met me, wearing the shortest skirt I had ever seen her wear. I asked her where the kids were and she told me her folks had them for the night. I thought she wanted me to take her out, so I offered to get changed.

“That’s when she told me that ‘WE’ weren’t going out. Instead, her date was on his way to pick her up, and she would be gone most, if not all, of the night with him. Well, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather. We argued. I told her there was no way I was gonna put up with that.

“She told me I had no choice. Either put up with being a cuckold or she and her lover would ruin me in a divorce. Well, I told her I was not going to be her willing cuckold, and said if she left with him to not bother coming back. She laughed in my face.

“When her lover got to the house, he just walked in like he owned the place. I can’t even repeat what happened after that, it’s so humiliating,” he said, his face turning red with shame.

“That’s alright,” I said. “We’ve got the memory stored. I can look at it later. Just give me the basic story. First off, who was this guy?”

“H. Ross Simpson, Gloria’s boss,” he said.

“You mean, THE H. Ross Simpson, the big-shot family law attorney?” I asked.

“Yeah, him,” Bill said. “He told me that from now on, what was mine was his. That he would come and go as he pleased and take my wife whenever he wanted. I told him he could kiss my ass and that’s when he decked me.”

“He assaulted you?” I asked.

“Yeah. Right there in my own home. Gloria laughed and told him to kick my ass more if he wanted to. I fought back, but in the end, they left me on the floor. Warned me against calling the cops. Said bad things could happen if I did. And they did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I called the cops after they left. They came and began accusing me of domestic violence, claimed there was a report that I had abused the children and nearly took me to jail. Imagine that! I’m the one who gets beaten, and they want to take me to jail. Over a false charge. And that was just the beginning.” Just then, his phone buzzed. He looked at it and showed it to me.

“Ross and I are coming to your place this afternoon,” the message said. “Be there with this month’s support check or else. 1:30 pm.”

“I’ve already paid all my support for this month,” he said. “I even have the bank statement showing I’ve paid it.”

“Does she do this all the time?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “It never ends.”

“Alright,” I said. “Let me call someone.” I grabbed my phone and called Drew Henson, the lawyer I worked with nearly a year ago when I considered divorcing Ginger. The receptionist put me through to him right away.

“Mr. Drake,” he said enthusiastically. “How are things going? Do you need my services after all?”

“Yes, Drew, I do, but not for me. It’s for a friend who happens to work for me,” I said. He listened as I explained the situation to him. “Is there anything you can do? File an order of protection or something? This Ross guy has already assaulted him at least once before.”

“You need this by 1:30, you say?” Drew asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“That doesn’t give me much time,” he said. “I’ll do what I can and meet you two there. Give me the address.” I gave it to him. “Alright, let me get going on this. I’ll see you there at 1:30.”

“Thanks, Drew, I appreciate this,” I said. I put my phone away and turned to my friend, who sat with his head in his hands. I could see the tears coursing down his face. I could tell this was a man nearly at the end of his rope. Someone is definitely going to pay for this, I thought.

“It’s going to be alright, Bill,” I said. “Drew Henson is working on something. I’ll go with you to the condo. He’ll meet us there. Why don’t you get a cup of coffee and collect yourself.”

“Yeah, thanks,” he said, heading toward the Keurig I kept in the office.

“That poor man,” Ginger said in my mind. “He doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“No, he doesn’t,” I responded. I felt two other presences in my mind – the children. I wondered what they would think of all this if they understood what Bill was going through. After filling a mug with coffee, Bill came back and sat down.

“Feel better?” I asked.

“A bit,” he said.

“So, did Gloria ever give you any reason for what she did?” I asked.

“Claimed she wanted ‘excitement’ in her life. Said she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life married to a ‘salesman.’ Worse yet, she said she had been screwing Ross for a couple months already and decided she didn’t want to hide it from me any more,” he said.

“So basically, she got what she wanted,” I said.

“No, she didn’t,” he told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She wanted to control me. She still does. That’s why she keeps harassing me the way she does,” he said. I looked and saw the app had finished processing Bill’s brain feed.

“It’s done,” I said. “Why don’t I show you how to use this thing?”

“Sure,” he said. I spent the next couple hours showing him the features of the application. He took right to it and I could tell he enjoyed working with the application.

“How would you like to go through Gloria’s and Ross’ brain feeds?” I asked.

“That would be fan-fucking-tastic,” he said. “But how are we going to get them?”

“Leave that to me,” I said. “I’m going with you back to the condo. It’ll be a piece of cake.” Just then, Ginger let me know that lunch was ready. I didn’t realize it was that late in the day. Guess time does fly when you’re having fun, I thought.

“You ready for some lunch?” I asked Bill.

“Is it that time already?” he asked.

“Yep. Ginger made up some olive and cream cheese sandwiches,” I said.

“Olive and cream cheese?” he asked.

“Yeah, you ought to try one. I can make myself sick eating those things,” I said.

“Well, okay,” he said. I grabbed the folder with Bill’s employment stuff for Ginger to send to Nathan. We went to the kitchen where Ginger had the sandwiches already on plates for us. She also piled some chips and dip on the plates as well.

“The kids have already had their lunches,” she told me. “So you two eat up and I’m going to spend some tummy time with them.”

“Okay, sounds good,” I said. “After we eat, we’re going to the condo. Gloria and her boyfriend are going to meet us there. Would you mind making sure Nathan gets Bill’s paperwork?” Nathan was Jack Peabody’s nephew and the man who took care of the company’s accounts.

“Sure, no problem,” she said. We ate our sandwiches and gathered our things to go. On the way out the door, I stopped and gave Ginger a kiss. Then I smiled down at the children.

“Daddy’s getting ready to go burn a bitch,” I said with a smile. “Would you like to help Daddy burn a bitch?” Their eyes briefly flashed and they smiled up at me. “You make Daddy so proud,” I said as I gave them each a kiss.

“You’re so bad,” Ginger said in my mind.

“You know it, baby,” I responded with a wink.

“You know, Cam, sometimes you really scare me,” Bill said after we got in the car.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I told him as we sped to the condo. “You’re not getting cold feet on me, are you?”

“Oh hell no,” he said with a smile. We got to the condo at 1:15 and saw Drew had already made it. He held a folder as he waited at the door for us.

“I was wondering when you two would get here,” he said.

“Sorry, had to eat lunch,” I said. I introduced Drew and Bill and waited for Bill to open the door. When we got inside, Drew turned to Bill.

“You got a buck or two on you?” he asked. Bill pulled out his wallet and looked.

“I have a five,” he said.

“That’ll work,” Drew said, his hand out. Bill pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it over.

“You’re now officially my client,” Drew said. “Let me do the talking, okay?”

“You’re the boss,” Bill said. A couple minutes later, we heard a knock at the door. Bill opened the door and we all saw Gloria and Ross standing there. They seemed somewhat surprised to see me and Drew in the condo. The 3-D anaglyph effect was strong with these two and I had some difficulty focusing on them as they stood there.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” Gloria asked. Bill looked at Drew, who nodded his head.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he told Gloria. They stepped inside, not sure of what to make of this development.

“Cam, it’s been a long time,” Gloria said nervously as she held her hand out. I took it and felt the tell-tale shock. She flinched for a moment.

“Sorry, must be static,” I said as her brain feed downloaded into my mind.

“This is H. Ross Simpson,” she said, pointing to the tall, muscular man with her. “Ross, this is Cameron Drake.” I held out my hand, which he accepted. He also flinched as he felt the shock.

“Good to meet you, Mr. Drake,” he said with a smirk. “What the fuck is up with his eyes,” I heard in his mind. After I released his hand, he turned to Drew. “Drew. What an unexpected surprise. Good to see you again.”

“And you, Ross,” Drew said as they shook hands.

“Bill, what are these men doing here?” Gloria asked. “I thought we were going to discuss this in private.”

“You can address your questions to me, Ms. Collins,” Drew said. “I represent Mr. Collins now.”

“Oh?” Ross asked.

“Yes,” Drew said. “He tells me there’s been some confusion regarding his most recent support payment. I took the liberty of checking and I see that Ms. Collins has already deposited the check – for the full amount – that my client sent.”

“Oh ... well, maybe I got it confused with something else,” Gloria said.

“I doubt that, Ms. Collins,” Drew said. “From what my client tells me, I suspect this was just another attempt on your part to harass my client, something the two of you have been doing quite a lot lately. Which brings me to the reason I’m here.” He opened the folder and pulled out two sheets of paper. He handed one to Gloria and another to Ross.

“What’s this?” Gloria asked.

“I’m glad you asked, Ms. Collins,” Drew said. “That is an order of protection and you both have been officially served. In short, that order states that the two of you, and anyone working on your behalf, are ordered to remain at least 500 feet from my client, his residence and his place of employment, which currently happens to be Mr. Drake’s residence. It also prohibits any contact whatsoever, be it by phone, email or text message.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to take this with me the next time I go to the men’s room,” Ross said with a smirk.

“Do with it as you see fit, Ross. In fact, you can shove it all the way up your ass if you want, but know this. If either of you violate this order, my client will have you arrested,” Drew said. Ross looked like he was about to explode.

“Do you people have any idea what you’re messing with?” he asked.

“Do you?” I asked him, focusing on the area around his heart muscle for just a few seconds. His face turned white as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. I released the pressure on his heart and the color returned to his face.

“What is this guy to you?” Ross asked after he caught his breath. “Why do you care what happens to him?”

“Because, asshole, he’s my friend. And my employee,” I told him, my eyes briefly flashing red. He and Gloria stepped back, shocked and a bit afraid. I could smell the fear emanating from him, which, oddly enough, smelled an awful lot like freshly released feces. Maybe he actually crapped his pants, I thought.