Chapter 66

He was young, looking no older than his mid-twenties, with long blond hair that belonged in an anime movie and eyes that were such a light, silvery grey that Mark could see the color even from several yards away. His face was delicate, with high cheekbones, and the overall impression was of something ethereal, inhuman. It was rather hard to process that, though, when Mark's primary thought was that here was someone who'd come right through his supposedly secure, nearly impenetrable door, and he had no idea how.

The man stopped as he caught sight of them, and he smiled shyly. "Hello? She said to come on down..." His voice trailed off uncertainly as he looked around the room.

"Uh ... who said to come down?" Mark asked, confused, as Aaron sat up abruptly.

"Dad!" He scrambled off of the bed and headed for the stairs.

The man hurried down the stairs. "Aaron! You're all right, son? I was worried sick when the sheriff called." He wrapped his arms around his son and hugged him tightly. He was a few inches taller than his son, but even slimmer and more delicately built. "I got here as fast as I could. I'm sorry."

Aaron leaned against him for a moment, looking very young, and then stepped away with a smile. "I'm fine. It's all right."

"No, it isn't," the man disagreed, but some of the tension left his face, and he turned to finally answer Mark's question. "Your wife, I'd assume. The young lady upstairs. I'm Josh Deveraux, by the way."

"Mark Hasseran. And this is my wife right here. What young lady upstairs?" Mark asked, totally confused. "The ghost?"

Josh frowned, shoving a strand of silvery blond hair behind one ear irritably. "Ghost? I didn't see a ghost. She was quite lovely, really. Beautiful golden curls, the most extraordinary blue eyes. Maybe I'm glad she's not your wife."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark was surprised to see Steven staring openly at the newcomer, a slightly stunned expression on his face. Thoughtfully, he gave Josh a closer look.

Joshua Deveraux was a beautiful man. It was easy to see where Aaron got his looks, once he knew to look for the similarities. Josh would, in fact, be a beautiful woman if he'd been dressed in an appropriately padded dress. Still ... Steven had never seemed fascinated by Aaron, and if anything, Mark considered the boy's exotic coloring to be more than equal to his father's tiny bit of extra delicacy.

Realizing that his mind was following completely irrelevant pathways in an attempt to avoid what he knew he had to say, Mark winced slightly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry to tell you, Josh, but that's our resident ghost. Her name is Emma."

"She looked quite alive to me! She opened the door!" He seemed more upset than indignant-- not as if he didn't believe what he was being told, but rather that he didn't want to believe it.

"Is she still up there?" Mark asked.

"I would assume so."

"Why don't you ask her to come down, then?"

"I think I will! I must say, if this is a joke, it's in very poor taste." With that, Josh turned and stalked up the stairs, and even then, his tread barely made a sound. There was a kind of inherent gracefulness to the way he moved that made a good angry, indignant stomp rather ineffective.

Aaron watched him go, then sighed and took the chair that Kayla had abandoned earlier. Mark bit back his reflexive impulse to tell him that it wasn't necessary-- when and what his father was told or shown should be the boy's choice.

Josh was gone for several minutes, and when he came back he descended the stairs much more slowly than he'd gone up. He shook his head. "She's gone," he said softly, sadly, and then raised his head. His eyes met Steven's, and the two of them froze, staring at each other as if hypnotized. After several seconds Steven, with a noticeable effort, tore his gaze away and stared at the floor, his cheeks going hot.

Now that's different, Mark thought. Hmm, I wonder... He closed his eyes most of the way and let them go unfocused, and his suspicions were confirmed. The silvery green line of the bond between the two was faint, but it was definitely there. This was going to be really, really interesting -- and he owed Steven for the man's gleeful enjoyment of several of his own uncomfortable moments. So he grinned and looked at his father-in-law with raised eyebrows. "My ... Steven, Josh, let me be the first to congratulate you."

They both jumped guiltily, and despite Kristen's elbow to his ribs, Mark's grin stretched so broad that it nearly hurt.

Kayla cleared her throat, giving him a significant look, and then smiled tightly at Josh. "All right," she said. "So the ghost let you down here. Her name is Emma. You've met Mark. His wife is Kristen, and I'm Kayla. Steven and Angie are in the blue chairs."

Unrepentant, Mark watched, still smiling, wondering if they were going to acknowledge it or pretend it didn't exist.

Apparently, it was going to be the latter option, because Josh smiled at Kayla with obvious relief. "You I've heard about, Kayla," he said, warmly, and Aaron blushed. "Some about Kristen and Mark, too." He shook his head, carefully avoiding looking towards Steven. "Aaron just said she looked like an angel, so I assumed the ... the ghost had to be Kristen."

Mark had trouble fighting back his laughter, and Kristen dug her elbow into his ribs and hissed at him, under her breath, to behave.

To his surprise, Steven spoke up quietly, "I met her earlier, too. She told me Kris was going to be fine, that having the baby wouldn't hurt her. Then she burst into tears and ran away." He fixed his narrowed gaze on his son-in-law. "Mark, what baby?"

Well, that was a sobering question if ever there was one. "Ah. That," Mark said, uncomfortably. "Yes. At some point in the future-- at the 'right time', whenever that my be-- Kristen is going to have a baby. A specific baby, that is. Emma's baby, reborn. We don't know when exactly it will happen, but it will happen. Basically, it'll be at the best possible time."

"Ah," Steven said, looking very relieved. "So I'm not an imminent grandfather. Thank god."

"Oh, I don't know," Kayla drawled, with a wicked grin. "Who can tell when the 'right time' is?"

Steven glared at her. "You are a very cruel young lady," he said, as Mark returned to his gleeful Steven and Josh watching.

They both ignored him, and, more carefully, each other.

Kayla grinned evilly. "Me? I'm cruel? Shaved any pussies recently, Steven?"

Mark nearly choked trying not to laugh, and Kristen went into a sudden 'coughing fit', covering her face with her hands.

The tops of his ears turned pink, but Steven didn't remove his glare from the petite brunette. "It was laser hair removal, and it seemed logical at the time. How was I to know it was the damned skin, not the fur?"

From out of the corner of his eye, Mark watched Josh, carefully gauging his reaction.

Running a hand through his hair, Steven turned his eyes heavenward and muttered, "Spankings. Children today need more spankings." At which comment, Aaron turned bright red.

Josh was just looking confused and uncomfortable, and Mark was almost moved to take pity on him, but the imp of perverse humor had a tight grip on him, and he couldn't have resisted if he'd tried. "So," he drawled, tightening his arms slightly around Kristen in hopes of avoiding more bruises on his ribs. "Are y'all gonna just stand there pretending you aren't noticing each other forever?"