Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“We need to evacuate!” Gloria cried. While Josie was talking to Cindy, the older woman had snuck up on them. “It’s completely irresponsible to be standing out here at the site of a terrorist attack!”
While her words expressed distress, Josie knew this explosion would entertain Gloria for weeks if not months afterward. Not as exciting as a plane crash, but fodder for all sorts of National Enquirer–fueled speculation.
My God, what were Barb and Jenna going to make of this?
“This is my Grandma Gloria,” Amos said, happily. “This is my friends Cindy and Ashley and Shelly. They have superpowers.”
Oh shit.
“Friends?” Gloria asked, taking in the sight of the three princesses and their wardrobe choices while Al came huffing up to the group. Her eyes narrowed and stuck on Cindy’s blue hair. “How do you know them, Amos?”
Josie cleared her throat. “These are our neighbors, the Smiths.”
Neighbors, Al mouthed with delight.
Neighbors, Gloria mouthed with disdain.
Before Amos could elucidate and maybe let slip the existence of eight more Smith sisters, a young woman behind them squealed.
“OMG. Are you Cindy Smith? From TikTok?”
Cindy turned around and flashed a blinding smile as the young woman proceeded to take pictures.
“What is TikTok?” Gloria asked. “Is that a gang?”
Josie might have known the faeries were on TikTok. Within minutes, they were surrounded by teenagers taking selfies with Cindy and her sisters, gushing about their social media accounts, and exclaiming over their boots, clothes, and hair.
“Influencers.” Al had to raise his voice to explain to Gloria over the sound of the faeries’ fans. “Famous for being famous. Lots of money in it. Tons of money.”
“Were you here for the experiment?” a girl asked Shelly. “It was cool. Dr. Naliti is one badass scientist.”
“Mom,” Amos whispered, “she said a bad word.”
Distracted—Dr. Naliti?—Josie nodded. What in the world?
“I follow her YouTube channel, like, religiously,” the same girl told them while taking selfies with the cloud in the background. “She is so inspiring. I’m going to change my major from art history to chemistry.”
Sure enough, the crowd exiting the museum was mostly young women, many of them in pink and green.
This was bad.
Or was it good? Josie didn’t know the answer.
Amid a flurry of fans swirling around the faeries, the dark, solemn forms of Pax and Maddy stood out. The two of them approached the gaggle of selfie takers with apprehension.
Seeing Pax outside of Number Five did something to knock Josie’s center of gravity askew. How was it a man who came from another world, dimension—whatever—could appear so solid and real? As if the people milling about them were poor copies and he alone was genuine.
“She lives upstairs from me,” Amos volunteered to the starstruck crowd. “They all live upstairs.”
Al’s eyebrows rose in muted delight, but Gloria grabbed hold of this information with both hands.
“What kind of doctor blows up a museum?” Gloria asked the girl, lips tight with disapproval.
Pax surveyed the crowd as he approached. The pull to go stand at his side, soak up some of that calm, was strong enough to make Josie hesitate. She wanted him, but what did she want from him?
“These are your neighbors? People who blow up museums?” Gloria asked, her intonation making it clear the questions were rhetorical. “Flicktok people?”
“You are Amos’s grandparents?” Pax asked as he reached them.
Oh shit.
“Ummm, ah, let me introduce you,” Josie stammered, stumbling over the introductions. Was Pax her building super or her friend? Was it obvious to everyone they were more than friends? Were Maddy’s snakes going to stay put?
Josie could barely breathe, terrified by the possible consequences of the collision between two literally different worlds in the most bizarre of scenarios.
“Pax is the building superintendent, and he works closely with Maddy, who is the president of our very active and involved tenants’ association,” Josie said brightly.
“Oh, you are responsible for the upkeep of that building.” Gloria gave Pax a once-over, her upper lip pulled back in a sneer. “Do you have a process for investigating prospective tenants, or can anyone move in?” Gloria asked.
While Josie doubted she and Maddy would ever be friends, she had no doubts about how committed Maddy was to Number Five. The instant she sensed Gloria’s disapproval the medusa raised her chin and narrowed her eyes.
Terrifying.
“The Wayside is an exclusive private residence,” Maddy announced, coating her words in a frozen shell of condescension.
“I am afraid there are no apartments to let in the building,” Pax added. “If you are interested, however, there is a three-year waiting list, a one-hundred-dollar fee for an FBI background check, and a minimum salary threshold.”
Maddy sent Pax a look of approval, and Josie hid her smile with her hand.
This line of defense flummoxed Gloria, but she rallied quickly.
“Well, if you have so many famous tenants and it’s exclusive, you must have problems with strangers getting into the building.
I can’t recall seeing any security cameras or even a doorman.
In our neighborhood we have a watch who checks on our properties. ”
“Hmmm.” How Maddy could make a hum of agreement sound like a derisory snort was one of many questions Josie still had about this woman. Person. Being. Badass.
Pax crossed his arms. “You wouldn’t be able to spot our security. Not for what we pay. I can assure you no one enters my building without permission.”
Gloria appeared displeased and about to argue the point, but Maddy interrupted. “Considering the statuary in our lobby is insured through Markel, it would be the height of foolishness not to have top-tier security.”
That shut Gloria up.
Shut Josie up, too, because what statuary was Maddy even…
“The gargoyles?” Josie asked.
“Exactly,” Maddy said.
“Our security is impressive, but even more impressive is the care Ms. LaChiusa takes of her son. You do not have to worry for Amos,” Pax said with an edge of finality.
No doubt the former knight thought he’d put an end to the argument. How kind. Whatever sort of monsters he’d faced in his past, Josie was willing to bet they had nowhere near the tenacity of her mother-in-law.
Gloria’s face, as readable as a child’s, was twisting into various permutations; a frown signified her inability to use building security as a weapon against Josie when she remembered she could hold the dog over Josie’s head and she straightened her mouth.
“An apartment building requiring security, explosions right next door, a mother who works all day and no backyard, no pets, no neighborhood friends. This isn’t how a boy should grow up. Of course I worry.”
The words sounded practiced—and practical—but beneath the plaintive tone, Josie heard genuine confusion. Gloria truly didn’t believe families could thrive on love rather than things.
Posing with Cindy for selfies, Amos laughed, unaware of his fate being discussed at this very moment.
“I have to ask myself if Amos is better off being closer to us,” Gloria said, her eyes never leaving Josie’s face. “Many people would agree with me.”
Many people. Many people like social workers or judges or whomever else Gloria called upon to get her way.
Maddy scoffed. “I would certainly disagree. A boy needs to be with his mother.”
The medusa’s words were almost as shocking as the explosion. Josie gaped at the woman who, only days before, had told her Number Five was set to leave her behind and Josie needed a man in the house.
“I would disagree as well.” Pax looked to Josie as if asking permission and she nodded once, speechless at this defense.
“I grew up given plenty of food, outdoor activity, rigorous academics, and went on to become a high-ranking officer in the military. Looking back on my childhood, the one resource I lacked and will always regret not having was the affection of a parent.”
Pax’s voice never wavered, his expression remained enigmatic, but no one who heard his words doubted for a moment his regret was real. Josie would be damned if Amos was going to experience that same regret.
Stepping up close to Gloria, Josie held her gaze and drew the line.
“I know you love Amos. I know you want what is best for him. Believe me when I say every choice I make, I make with him in mind,” she said firmly. Yes, she was angry at Gloria’s constant diminishment of her parenting, but Josie couldn’t let anger be the deciding emotion here.
They had common ground, she and Gloria.
Even though Dan was lost to them, they still had Amos.
“He loves you, too,” Josie said. “You and Al are the most important people in his world besides me.”
Gloria’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Spending time with you and Al gives Amos confidence that he is loved. I want that for him as much as you do,” Josie said. Her throat closed a little, but she kept going, pushing out the words she needed to say.
“I need you to support me so I can focus on being the best mom possible and raise Amos to be the same sort of wonderful man you raised Dan to be. You cannot undermine me by questioning where or how we live, or by pitting your lifestyle against mine. If you continue to do this, it will hurt your relationship with Amos, because I am never, ever, letting my son go until he is grown and ready.”
Gloria schooled her features to unimpressed, but the avid gleam in her eyes had dimmed and she tilted her head quickly to one side as though trying to shake Josie’s declaration from her brain.
“I see,” she said. “Well, I—”
“We do support you, Josie,” Al said, speaking over Gloria. “Amos is a lucky little boy and reminds me of Dan at that age. Doesn’t he, Gloria? Remind you of Dan?”
Gloria whipped her head around and frowned at her husband. Al smiled at her, sympathy radiating from his expression. “We all miss Dan,” he said gently, holding her gaze. “Grieving for Dan isn’t the same as loving Amos, though. Those are two different things.”