“Knight?”
Knight paused in his sweeping and looked up at the doorway.
“Somebody here to see you.”
“Mal?” he asked, finishing putting the remnants of the lunch detritus into a small pile.
Lynn smiled, “If it was Mal, I would have told you. I’ve never seen this guy before.”
He shrugged, “Okay, then,” he said, and got the dustpan, sweeping up the pile. He tossed it in the garbage can near the outside door, and set the broom against the wall. He took off his apron and headed out. Lynn pointed, but she didn’t have to.
Sitting near the window was a blond man, sipping something from a glass. He looked out the window, but Knight knew exactly who it was. He sipped again, and turned to look inside. Knight felt his hands clench, his shoulders tighten. He started walking over to the man, who now caught his eye.
“Grim,” said Knight coldly.
“Knight,” said Mike. “Did I come at a bad time?”
I forgave him, said Scott’s voice in his mind. “No,” said Knight, exhaling slowly, relaxing. “No, you din’t.”
“Can you sit down?”
Knight pulled out the chair and sat down. Lynn came over and brought him a lemonade, smiled at Mike, and then went to the bar, giving them some privacy.
“Congratulations are in order,” said Mike, raising his glass. “A toast. To strong, healthy children.”
Knight raised his glass and Mike clinked it against Knight’s. They both drank, and Mike said after a moment, “Ah, good stuff. You’re showing.”
“Yeah, I gotta talk t’ Scott.”
“For?”
“A glamour.”
Mike waved his hand. “I can do that with my eyes closed.”
“I wan’ Scott to.”
“You don’t trust me.” Mike raised a hand to stop any protest. “Look, I understand. I’m not mad.”
Knight didn’t care if he was or not. He drank more. There was silence. Knight stared at Mike’s eyes intently. Mike squirmed.
“There’s how many?” Mike asked.
“Three.”
Mike frowned.
“What?”
He suddenly brightened, “When are you due? I can do a horoscope.”
“Horoscope? I don’ believe in tha’ shit.”
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“I’m due the 10th of September. Give’r take.”
“Excellent. I’ll take a look to see if that’s an auspicious date.”
“Whasematter wi’ three?”
“Three? Nothing. Three’s a magical number. It’s a prime number. It’s a good number. It is.” Mike smiled.
Knight narrowed his eyes.
“I’m not lying.”
“You ain’ tellin’ me th’ whole truth, neither.”
Mike avoided looking at Knight’s eyes. He finished the lemonade. “I’ll start on that horoscope.”
“You’ll tell me what th’ fuck’s the matter,” Knight snarled, reaching out with cat’s reflexes and grabbing a hold of Mike’s wrist.
Mike looked across at Knight. “I see two.”
“See two what?”
“Babies. Children. I’ve done scrying and I’ve only seen two.”
Knight released Mike’s wrist and slowly sat back. “Two?”
Mike nodded slowly.
“You could be wrong.”
“I–” Mike swallowed at the angry look in Knight’s eyes. “I could be, sure.”
Knight put a hand to his stomach. “Three,” he said emphatically.
“Three,” said Mike. “I’ll do three horoscopes.”
“Whatever,” Knight said, and finished his lemonade. “I gotta get back.”
“Sure. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah,” Knight said, getting up. He pushed his chair in deliberately, not scraping it across the floor, and turned to go back to the kitchen. He held onto his stomach, the baby bump in his abdomen.
Lynn looked at him, concerned. “You okay?”
“Stomachache.”
“You’ve been getting a lot of those lately. Maybe you have a hernia?”
“Maybe,” Knight said quietly. “Maybe so.”