Since there was no need for sound checks, Emmy didn’t have to “go to work,” as she phrased it, until six o’clock. This gave us most of the day to relax and be together, which made for a nice change. After a late breakfast at the same egg place we visited the British Museum, spending a few hours looking at ancient relics.

I enjoyed the feeling of normalcy that touring the museum gave us- people clearly recognized Emmy, but they respected our privacy and left us alone, not clamoring for her attention as so often happened. We could admire the exhibits in peace, just the three of us (we’d left Tiny and Grant back at the hotel).

“Look at this,” Emmy said as we stood in front of a glass case with some pottery from 1300 BCE on display. “This was made by my people,” she said. “Look at the way the black and white patterns form triangles- that is actually our ancient script.”

“What does it say?” Angela asked, intrigued.

“I have no idea. I cannot read it, any more than you could read Ancient Greek. This bowl was made over three thousand years ago, after all,” Emmy said, still staring at the bowl. “But I have seen similar writing in our… Our archives, but the name in our language really means ‘library’.”

“Is this library a place that somebody could visit?” I asked, surprised. Emmy had never mentioned anything like this before, and I found the idea very fascinating.

“Not really, no,” Emmy said, distracted by the information about the bowl. “It isn’t in one place. Our family has some, some of it is guarded by other families.”

Turning to face Angela and me, she said, “It is an aspect of our culture that we very jealously guard what we think of as ‘ours’ from others. These things belong in a museum, for all the world to see and learn from. If we are ever to weave our threads into the tapestry of human culture, we must show the rest our contributions, our place in history. This?” she said, indicating the bowl. “According to what this text says,” she said, pointing at the little placard with information about the bowl, “This bowl was made by an unknown group who raided the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, leading in great part to the Bronze Age Collapse. Well, I know who this group was. In fact, I could tell you the names of our kings who led this period of our history- their names are as famous in our culture as Alexander or Julius Caesar are for day walkers.”

“What would it take to get your parents to have their stuff displayed in a museum?” I asked, starting to imagine a conversation on the subject with Emmy’s dad.

“I do not see how,” Emmy said, turning away from the pot.

Emmy pointed out several additional relics from her people before we left that section of the museum, enough that I could see the similarities and recognize the motifs. Even as we left that wing of the museum behind, ideas were forming in my head, thoughts of maybe endowing one of the premier museums with Emmy’s family collection, and educating the world on the parallel history of the Night Children.

Emmy still hadn’t actually publicly revealed the nature of Night Children to the world at large, but maybe when that time came…

The three of us were in a cab when I got a text message from the lab in Utah. “Test results complete. For full details, see the email we sent, but everything looks good. Paternity matches, and no abnormalities detected.”

“What is it?” Angela asked, concerned at my total attention to my phone.

“The baby is mine,” I said, handing her the phone. “And everything looks good. No problems, no abnormalities, all good.”

Angela handed the phone to Emmy, then slumped back in her seat. “Oh, Dios mío,” she sighed. “Oh, Dios mío.”

I took Angela’s hand in mine and kissed it, not caring that tears of relief were pouring from my eyes. “Ange, baby, you’re going to be the mother of our perfect little girl. They said they didn’t find any markers of concern at all. Our little baby is healthy and perfect.”

Emmy had wrapped her arms around Angela and was kissing her cheek, saying, “It worked! Angie, it worked! Our baby, she is strong and flawless, just like her mother! Our baby, Angie!”

Angela couldn’t speak to respond, too overwhelmed to get any words out. When the taxi pulled to a stop, I told the driver to just drive around for a while- we weren’t ready to get out of the cab just yet. He gave me a bemused look but did as I asked, driving through the more well-known and touristy parts of London for almost an hour while we just held each other and cried happy tears.

Eventually Angela calmed down enough to call her parents to give them the good news. She spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, way too fast for me to really catch any of it at all, but after a lot of talk and a few more happy tears, Angela handed the phone to me.

“Leah, this is amazing news,” Angela’s dad said. “Angela tells me that you are somehow the father?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I confirmed. “We had a laboratory that was doing research into DNA transferral use my DNA to fertilize Angela’s egg. The reason we’re finally calling you now with the news is that we had the baby’s DNA tested just a few days ago. We just got the results, and everything is good. The baby’s healthy, and the paternal DNA is mine.”

“This is incredible. What a world we live in,” Rafael said, wonder in his voice. “And my Angela, she is fine?”

“She’s more than just fine. She’s absolutely beautiful,” I said.

Rafael laughed at that, even though I hadn’t meant it as a joke. “Yes, she is. I have said many times when she was a child that she is too beautiful for this world. I worried for her- it is a burden, to be so. My worst fears came true when that Cardeño boy made her life miserable…”

“You want to hear something funny?” I asked. “I’m actually grateful to that guy, and to Antonio. Without them, Angela never would have come into our lives.”

Chuckling wistfully, Rafael said, “They say everything happens for a reason.”

“Emmy’s European tour ends in a few weeks, and the band is going to take a break for a little while before starting the next leg. Would you and Mamá like to come to Los Angeles then?” I asked.

“Nothing could keep us away,” Rafael answered, without having to consult with his wife. He knew the truth.

“I’ll let you know their schedule, and you guys tell me what days you want tickets. It’ll be great to have you.”

“We will be there even if we have to swim,” Rafael laughed.

“Give Mamá a kiss for me, and we’ll see you guys soon,” I said, handing Angela’s phone back to her.

“I do not want to perform tonight,” Emmy sighed. “I just want to go back to the hotel and cuddle and make love all night.”

“I want that, too,” Angela agreed.

“But that is not an option for me,” Emmy said. “The show must go on.”

Angela and I went in the van with Emmy to the arena, but once The Downfall was settled into the dressing room we left to go find dinner of our own in the strange shopping mall surrounding the venue. We found a Brazilian place that didn’t have a long wait, so that’s what we had for an early dinner. It was alright, but not really great.

The thing is, I hardly paid attention to the food. I found I couldn’t take my eyes off Angela. She was so beautiful, lit up with an inner glow that just seemed to radiate off her.

When she grew self-conscious that I was staring at her, I had to admit that I was crazy in love with her, and there was no way I could express how happy I was that she was going to have our baby.

“Ange, it’s true,” I said, holding her hand, gently twisting her unusual wedding ring. “We are going to have a baby.”

“I know,” she said, letting out a breath. “It finally seems real.”

“To me, too,” I admitted. “I guess I somehow- I mean, until we got that text and email, I wasn’t letting myself truly believe, you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Angela replied. “I think I wasn’t letting myself believe, either.”

“But now here we are,” I said. “In half a year, our household won’t just be us three, it’ll be four, and then a little bit later, five.”

“You’re going to be home more, right?” she asked. “When we have our babies?”

“Of course,” I said, clasping her hands in mine. “I’ll be home so much you’ll want me to go to the office just so I leave you alone.”

Angela gave me a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said. “For being so amazing.”

“I’m not the amazing one in the family,” I said. “I’m the least amazing of the three of us.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Angela said.

I don’t remember much about the concert other than snuggling Angela close and watching Emmy and the boys play. I was too lost in my own thoughts and emotions to focus on the music. After the show ended, Angela and I followed Jen and Sherry backstage.

“I wish I could skip the party tonight,” Emmy said when we congratulated her on her performance. “I would like nothing more than to take a nice bath and then cuddle in bed.”

“If you really want, go ahead and bail,” Lee said. “We can tell everyone you aren’t feeling good.”

“No,” Emmy said, her shoulders drooping a bit. “I will be good and do what needs to be done. This is important for all of us, not just Stephanie. She is correct in saying that this could well lead to important doors opening for us.”

“Yeah, like Stephy said, there are only so many gatekeepers in the music industry over here, and most of ‘em’ll be there tonight,” Jackson added.

“If you want, Lee and I will go to the party with you,” Angela told Emmy. “We don’t have to stay long, and then we can go home.”

“I would like that,” Emmy said with a fond smile.

The party was held at a nightclub there in the same dome as the arena. It wasn’t as small as Stephanie had said, but there were a lot of people invited, so it was fairly crowded. Angela and I more or less just hung back while Emmy and the boys schmoozed their way around the room, greeting and glad-handing like pros. Stephanie did a ton of networking, too, talking to pretty much everybody, even if it was only for a few minutes.

I was just beginning to wonder if Emmy had done her duty and we could leave when a commotion broke out. Being taller than most in the nightclub, I could see over everybody’s heads, spotting Tiny lifting some guy in the air. Figuring it must have had something to do with Emmy, I rushed over to see what was going on, elbowing my way through the crowd.

“Did she ask you to grab her ass?” Tiny demanded of the guy, who he held up in the air by the front of his jacket and his wrist.

“No, she didn’t,” the man said, clearly terrified.

“I should break your arm for that,” Tiny said, putting enough pressure on the guy’s wrist to make it a very credible threat. “Sexual assault is never acceptable. Maybe an arm in a cast for several months will serve as a reminder of your uncivilized ways.”

“No! I’m sorry! I won’t ever do it again!” the man said. As I got close, I could see that Tiny wasn’t actually lifting the man by his jacket, but with one hand around the guy’s neck. The man was trying to relieve as much of the weight as possible with his free hand, holding on to Tiny’s massive wrist with all the strength he had.

Tiny applied some more pressure to the man’s right wrist, making him cry out in pain, but Emmy put a restraining hand on Tiny’s arm to stop him.

“There is never any time when what you did is acceptable,” Emmy said to the man, her voice cold. “And I am certain you have done similar, or worse, things many times in the past, but this time you were caught. It is lucky for you that it was Jeremy that caught you- if it had been my wife,” she said, gesturing at me, “You would be sleeping with the fish at the bottom of the Thames tonight. Set him down, Jeremy. I think that he might have learned his lesson and will think twice before sexually assaulting any other women.”

Of course, by this time everybody at the party was paying attention, which added to the guy’s humiliation, as Emmy no doubt intended. When Tiny set him down with a final painful twist to the man’s wrist, the man sagged with relief for a moment before bolting for the door and away from the giant that had grabbed him.

“What did he do?” I asked Emmy, loud enough for everybody close to hear.

“He reached up under my skirt and groped me,” she said, also making sure that everyone could hear. “Jeremy saw him do it and pulled his hand away.”

I took Emmy in my arms and held tightly, telling her in a quiet voice that I was sorry I wasn’t there to prevent it.

“He would have done it with you right next to me,” Emmy said. “Jeremy’s quick reaction turned everything around, and now that man will have to face the knowledge that all his peers know he is a despicable excuse for a human being.”

“I guess,” I said. “Come on- this gives us an out. We can tell everybody you just want to go back to the hotel.”

“No,” Emmy said. “I will not be seen as running away. I will stay for a while longer, and if anyone asks what happened, I will tell them. I want every person here to know what that man did.”

“I should have seen that coming,” I groaned, but let Emmy go. “Alright. We’ll stay until you’re ready to leave.”

Grant found me a few minutes later. “I intercepted our friend Mr Saunders and made it very clear to him that it was in his best interest to go away quietly. I pointed out to him that well over a hundred people witnessed him admitting that he had sexually assaulted Emmy, caught literally in the act. I also made it clear that if he ever made any trouble for Emmy, he would quickly find himself in a situation he would bitterly regret.”

“Sleeping with the fishes at the bottom of the Thames?” I asked with a smirk.

“No,” Grant said with a laugh. “Worse. The victim of legal troubles he wouldn’t be able to escape.”