bedrest until your delivery; during which time, your father never left her side.”
“That sounds like Dad.” I smiled and bent to pick up a stone, letting it skip out over the water and sink down beneath the surface.
“More important to their story is the time they took together to talk and imagine other possibilities for their lives and the ramifications of your father continuing his work as an operative. After your birth, once your father saw and fell in love with you, your parents reconstructed their lives so that they could bring you up safely. Of course, your father still participated in government work. The desire to serve his country and to use his skills for the greater good flowed through his blood stream. But he would do nothing that might bring danger into your mother’s life or yours.” He squeezed my hand. “For many, the decision to marry is a not a difficult one, though certainly not a commitment to be entered into lightly. But few have the burdens that you and Striker have when making this choice.”
“You think marrying Striker would be a bad idea?”
“I believe that you have much to discuss and contemplate prior to taking vows. Your lifestyle, as you have very quickly discovered, is not only a burden to you, but to those you love. Imagine, if you will, some of the unique problems that you and Striker could face. Imagine the reasons that your parents needed to reconstruct their lives to keep you safe. Their choices need not be yours. But you should never enter a room blindly.”
Spyder probably thought, as we walked in silence, that I was contemplating my relationship with Striker, but my mind was stuck on the revelations about Dad.
“So all those times in the closed bay when I thought he was making your car into the bat mobile. . .”
“He was helping to work through crime puzzles.”
Wow. That was a lot to take in. “And that’s why you hung out with him in the garage. You weren’t there to play chess.”
“No, I was not there for the chess games, though they were a very diverting way to pass the day.”
“And when you offered to mentor me. . .Dad was okay with me following in his footsteps, even though he knew the dangers?”
“Your operative’s DNA showed as obviously as the color of your hair or the curve of your nose. Do you remember how you would devour the Nancy Drew books and walk around with rubber gloves on all the time, lest you damage any criminal fingerprints?”
“Ha! Yes, I have pictures of that.”
“Then when you showed such dexterity with your sixth sense, your parents became afraid that someone would exploit your talents. In fact, we know the CIA was keeping an eye on you.”
“For what reason?”
“Pedigree. Talent. Affinity.”
“They never approached me, though. So somehow I must have come up lacking.”
“This is not true. You father wished to let you find your own calling so he made a deal that kept them at arm’s length.”
“What kind of deal?”
“That I do not know.”
This was a lot to take in. “But my parents let me train with you. They were excited about it. Mom and Dad both encouraged me to take full advantage of my time with you.”
“This is so, Lexicon. They felt sure you would eventually assume your father’s cloak, and they wanted you to have every advantage. They asked me to train you like my own daughter so that in the field, when faced with true evil, you would have the resources and skills to stay safe. They were protecting you the best they could. You have faced worthy adversaries, and you have prevailed. You are alive, where they are not.”
“So the unschooling, that was because. . .”
“You were precocious from the moment you first opened your eyes. They believed that a traditional education would make your thoughts linear and confined. They wanted you to see the world as limitless in its possibilities, and let your talents take root so that your blossom would be its most colorful.”
I could hear my
“That sounds like Dad.” I smiled and bent to pick up a stone, letting it skip out over the water and sink down beneath the surface.
“More important to their story is the time they took together to talk and imagine other possibilities for their lives and the ramifications of your father continuing his work as an operative. After your birth, once your father saw and fell in love with you, your parents reconstructed their lives so that they could bring you up safely. Of course, your father still participated in government work. The desire to serve his country and to use his skills for the greater good flowed through his blood stream. But he would do nothing that might bring danger into your mother’s life or yours.” He squeezed my hand. “For many, the decision to marry is a not a difficult one, though certainly not a commitment to be entered into lightly. But few have the burdens that you and Striker have when making this choice.”
“You think marrying Striker would be a bad idea?”
“I believe that you have much to discuss and contemplate prior to taking vows. Your lifestyle, as you have very quickly discovered, is not only a burden to you, but to those you love. Imagine, if you will, some of the unique problems that you and Striker could face. Imagine the reasons that your parents needed to reconstruct their lives to keep you safe. Their choices need not be yours. But you should never enter a room blindly.”
Spyder probably thought, as we walked in silence, that I was contemplating my relationship with Striker, but my mind was stuck on the revelations about Dad.
“So all those times in the closed bay when I thought he was making your car into the bat mobile. . .”
“He was helping to work through crime puzzles.”
Wow. That was a lot to take in. “And that’s why you hung out with him in the garage. You weren’t there to play chess.”
“No, I was not there for the chess games, though they were a very diverting way to pass the day.”
“And when you offered to mentor me. . .Dad was okay with me following in his footsteps, even though he knew the dangers?”
“Your operative’s DNA showed as obviously as the color of your hair or the curve of your nose. Do you remember how you would devour the Nancy Drew books and walk around with rubber gloves on all the time, lest you damage any criminal fingerprints?”
“Ha! Yes, I have pictures of that.”
“Then when you showed such dexterity with your sixth sense, your parents became afraid that someone would exploit your talents. In fact, we know the CIA was keeping an eye on you.”
“For what reason?”
“Pedigree. Talent. Affinity.”
“They never approached me, though. So somehow I must have come up lacking.”
“This is not true. You father wished to let you find your own calling so he made a deal that kept them at arm’s length.”
“What kind of deal?”
“That I do not know.”
This was a lot to take in. “But my parents let me train with you. They were excited about it. Mom and Dad both encouraged me to take full advantage of my time with you.”
“This is so, Lexicon. They felt sure you would eventually assume your father’s cloak, and they wanted you to have every advantage. They asked me to train you like my own daughter so that in the field, when faced with true evil, you would have the resources and skills to stay safe. They were protecting you the best they could. You have faced worthy adversaries, and you have prevailed. You are alive, where they are not.”
“So the unschooling, that was because. . .”
“You were precocious from the moment you first opened your eyes. They believed that a traditional education would make your thoughts linear and confined. They wanted you to see the world as limitless in its possibilities, and let your talents take root so that your blossom would be its most colorful.”
I could hear my
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