Adon Eleor
Ministry of Magic, Jerusalem

Kiv-katz.
What are you doing Thursday?

-A


Akiva Katz-Eleor
The house is perfectly tidy, thank you.
London, England

What Thursday?  When? Are you in London?!  Write back - immediately!

Akiva

---

Well, Akiva Katz-Eleor had lied to him.  He didn't believe it was possible of her (though--considering her gender, one could not help but suspect she had the innate ability somewhere), but she had.  As Adon walked down the cobbled walkway to the Eleor household, he spied the dark little figure of a disgruntled gnome scuttling into the bushes that hedged the corner of the house.  The leaves rustled vigorously.

Adon knocked.  On the other side of the door, he heard a shrill--but delighted shriek.  His stomach did a flip-flop of excitement.  That would make this whole fiasco worth it. "You can't hide, you know!" he called loudly. 

The bush shivered. "Not you," he hissed darkly to it.

If there was a week for things to happen, this would have to be it.  After quite a while of fairly helter-skelter communication and exchanging a few pictures of Gabriel with every single letter she sent.  But, since he owled her earlier in the week (insinuating that her garden was out of control on top of everything), Akiva had been checking the post what felt like every fifteen minutes. 

She wasn’t a stranger to weird and uneven post from Adon, but to get something so cryptic and not even get a word in return for days… that was just cruel.  Thankfully, outside of checking the post, Akiva had plenty of other things to keep her busy, like her ever growing son and the research she needed to complete. 

So, when she returned home from a morning at the ministry on Thursday, having picked up Gabriel from her mother’s house, Akiva could not have known that her son would be in such a mood.  He hadn’t been quite so… she didn’t even know the word since he’d smashed banana hands into her hair in front of three people at Maiko’s house. 

So, she’d laid him on the ground in the living room with some of his toys and she sat with him, giggling as he rolled himself over and tried to grab his rattle.  She might have been trying to get him to crawl to her, putting it just out of reach, but he was still just at the lifting himself up on his hands and knees.  Akiva lifted the rattle and shook it, the baby shrieked and reached out, instantly toppling forward. 

Akiva dropped his rattle and instantly reached for Gabriel who looked as though he could start crying at any second.  She shushed him quietly, patting him on the back and blinked as she heard a voice.  For a moment, it didn’t register.  It was almost scary, and her arms immediately squeezed around his little body, which caused him to burp (unexpected) and Akiva practically jumped off the floor as the realization hit her.  It was Thursday.

She immediately ran to the door and threw it open.  “Adon!” she greeted, almost breathlessly.  She didn’t even know what to say, except, “come in here!” and “why didn’t you answer my letter?!”

"Well, I planned to be faster than the owl..." Adon said, breaking off to quickly greet her with a kiss on the cheek.  He pulled away, tilting his head to look, amused, at the little guy.  A noise box.

He had Dree's hair. Adon shook his head, looking for an alternative observation.  "Well, isn't he the little man!" he congratulated, wiggling a finger under Gabriel's chin.  He hoped he had not lost the Favored Uncle status (considering his competition, this was unlikely, if not impossible), but it had been a good while.  He was not sure that Dree's son would even remember him.

"Oh! I brought this," he said, holding out some chocolate.  "Since he's graduated to solid foods now."

On second thought, maybe he should have given Akiva a present... Bah! What would that win him? Favorite brother-in-law? He'd won that trophy long ago.  It was sitting on his proverbial shelf next to "Greatest Krav Maga-er Ever" and "World's Best Israeli-Briton."

He glanced apologetically back at her as he closed the door and--habitually--locked the several bolts that, once upon a time, Dree and he'd installed. (And somehow hadn't worked in preventing the inevitable...)

"Anyhow," he said, brushing the thought aside with practiced ease, "I didn't feel like planning too much.  You know I like grand entrances."  This time, he'd not been in costume--as he had on several other occasions--but he was sure he could improve upon this at some later date.

"Too much has been going on," he said, leadingly, before abruptly inputting: "But enough about me! What is going on in your life? Are you cooking anything these days? Like... right now?"

It was no secret that--even if Dreogan didn't know how to appreciate a good meal when he had one--Adon would shamelessly wrangle as much cooking from Akiva as humanly (and inhumanely) possible.  He craned his neck to peer, from a distance, into the kitchen.

It did not smell like baking.

Adon supposed he could not be disappointed.  After all, she had not specified that she was baking on Thursday.

Adon was like a welcome breath of air in her life again.  Though he’d been gone for so long, the second she opened the door and he kissed her on the cheek, it was like he’d only been gone for days.  Gabriel reacted without any sort of reaction that would indicate memory (not surprising since the last time he saw his uncle was when he was practically a newborn), but he did squeal in delight as Adon tickled under his chin. 

That made Akiva smile too.  It reminded her of the time Adon had watched Gabriel and she’d come home to find both of them asleep on the couch.  Adon had a way with her son.  He also thought of him while he was away, which meant a lot to her.  Her biggest fear was that her son would grow up without a lot of people around him, showing him how much they loved him.  Having no father was already going to be hard enough on him, she didn’t want him to be permanently damaged. 

So, the fact that he brought something… Akiva’s smile could not be wider.  “Thank you,” she beamed and took the candy in her free hand, “We can crack this open later,” she informed him and retreated to put it on the table.  “Can you take care of the door?” she asked behind her – she knew he could – he’d helped set it up and it gave her time to put the chocolates in the kitchen.  Depositing it on the counter, she reappeared as Adon finished with the locks (there were quite a few of them) and Akiva laughed as he indicated he liked big entrances. 

“You? Grand entrances?” she teased, “I didn’t think you were a fan of drama,” she raised her eyebrows at him – communicating very evidently she was being saracastic.  Sometimes she had trouble with that facet of communication.  She was confident she could carry it off this time though. 

He didn’t really say anything about himself though – when he was declaring that it was enough about him.  That was ludicrous considering he pretty much showed up out of nowhere and knocked on her door.  Akiva shook her head at him.  “You’re not getting off that easy!” she said incredulously and moved to the couch, resting her son on her lap.  “What do you mean too much has been going on?  What are you doing back in London?” she was genuinely curious. 

She didn’t think any of the Eleors would ever return to London after what happened, but here he was.  It was perplexing.  She pat the couch next to her, summoning him to join – and maybe he would take Gabriel for a little while.   It wasn’t as though she desired not holding her son, but it was nice when someone else could do a little bit of the heavy lifting. 

Of course, then he asked the question and Akiva gasped.  She didn’t even realize she hadn’t asked.  “Do you want something to eat?” she immediately countered, supremely concerned.  “If you’ve been traveling you must be starving,” she noted, bouncing Gabriel once on her knee before she held him out.  “Here, here.  If you hold him, I can fix you something.”   

“I have a few things I can throw together, just tell me: what do you want?”

Adon assumed the uncle's position as soon as Gabriel was offered.  Shoulders dropping his duffel to the ground, he hiked the tyke onto his hip before plopping down onto one of the Eleor's comfortable, sunken sofas.

Kiva was off like a bolt into the kitchen.  He gave an agitated groan, rolling his head along the back of the sofa so that, slouching, he could still get a good vantage into the kitchen, where there was already a clanging. "Kiv!" he called back. "Kiv Kiv Kiv Kiv--I'm just joking." He hesitated. "Mostly."  There was another pause.  "Okay, I mean, I would still like some food, but I didn't mean right now."  He tousled Gabriel a little as he fidgeted.

"Your uncle isn't a brute," he informed him in a singsong voice. "He knows how to treat the ladies."

He glanced back.  "I mean it," he called again. "Or I just give Gabe my updates."

The little man was chewing on his own fist with great relish.  Drool was rolling down his elbow, starting to pool it self onto Adon's jeans.

Babies were disgusting.  It was a saving grace they were so damn precious sometimes.  Leaning back as far as he could, he managed to arch his back and grab the duffle bag by the strap, dragging it towards him, and using a spare shirt to mop up the mess, finishing by dabbing around Gabe's very full mouth. 

"Just don't choke yourself," he instructed his nephew, pressing his forehead playfully against Gabriel's.  "Dooooon't choke yourself," he cooed.

Adon felt a shadow pass between him and the window, and he looked up to see Akiva settling herself back in the room.

"So." He said, grinning at her.  "I mean. For trying to give me a hard time, you let me off pretty easy when you left for the kitchen," he quipped, teasingly.  His eyes were now on Gabriel as he said, "But in all seriousness. I'll be in London for who knows how long. I've been detailed here. Again.  For work." 

Ready to leave that subject in the dust, he added, "And you would be surprised about the drama." He was clearly angling at what he intended the topic of conversation to be.   With a self-congratulatory tone, he pronounced: "I am a reformed man, Akiva." This declaration was undercut by a self-effacing smirk and shrug.  "Or at least, that is what I am trying to be. I hope it works."

Akiva didn’t like anyone in her home to feel hungry or desiring of something she could give them.  If Adon wanted something to eat, well, he could deal with holding his very drooly nephew and Akiva could go to the kitchen to pull something out from her hat.  She hadn’t intended to actually make anything special this evening – it was just her and Gabriel, and while he wasn’t exactly an only milk baby anymore, she could have done just fine with some cereal or a sandwich. 

 She wouldn’t do that for Adon though.  No, she had some other things in the fridge.  Moving in a flurry, she started to remove pans from the cabinets where they lived.  The one she was looking for came out with a clatter and then she heard Adon’s voice beckoning her back. 

Curiously, she put the pan on the counter and poked her head around the wall that separated the living room from her favorite place in the house.  “You wouldn’t dare!” she called back with a fake cross expression on her face.  “Just give me a second,” she disappeared the moment after, grabbing the other pan she wanted out, she’d go into the living room again in a second.  She just needed to do that before she lost her train of thought. 

She stacked them together on top of the stove – shutting the cabinet doors before she walked back out and straight toward the couch.  There was a discarded shirt that looked suspiciously like it had a stain on it – a new one – and Gabriel practically had his entire hand in his mouth, which added to the suspicion.  “Sorry,” she smiled warmly, pretending she didn’t hear him using a silly singing voice at her son.  “I can wash that shirt for you,” she motioned to it.

It was in her nature to do so anyway.  “Sorry, you know how it is: you say food and I have to.  It’s the most powerful Jewish magic of all,” she teased, “even muggles experience that.”  She teasingly elbowed him in the side before she crossed one of her legs over the other and leaned back into the couch, enjoying watching her son with his uncle.  “Well, I’m glad you’re back,” she had to admit out loud, “for however long.  It isn’t long until Gabriel’s birthday,” she noted.  There were only a couple of months away! 

But, of course, Adon was changing the subject and mentioned drama of some kind.  Akiva raised her eyebrows, wondering what the point was.  He did have a weird little smirk on his face and Akiva pushed herself up.  “Trying to be a reformed man?” she was never the best at reading clues, but Akiva let a smile creep over her face.  “Did you meet a girl?”

"I have a Jewish 'ma, too" he quipped. "And I only floo'ed.  She fed me three hours ago." He looked at his watch. "Four. Anyways..." He gave a hesitant smile. "'Meet'..."  He tilted his hand in the air, indicating "so-so."  "No... Girl.. not so much... but there is a woman," he said, leaning into the words and glancing down at Gabriel, who had now wrapped his hand around the shirt and was stuffing that in his mouth, gurgling out muffled sounds as he did so.

"So I went back to Israel--" he shifted vaguely, "as you know."  She knew it better than most--a point Adon still felt bad for. "And you know, I was at work there, and Thea..." he hesitated and broke off, trying to read her expression, to figure out how much he would have to tell, and how much she could surmise.  The desired reaction was one thing, but having to go through all the details was another exhausting matter altogether. "She was, too."

Akiva had, of course, in the couple of minutes they had talked about it (awkwardly, usually between Adon's bites of brownies), been quietly supportive of his decision to distance himself from his former fiancee by several countries and a couple of large bodies of water.  But, he reasoned, what woman didn't approve of another dignified woman coming to fix up a rascal in their lives?

"So yes.  I am seeing Thea again. Even more now, since I'm living with Ima, and well, bless her, but I do not truly care for the amount of cooking and coddling she would like to give me."

He wondered how far he should say this.  "I will not propose to her again.  I told her that.  And I told her that if she wanted to get married, that she could be the one that asked this time."  He smirked. "With a ring. I'm not easy."

Akiva gave him a skeptical look as he said he’d eaten four hours ago.  “Alright,” she announced slowly, crossing her arms over her stomach and under her chest as she settled back into the couch cushions.  Adon was being incredibly strange about this.  Didn’t meet… wasn’t a girl but a woman.  Akiva’s eyebrows drew together and she pursed her lips in thought. 

It was distracting enough that she didn’t even reach forward to pull the foreign fabric from Gabriel’s mouth like she normally would.  Instead, she tapped her fingers to her lips and refocused her attention on Adon who was starting to explain what was going on in his life.  She simply nodded when he said she knew.  Wasn’t that the truth?

It’d been a weird transition, being without half of her pretty immediate family without almost any warning.  It had all happened so fast, but thankfully Akiva had some sort of instinct that kicked in.  It seemed like some instinct kicked in for Adon too.  Akiva might not have seen him or heard from him in a very long time, but the name Thea didn’t escape her.

There was a vague memory of a story of an engagement that popped in her mind, some angst surrounding Adon’s initial move to England.  “I see,” she said slowly, mulling over that for a moment.  Adon was an expressive person and he seemed to be happy about it.  She’d of course told him to do whatever made him feel better before.  She would continue the trend of being supportive, whatever that meant at the moment. 

“That’s really good, Adon,” she kicked her foot out and put it on the coffee table in front of the chair.  “But don’t lie: you know you love the cooking and coddling,” she added, finally reaching over to take the fabric out of Gabriel’s mouth – a healthy ring of spit all over it.  Bless the baby, she loved him more than there were words to express – she had never understood this until she was actually a mother – but spit rings on clothes… she would be very happy when he was old enough that that bit would stop. 

At his next point, however, Akiva lowered her hand and felt a serious thrum in her chest.  “That’s a big conversation to have,” she pointed out.  She wanted to tread lightly on the whole conversation, after all, she didn’t want him to leave.  It’d been too long for him to go again.  The heaviness of the thought though, was alleviated by the levity of his commentary on it – asking for a ring that’d fit the ocassion. 

Akiva laughed lightly and shook her head.  “I hope you gave her a carat minimum,” she smiled, “and clarity scores.  You know, a really nice piece of hardware,” she wiggled her hand, her own ring still glittering on her finger.  She hadn’t taken it off, she wouldn’t – not for a while.  It didn’t seem right.  Even if other stuff was going on in her life…

“I’m happy for you though,” she reached over and patted his knee, encouragingly.  “You look happier,” a legitimate observation, “and I’m sure it’s not just your amazing nephew that’s making you all glowy,” she teased.  Gabriel burbled and put his fist in his mouth again, biting at his pudgy fingers. 

Adon looked increasingly pleased with himself as the conversation went on.  "Well... I mean, I will not turn down maternal affection.  But living with her... I am--very nearly--thirty now.  Bringing your girlfriend home, and having your mother trying to feed you while you're trying to get some alone time is..." he shook his head.  "It didn't make sense, though, for us to both rent places separately--not when things were so uncertain..."

He was glad his mother had not sold her home here in London.  He would be crashing there, soon.

"It is a big conversation.  But at some point, the conversations need to happen. Before I left Jerusalem, we had been together for three years." He shrugged.  He didn't want to say it, but the speed that Akiva and Dreogan had gotten married--but they had always seemed a smoother match.  Or maybe they were just less complicated.

"You know me.  I only deserve the best," he said, looking down at his hand.  He sighed slightly, taking the shirt back and tucking it beside him.  Gabriel at once leaned over for it, and the Auror concealed it behind a pillow.  He was quiet a moment before saying, "I am glad--that I look happier."  Four hours ago, he had been furious.  Bags packed, assignment glibly given, memories of London and leaving his mother and--

"It has been good," he said with a decisive nod, bringing the careening train of negative thoughts to a halt.  "I mean, not perfect, but one tries anyhow.  And you?" he asked cautiously. "How have you been?"

Akiva looked at Gabriel while Adon was talking, wondering what it would be like for her son.  Would she be trying to feed him when he was almost thirty and had a girlfriend?  It seemed like such a far away thing.  But, she was sure Hestia must have felt the same way when her sons were babies.  How weird was that thought?  Otherwise though, it was a little humorous to imagine it happening to Adon.  She giggled and shook her head.  “I’m sure you and Thea just love that,” she mused. 

 “And now you’re here,” she added with a smile.  “Should I prepare to start doing that? Always have something ready to heat up just in case Thea comes here to visit?  I do hope she’ll visit,” she added with a teasing smile.  It’d be interesting to see who Thea was.  She’d only heard stories so far. 

It sort of blew her mind that he and Thea had been together for three years.  It would be quite the ring that would be needed to repair three years worth of stuff.  For Akiva it’d seemed like barely a year before they decided to get married.  Now was it about the same amount of time since he’d been gone.  Absolute insanity to think about.  She had always imagined it’d be so much easier than that. 

She supposed everyone probably thought like that – assuming it would just be easy at some point.  The past six-seven months had been a testament to just how hard it could be.   “We’ll be glad to have you here, that’s for sure – and in better spirits,” she added.  There was a little bit of lightness to him, just a little bit.  Maybe Israel had been good for him – perspective, newness.  She liked to think she was getting some of that back too. 

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” she laughed a little bit and shook her head.  “It’s been really hard,” she said honestly, “but there have been a lot of people here to help us ,” she looked down at Gabriel on Adon’s knee, “out, so that’s been helping – a lot.”  Her support network was actually pretty incredible when she thought about it.  It made it really hard to be sad or let herself get swept up in negative feelings when you had that many people around to help you. 

She folded her hands in her lap and let herself think a little bit.  “I’ve been trying to get out more – enjoy people, you know?” she added with a sigh.  “Reconnecting to some degree.  I recently met up with,” she shook her head with a little smile, “you won’t believe this – someone I haven’t seen since I was sixteen.  We were both in Ravenclaw together, but then I had to drop out of school because of the war and the war messed him up to… we just never crossed paths and then all of a sudden," she left out bits, of course, since she didn't even really know, but she could shake her head in disbelief to a degree, "it’s been busy."

"I do like to cook, you know," he defended himself.  "It might not hold a candle to your baking, but if you think you can make a better lamb kabob than me--it's on."  He grinned. "That makes me think... we should do a cook-off..."  He thought about it as he pulled Gabriel up to stand on his knees, Gabe's toes wiggling and curling as he stretched his legs.  Adon was just trying to find something to fill the time.

"Yeh--Thea will come at some point, probably.  We'll have to figure something out, if this turns into a long-term or permanent assignment..." Adon's brow knit in confusion and consternation.  His expression grew pinched as she began to encapsulate the past six months.

"... I am very sorry," he said quietly, "that we left..." Gabriel began to fidget, and Adon dropped him once more onto his bum, bouncing him on his knees.  "It was what we had to do, but..." he frowned.  That didn't make it right.  "For what it is worth, we--Ima and I--always think about you." He gave a lopsided smile. "You're the one perk of coming back to this island," he added with a slight chuckle.  "And I'm glad you've been reconnecting with people."  He had never asked Dree for specifics, but he knew that Akiva had lost touch with a sizable portion of her Magical community during the War. 

"That's good," he said generically, mostly because he did not know how to get into more particulars.  "And... the Muggle Affairs Office?" he cringed, as though preparing himself for a blow.  He had not even tried to keep up with that.  He had never been heavily involved--Dreogan had wanted a healthy separation--but he suspected his brother's pet project was now languishing in bureaucratic hell.

Akiva laughed lightly as he said they should have a cook off.  “I don’t know if you could really handle it, Adon,” she looked at him with what – for her – was a teasing smile.  He was probably right – he had nothing up against her when it came to baking anything, but even if he could handle his own in the kitchen, she couldn’t let him think that he had it in the bag.  Akiva’s favorite pastime was cooking for her family, so she wouldn’t let that go down without a fight.   She turned her hand toward her face and examined her finger nails, raising an eyebrow at him.  “But if you really want to lose, I guess we could arrange something,” she tried to be serious, but that lasted for all of five seconds.

One, Gabriel was incredibly adorable, fingers and toes curling and babbling – and two, it was funny.  She missed this sort of thing.  She’d be glad to share in it with Thea as well, if she decided to come and if this was a longer-term assignment for Adon.  There was something sad about it, really.  She didn’t want him away from her for too long.  If he was really happy, then it would be sad to have him gone.  She totally understood that.  But at the same time, it was nice to have family again.

She didn’t need him to apologize though.  “I know,” she responded genuinely.  It had been hard and she couldn’t blame them.  A change of scenery probably helped.  She wouldn’t know, but everyone had their ways of coping.  “I just hope you’ll have time to spend with us,” she motioned between her and Gabriel who had started to fuss again.  “I know your work keeps you busy.” 

She couldn’t imagine.  Her own job was a little less… intense in that way.  When Adon asked about it, Akiva felt a pang of guilt.  She didn’t have the wherewithal to assume her husband’s place in the department and he had never wanted that from the beginning (the many conversations they had about the realities of her working after having the baby had indicated as much).  “We’re doing quite a bit of research right now,” she explained.  “Without some clear leadership everyone has started doing inquiries.” 

Akiva pursed her lips and wondered how far she should go into it.  But Adon’s look of anxiety about even asking about the topic – maybe she should assuage it with the work that was getting done.  “I’m doing a lot of research on the Grindlewald years.  There’s a diary,” she didn’t specify that it was her own grandfather’s, “from someone believed to be a muggle, but it appears there are references to magic.  It could lead to something,” she shrugged. 

“I know it wasn’t what Dree wanted,” she sighed and let her shoulders drop, “but at least it’s something?” 

"Oh, I can handle it," he stated gravely.  "Minced parsley, lamb, and--I won't give you my trade secrets," he said, tapping the side of his nose.

Gabriel's squirminess increased, so Adon rose to his feet, beginning to swing the boy rhythmically like a pendulum as he spoke.  "You name a time," swoosh and giggles, "and a place." 

"Well," he said, enjoying the new rhythm he'd found, "it sounds like you are keeping busy.  And Dree's not here to tell you this, but he's always wanted the same thing--for you to be happy.  He's not going to want you trying to assume a position or a role that didn't feel right."  Who even knew what Dree wanted right now?  The Muggle Affairs Office was probably the last thing on his mind.  And Akiva, Gabriel, his Ima... probably even Adon himself, were most likely at the forefront of his thoughts. 

"I'm glad to be here, too," he added, after a thoughtful pause.  "And maybe I'll have more time than you think.  Work's all a bit up in the air at the moment.  I don't really even have an assignment here in London yet..." He bit his lip, not sure how to break it to her.  "They took me off the case a month ago..." he glanced side long at her.  He didn't need to tell her which case.  Adon had, 100 times over, come up with new and different interpretations of what that development could mean. Some of them favorable, some of them not so much.  More and more, the frustration that he was being pulled out of a case that was--like the one before it--going cold made him feel powerless and frustrated and angry--

He'd stopped swinging Gabriel.  With a sigh, he shifted the babe to his hip before adjusting his grip--now around Gabriel's ankles.  He resumed the pendulum swing--this time, upside down.

Instant cries.

With a cringe and a light laugh Adon, like lightning, had the baby back on his hip and bouncing.  "Ah... Maybe when he is older," he mumbled nervously.

"I want to hear more about this diary," he insisted, trying to move on from the baby blunder.

When Adon moved to stand, Akiva just stayed perched in the corner of the couch.  She didn’t have much sitting and relaxing time these days, so she’d let Adon take the lead on this one.  Gabriel seemed perfectly happy, after the change of position, to being swung back and forth.  As long as he was happy and not fussing, Akiva was content to let whatever happen.

Besides, it was nice to just tuck her chin to her chest and breathe a little bit.  Talking about what Dree would want and all of that, it wasn’t her favorite topic of conversation.  It made her start to feel things again and she’d spent so long feeling so badly about him – wondering and praying and everything that a grieving person was going to do.  It was terribly difficult thing to live with, especially practically immediately following the birth of their son.  Letting out a long, slow breath she nodded, eyes still closed.  “You’re right, of course.” 

She took a moment before she opened her eyes and looked concerned for a moment as Adon suggested that work was up in the air, that he had been taken off the case.  She didn’t need reminding.  It made her stomach clench a little bit.  Worst case scenarios she’d spent a long time thinking about obviously flitted through her mind.  She nodded at his glance, unsure of what to say about it.  Honestly, she was sort of happy that Gabriel wailed the second he was turned upside down – to which she could instantly react. 

Akiva pushed herself up from the cushions of the couch, jumping to the edge as quickly as she could.  It was a panic instinct.  He was fine though, Akiva saw, as soon as Adon swung him around and the tension that had instantly built in her shoulders dissipated rapidly.  “Maybe,” she laughed lightly, her heart thrumming less strongly now.

Gabriel sniffled and curled up onto Adon’s shoulder-  his preferred method of coping with a sudden upset.  His fist went to his mouth and he grumped to himself (a sort of huffy sound) before he sniffled again.  Akiva had to get something out of the diaper bag.  She groaned lightly as she pushed herself off the couch and moved toward the door.  She kept a mostly packed one in the side closet and dug out a soft cloth.  “Here,” she looked back, “for his nose,” she explained – motioning to her own before tossing the towel at him.  “And stroke his hair – right at the back of his head and neck,” she explained, “it soothes him.”

It was weird the things you knew about your own child, even as small as what spot on their head that if you were just soft enough and purposeful enough it would soothe some tears.  She shut the closet door behind her and pursed her lips.  “It’s not a lot to go off of,” Akiva explained, “some vague references to what sound like magical spells.  I missed it the first couple of times – thought there were fireworks or flares or something – but then, one night I was reading when I couldn’t sleep and there it was – in print right in front of me.  This muggle had written Grindlewald!  Of course, luck would have it the rest of the sentence was blurred out – I even tried a very delicate charm on it – in case it was purposefully glamoured.  But nothing.” 

She shrugged.  “So I decided to do a lot more digging.  Searches are coming up fairly empty so far though,” she explained, shaking her head. Akiva crossed her arms over her chest as she paused.  “I’d say you could look at it, but I don’t know how strong your German and Yiddish is,” she grinned now, quite fully. 

“I think Dree would have really liked to see it,” she mused, “even if they never got to actually finish their writing.”  She turned her eyes from looking upward to back at Adon, “My grandfather died before he could finish his journal.”   

"Here--for his nose..."

"Eh," Adon waved the offered cloth dismissively, "you know he likes my shirt better." Nevertheless, he used the white cloth to clear the boy's face before draping it off the side of the sofa.  He gave a quiet smile at her observation--he had no doubt that Akiva had a calming influence on Gabriel.  Not just as his mother.  Akiva always knew what to do to set people at ease.  It was what made her so invaluable to the family.

Adon listened intently to the analysis.  It sounded a bit more like something Dreogan would try to tell him about--back when he lived with Adon in Israel, researching this-that-and-the-other.  Normally, Adon would have listened as he put the groceries away and started cooking dinner. A recap on the day's successes.  Now, he tried to listen to Akiva a bit more intently.  He was glad he had.  "Your... your grandfather," he stated, eyebrows rising.  He had known Akiva's grandparents' history.  It is why Akiva and Dree had gone to Germany and to the Death Camps shortly after they were married. 

"So..." he paused, taking an abrupt breath as he pieced this together.  "This journal... Are you proposing... or contemplating a potential-- ...link between magic and the Shoah?"

He supposed it was possible.  There was Dark Magic in that part of the world at that time... and there was certainly enough hatred for the downtrodden. 

"I am sure," Adon tried to correct subtly, "that Dree would love to see it.  And the notes that you take on it."