Three Wishes(109)

Nathaniel turned to Natasha and he didn’t have to say a word. She ran forward and gave goodnight hugs and kisses. The one to Lily was a hug about the waist and a kiss from her mother who bent down to do it. Nathaniel lifted her up, Tash wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him soundly on the mouth before she pressed her cheek to his shoulder and, after a few moments locked together with Lily looking on, a smile on her face, Nathaniel set her down.

Then Tash stepped back to hold Laura’s hand. Nathaniel got on the bike, Lily got on behind him, wrapped her arms around him tightly, put her chin on his shoulder and they shot from the curb far faster and far, far more dangerously than he’d gone when Tash was on the bike with him.

“He’s the bomb,” Tash whispered, watching them go.

Fazire had had enough. He turned to Victor.

“We must speak,” he announced.

Then without waiting for Victor to reply, Fazire stomped into the house, down the stairs into their new family room.

It was just like the old family room except it had a bigger, fluffier, more attractive corner couch with a big ottoman in the front that could sleep three small, active children. Fazire liked this couch, the old one was comfortable but he could retire on this couch. This couch was more comfortable than the hundreds of cushions that made his bottle a home. There also was an enormous flat screen television set affixed to the wall. Fazire liked this television too. His Westerns came alive on that television. Clint Eastwood looked like he was actually in the room. There were also nicer, sturdier, more attractive bookshelves and more of them so he could have much more space to fill photo albums and put framed pictures.

In fact, Fazire liked the whole house. He liked the KitchenAid mixer and blender. He liked the new refrigerator which was like the ones in America that actually had room enough to fit food in it for more than a day. He liked Lily’s office and the fact she had time to write.

He liked a lot of facts about Lily. The fact that Lily was smiling again. The fact that Lily was laughing again. The fact that Lily’s face rarely looked pinched and worried about money or Tash or anything.

Anything, that was, except when she looked at Nathaniel.

Fazire had decided he’d done his job well; it just took a long time for it to realise. Like a gestation period for babies. Lily had asked, with her wish, that she and her lover go through trials and tribulations. Unfortunately, Fazire was a wee bit too good at granting his wishes (he always had been, he thought with little humility). When he tied Lily’s life to Nathaniel’s with her wish, he’d chosen the exact right man and she’d been given everything she wanted.

However, at fourteen years old, she didn’t understand that all those terrible troubles the heroines in her books went through in real life hurt. That the words were just words on a page, but in real life, the pain was immense. Trials and tribulations to prove your love were exactly that, trials and tribulations.

And Lily wasn’t through with hers. Neither was Nathaniel. Not just yet.

Victor followed Fazire into the room and closed the door behind him.

“What now?” Victor asked, wary eyes on Fazire.

Fazire wanted to float. He really, really wanted to float but he kept his feet on the ground for now.

“Tell me,” he commanded in his best genie-voice.

“Tell you what?” Victor asked, not, unfortunately to Fazire’s way of thinking, a human who liked to be commanded.

“Tell me about your boy.”

Victor’s body grew tense and he did not respond.

“I can fix him,” Fazire announced.

“What did you say?” Victor asked.

“I can fix him. You tell me about him, what’s stopping him from giving himself to Lily, I can tell Lily and she can wish for it and I can fix him,” Fazire explained.

Fazire didn’t want to do this, not in a million years. He didn’t want to go back into his bottle and be passed along to the next greedy, grasping, vengeful human. He wanted to watch Tash grow up. He wanted to watch Tash’s daughter grow up. And her daughter and –

“You’re mad,” Victor cut into Fazire’s dismal thoughts.

“I’m not mad. I’m here for a reason. I know you humans think I’m strange and I don’t care. I think you humans are strange because you humans are strange. However, I’ve got a purpose in Lily’s life and I’m quite prepared to –”

“We humans?” Victor asked, watching Fazire closely.

Fazire nodded, crossed his arms on his chest above his belly and tilted his head back to stare down, or more to the point, up his nose at Victor. “Yes, you humans.”

“And what are you?” Victor queried.

“I’m a genie,” Fazire announced.

Victor’s brows snapped together, he stared and then his face got a little scary even for Fazire who wasn’t scared of anything.

“You think you’re a genie,” Victor said slowly and incredulously.

“I am a genie.”

“You think you’re a genie and you’re living with my granddaughter, Lily, my son –”

“I am a genie,” Fazire repeated.

Victor stared at him for long moments then he crossed his arms on his chest and said quietly, “Maybe we need to find you a home, someplace comfortable –”

“I have a home. This is my home and then there’s my bottle and –”