Exton

Ob settles back against the wall, cradling Chloe. His free hand toys with a strand of Pandora's lustrous black hair. Tomas watches his sister from daddy's hip. Alise rocks Tara slowly, letting her calm down.

"How?"

Ob looks at Alise and Stoney.

"How did Tara know? Cassie isn't family. She doesn't hear us?"

He hands Chloe to Pandora and begins to pace. "I don't know any Gargoyle who has the gift of empathy. It is a human gift." he stills, turning to Alise. "Did anyone in your family do anything like... you know... feel things happening?"

Alise looks at Stoney and shakes her head. "A lot of Alise's past is gone, Ob. If the gift was there, she doesn't know. And before you ask, I don't know either. Remember... I was," He shifts Tomas slightly. "I was not acceptable to  her Kin."

He hands Tomas to Ob. "Come to pa'pan, Tara."

Tara's hand curl into Stoney's hair, her violet eyes brilliant behind a sheen of tears. "You like Cassie." She blinks slowly. "Were you trying to talk to her baby? Like you talk to Chloe and Tomas? Like you talk to Lobo?"

Tara blinks at Stoney and lays her head on his shoulder, burying her face in his hair. Ob stares at Stoney.

"She talks to the others? Even Lobo?"

Stoney rocks his daughter slowly. "In her own way... images and feelings, that type of thing. I gather she thinks Cassie and Keon are part of our family, so she should be able to talk to them too. She already talks to Sarah."

He feels her begin to slip into sleep, exhausted from crying.

"They don't hear her like we all do. So she tries harder with them..." He lays her gently in Alise's arms. "I wonder what gifts the rest of our children will have."