Page 33 of Shadow Seeking

“Congratulations!” I clapped, beaming at him. “I know you guys love kids—wait, is everything okay? Is Hilda okay?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s that she needs to be on bed rest the whole pregnancy. She can do part of her job remotely, but not all, so she’s on paid leave but things are going to be tight, and I need to know that my job’s secure. We need the insurance.” A tremor of doubt underscored his words.

“You’re doing fine. I’m not about to let you go.” I hesitated for a moment. “You need to ask for a raise, don’t you?”

Guilt flashed over his face. “I wouldn’t except…”

“Hold on. Let me see.” I turned to my computer and brought up the human resources screen. Only Dante, me, and Sophia could access the software. I opened Orik’s file and looked at the last time we’d given out raises. I then flipped through everybody else’s file. It looked like it had been a couple years. Since nobody mentioned it, I hadn’t even thought about it, which made me feel like Scrooge. I then brought up our financials. I turned back to Orik. “Give me five, okay?”

He nodded. I headed out the door and over to Dante’s office. He looked up as I entered the room and closed the door behind me.

“Hey, we need to hand out some raises. We’re doing better than ever the past year or so, and…Orik’s wife is expecting again. You know it’s going to be twins.”

“When’s the last time we raised anybody’s salary?” Dante asked.

“Almost three years. We forgot to do evaluations last year. Anyway, I wanted to apprise you of the situation.”

“You don’t need my approval,” he said. “I’m a partner but you’re the majority owner. Do what you feel is best.”

I nodded. “I’m comfortable right now. What about you?”

He shrugged. “More money is always nice, but I’d rather see the others get it if we have to make choices.”

“Right,” I said. “That’s what I was thinking. I think we can swing four percent across the board,andgive everybody a bonus. The holidays are coming up, we can label it a holiday bonus. Are you good with that?” I asked.

“How much of a bonus?”

“Well, we have three employees. What about a thousand each? It seems like a lot but we can afford it this year.” I waited until Dante agreed, then I headed out to Sophia. She glanced up as I sat down beside her desk. “Hand me the checkbook, please.”

She handed me the office checkbook. I wrote out three checks, then asked for envelopes. She handed them to me, and I motioned for her to follow me.

As I passed Carson in the hall, I said, “Meet us in the breakroom.” I motioned for Sophia to follow him as I peeked into Dante’s office. “Come on.” Lastly, I grabbed Orik from my office and we gathered with the others in the breakroom.

“I don’t want to spend too much time on this,” I said, “since we have so much going on. But I thought you’d like to know that Dante and I’ve decided the three of you deserve a raise. We’re giving you a four percent raise, along with a thousand-dollar holiday bonus.” I handed out the checks. “Orik, did you want to tell the others?”

He beamed. “Thanks, Kyann. This will help.” He turned to the others. “Hilda’s pregnant again, and yes, it’s another set of twins. Daughters. But she’s on bedrest this time.”

“Whoa…more girls?” Dante asked.

Orik ducked his head. “It’s my fate to be surrounded by beautiful ladies. Yes, two more girls. Hilda’s due in May this time.”

Sophia stared at him. “Damn, you guys are fertile. She’s going to need help eventually, you know.”

“We’ve already thought about that. Her mother will be staying with us from April through July. That’s not going to beso much fun, but it will help us out a lot, so I’m not going to complain.” He shuddered.

I’d met Hilda’s mother once, at a party at their house. She was formidable, though that was an understatement. She’d keep the household running smoothly.

“Congrats,” Carson said. “Better you than me.”

Carson wasn’t much into relationships. I didn’t ever remember him mentioning even having a date, let alone a serious relationship. He’d often mentioned that he preferred computers to people.

“Oh, I’m thrilled. I love my children and I love our life, but it’s starting to feel like we’re expanding faster than we ever planned to. Hilda was on birth control this time, but the doc says my boys are strong swimmers, and her girls provide a hospitable environment.” He laughed. “Hilda wanted eight children. I wanted four. We’ve compromised and once the babies come and everything’s okay, I’ll be getting snipped.”

Carson coughed and Sophia chuckled, but we were all close enough to be comfortable talking about personal things.

“Has Hilda agreed to that?” Dante asked.

Orik shrugged. “She said whatever I want. She’s content with leaving it at six. Though it’s going to be seven against one, but I can handle that.” He didn’t sound disappointed. In fact, he looked proud as could be. “Thank you for this,” he said, holding up the envelope.

---