Page 108 of Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate
I don’t know her name or her family name.
We never visited her grave at Oban, either.
Sis, what if we didn’t have a mother?
Not the lady kind
There was a long pause on Tsumiko’s end. Hadn’t Argent told her this part? Maybe not. He was touchy about personal things. If Argent had decided this was a family matter, he’d definitely leave it to Akira to break the news.
Tabi-oji, Haji-oji, whatever we call him
I think maybe he loves Dad
At least, he’s risking everything to save him
Our father is gone, Akira.
Here’s the thing
Naoki *is* gone, but not dead and gone
Tabi-oji says he was kidnapped
When we were little
That’s what broke up our family
Akira’s phone rang. He picked up.
“My hands are shaking too much to text,” Tsumiko softly confessed.
“This is probably better anyhow. Sorry about the time. It must be the middle of the night.”
“Don’t worry about it.” His sister sounded subdued. “I’m up rocking a baby anyhow.”
She often was. Every crosser at Stately House adored their Lady.
“I’m sorry if this comes out in a jumble, but … Tabi-oji says we’re his kids. And Naoki, the one we call dad, carried us. I think we might be tree-kin.”
Tsumiko took her time responding. “I’m familiar with tree lore. I had no idea it might be personally relevant. Argent knows?”
“Yeah.”
“We can probably trust this to him, then. I asked Argent to invite Haji-oji home. He vanished from our lives, and I was so happy to know we might have him back.” With a low laugh, she added, “I wanted to introduce him to you.”
“He’s something else.” Akira sighed. “I like him a lot, Sis. But I think he’s mixed up in something bad.”
Tsumiko sounded like she was smiling. “Then he found you when he needed us most. Trust Argent. He’ll find a way to bring our family together. All of us.”
Akira wished he had half his sister’s faith.
He said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away. I guess I was so caught up in finding out everything I could about our dad—our dads—that I … I left you out.”
“You aren’t the only one who’s been treasuring up something good. Argent has discovered that there are more children fathered by the Rogue than were initially reported. He intends to bring them home, too.”
“How many are we talking about?”
“Oh, he was evasive. I think he doesn’t want me to get my hopes up. But he did say that Inti went to find them, and he met with more success than expected. It seems they’re being kept in a lab somewhere.”
