Underground Angels

Chapter Thirteen | Gabriel Shows Me His Home

Chapter Thirteen

Gabriel Shows Me his Home

            It was noon by the time they reached the city, and after a few hours of sightseeing, they headed to the upper eastside. Still buzzing from seeing Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and just wandering the crazy streets of NY, Noel was equally eager to meet Constantine Shaw, Gabriel's best friend.

After spending the day around Stephan, she was praying that Constantine would be much calmer.

The brownstone they pulled up in front of was pleasant, quite tall and very homey. On the front steps sat a tall, lean boy around their age, a little girl playing in the snow on the side walk; he was the sort of handsome that took your breathe away for a moment, and Noel wondered why all the Demigods she'd met so far were so good looking. He had big brown eyes and almost black hair, fairly tanned skin and very graceful hands. Noel thought he was probably half Korean

When he saw Gabriel he stood up, and Noel saw how tall he was. Taller than Gabriel, over 6'3 at least, and Noel knew he would tower over her. The little girl that he had been watching over threw herself at Gabriel, jabbering away excitedly.

"Gabriel." Constantine said, and they hugged. Noel saw that they didn't hug like other guys, or even say much; they must be better friends than she thought.

"Hey Stan," pulling away, Gabriel tugged Noel forward by her wrist "This is Noel."

Constantine set his dark eyes on Noel, looking her up and down; he wasn't inspecting her like some guys would, he just wanted to see what kind of person Gabriel had brought along. "Nice to meet you, I'm Constantine. Gabriel's told me a lot about you."

Flushing, Noel looked down at her shoes "Really?"

"Yeah!" Stephan said; he had the little girl on his hip, and she giggled "Whenever we Skype or anything you're all Gabriel talks-"

Gabriel's hand covered Stephan's mouth, and he smiled sheepishly at Noel "Ignore him."

"Mphlempht!" said Stephan.

Constantine smiled merrily and took the little girl out of Stephan's arms. She looked about five or six, and might've been half Korean, like him. "This is my little sister, Lena. C'mon in, it's freezing out here."

They left the snowy street for the warm interior of the brownstone, were Constantine's father, Tarek, welcomed them. He was a chef, and was wearing an apron when he welcomed them in, telling them the lasagne would only be a few minutes. He looked very much like Constantine, and was indeed Korean.

Tarek's wife looked like a porcelain doll, a sweet woman named Mae who Noel immediately liked. Over supper Tarek told them all how he and his twin sister, Nala, had met their children's godly parents. 

"You'll meet Lola tomorrow," Tarek told Noel "I bet she'll like you."

Noel glanced uneasily over at Gabriel, wondering if this was really true.

"I was in the Navy before I became a chef," continued Tarek "And when Nala came to visit me on the coast she met Apollo and I met Athena."

Mae laughed and turned to Noel "He likes telling it, though there aren't many he can tell."

"Anyway," husband and wife shared a loving look, and Noel wondered if all parents who had demigod children got a second chance like Gina and Tarek. "Constantine showed up on my doorstep, a basket child if there ever was one. We met Stephan and Gina through the support group, and I knew Elizabeth through the Navy and when I realized that Gabriel was special too, well, it seemed pretty perfect."