After we kissed Emmy goodbye in the morning before we left, Angela promised to come back the moment Emmy needed her in New York.

“I miss you two already. I wish you two could stay,” Emmy mumbled, still mostly asleep.

“I do, too,” I agreed. “I’ll call you when we get to LA, babe. I love you,” I said, giving her another kiss, after which she fell back asleep.

I’d booked Angela’s ticket after our bath the night before so there was no drama at the airport when we checked in at the executive charter terminal. The flight’s most memorable event was when Angela asked me to take some pictures of her in the small jet’s plush seat for her socials.

Back in LA, I dropped Angela off at the condo before heading in to the office.

“Do you have to go to work today?” Angela asked as I grabbed my briefcase.

“Yeah, I do, but it’s not a school night, so we’ll have the evening together,” I assured her as I kissed her goodbye. “See you in a few hours.”

Reflecting on how it now seemed as if I had two wives and wondering what that said about me and Emmy, I really wasn’t good for much that day at the office. Other than the two meetings I had to suffer through I had nothing else on my agenda so it was no great loss that I wasn’t really mentally there, but still… Recognizing that I wasn’t being productive anyhow, I left a bit earlier than usual. Since I was the boss I really didn’t need to make any excuses to anybody, but I felt a little as if I’d let my own professionalism down, and that was bad enough.

On the spur of the moment I pulled into a parking spot next to a flower stand on the way home to get Angela some flowers. I was still worried that she felt a little bit insecure about her place in our newly expanded family, and I wanted her to know that I really did care for her.

Opening the door to the condo, I stopped in my tracks at the sight. Angela had the big TV that I’d never once turned on playing a reggaeton video quite loud, so she hadn’t heard my entry. She was facing the TV, apparently wearing nothing but one of my old T shirts, which on her was like a super short but loose mini dress. She was dancing to the music, shaking her hips and bumping her rump like those dancers you see in videos from Rio’s Carnaval.

With every little flip of her amazingly toned butt the hem of the T shirt flipped up tantalizingly, but never quite as high as I’d wished. Still, it was completely hypnotic and all I could do was to stare dumbfounded, swallowing repeatedly as my mouth watered at the sight.

Eventually Angela spun around as part of her dance and saw me standing there with the bunch of flowers in my hand like an idiot . She let out a sort of squeak of surprise, clapping her hand to her mouth. Recovering quickly, she hit the mute button on the remote and came over to give me a kiss hello.

“Sorry that was so loud,” she said after I handed her the flowers.

“If it gets you to dance like that, I am one hundred per cent O.K. with it,” I told her as I followed her into the kitchen. She hunted around for a bit for a vase for the flowers, partially filling it with water before sticking the flowers in it and arranging them to best effect.

Leaning back against me, she said, “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady,” I said, bending down to nuzzle the back of her neck while my hands found their way up under the hem of the shirt and onto her bare hips, confirming there were no panties there.

Her hair was damp, and smelled like that French shampoo that Emmy preferred. “Just out of the shower?” I asked, continuing to nuzzle as Angela tilted her head to give me better access.

“I just… finished my workout,” she said, moaning a little bit as I nibbled her earlobe.

“We should go out and do something tonight,” I suggested, continuing my gentle assault on Angela’s neck.

“Go… out?” Angela asked, her breath hitching.

“If we don’t get dressed and go out and do something, I’m going to set you up on this counter here and absolutely ravish you until you can’t see straight.”

“You,” she said, breathing hard, “say that like it’s a bad thing. And anyway, ‘straight’ is not how I’ve been doing anything recently, anyhow.”

Chuckling at that, I slid my hands up to Angela’s waist, enjoying the feel of her well-defined obliques under my hands. Angela had leaned her head back onto my shoulder, making little sounds of pleasure as I continued to caress her body and kiss under her ear.

Just as my fingertips found their way up to the underside of Angela’s breasts, causing her to writhe with pleasure, a loud, vigorous knock on the front door interrupted our activities.

“Miércoles! Puta madre!” Angela exclaimed in surprise and consternation at being interrupted.

“Who the fuck can that be?” I asked, dropping the hem of Angela’s T shirt down and checking to make sure it covered everything before I answered the door.

Checking the little security monitor screen by the front door, I saw a large guy with dark hair standing there.

Not knowing who it might be, I opened the door, ready for anything.

“Sorry to bother you,” the guy said. “But Joey downstairs said Angela was staying with you guys while I was, well, going through some issues?”

“You must be Antonio,” I said, waving him in. I glanced back to the kitchen and saw that Angela had vanished, presumably hiding from her ex-boyfriend.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” he said, looking around as I led him to the living room and indicated he take a seat on the couch while I sat in the armchair opposite.

“Thanks,” I replied. “But I can’t really claim credit. We’re renting the place furnished.”

“You rent?” Antonio asked, surprised.

“Just until the remodel on our house is completed,” I said, making small talk. “So what can I do for you?”

“It’s- I need to talk to Angela. I’m really sorry about everything that happened, you know? I just want to see if maybe we… Maybe I can somehow get things straight with her, you know?” he said, clearly nervous.

“Hey, Tony,” Angela said as she entered the room. She still had on my T shirt, but she’d thrown on a pair of pajama shorts to go with it and was using a towel as if she was finishing drying off after a shower. “Hey, Leah, I didn’t hear you come home,” she said to me as she sat on the love seat perpendicular to the seats Antonio and I were occupying.

“Angie, baby,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Do you two need some privacy?” I asked, hoping that Angela would want me to stay.

“Umm…” Antonio replied, obviously unsure of his footing.

“Leah, if it’s O.K. with you,” Angela said, and I took it to mean that she did want privacy.

“Sure, no problem,” I replied. “Tony, can I get you something to drink? A bottle of water, maybe a Coke?” I asked as I rose.

“No thanks, I’m good,” he said, waving it away.

I wasn’t getting any danger signs from Tony, but I kept the two of them in view out of the corner of my eye when I went out on the balcony and opened my laptop to pretend to do some work.

I’d shut the glass door to give them privacy, so I couldn’t hear the two talk. Honestly, my biggest fear was that he’d succeed in talking her into coming back to him, not that he’d get violent. Although Angela had only been in our lives for a short while, I didn’t want her to leave, and I was sure Emmy didn’t, either. That said, Angela’s life was hers to lead, and if she did decide to give Antonio another shot, well, that was our loss.

The two talked for quite a while, and when they both stood Angela gave Antonio a hug before he left, his shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry about that,” Angela said when she joined me in the balcony living room.

“Sorry that he came to try to make it up to you?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, I mean, sorry that he ruined our afternoon.”

“Has he? We can still go out,” I said.

“You were serious about going out?” Angela asked. “I thought you were just going to take me on the kitchen counter,” Angela said, grinning slyly.

“Taking you on the kitchen counter certainly seems like a good plan,” I agreed. “But I did really want to get out and do something this evening. You can sit on my face after we get home again.”

“I like that idea,” Angela replied, her grin getting more mischievous. “I’ve come to realize that the whole face-sitting thing is even better than advertised.”

“Yeah, it is pretty good, isn’t it?” I laughed.

Turning serious, Angela said, “I didn’t tell Antonio about us. He didn’t ask and I didn’t feel like telling him.”

Figuring Angela wanted to tell me something more, I just nodded for her to continue.

“He’s not a bad guy, really,” she said, twisting her long hair in her hand nervously. “I guess I didn’t want to hurt him, to know I’ve moved on, you know?”

“So it wasn’t that you were hiding that you were involved with another woman? Two women?” I corrected myself.

“No, but he doesn’t need to hear that, either,” she said, looking away. “He’s just, you know, been through some really rough stuff, and telling him that I’ve found somebody else, somebody better for me, somebody who loves me more, well, that would just be, um, piling on, you know? One more kick while he’s down.”

“I understand,” I said, scooting my chair out and patting my lap. Angela got the none too subtle hint and sat down sideways on my lap. I pulled her in close and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It was kind of you to think about his feelings like that,” I said softly. “It says something about your gentle heart that you didn’t just tell him to get lost.”

“I kind of did,” Angela said, leaning against me. “I told him that it was good while it lasted, but that his betrayal of my trust and hiding things from me… That was too much, and we could never have a future together after that.”

Suddenly, with those few words, all the stuff that Emmy had been dodging talking about sprang to my mind.

“Emmy and I have secrets, too,” I said, looking Angela right in her wide, guileless blue eyes. “I’ve been trying to find the right time to tell you some things, but every time I bring it up, something always seems to come up and we never actually get to talk.”

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“In the bath a few days ago, you said we needed to talk, but you wanted to wait for Emmy,” Angela said, proving that she had been paying attention.

“Most of it has to do with Emmy, so really, it’s hers to tell,” I said. “But I kinda get the impression that she has been avoiding talking about it, and I’m pretty sure I know why. But it isn’t fair to you to keep things from you, things that might have a real impact on your life, too,” I said, trying to convey to Angela that I wanted to be open and honest.

“Like what?” Angela asked, puzzled, but not worried.

“Like I said, it’s really Emmy’s to tell you. It’s not right for me to tell you the things that are her story, you know? But I can tell you the things about me that you really should know. I hope that your feelings for Emmy and me will still, I don’t know, that you’ll still want to be with us after we’ve told you everything,” I said, holding her close, hoping I wasn’t ruining everything.

“You haven’t been selling drugs, have you?” Angela asked in a jokey tone, trying to lighten the discussion.

“No, no drugs,” I said. “My business is exactly what it claims to be. I do real estate investment and management, along with a few other completely legal and legitimate fields,” I said, laughing. “Pretty boring stuff, really.”

Stroking Angela’s firm thigh, I took a moment to think about how I was going to say what I needed to tell Angela.

“Ange,” I finally said. “The background is for Emmy to tell you, and it isn’t right for me to share her secrets, even if some of them really aren’t secrets any more-”

“Like the Night Children stuff?” she asked, trying to understand what I was hedging about.

“She told you?” I asked, surprised.

“She told me about her people, and that her family is royalty among their kind, and they view her, and you, as their queens here in the States,” Angela said. “You told me to ask about why she’s a night owl, after all.”

“O.K., well, so that’s the background. Did she tell you she’s Moon Kissed?”

“No?” Angela replied, not knowing what I was talking about.

“That’s something for her to tell you,” I said. “Make sure you ask directly, otherwise she’ll try to ignore the subject.”

“Moon kissed?” Angela asked for confirmation.

“That’s it. Ask her point-blank,” I said. “So that’s the second part of what she really has to explain to you.”

“And you’re worried that it’ll make me stop loving her?”

“No, it isn’t that. It’s something that might affect your life down the road, something you should know if we’re going to be a family of three for the long-term,” I said.

“O.K., I’ll ask her,” Angela said, kissing me on the forehead. “You said something may make me not want to be with you, but that isn’t it,” she reminded me.

“Well, the Night Children thing is background, and important for the next part,” I said, thinking about how to say it. “The thing about us being the queens? Well, it’s a work in progress,” I said. “Not all the Night Children want us as their queens, and we’ve been slowly bringing all of North America under our, um, rule, I guess, as far as the Night Children are concerned. We started in the Bay Area, and have been expanding north and south, then east. That meeting we had in Chicago? That was Emmy and me consolidating our control in that region.”

“That’s why it was at night,” Angela nodded, putting the pieces together. “Alright, so you guys are, um, expanding your, um, kingdom,” she said.

“Right,” I agreed. “And here’s the part you might not like, and this is more my story than Emmy’s, so I feel O.K. telling you this part. Not all the Night Children have been welcoming of their new overlords.”

“What does that mean?” Angela asked, turning to face me head-on.

“I’ve had to use force on occasion,” I said. “I’m gonna tell you all the details if you want, but trust me when I say that our… dominion has been good for all those that have accepted us as their queens. I’ll introduce you to some Night Children who would tell you exactly that. But in a few places, we’ve come up against local leaders that were, well, real assholes to their local Night Children, and didn’t want us moving in on their turf.”

“And this led to violence,” Angela said, understanding what I was getting at.

“We never want violence,” I said. “But it’s happened a few times, yeah,” I said.

“Leah, I’m from Colombia,” Angela said. “Most of my life, groups like FARC and M-19 have used violence against the people to get their way, politically, and government-backed paramilitares like Autodefenso do the same thing. I’m no stranger to these things. My uncle was killed by the ELN for speaking out against them.”

“Right,” I said. “I guess you’ve got a different perspective than most here in the US.”

Angela shrugged. “So, you’re telling me that you have your own paramilitares?”

“Yeah, I guess so, but that’s not mostly it,” I said. “Mostly our groups go into new areas, find the local Night Children and offer them jobs and housing, trying to give them better lives than they’ve had up ’til now. That’s actually how I got started in the real estate business, trying to find places for the Night Children who joined us to live.”

“I think I understand,” Angela said. “And I think I understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You’ve been responsible for people dying, haven’t you? You’ve had to have people killed,” Angela stated matter-of-factly.

“Yes, I have,” I said, resigned to whatever may come from the admission. “But I’ve never attacked anybody first. Everybody that’s died has been a result of them attacking us.”

Looking me straight in the eye, Angela said, “Promise me that,” she said. “Promise me that you’ve never had anybody innocent killed.”

“I promise you,” I said, seriously. “We’ve never killed or even threatened anybody who just wanted to be left in peace and didn’t want our leadership. We’ve never harmed anybody who’s spoken out against us or anything like that. The only people that have died were those that actually drew weapons against us first.”

“You swear,” Angela said.

“I swear,” I said, holding up my hand, palm out.

Seemingly satisfied, Angela said, “You said this was your story more than Emmy’s, but she’s the actual Night Child…”

“Well, I’m the, um, military leader, I guess,” I said, dancing on the inside that Angela was taking this so well.

“Have you ever had anybody tortured?”

“What? No!” I exclaimed.

“Good. Don’t ever torture anybody. If you do, we’re over,” Angela declared. “I knew a girl in school whose dad was tortured,” she said, a distant look in her eyes as she remembered back. “Only evil people do that.”

“I one hundred per cent agree,” I said. “Ange, we’re the good guys in all this, I promise you that.”

“I want to meet some of these Night Children,” Angela declared. “I want to talk to them.”

“Alright,” I said. “Get dressed. We’re gonna go out to dinner. Dress casual,” I suggested, giving her a little boost to get up off my lap.

“I know you've been wanting to tell me these things for a while now,” Angela said as she stood up. "You wanted to talk back in Chicago. Thank you for being honest with me.”

“Angela,” I said, giving her a hug. “There’s still more, but now you know the big part of it all.”

Parking was hard to find by the brewpub in Venice, but eventually I found a spot almost half a block away. As we walked, Angela reached out and took my hand. This little gesture meant so much after all that I’d told her earlier, making me think that she could accept Emmy and me for all that we were, not just the parts that she’d seen so far.

“Ms Farmer!” the hostess said as she recognized me. “Let me get a table ready for you.”

“The more private the better,” I said, "and quiet, too, if that’s possible.”

“Let me see what I can do,” she said as she scurried off while we waited.

“You eat here a lot?” Angela asked.

“No, not a lot,” I said. “Maybe four or five times, ever.”

“Then how did she know who you are?”

“I own the place,” I said.

“You could have led with that,” Angela said, rolling her eyes.

The hostess came back, grabbed a couple of menus and the drink list and indicated that we should follow. She led us up to the rooftop patio, which was mostly deserted because of the cool evening ocean air.

The waiter had followed, and he moved one of the propane heaters closer and lit it to provide us warmth. After introducing himself and taking our drink order, he said, “You want me to send Marjorie up?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I said. “It’s nothing serious, I just want her feedback on something.”

When he left, Angela asked, “Marjorie?”

“The manager,” I explained.

Marjorie joined us a few minutes later, and I indicated she should sit. “Thanks for taking the time,” I said. “I only need a few minutes.”

“You’re the boss,” she said with a shrug. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to ask how Isaiah and Keenie are working out,” I said.

“Isaiah’s great,” Marjorie said. “He’s always early to work, never complains, happy for extra hours, friendly- he’s the whole package. In fact, I just gave him a raise last paycheck.”

“And Keenie?”

“She has a hard time getting here on time,” Marjorie said. “She has to take the bus, and usually she’s early, but sometimes, well, her bus ride is over an hour each way, you know? The days she gets here late, she always makes up the lost time, but it affects everybody else’s schedule, too.”

“How is she as a worker?” I asked.

“She’s good,” Marjorie said. “She’s really shy, so she’ll never make it as a server, but she’s great in the back of the house.”

“Is either of them working tonight?”

“Isaiah is due to come in tonight, in about twenty minutes or so,” Marjorie said, checking the time on her phone.

“Can you have him come up to talk when he gets here?” I asked. “I’d like to talk to him for a few minutes.”

“Of course,” Marjorie replied, standing up. “If you need anything else, just let Bradley here know,” she said, indicating the waiter who was standing just far enough away to give us privacy.

“You own this restaurant,” Angela said after Hunter took our dinner orders and left us alone. “How does this have anything to do with real estate?”

“It doesn’t, but it does have to do with giving people jobs,” I said. “Most of the Night Children have never held real, steady jobs before we took them under our wings, and so I needed to find ways to give them work experience. Service work, like being a waiter or busing tables, is a great way to get them started.”

“You own this restaurant to give jobs to two Night Children?” Angela asked, amazed.

“Two for now,” I corrected. “Maybe more in the future. Maybe Isaiah and Keenie will move on to other jobs, once they get enough experience. The thing is, places like restaurants have two advantages as far as employing Night Children is concerned. First, it’s great job training. Second, it exposes the Night Child to a lot of strangers in a relatively safe environment, allowing them to get used to interacting with day walkers.”

“Day walkers?”

“People who aren’t Night Children,” I said with a shrug. “Originally, I wanted all the Night Children to have jobs during the day, you know? To get them used to the schedule the rest of the world follows. But it turns out, it’s actually physically hard for a lot of them, so I’ve kinda softened on that position. I encourage them to get day shifts, but if they have a hard time with that, well, restaurants, bars and nightclubs need people who can work late shifts.”

“You said you started the real estate business to make places for them to live, and now you’re telling me you own restaurants and night clubs to give them jobs. That doesn’t sound like the things an evil, um, warlord? would do.”

“Like I said, we’re the good guys in all this,” I agreed. “All we want is for the Night Children to have better lives.”

“Except for those you kill,” Angela said, teasing, telling me that I’d been worried about spilling my dirty secret for nothing.

“Except for those I’ve killed. But they deserved it,” I said, trying for a light tone.

Hunter returned with our dinners about then, so we stopped talking and dug into the food. A little bit later Isaiah, a middle-aged Night Child man with short kinky hair, came to the table.

Glancing around to make sure nobody could hear, he said, “You wanted to speak with me, my queen?”

“Isaiah,” I said. “Have a seat. I’d like maybe ten minutes of your time, that’s all.”

“Of course. Anything you say,” he said, sitting down.

I introduced Angela, and asked Isaiah to tell her about what his experience as a Night Child in California had been like, before and after coming under our shadow.

He explained that he was second generation, born in Los Angeles, but never had any legal papers since his parents had snuck into the country and he’d been born outside a hospital. They’d never stayed very long in any one place, always hiding. He’d never had any formal education, but his parents had taught him the basics and he’d more or less struggled by doing more or less the same thing his parents had.

He’d seen the posters that Michael’s crew had put up and recognized that it was Night Child writing, but couldn’t read them. Luckily, he’d actually spotted one of the guys putting more posters up and had talked to him.

“Up to that point, I’d never seen another Night Child showing their true face,” he said. “Honestly, I found it shocking, so I had to talk to him, and he told me all about Queen Emmy and Queen Leah. I was so amazed that they were telling us to stop hiding- I can’t even tell you how I felt. I was terrified by the idea, but so- so excited at the same time. The men I met asked if I want a better life, and I jumped at the chance, and now here I am.”

“Now your life is better?”

“Oh, God, yes,” Isaiah said. “I have my own place, I actually have money of my own, I’m making friends, and Queen Leah has gotten me legal papers, too, so I don’t have to hide anymore. You don’t know how- It’s so much better now,” he finished, at a loss for words.

“Isaiah, besides working, what have I asked you to do to stay in my shadow?” I asked.

“Well, I take classes during the day,” he said. “You told me I needed to learn the things that I should have been taught a long time ago.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t hide any more. I wear my face proudly now,” he said, getting at what I was asking.

“That’s right,” I agreed. “No more makeup, no more hiding what you are. Has it led to any problems?”

“No?” Isaiah said, almost as if it surprised him. “A lot of questions, but no problems.”

"Marjorie told me that she’s been extremely happy with your work,” I said. “She said she gave you a raise.”

“I love Marjorie,” Isaiah said. “She has been so good to me, and to Keenie. Anything I can do to make things easier for her, I’m happy to do.”

“Thanks, Isaiah,” I said. “That’s all I wanted to talk about. I want to say that I’m really proud of what you’ve been doing, and remember, as your queen, it’s my job to make your life easier, too. If you need something, don’t be shy about asking.”

“Thank you, my queen,” he said, rising. Turning to Angela, he said, “It has been my pleasure to meet you.”

After he’d left, Angela said, “It was one thing to meet Emmy, and another to hear her tell me that there’s a whole group of people like her, but to actually meet another one…”

“I know, right?” I agreed, remembering the shock I’d felt years before.

“What he said, about living the way he did- is that what it’s like for them?”

“Yeah, for the most part,” I said. “Their whole culture is based on hiding from day walkers. Very few have stable living conditions, and fewer still have economic stability. This is what Emmy and I are trying to bring to them.”

“So why are you fighting resistance?”

Sighing, I leaned back and told Angela about Rahsett and his little petty tyranny of the Night Children in Vancouver, omitting quite a few details that Angela really didn’t need.

“This is a lot like what was happening back home in Colombia,” Angela said. “These bullies have their little area of control, and they don’t want to lose it, even if it would be better for everybody, even them.”

I shrugged and said, “Well, people are people, anywhere you go.”