2

Tennyson

Still feeling as if he were on an ice cream high, Ten floated into work on Monday morning needing a strong cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. The last thing he wanted was something sweet. There were still three gallons of uneaten ice cream stored in their basement freezer, and Ronan mentioned wanting some for dinner. His husband was a giant toddler sometimes.

After the block party ended, Ten hoped Carson or Cole would reach out to him about their visions, but that call had never come. Around nine, he'd sent out invitations to a meeting scheduled for this morning. Everyone on the guest list had accepted, most likely because Ten had listed the subject of the meeting as "Back to School."

While Cassie made his order, a sausage biscuit with a side of fruit, Ten scanned his friend. Cassie didn't seem upset about anything other than Lexi not wanting to wear pants to preschool that morning. She'd left Cole to sort their daughter out. As far as Ten could tell, she had not heard a peep from Cole about his vision.

Grabbing his breakfast, Ten headed for the conference room to wait for the others. The psychics stumbled in one by one while the detectives came in together. With Ronan wanting to be involved in the meeting for Carson's sake, he figured Jude and Fitz would want to come as well.

"Good morning, everyone," Ten said. "I've got good news and bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?"

Jude scowled. "It's Monday, and I've got a hot fudge hangover. What could possibly be worse than that?"

"No one told you to eat the leftover fudge with a ladle, dumbass." Ronan snorted.

Ten hadn't been able to believe his eyes either, but that didn't stop him from shooting pictures of Jude's fudge-stained face.

"Waste not. Want not," Jude said, reaching for his coffee. "I have absolutely no remorse for my actions and will do it again if given the chance, warden ."

"We'll get you a Hot Fudge Warden badge for next year's event." Fitzgibbon jotted a note on his pad.

"The bad news," Ten began, knowing the group was almost out of his control, "is that this meeting isn't about the kids going back to school."

"Thank Christ," Fitzgibbon muttered. "Aurora and I spent all day Saturday shopping for new clothes, and if I never see another sparkly rainbow unicorn shirt, it will be too soon."

Ten had loved all the selfies Aurora took of herself and sent to Everly. His daughter, of course, wanted the same shirts. Thankfully, Fitz had grabbed some for Everly too.

"If the meeting isn't about school, why are we here early on a Monday morning?" Jude asked, sounding grumpy.

"I want to talk about Carson's vision," Ten said simply.

"Son of a bitch, Ronan!" Carson shouted. "You couldn't do it, could you? You couldn't keep my secret after you promised you would." Crossing his arms over his chest, the psychic sulked while eyeing the door.

"Ronan didn't say a word, Carson," Ten said gently, not wanting his friend to leave before he heard Cole was going through the same thing.

"Who did?" Carson demanded, looking suspiciously at each of his friends.

"Uh, psychic!" Ten pointed to himself. "I could feel the uneasy energy coming off you all day yesterday. So being a good but nosy friend, I did a little digging and managed to catch glimpses of the visions you and Cole are both having."

"We're both having the same vision?" Cole asked, sitting up straighter in his seat.

Carson bowed his head. "Damn, Ronan. I'm sorry for accusing you of being a blabbermouth. Fifty lashes with a wet noodle."

"No worries." Ronan grinned. "I just hope we can help you figure out what's going on."

"What happens in your vision?" Cole asked, sounding impatient.

"I'm in the worst pain of my life, and at the end, I see your face," Carson admitted. "Last night, I tried a memory retrieval technique Ronan taught me and was able to see a shadowy figure who looks more familiar than I want to admit."

Cole sighed. "I'm in pain in mine too, only I'm seeing you on a swing with some man pushing you."

"Am I barefoot wearing a Superman tee?" Carson asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Cole asked.

Carson reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He dug through it for a few seconds before pulling out a dog-eared photograph, which he quietly handed to his brother.

"Holy shit. This is exactly the image I've been seeing." Cole shook his head and passed the picture to Jude, who was sitting beside him.

"Who's the man in the photo with you?" Jude asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.

"Our father."

" That's Dad?" Cole gasped.

"You didn't recognize your own father?" Fitz asked, taking the photograph from Jude.

"You have to remember Carson is ten years older than me," Cole said. "Dad left shortly after I was born. There aren't a lot of pictures of us together, and for years, Mom had them hidden out of sight. I don't have any memories of him at all."

"He tried to come back home when you were about a year old, but Mom saw right through him. She kicked him out after only two days." Carson blinked his misty eyes. "Those were two of the best days of my life. Dad took us to the park and out for ice cream. He told jokes and stories about his life on the road. Before I knew what was happening, he was gone."

"Have you heard from him at all over the years?" Cole asked.

"He texts every now and then," Carson said, sounding ashamed. "Around the time Ten and Ronan's Dateline episode aired, he called the shop, wanting to talk to me. I gave him my cell number. Dad's never wanted to meet our kids or our spouses. He usually asks for money, which I don't give. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you'd feel the pain of his loss over and over again. I wanted to spare you that. Are you angry?"

Cole shook his head. "No, I'm not angry. I wrote him off years ago, when he stopped sending Mom support payments."

"I'm glad we're able to settle this little bit of family drama, but what does your father have to do with these visions?" Ronan asked.

"Don't know." Carson shrugged. "I guess we're going to have to wait for the next one and go from there." He turned back to his brother. "Do you feel afraid when you get the vision?" Holding out his hands, Ten saw they were shaking.

"It's not fear, exactly. More trepidation than anything else. Like something's coming. What are you guys getting?" Cole pointed to Ten and Cope, who, to this point, had been silent.

"I can feel your discomfort," Cope said. "I'm also sensing that something is coming, but I'm not seeing the hows and whys of it."

"Same here," Ten agreed. "I'm not getting that either of you are in physical danger from anyone, but more like the pain is almost self-inflicted. Like you're doing this to yourselves. Which makes absolutely no sense."

"That makes no sense," Cole muttered, with Carson nodding in agreement.

"What's our next step?" Fitzgibbon asked.

Carson tapped his phone, and seconds later, everyone's text alert chimed. "I just sent you the most recent pic Corny sent me. So at least you'll all know what he and his girlfriend look like if they show up here."

Ten pulled up the photo. In it was a tall man who looked worn and weary. Next to him was a much younger woman with a bright smile and a tight tube top, barely containing her breasts, which he imagined was the point.

"Wow," Fitzgibbon said. "I'm sure Corny's with her for her personality."

Ronan snorted and started to laugh. "Christ, I hope Bertha isn't here to see this."

"She's not," Ten said but had a feeling it wouldn't take long for her to catch wind of her sons' visions. In all the years he'd known Bertha, the only person she'd ever spoken poorly about was her ex-husband. For her sake, Tennyson hoped Cole seeing Corny in his vision was a coincidence. His gift told him that wasn't the case.

Like it or not, Cornealius Craig was going to crash land at West Side Magick sooner rather than later.