4. Sergey

4

SERGEY

I search for Heller everywhere. The doctor warned me to add a GPS tracker app on his phone, which he consented to, but he turned it off. I also put a tracker on his car, which he did not consent to, but I was genuinely worried about him getting arrested for robbery. You can't be too careful when your mate committed grand larceny the last time he nested. Unfortunately, he found that too, and it's gone. He's like a little bandit Houdini. I call him multiple times, call his friends, call his work, and call his doctor. No one knows where he is. I search the apartment. There isn't even the beginnings of nest there. I search the basement of Eli's and Max's house. There isn't anything there either.

He's at the new house. I just know it. I should have gone there the moment I found out he was nesting. I drive there as fast as I can on the icy roads, hoping he didn't cross state lines to steal more stuff and end up somewhere without laws to protect nesting penguin shifters.

When I get to our new house, there's a huge furniture truck and a van that says, "mobility services" on the side parked in our driveway.

That probably means he's here, but I have no idea what's going on.

I park in the front of the house and run as fast as I can on the icy pathway to the front door. It's already unlocked. That must mean he's here.

"Heller?" I call out.

Nothing.

I bound up the stairs and into our bedroom. Nothing. Where are the furniture guys? Where are the mobility services?

"We're in here!" A voice calls out.

Someone shushes them. "I told you this is the secret room."

That's Heller. I sigh in relief. At least I've found him.

"You also told us you'd pay us two hours ago. I need your card long enough to charge it," the man says.

Oh dear. Apparently, Heller's trying to steal from the furniture delivery guy too. Or maybe it's the mobility services person.

"Yeah. This has gone on for long enough." Someone else says. Maybe that's the mobility services person.

"If I were you, I'd cut my losses and charge him when he's finished nesting," a third voice says. It sounds like an old woman. What is going on in there?

I try to open the door to the bathroom. Clearly, they're in the room I built for Heller, that he can only enter this way. But the bathroom door is locked.

"Heller! I can't get in!" I call out.

"If we let you in, will you pay us?" The first guy asks.

"Yes!"

There's a loud "Shhhhh" again. I hold back a laugh.

I hear a door open, footsteps across the tile, and then a man in coveralls barges into the bedroom with Heller on his heels. He's in all black, including the rhinestone face mask I got him for his birthday. He's cut it, so it's nothing but an eye mask now. It's so cute.

I wonder if he would let me take a picture of him right now.

The guy in coveralls hands me a clipboard. "He won't pay me."

Heller holds out the card I gave him to the delivery guy. The guy rolls his eyes. "Watch, this is what happens." He takes the card from Heller, and tries to put it on his clipboard, but Heller snatches it back from him before he can get the chance.

I try really hard not to laugh. I am not successful.

"We've been doing this for twenty minutes. Can you help me out here? Clearly, he's nesting, so I'm not mad, but I gotta get paid or my boss will kill me."

A second man walks through the door. He's thinner and wearing a polo shirt with "Anchorage Mobility Services" written across the front.

"He won't pay me, either. He won't even give me his card. I think he expects me to stay here. I don't know."

I'm still not sure what either of them are being paid for.

"Can I take a look in there first?" I ask. "I don't know what's going on."

Heller raises his finger to his lips. "Shhhh. It's a secret room." He smiles at me, so clearly he's not worried that multiple strangers were in his secret room just a second ago.

"Sure thing. Take a look around. I have a detailed invoice here, so you can make sure you got what you're paying for. Then I gotta go."

Heller creeps toward the bathroom, like he's in a cartoon where the characters are trying to walk quietly. I follow behind him, wishing I could get a video. I'm sure our kid would get a kick out of this when they're older. We walk through the bathroom into his secret room.

There's a whole four-poster bed in there, completely made up with luxury pillows and a velvet comforter. But that isn't the most ridiculous part. There's an old woman in a rocking chair at the end of the bed braiding pebble necklace chains together in an intricate pattern.

"Hello," I say. "Has my mate kidnapped you to weave chains in his secret room?" I ask, desperately hoping the answer is no.

"Oh, heavens no. I'm here of my own free will. I'm Sophia, by the way. Heller's Grandma. It's very nice to meet you. I'd stand up, but I'm afraid I do better off my feet these days."

This is Sophia? How did Heller get her here? And more importantly, does his family know? Will they come pounding on our doors to get her back?

"She belongs here," Heller says.

That melts my heart. "Yes, I suppose she does. I'm very happy to meet you. Heller's told me so much about you. But I was under the impression that we couldn't visit."

She smiles at me. She has many smile lines on her face, but I see a lot of similarities between her and Heller. She has his button nose, and his big, brown eyes.

"That's very true. You can't visit me. Heller's dads wouldn't allow it. But he's a nesting penguin shifter, so he can steal whatever he wants. Even people, apparently. Isn't that nice?" She winks at him.

I don't know if Heller brought her here because she's a part of his nest, or if he used his nesting as an excuse. He won't look at me, so maybe it's the latter. I wanted to use his nesting as an excuse to end Pebble Gifting Season, so I suppose I don't have any room to judge.

"So, this will be your room, for the time being?" I ask.

"I suppose so. If I belong in his nest, I shouldn't go anywhere, should I? It would be very convenient if my grandchild that I haven't had the chance to meet yet wandered in here. I also wouldn't mind if a chocolate ice cream bar happened to materialize on the edge of this bed. Sometimes those things can happen. Heller knows what brand I like."

I can see where Heller got his sass from.

"I will do my best to make magic happen. What about dinner? What should magically materialize for you at five o'clock?"

She purses her lips and gives me the most devious smile a sweet old woman in her eighties can manage. "When I was a young thing, I loved pizza. My friends and I would sneak out and buy a slice from a shop down the street."

"Pizza it is."

She looks me up and down. "Well, aren't you a nice boy? Very handsome too, I see. I'm not at all surprised. My Heller always does well for himself." She smiles at Heller with such love in her eyes.

I can only imagine how powerful a love like that was for Heller in the home where he grew up. He hasn't told me much about his family, except to say that they almost kicked him out before he left on his own. I wonder if Sophia knows how important she is to Heller—how much her love changed his life.

"It's truly an honor to meet you. I'll go look into that ice cream bar," I say.

"It's good to meet you too, Sergey." She turns her focus back to braiding the chains. I'm not sure if Heller asked her to, or if she took her own initiative.

I step out of the room and into our bedroom where the two men are still waiting to be paid. I fill out their paperwork and give them my card. Meanwhile, Heller wanders out and waits quietly until they leave.

"She's wonderful, isn't she?" he says.

"Yes."

He threads his fingers through mine. "I want to keep her."

"As a prisoner in our secret room?" I ask, only half joking.

"No. I mean, I want her to stay. If that's what she wants. She's an adult. If she doesn't want to go back, I won't take her."

This is a big step. Heller's never told me he was interested in caring for his grandmother like this before. But I guess he didn't have the legal standing to take her out of his dads' home before.

"Okay. I'll talk to my lawyer about any legal complications that might come up, but I want to wait until your nesting period is over. Everyone needs to believe that you only took her because you were nesting."

He nods. I'm not sure if that means she isn't really a part of his nest. But I wouldn't be surprised if she is. All that jewelry he took last time was because of the necklace she gave him.

She's always been the nest. A nest is a safe place to grow. It's home. Whether Heller is collecting her on purpose or as a way to set her free, it doesn't matter to me. I'll back him either way.

"What kind of ice cream bar does she want?" I ask.

He laughs. "The absolute cheapest kind they have at the store. Don't judge. It's what she's used to. But get really good pizza, okay? The best money can buy. And it would be great if you could go get Lark. They're at Otis's house."

I don't ask what Heller will be doing. I just watch as he heads back to the secret room that was supposed to be his private retreat. I guess it is, in a way.

"Hey, Heller?" I say.

He stops. "What is it?"

"Will you find out what health issues we're dealing with here? Just so I can get her medical care squared away."

He gives me a sad smile. "She has cancer. Terminal. The doctor gave her six months."

Oh. I had no idea. I put my arm around him. "When did you find out about that?"

He pulls away from me. "This morning. Just before I went to Todd's store."

"Are you… I mean… should I keep a lookout for another nest at the apartment?"

He looks at me with a haunted expression. "She belongs there, Sergey. Please. I need this."

"Okay. We'll do whatever you need. And if I find another nest, I won't be upset. It's okay."

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah. Really."

I think of all the people he involved in this. Our friends, the furniture vendor, the mobility van. He couldn't even find all the people he stole from the last time he nested, and today I can easily contact everyone he exhibited nesting behaviors in front of this time around. They all said the exact same thing. He was wearing a bandit outfit. He stole things, and promised to pay with a card, but didn't. I wonder if he chose Cy's forge because he knew Cy would call me, and then I would come looking for him.

"Thank you, Sergey. I love you so much." He disappears into the bathroom without another word.