Genard didn't know how to react. Mattie knew it must be a blow to the young man to learn such a shocking truth so suddenly, so she just sat there and waited for his complete reaction, whether it be good or bad.
"I don' know what to t'ink, Tante..." Genard said quietly. Dere are so many t'ings goin' t'rough my head right now dat it's all a huge jumble."
"Do you wan' talk 'bout it?"
"Yeah...but...where's Mercy?" he replied with a small smile. "I'm sorry Tante..."
Mattie chuckled softly. "Don' be sorry, Chil'. You an' Mercy need to talk 'bout dis...it might help you to get your t'oughts straightened out. She went for a walk, an' I t'ink she had plans to go to de graveyard. You'll prob'ly find her dere, if I'm not mistaken."
"T'anks."
It wasn't hard for Genard to find Mercy once he got to the graveyard. He spotted her across the acres of gravestones and monuments, as she stood by the graves of her parents, seemingly lost in thought. He was suddenly nervous about talking to her about what they had each just learned, and he didn't know why. Shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his tan trenchcoat, Genard sighed and walked through the graveyard to join Mercy.
Mercy's long blonde hair was blowing around her pale face; the ponytail she typically wore it in wasn't even helping to keep it out of her face. She wore her typical red jumpsuit, and had a white sweatshirt over it to keep her arms warm. There was a cool breeze in New Orleans that evening, and Mercy shivered in spite of her sweatshirt as Genard approached her. She sensed him coming towards her without having to turn around, and she waited for him to get closer before saying anything to him.
"Quite de revelation, non?"
Genard sighed again as he came to a stop beside Mercy. He shoved his glasses up on his nose and agreed with her. "Yeah. Pretty hard to b'lieve..."
Mercy glanced over at Genard curiously. "What was your first reaction to it?"
"Um...stunned silence, I t'ink, you'd have to ask Tante." Genard laughed. "So many questions, so many jumbled up t'oughts an' feelin's...it's hard to have an actual reaction..."
"You wan' talk?"
Genard's brown eyes locked on Mercy's green ones. "Do you?"
"I t'ink we should...an' we're here...so why not?" Mercy gestured towards the park on the far side of the graveyard, where there was a bench under a tall oak tree. "How 'bout we go sit for awhile?"
The two companions sat beside each other on the park bench in silence for a few moments before Genard broke the silence. "Dey said in de letter dat you didn' know either..."
"Non...I didn' even suspect a t'ing...I was twenty years old an' my father was havin' an affair under my very nose an' I didn' have a clue. Neither did my mother." Mercy replied. "It's strange...dey hid it well, I'll give 'em dat much."
"My father didn' know either, it seems. Not until dey tol' him." Genard agreed. "Hey...you asked what my initial reaction was...what was yours?"
"Pretty much de same, but a little diff'rent. I got de feelin' dat all your life, all de time I've known you, I knew, deep in my soul." Mercy explained. "From de day you were born, I felt some kind of connection to you, an' I didn' really know why."
"Do you wish dey'd told you?" Genard asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Part of me does, but part of me understands why dey didn'. De more I t'ink 'bout it, de more proud of my mother an' your father I get."
Genard frowned. "What do you mean? Dey kept dis a secret from us for t'irty years...dat's not fair..."
"Maybe not, but t'ink 'bout it, Genard. Dey could have ended deir marriages, broken up our fam'lies, over dat affair. Dey could have tol' me right away, an' tol' you as soon as you were old enough to understand it. Instead, dey chose to protect us, especially you. Dey went 'bout deir lives as if nothin' had happened, an'..."
"An' it didn' matter to my father dat he wasn'..." Genard finished, his voice trailing off before he could complete the sentence.
"Exactly. An' de rest of de guild...de ones who knew anyway...an' I t'ink only Jean-Luc an' Tante Mattie knew...backed up deir decision."
"Yeah...I guess it was a pretty okay t'ing to do. I'm...I dunno..." Genard absently shoved his glasses up on his nose and sniffled a little, revealing his emotional unease.
"I know how you feel...it's a lot to take in right now..." Mercy agreed, putting a slender arm around his shoulders. "No one said we had to get used to it tonight...it's gon' take some time. But I know one t'ing for absolute sure."
"What's dat?"
"Dis news ain' gon' change anythin' for us. You an' me, we been too close for too long to let anythin', even de truth, come between us. We'll just take it one day at a time, an' I'm sure Tante Mattie can help us too...I know we weren' s'posed to find out until after she died, an' I t'ink she told us now so dat she'd be here to help if we needed her."
"Yeah...Maybe we should go home now, huh?"
Mercy nodded. "Yeah. She's prob'ly worried 'bout us. An' de others are prob'ly wonderin' why we're missin' de movie..."
Genard laughed and stood up, extending his hand to Mercy, who took it with a smile and stood beside him. "I don' know 'bout you, but I don' really feel like watchin' a movie tonight..." he said as they started walking back to the safehouse.
At the safehouse, all the thieves and assassins were assembled in the living room watching the movie, eating popcorn and joking around. Gris-Gris kept threatening to knock Emil's chair over because Emil was throwing the popcorn into Gris' long beaded dreadlocks instead of eating it, much to the amusement of some of the other Guild members. Tante Mattie was sitting alone in the dim light of the kitchen, thinking about the past, the present and the future of the two thieves who had left over an hour before and not returned yet. She was more than a little relieved when the back door opened and they emerged from the darkness of the cool New Orleans night.
Intuitively Tante Mattie knew they were still dealing with it. She could feel the uncertainty they were each feeling about what had happened, and the circumstances around the events and couldn't blame them for it. She just hoped the truth wouldn't change their relationship.
"I'm glad you've returned." Mattie said, motioning for them to sit with her. "How are you doin'?"
Mercy spoke first. "We're okay, considerin'. We're glad you're here t'ough...dis would be so much harder to go t'rough if you weren'."
Mattie nodded, her earrings swinging on either side of her face. "Is dere anythin' you wan' talk 'bout...any questions...?"
"I understand why dey chose not to tell us," Genard began. "But I don' understand why dey couldn' tell us once I grew up, why dey had to wait to do it when dey were all dead...I don' get dat..."
"I know, Chil'. It don' make any sense, but regardless of what dey did, dey did it b'cause dey wanted to keep from causin' you guys a lot of undue pain an' heartache." Mattie explained from her seat across from him. "Dat was deir big concern, hurtin' you two."
"But didn' dey realize dat no matter when dey tol' us, it would shake us up? It don' matter how or when we found out, it still hurts." Genard said, his voice filled with tears. He loved Mercy, and nothing was going to change that. Deep down he was glad to learn that the bond they had always shared was for a reason. But he was still hurting over not being able to talk to his parents and Mercy's parents about what had happened in the year before he was born.
"Would you have been happier if dey'd taken you aside when you were growin' up an' tol' you de truth den?" Mattie questioned.
Genard considered how he felt for a few moments before answering, his face serious and thoughtful. "Non...I guess not. I guess what I mean is, I'd like it if dey had tol' us b'fore dey were all dead, y'know what I mean? I know dey couldn' do it b'fore Mama died, b'cause I was pretty young when she died, but it would have been better, I t'ink, if Mercy an' I could have spoken to dem 'bout all dis once we found out."
Mercy agreed. "I t'ink Genard's right. Dat letter was a nice explanation, an' it helps us understand some stuff, but I know we'd both like to be able to speak to dem, an' we can'. Dat's disappointin'."
"I'm sorry 'bout dat, I really am." Mattie told them. "But Jean-Luc an' I tol' dem dey had to make de decisions on deir own, b'cause dey were adults, dey got demselves into de situation an' it was up to dem to deal wit' it an' do what dey t'ought was best. I'll do all I can to answer your questions an' help you, but I can' help de way dey could, an' for dat I apologize."
"Don' be sorry, Tante. You were all protectin' us an' we appreciate dat. We jus' wish we could talk to dem too, y'know?" Mercy explained.
"May I ask you bot' somethin'?"
"Of course, Tante." Genard replied. "You can ask us anythin'. You don' have to ask us if you can."
"Is learnin' de truth gon' change anythin' for either of you? Dat was my big worry...I know how close you've always been an' I was concerned dat findin' out dis information would do somethin' to dat relationship."
"Oh Tante Mattie..." Mercy sighed, exchanging a smile with Genard. They had talked about what Tante Mattie's questions would be as they walked home, and that was the first one they both agreed on. "Of course it won' change anythin'...we talked 'bout it already..."
"Yeah...we're gon' take it one day at a time an' get used to de whole idea an' stuff like dat. But you can' jus' take t'irty years of a relationship an' destroy it wit' one letter. It don' work dat way." Genard finished. "Mercy's my sister. I've always t'ought of her dat way, even b'fore de truth came out, an' dis ain' gon' change de way I t'ink."
"Likewise. I've always considered the guys in dis guild to be my brothers, an' since Genard an' I were always so close, I don' see why dat should change jus' b'cause we found out 'bout somethin' 'bout de past dat jus' makes it official."
"Well, I'm glad to hear dat." Mattie smiled. "I had a feelin' you'd bot' say dat, but I wanted to make sure. When are you gon' share de news wit' everyone else?"
Genard and Mercy looked at each other and shrugged. Mercy answered the question for both of them with a laugh. "Maybe tomorrow. Or tonight, if we have to break up any popcorn fights. But we're still kinda tryin' to wrap our minds 'round it, an' it would be nice to be able to sleep on it first, b'fore tellin' de others."
"I t'ink dat is a wonderful idea." Mattie agreed.
In the living room, the popcorn fight was over and so was the movie. The assassins had gone upstairs to their various bedrooms for the night, while Theoren, Emil, Claude and Zoe continued to sit around the living room and try to find something to watch on television. Mercy and Genard decided not to join them, preferring to keep separate from everyone until the next morning. On her own way up to bed, Tante Mattie paused by the living room and spoke briefly to the other thieves.
"How was de movie?"
"Good...but where are Genard an' Mercy?" Theoren asked, concern in his voice. He was the oldest of the thieves, the family's father figure, and had not been expecting them to miss out on the movie.
"Dey're upstairs...dey went out for a little while, but dey're fine."
"Why didn't they join us? They missed a great movie." Zoe commented from her spot stretched out on one of the plush overstuffed armchairs.
"You will find out all in due time, I jus' wanted to tell you dat everythin' is okay. Adjustments will have to be made, but other den dat, t'ings are fine. Please don' worry' 'bout dem, dere is no need of it."
"Okay, Tante. If you say so." Theoren said. "Are you goin' to bed now?"
"Yes...an' I suggest you don' stay up late. Sleep is important, remember." Mattie told them, the den mother in her showing in her voice as always. "Bon soir, mes enfants."
"'Night, Tante." the four thieves chimed in unison.
Once they knew the old woman was out of earshot, Emil spoke up. "What do you s'pose dat's all 'bout?"
"Don' know, but I t'ink she's not kiddin' when she said we'll find out in due time." Claude yawned, standing up and stretching his muscular frame. "I also t'ink she's right. I'm beat. 'Night guys."
"Oh we're right b'hind you, Claude." Theoren grinned. "We jus' needed to be reminded dat it's past our bedtime. We'll have to wait to see what de new day brings, as always."
The next morning, each of the four thieves found a piece of paper had been slid under their bedroom doors. The papers said simply: "Please meet us in the library at 10 a.m. ~G and M"
The notes arose the curiosity of the others and they found themselves joining Genard and Mercy in the library promptly at ten a.m., wondering what was up.
"Go ahead Mercy." Genard nodded once everyone was seated.
Mercy smiled brilliantly, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds. "First of all, we're sorry we missed de movie last night, but we had other t'ings on our minds. Second, we do have a reason for callin' you here dis mornin'. Tante Mattie told us bot' somethin' last night dat we need to share wit' you. Later we'll tell de assassins."
"We wanted to tell you first, well...duh." Genard grinned. "You guys are our fam'ly, our closest friends in de world. If we didn' tell you first, it would have jus' been wrong."
"Dere's a background we're gon' have to go into...dis all came on us very suddenly, an' we certainly weren' expectin' it, but now dat we know, we're workin' to adjust to de news an' move on." Mercy continued.
"I'm confused..." Emil complained.
"Stop goin' 'round it an' jus' say it guys. Whatever it is, you're obviously okay, so it can' be a bad t'ing..." Theoren encouraged.
"Oh it's a good t'ing, yeah." Genard replied. "Sorry for confusin' you, Red. We don' mean to, but for awhile we were pretty confused too."
"So...what is it? What's going on?" Zoe asked.
"Quite simply, we found out dat de year b'fore Genard was born, Yvonne an' my father had an affair, which dey kept from everyone except for Jean-Luc an' Tante Mattie. When de time came dey tol' de truth to Pierre an' my mother an' decided not to tell anyone else. Tante Mattie told Genard an' I last night." Mercy explained.
"What are you gettin' at?" Claude asked. "Dey had an affair...so what? It was a long time ago."
"Claude..." Mercy began, but she was interrupted by Emil, whose eyes widened in realization.
"Oh mon dieu..." Emil gasped. "Are you sayin' what I t'ink you're sayin'?"
"I t'ink so, Emil." Genard replied. "We didn' know it until last night, but you can ask Tante Mattie if you don' b'lieve us. I'm Mercy's brother, an' it's not jus' a word anymore. It's real. As real as we are."