And a Chook Shall Lead Them

And a Chook Shall Lead Them

By Kara Larson

For Allie, who lived and survived it And for Daniel, who told me a joke in the car the other day, and I laughed and cried Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa

‘Let us keep close together, not far apart.’

--Maori Proverb Amiri was back, and he swore he'd never be back. Not like this. Not hiding away in the Old Lady, as if he was ashamed of something. Yes, his partner Graeme did at least come with him this time, but Amiri still wondered about that. He forgot that he had left his own home almost ten years ago to follow Graeme across the Ditch to Australia. And if it hadn't been for Auntie Moana's death and the fact that she left the Old Lady to him, Amiri wouldn't have come home. And all of this would've been avoided. And what a lacking life that would've been. *** The house had always been the Old Lady, even before it had belonged to Amiri's Auntie Moana, when Mount Eden was still a genteel farming community and not a posh, leafy suburb. Then, of course, the street that rambled past the Old Lady's tree-swaddled drive had been dirt, not even rating a paved road. Of course, his house was the only one in the neighborhood that still didn't have a sealed drive leading tidily up to its gingerbread-laden front porch. The Old Lady was a lonely, rambling sort of house, far too big for him and Graeme alone. He and Auntie had rattled around in it all throughout his secondary and uni years. Graeme hadn't taken up too much space in his six months of residence, working his first locum position all those years ago. And just months ago, Amiri's first Old Lady, his dear old Auntie, finally passed on, bequeathing him the second in her will. It made sense, when

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Amiri thought about it, since there never had been any children. And it wasn't as if Auntie could even pick his sister out of a police line-up, even in her lucid days. The house, a ramshackle monster, had always been run down. Auntie never had the money or the energy to fix it up, and the ten years of neglect showed on its peeling white paint and poorly hung door and window frames. Even the faded red tin roof was discolored in places, green showing through to make the house look like an overgrown pohutukawa tree. He and Graeme didn’t intend to stay long--long enough to take care of business, sell the Old Lady, and then get back to their own lives in Sydney. Except "long enough" was something hard to define, and harder still when they'd both taken up locum positions: Graeme over at Starship, where they were always in need of pediatricians, and himself down the road at a local surgery, where one of the doctors had recently gone on maternity leave. It gave them something to occupy their time, especially since this backward little country would always be in need of underpaid doctors. It was why Amiri had left New Zealand in the first place. And the money coming in would help repair the old house, if he could ever find a contractor willing to take on the job. Which was another issue: the severe lack of people with technical skills, like plumbers and electricians and construction managers. Until then, he and Graeme did what they could. The tunnel-like drive leading up to the Old Lady deterred most visitors, and none of his old friends knew they were here. As for family, well, he'd written them off as quickly as they'd exiled him to Auckland all those years ago. But it had been better that way, for himself, for Auntie, and for Graeme. If his dad hadn't sent him away all those summers ago, Auntie wouldn't have whipped his marks into good enough shape to qualify for Auckland University's medical school, much less getting into the Maori and Pacific Islands Admission scheme. Instead of two years in the Medical Corps, traveling from island to island in the Pacific, he probably would've been down in the mines of Buller with the other Coasties, hauling up what was left of the coal. If he hadn't taken that internship at the hospital, he wouldn't have met Graeme and subsequently left his native land for greener pastures across the Ditch. Then, of course, he came back ten years later to take care of some property he intended to sell at first chance. Sure, his life had lacked a few things, most noticeably the contact of his loud and explosive family, but he'd gained so much. At what price, he still had to determine. He just wasn't sure he could handle any more time in this leafy suburb of his and all the memories it brought back. "I don't care if your mum sent you away when you were sixteen," was Graeme's favorite rallying cry, especially when those nights when Amiri all but begged to go back to Australia. "I don't care if your family cut you off because you were gay. I don't care what kind of betrayal you think you're suffering. We're not leaving until we settle this, one way or another!"

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Ten years since he'd set foot in Auckland, and another ten on top of that since he'd even seen a member of his whanau, his family. He was thirty-eight, for God's sake, and while it seemed too old to be kowtowed by even the thought of his family, he didn't care. Kia mau ki to Maoritanga. Hold fast to your culture, one of his mum's favorite sayings. It stuck in his mind every time he walked down Queen Street instead of Symonds Street just to avoid the big marae, a Maori gathering house, over by AUT. He'd helped build that marae nearly twenty years ago. He'd held fast to his culture and his beliefs, despite the fact that everyone he loved from that whanau seemed to forsake him, as if he was some sort of homosexual Judas. It still hurt, walking past those familiar, red carvings. Graeme thought he was being a stubborn arse about it all, but Graeme didn't know. Not with his family who accepted all of him, Thai and white and gay and all. "Kia mau ki to tahau!" he'd shouted back, that last night before his mum put him on a plane back to Dad, and then from Dad onto Auckland, and old Auntie Moana. Hold fast to yourself. He still remembered the words of Te Reo, as much as he tried not to speak them. Maybe it was melodramatic. Maybe he did make too big a deal of some things. But he was tired of it all and just wanted to retreat into his static life. Not that he actually expected life to allow him to do that. *** His drive was ten meters long. Amiri counted them as he walked, swatting dangling willow branches away from his face. It was nearing dark; luckily, his walk from the surgery never took more than ten minutes, maybe fifteen if he dawdled. And it wasn't like there was anything to be afraid of, not here in the shadow of Maungawhau itself. Funny, how he still couldn't bear to call it by its English name: Mount Eden. It would always be Maungawhau to him. The tunnel of tangled branches ended abruptly, the shadow of the Old Lady suddenly looming into view. He couldn't help smiling slightly. She seemed to lean a bit to the right tonight. Some days, it looked as if her lean was to the left. Graeme said it was the world's best test for sobriety; if the Old Lady looked straight, you knew you were good and pissed. His bike, once his only form of transport around Auckland city, leaned up against the side of the Old Lady. Graeme's usual spot, just behind his bike, was empty, which meant he wasn't home yet. Behind the bike, the overgrown fruit trees and feijoa trees sloped down behind the house to the grassy field. He was sure there was an old, rusty bathtub out there

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somewhere, not that he could see it in the nearly waist-high grass. There were probably a few other relics from the last bath renovation he'd attempted for Auntie just before leaving for Australia, with Graeme's construction expertise. But that had been nearly ten years ago, and he still couldn't be bothered to do a cleanup. Not even for inorganic collection day. All seemed well. It was even quiet, for once, his neighbor's raucous dog not having started his nightly howling yet. The world seemed at peace. Almost too much so. Amiri actually stopped, wondering at that. There was a noise, off to the side of the Old Lady, toward the direction of the dilapidated old shed. The tin-roofed building hadn't been actually opened in the six months they'd been back. But it seemed almost like something was rattling the old shed door. When Amiri peered closer, the door actually shifted back and forth a bit. He sucked in a breath. This was the point in every horror movie when the innocent doctor died, leaving zombies to ravage a doctor-less town. Except he didn't have anything remotely weapon like nearby, not even an old cricket bat. "Shit." He wasn't the strongest bloke in the world. Yeah, he ran. Yeah, he cycled on occasion and allowed Graeme to drag him off on one of those two-day tramps every now and then, but it wasn't as if he could murder anyone with his hands. They were doctor's hands, long, skinny fingers and all, meant to heal and not hurt. "Could just be a cat," he told himself as he slowly made his way toward the shed. The door rocked more violently now on its hinges, as if something was trying desperately to break out. He could hear what sounded like some kind of inhuman keening. Maybe it was a dog or a cat, trapped. Maybe Graeme had been by at lunch and accidentally left the door open. Or maybe. Maybe. He ran to the door, grabbing the doorknob and tugging as hard as he could. The door seemed stuck fast, for all that someone--or thing--was trying to push it from the other side. He could hear the grunts now, as well as the crying. That definitely wasn't the cry of a dog or cat. It almost sounded like a child. "Hold on," he shouted. "I'm coming!" In a book, there'd be a convenient axe sitting on top of a woodpile, but he hadn't been home to split wood for the fire in years, and God only knew where the old axe was. He looked around wildly, trying to find something-­ anything--to break the door down.

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"Pull!" The voice from inside the shed sounded young and very male. "Pull, and I'll push, yeah?" "On three," Amiri called back. "One, two." He gripped the doorknob with all his might, bracing his heels against the ground. "Three!" The door flew open and a small girl ran out, tears streaming down her face. She stopped just in front of Amiri, howling almost as loudly as Sparky next door. "What--" All Amiri could do was look in wonder. A boy followed the girl, looking up at him from under an overlong black fringe. "You Amiri Campbell?" the boy asked, brown eyes suspicious in such a young face. "Maybe," he answered slowly, still numbed by the situation. "Who-- And how did you get stuck in my shed?" The boy grabbed the girl by the arm, pulling her up into his arms. The girl squirmed for a bit before relaxing against the boy's body. She looked barely more than six, the boy himself probably in his mid-teens. There was something familiar about those fierce dark eyes, but the kids could've been any of the ones he'd treated over the years. Maybe not here, in New Zealand, but back in Sydney or anywhere else in the world. "Airini sent us," the boy said. "She said you'd help." Airini was his sister, someone he hadn't seen in over a decade. Closer to two, when he thought about it. Then it dawned on him. "You're--" he scrambled for the names, knowing the birth announcements were buried somewhere along with all the other correspondence he'd tried to forget about. "The boy. And, erm." "Wiremu," the boy said, rolling his eyes as only teenagers could. "And this is Lani." Wiremu knelt, turning Lani's face toward Amiri. "This is our uncle, Lani. The one Nandy sent us to." "Uncle," Lani repeated dutifully, not looking up at Amiri. Instead, she played with her brother's chin-length hair. He suddenly had a bad feeling about all this. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything--" But Wiremu was already making his way toward the house, as if he knew right where the back door was.

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"Lani has to pee," came Wiremu's reply. "She wouldn't pee in the bush, and you locked your damned door, so we got stuck in the shed, and if she pees on me, I'm gonna make you wash her clothes." Amiri stared after the pair, now standing on the worn back porch, looking at him expectantly from behind the faded white railing. "It's the city. Of course, I lock my door." Not that there was much to steal inside. He and Graeme both kept their laptops with them at all times, same as their mobiles. And any thief who was stupid enough to brave the Old Lady's drive and risk his life on the backyard that swallowed Auckland deserved whatever he could find in the house. "Do you want me to break the window, or you gonna open the door?" Wiremu's voice challenged him. He'd set the girl down at this point and she started doing that all-too familiar "I have to wee now" dance. Muttering under his breath about the rudeness of this Generation Zed or whatever they were calling themselves now, Amiri fumbled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Lani raced in, Wiremu on her heels. "Up the stairs, first door on the right," he called after them, surprised at how loud their thundering footsteps seemed to echo in the Old Lady. He didn't hear anything for a while, beyond the rattling of the pipes and the sudden whoosh that seemed to flood the rear kitchen wall whenever someone flushed the upstairs toilet. Then came the sounds of banging and arguing, but nothing that seemed too lifethreatening. Out of the ordinary, yes, especially in his usually quiet house, but nothing that prompted racing up the stairs to see what they were doing. Or what he should do with them. Or how they got there and who he should send them home to. He was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at his hands for a loss at what to do, when the kids came back downstairs. Now that they stood in the light of the kitchen, he could at least get a better look at them. Both definitely had the look of his sister: those fierce dark eyes, that thick black hair (a halo of curls, in Lani's case), even Airini's upturned nose. Wiremu had to be somewhere around fifteen now, if he remembered right. And the girl, Lani, well… It was hard to tell. She fairly swam in her clothes, which looked like a huge faded T-shirt turned inside out and worn over equally-worn and equally-inside-out leggings. There seemed to be something funny about her, too; her head jerked from direction to direction, almost as if she couldn't focus on something. And she clung to Wiremu almost in a panic. Something was bothering her, that was obvious enough. "Lani's dinnertime," was all Wiremu would say. He picked up the backpack he'd tossed by the back door, fishing around in it for a bright red plastic bowl, matching mug and some kind of worn silver teaspoon. "Got any milk? Lani likes the yellow-top stuff."

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While Wiremu poured rice bubbles from a plastic bag, Amiri looked in the fridge. "There's some trim milk, but I don't know if…" He rummaged around some more. Graeme liked to drink that calcium-fortified nonsense. Ah, there it was, next to what used to be some kind of lettuce. "Should still be good, I think we picked it up from the dairy two days ago." Wiremu took the milk, popped off the cap and sniffed it. "Yeah, she'll drink it." He carefully measured a cupful of milk with the red cup, then dumped it onto the mound of rice bubbles. He stirred it twice with the teaspoon, once in each direction, then put the bowl on the table, right in front of the little girl. The spoon rested at a forty-five degree angle to the upper right of the bowl, and the red cup's handle at the same angle on the left side. Amiri watched as the little girl followed the movement with her eyes, as if she was measuring the exact distance from the edge of the table to make sure it was just right. "Ready for dinner, Lani?" "Washed my hands already," the girl said, sitting down at the table in front of the bowl of cereal. "Say my prayers?" Wiremu nodded. "Just like at home." That was met with a scowl. "Not just like home," Lani muttered, not meeting her brother's eyes. She folded her hands, bowed her head, and whispered something that sounded vaguely familiar to Amiri. "Te Reo?" he asked, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. Wiremu shrugged. "Mum had her in one of the kohanga reo. Normal kindy was too much for Lani, and since Auntie Marika works at the kohanga reo, Mum figured Lani'd at least get looked after." Auntie Marika. Amiri snorted. Of course Marika Poharama would have something to say about his niece and nephew's upbringing. Damn woman couldn't leave things be, especially when it came to any Maori children in the district. She'd organized the local marae all by her lonesome when they were all younger. She was a force to be reckoned with. Which made him wonder if there was a connection between Marika, his old friend Pai, and this sudden appearance on his doorstep. "How'd you find me?" he asked Wiremu, trying to keep his voice nonchalant. The boy looked skittish enough; he didn't need to frighten Wiremu, even if he was going to pack the two off to his sister as soon as possible. Wiremu gave him one of those sidelong glances and followed it with a shrug. "Just did."

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"You hopped a flight from Westport to Auckland, told a taxi to drive to Amiri Campbell's and just wound up here?" Amiri raised his eyebrows and looked down at Wiremu, who came up to his shoulder. "Maybe," was the noncommittal answer. "Maybe Nandy told us where to find you." And his father would know, since it was Dad's aunt that left Amiri the house in the first place. He sighed. Wiremu's shoulders were tense, and the boy looked ready to spring at any minute. "You can sit down, y'know," Amiri said, going to rummage in the fridge again. "If you don't want rice bubbles, we can find you something else to eat." There was chicken leftover from last night. Or there was always the takeaways place down the street. Kids liked greasy takeaways, didn't they? The familiar sound of a car coming up the drive drown out Wiremu's answer. The boy tensed, poised on the edge of his chair. Lani, however, seemed unconcerned. "You're home!" Graeme's warm voice filled the kitchen as he walked in the back door. "I thought--" He stopped on the threshold of the door, stared. Gave Amiri a small but confused half-smile. "You brought work home tonight?" "This is Wiremu. And Lani. My niece and nephew from down south." Graeme's hazel eyes looked from Lani eating her cereal to Wiremu's defensive posture and back to Amiri. "I'd almost forgotten you even had family," his partner cracked, setting the newspaper-wrapped bundle in his arms down on the bench. "Your uncle does everything he can to avoid family." Wiremu snorted at that. Amiri just held his peace, knowing there would be a time and a place for all that later. "Mum does the same thing. I think it runs in the family," his nephew offered up. He held out his hand to Graeme. "Wiremu Campbell." Amiri wasn't sure who was more surprised when Graeme pulled the boy close, pressing his nose against Wiremu's quickly. "Haere mai, Wiremu. I'm Graeme Chao, your uncle's, erm--" "Partner," Amiri spoke up. "From Australia." Wiremu rolled his eyes. "Could tell he was a bruce. Even Coasties know that much." He gave Graeme a sudden, blinding grin. "Hey, Graeme, why'd the Aussie bloke wear Velcro gloves?"

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And, to Amiri's surprise, his partner grinned back. "To get a better grip on the sheep. C'mon, mate, everyone knows that one. How do you increase the average intelligence of New Zealand?" "Send all the Aussies back across the Ditch," was Wiremu's cheeky response. Even Amiri had to laugh at that one. "Hope you're hungry; I stopped at the chippie on the way home." Graeme passed Amiri on the way to the cupboard where they kept the plates. He gave Amiri a quick hug. God, if this was what it meant, having kids in the house… "Could go with some grub," Wiremu said, suddenly closing up again. "If it isn't putting you out." Graeme grinned again, the smile lines creasing in his tanned face. "Ray down at the fish shop always gives me too many scoops of chips anyway. There's more than enough." He nodded toward Lani. "Especially with the sheila eating rice bubbles there." Amiri grabbed a plate in each hand, setting one in front of Wiremu. He couldn't ignore the hungry look in the boy's eyes, nor how thin he seemed. It was true that boys grew fast at that age, but there was a difference between a growth spurt and malnutrition. He was starting to get a better idea of maybe why his dad had sent Wiremu and Lani here. Especially if Airini's taste in men had stayed the same over the years. "Your uncle show you where you're staying yet?" Graeme asked, sounding so casual about it all. "You two might have to share a room until we can clean something out for Lani. We're still clearing out the third bedroom." Wiremu shook his head, shoveling tarahaki and kumara chips into his mouth as fast as he could grab them. "Just got here," the boy said. "Well, just got out of the shed." Graeme shook Amiri a look, who shrugged. "They got stuck in that old shed." Then it occurred to him. "You went in there to get out of the rain, didn't you?" In true Auckland style, it had started pouring sometime around noon. If the kids had been stuck in the shed for that long, no wonder Lani was screeching. "Is that okay?" Wiremu asked slowly. "We didn't touch nothing, I swear." Before Graeme could say anything, Amiri cut in. "We'll get you a key tomorrow." No nephew of his was going to have to stay outside all day, even if Amiri did plan on sending him somewhere else as soon as possible. Where, though…

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Dinner passed, but even Graeme couldn't get much more information out of Wiremu. And Lani seemed lost in her own little world. Amiri was actually relieved when Wiremu's watch beeped at eight o'clock. Lani looked expectant. "Bed?" she asked. "With the blue blanket and my pillow?" Wiremu nodded. "We've got the blue blanket. And the pillow. And your music." He shot Amiri an apologetic look. "I guess we'll head to bed now, if you don't mind." "Of course, I--" Amiri pushed back his chair, leading them toward the stairs. "We washed the sheets a few days ago--I think--and you'll have to share the bed tonight, if you don't mind." From Wiremu's protective arm around Lani's think shoulders, Amiri didn't think his nephew would mind. "There's towels if either of you want a bath, and soap. We might have a couple toothbrushes." Wiremu shook his head. "We got toothbrushes. Lani's particular. We just need a place to crash." His eyes looked tired. "It was a long day." Amiri opened the door to the spare room. "I'll bet." He stood in the doorway, watching Wiremu get Lani settled. The girl stood in the corner while Wiremu carefully wrestled the double bed until it was pushed up against the west wall, the headboard facing the door. He kept looking at Lani, shifting it ever so slightly until she nodded. "Just right." Then, a squashed pillow came out of the backpack, followed by a light blue blanket and a battered little MP3 player. Lani arranged these neatly on the right side of the bed before noticing Amiri still in the doorway. She stopped, staring just past Amiri with those huge, brown eyes. He looked behind him, just to check if Graeme had snuck up from behind or something. He hadn't heard the stairs creak, but his partner was pretty light-footed for his size. "Staring, Wiremu," she whispered. "He stares." Feeling guilty, Amiri ducked out of the room. "Let me know if you need anything," he called hastily before heading down the stairs. To find Graeme giving him an expectant look. "I think we have to talk," Amiri said, settling down in his chair again. His partner pushed his brown hair out of his eyes. "I think you're right."

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Amiri sighed. "I don't know what to do." Graeme snorted. "At least that's two of us. What did Wiremu tell you?" "Not much. First that Airini sent them. Then that my father sent him." He shook his head. "I haven't spoken to my father in more than fifteen years. It's been even longer since I actually saw Airini. Last I heard, some bloke got her up the duff. And that was Wiremu." "She marry him?" Graeme asked. "Probably not. Airini wasn’t much for the staying type." Amiri sighed. "She jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend quicker than I did in those days." There wasn't even two years between the two of them, so they'd pretty much socialized with the same small group all their lives. "Mum dragged us down south after she and Dad divorced, and that's where we were living when Mum found me with Eph and Pai." Seeing that homo Ephram Colbert's cock thrust down her precious Amiri's throat hadn't given his mum the heart attack he'd always thought it might, but it came close. "She shipped me back up north as fast as she could, and Dad turned right around and sent me here to Auntie." Graeme made an expectant noise in the back of his throat. Amiri had been there the day Graeme came out to his family, and the announcement had been greeted with a rather nonchalant "Good on ye, son," from both Mum and Dad. And then they'd thrown a fair dinkum Aussie barbecue, because their baby boy finally brought his partner home with him. Amiri still talked to Graeme's mum at least once every two weeks and constantly wondered why his partner was so willing to leave them. Graeme said it was for distance, and so he wouldn't be smothered. Sometimes Amiri wondered if Graeme even understood what he had, and what he left behind. Amiri glared at him. "Don't worry, I won't bring up the melodrama. Not tonight." If Graeme had any faults, it was that he assumed too much. Then again, they had been lovers for over ten years now, so maybe it came with the territory. "Graeme--" "Easy, Ame, I know how hard this is." Graeme's hand curled around his. "We'll deal with it, baby. Trust me." Endearments were few and far between, as far as practical Graeme was concerned. Especially in front of others. The fact that an endearment slipped out now, with his niece and nephew upstairs, meant either that Graeme was unsettled about something, or trying to comfort Amiri. He just couldn't decide which. "So what do we do?" Graeme's hand was followed by his arm, as Amiri let himself be tugged closer. "You could call your sister," he said, kissing Amiri's temple, then his cheek. At Amiri's snort, Graeme moved toward Amiri's mouth. "Or call your dad."

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"Or…" Amiri rested his head against Graeme's, suddenly tired. "We're a month from school hols. We let them sit tight here for a while and see what happens." He pushed back a little, looking at Graeme. "If that's okay with you." A laugh rumbled deep in Graeme's throat. "You really will do anything to avoid talking to your family." He sighed. "You have no idea." Graeme stretched, yawning. "Well, we can bribe my mum with pictures of potential grandchildren. She won't care when we come back to Aussie, as long as we come visit at some point." Amiri tried to imagine Graeme's family home, far beyond the suburbs in the Blue Mountains, and introducing even calmer members of his own family to that environment. "We'll see about that," was the only comment he could make. *** Arms tightened around him, bare skin brushing against his own with that fabulous friction that he loved. He nuzzled the strong arm, kissing the shoulder and on up the neck and square, stubbly jaw. That wide mouth finally found his, bringing him his morning kiss. Without a word, he slid on top of Graeme, aligning cock against cock. He stretched his long body to its fullest, still not quite being able to touch every centimeter of his partner's body. Graeme's toes tickled the bottoms of his feet. "Stop it!" he muttered, snuffling against Graeme's ear. "I'm trying to be romantic." He nudged Graeme's cock with his own erection, not surprised to find it just as stiff. "Seems like someone had a few ideas of his own." Graeme chuckled, that low chuckle that made Amiri's balls tighten with pleasure. "Maybe someone wants to hear about these--" And a banshee howled bloody murder outside their door. Amiri rolled off Graeme and kept rolling until he fell to the wood floor with a thump. "Shit!" He grabbed at his dressing gown, wincing as he tried to stand. "Someone better be almost dead." "Ame." Graeme grabbed his hand before he could dart out the door.

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"What?" He stared at his partner, those almond-shaped hazel eyes peering up at him, almost imploring. "She's a kid, Ame. Far from home. Go easy." Wiremu and Lani were only staying down the hall. There was an empty bedroom between them, but it was funny how far sound carried and echoed in big old houses like the Old Lady. That thought made Amiri wince. He and Graeme would probably have to be a little more quiet, if this was going to go on for much longer. "Wiremu?" He tapped on the closed door. At least the shrieking had stopped. "Everything all right?" His nephew opened the door, dressed in an old vest and a pair of ratty shorts. His black hair stuck up in twelve different directions, making him look not much older than Lani. "Lani's just…" Wiremu trailed off, his eyes still unfocused with sleep. "She's okay now, Uncle Amiri. She just, kinda, does that sometimes." Little kids did tend to cry when they woke up in a strange place. That's what Graeme had always said, from his time working up at Starship and at the big children's hospital in Sydney. Then something else occurred to him. "She didn't wet the bed, did she?" Children as old as eight or nine sometimes had weak bladders. And Lani barely looked more than six. Emotional trauma, especially suddenly being uprooted from the only home you've known, tended to have psychological effects on children at that age. From what he'd read. Wiremu shook his head. "I got her to the toilet in time last night. And she didn't drink too much yesterday. Only usually happens when she's stressed about something." The boy smiled briefly, that same unguarded look as yesterday. "She's a funny little kid." "The wind is blowing!" the funny little kid shrieked. "The wind is blowing from the window and the door is thudding and I don't like it!" Wiremu's face fell into a scowl. "One I'd happily trade for something quieter, like a pony," he muttered, just loud enough for his sister to hear. He moved across the hall and shut the door to his and Lani's temporary bedroom, so that it wouldn't thud anymore. The shrieking stopped. Amiri coughed. "Well, take your time getting ready and, uh, shower if you need to. We'll get breakfast. You like pancakes? Graeme makes them thick, American-style." "Lani only eats rice bubbles," Wiremu said with a yawn. "But I'll eat anything you put in front of me." His eyes widened, as if he realized something. "Graeme's still here?"

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"He lives here, with me." Amiri frowned. "That a problem?" His nephew hastily shook his head. "No, not at all. He's not half as bad as some of the blokes Mum brings home. Got a better sense of humor too." Again, that dark scowl covered Wiremu's face. "I'll get Lani cleaned up for breakfast." "Rice bubbles with yellow milk," a voice chanted from the bedroom. "Rice bubbles in the red bowl with yellow milk." Amiri made his way back to the master bedroom, wondering if there was some important piece of the puzzle he was missing. Abused children sometimes showed similar symptoms, especially when faced with some huge change in their routine. But Airini wouldn't hit, would she? And the boyfriend… He shuddered, not wanting to think about that, or the complications and implications it would have. "Well?" Graeme at least had the presence of mind to put on some y-fronts under his dressing gown. He fished around in his underwear drawer for a pair of boxer shorts. "Lani wants breakfast, and Wiremu likes you better than my sister's string of boyfriends. Thinks you're a real hard case." Amiri shook his head. "There's something to all this, but I just can't figure out what." Graeme's arms wrapped around his waist, pulling Amiri against Graeme's chest. "Let's see what happens over the next few days. See who calls to find where the kids are. Then deal with it." Lips nuzzled at his neck. "I don't want you to work yourself up over this. It's just family." Amiri snorted. "You haven't met my family." Lani and Wiremu were already seated at the table when Amiri and Graeme got downstairs. Lani was shoveling rice bubbles into her mouth with the same single-minded intensity as last night. Though she wasn't wearing the same shirt and leggings, her clothes were still turned inside out. Amiri couldn't help raising his eyebrows at Wiremu. "She don't like the seams. They itch her," was the explanation. "And you don’t argue with Lani. Not worth it." From the deep brow-furrow of concentration on his niece's face, Amiri could almost see that. "I could never win against Airini either. Must run in the family." He at least got a smile out of Wiremu for that.

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"What did Amiri promise you for breakfast?" Graeme asked before the tension could get too thick. "Pancakes, right? He always promises everyone my pancakes." Wiremu grinned. "Pancakes with fried bacon and maple syrup." He sent a challenging look Amiri's way. Amiri started to protest, but figured it wasn't worth it. "Should be a rasher or two of bacon in the fridge," he said, opening the fridge door. "And dunno if we have maple syrup, but I know we've got some golden syrup." A nod came from Wiremu's direction. "Golden syrup's just as good. Mum's last boyfriend was Canadian, and he'd always buy the real expensive maple stuff." The boy wrinkled his nose. "Didn't taste that different. Too, I dunno, smoky or something." "Did the bloke at least eat marmite? Transplants always have strange ideas." Amiri shot a grin at Graeme. "Did you know this thick sook still thinks vegemite's better than marmite?" Both Amiri and Lani grimaced. "Stuff's nasty. Not sure how anyone eats it," Wiremu said. "Don't matter what name you call it, it all tastes like arse." "Dirty word," Lani announced around a mouthful of rice bubbles. "You owe me a dollar." To Amiri's amusement, the boy actually dug into his pocket for a golden dollar coin and placed it in his sister's outstretched palm. "So you don't like marmite, and you don't like vegemite," Graeme said, setting a plate of pancakes, bacon, and a banana in front of Wiremu. "What do you like?" Wiremu took the golden syrup from Amiri before liberally drizzling it over his plate. "I like rugby. I played some 'touch' when I could with my mates, when I wasn't watching after Lani," he said with a shrug. "Followed some gridiron when Mum dated this Yank. Sport's cool." He squirmed a bit, as if he didn't like the attention. "I like ponies," was Lani's contribution as she pushed back her bowl. "One more cup, please." His nephew immediately scooped another precise red cup full of rice bubbles out of the same plastic bag, dumping it into the red bowl and adding a cup of milk. Then, same as the night before, he stirred it once in each direction with the silver teaspoon before placing it meticulously back in front of Lani.

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"Ponies, huh?" Amiri said, sitting down next to Lani. "Do you have a pony?" There'd always been a couple running around the farm up in Whangarei when he was growing up. They hadn't belonged to any one of the kids in particular, but pony rides were always an option. Lani's big, brown eyes met his. "God doesn't want me to have a pony," she said in her small, clear voice. It seemed oddly monotone, as if it was something she was repeating more than actually comprehending. "Mummy says I'm too bad to have a pony. So I draws 'em instead." "She's real good at drawing," Wiremu said, trying to cover the resulting silence. "She can draw black ones and brown ones and the polka-dotted ones." "Blacks and bays, dapples and grays, running through the night," Lani said, turning her attention back to her cereal. "And they're Appaloosas, not polka-dotted. You know that, Wiremu." Graeme and Amiri exchanged a look over Lani's head. Graeme shrugged. While Amiri had just studied general medicine and practiced at the local surgery (and dealing with all the aches, pains and viruses that the local community had to offer), Graeme had done most of his internship at the Children's Hospital in Sydney. Starship Hospital in Auckland had almost swooned with pleasure when Graeme asked them if they had any locum work available. He was obviously better at this kid thing than Amiri was. Amiri could be patient enough, but actually getting down and understanding a child was a completely different story. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" Graeme asked, finally sitting down with his own plate. "I've got afternoon shift at Starship, but maybe you could take Lani and Wiremu around. I can leave you the car." "Have you ever been up to Auckland before this?" Amiri asked, desperate for any kind of information. "Or are you still living in Westport?" "Three Conns Creek Rd, Waimangaroa, 7891, New Zealand," Lani said, pushing her bowl away. "Done, please. I should wash up?" Wiremu nodded, pointing to the sink. "If you can't reach, lemme know, eh?" "Waimangaroa? Just up from Westport?" Amiri tried to remember the other small towns clustered up the West Coast. "I only lived in Westport for a couple of years, so I don't remember all the places too well."

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There was that cautious nod in response. "Mum moved in with her latest, and he's got this machine shop there." The boy gave Amiri a nonchalant look out from under that black fringe. "He's not too bad. Better'n the last bloke, who convinced Mum she didn't need her meds anymore." "Meds?" Amiri said it a little more sharply than he meant. "How's Airini doing?" That guarded look came back. "Doctor said she's bi-something." Amiri did his best to bite back a snort. "She's got moods, y'know? Worse than," his voice dropped, "worse than Lani." Before he could say anything more, Lani shrieked. The same blood-curdling shriek that had woken him up that morning. Amiri automatically jumped up, grabbing his niece away from the sink. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking frantically at her hands to see if they were burned. "Are you hurting anywhere? What's wrong?" She struggled briefly in his arms, then just hung limp as a tea towel. Tears poured down her cheeks, her eyes scrunched shut as she wailed. "The soap," she said. "The soap's. Not. Right." "The soap?" Amiri looked toward the plastic bottle, the dish soap looking just as blue and innocuous as ever. "What?" Wiremu took Lani from Amiri's arms, rocking her back and forth. "It's okay, Lani-nani," the boy said softly. "We'll get you yellow soap like at home, yeah?" "Yellow soap," she sobbed into his shoulder. "Has to be yellow, with a yellow cap." Amiri felt Graeme's hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Maybe it's time to call your sister," his partner whispered in his ear. "Or someone." *** Graeme called in sick to the hospital, piled both kids in the car, and drove them off to Cornwall Park. With any luck, there would be a couple horses pastured with the cows and sheep in the park pastures right now. Otherwise, Amiri wasn't sure what he'd do. If what Wiremu said was right, Airini had been diagnosed as bipolar at some point. That would explain Airini's rather manic mood swings when they were kids. And if Airini's mixed-up neuropathways had somehow transferred themselves to Lani, then that would explain a few things.

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Inhaling a deep breath, Amiri picked up the phone and dialed the only person he could think of, the only person he wasn't related to who still seemed to be at the heart of all this nonsense. "Hello?" A deep voice answered the phone, startling Amiri. "Hello?" Now the voice was cross. "Erm, yes, is Pai there?" Amiri thought he was fifteen again. "Did I ring the right number?" "You did. Hold on." He could hear muttering in the background. "Can I ask who's calling?" "Amiri Campbell? It's about my niece and nephew." Suddenly, the voice grew warmer. "So that's where that idiot sent them off to. Marika's been furious. Airini hasn't seemed to notice, but even your mother's come around asking questions." The voice sighed. "I'm sorry," Amiri ventured cautiously. "I hope she didn't--" The voice snorted. "She did. But we'll get over it." There was a cough. "I'm Heme, by the way. You might have, ah, heard of me." There had been some vague kind of gossip that worked its way up to Amiri years ago, about Pai falling in with some well-off Maori bloke. If what Eph had said was true, Heme was nearly twice their age. And had fingernails like claws, of all things. "Someone might've mentioned. Erm, I don't mean to be rude, but can I talk to Pai?" "Ame?" The new voice, not as deep, sounded like the one he remembered. "The kids got there?" "What the fuck, Pai?" he shouted. "Why in bloody hell did you send them here? And what's wrong with Airini? And what am I supposed to do with them?" "Hey, Pai, how ya goin'?" Pai asked himself in that wry voice that Amiri remembered. "Oh, not bad. Life's been good, except your rellies need some looking after, since your sister's a sammie short of a picnic." Amiri took a deep breath. "That bad, huh?"

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"Yeah, Ame. Last bloke she took up with was a member of one of those crazy cult things that doesn't believe in meds, so she kinda… stopped. And this machine shop bloke she’s with now don’t like the kids and seems to think Wacky ‘Rini is a barrel of laughs, so good luck getting her back on ‘em." He twisted the phone cord around his fingers; Auntie Moana had never gotten around to replacing it with an actual cordless model. Graeme threatened to pull it out every time he knotted up the cord. "Wiremu said she was bi-something." Pai had the decency to choke down a laugh. "Wouldn't surprise me if that ran in the family. That kid's something, I'm telling you. Never knew his dad and Airini's only been back in the area since Lani was born, but damn." Pai's voice sobered again. "Yeah, bipolar. Type II, if that means something." Amiri scribbled down a note to ask one of the behavior specialists he knew. "Could be. What about the girl, though? Lani?" Now Pai was quiet. "Her moods 'n stuff? Is she flapping again?" "Flapping?" Amiri repeated. He wracked his brain; he could almost see that missing piece, but he lost it again. "She's cracked twice. This morning, it was over dish soap." "The boy's done some amazing stuff with her. When she was an ankle biter, only his stories would calm her down. He kept telling her stuff about colors, going over and over the colors of everything with her." Pai sounded thoughtful. "She's big on the repetition, from what Marika's said. She's head of the kohanga reo now." Amiri snorted. "Big surprise at that. Shouldn't Lani be out of kohanga reo now, though? In primary somewhere? I thought that only lasted 'til they were six." "Lani's eight, Ame." He stared at his notepad, where he'd been scribbling questions and possible answers. "Eight?" "She's tiny, eh? Beautiful little girl." Breathing again, Amiri marked one more note for himself. "So, what now? Where do they go?" He could almost hear that weight-shift Pai used to do when he was uncomfortable, moving from one foot to the other as he tried to think. "I dunno, mate. Call your dad. Marika's already posted what records she could find to you with marks and things like

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that, but you'll have to get the schools to request their records. If you're going to enroll 'em and all that." "I can't--" Pai cut in. "Listen, I gotta go. Heme's getting restless, and I just, um. Take care, eh?" "You too, Pai." The dial tone sounded in his ear. He put the phone down, not sure of what to do. He wasn't going to call his dad, that was certain. But if Airini was medically incapable of caring for the kids, there had to be another reason why Pai and Marika, who were distant cousins at best, would ship them all the way up here to him. Something about what Pai said was ringing alarm bells in his head, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Pediatrics had never been his specialty. He'd never even really gotten along with them, so it was never an issue. And now he had two literally dumped on his doorstep, with anything from potential abuse to ADHD to a number of other disorders causing some of the most enigmatic behavior he'd ever seen. He was still sitting at the table when they came home at lunchtime. Wiremu chatted up a storm to Graeme, while Lani danced in their wake, obviously in her own little world. He watched the little girl's clumsy movements and how she always seemed to trip over her own feet, the way her eyes darted from one thing to another. She carried a grocery bag in her arms as if it was some kind of treasure. Amiri bet it was a bottle of yellow dish soap with a yellow cap. "Hey, baby," Graeme murmured, swooping in for a quick kiss to his cheek. Amiri could feel his ears burning, but didn't care. If the kids had anything to say about it, they'd better get used to it, if they were staying for any length of time. "Hey," Amiri said, reaching up and grabbing Graeme for a quick hug. He needed to feel that warmth just now, those strong arms. "Graeme's gonna make us Thai food tonight," Wiremu announced. "Something with coconut and peanuts in it. 'Cause he's Thai and Aussie. 'Cept he's too big to be Thai, so he's Aussie." Amiri grinned at his nephew, Wiremu's bright smile infectious. "He's a great cook too. That's pretty much the only reason I keep him around." Wiremu took a seat at the kitchen table, holding out a paper sack to Amiri. "We stopped at the bakery and got you a pie. Graeme said you'd want one."

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He took the pie with thanks, nibbling at it. "This came from that little bakehouse on Manukau Road, didn't it?" Wiremu's grin widened. "Graeme said they were best, but I didn't believe him. Even Lani ate something there." "Not rice bubbles," was Lani's pronouncement as she placed the yellow dish soap in the right place on the bench. "But very lovely." "And Lani saw ponies and chooks and all kinds of animals today," Graeme said, prying the little girl off the chair she'd pushed over toward the bench so that she could reach the sink. "We should get you a stool of some kind. Make washing dishes easier for you." "We should probably take you down to the surgery and look you both over too," Amiri said, trying to keep it casual. "Just to make sure you're both right as rain." He needed someone with an objective, non-related eye to look them over, especially Lani. Because he was sure as hell that he couldn't figure out what that missing piece was. Wiremu considered this for all possible motives, then nodded. "Lani ain't been to the doctor in a while. Mum took me three years back when I got sick, but I could see the nurse at school too if I had to." "You think Petra might give them a look-over?" Graeme added, in what Amiri thought of as his "pediatrician" voice. Amiri tried not to look surprised. "Petra in Developmental Pediatrics? If you, erm, think it's necessary." Since it was both unethical and conflict of interest for any doctor to even attempt to diagnose a relative, even if it was one he hadn't seen in, oh, ever. Graeme nodded. "I can talk to her tomorrow when I see her." Wiremu stood up and went to look out in the garden. Amiri wasn't sure what he was searching for, but knew his nephew didn't find it when the boy came back, peering down at him from under that nose-length fringe. "Where's your chooks?" The question was so direct and out of nowhere that Amiri almost choked. "Chooks?" He tried to imagine a rooster waking his pretentious neighbors up in the pre­ dawn hours. Tried to see a hen strutting her stuff down Valley Road, just past the new church they just built. Then thought of the cows that grazed in the cone of the extinct volcano not even a kilometer away.

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Those inscrutable black eyes blinked at him. "You don't got any chooks?" Jaw-dropped, a look of absolute disbelief was all Amiri could get out of Wiremu's tanned face. Then the boy looked thoughtful, which frightened Amiri even worse than he wanted to admit. "I can take care of that." And as his nephew walked away, hands thrust deep into the pockets of his low-slung trou, Amiri just stared. Graeme arched an eyebrow, mouthing, "Chickens?" Nothing had prepared himself for this. Not two years in the medical corps, hauling that damned radio and gun all over Papua New Guinea. Not six years of medical school and two years of interning at Auckland City Hospital. Not sixteen years of growing up on the marae, surrounded by cousins and sibs and chooks galore. The best Amiri could do was shrug. "Too bad they finally took out that bit on the census form. We'd finally be able to fill out that part." Even Graeme cracked a slight smile at that. *** "What do you usually eat?" Amiri asked Wiremu as they pushed the shopping trolley through Foodtown that afternoon. Graeme and Lani trailed behind, deep in a discussion about ponies. And why baby horses were foals and not actually ponies. "Any kai you put in front of me," Wiremu answered, looking at some bananas. "Lani's particular though." "Allergies? Or just picky?" Amiri tossed some carrots and kumara in the trolley. "Is that the purple, the yellow or the white kumara? She'll only eat the white. And then only if you peel it." Wiremu peered at the lumpy brown tubers. "Only white?" Amiri blinked. "Don't they all taste the same?" "Not to Lani." Wiremu carefully put the kumara back, replacing them with a different kind. Apparently there was some difference, though Amiri couldn't tell what it was. "She only eats beige food." "Only. Beige. Food?" Amiri repeated. "So, peeled kumara?"

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"Bananas. Apples. Bread with no crust. Chicken." Wiremu ticked them off on his fingers. "Chips. Biscuits, as long as they're plain." That was a little more complicated than he was ready for. "So she would eat a chicken sandwich on bread, no cheese, no mayonnaise, as long as you cut the crust off," he said carefully, trying to actually visualize this in his head. Wiremu nodded. "Some nuts, if they're shelled. Texture's not really a big deal, but the food has to be beige." Amiri looked at the food piled in the trolley with new eyes. "Milk is white though." "But you put it on rice bubbles, and it turns beige from the cereal," Wiremu pointed out. "And chips turn golden brown, erm, beige, when they're fried." Amiri nodded. "Okay, so beige food…" He started to remove the chocolate buttons, since Graeme had a horrible sweet tooth. Wiremu put his hand over Amiri's. "Just 'cause she don't eat any other food don't mean you can't buy other colored food." So that night, dinner was plain pasta with parsnip. Graeme eyed the selection, including the crustless French bread, but didn't say a word. Amiri knew there was a reason why he loved the man. "There's sauce on the stove, if you'd like," Amiri said in a low tone to Graeme. "I just thought we'd… try this for tonight." "Because it's beige?" Graeme grinned. "That Olivani spread you bought is beige too. If you dim the lights." That was a tactic he hadn't thought of. And from the look of surprise on Wiremu's face, his nephew hadn't thought of that either. Everything did tend to turn the same color in the dark. "Maybe we'll try that tomorrow night," Amiri said under his breath. Candle light was romantic, and the kids might get a kick out of it. *** A week went by: beige meals with optional colored sauces (and surprisingly no protests to eating them by candle light), finding plastic ponies constantly underfoot, and the ongoing threat of Meltdown Lani. Wiremu, having explored the garden thoroughly and almost

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killing himself on the old rusty bathtub, decided he was going to clean the place up. Amiri and Graeme managed to arrange a schedule so that one of them was home with the kids at least part of the day. Even though they could legally leave Wiremu home by himself, since he was over fourteen, Amiri still didn't think it was fair to force his nephew to spend all the time with Lani. Lani and Wiremu's records, what there was of them, arrived in the post. The information was less than helpful, but Amiri still stuck it in the drawer with all the important paperwork. If the kids ended up staying, their new schools could request proper files from their old schools. Or from Wiremu’s at least. Amiri wasn’t sure if Kohanga Reos had much in the way of records that would be useful for an English speaking primary school, since that was where they'd have to put her now, especially at eight. She was too old for kindy. Still no call from Airini. Still no call from his mum or dad. Still no police officers showing up at his doorstep, demanding the children back. He was starting to wonder if anyone cared about the poor kids. Although, after being woken up for the third night in a row by Lani howling about something (this time, because her sheets were now pink after Amiri accidentally threw one of his red socks into the whites), he was starting to realize why. But a relatively quiet week of rice bubbles and yellow cap milk couldn't have prepared Amiri for the two black and yellow hens that strutted across his front porch when he arrived home from work two days later. It had been a long day at the surgery, including two people who had to be taken to hospital, so he stood there for a while. And blink. And the chooks still strutted across his front porch. "Graeme!" he shouted, rubbing at his eyes. One of the chickens looked up at him, giving him a disapproving look. "Why are there chooks on the front porch?" Graeme popped his head out of the front door and grinned. "The ones wearing the old lady hats?" Forced to take a second look, Amiri did examine the chooks in greater detail. They did indeed look as if they were wearing tatty, old, feathered bonnets on their skinny heads. "We have pepperpots for chickens," he moaned. "And they're going to peck at the door all night and crow 'Why I never!'" Graeme stared at Amiri, then at the chickens, and back to Amiri again. "My God. We do have pepperpots for chooks." And then his partner laughed. Wiremu peered out from behind Graeme. "What's so funny?" he asked in that suspicious voice. Then his face brightened. "The chooks! How'd you like 'em?"

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Amiri took a deep breath. "They're…quite nice," he said finally. "Your uncle's named one of them Pepperpot," Graeme added in a strangled voice. "The other one is--" "The other one is Dapple," Lani said, her voice carrying around both Wiremu and Graeme's larger bodies. "'Cause she has spots like a dappled horse." "Dapple and Pepperpot. Erm, yes." Amiri looked up at Graeme. "Can you have chickens in Auckland City?" Graeme's grin widened. "I'm sure we can find out." And when they'd all gathered around Graeme's laptop later, everyone was pleased to find out that chooks were indeed legal (but not, to Wiremu's disappointment, roosters. All they needed was a bloody chook menagerie in the garden), even in the leafy suburbs. "Does this mean we can have a pony in the garden?" Lani asked, innocent-eyed. Wiremu suddenly had that speculative look on his face again. Amiri groaned, thanking every god he could think of that ponies were far beyond even a teenager's pocket money. *** It had been a long day. Long, because he'd been called out of the surgery to meet with Petra Kucinich from up at Starship. She'd come by the house the night before to play with Lani for a while and had gone away looking thoughtful. After the bit of bombshell she dropped, Amiri was glad to be going home, even if what Petra said did make a whole lot of sense now. Especially since he'd taken a small vacation from the surgery for a little while. He needed a couple days to deal with things. Especially the pony that was eating his grass. For the second time in as many days, Amiri blinked. Rubbed his eyes again. Thought about seeing the optometrist down in the village. And then blinked. "There's a pony eating my grass." It was a small pony, at least from the looks of it. And someone had thoughtfully cordoned it off with a bit of wire and rope, so it couldn't wander down the drive. The pony was cute, if you went for that kind of thing: glossy brown hide, black floppy mane and tail that

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reminded him of Wiremu. There was even a suspicious look about the pony's dark, liquidy eyes. "How the bloody hell did he manage to get a pony?" he muttered to himself as he moved toward the animal. The animal continued to chew grass placidly. "I know we can't keep one of you back here. No one's complained about the chooks yet, but you…" Then there was the sound of footsteps coming down the back steps. "You've seen Mr. Pony," came Graeme's voice. "Mr. Pony," Amiri repeated. "So he's not just a result of that one time I took hallucinogens at uni?" Those strong arms wrapped around his waist, and Graeme's chin came to rest on his shoulder. "'Fraid not, baby." There was "baby" again. "Did Wiremu steal the pony?" Not that he wouldn't put it past his little thug of a nephew. One step from being patched, he was. Probably. Maybe. "Your nephew is resourceful," Graeme said after a while. "The pony was a legal trade, even if the trade might not have exactly belonged to Wiremu." Amiri felt a sudden chill in his gut. "Tell me it wasn't the bike." His nephew had been eyeing the bike since he first arrived a week ago. Apparently it wasn't a desire to ride it, though. It was for the potential sales value. And at that moment, Pepperpot decided to crow from the garden. Amiri wondered if it were some sort of omen. "He might have traded the bike." Graeme's arms tightened just as Amiri started to move away. "Hear me out before you tear off after him, Amiri." He took a deep breath, counted to ten, then ten more, repeated a few more times, and sagged back against Graeme's chest. "Tell me. Because I know ponies aren't legal in Mount Eden backyards." "Lani saw the pony at Cornwall Park. She fell in love with the pony. And she didn't ask for the pony, but she asked for it, eh?" Amiri could almost see that longing look in Lani's eyes. God, he was a sucker for little kids with eyes like that. And Graeme was even worse.

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"The pony was for sale, so Wiremu tried to talk the farmer into a deal," Graeme continued in the same calming voice. "He didn't have the money, so he haggled for the bike." "My bike," Amiri muttered. "My bike that I first bought to get me to uni and back, after the Army." "Your bike, that sat rusting and unloved in a shed for over ten years," Graeme reminded him. "Your bike, that you swore you'd fix up, but you never bothered." Graeme's hands turned him around gently, and he found himself staring into his lover's hazel eyes. "Your bike, for something that he could finally give his sister, to make her happy." "Petra thinks she's on the autistic spectrum," Amiri said, rubbing his forehead with one hand. "And Plunket never noticed because my sister's crazy and never bothered to take Lani for her Well Child checks. And if she doesn't trust nurses, she certainly doesn't trust doctors. So Lani's gone undiagnosed all these years." He almost wanted to hit himself for not recognizing autism. Even if it was more Graeme's specialty than his, it wasn't something that they came across that often. Children who were on the spectrum were usually whisked away to specialists on top of specialists before they came to him or Graeme, and with the symptoms being so wide-ranging, it was hard to actually pin it down. "Spectrum" was the key word. Graeme's eyes widened. "I remember something about that reelin gene, and how it might connect bipolar disorder to some of the disorders on the autistic spectrum. Do you think-­ " Amiri shrugged. "Petra thinks so, from what we've described about Lani and what she saw last night. We need to make an appointment to see one of her colleagues so we can get a proper diagnosis, but that's what we're looking at." Graeme broke away from Amiri with a huge sigh. "Ame, what do we do?" At least it was "we" and not "you". That "we" meant more than anything in the world at that moment, even more than the dratted pony who was still eyeing his backside. "We deal with the pony," Amiri said finally. "And after talking to Petra, we head down to the school, to see what they think. I can get Kate at work to write a referral to Starship so we can get that diagnosis." Graeme's only answer was a tight embrace and a bruising kiss pressed to Amiri's mouth.

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"You're fine with this? You're fine with the fact that we suddenly have two kids?" Amiri asked when they finally broke apart. "Because I have a feeling that this isn't temporary. Not a week-long hols with uncle kind of thing." Graeme touched Amiri's cheek with the back of his hand. "If we're all they've got, we might as well be the best family they could have." *** "Kate?" Amiri knocked on the office door. Kate Tam was the head of the local practice. She'd spent the past thirty years building up what her father had started back in the 1940s. "Amiri! How can I help you? I didn't expect to see you back so soon, especially not within the hour." The older Pakeha woman had to be approaching sixty now, her blond hair faded almost completely to gray. She was the first one Amiri had asked about any available locum positions, once he figured that he and Graeme would be around for a while. "You're not giving me your notice, are you?" Amiri shook his head. "Nothing long-term like that," he said, feeling a little nervous. "Though I might need a couple of days." Kate looked at him over the tops of her bifocals. "A couple days?" She waved toward the chair in front of her desk. "Does this have to do with the phone calls you got today?" He grimaced. Wiremu had only called three times, and Lani herself twice, once in the middle of a consultation with a patient. "I don't know if you heard, but I've recently taken custody of my niece and nephew." "Really?" Kate sat back in her chair. "I'm guessing this hasn't been an easy transition?" He laughed, couldn't help it, really. "Not if you count the two chooks that now live in my garden." Or the pony. And when he finally found Wiremu, the boy was going to get a piece of his mind about the pony. Kate gave him a polite, if bewildered look. "It's not important. It's just, some adjustment issues have come up with my niece, and we need to take a few days to deal with some things." Like thrashing a nephew, if said nephew ever came home. Except Amiri would swear that was against the law now. "Take a week, if it's what you need. I think we can cover for you." Kate smiled slightly. "I know Anika appreciated the days you took when her son had the flu."

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"Single parents." Amiri's smile was brief. "If you need me, if there's an emergency, or if you need someone to answer the Hell phone…" Kate laughed. "I think we can cover our on-call hours. Don't worry about it." Then her face grew serious again. "Just promise me you won't leave us any time soon!" He sighed. "With these kids, I have a feeling we'll be around for a while…" *** Wiremu was unrepentant. Amiri had to give the boy props for that. He had integrity and he would stand up for what he believed in, even if he had used less-than-legal means to achieve his ends. "She needs the pony," Wiremu repeated. "And it's not like you were doin' nothin' with the bike." Amiri inhaled then exhaled. "But it was my bike. Mine." "Sitting in the shed, broken. Not being used." Wiremu folded his arms over his chest. "If you wanted to use it, why didn't you fix it? Graeme said you used to fix things all the time around here. Why's your house look like crap?" "We're working on it," Amiri muttered between clenched teeth. "At least, we were working on it before two kids got dropped in my lap and one of them brought home a pony." "So you don't want us? That it?" Wiremu pushed his chair back. "We can leave. There's plenty of places we can go." "Yeah? Where?" He couldn't help it. He was eighteen all over again, and his dad was sending him south to Auckland. Sending him away. Again. Wiremu looked lost. "I dunno. Somewhere." "Well, don’t forget to take the damned pony, since he's yours now." He stalked toward the door, opening it. "And the chooks. You can take them, too. Might find a nice fire to roast them over. I hear Cornwall Park's got some nice new gas barbecues." The boy's jaw dropped. He stared at Amiri, nothing but naked hatred in those black eyes.

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"Go home, tama," Amiri said, suddenly tired of all this. "Go back to your mum, go to your dad, whatever. Just… go home." And that strong, snarky mouth trembled. The whole body, too-long limbs and all, seemed to tremble. "Can't," the boy said quietly. "Mum's not right and her latest don't want either of us." Amiri took a step toward the boy, putting one hand on his shoulder. "What about your dad?" Wiremu looked up at Amiri, the pain in his dark eyes tearing at Amiri's heart. "Dad won't take Lani. Not that she's his anyway. Says she's mental. But she's not." That fierce look came back to the boy's face. "She's not. She's smart as anything. 'Specially 'bout horses." Amiri looked at the pictures of horses that now dotted the fridge door. He knew there was a second parade of them galloping across the walls of the guest room, and lined up in neat lines, categorized by color and size, were rows of plastic ponies on the floor. And he breathed, because he couldn't think of anything else to do. Breathed deep, trying to bring that oxygen-rich air to his brain, where it was so desperately needed. "Can we talk? As adults? About Lani?" The boy seemed to shrink into himself. "Yeah." They sat at the table again. This time, Amiri went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of the bottles of beer Graeme kept back there. If he was going to treat Wiremu as an adult, he might as well let the kid drink as an adult, at least during this conversation. "Here," he said, sliding a bottle of Lion Red toward Wiremu. "It's brewed in Newmarket. I'd take you on the tour, but you have to be eighteen." Wiremu nodded his thanks. "What about Lani? I know she's too old not to be in primary, but she just never seemed ready. And she was happy with Marika." Amiri sighed. "It's not her school, Wiremu. It's--" He didn't know how to say it nicely, so he just put it as plainly as he could. "She's autistic. You know what autism is?" To his surprise, Wiremu nodded. "That's what one of Mum's boyfriends said. Way back when Lani was just a little kid. He bought her those plastic ponies, but she never played with 'em. She just organized 'em and lined 'em up against the walls. And she didn't talk much. And her fits." He echoed Amiri's sigh. "What'd Airini do?" Amiri asked, curious.

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"Threw the tosser out. Took up with that crazy shit Brian who swore he could fix Lani and Mum both if Mum stopped taking her meds." Wiremu shook his head. "'S when I started skipping school sometimes, to watch Lani. Keep her away from him. The guy was a nutter." A knot tightened in Amiri's gut. "He didn't… try anything, did he?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. A look of disgust crossed Wiremu's face. "Like sex stuff? God, no. If he did, I would've killed him." Amiri didn't bother to hide his sigh of relief. "Uncle, the bloke was creepy, but not creepy like that," Wiremu said, leaning toward Amiri earnestly. "Mum might be off her rocker, but she knows better than that." "So what happened to Brian?" Amiri took a sip of his beer, wondering if they were getting off-track somewhere. Weren't they talking about the pony? "Brian ran off. Well, Mr. Heme ran Brian off after I told Aunt Marika, who told Uncle Pai about him." Wiremu grinned. "Mr. Heme's awesome! He's huge, and he has these claws. He almost looks like some kinda beast man or something." Amiri chuckled. "Pai sent his monster boyfriend after Brian? Wonder how many people say he looks like the taniwha my gran used to torture me with." "Yup-yup. Brian meets the Taniwha. Wonder if Peter Jackson would make that movie." The boy looked thoughtful. "So Mum hooked up with this new bloke, a machinist who don't like kids, and it was, um, suggested that we leave." Breathing again. Amiri reminded himself to breath. "Does Nandy know you're here?" Wiremu gave him a long look before nodding slowly. "Nandy knows. Nanny doesn't, though." "Tell me I won't have to deal with my mother at some point." Amiri closed his eyes, rubbing at the sudden pain in his forehead. His dad was rational, at least. His mother was probably the reason why he was neurotic, and Airini was so paranoid about doctors that her bipolar disorder went untreated. His nephew didn't have an answer to that.

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"Okay. Let's make a deal then." He looked at his beer, now half-empty, and resisted the urge to drain the rest in one swallow. "You find a place for that pony. We can't keep it in the backyard. Maybe try the farmer that pastures his cows up on Mount Eden." Wiremu nodded. "I can go tomorrow." "Second," Amiri ticked off on his fingers. "We contact Auckland Grammar about putting you in school. You're what, year ten? Eleven?" "Year ten." His nephew shifted uncomfortably. "Isn't that the fancy school up on the hill?" "It's not just stuck-up Pakeha, I promise," Amiri said, smiling slightly. He wouldn't mention the great view the school had of Mount Eden Prison, and how many boys he'd known who kept to the straight and narrow thanks to that everyday reminder. Last thing he wanted was for his own nephew to become one more Maori statistic. "I suffered there for three years, so it can't be all bad. Got me into medical school too." He looked out the window, eyeing what he could see of the neighbors' swanky rooflines. "I know the neighborhood looks like it, but…" Wiremu shrugged. "Lotsa good Chinese takeaways. And Graeme cooks some bad-ass Thai food." Then that suspicious look came back. "What about Lani?" "There's places we can talk to, like Autism New Zealand. Classes we can go to." The developmental specialist at Starship had shoved a handful of pamphlets into his hand before she left. "I can talk to Mount Eden Normal School and see what kind of options she'll have." "She can't go there. It's 'Normal' school," Wiremu protested. "They won't let her in." "It's just called 'Normal' because it was used as a teacher's training school," Amiri said, trying not to laugh. "I had to ask, because I thought that was kind of strange the first time I saw it." Wiremu was at least placated by that. "So, we'll stay here for a while?" "While Graeme and I fix up the Old Lady. We were going to sell her and head back to Sydney." Theoretically, they still had jobs waiting. But that had been six months ago now, so Amiri wasn't pressing his luck too much. When Wiremu's face began to fall, Amiri added hastily, "Not that that's set in stone or anything."

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Someone coughed behind them. "Can we come in?" Graeme stood in the doorway to the kitchen, Lani clinging to his hand. Her face was wet with tears, as if she knew exactly what they were discussing. Lani immediately ran for Wiremu, climbing into his lap. "Mr. Pony?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Mr. Pony might have to go live up on the hill," Wiremu said, stroking her hair. "Ponies can't live in gardens like Uncle's. Mr. Pony might step on another rusty bathtub." Lani giggled at that. Amiri felt his heart melt a little, and knew he shouldn't let it. "Up on the hill with the cows? Mr. Pony might like cows," she said. "Only the Appaloosa cows though, not the brown ones. Brown cows are mean." "So we're settled?" Graeme asked Amiri quietly. "Settled enough," Amiri answered with his now-perpetual sigh. "For now." *** When Graeme came to bed that night, Amiri was already settled in the middle of their bed, surrounded by pamphlets. "Autism?" he asked, looking over Amiri's shoulder. Amiri turned his head, kissing Graeme quickly. "That's what Petra thinks. Asperger's Syndrome in particular, more high-functioning than most of the disorders. But apparently it's not the end of the world. See?" He pointed at the pamphlet he was looking at. "There's an organization that has all kinds of classes for whanau about dealing with ASD. School options, before you enroll you kid in school, parent education. There's even a mailing list, if we need it." Graeme sighed, something Amiri'd been doing a lot lately. "Autism Spectrum Disorder. One of the most mystifying spectrum of neurological and mental disorders on the planet. Because we don’t understand how the brain works when it's functioning 'right', much less when it's functioning 'differently.'" He handed Graeme one particular pamphlet. "There's even a play group kind of thing, if parents of a child with ASD need some time to themselves." Graeme rifled through some of the papers. "Implementing Functional Assessment Comprehension skills seminar, Introduction to Advanced Strategies for ASD. These are some heavy topics, Ame." He rubbed at his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this? Are

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you sure you want to put all this effort in, just to have them taken away? You still haven't heard from your family, and I know that Maori adoption rules are different than ones done through the legal system, but--" Amiri stared at his lover, this man who had devoted so much of his own life to helping children far worse off than Lani. Who had studied for years just so he could make life better for one child at a time, even if it meant he was sick more often than not with a cold or something. Or that time he came home with conjunctivitis. "I thought you didn't want any connection to your family," Graeme continued in a quiet voice. "Three weeks ago, you were begging me to head back to Sydney as fast as possible. What changed?" But he couldn't answer that. He couldn't give a reason that felt right enough. Maybe it was to spite his mum. Maybe it was to make it up to Dad for all the times he'd failed. Or maybe it was because no kid deserved to have his family shit on him. "They need us," Amiri answered finally. "They need us. Not just me. Especially since Wiremu already likes you better." Those arms snaked around him, dragging him close. "If I could tell you how much I love you right now," Graeme muttered into his neck. "So much more than that whiny bastard you can be." "Calling me a melodramatic queen?" Amiri asked, turning around to kiss Graeme. Graeme nipped at his mouth in response, then down his neck to his shoulder. "Vamp." Amiri shuffled forward on the bed until he straddled Graeme's lap. "Mm, keep going though." "Only if you ask nicely." Graeme pushed Amiri back far enough so that he could unbutton Amiri's work shirt. "And only if you've been a good boy." Once unbuttoned, he yanked at the back of Amiri's shirt, pulling it so that he caught Amiri's wrists together. And then he leered. "Because if you've been a naughty boy…" Amiri groaned. His cock almost ached at the thought. "Graeme," he whined, struggling to free his captured wrists. Graeme only grinned, pushing Amiri back until his wrists were firmly pinned under their combined body weight. "I'll take that as a 'naughty,'" he said, trailing kisses down Amiri's chest to the black hair around his navel. He nipped around Amiri's belly button before tickling just below Amiri's beltline with his tongue.

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Amiri had to resist the urge to thrust his pelvis in Graeme's face. That wouldn't get him anything. Or if it got him anything, the only result would be a set of aching blue balls. "Please?" he asked, trying not to whimper. Graeme teased one finger down Amiri's zip, just barely touching Amiri's now straining erection. "Someone wants something," he said in a sing-song voice. "And he's gonna have to tell me." "Fuck!" Amiri squeezed out, trying to rub against Graeme's finger. "Me! Please!" Those evil fingers slowly unfastened his zip, then worked their way into the button front on his boxer shorts. Amiri squirmed until those fingers finally wrapped around his cock, tugging on it and squeezing it just so. Oh. Graeme pulled back, quickly unfastened his trousers and dropped them and his y-fronts in one jerky motion. Trous still around his ankles, Amiri's partner pounced back on him. "Stomach or back?" Graeme asked, his breath coming in gasps. "Just--now!" Amiri said, wriggling out of his own trousers and underwear. "Don't care-­ " Knees over shoulders, a quick fumble for the lube that was never far from the bed (in Graeme's pillowcase), and then it was connection. Hard. Fast. Rubbing against that ache that Amiri always had, filling that missing bit that never seemed to be filled. Their rhythm started out ragged, but gradually smoothed until Amiri felt his balls tighten and his cock twitch and then release. "Baby," Graeme crooned as he pumped once, twice, then slumped against Amiri's chest. "Damn, Ame…" Amiri stroked Graeme's thick, brown hair back from his eyes, not surprised to see gray streaking through at the temples. Neither of them mentioned the fine lines they were getting about the mouth and eyes, or about the thickened bits Graeme seemed to be getting about his middle. Not when they had moments like this. Times when they were just spent. "Does this mean no more wild sex over the kitchen table?" Graeme asked in a half-awake voice. "Because that one time, when Moana was at that church festival down the street..." Amiri's cock twitched at the memory. He'd save that for round two, unless round two meant tomorrow. "Are kids supposed to make your sex life decrease?" He'd read something about that, but right now, he didn't care. "Think we woke them up?"

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"We could always clear out the room downstairs, the one at the back of the house." Graeme slipped out, kicked off his trousers and flopped onto the bed next to Amiri, still wearing his work shirt. Amiri shrugged out of his own shirt, rolling his shoulders and neck to get some of the feeling back into his arms. "Put Wiremu in here, let Lani keep the other bedroom." Graeme's arms surrounded him again, bringing him close. "Are we staying?" Graeme asked quietly. "Because, if we stay, you'll have to face them." That destroyed pretty much every thought of round two. "I guess I'll have to," he said, burying his face in Graeme's shoulder. "Don't want to." One strong hand massaged his back gently, easing out some of the tension. "At least you're not alone this time, baby," Graeme whispered. "There's two of us now." *** "There's a 'Tips for Autism' course that the Ministry of Education offers," Amiri heard Graeme call out from the kitchen. "Once we get Lani settled at school, we schedule a meeting with the teachers and any 'members of the whanau.'" "That means me too, right?" Wiremu asked, fidgeting with his tie. "Why do I hafta wear a tie? I look like a fuckwit." And before his sister could say anything, he fumbled in his trousers for a gold coin and dropped it onto the picture she was drawing. "Because your uncle wants you to make a good impression at his old stomping grounds," came Graeme's answer. "Don't want you to look like the piker he was in school." He popped his head in from the kitchen, grinning. Amiri rolled his eyes, straightening his own tie one last time. "Because your uncle hasn't been the best member of the Auckland Grammar Old Boys' Association, and hasn't donated money to any of the events they've pestered him about, and we're hoping the school forgets that," he said, making a face at Graeme. "You're not a hoon, I'm not a hoon, and no one should be able to call us that." "Can I get a flash car and be a boy racer instead?" Wiremu quipped, pushing back that long fringe of his. As many times as Amiri threatened, none of them had taken him down to the local Shearing Shed to get it cut. "Only if you trade Mr. Pony for it." Mr. Pony was happily ensconced up the hill in one of the cow paddocks. They took a pilgrimage up the hill twice daily to make sure he was

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doing all right, and Lani swore she'd spend all her time there once it was summer hols. Amiri just hoped she didn't come home smelling of cow shite every day. That was one of the reasons he'd gladly left the family farm behind. "No!" It didn't take more than a second for Lani to grab her brother by the tie and try to shake him. "Mr. Pony is mine." Which begged the question of who the bike Mr. Pony had been traded for really belonged to in the first place… "C'mon, Wiremu. We can't be late." He nodded toward the clock. "We've only got twenty minutes to get there." "And it's a five minute drive. Maybe ten minutes, if you walk," he heard Graeme mutter to Wiremu as his partner punched the boy in the arm. "Don't let him get too neurotic on you." Wiremu smirked. "It's in the genes, eh?" The boy swung Lani up into a hug, just as Graeme reached in and grabbed Amiri for a quick kiss. "If boys can kiss boys, can girls kiss girls?" was the last thing Amiri heard as they left the house. "No, oh no," he muttered, noticing Pepperpot and Dapples standing on the door mat, wiping their feet as if they were going to waltz in the Old Lady through the open door. "Not today." Pepperpot bawked at him, tossing her feathered-head and stalking off toward the garden. "You really don't get along with anybody, do you?" Wiremu asked with a grin. "Chooks, ponies, your old headmaster…" It was hard, but Amiri managed to resist the urge to swat the boy. Graeme was right; it wasn't that far of a drive, and maybe they did arrive too early. Wiremu didn't say anything in the car, though he did fidget with his tie. Amiri had to resist the urge to smack his nephew's fingers every time the boy tried to adjust the knot. To make matters worse, they found a parking spot right in front on Mountain Road, and then arrived only seven minutes after they'd left the house. It wasn't his fault if he was at least ten minutes early to everything, including the bus stop, movies and any appointments. Wiremu just gave him a dirty look when the headmaster's secretary scowled at their early arrival and pointed them toward a couple chairs to "wait until the headmaster's ready."

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"Kia ora, Doctor Campbell," a familiar voice boomed ten minutes later. "I understand you have a new student for us?" "Kia ora, Headmaster Morris," Amiri said, standing quickly. He held his hand out to shake the older man's hand, but was surprised when the headmaster actually drew him close to hongi. "It's a pleasure to see you again," Headmaster Morris said, his brown eyes smiling. He seemed just as round and bearded as Amiri remembered him, if a little older and grayer now. "Father Christmas," he thought he heard his nephew mutter. Amiri elbowed Wiremu in the ribs. "Headmaster, this is my nephew, Wiremu Campbell. Wiremu, this is Headmaster Morris." "Tena koe," Wiremu said, sounding nervous. He held out his hand just as Amiri did, but didn't freeze up when the headmaster pressed him, nose to nose, in hongi as well. "Welcome to Auckland Grammar, Wiremu," the headmaster said in a kindly voice. "Let's give you a tour while your uncle tells me what he's been doing with his life." An hour later, Amiri found himself walking back toward the car with Wiremu. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Wiremu wormed his fingers into the knot of his tie, loosening it. "Can I take this stupid thing off now?" he asked, trying to yank it off over his head. "Can you at least wait 'til we're in the car? What if he's watching from his office window?" Amiri peered toward the administration building, trying to see if he could even see the headmaster's office from the street. "Maybe you shouldn't worry so much," Wiremu muttered. "Headmaster thinks you've hung the moon for all the success you've had. Even if you haven't paid your Old Boys' Association membership since before I was born." Amiri muttered a few things about the headmaster under his breath as he unlocked the car door. "Can you drive?"

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"Fixed up your motorbike and drove it when I traded it for Mr. Pony," Wiremu answered, flinging his tie in the back seat of the car. "Drove Mum to the grocery store a few times, when she thought that the neighbors were out to get her." Every now and then, Wiremu would drop some kind of nonchalant hint like that. Amiri wondered how he was supposed to respond, or if it was some kind of test. So far, ignoring them had worked pretty well. "So that's one thing we don't have to worry about." Amiri looked at the steering wheel, then at his nephew. "We might have to get a second car." Before his nephew got too excited, he added, "You're still walking to school. If I can walk to the surgery, you can walk up the hill." Or maybe they'd wait on that second car. They had to at least get through the summer first, without any meltdowns, tears, or calls from the police. Amiri could only hope his family would stay as far away as possible. "You didn't grow up in a place like this, eh?" Wiremu asked suddenly, waving his hand at the large houses they drove past. Amiri thought back to the ramshackle collection of houses and outbuildings that made up his family's farm, the hectares of sheep grazing over sun-browned grasses, and the hopes that they'd actually make ends meet without having to kill off any of the flock. The flooding that sometimes washed the unsealed road out that led up to the farm. And that really bad year that finally broke Mum's back when it came to living in the Penniless North. "Dad's family's owned their land for a long time, and no one really moved off it," Amiri said as they headed down Clive Road past the old volcano itself. "Not even the Pakeha wanted it, because it was in such a bad location." With all the hills, it wasn't exactly the best for farming, and even the grazing was pretty scant, especially for cows. "Some of Dad's brothers sold hunting rights to the bush that grew on our land, and a couple years they even released some deer in there, but the money never really poured in." "Then why'd you end up in the wops of the West Coast? At least Northland's got sunshine for most of the year," Wiremu grumbled. "And actual tourists instead of the mine." Amiri shrugged. "Probably because Mum and Dad got divorced, and in those days, the mum kept the kids. Didn't matter what the dad thought. So Mum hauled me and 'Rini down to Westport, and that was that."

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"And Nanny shipped you back home when she caught Uncle Pai's dick down your throat," Wiremu said, snickering. "It was Ephram Colbert. Uncle Pai's dick was--" Amiri caught himself just in time. "You know how all that works too, then?" Wiremu had the decency to snort. "I'm fifteen, Uncle. I'm not a baby like Lani. Though she could probably tell you where babies come from, since Mum wasn't exactly the most discreet person when she had blokes over." If Amiri hadn't been driving, he would've buried his face in his hands. "I didn’t hear that." "Like me and Lani didn't hear you and Graeme last night," Wiremu muttered back. "When're you moving downstairs?" Amiri stopped the car, pulling it over to the side of the road. He turned to look at his nephew, not sure if he could handle this conversation and trying to drive at the same time. "You're still okay with all this? With me and Graeme?" Wiremu gave him a long look. "Not much I could do if I wasn't," the boy said frankly. "If it came down to him or us, I know we'd be out in a mo. That's how it was with Mum." Amiri leaned his head against the headrest. "We won't toss you out. We won't--" He turned toward Wiremu again. "Graeme and I will not let you leave our authority and our house unless it's willingly. I can't guarantee someone won't try and take you from there, but we will not toss you out." It was a long time before Wiremu nodded. "I believe you. And I know we'll be up shit creek in leaky gumboots as soon as Nanny finds out." He held out a dollar coin to Amiri before Amiri could even ask for it. Amiri didn’t even feel like asking where it came from. He wanted to live to see forty without a coronary. "Mum never really said much about you, and she definitely never mentioned Graeme, but the family kinda put the feeling across that they didn't like you too much." "But you're okay with Graeme there? And with me not being… normal?" Amiri couldn't help asking. The doctors at the surgery seemed fine with it, and no one had really bothered Graeme about it. But the gender-neutral "partner" could be read so many ways in Kiwi society. "Don't ask, don't tell" was almost automatically built in to the language. "So what if you're gay and screwing a bloke. You gotta be enjoying it, from the way it makes you moan an' all that." This time, Wiremu actually blushed. "Look, it's cool, and it's the twenty-first century anyway. So you can't marry. I know you probably would marry him if you could. What about that whole civil union thing? It's not like you want to

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procreate or whatever. You got kids now with me an' Lani, and you're providing for us a hell of a lot better'n Mum was." Which was actually quite a speech, for Wiremu. Amiri just sat back, trying to let that all sink in. "No worries?" Wiremu smiled. "Good as gold." *** Amiri called the primary school down the road, and they agreed to a meeting with him, Graeme, Wiremu and Lani. "It's a family circus," Amiri muttered as he tried to herd everyone into the car. "In the back, Wiremu. Grownups get the front seat." "At least, until you grow taller than your Uncle. Then we'll stick him in back with Lani," Graeme said with a good-natured grin as he fastened Lani into her booster seat. Watching his nephew carefully, Amiri didn't notice any obvious signs of rebellion. The boy had refused to wear a tie ("I wore one two days ago. Are you trying to kill me?"), and that defensive look was back, but he thought that was more out of nervousness for Lani than everything else. "You understand where we're going, Lani?" he asked the little girl as they all settled in the car. "To see the lady at school," she said. Amiri wondered how long it would be before she tacked 'Duh, Uncle,' on to the end of her sentences. Or if she ever would. "This isn't kohanga reo. This is an English-speaking school." They'd been over this a few times now, but he still wanted to make sure she understood. They'd tried their best to establish some sort of a routine, since that seemed to be what made Lani most comfortable, but it hadn't been easy. Of course, bribes to see Mr. Pony also helped. "Kohanga reo is for babies." There was that disdainful look he was waiting for. "Wiremu said big kids speak English at school." Lani had also gotten some idea about what "big kids" and "babies" did. Maybe it was watching Wiremu do all kinds of fun things like chores. Or maybe the promise of ponies really did work on little girls, autistic or not. After meeting with another specialist, to the point where Lani was almost on a first-name basis with some of the doctors at Starship, they'd agreed on a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. "Having a dash of autism," Petra had called it. Lani's language and cognitive development was high enough that she understood the literal world around her, she just had some issues with the more figurative one.

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They'd tried to get Lani to wear the nice, yellow dress that Graeme had picked out, but that had resulted in a disaster. It was back to the same inside-out T-shirts and leggings. Apparently his niece had occasional sensory sensitivity as well, especially when it came to fabrics. That would make it fun when it came time to try on school uniforms. He could only imagine the morning howls, if this morning was any example. "And when we get home, we'll finish your new room, eh?" Amiri tried, just to see what it would get him. The crossed arms, puckered lip and narrowed eyes were answer enough. Lani was determined to share Wiremu's room, whether he liked it or not, even though Amiri could tell his nephew was getting tired of the idea. That was one fight his niece wouldn't win, no matter what. Even if it meant investing in those expensive bubble tubes and all that sensory equipment that seemed to be so successful with other autistic children. Graeme elbowed him. "Pushing her buttons, or just experimenting?" So there was this perverse little voice inside that made him want to see exactly what would make Lani explode. Amiri convinced himself it was in the name of science. Graeme and Wiremu both just thought he was being mean. "This is why I'm not a father," he pointed out, time and time again. "This is why Graeme is far better at this than I am. He likes kids. I tolerate them." And then he'd shoot a look in Wiremu's smirking direction. "As long as they don't trade anything else for another bloody pony." They took the long way to the school. Amiri knew they should've walked, especially since Lani would be walking to school, if all went well. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it this morning. Maybe he was stalling. Maybe it was because driving seemed to soothe the savage beast in Lani's breast. Or maybe he just wanted the sanctuary the car offered in case she did have a meltdown. He parked the car right in front of the school. It was lunchtime, so most of the kids were out on the playground, running around in their usual, random fashion. Lani watched the children for a minute or two and then turned away in disinterest. Until she noticed a couple of the little girls playing with those plastic ponies she adored so much. "Uncle!" she said, tugging at his hand. "Uncle, look! They have ponies here too!" She pulled at his hand until they wandered closer, flapping her free hand in excitement. There was that "flapping" Pai mentioned. "Rarity, Cute Curtsey, Cherry Blossom, Pinkie Pie." Lani's dark eyes turned up to look at Amiri. "Pinkie Pie dances." "I'm sure she does," Amiri said, feigning interest in the pastel ponies. They all looked the same and nothing like the plastic horses he vaguely remembered from his own childhood.

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Airini's had always seemed more realistic, the three or four she had. There'd even been something beautiful about them: clean lines, high-stepping, proud. Nothing like the occasional ratty pony they'd kept on the farm who liked to buck and nip and escape from the paddock. "I think we go this way," Graeme said, consulting the school map he'd printed off the internet. "We want the administration building." "Look, Lani, they have a marae!" Wiremu pointed to the mural painted on the wall of one building, complete with an ornately-carved marae gateway. But Lani wouldn't look. Her eyes were still fixated on those plastic ponies as they walked away. Amiri had to all but drag her into the administration building. "Remember Mr. Pony," Amiri said to her. "We'll see him after this." She nodded, then pressed closer to his side. She looked a little relieved after the organized chaos of the schoolyard. But at least seeing someone else play with ponies calmed her down a little bit. They were met at the front desk by a young, Asian girl. She had a bright smile that reminded Amiri of Wiremu. "I'm Bonnie Ching. Are you the Campbells?" Her eyes seemed a little confused when she caught side of Graeme towering over them all, but she didn't say anything about it. Amiri moved forward, dragging Lani with him. "I'm Amiri, and this is Wiremu and Lani. And Graeme Chao, my partner." Bonnie looked surprised, but she didn't say anything. And, to her credit, her smile remained just as bright and genuine. "Welcome, Doctor Campbell. And is it Doctor Chao?" Graeme nodded. "But Graeme is just fine. Graeme and Amiri." "If you'll come this way." She pointed down a side hallway, then knelt to be on eyelevel with Lani. "There's a few people who want to meet you, Lani. Is that okay?" Lani looked at Wiremu, who nodded. "Okay." It was less painful than he would've thought. Wiremu gave Lani's education history when asked by the resource teacher. The principal was happy to provide the school’s special education policy and latest Education Review Office report when Graeme asked, and seemed genuinely surprised that they asked for it. There were a few questions about Lani's

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medical history as well as the family's history. After that, Bonnie took Lani away for some "playtime", as the young woman called it. Lani happily followed, especially after Bonnie mentioned a new book on horses that she'd like to share with the little girl. When Lani was gone, both the principal and resource teacher turned their attention to Amiri. He swallowed, feeling like he was back at his first day at Auckland Grammar. "So…" "She's a bright girl. I hadn't realized that the Palomino horse was a color breed, and not an actual breed," Principal Hobson said with a wry grin. "She's real good with track statistics too. Can rattle off rating bands for horses and jockeys," Wiremu added. Amiri didn't kick his nephew, but apparently the boy realized that wasn't quite the appropriate information to tell Lani's potential principal. "Not that we condone underage gambling. Sir." The principal laughed. "Don't worry about it, Wiremu. I've taken my boys down to Auckland Cup Week ever since they were about Lani's age." He smoothed his blond, bushy mustache and then grew serious again. "About Lani." "She's a bright girl," Amiri repeated. "And we all accept the ASD diagnosis." "And you realize, from her educational history, she's not ready for a Year Three classroom, which is where she should be right now," Mrs. Cheshire the resource teacher said. To her credit, her voice and demeanor were gentle. "I don't think we'll be mainstreaming her anytime soon. Not with so many years at kohanga reo--not that there's anything wrong with te reo schools," she amended, when she saw the look on Wiremu's face. "But can you accommodate her here?" Graeme asked, one hand resting on Wiremu's bouncing knee. "If you don't mind leaving her in my company, at least for the first year, to see how she does." Mrs. Cheshire smiled. "There are fifteen students in the class I'd like to place Lani in. She'll also have access to the Optimal Learning Centre if she needs additional help." "What about her background in Te Reo? I've, erm," Amiri blushed. "I've fallen out of habit of speaking it. Will she have access to it here at school? Should we speak it at home?" Mrs. Cheshire looked thoughtful. "There is a Maori resource teacher here, and we have ties to the University of Auckland and AUT if we have any additional needs. The school is

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mostly Pakeha, but we do include Maori history and protocols in a lot of our lessons, even at the special education level." Amiri glanced at Wiremu, who nodded in agreement. "Will she have a teacher aide, 'specially at lunchtime?" the boy asked. "The Ministry's Special Education group said she might be eligible." The resource teacher nodded. "We can look into that." "And would you or a member of your team be willing to attend one of Autism New Zealand's training programs?" Amiri asked. "We've been looking into a couple that might be beneficial for Lani and whoever her teacher will be." "Can you do those social stories things like Acorn House does?" Wiremu cut in. "With the photographs? What?" The boy looked defensive at the surprised look Amiri shot him. "I can do research too. Might help Lani move into her own room finally, since they're s'posed to help with new routines." "And do you have any other autistic students right now?" Graeme added. Mrs. Cheshire looked at each one of them and then laughed. But it sounded like a good sign. "I don't always have a family that's so interested," she said, sounding relieved. "All of those are options that I'd be happy to look into." She sobered. "This isn't something that we can take lightly. And it will be far from easy." Amiri looked at Graeme, who nodded. "We're in for the long haul, Mrs. Cheshire. Just let us know what we need to do, if it's daily notebooks or some special routine. We want Lani to be as happy and content as possible." *** "We'll still have to formalize the guardianship issue," Amiri said as they pulled into the drive. "I'll probably have to get Marika to have your mum sign something saying it's okay for you to stay with us for a while." Wiremu considered this. "Neither school said anything." He made a face. "Probably expect Maori kids to just bounce from house to house." "We had cousins come stay with us for a while when we were growing up," Amiri said as he opened the car door. "Sometimes we're hard to track, especially when the kids use the last name of whatever family they’re staying with. But all Kiwis have this tendency to go walkabout anyway."

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Graeme grinned as he unfastened Lani's belt and helped her out of her booster seat. "Some go walkabout for ten years before they come home." "Isn't it the law that you have to work in Aussie for a while?" Wiremu asked as they made their way to the back door. "Even Dad worked there for a little while when he couldn't find work here." "What does he do?" Amiri asked, suddenly interested. Wiremu never spoke much about the man. "He's an electrician, but--" Wiremu stopped in mid-sentence. He immediately hunched over into that old defensive stance. And that damned crowing from Pepperpot. Maybe it was time to strangle the bird. Except Amiri had a feeling he knew what the cause for this ruckus was. "Mum." Maybe it was time to give the blasted chooks a raise in their grain ration. "Amiri." He hadn't seen his mother in fifteen years or more, and she still made him feel like he was Wiremu's age. "Good to see you." He walked toward her, leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Good to see you too." And she did look good; older, perhaps, more gray in her dark hair, but she still looked her same indomitable self. Her brown eyes snapped at him. "No hongi?" He could hear the implications of betrayal, not just of his family, but his heritage. Amiri sighed, then pressed his nose to hers in hongi. "Come inside for some tea?" he asked, moving to unlock the door. "I would've let myself in, except someone locked their door." She sniffed, shooting a sidelong glance at Graeme. "You know those city hoons," Amiri said, opening the door and ushering her in. "Always causing some kind of trouble." "And don’t I get a welcome from my mokopuna?" his mum asked, holding out her arms to Lani and Wiremu. Wiremu hesitated, looking to Amiri first. All he could do was shrug and nod. Lani just stood there until Amiri's mother took the initiative and pulled her into a hug.

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"Hi, Nanny," Lani said carefully, standing like a limp noodle and submitting to a hug from her grandmother. "We enrolled me in school today." "Did you now, tamahine?" his mum asked, shooting another accusing look Amiri's way. "Aren't you going back to Auntie Marika's school?" Lani shook her head. "Kohanga reo's for babies," she said with a scowl. "I'm not a baby anymore." Amiri just closed his eyes. Hopefully his mother would have the tact to wait until the kids were upstairs before she berated him. "And you, Wiremu?" His mum seemed a little less comfortable with her grandson. Amiri couldn't help wondering if it was because she had a little less control over the boy. Not that he could imagine anyone having complete control over Wiremu. "Just fine, thank you, Nanny," his nephew hedged, dutifully kissing her cheek as Amiri had done. "Hey, Lani, why don't we put play clothes on? And go see Mr. Pony?" Never mind the fact that play clothes were the same inside-out T-shirt and leggings for Lani. But Amiri was glad his nephew found an excuse for them to disappear. Lani's eyes brightened, her small hands flapping and fluttering like fantails. "And we can tell Mr. Pony about school, and the books in the library that you can't draw on. But you can draw on the paper on the easels, Teacher said it was okay." Amiri could hear her prattle on as the two made their way down the hall to the front door. His mum's eyes followed the two, and her lips were pursed together, but she didn't say anything. From behind him, Graeme coughed. "Oh. Mum, this is Graeme Chao, my partner. Graeme, my mother, Kiri Campbell." "Taueki," his mum corrected. "It's Taueki." Graeme held out his hand, which his mum took, with a sniff. "Haere mai, Kiri," he said, leaning forward to hongi. His mum backed away, giving Graeme's hand a little shake. "A pleasure, Mr. Chao." "It's Doctor, actually," Graeme said, his smile now slightly cold. "Tea, Mum?" Amiri broke in, automatically going to fill up the electric jug with water. "I think we've got some biscuits somewhere."

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"There's the ones Lani helped me make yesterday," Graeme said, moving toward the pantry. "We were practicing maths. And since brown is really just dark beige, Lani's found a new love." "Shades of color. Why didn't we think of that?" Logic and Lani; sometimes, you just had to be one step ahead. Amiri grinned. "The best kind of maths are the ones you can eat." He plugged the jug in before setting out three of Aunt Moana's best teacups and saucers. "I finally figured out what that old spoon was that Lani always eats with." "Eh?" Graeme set the plastic container of biscuits on the table. "They're chocolate chip, Kiri, if you'd like one." "It's part of an old set that Auntie gave to Airini when she was born. Lani must've become attached to it when she was younger." He turned to his mum. "Black? Or would you like milk and sugar?" "We have yellow-top and blue-top," Graeme added with his usual grin. But Amiri's mum didn't seem to get the joke. Or find it at all funny. "When are you sending the children back?" Mum finally said, still standing by the back door. "This is ridiculous. They shouldn't have run away in the first place." Amiri set the three cups of tea on the table, pushing one toward Graeme. "How's Airini, Mum? Has she received the help she needed yet?" His mum pursed her lips, looking remarkably like Lani for a moment. "There's nothing wrong with your sister." "Except that she has a behavioral disorder and should be on medication so that she can have a functional life and actually raise her kids," Amiri said, reaching for a biscuit. Situations like this required fortification, especially chocolate fortification. Mum opened her mouth and then closed it again. "You have no proof." "I have medical records," Amiri lied. He could possibly petition the local surgery for those records, or go through the courts to do so, but his mum didn't need to know that. That actually made her pause. "Then the children should be with a fit guardian." His mum eyed Graeme. "Not a deviant."

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"The children should be with a guardian who can provide a good home and environment for them," Amiri countered, taking a deep breath. "Someone who can provide for their needs." "You're saying that you're a more fit guardian than I am?" His mother raised herself to her meager height. She barely came up to Amiri's chin. "I'm their grandmother, they’re my tamariki whangai." "'Kia mau ki to whanau; keep true to your family.’ Isn't that what you're always saying? I'm their uncle. I own my own home, and I have a good job, who’s to say they can’t be my tamariki whangai?" He smiled slightly. "Besides, Dad sent them to me." Maybe it was playing dirty to bring his dad into this, but he'd fight fire with fire if he had to, especially to keep those children from his mother. "We can take this to the courts. We can involve the iwi, we can involve doctors, and we can call on anyone you want," Graeme pointed out, sipping at his tea. "We can cause more disruptions to their lives and we can see exactly how Lani adapts to that." He set the cup down. "Or we can deal." "You'd deal for those children?" His mother frowned. "I won't drag this to the Pakeha court." Amiri laughed. "You just don't want Marika involved. Because you know how hard she'd make this for you. How hard the entire whanau would make this for you." At the mention of Marika's name, his mother actually blanched. "We'll arrange the papers. We'll contact the whanau. We'll go to Airini's doctor to get everything set up." Before his mum could say anything, Amiri held up a hand. "And in six months, if you want to review their progress, you can. And if we're not meeting their needs, then we'll deal with it then." His mother dropped her eyes, considering this. "And you won't involve your father. Or Marika." "I won't involve Dad, but I can't promise anything about Marika. She gets her fingers into everything." Which he was actually thankful for, in this case. And he knew the news would get back to her even before his mum's plane arrived back in Westport. Mum nodded. "Six months. I want teacher's reports. And reports from an unbiased doctor." Which was as close as his mum would come to acknowledging that Lani had any sort of a disorder.

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Amiri held out his hand, which his mother shook. "Now, can we get that in writing?" A short time later, Amiri watched his mother's rental car make its way down the drive. "Should we have invited her to stay?" Graeme snorted. "Only if you wanted me to bury her in the garden with that rusty bathtub." Amiri looked out the kitchen window at the garden. "I thought Wiremu took care of that." His partner sat on the table until Amiri swatted at him to move. "You never put your bum where you're going to put food. What kind of a Maori are you?" Amiri asked, grinning. Graeme caught at his hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. "A half-Pakeha, half Thai bruce of a Maori, who loves his warrior more than he can count." "Some warrior." Amiri touched Graeme's mouth with his fingers. "Had to bargain and almost blackmail my own mother." Arms wrapped around him. "But it got the job done. And you confronted your family." Graeme grimaced. "Though I can kind of understand why you whinge about them so much. Hey!" His partner dodged the stray elbow Amiri attempted to plant in his gut. "Watch it, mate." Graeme grabbed Amiri by both arms, bending him back toward the table. "We talked about this, didn't we? Being naughty and nice?" "We could always discuss it some more," Amiri whispered, widening his stance to pull Graeme toward him, hip against hip. He arched his pelvis, rubbing against Graeme's groin. "Unless it's something you don't want to talk about." "I'll talk about it all night if I have to," Graeme said with a growl, pouncing on Amiri. "And then," he kissed Amiri thoroughly. "I might have to talk about it again." Another kiss. "Just so you don't forget." Amiri worked a hand between them, sliding it down the front of Graeme's dress trousers. There, wrapped in sweaty cotton Y-fronts, was exactly what he was looking for. His hand wrapped around Graeme's thick cock, stroking once, twice. "We could settle this another way." He pushed his partner back, then dropped to his knees. Graeme groaned in anticipation.

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Grinning up at his partner, Amiri carefully bit the zip on Graeme's trousers, lowering his head until he had unfastened the zip without catching either his own mouth or Graeme's skin. Hands went back into Graeme's Y-fronts, releasing the straining cock Amiri had been looking for. With one last look up at his partner, Amiri took that long cock into his mouth, sucking gently. It wasn't something that happened a lot, anymore. Amiri couldn't really remember why. Well, aside from the pain in his jaw. But Graeme's noises and groans, the way his body tightened and tensed and stiffened, was almost worth the pain. Those large hands cupped Amiri's head, pushing down further and further until Amiri could almost feel the head of Graeme's cock at the back of his throat. He sucked up and down, licking it as if it were an ice block. God, he'd have to thank Eph someday for that afternoon they spent sucking down ice blocks. Mm, lemon-flavored Graeme… That made Amiri's own cock twitch at the thought. "Ame, baby," Graeme panted, his breath coming in gulps. "I'm--" And with one last swallow, Graeme climaxed in Amiri's mouth. Amiri wiped his mouth off with one hand, grinning up at his partner. Graeme could only look down, a dazed grin of his own on his face. "I love you," his partner said, leaning limply against the table. "I really do." "Enough to make that up to me?" Amiri smirked, using his partner to get back to his feet. "I still think someone's been naughty and needs--" "Did Uncle color in the library books?" A small voice asked from the vicinity of the front door. "Because Teacher said you're not supposed to do that." Graeme closed his eyes and groaned, looking ready to collapse. Amiri hastily fastened Graeme's trousers up again, pushing his lover down into a chair. "No, honey, Uncle just teased Graeme a bit too much today." Wiremu choked. "I'll bet he did. Might wanna wipe your mouth," he said as he and Lani passed Amiri on their way into the kitchen. "Everything settled?" Amiri nodded, wiping at his mouth again with his sleeve. "Everything's settled. Nanny's happy, and we just have to fill out some paperwork." His nephew considered this. "Then we're yours, right? No one can move us again?" "They couldn't pry you out of here," Graeme said through half-lidded eyes.

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Lani climbed up into Graeme's lap, offering him a biscuit from the tin on the table. "I think you need biscuits," she said. "You look sick, and when you're sick, you need lots of sweeties. And lollies." Graeme chuckled. "Thanks, Lani." He took the biscuit from her hand, popping it in his mouth. "So we're good." Wiremu looked relieved. "Really good. Completely good." Another nod from Amiri. "We're good, tama." And his nephew smiled. *** Later that night, after the kids were both settled in their new rooms, Amiri dialed a number he hadn't rang in years. It rang a few times before an old, gruff voice answered. "This is Tipene," the voice said cautiously. "Hi, Dad," Amiri said, his voice shaking a bit. "It's Amiri." "I figured," his dad said. "'S not like I have any other sons." There was a cough. "The kids arrived?" "And Mum right behind them." Dad barked out a laugh. "And you sent her packing." Amiri couldn't help smiling a bit. "I did send her packing. After a little bit of wheeling and dealing." "But they're staying with you, eh? Wiremu and Lani?" His dad sounded a little anxious. "We can fill out any paperwork you need. I'll work with that Marika if I have to. And I know Airini will agree, if we catch her at the right time." "Dad--" Amiri stopped, not knowing what to say. "Can we get her help? Can we put her somewhere?" "Tama," his father said gently. "You know we can't do that. Not unless we've got reason. At this point, she has to do that herself. She did send the kids to you." "So it was her?" Amiri twisted his fingers in the phone cord, glad the short length kept him from pacing up and down the halls of the Old Lady.

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"Maybe I helped a little, sending her a note with your new address," his dad admitted. "I just want what's best for those two. Do better by them than I did by you and your sister." "Dad, I…" "No, Ame, you have to hear this," his dad continued. "Because I never said it, and I should have." Amiri stared at the phone, not sure what to say. Or what words would come out of his father's mouth. "I didn't send you away because of that whole nonsense with Ephram. And that Poharama boy." Before Amiri could protest, his father laughed. "Yes, I knew about the Poharama boy. I think everyone in the district did, by the time your mum was done." "Then why," his voice cracked. "Why'd you send me here, to Auntie?" "Because, tama." Now the old man's voice was a little hoarse. "Because only she could get you into shape. You saw what happened to your sister. I didn't want you to be wasted the same way." "My marks weren't that great," Amiri protested. "I wasn't that special." "But you loved people. And you loved making them better," his dad said. "I remember watching you play with your cousins when you were little. And how much it hurt you every time someone was sick. Tama, we knew. We knew you were something special, and I just didn't want to see that die." "Dad, I--" There was that soft chuckle that he remembered, something that rumbled up from the base of his dad's stomach and on up his chest to his throat. "Amiri, you're a good son. And I'm proud of you. I'm just," the voice hesitated. "I'm sorry I didn't say that 'til now." "Maybe," Amiri said, trying to control his voice. "Maybe we'll drive up to the old farm some weekend, eh? Me and Graeme and the kids?" "Graeme, eh? I'd like to meet him. And see my grandchildren." They talked a little bit longer, but even after they hung up, Amiri stared at the phone for a while.

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"How'd it go?" Graeme asked, coming into the kitchen. Without asking, he reached into the fridge and put a bottle of Lion Red in front of Amiri. "Okay?" Amiri nodded, not sure of what to say. Or if he could say it. "I think we're okay," he said, his voice still a little wobbly. "I think we're actually going to be okay." Graeme kissed his temple. "I think you're right about that, love," was all he said. *** "Don't forget your hat," Graeme said, placing the red bucket hat on Lani's head. "Your seams don't itch?" Amiri asked, kneeling down to make sure her sandals were fastened properly. "And you can go barefoot if you want. Just make sure you bring your shoes home." Lani nodded. "No itch, shoes home, wear my hat." The little girl had developed a fondness for Blue's Clues. One rhyme, some absurdity about a bridge, a mountain and a blueberry hill, made a great litany for any instructions they needed her to remember. Even if it meant occasionally missing some sport on Sky for something on Playhouse Disney or Nickelodeon. Life was easier since Graeme had figured out that, if they put bias tape over all of Lani's seams, she wouldn't have to wear her clothes inside out, since that was one thing Amiri really didn't want to explain to Mrs. Anderson. And they'd washed Lani's dresses enough that the light cotton didn't seem to bother her too much. And even if it did, they luckily had the option of shorts and a polo shirt like the boys wore. And she did look adorable in the plaid dress and matching red hat. "And I can see Mr. Pony after school," she added, a smile reminiscent of her brother's. "And you can see Mr. Pony after school, when Wiremu goes to clean out the paddock as payment," Amiri confirmed, not quite able to contain a smirk of his own. They'd finally worked out that bit of payment. The farmer had offered a cash option as well as the labor option. He thought it was only fair that Wiremu understand the nature of responsibility, so they'd chosen the labor option to pay off Mr. Pony's food and lodging. "Got Pinkie Pie?" Graeme asked, sounding a little anxious. Bonnie had suggested that Lani carry the pony with her as a sign for when she got tired, or stressed. The nonverbal cue would apparently help prevent a meltdown. Amiri only hoped so. In time, hopefully, Lani would be able to tell them what was wrong, but this would work well enough for now.

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"Yup, got Pinkie Pie in my backpack." Lani took a deep breath, then grabbed her red lunchbox and her red backpack. She started to bounce up and down on her toes, flapping her hands a bit. Her 'happy flap', Wiremu called it. "I'm ready for school," she announced. "Graeme will walk me today, and Uncle will walk me tomorrow." "And the walking bus will bring you home to Mrs. Situati next door 'til Wiremu comes home at 3:30, eh?" Amiri said. Their next door neighbor had actually volunteered to watch the little girl for that half hour. She was a retired primary school teacher, recently widowed, and didn't mind the extra company. Or the extra cash. It was a pity that Amiri had only met her two weeks ago, chasing Pepperpot down the street in his dressing gown. The older woman hadn't held it against him, at least. "Remember the line of all the kids, walking home?" The little girl nodded. "The walking bus will pick me up at the gate, and Wiremu will meet me at home at 3:30. After Mrs. Situati lets me watch the telly and eat Anzac biscuits." Lani bit her lip. "And Bonnie will be there at school? When I need help?" Bonnie, Lani's dedicated aide for the year, had become the little girl's best mate overnight. "Bonnie will be with you even when you don't need help," Amiri answered with a smile. "Ready?" She nodded carefully, then flung her arms around his neck. "Ready, Uncle." She did the same to Wiremu before carefully taking Graeme's hand. "Goodbye! I'm farewelling you!" "Ka kite ano!" Amiri and Wiremu both called out, waving to the pair as they walked down the drive. "School going okay for you?" Amiri asked as he and Wiremu headed inside to get ready. Wiremu had started the week before at Auckland Grammar. Wiremu shrugged. "Not too bad. Got a couple mates. Might bring 'em home to meet you at some point." "Me and Graeme?" Amiri gave his nephew a slight grin. "Or just Graeme?" "Just Graeme. He cooks way better'n you," Wiremu quipped back. "Naw, there's another guy whose folks are gay. He's got two mothers, so it's not so strange." Amiri put his hands on Wiremu's shoulders, giving his nephew a serious look. "And you're still okay with this? You don't regret any of it?"

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Wiremu returned his look with a challenging one of his own. "Do you?" he asked in the same quiet voice.

"Just as long as no cows appear in my garden," Amiri said with a snort. "This isn't

Noah's ark."

At that, Pepperpot crowed, as if she couldn't agree more. *** Manaaki Whenua, Manaaki Tangata, Haere whakamua Care for the land, Care for the people, Go forward. --Maori Proverb

Family Matters - 176

Wiremu's Pakeha-friendly Dictionary of Te Reo Maori Kia ora! Welcome to my family and my culture. Since you're not all speakers of Te Reo, the Maori language, here are some words that might help you understand the story of my uncle and the rest of our crazy rellies. Pohutukawa - New Zealand Christmas tree, a huge tree that blooms with bright red flowers around Christmas-time Marae - the traditional meeting house of a Maori whanau, or family. This is the center of Maori family life, and is used to celebrate all parts of life and death and everything in between. Maoritanga - the Maori culture and heritage Whanau - family, both close, extended and non-blood Te Reo - the Maori language Maungawhau - traditional Maori name of Mount Eden, the tallest dormant volcano in Auckland Kohanga reo - 'language nest' or preschool, where Te Reo is spoken and traditional Maori values are woven into the kids' lessons Haere Mai - traditional Maori formal greeting Chook - Kiwi for chicken Kai - food Kumara - sweet potato brought with the Maori to New Zealand Pakeha - non-Maori, traditionally meaning the English settlers of New Zealand and their descendents Tama – son Taniwha – monster or demon, usually with two heads Kia ora – welcome Tena koe – Greetings/greeting to you (for one person) Hongi – traditional Maori greeting of pressing nose to nose, sharing the breath of life Mokopuna – grandchildren Tamariki whangai – foster children/when you stay with a blood relative that isn't your mum or dad Ka kite ano – Goodbye! (to more than one person)

Family Matters - 177