Chapter 22: A family reunited

Greta stared at the baby in Tagas's arms. Hugo was asleep, and she went to them with featherlight steps.

"My baby?" She reached out towards the boy, and Tagas placed it in her hands. "Where did you find him? Who took him?"

"We found him in an abandoned building," Tagas lied. It was not like he could tell Greta about Lucifer and the demon woman. "But he is ok, now. Someone had been taking care of him. He is not even hungry."

Greta kissed the boy's hair, and the boy woke. His little blue eyes searched the room, when he didn't see what he was searching for, he began to fuss.

"Hugo, what is wrong, honey? Did you miss mommy?" Greta asked, her voice choked with sobs. She carried her son to the couch, and sat down. Checking him over, she saw that he was just fine. Tagas came into view of the mother-son duo, and the boy blinked at him.

Hugo reached out towards the angel, and Greta stared at Tagas. She then handed the boy to him.

"Hold him. I'll go get some hot chocolate for the three of us and milk for him," she then stood, as Tagas adjusted the boy in his arms, and went in the direction of the kitchen.

"Do you think he knows what I am?" Tagas asked Harry, who was staring at the angel with a soft expression.

"I think you look good with a baby in your arms," Harry told him, and Tagas blushed.

"Well, he is an adorable child," the angel said bashfully, and Harry went to make faces at the boy. Hugo looked between the two of them, and then reached out his fingers up.

Both leaned down, and were pocked on the noses. Tagas grinned then.

"You liked what my big brother did?" Tagas asked the small boy, who giggled up at him, and blew them a raspberry.

"Little treasure," Harry said, and then Greta came over with a tray. There were three steaming mugs on it. Placing the tray on the coffee table, she looked at the two of them.

"You like children," she asked, as Tagas handed her Hugo back.

"They are all little cherubs, especially at this age," Tagas told her. She took a milk bottle, and brought it to Hugo's lips. The boy began to suckle, and Tagas took a sip from his hot chocolate. It was good, made with milk and good milk chocolate. Not bitter in the slightest.

"I can't thank you enough," Greta said, as she stared at her son's face. "I thought that I would never see him again."

"We were more than happy to help," Harry told her, as he took his own mug. "We live nearby, so we couldn't just ignore your plight."

Greta and Hugo lived in the same town as Harry and Tagas. That was why Harry had not argued with Tagas, when the angel insisted that they should find the baby first. Harry looked at the clock, and then nudged Tagas.

"We need to go. It is late," Harry said, and he hoped that Tagas got the urgency in his tone.

"Right, we have one more case for tonight," Tagas then stood, and went to the door.

"If you live nearby, could you perhaps come and visit? Hugo would be happy to see you again?" Greta asked, and both Harry and Tagas nodded.

"Would it be a problem if we bring a friend of ours and his children, next time?" Tagas asked. He was sure that Andrew and Jake were going to love playing with the baby.

"That would be nice. My husband, Augustine, and I, haven't been in the states for long. We don't have many friends," Greta told them, and then Tagas connected the dots.

Her name was German sounding, so was Hugo's. They were immigrants. Kind of like him, although he had come from Heaven, and wondered if he could still call himself such.

"We will come by as often as we can," Harry assured her. It would be a tight fit, what with them being on the farm by day, and solving cases by night. But, maybe, during the weekend, they could fit in the family.

"Thank you again," Greta said, as Tagas and Harry let themselves out.

"It is nice, staying for the reunion, instead of just dropping the child in their room," Tagas told Harry, as they made it before Dianna's house.

"We couldn't just drop off the baby. What if she found it in the morning, and something happened to it?" Harry asked, and Tagas nodded.

"Maybe, we can stay and chat after this case as well?" Tagas offered. Then, he stared at the house. The lights were still on, but there were no missing posters anywhere to be seen.

"When did you say that the girl went missing?" Tagas asked.

Harry shrugged.

"I think the article was from two months ago?" Harry offered, and they went to the front door. The lawn was in dismay, the flower patches overgrown with weeds.

There were a couple of garden decorations thrown around, but they were all broken up. The paint was peeling from the walls, and Tagas had a bad feeling about all of this.

An old woman answered the door. She ushered them in, and Tagas saw that the house was in as much of a mess on the inside, as it was on the outside.

"We come in here to speak about Dianna," Tagas said, and the woman blinked at him.

"Was her body found?" The woman asked, and it was Tagas's turn to blink.

"Her body? Madam, don't you have faith that your granddaughter will be found safely?" Tagas asked.

"What faith, what hope? It has been twenty years," the grandmother said. "And she is my daughter, not my granddaughter."

Tagas stretched, and touched the old woman then. To his horror, he didn't get a location. There was a connection, but it felt like it was severed.

After they asked the woman about anything that she could remember, they walked out.

"I take it you didn't find anything?" Harry asked.

"That doesn't mean I won't search," Tagas spoke, a determined look on his face.