The Unknown

Changes

Mike's pov

I sit outside Dr. Curtis's office at the Foundation nervously tapping my left foot and drumming my fingers against my leg. His secretary called me Michael when she said he wanted to see me. Michael, not Mike. This meeting cannot be good news.

Boy was I ever wrong about that.

"Dr. Curtis will see you now," his secretary says, opening the door to his office and ushering me in.

"Thank you Elizabeth."

Neil stands up to greet me as his secretary leaves, closing his door.

"Michael, I have a proposition for you."

He ushers me to a chair as he takes a seat behind his desk.

"Dr. Curtis, I'm not that kind of man. You're married for goodness sake. It would create such a scandal. Why, what would the church elders say?" I reply, in my awful attempt at mimicking a deep southern drawl.

"They're going to love that sense of humor in Africa," Neil responds.

"I'm sorry. Who's going to love it where now?"

"I've finally secured the funding to start the mobile health clinics in Nigeria that we talked about last summer."

"That's fantastic," I say. "But what does it have to do with me?"

"Look Michael."

I cringe

"I have my hands full with the NJC and the upcoming expansion of the Foundation's food depository and pantries. I really need you to be my eyes and ears in Nigeria to make sure everything goes according to plan. I want you to have a hands-on role in this project and I need someone down there I can trust. So what do you say? Are you up for the challenge?"

It takes me a minute to process everything Neil has just thrown at me and really let it sink in. I spent a summer in Africa working with Doctors Without Borders and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Neil and I talk about it often. Providing lifesaving medical services to people in third world countries was the single most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life. Until now.

"What about the girls?" I ask. "This past year with them has been amazing but I couldn't possibly move them to Africa. So who would take care of them while I'm gone? I can't leave them. They mean the world to me."

"Hear me out," Neil says. "I have a plan."

For the next hour Neil and I discuss his plan in detail to great lengths. I'll try to provide the cliff notes version. Admiral Shane Donovan plays an integral part in the plan. He currently works at the Foundation in the Security and Technology division. I've met him in passing a few times in the building but his reputation certainly precedes him. He was, at the age of twenty-three ,the youngest man to earn the rank of Admiral in the British Navy. After retiring from the armed services he worked for Interpol in a strictly unofficial capacity. He speaks fluent French, German, Russian, Spanish and Italian. Not to mention he's proficient in Mandarin and Japanese.

For one year Shane would shadow me, training to be the girls' guardian. If after that year I decided I didn't want Shane to become their guardian or I didn't want to go to Africa, I could change my mind. Shane would then be a trained guardian ready to accept new charges. No harm no foul. On the other hand, if Shane stayed on with us, as Neil explained it, we would essentially both be guardians to the girls, but since I would spend more time traveling internationally for longer periods Shane would be their primary guardian while I was away. However, since Shane's work at the Foundation also requires some international and domestic travel I would step in as their primary guardian when he is away. Neil assured me I would still play a very important role in raising the girls. Shane and I would always be equal in their eyes, with both of us holding the title of guardian.

"I'm willing to give it a try," I tell Neil. I'm excited and terrified at the same time.

"Great. Tomorrow Shane will meet the girls and his training will begin."