by Skye, Sariah
“No, Merlin, you don’t have to go. I told you that. There’s room for everyone here on Avalon, right?” I said, draping my arm over his shoulders and giving him a side hug.
“Welcome home, man,” Xander greeted, as I dragged Rhys down onto the sofa next to him. “But no peeping.”
Rhys snorted, flipping his hair over his shoulders and adjusting his shiny black shirt. “I make no promises.”
I laughed loudly, exchanging a wide smirk with each of the guys. “Some things never change.”
“Nor should they. I think this is just how things were supposed to be,” Bash insisted, obnoxiously settling in between Xander and I, shifting to drape his legs over the storm wielder’s lap. Xander glared at him severely. Trystan plopped on the floor in front of me, Sierra joining us from one of the back rooms. Mathias paced about, taking his cell phone out of his pocket and grumbling about having to order the Chinese food himself, and Xander commandeered the remote control. I settled in and felt… comfortable. Safe.
Home.
Some things never did change. And I certainly hoped things around here, never, ever did.
Epilogue
One year and some odd months later…
“Well, well, well…”
I looked up from admiring my shiny wedding rings on my left ring finger while I leaned over the wooden bar top in the newly-opened Underground supe-club, and grinned widely upon seeing the face of my best friend come up behind me, with her fiancée tucked under her arm.
Jokingly, I narrowed my eyes at Summer and swiveled around on my heels to face her, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yes? You want something?”
“Well, shit, married life has made you surly. Your four husbands not giving it up anymore?” Summer asked, with a loud snort.
“Please. I can’t peel them off me. I’m surprised they’re not, like, clawing at me right now,” I said with a dismissive wave.
“Damn, look at that bling,” Summer quipped with a wink, my rings catching the overhead light and sparkling, even in this dimmer lit area. “Did they give you more?”
“Not these,” I wore four white-golden bands on my ring-finger, each with different colored stones inset in the metal: a chocolate brown for Mathias, as it reminded me of his eyes, a green emerald for Trystan for the same reason, a bright sapphire blue for Sebastian because he always wore blue and it was his favorite, and a dark purple sapphire for Xander for his favorite color. I’d kept my diamond pendant as a pendant, because I couldn’t fit anymore bling on my finger.
They had matching thicker metal bands, with their color stone laid in, and a purple amethyst for me, of course. “Well, these I just had cleaned. Guess all that work over the past few months trying to rebuild a kingdom and shit made them all… meh.”
“Well they look great, seriously,” Summer replied, with a genuine smile.
“Thanks. But, you know, there are some advantages to having four husbands. Besides, you know, all the dick,” I said with a devious grin.
“You get more vulgar as the days go on. I like it,” Summer said, chuckling, shaking a finger at me. “Now what advantages besides dick are we talking about?
I nonchalantly flipped my blonde and bright-purple highlighted hair over my shoulder, exposing the amethyst baubles that hung from my ears, while inadvertently wiggling the fingers of my right hand to show off the two gemstone rings.
“Damn, girl…” Summer admired, peering at the earrings given to me by Xander, and clutching my hand to look closer at the white-gold and sapphire ring—from Bash—and the elaborate gold-and-emerald ring twisted in a Celtic pattern that came from Trystan. She arched a brow, twisting her mouth to the side in a curious frown. “That’s three. Where’s the fourth? There’s no way Mathias would allow the others to outdo him.”
I snorted a laugh, because she was so right. I pushed up the long sleeve of my black dress up my forearm, revealing the diamond tennis bracelet from Mathias. Summer rolled her eyes and laughed. “Knew it,” she replied.
“It’s true.”
“So after like five years, your bedroom is going to look like the showroom for Tiffany’s huh?” Summer mused.
“Nah, I made them promise to do it sparingly. I don’t need all of that stuff,” I replied flippantly, actively trying to still the smirk that tried to emerge.
Summer slapped at my arm, laughing loudly. “Oh come on, you love it.”
“What’s not to love?” I answered, and Summer agreed. She nudged Naomi, her brightly red-haired fae fiancée who stood nearby. Naomi, and the current manager of the Stargazer which the guys and I all owned, looked briefly sheepish.
“Whoops, forgot,” she said, with a laugh, producing a large, shiny white gift bag, tied with a bow at the handles. “Happy anniversary, Ava!”
“Aw, thank you,” I replied, beaming. Today was the one-year anniversary of the official “commitment” ceremony the guys and I had on Avalon. We couldn’t all be married legally, but this was the next best thing. Which meant now that a year had passed, it no longer made us newlyweds. Right? Didn’t matter, the sex was still off the fucking hook, and I was sure with the Avalon magic, even though it had settled some, it always would be. “You really didn’t have to, you know,” I said, with a grin, taking the handle and starting to pry it open with both hands.
“It’s more for you than anything,” Summer replied, biting a smug smile. I arched a suspicious brow, gazing inside the bag. I let out a loud, uproarious laugh, and promptly shut it again.
Enclosed were a handful of pairs of skimpy men’s underwear in silky fabrics, along with I didn’t know how many damn sex toys: a big vibrator, handcuffs, blindfolds and if I’m being honest, a handful of things I didn’t recognize that scared me a bit. “Good god, Summer Lee Santiago—where the hell did you get all this? How in the hell do lesbians have any idea what to buy for people with dicks anyway?”
Summer shrugged nonchalantly, running a hand through her freshly cut, brown bob and giving me a sassy smile with her bright red, full lips. “We have our ways.”
Naomi rolled her eyes, giving Summer a light playful pat on the arm. “There’s this sex shop in the haven that just opened up north where my parents live. The one in Castle Danger? They’re… supernaturally-enhanced. You should have a lot of fun with it,” she said, with a wink, and I felt my face blush furiously.
“That is if Rhys doesn’t steal it all first,” I added, shaking my head, wondering if there was any way to successfully hide it form my other best friend and “magical” brother. He didn’t live in the actual house anymore, but rather in a smaller, two story cottage right next “door.” He teleported in whenever he wanted to, though.
Almost as if on cue, I heard his loud voice emerge from the kitchen behind the fancy bar, bickering loudly with his boyfriend-slash-fiancé, Judah, who was really Mordred and changed his name. Bash suggested it after the “traitorous” Judas. Mordred found it appropriate and thus Judah or Jude Mortimer-–obviously in reference to his real identity—he became.
“You’re mad. Too many years locked up in that vessel messed with your brain. How could you possibly think disco is good?” Jude stood behind the bar, glaring down at him, hands on hips. “It’s just a bunch of crashing cymbals and… ugh!”
“Uh!” Rhys protested. “I’m mad but I know good music.”
I chortled derisively. “No you don’t. Do I need to remind you?” I asked, and started doing my best impression of Rhys, skipping down the hallway some two years ago on his Zune to “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”
“By the gods what sort of shit is that?” Jude asked, giving me a horrified look
Rhys’ face fell into a pout. “It’s not shit. It’s awesome.”
“It’s fingernails on a chalkboard, Emrys,” I insisted, shaking a finger at him.
“Ha. Listen to my cousin, she’s a priestess. She knows everything,” Jude said to me, with a grin.
Rhys pouted, dipping his head until his long brown, wavy locks tumbled into his f
ace. “But… it would be classic.”
“We are not using ‘It’s Raining Men’ as our wedding song. That’s just… ridiculous.” Jude shuddered, quickly dismissing the idea. I shoved my hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh.
“Oh Rhys, you cannot do that. Now… maybe you can fit it in later as a striptease or something, that would be okay,” I suggested, and Rhys’ eyes lit up like flying saucers.
“Oh! That’s a good idea!”
Jude turned slowly and gave me a stern look. “You’re a traitor.”
“Hey!” I feigned offense. “I meant in private… that night… far, far away from me so I don’t have to hear it. Or see it. Or participate in it because I’m not going to be in any wedding that has that.”
“Uh, duh, you’re going to be officiating it,” Rhys said with a snort. “Remember?”
“Right…”
Jude’s scowl turned into a smirk as he processed my suggestion. “Ohh… okay then. I see what you mean. I could get behind that.”
Rhys grinned, chuckling loudly as he reached out and gave him a gentle shove. “Yeah, you wish. I’m better at that behind and you know it.”
“Dear god does it ever end?” Jude shook his head, covering his face with his hand as he laughed.
“Nope,” I replied, giving Rhys a funny face. “Run now, Morty. Run far, run fast.”
“Oh come on, I’m endearing and adorable!” Rhys insisted, obviously offended.
“Yeah, okay you are…” Jude replied, grinning and shaking his head, giving his fiancé a side hug and a wet smooch on the cheek that left Rhys beaming like a spotlight.
“Working tomorrow?” Naomi inquired to him, and Jude nodded.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Big party. Some official government supes or something. Demons from the Underrealms want to have a meeting with them. No idea what they are up to, but I don’t care as long as they tip well.” Jude scowled and rolled his eyes. He’d come far from the reserved, dark prince we’d first met him as. He’d adapted to the modern world well, and even took over running the Underground in Link’s place once he learned he had an affinity for leadership—just not the royal kind. Link left to go do his Loremaster duties, but we still saw him often, and he filled in in whatever role we needed him to when we needed him. Like for the six weeks the guys and I went on our honeymoon, or to train in Jude.
“Yuck. I’ll remember to miss it,” I replied with a bitter frown. Jude nodded vigorously in affirmation.
Rhys let out a peal of sudden laughter, grinning evilly. “Remember when Mathias broke the nose of that one elf that grabbed your ass?”
I snorted and matched his laughter with my own. “Yeah that was pretty funny. Until then they didn’t know elf noses could be broken.”
“Surprise!” Rhys and I chuckled and snorted, laughing loudly at the memory.
“Children. You’re both children, so help us all…” Jude shook his head at the both of us, stifling his grin. “You want something to drink? Wine? Jack?” He quipped, with a slight upturn of his lips. At the mere mention of alcohol, my stomach protested.
“Uh, no. I’ll pass.”
“But it’s a party!” Rhys protested, and Jude elbowed him sharply. “Fine, I’ll drink for both of us. Wee!” He grabbed one of the whiskey bottles sitting on top of the bar and took a long, long drink before setting it back on the bar and letting loose a huge belch that was so loud, it could be heard over the piano and the elf playing it in the corner. He just smiled innocently. “Whoops?”
“You know you think with time he would grow up a little, huh?” Jude shook his head reproachfully but grinned good-naturedly as his boyfriend pulled him away from the bar, saying he wanted to dance so he was going to go liven up the music. Jude waved a quick bye and was off.
“Who wants to grow up?” Summer asked, and we groaned, leaning over the bar top. Naomi dismissed herself for the bathroom leaving my long-time best friend and I behind. She reached over the bar top and grabbed the same bottle Rhys had been drinking out of and a glass, pouring some and offering it to me. “Sure you don’t want any?”
I wrinkled my nose. “No… ew. It’s almost my bed time, I don’t want to be drunk going to bed tonight. Hinders the hanky-panky,” I protested.
Summer chortled sharply. “Wow. Early bed times and being married and shit. We’re getting old, Avie. Old.” She shook her glass as me, frowning.
“I’m only twenty-seven. Speak for yourself, Summer Roseweather,” I said, with a snicker, using Naomi’s last name to taunt her. Summer’s eyes widened.
“Oh god… she’s taking my name, I’m not taking that. I’ll sound like a hippie.”
“Ha. Not any worse than Ava Xiang.” As promised, the guys “allowed” Xander to be the one to officially get married to me—you know legally. It seemed to mean a lot to him, and it helped chip away any last lingering jealousy Xander may have had, only they used the guise that it made sense for legal reasons. We didn’t do anything more than a quick ceremony at the county courthouse, but it was enough for him. “You know how many funny looks I get when I tell people my name?” I chuckled at the idea of the funny looks I got when people looked at me expecting a dark haired, Asian beauty and instead getting me: a short, curvy blonde with a big damned mouth. “But at least I can call myself Mrs. X, so there’s that.”
“Could be worse.”
“Could be.”
Summer and I stood in relative silence for a few uneasy moments before she asked me,
“So when are you going to tell them?”
“Tell them what?” I asked naïvely. Summer cocked her head and made me shiver under her severe glare that only she could do.
“You know what I mean.”
I sighed slowly, taking a deep, relaxing breath. I inconspicuously patted the purple and white stick in the pocket of my long black, sleeveless dress. “Later, when we’re at home.”
“Gotcha. I get it. How do you think they’ll take it?” Summer inquired.
“I think they’ll be fine either way, but this is uncharted territory. We’ve talked about it but didn’t think it’d happen this soon. Bash said it took at least a year for that potion to wear off,” I said, with an uncomfortable shrug. “It’s only been a month or so.”
Summer snorted with a giggle. “So, one of them’s got super sperm. I’m betting on the big one.”
I laughed awkwardly. I sort of had an inkling she was right but didn’t want to push my luck because I just didn’t know.
“Is there any way to tell before...” she trailed off, her eyes widening. “Oh god I can’t even say it. Childbirth? Hell, Ava…”
“Yeah I’m terrified. But at least this is literally what the witches do—love and life and here’s the life part,” I replied, with a shaky sigh. “But I have no idea if they can tell beforehand. I’m sure there’s some magic…thing… that can be done.”
“Goddamn, Avie. Babies?” Summer shuddered.
I nodded slowly, feeling discomforted with the words—although unsaid but accurately implied—out in the open. I’d fought a demon and won. I’d gone through a sick ritual and been imbued with the magic of a whole, mystical isle. I’d been attacked, tossed around through worlds, resurrected an entire place, and helped rebuild a legendary kingdom. But this? This was the role that made me most nervous: the role of Mother.
“Avie?” Summer set a comforting hand over mine as we leaned casually over the bar.
“Hmm?”
“You’re going to be fantastic, I promise. They’ll love you even more, if that’s possible,” she said earnestly, and I smiled warmly at her.
“Thanks Sum. I needed to hear that.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped lightly to see my brother’s impish grin as he appeared.
Galahad went by Gavin now; the name was a variant of Gawain, after his fallen friend, and taken our father’s last name of “Steele”. I poked fun at him all the time and told him with a name like Gavin Steele, he should do porno.
; I’m disgusted to say he was tempted.
Needless to say, he’d adapted to the modern world nicely and cleaned up well. It was still bizarre looking at yet another person and seeing a face very similar to my own, only his red hair was cropped short along the sides and longer and spikier on the top. He had to cut it off because the green I tricked him with wouldn’t come out. Ha! He had tattoos all up and down his arms now, wore band t-shirts, jeans, and Converse sneakers, and had no trouble finding a place to fit in as a police officer at a local precinct. With his battle-ready skills and his noble morality, it really was a perfect fit for him. The legends were still right in that respect: Galahad was a noble knight with incomparable battle skills. That was Galahad the knight, though.
Gavin, my brother? Still a bit of a dick.
Today though he cleaned it up in a black polo shirt and gray slacks, which for him was practically love because he hated dressing up. But I was sure he had something up his sleeve for later. He always did.
“We’ll let the two of you be,” Summer said, with a wink, clapping Gavin on the shoulder. “Good to see you again, dude,” she greeted him before taking Naomi and sauntering off.
Gavin watched the two of them over his shoulder as he leaned over the bar. The gentle upturn of his mouth indicated he was thinking something raunchy, and I pummeled him in the arm. He pulled away and winced.
“Ouch! For a priestess you sure have a mean right hook, what was that for?” He demanded irritably.
I shot him a dirty look. “Dude, you were checking out my best friend. She’s off limits, dickhead.”
Gavin pretended to look wounded, setting a hand over his heart with an innocent smile. “Who, me? I’d never!” I narrowed my eyes at him further. “Oh fine—sorry, I’m a guy, and they’re beautiful. It’s been a long time, geez!”
Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly smirked. “Right. Tell me again, which of the witches were you with last night? Bronwyn? Eveleth?”
Gavin laughed sharply. “No way, I’m done with that. Just modern chicks for me.”
I feigned a gag that came out in a grossed-out shudder. “I don’t need to know.”