by Audra Hart
Morna bathes quickly and shampoos her hair. She quickly brushes her teeth and puts on deodorant. She dons the heavy terry cloth robe and walks into the enormous closet to find something to wear. She quickly gets overwhelmed by all the clothes in there and starts wishing Ingrid was there to help. She giggles when she hears Ingrid knock on the outer door. “Damn, she’s good!” Morna hugs her when she opens the door, “You are a blessing girl. I need something comfortable and casual to wear to be with my babies. Are there any jeans in there by chance?”
Ingrid chuckles, and says, “Come on Morna. We can get you fixed up in no time flat.” Ingrid shows Morna where the different clothing items are stored and says, “Want me to help you dress, do your hair or anything?”
“No thank you, I just didn’t want to tear the closet apart looking for something comfortable to wear.” Morna assures Ingrid. “Who got all these clothes for us?”
“Heimdall sent us today. Brynhold and I went to Midgard and bought clothes we hoped you and your mate would like. We also got new clothing for the children.”
Morna smiles at his thoughtful provision but suddenly feels a little light headed. She wavers a little bit and Luca is instantly by her side.
“I’m fine, I think I am just tired.” Morna assures him. “Women need a lot of rest during the first trimester, you know that.”
“Morna, I think tonight you should go to bed as soon as you put the little ones down. I have never seen you so tired. You slept twelve hours today.”
“Agreed,” says Morna. “I am feeling really tired. I didn‘t realize we have been here that long. I always lose track of time when I am in Midgard.” Morna looks around for Ingrid, but she has already slipped out quietly.
“I think I make her nervous,” he says thoughtfully. “Do you think she is afraid I will attack her?”
“No I think she is more affected by you as a man than a vampire. You are really very devastating to those of us who are human females. Well, I guess I am not exactly in that category any more, but nonetheless. Plus, she’s empathic, my excitement around you probably affects her. Breena says it does that to her.” Morna explains absently as she struggles with the bra. “Damn, I think I have forgotten how to put one of these damn things on.”
Luca chuckles and comes over to help her. “If your children weren’t here, I would say never put one on again. I have gotten quite spoiled to you wearing no undergarments. Mmmm, but it does look lovely on you. It makes me want to take it off of you.” He says with a throaty laugh.
Morna growls. “Please Luca. I want to be somewhat in control when I sit down to dinner with our children. Kyle is very perceptive and wise for his age. He may even be empathic.”
Luca straightens up and says, “Love, you keep calling them our children, and while I would be eager for that to be the case, they may not wish it. Don’t force me on them. Please baby, let them get to know me. I will always take care of them even if they don‘t want me to be their father, but it has to be their choice. Especially Kyle, he‘s nearly a man. Didn‘t you see him appraising me earlier? What if he doesn‘t approve of me?”
“Yes Luca, I saw that. He was comfortable with what he saw or he would have wanted to accompany us when you and I walked away. He is an excellent judge of character for one so young.” Morna assures him as she pulls up her jeans and sighs because they are very soft and comfortable and fit perfectly. She quickly slips into a pair of comfortable canvas shoes and kisses her mate quickly and says, “Let’s go see our children!”
Luca chuckles, “Morna, you need a blouse!” She looks down and smacks her forehead. And rummages around for a comfortable pull over. Luca finds a plain white tee shirt and Morna is pleased with the simplicity. She laughs and pulls it on quickly.
Luca takes her hand and leads her to the main door of their suite. Neither are surprised to find Ingrid waiting for them. “I can show you around later, so that I won’t have to be in the way all the time. It’s obvious you two do not want servants fawning all over you all the time.”
“Ingrid, I am sure I see you as my assistant and not a maid, so please don’t look upon yourself as a servant, we certainly don’t see you that way.” Morna assures her.
“Thank you Morna. Come this way please. Your children are already in the family room.” Morna and Luca follow Ingrid silently. Morna is suddenly very, very nervous. She clutches desperately at Luca. Ingrid senses her disquietude and slips away silently once she shows them the door into the family room.
“I am scared of seeing my own babies Luca! What if they don’t approve of what I have become, of the baby, of my being mated to someone besides their father? Oh my!” Morna breathes fearfully into her mate’s chest.
Luca takes her face in between his hands and says gently, “Those children are very eager to have you back. They will adapt. We will help them. Give them some credit Morna, by all reports they are awesome, well-grounded children and have taken all the knowledge the Elves have imparted on them with grace and strength.”
“Oh gosh Luca, I didn’t even think about the Elvish philosophy of not keeping anything from a child who is 5 years and older. I wonder what they have told them.” Morna whispers.
“Let’s go find out love!” He kisses her gently and opens the door and urges her through it. The sight that greets her when she walks through that door warms her heart immeasurably. Kyle is deep in conversation with Agnar and Collingwood. Breena and Damian are sitting on either side of Nora, who is sitting happily on Valliant’s lap, and she seems to be loving all the attention. But the most heartwarming, Aiden and Aideen are together on the couch, sitting facing each other. Aiden is propped up with some pillows, but seems to be sitting well on his own. They seem like old friends, or better yet, brother and sister.
They all look up as they enter the room, Aideen calls her Mama, while the three younger ones call her Mom. Morna’s head snaps to Aiden though, because she knows she heard him call her mom, but he has never been able to speak. He smiles at her and she hears his voice again, in her head, “Yeah Mom, the Elves taught me telepathy.” Morna runs to kneel before him and hug him. Then she turns and holds her arms out to Kyle and Nora. She finally ends up on the couch with Nora in her lap, Kyle on her left side, with Aiden and Aideen on her right side. She is not making any effort to stop the tears of joy.
“Mom, are you okay? You have been crying for five minutes,” Says Kyle, with a concerned look on his face.
“I am sorry Kyle, I thought you were all dead until fifteen days ago. Forgive me son, I am just really happy to have you all here. I have all my children except for my baby, Kylor.” Morna is glowing with happiness, but the mention of Kylor causes a ripple of sadness across her face and Luca’s.
“Kylor? You had another child?” Kyle asks.
“Yes, Luca and I were blessed with a son 70 years before Aideen was born. But he only lived two months.” Morna says quietly.
“Sorry Mom, the Elves didn’t tell me that part.” Kyle says quietly. He hugs his mom close and looks at Luca appraisingly. Finally the youth asks, “So, when is the new baby coming?”
Luca meets her son’s unwavering gaze and says, “About twenty-eight days from now Kyle. Give or take. We are not exactly sure.”
Kyle continues watching Luca appraisingly and says, “Luca, may I have a few minutes of your time, in private?”
Morna looks disconcerted at this and starts to say something but Luca signals to her to be still. “Certainly Kyle, I will always have time to speak with you.” He walks over and kisses Morna’s cheek and whispers so quietly that none but Morna and Damian can hear, “He has every right to demand some answers from me. Let him be, Morna.” Morna nods silently and returns her attention to her other children.
Kyle leads Luca into the study off the family room. Luca sits and calmly waits for Kyle to speak his mind. “How is it that Mom can have another child? I know what happened to her when Nora was born. She nearly died. They had to take all her reproductive organs out to save h
er life.”
Luca looks Kyle directly in the eyes. He is pleased that Kyle seems to have inherited his Mom’s no nonsense manner of dealing with things. “You know what I am, don’t you Kyle?”
“Yes, a vampire. Collingwood says you are one of the purest souls to ever ascend into immortality through the Airendell guild, but that now you are a vampire. He says that he thinks you are probably still one of the purest souls around because of what you have been through looking out for Mom for nearly 600 years. But how does any of that explain how Mom can be pregnant?” Kyle asks calmly.
“I accidentally exposed your mother to my venom. She isn’t a vampire, but she has many of the physical traits of a vampire, and apparently the change restored her body to a slightly younger condition. Apparently, and I confess I don’t understand how, but it would seem that her body regenerated all the parts that had been lost to surgery.” Luca explains warily, not sure how the boy will take the news.
“She barely looks old enough to be my mom, did the venom do that?” Kyle asks.
“Yes, we believe it did.” Kyle nods at this information, and looks uncomfortable.
“You want to know how I exposed her to my venom?” Kyle nods again, and Luca exhales slowly. “Kyle, she was married to your father, but she has been my one true mate for nearly seven hundred years. She is my wife and I love her with all of my heart. The exposure to my venom was an accident. I exposed her to my razor sharp, venomous teeth during… uh… we were being intimate. I would not have ever risked it on purpose. I am truly sorry for… exposing her to… well, to becoming what I am. I am beyond grateful that she didn‘t turn into a vampire herself. We assume her lineage, or her status as First Warrior and Protector prevented that.”
“But you are a demigod yourself and it didn’t prevent your change. What’s the difference?” Kyle asks skeptically.
“Perhaps because it was a small amount of venom, and not an outright bite.” Luca can see Kyle isn’t completely accepting this. “But I theorize it’s because she had been exposed to minute amounts of my venom for centuries…”
“Oral sex I guess?” Kyle says thoughtfully. “Oh sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have asked you that directly. That is my mom after all. But she has always been so direct about physical matters. I assumed that was what you were talking about. You should have heard her when she gave me ‘the talk‘. It was very detailed. She was very clear about which were safe sexual acts and which were not. She was very clear that intercourse and oral sex were not safe unless both partners had no sexual history or had been tested several times. I can just imagine that if she was so open to telling her young son these things, then she would certainly be comfortable participating in them with her soul mate.”
Luca laughs heartily, “By God Kyle, you are just like her aren’t you?”
“I hope so, Luca. She’s brave, honest and loves with all her heart. I think those are fine qualities for man to have as well as a woman.” Admits Kyle proudly.
“I do too Kyle. But I assume there might be more you want to ask me about…” Luca trails off.
“Is it safe for her to carry your baby?”
“Kyle, we believe so. But it will be hard for her. That’s why I wanted you children here with her. There is always a possibility she won’t survive. She did die once immediately following childbirth, and she nearly died when Nora was born. Childbirth is risky, even for a demigoddess who seems to be half vampire.” Luca admits solemnly, his concern obvious on his face.
“You really love Mom don’t you, Luca?”
“More than I can express,” Luca says honestly.
“Are you good to her? My dad was a shit-head to her, even though he loved her. She doesn’t know that I know about the divorce and the rape and everything else he did to her, but I do.” Kyle’s voice is full of pain.
“Oh God, son, I am sorry you know all that. Morna tried hard to protect you children. But yes, to answer your question. I try very hard to be good to her. She is as you say, my soul mate, my one true mate. I would readily die for her.” Luca assures Kyle quietly.
“Yeah, I can see that. I am glad, she deserves devotion. Thank you.” Kyle says quietly and holds his hand out to shake Luca’s hand. Luca takes his hand and shakes it, and then suddenly he realizes Kyle is crying. Kyle wraps his arms around Luca and sobs. “I’m sorry. I really am not a big baby. I am just so relieved that you are a good man. I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do if you were a jerk like my dad, but I was determined not to let anyone hurt her anymore.” Luca just holds the young man in his arms and lets him cry it out. Eventually, Kyle pulls back and wipes his eyes. “I should be embarrassed, but I am not. I feel like I could share anything with you Luca.”
“You can, son, you really can. I will always try to be here for you.” Luca assures him.
“Yeah, I can see you mean that too. Thank you, I like it when you call me son. Do you mean it like a real son, or is it just an expression?” Kyle asks sincerely.
“I mean it, son, any child of Morna’s is like a child of mine. Who she treasures, I treasure!” Luca vows.
“Thank you Luca. I should warn you, I might like the idea of calling you Dad when I get used to being around you. Would that be okay?”
“Yes it certainly would!” Luca says with a huge smile on his face. “I would be honored if you wanted to call me Dad. You are a fine young man, so much like your mother, but I suspect even stronger in some ways.”
Kyle snorts like he doesn‘t agree with that assessment but grins at Luca. “We better get back, Mom will be worried.”
Luca laughs and says, “I should have warned you, we can hear conversations in another room as clear as though they are right beside us. We have very, very good hearing, sense of smell and vision. But your mom’s vision isn’t as good as mine. But her sense of smell is greater than mine. Your mom can move lightning fast too, Son.”
“COOL! But the hearing thing might be a challenge,” Kyle says thoughtfully and Luca laughs with him.
They return to the family and Morna meets them at the door, she hugs Kyle and says, “Sorry, baby, I thought I protected you better than I did. Forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive, Mom. You are Aces. Always have been.” And he hugs her back fiercely. He pulls back and nods toward Luca, “This guy is pretty cool too!”
At that moment Brynhold announces that dinner is ready. Morna goes over to pick up Aiden and take him to dinner, when he shakes his head no, he looks at Morna and she hears his voice in her head, “Can Luca take me in to dinner? I mean if he wants to.”
Morna looks at Luca, he understands immediately. He kneels before Aiden and says, “Aiden, I will happily take you into dinner. But I want to warn you, my skin feels very, very cold. Even colder than your Mom feels now. You okay with that?” Aiden nods and Luca smiles hugely and picks him up and gracefully carries him in to dinner.
Luca hears Aiden’s voice, “Mom shouldn’t be lifting me with a baby growing in her belly, right?”
“She’s very strong now, it is probably okay. But I am happy to do it for her. I like it that you are looking out for your Mom, she doesn’t take good care of herself all the time.” Luca whispers conspiratorially.
Aiden laughs and says telepathically to Luca, “She never has. She used to exhaust herself caring for me. Dad wouldn’t help, and she never complained, never acted like she was too tired to do everything for me. She’s really a good Mom.”
“I know she is, but she has help now, don’t worry about that Aiden.” Luca assures the tiny boy.
“Luca, she really loves you a lot. Be nicer to her than our Dad was, please.”
“I will son, I promise.” Luca says solemnly as he sits Aiden at the table. Aideen sits beside Aiden and asks if she can help him, he nods to her with a huge smile on his face. Then Aiden turns to Luca and telepathically asks him to sit on the other side of him. Luca nods and happily sits beside the little boy. Agnar sits by Aideen, Breena, and Damian are next to Agnar then Coll
ingwood. Morna sits between Collingwood and Nora, and finally Kyle sits between Valliant and Luca. Nora is happily hanging onto Grandpa, Valliant finally pulls her up into his lap. Morna giggles because it is obvious that her mate and father are in seventh heaven with her children. She looks at Collingwood, and he seems very, very happy to see the children settling in so well with their ‘new’ bigger family.
Brynhold serves the meal family style. There were no servants hovering over the table, which makes Morna very happy. She looks around the table and cannot help herself as tears of joy fall silently down her cheeks. She stifles the fleeting sense that something or someone is missing, and smiles at her family. Aiden sees her tears first and asks, “What’s wrong Mom?”
“Nothing is wrong Aiden. Everything is right for the first time in nearly 600 years. I am truly a woman blessed. I want to say grace if everyone will indulge me.’ Everyone bows their head and Morna says, “Heavenly Father, thank you for my family, and our dear ones with us here tonight. You have truly blessed us all, and me especially Lord. I am now and forever, your grateful servant. Amen.”
“Mama, have you always been a believer in the one true God?” asks Aideen thoughtfully.
“Yes I have Aideen. Weren’t you raised that way? It is your father’s and my belief system. I was raised catholic myself, but I can’t say I am actually a catholic, but I am a Christian.” Morna says with deep conviction.
“But after all you and Daddy have been through, you yet believe? And what about those Christians who believe Daddy is damned? Perhaps you as well, now” Aideen asks earnestly.
“They are wrong. There is no way Lucian Michaels is damned. God isn’t an illogical, unjust tyrant, it just isn’t possible!” Morna asserts vehemently.
“Even if I were damned Aideen, it wouldn’t matter. I would still serve Him, because He is God.” Luca asserts quietly.
Luca meets Morna’s gaze across the table. Their eyes lock and hold each other for several seconds and then Morna smiles happily and Luca returns her smile. Then Morna starts passing food around and seeing to her family’s needs. She happily watches Aideen properly prepare her little brother’s food and help him as he feeds himself, or rather tries to. Aideen skillfully gets enough food down him to meet his needs.