by Audra Hart
Mordir rushes to take her hands. “Madam, you look marvelous! I was concerned because you looked so exhausted and wan earlier.”
“I was pretty wiped out when I left the Healer‘s Hall, but I am fully recovered now. Please Mordir, I have asked you before to call me Morna,” She says with some exasperation.
“My apologies, Mad.. Morna.” Mordir says shyly.
“Mad Morna, I rather like it,” drawls Luca with a playfully wicked grin on his face. Morna elbows him and chuckles too. “I am sorry Mordir. I was teasing my wife and not you when I said that. As you can see, she looks marvelous.”
“How is Rodrigo?” Morna asks, her concern for the Stone Breaker evident on her face.
“He has had a hard day. Your antibodies are hard at work in his body, making changes at the cellular level. There is some pain. But I can already see the changes they are making. I am confident that this will work. I believe he will be completely cured,” Mordir says happily.
“Good!” Says Morna. “Let’s draw this blood and then go find Auggie. She promised me a lemon meringue pie earlier.”
Luca chuckles and goes to warn Auggie of Morna’s impending visit. Morna sits and Mordir prepares to draw blood. “Did Lucian resist my treatment plan?”
Morna chuckles, “Not too much. It was logical, and he can’t argue with logic.”
“You really should eat well and go back to sleep. I suspect your antibody levels are back where they were to begin with, but this was still a tiring experience and you have two more rounds to go. Please make sure you drink enough fluids. Continue with the blood every two hours. May I check on the baby?” Mordir asks.
“Certainly,” Morna says with a smile.
Mordir spends a few minutes with his hands over her swollen belly. Finally he looks up and smiles at Morna. “He is strong Morna, very strong!”
Morna smiles happily and invites Mordir to join her for pie. When they return to the family room Luca is helping Auggie serve pie to the family. Soon everyone is sitting around laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Morna snuggles up on the sofa with Aiden and Nora after eating two slices of pie and drinking two glasses of the special milk Thor sends over. She dozes peacefully listening to the light banter and jokes about Kylor’s unmatched skill at Monopoly.
After an hour Luca gently picks Morna up and carries her to their bed. He snuggles in beside her, and holds her close to his body. He places his hand on her belly and focuses on the child. Contentment fills his mind and heart as he thinks about all the opportunities he will have to do the ordinary things that fathers do with their sons all the time. He relishes the prospect of teaching the boy to tie his shoes, teaching him manners, and Spell Weaver lore. He daydreams about explaining love and sex to him as a teenager. He wonders how the accelerated aging will affect their relationship, but he looks forward joyously to every minute as this child’s father.
Morna rolls over and kisses him gently and says, “You will be a wonderful father to our son, just as you are a wonderful father to our other children. Forgive me for not realizing how much you had truly missed out on. At times I honestly almost forget that you weren’t present for all those firsts with Kyle, Aiden and Nora as I was. It just seems so right with you as their father, I forget… Forgive me.”
Luca pulls back and stares at Morna in disbelief. “How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“Weren’t you speaking about your feelings?” Morna asks in confusion.
“No Morna, I was daydreaming about being a full time father to our son. But I didn’t say a word,” Luca says in consternation. “How could you possibly know what I was thinking about?”
“I don’t know Luca. I was lying here sleeping and then suddenly I could hear you speaking with joy and contentment about Madigan. It made my heart soar to hear you speak like that.”
Morna and Luca are both silent for a long while, when suddenly Morna says, “There are moments when I feel like I know things from Madigan, like the future and such. Perhaps, he was somehow picking up on what you were thinking and sharing it with me? Does that even seem possible?”
“Morna, this child is like none other in existence. Who knows what he can do?” Luca kisses her with all the love and tenderness he feels in his heart for her. “I am very closely linked with our son, my spell, my very consciousness is wrapped around him in your womb. And I did have my hands on your belly. Perhaps he could hear my thoughts and somehow passed them on to you. You must admit that we have seen even stranger things in our lives. Hell, we are stranger things than that.” Both of them laugh at the truth of that statement.
After several moments of silence, Morna says, “If he is that aware of us, does he know, I mean does he understand what we …”
“Love, are you worried about traumatizing our child with our loving?” Luca asks with a chuckle.
Morna giggles and says, “Well yes, I guess that I am.”
“Well Morna, it’s not like he can see us. At most he can sense the emotions we create in each other. Our love and passion for each other are not a bad thing for any child to feel from his parents.” Luca chuckles and says, “Well our kind of passion might be a little confusing. But he is a product of that passion, he will be capable of the same thing… Don’t worry baby. I am confident that our loving doesn’t hurt our son.” Luca assures his mate.
Morna kisses her mate again and snuggles into his arms. “I am grateful that our son allowed me to know how much you look forward to raising him. It fills me with joy.” Morna practically melts when Luca kisses her and lovingly caresses her back. “But I need to do something that you might not like. I need to go to Airendell and check on everyone there. I have a sense that something there needs my attention.”
Luca sighs softly. “Fine Morna. Rest for a bit, then you can eat supper and go. I had Fionn go explain to Eurig why you weren’t able to see him this morning, but I too have been feeling that we need to go to Airendell.” Luca hugs her tight and kisses the top of her head. “I should go get you some more blood.”
“Please,” Says Morna as she slips out of bed to head for the necessary. When she looks in the mirror and is relieved to see that she looks much more rested and healthier than she did earlier today. She strips out of her clothes and saunters into their bedroom in her bra and panties. She sits cross legged on the bed and slowly drinks the blood her mate brings to her. “Mordir contacted me while I was in the bathroom and said that my blood work was good. I am ready for round two of the healing rite. He wants me to come to the Healer’s Hall at four a.m. to collect the plasma. That way I can perform the rite at the same time that I did it this morning. Rodrigo is doing better. He’s awake and feeling stronger. He is eating and spending time with his family.”
Luca smiles and takes the empty glass from his mate and sets it on the bedside table. He pulls the covers back and tells her to rest. She complies but pulls him towards her and says simply, “Love me.”
Luca readily complies. He smiles happily afterwards when she immediately falls into a deep sleep. Two hours later she awakens to find Luca gone. Morna smiles happily as she remembers their loving today and dresses in the same jeans and top she wore earlier. She is struggling to put on her boots when Kylor knocks on the door to their bedroom. Morna calls for him to come in as she struggles with the boots. Kylor can’t help himself, he has to laugh when he sees his mother in her predicament.
Morna laughs and throws a pillow at her son. “Smart ass! You try to put on boots with another person growing in your belly. I am so glad Madigan will be born in four days. I am quickly becoming as helpless as a beached whale.”
“Nonsense Mother! You are anything but helpless. Perhaps you are less agile right now than you would like. But I would not want to meet you on the battlefield, even in this condition.” Morna snorts derisively. Kylor raises an eyebrow and pats the bed for her to sit back down and kneels before her to help her put her boots on. “Come on Mother. Auggie has dinner ready for you. She has prepared somet
hing called meatloaf for you.” Kylor pulls a face as he tries to imagine what that might be. Morna laughs when she realizes how different Kylor’s and Aideen’s childhood had been from those of Kyle, Aiden and Nora.
“Well I love meatloaf, but I hope for the sake of your youngest siblings that Auggie is better at making it than I ever was. They would groan every time I made it for dinner,” Morna says with a laugh as she and Kylor make their way to the family dining room off the main hall.
“Auggie told Kyle that she didn’t know how to make it, so she made a trip to Midgard to research recipes and techniques. Whatever she came up with smells wonderful,” Kylor admits.
“She went all the way to Midgard to learn how to make meatloaf?” Morna asks incredulously. “These Asgardians take their jobs seriously don’t they?”
“They do Mother. But she wasn’t motivated only by her duty to keep you well fed, she also wants to please you. Your gratitude when someone does something for you is a real pleasure to receive.” Kylor explains quietly. “I have been impressed by your ability to make people strive to do their best in all situations. I often watched you in your lives with the mortals.”
“Kylor, I realized that after you were reunited with us.” She strokes his face and all the joy she feels at having her son back is clearly shown on her face. “I had sensed you many times over the lifetimes. I just didn’t understand what I was feeling.” Morna hugs her oldest son to her and then leans back to look at him. “Luca and I are so happy to have you back in our lives Kylor. The hole is our hearts is fully healed.” Morna smiles happily but wonders at the other, undefined emptiness in her heart. She shakes her head and smiles brightly at her firstborn.
“Mine too, Mother.” Kylor says as he holds his mother, as closely as her huge belly will allow, and savors the warmth of her love and acceptance. “Mother, after we eat, and before you go to Airendell, I have something that I want to teach everyone in the family to do. I have a feeling that it will prove useful in the days to come.”
“What might that be?” Morna asks as she lovingly pats her son’s handsome face.
“Teleportation.” Kylor says simply.
“You can teleport?” Morna says in amazement. “That would indeed be a useful talent to have. But is it a skill that can simply be taught?”
“Yes, Mother. When I was I a child, I would go among the mortals. I had a childhood friend that I was especially close to. His name was Mario. We were the same age, at that time. He was fully mortal, but I taught him how to do it. He was a valiant warrior. This skill saved his life many times. He died a very old man, surrounded by his huge, loving family.” Kylor smiles as he remembers his long lost friend. “If a mortal with absolutely no magic in his being can learn to do it over time, then the members of this very talented magical family can certainly master it in short order.”
Morna smiles at the confidence Kylor has in his family’s abilities. But she agrees with him wholeheartedly and looks forward to learning the skill. By now they have arrived in the dining room. Morna is happy to see all of her children, her mate, her father and grandfather. Breena and Damian are present, but lost in their own world of newfound love and great expectations that couples experience when their first child is on the way. Morna’s Elvish mentor, Collingwood is there, along with Luca’s mother, Bellona. Valliant’s mate, Gullveig and the young seer Samantha are also there. Ingrid and Annie are on hand as well. Morna greets everyone happily and is delighted when Heimdall enters. “I couldn’t resist a chance to try this dish called meatloaf, after Auggie explained why she wanted to travel to Midgard this morning,” Heimdall says with a chuckle.
Morna looks around and wonders where Rinda is. Heimdall guesses who she is looking for. “Rinda won’t be joining us. She has decided to reopen her home in Airendell. She plans to resume her role as a lore teacher among the young Spell Weavers. You know that she always supported your position that all persons born to the Guild should be exposed to the lore of your people. Besides, her annual two month rotation in the Airendell Warriors begins in a few weeks.”
Morna looks at Luca in surprise and asks, “Do you mean that all of our friends have continued to serve their two month rotations? For all these centuries?”
“Certainly love. Our personal lives may take us around the world, but we take our duty to the Guild seriously.” Luca says quietly.
“Everyone but me. I have failed the Guild for centuries.” Morna says sadly.
“You have not Pretty Morna.” Elias insists adamantly upon entering the hall and hearing that last statement. “Morna, you know how often you served in your role as Protector. You would be drawn to the gateways, even to Airendell when the need arose. True, you did not serve a set rotation annually, but you never failed to come when you were needed. You served your Guild admirably since you were ten years old. Considering that you are now eight hundred and forty two years old, I think that is an astounding record of service.”
“I know that Elias. And thank you so very much for reminding me of my age,” Morna says with a dry chuckle. “But I should have actually been there all those years. People like Archer, yourself, Fionn and others had to step up and fill in for my absence.”
“Yes, and they have become stronger for it,” Breena says sincerely. “Besides Morna, if you had been there, posing a daily thorn in Mother’s side, she would have found a way to end your life permanently. What happened in your life happened because it needed to. I am not being fatalistic, I am just confident that you are doing exactly what you need to do for the good of the Guild and your family.”
Aideen comes out of the kitchen with the baskets of dinner rolls she had prepared and sets them on the large table. “Mama! Knock it off! Stop blaming yourself for things you couldn’t control. We talked about this, you and I. We promised to work on those inner feelings that propel us to do stupid things.” Morna looks at her oldest daughter with immense pride. Not too long ago Aideen was cursed to fall in love with her own father and had tried to kill Morna. Aideen has certainly come a long ways since then. Morna looks around the room and realizes that they all have. Morna smiles happily, knowing she has much to be thankful for.
Aideen laughs and walks over to take her mother’s hands and lead her to the table. “Auggie and I have worked very hard on this meal. Well Kyle helped too, but I can tell you that he was not very enthused about the idea of making meatloaf for dinner.”
Morna laughs and hugs her oldest daughter. “Ladybug, when you are right, you are right.” The family and friends take their seats at the table. Kylor says the grace over the meal and they all start chatting happily and passing the food around and filling their plates. The food is excellent and the spirits of all in attendance are light and open.
After several minutes Luca leans over and kisses his mate’s cheek. “I am going to go check on a few things before we go to Airendell.” Morna quickly suppresses the overwhelming urge that she feels to accompany him, and smiles brightly before kissing him goodbye and returning her attention to her family. After a few minutes she meets Agnar’s eyes and quickly looks away. She knows full well that he and others at the table are well aware of how much she wanted to go with her mate. But Agnar is the only one who might call her on it.
After Morna finishes her meal and compliments the cooks on a job very well done, she goes over to talk more with Heimdall. “So Rinda has moved out?” When Heimdall only nods, Morna continues. “I guess that is my fault?”
“No Morna. We have our seasons together and Rinda has been incredibly restless this time. She is looking for something that I cannot give her. Besides, she would have moved out anyway to serve her rotation in the Airendell warriors. Do not blame yourself.” Heimdall says softly. “I miss her, but I am not bonded to her as you are to Luca. It is not the same for us.” Heimdall hugs his goddaughter lovingly and pats her shoulder reassuringly. “Aideen is right, you still insist on blaming yourself for things you had no control over.”
“Sorry.” Morna says quiet
ly. “I guess old habits die hard.” She senses Agnar behind her and turns to face him with a wry smile on her face.
“Speaking of old habits…” Agnar pats his breast pocket of his suit coat and says, “Join me in the garden?”
Morna chuckles and says, “You are a bad influence, but I will gladly join you. Thank you for the invitation.” She follows Agnar to the garden and eases her bulk onto the same bench she sat upon approximately thirty-six hours before. “I am not making the wisest choice for my child. I should not smoke while I carry him.” Morna says honestly.
“Well, if you were an ordinary pregnant woman and you carried an ordinary child that might be true. But Mordir and Reagan both agree that your body protects the child from anything that might even be remotely harmful to him, and he is so strong that he can withstand much without any harm befalling him. Rest easy sister, I asked Reagan personally three days ago. I had felt your fleeting cravings over the last few weeks. I know how much you miss smoking.”
“Why in heaven’s name did a Vanir god ever start smoking?” Morna asks as she takes a deep draw from her cigarette.
“During one of my jaunts to Midgard. I developed a fondness for slender, petite women, marijuana, scotch whiskey and smoking cigarettes.” Agnar laughs and says, “Considering your history with Rinda, and your time in El Paso, we seem to have similar weaknesses.”
“I only fancied one slender, petite woman. You know that. Why are you so fascinated with my past relationship with Rinda? You were very interested when I was a sixteen year old, and you still are. What gives Agnar?”
“Your sexual affair with her confused me. I knew for a fact that you were attracted to men, passionately attracted. You are a very sensual, sexual person by nature. But you never felt any attraction to another woman in all the years I was around you.”
“Because I was attracted to Rinda, the person, not her body. For me, our bond was never based on sexual attraction. You are right, women in general do not appeal to me. They never have.” Morna admits. “Why do you say I am a very sexual person? Do you think I am some sort of harlot?”
