by Rain Oxford
“But Vretial can get to him?”
“When Sammy is not with Ronez, yes. If Vretial really did survive.”
“What spell?” Vivian asked. We had never actually explained to her that a dark god, which we had supposedly defeated, was after her child. It was not a fun conversation.
That night, Sammy slept peacefully with no fear of the dark. He had no nightmares or visits and the next morning, I woke to his laughing. I could sense that he and Divina were in the kitchen even before I opened my eyes. I sat up and rubbed sleep out of my eyes with a contented sigh.
Our bedroom had me a bit spoiled. Before I lived here, the house was dark and a bit creepy on the inside with skulls and candles everywhere. It would remind me of the classic old witch’s house deep in the forest.
The house was enchanted to make the exterior seem small and cozy, but inside it was quite a bit larger. Whereas there was no paint or décor before, now the bedroom had some dark colors and satin. The house still had the skulls, candles, creepy roots, and potions lying around, but with the addition of some children’s toys strewn about. There were children’s fairytales next to Divina’s magic grimoires. It was more comfortable. Other modifications to the house included indoor plumbing… which ran on magic instead of electricity.
My own touches were minimal, since I had never developed the habit of accumulating possessions. There wasn’t much I needed when there was no electricity. I tried getting a laptop before, but my magic caused it to crash constantly.
It was Divina that made it a home for me.
I got up to find Ronez not in his crib, so I followed the sounds to the kitchen. It wasn’t a large kitchen, but it was a bit perkier than the rest of the house. A dark red, wooden kitchen table dominated the middle of the room. To the right of the door was a large ice chest that just mysteriously kept cool. I had to be careful about reaching into it without looking, because Divina loved experimenting with potions and sometimes her… ingredients, had to be kept cold. Along the south wall was a dark wood counter with a simple metal sink and cabinets above it.
Sammy sat on the table, mixing the contents of a huge bowl. The concoction looked suspiciously like pancake batter, which I could determine because he had it and flour all over him. Divina had Ronez in her arms and was engaging his entire focus with a rattle toy.
Sammy held out the spoon to her, dripping everywhere except on the infant. “Taste,” he insisted. She leaned over to lick the spoon, then made a face.
“It needs chocolate,” she declared.
Sammy jumped up, yelling with joy and nearly dropping the bowl to the floor. Divina easily steadied him with one hand and helped him down from the table. I knew she only suggested chocolate to make him happy, because she hated that stuff. Sammy ran to the cabinet under the counter to grab the bottle of chocolate, turned to run back with his treasure, and froze when he saw me.
“Dad! We wanted to bring you breakfast in bed,” he said, upset that his surprise was spoiled. My heart still skipped a beat after so many months of him calling me that. When he was safe from the demon and reunited with his parents, he called them “mommy,” and “daddy.” While he stopped calling me and Mordon “dada,” and “mama,” he now called us “dad,” and “mom.” He never explained it, even though he stopped hiding his ability to speak well beyond the natural ability of a child his age.
Divina’s notion was that he actually had little to no control over his power until he came in contact with mine. The longer we were together, the more his power surfaced, and his mental processing was the first to be affected, followed closely by his linguistic skills.
“That sounds great, but it might be cleaner to eat in here. You know I get crumbs in the bed because I’m human,” I joked.
“You’re human? That explains some things,” Mordon jested, entering the kitchen silently. I hadn’t realized he was here, so he must have been trying to sneak up on us.
“Mom!” Sammy screamed and ran to him.
I moved out of the way, then leaned down to give Divina a kiss. Ronez stirred and she handed him to me, carefully supporting his head. That was probably the thing she was most vigilant about.
Shinobu crawled up my leg to settle on my shoulder. She sniffed at Ronez, but knew not to get too close. Bored with what she saw, she hopped onto the table and started licking up the spilled batter.
“Morning, Mordon. Weren’t you here to bug us yesterday?” I asked.
Sammy gasped. “He doesn’t mean it, Mom.”
“I know. Besides…” he shot me a fake glare, “I went through all the trouble to bring him something.”
On cue, Edward walked in. He looked tired from his travels, but still narrowed right in on Ronez. We had kept the name a secret from him, just in case Regivus was wrong and we had a girl. When I told him my baby was named after his twin brother, I heard his breath catch. He held Ronez gently. He was huge compared to that baby, but was so gentle.
He ruffled my hair. “You did good, kid.”
“Well, not good,” I corrected with a sigh.
Divina laughed. Edward was more of a father to me than anyone else, and I had him as a role model. I could be a good father because I had one… it just came a little later in life than for most people.
Standing in this kitchen with my immortal wife, my father-like uncle, my brother-like best friend, my unrelated son, and my impossible newborn, I never felt more at home. It didn’t matter where we were, what happened, or even what would come next. This was my family.
* * *
It was bittersweet when Vivian and Nano took Sammy back, only to return the next morning because they couldn’t calm him down. Vivian set Sammy down on the floor to discuss our options. When we came to no conclusions, I realized it was quiet. We found Sammy had crawled into Ronez’s crib and they were both sound asleep.
Nano was Guardian of Dios and could not live on Duran. Sammy was being haunted by a dark god and could not stray far from Ronez. Vivian had a horrible decision to make; leave her mate, or leave her son. Until Ronez was old enough to actively use his magic, we could not risk that Vretial was not truly gone.
Vivian left with her husband and Sammy was ours for the next few years. I thought Divina would be upset, but she genuinely cared about Sammy. A few days after Sammy’s parents said goodbye to him, he crawled into my bed. Divina and I were reading, having put both boys to bed, so we didn’t expect it. He sniffled, his eyes puffy and red. “Did Mommy not want me anymore? Was I bad? Was I too weird?”
I hugged him and Divina ruffled his hair. “No, honey. Your parents love you very much.”
“They left me. They’re not coming back.”
“They…” I started to disagree when I saw the look in his eyes. “You saw this? You saw the future?” I asked.
He nodded and started crying. “They won’t take me back. Why, Dad? What did I do?”
Children always thought it was their fault. My own mother thought I was too weird, but I would never tell Sammy this, because it was different. Vivian was a good woman who loved her son for everything he was. My mother was a nightmare.
“I don’t know why they aren’t coming back, but it’s not because of anything you did. They left because they love you and want you to be happy and safe. We think you are safer here.”
“With Ron?”
“Yes.”
“Vretial doesn’t talk to me when Ron is close.” He was quiet for a few minutes. “I’m going to be a Guardian someday, like you, right?”
“Yes. You will be the Guardian of Lore, the new planet of Avoli’s. You met him, remember?” I asked.
He nodded. “I think he was good, like you.”
“Are you okay being the Guardian?”
“Yes, Dad. I can protect that world from monsters. I will make sure Avoli stays good and doesn’t do anything bad. You can trust me to watch him. When do I have to go?” he asked.
I wondered why he thought his job was to babysit a god. “When you are all grown up. You
have lots of time. Lore isn’t even ready for a Guardian yet. You can tell him to make sure the world has plenty of water for you to swim in,” I said. The child could be an Olympian medalist on Earth when he got older, which was odd, because he was half dile and dile were known to sink. None of them could swim.
* * *
Over the next year, life settled down for us. Divina was bored out of her mind and left the house for days at a time to have her own adventures. I wanted to be out in the world, too… but we had a tiny baby to care for, and it always fell to me. I wished my boys had their mother around a little more, but she was a god and couldn’t endure sitting around.
Teaching Sammy was great; he was eager to learn and highly skilled in all subjects, from math to magic. Ronez grew from a beautiful little baby to a wonderful, small child. He was happy all the time. He would follow Sammy around, first by crawling, then by walking. He was an inquisitive boy who wanted to observe everything. Even when he never spoke, he was always watching. Ron grew from a baby who almost never cried to a child who never whined. Leaving him alone seemed to be the worst thing we could ever do. I wondered how a child could look so abandoned when I left him in his crib to give Sammy a bath.
Sammy insisted on Ron being everywhere with us. Most children his age would be jealous of a new baby, but Sammy was very protective. Sammy knew when Ronez was upset, even if Ron didn’t show it.
By the time Ron was two, I knew their sibling bond was permanent. I also started to doubt myself as a parent. Ron had always been such a good baby… but he never talked. Even Sammy spoke at two, and Ron was half Iadnah. I couldn’t confide my fears to Divina, because I knew she would blame and doubt herself.
Sammy took it in stride. He would tell us what Ron wanted and thought. My son would never disagree or even seem upset by it. Furthermore, if we asked Ron a question, he would often look at Sammy, who would answer for him. When asked about it, Sammy would say that Ron didn’t want to talk.
Sammy was six when I enrolled him in a small village school on Shomodii. He was miserable about it, but I told him it was good for him to be in the world on his own and to make friends his own age. I had been homeschooling him because he was too brilliant to be in a regular school.
Two days later, he was suspended for fighting… in the Duran equivalent of first grade. I asked him why and he said that he hated school and he wanted to stay home. His teachers had never had a problem with him, but they believed he was a terribly depressed child. He cried the entire way home when I told him I was disappointed. I wanted to cry too, for I must have made a horrible mistake somewhere in the previous four years that made him antisocial. Children were supposed to want to start school. Normal kids wanted to make friends.
Ronez and Divina were waiting for us on the porch. Ron hugged him and they went to their room. Ron was four and he never spoke. Sammy was six and he was fighting with other kids. I told Divina that I understood how Edward felt before I broke down. The only thing I did right for the next few days was keep my mouth shut. It was the longest I ever went without talking, because if I spoke, I would hurt someone I loved. I knew more than anyone how badly words could hurt.
Mordon and Edward visited, but I couldn’t talk about it. The last thing I wanted was to say the wrong thing in front of one of my sons. It was so tempting though, when Mordon tried to talk to me in my mind. By the third day of my silence, I knew I was hurting my family anyway; the house was quiet. Sammy and Ronez didn’t laugh and Divina walked on eggshells around me.
I was alone at the springs when I felt his presence behind me. I didn’t bother to look or greet the god. He sat down beside me to my shock. For shame; a powerful god sitting in the grass.
“Something is wrong with Ron. He’s never said a word. Sammy is antisocial because he spent the majority of his life alone with his family.”
I looked at Regivus. The gods all chose their appearances for one reason or another. Divina chose hers to be beautiful to any man, because it helped her get what she wanted after she took a physical form. Apparently, it was also affected by their actual personalities, which was why Azenoth always looked short-tempered to me. When I first met him, Regivus modified his normal form to mimic a man in my past who tried to take my life. After it failed to scare me off, the ancient god decided to remain that way for no other reason than that it suited him.
His black hair was immaculately combed back, which was fitting for the god’s no-nonsense demeanor, while his dark brown eyes could have been humanoid if not for the supernatural hint of copper. He was tall, but not the tallest man I knew, and willowy, but not scrawny by any means. Although his appearance once bothered me, it now seemed to suit him well. In fact, he didn’t remind me at all of Alec. Instead, I thought of Regivus as a god who would never try to spare my feelings or inhibit my magic to protect me, who was above lying altogether.
“Something is even more wrong with me. I miss being out there. I’ve been a dad for four years and that’s all. I want to be a Guardian again. Divina doesn’t even send me to Earth for errands; she goes herself or sends Edward. I’m a horrible person.”
“Because you miss adventure?”
“Because I want to get my kids into school so I can get out of the house. Now I have to homeschool Sammy and I’ll never get out. I’m a parent and that’s all I’ll ever be and I am a horrible person because I…”
“You don’t want to be a parent?”
“I…” I hesitated. “I don’t know. I love Sammy and Ron so much… but I miss being who I was before.”
Then he did something that left me speechless; he flicked a few blades a grass at me. “You have two young children who are growing up at every minute. Someday they will be gone, living on another world even. Your youngest can walk. More importantly, he may not be able to talk, but he can run for his life. Sammy was even younger than him when you were running from the Ancient. You watch them at home. They wake up, they do whatever, and they go to sleep. Of course you’re bored. You humans are known for that. So go out. Take the kids and mate on an adventure.”
“Like what?”
“Just travel around. I guarantee for a family as powerful as yours, danger and excitement will find you. Possibly an ancient monster, possibly a demon. Who cares, right? You should take the dragon child, too.”
I sat there fantasizing for a while. Could I really take Sammy and Ron out in the world? Ron is only four. It could be dangerous.
“You overthink things. How much trouble could your children get into with a god and a powerful Noquodi watching over them? Show them the world now and open their eyes. This is a crucial time in their development.”
“Would you help Ron?”
“I will take a look and see if I can figure out why he cannot talk.”
We flashed back to the house to find Sammy and Ron sitting on the porch. “Where’s your mother?” I asked. We usually didn’t let them outside alone at night, as there were some strange people wandering about Shomodii.
Sammy pointed behind him. They both looked miserable. “Divina and Mom are arguing in the kitchen.”
I turned to Regivus, but he waved me ahead. I trusted him to watch over my kids. I certainly didn’t want to make them go into the house if there was arguing; that was one thing I tried my hardest to shield them from. Just as Sammy had said, I found Divina and Mordon in a fierce argument. They both stopped and turned to me when I walked in. Mordon’s eyes were black, as they normally were when he was angry, but I could feel the lack of connection in them. Mordon and I were best friends for seven years, so there was a look of acknowledgement and recognition in him when he saw me, even when his eyes were black. This time there was none.
“Hello, Rojan. Long time no see.” I meant Rojan in particular; I saw Mordon all the time. My friend was fully mature, almost the exact same height as myself, and a little heavier built. He was no longer the scrawny young man trying to escape a life of being a king that he was when I first met him.
“It is uncanny
how you always know it is me, Dylan. Nice to see you.”
“Somehow I doubt that. What brings you out? Is Mordon okay?”
“He is for now, yes. We do have a problem, though. One I was hoping you could assist us with,” he said. His eyes shifted back to normal, one ice blue and one striking purple. He was himself again.
“I’ll always help, you know that,” I said to Mordon.
“I know you would, but Divina here wants you to stay home.”
She glared at him before turning to me, her deep blue eyes pleading and mournful. “I have to go take care of some stuff with my brothers and I need you to watch the boys for a few days,” she said. “If there was any way I could get out of this, I would, but I can’t. Please. I know I leave you all alone too much, but---”
“Of course I’ll watch them,” I said, cutting her off. Mordon immediately looked wounded and startled, since I would never refuse helping him and Rojan when they needed me. “As long as Mordon’s okay with them coming with us. Otherwise we’ll have to get Edward to babysit or Vivian and Nano. Hell, even Nila would volunteer. You don’t worry about it. Go deal with your grouchy brothers and I’ll make sure the kids are accounted for. I’ll even do a headcount to make sure we all make it back safely.”
“What about… Ron.”
“Your grouchiest brother is outside, babysitting and diagnosing.”
“Ren?” she asked, using her nickname for the older god. I laughed because we both considered him to be the grouchiest, but really, he was very wise and offered me sound advice on many occasions.
We all entered the living room, where the door was opened about a foot, to see them having a conversation outside. By conversation, I mean that Regivus was talking to Ron and Sammy was answering. The boys must not have realized we were there. Sammy confessed that he got in a fight at school because he hated the other kids and missed his brother. He explained how I was mad at him and wouldn’t talk to either of them since. When he told the god that he was sorry for causing me to be mad at them all, I felt horrible. Sammy thought that I was angry with Ron because of him and apparently, Ron was miserable.
