It wasn't his place, Robert knew that. He barely knew the girl and undoubtedly not well enough to consider her his sister. But she was his sister and whether he had the right to intervene or not, he was doing it.
He had seen the man lurking around the edges of the property for the last few weeks when he was picking up or dropping Calla off, despite feeling the girl could quite easily transport herself if she wanted to, and he had grown curious. Enough so to swallow his pride and call Jezebel to ask her.
"Tha' sounds like Rhodes, Eva's ex-boyfriend. Boy did a real number on 'er when he left the first time," Jez had explained, not thinking Robert would do anything about it.
And why should she have? Robert had made it a point to keep his distance and she had thought he was only asking because he had some protectiveness when it came to his own daughter.
But, as it turned out, he felt some shred attachment to Eva as well. Which was why, after Calla was inside, did he double back to deal with Rhodes.
"I think we need to have a chat," the demon stated plainly, giving the other no time to react before the bar was suddenly gone from his line of sight, replaced by the interior of a worn down, abandoned warehouse.
"Fucking demon, I swear," Rhodes swore, turning to face the strange man. He had never seen him before and he was fairly certain no one new had been hired on at the bar either. "Who the hell are you and why am I any business of yours?"
"Evangaline's eldest brother," he answered quietly, giving the other a rather reproachful look. "Is there a reason you're stalking my little sister?"
"Oldest brother?" Rhodes asked, confused as he began going through what he knew of Eva's family. He knew Dex and Nia were the oldest at the bar, he knew Lilith was older even than Nia, but this clearly was not Dex. That only left... "The dead one?" Maybe not the best way to phrase it, but he couldn't remember the name to save his life.
Robert found no amusement in the choice of words, but that could be addressed later. "Answer my question before I make you answer it."
"I'm not stalking her, I'm not that stupid," he started, holding his hands up before Robert could intervene. "I'm waiting for someone to show up. One of my cousins is supposed to be making his way to the bar. He got split up from his older brother and needs a safe place to go. The last time I saw Eva was two weeks ago. We met up for lunch. She told me about the guy she's been seeing and I asked her if my cousin could come here. Nothin' more, nothin' less. You can even ask her," he explained, understanding why anyone in her family would take issue with him being around and figuring she hadn't told anyone that the two of them were on at least semi-decent terms these days.
Robert took it into consideration, planning on asking Eva about it later just to verify. "Do not let me find out you are lying about any of this," he warned before turning on his heel and strolling towards the door. "We're in Eureka, by the way. I assume you can find your own way back."
"Fucking demons," Rhodes muttered again, shaking his head as he watched the other disappear, relieved at least that he didn't have that long of a trek back to the bar.
Character(s)::Robert and Eva
Word Count::887
@babyitsmagic because Yin will be proud xD
~*~
Robert had nearly ignored Calla's call to pick her back up, but given the choice between that or dealing with Yin if she called him, he was taking the quickest possible annoyance. He didn't think picking her up would lead to any more uncomfortable conversations, but he should have known better.
He recognized the girl from the last time he had been near the property. She had been play fighting with their mother, laughing and happy. He wondered for a moment if she remembered that day as vividly as he did but he didn't want to find out either. They might have been blood, but that didn't make them family.
He had planned to ignore her, to walk inside and collect his hardheaded daughter, but Eva reached for him, dropping her hand before she got the chance to touch him. It was just enough to get Robert to still, turning his attention to her.
"You're Robert, right? Mom's oldest?"
He hadn't expected her to know his name and it startled him. It meant she had mentioned him at least once before and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"I am," he answered, offering no further information, waiting to see what else she might know.
The confirmation made her smile, eyes lighting up in the dull dusk. "Finally. I thought for sure you were going to stay the last time but you took off before I got the chance to meet you," she rambled, seemingly excited to be speaking to him. "Honestly, we've all asked mom about a million questions about you over the years."
"Why?" He didn't mean to come across as hostile, but he didn't trust her. Why on earth would she, or any of them, want to know about him?
Her smile wilted, regret over opening her mouth quickly pushing out the excitement. "Why wouldn't we want to know about you?"
The question hadn't been expected and Robert frowned, looking the girl over a little more closely. There was a resemblance between her and his daughter and he wondered why he hadn't seen that before.
"What's your name?"
He had never cared to know before, but the words were out of his mouth before he could think better of it and it was too late to take it back. Especially when she smiled again, albeit more cautiously this time.
"Evangeline, but I mostly go by Eva," she answered, hoping that this meant he was more open to the idea of getting to know her.
Eva. One of the twins then, he had been right. He knew their names, all of them, and he knew a little about each one of them as well. He had, after all, met Jezebel on several occasions and she had given him a list "just in case". He hadn't wanted it, but curiosity had gotten the best of him and he had read it. He re-read it every time she gave him an updated list. Despite how he felt about this place, about the family his mother had made for herself, there had still been a part of him that had wanted so desperately to be included. He wondered if Jezebel had guessed that.
"Why did you want to know about me?"
Eva hesitated at that, unsure if she should answer honestly or not before deciding to just lay it all out. "Mom still talks about you. She keeps your birthday marked in the calendar every year. Same with Edmund's and Margaret's. The last time you showed up, she was a mess after. She wants to work things out but she don't know how. She ain't lookin' for forgiveness, doesn't think she deserves it, but she still loves you. She never stopped lovin' you. So we all grew up knowing about you because you're important to mom."
The sincerity of her words sang through him and a part of him wished she was lying. It would be easier if she had lied.
"I am only here to retrieve something of mine. I do not intend to make this a habit."
"I'm gonna guess that would be Calla who may or may not have set you up. Again."
Robert pinched the bridge of his nose at that, realizing that there was no one else milling about despite the hour. He should have caught on sooner to just how odd it was that the only person sitting outside the bar was one of his siblings.
"And I just lost five bucks because she said that would be your reaction."
"She may just prove to be the most stubbornly annoying child I have ever had the misfortune of meeting," he sighed, unable to hide the small twinge of affection he was beginning to feel towards his daughter. Even worse, he realized, he was beginning to actually think of the girl as his child even though he had insisted quite vehemently that he wanted nothing to do with her. Yin was never going to let him live this down.
Eva laughed at that and reached for the door, figuring she wouldn't press her luck any further tonight. She had a feeling her newfound niece was going to make a habit out of this. "It's definitely genetic."
"So it would seem," he agreed, following her inside with only the smallest moment of hesitation.
Character(s)::Calla, Robert, and Cord
Word Count:: 2,388
@babyitsmagic because I know you’ve been waiting for this one and @unconventional-weapons because this opens up Robert meeting his siblings
~*~
"No. I don't want Yin or one of your siblings to take me. She's your mother and if anyone should be introducing me to her, it should be you."
They had been having this fight for nearly an hour now with no real end in sight. She was stubborn, Robert would give her that. He knew he should have expected that, stubbornness was genetic and her mother had been just as headstrong. It was interesting, seeing what parts of them the girl had managed to inherit, but it was also exhausting.
"Yes, she is technically my mother, but we have been estranged for over three hundred years. I see no reason to change that just because you exist."
Calla crossed her arms and glared, refusing to back down. Yin had warned her this was a fight she might not be able to win, but she had spent years following the ley lines to find where she belonged, she could wear him down if she had to.
"You were the leading cause of my mother's death. Your mother was the last person she trusted. You owe both of us this and you know I'm right."
That was definitely more of a line he would have used to try manipulating a situation and, for a moment, Robert wasn't sure if he should be proud or annoyed. He was leaning more towards annoyed.
"I am hardly the one that put a gun in your mother's hand and I most certainly am not the one that pulled the trigger either. Try a different tactic. And, before it crosses your little mind, tears do not work on me."
Calla huffed, sulking for a moment before she remembered just how close they were to a nearly dormant ley line. One she could easily wake up and use to force his hand.
"You can take me willingly or I can force you there. I think we both know I can use the ley lines well enough to keep you locked to one," she replied sweetly, giving her best, most innocent look despite the obvious threat.
Robert set aside the book he had been trying to read, finally taking his unexpected daughter more seriously. "I think we both know that will not end well for you," he warned, giving her a rather sharp look.
"And I think we both know if you try to retaliate in any way, you'll have to deal with Yin. Which one of us has a better chance of winning in that situation?"
"For a girl not raised around either side of her family, you certainly are a manipulative little thing. It's almost impressive."
The comment should have made her feel bad, made her back down, but it was the closest to a compliment she had gotten from her father and some little part of her craved that validation.
"So when do we leave?"
Robert didn't answer as he rose to his feet and grabbed her arm, pleased that he had managed to startle her before the room disappeared from around them, leaving them standing at the edge of his mother's property. He wanted to simply leave her there at the edge, let her make her own way from there, but he had a nasty feeling that wasn't going to be good enough.
The touch had been startling enough but nowhere near as disorienting as teleportation was and Calla stumbled a little, Robert's grip on her arm the only thing keeping her upright until the wave of vertigo passed.
"Thanks for the warning, dad," she groused as she tugged her arm free and glared at him.
"Don't call me dad and I did exactly what you wanted. I brought you to your grandmother's property. Call Yin when you're ready to leave."
"No, I said I wanted you to introduce me to her. That means you actually have to go inside with me."
Robert gave her a rather reproachful look at that, tempted to just vanish on the spot but he was fairly certain she would find a way to follow him if he did. Or, worse, call Yin.
"Fine. But do not refer to me in any parental context while we're here. I did not raise you, I only donated genetics."
"Deal."
Saturday mornings were slow enough at the bar that Cord used them to a little inventory, just to keep the bar itself stocked enough to handle the Saturday night crowd. There had been a time when it would have been a dead night, but that was decades ago and now it ran better than some theme bars across the country. Of course, none of her customers were human.
When the door swung open, she barely glanced over, busy swapping out a couple of near-empty bottles for full ones. Nothing would have prepared her for the sight that greeted her when she did turn fully, eyes landing on her eldest child and a girl barely old enough to be setting foot in a normal bar.
"Robert. Can't say I was expectin' to see ya 'round these parts again," she greeted cautiously, wondering briefly if he and the girl with him were in some sort of trouble. "Who's your...friend?"
Robert glared at his daughter before looking back at his mother, hating just how much he still missed the damn woman.
"I believe you know her. She's Muirenn's daughter that you helped hide from me," he answered cooly, taking at least some pleasure in the way her expression shifted from curious to concerned.
"Calla? Calla Dixon?" Cord asked as she was pulling herself up and over the bartop to get a better look at the girl.
She seemed unharmed and the way she looked at Robert with a mix of exasperation and something close to fondness was unexpected. It made her wonder just how long her son had known about his daughter's existence.
"You fucking suck at introductions," she grumbled at him, giving him an unimpressed look when clenched his jaw. "Yes, although I don't think I want to use that last name anymore. They weren't the best when my affinity manifested," she answered, turning her attention to Cord. "Why did you hide me from my parents?"
In any other circumstance, Robert might have been proud that she had gotten right to the point, but he also knew the answer to this question. Anyone that had known him prior to Ever and Sonja would have known the answer as well.
"It was the last request yer momma ever made. Yer daddy weren't always the best of sorts and had a real nasty habit of gettin' folk in his own bloodline killed. Ain't that right, Robert?"
Robert shrugged, not in the mood to lie or play games. It was true enough, he had done that and worse over the centuries, but he had no intentions of allowing harm to befall Calla and he couldn't quite put a finger on why she was different.
"Which I told you myself, if you recall," he reminded the girl, wanting more and more for this meeting to end so he could go back to pretending this place didn't exist. He was just grateful Cord seemed to be the only one around.
"You did, but I wanted to make sure you weren't lying." Even if Yin had basically told her the same. "So, you knew my mom?"
"Yes and no," Cord answered, gesturing the two of them to one of the booths. "I only knew 'er for about 2 days, just long enough to help bring you into this world. Her requests had been that I keep ya hidden and that whoever took ya in didn't change yer first name. She really wanted you to have that small connection to her, even if ya never knew where the name came from."
Calla slid into the booth first, Robert reluctantly following suit as Cord made herself comfortable across from them. She would have never guessed that her mother had been the one to pick her name, her adoptive parents had never told her that. She had seen that it was the name on her birth certificate, but it had been a copy of the record, not the original, so she had figured they had changed her name for whatever reason.
"I think, had things been different, she would'a wanted to raise ya herself but between the mess the was in with him and the kind of woman her grandmother is, givin' ya up was the only way she could keep ya safe. Charlotte Daniels was a cruel old bitch in her life and she wouldn't'a taken kindly to her daughter comin' home with a little cambion child."
Calla looked to Robert as if for confirmation, only looking back at Cord when he nodded. He had met Charlotte when she had been in her teens and he had taken a rather deep dislike of the woman. The fact that he had been able to take two of her three children from her had been, at one time, a point of pride for him.
"Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with Charlotte's death?" Robert inquired, studying his mother closely. He knew there was a darkness in her, one that she had probably held even before hell, but this was definitely an interesting direction.
"She put a price on Colette's head. Colette was under my protection at the time. I sent my regards with one of the hounds. Marrow is quite skilled at creating a rather large mess. Calla, if you wanna meet yer cousin at some point, she does still live here. Her daddy and yer momma were siblings."
"How did she end up here? How did she piss her grandma off that bad?" She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to meet someone that another person had been willing to pay to have killed.
"Oh the usual. Met a boy, fell in love with the boy, the boy's ex-boyfriend was Azazel, she turned to darker magic to keep the boy safe. Azazel came real close to killin' her and now I got a good understandin' of magical poisons out of it. Seemed safer to just let 'er stay here after all of that shit."
"Orpheus's daughter went against Azazel and lived" Robert definitely had not been expecting that level of gossip and it was, honestly, quite the feat. He didn't know many that had crossed that line and been able to walk away from it.
"What can I say, stupid and reckless with good luck seems to be damn genetic. Think both of us are proof of that given that we both made stupid ass crossroads deals," Cord pointed out, not even considering that maybe Calla wasn't aware of that. "Ya know, yer both welcome to hang 'round. Robert, I know ya ain't lookin' to forgive me any time soon, maybe ever, and that's fine, I still ain't figured out how to forgive myself, but I know the other kids wanna meet ya," she offered quietly, not at all surprised by the returned stiffness in Robert's frame at the offer.
"Noted," he answered stiffly, not wanting to get into that conversation, especially not with Calla sitting beside him. "Calla, if you would like to stay longer, that is fine, you can be picked up later, but I have done as you requested." His tone left no room for argument and Calla merely nodded before waving him off, a silent permission for him to bolt if he needed to.
"Yeah, I want to stay a little longer, but you're the one that's picking me up, not Yin."
He didn't answer as he stood and crossed the room, glad for the chance to escape, but still glancing back at his daughter one last time before disappearing from view.
"Why does he hate you so much?" she asked once he was gone. She hadn't been able to get much of an answer out of him and she needed to know if she was going to try to trust the woman in front of her.
"Oh he don't hate me, little one. I broke his heart's what it is. He was old enough to remember me when I died. I had been his whole word when he was little, but I knew I was on borrowed time when I had him and his brother and sister. Crossroads deals don't care if ya got kids when it comes time to collect. And then I never came back, even after I got out of hell. I wanted to, don't get it twisted, but I was a demon then and bein' 'round my babies would have damned them or gotten 'em killed. I was doin' what I thought best to keep 'em safe. He don't owe me nothin', not forgiveness, not time, nothin', and I don't blame him for being hurt. I still regret it myself." She sighed, shaking her head sadly. "He deserved better than I gave him. I just hope he can be better for you than I was for him."
"Have you told him this?"
"No. This is only the second time I've seen him since I died. The first time, he didn't realize it was me and I didn't realize it was him til a friend of mine said somethin'. He left and I got into a nasty fight with said friend for never tellin' me he had made a deal himself when he was alive."
It was something she still hadn't actually forgiven Sorin for. Maybe if she had known then, things could have been different. Maybe she could have made amends, maybe he would know his younger siblings. She tried not to dwell on the what-ifs, but it wasn't always easy.
"I think I'm going to hang around for the day. I want to see how this place runs and maybe I can talk him into coming by on occasion," Calla mused, wondering if it would do more harm than good but figuring the potential for good outweighed the risks.
"More 'n welcome to hang 'round as long as ya want, but bein' here or not needs to be his own choice. Forcin' him to be where he don't feel comfortable ain't gonna help nothin'. There's food in the kitchen if yer hungry, feel free to help yourself."
Character(s)::Robert and Calla
Word Count::1029
@babyitsmagic tagging you for reasons
-------------------------------------
Maybe it hadn’t been the smartest choice she had made, but Calla had requested to meet her father privately. There were things she wanted to ask, needed to know, that she didn’t want an audience for. Her only other request had been to have the location be of her choosing, simply so she could keep to the ley lines.
It had seemed like a good enough compromise at the time, but now that she was here and waiting, her nerves were higher than they had ever been. Yin hadn’t been able to tell her many good things about her dad and what little he had given her hadn’t exactly been promising.
Especially considering that he wasn’t all that keen on meeting her in the first place.
Absently, she picked at the skin around her nails, the magic of the ley lines wrapped around her calves and providing a pulsing warmth. That power was a familiarity that she so desperately needed and she was grateful for it. It was the only thing keeping her centered enough to not run.
Robert had seen a photo, so he knew what the girl looked like. Aside from her name, that was about all he really knew. Of course, he hadn't asked about her either.
No, if Robert had it his way, he wouldn't be meeting with his daughter at all. But when the choices seemed to be to meet the girl or deal with Yin, this felt like the lesser of two evils.
She looked like him far more than she did her mother and, for some reason, that had thrown him. He had been expecting her to look like Ren. Maybe it would have been easier if she had. Maybe it would have been harder. He had, after all, played a large part in Ren's ultimate death. The ghost of his mistakes coming back to haunt him would have been something he knew how to handle better than this.
There was nothing said as he sat down across from her at the small table, an unlit cigarette clasped between his lips as he regarded the girl with a blank expression. She was the one that had wanted this meeting, she could speak first.
"H-hi," she stammered out, startled by his appearance. Calla had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hadn't felt the shift in energy around her. It was a mistake that could have been fatal under different circumstances.
The greeting was met with silence as Robert lit the cigarette and inhaled slowly, the ember glowing brighter for a moment before it was hidden behind a layer of ash. He lifted a brow, waiting for her to say more but otherwise not engaging.
To say that she had been expecting such a disheartening greeting would be a lie. Calla didn't know what she had expected, but it wasn't this.
"I-I know you didn't want to actually meet me and I'm sorry, bu--"
The words died in her throat when he held up a hand, not wanting to hear her rambling apologies.
"Do not apologize. I had three choices for the day and still chose this one," he remarked, knowing full well that he could have swallowed his anger long enough to hide out at his mother's bar if he wanted to escape Yin without meeting his daughter. That had been the very bottom of his list by a mile, but she didn't need to know the details. "Speak your piece so we can get this over with."
Her gaze dropped, the first hint of tears stinging her eyes. His other choices must have sucked if he had come here.
The thought was enough to make her push back from the small table, lower lip quivering as she shook her head, muttering about it being a mistake as she moved to walk around him.
With a sigh, Robert turned and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. The rush of power racing up his arm and the swirling wind caught him by surprise. Yin had mentioned her connection to the ley lines, but he hadn't expected that level of raw energy.
"Impressive. We must be close to a line or sitting right atop one and I do not think it was accidental."
His grip wasn't tight, she easily could have pulled out of it, but the moment he touched her, she went still. What she wanted was a hug, to be wanted and loved by a real parent instead of the strict rules and tepid affection she had grown up with. It had been a painfully lonely existence.
"On one," Calla confirmed as she turned back to her father, her voice quiet as she lifted her free hand to scrub at the stupid tears cutting tracks down her cheeks. "Thought it would be safer." The for me hung heavy in the air between them, but neither of them made the comment.
"A wise choice."
He wasn't good at this, knew he couldn't give her what she wanted or needed. He had barely managed with Ever and Sonja and he often wondered if his involvement with both of them had done more harm than good. Especially when it came to Sonja. Still, some part of him was almost bothered by the sight of her tears and he couldn't quite figure out why. The tears of a child hadn't affected him since his eldest had been a toddler. And yet it was taking a real effort not to reach out and wipe hers away.
He wondered if perhaps this had been the point Yin had tried getting him to see when he said things were different now than they had been when Calla was born. It was a thought he absolutely hated and would not likely admit to Yin as he couldn't stand the thought of admitting it out loud to anyone. He'd never hear the end of it.
Slowly, he released his hold on her wrist and gestured for her to sit back down. Perhaps this wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him in recent years and maybe it could be good for her too.
The run in with Jay had left Robert...shaken. He had met one sibling briefly and it had been more than enough. The meeting with Lilith had been awkward at best, but it had been over quickly. She hadn’t seemed all that interested in knowing about him either. It had been something he had taken comfort in.
But this kid, he had asked questions. He had seemed to want to know anything about him and it had left a bad taste in the demon’s mouth. What was so special about that kid? Why had she stayed for him? For any of them? What had he done that was so bad she had never come back for him?
Robert paced the small apartment, trying to turn that pain into something more useful but failing. Memories of his childhood, what few he could recall of his mother, kept playing on a loop in his head and he wanted nothing more than to make them stop.
But he couldn’t get them to turn off. Couldn’t stop seeing her face or the way she had always smiled at him when he curled up in her lap. Couldn’t erase the echoing sound of her laughter at his child like petulance or wonder. The way she always smelled of the hearth and the forest they lived at the edge of.
He wanted to hate her.
Truth be told, Robert had tried for decades to do just that, but he had never been quite able to reach that point. He had thought, at one point, that he had gotten past the pain of losing until Yin had sent him to that damned bar and put him face to face with her. Learning she had made a crossroads deal in life as well, that she hadn’t died under just weird circumstances, it had filled him with anger and self loathing.
After all, what kind of mother would abandon her children? What kind of mother would never come back from them when they had every chance to?
He had gone back for his own, to see the little girl he had left behind. She had been old enough to understand. She hadn’t liked it, no, but she had understood. He had done this to make her possible because he had never wanted anything more than a child of his own.
As the years turned to centuries, however, he had grown to resent that choice and the continuation of his bloodline. But even that seemed a pointless cause anymore. He had grown almost tired of the game, of seeing how many of his blood line he could tempt in to the darker side of magic. Mostly because he had grown to see that plenty of them were more than happy to throw themselves down that path all on their own.
It made him wonder if it was a genetic thing. So many of them willing to throw themselves to hell one way or another for others. It was a thought that made his lip curl in distaste despite the fact that he had, once, been one of those very people. It had to be some weakness, some flaw in their bloodline that no one else had noticed. Why else would even the ones he had no contact with, such as Orpheus’s daughter, be so willing to throw her life away over some boy?
The pacing came to a slow stop and he took a deep breath, steadying himself. He knew he could still get onto his mother’s property, knew full well that she has loopholes in the magic that allowed for the passage of her blood family. And he was, after all, still blood of her blood.
Maybe confronting her would make him feel better. He doubted it would, but it was worth a shot. Or so he kept telling himself as appeared at the edge of the property.
The last thing he had thought he would see as soon as he reached the perimeter was his mother sitting around with a red headed girl he could only assume was one of the twins.
They were laughing, trading mock blows and taunting one another. They looked...happy. Enough so to deflate some of his anger, the sense of loss washing over him once more, threatening to drown him in that pain. She had been happy when she was his momma, hadn’t she? Why did she leave him?
He lingered for a moment, watching them until the younger girl glanced up and met his gaze, her smile shifting to a curious frown as she spoke to their mother. He didn’t know what she said, but it was enough to make Cord turn, her own playful smile shifting to something that looked like...pain? Did it hurt her to see him? The child she walked away from?
There was a moment of panic when he realized they had both begun to walk towards him and he stepped back a few feet before remembering he could just leave.
Even still, it took him a few moments to will his body to move, to return to his temporary home and collapse on his couch. The last thing he had heard was her calling for him to wait.
Characters::Rebecca (pre!hell Cord) and Robert
Words: 1073
___
It was quiet when she entered her home, the fire in the hearth mere embers, barely casting any warmth. With a soft sigh, Rebecca set about to tend to it, feeding a few logs and some dried leaves before casting a glance around the open space. Using magic inside, around her sleeping family at that, wasn’t something she did often, but it was only a small amount. A quick way to wake the flames back up to keep everyone warm.
Slow fingers traced over her belly as she prodded the flames with a dampened stick, arranging the wood for the best burn. She had been so entranced by the flames and task at hand, that she hadn’t heard her eldest stir or come to settle down beside her until she felt his hand on her arm as if trying to help.
“Robert, baby, why are you awake?” she asked gently, turning to face the little boy that looked so much like herself. Edmund looked like her husband more than he did her and she could only hope the baby she was carrying would also look more like their father. It was easier to deny the way they would ache if they looked like him. As it stood, she knew her eldest would have to remember that she was gone every time he caught his own image in the water of the nearby stream.
“Monsters,” the boy whispered before giving her a broad, toothy grin. When she went to ask, he held a finger to his lips, encouraging her to listen to the whistling wind and the sound of branches breaking in the woods. “See? Monsters.”
She had to swallow a laugh as she sat down more properly on the ground and pulled him into her lap. “Just the wind, little one. The wind and nothing more,” she assured, smoothing back his dark hair and holding him close to her. There would come a time he would be too big to curl in her arms like this, but she would not live to see it.
“How do you know?” Robert questioned everything he could get away with, a trait she encouraged despite his father’s disapproval.
“Because I am your momma and I know everything,” she replied, a hint of jest behind her words as she rocked him a little. She didn’t know everything, but she knew a lot. More than a woman ought to, according to her mother. Her sisters were all quiet, complacent things, always did as they were told. But she had never been one for that, never one to fall in line. A wild child with a need to run, to get her hands dirty. It had frightened her family, but they had assumed she would settle down when she was married off.
She hadn’t. She had only gotten better at hiding it. Sneaking away in the dead of night, taking longer than needed to gather wood for the hearth or berries for their table.
“Papa says that’s not true,” he countered, crossing his arms and glaring up at her in a manner that mirrored her own attitude towards Thomas only a short time ago.
“Well, who are you going to believe? Your papa or me?”
Robert was silence for a few moments, contemplating the question before he began to relax in her arms once more. “You, momma. I like you best.” There was a soft sincerity in his words and she smiled sweetly down at him, wrapping up in all of the love she possessed.
He liked when she did that. He didn’t know what it was, but there was just something about her hugs that were different from anyone else’s. He could feel the way she loved him, the way she wanted him happy and safe. It was his comfort, his happy place, right there in his momma’s arms. It was the only time he really felt like everything was okay, even on days when he got hurt or didn’t feel good. He could always count on her to be there, to make him feel better.
“You need to go back to sleep, little one. We have a lot to do tomorrow,” she finally spoke, gazing down at him with a softness that was reserved just for him and his brother. “We’re going to make bread tomorrow and tend to the hens and garden. We need to sweep out the hearth too. Are you going to be well rested enough to help?”
He gave a heavy sigh at the list, the sound ending in a whine. “Do we hafta, momma?” It sounded like too much to do on a single day and he wasn’t thrilled with the idea. There didn’t even sound like time to play or really do anything fun.
“Yes, we do. But, after it’s all done, we can go down to the water and look for adventures.” His face lit up as she paused and it took everything in her to not just cave and blow off the entire day. “But. That is only if you help me with the chores. Deal?”
Another huff but he nodded, knowing if he pouted enough come morning, he could get his way. Robert knew she was a soft touch, always eager to give into the demands of him and Edmund on the occasion that Edmund was any fun. Not that Edmund could be much fun as a baby, but he had days when he didn’t cry as much and, to a toddler, that constituted as fun. “Deal.”
“Good. Now, you need to go back to your bed and try to get some rest.” She set him down on his feet and gave him a slight nudge, watching him make his way back to the far side of the room and lie down, but he didn’t close his eyes, not yet. He wanted to stay awake a little longer and watch her. It was one of his favorite things to do when he was meant to be sleeping.
Rebecca knew he wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon, but she didn’t mind as she went back to tending the hearth, waiting until she was certain her son had fallen back asleep before crossing to where her husband lied and curling up beside him, the scent of fire clinging to her hair and skin far more soothing than the feel of her husband beside her as she slowly drifted to sleep herself.
Fair warning, Robert is a fucking creep and very manipulative.
His body was pressed against hers from behind, his hands cupping hers. Adilynn couldn’t help but tremble a little, nervous and anxious between what he was asking and the sheer proximity.
“Focus,” Robert murmured, his breath hot on her neck as he guided her hands to encase the small seed.
The girl didn’t answer, not vocally, as she closed her eyes and tried to do as he said. She had been doing this with smaller plants for months now, the nosebleeds and headaches had stopped, and now he wanted to push her limits again.
“I’m just trying to help you grow.”
The words of the guy she had met at the shop came back to her, about how most witches draw energy from around them and not from within the way Robbie made her do. He said it was less tasking, but she wasn’t sure what to believe.
She let out a long and shaky breath, pulling energy from her core and feeding it into the maple seed.
When the roots began to sprout, Robert moved her hands again, forcing her to pick up the seed, his lips mapping the side of her neck as he felt her power continue to mount.
A small green stalk began to break free from the hard shell, the roots tangling around both of their hands and crawling along their wrists. Still, Adi didn’t open her eyes. It was hard to ignore his lips on her skin, but she knew he always got a little excited when he was getting her to push past her limits.
It wasn’t long before her head began to ache. It was short bursts at first before growing into something sharper and she could taste copper in her mouth.
With a pained whimper, her hands sagged, the power beginning to recede, the sapling still encased in her palms. Robert was the only thing keeping her upright.
When she stopped, Robert was gentle to move the sapling, keeping from damaging the roots. He would give her a little recovery time before making her continue with the tree.
For now, however, he was turning her in his arms and pressing her against the table, his lips pressed hard to her. It didn’t matter to him that the spell had left her weak and exhausted, he delighted in having her like this.
The taste of blood on her lips only made it that much better for him.
