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"He said what?" Mia asked as she sat on their bed.
"He wanted to go back and
finish the Ronins," Anubis answered. He was lying
on his back with his head on her lap.
"And you didn't have anything
to do with it?" She was worried that her kids
would get too deep into the Dynasty and forget that they are humans
and still
kids.
"I haven't had anything
to do with their thinking. I overheard them talking
and they were already plotting it. You have to admit that they
are a force
to be reckoned with."
"I know that. At first
I thought it was just because they were born here. I
didn't think I could give birth to something that powerful."
"Then you have to accept
their decisions. Kiefer and Kieran thoroughly
despises Wildfire for reasons I'm not sure yet. They think he's
evil
incarnate, not Talpa."
"What do they think of the others?" She ran her fingers through his hair.
"With what little interaction
they had, Kiefer loves to fight against
Hardrock. Kieran is hesitant to talk about Torrent since he could
sense that
the Ronin is too good to be considered evil. Halo is perhaps
both their
favorite. I think the only bases on that would be when he hesitated
to
strike them two years ago. Strata is one Ronin they have not
met up close
yet."
Mia froze when he mentioned
Sage. Did he just say that he might be the
favorite between the two of them? How ironic that the guy that
was
interested in her from the Mortal World would happen to be her
children's
interest. She chuckled at the thought. Anubis looked at her
from her lap.
"What so funny?"
"Nothing." She leaned
down and kissed the tip of his nose, signaling that
she wanted the subject dropped. "How about you? What do
you think of them?"
"Of the kids or the Ronins?"
"Both."
"The boys are the best
thing that has ever happened to me, next to you, that
is. They are everything that I imagined them to be and more.
This family is
more than I imagined it would be."
"And the Ronins?"
"I don't like any of them,
especially Halo." He saw her about to say
something but he cut her off. "Yes, I hate him. All that
time I spent
waiting outside your bedroom his actions were not missed. The
kids might
like him but they don't know that he had a possibility of being
their father.
Although I don't see what all three of you see in him."
"Anubis!" She playfully slapped his chest.
"But it's true. He was
a possibility. He was wishing it more that you did
but it was still a possibility."
"And it never came true.
Kiefer or Kieran do not need to know that. They
don't need more proof to never see the Mortal World again. You
were from
there too, you know."
"But they've already said that they would never leave this place."
"They said that?"
She had a crest fallen look on her face that made him sit
up and hold her face in his hands.
"Yes. It's because this
was the first place they knew and trusted. The
Mortal World now can't compare to the beauty of the Netherworld.
That's what
Kieran got all confused over. The monk asked him if he was happy
and he
immediately thought of you. He thought you weren't happy since
you longed to
go back there."
"My baby? What did you tell him?"
"That he shouldn't think
so much." He leaned over and kissed the tip of her
nose. "He's still five years old. He's got a lot of growing
up to do."
"This is a hard situation
you guys have put me in." She rested her head on
his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm torn between
family and
home." She raised her head a little to look at him. "But
I think you know
how that feels."
"Right now, the three of
you are my home. Talpa and everything with him is
just a detail I pay attention to once a week."
"I don't think that's how the boys see him or this place."
"And I think they should
find it out for themselves, whatever it is. They
will follow him since he is the master of this place. They'll
find out for
themselves which comes first though: family or Talpa."
She looked up at him and thought
about what he said. It was basically what
he had done ever since she came to live with him. Family won
out over Talpa.
She kissed him and they both lost track of thought and time for
a long while.