Mordecai slammed his mouth shut, refusing to answer as he stalked up and down the sand. His sanctimonious, self-righteous, arsehole brothers merely watched him with knowing looks as he practically created a ditch in the beach with his movements. “Oh, shut the fuck up. All of you,” he barked, unable to bear their smirks any longer.
“We didn’t say anything,” Tobias said, innocently.
“Fuck you,” Mordecai grumbled again.
His Order laughed, Tobias commenting, “You do know fuck you is always your default when you don’t want to admit we’re right.”
Mordecai was about to say fuck you again but figured it was redundant at this point. Instead, he stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
“Apologise,” all four paladins said at the same time.
“Other than that,” Mordecai retorted, knowing he wasn’t ready to apologise for his words.
“Then apologise for your behaviour,” Madigan said, reading his thoughts. “If you’re not sorry for your words, you should be sorry for your actions. You were like a toddler throwing a tantrum, except you’re a large muscular, six-foot-five man. How do you think a tiny woman felt being yelled at and towered over like that? Do you think that is an acceptable way to treat a woman?”
“No …” Mordecai mumbled, now thoroughly ashamed of himself. Nobody could bring him back to earth and call him out on his shit like his Order.
“And what would you do if you saw a man speaking to a woman like that?” Madigan pressed.
“I’d kick his arse,” he admitted.
“That’s right. You’d feed him his balls,” Aiden confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know there’s only one thing for you to do now, right?”
Mordecai sighed, running his hands through his black hair. “Apologise for my appalling behaviour.”
“That’s right,” Tobias paused, “and maybe go and feed Dana your balls. I don’t think she’d mind.”
Mordecai’s mouth fell open in shock before he realised Tobias was already off and racing. Mordecai swore because of the unfair head start and began chasing the irreverent paladin with the intention of throwing him in the icy seawater. One thing he absolutely did not do was visualise a certain goddess with his balls in her mouth. Nope, he did not do that at all.
Dana was still shaking a little when she found Max laying in the library with her feet directed at the lit fireplace, a comfy pillow under her head, and speckly dog by her side. Dana took a moment to calm herself, as well as take in the miracle that was before her. Her daughter with her hand lovingly cupped over the mound of her growing stomach. Such a scene was one she could have easily seen through the veil in Otherworld, but having spent some time Earth-side now, it made her realise just how much the veil muffled the experience. Here, she could touch her daughter’s hand and feel the warmth of her skin. Here, she could place her hand over her daughter’s womb and feel her grandchild kick. It made her never want to return through the veil – which was impossible. She was Mother Nature. She had responsibilities. But did she not also have responsibilities to her child? To her people? Mordecai sure seemed to think so.
“Well, that didn’t go as well as I was hoping,” Max commented.
Dana shook off her thoughts and walked into the room. She grabbed her own pillow before stretching out next to Max on the floor, giving Zombie a hard scratch behind his ears. “You were listening?”
Max shook her head. “No. I can tell by the look on your face. What happened?”
“Nothing I did not deserve,” was all Dana said, not wanting to create a rift between Max and her father. The pair were only just getting comfortable in their relationship and Dana would never jeopardise that.
Max’s sigh was loud, long, and filled with frustration. “You two are as bad as each other.”
Dana merely hummed in response.
Max propped herself up on an elbow, looking directly at Dana. “When are you going to tell him?”
Dana stared resolutely at the ceiling. “Tell him what?”
“Please,” Max drew the word out whilst simultaneously rolling her eyes, “don’t play dumb.”
Dana shrugged, “He thinks he has it all figured out. Who am I to disabuse him of his assumptions?”
“As I said; you’re as bad as he is. At least I don’t need to wonder where I got my stubbornness from. It was from both of you. A double whammy,” Max