The Blues of Atlantis | ✔

Chapter Four

"We have a problem," Wade said, as he slouched in the chair across from Maggie and Kyle. They were perched on the edge of the couch. They had a gigantic whopper sized dilemma looming over their heads. He didn't relish the idea of breaking the news to them, but he had no other choice. They were the only ones who could convince her not to go through with it. If he asked her to contemplate ending the pregnancy, she'd toss him out on his butt, especially since she wasn't even supposed to be able to have kids to begin with.

"Spill it, kid," Kyle said, folding his arms across his chest.

He slid down the chair even further, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I...um...we." Damn. He was supposed to protect her, not knock her up. The new situation messed everything up. Everything they'd worked for would be down the drain, and he would be the one to blame. Why on earth did she have to go to the doctors on her own? But in a sense that was their fault really. They kept the truth from her and she didn't know any better.

Kyle came over to the chair he was slouched in, and loomed over him. "Sea nymphs got your tongue, boy?"

Wade fiddled with the coins in his pocket to try and buy himself some more time, his throat suddenly dry. "Can I have some water, please?"

How was he supposed to tell them that the gig was up? Oh boy, he was toast, totally and completely burnt to a crisp. All because he couldn't control himself. The king of mercenaries turned out to be just as bad as the sailors who were led to their death by the sirens. If Kyle didn't kill him, the other man in her life certainly would.

And once Nerina found out, she probably wouldn't stop them from dumping him off the deepest abyss with a weight tied to him. Maggie quickly grabbed a glass of water for him. He took a sip, it helped his throat a little, but not much.

"I guess there is no other way to say it," he said, his voice squeaking as he spoke. He stopped for a moment and took another mouthful of water, swishing it around before swallowing it, trying to buy just another few seconds. He looked up at Kyle who stood unnervingly close to him and said, "Could you by any chance go sit with Maggie?" He really didn't want to get decked by the man.

"No. I am going to stay right here until you tell us, even if I have to wring it out of you."

Wade stood up, and side-stepped by him, moving around to the back of the chair. He needed something in between them before he spilled the news. "Okay, well, Neri is pregnant," he said, taking a few more steps away. The man looked like he was about to jump over the chair and strangle him.

Kyle's face turned beet red, and his eyes were like flames of fire. "She's what?" he roared.

He felt like he was a teenager who just told his girlfriend's parents she was pregnant. No worse. He'd just told a guardian the only news that could get them all in trouble, especially him. The man's hands started to glow, and Wade backed up until his back bumped into the wall.

Without water, he had no hopes of diffusing the power that was about to be shot his way. He put his hands out in front of him. "Wait, wait."

Maggie walked up to her husband and put a hand on his arm. "Sweetie, let's sit down and talk. Fighting him won't change anything." They sat back on the couch.

Rescued, he slumped against the wall in relief. One bullet dodged. Now that they knew, they could help him figure out what to do about it.

"He trusted you, you know, to keep her safe." Maggie glared at him, her hands clenched on her lap, as if trying to control herself.

He hung his head in shame. "I know, I messed up."

"You did more than just mess up, kid. She was supposed to be kept in the dark till she was 30. If anyone even gets a whiff that she's been awakened, we will have a battle on our hands," Kyle said.