A door creaked open in a dark room, light shining in from the outside world. The Morrigan, crouched in a sitting position, raised her head for a moment before seeing who had walked in. But she saw no one. She scrambled onto her knees and pressed her hands against the barrier, trying to see anything. Suddenly a shadow appeared by the door but it quickly disappeared. The Morrigan gasped and crawled to the back of the barrier, standing up and preparing herself.
"Who's there? Come out and show yourself?!" she snapped.
A child's laugh echoed throughout the room before a red wolf pup's face appeared above the barrier. "Hewwo," the pup said.
The Morrigan looked up and blinked in shock. "Cahira?"
The child laughed again and jumped down from the barrier before facing the front of the cage, licking her paw. "No. I'm Olena."
The Morrigan slumped to her knees, staring at the werewolf child in awe. "How?"
The pup shrugged before going back to licking her paw. "I dunno..."
The Morrigan narrowed her eyes, frustrated that she couldn't use her magic to confirm who the child was. It was definitely Cahira's body, that was for certain. But the soul? That was much harder to determine. The wheels in her head started turning, trying to figure out a way to find out who exactly the child was.
"Olena, sweetheart, how old are you?" The Morrigan asked sweetly.
"Aunt Appa says I'm two and a half years old."
The Morrigan raised a brow. "Who's Aunt Appa?"
"Mommy's friend. I'm supposed to call her Aunt Appa but her real name is-"
"Olena?!" a shout came from the door. "What are you doing?!"
Olena turned around and started backing up. "Aunt Appa!"
The figure by the door huffed before walking in. "It seems to me that you, young lady, are not where you're supposed to be."
Olena whimpered. "But Auntie, I am practicing."
The woman laughed before picking up Olena and smothering her with kisses. "Now now, don't you try to trick me with technicalities, Olena."
Olena licked the woman's neck and face. "Are you mad?"
"No, of course not," Appa cooed gently as she stroked Olena's fur. "You were just curious about this room, weren't you?"
"Uh huh."
Appa looked at the very shocked Morrigan and smirked before brushing a hand through her thick, long black hair. "I never thought I'd say this, Morrigan, but you look...surprised."
The Morrigan scoffed before sinking to the ground. "How did you do it?"
"Oh, no no no, that's my little secret," Appa said before looking at Olena. "Come, Olena. You mother made melomakarona. Your favorite."
Olena giggled happily before bouncing out of Appa's arms and rushing out the door. The woman took one last look at The Morrigan with a smirk before exiting the room and slamming the door shut. The Morrigan immediately straightened on her knees and held her palms out sideways, straining to come up with some magic.
"You're not the only one with secrets and tricks, Appa," The Morrigan growled. After a few minutes, a flicker of light appeared and The Morrigan spoke to it. "Adair, I need you to relay a message to Arthur and Lilly straight away."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
It was raining in Ireland, the clouds rumbling with thunder as Adair looked up at the clouded night sky. As the rain drops fell on her face, she frowned before looking down at her swollen belly. As she gently rubbed her palm on it, she felt a kick and she giggled.
"Alexander, are you causing a wee fuss?" she asked affectionately.
Lightning flashed in the air and was quickly followed by thunder. This made Adair laugh and she sighed deeply. She knew her child was going to be a strong one, considering he was a demigod. Adair wondered what kind of powers her son would possess. As the storm raged on, Adair hissed when she heard a loud sound in her head that was now causing a splitting headache. She grasped her forehead and groaned as images filled her mind.
"...Adair...message...to Arthur and..."
Whispers filled her ears as she fell to her knees, straining from the pressure building up in her brain. Adair tried to make sense of the voices and pictures but she couldn't. It was far too painful. She glimpsed the door to the stairs that would take her down to Patrick and her's chambers where she knew her husband was currently sleeping. Thinking she had no strength to even get up, she started crawling achingly slow to the door.
"Patrick!" she shouted. "Help!"
Lightning and thunder crashed above her, the rain picking up ferociously. Her red nightgown was soaked through and she growled as she continued to crawl on her hands and knees.
"Patrick!" she screamed loudly.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Patrick shot out of bed, being woken up by the storm outside. He looked over at Adair's side of the bed, seeing it as empty. He sighed and chuckled, rubbing his face softly before getting out of bed. She was probably on the roof again. As he walked to a chair and grabbed his black night robe and put it on, he shoved his feet into his slippers and headed towards the big painting named "Ophelia" at a different part of the room.
He smiled up at it, remembering having purchased this particular painting from a museum shortly after he and Adair were wed. Patrick yanked on the edge and pulled it open like a door before walking through to the stairs that led to the roof. As he climbed, he heard a loud scream echo from above and he went running up the stairs.
"Adair!" he shouted as he made his way up. "I'm coming, me love!"
He reached the top and barged his way through the door, looking around in the darkness and pounding rain. Lightning poked through the clouds and lit the area, exposing Adair's fallen form on the roof.
"Adair!" Patrick yelled, running straight to her. He got to his knees and picked up her body on his arms. "Adair, speak tah me."
Adair was silent and her breathing was shallow. She was limp in Patrick's arms and he felt his whole world shatter at the thought that she might be dying. He wasn't sure what was going on. He didn't know what to do. Lightning filled the sky once more and thunder burst in his ears, making him flinch. As the storm continued, Patrick sensed they were not alone. He turned his head as more lightning appeared, the form of Brigid standing over him.
"Brigid...what's wrong with her?" Patrick asked tearfully.
Brigid knelt down next to them and placed a hand on Adair's forehead. "I'm not sure," she replied with a melancholy tone. "Has this happened before?"
"Yes, a couple days ago. I think someone was trying tah tell her something," he explained.
Brigid examined her half sister and started tracing a pattern on the pregnant goddess' forehead. "Ansuz," Brigid said.
Light flickered on Adair's head in the form of some sort of ancient rune before it expanded and a moving image floated above her forehead.
"...message...Lilly straight away...is alive..."
"Morrigan?" Brigid and Patrick both said, recognizing the sound of the woman's voice.
"...don't know how, but...must tell Arthur...Olena is...this is...of Appa..."
"Who's Appa?" Patrick asked.
"I don't know," Brigid said, wiping the image away until it faded to nothing. "But our suspicions of The Morrigan being imprisoned are now confirmed. She was trying to send Adair a message."
Patrick shook his head. "Brigid, that is all fine and dandy, but what about Adair and me son? Are they alright?"
Brigid smoothed her palm across Adair's cheek and nodded. "They're going to be okay. The message was laced with dark magic, but Adair's a goddess, she'll be fine. Alexander is a strong boy, and he'll be fine as well." Brigid stared up at the sky and huffed as lightning flashed. "We should probably get out of the rain, though."
"Right," Patrick said, lifting Adair up in his arms and walking to the castle door. They entered the stairwell and made their way down. "What are ya even doing here?"
"I wanted Adair and I to talk face to face," Brigid replied.
"About?"
"Oh, just...the usual," she said with a loud sigh. "You know, how she absolutely loathes me and wishes I was never born."
Patrick chuckled as they got halfway down. "Ya know, yer family is not that much different than mine."
"How so?"
"Well, me brothers and sisters went their separate ways. Me father drove them all off."
"Do you hear from them at all?"
Patrick and Brigid got to the foot of the stairwell and Patrick brushed his way past the painting. "Often. All very successful in their own rights, but as the eldest born son of Sir Liam Nolan?" Patrick chuckled as he got to the big bed that he and his wife shared. "No, I had tah stay and be the heir."
Patrick placed Adair carefully on the bed before stroking wet strands of hair from her face and kissing her forehead. Brigid smirked at Patrick and folded her arms.
"You really do love her, don't you?" she asked.
"With all that I am," Patrick answered truthfully. "I know it's considered taboo tah romantically mingle with the mortals, especially after what happened with Carman, but I am nothing like Carman. I dunna even have magic."
Brigid settled on the edge of the bed. "I know, Patrick, but that's not why I disapprove of you and Adair being married."
"Then why?"
Brigid turned to face him. "Because you are going to grow old and die while Adair remains immortal."
Patrick nodded. "I see. Well, besides the fact that she and I are both deeply in love, we both wanted children as well. I need an heir and she wants tah live the life of a simple married woman. In fact, I'm thinking about keeping a family tradition going."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
Patrick snickered. "I was thinking about having Aoífe and Alexander becoming betrothed."
Brigid sucked on her teeth before grinning. "Right, because you were betrothed to Lilly, weren't you?"
"Yeah. Arthur and I are close friends now, and...well, I think it's time the Morgan's and Nolan's officially become one family."
A hand snapped up and grasped Patrick's sleeve. "That cannot happen..." Adair breathed heavily.
Patrick knelt down to her and smiled as he brushed her forehead with his thumb. "Hello, me love. Are ya alright?"
Adair nodded weakly. "Yes, but...you...cannot arrange...a marriage between our son...and Aoífe."
"But why?"
Adair started moving around and tried to sit up, grasping her belly and groaning. "Patrick, I-" her head jerked to Brigid. "Oh. Hello, sister."
Brigid waved happily. "Hello."
Adair rolled her eyes. "Well aren't you the cheerful type..." she swung her legs over the side of the bed and growled. "Patrick, now we're going to have to change the damn sheets. I'm soaked."
Patrick laughed and kissed her. "I'll get someone up here to change them for us, okay?"
Adair sighed. "Okay but...I have something to tell you. The both of you," she said, looking at Brigid. "And you, Brigid, are definitely going to hate hearing about this."
Brigid stood, shook her head and grabbed a flask from her belt. "Okay."
With a snap of her fingers, water droplets formed around Adair and Patrick, all the wet cloth, skin and hair becoming dry. Adair shot up suddenly as droplets pooled from the bed sheets and floated in midair. They flowed quickly to Brigid's flask and when it was all in there, she slapped the top shut.
"There, now you don't have to send for someone," Brigid said with a huff of air, placing the flask back in its original place. "And I might just have need for water that has touched the essence of a goddess, so two birds, one stone."
Adair snorted. "Show off," she muttered.
Brigid snapped her gaze to Adair. "Oh, I'm a show off? You are not one to talk, little sister."
Adair's lip curled into a sneer as she glared at Brigid. "Don't you even start, Brigid."
"Me? You started it! Like that time in Denmark in, what was the year, 1284?"
Adair crossed her arms and cleared her throat, looking off to the side. "It was just a bit of fun," she mumbled begrudgingly.
Brigid took a step back and rolled her shoulders, looking away and grumbling under her breath before looking back at Adair. "A bit of fun. Right. Anyway, what is this thing you need to tell us?"
Adair rolled her eyes and settled on the bed, yanking Patrick down with her and making him yelp then laugh. "Sit," she said, pointing at the side of the bed.
As Brigid walked over to sit down, Patrick stroked her cheek with a big lovesick smile. "I love it when ya do things like that tah me," he whispered.
Adair giggled and kissed him softly. "Just wait until I get you alone, my Earl of Galway."
They both snickered and smooched again before Brigid cleared her throat while sitting down. The couple stopped what they were doing with blushing cheeks.
"Sorry," Adair said. "Anyway, here's what I have to tell you both but what I'm about to say must not leave this room, at least until...I can figure out a way to explain it to Lilly without her killing me."
Brigid and Patrick both scooted closer with worried looks on their faces. "It's about Lilly?" Patrick asked.
"Oooooh yes," Adair chuckled sadly. "And it is...huge! It seriously changes everything."
Brigid rested a hand on Adair's knee. "Go on, sister."
Adair took a few deep breaths. "Lilly is-" suddenly Adair grabbed her belly and gasped. "Oh dear..."
"What's wrong?" Patrick asked.
Suddenly liquid started trickling down Adair's legs and she started breathing heavily. "Oh gods...the baby's coming!"
Patrick shot up and ran for the bedroom door. "Brigid, help Adair get comfortable!" he shouted before opening the door. "Hey! Me wife is going intah labor!"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
While Patrick was still shouting, Brigid helped Adair stand up, albeit slowly. "There we go, little sister," Brigid said. "Just breathe through it."
Adair growled through a contraction. "I hate it when you call me that!" she snapped.
Brigid giggled happily. "But it's true!"
"I still hate it. It's...mmmmm," she growled almost inhumanely, bending over a little to cling to her protruding stomach. "It's condescending."
Brigid frowned and started rubbing Adair's lower back. "I don't mean it like that, Adair. It's just my way of expressing my affection for you."
"Your affection, huh?" Adair chuckled bitterly. "Like the bullying and the teasing and the...uuuuuugh..."
Brigid rolled her eyes as Patrick came running up to them both. "How is she?" he asked in a panicked voice.
"She's in labor, Patrick. How the hell do you think she is?" Brigid asked incredulously.
Some of the staff came running in with towels and other items. Adair hissed before screaming briefly, her legs buckling a little. Brigid held onto Adair's hand as she whined loudly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Patrick went to grab for Adair's other hand but Brigid stopped him.
"No!" Brigid barked. "Don't do that, ya simpleton! She'll crush your hand like a hammer!"
Patrick growled as Adair sobbed, the woman in labor taking quick, uneven breaths. "Then what can I do for me ailing wife?"
"Get out. This is a birth of divine royalty. You may be the father of this child, but tradition dictates that-"
Patrick got in Brigid's face with a death glare. "If ya think that I am going tah miss the birth of me own child, yer sadly mistaken, Brigid. Yer not the boss of me and we are not in Tír na nÓg. So as far as I am concerned, this is my domain. In this house, I am the king. So fuck yer traditions!"
Brigid's tongue clicked before she shook her head. "Yeah, no wonder my sister loves you. Both of you are such hard headed, arrogant fools!"
"Enough!" Adair screamed out in pain. "Focus, please!"
Patrick kissed Adair's cheek and scratched her back, making the goddess twitch and moan out gratefully. "There, how's that?" he asked.
Adair chuckled sporadically and leaned her head on Patrick's shoulder. "Mmmm, yeah...that helps, thank you..."
Brigid arched a brow before scratching a different part of Adair's back. Adair grunted and bowed her head. "Oh, that's so relaxing...aaahh!"
Adair gripped Brigid's hand while her other hand went straight for Patrick's robe. She cried out and leaned her head back, trying hard to breathe through the pain. Brigid held tight to her sister and kissed her temple.
"Adair, you're starting to crown," Brigid said.
Adair nodded and grinded her teeth before bracing herself. Patrick looked down and blinked as blood started dripping into a basin that had been placed between Adair's ankles.
"Uh, is that normal?" he asked.
Brigid looked down too. "Oh yes. Birthing demigods can be quite messy. Not as much as a full human's birth, but still pretty messy."
"The head is coming out," one of the staff members said as they prepared to pull the baby from Adair's birth canal.
Brigid chuckled. "And we give birth pretty quickly, too," she explained.
Adair let out a scream as she pushed through a contraction. Patrick kissed her cheek a few times. "Yer doing great, Adair."
A staff member reached up and started guiding the baby boy out, and with a wet plop, Alexander fell into the woman's arms. The umbilical cord and placenta followed, dropping into the basin. Brigid and Patrick both laughed and hugged Adair.
"Ya did it, lass!" Patrick exclaimed happily. "We have a son."
Alexander immediately started crying and squirming as Adair looked down and cried happily. The baby was wiped down with a few towels and the cord was cut before Alexander was wrapped up in a blanket and handed to the happy mother. Adair took Alexander into her arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Oh Patrick, he's so beautiful," Adair sniffled, staring down at the baby's thick black hair. "He's got your hair."
Patrick smiled before kissing his wife. "I love you, Adair."
Adair smooched her husband softly. "I love you too, Patrick."
Brigid grinned before reaching down and grabbing the basin. She brought it over to one of the dressers, set it on top and opened her flask. With a snap of her fingers, the blood drained out of the basin into the flask. The umbilical cord and placenta crumbled into dust and flew into the flask before Brigid shut it with a sigh.
"Alright, everyone," Brigid said, turning to the staff. "You can all go back to bed. I have much to discuss with Mr. and Mrs. Nolan."
The staff, who all looked mortified, all glanced at Patrick as he chuckled. "It's fine. Go back to bed. Thank you, everyone."
The staff members left the room with hushed voices and whispers. When they'd all gone, Adair sighed happily and pulled out a breast to start feeding Alexander. He latched on to the nipple and started suckling. Adair let out a soft giggle as she kissed his soft, small hand.
"Such a beautiful baby boy you are," she cooed softly.
Patrick hovered near them both and smiled down at his son. "Hello, Alex," he whispered before kissing the baby's head.
Patrick gave Adair a kiss and they both giggled. "How does it feel to be a daddy?" Adair asked him.
Patrick sighed happily. "It feels great."
Brigid walked over and smiled at the baby. "He really is adorable, though."
Adair looked at Brigid and quirked her mouth up. "Thank you for being here, Brigid."
Brigid waved her off. "Oh, you would have been just fine without me, but..." Brigid settled her hand on Adair's shoulder. "You're welcome. Now," she said, walking around them both to fluff Adair's pillows. "What's this news you have to tell me?"