"Holy hell, son!" My dad shouted as I fired a bolt of electricity into a tree in the backyard, one that ironically has been hit by lightning more times than I could count.
Normally, I wouldn't normally do something like this where people could see us, but there was truly no one around for a pretty good distance, and my parents had a pretty high fence blocking off sight of the back yard. Not only that, but Nadia was able to use her illusion magic to pretty much put a small bubble around the back yard, allowing us to truly have some fun without worrying. Her mana levels had skyrocketed, but if she needed more, I could just walk over to her, and fill her right back up.
"Please do." Nadia husked at me through our bond, making me cough.
"Oh wow. Sid, you're like those cartoon characters you like so much." My mom said with a smile.
I opened my mouth to correct her, but when I thought about it, she technically wasn't wrong. Animes were literally just Japanese cartoons, most of them a lot... darker and fucked up than cartoons over in the West. Some of them had me fucked in the head for days after watching them.
"Good lord!" My dad yelled, which caused me to turn, and promptly burst into laughter upon seeing him surround by at least 5 Nadias.
"That's... incredible..." My mom said, reaching out to touch one, but her hand promptly slipped through the illusory copy.
"Sorry, mom. These ones aren't the real me." Nadia said, but my mom beamed from ear to ear from hearing that.
"Please don't ever stop calling me that." My mom said, as she grabbed the real Nadia's hand, her eyes wet with tears.
Nadia's soft smile was radiant, her hair and fur shining in the bright sunlight. Then, Nadia produced a small and controlled ball of her fox fire in her hand, and my parent's eyes widened as they stepped closer.
"It's beautiful..." My mom said, reaching out to feel its warmth.
"And badass." My dad added, making my kitsune grin.
"My ladies are the coolest girls around." I said, giving, Nadia a thumbs up, making her blush from the praise.
Once Nadia was done showing off her powers, my parents turned to Liz, who was just standing there watching us with a bright smile.
"I'm curious to see what you can do." My dad said, my mom bobbing her head in agreement.
"My main magic has to do with healing." She said, producing a ball of green energy in her right hand. She then lifted her other hand, and produced an small ball of raging fire with her left, "My weaker magic is fire. It's... not very useful. I can probably start a bonfire or something, but with Nadia around... it's not really needed."
My dad walked up to her, a gleam in his eyes.
"Healing? Really? So, could you do something about my back? Ever since I fell off of the roof about 5 years ago, it hasn't been the same." He said, punctuating his words by turning his torso, causing his back to crack loudly, making all of us wince.
Liz just smiled as she reached over, and put her hand on his back.
"Just stay still." She said, and to his credit, my dad became as still as a statue.
A soft green glow emanated from under her palm, before spreading out, covering my dad's entire back. My dad stayed as still as he could. After a moment, a few cracks and pops came from his bones, and his eyes widened as his posture began to straighten out by the second. After a few more moments, she removed her hand, and took a step back, smiling gently at my dad.
My dad blinked, and then shifted his body, moving his torso from left to right. No cracks, no pops, no creaks. Just smooth and soundless movements. Then he arched his back backwards, and then forwards. There was nothing, and the pain he looked to be in whenever he preformed those actions was gone. Then, he turned back to Liz, staring at her like she was an angel as tears formed in his eyes.
Faster than I'd ever seen him move before, he engulfed Liz in an embrace. His emotions were infectious, the rest of us tearing up as he thanked my elven lover with reverence.
"You beautiful soul! Thank you so much... The pain is gone! I feel 10 years younger..." He said, releasing her and putting his hands on her shoulders, "My boy chose well. You're a treasure. Both of you. You're both family now."
Liz smiled as a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.
"Thank you...Mr... uh, I mean, dad?" Liz both said and asked, and my dad smirked.
"Careful now. Don't need my son getting jealous of me." He joked, and my mom who just arrived behind him, promptly smacked him in the back of the head.
I groaned as I pinched the bridge of my nose. Liz blushed furiously, while Nadia started laughing up a storm.
"Where the hell are your manners??" My mom asked, her eyes in disbelief that he even said that.
"I thought it was funny!" Nadia said as she skipped up to my side. I sighed as I pulled her into my side.
"Of course you did." I said, before whispering in her ear, "I'm adding that to the naughty list for later."
Nadia shuttered against me, and various happy and lewd thoughts played through her mind. I just chuckled.
"I guess it was funny... but Liz seems pretty embarrassed." I muttered, but Nadia just kept giggling.
"That's why it's funny." She said, then she let out a tiny yelped as I pinched her rear.
"That's another strike." I said, knowing that she looked at it as anything but a bad thing.
My dad meanwhile rubbed the back of his head.
"Ow." He mumbled, then apologized to Liz, who just waved it off.
"No no, it's okay... so... uh, is there anything that you want from me?" Liz hurriedly asked my mom, changing the subject. Probably for the better.
My mom thought about it for a moment, but she seemingly couldn't find anything. I wasn't sure myself if there was anything truly wrong with her. She was always super healthy, and was always really careful, unlike me and my dad.
"Can you... like... feel if there's anything wrong with people?" My mom asked, and Liz smiled and nodded.
"Give me your hand?" Liz asked, and my mom gave her a sweet smile as she took it without even thinking twice.
Liz's hand glowed green, and then, that energy passed to my mom, and then engulfed her entire body. My mom's face looked serene, almost like the hands of the God she believed in was touching her soul, a soothing balm to her body. Liz's face was concentrated, and I could feel the things she was searching for through our bond. Just like I thought, my mom was very healthy, and Liz couldn't find anything wrong as she searched. However, just as she was close to finished, she paused, and a sad feeling passed through her, and once I focused on what she was feeling, that sadness transferred to me as well.
"Of course... how could I forget?" I thought, feeling terrible. After all, there was a reason my parents had adopted me.
Liz's magic ceased after she was done, and my mom gave her a smile as the glow faded.
"Well, did you find anything?" She asked, and Liz gave her a smile, although her voice trembled just slightly as she answered.
"Mom... you are incredibly healthy. Your bones are immaculate, your skin is healthy and beautiful, and almost all of your organs are working flawlessly..." She said, pausing for a moment after saying that, "But there is one thing I found. And if it's something you want, it's something I can fix quite easily."
Liz had pointed at my mom's belly as she finshed her sentence. My mom's face looked confused, but as she thought about it for a moment, I saw her eyes widen a bit, and her bottom lip began to quiver.
"May I... say what I found?" Liz asked so gently, like an angel in the flesh.
My mom looked over at me, her lips trembling as she gave me a weak smile. She closed her eyes, fresh tears falling as she nodded once. Liz breathed in and out slowly, and then spoke.
"Your uterus is damaged, most likely from an accident, I'm assuming. It's a very old injury from what I can tell, and because of the severity of the damage, it has rendered you... infertile." She finished, causing my mom to break down into tears.
I was speechless. The extent of my knowledge was that there were complications that caused her to not be able to have kids. Hell, I didn't even know if it was her or my dad that was the issue with having a child, but to hear this... it broke my heart. Whenever I had asked her or my dad, they would just smile, hug me, and tell me that it didn't matter because I was their blessing... that I was all they needed.
My dad came over and wrapped his arms around her, trying to be strong just like always, yet he couldn't stop his tears either. Fuck, none of us could. Nadia stood slient, but the tears dripping down her cheeks told me everything she felt without even having to feel the bond, meanwhile I kept using my thumbs to wipe mine away.
My sweet and gentle Liz was the most stoic of all of us, but even her eyes were red rimmed. She knew she could fix the issue, so it gave her a better perspective on the matter. I grabbed Nadia's hand and led her over to everyone else. My mom, with tears in her eyes, looked over at us, and her lips shook from the emotion of the moment.
"Mom... I had no idea..." I said softly, reaching out and grabbing her hand. She held my hand to her face as more tears fell, "What happened... if you want to share?"
"It..." She said, a sob breaking her sentence, before she continued, "It happened right after I had turned 21. My friends had brought me out to celebrate. We drank a lot more than we should have... and no one was fit to drive. Yet... my friend was stubborn, and said that everything would be fine..."
She wiped at her eyes, taking a deep breath, before looking back at me again.
"It was not fine... she ran a red light, and we t-boned another car. She broke her arm, another one of my friends suffered a concussion, and the man driving the truck was a little jostled, but he was alright. But me..." She said, her voice cracking, and I squeezed her hand tighter, "I didn't had my seat belt on... thankfully we weren't going fast enough for anyone to get seriously injured... but it threw me forward into the dash as the air bag went off... and it hit me right in the stomach."
My mom's sobs became worse, and every single one of the put a hand on her arm, or shoulder, or in my dad's case, around her waist as he hugged her from behind.
"There was blood coming out of me... down there... and the pain was excruciating. Everyone was rushed to the hospital, and while everyone survived, I was told that my uterus was damaged too much for them to do anything about... it was from the blunt force of the impact... and they said that I would be unable to have my own children."
As her sorrowful cries intensified, I put my arms around her. The pain and the sadness pouring out of her was almost too much for any of our hearts to take. Nadia put her head on my mom's shoulder as she cried with us, and Liz gently stroked my mom's hair, using her other hand to wipe at her eyes.
"Your mother didn't tell me for a while, and even when she did... it didn't change my feelings for her one bit. I love you, Maria." My dad said, kissing her cheek from his spot behind her.
My mom broke down, turned and burying her face into the crook of my dad's neck. This was what real, unconditional love was supposed to be like. And now... I felt that every day. It took a few minutes, but my mom calmed down enough to turn back to us, to Elizabeth.
"You... could really do that?" My mom asked, sounding both hesitant and hopeful.
Liz smiled and gave her a nod.
"Easily. All you have to do is say yes..." She replied, also noticing the hesitation in my mom's voice.
I grabbed her hand, causing her to look at me.
"It sounds wonderful, doesn't it?" I asked her, and she gave me a weak smile.
"It truly does... but..." She said, putting her arms around me and hugging me tight, "I have you, my sweet boy. You're everything I've ever wanted in a child, and I feel like... it would almost be like me telling you that you aren't good enough. And you are more than enough. I don't want to make you feel that way." She said, her words both warming my heart, and causing me pain.
I held her tight, formulating my next words, but I didn't even have to think about them for more than a few seconds. She cared so much about me, about my feelings, my happiness... fuck, today really is going to be emotional, huh? Either way, the hope in my mom's voice was all I needed to hear... I wanted this for her.
"I would never feel that way. I just want you to be happy, mom. Having more things... more people to love... is never a bad thing." I said, causing my mom to hug me tighter, "Besides..."
I paused, waiting until she looked up at me, her eyes red rimmed, but full of love, directed right at me. I smiled as I sent her the same look in return.
"I think I'd like being a big brother. Doesn't that sound nice to you?" I said gently, rubbing her shoulders as she processed my words.
Her tears flowed like rivers as she clutched at me, her sobs full of many emotions, but now, sadness wasn't one of them. Joy, relief, acceptance, love... that's what I felt. My dad came to our side, putting his arms around both of us and holding us close.
"I think... it sounds wondeful." He said, his tears falling to the ground below us.
The sniffles from the side, as well as the feelings from my bond, told me everything I needed to know. Before I could even say anything, my mom opened up the circle and beckoned them closer.
"You get in here too. You're family now." She said, and my girls rushed forward, joining in our group hug.
We all stood like that for a while, soft sniffles the only sound to be heard for several minutes. Once we slowly broke apart, my mom turned to Liz, and gently grabbed one of her delicate hands, squeezing gently. Liz smiled as she squeezed back.
"The answer is yes... please..." She said, her lips and eyes trembling.
Liz gently used her other hand to rub the top of my mom's on hers.
"Of course." She said, smiling as she brought her hand down to my mom's stomach, and her hand began to glow green.
"Son..." My dad said, walking up next to me and putting his arm around my shoulders, "Today has been... one of the strangest and most eye opening days of my life... and one I'll always remember. This is... a great day. You being here... these wonderful women you have with you... and now this?"
He looked on with a smile, tears in his eyes as he watched Liz work. Nadia stood patiently by the other two women, her own emotions jumbled, but not in a bad way. She truly adored my parents, especially my mom, and she was happy for them. She was proud of Liz's abilities, and what she was doing for my mom. There was a little bit of regret that she couldn't do the things for them like Liz could, but I sent her my feelings to remind her that they were both two very different women, with their own talents and abilities, and that I loved her no less for that. She also kept thinking about the day when we too might have little ones of our own, and her happiness at those thoughts... well, it made the idea sound better than it ever had before all of this happened between us.
"I love you, son." My dad said, which caused me to tear up as I put my arm around his shoulders as well, and pulled him in.
"Love you too dad." I replied, and he patted my shoulder, before giving it a squeeze. We both sat there patiently as Liz continued her work.
"There we go. It's done." Liz said after a minute, removing her hand, and giving my mom a smile.
My mom put a hand over her belly, and looked at my elf she was a living Goddess, which honestly wasn't far from how I looked at her every day.
"Then..." My mom asked, her voice trembling, and Liz nodded at her, giving a gentle smile as two tears fell down her face.
"All the damage is fixed," She said, putting her hands around my mom as she began to cry again, "You are perfectly healthy and very fertile now. So, if you're not careful, Sid's gonna be a big brother very soon."
My wonderful Liz tried to inject a bit of humor at the end, but my mom was too emotional to see anything besides the beautiful and kind woman who gave her back something that she'd always wanted. My mom hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek repeatedly. Liz smiled, her eyes watering as she hugged my mom back, and rubbed the back of her head.
"Thank you... thank you so much..." My mom sobbed into Liz's neck.
"I was happy to do it." Liz said softly, making my mom's eyes water even more.
"Such a sweet, wonderful girl..." She said, and then she looked up and over at Nadia, who was standing off to the side by herself, "You too dear... come here."
Nadia didn't waste a step as she rushed to them and embraced Liz and my mom, all of them weeping tears of joy. It was a beautiful moment, and I just stood there, taking in the moment with my dad. This life of mine was amazing, and it only gets better with each passing day. Yes, there have been diffcult times... I almost lost my life... almost lost Liz, but none of that came to pass, and we were all much stronger because of it.
A little over a week ago, I was a man with no prospects, no hopes, no dreams, and no partner to love or to love me. Now? I had a new job where I could help people, I was a literal fucking God with the power to protect what I cared about, and I had the love of two beautiful and amazing women, who I in turn love with all of my heart.
To top it all off, I was with the other two most important people in my life right now, and they still loved me like they always had. They accepted me even after showing them what I could do, they accepted my girls and the fact that I was with the both of them, and something I never even expected had a very real chance of happening.
"I wonder if I'll make a good older brother." I mused in my head.
The sweet and loving feeling I got through the bond told me exactly what my girls thought of that, and all I could do was smile. Life truly was the best it has even been, and I couldn't wait to see what the future held. For now, I would enjoy the day with those I loved the most in this world.
● ● ●
"Interesting... that's a very strong illusion. I actually had to strain myself a bit to see past it." The mad God said as he observed Vanir from high above, a floating spectral entity, invisible and unreadable to all.
He had felt Vanir and his women leaving the city, and became curious, especially after his talk with the boy Randall.
"He doesn't understand..." The boy had said, his eyes looking looking even more wild than the last day, "My brother's plan will never work. Vanir isn't stupid, and he's not weak. No... no... we need a contingency plan. Something to balance the scales in our favor."
The God was surprised at the conclusion this boy had come to. He was rash, and too confident for his own good, as well as just being a dunce. That being said, he'll give credit where it is due. It was very smart of him to realize this. Granted, he had been working on a way to help his idiotic brother Ricard's plan not be a total failure, but he was coming up short...
"Hold on..." The God said, his eyes observing something interesting.
He could see divine tethers that were connected to Vanir and the women he kept around him. Their souls looked to be intertwined, connected in a way he had never seen before. Could he use that?
"Yes...perhaps..." The God, and then paused when Vanir made a strange face, and craned his head upwards, making to look right at him.
The God vanished, racing back to Randall's body as quickly as he could. That was close. Did he sense him? No... he shouldn't have been able to. In only a few moments, the God was back, and nestled right back into the hole he had carved into Randall's damaged soul for himself. The boy sighed as he felt his presence in his mind once again.
"Those were some of the best couple of hours in my life." Randall said, actually making the God chuckle.
"That's too bad, boy." The God said, before continuing, "I followed the boy. He was meeting with his parents."
Randall actually grinned wide, and began to laugh. The madness in his tone was like soft music to the God's ears.
"That's perfect!" He yelled, his cackling intensifying, "Now we have a back up plan. Did you learn anything else?"
"I did... and it's something we may be able to use. We have multiple advantages against Vanir... and we will use them to make him suffer. To make him beg for mercy. To crush him utterly." The God said, beginning to laugh himself.
Yes, yes, it was all coming together, and soon, Vanir would know pain, just like that damned father of his cost him all of those years ago. His wife, his daughter, he would destroy the world. He left out the part about controlling Randall's body, and letting it fall apart before he took over Vanir's. He figured the boy might not like that part of the plan too much.
"You will all fall." The God seethed, the thought of crushing his enemies making him grin. "Vengeance will be mine."