Warmagic

15 - The Child

"I thought that the spirits would have told you, or that your mother's spirit would have come before you to tell you herself," Vidar muttered thoughtfully.

"Maybe they did, but I was too distracted to listen."

I had stopped crying a few minutes ago and we were walking back to Skal, hand in hand, but with slow steps. I was glad that we were alone, and that it was him who had told me. I couldn't afford to let anyone else see me broken. But with him, I could be myself. My true self.

"You have been busy here," he acknowledged, almost sounding proud.

"The people here will accept you. They have been treating me well. They see me as Tyr's equal even." Which led me to another thought, "you are the alpha now."

He chuckled, "Indeed, and your brother hates me for it."

"Still? I thought he'd accepted the idea by now," I sighed as we stepped out of the woods and into an open area which was the outskirts of Skal.

"Calder's a stubborn one," was all he had to say in the matter before he turned more serious. "I need you to come home with me, Freke. When this threat is dealt with, I need you to help me deal with a few things within our pack."

My instant reaction was to scream 'no' in his face, but how could I deny him help when he had travelled all the way here to aid us? "Of course. You can tell me more about it later," I said hastily. As we entered the village, I noticed Tyr and Noora. A perfect distraction from the subject.

The married couple stood close together, smiling and talking outside the hall's doors. A sense of joy hit my heart. Maybe it was a result of the commotion around us. I saw men I knew hugging and kissing their wives and their children. Greeting each other after months apart. It was an emotional scene and a contented feeling flooded through me. 

As if he could sense my presence, Tyr turned and met my eyes, smiling and waving at me to come closer. That's when I noticed the moving bundle in Tyr's arms, and my heart started to race. His child had been born!

But I didn't even have time to congratulate the couple before Noora threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she repeated as she sobbed against the black fur of my cloak.

I couldn't help but hug her back, something about this woman made me want to protect her. She was so kindhearted and good, it made me wonder how she'd been able to stay alive all this time.

"It was my pleasure," I answered her and accepted the bundle of joy that Tyr handed to me. I peered down at the child and met their eyes, which were just as grey as their father's.

"Meet our son, Ari," Tyr said with a gentleness I had never heard in his voice before.

"A strong name," Vidar said, stepping forward to stand by my side to look at the child. "It means eagle."

I sniggered at the wolf beside me, "I'm pretty sure they know, love, since they are the ones that named him?"

I could feel Vidar tense up beside me, but he soon relaxed and rolled his eyes, sighing. "We've been apart for so long that I've forgotten how annoying you can be."

I moved my thumb along the child's forehead and chuckled, "don't listen to him, he's the grumpy one, while I'm fun to be around."

I peered up at Vidar and then at Tyr, for some sort of confirmation that I was correct, but my blond lover only shook his head and laughed quietly to himself.

There was still some tension in the air. Tyr and Vidar had never met, but only heard of each other from my lips. And while Tyr made an effort to introduce himself to Vidar, my maður greeted him with that same stale respect and custom. I moved the fabrics from the baby boy's body and exposed his chubby tummy to the gentle breeze that we had been blessed with this day.

With circling motions I drew invisible patterns on his skin, mumbling spells of protection and strength, all while being supervised by his mother. Ari seemed to enjoy the touch, not complaining once, and Noora seemed to relax again. The small child then grabbed one of my fingers and squeezed it tight, moving it towards his mouth like all infants did. Tasting the world to learn from it.

"You are unique Ari," I whispered as I raised the child to rest his head on my shoulder and brushed those soft baby hairs against my mouth. "You have two families that will protect you now, the whole village of Skal is yours, and so is the Hamarr-pack."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I did not care. We were all family now, whether they liked it or not. And I was going to make it work.  Me, Tyr, Vidar, Noora and Ari. We were going to become a strong family. I swore it to myself and to the child in my arms. He deserved a life full of love and happiness with all of us by his side.

A/N - Any Star Wars fans here? If so, enjoy the reference in the title, there's more similarities to it though ;)