"It's A Boy"

Notes: Brandel evades capture for the time being, and Fergus is not happy about it. Mother Nature has a plan, but for now things are at a standstill. Baby Roy does cute baby things. Cori sees in her husband what most people don't see. Hope you enjoy it!

"Chapter 4: Moving In With Mom"

1511, Same Day

Brandel landed near a discarded deer skin and kicked it aside as he lumbered unsteadily towards the stream to dunk his head and drink. The surprise beating had served to sober him up halfway, and the cold, clean water did the rest. Who knew that two tiny women could put up such a fight? And using magic against another Fairy is against the rules, too...

And yet, he knew that he had broken the rules by physically accosting his son. As much as he considered Fergus to be an extension of himself, and therefore his, the facts were clear; he knew he had trespassed. It was true that Fergus had gotten physical first, grabbing Brandel by the wing and causing him to seize up and nearly go into a free fall, but given the circumstances, the law would be on Fergus's side. Fergus had acted in defense of his family; Brandel posed a legitimate threat.

What had Brandel been planning to do? He asked himself this question now, and even he didn't know. He hadn't thought this through at all! In fact, knowing Fergus would be away for the day, he hadn't even planned on running into him. The young wife would open the door, he would talk his way in, and...then what? Kidnap the boy? Brandel was getting old, and he had no use for babies. They couldn't do any yard work, or take care of him; in fact, it would be Brandel who would be obliged to care for...whatever they'd named the brat.

Brandel looked back the way he had come as something occurred to him, something that, up until now, had seemed very unimportant. That girl he married...She's the Tooth Fairy's daughter, and bound to be the next Tooth Fairy after her mother croaks. That baby is the next Tooth Fairy after her. A future Legendary Figure. Which means that Mother Nature will be all over this faster'n you can slap a mosquito!

For all he knew, she was on her way there now. For all her reputed kindness, Mother Nature was not someone to be crossed! Brandel straightened and fluttered his wings to make sure he was still airworthy. The left one was a bit sore; Fergus had given it quite a twist. Still, he ascended without an issue and flew away. As he flew, his form shimmered and grew transparent until his passage overhead resembled nothing more than a bit of heat distortion. His magic, which was strong and robust despite his age and his love of drink, grew unnoticeable to those who were sensitive to such things.

For the time being, Brandel withdrew.

The Tooth Fairy's small cottage was built inside the hollow trunk of an enormous tree, as many other Fairy dwellings were. Unlike the humans, who preferred to mold the land and its features to suit their own needs and wants, Fairies preferred to work with nature, gaining permission from the spirit of the tree before any construction took place. If the tree's answer was yes, then it was just a matter of using magic to alter the tree without harming it; the Fairy now had a place to live, and the tree had someone to prune back the dead branches and keep an eye out for the ailments that typically affected them, such as fungus or blight.

Fergus sat on a chair in his mother-in-law's living room, and if his posture was anything to go by, his mood was one of defeat. Cori applied a strong-smelling paste to a cut on his forehead, and although it stung he didn't so much as flinch. He kept his eyes on Roy, who sat on the floor at his feet and played with his boot laces.

Cori did a double-take when she noticed this. "Fergus, you forgot to take your shoes off. Look, you've tracked dirt inside. Roy, no-no, that's dirty."

Fergus picked up his son (the boy squealed in displeasure, then quieted down when his father bounced him on his knee) and saw that his clodhoppers had indeed left a trail of footprints that led right to his chair. "Here, you take him. I'll clean it up."

Tooth Fairy, who had just emerged from her kitchen, put a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down when he began to stand. "You'll do nothing of the sort. Wooden floors are easy to clean. But give me your boots, and I'll put them by the door."

Fergus knew better than to argue. He unlaced his boots, (well, boot; Roy had managed to untie one of them somehow) and handed them over.

"Mother Nature is on her way," Tooth Fairy told him as she put his boots off to the side and went to get a broom. "She had to finish a few things before she could come, but she'll be here soon."

Fergus simply nodded.

When Mother Nature appeared in the middle of the room without so much as a whisper of warning, they all jumped. Roy seemed to recognize her, because instead of bursting into tears as most babies would do upon being startled, he crowed happily and pointed. Here was the nice lady with the pretty 'hat'!

Mother Nature smiled at him, then gasped at the sight of Fergus's face. One of the man's eyes was swelling shut, both of them were turning black, and his nose had clearly been broken. There was a cut on his forehead, possibly from a ring Brandel was wearing, or maybe from hitting his head on a rock when he fell. Either way, he was lucky not to need stitches. "Oh my...And your father did this?"

Fergus snorted, then immediately regretted it. He held his nose for a moment, then replied, "If you mean Brandel, the waste of flesh who begat me, then yes."

Cori covered Roy's ears and frowned, then put Roy down with the few toys they'd managed to gather in their haste to leave and turned to Mother Nature. "He was demanding to see the baby. I don't know what he would have done if he'd gotten in."

"I don't think he did either." Tooth Fairy folded her arms. "The man was clearly intoxicated. You could smell it on him. When Fergus tried to bar him from entering the house, they came to blows. It took the three of us to drive him away. Mother Nature, something must be done. Even if this wasn't my own grandson, no child should be exposed to that."

Mother Nature nodded firmly. "I quite agree. Brandel must not be allowed any sort of contact with this child."

Fergus nodded, looking like he wanted to be hopeful, but he knew his father. "Well, he won't give up, now that he knows about the baby. What is to be done?"

Mother Nature tilted her head and appeared to be listening, and all was silent for a few moments. Fergus began to grow impatient. Roy, oblivious to what the 'boring grown-ups' were talking about, was blowing raspberries as he tried to insert his rattle into his belly button.

Finally, Mother Nature shook her head. "I can't sense him anywhere. He must be masking his magical signature."

"You can't find some way around it?" Fergus slightly raised his voice, but he still spoke well below a yell.

"No," Mother Nature folded her hands. "From the time of the beginning, I gave certain races the ability to cloak themselves for safety purposes. I'm obliged to bring Brandel to justice when he shows himself, but I cannot break my own rule."

"The magical bureaucracy..." Fergus muttered in disgust.

Mother Nature gave him a hard stare, but she let this slide. Allowances could be made for a frightened husband and father who wanted only the safety of his family.

Luckily, Fergus saw the look and took the unspoken warning. He didn't apologize, but he lowered his head for a moment, and in Fergus-speak that meant roughly the same thing. "So, our only course of action is to wait until he tries something?"

"I understand your concern, Fergus, but-"

Fergus cut her off. "Meaning no disrespect, but no, you don't. You understand rules and procedure, but maybe the rules aren't always right."

Cori, afraid that her husband would get himself in trouble, tugged on his elbow. "Fergus, please!"

Tooth Fairy simply watched this exchange, understanding exactly where Fergus was coming from. She was immovable in regards to the Tooth Fairy name, but other than that, she had never cared for many of the rules they had to follow.

Fergus rolled his eyes. "What will she do to me? I don't agree with her, but she's not Brandel. I have the right to speak, do I not?" He looked to Mother Nature for confirmation.

"You do," She agreed.

Now Fergus was almost yelling; he couldn't help it. "Then tell me what I should do! How can I keep my family safe? How can I keep him from going for either of them when they leave for their rounds?" He said 'they' because Cori occasionally had to fill in for her mother. Tooth Fairy was a feisty lady, but at this point it was only a matter of time.

The Nature Goddess never lost her outward sense of calm. "Effectively immediately, this property is under my protection. Brandel can't cross the border."

"And if we leave?" Fergus pressed.

Roy looked up at them, his attention drawn by his father's angry voice, and he looked more surprised than anything else. He offered Fergus his rattle, but Fergus didn't see it, and he scowled and hit his father's leg with it. "Bah!"

Fergus looked down and dutifully reached for the rattle, but Roy pulled it back and giggled, scooting away on his bottom. The corner of Fergus's mouth twitched in a way that suggested a smile.

Mother Nature smiled as she watched this. "The baby can't go far, for the time being. My hope is that Brandel will show up, stay in the area long enough to try to find a way in, and be caught. Send a thought my way, and I can be here in an instant."

Cori nodded, but she was still frightened. "What about Mother? She can't fly very strongly, not after her illness. What if he goes after her while she's away?"

Tooth Fairy quirked an eyebrow. "I'm right here, daughter. And I'm not as weak as all that. I've got some tricks of my own, as the two of you saw today!"

Mother Nature kept her amusement in check. "Still, I would advise caution." Roy crawled over to her, rattle in hand, and proudly showed it to her. She smiled and leaned down to see. "Oh, what's this? Is that yours?"

"Ah!" Roy held out the toy, then pulled it back to his chest when Mother Nature reached for it. He grinned impishly, showing off his two new bottom teeth as the adults (even Fergus) had a quiet laugh over this.

"His new favorite game is keep-away," Fergus explained.

Mother Nature chuckled and picked Roy up, and she caught the rattle as he dropped it so that he could inspect her headdress. She patiently allowed this, and steered the subject back to the matter at hand. "When he is caught, he will be permanently banished from the Fairy town.

Fergus was dissatisfied with this. "Making him the humans' problem..."

"I didn't realize you held such a soft spot for humans," Mother Nature commented in a subtle tone that hinted that she knew exactly how he felt about that particular race.

"No more I do, but I wouldn't loose my father on a dog I liked."

"That's...almost commendable of you," Mother Nature put Roy down. The baby made a questioning noise, then immediately began to cry, his feelings hurt by this sudden 'rejection'. Mother Nature picked him back up again, bouncing him lightly and shushing him. "All right, all right...My goodness, what a fuss. I think someone's tired."

Roy quieted down, but retained his pout. His nap had been interrupted, which always put his mood on a hair trigger. He shook his head 'no' at the word 'tired'. He couldn't speak yet, but he could understand some of what he heard, and he absolutely did not want to go to bed!

"For the time being," Mother Nature continued, "this is the best we can do. It'll be all right, Fergus."

"So, how long will we have to live off my mother-in-law?"

Tooth Fairy, who was one of the few people who could get away with scolding Fergus and not getting a scathing rebuttal in return, gave her wings an indignant flick. "Fergus, hush. You're family, and this is temporary. Don't insult an old lady's hospitality."

Fergus looked at her as if he were thinking of snapping anyway, but then he sighed. Tooth Fairy didn't look old, nor did she look young. If a human were to try and guess her age, they would be hard pressed to do so, but many would say that she looked like she could be anywhere between forty and sixty. Certainly not older or younger than that. The magic of her job had aged her up, and then it had essentially kept her frozen in time. Still, she was his mother-in-law, and it was very good of her to allow them to stay with her. She was right; he was being rude. "I'm sorry. My father's sudden appearance...I never thought I'd have to see him again."

Mother Nature nodded. "And with good fortune, you will only have to see him one last time."

Tooth Fairy patted his arm and went to take the baby from Mother Nature. Roy went to her easily enough, rubbing his eyes and looking grumpy; he was tired, but he was fighting it. "I'll just put this little one down for an...N-A-P." She lowered her voice as she spelled it out. No one needed an explanation for that one!

Roy glared at his grandmother and said, very clearly, "No!"

Mother Nature put a hand over her mouth to hide a smile. "And so it begins."

"Might've known his first word would be 'no'," Fergus grinned. "Time to start censoring myself."

That night, long after Tooth Fairy had left for work and Roy had been put to bed, Fergus stood at the guest room window and stared up at the crescent moon. Behind him, Cori got ready for bed, but he simply couldn't relax.

I'm afraid...

Fergus realized this, and he hated such weakness in himself. He was good at hiding it, especially after so much time and practice, but if growing up in that man's house had taught him anything, it was this; tears were a sign of weakness. Anger was power. Stoicism was strength. And hiding was the epitome of cowardice. And yet...

And yet!

Fergus was powerless in his anger, to the point where his eyes began to sting with the tears that wanted to gather but wouldn't. He had trained himself too well for that, and this skill that had served him well in the past now left him feeling like a hot coal resided in his chest, with no outlet. Tears made one a target...but weren't they a target either way? If hiding was cowardice, hadn't he been hiding from his father for years? And wasn't his father hiding from them now?

I don't like the moon tonight.

Cori, who had just donned a linen nightgown, called to him. "Fergus, come away from the window."

Fergus gave his large wings a bit of a flutter, the breeze from them lightly stirring the lace curtains. "I was just admiring the moon. And then I thought to myself, it looks like a cruel smile. If he's not here to stand over me and leer...why, the moon does it in his stead."

Cori came over to him and looked up at the moon. "Is that how you see it?"

He turned to his wife. "What other way is there?"

"Well..." Cori rested her hands on the window sill and looked up at the bright slash that hung in the night sky. "It looks more like a clipped fingernail to me."

Fergus made a slight face. "What?"

She looked back at him and smiled. "Oh, yes. Or it could resemble a curl of hair, like the ones at the back of Roy's neck. Or your own smile, when someone tells a terrible joke."

The corner of his mouth quirked, but he fought the smile. "Define terrible."

Cori gave him a wry look and put a hand on her hip. "How about this; 'If you can think of a better fish pun, let minnow'."

That one nearly got him, but laughing would have pained his broken nose, and he remembered in time. He smiled, and gently caressed her cheek. "What did I do to deserve you?"

She put her hand over his and stepped closer. "Many things. And when I asked you to call me 'Cori', you never once questioned it."

Fergus shook his head and lowered his hand. "But I'm not good. I...I wish I was, and I try to be, but...like it or not, I'm my father's son. And I'm trying to be a better father than he was, but Roy's still so young, and it didn't start with me until I was...Oberon's Teeth, Cori, what if I end up hurting him?"

Cori could see the pain in his eyes, pain he never quite let reach the surface. She knew going into this marriage that there were parts of her husband's mind that she could see but never touch, much like his off-limits wings. She tried to reach him just the same. "You are good. His actions left you with scars, but they don't define you. I've seen you return baby birds to their nests. You gave a homeless human your shoes once. Yes, I saw that. It's the reason why I introduced myself back then; I wanted to know you. And you've always been so gentle with me, and now with Roy."

Fergus didn't know what to do with this. "But you don't know what I almost did today."

"Yes, I do," Cori lowered her voice, as if Roy might overhear and understand this from his crib in the adjacent room. "I saw the look on your face today. It wasn't difficult to guess. But you let him live."

Fergus looked down. "I couldn't...even after what he's done..."

"I know," She nodded. "And I think I would have thought differently of you if you had. We're all made up of good and evil, Fergus. You chose to shun the evil part of you. He embraced it. You chose right, and you can still choose right. You're not him. And he doesn't matter now. He can't come in. We're safe, and our son is safe. That's all that matters."

Fergus lightly kissed her forehead, then sighed and looked up at the moon. It didn't look so forbidding now. "Come, let's get some sleep while we can."

"All right," Cori agreed, and they got into bed and shared a goodnight kiss. Fergus held eye contact with her when it ended, and his heart quickened in his chest.

It had been a long time.

Roy was asleep. They were alone. They'd had one hell of a scare that day, but aside from his bruises and broken nose they were unharmed. Mother Nature had a solid plan, and they were safe for the moment. What he needed now, what they needed, was closeness. Cori nodded, and they shared an even deeper kiss. Sleep could wait.