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THE SON I NEVER HAD
"Why is Renata stood outside my door?" Basileus asked when he walked into this quarters. He was greeted with all three of his sons and Felix, who looked less than happy to be there.
"I am taking her around with me at the moment," Aro breezed, not wanting to make an issue of it. "To protect myself," he added, seeing Basileus wasn't satisfied by his answer.
"From me?" Basileus asked.
"No, not you," Aro said, catching Eleazar's eye.
Aro had talked to his brother about Lucius already. Neither of them trusted the boy, but Eleazar had said he liked him, though he couldn't say why as he had only met Lucius briefly.
"Then what?" Basileus asked, when no further answer was forthcoming from Aro."
"Nothing in particular," Aro shrugged.
Basileus sighed in annoyance. "Have you brought Renata in because of Lucius?"
"Why ever would I need to do that?" Aro asked slyly.
"There is no reason to do that," Basileus said, staring his boy out.
"You have answered your own question then, Dad," Aro responded, looking away.
Basileus shook his head and poured himself a drink. "Don't get cocky, son," he said, handing one to Aro.
Eleazar fetched a drink for himself and Carlisle, and he managed to hand one over to Felix before either Aro or Basileus could object.
"Have you sorted things with Magnus yet?" Basileus asked his middle boy as he settled into his favourite chair. "You have, haven't you?" he asked a little more forcefully when Aro refused to answer.
"Erm … no," Aro admitted. He hadn't been to the guard hall either, and he knew Basileus would object to that, too.
"And why not?" Basileus boomed. He didn't want to have to deal with Magnus again when the inevitable brawl broke out between the coven masters. It was awkward enough last time, he thought.
Aro huffed into his cup. "Because there's nothing to sort. He just needs to calm down."
Eleazar knew it was far more than that. He had bothered to go and see Magnus after the address the evening before and had received both barrels from the man over his brother's mistreatment of him. "I think you are underestimating how pissed off he is, Aro."
"He's not pissed off, he's just being a sore loser." Don't you start, El! Aro thought. Dad's bad enough!
"Why don't me and Felix go to the guard hall and see if Magnus is back in there?" Carlisle offered, with Felix thinking it was a grand idea!
"Not a chance in hell," Aro replied, quashing any hope Felix had for leaving. "He is staying in my sight after what he did yesterday."
"But, I'm so bored!" Felix complained.
"Would you rather be bored and in pain, or just bored?" Aro offered his son the choice with a hand raised, ready to strike.
"Those are shitty choices," Felix said, flopping back into his seat.
Aro slapped his boy across the back of his head. "You can keep it up if you want more, but remember our discussion yesterday morning before you force my hand again," he growled.
Felix wasn't willing to push Aro to spanking him with an audience, his pride won out and he shut his mouth.
Carlisle understood Felix's struggle only too well. Basileus seemed to take great delight in humiliating him in front of his brothers when they had crossed words and he wanted to help his nephew.
"When will I have my own place, Aro?" he asked, deflecting his brother's attention. "I am getting sick of all this swapping about!"
Carlisle's belongings were stacked by the front door, having been evicted to make way for Lucius.
"Soon, brother. We will start on the west tower any day now," Aro explained. He was just as keen to get started as Carlisle so they could move onto the next phase - remodelling the tower for Aro's private residence.
"It can't come soon enough!" Carlisle exclaimed, eyeing his books lying on the floor.
Basileus rolled his eyes. "You have hardly been here since you moved back in so what are you complaining about."
Carlisle looked askance to his father. "You have given my bed away to a stray, Dad!"
"Don't be so disrespectful," Basileus boomed, and slapped his son, much the way Aro had Felix. "You don't even need a room, let alone a bed," he added.
That touched a raw nerve for Carlisle. The only reason adult vampires needed a private room, especially a bedroom, was for sex with their mates. The fact that Carlisle didn't have one made him feel quite emasculated.
"How many bedrooms will he have?" Felix asked his father.
"Two, why?" Aro replied.
Felix's eyes glistened and he turned to Carlisle. "Can I move in with you when you get your own place?"
"Yes, if you want to," Carlisle answered before anyone else had the chance.
"No, he cannot!" Aro said sternly. "The only way you two are living together is if it's under my roof."
"Great!" Eleazar said, clapping his hands together happily. "You can take Carlisle then."
Basileus' angry eye turned on his eldest. "Will you stop talking about your brother as though he were a street urchin!"
"Why can't I live with Carlisle if he doesn't mind?" Felix asked.
"Because you are a child," Aro began, but stopped himself from going any further. "You know what, I am not even getting into an argument with you about this. The answer is no, flat out no."
"Carlisle, don't!" Basileus said before his youngest could continue the argument.
Carlisle huffed to himself, having been admonished so publicly again. "So where's your new pet, Dad?" he asked, sounding spiteful.
"Did I not hit you hard enough?!" Basileus asked with a raised hand ready to strike.
"Sorry.m," Carlisle ducked. "Where is Lucius?"
"He and Atia have gone for a walk. They have a lot to catch up on," Basileus explained.
"How on earth did she steal the kid away from you?" Aro asked cheekily.
"I have been making him feel welcome, son. Something you should be doing, too," Basileus said, making sure to catch the eye of all in attendance. "Lucius is like the son I never had."
"You have three sons," Aro said, feeling affronted that they were suddenly less than enough.
Eleazar shook his head to Aro. "Yo know what he means," he said, trying to calm his brother before a fresh argument began.
"It's not just an expression, Eleazar. I think Lucius is the son I never had."
That had everyone looking to Basileus in confusion.
"I have concentrated a little harder on Atia's memories of the woman who birthed the boy. I think Lucius could be mine."
"What?!" all four asked!
"You heard me," Basileus said easily, rolling his cup between his hands. "I recognise the woman."
"Were we even in Rome at that time?" Aro asked, trying to date their whereabouts.
"We must have been," Basileus replied. "How else would I recognise her?"
"How else indeed?" Eleazar questioned, looking to Aro warily. There is something seriously weird going on, he thought.
Aro dismissed the very idea out of hand. "He's not yours, Dad. Could you even imagine how unlikely that is?"
"Are you even fertile?" Carlisle asked, assuming the creator had not suffered the indignity of wanking into a cup, as he had done.
"Caius has shown that we are fertile and it's a possibility." Basileus said, fetching himself a top up.
"No, Dad," Aro shook his head. "He has shown that WE are very slightly fertile, but WE were all human once," he said, gesturing to his brothers and his son.
"If you think it's possible, have Caius test you." Carlisle offered a solution, not that Basileus would take it.
"I don't need Caius to test anything, thank you, I am perfectly capable of knowing whether I am fertile or not," Basileus replied, sounding very annoyed to be questioned by his own sons. "And I have proof already."
"What proof?" Carlisle asked, assuming he had missed something.
"Lucius, of course!" Basileus bellowed. He missed out Carlisle's cup on the refills. Even Felix was given a top up. That pissed Carlisle off.
He's losing his mind, Aro thought. He hadn't said too much as he was searching through his own memories for their time in Rome, but that was his first thought. Basileus is actually losing his mind! It was something both Felix and Jane had thought about him the day before … the irony was not lost on Aro.
"Did you recognise the boy's mother before Lucius came along?" Aro asked.
Basileus didn't answer, but his expression spoke loudly enough. He did not. Aro was sure.
"That's odd, don't you think?"
Basileus shrugged. "I hadn't given it much thought before Lucius arrived, that's all."
"I don't trust this kid. He's trouble," Aro said. It was quiet, and mainly to himself, but everyone heard him.
"I like him, he's a good kid," Carlisle blurted out. He wasn't sure why he had said that - he was pissed off with Lucius for even breathing, as he had been evicted from his room for the boy.
The phrase caught Aro's attention, too. That's exactly what Caius said, and Eleazar, and Felix!
"You're jealous, Aro," Basileus said mockingly, smirking at his middle child. "You were jealous when Carlisle came along, and Eleazar, too."
Aro merely scowled. It wasn't true, in his mind at least. Okay, it was true. Aro was definitely jealous when Eleazar arrived, as his father took to the guy so easily. He was less jealous when Carlisle arrived, though that was mainly because he had such a lot going on in his own home at the time. But Lucius?! I'm not jealous of that little brat!
"He's such a charming boy," Basileus said wistfully.
"In what way?" Felix asked. He had never heard his grandfather refer to any child as 'charming' before.
"He's polite, he's courteous, he can hold an adult conversation without complaining of boredom," Basileus said, looking Felix up and down disparagingly.
"He sounds like a total kiss ass to me!" Felix replied, wearing the same scowl as his father.
"Felix should be going now," Eleazar said to Aro quickly, trying to deflect their father. It did little good.
"Felix will be going with my hand print on his ass if he isn't careful!" Basileus said threateningly to the boy before turning to Aro. "Are you putting him up to this abrasion?"
Aro laughed. "Since when has Felix needed my assistance to be abrasive?" he asked. "I think he's right, though. Lucius is sucking up to you because he knows who you are."
Basileus smiled. "That's not an entirely bad thing," he said. True or not, he quite enjoyed spending time with a child so pleasant.
"It's not entirely truthful either, is it?" Aro responded.
"You are a fine one to talk," Basileus sneered. "I've seen you soaking up the adoration sitting in your little throne when we have glory hunters passing through."
"Different," Aro growled. "And it's not a little throne."
Basileus chose to ignore Aro's attitude, which pissed Carlisle off. Basileus wouldn't let him get away with growling at him!
"He's had some good ideas about the running of this place. It would be worth you sitting down with him and having a chat." It wasn't a suggestion, Basileus meant it. "Wipe that damn look off your face!" Basileus roared seeing all four of them wore the same shocked, and frankly disgusted, expressions. "You know, I spoke with Lucius about the way you three behave, he was shocked and appalled! Seeing our family through a newcomer's eyes has been a revelation to me, too."
"What's wrong with us?" Carlisle asked.
Aro and Eleazar groaned in unison. Carlisle still hadn't learnt when to keep his mouth shut.
"Do you want a list?" Basileus asked, before launching into his verbal attack. "Eleazar you are weak - you don't do anything and you stand for nothing," he said to his eldest, giving Eleazar no time to defend himself before he turned on Aro. "You allow your children to govern you and it leaves you unable to properly govern the coven." Aro, too, was given no time for a rebuttal before Basileus turned to Carlisle. "And I hardly think you need telling, the way you blackmailed me is utterly reprehensible."
Carlisle cringed and sunk into his seat. "That was years ago, and I have paid for it," he said. "Many times over."
Basileus scoffed. "You barely paid at all. I will be using a firmer hand with you, going forward."
"Why?!" Carlisle whined. He didn't like the idea of a 'firmer hand' from his father, the one he used already was plenty firm enough!
"Let me guess - Lucius' idea, by any chance?" Aro asked.
Basileus spun on his heel to face Aro again. "What if it was?"
"You should be careful around him, Dad," Aro said, trying to carefully phrase his concerns. "You don't know him from Adam. He will be persuading you to empty the coffers at this rate."
"No need to worry there, son, as you have done a fine job of emptying the bloody coffers yourself."
Aro stared out of the window. "Building is expensive, who knew?!"
"Aro, I want you to give Lucius a position in the castle," Basileus declared. It sounded to his son like he was plucking ideas out of the air.
If Aro was concerned by his father's request, Carlisle was fucking furious. "How does that fucking brat get a position before me?!" he roared.
This is exactly what Lucius said would happen, Basileus thought, remembering their conversation. I need to stamp this out right now! "Stand up," he said to Carlisle
Carlisle looked to his brothers but they merely shrugged, not knowing where Basileus was going. On standing, Basileus reached an arm around his son. Carlisle imagined for a moment that he was going to pull him into a hug. Basileus was quite a tactile father, so it was a reasonable assumption. Instead, and quite shocking for all in attendance, he spun Carlisle around by his shoulder, took a tight hold of his arm, and spanked his ass like a child!
Being stood in the middle of the room for a spanking was, quite honestly, the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him. In his surprise he couldn't hold back his response, either. Dancing away from his father's swing arm, Carlisle hissed and gasped each time Basileus made contact.
Before Carlisle knew what was happening, Basileus dragged him to the corner of the room, and thrust him face first into the wall. "Stay there and stay still!" he roared at his boy.
Carlisle could only blame his confusion for letting that happen in front of his brothers and nephew.
"I'm sure you can come up with something suitable for Lucius," Basileus breezed, retaking his seat as though nothing had happened.
Aro and Eleazar exchanged a few nervous glances but neither of them replied.
Felix did though.
"I can think of a few things for the little fucker," he said, pissed off that his uncle had copped for Lucius' presence in their coven.
"Do you want to join him?" Basileus asked his grandson whilst pointing a finger at his son, standing in humiliation in the corner.
Eleazar pulled Felix in close and told him to shut his damn mouth before Basileus made good on his threat.
Basileus decided to leave Felix to Eleazar, but he was most put out that Aro had done nothing about the boy speaking to the way he had. "Aro, I'm not playing with you, make space for Lucius."
"I'm sure Aro just wants to give the boy time to settle in before you put him to work, my lord," Eleazar tried to explain his brother's reticence.
"Is that the case?" Basileus asked, daring Aro to say otherwise.
"Of course, my lord," Aro replied, dripping with attitude.
"Well, he can't have a proper position before me!" Carlisle called out from his corner.
"You have one, you talk to the humans," Aro replied, though he felt a tool talking to the back of his brother head. "The human whisperer."
"What part of 'stand still' did you not understand?" Basileus asked.
"I didn't move!" Carlisle complained.
"Your mouth moved!"
Carlisle ignored his father and continued to address Aro. "And, what happens when we finish building?"
"I will find you something else, don't worry," Aro replied. "We can't risk you getting bored and acting like a dick again." Aro looked to his son for a moment. "Bored children are destructive," he added.
Carlisle had wrongly thought his brother was on his side for a change. "I am an adult, Aro, by your own laws!" he said, emerging from his corner, forgetting the fact that his father had put him there.
"The fact that you are considered an adult is both terrifying and hilarious," Aro said, laughing to himself.
Carlisle returned said laughter mockingly. "You hear that Felix, your dad is calling his own laws hilarious, we will have to remember that."
"QUIET!" Basileus boomed, throwing Carlisle back to the wall. "At the very least, the two of you will be nice to Lucius," he directed to Aro and Carlisle. "It's important to your mother and she has done a lot for you both."
"So Eleazar doesn't have to be nice?" Felix asked cheekily.
"Eleazar doesn't need asking, he's a grown up," Eleazar said.
Felix laughed at his uncle. "Talking about yourself in the third person is really lame."
Eleazar shoved his nephew from his seat. "When is he going?"
"Now," Aro said, pulling Felix to his side. "And, so am I."
Before he could leave, Basileus called for Aro one last time. "Aro, think about what I said. Be nice …"
"Or else!" Aro finished his father sentence. "Yeah, I know, Dad."