A/N: Disclaimer: as everyone knows, I don't own Sweep or any of the characters. Trust me, if I did I wouldn't have let the series end. And also I probably would have changed Night's Child…a lot. Anyways, enjoy. And Thank you everyone for the reviews. Forgive my laziness, but I really don't feel like addressing everyone individually. Am I forgiven? Please say I am. Anyways, real fast since I know you don't care about what I have to say, you care about the story: I'm sorry, but I don't intend on killing anyone, making anyone pregnant (yet at least) or anyone being dumped. I'm extremely pro-hunter/morgan. Okay. Thanks for your time. Enjoy.
"Morgan? What are you doing here?" Mom asked, ushering me into the house.
"As far as I know, I still live here, right?" I asked, causing Mom to laugh.
"I meant, aren't you supposed to be staying with Sky while Hunter's away?" Mom asked, leading the way into the kitchen. There were containers of Chinese food sitting on the counter and I eyed them hungrily. I was famished. Mom noticed and shoved one towards me.
"Leftover from lunch. Eat all you want." I looked up at Mom and she rolled her eyes.
"I mean, leave at least a little bit for your father to have later." she amended. I stabbed a fork into a container of lemon chicken, savoring the tanginess.
"Are you okay?" Mom asked after a few moments of silence, her going over business papers and me enjoying the fried-greasy-saucy goodness of the Chinese food.
"Yeah, why?" I asked, looking up at her. She was examining me closely and I felt like I was under an X-ray. Mom would always be my mom, even if she hadn't given birth to me. She had been there for me my whole life. Every scraped knee, every monster in the closet, and every sickness, she had been there taking care of me. And here she was for me now, concerned and ready to help.
"Morgan, you look like you're ready to fall apart." I shrugged nonchalantly, spearing another piece of chicken on my fork.
"He's only been gone a few hours, sweetie. It's not that bad. Trust me, he'll be home as soon as he can be." Mom said, with her infinite Mom-wisdom. I looked up and she was smiling reassuringly. I wouldn't expect Mom to understand how I was feeling, but I knew she meant well so I swallowed any bitter remarks.
"I know. It's just…hard, knowing he's not just across town." I admitted and Mom nodded, shuffling papers together.
"I understand, Sweetie. Do you need anything before I leave?" she asked and I shook my head.
"Nope. I'm just here to eat your food and grab a few things." I said and Mom rolled her eyes and laughed.
"So typical." she remarked and I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Call me if you need to talk." she whispered, grabbing me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, suddenly missing the close mother-daughter bond we used to have. It felt like I was drifting away from her and in a sense I was. There wasn't a whole lot I could do about it, at least not right now.
Mom left to go back to the office and I examined the kitchen. It felt like I hadn't been spending a lot of time at my own house lately, or when I was here I was in my room or the den, studying. I barely had interaction with my family anymore. Maybe that would make things easier, or maybe that was why they were letting me move in with Hunter: they barely saw me anymore anyways.
I moved sluggishly upstairs towards my room. The door was already open and I looked around.
"Meow." I looked down to see Dagda sitting in front of me, staring me down in a look of complete and total accusation.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I know Mommy hasn't been around much lately. Can you forgive me?" I asked, picking him up. He resisted before finally laying back in my arms and purring. Apparently I was forgiven. I carried him over to my bed and set him down gently, looking around.
Flashback
"You know, now that I'm going to be moving in, you might consider unpacking all those boxes in your room." I said thoughtfully.
Hunter smiled sheepishly, as if just remembering how impersonal his room really was.
"Yes, I guess I should. I just keep putting it off." he said, running his hand through his hair. I smiled as he closed his eyes and let out a breath. I loved when he ran his hand through his hair. It would stick up in the cutest little blonde tufts, making him look eight instead of twenty. I knew that he instantly regretted it, so I walked over to him and petted his hair back down to flatten it. He smiled warmly and took me in his arms as he often did. Sometimes it seemed like I could never be close enough to him, like I just wanted to sink under his skin and be there forever.
"You know though, maybe I'll wait. Weren't you wanting to paint the room?" he asked. I nodded.
"That's right. Speaking of which, what color do you want me to paint your room?" I asked, moving to sit on the sofa. Hunter followed suit and sat down next to me.
"Our room, Morgan. It's both of ours now." he reminded me gently.
"Okay, what color do you want me to paint our room?" I asked. It still felt weird to think of the room as belonging to me in any way.
Yet it felt right. I couldn't wait. I was counting down the days until I could fall asleep next to Hunter and then wake up next to him. It was going to be my idea of heaven. Uninterrupted time together, except for work and school. At least while he was working, I would be too. I'd be starting my first day at the local bookstore in a week.
"That's entirely up to you. Really," he added, seeing my expression. "I don't care." I smiled.
"What about Hunter Green?" I asked playfully and he rolled his eyes.
"That's so creative, Morgan." he replied sarcastically.
"Alright, no Hunter Green then." I said, tapping my chin in a sign of thought.
"You know, you're going to be a daddy." I said and felt Hunter automatically stiffen. I held back my laughter as he grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. He was examining me in a shocked and upset way.
"What?" he finally asked dryly.
"You're going to be a daddy." I repeated.
"Morgan, that's not possible." he said, staring at me. I smiled, causing him to be even more confused.
"Yes it is." I insisted and Hunter waited patiently for me to continue. When I didn't, he shifted impatiently.
"Sorry Hunter, but it's not yours." The look of hurt on his face made me continue faster.
"But it could be." Now Hunter looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"Hunter. Calm down. I'm talking about Dagda." I said with a smile. Hunter stared blankly at me, torn between being pissed off and laughing. He went with the latter and wrapped his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.
"That's right, I'd almost forgotten about Dagda." he murmured, stroking my hair.
"You two are going to have to learn to share, because Dagda always sleeps in bed next to me." I said, snuggling closer to Hunter.
"Oh no, I don't think so." he said and I tilted my head to look up at him.
"Why not?" I asked indignantly, but Hunter was smiling.
"Because during the night when I want to cuddle with you, I don't want to have to scoot the cat out of the way to be able to hold you." he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well then you can break the news to him, I don't want him being upset with me." I said and Hunter sighed.
"Good. Make me the bad guy. As if Dagda and I don't have enough problems." he muttered and I smiled, waiting for an explanation.
"I don't like the way he looks at me. It's like he's planning something." Hunter said slowly and I laughed.
"That's right Hunter. Dagda's going to kill you in your sleep for taking his mommy away from him." I said solemnly and Hunter smacked at me playfully.
"Funny Morgan." he said.
"I know." I replied.
"So no cat in the bed. At least when we're in the bed." he said and I realized it was a done deal. No arguing with that. I was going to have to get him a kitty bed. He was sure going to be upset with me.
I looked at Hunter, pouting and giving him the puppy dog eyes. He put up his hands in defense and laughed.
"Oh no. Not going to work this time. No cats allowed in the bed. During the day, Dagda can go anywhere he wants, even the bed. Just not when we're in bed." I sighed, I guess Hunter was being fair about the whole thing.
"Fine." I muttered ungraciously. Hunter smiled.
"Besides, I don't think your son wants to see this all the time." he said, tilting my head back and kissing me gently, then with more passion and urgency. Finally we broke apart and I felt my nerves thrumming and pulsing with adrenaline and magick. My moving in date couldn't come soon enough.