Like a thief committing a burglary, Heisenberg hopped into his pickup and drove off as soon as the snowstorm had died down. If he had been anywhere else but that damn castle, he'd hop under the covers with Ethan. Watching him drift into sleep like the baby he fathered was fascinating. Calming even. It made Heisenberg want to remain there and just watch him. Listen to the restful moans that came from him. Wipe his lips clean from the habit of drooling.
Dammit, fixating on all the little things that made Ethan Winters brought forth a slew of sensations that could knock even the most stalwart of men off his feet. Perhaps, Heisenberg might have seen it coming if he had paid attention. But he didn't; he was too busy spending time with Ethan and then little Rose to notice any change.
Ethan was very quickly exceeding the limits of what a friend was meant to be. He was becoming someone sorely missed whenever he was gone. The house felt so much more livelier with him. At first, Heisenberg had chalked it up to getting sex regularly but as his mood would rise whenever Ethan returned, the actual truth became clear. Little Rose wasn't a compromise anymore, she was…well she was special.
Watching her with her father, carefree and happy didn't sting as it usually did anymore. Their collective laughter became a haunting tinnitus in Heisenberg's ears at their absence and Ethan's little habits became a fun little game to discern and catalogue. His emotional core was shining brightly and vibrantly like a rainbow sun, doing whatever it could to pull Heisenberg in.
The signs were there; mutual affection was the most warrened corollary. A relationship. An actual relationship that was built upon something else than sex and goodwill. Emotional reliability? Trust? Love? All of it sounded so alien but they probably came naturally to Ethan. Heisenberg avoided them all through his life because of the person he was and the demons in his surroundings, but he began to realize that it was what he had been missing all along.
And of course, Ethan was the key to it all. Perfect Ethan with his perfect relationship with perfect little Rose. Adorable little Rosemary who took to Heisenberg so easily. She shouldn't but she did. And Heisenberg warmed up to her even if he wasn't meant to. He realized this now as he stood in his factory, working on a request for some of the kids in the village – as well as a present for Rose. He had been there for most of the day, slaving away to pause his thoughts, sinking his teeth into his favorite pastime.
On occasion, the factory would settle, echoing metallic hums and bangs throughout the entire structure so the random sounds didn't face Heisenberg while he finished the toys. One was about the size of a hand and was fairly easy to make. Therefore, he just stuck with that model. Footsteps echoed through the hallway, and he just assumed it was one of the robots, he was testing, walking about. He didn't think anything of it until a voice spoke from the opening of the office.
"Hey, what the fuck? You just up and vanished that night," Ethan's voice didn't sound nearly as angry as one could imagine it would from getting abandoned early in the morning.
"Yes?" Heisenberg didn't turn to face him, finishing the last batch of figurines. "I wasn't gonna sleep in the castle of Lady super-sized bitch and her triad of harpies."
"Well, they were very courteous to me. And super generous. But I will admit, the Countess intimidates me. Asked me a bunch of questions about how I met you. Insinuated that she knows you cruise around outside the village for one-night-stands. Didn't think too highly about that," Ethan began wandering about in the office, looking at everything he could spot. It made sense; he hadn't been here before, had he? He stopped by the open hatch from the sounds of it, then stepped away.
"Fuck her. I don't give a damn about what she thinks. I could be a snob like her and she'd still find something to bitch about so why even bother?" Heisenberg rolled his eyes.
Indeed, Alcina knew of his extracurricular activities; she caught him in the act once when he was midway through his teenage years. Oh, how they screamed and shouted at one another, going round to round for half a day until it became a public shaming when Alcina blathered to Miranda, who just had to join in on the bludgeoning of Karl the little harlot.
Shaking away the memory of those awful days, Heisenberg finished the last batch of toys to be taken to the village later today and delivered to Luiza.
"What are you building?" Ethan asked, innocent and curious like the children staring at Heisenberg whenever he went to the village.
"Custom-made dogs for some brats in the village."
"Brats this, brats that. You talk like you hate children, but you've been good to Rose and now you're doing this," Ethan grinned. He stood a little too close for comfort, with his warm body and the cedarwood undertones of that cologne he was beginning to wear as of late.
"…Don't get sappy," Heisenberg cleared his throat, warmth flushing his cheeks, something he wasn't used to. "I'd be far away from here if the kid wasn't worth the effort."
Ethan chuckled. "Because you like her."
"…I guess there's part of me that does, yes. But only because she came with you in the same package," Heisenberg stepped to the side to gain some distance and sanity, avoiding Ethan's easy smirk to point at his crotch and control those bubbling, fuzzy feelings within. "And we both know how much I like you."
"Eyes up here, Karl."
"Hush. I was talking to your dick."
Ethan, the easy-going guy that he was, couldn't help but bubble with laughter that echoed and bounced against the metallic walls of the office – music to the ears.
"Fuck, fine. Yeah, I can attest to the fact you like it quite a lot, you perv."
He hovered around the office some more, settling over the nearby desk with the sketches, diagrams, and notes, shuffling through them to get a good look at each page. When he looked up, the amazement in his voice was as clear as water.
"Damn, you're doing this like it's nothing."
"Years of training, Winters," Heisenberg shrugged.
"Parents taught you if I can ask?"
"I didn't have parents. On the bright side, it gave me time to learn on my own."
It was a sad testament to that unpredictable thing called life when Heisenberg considered his early time at an orphanage the happiest time of his life. It wasn't great but it lasted far too shortly before Miranda swooped in and adopted him, and probably ruining his life forever because that woman didn't know what love was.
Silence filled the office, like a dark cloud, broken by Ethan inching closer. "Not by…Miranda?"
"So, you figured it out, did you?"
Ethan shuddered a bit as he spoke like he was testing the boundaries as carefully as he could. "I don't know. Alcina, your sister, called her mother and the girls said that there were more so I just grasp at straws…"
"She adopted us and two others," Heisenberg finished the thought for him and left it at that. Bitterness began to spike within him, eroding the joy of working in his factory.
"It's like Mia. She was adopted too," Ethan mused, and Heisenberg couldn't help but snort at that.
"So what? You have a thing for adoptees?"
"Not consciously," Ethan said so earnestly, it was hard to not believe him. "You know, the more I learn about you, the happier I get. It's like I understand you more and see all the parts that make you whole."
Ugh. Damn him for being so sweet. It was something Heisenberg had to get used to if he was committing to loving him. "I didn't know you were a fan of sappy purple prose but…thank you."
"You're welcome," Ethan stood closer again. "Do you need anything?"
"I do need a couple of molds. There's some in the storage down the hall. When you find them, bring them to the casting room on the floor under us," Heisenberg gained some of his composure. With his shades on, he could hide some of the faint blush on his face.
He put the dogs in trays for later and headed out of the office. His mind cleared and he felt like he could breathe again, as he headed toward the elevator that would take him downstairs. A box needed to be made for those toys, so Luiza could use it for her medical files later but for Rose's gift, it could just be packed away in gift-wrapping paper.
While Heisenberg drew lines on the sheet of metal, taking measurements and cutting out the four corners, and bending the edges, time seemed to pass at a slow rate with no signs of Ethan. The factory settled with a few bangs and echoes, nothing out of the ordinary but a sinking feeling emerging in Heisenberg's gut. It wasn't like Ethan was a novice when it came to directions. If something came up, he'd say something, would he not?
Heisenberg postponed the box and skipped out of the casting room, heading for the elevator, and tracking the hypothetical steps of Ethan Winters. In the hallway, nothing looked out of the ordinary and neither was there anything of note except a few missing molds in the storage room. When Heisenberg headed into his office, his stomach was about to bottom out. Molds lay on the floor, scattered about and he picked them up, putting them on the desk.
A thought passed his mind, causing him to look over the edge of the open hatch. There was no way, Ethan had accidentally misstepped and fallen…was there? There was no light down the hatch as it was primarily used for scrap metal so Heisenberg couldn't see anything from where he stood.
So, he jogged out of the office and towards the elevator until he reached the entrance to the scrapyard, snatching a flashlight on the way. A heavy, almost choking stench of rust and metal filled the air, and there was the distant, constant dripping from melted snow.
The flooring, if one could call it that, was uneven and it took a few testing steps to map out a pathway through the metal before Heisenberg could comfortably scour the area. He hoped it wasn't true. That he was just being paranoid. But as the light rested upon a shoe, edging further up a leg, he came to realize that it had happened after all.
For there, Ethan lay, bloodied and bruised, surrounded by scrap metal.
It took some trial and error before Heisenberg managed to carry the unconscious Ethan from the factory and inside the house. He was cold and soaked, probably from the snow sneaking into the scrapyard. Once inside the house, Heisenberg put the man in front of the fireplace and filled it with logs to ignite it. With glows beginning to warm up the common room, he wasted no time undressing Ethan, peeling wet clothing off his body.
For a moment he stopped, his breath catching in his chest but not for the usual reasons when they got naked. Angry, red bruises had colored several spots on Ethan's body and several welts and cuts had dug deep enough to draw blood. None of his limbs were broken or swollen so he theoretically could still walk – when he awoke.
Heisenberg took a deep breath, wiping away the blood. He'd have to do something about the cuts and maybe find some painkillers, he figured as he gathered the wet clothing and headed for the washroom. Common modern conveniences were an anomaly in the village so the fact that Heisenberg had a washing machine would probably make the poor shmucks' heads explode. He didn't buy it; he scoured it and repaired it. Anyway, he put the wet clothes in it and set it to wash, taking a few medical supplies with him.
"You're a dumbass," was the first thing, he said upon making out from the washing room, seeing Ethan awake albeit barely. For some reason, he had gotten the bright idea to forgo the comfort of a couch and instead lay on an old rug in front of the fireplace.
"Nice to see you too. Your factory needs some safety measures," he smiled, his skin a shade paler than healthy. He was visibly shivering despite being bathed by the heat.
"It's not a tourist spot. It's meant for me and the machines I build. What did you do?" Heisenberg headed for the fireplace, feeding it more logs before kneeling in front of Ethan, taking care of his injuries. There was little to be done with the bruises, but the bloody wounds could be cleaned before they got infected.
"Those molds are heavy as fuck," Ethan answered through clenched teeth, hissing at the disinfectant dapping into his flesh. "I carried more of them at once, lost my balance fell into another open hatch."
Heisenberg couldn't be surprised at that. He'd carry the molds just fine, around three of them. That someone had fallen down the hatch, sounded implausible to anyone but him. Probably why he rarely closed them for there was always something to be dropped down into the scrapyard. The thought of his spaces now having to encompass more than himself was something else he had to get used to. But as that settled in, he realized that he didn't hate the feeling it left him with.
"I won't let you drive home like that so I'm keeping your pretty little ass here. You're lucky, you didn't break anything, let alone your neck in the fall," Heisenberg pulled one of the wool blankets from the couch and draped it over the shivering Ethan. They were a gift from some of the villages when he brought toys to them one winter.
"…Then will you stay with me? At least until I sleep?" Ethan asked, gentle and frail like newly fallen slow. His entire disposition oozed with vulnerability, brought on by that transparent emotional cadence of his. It must have blindsided Heisenberg completely as he sat there, staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights of a trunk.
Ethan curled under the blanket, shuddering like a frozen dog. His gaze turned blank under the orange glow from the fireplace as he stared at the flames, "Thanks to Louisiana, I get…uncomfortable when trapped in cold and dark spaces with my body hurting all over. It's…it all came back when I fell. Felt like war flashbacks from 'Nam."
There was still a lot that Heisenberg didn't know about the elusive incident in Louisiana and while curiosity almost caused him to pursue answers, his emotional core continuously rocked by Ethan compelled him to huddle up under the blanket with the other man, gingerly caressing frigid, bruised skin and taking in the subtle way his body twitched in ache.
He pressed himself into Heisenberg as if it was the safest place on earth and considering where his mind went, it probably felt that way. They remained like that for a while, shaking the remnants of bad memories away.
"A musing notion just struck me. Are we both off our rockers?" Heisenberg asked. He wasn't used to touching Ethan like this, but he also wasn't used to them laying so close like this.
Touching hands once was just a one-off thing but this was not. It was as if Heisenberg could feel the changes between them slowly morph into something he could recognize no longer.
"I guess?" Ethan shrugged, his nose sniffling a bit. "Does it really matter?"
"It matters to me. You've met two-fourths of the freaks I grew up with. I'm shocked you haven't run for the hills."
Somehow Heisenberg had the feeling that Ethan had tried similar back in America. One day, he probably should ask about what had happened. It was an effect of the emotional reliability, deep interpersonal relationships gave way for. Heisenberg couldn't promise he'd have the appropriate response to face the weight of another's trauma but there was part of him that was willing to ignore that – just so he could meet the sentimental cadence of the man slowly stirring, then kissing him as if he was blowing his nightmares away like dandelions.
"It doesn't define you, Karl," Ethan said in a tender whisper. He coursed the tips of his frozen fingers across Heisenberg's chest, collarbone, and finally his neck, under the edges of his hair. It was as if Ethan was aware of the trembles that ran through Heisenberg whenever he uttered his first name. A better question would be if he was aware of the implications he was making.
But Heisenberg wasn't thinking as he should. Not with Ethan now on top of him kissing him again, carding through strains of dark gray as if it was an attempt to merge body heats. Against the directions his heart was pulling him towards, Heisenberg hesitated, parting his lips to state an undisputed fact.
"You haven't seen the worst."
Ethan would have none of it, merging their lips once more with increasing force. He was so cold and brittle to the touch, it was hard not to hold him.
"I can handle it. I want to," he said in the brief pause that emerged between them before hungrily chasing his desires like he tried to emphasize his words through kisses. It was an unwinnable battle, Heisenberg realized. Between willingly surrendering and the warmth spreading over his body at the promise of that hole inside getting filled with hearty, fuzzy things, he stopped resisting.
"Fine. You win this one, you stubborn bastard," Heisenberg rasped against the lips inches away from his own, wrapping his arm around a grinning Ethan as they rolled under the blanket again, lost in the feeling of the other.
Moments later, they lay naked in front of the fireplace, clothes strewn about. Heisenberg had to be mindful of the injuries, listening to the occasional groan whenever he brushed his fingers against wounded skin while he fell into the delightful pastime of cataloging every inch, birthmark, and bump that made out Ethan Winters.
It was new actually feeling him and finding all the spots that made him squirm with delight. It was a unique, explorative experience feeling his hands run through Heisenberg's hair, brushing against his beard and the unshaved stubble across his jaw and throat, tracing all the scars. It was different, strange, alien. But it felt right. Like a new puzzle piece being put into its proper place. Complete. Whole.
It wasn't just the sex, Heisenberg realized upon finding himself sheathed inside Ethan, surrounded by familiar, snug, mind-blowing heat. It was something deeper, blossoming from the way Ethan desperately spilled Heisenberg's name like it was the only word he knew. The lust bloomed into something different, deeply interconnected with the hearts of men, and morphed into a desire for closeness, to spend a little more time connected like this. Away from the looming presence of Miranda, the other miscreants, and the discomfort with Mia and Alan. Who knew all this could come from a single one-night stand and the experiment of getting to know someone?
Slinging all his limbs around Heisenberg, Ethan unraveled, his body so hot it was like burning up. He winced at bending the wrong places, upsetting his injuries to the point where tears began beading in the corners of his eyes as he fluttered them open, glazed in the orange glow. His brows pinched together in confusion of this. Gently, Heisenberg brushed some of them away, grinning at the tired laugh he received as his reward.
In the aftermath, they remained on the floor, covered by the blanket. Heisenberg lay on his side, staring into the flames with Ethan pressing his face against his neck, still wide awake, judging from how lightly the breath fell from his nose with the occasional sniffle. They hadn't been laying like this before, had they? Heisenberg didn't mind this as much as he imagined it would. It thoroughly annihilated the lines between friends and lovers though but with Ethan's fingers interlaced with his own, indifferent to the missing digits, Heisenberg didn't feel so misplaced. Something had changed, however.
He wasn't sure how he could put that thing into words, but he knew that they had passed some sort of boundary that made it impossible to go back to the way things were before. But he didn't know if he wanted that either; he didn't know where to go from here, if he was fit to take Ethan on the ride, no matter how much he wanted to. If the ride was even mutual, that was.
"So, what now?" he asked, exhaustion creeping over him like a shadow while he stared into the dancing flames. Ethan grumbled a bit, lazily lifting himself off the rug until he could comfortably rest his head on Heisenberg's shoulder.
"I want to ruin our friendship," he answered, ever so gently. It took but a few moments before Heisenberg understood what he meant but when he did, he couldn't help but smile.
"Okay," he agreed, watching light spark in Ethan's eyes as molten metal poured into a mold. He paused for a moment and leaned in for a kiss, so tenderly warm and heartfelt, it could melt the snow outside. He pulled back, then leaned in for another. And another.
And another.
They woke up the next morning, still surrounded by wintery darkness. The fireplace had long since died, casting the common room into a mild cool, enveloped in dim twilight. But it was pleasant as they lay there, entangled in the other, fully naked. Ethan was warm now, warmer than usual, Heisenberg realized upon putting a hand on his forehead.
Felt like a bad fever.
Gingerly, he moved away from the blanket, almost shivering in the chill. It was tempting to just remain there and sleep the twilight away until proper daylight broke through the marine clouds, but those dogs needed to be delivered. He got dressed, and cleaned out the fireplace to turn it alit. By the time it was warm enough, the weather outside was mild and quiet; no wind, no snowfall.
Nothing but the morning sun hanging low on the horizon, peeping over the edge of the mountain range. From the floor, there was groaning and Heisenberg looked over his shoulder to watch Ethan furl on the rug. Somehow, he had gotten even paler. It made the bruises all the more contrasting with their furiously purple splotches painted across his skin.
"I have to call in sick today…and call Mia…Rose…" he uttered, trying to sit up but Heisenberg didn't let him and instead pushed him down on the rug again.
"I heard you. Stay put and don't get any funny ideas."
"Would a kiss count as a funny idea?" Ethan purred like a kitten and wrapped the blanket around himself.
Heisenberg gave in and tugged the blanket around Ethan like he was handling Rose, "Rest up."
"Mm-hm…"
Heisenberg left the house afterward, heading through the factory to gather the molds, put them back in their place, and finish the box in which the dog toys went. The gift for Rose would have to wait for a moment as there were errands to run today, which included picking her up.
Heisenberg could almost imagine the look on Mia's face when he showed up in his old, rusty pickup truck. The thing wasn't built for baby seats, he found out when he took it from Ethan's car, and it took some ingenuity to it to the seat. Modifications had to be made someday. The motor needed a few minutes of getting heated up before Heisenberg sped off, driving through moderate levels of snow, away from the sanctuary that was his factory.
His mind was allowed to wander while he found his way to Luiza's house. After all, he knew the route like the back of his hand, so he didn't have to devote brainpower to it any more than the usual alertness that traffic demanded. Thus, his thoughts began to circle Ethan Winters in some form or another.
They weren't living that far apart from each other but Ethan was more adjusted to the city life with his work and Rose so he probably wasn't keen on moving out to the village and Heisenberg had his factory so he wasn't going anywhere himself. Then again, they visited each other so frequently, addresses weren't much of an issue. Maybe when summer rolled around, they could do some backyard camping. Just the three of them.
No traveling though. Heisenberg wasn't Alcina; he didn't get off to being in exotic locations for bragging rights and expensive souvenirs. He wasn't much of a travel person either as the factory was his favorite place after all. But if Ethan wanted it, he could forgo his tendency for homesickness. Never mind the fact that he never had a reason to travel before now.
It said quite a lot about the changes in his life when Heisenberg was thinking about his future with someone else as opposed to in spite of them. The people in his bed weren't just faceless holes to make him feel good and temporarily fill the void. They vanished after one night. The one who didn't was Ethan and he did more than just fill the abyss.
He was sort of like a lighthouse in a storm. It was almost surreal how bright Heisenberg's life looked like there was some shining light up ahead amidst all the grudges and gloom surrounding him up until this point. Two people to bring joy into his life.
Almost as if he had found himself…a family?
Before he was aware of it, the pickup truck rolled to a stop in front of Luiza's house. The gate stood open, so he didn't have to debase himself by knocking on it until she or Vasile had the courtesy to open it. Heisenberg hopped out, took the toys, and headed for the entrance to the massive house. After some unconventional knocking (as in kicking), Luiza finally answered the door.
Her eyes stretched wide, as did her smile while she went directly for; "Lord-"
"No need for that. I brought the dogs," Heisenberg preempted her with the box, clenching his fists around the handles.
God, how he hated the title of Lord, bestowed upon him for no other reason than that he swam out of a set of balls long gone and Miranda just happened to be the one who snatched him up from the orphanage, somehow making him nobility or something. It wasn't his idea; it wasn't his plan to be revered like some snob by the villagers. If he made the rules, he'd be a faceless stranger delivering toys when asked to.
Nothing less, nothing more.
"Oh, thank you. The children are going to love them. Would you like some tea?" Luiza smiled completely indifferent to the correction, probably because the opposite had been beaten into her skull so much by Miranda, it was like second nature to her. At least she was kind and forthcoming.
Heisenberg's body eased up somewhat as he handed her the box, "I got a few errands to run, so no thanks but I'll take a bag or two of that herbal tea. Got a friend who could use it."
Luiza seemed almost surprised at the suggestion that Heisenberg, the man locally known for living on his own and keeping to himself at all times, actually had friends. When the shock had set in, she seemed almost pleased by this.
"Why, that's not good. I'll get you some."
Last up was Mia's house. To this, Heisenberg had to make his mind work a little more to remember the route. He could always call Ethan but he'd rather let his…well, lover rest up. So he drove through the bustling city until he reached the colorful neighborhood and parked right outside the yellow house. The sun shone clear and bright, situated low into the sky by the time Heisenberg hopped out of his car and headed to the entrance.
"Oh…hello. Where's Ethan?" the disappointment in Mia's face was trackable once she answered the door after knock number five. She eyed the pickup truck with just the subtlest hint of disgust.
"In my house. He got into a little accident and so I'm here to pick up Rose on his behalf," Heisenberg kept it at that. He wasn't Ethan; he didn't know Mia enough to argue with her about petty nonsense. She didn't contest this either, moving away from the doorway so he could enter.
"Is he alright?" she asked when she stood over a bag and filled it with clean clothing, winterwear, and emergency diapers alongside a few toys. Ethan had stockpiled all those things at his apartment but cognizant that Mia was, she understood that Heisenberg might not have, so she packed a bigger load than usual – assumedly.
"No, but he's alive. You call him to check it if you want to," Heisenberg answered her obnoxiously obvious question. He was just as concerned by her lack of asking for details but let it be once he spotted little Rose crawling towards him like an elephantine missile.
Mia looked towards her daughter but didn't attempt to stop her, simply observing while Heisenberg picked the kid up and she clutched tiny fistfuls of his beard. To greet her without the aid of Ethan but in full view of her mother was slightly intimidating.
"What is the…gist between you and Ethan? I guess why I'm asking is because there's a part of me that still cares for him in that general human empathy way. I just worry he might get caught up in the wrong crowd because of his preferences," Mia ended saying, her mood not entirely discernable on her face. She had the demeanor of a meddling, obtuse mother, so unironic that it was hard to get offended by the things she was implying.
If Heisenberg didn't care about consequences, he could have laughed in her ignorant, pretty little face. Instead of that, however, he answered, thinking of Miranda and the other miscreants. "Well, good for you. I share that worry."
"Do you care about him?" Of course, Mia just had to ask that. Just because Heisenberg wasn't dropping disgustingly sugary pet names like babe and baby every third second, didn't mean he didn't care about Ethan or Rose for that matter. If he didn't care, he wouldn't be standing here. Even Mia had to understand that.
"Do you enjoy interrogation tactics?" he asked, a tad more biting than he intended and he could see the teeth marks in her eyes with her the way her body twitched.
"I get it," she nodded after a long pause, avoiding his eyes entirely like a contrite prisoner. "I'm being intrusive. I know."
Yes, she was. But at least she was aware of it. The same could not be said for certain others but that was a problem to be dealt with later. Heisenberg thought to reward Mia's self-awareness however, thankful that he could hide his eyes behind the shades. Now his flushing cheeks on the other hand…
"But I-I do care about him – to answer your question."
"That's sweet," Mia smiled - genuinely. She headed towards a nearby cabinet that contained mostly pictures of Rose and pulled a drawer open. Inside was a folder, which she searched through until she found what looked like an elaborate card with gold accents. She headed for the kitchen and returned moments later, spots of ink coloring her fingers.
She seemed mighty proud of herself as she handed the card over. "So I can just treat you two as one unit since I'm getting married and all."
The card was white with elaborate golden patterns on its front and corners. Inside, images of roses surrounded a short message that contained an invitation with an address and a date in the summer months.
"Ethan Winters and Carl Heisenberg; The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of Mia Baker and Alan Droney."
Ignoring the misspelling of his first name, Heisenberg was genuinely surprised at getting invited to such an event. He had witnessed handfasting events at the village as Miranda or some other sod under her had officiated them. But an honest-to-God modern wedding? Now that was new. He dared not to think about what Ethan had to say regarding this. Never mind that Mia just casually decided to invite her ex-husband to a wedding celebrating her second marriage.
Was that just an American thing?
"My word. Congrats," he uttered, putting the card in the inner pockets of his coat.
"Thanks. I…" Mia was beaming but her glow faded a bit as she took the bag off the table. "Can you keep watch over Ethan when it happens? I know, I shouldn't ask this but I'm gonna invite some people that he might not want to see again, and it'd be good if he had someone in his corner to keep him grounded. He's too stubborn to decline so I'm not expecting him to."
It all tied down to Louisiana, didn't it? One day, before that fated wedding, Heisenberg would be privy to the full story. By the way, Mia shuffled on her feet, it still affected her as well. It must have if it was the cataclysm for the destruction of her first marriage. Some pieces were beginning to fall in place of this American mystery but there were still many missing details.
When that day for answers came, Ethan would have to be the one that put the bits into order. It was his story to tell after all. Heisenberg made that promise to Mia and left the house shortly after, attaching Rose to the baby seat in the pickup truck and dunking the back in the middle seat.
"Dada!" she squealed through her pacifier in an attempt to say Dad. It nearly startled Heisenberg for the fact that she was looking at him while saying it with no indoor voice whatsoever. She said it again, blinking like a fawn when he patted her head and couldn't help the goofy grin on his face. Ethan was gonna be over the moon when he heard this.
"Yes, we're getting to Papa soon. But first ice cream?" He ignited the engine and put the vehicle in reverse, going at a slower speed for the nearest ice cream van. "Your dad is probably going to kill me if he finds out so it'll just be our little secret."
Rose probably wasn't all that well-versed with the sweeter things to the human palate, but her eyes almost seemed to spark with excitement at the few words she did pick up.
Expressive little kid, she was.