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We Talk For Hours

It really was for the best that the boy's unconscious mother was lying on the only available bed in the bedroom. Not that Harry was opposed to the floor or up against the wall. Far from it. But until things were a little more settled Harry thought it wise to take all the time he could to better wrapped his head around the fact that he was seriously contemplating entering into an affair, or at least having sex with, a boy young enough to be his son. And he needed to stop thinking of Eggsy as a boy in his head. It was creepy.

Also nothing might happen given that the woman currently sleeping it off in the bed hated his guts. And was Eggsy's mother. And trying not to think about fucking her son would be a lot easier if Eggsy stopped eye fucking him.

Concentrating on Daisy was probably his best chance at retaining some of his dignity.

"I forgot to mention, Rachel said Daisy can keep those clothes. Her mother and Merlin's went a little crazy buying for their first grandkid. I can attest to that. I was at the baby shower."

"That bad?"

"No one shrieks like females at a shower." And they had sensitive hearing.

"Gotcha. Though speakin of grandmothers...is mine still alive?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I haven't seen her since Lee's funeral. She...Lee was her world. She lost everything for him. We were told that she couldn't stand staying here and chose to move to another country. That was the King family's official line, anyway. You'd have to ask William about it."

"Okay. Ya trust him?"

"If he gives you his word about something he'll die to keep it. Otherwise...be careful."

"Yeah. I figured. Oh." Eggsy snapped his fingers. "And you was gonna explain that whole cat friend comment. Uncle Addy has friends?"

"It's complicated. Extremely complicated." Harry amended, after a moment's consideration. "And not just because this is Addison we're talking about."

Reaching out to take Daisy, who was reaching out to him, Harry snuggled her in against his chest before continuing. "There's an American panther shifter who, most likely, is your uncle's mate. Only panthers don't mate. Both the actual cats and the ones that shift into them, I mean. And even if they did your uncle would be a difficult man for anyone to live with. So they don't. As far as anyone can tell they get together occasionally, and not for very long. Your uncle doesn't see anyone else to the best of my knowledge and Jack...it's hard to say. He's a flirt and nearly as charming as your other uncle. And as secretive as most cats."

"Does Uncle Addy love im? Is that why he's such a grump?"

"No. He's pretty much always been that way. And as for how your uncle truly feels about him...you're welcome to ask him. Just wear body armor."

"Ask Uncle Taron when I know the other one's not around. Got it." Eggsy smirked for a moment, then switched to thoughtful. "I'm surprised Uncle Taron doesn't have someone though."

"Frankly, so am I. If for no other reason than he so obviously wanted children for as long as I've known him. But then I made the choice not to accept someone's court just to have them too."

Coming over Eggsy looked at him in a way that suggested he'd love to discussing the process of making babies with him. With lots of hands on learning. "You're real good at it. She's in love with ya already."

Looking down at Daisy, who smiled back at him despite her little chipmunk cheeks, Harry had to admit that he was growing very fond of her as well.

"Who could blame ya."

And with Eggsy pressed up against his side as they both looked down at Daisy, who waved her little arms and smiled at them like they were her two favorite people in the world, Harry let himself pretend, just for a moment, that this wasn't going to all go away very soon.

)

By the time his mum started to stir that night Eggsy had had plenty of time to think about what he wanted to say to her. No. Want was the wrong word. He knew what he needed to say to her. Even though it was going to anger, hurt, and probably emotionally wound them both very badly for the foreseeable future. Possibly, even probably permanently to some degree. But really, what else was new? They'd both been trapped in cycles of abuse for so long Eggsy had very few memories of life before things had gone to hell in a hand basket. AKA before his father had died. And the fact that his father had died didn't excuse either one of them or the bad choices they'd made. People lost their spouses and fathers all the goddamn time thanks to the fucked up world they lived in and that didn't give them a 'get out of jail' free card when it came to their fuckups. He'd made some fucking awful decisions in his life and he needed to own up to that. And his mum needed to do the same.

What would happen if she couldn't do that, if she refused to do that or promised to do that and didn't follow through like she'd done countless times in the past...well then things were going to get ugly. And he was going to have to deal with that. Accept that. And stick to his guns.

"Eggsy?"

"I'm right here, Mum. Don't worry." Getting up from the chair he'd pulled over to the bed Eggsy took a seat on top of the covers and reached out to place a hand over hers, which were resting on her stomach. He'd left the lamp on the bedside table on, so she wouldn't wake up in the dark and be afraid. It provided just enough light that she could see him clearly. And he could see her.

When he'd been a kid and teenager his mum had been considered one of the sexiest, most desirable women in his neighborhood. And among his peers. Heck, the term MILF had been one of the first initials only slang he could remember learning. But for him...he had the pictures and memories of what she'd looked like before she'd started dressing sexy all the time and layering on the makeup and doing all that girlie shit ta her hair and nails. And thought her so much prettier than.

Right now...well right now she looked older than she was. And tired despite hours spent sleeping. Probably the best, deepest sleep she'd had in years.

"Eggsy. Luv. Where...where are we? I-fuck." The process of sitting up had both triggered and seriously upped the pain factor of her hangover from the looks of it. Her face was now buried in her hands, his mum hunched over in pain as she swore under her breath.

It was a familiar look.

"We're at my uncles' place."

Slowly lifting her head up, his mum peered at him through her disheveled hair. "Wot?"

"Turns out I have two uncles. Dad's brothers. This is their house. Mine too, technically, since it's the family estate. They're gonna have their lawyers draw up a bunch of lawyer shit that legally recognizes me as their nephew and heir now that they know I exist." Eggsy took a deep breath. "It was Harry Hart that introduced me to them. Do ya remember him?"

Swiping a hand through her hair Eggsy's mum glared at him. "Wot the fuck are ya doin, talkin ta him?! He got your father killed! He had no fucking business speak-"

"Mum!" The harshness of his tone cut her off, as he'd known it would. The men in her life had trained her well in that regard. Eggsy didn't like using it, but he knew the sound of an epic hate rant in the making when she started one. And he wasn't gonna sit there and let her badmouth Harry. Why that was such a big thing Eggsy wasn't sure since it wasn't like he'd known Harry that long, but his wolf was a vicious presence in his mind making it clear that he'd tear apart anyone that disrespected the maternal dominant.

"Don't talk shite about Harry. What happened ta dad weren't his fault. And he already feels like shit about it so don't you be adding ta that. Dad chose ta die saving those men, and they're all good ones. I met them today. And they'd have died for him. Harry and Merlin said so. I believed em."

"Eggsy, you don't-"

"Harry would have looked after us after Dad died. And Dad's cousin William offered too, he said. But ya wouldn't let them help. So we lived in the council estates, instead. And got beat ta shit by your boyfriends and went without food or new clothes and-and don't even get me started on the things I missed out on cause we didn't have the money ta pay for lessons no more or school trips or whatever." Eggsy could feel his wolf becoming agitated over his emotional state, and it took painful control to keep him under wraps while bringing him into the conversation.

"And I sure as fuck didn't have anyone teaching me about bein a wolf and how ta control im and all the other stuff Harry and Uncle Taron says I need ta be taught. Fuck, they said I might have tried ta eat people as a wolf. It's happened! And that was your choice, Mum. That's on you cause it's one ya made for the both of us. I didn't know that they was out there, ready ta help, but you did. You did. And it was a fucked up, selfish choice, Mum."

Tears were streaming down his mother's face now, but Eggsy couldn't let it sway him.

Though he did have a weird moment of being grateful he'd had the sense ta remove her makeup for her cause he'd been afraid of it transferring all over the fancy pillows. It always freaked him out when her mascara started ta run down her cheeks like somethin out of a horror movie.

Not important. And he was avoiding the heart of the issue. Like always.

"I get it, Mum. I do. I've lived with ya all my life, remember? I know it broke ya to lose dad. And fuck knows we've both made stupid, fucked up choices our whole lives and blamed it on him. On him dying. But it weren't his fault. It's ours. Yours and mine."

"Don't ya talk ta me like that! I am your mother!"

"Mum...if you weren't I'd have left ya a long time ago ta save myself."

If he'd physically bitchslapped her, his words obviously couldn't have hit her harder.

"I love ya, Mum. Swear down. From birth ta fucking earth. But ya can't take care of yourself, much less me or Daisy. And while it's too late for me...it ain't too late for her. All the shite with Dean and the rest, she won't remember that. She don't have ta have the memories I have. I won't...ya need ta get help, Mum. Ya need ta get yourself cleaned up and sober. Or I'm taking her from you and raisin her meself."

For a moment Eggsy's mother was the picture of any mother prepared to draw blood and do battle to protect her child. "She is my child!"

"So was I."

"I did the best I could!" Grabbing a pillow from the against the headboard Michelle threw it towards the door in frustration. "So wot, now that you've got uncles with a big, fancy house I ain't your mum no more? Not good enough for ya?"

"You'll always be my mum. And I'll always love ya. I want what's best for Daisy."

And that was the crux of the matter. The reason he had to sit here and possibly destroy his own relationship with his mother for good. Because Daisy was the innocent here. Of the three of them Daisy was the one with the best chance to make something of herself in the future. If she didn't have them dragging her down with them. Which meant his mum needed to get professional help and he needed to survive King and be around to stand as his sister's dad. And mum...if their own couldn't be. Refused to be.

Tossing aside the covers with fury written all over her face, Eggsy's mum started to get up to either loom over him or find something else to throw. Probably the latter, going by previous experience. But the sudden movements sent her head spinning so that she groaned and fell back against the mattress, curling into a ball of misery as she cried and cursed him.

Eggsy spoke quietly as he cautiously set a hand on her shoulder, not surprised when she jerked away from his touch. "She don't have ta remember ya pissed out of your mind, Mum. Or the table littered with bottles and whatever shit was on the menu ta inject or snort that night. She don't have ta find ya covered in vomit or piss on the floor, passed out. So still she thinks ya're dead. Or have some man she don't know fuckin her mum in front ta her or stumblin in ta her room cause he's so out of it he don't know where the fuck he is. Or knows exactly where he is lookin for her."

Uncurling a little, Eggsy's mum stared at him in horror. "Wot?"

"Did ya think I kept that cricket bat by my bed cause I played it, Mum? Or the sticker under my pillow? The fact that I can say your men only beat the shite out of me, not raped me, ain't because there weren't a few who thought we was a packaged deal in more ways than one."

"You never-"

"Told ya? No, I didn't. And ya know why that is." She'd never protected him from the rest. So why would this be any different?

She looked away from him, wrapping her arms around her frame protectively.

"My uncles said they'll pay for ya ta go ta the best rehab place there is. It won't cost ya a thing." The next words he needed to say called for a deep breath. "Mum...we know how this goes. The courts probably ordered rehab for over half the people we know. It don't matter how good the place is if ya ain't willing ta change. Ta make the effort. They can't help ya if ya won't help yourself. So make that choice now."

"I am NOT an addict."

"Yes. You are."

)

As was often her habit when faced with something she didn't want to acknowledge or accept Eggsy's mother rolled over to give Eggsy her back. Like her body was somehow a barrier that would prevent the person hurting her from doing more damage. And having spent plenty of time curled up to protect his organs and ribs Eggsy understood the instinct even though that wasn't what this was. And going by previous experience Eggsy sighed and settled in to wait her out rather than speak to her. She was crap at the silent treatment. She never lasted long.

She lasted about four minutes.

"That witch had boys after Lee died?"

"Witch?"

"Your bitch of a grandmother. The one who wanted nothin ta do with ya cause you's was a half breed."

Oh. "I ain't met her. But you ain't the only one who don't like her. And I don't know for sure what happened ta her. She might be dead and the Kings didn't bother ta tell anyone."

Eggsy's sensitive ears easily heard his mum's wish that she was.

"I'm gonna ask William about it when I see him next. Mum, my uncles, their names are Addison and Taron, are actually from his dad's side. Turns out the 'Egerton' look skips a generation sometimes. I look just like Uncle Taron, which is why Harry knew who Dad's father had ta be. Well first he thought it was Uncle Taron, but it wasn't. They figure it must have been their daddy. Apparently his theme song was Brittany Spear's 'Womanizer'."

"Wait...Egerton." Eggsy's mum rolled over, groaned, then stared at him. "They's was one of the richest families in the pack. And the Kings hated them."

"Yeah. Dad's conception was probably a fuck you ta their families. Oh, and Dad's dad died shortly afterwards, which is why he wasn't alive ta claim Dad. He probably would have."

"And these uncles...they ain't got any kids?"

He wasn't born yesterday. And no one knew his mother better than he did. Fuck.

"No. And speaking of kids...do ya want ta know where Daisy is?"

Color flushing over her cheeks, and money off her mind for the moment, Michelle went back to not looking at him.

"She's sleeping in the family crib in Uncle Taron's room. He insisted. And Harry probably would have fought him for her, only he knows ya don't like him and he figured it would upset you. And he didn't want ta do that."

That got him a look. "You're letting her sleep with some stranger. After what you just-"

"Okay...that sounds creepy as fuck. The way ya said that. And he wouldn't hurt her. He loves her already. And he's a maternal." Pulling his phone out of his pocket Eggsy accessed his pictures and then handed it over to show his mum the picture he'd snapped of his uncle holding his sister at dinner. "See? They're adorable together."

Curiosity got the best of her, he'd known it would, and she looked back and accepted the phone from him. And swore again as she exclaimed over how much he looked like his uncle.

"Yeah. I'm gonna age really well. And probably keep all my hair." Thank God.

"Where'd she get that dress?"

"Oh, ah, Rachel. The pack healer? She gave us a bunch of stuff she had saved from her own daughter. You'd like Rachel, Mum. She's real nice."

"Rachel. I remember her. Her husband was one of the men that got your father killed."

And here they went again.