Page 66 of Forged

The rest of the family joined him with surprises of their own.

“You’ve resurrected the Ostara picnic,” Bax said, beaming as they joined the rest of the family.

“Isn’t Ostara all about resurrection?” Blaine asked, hurrying forward to join the rest of the family instead of standing with Bax and Nick.

Alfie joined them at his more sedate pace. “No, that’s the wrong religion, sweetheart,” he said, winking at Blaine.

Nick laughed, not bothered about whether the joke was sacrilegious or not. “This is great,” he said, looking around at the baskets and platters of food and the pile of dyed eggs in the center of the blanket. He didn’t mind letting Jordan down so he could run over and investigate. His entire family was there to catch Jordan if he got out of hand.

“It’s not just the picnic and the fun things,” Janice said, taking Robert’s hand and coming forward to greet Nick and Baxat the side of the blankets. She addressed Bax as she went on to say, “We’ve given it a lot of thought, and we’ve decided as a family that we’d like to learn very much more about Paganism as a faith system.”

Nick burst into a smile and turned to see what Bax thought of that.

“Hold on,” Bax said, laughing. “Are you telling me that the entire Hawthorne family wants to convert to Paganism?”

Janice and Robert exchanged a loving, teasing look before facing Bax again. “Yes,” Robert said with a casual shrug.

“The entire family?” Nick asked.

“You have to admit, it’s awfully cool as far as religions go,” Nally said, looking excited and abashed.

“Sure beats most other religions out there,” Robbie said with a shrug. Toby elbowed him like he’d said something shocking, but he was grinning.

“We don’t know much about covens,” Janice went on. “I mean, Robert and I belonged to a cult briefly in the seventies, and I think I might have had an affair with a high priestess when I was in my early twenties, but that’s not the same thing as forming a proper coven for serious spiritual pursuit.”

Nick had to cover his mouth with one hand to hide his amusement. He peeked up at the blue sky and the puffy clouds whizzing past and thanked Raina for bringing him to such a weird, wonderful family.

Bax was suddenly far more serious than Nick thought the moment called for. “Hold on,” he said. “Are you all telling me that you want to form a coven for me?”

“Basically, yes,” Blaine said, his mouth half full with the bun he’d snagged from one of the plates while Janice was talking. “We know you’ve been longing to have a spiritual group again and that nothing that’s come along has been quite right. Wemight all be a disaster, too. But we’d like to learn, and we’d like you to teach us.”

Bax laughed and shook his head. “You realize you’re all ridiculous, right?”

The Hawthornes exchanged looks and shrugs before Robert, definitely acting as head of the family, said, “Yes, of course. We always have been.”

Nick couldn’t stop smiling. It was all too perfect and bizarre. “Well?” he asked Bax. “I’m game if you are.”

Bax shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face either. “You all will be the death of me,” he said. “Paganism was the one unique thing I had to set me apart from the rest of the family. Now you’re taking that from me, too?”

“You’re still our only accountant,” Blaine told him, making a face as he did.

Bax laughed louder. “Alright, then,” he said, chuckling. “If you really want to do this, I guess I’m now the Hawthorne family’s spiritual leader.”

Nick was glad his mum was gone. She might have tried to take the kids away by force if she could see what was happening. But he’d never been happier. He loved the way the Hawthornes went all in on a barmy idea. He didn’t think it was all that barmy, really. He liked what he’d learned so far about Paganism, and he had no qualms at all about raising his and Raina’s kids with a respect for nature and the forces of the Universe.

They were welcomed onto the picnic blankets with hugs and cheers from the other Hawthornes and sat down with the kids to enjoy the picnic feast that they should have had the day before. Everyone was in a good mood and full of questions for Bax about what being officially Pagan entailed.

“You should have asked me what this all means before making the decision to convert,” Bax teased them as they finished supper and started in on pudding.

“I’m still waiting for the part where we get to have orgies,” Blaine teased his brother.

“Blaine, it’s a family coven,” Bax told him with pretend disdain. “There definitely won’t be any orgies here.”

“That doesn’t mean there can’t be other naughty rituals and things,” Toby said, looping his arm around Robbie’s shoulders then kissing him sloppily.

It was all such a good time that Nick didn’t even think about telling the rest of the Hawthornes about the confrontation with his mum and her declaration that she wouldn’t babysit anymore until the meal was done and Bax got up to set up his altar for a short ritual. The Hawthornes were both outraged by his mum’s stubbornness and quick to offer their help caring for the kids.

Everything would be alright. The Hawthornes around him were living proof of that. And it looked like they were all serious about being Pagan, too. Bax talked everyone through the symbolism and significance of the springtime ritual he’d had planned for the other night, and they each played their parts as candles were lit, poetic prayers were offered, and flower garlands were passed around so everyone in the family could wear one as they planted seedlings in the garden plot that had been set aside the other day.

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