Page 26 of The Heir
“We thought you’d be gone longer, sweetheart,” My mom was still smiling and walked over to hug me and then Thor. “How are you feeling?”
Thor hugged her back. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
Athena stepped back a little and studied him with concern. “Linea and I have been sending you healing thoughts and compassion ever since you left.”
Thor gave me a skeptical sideways glance before answering my mother, “Thank you, Athena. Have you spoken to my parents?”
“I talk to Pearl often. They’re both worried about you. Your mom will be delighted and relieved to have you back home.”
“But not my father?”
“Yes, Khan too.” My dad rose from his chair and came to stand next to me while looking at Thor. “Khan can be an ass, but never doubt that he loves you. Did I ever tell you what your dad told me when you were born?”
“No.” Shifting his balance, Thor crossed and uncrossed his arms.
“Khan said that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes with you as his father made with him.”
Thor’s voice was deep and had an undertone of pain in it. “Then he must have changed his mind along the way.”
My dad’s hand fell down heavily on Thor’s shoulder. “Once you become a father, you’ll see that even your best intentions aren’t always enough. We fuck up sometimes, but for the record, so do our children; you included.”
“I’m not saying that I’m perfect, but my dad is never satisfied,” Thor defended himself.
My dad backed up against the kitchen counter and hoisted himself up to sit. “Of course not. I’ve never had a father, but I am one, and I can tell you from experience that we want nothing more than for you to succeed.”
“The problem is that your and Khan’s definition of success might differ,” my mom pointed out. “It’s the same with Finn and our sons. He has impossible expectations.”
“Not at all,” Finn said, but Athena continued.
“What’s worse is that he has a completely different set of standards for Linea.”
“Yes, because she’s a girl.”
I gently pushed at my father’s shoulder. “I haven’t been a girl for years and I’m as capable as Tristan, Frederick, and Cavin. There should be no difference.”
Thor and my dad joined forces, and both agreed that there was a massive difference between women and men. “How many times do I have to point out that it’s a good thing? We weren’t created different to be the same. That should be fucking obvious.”
“Finn, you don’t have to swear constantly just because Thor is here,” my mother told him. “You know I don’t like it.”
My dad grinned. “It’s the testosterone in the air. Can’t you feel that Thor has it in spades? The moment he walked in, swear words came out of my mouth. I can’t help it.”
Thor laughed with my dad. “You’re gonna blame me?”
“Yes, of course. Back when I first came here, Athena was a mean witch who would throw me outside in the freezing cold if I said the tiniest swear word.”
My mother shook her head slowly and let in our cat, Figaro, who was scratching on the door. “Do you want Thor to believe that I, a small woman, dragged a large Nman twice my size outside in the cold?”
“I didn’t say that you dragged me physically, but you banned me from your house. You were mean to me back then and so was that grumpy cat that you had.”
“You loved Bast,” my mom protested.
“Not at first.” Turning to Thor, my dad elaborated, “I called the cat Beast because she was as mean to me as Athena, who kept me a hostage for five days. On my first morning here she fed me green kale with snail slime in it to break my spirit.”
Thor laughed louder and it was so weird to see him relaxed and having a good time. “Why did you marry Athena if she was so mean to you?”
“Because she put a love spell on me.”
It was hilarious when Thor’s laughter died and he stared at me as if he just had an epiphany, realizing that I might have done the same to him. My parents picked up on it too and laughed with me.
