A few days later, Carol began to show symptoms of pregnancy. She would wake up nauseous and weak. She slept most of the time and started eating the most unusual things. Mike was terrified at first, but blew it of as a new routine she was building.
One morning, Joe came downstairs and stood by the kitchen counter watching while Carol washed her face after vomiting. She didn't notice him for a while and immediately returned to what she was doing.
"Are you sick?" He asked startling the woman.
"No, it's probably something I ate" she replied and wiped her face with her hands.
"I suggest you get that checked. You know self medication is not safe" he said and pointed his glass toward her. She leaned on the sink and sighed. Her mind was racing. All the symptoms pointed to the one thing she was avoiding. I can't be pregnant, Mike would never accept that. What am I going to do? She asked herself and wiped her face with her hands. Joe smiled inwardly, well son there is no escape now. He thought. He cleared his throat and stood up. "I would love to chat but, I believe you are quite busy, so I will return to my quarters" he said and moved towards the door.
Later, when Mike returned from work, carol wasn't seated in the reading nook as she normally did when he came back from work. He called for her, checked the rooms and the entire house. Joe came out of his room at that's moment and met Mike in the hall way.
"Son, you are back. Carol said she was going for a routine check up. She's be back in a while" Joe said and walked to the living room. Mike pause thoughtful for a minute.
"Checkup??" He asked himself and went downstairs. He grabbed his car keys from the side table and ran towards the door. He opened it and early collided with Carol. She was stunned and stumbled back.
"Carol, are you feeling well?" Mike asked and held her hand. He led her through the door and made her sit on a chair.
"Honey, can we talk, upstairs?" She said, a worried look on her face. Mike noticed this and immediately took her hand leading her up the stairs.
Whem they got to the room, Mike shut the door behind them
"So, what is the problem?" He asked and sat down on the bed beside her. "Why did you have to go to the hospital?"
"Promise me you won't get mad,wont scream and wont make me feel bad for it?" She asked her eyes carried a pleading look.
"Ok, I promise. What is it?"
"I'm three weeks pregnant." She replied
Mike paused. Gazed at the door for a minute, then at the roof and back at his wife.
"Did you use your pills?"
"Yes, I use the pills, I used protection. I double checked everything. I don't know what happened." She said her eyes filling with tears. Mike held her close.
"Dont cry, okay? Its fine. Im okay with it." He said and placed a kiss on her fore head. "Clean up, I will go and keep Dad company down stairs " he said and left the room. Carol watched his back as he left the room and shut the door behind him.
Mike went to the living room and met his dad watching a tennis tournament on tv.
"What was it that Carol said to you?" Joe asked without looking away from the screen.
"Dad, what did you do?" Mike asked clenching his fists in anger.
"What you refused to do. I need an heir, which you do not want. So I use what I have to get what I want." Joe replied without looking away from the screen. Mike snapped and summoned his wand. He cast a spell and threw Joe off the sofa where he was seated. Joe summoned his own wand and teleported to another part of the living room and zapped Mike with a blast of magic. Mike fell to the floor and with another wave of his wand cleared the ground beneath Joe's feet. Unexpectedly, the old man took to the air and raised his wand to attack his on. Mike jumped to his feet and pointed his wand at his father. The blasts hit each other and a bright beam of light filled the room. Both men stood their ground and blasted continuously at each other. The sound of a wooden object hitting the ground interrupted them and Mike got hit by Joe's blast. When he stood up, he turned and saw Carol staring at them frozen in her position at the top of the stairs.
"Dear... " Mike started but before he could continue, Carol fainted on the spot. He cast a floating spell and lifted her towards him, catching her in mid air. He looked at Joe annoyed before walking away. He took Carol to their room and laid her on the bed. Well Dad, you've done it now. He thought and stroked her hair. Joe fixed the mess in the living room and returned to the guest room. He opened the portal again and walked inside. He walked down the stairs but stopped midway and tapped the wall, it shook, the bricks shifted and revealed a doorway. He walked inside and saw a pedestal with a piece of cloth on it. Je picked up the coat and unfolded it. It was a cloak with a hood.
"Grow well child, soon you will join me on the path your father rejected" Joe said and sat down by the wall.
The next morning, Joe walked out of his room. He met Carol seated in the living room while Mike took care of the kitchen.
"Is there any news I should know?" Joe asked. Carol smiled faintly and glanced at Mike.
"You already know all you need to know dad, don't bother the lady" he replied. Joe sat on a couch adjacent to Carol and stared at her for a while. Carol, do you not remember anything from yesterday? He thought and looked her head to toe. Mike began to set the table and Carol stood up to go help him. As she walked towards the table, Joe noticed a musty aura around her. He noticed that she seemed afleet. He walked in the dinning table and grabbed Mike's arm.
"What did you do to her?"
"Whatever I did is for her own good" Mike replied and removed his arm from Joe's grip.
" When it is time to face consequences, I will not be there to face them with you." Joe said out loud. Carol paused and looked at him.
"Dad, who are you talking to?" She said
"The object of my speech, knows the self" he replied and sat at his place on the table.
While eating, Carol noticed the obvious tension between father and son. She cast a glance at Mike who was glaring and Joe, how gaze full of rage. She suddenly felt nauseous and retched, pushing her chair away from the table. The feeling subsided and she breath in relief. But just seconds later, she ran to the sink to vomit. Mike clenched his fist on the table.
"Remember son, this is the sacrifice you have to pay for your disobedience" Joe replied and took a sip of his milk. Mike stood up and marched upstairs. Carol returned minutes later and found her husband had left. She slowly sat back in her chair and continued eating.
As Carol finished washing the dishes, mike came downstairs fully dressed for work. She walked up to him to give his his lunch.
"Why so early to work today?" She asked.
Mike sighed and glanced at her. then he took the lunch bag and walked out without a word.
Carol stared at his back as he walked off the porch and down the driveway. She sighed and went to sit on the couch. Joe walked over to her.
"Is there a problem child?"
" I don't know, one minute he's helping me with the table, the next he's walkinh out on me without a word." She replied and rest her back on the sofa. Joe smiled faintly, then held her hand to comfort her. She smiled back,
"Relax, it's just a stage" Joe said and and went back to his room . He opened the briefcase, pulled out his wand and summoned a mirror. Mike appeared in the mirror. He was driving and obviously looked troubled.
He raised his wand, but then stopped.
He needs to tell her the truth first. He thought and stopped the spell. He pulled a book out of the briefcase and sat on his bed to read it. .
When Mike returned in the evening, he walked past everyone without a word and walked straight to his room. After a while he came downstairs, ate dinner in complete silence and returned to his room. When Carol entered the room, she found him lying on the bed with a blanket over his body. She sat on the bed across from him pulled off her robe and quietly lay down beside him . Mike sighed,
"Can we have that talk now?" He asked. He turned and faced Carol who had her back to him.
"What talk?" She asked back, unwilling to speak to him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and drew closer to her.
"I'm sorry for my behavior this morning. I was rash and probably hurt your feelings. I apologize" he said and wrapped him arm around her. She pushed him away and sat up. "If you want to talk, just talk. I'm not deaf" she said and put on her robe. Mike sat up and walked round to meet her. "Well.. " he said and summoned a chair out of midair. Carol looked at him and then looked away again
"Not surprised?" He asked and reached for her hands. She withdrew and looked at him.
"I didn't see anything" she replied and looked away again. Mike looked at the floor.
"Did Dad tell you already? he asked. Carol looked up. " Tell me what?" She asked. Ke strGhtend up. He stretched his left hand out and his wand appeared, a deep blue one with silver spirals around it. Carol watched him, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. Mike pointed the wand at her and a trail of sparkly mist emanated from it and surrounded Carol.
"It will hurt, but it will make explaining a lot easier. And it will help you understand too" Mike said. Carol grabbed her head and curled up on the bed. Her head throbbed terribly. She saw bluey flashes in her mind. In one, Mike sat on the kitchen counter and dinner made itself. another Mike had a problem with the tv, one snap of his fingers and it was fixed. Then the fight between Mike and Joe, and the weird mist she's sees surrounding her in the mirror. She opened her eyes and cleared at Mike. "What are you?" She asked. Mike folded his hand behind his back and a black robe appeared covering him from the shoulders downward. He reached back and pulled the hood over his head.
"I am the son of a wizard" he answered. Carol stared at him for a while, amazed. "You are what?" She said and fainted. Mike repositioned her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. Then he cast a spell and the purple mist surrounding her dissipated.
Carol opened her eyes and locked them with Mike's. She immediately recalled everything that just happened and sat up.
"Please do explain what you just said" she said and grabbed Mike's arm. He sat down slowly and held her hand.
"Well, I wasn't born in the world you know. I was born in Evermore. My dad thought it would be nice if I got a taste of ordinary life, so he brought me here. I went through normal school, but I home face magic drills and trying spells. Learned to place a curse when I was eleven. My mom died in my sophomore year in college and when I finished Dad's moved us back to Evermore. I eventually understood that I was a prince in that magic world and at such had high expectations on my shoulders.
Another thing was the throne can't be past to just anyone, the successor must be of my bloodline, but with that comes a lot of sacrifice. Everyday, I am tormented by dark spirits and forces in search of power to drain. If I have a child, it will be subject to this fate as well, which is why I blocked your womb. " Mike said. Carol slapped him hard across the face.
" You did what? How dare you?" She shouted, her face red with rage.
" So the reason you are pregnant now, is because my father broke the spell. The baby is mine, but I will not love it. Immediately it is born, we will give it to my father and leave this town."
" I will not leave my child " Carol said.
Mike grinned, " you will, you won't know when it will happen
You won't even know you had a baby" he said. He stood up and walked to the door.
" I'm sorry" Carol said. Mike paused.
" It's not your fault" he said," Forgive me for what I'm about to do. It's just for a while. " He said and left.