Michael sat in the chair next to Eric as the injured reindeer snored softly. Otso had come by, as promised, that morning to do a follow-up examination, though this time he had presented a small bundle that contained a delicious looking bacon breakfast sandwich and a large bouquet of roses with a sly wink as Michael found his face matching their deep red. Bix raised an eyebrow at him from across the room as he and Tag finished getting ready to leave for Practice.
"Clyde, we need to get going." Clyde had come over again first thing this morning, which meant he likely hadn't gotten more than an hour or two of rest at most. Poor kid, he was going to run himself ragged. Bix had basically had to drag the boy out of the house, and the look in his eyes made Michael's heart melt.
"Don't worry, Clyde. I'll take good care of him. I promise." He called, careful not to wake Eric as Otso leaned over to redress some of the wounds and make some notes in the notebook he had brought with him to document the healing process.
There was absolutely no question, and how could there be, that Clyde adored Eric, with all of his heart. This gave Michael conflicted feelings as he recalled Otso's re-explanation of the magic at play. The connection was powerful stuff, and the same thing that had caused both of his sons to become animal people was working on his body--had given him a tail, which he currently had stuffed down his pantleg. Lars loved Tom, and Clyde obviously loved Eric. Did that mean that Otso...? Hadn't he just been complaining about his shit love life a week ago? Ugh.
He glanced at the large, white werewolf again. The guy had gone to great lengths just to find someone to chat with. The doctor with eyes and a heart of gold, and a nice big... Michael found himself blushing again as his tail flicked in his pants.
He'd have to talk to Tom about it.
Otso finished his examination and turned to the door, motioning for him to follow before explaining, "He appears to be making good progress. The wounds are healing nicely, and the swelling is staying in a good spot, though make sure to keep an eye on his chest. Start recycling the ice packs every 2 hours." He handed Michael a short list of updated instructions. "But my main worry is that he still hasn't regained consciousness in nearly 3 days now. Don't force it, but if he doesn't wake up at all today, we may want to adjust our approach to avoid a coma."
Michael nodded solemnly. That was not what he wanted to hear as Otso gave him an apologetic look and a wet kiss on the cheek before heading to his office. "I'll see you tonight."
-
He sat back, his tail in his hands, point up, as he watched the fur splay due to gravity. He'd been observing and messing with it for the last hour or so as he flicked it, both consciously and subconsciously, and traced his fingers through it. He felt a strange pride over its depth in color, the deep greys and clear whites. And Otso had mentioned that he had accidentally had his tail for a surgery, so that meant that it wasn't an always thing like Tom and Lars, right? How would he ever control it at work?
"...Tom?" Eric stirred, blinking blearily in his direction. He jumped, quickly pushing his tail behind him out of sight as he leaned forward.
"No, Eric. It's me...your Father."
"Isä...?" He knew that meant Bix, and he died inside a little.
"No. Michael."
"What are you doing here? ...What happened?" The poor thing was confused as all hell, but he was talking and reacting in real time so that was already a victory. He reached forward to pet the fur on the reindeer's face, hesitating a minute before proceeding softly. Eric closed his eyes and breathed deeply before looking back at him groggily.
"Eric, How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?" He'd been instructed to ask specific questions to gauge mental acuity.
"There was a blizzard...we crashed...I couldn't stop...is Clyde OK?"
"Yes, Buddy." He stroked a finger gently up and down the muzzle between Eric's eyes. "He's very worried about you, but he's OK. Apparently you saved his life. Do you want some water or food?"
Eric made a noncommittal noise, and when his breathing slowed to a steady rhythm again, Michael figured he'd fallen asleep again as he rose to change out the icepacks, leaving his tail out for the time being.
Michael felt a surge of gratitude in this moment that he was able to be here to care for his son. Better late than never? He hoped that would count as he resolved to be a better father, even if he would never be Isä.
----
"And you're sure there's not anything about me in there?" Theresa asked Lars again, who shrugged as he showed her the piece of paper again.
"Not that I could find. It goes through from Eric and Tom up through Michael, his mom, and so on. That doesn't mean that you don't have a similar bloodline, though. I kind of stopped once I'd found what I was looking for, but it was 800 years ago. That could include the whole continent! You said you had family in Scandinavia?" Lars looked apologetic.
"Yes, well at least according to my grandmother. To be honest I'd always just taken her at face value." She shrugged.
"Mom, why are you looking into this so much? It seems a bit random." Tom had always been able to see right through her, ever since he was little.
"I'm just trying to get more information on what we're all dealing with. Apparently Laines are especially susceptible to this place." She was trying to be sincere.
"Mom, you talk about it like it's a disease. It's not. Eric and I both made a conscious decision. Hell, it took us 8 hours to..." He faded off as Lars began to laugh, but neither of them was willing to elaborate.
-
Theresa truly believed that she was a good mother. She'd done her best with what she had. Being a single mother to two boys wasn't a fucking picnic, as she worked nights and weekends to keep them fed and clothed. Where was the gratitude? Didn't she deserve at least a thank you?
Life was hard, and she'd done her best to prepare her boys for all that life would throw at them. She'd done this for them because she wanted them to be happy in life.
That word stuck in her head: Happy. It bounced around and reverberated in her mind.
Tom was happy though, right? Even after he had gone and turned into a fox. She'd spent enough time with them over the last few days to see their relationship in action. She saw how they looked at each other, even when they thought she wasn't looking. She saw them sneaking off together, looking guilty as all hell. A mother always knew.
But what about Eric? Her youngest son had gone and gotten himself turned into a reindeer, been adopted by...well, Bix. She breathed out sharply as she thought of that bullish man. And Tag seemed nice, if a bit dense. She'd only really met Clyde in passing. And of course he'd gone and nearly gotten himself killed. What if he had died?
She worried about her boys. What did it mean that they were animal people now? What about their souls? She wasn't raised particularly religiously, but the thought bothered her. What if she couldn't see them after...
Theresa was a good mother, right? She hoped she was. But maybe she was being selfish?
Bix came back to the forefront of her mind. Whatever was happening, he seemed to have figured things out, and he had to be the key.
She was done thinking. It was time to commit. She'd almost lost Eric once. She couldn't bear the thought of it happening again.
She needed to talk to Bix about why Eric would willingly choose to be a reindeer over being a human.
----
Michael answered the door, looking a little confused as Theresa stood outside. "Is Bix home?"
"Uh, no. Everyone's at practice for another couple of hours. Why?" Michael shifted behind the door, trying to keep his voice quiet, and Tess caught a quick glimpse of something very familiar as Michael's tail flicked out of view.
"Seriously, Michael? You too?"