Frostbite & bruises

“No...” Nox’s voice sounded determined.

The old man may have felt responsible for Morgan and wanted to protect her from him, but what happened between them was none of Steve’s business.

To his surprise, he felt Morgan turn in his arms and put her hand on his arm. “I think it would only be fair to explain a few things to Steve...”

Morgan’s gaze slid to the old man’s face for a moment and she smiled apologetically before looking back at Nox. “Steve and Mads have helped me with everything in the last few years, without them I probably wouldn’t have made it. Without going into details, I think I owe him an explanation...”

Seeing the reluctant look in his eyes, she began to chuckle softly. “I know you don’t think it’s necessary, but I don’t think it’s fair for him to keep looking at you with suspicious eyes when you’ve basically done nothing wrong... Forgetting the deal we made in the first place for the sake of convenience...!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Steve had crossed his arms cockily, taking in Nox with an arrogant look. Inwardly, she shook her head, understanding that Mads had sometimes grown tired of him and retreated to her beloved plants.

Without taking his eyes off Steve, Nox detached himself from Morgan and made his way to the entrance. He turned back to Morgan for a moment. “If you want to tell the old geezer about us, go ahead. It’s dry outside and as far as I know there’s no storm coming our way... so I’m going to secure the dogs to the sled and take a look at an old underground garage I discovered a while back... .... If you don’t mind, I’ll take your son with me...”

Morgan gave him a small, uncertain smile and nodded. “That’s fine... I think Viggo will enjoy getting out of the factory for a while...”

After another short nod, Nox turned to head for the exit, but the way was still blocked by a grumpy looking Steve.

Silently, the two men looked at each other, neither of them willing to yield.

“Could you please stop this?” Morgan’s pleading voice made Steve look up, allowing Nox to walk past the old man without further interference.

After hearing the door close behind Nox, Steve looked at the young woman with a stern expression. “I could have understood you falling in love with him if he had looked the way that bastard has looked since this morning... I could also have understood if he had been a nice, friendly guy with the appearance of a dirty street dog... .... But for you to fall for that dick of a guy the way he did... and I know you did! No... I really don’t understand, Morgan! You really need to explain that to me!”

Steve’s words dripped with venom and Morgan couldn’t help but grin.

Sighing, she leaned against the table and crossed her arms. “I see what you mean, Steve, but there’s not really a great or exciting story to tell... Years ago I met Nox at a wedding. And one thing led to another... And... well, that’s basically it! I never saw him again! No idea what his name was or where he lived..... nothing. And... well, by chance, I met him again here. I really didn’t recognise him until this morning!” said Morgan with a raised finger at Steve, who had already opened his mouth to reply.

Shaking his head, Steve lowered his arms to rest on his hips. “Then again, Morgan... What do you see in this guy? Seriously. He acts like an utter jackass, can’t hold a normal conversation with anyone, he looks like a goddamn hermit! Even his brother, who is blind as a bat, is more sociable and has better manners! Can’t you go out with him? But there’s... uhm, one more thing I’m worried about... I know it’s none of my business, but I want to point it out... Bear in mind that when you... uhh, go uhhh... roll in the hay... .... that a screaming present may follow nine months later?”

Seeing Morgan’s defeated look, Steve knew he had unintentionally made a very, very wrong comment. “Morgan?”

She could imagine the old man’s annoyance with Nox, and she had found it sweet and funny in a way, but when he pointed out the possibility of her being pregnant, a stab of pain shot through her.

Keeping her eyes on the ground, Morgan tried to fight back the tears that were burning in her eyes, but she was not entirely successful. A thick tear managed to escape anyway, rolling down the side of her cheek.

“You don’t have to worry about getting pregnant, Steve.... Because of an infection I got when I gave birth to Viggo, the chances of me getting pregnant are almost zero...”

“Ohh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to...” But Morgan cut him off.

“Don’t be sorry Steve. You couldn’t have known... It pleads for Mads that she kept her mouth shut, even to you...” And gave him a small smile.

“I have two lovely children of my own, and Elise was a bonus, so I won’t complain either... But what hurts sometimes is that it wasn’t my own choice...”

She gazed sadly at the ground, then jerked her head up, straightened her shoulders and wiped the tears from her face. With a bright look and a smile around her mouth, she looked at a bewildered Steve. “’Right! Enough whinging! It is what it is, I’ll have to move on... And as for Nox... I know he’s not your friend, but don’t blame him for something he’s not responsible for. There is one thing I have to say, and that is that Nox and I did indeed make a deal when we arrived, but he had already gone back on it. So whatever is going on between me and Nox is my own decision, Steve! I’m not being forced into anything, okay?”

Steve looked at the young woman standing in front of him. Her face was pale but her eyes were shining. Morgan reminded him so much of his own daughter. All the fatherly love he had given the young woman and her children and the mistake he had made with his daughter he would not make again.

Shaking his head and sighing deeply, he walked over to Morgan and put his arms around her. “For your sake, I’ll do my best to be kinder to the frog, but I still think he’s an utter moron!”

Grinning with laughter, Morgan wrapped her arms around his waist. “I didn’t expect anything less from you, Steve!”

Meanwhile, Nox had gone upstairs to ask Viggo to join him.

He had stoically ignored the questioning looks that had been thrown at him as he entered and had acted as if nothing had happened. To his relief, the young boy had agreed to accompany him on his investigation, but to his surprise, the young girl had also wanted to come along. When he had refused her at first, she had whined and wailed until he had given in out of frustration.

When he heard noises near the large doors, Nox turned around. He had instructed the two children to bring food and drink for all three of them, and two extra blankets, so that they would at least have something in case they had to take shelter. Not that it would do much good in a storm, but it was better than nothing....

When the two children had settled down in front of him, he signalled to the dogs to go, and off they went...