Once Megan and I were in agreement we spent a bit more time alone before finally leaving the bedroom to see what was going on.
I found everyone in the living room watching as Momma glared down at my father angrily.
My father on the other hand was laying on the ground his hands protectively cupped between his legs. He was pale white and seemed to be in great pain.
I sighed to myself and wondered what he thought was going to happen. It was obvious to me that he had never told Momma about any of the things he explained to me, none of which explained his infidelity. Momma had been really hurt by it, completely devastated. She had given her everything to my father. The fact that she and I were still so close despite his betrayal was a miracle.
"Daryl." Momma called when I came out of the room. "This idiot thought he could just drag me off like nothing had ever happened." she told me as if justifying her actions.
I nodded. "I heard. Mom said that she and dad were fond of you and Kelly and were going to bring the two of you with them." I replied.
Momma frowned at me. "When?" she asked me.
I explained to her and all the others what had happened when I was unconscious and what they told me. I left out the discussion about the bonds, not because I didn't think they needed to know, but because I thought Momma wouldn't take the idea that I was being tested very well.
Momma glared down at my father viciously. It seemed that finding out that my father wasn't a normal human being didn't sit well with her.
Calidia on the other hand turned incredibly pale at the mention of the Immortal Wanderers while Jorrimus had a strangely joyful expression for a brief moment.
"Leave, and don't even think of coming back?" Momma told my father angrily.
My father slowly managed to shift himself into a sitting position so he could face Momma. "Lisa." he said.
"I said leave!" Momma told him through gritted teeth.
My father looked to me but I shook my head. I had absolutely no intention of getting involved.
The air in the room seemed to shift then my mother was standing beside my father. I had no idea what technique she used to do it but I was very interested. "Lisa." my mother greeted pleasantly then looked down at my father. "I did warn you." she told him.
"You also insisted she come with us." my father replied.
My mother nodded, "I did." she agreed then looked back to Lisa. "Could you at least come with me so we could talk?" she asked her. "This kind of discussion isn't really something the children need to hear."
Momma gave her a skeptical look. Of all the people I knew my mother was one of the few people that Momma was weak against, she had always felt worried that she was the reason my parents had divorced.
As Momma seemed to consider it my mother looked over at me and Megan who was standing close to me with my arm wrapped around her waist. "Did you not listen to my warning?" she asked a bit irritatedly.
"I didn't give him much choice." Megan replied for me.
My mother eyed Megan for a moment then smiled at her. "I wish you luck then child, the road you have chosen isn't an easy one."
Megan nodded.
"Daryl, review the information about bonds your father gave you. If you really are serious about this girl you will need to change the bond again so you can keep her around." Mother told me.
I nodded then waited for Momma to make her decision. I was certain that if she went with them now she wasn't going to be coming back. After a few more moments Momma finally shook her head. "No Janet. I don't know what the pair of you want or why, but I am going to stay here with the kids." she told her firmly.
My mother frowned unhappily then looked to me. "Bond her, as soon as you can."
I nodded in response then my mother grabbed a hold of my father's arm. The next moment they were gone.
"No." Megan told me immediately.
I laughed at her. "She didn't mean a marital bond." I told her. "My father's ability is the bonds, and there is a lot more to it than bonding pretty girls to my side."
"So what did she mean then?" Momma asked me warily.
"There is a friendship bond that is meant to protect and assist friends without being intimate." I replied.
"You sure?" Momma asked.
I nodded. "When I got the information it stood out as a good way to keep in contact with Arnold and Michael." I replied.
Momma nodded obviously relieved. "That will work." she agreed.
I smiled then looked to Megan. "If its a bond you would use on Arnold and Michael then it will be fine." she agreed.
I looked around at everyone else in the room. The living room really wasn't meant for a crowd this size, yet all my girls, including Dena, were present. Jorrimus was out of sight but that was fine.
"Megan said you had all made a decision amongst yourselves concerning the bonds. I don't know what it is yet, but I am going to be reestablishing all the bonds to the friend level for your protection." I told them. "It isn't invasive, not empathy or lust, but you will be able to talk to me telepathically and I will be able to find you if you end up in trouble." I elaborated.
"Daryl." Megan called me. "There are some who don't want any bond right now." she told me.
I shook my head. "I veto that right now." I told all of them. "If what my father said is right, it is going to get a lot more dangerous so this is for your protection and my peace of mind. It isn't a permanent bond like the marital bond so it can be dissolved later when we are safer."
"No empathy or lust?" Tracy asked me moving to the front of the group. As the only woman I hadn't slept with I was a bit regretful, I had a strong crush on her when I was in her class, but with the very recent loss of her husband I could understand her desire not to be thrust into another relationship.
I nodded. "Same bond I will place on Momma and the guys." I responded.
Tracy hesitated then nodded. "I can accept that." she said then looked at Megan.
"Alright." Megan agreed.
It didn't take long, just a few seconds for each bond then a few extra to establish a new bond with Momma.
The bond ability shifted around a bit as a fourth bond appeared, a pair of hands shaking. All the girls were shifted to that bond with the exception of Megan, Nala, and Mary.
Finally that only left Dena to deal with. She was sitting beside Nala in a miniature elephant form looking like an overly realistic plush toy. Honestly it was kind of cute. I glanced at Megan to see what had been decided in regards to her.
"It took a while but I was able to get Nala to agree to allow her to be her equal. Nala will be the leader of the predators while Dena will be the leader of the herd." she replied.
I had no idea how many beasts the pair thought I would be accepting but that was something we could address later.
I used the beast bond to tie Dena to me in the same fashion Nala was currently. Whether I adjusted it back to the level of mate as Nala's had been before was yet to be seen. Dena seemed to be happy with the bond she had now so I wasn't going to bring it up.
"Anything else before I start complaining about how hungry I am?" I asked.
Megan nodded. "Karen you're time is up." Megan told my childhood friend.
I looked between the two confused.
"Megan gave her a deadline to decide on whether she will accept the marital bond." Grace informed me helpfully.
I frowned then looked to Megan for an explanation but she ignored me.
"Megan." Karen said in a pleading tone.
"You had all day while he was unconscious to think about it." Megan replied.
"It isn't that easy." Karen replied.
"Yes Karen, it is. You are the one making it complicated. Yes or no." Megan told her.
I met Karen's brown eyes still not sure what was going on. Didn't Megan already say Karen was to be her second? That everything was decided?
"Megan?" I asked. "What is going on?"
Again Megan ignored me.
"You're relationship with Karen is too complicated." Momma told me. "Because of it Karen is incredibly indecisive. So Megan gave her a deadline, she either agrees to the Marital Bond and all that goes with it, or gives up on it completely with no option of establishing it later."
I frowned, this wasn't what I was expecting when Megan and I had talked about this. I wanted to stop this but Megan glared at me stopping me in my tracks. 'No veto on this one Daryl.' she told me mentally. 'She needs to commit all in or move on. Trust me on this.'
I closed my eyes sighed, I had told her she was in charge of the girls, though I can't say I actually meant it. I was hardly used to the idea of having multiple women. It was hard on me, one was Megan who I had already taken as my wife, while the other was Karen my first love. I knew who I needed to support, but that didn't mean it was easy. I nodded to Megan then stepped back and left it to her.
Karen kept her eyes on me begging me to interfere, but I remained silent. I had to trust Megan on this.
Seeing that I wasn't going to interfere she seemed hurt as she turned her gaze back to Megan. It hurt to see that so I left and went in to the back yard. It wasn't much to look at but it was away from Karen. I had no idea why but as soon as the bond was gone my mind went back to being incredibly jumbled and confused whenever she was around.
It was only a couple minutes later when Megan joined me. "She refused?" I asked Megan since I couldn't feel any joy or anger from her.
"She hasn't decided. I just wanted to know what was wrong with you?" she asked me.
I shrugged. "I wish I knew." I replied. "When we were bonded it wasn't like this, but my mind is in chaos just like back then." I replied.
Megan snorted. "You really care about her." she told me.
"It is complicated." I replied. "She was the one who was there when I needed someone during the divorces. Not my parents, or even Momma, they were too caught up in what was going on between themselves. It was the same for her too. When her mother died I was the one she could turn to when everyone else was too busy dealing with the situation." I told her than started to laugh uncontrollably.
Megan stared at me like I had gone mad.
"Sorry. I just realized I was being stupid." I told her. "Tomorrow night a quarter of the people in the word are going to become bloodthirsty monsters that want to do nothing less than rip us into tiny pieces and I am worrying about the fact that she lied to me three years ago. Worse, it wasn't even like she was cheating on me or something life threatening."
"So you are over it?" she asked me.
I shook my head. "It just doesn't matter." I told her feeling a bit relieved. "Let's go back in. You made the decision so either she accepts or she doesn't, it's not like we are going to kick her to the curb if she refuses." I said while wrapping my arm around Megan's waist happy she cared enough about me to follow me out and make sure I was fine. In fact I felt better than I had in a long time. "We have a lot of other things we need to discuss and prepare for before the third wave."
"Maybe, but don't you dare forget it's my wedding night." Megan told me.
When I turned to face the door back into the house Karen was standing in the doorway staring at me her eyes full of tears a smile on her face. "I agree." she told us.
Megan sighed. "Fine I'll share." she gripped.