28- The Usurper

(Lachlan. My arch-nemesis.)

Sirius and Saoirse rushed to find the baby who was crying. Saoirse throwing on her bath robe without even drying off, pure maternal instinct kicking in. How had Linus done something like this? How long had Lachlan been left unattended?

Without even explaining anything to Sirius, Saoirse located the other bedroom in the house, the source of the crying, and quickly picked up the tiny creature in the crib.

"There there, shh, it's ok." She said bouncing him gently and soothing his fears. "I'm here, momma's got you, don't cry."

He let out a relieved sigh as she did this and nuzzled himself into her embrace, forming a connection right away with her. His little furry paws dangled a bit off to the side as she cradled him on his back.

Sirius watched from the doorway in awe. Saoirse had never been very comfortable with babies. This was something that Sirius knew because he had seen it many times with Madeleine's kids, and even her grandkids. He didn't think he ever saw her hold a baby without making it cry.

Yet here she was, caring for him so naturally, she acted like she did with him when he was sad, or scared, or hurting. The loving way she had done, so comfortable, so warm.

"Where did he come from?" Sirius asked finally once Lachlan had fallen back asleep. Saoirse had made him a bottle and changed his diaper and hadn't even complained about it being new to her or gross or anything.

She now carried him, her burst of adrenaline converted into an aura of calm.

"Huh?" She asked tiredly as if she had forgotten that Sirius was there.

Sirius pointed to the little boy in her arms and asked again, "Why is there a baby in our apartment?"

Saoirse got a bit sheepish, "That? Oh…well, Linus gave him to us. That is, I was going to ask you if he could, but I guess he took the initiative to assume that you would say yes."

(Typical I thought. Leave it to Linus to ruin our lives; at least now, dad could tell her that of course, people can't just give away babies like that. Hmpf.)

"Huh." Sirius said a bit curiously, "Why?"

"Well, he said that he is concerned that when you become Alpha, his son won't be able to keep his mark."

Saoirse lifted the baby's shirt and on his left side of his belly was an intricate tattoo- like mark.

"What does it mean?" He asked, tracing the lines with his fingers.

"It is a promise," Saoirse said softly, "that he will inherit the role of Alpha when he grows up. He will have a connection with the Alpha and Luna that cannot be broken and will ensure that he grows strong and healthy. He said that he hopes we can raise him as our firstborn."

Sirius thought about this for a minute. When he thought about raising a child, he was very concerned about it's safety. If he found out Saoirse would ever become pregnant, it would greatly worry him because his protective instinct would go haywire and overwhelm him.

However, since Lachlan was already here, the idea of having that kind of connection with a son gave him a feeling of….fulfillment.

He had grown very used to the situation that he could never have a son. At least while his father could harm him. But now, that problem didn't feel as big.

"I feel a sense of connection to him for some reason." Sirius said after a while of standing there in thought.

Saoirse nodded. "Me too. I mean, I feel like, it's ok."

(I peered at this little intruder and scowled at my parents for a while. Whatever they saw in him, I didn't see it. Something was definitely defective about him. Linus was way too eager to get rid of him. He was probably some future villain that would ruin my life and only I could see it. This mark of his, it was probably just a way to control my father to do his evil bidding. I wouldn't stand for it.)

"Well, why not give it a try?" Sirius said, "I mean, what my dad doesn't know won't cause us a problem right now, right? We can give it a trial run, there's no harm in that!"

Saoirse smiled, "Hey there Lachlan, welcome to your new family."

(Then Mom smiled and gave Dad a kiss on his lips. Their bond forming a sensation in me that I had never felt before. Connection. Sure I had noticed them for centuries as two people of the many people that I regularly guided and they always stood out to me. Drew me near them somehow, but this, I touched my chest with my hand as if I had a heart. It felt like it was beating. Huh. The feeling of warmth that I was recieving from my mother right now, if Lachlan could cause that feeling, then I suppose he can stay. For now.)

Lachlan kept them from sleeping the whole day. They stayed there in his room, making a makeshift bed on the floor with some blankets and pillows they stole from the other room.

Perhaps Linus was comfortable leaving him alone that long, Sirius decided he would give him the benefit of the doubt that he most likely had only left him alone knowing they would swiftly find him, and they really had only found him once he woke up, so no harm had been brought to him.

Werewolf cubs were strong and that was reassuring, but from now on, they didn't want to be that way. Every few hours, Lachlan got up to eat, crying to announce his needs.

(I don't have to sleep, I'm a Fylgia and I'm not even yet formed into a spirit, so the concept of feeling is not something I understood entirely. But my parents, I could almost feel that they had never been so exhausted for a long time, perhaps ever. And yet, instead of being upset, they just cared for him with a renewed sense of dedication.

(I came over to him and stuck out my tongue at the pudgy little stink nugget of a brother. He gave a little giggle. This made me freeze for a minute. Can you see me? I'm not trying to kill you, so how can you see me?

( I made another face at him to be sure and sure enough, he cooed at me. I moved to the side a bit and his eyes followed me. I touched his hand and tried to discern what his spirit animal was. Moms was a rabbit. Honestly, I'm not a shape shifter like my dad per se, but a Fylgia can appear to a person as whatever animal their soul related to most. Mom's was a rabbit so if she ever saw me, she would see a rabbit for example.

(Lachlan, he was a strange one because with him, I didn't feel like anything but a human. It puzzled me. What did it mean?)