“Before I can get ready for dinner, the children need to bathe the sand and salt off. Would you like to help me with their baths?”
Hector was elated at the invitation. Up until now he had been relegated to the playful companion role with the children. Assisting with bath time was a big step towards actual fatherly duties. A step he had been afraid might be relegated to nannies. He knew from Theron’s ravings that bathing a child added to the bonding process of being a sudden parent.
“I would be most happy to assist.”
“I’ll start running the bath. You can fetch the kiddos from the galley. Just tell them it’s tubby time and they’ll beat you back here.”
Her smile was still a bit strained, but no longer looked homicidal.
The children cheered and, just as Magnolia had predicted, raced ahead of them back to their cabin. The scene that met Hector’s eyes when he caught up to them did not please him. All three of his children were already in the cabin when he arrived, only they were no longer happy, laughing children. They were little termagants biting, punching, clawing, and screaming at poor hapless Niko.
Magnolia was dragging Atticus away from Niko’s leg while the other two children continued the assault.
His poor young cousin shouted for them to stop.
“If you lay another hand on my children, you will find yourself seeking an ER!” Magnolia shouted at Niko. The poor boy stood with both his hands raised in the air.
“Uncle, please make them stop,” the boy plaintively cried.
Hector pulled Harper and Elijah off Niko. “What is going on in here?”
“They have taken over my cabin and that woman refuses to clear them out of here.” The boy’s voice was derisive and rude.
“You are mistaken, Niko. This is not your cabin.” Hector watched the blood flood the boy’s face. “The children are sharing this cabin. If he hasn’t already done so, I will have Biton show you to a cabin you can use.”
Niko’s eyes scrunched up and his hands fisted. “This is my cabin. It always has been. These little bastards do not belong in my cabin or this ship. Make them go away. Now.”
Hector sharply reprimanded Niko in Greek.
“I know you are upset. The children should not have attacked you, but their mother and I will punish them for it. You must calm yourself now.”
“Daddy!” Hector looked into Harper’s tear-drenched eyes. “Make that mean boy go away. He hurt my Mommy.”
“Hector.”
Magnolia’s voice was sugar sweet. He was sure she was about to complement him on the way he was handling the situation and her inclusion in the process.
“No one is going to punish my children for defending me. They came through the door just as your darling Niko punched me in the face. They actually saved him from my retribution.”
Niko’s furious face confirmed he was in a tantrum. Hector turned towards Magnolia, and for the first time since he had entered the cabin, he looked at her and saw a large red mark on the side of her face. It would turn into an ugly bruise.
Hector shouted at Niko in rapid-fire Greek. No man, not even a teenaged man, had a right to hit a woman, especially not his woman.
“Yell at him all you want, but do it somewhere else.” Magnolia lifted the still-struggling Atticus into her arms and hugged him to her chest. She nuzzled his head before she added. “Take him away with you while I calm these three down.”
“Daddy, he tried to hurt Mommy like that other man did.” Elijah attempted to break free from Hector’s hold. “Throw him overboard and let the sea monsters eat him! That’s what Uncle Ethan would do.”
He had to admire his son’s courage in defending his mother from an attack. However, the boy’s bloodthirsty request gave him room to wonder about the life they had been leading.
“Harper, Lijah, let’s go into the bathroom.”
“Did you know they call the bathroom a head on a ship?” Elijah hiccupped the information.
“What a silly thing to call a bathroom.” Magnolia giggled. “Do you think it knows how to talk?”
The children giggled as they followed her into the bathroom. However, the silly talk didn’t stop three sets of eyes from glaring at Niko as they passed. Hector suddenly realized that his children were beautiful and intelligent and a force to be reckoned with.
“Come, Niko.” Hector nodded his head towards the door. He wanted to take Niko to his cabin to have a frank discussion with his young cousin.
“Uncle, I don’t want to leave my room. Make them go.”
Hector winced when Niko stomped his foot. What had happened to the polite young man who always had a logical explanation for whatever trouble had gotten him thrown out of his latest school?
“Niko.” Hector used the authoritative voice he used when a subordinate stepped out of line.
Niko sulked his way out the door.
Hector quietly closed his cabin door behind him as Niko threw himself into one of the armchairs set in the conversation area of the cabin. He took several breaths to compose himself before he confronted his young cousin. He knew Niko had been expelled from several schools for fighting, but Hector had always believed it was a boy thing. He remembered getting into a few fights himself when he had attended boarding school, but he would never raise a hand against a woman. Not unless it was part of their love play, that is.
“Niko, what has happened to disturb you so? Why did you strike Magnolia?” He meant to handle the boy gently, but his voice was harsher than he had planned. It was difficult to tamper his temper when it came to the safety of his new bride. “I have never known you to be impolite, especially not to a guest.”
“It’s that woman, Uncle Hector. She is cheating me out of my inheritance.” Niko’s face was once again a bright red. “We are forced to live like paupers, while she and her bastards travel in a private plane.”
“Be careful of the language you use, Niko.” Hector felt his jaw tighten. “I have never allowed anyone to call you a bastard. You are not allowed to refer to those children that way, either.”
“I would not have been born a bastard if not for that horrible woman. My father wanted to marry my mother, but he couldn’t obtain his divorce in time because of her.” The rancor in Niko’s words sounded as if it emerged from an adult, but his voice and the sullen face showed the child he truly was.
Niko had looked upon Hector as a father figure since the day he was born. Finding out about the triplets was going to be a big shock to him. Perhaps someone on board had already told him and that was why the boy had suddenly turned belligerent.
“Niko, when Nickolas Brisland died, Magnolia herself was just a child. She is not to blame for her parents’ actions any more than you are to be blamed for the actions of yours.”
The boy started crying.
“Why did you put those brats in my cabin?”
Hector realized he was at a conversational crossroads. He could explain to Niko the children were his, but he had planned on introducing the children to his mother first, not a fifteen-year-old boy.
“Niko, we are family, and you will always have a place wherever I am. However, this is my yacht, not yours. You do not have a cabin for your exclusive use. When you are a guest on the Midnight Star, you are assigned a cabin. In the past you have used that cabin, but it is not exclusively yours. One of the stewards will show you to the cabin you will use during this trip.”
“But . . .”
“There are no buts. While you are on this ship you will treat all my guests with the utmost respect.” The belligerent look returned. “You will also apologize to Magnolia and the children before dinner tonight.”
Niko hung his head.
“Do you understand?”
“I don’t think I need to apologize to anyone!”
“You may not think so, but you do.” Niko’s face darkened. “This is an opportunity, Niko. You and Magnolia have never had a chance to get to know each other . . . to become brother and sister.”
“But, Uncle Hector, she is really mean. Last year Adonis took me and a couple of the guys from school to see the Mangy Mutts in concert. I promised everyone they could meet Breezy and have their pictures taken with her, but that woman wouldn’t let us get anywhere near Breezy.”
“It is my understanding that Breezy does not see many people after a performance.”
“Well, she should see me and my friends. I own her!” Niko exploded.
“Breezy is a person, not a piece of property.” Hector said patiently. “You do not own her.”
“I own the Mangy Mutts, which means I own her because she sings with them.”
“Did you say this to Magnolia?” Hector didn’t know whether to be amused by Niko’s statements or upset at the boy’s way of thinking.
“Yes I did.” Niko sat up straighter in his seat. “We snuck back stage and found Breezy’s dressing room. When we went in she was in there with another woman who was not Breezy. She got really mean and told us we had to get out right away.”
“I told her I wasn’t going anywhere until we met Breezy. She said if we didn’t leave immediately she was going to call security. I told her I owned the band and I was staying until I met Breezy.” Niko’s face was alarmingly red. “She told me I didn’t own ‘diddly squat’. Then she called security and had me thrown out. Damaris was pissed about the way we were treated, especially when my friends turned mean and I had to leave the Rice School.”
“It is disrespectful to call your mother by her first name.” Hector’s rebuke was automatic while he processed the new information Niko had given him. “I cannot believe you hit Magnolia.”
“Mo-uh-Damaris told me to stop calling her mother because I was getting to be too big and people would think she was old.”
Hector was stunned. Damaris had never been the warmest nor the most loving of parents, but to tell her young son not to call her mother was unconscionable. He couldn’t imagine Magnolia telling her children to call her “Nollie”. She was very much a hands-on mother and doted on her children. She wore the title mommy like Elizabeth the II wore the title Queen.
He needed to hear about the concert incident from Magnolia before he decided who was in the wrong in that incident. He very much feared it was Niko, but he did owe it to the boy to be certain. The boy was going to become exhausted with all the apologies he would have to hand out.
And Hector was afraid he would too.
“Go to your cabin and think about the apology you are going to give to Magnolia and the children.” Hector had seen the boy sulk before, but he had never seen this belligerent side.
“I don’t have to apologize for anything,” Niko’s voice was higher, “and I’m not going to.”
“If you do not give Magnolia a proper apology before you come to dinner, then you will not eat.” Hector had never had to discipline the boy before and he didn’t like having to do it now.
“That’s not fair!” Niko jumped to his feet. “My mother won’t let you do this to me.”
“Your mother has no say in the matter. You will apologize to Magnolia this evening or my helicopter will be here to take you back to Athens first thing in the morning.” Hector remained firm.
“You can’t punish me like this.” Niko’s face was bright red as he continued to meltdown. “My mother will not allow you to treat me this way.”
“Furthermore,” Hector continued as if he hadn’t heard the boy, “after you apologize Magnolia will be in charge of your punishment.”
He congratulated himself on coming up with a plan that was sure to please his wife.