63 Meeting the family

As Leo and Iris left with Hilda, Felix was arranging it so that Shane would be out of the way for a while. He had kept a stash of herbal ingredients for poisons, and mixed something that would keep Shane knocked out for the next few days without killing him. He then stashed him on a barge that was about to leave, even at this time of night, and then returned to the inn. He had interpreted Leo's words to not do something drastic as killing him, so he considered this quite mild.

***

Leo and Iris were following Hilda through the streets of Lawrence city. She didn't say anything though, and just silently led them to her house. Leo wasn't sure if she was quiet from anxiety, or if she was purposely waiting until they arrived at her home. As they were walking, Leo swiped the mirror from Iris's pack, figuring this was something that needed elder grandmas input.

Not long after they left the inn, they arrived at a two story house that looked quite cozy. Leo looked up at it and saw some light upstairs, he realized that Iris must have some brothers or sisters or something. Hilda stopped and pointed to the house,

"This is my home, and where you were born Ma-, Iris. Let's go inside, I'll get some tea started and you can meet your brothers." Iris had a look as if she didn't know what to think, especially when Hilda mentioned that she had brothers. Leo then patted iris's back, and said,

"I'll be a couple minutes, until I join you guys you should talk a little bit and learn more about each other before jumping into the heavier stuff." Iris gave Leo a look like he abandoned her, and Hilda had a look as if she wasn't sure what to think. Leo gently pushed Iris into the doorway, and turned around to walk towards the alleyway. There he pulled out the mirror, and activated it to talk to elder grandma. Nothing happened for a moment, then her image showed up on the tiny piece of glass.

"Leo? What's going on, where's Iris?" Even though it was the middle of the night, Leo could see quite a bit of light, as well as Natalie and Jack on her end. In the background as well, he could see the wooden siding of what looked like a new house. He was somewhat excited because this meant they were building houses already, as the last time they talked to elder grandma they were living in tents. He was now a little anxious as well, because he wasn't sure how elder grandma would react to this situation.

"Well you see, she's currently talking to her mother, and her brothers..." The threes faces on the other end froze as they registered Leo's words, then from elder grandmas, he saw a flash of confusion, realization, then finally fury.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HER MOTHER?!!!!" Leo realized this was probably the first time he ever heard her yell. The next couple minutes he just stood there as she rained several profanities onto him, him being a worthless bastard was the most tame insult she used. After she ranted for nearly three minutes, Natalie wrestled the mirror away from, a feat that surprised Leo, and asked him for specifics.

He then explained the details of what happened after they got to Lawrence. Natalie was nodding and thinking, while elder grandma looked like she was thinking about if she should roast him on a spit, or flame broil him. After he caught them up to the present, Natalie asked him,

"So what is it you're trying to do?" Leo answered,

"If Hilda truly wants to be in iris's future, then it would be best if they come to some kind of understanding. If not, then at least Iris would get some kind of closure from all this. As for Shane, I'll think about what to do with him later, I don't really like the idea of killing my own father-in-law." They all sighed at their end, needing more information than what they had. Natalie then suggested to Leo,

"Leave the mirror going and slide it into your pocket, we'll listen to the discussion, and make a decision from there." Leo nodded, and slid the mirror into his pocket before returningto the house. He knocked to alert them of his arrival, and walked in to find Iris and Hilda sitting at a table, with three other guys who looked to be triplets. As he looked at them, they all had the same face, obviously taking after Shane like Iris did Hilda. They looked to be on their early twenties, twenty five at the oldest. When he walked in, Hilda suddenly got up and tried to introduce them all.

"Um, Leo right? These are my sons, Mathew, Marcus, and Michael. They're about four years older than Iris." As they all stood to shake Leo's hand, he saw that they weren't actually similar. Mathew had a black eye, Marcus had tiny bits of cloth up his nose, and Michael had a swollen lip, Leo assumed these "differences" were courtesy of Shane as well.He wondered if he made the right decision to not have Felix permanently get rid of him.

It seemed as if Iris had opened up just crack, and Leo's as glad at that. They continued talking for a few more minutes until the water was done boiling, the triplets told Leo about how they were a blacksmith, tailor, and stablehand respectively. Then once the tea was served to everyone, Hilda sat down and started talking about what she wanted Iris to hear.

"First I want you to know, Shane wasn't always like this. He used to be very sweet, but after he fought mutants in battle right before you were born, he changed suddenly. He became more violent, drank more often, I hoped that having a daughter would help him calm down. It was the only thing that would make him excited, and when you were born he was so happy. But when he went to go get something for me, you opened your eyes for the first time, and I saw that you were a mutant. Instead of the revulsion that most felt at having mutant children, I felt only fear. I didn't care what you were, you're my daughter. But he came back, and his grin melted away into nothing.

"Before I could say anything he slapped me across my face as if I had something to do with you being a mutant, and stole you from my arms. I was still weak from childbirth, and wasn't able to fight back. As he disappeared out the door with you, all I was able to do was cry. The boys were only four at the time, and all they could do is try to comfort me. Later Shane came back, without you and angrier than ever. No matter what he never said what he did to you so I could only imagine the worst.

"As the years went by he got progressively worse. I was too scared to try running away, and I feared for the boys lives, that he would get rid of them like I thought he did to you. But he eventually started beating them as well when they tried to defend me. As they got older, they tried to work and save money for us to leave because they didn't want to leave me here alone. But he would always take their money by force and use it for more drink, like he did tonight."

As Hilda finished talking, Leo considered once again having Felix take Shane's life. Leo looked over at Iris, and saw that she was in deep thought. He considered this good though, as it meant that she was seriously considering Hilda's story. Suddenly he heard voices coming from his pocket, and remembered elder grandma and Natalie were listening. He pulled it out, and elder grandma said,

"Point me at this Hilda." And so Leo did. At first Hilda looked confused, but when she saw a person in the glass square, her eyes opened wide. Then elder grandma made a very impactful introduction.

"Hilda I presume? I go by elder grandma, and I'm the one that took Iris from Shane and raised her."