Page 99 of The Very Virile Viking

But first Angela slept till noon the next day, so exhausted was she by the night's events. Magnus was even worse… or better. He slept off and on for a full twenty-four hours. Every time she heard him up and about, whether just visiting the bathroom or brushing his teeth or taking a quick shower, she was waiting for him in his bedroom with a glass of juice and more pills. Sleep was the best aid to healing at this point, the doctor had said.

It was onea.m. of the second night, and Angela was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine, working on the Blue Dragon account books. She heard a loud noise, as if someone had tripped over something, followed by what was probably a swear word in Old Norse. It must be Magnus.

She put together a tray of chicken-salad sandwiches with dill pickles, Juanita's famous potato salad, and a pitcher of lemonade. Magnus would be starving once he finally awakened for good.

When she got there, though, he was sleeping again. The sheet covered him only to the waist, making visible in the moonlight the white bandage wrapped around his shoulder and under his armpit. Her heart dropped every time she saw that evidence of his wound… a wound that could very well have been fatal to him.

The sheer curtains were billowing inward with a building breeze that portended rain. In fact, heat lightning was already flashing across the sky, filling the room with short-lived brilliance.

Because there was a chill in the air, she attempted to raise the bed linen up over Magnus's bare skin. She wouldn't want him to catch a cold on top of everything else. Bending over the bed, she had managed to draw the sheet upward without awakening Magnus… or so she thought.

A hand snaked out, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her down onto the bed beside the prone figure.

Luckily it was Magnus's good side where she hit.

He lifted the sheet high, tucked her up under his arm, with her face resting on his chest, then covered them both. She was wearing a thigh-length nightshirt and nothing else. He was wearing a shoulder bandage and nothing else. All that cool bare skin touching cool bare skin was giving her warm ideas…

ideas that were out of the question considering Magnus's condition.

"I thought you were still asleep," she said, snuggling closer. "I brought you some food."

"Later." He kissed the top of her head.

"You could have died, Magnus."

"Yea, I could have. But then, I could have tripped over a rake, hit myself in the head, and died on the spot, too… just like Hord the Hairy did. Do not make too much of this incident. Death is a part of life."

"Even so, when you are feeling better there are some things I need to tell you… things I would have been devastated to have never told you if you had… well, died."

"Secrets, eh?" He laughed softly, then winced when that movement apparently caused him some pain.

"Actually, there are some things that I have neglected to say, too."

Her heart soared suddenly.

"It is about my children."

Her heart deflated just as suddenly.

"It occurred to me afterward, in the hospital, whilst the healer-witch was jabbing needles into me, that I had been negligent in regard to my children. I made no plans for their future, if something happened to me. Would you have taken on that responsibility?"

"Of course." That she responded in that way, without hesitation, was a marvel to her. Magnus wasn't her husband; they were not her children. But then the answer came to her. "They feel like family to me."

He nodded. "I thought as much, but it might be best if we call on a lawmaker one day to make legal provisions for such."

"Are you planning on dying soon? Is there something you're not telling me?" She was only half kidding.

"Nay! I am much better, except for this dull ache in my shoulder, but 'tis best to be prepared."

"You know, Magnus, this might not be the right time to mention this, but since you mentioned lawyers…

well… I'm not sure how to say this…"

"Just spit it out, sweetling."

"I've been led to believe that not all of your children are your blood children. Did you know that you can have DNA tests done that would prove beyond a doubt whether they are truly yours or not? And all it takes is a simple swab of saliva."

"Really? That is amazing. But what purpose would it serve me? They are my children, regardless of what any tests show."