* A Few Hours Later*
Chapter 9: Welcome To The Family
Jon stared at the mansion that was located outside the city border with a sense of awe, his actuators scanning the building and marveling how humans like their father could build such structures.
So this is where Celestia and Luna live. He thought as he made his way to the metal giant double doors with the sun and moon symbols on both doors.
A few hours ago he got a text from his boss saying to come to their house so they could talk. Jon guessed that Celestia hadn’t forgotten about the incident.
So with great reluctance and reassuring from his daughters, Jon went through the city by maneuvering above the buildings with the help of his actuators, yet when he got to the edge of the city, he hesitated once again on how the meeting was gonna go.
Might as well face the music. Jon thought as he walked up to the door and knocked hard with his top right actuator hitting it, then he stepped back, waiting anxiously for his probable demise.
It was only a minute or so before the door with the moon symbol opened inwards and Luna peeked her head out to see who was there.
When she saw who was at the door, Luna smiled widely and wrapped her arms around Jon’s torso, and squeezing him so much he was slightly surprised at how strong the woman was.
Jon hugged back, more gentle than he used to before he came to this universe. He just didn’t want to hurt anyone with his surprising strength until he was forced to use it when fighting bad guys as the Metal Armed Vigilante the news was calling him nowadays.
The authorities or newspaper didn’t connect the dots just yet, and Jon wanted to keep it that way.
“How are you, Jon? Traffic rough when coming out here?”
He smiled at the older woman that he calls his sister, in all but blood, and answered,
“ I didn’t drive here, Luna. I climbed over the buildings with the help of my daughters.”
Luna was about to greet the actuators that clicked at her in greeting, before a new and younger voice came from behind her,
“ Auntie, who is at the door-?”
A pink skinned woman wearing a light purple suit jacket and a greyish skirt peeked over Luna’s shoulder and stared at Jon with surprise, her purple eyes taking in the actuators that stared back at her, before she spoke,
“Hello…”
Jon smiled at Dean Cadence and tipped his fedora that he bought a while ago and replied, “ Hello.”
Luna shook her head and sighed, stepping out of the way and saying,
“Why don’t you come in, Mr. Whalen. We were just about to have dinner. My sister is cooking tonight.”
Jon smirked, “ Well, if 2 beautiful ladies want me to stay over for dinner, how can I say no?”
Jon’s actuators slinked back under his coat with ease and hid in a large pocket that was attached to his vest that is a very strong material and can stretch a lot before ripping.
He took off his trench coat and hung it on a hook that was located just inside the doorway and looked around while he was at it.
The mainroom was huge, with white marble floors and tinted windows depicting events that reminded Jon of church. There was a set of stairs in the center leading up to a second floor with a couple of doors leading to presumably the rest of the mansion.
He nodded, lips pursed and went ‘hmm’. Jon was impressed.
Luna chuckled, “ It’s very large and empty, but it’s home.”
Jon followed Luna and Cadence to a door on the side of the mainroom and entered the dining room, taking a moment to admire the normal sized room with a mahogany table and about ten chairs with a candelabrum sitting in the middle of the table.
“ Hey Lulu, Cady! Who was at the door?!” A voice that Jon clearly recognised as Celestia’s emanated from the door off to the side.
Luna yelled back, answering her older sister, “ It’s Jon! He’s here with a smirk on his face as he is listening to us yell at each other! So why don’t you come on out and greet our guest?!”
Celestia walked through the door, wearing a white v-neck shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged her. She smiled and said, “ Hello Mr. Whalen, so glad you came to join us for dinner.”
Jon raised an eyebrow, slightly confused on whether his boss is dressing herself up to impress him, or that was just what she wore besides work clothes.
He then smiled, “ It’s good to be here, Celestia. Although I am a little confused on why I’m here.”
Cadence was the one that spoke for the both of the sisters, “ Well, we just wanted to get to know you better, since we practically know nothing on what you like or not like, what your hobbies are, etcetera. So, Luna came up with the idea to invite you over for dinner and talk as well.”
Jon thought it over for a bit, glad that his daughters were in sleep mode at the moment, and nodded, “ Sure, I needed to talk about what I like doing anyway, so I won’t be seen as a cold man who doesn’t feel anything.”
Luna smirked at Jon’s choice of words, “ We would be delighted to hear what you do, Jon.”
As dinner got set up on the table, with pots and a couple of hot pans on mits consisting of a hot meal, Jon sat down at the end of the rectangular table and relaxed his shoulders, the stress of having to deal with a class full of teenagers can get you worked up in no time flat.
“ So, I heard that you wanted to speak with me about why I hid the actuators from you?” Jon asked, filling his plate with some potatoes and steak.
Luna nodded, along with her older sister, who gave Jon an expression that practically said, ‘duh!’.
Jon sighed and took a bit of steak, and after swallowing it, which was VERY tasty by the way, and said,
“Where do I start?”
Cadence spoke, a soft calming lilt in it, “ Why not start from the beginning? You know, like how you came to be in the city or something?”
Jon nodded after thinking about it for a moment, “ You’re right, Cadence, the beginning…”
He spoke of how he got the actuators but left out the parts of how he was from a different dimension entirely.
No need to freak them out over that. Jon thought as he finished talking about waking up on a rooftop after being knocked out ‘mysteriously’ by a shady person.
He was taking a breather, when his top right actuator shot out of his back pouch and stared at Cadence, only a few inches from her face.
Luna and Celestia gasped at the way it was staring at their niece, the blood red light gleaming as it scanned her for some reason.
After a few moments, the actuator backed away and screeched quietly into Jon’s ear, the man tilting his head as he listened, a blank expression on his face.
After the metal arm said that, it went back into the pouch and went to sleep, joining the rest of its siblings.
Jon sighed as he processed the information, “ Well, that was unexpected-”
Celestia interrupted him by slightly asking, a threatening tone hidden underneath the confusion, “ What was that about, Mr. Whalen?”
The man lifted his head up and made eye contact with the older woman, his blue eyes piercing as he then glancing at Cadence, whose pink face began paling at a thought she had, “ Do you wanna tell them or should I?”
After a few moments, and getting an answer on how Cadence was going to explain something to her aunts, Jon made his way out of the dining room and woke up his daughter actuators, who looked around the massive room with awe, staring at the rose tinted window depicting events that happened a thousand of years ago.
His eye caught Luna’s as she exited the dining room with a large smile on her face, “ Did you know?”
Jon raised an eyebrow, indicating that she needed to be more specific than that.
At the expression, she elaborated, “ Did you know Cadence was pregnant? It makes sense since one of your metal arms came out and scanned her, after all.”
Jon sighed, rubbing his hand against his face as he thought up an answer,
“ No, I didn’t know she was pregnant. It was only after the scan did my daughter tell me of what she detected. She was the more paranoid and protective one of the four after all.”
He then chuckled at the memory of the actuator scanning the warehouse thoroughly 3 times to make sure that there was no one living in it already.
Jon shook the memories off as Celestia came out and hugged Jon suddenly. The man’s arms were hovering in the air as he froze.
“Uh… Tia?”
At the words, the woman pulled out of the hug and he saw that she had tears in those light purple eyes, making his caring side want to wipe them off.
Celestia said, her voice wavering, “ Thank you Jon. If you hadn’t found out that we were expecting a new member of the family, it would’ve been chaos at that point, even though it’s pretty peaceful out here.”
Jon pulled Celestia into another hug, being gentle with his arms since he knew he had strength of a bear if he puts his mind into it.
Jon smiled softly, “ It’s ok, Boss. It’s ok.” Celestia hugged him back, and they were joined by 2 more pairs of arms, indicating that Luna and Cadence were joining in on the group hug.
It was complete with Jon’s actuators gently wrapping around the group affectionately, their heads finding themselves on the shoulders of all four people.
This, this is what family is. Jon thought as they spent the rest of the evening talking about the future of the family and asking Cadence to bring home Shining Armor, Cadence’s husband of 6 months for a visit.
The conversation turned to Celestia asking something, “ Mr. Whalen, I want to offer you something.”
Jon sat up from his seat on the sofa edge as the rest were taken by Luna and Cadence, he was intrigued, and his daughters were urging him to ask, “ Sure, what is it?”
Luna and Cadence were caught in Celestia’s gaze and sat upright, with knowing smirks on their faces as they looked between the two.
After a few moments, Celestia drew a breath and asked, “ Would you like to be part of our family?”
At those words, Jon froze, his brain gears screeched to a halt burning with smoke and smelt like burning rubber.
He blinked, and asked one word, tilting his head a bit, “ Why?”
“Why do you think?”
The answer from Celestia made his brain go to work with the help of his daughters giving him clues and reasons on why he should join Celestia’s family tree.
Besides being protective of them and saving Luna and finding out that Cadence was pregnant, there doesn’t seem to be many reasons on why he should deserve to be a part of the family.
He spoke, severe confusion in his tone, “ Why do you think I deserve to be a part of this great family? Of all the people that you could’ve chosen, why me?”
Cadence and Luna looked at each other, caught off guard at the sad tone and slump of his shoulders, they were surprised that someone wasn’t jumping at this great opportunity to join an ancient family that has practically been there since the founding of Canterlot.
Celestia leaned forward, her expression serious, though inside, she felt slightly sad at the way Jon seems to think of himself sometimes.
The man hides behind a mask of a smile, an outgoing personality that seems so genuine, yet doesn’t express Jon himself. It’s heartbreaking.
“ I believe that you deserve far more, Mr. Whalen. I want you to join the family so you don’t have to be alone, to be afraid of being different to the world. I want you here, because I see you as someone who is like a brother to me, to me, to Luna, and a cousin to Niece Cadence here. We all see you as a part of the family, despite the secrets you keep.”
Jon thought it over for a few minutes, placing his head into his hands, and Cadence, Luna, and Celestia watched with bated breath, anxious to see what his answer would be.
After those few minutes, he lifted his head and smiled, a couple of tears streaking down his face as he answered,
“I accept.”
Celestia smiled back, getting up and giving Jon a gentle hug, ignoring the tears that was staining her shirt.
This is worth the tears, after all.
…
…
…
“Welcome to the Faust family, Mr. Whalen.”