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Merle felt queasy as he stepped inside the glass cannonball. He’d been down to see Mookie and Mavis several times now, but this was the first trip he wasn’t looking forward to. He buckled himself in and nodded to Avi, who cast a concerned look back before launching the cannonball through the air. Realizing that Avi had caught on to his anxiety, Merle took deep breaths, trying to calm himself before facing his kids. They couldn’t see him like this.
The trip only took a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours as Merle was alone with his thoughts. He willed the cannonball to move faster. All he wanted was to get this trip over with, rip it off like a Band-Aid. Afterward, no matter what his kids thought of him, he’d be able to move on with his life.
Underneath his shirt, he could feel the splinters of his right arm catch against the sleeve’s fabric.
Finally, he touched down on the outskirts of Neverwinter and trudged over to the Sea of Gardens. Mookie and Mavis were already there, sitting on a bench among the park’s bushes. Mavis was reading a book that Merle didn’t recognize and Mookie was chewing on a pinecone that he’d presumably found lying on the ground. He watched as Mavis, still focused on her book, reached over and pulled the pinecone out of Mookie’s mouth. She tossed it over her shoulder and her half-brother leapt off the bench, scrambling to catch it as he landed in the well-trimmed bushes. Merle chuckled as Mavis looked over her shoulder to scowl at Mookie. He stopped laughing, though, when Mavis turned back and saw him standing there. She closed her book.
“Hey, Pops,” she said, standing up from the bench and tucking a strand of loose, red hair behind her ear.
“Uh. Hey, Mavi,” said Merle.
“Wuhh, Dasph hweere?” Mookie said, emerging from the bush with the pinecone in his mouth.
Mavis eyed Merle and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why’re you wearing such a big shirt?”
Oh. Right. Merle looked down at the shirt he’d borrowed from Taako. The elf was suspicious about his request, but eventually handed one over, telling him he’d be magic-missiled if there was a single tear. Taako’s shirt was bright pink and read “Material Girl”, but at least the sleeves were long enough to cover Merle’s arms. Originally, Merle had asked Magnus, only to learn that the fighter’s shirts engulfed his entire body. He could make a tent out of those things.
Merle knew he looked ridiculous in front of his kids, but it was better than looking like a freak.
“I was out of clean clothes,” Merle said, a little too quickly. His mouth felt dry.
Mavis raised an eyebrow. “What, you don’t do laundry at your new place?”
Merle let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t have much time when I’m…ya know…slaying monsters and all. Going on secret missions. Carrying the team. All that important stuff.”
“Didja bring us somthin?” Mookie asked, who’d spit out the pinecone. He ran up to Merle and wrapped himself around his leg, staring up at the cleric with a goofy grin on his freckled face.
“You know it, fireball,” Merle said, gently shaking his leg to disentangle his son. He slipped his pack off his back and rummaged around, making sure to only use his left hand. Mavis was looking at him funny, but she didn’t say anything.
“Here ya go,” he said, producing two small slips of paper.
Mookie snatched one from his hand. Mavis took the other, glancing over to Merle’s right sleeve as she did.
“Ooooh what is it?” Mookie asked as he sniffed the paper.
“It’s…ah…”
“Unlimited…Pasta Pass?” Mavis said, her eyes squinted behind her glasses.
“Yeah. Gives you endless pasta at Olive Garden.”
Mavis looked up. “What’s Olive Garden? It is, like, a garden of olive trees? What does that have to do with pasta?”
Merle scratched the back of his head. “Well, uh, I was hoping you’d know.”
Mavis stared at her father. Eventually, just as Merle was starting to sweat, she chuckled. “Thanks, Pop,” she said, stuffing the Pasta Pass into her book bag.
“Yeah, thanks!” said Mookie. Mavis snatched the paper from him before he could pop it in his mouth and Merle made a mental note to only give him edible gifts in the future. “So how many monsters have ya killed? I bet it’s a hundred billion!”
“Oh, definitely. A hundred thousand billion,” Merle said. “There were these robo guys that were actually, like, ghosts or something. Your old man single-handedly took down the lot of ‘em. Even ripped a few arms off.”
“Wowza!” said Mookie. “I wanna robo arm!”
“Uh huh,” said Mavis, distractedly. “Um, Pops, speaking about arms, did you do something to yours?”
Merle’s blood ran cold. “What? No, my arm’s fine.” He held up his left arm so the sleeve ran down, revealing the rough skin underneath.
“Not that arm,” Mavis said. “Your right arm. You don’t seem to be using it much.”
“Well…er…it’s just that…” Merle sighed. He knew he’d have to show them eventually. “Just…don’t freak out, okay?” He took a deep breath and rolled up his right sleeve.
“Woah! Dad, why’s yur arm a tree?” Mookie said. He ran up to the cleric and started poking his wooden forearm.
“There was a…an accident,” said Merle, thinking back to the day in Lucas’ lab, the shards of pink tourmaline piercing through his flesh, the thunk of Magnus’ axe. He suppressed a shudder. “But hey, I got a pretty sweet deal, right? I mean, how many people do you know with a plant for an arm?”
Mavis was wide-eyed, silently staring at the arm, and Merle felt like he’d been punched in the gut by a bugbear. He’d been a terrible father to his kids, running away from home when family life was too difficult, and was still in disbelief that Mookie and Mavis were still willing to meet with him. But now, would that change? Would they think he was a freak? Would they even want to see him again?
“Does it hurt?”
Merle was pulled from his thoughts when Mavis address him. She was looking straight at him, her brow furrowed. “Uh, what?” he said.
Mavis bit her lip. “Does it hurt?”
“No, no. Not anymore, anyway.”
Merle saw the tension leave his daughter’s shoulders. “Pops, you really need to be more careful,” she said, giving him a slight smile.
Merle smiled back. The queasiness had left his stomach “Thanks, honey, I-”
“Whatzit do?” Mookie asked, still prodding the arm.
Merle chuckled. “You wanna see?” Before the kids could respond, the wooden arm popped off at the elbow and scuttled towards Mookie.
Mavis screamed.
The arm began to tickle Mookie, who immediately fell to the ground, flailing and rolling in laughter. “Geddit off, geddit off!” he said, gasping for breath.
Merle recalled the arm. It scurried back over, climbed up his leg, and reattached itself. He flexed the fingers, which creaked at the joints, and looked nervously at his daughter.
She burst into laughter.
Eventually, all three of them were laughing, sitting on the ground as the sun soaked into the cobblestone-paved park. Mavis had tucked her legs to her chest and was giggling into her knees. Mookie was lying on his stomach, banging his fist against the ground. Merle, sitting cross-legged, wiped a tear from his eye.
“Alright you rascals, who wants to go to the sweetshop?” the cleric asked, pulling himself to his feet.
“Me, me!” said Mookie, leaping up with bright eyes.
Together, the three of them made their way out of the garden. When they stepped out of the foliage and onto the dock, Merle felt something wrap around his right hand. He looked down to see Mavis smiling up at him, intertwining her fingers with Merle’s wooden ones.
“Hey, I wanna hold Dad’s tree hand!” Mookie said, pulling Mavis’ hair.
Merle smiled. For the first time since Lucas’ lab, he felt whole.