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The moment Norman stepped through the doors of the mansion he realized that it was very possible that something had happened, it was just like a feeling he had even if nothing indicated it.
He had only taken a few steps inside his home when he heard Bernard's footsteps approaching in his direction. In less than a minute Bernard was positioned in front of Norman as relief was evident on his face.
"What happened?" asked Osborn.
Just like that Bernard began to tell him about the event that had happened the night before, leaving nothing out.
As Norman started on his way to his son's room, he just kept processing the information he had just received from his butler. First of all, the fact that Harry somehow knew about what happened could mean that somehow his mutant gene could help him in some kind of vision.
Although it could also be that he just had a strong intuition, and it had nothing to do with powers or similar, but he was a bit skeptical about this option.
The second and something that he expected but didn't want to happen was the fact that Harry called MJ as his mother, of course this was a natural course despite Harry's maturity he was still a child and MJ became the mother figure he needed. Still, the truth was that he didn't know how to approach that issue.
Norman shook his head before entering Harry's room, the sight of a red-haired woman sitting on a couch next to his son's bed was the first thing he saw the moment he walked through the door.
It was only a second after Norman opened the door that MJ brought her gaze in his direction, she hadn't expected to see Norman, but she was certainly relieved and happy that this was the case.
However, she found Osborn's appearance a bit odd, he seemed taller than she remembered plus his muscles seemed much more pronounced, usually due to his clothing it was rare for his muscles to be so defined through the cloth, but this time they were clearly noticeable.
She had always considered Norman to be attractive, and now she had to admit that he had become much more attractive than he already was. Her gaze traveled up and down over Osborn's body for a few seconds until she realized what she was doing and quickly withdrew her gaze.
Norman raised an eyebrow at the intense look MJ was giving him, but considering the change in his body he didn't find anything wrong with it, rather it was only a natural thing, in fact Bernard not asking him about it made him wonder if it was because he knew that he wouldn't answer his question or because he hadn't noticed the change. Although he was almost certain it was the first scenario.
With relatively silent steps he approached towards the two people in the room. His gaze passed over an embarrassed and somewhat shy MJ before directing it towards Harry who was sleeping.
Osborn leaned down a bit to be at Harry's level before bringing his right hand up to his son's hair and beginning to slowly stroke it.
"Thank you for being with him" Norman mentioned with sincerity and gratitude to Mary Jane.
MJ took a while to come out of her confused and contradictory state, "I already said that you shouldn't thank me, I don't think it's necessary" she replied calmly.
Before either of them could say anything, a small whimper from Harry made them both turn their attention to the boy who didn't take too long to open his eyes, the first thing he looked at was his dad, "Dad" he called excitedly, but his voice was a little hoarse maybe because of all the screaming he had done last night.
"Hello, little one" Norman greeted with a smile, "As much as I would like to have a conversation with you, it would be best if you got some more sleep" he mentioned to him seriously.
"You didn't sleep well last night, and you need to get some additional rest" he continued, however, the little boy shook his head quickly, showing his refusal to such a request.
MJ who had stayed on the sidelines of the father and son conversation decided to help Norman a little, "Your father is right Harry, you need to rest a little more to be fully recovered" unlike Norman's serious tone MJ's voice was soft and affectionate.
Norman didn't take long to take advantage of Harry showing a little hesitation in his decision due to MJ's words, "Alright how about once you're fully rested then I'll spend the rest of the day with you?" he asked.
The little Osborn seemed to think about it for a few seconds, "Mom too?" he asked as he looked at Mary Jane.
Both adults were speechless and unsure how to react to Harry's question at least for the first few seconds, as Norman was about to speak and correct Harry's manner of address towards MJ, the redhead's voice was heard.
"Of course, I'll be there too" she commented ignoring as best she could the look of disbelief Norman was giving her.
With those words Harry seemed to be pleased and just nodded his head, a few seconds later he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
…
A somewhat awkward silence like the one between them before they became closer was the one in which both MJ and Norman found themselves enveloped. Both were lost in their respective thoughts.
"Mr. Osborn" called MJ which got Norman's attention, "Harry is in a somewhat complicated emotional state, so it is because of that fact that he called me that way" she commented.
"I know" replied Norman, "I know Harry may have been in a complicated emotional state last night however regardless of that fact I don't consider it right that he addressed you in such a manner" he explained.
"Furthermore I also understand the fact that you want to make Harry feel comfortable after the events of last night, but I don't think this is the way to do it as it could give him a false illusion that would only end up hurting him even more in the future" he continued his tone of voice, although soft it had some serious features making it apparent that he was a little dismayed by the situation.
MJ just remained silent at Norman's words, she understood what the man was saying, after all she was Harry's nanny despite all the affection she might have there would be a time when she would not be able to continue with her job.
Add to that the fact that she only had a friendly relationship with Norman, and it was really understandable that if she adopted the role of a mother then in the future when she abandoned that role she would end up hurting Harry.
Small knocks sounded on the door of the room they were in only to a few seconds later Bernard opened it as he brought in a trolley with desserts and cups of tea as well as a teapot.
"Sir it is time for morning tea" he mentioned calmly and naturally ignoring the somewhat tense atmosphere that had formed in the room.
Masterfully he began to pour the tea and chatted naturally with the other two people, making them forget for a moment the little argument they had a few moments before.
Time passed quickly and as they had both promised they ended up spending the whole afternoon with Harry who seemed to be happy about that fact and looking much better than before.
The issue that Norman and MJ had started to discuss was not brought up again as a silent agreement between the two of them, to their luck it seemed that Harry was back to normal as well, so things were simpler.
In that way the night fell again and MJ had to say goodbye to the Osborn family to return home, of course promising Harry to come back tomorrow and then say goodbye to Norman and get into one of the many cars in Osborn's name that would be in charge of taking her home.
…
Norman was in his office, sitting in his seat and resting a bit, a gray knife was in his hand, with little force he would throw it towards any place in the room only for seconds later the same knife would reappear in his hand.
For the moment he had managed to unlock his two wishes, so now it would be best to bring them towards the maximum state he could, though he doubted Val Armorr's knowledge had any more uses. But the simple fact that it was possible to be trained by the best martial artist in DC was something much better than he had first thought.
Bernard's footsteps reached his ears and a few seconds later small knocks were heard on the door before it opened, the butler of the mansion just watched him.
"I know what you want to say, but I haven't come up with an answer" commented Norman as he opened his eyes.
"Well it's not like you haven't already foreseen this scenario it's just that you ignore it until this moment" commented Bernard leaving no way for Norman to defend himself from his argument.
"If that's what you want to say then you can keep it to yourself" Osborn told him.
"You should already know what I think of the situation, so I will refrain from saying it" explained Bernard calmly.
"Bernard, first, I see it unlikely that I could establish a relationship beyond friendship with Miss Watson plus it wouldn't be fair to her either, despite the affection she has for Harry being a nanny is not the same as being a mother" Norman made it clear.
"I know Mr. Osborn, but regardless I don't think my opinion is wrong" he began, "Usually those involved tend not to notice things, but one as an observer does, both of you have a great fondness for Harry at the same time you are completely comfortable with each other's presence" he mentioned, but paused debating whether he should continue with his words.
"I am completely sure that you both would make a wonderful couple, and I am not only saying this for Harry's well-being I am also saying it for yours" he finished by saying, however, he knew that at this point he was pushing his boundaries, so he decided that the best thing to do was to retreat.
"As I have told countless times I just hope you can give yourself a chance to love again" were the last words he said before leaving the room.
…
Norman was about to fall asleep, it was probably the only way to get back to the room or place where Val was, since he tried other ways and none of them worked.
A few seconds after he closed his eyes he was transported to the same blank space, this time as soon as he entered he had to dodge several punches aimed at his weak points.
As best, he could, he dodged them and tried to counterattack when he could, however, in a matter of seconds he realized that if he continued that way then his body would not be able to keep up with all the damage being inflicted on him.
When he saw an opportunity he attacked quickly even if he knew it was a trap he had no other way to attack, however, before he could even connect his punch against his opponent he felt two strikes directed towards his legs before a fist slammed into his chest with force.
The force of the punch was such that it sent him back several meters without being able to properly control his body.
"You did better than the first time" was what Norman heard once he managed to stabilize his body.
"I could only connect five hits, I think that's not something to be proud of" commented Norman as he removed some of the blood that dripped from his mouth, it was likely that his body was healing itself, but inside this space he only had his normal condition, without any kind of power or ability.
"Then you should just manage to land more hits" he mentioned to him simply, "Now that you got yourself composed let's go again" he added with a somewhat mischievous grin that Norman didn't remember Val ever doing.
'This must be what Felicia feels in our training sessions' thought Osborn before getting into a fighting posture and calming himself down. At this point Norman knew it would be a long night before he could wake up.
