Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Well, it's long over due then." Julia said with a smile as Ciaran put the twins in their crib before he knelt and pressed his head against her lap.

As she had done when he was small, she ran her fingers through his dark hair, soothing him as he relaxed in the moment.

 

[KieranSoares]

Ciaran was silent for a long moment, letting his thoughts fall silent until he asked quietly, "Ma...? ... Do you think I'll ever find anyone to be with again...? It was so hard with Lir... I can't imagine doing it again..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia looked down at her son and felt her heart break for him. It had taken so much courage to tell them that he loved another man and didn't want to rule Inverness. Now, he was facing the prospect of doing that all over again.

"My heart, you don't have to think about that right now." She said softly, her fingers still moving through his hair as she soothed him. "One day you'll find someone new who makes you feel the way that you did with Lir. But you're never going to forget him. It'll get easier with time to think about him and I hope that you find someone who helps you honor his memory."

She brought his gaze up to hers as she spoke. "Your Da spent so much time grieving after Annie's mother passed that he nearly forgot who he was. When we married, he couldn't love. It took a long time to remind him what he had missed all those years."

 

[KieranSoares]

"How did you get through that... if he didn't love you at first...?" Ciaran lifted his head to meet her eyes worriedly. Still, the only one who knew about her affair with Ciaran's namesake was Brogan and he'd never told a soul. Sarah's assumption of it so many years before had been a lucky guess and she'd never known she was actually right.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia looked into her son's eyes, her fingers brushing his hair away from his face as he searched for answers for such a difficult topic.

"It's a difficult subject, love." She said softly. "I did something that I'm not proud of."

She didn't really have to say much more. Her son was a bright man and she knew that he would figure it out.

"Your Uncle Cole had a brother who was the most lovely man I had ever met. He smiled and was cheerful and always had a kind word. When your young and lonely, that can mean the world to you. And your Da, well, I cared for him but we had our differences."

Julia let out a little sigh, giving Ciaran a bittersweet smile. "We lost him in battle and your Da found it in his heart to forgive me and we started our lives from that point on a idea of understanding and love. And then you came along...my beautiful dark haired baby boy. You were the missing piece to your Da and I. But we never forgot Ciaran. We both still think about him often. I think about him every single time that I see you, my heart."

 

[KieranSoares]

Ciaran gazed up at his mother not with contempt as many might, but a sort of understanding of a young man who put the greatest stock in love and trust and nothing else. "... Did you love him, Ma? And... did he love you?" He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He began to understand that Brogan might not be the only one in his family who understood the loss of a dear love.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I did love Ciaran very much." She said softly, squeezing his hand back as he asked her about a painful chapter of her life. "And he loved me in return."

"Love, you have to understand that Chester was a much different place to grow up in then Inverness was. You had all the love that you could want here. I never had that with my brother or my mother and father."

The children didn't know their grandparents from Chester. Only once had her brother visited when he wed a woman from northern Scotland. He had been just as cold and uncaring then as he was when she married Brogan.

"It was all I wanted in the world. He gave me that when no one else would." She reached up and gently touched her son's cheek. "And I love your Da with all of my heart and soul. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Ma. I might not understand it all, but I do understand that you loved them both." Ciaran wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly before he rose and gave her a soft smile. "I'm going to go check on Sam and Rho, make sure they're not getting up to too much trouble. Maybe Kate and Kell too."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alright, love." She said softly as she gave him a smile before he left. "Oh, and Ciaran?"

She waited until he turned back towards her before she started talking again.

"If someone else does cross your path that steals your heart...never be afraid to love them. Our time on this earth is too short for fear."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not afraid to love, Ma... I'm afraid of what other people will do about it," Ciaran admitted softly before disappearing out of the room He was lucky thus far that no one had come to hurt him for being with a man, but he had lost a few friends because of it.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia smiled as her son retreated. He was a gentle soul who would find someone meant just for him again some day. She spent that day with her girls, a little help from family that drifted in and out, but it was mostly her time to bond with her twins.

She dozed in the rocking chair with both of them snuggled against her shoulders. A peaceful look was on all their faces as Julia felt a hand touch her cheek gently. She opened her eyes and stared into her husband's loving gaze for a moment before she let out a soft sigh.

"Did I miss dinner?" She asked softly, neither girl stirring in their slumber.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Nah, I was jus' comin' t'get ya for it." Brogan told her quietly, carefully drawing Heather into his arms. She shifted but made no sound. "Jus' got back from fishin' with Ciaran. We really needed tha'. 'E said it was your idea."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I might have suggested it." Julia said with a smile as he took Heather against his shoulder, the little girl curling up against his shoulder with a sigh.

"I told him about Ciaran." She said softly, know that Brogan might have a mixed reaction to that news.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hm," was Brogan's only answer to her admission for a long moment as he looked down at his girls while silently considering the memory of the afternoon he'd found Ciaran and Julia hidden away on the verge of making love. He remembered that pain well, even if he'd long since forgiven his wife. But he'd also felt a terrible guilt for a long time, that his callousness and quick temper had driven her to seek the real love and affection she desired from another man.

Brogan sat down on the edge of their bed with a sigh, "Well... if y'felt 'e deserved t'know... it's only your story t'tell." He'd never mentioned a word of it, not even to Ciaran's widow, their cook Chessie.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia knew that it was hard for him to think about, but their son had wanted the truth and she trusted him with it. Carefully, Julia stood from the rocking chair, Ashelin cradled against her shoulder as she moved towards Brogan. Pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, she touched his cheek and looked into his dark gaze.

"I love you, Brogan." She said simply.

Any time that doubt or fear took hold of them, that's all she needed to say to him. They both knew how very true those words were.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan's eyes met her own, and she saw not even an inkling of doubt about her words. He wrapped his free arm around her and whispered, "I ain' ever doubted tha', Julia." And with that, he kissed her again and let it last until he pressed his forehead to hers and took in a breath. His eyes were closed- since being blind, he'd learned to appreciate his other senses much more- and he murmured, "Even back then... I didn' doubt you. I jus' knew I 'adn't shown you enough love o' my own... Even now, I'm still almos' glad Ciaran did... y'deserve t'be loved, always 'ave..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And you deserve to be loved too. Even when you were too stubborn to know it." She murmured as she sat down in her husband's lap, her head finding a spot on his free shoulder as she held Ashelin tighter.

"When the crops are in, we are going to Inverlochly. No choices this time, love." Julia said, looking up into his dark gaze. "You're going to marry me again on the banks of the loch with our children around us."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Damn right, I am..." Brogan put up absolutely no resistance. He'd been waiting nearly two decades to make good on that promise, and if there was any promise he'd never break, it was the pledge to marry his wide again for love.


At about the same time, Kate, who was on her way to dinner with Kell, caught sight of her Uncle Ashien in the Keep. He'd finally arrived. He saw her and smiled gladly, coming to hug her tightly. "Hello, my little darling," he chuckled as he held her. Ashien had always had a particularly soft spot for Kate because she was so different. She reminded him of himself in that regard, considering he and his twin stood out in the Ghis family or having moved away from Scotland, and to England no less.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate grinned widely as she hugged her Uncle Ashien tightly. "Did Aunt Dylan come with you?" She asked him, her eyes bright at the thought of seeing them both. "It's been ages since I've seen you both."

 

[KieranSoares]

"She did, in fact, she's currently tending to your gift. I trust your father mentioned that I was bringing something for you. I don't think he expected us to actually come and deliver it, though. Come, I'll show you. Oh, and we brought Ballas." He knew his niece had always loved the huge tiger, and Ballas had always loved her. He would let her try to wrestle him when she was small, and he would gladly be her pillow at night or when she was reading. Since she was very small, Ballas had made her one of his most favorite people. It had certainly given Julia a scare the first morning she came to see her three-year old asleep in bed with a massive white tiger wrapped around her, while her father only laughed and earned a smack from his wife.

Kell quietly remained by Kate's side. He still wasn't the most comfortable with anyone beyond herself, her parents, and her siblings, especially considering her Uncles Durban and Boar didn't like or trust him thanks to their own stubborn insistence that, even if he wasn't the Kell who killed Cassie, he'd still been an assassin.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate dutifully followed her uncle towards the room where he was staying. She could hear lively chatter beyond the door and knew that her cousins had come as well. Her strong Uncle had been blessed with three charming girls in his life. Her cousins were completely unlike her, even if she loved them with all her heart. They were interested in dresses and other girly things...things that Kate never thought about.

When Ashien opened the door, Kate was greeted by the tiger she'd always loved. She knelt and wrapped her arms around Ballas's thick neck, burying her nose against his fur.

"We've been having to hold him back, Kate." Dylan answered, looking at her husband with a smile as their three daughters converged around their father.

 

[KieranSoares]

Ashien smiled to see his three daughters, but he wondered where his son was. Kate didn't know the young man well, only that Ashien had adopted him and he didn't seem to fit it with the rest of the Ghis. His name was Burke, but that was just about all the rest of the family knew about him.

"You remember a few years ago when we took that trip to Mongolia with Durban and Marri and their family?" Ashien asked Kate with a smile. "Well, when we went, we brought back another tiger with us, and she and Ballas had cubs. Now as much a handful as a litter of three cubs is at the estate, we decided that we'd give you the only white cub of the bunch." With that, he looked to Ballas. "Go get him."

Ballas turned from Kate to the cart the family had brought with them, climbing up into the back to retrieve something that squeaked at him. When Ballas returned, he set down a little cub with big paws that tripped all over himself.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate's eyes went wide as she saw the tiger cub. She looked at Kell for a moment before she looked back at her Uncle and Aunt. She was in disbelief that they had brought her a tiger for her very own.

"Really? You mean it?" Kate asked as she scooped the tiger up in her arms and held it to her chest, grinning from ear to ear as she butted heads with Ballas as the tiger was want to do to show affection.

"He's all yours, Kate." Dylan insisted as Ballas's mate lifted her head from the back of the cart before lowering it back down. "Asha has been nursing them the entire way. I think it'll do her some good to be free of one of them."

"Daddy already told us that we could have the other two." Little Gracie said as Ashien scooped her into his arms.

Grace was the youngest, a little over six years old. Amelia was the middle and around the same age as Rho and Sam. Ashleigh, the oldest and spitting image of her mother, was the oldest, just turning thirteen and about ready to start her service to the Princess Elizabeth at court.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your mother wasn't too happy when I suggested it, but she gave in, knowing how much you love Ballas." He smiled at the cub, "We call him Khan, after the name of the leaders of Mongolia." The cub's ears perked at the name, even as he absently suckled on Kate's fingers. He was already fairly well-trained as Ashien hadn't wanted to give her a wild tiger that could cause trouble, but he was young and would still be a challenge.

"We've got him to understand a few basic commands, but he's bright cub, he'll learn quickly."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Thank you all so much. This really means the world to me." Kate said, cradling the cub close as she looked over her shoulder at Kell.

"Aunt Dylandra. Uncle Ashien. I want you both to meet Kell." She said, taking his hand and pulling him to her side so they all could see him. "Kell, this is my aunt and uncle. And my cousins Gracie, Ashliegh, and Amelia. I don't know where Burke is, but I'm sure you'll meet him too."

Ballas nudged her thigh then and she looked down at the tiger with a grin. "And Ballas, of course."