Of the Fells

[KieranSoares]

"They're alright. Besides, I'd rather stick with you fer now, love, if tha's okay." The night before had been horrific wondering if Alex would ever stop bleeding. But now that Vincenzo had everything under control, Theo was far more relaxed.

 

[heartofcourage]

"That's fine. I just thought that you would enjoy an hour or two away." Valentina murmured as her brown eyes closed and she enjoyed the warmth of the sun. "You're a good father, Theo. Thank you for loving Alex like your own."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Soon as 'e's better an' we get th'chance, he will be my own." Theo pressed a kiss to her lips. "An' you'll be stuck with me fer good."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You're still sure that you want all of that?" Valentina asked him as she opened her eyes when he kissed her lips gently.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You ask me all th'time, love. It's like yer afraid my answer'll change jus' because of a bad day." Theo laid his head against her own. "I know what I need an' what I want. You an' Alex fit th'bill pretty handsomely."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Good, because I don't know if I could envision a life with you around." Valentina murmured as he laid his head against her own. "I need you. I never knew how much I needed someone until you came along and swept me off my feet."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Well, yer family's pretty prone t'findin' their loves. Only right tha' you were next in line." Theo smiled and his arms wrapped easily around her middle. "And I needed someone too... I'm nothin' if not a family man."

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina smiled as Theo wrapped his strong arms around her. Their meal was forgotten as she felt the pull of sleep. She was exhausted and only able to relax now that her son seemed to be healing.

"Well, all that was missing was the family then." She said with a tired tone as she allowed herself to sleep in his embrace.

 

[KieranSoares]

The two ended up sleeping most of the day away until Valentina was woken by a kiss on the cheek from her father. "Cara mia. Sleeping out in the sun again?" He smiled down at her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina woke at the sound of her father's voice. Turning her cheek away from Theo's shoulder, she looked up into her father's still handsome features. She gave him a soft smile as he teased her about sleeping in the sun.

"You're the one who taught me to do it. That olive tree in your yard was the best napping spot, Papa." Valentina murmured softly as she thought back to her summers in Italy.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Even when you were a baby, you preferred that spot." Vincenzo reached out to smooth her hair back with a sigh. "I still wonder why you had to grow up, and why summer was always so short."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Because time doesn't stop for anyone." Valentina said as she sat up and stretched, glancing down at Theo as he continued to sleep like a rock. "He's worried about Alex. More worried then he wants to admit to me."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not surprised, considering all he's been through." Vincenzo took her hand. "Come walk with me, amore. It's been a while since we talked, just the two of us."

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina nodded, leaving Theo to slumber as she took a walk with her father. She wrapped her arm around his waist and let out a sigh, enjoying the moment with just the both of them. Those times were rare lately, but she still enjoyed them and needed her father to offer her advice on many things.

 

[KieranSoares]

Just as when she first began to take walks with him on little stumbling feet with her hand clutching his pant leg, Vincenzo followed her pace and kept an arm about her shoulders. They'd always walked in perfect time and worked so seamlessly together in all they did, it often amazed her siblings and her mother. "Alex has been talking in his sleep about you two," Vincenzo muttered with a smile. "Asking questions about herbs, telling someone he was too busy helping you to play."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He sounds like me. However, Nonna and Uncle Van would never let me work so hard or be so serious that I didn't know how to play." Valentina said as she leaned her head against her father's shoulder. "I need to find a good balance between his sense of duty and the fact that he is still a child."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You might start with having him spend more time with the other children. He doesn't know how to be a child. I was lucky that my patients had children for you to play with. Alex doesn't want to play and that's really a shame. Everyone needs time to play no matter their age."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He can spend more time with his cousins." Valentina said as Vincenzo suggested that Alex play with children his own age more. "Annie and he would get along beautifully. And Ma can help him to become more comfortable with other children."

 

[KieranSoares]

"But at the same time, of course, don't begrudge him some good, hard work. Helping you and Theo seems to make him happy. I think he feels like he's repaying you two."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll have to leave the true spoiling up to you and Ma." Valentina said as she kissed her father's cheek sweetly. "I'm sure that's a role the both of you wont mind."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Have we ever?" Vincenzo smiled down at her. He'd always looked upon Valentina with a good measure of pride, but that gaze seemed even prouder as of late with Valentina excelling in her work and finding a happy place in love and family life.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Not since I'vd been alive." Valentina said as she leaned her head against her father's shoulder. "Warwick always said that you left him instructions on ways to spoil me when I was at home with them. He always went above and beyond."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I did leave instructions, and I think I might've threatened his life once or twice for forgetting to send me a weekly letter," Vincenzo laughed. "It'll be nice to see him again after so long."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He did his best for me." Valentina said softly as her father chuckled. "I want him to have a part in the wedding too. He did raise me, after all."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I wish he could've stuck around, though I know how hard it would be knowing Ciaran and Ashelin are buried in the royal cemetery." Vincenzo had always harbored quite a bit of guilt about the two, believing he might've been able to save them if only he'd come to Scotland sooner. Ashelin had passed just before he arrived for a visit meant partially to come treat her. And Ciaran had died in battle just before he came to stay for good.