(no subject)

[kent-whitman.livejournal.com]

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next." Gilda Radner

Mayor's residence, after
Mid afternoon

The house is quiet now, thank god. The last several day have gone by almost in a blur with all the people coming to mayor, of all the things that needed to be attended to, arrangements to be made... and add a God of War showing up and bellowing about why no one invited him to the apocalypse, well, it's been no less than a zoo.

Of course, the quiet that has now settled over the house serves as a reminder that it is bereft of a very vital life that once raced down the halls, laughing and causing mischief. One that we laid to rest at dawn this morning in a far corner of the cemetery at the Abbey. One that, if it is to be believed; will be back with us in some form in nine months. After the small service this morning, Wanda came home to get some much needed rest while I went with Tony... Ares. He said he knew the perfect place for us to relocate to. I told him I did not wish to risk moving my pregnant wife to god knows where without some more information. So, he showed me. It made me dizzy, the way he managed to take us from one place to the next in a manner of moments, but then I was able to see...

I think Wanda and I will be very happy there; in that little house on the edge of dunes.

I let myself in, and find Wanda lying down. One hand is on her abdomen, and in the other is clutched a very well loved purple bunny. She looks very lost in thought. I cross the room and sit beside her on the bed. I can tell by her eyes she had ben crying, but my wife manages to give me a smile in spite of the sorrow.

"Can you hear her... them? Is it like before?" I ask as I lay my hand over hers.

Closed

Comments

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

"This is flopsy... I don't think you will remember him, and I suppose I should get you a new one, and one for your sister too..."

I had this poor, ragged bit of fluff all ready to be laid to rest with... what was left behind, but at the last moment I could not bear to part with it. We're not taking much with us when we go, but I felt I needed one thing, one tangible thing, to remember what was and all that could have been.

I hear the door open and I stop my monologue when I hear footsteps come done the hall. Presently Kent walks through the door and joins me.

"Can you hear her... them? Is it like before?"

His hand engulfs mine, and I shake my head in the negative.

"No... not like before. I get the idea in the back of my head of... awareness, but not the voice that was there before. She let go of so much of what made her special to be able to come back. She's human now. As human as her sister, and her father." And I smile up at him. "Her father, you." That last thought, that Kent, the father she always deserved and wanted so much that she pulled him from a dream, is finally her true, biological father is enough to make me giddy. It is one of the thoughts that helps to keep me grounded here in the moment and from slipping into a quiet despair.

[kent-whitman.livejournal.com]

Wanda and I talked over what had happened and what Nu did, of course. And I could feel it when Rose released her power, it felt the same as that day she pinned me to reality. That's how I could tell it was truly our Rose that had returned to Wanda. But it still feels like a dream that goes from good to bad, then back to good again.

"Her father, you."

I have always considered Rose my own, even if it was more like the other way around, but to know this time around we are well and truly bonded by flesh and blood, that I will be called "daddy"...

I think my smile matches my wife's. It is such a silly thing, but I lean over and whisper against her skin. "Hello my beautiful girls. This is your father and I cannot wait to meet both of you." Laugh a little and place a quick kiss on her navel before sitting back up.

"It feels strange, to be both so happy, and yet so sad at the same time." I say quietly, looking at the bunny in Wanda's hand. My mind goes back to this morning, and the young woman that was Rose that we laid to rest. "Are you sure you want to leave? It feels like we are running away." We are already gathering things together to leave, but we need to be sure.

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

Can't help but giggle as his lips tickle my stomach.

"It feels strange, to be both so happy, and yet so sad at the same time."

I sigh and sit up, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "I know, love. How many people have had to mourn the same child they are expecting?" Shake my head, for if I dwell too much on it, I might go mad.

"Are you sure you want to leave? It feels like we are running away."

"We are running away." I say quite decisively, then sit back. "We have friends here, true. And it's comfortable, and we've built a life... but then there will be another little girl. Another Rose, who won't remember being Rose. And then people will say how much she resembles her sister who died." The Rose that we buried today, who's only marker will be a lavender rosebush. Push the hair from my face, and tie it into a quick ponytail. "And then, what if she starts asking questions, or starts remembering?" Shake my head.

"She is starting over. She won't remember, and as much as it hurts us, it's for the best that she never remembers." In my head, it's there. Those last few minutes of fear and pain. I saw the entirety of what her life was before she released her powers. The hammering and slowing of her hear will echo through my head for the rest of my life. "It's better that she never knows, and if we remain here..." Shake my head. "No, she is starting over. And so shall we. Together. All four of us."

[kent-whitman.livejournal.com]

I chuckle a little at Wanda's admission that we are indeed running away. But of all the reasons to just pack up and leave, the one she gives is the one that rings true. I cannot fault her logic.

"No, she is starting over. And so shall we. Together. All four of us."

Gather my wife into my arms and hold her close to me. "Wherever you and our children are, that's where my home is." I tilt her face up to mine and kiss her very softly.

"Oh... speaking of home..." I murmur against her lips and smile. "Tony took me out to the town he's talking about today..."

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

If he keeps kissing me like that, I might not be moved to do much today. Oh, I am not in a mood to be in any way intimate, but I think it might be quite fine to lay here, curled into his arms for the rest of the afternoon. I don't think we've done that in weeks...

"Oh, speaking of home... "

"You went today? Really? Is it nice? Does it have electricity?" My mood switches from one of quiet contentment to growing excitement. I was so relieved that he consented to help us relocate safely, but I think he would have agreed to do anything for me once he stopped yelling long enough for me to sob out what had happened. I noticed that a tiny wooden sword was missing from Rose's room yesterday. The one he gave her soon after I brought him back from the grey realms. I believe if I were to go look through Tony's things, I would find it. He loved that little girl almost as much as we did.

Kent is grinning and I realize I am bouncing up and down just a little. "Well, come on, details!"

[kent-whitman.livejournal.com]

Ah, finally. Something brings the spark of life back to her eyes. "I could give you details... but I think I would like you to be surprised." Her face is a perfect picture of shock and indignation, and then I am attacked. I am not ticklish in the slightest, but she tries to tickle the information out of me. I merely get my arms about her and hold her while she tries to wriggle away. And I may be using her own tactic against her, for now she is shrieking and laughing...

And then it hits me; it will be okay. We will be okay. I have no idea how I am able to feel this, especially after this morning, but I know, without a single doubt, we will be alright. Her and I and our children.

"Alright, alright! Truce!" I cry as I stop tickling her, and her thrashing abates. "I do want you to be surprised, but I will tell you a few things. Yes, it has electricity. Yes, it's a port town on the shore. As is our new house." Watch her face light up at that, for she always spoke so wistfully of the ocean. "There is commerce, shoppes, a café, and Tony has a business already lined up for you to run. Would you like to know what it is?" Her eyebrow arches up at that in a dubious type fashion.

"Let me guess, a strip club?" She smirks, and I laugh. There is one, and he suggested it, but I won't tell her that. "No, actually it's...." I whisper it into her ear. Her intake of breath and her wide eyes are confirmation enough that she is beyond pleased. "I assume it meets your approval?" I ask, knowing it does.

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

I can't breathe, I am laughing and gasping so much! I always forget that Kent is not ticklish, and now it comes back to bite me. But before long he stops his cruel counter-attack and I manage to calm down and he imparts some more information about the place we will be calling home soon. Seaside and electricity and a job already lined up... wait. Tony lined it up?

"Let me guess, a strip club."

"No, actually it's..." Kent's voice is a seductive whisper against my ear, and I can hardly believe what he's telling me. I pull away and look at him in disbelief. "Are you sure? Did you actually see it?" Kent smiles and nods. "Oh my god..."

"You called?" Comes a drawl from the doorway. Ares is leaning there, looking at us slightly amused. "Did I do good, Red?" I kiss Kent's cheek, then rise and cross the room to hug my friend. "You did good, Cowboy." I whisper against his shoulder as he pulls me into a bear hug. "Should've done more for you and..." His voice catches, and I just hug him tighter. "You're doing it now, and it's appreciated. For everything you are doing, you have our gratitude. And she'll be back soon enough. We'll have her and her sister here soon enough for you to train up." And for a moment, he hugs me just as hard as I am hugging him.

Ares' clears his throat and steps away. Sentiment is not for he and I. "Oh, and I have the other thing you asked for. Quite a lot of it, actually." And that manages to get a shit eating grin out of him. "You sure you want to do this?" He looks from me to Kent, then back to me. I hear Kent rise, and then he is behind me, his hands on my shoulders.

"Oh yes. More than just about anything else." I breathe, and a grim smile hovers at my lips. "I have wanted to do this for years, and so have you. It's long overdue. I'll check it out tonight, and then tomorrow.. "

Kent squeezes my shoulders, and I look up to see him nodding, as determined as I. Look back to Tony... no, Ares if that smile is any indication.

"Then tomorrow we kick the tires and light the fires!" He drawls lazily then laughs.

"Tomorrow, Excolo begins anew."

And so do we.