Chapter Two
"This is Carla."
"Nice to meet you Carla, I know you're hoping for a job here, but you understand that I'll have to watch you make the decision for myself not just go by Eric." Carla nodded. Carla was short and weak in Xena's opinion but she worked hard. Xena decided she could use the extra hand. Once Carla was hired however she seemed to slack off a lot and complain about everything. Worst of all Xena felt she was way too loose in public. What she did in private was her business, but using the barn was not something Xena approved of so she fired her within a month of her arrival.
"I really thought she would be good for this place," Eric said as they led the herds out. Xena shook her head.
"Its fine, I thought she was a hard worker too as well." The girls ran with their sticks. One guard dog almost immediately chased away a wolf.
"Girls come closer there's a wolf." They were all frightened and came closer to her.
"Wolves are persistent aren't they," Eric said. Xena nodded.
"Lost nearly half my sheep last year, but the dogs have gotten more efficient about keeping them away from everyone. Both the women have got a new litter coming soon as you may have noticed."
"I hadn't but I'm learning." Xena nodded.
"Once you see how they normally look you'll be noticing if they get pregnant again."
"You never told me if you control their breeding the sheep and goats I mean."
"The goats well the flock is not that large maybe say twenty in all right, but most our female because they're easier to handle. I usually either kill the males use them for meat or sell them. Usually I sell them and the fattest one I kill. But I keep two for procreation. Once the doe is pregnant I sell them."
"Is it the same with the sheep?"
"I have three Rams in all the rest are female. They only go through so many so between the wolves who become more cunning in winter months, the market, and our consumption during the winter months new lambs are welcome." The new dogs she got for herding were very good at keeping the animals from wandering too far away the group. Goats were more spread out than sheep tended to be so the wolves found them easier to pick on. One even tried to get Aurelia, but Xena used her staff to get rid of it.
"Lexie don't stroke the fire you're still too young let Chastity do it." Lexie complained but a look from Xena silenced her and she let Chastity do it. Aurelia continued to help Xena knead the dough for the top of the pie. She loved to bake and cook. She also liked to help Xena sew and spin the wool.
"I brought you some pie since you didn't stay for dessert," Xena told Eric. She liked him. He was so kind, sweet, and charming.
"Thanks, you didn't have to bring it out here." Xena shrugged.
"I figured the three feet from my house was worth it."
"Would you like to come in?" He asked. Xena nodded. After that they had dessert together every night after the girls had gone to bed.
"Marry me Xena," Eric whispered to her at night when they lay together after making love. They had given his cottage to another man who was a lot of help and he had moved in with her. The girls called him Daddy and loved him dearly. Xena looked at him in surprise she hadn't expected him to ask her that, they had only been together half a year and she had known him for two months before that.
"Sure why not my life is almost perfect." They were married in a small private ceremony and Gabrielle was invited but there was no reply though the messenger assured her the tribe was still there and Queen Gabrielle was alive and well.
"Perhaps you should take a trip to visit her," Cyrene suggested.
"Yes, maybe." Cyrene stayed for Solstice and returned the next year to see her grandson.
"It has been a year and you two still haven't thought of name?" Cyrene asked.
"I don't know nothing seems good enough," Eric commented.
"Soon we'll find the right name. I'm glad we expanded the cottage though, we needed the room." Eric soon went to go help the other man, named Tysus.
"Xena what's wrong?" Cyrene asked. "You seem like you're not happy."
"Because I'm not."
"Why?" Cyrene asked shocked.
"For starters I stay in the house all the time and I mean all the time. I don't even take Argo out for a run now he does that. I don't go into town, I only go outside to bath, water, and milk the goats for cheese or the cow for milk. I loved him more when we weren't married and he wasn't living in here. I understood before when I was pregnant, he didn't want me to help out in the fields, but now things are just getting ridiculous."
"Have you talked to him about it?"
"Of course mother, and the only thing we've managed to do is have sex. Which is the only great thing aside from my daughters' happy smiles."
"Nothing good?" Cyrene asked. Xena shook her head.
"Sex is not enough and I was stupid enough to marry him before I took a really good look at my so called love for him." Thunder clashed in the distance, but they all knew it would not reach them until nightfall at least.
"Well Xena you should just get a divorce or make it work. It's all you can do." Xena nodded. Two days later they decided on naming their son, Henry.
"I am not arguing with you about this again; stop treating me like I'm some stupid girl who can't take care of herself!" Eric stomped out in anger and looked almost close to hitting Xena. Xena sighed as she rubbed her head. She hated the fact that he was stressing her out, and it was always ten times worse when she was pregnant. Unfortunately she was pregnant again, but that was not going to stop her from ending it. She had had enough of Eric and his backwards ways.
"I'm sorry you guys have to listen to this," Xena told her children taking her second son Edward, who was only a year old from Chastity who was now Nine years old.
"Its okay mommy, Eric is destroying everything fun about you." They had stopped calling him Daddy some time after Edward was born.
"I know Chastity we're going to get rid of him." She nodded as thunder boomed over head. "Come sit down to dinner everyone, here Lexie take Edward. Lexei was seven years old and beautiful as ever. "Chastity help me make sure the windows are locked.
"Is Eric coming back in?" Selene asked.
"Not tonight, he'll probably stay out there with Tysus again." Selene nodded. Xena collected a lot of wood to add to the fire later and keep dry tomorrow so she could cook. As the rain started to pound the cottage Xena and Chastity locked all the doors and windows and the wind began to howl in anger.
"What's this?" Aurelia asked.
"Hot chocolate, I got some chocolate in town today." Aurelia smiled as she took a sip, but quickly frowned when she felt the sting.
"Next time, don't drink it so quickly let it cool down first." Aurelia nodded. Xena had smart made Henry, Edward, and Aurelia's first, but Aurelia's was still too hot for her.
"Do we get some?" Selene asked coming over to sit on the large bearskin rug followed by Lexie and Chastity.
"Yes, here you go be careful it's hot." She handed Lexie and Chastity their own cups.
"Where are the boys?"
"They wanted their toy horses." Xena stood up careful to move their cups in a safe place as well as her own before she took the rest off of the fire to cool in the living room of the cottage. She went upstairs and retrieved both her sons. They were all too happy to drink hot chocolate. Xena of course told them a tale written by none other than Gabrielle before they read Homer's Great work of art about Odysseus. Since it was so long the girls took turns. They were very good at reading now since she had no longer neglected their education. They were all very smart and fast learners, she didn't spend time locking them away in a room or school house to learn. She actually taught them things and they were very knowledgeable and were learning to look at every opportunity as one of learning.
"Will you show us how to make it next time?" Xena nodded.
"Oh how could I forget the secret ingredient?" She stood up and went into the kitchen. "Let me see your cups." She put chili powder in their hot chocolate, confused they all sipped. Delight and astonishment filled their bright round faces. Xena smiled as well. "I love you all."
"I love you too mommy," They said. The girls had found they were much happier when Eric wasn't around once he had married Xena. In their opinion and hers he had changed. After they finished they went to bed and when they awoke it was raining so hard that there was no way Eric would brave it back to the house. There was hardly any light almost like it was just before the sun even began to peak over the horizon. After three days they began to run out of wood so Xena put on her cloak and braved the rain. She carried in wood which Chastity, Lexie, and Selene took at the door to be placed by the fire. She was soaked in no time, but at least now they had wood drying inside of the house.
"Mama, we're going to run out of food," Chastity said as Xena rung her cloak out.
"No we're not, get Eric's cloak I'm going to go collect some vegetables." Chastity got Eric's cloak and her own.
"Okay I'm ready," Chastity told her.
"Oh no you're not coming out in this weather, I don't need you getting sick on me."
"Mommy it'll go a lot faster with two of us."
"No and I mean it young lady now go get the basket." Chastity sighed and went to get the basket. Xena wearing Eric's cloak headed for the garden She collected every vegetable that had not been ruined in the rain even digging up the potatoes. It was hard work, but she finished She gave everything to chastity before she went into the pens and broke a couple of chickens and ducks neck and slaughtered a pig and two fat sheep. At least they would have meat.
"Eggs," Chastity reminded her.
"I think you guys can live without eggs." Chastity let her in. After she wrung out and hung Eric's cloak to dry she changed into tunic and trousers. She stored all of the meat and vegetables. The rain continued for two weeks and Xena knew that her animals were probably dead. Eric and Tysus must be starving. Her and the children were in perfectly good health when it came to nutrition, but they were pale from the lack of sun and nearly out of wood completely so soon she knew they would be cold.
"Has it every rained like this before Mama?" Chastity asked after another week had passed and they had run out of wood until the rains stopped. They were all lying in bed under the skins with their boots on and their winter clothing.
"No, never, its weird I can't imagine what's going on." She had tried calling Ares, but he had not answered her at all. It was as if he couldn't hear her. "I'm betting it'll stop in a few days." She rubbed Edward's hands. He was the youngest and most vulnerable of all her children. He was already getting a nasty little cough that worried her.
"Mommy do you think it will stop before the baby gets here?" Chastity asked worried.
"Yes most likely, your brother or sister is stubborn and this rain is likely to stop in another week and than your brother or sister will come. A week passed and it continued.
"Okay maybe not, but we'll make it through this," Xena told her. Chastity nodded. That night Xena felt the beginning pains of labor. Chastity by now could recognize from her mother's body language when she was in labor or at least starting.
"Mommy, you should lay down," Chastity told her once she had fixed their meal. Xena herself had opted not to eat at all, she was not hungry.
"No, I'm fine." They had used most of the chairs for fire wood, but when it became clear that the baby was likely to be born while it was still raining they saved the rest for when it came so that in the first couple of days it might enjoy warmth.
"Are you sure Mama?" Xena nodded. They were just finishing up dinner when Xena touched water coming in through the back door and her front door.
"All right Selene you get Aurelia and the boys upstairs now. Chastity, Lexie help me get the furniture to use in the upstairs fireplace later on. Downstairs is going to be flooded and we don't want our only wood wet. They nodded and she used her sword to chop it all up. They also carried upstairs turning a closet into a temporary pantry. The bottom half of the cottage quickly flooded.
"Daddy," Henry cried as he looked out the window and saw the earth covered in water. There were animals floating everywhere, they even saw their dogs. One Belgian sheepdog puppy swam towards Chastity when she opened the window.
"Chastity close that window!" Xena exclaimed just as she pulled it inside.
"Mommy look one of the puppies got saved." Xena walked over and closed the window.
"That's great honey," Xena told her.
"Nobody open anymore windows, understood?"
"Yes mommy." Xena knew they were screwed if the water rose anymore. A hand went to her stomach as she had another contraction. She made all the children come into her bedroom. They chopped up all the furniture except her bed frame which could be used as something to float on. Luckily the bed was huge and would hold them all. Even the baby's cradle could float. She easily secured it to the bed.
"Mama what wrong?" Henry asked always near tears it seemed as of the last week.
"Nothing is wrong your new baby brother or sister will be here soon." Xena of course was betting on a boy because that's all she got from Eric, boys.
"Mama look!" Aurelia exclaimed. There was water coming under the bedroom door.
"Shit, Xena breathed. She knew that if push came to shove she could cut their way out through the roof and they could perhaps use the bed to float. They tied a trunk to the end of the bed and stored the rest of their food and filled the skins with rain water even as a little spilled through the windows. They hung clothes on the posts and made sure the skin would cover them adequately before they all got on the bed. Xena lay on their mattresses which they had put on the floor trying to birth her child quickly, but it just was not coming. Only when the water started rushing in did she join them on the bed. She had no idea what to do as she watched the water level rise. Their roof was already leaking horribly. She used her chakram to cut a hole they could escape through and pulled the rest off the skin on top as they closed the curtains. Aurelia sat in the middle along with the boys.
"Mommy what about the baby?" Chastity asked.
"Don't worry I will figure something out." She kissed her hand. In no time they were floating out of the cottage which was now consumed by the waters. The waters churned mercilessly and waves crashed near them for hours. Xena hoped things would be calmer when the baby was less stubborn. She held onto as many of her children as she possibly could as they clung to her as much as they possibly could.
"Close your eyes and think about how we're all going to go to Amphipolis after this and visit Grandma. I want you to think about Grandma's cooking and all the fun things to do there okay," Xena told them. They nodded as they cried. She was crying too. She was in labor and there was a good chance the child wouldn't survive and worst of all she had six other children to worry about who would be left alone in the world. While they had their eyes closed and she was telling them to think of a happier time when it was all over a huge wave came crashing down on them. They didn't even have time to scream as they were all dragged down into the very bottom depths of the waters.