Since we are on ice storm number two of the season, I am going to go ahead and wrap this up just in case we lose power again. This is the final chapter, and everything ends well. Notes at the end, illustration up on dA.
To his extreme chagrin, Kalibose had always been an easy crier. He had cried when he got hurt or picked on as a child. He cried when his brother left. He cried at his banishment, and he had cried more than once in front of Mae when the conversation got heavy. But this morning, as he was holding his wiggling, snuffling, so new she barely knew she was in the world daughter, he cried in front of everyone there and did not care to hide it. Mae laughed, not at his tears, but joyously at the mere existence of this tiny pinkish-purple being with folded over ears and little fists and legs curled up to her chest and the most beautiful face on the entire planet. He lifted her up, and Mae took her, and that was when she opened her mouth and showed them that she had a voice.
Kalibose couldn't speak, he couldn't hope to stop his tears. All he could do was sit back on his knees and watch Mae's face as she cooed at the baby, lightly stroking her fingers over her face. The dawn was just breaking outside, and sparse, grey light filtered through the window to light up her face. And Kalibose knew, more intimately than he knew his own name, that this was the most precious, important event to ever happen in the history of time. Mae, holding their daughter, both crying and laughing at the same time. Around him the other women in the family, his sister, his sister-in-law, his niece, all spoke in excited hushed voices, and as a group came up to admire his little family.
His little family.
There might be demons outside, fire might rain from the heavens, the very ground could heave up terrors never seen before, and nothing would pull his attention away. His focus was only on Mae, her radiant face and her wet cheeks and her arms protectively around their child as Brekke leaned over and put two fingers on the baby's forehead, just briefly. She smiled and hugged Mae with one arm, and fresh tears spilled out of his eyes again. It didn't matter. There was perfection in his life right here in front of him, and whether he was emotional about it or not made no difference.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and slowly, as if he were emerging from water, he came out of his reverie.
"Congratulations, Brother." His brother pulled him into a hug, and Kalibose was so surprised he didn't try to flinch away. He thanked him, or at least he thought he did, even though all the words that came out of his mouth were choked with tears. Elforen laughed, not unkindly, and let him be. More people came up to him, and finally, Kalibose started to feel self-conscious of his emotions. He scrubbed at his face half-heartedly just as his sister threw himself at him.
"Oh Kalibose, she is the most precious baby ever (besides mine of course) and I'm just so proud of you, you gigantic twerp of a brother!"
She was crying on him, and he awkwardly patted her on the back as he tried to shove her off of him. "Thanks, brat. I think."
To his immense consternation she pulled him down and kissed him soundly on the cheek before letting him go. He stumbled back from her, and wiping at his face, forgot about her. Forgot about all of them, because Mae was reaching her hand out for him. He took it as he knelt down beside her, and she leaned over so that she could tuck her head against his shoulder.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You alright?"
He nodded. Bringing his other hand up hesitantly, he cupped it around the baby's head. His daughter. He tried to sniff back his tears, then gave up. No point in even trying this morning.
"You did it," he whispered.
She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. "We did it."
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, as if to ask permission. He nodded, and she sat up to speak to the crowd in the small room.
"Her name is Amaryssa."
It was incredible, really, Kalibose thought to himself as he shifted minutely on the couch and tried to stifle a yawn, how much sleep-deprivation one could muscle their way through if the situation was important enough. Mae had woken him up abruptly only about an hour after he had gone to sleep. They'd been up all night, and Amaryssa was born at dawn. There had been some time spent afterward on technicalities-doing laundry, getting everyone involved cleaned up and redressed and trying to figure out just how a cloth diaper worked anyway. And of course trying to coax a very wide-eyed and uninterested newborn to have her first meal. By the time that was done, Zara had coerced her daughters to help her in the kitchen and the smell of homemade muffins was drifting through the entire house. And so the night turned seamlessly into Winter Veil morning, and everyone was in more of a holiday spirit than ever. It was midmorning now, and muffins had been consumed, coffee had been brewed in mass quantities, and to his nephew's delight, the presents had been opened and were now being enjoyed.
Kalibose shifted again, stretching his legs out as far as possible without disturbing the bundle cradled in one arm or Mae snoring against his shoulder. Mae had held out as long as possible, gleefully exclaiming at the baby gifts and never letting Amaryssa out of her sight. She had finally decided to get hungry about an hour ago, and after feeding her, Mae handed her off to him, and curled up against him, asleep in moments. This was the second time he had held the newborn basically unsupervised, and he was determined to just let them both sleep as long as they needed. Mae had worked very hard last night, after all.
Carefully, he smoothed Mae's hair down with the hand that was around her. It had not been combed properly after her rushed bath earlier, and it stuck out around her ears in tufts. There were dark circles under her eyes and the too-big shirt she was wearing was bunched up around her arms and slipping off one shoulder. Without a doubt, she was the most beautiful person in the entirety of Azeroth, followed closely by the baby sleeping quietly in the crook of his arm.
Between the two of them though, he was getting too warm and sleepy himself. Cradling Mae's shoulders, he leaned forward, and got settled a little bit more comfortable. She snorted in a very unlady-like manner, then slid down so that she was laying in his lap, which was a little bit easier to handle. The first thing he did was scratch at the neckline of his new wool sweater. Zarabethe had gotten it for him for Winter Veil, and it was too big and too itchy. He at least was getting to the point where he expected some article of too-big clothing from her, and thanked her politely before pulling it over his head against the chill seeping in from the outside. At least it was warm.
And starting to get uncomfortable. To distract himself, he gazed around the room at the rest of his family. Directly to his left, right under the tree, were Zane and Lorel. One of his nephew's many presents this year was an entire army of little wooden soldiers and they were completely enthralled with it, setting up battles and then knocking them all down in epic victories. As he watched, Lorel picked up a robed figure and held him high above the others.
"But all of a sudden, the shaman summoned a windstorm! Whoosh!" And she brought the figure down in the center of the toys, scattering them across the floor as Zane threw his head back and laughed giddily. Kalibose kicked a figure that had landed at his feet back at her.
"Aren't those Zane's toys?"
"We share." She didn't even look up as she started setting them up again. "Don't be a stick in the mud."
He snorted at her, but it only got the attention of his nephew, who jumped up and ran over. Zane tried to climb up on the couch into his lap, and Kalibose nearly leaped on top of it to hold Amaryssa away from him.
"Whoa there, kid, you can't sit with me right now, I'm holding the baby."
Zane settled for leaning over the edge of the armrest and sticking his face way too close to her. Kalibose fought himself from yanking her away from him. Zane stuck his fingers in his mouth and sucked on them thoughtfully as he watched her sleep. Kalibose was acutely aware of drool running out of his mouth and down his hand, and he cringed as it dripped down onto his sweater.
"Dat your baby, Unca Ka'bose?" Zane spoke around his fingers, and for fuck's sake spit flew everywhere when he talked. Kalibose made himself very calmly pull Zane's fingers out of his mouth and used the collar of his shirt to wipe his chin.
"Yes, this is your cousin, Amaryssa."
Zane held still for a moment, and his hand crept back in his mouth. Kalibose scooted his daughter another inch away from him. Zane looked up at him curiously with his warm gold eyes.
"Can 'Ryssa play war wi' me?"
"Hey!" Lorel called from across the room. "I thought we were playing!"
Kalibose smirked and ruffled his nephew's hair. "Not yet. Give her a couple years. Why don't you play with your Momma?"
"Otay."
Zane bounced back over to the tree. Kalibose used his sleeve to wipe spots of drool off of him and inspected Amaryssa just in case. She slept on, her tiny puckered mouth not even moving as she rested from her ordeal of being born. He used one finger to carefully smooth out her eyebrows, which were indicated by little wisps of silver hair. He had known that she would have silver hair-Mae probably could have drawn a picture of her, she saw her so clearly in her vision. He hadn't been prepared to actually see Mae's coloring on this tiny dark purple face, though, and he wondered if he would ever get used to it. Or would every time that he saw her, he would again be taken aback by the very idea that she existed, this tiny blend of he and Mae that had her own personality and life?
Abruptly, he pinched his nose with one hand and squeezed his eyes shut. He had to quit doing that, he was going to be crying all day. Blinking furiously, he again looked out over the rest of the living room. His brother, except for Mae, had the hardest job last night. He was the one who had gone out in the storm to fetch Brekke. He hadn't been asked, just immediately assumed it needed to be done and went to get his cold-weather gear on. Right now he was leaning back in the armchair and snoring unabashedly as everyone else enjoyed their holiday morning. He still had on the same green sweater and black pants he had been wearing the night before and Kalibose made a mental note to stop anyone who tried to wake him up to join in. He deserved his sleep.
"Will wonders never cease."
Brekke's voice right by his ear startled him enough that Mae made a sleepy noise and snuggled closer against him. He glanced up at her. His niece was leaning over the back of the couch and held a new mug of coffee in her hands to warm them. She had run out into the snow without packing anything, and the outfit she was wearing right now was both too wide and too short on her slim frame. She caught his eye, and nodded her head to the other side of the room. Right next to the bookcase and partition, stood Zarabethe and Genne. Genne had her head down meekly and was speaking to her mother. Kalibose couldn't hear what they were saying, but Zarabethe's eyes shone from over here and she was nodding her head in understanding. She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and hesitantly pulled her into a one-armed hug. Genne accepted the affection, and when they separated, she had a hint of a grin on her face. She stomped back over to where her pandaren friend was sitting as much in the corner as possible and tried to put her arm around her. The pandaren scooted away from her and frowned, and Genne shrugged nonchalantly and left her alone. Kalibose had literally no idea what had happened between them or what the pandaren had to do with anything, but he was content not to know at this point. Something had been settled, and they weren't fighting.
"Mom and Genne aren't arguing. I think this is the longest they've gotten along in years."
Brekke continued talking over his shoulder. She took a drink of her coffee, then reached down and carefully stroked Amaryssa on her head.
"She's doing perfectly. Your wife is pretty awesome, you know that."
Kalibose nodded, starting to get irritated at his rebellious leaky eyes. "I do know that. Thank you for being here, Brekke."
"My pleasure. She didn't really need me here anyway." Brekke stood up from the couch and yanked at the bottom of her pants in irritation. "Hey Mom, are you sure you don't have any longer pants here?"
"You know where my closet is."
"If I have to get into your closet, I'm going to rearrange it."
"Do you have to reorganize everything when you come over?"
"Nothing in here makes sense. I make it make sense."
"Next time I am in Stormwind, I'm going to break into your apartment and move everything."
"Oh yeah, well then I am going to mix up your books before I leave."
Kalibose smirked to himself as he tuned out the rest of their argument. He slid a little further down into the couch, and decided his new sweater wasn't that itchy after all. He was just about to slip into the quiet of sleep when there was a sharp rap at the door. He jumped enough that Mae opened her eyes and blinked, and Amaryssa startled in his arms. Elforen let out a surprised snort from the armchair and sat up, and Lorel was the first to make it to the window to peek out. She made a high-pitched noise and threw the door open, letting cold air in.
"Baby!" She squealed, and jumped directly into the arms of none other than a snow-dusted Tzun'do, who laughed and hugged her back. He stomped his great feet and came in, shutting the door behind him. Kalibose had scowled and pulled the blanket up around Amaryssa when the door was open and now that the door was shut, uncovered her face. Zane finally looked up from his toys and saw his father, and took off across the room.
"Daddy!"
Tzun caught his son around the waist and lifted him high up in the air. Zane giggled and threw his arms above his head.
"Toldya I'd make it back in time." He said to Lorel, who hadn't let go of him yet. Without letting go of his son, he swung a large pack down off his shoulder like he was Greatfather Winter himself.
"So, what'd I miss?"
Thank you for reading this year's edition of the Winter Veil Special. I am taking a hiatus after this until the first of February (ish, not sure which day) to work on Scepter Two, called "The Song has Ended (But the Melody Lingers On)" It's been a big ol' fluff-fest here in Scepter Land recently, I think it's time to bring some angst back :D. I will be also working on a family tree and a big cover art for Lingers that I will post in the meantime, as well as updated character sheets for the main characters. Hope to see you then!