Author's note: this story is based on an idea that corglacier and I were tossing around. It is the idea that both Bishop and my CE assassin Carianna could actually earn redemption and become better people. I owe stickchick a ton for helping me with this; I couldn't have done it without her. It's totally alternate universe, and outside the OC, but it's just meant to be a good, emotional read. So, don't take it too seriously, alright?
The two of us camped under the apple tree that night. As we fell asleep in each other's arms, Bishop's body providing more warmth and comfort than the nearby fire, I was truly happy for the first time in years.
We reached the Keep two weeks after our night under the apple tree. The celebration was massive, even Nasher came down to partake in the celebrations with us. Granted, I did get the glare of death from him, but I was so happy I didn't care. I grabbed him and spun him around the dance floor as Bishop stood nearby, laughing.
Once our companions had seen me arrive with Bishop, they reacted as I feared they would. After a small skirmish that involved Bishop getting tackled by Khelgar, Khelgar getting tackled by me and Ammon Jerro stopping us all by summoning a demon I didn't even know existed, we all sat down and had a good talk. By the end, everyone, even wonderfully skeptical Sand was convinced that Bishop and I had made a turn for the better.
Not long after the celebrations had concluded, thanks to Sand's alchemy skills and keen sense of smell, I discovered I was pregnant. I smiled to myself as I realized that, in all the times Bishop and I had been together before that night under the apple tree, I'd never once ended up pregnant.
I still remember Bishop's reaction when I told him. I honestly didn't think it was humanly possible for a man's eyes to get that wide and not get stuck, but once the shock had worn off he ran to find Casavir. The poor paladin had a look of absolute terror on his face as Bishop threw his arms around him and told him the good news. Soon the whole place heard about it, about the former Captain of Crossroad Keep and her ranger lover having a baby.
For the sake of the baby, Bishop and I decided to stay at the Keep until the birth. We also decided it would be best for the two of us to marry; we'd already given our hearts to the other but it would be for the benefit of us and the baby if it were official in the eyes of Lathander.
So, two months into the pregnancy, Bishop and I were married. It was a small ceremony held in the courtyard of the Keep. All of my companions came to watch; Khelgar still couldn't believe that the new Bishop was real. We had Brother Talman come in and perform the ceremony, and when he announced us as husband and wife Bishop swept me up, dipped me low and kissed me. Everyone cheered, although it was met by disgusted groans by Khelgar, who yelped loudly as Sand smacked him.
Bishop and I waited out the remainder of the pregnancy doing various jobs around the Keep: I helped Casavir with the paperwork and Bishop would go out hunting to provide food for everyone. Then, one night during the harvest season, I gave birth to a son, Caelan. Bishop had been out hunting when I went into labor. Sand ran all over trying to find Nevalle, the only man still in the keep who could ride a horse decently.
Two days later, after Zhjaeve and Elanee had helped get me through the birth and the aftermath, I was sitting up in our bed as Bishop came bursting in, out of breath. He stopped suddenly as I smiled at him, holding the baby. "It's a boy, Bishop."
"A son?" he whispered. Zhjaeve and Elanee quickly ducked out as Bishop walked over and gently took the baby boy in his arms. I smiled broadly as Bishop sat on the bed beside me, cradling our son; his eyes alight with emotion and love. "He's got your eyes, you know," I said softly.
The ranger grinned and looked down at little Caelan, and sure enough, the little boy had bright amber-brown eyes, just like his father. Bishop smiled and stroked Caelan's tiny patch of nearly-black hair. "He's got your hair, Cari."
I could feel the tears welling in my eyes as I looked at Bishop holding and nuzzling our son, never in my life could I have dreamed that I could be as happy as I was then. Bishop turned to look at me and I saw tears shining in his eyes as well. "Cari, I love you so much," he murmured, leaning in and kissing me.
We jumped as the bedroom door burst open again and Neeshka, Khelgar, Sand and Grobnar came rushing in. Bishop clutched Caelan to his chest as the other four companions joined us on the bed.
"Oh my, Sir Bishop, Lady Carianna, congratulations! Zhjaeve and Elanee finally said it would be okay for us to visit!" Grobnar said excitedly, jumping up and down on the bed. "Can I sing? Let me sing, please?" I winced in pain; I'm sure Grobnar didn't mean to hurt me, I was just very sore. And the bouncing wasn't helping.
"Ah, sit down lad; can't you see yer makin' the wee thing nervous?" Khelgar snapped, grabbing the gnome and yanking him down. "Although, when he can walk, I get to take 'im out and tell him stories, lass."
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Neeshka squealed, holding out her hands and looking at Bishop, who raised an eyebrow.
"You realize that this is a baby, right? You have to be careful?" he said.
The tiefling nodded, "Of course, baby, fragile, gentle, I get it. Now, is it a boy or a girl?"
Sand smirked. "My dear tiefling, I'd be willing to bet good money it's a boy."
Neeshka scowled. "Why do you say that?" The elf laughed. "Well, Neeshka, that," he said, pointing to my son.
Neeshka looked closely at Caelan and then jumped back. "Yeah, he's a boy alright! What's his name?" Bishop looked down and stroked Caelan's cheek; the baby reached up and grabbed one of Bishop's long fingers with his tiny hands and proceeded to suckle on it. "Caelan," he said softly.
There was a collective "aww" from everyone in the room. Sand tapped me on the shoulder. "Ah, my dear girl, despite my knowledge of the human reproductive cycle not being as extensive as my knowledge of potion reagents, I do believe it means the dear boy is hungry."
Grobnar grinned. "My, I've never watched a human mother nurse before! Would it be okay if I-"
"NO!" four voices shouted in unison. I smiled. "Grobnar, I would be happy to explain the process a different time, but I'm tired and we all need some rest. How about leaving us for now, okay? All of you?"
Neeshka sighed. "Fine, I'll just play with him tomorrow," she said in that mock-sad voice she has at times. Soon, it was just Bishop, Caelan and me sitting on the bed. Bishop began rocking Caelan back and forth as I unbuttoned my shirt to let him nurse. Bishop handed our son to me and I held him close to my bosom, despite everything I couldn't suppress a slight shiver as those little lips closed over me, suckling me.
A wave of emotion hit me as I looked down at Caelan, this innocent little thing that depended on Bishop and me for everything. As if he'd noticed it, Bishop scooted closer to me and wrapped his arm around me, kissing the top of my head as I snuggled against his shoulder.
We sat like that for a long time, the only sound being that of Caelan suckling and of the long, deep breaths coming from Bishop and me. Soon, Caelan yawned and closed his eyes, nestling himself against my chest. Bishop smiled and gently picked him up, walked him over and slowly put him into his cradle. He touched our son with the same tenderness he showed me with that night under the apple tree; that same loving caress he now touched me with daily.
I sighed and slid under the covers, completely exhausted. I rolled over and watched as Bishop slipped out of his armor and linens and climbed into bed beside me. I was half-asleep as he unbuttoned my shirt the rest of the way and pulled it off. I groaned sleepily as he stretched out beside me, sliding an arm around me and pulling me close. I sighed contentedly as I lay my head on his shoulder, wrapping my arm around his chest.
"Cari?" he whispered.
"Uh-huh?"
"Caelan's beautiful." I nodded into his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of my arm rising and falling in time with his breaths.
We lay in silence for a few more moments before he spoke again. "I just wanted you to know that you're a very brave woman, Cari. To bring little Caelan into this world took a great deal of strength."
I smiled. "Thanks, but Elanee helped with the process and Zhjaeve helped with the pain."
He shook his head. "That's not what I meant, Cari. I meant for us, two people who used to be as evil as you could get, to make such an innocent creature, and for you to bring that innocence and life into the world…it takes strength."
The sleepiness faded slightly as I looked up at him. "I didn't do this alone, you know. For Lathander's sake, you rode here on a horse with Nevalle. You know, the man we used to tick off by having sex on his desk?"
Bishop smirked at the memory. "Yeah, he really didn't like us, did he?" I shook my head and Bishop sighed. "I really think we've been given a wonderful chance here, Cari, to raise Caelan to be a good, upstanding man." I nodded, yawning into his shoulder. He smiled and kissed my forehead.
"I'll let you sleep now," he murmured as I drifted off to sleep.
The three of us, Bishop, Caelan and I all stayed in the Keep that winter. We had planned to leave once spring began, but "Auntie" Neeshka and "Uncles" Khelgar, Grobnar, Sand and Casavir didn't want us to go, so we decided to move into a small house in the outlying farmland of the Keep. It was close enough to the Keep to make visiting easy, and close enough to the woods for Bishop to go out and hunt without worrying too much about us.
The years passed, with each one Caelan grew bigger and stronger. Bishop's hair was long now; he usually kept it pulled back with a leather strap so it didn't get in the way. His shadow of facial hair was now a full reddish-brown beard, something that Caelan loved to pull if he could get his hands on it. For Caelan's fifth birthday, much to Bishop's and my dismay, Neeshka sneaked him out and showed him how to pick the lock to Casavir's desk.
Needless to say, Uncle Casavir wasn't appreciative of that once he opened his desk drawer and discovered it was full of belladonna.
As Caelan grew, my old comrades started teaching him what they knew. Sand showed him how to make an invisibility potion, which caused Bishop to panic when he couldn't find him for a good three hours. True to his word, Khelgar would take Caelan on long walks and tell him grand stories of our adventures together, probably fudging the details a bit, but they seemed to entertain him.
Grobnar taught Caelan how to sing, something that I wasn't all that thrilled about the night he came home singing a healing song that ironically contained quite a bit about blood and gore, but was more than happy to hear the night a dire boar got loose nearby.
Once Caelan turned seven, Uncle Casavir started coming out once a week to teach him the art of using a sword. I was excellent with light weapons, and Bishop was unmatched in skill when it came to his longbow, but neither one of us could really use a big, heavy weapon. At the rate Caelan was growing, he'd be good with one.
Not too long after his birthday, I realized I was pregnant again. Caelan was excited to have a little sibling to play with, even if he had to wait nine more months for it. So, nine months later, Bishop and I welcomed a daughter, Amavain. Bishop insisted she looked like me, despite her tiny mop of reddish-brown hair. I agree, she had my eyes, but she looked like a perfect mix of the two of us.
Our son, on the other hand…Caelan was his father in miniature form: tall for his age, with a strong, chiseled jaw and those distinctive wolfish, amber-brown eyes. The only difference was that he had my dark hair instead of Bishop's reddish-brown hair. He was a handsome boy, and very much like his father was at his age. It became glaringly obvious the night the father of one of the little girls that lived nearby came to our door, irate that Caelan had been kissing his daughter. I pointed out that Caelan was only seven and didn't know any better. After the man left, I sighed and resigned myself to talking to Caelan about it in the morning.
Needless to say, the whole Keep got a laugh out of that one.
A couple months later Caelan's eighth birthday rolled around, and as a gift Bishop presented him with a longbow he'd crafted himself. Caelan was excited; after all, he'd seen his dad use one quite a few times and wanted one of his own. He ran outside, squealing, as Bishop followed on his heels, laughing.
As I stood in the doorway to our home watching Bishop kneel down and teach Caelan how to string his new longbow, I couldn't help but smile. It had been so long ago that Bishop and I had faced our pasts and come out as better people, and now, with our home and our son and daughter, we were both happy.
I grinned as Bishop helped Caelan pull back the bow. Caelan let it fly and started jumping up and down when it hit the straw target a few yards away. He threw his hands around Bishop, who picked him up and spun him around in a big circle. Once he was safely down on the ground he came running over, crying "Mama! Did you see that? Did you see? I hit it!"
I laughed as I pulled him into a hug and winced as the bow hit me in the head with a rather loud thunk. I heard Bishop chuckling as I stood up. I gave him a look and he smiled, pulling me close to him and kissing the top of my head. As the three of us stood together, little Amavain sleeping in her cradle nearby, I couldn't believe that Bishop's heart, that my heart could have been as black as it was nearly a decade ago. We heard a knock at the door and Caelan ran out to show Uncle Casavir his new longbow.
Bishop and I watched out the window as Caelan managed to pull the bow back by himself and hit the target once more. I felt an arm slide around my waist; I turned and looked up into Bishop's intense, loving eyes and smiled. As he leaned in and kissed me I realized that no matter what we faced in the years to come, we'd face it together, as a family.
And we'd be happy.
