Chapter 11

Chapter 11

God, it's good to be home, Dawn thought as she kneaded the bread dough. Hanne and Jaegar were outside playing like they were supposed to be and Klaus was at work with Ichabod on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Hanne had been willing to help her mother, but Dawn, feeling guilty about her time away, had sent Hanne outside to play. Dawn's shoulder was aching badly and she was definitely ready for a break, but she decided she would get the bread in the oven first. A knock on the door got her attention. Thinking it might be Katrina, Dawn called out "Come in!"

Instead of Katrina, however, she was met with a friendly-looking old man that reminded her of her grandfather. He wore priest's robes and was carrying a Bible.

"Good morning, Ma'am, I am the new vicar for Sleepy Hollow. My name is Paul."

Dawn gestured to one of the chairs and he sat down while she placed the loaf of bread into the oven and wiped the flour on her apron.

"What can I do for you, Paul?" Dawn asked, pouring him a glass of iced tea. He gratefully took it and downed it in one gulp.

"Well, I just thought I would explore the neighborhood, get to know the people before tomorrow when I resume my duties. I heard your last vicar stirred up quite a scandal. I knew him. Shame, John was a promising young man."

Dawn didn't really want to talk about John, but she nodded politely, turning back to the counter.

"He ran into some trouble at the seminary," Paul continued, "I think he was much too interested in ladies to become a vicar. I do hope God's forgiven him wherever he is."

Dawn bit back the "don't count on it " comment and began to chop vegetables with a bit more force than was necessary. Paul frowned as she hacked away at the vegetables that she was going to put in the stew later.

"I also heard that he wouldn't allow you and your German man to get married," he said.

Dawn slammed the knife down so hard that it stuck into the cutting board.

"I thought we were married by common law!" she snarled, trying to wrench it loose.

Seeing that he'd touched a nerve, Paul paled.

"I don't mean to offend you, ma'am, I really don't. I was just going to offer my services and ask if you wanted a proper church marriage, that's all."

Dawn yanked the knife loose and turned to face him, flushing slightly as guilt overcame her.

"Sorry," Dawn apologized, "it's just that I don't have much experience with church and the ones I have had weren't good."

Paul gave her a smile, his friendly hazel eyes showing understanding.

"I know it isn't easy to try something again after you've been hurt," he said, "but I would never try to hurt you or your..."

"Husband," Dawn finished. She went back to chopping vegetables, unceremoniously plopping them into the pot of boiling meat and broth on the stove.

"Right. Your husband. Anyway, I would also be happy to baptize your children," Paul said.

Dawn frowned, but she was at least listening again.

"I know that you and your husband are as good as married right now anyway," he said, "you've endured seven years and two children. But wouldn't it be nice to be recognized as married in the eyes of the Holy Spirit and the Law?"

Dawn turned to face him again.

"How did you find out about us, anyway?"

"I've heard a lot of gossip since I moved here," Paul admitted, "but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."

Dawn sighed again.

"You're not gonna be one of those preachers that breathes down my neck about how I live, are you?"

Paul shook his head.

"I assure you, good lady, I won't."

He seemed trustworthy enough, not at all like John.

"All right."

Dawn began to roll out a crust for a pie.

"Would you like to stay for lunch?" Dawn asked.

"I would, but I must be off," Paul said politely, "I have many more houses to visit. Will I see you in church tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Dawn said hesitantly.

He said goodbye to her and left.

Dawn's cheeks flamed as she attacked the crust with the rolling pin. She thought about all of the things that she'd done. How could she go into a church willingly after all that she'd done?

A flash of light appeared in the center of the kitchen.

"YOU!" Dawn shouted accusingly, pointing the rolling pin towards it.

Gabriel grinned.

"A woman with a rolling pin is frightening," he said sarcastically, "but not nearly as frightening as a woman with a kitchen knife."

"What are you doing here?"

The question was loaded with anger.

"You feel guilty," Gabriel said flatly, "I just came to assure you that you have nothing to be ashamed of."

The rolling pin fell on the counter with a THUNK!

"What?" Dawn asked, visibly confused.

"You did the best you could with your situation," Gabriel elaborated, "everyone makes mistakes. I came to tell you that you need to forgive yourself before my Master can forgive you."

With that, he disappeared. Dawn shook her head and began to place the crust into the pie plate.

The children came in to eat first, but Dawn insisted that they scrub the dirt off of their hands and faces before she let them go to the table. Just as Dawn was serving them, Klaus came in. He had a rag tied around his upper left arm and a small blood spot was forming.

"What happened?" Dawn asked, eyeing it with concern.

"We had to make an arrest," Klaus said dismissively, "Tristan gets quite aggressive when drunk. The-" he paused when he saw Dawn's stern look, "idiot had a knife. Thankfully, it's only a scratch."

Dawn insisted on looking at it before she'd let him eat. Once the medium-deep short gash was tended to, she placed a steaming bowl in front of him and he accepted gratefully. Dawn was half-finished with her own food when they heard a strange squeak.

"What was that?" Dawn wondered aloud. They heard it again. Klaus noticed Jaegar clasp his hand firmly over one of his pockets.

"Jaegar? Was verbergen Sie?" Klaus asked. 1

Jaegar opened his mouth to say "nothing", but his father's intense electric-blue stare destroyed the lie on his lips before it was even formed. He sighed and pulled the thing out, which was beginning to move and placed it in Klaus's open hand.

"Ein Kätzchen," Klaus commented, slowly opening his fingers so that Dawn could see. On his palm lay a tiny black and white kitten.

"Where did you find it?" Dawn asked Jaegar.

"Hanne and I were out in the woods and we found him all alone. Or, at least I think it's a boy," Jaegar admitted, turning red, "I wasn't sure."

Dawn stroked its tiny forehead.

"Poor baby," she murmured, "its eyes aren't even open."

"Can we keep him?" Hanne asked excitedly. Klaus thought he was the master of staring someone down, but his own electric-blue gaze was outmatched by his son's, and his daughter's dark chocolate eyes were just like Dawn's.

"Ask your mother," he mumbled, getting himself some more stew.

"Mom?"

Both children were wiggling in anticipation. Dawn gave Klaus a Look for passing the buck. He gave her a slight grin.

"Yes, you can keep him," Dawn said, "but on one condition."

She had taken the kitten since Klaus was getting more food.

"You have to be the ones to take care of him. That means feeding him, washing him, training him to do his business outside and cleaning up after him. He's YOUR cat."

Both children cheered. Dawn ate the last of her bread and retrieved some milk. She showed the children how to warm it up over the stove and how to check it on the insides of their wrists to see if it was too hot.

"The idea is to get it warm, not hot," Dawn explained to them, "cold milk will give him a tummy ache."

Very, very carefully, she fed the kitten milk with a teaspoon. It wasn't as easy as it looked and she made a mental note to ask Ichabod if he had something similar to an eyedropper tomorrow. Klaus looked on in amusement. After Dawn had fashioned a makeshift bed for the kitten with an old towel and a pasteboard box, she let the children go off by themselves to decide on a name for it.

"Having fun?" she asked as Klaus grinned. She unceremoniously plopped herself into his lap. He shifted slightly so that he could hold her more securely.

"You won't be smiling for long," Dawn teased, "guess who's changing the baby when he or she wakes up at some ungodly hour in the morning?"

That was enough to draw a shudder of disgust. Klaus had changed diapers plenty of times, but it definitely wasn't his favorite job.

"But," Dawn continued, drawing closer to him, "you'll get the other job back, too."

Her voice was suggestive enough to bring Klaus's smile back. He pressed his lips to hers, drawing in the sweetness.

"We're going to name him Tiger," Hanne announced, "look at his stripes!"

The kitten definitely had an unusual coloring. Instead of being tabby gray with stripes, it was white with black stripes.

"Sounds good," Dawn commented.

Klaus looked at the clock and sighed discontentedly.

"Mein Liebe," he said dejectedly, "I must get back to work."

"No," Dawn teased, burying her face in his shirt. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. Klaus gently pinched her in the ribcage, causing her to shriek with laughter. She was ticklish there.

"Fine," Dawn pouted, getting up, "but I'm gonna get you for that later!"

"Versprechen Sie mir?" he purred in Dawn's ear, trailing kisses down her neck. 2

"Yes."

She hugged him and watched as he walked out and got on Daredevil's back.

That evening, Dawn paced around in the living room. The children would have to be put to bed soon, but they wouldn't go to sleep without their Dad. Where WAS he? She was getting anxious. Klaus was always, ALWAYS home by dinner. She looked up at the sky and shuddered. The clouds were thick and ominous, blotting out the moon and stars completely. Thunder rumbled and she cringed. Dawn hated thunderstorms because the lightning scared her. She lit a candle and opened the door, holding it above her head so that she could see. Other than the impending thunder, it was eerily quiet.

"I don't like this one bit," Dawn complained to no one in particular.

"Where's Daddy?" Hanne asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Dawn admitted, "I want to go look for him, but I don't like the idea of leaving you and Jaegar here by yourselves."

She led them to Ichabod and Katrina's house. When she asked Ichabod of his whereabouts, Ichabod looked puzzled.

"No, he's not here. Didn't he come home hours ago?" Ichabod asked. Dawn shook her head, struggling not to tremble.

"I've been waiting for him, but he never came back."

Ichabod turned to Katrina.

"Watch the children. We're going to go find Klaus."

She nodded, taking the children by the hands and leading them inside.

Dawn retrieved Flash and Ichabod retrieved Starlight. They rode off into the night. Dawn's heart was pounding.

God, if you're there, please don't let anything have happened to my husband, Dawn prayed.