Depressione pt. 25

Hello, hope you are having a good day.

6 months later

Freya woke up and was in a lot of pain.

"Merlin, the baby's coming." Freya panted.

"Are you serious?" Merlin asked.

"Yes. Now hurry."

Merlin went to get his parents. For the rest of the night, Freya tried to give birth. Finally, Freya gave birth to a girl.

"It's a girl." Hunith said.

"She's beautiful." Merlin answered as Hunith handed the baby to Merlin.

"Joy. Our little Joy." Freya panted.

"Joy it is."

"I'll go tell everyone. They most likely heard the noise." Hunith explained.

"Good thing we moved Rebecca to Faith's room." Merlin sighed. Freya held Joy and smiled.

"She looks like you, Merlin." Freya answered. Hunith left the room.

"Yes, she does but she has your eyes."

"I want another. It was painful but worth it."

"I know. It's always worth it."

Then the kids burst through the door.

"Can we see her?" Bethany wondered.

"Come here." Merlin answered. The kids went to the bed and sat down. Rebecca and Faith sat on Merlin's lap. Jacob tried to but the girls pushed him. "Hey, let him sit."

Jacob smiled and sat next to Faith.

"She's pretty." Faith gasped.

"Her name is Joy." Merlin answered. The kids got to hold Joy. When they were gone, Merlin's siblings came in and got to hold Joy. A few days later when Freya was up and about, they celebrated the birth of Joy and Isabelle's birthday.

"You don't look a day over 16." Balinor teased.

"Father, I am 16 and I will be for a long time." Isabelle answered. "Luke and Lucille are still 22, Merlin is still 24, Kevin is still 14, William is still 12, Janice is still 11, Arabelle is still 10, and Seth is still 4."

"I know. I was just teasing you."

"I know you were."

16 years later

It was a nice summer day and everyone was outside. They played in the lake. Joy went to the woods to find a snake. She saw a boy.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Joy." Joy answered. "Who are you?"

"Jonathan."

"Jonathan Ambrosius?"

"Yes."

"I'm your half-sister. Father will be so happy to see you. We thought you were dead."

"Don't tell him. I don't want to see him."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to."

Jonathan ran away. Joy found a snake and went back to the lake. Merlin saw her holding the snake.

"Joy, leave the snakes alone." Merlin said. Joy put the snake down and then went to the big stone and sat down. Merlin went to her and sat next to her.

"I saw Jonathan. He's no older than me. He didn't want to see you. I said that you would be happy to see him and he ran off. You told me what happened but that was years ago." Joy explained.

"I need to find him. We thought he was dead."

"I told him that. Can I go with you?"

"We talk to your mother. How did he look?"

"Ill. He was very pale and thin. He was dirty and he looked half-dead."

"We'll leave in the morning."

That night during dinner, Merlin and Joy explained what happened.

"I want to find him alone." Merlin said.

"Can I go with you? I know how he looks. I can help, father." Joy answered.

"That's your mother choice."

"Can I, mother?"

"It's dangerous." Freya answered. "You could get hurt."

"Mother, I've done a lot of dangerous things. I can do this." Joy replied.

"Fine. Only because your father will need someone and with me being pregnant, I can't help him."

"Thanks."

"We'll leave at first light." Merlin sighed. Very early the next morning, Joy and Merlin left to find Jonathan.

"Father, does Jonathan have magic?" Joy wondered.

"A bit." Merlin sighed.

"Why didn't you use your magic to seek his?"

"I hadn't used it a whole lot since Sara died so I was too weak."

"Can we do it now? I can help."

"Alright."

So they used their magic to find Jonathan.

"He's near a big town." Joy said.

"Yeah, bigger than Camelot." Merlin answered and the rode fast to the town. When they got there, they hid their horses and got their stuff. "Stay close."

"Alright. How can people live in such a crowded place?"

"I did for a while but it wasn't this crowded."

"Our home might be crowded but at least you add more rooms."

"Yeah. Let's find Jonathan."

They walked through the very crowded town. Several men looked at Joy with greed and awe. Joy saw it and grabbed Merlin.

"Can we stop something so I can put my hood on?" Joy whispered. Merlin nodded. They stopped and Joy put her hood on so that no one could really see her face. "Several people were looking at me with greed and awe. I didn't like it."

"You did right." Merlin replied. They continued to walk through the town. Then Joy saw Jonathan with several boys and men. They were drinking and smoking something.

"Father, do you see those boys and men drinking? Jonathan is with them."

"I see him."

They went up and the men looked at them.

"What do you want?" A man asked.

"Jonathan. He's my son." Merlin answered. The man stood up and Jonathan ran inside.

"You can't have him."

The man moved Joy's hood and she tried to cover her face but the man stopped her.

"You have a beautiful little girl. She could make you a rich man." The man laughed.

"I'm rich with love from her and my family but I want my son back." Merlin answered as he put Joy's hood back on and pushed the man.

"How dare you touch me."

"You touched me. He has every right to touch you." Joy warned.

"Shut up, little girl."

"My name is Joy now leave us alone."

Then they were surrounded by men. Joy used her magic and killed some of them while Merlin killed the rest. They ran into the building. They saw Jonathan who was running upstairs.

"I want you to hide in an empty room." Merlin ordered. Joy did as Merlin said. Merlin chased Jonathan to a big room. Jonathan was hiding. When Merlin got close, he stabbed Merlin. Merlin cried out in pain and grabbed Jonathan.

"Let me go." Jonathan yelled.

"No."

"Let me go. I hate you."

"I love you. I've missed you so much. Every day, I thought about you."

"But you got married and had a kid."

"But it didn't change my love for you. Your mother would be disappointed if she saw you like this. She showed you a lot of love and what did you do? You disrespected me and ran away. You started drinking and smoking and doing so many horrible things. Would she be happy to see you like this?"

"No. Just let me go. You can't help me."

"Yes, I can. I want to help you so bad. I want my baby boy back. We all missed you. Joy wanted to know her older brother and now she's met him and she probably isn't happy with what she saw."

"We aren't siblings."

"I'm your father. Yes, you are. She's your baby sister. She loves you."

"I don't want her love."

Then they heard a crossbow arrow. Jonathan cried out in pain as the arrow hit him in the side. Merlin saw who did it and killed him. He helped Jonathan to the ground. Jonathan was thrashing and crying in pain. Merlin shushed him and tried to help him.

"It's very deep, Jonathan. I'm going to cut it off so that we can get someplace safe and treat you properly. Ok?" Merlin asked. Jonathan nodded as he cried out in pain. Merlin cut it off and Jonathan screamed. Merlin pulled him close and shushed him. "It's alright. You'll be fine. Let's get your sister and get out of here."

"Father?" Joy questioned as she ran in. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's get to a decent place to stay."

Merlin picked Jonathan up and held him as he suffered painfully. They found a place to stay and got a room. They went to the room and closed the door. Merlin laid Jonathan down on the bed and took Jonathan's shirt off.

"Joy, I need some hot water and clean cloths. It's bad." Merlin calmly said. Joy nodded and got what Merlin needed. She made sure that the water was very hot.

"Are you going to put a very hot wet cloth on it?" Joy asked.

"Yes, to get rid of the infection. Jonathan, I'm going to pull the rest of the arrow out. It's going to hurt a lot."

Jonathan nodded and Joy looked at his face.

"Father, he's too pale. He looks like a ghost." Joy whispered. She put her hand on Jonathan's forehead. "He has a fever but the rest of his body is freezing."

"Let me get the arrow out." Merlin replied. Merlin pulled out the arrow and Jonathan screamed. Merlin shushed him. "Bring me the hot water and a cloth."

Joy did. Merlin used his magic to put the cloth in the boiling water. Using his magic he put the cloth on Jonathan's wound causing Jonathan to scream a lot. Merlin held Jonathan's hand and tried to calm him. then Jonathan coughed up blood.

"Father, that arrow hit something." Joy warned.

"I know." Merlin answered.

TBC