Chapter 27- Confrontations and Epiphanies
''What the hell, Ermelian?'' Cleon asked as she back.
''Such strong language, Cleon,'' Ermelian said. ''The children might hear you.''
Cleon glared at her. ''You know what this is about.''
''No,'' she said, ''I have no idea.''
Cleon rolled his eyes, at her poor façade at innocence. ''How dare you, Ermelian? You had absolutely no right.''
''I had every right,'' she said. ''You're my husband and you're going around with this commoner whore and her bastard.''
''Don't you dare call them that!''
Cleon's eyes blazed with anger and Ermelian knew that she had made a mistake. Cleon was usually so mellow, and so patient with people who were not worth his time. It was rare that he got as angry as he was now. This was not the way she would win Cleon over.
Yet she was angry too. She was angry at all the times in her life, when she was pushed aside and considered less important, when she could not get anyone's attention despite all the attempts she had used. ''I'm stating the truth. That woman is a whore and her bastard is proof. Open your eyes, Cleon. She will use you and throw you out like trash.''
He wanted to throttle her. He had wanted to throttle her so much that, looking back, he would be scared of himself.
But he didn't. He turned away, and did not speak until he could contain himself.
''Ermelian, what do is on your conscience. When it does not affect me, it is none of my business. But when does, Ermelian…'' He paused a moment and looked her straight in the eye, his fury so hot that it singed any words she was about to say from her mind. ''There will be hell to pay. This is my fief, Ermelian. You are here because I am kind enough not to kick you out, because I am kind enough not to annul our marriage. You do not own this fief, and you have no right to act like you do. You have no right to kick out an innocent woman and her child, especially when they are my friends. And you have absolutely no right to slander them like you do, especially considering that much of your words could be applied to you.''
Ermelian did not know how to react to such a confrontation; she had never experienced one in her life. Her own temper was hot on her tongue, but it could not seem to escape. So, doing the only thing she knew how to do, Ermelian stomped off.
Meanwhile, Kel was pondering about Liam. She was still seeing the despair in his eyes, the forlorn look that had pierced into her.
She wasn't whole again. She could not say that she was completely healed from her grief, that her grief was no longer sticking to her like a bur stuck to one's tunic. Her grief still did cling to a part of her, the part of her that had died when Dom did.
But she could function, at least. At least it did not consume her as it once used to, and she could live her life. She may not be as happy as she was before, not nearly, but she still was able to enjoy some of the beautiful things in her life.
She was broken from her reverie with a blazing headache, one of many in the series of headaches that she was seeming to get on a regular basis lately.
She wondered if she should get a poultice for it from Neal, but then decided against it remembering she couldn't go on medication while pregnant.
So she braced herself against the pain.
It would only be until the baby comes, she reminded herself.
''He seems to be doing somewhat better, Kel,'' Neal told her when he saw her again. ''I don't know what you said to him, Kel, but it helped him tremendously.''
''Anything I can do for help, I will do,'' Kel said. Her voice was distant and far away, as she thought about their conversation.
She needed for him to be all right. Because her baby needed for him to be all right; her baby needed Liam in his life.
Neal forced a smile. ''Whatever it is, keep doing it.''
''I'm sure it's nothing different than what you did for me,'' Kel said, feeling a strange wave of emotion wash over her.
But to Neal, it was. Like Kel, he had lost his lover but he had never lost a son. And besides, he was closer to Kel than he was to his uncle. He felt a strange feeling flutter inside of him as he gazed into Kel's eyes.
''It wasn't easy to help you,'' Neal said, ''but it seemed so much easier than to help Liam. I don't know why.''
''I hope he does end up stabilizing himself, though,'' Kel said.
Neal nodded grimly. ''Me too.''
Neal could sense the sincerity behind her words. He not only wanted for his uncle to be all right, but he had also wanted to Kel to be as happy as she possibly she could be.
Kel put her head on his shoulder, and he held her. At that moment, he felt an urge to hold her as tight as he possibly could, and to never let go.
''My baby needs strong grandparents, along with a strong mother,'' Kel said, pausing painfully for a moment before adding, ''especially since he won't have a father.''
Kel's voice broke, and at that, his heart did too. In the course of the time he had spent with Kel, he had increasingly become sensitive to Kel's hurt; when she hurt, so had he. Something had changed between them and he supposed it was a strengthening in their friendship.
At that moment, he became sure of two things. The first epiphany he received was that he would die to make Kel happy (although he didn't understand how he was so shocked by this, considering that it had become fact within days of the time he spent with Kel). And the second... That, like Kel, he had loved this baby. He was going to be this baby's father.
''This baby will have a father,'' Neal said.
''What? I don't understand. Dom's...''
''Me. I'll be the baby's father.''
As Neal said it aloud, he felt the surety of it in the marrow of his bones; the fact echoed at his very core.
Kel was silent for a moment, and he feared that she might disapprove of the idea.
''Oh Neal...'' she said and he could hear the pure joy in her voice. ''You'll make a great father.''
Neal smiled and put his hand on Kel's stomach. He could feel the baby's heartbeat, and it was one of the most beautiful sensations he had ever had in his life. The baby was coming soon, and he could not wait either.
The baby needed a father. Kel should have realized that fact before. Neal being the father seemed so natural to her; how she didn't come to that possibility seemed so hard for her to understand now.
She looked up at him and the love reflected in his eyes told her that he loved this baby almost as much as she did.
Suddenly Kel felt another sharp pang in her stomach and her head started searing again.
She groaned, and attempted to sit up.
''What's wrong?'' Neal asked, suddenly concerned.
''Just a headache,'' Kel said. ''Nothing big.''
''Are you sure?''
''Yes. It's nothing.''
But Neal's instincts told him otherwise. He ignored his instincts though, and nodded. He helped Kel get up and they left the meadow.
Looking back, Neal would desperately wish he did something, that he had listened to his instincts. But by the time he got back to the house, he forgot it, only thinking of the baby he would soon father.
YAY! School is over FINALLY (it would have been over sooner without all those snow days. I'm sure everyone in the Western US got out before now), and I got a chance to get this chapter finished. I hoped you liked it; please review.
