AN: Without more reviews/views, I will have to stop updating. It seems a little pointless to write when people seem not to have a continued interest in this story...
"Sweet child of mine, what great love I find in you…"
Henry supported Ian's head as he washed him in a small basin, singing to his son gently- he was immensely in love with both of them and while many women asked to do what they considered their duty to care for the children, he politely refused, wanting to have these precious moments with them in their youth.
The baby let out an insistent cry then, Henry raising him from the water and looking towards Laure's closed door. "Yes, you must be hungry my little ones- come and let us see if your mother is up," he said in a cooing fashion, clothing the child in a small dress before moving to retrieve Barrett from his bassinet and take them both to Laure's room.
She awoke to the quiet sounds of a babe, smiling when she lifted her head from her pillows. "Good morning," Henry said with a kiss as he gave the children to her. It was difficult to get the hang of holding them both at the same time and she was still very tired two days after giving birth, but she was taking to motherhood like a duck to water and he was proud to see how well she had adjusted. "My, these boys are very heavy! And to think that I was to keep them for another two months!"
"How are you feeling, my love," Henry asked as she undid the laces at her breasts, crossing her arms so as to hold the children there. She winced briefly at the pain of strong mouths pulling at her, feeling her milk begin to flow as the aching there started to subside. "I suppose I am still feeling very tired, but Avaline informed me that that would be the case for some days more now: the best thing I can do is stay in bed and rest. However, all of that is eclipsed by the love I feel having them in my arms… I do not believe there has ever been a happier woman than I in all the annals of time," Laure replied with a smile, happy and content. He moved to stroke her hair back, unabashedly reviling in the intimacy of their happy family picture.
"I should talk to you about the… difficulties of the babies' care."
Laure looked up, concerned by the hesitant look on her husband's face, "Yes?"
He moved to rub her arm, sighing quietly as he chose his words. "The children take to you well, as you can see. They are compliant and happy in your arms… however, when it comes to others, they will not go unless it is into mine or Sybilla's arms. And she has noted that after you have changed, that they will need to be fed, though we are not sure how. Milk is what seems best for them, but they are still like me and we are curious as to whether or not a diet of blood is in their future," he murmured, seeing a thoughtful look come into her eyes. "Well, you said once that they would be a part of me and a part of you… could they not have both?" Henry pondered that idea, shrugging, "I suppose, but it would be of their preference- and they have definitely made a decision on who and what they prefer."
Once the twins had finished feeding, Henry took Barrett to burp, holding the newborn to his shoulder.
"Hmm, Henry, I am afraid that I have never thought you more handsome or agreeable with a babe in your arms," she said as she held Ian to her chest, humming to him lightly. Henry only smiled and paced the floor, looking at Laure when she groaned with her movement. "Are you alright dear?" She nodded and rested back against the pillows, her curls spreading over her shoulders, "Quite alright Henry. I am still just a little sore- nothing that a warm bath and time cannot heal."
"I will call Miriam for you."
They spent a few more moments together until the babies had settled and become content, Henry lifting Ian out of his mother's arms with ease, his wife asking for a kiss. He smiled once he had obliged her and left her to rest, Sybilla meeting him at the door.
She took Barrett from Henry, brushing her lips over his cheek as he cooed contentedly. "Hello my little angels! You both smell delicious, like your mother and milk- almost good enough to eat," Sybilla said as she looked at Ian, her friend chuckling as he moved to sit on the couch with his son.
"I am going to have to ask you to refrain from consuming my offspring; it is not in good taste…"
Laure woke up in a cold sweat for the second night in a row, shoving off her covers and moving to sit up. She cried out in pain and Henry came running to her aid, witnessing his wife lean over the edge of the bed and immediately start to vomit violently. He moved to support Laure as she started to slump over, wrapping her arms around her stomach, "Ah!"
"Laurelie, what is the matter? My sweet, what ails you," he questioned, hearing Sybilla run to stand in the doorway. She looked in before running back through the house, waking up the night nurse and telling Henry that she was going for the doctor. "I am dying Henry," his wife cried out, the nurse coming to help him tend to her. "Lord have mercy!"
The nurse and Henry cleaned Laure up, the worried husband stoking a new fire when the woman instructed him to do so. "Sir, he has a very high fever, but the best thing we can do for Missus Sturges is to sweat the sickness out. I need you to send for Avaline immediately, Master Sturges," the woman said hurriedly, moving to close the window.
He moved to sit with his wife for a moment when the nurse left to inform the doctor of her suspicions, smoothing her hair back from her forehead. It had only been a week since Laure had given birth to their sons and for the first time, without the scent of their babies or her own milk upon her, he smelled a strange undercurrent of infection in her. However, unlike when a cut or wound became infected, her sickness had spread throughout her entire body- and Henry knew then that it was serious.
"My God."
Sybilla was waiting in the living room when Henry emerged, looking at him evenly, "We should have seen this Henry… Neglecting her in favor of the babes- we did this. We allowed this sickness to take hold." And he knew that it was true- had they spent more time with Laure instead of always leaving her to rest so that they could tend to the boys, they could have seen her growing weaker, seen the fever set in, seen her become more listless and withdrawn. And they could have helped her then, done… something.
"Stop," he whispered, leaning against the back of the loveseat and waiting on their verdict. However, they did not have to wait long for Avaline came out, looking at Henry and swallowing. "She has birthing sickness. It… sets in somewhere during labor and in the week or two after birth and it spreads throughout the body through the blood. What follows after is the fever, the vomiting, the delirium, the spasms, and then… death. I have only seen women recover when we have helped before the delirium but Laure…"
"Henry."
He looked up at Sybilla and shook his head for her to be silent, knowing that they could not discuss what had to be done for Laure in front of the older woman. Avaline stepped towards him and her gaze was knowing, her eyes searching his. "We cannot help her anymore- I cannot help her… but you can Henry. You can help her- save her- and I know that," she said quietly, both of the vampire's eyes falling on her unreadable face. Her eyes were hard and she seemed to dare him to disagree with her, but it was not something that Henry could do. "How did you know, Avaline?" The nurse chuckled once humorlessly, shaking her head, "How could I not, Henry? Others seem content not knowing and not seeing, but I… knew that you were not like other men. And I thought that I would search you out and expose you, but when I saw you, when I saw you with my Laure, I knew you were a good man. And you are still a good, good man… And what others cannot, you must do to save her."
Sybilla saw his resolve waver, stepping towards him and touching his arm. "This is not about you right now, brother- it is not about your perceived 'selfishness', but yet about her best interests. She knows what is to come from this existence and she has made very clear her choice. You will never have any chance for the complete absolution that you believe you need before giving her this life, because she is your absolution. And you must do what has to be done, now, before the chance is lost to us all," she whispered, Henry looking towards his wife's bedroom.
"We have to move quickly, then…"
Her green eyes were transfixed upon the ceiling, her hair plastered to her forehead as her brow became beaded with sweat. There was so much happening around her, the nurses and the doctor, but she could feel how dull her senses were becoming. With every beat of her heart, she could feel what was left of her life ebbing away, Laure breathing in sharp, shallow gasps.
And then Henry was at her side, the world seeming to grow silent in his presence as he stroked her cheek. She found her voice with him, allowing her gaze to move until it settled on his face, "It hurts."
"To be released from this pain- of all mortal pain- you will have to go through another," Henry said as his thumb ran across her bottom lip. He looked at her almost helplessly and exhaled another breath, Laure's eyes pleading. "I can make the pain go away."
She was feverish still, Henry feeling the uncomfortable heat that radiated from her dying body, but her words were very clear.
"Before… I need last rites, before," Laure said hoarsely, her lips trembling. Her husband nodded, knowing that the rites were just to pacify what was left of her humanity, and closed her eyes, gripping her hand in his before moving to mark her head with an invisible cross. He could feel what little strength she had left in her, meeting the tight hold on him with an almost bone crushing pressure. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall be built up forever: thy faithfulness shalt though establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn unto David, my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to generations…"
"What will you do after we have left and gone, nurse," Sybilla questioned lightly as the two women tended to the infants. Avaline was quiet then, listening to Laure's last rites through the wall before sighing. "She is all I have left. I have worked for Lucien and Adelaide since I was fourteen years of age, underneath my mother… I am forty now, my life gone and nothing to show for it. Lucien will not make it through the winter, that much I know. So as to what I do after…" Avaline looked up at the woman who moved to her side, seeing the cold blue eyes before her as Sybilla smiled quietly. The baby in the nurse's arm cooed contentedly, looking at Sybilla and smiling at the familiar face. "You do know that you could join us nurse- see the world with us and do what you never had the chance to in this life," the vampire said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "In your next, you could live forever."
"Forever…"
Laure looked at her husband, clasping both of her hands around his and looking at him. "Please, please do not tempt fate with my life hanging in the balance. I highly doubt that in my deteriorating condition, that I will live to see another sunrise. I want to live another day, hold my children and see them grow. I want to spend the rest of eternity… with you, Henry. I am not afraid," she whispered brokenly, looking at him. Henry smoothed her hair back, inhaling deeply before nodding. He pressed his lips to hers lightly before pulling away, brushing the hair off of her shoulders and undoing the laces of her nightgown.
"When God takes away, He gives something in return," Henry murmured in reply, staring down at his own moving fingers. The smooth expanse of her throat was revealed and Henry stroked his wife's neck, running his fingers over her jugular. Henry bent down over her and exhaled quietly, tasting the scent of her blood upon his tongue. "Just remember to stop," Sybilla whispered as she held Ian securely in her arms, knowing that he could hear her clearly.
"And when He causes pain, He means nothing only to give us comfort."
Fire filled her veins as Henry bit down on her neck, his teeth slicing through her flesh with ease. He could feel his eyes burn as he tasted her blood, knowing that the disease in her tainted its flavor somewhat, but still relishing it as slid down his throat. Laure's blood was just as he had always known it was, divine in its nature, the wine that Hurst had correctly said it would be. He could feel his inner animal wanting more and more until she was drained dry, suddenly feeling claw-like hands on his shoulders. "Henry, you will kill her if you do not stop. Henry, Henry! Let her go," Sybilla said in her ear, seeing Laure's eyes roll back in her head. He looked up at his wife and saw the life draining from her, his soul seeming to scream as he tried to let go of her. Sybilla threw him across the room, looking at Henry as he hit the wall, standing between the husband and wife. "Henry! Think about what you are about to do- who you are about to kill! That is your Laure lying there, your wife!" He stared at her with black eyes, his teeth bared, trying to register what she was saying. And then he stepped back, moving until he hit the wall and allowing himself to slump into a sitting position in the corner, the male pressing his fist to his mouth.
Laure was panting and gasping upon the bed as she tried to breathe, her husband looking at her as his eyes began to burn again- this time with tears he could not shed.
"There is not enough blood in her veins, not enough venom- I must, I have to…"
"Allow me," Sybilla said as she moved away from him, still panting.
She moved to take Laure's arm, biting down on her wrist and forcing her own venom coursing through her veins. She screamed out then, shrill and sharp, pain twisting her heart as her body began to catch fire. Laure had been a fool to think that she could survive something like death, to defy God himself and now the fire, the pain was her punishment.
And she knew that there would be no mercy.
