A/N: A cute little family moment in this one.
the ancient mystic: Keep the hat!
Moosensquirrel67: Thanks! But due to my busy schedule, Sundays really are the only days I can update.
Evangella Akriti: Hehe! Here's another one!
Katlin Dragoon: Yeah he does, what a relief.
Shree: If you're referring to when he kicked while Shayla was in bed with Merrick, that was because he recognised his father. And if you're on about the time Merrick looked back at Shayla when he departed for war, that was because Anwell didn't want his father to go. Just block the guy's number and ignore the letters, as well as your siblings.
Merrick found himself drawn to the royal nursery once again, despite the fact that the King was lurking around often to keep an eye on him. This time, his son was awake and crying. He looked around, not knowing what to do until Anwell's mother arrived to appease him. The babe became quiet after a while.
The Princess smiled at the three-week-old babe in her arms. He was too cute and so like Merrick that she couldn't help but feel her heart swell every time she looked at him.
Even though Merrick was still angry with the Princess, he fell in love with her all over again when she rocked their son to sleep in her arms. He imagined the three of them, and maybe even his mother, living together back at his family home. He imagined more children, maybe a couple of girls, running around in the garden without a care in the world. But that was not to be.
"Where is my mother?" he asked awkwardly, after forcing himself to return to the real world.
"She went to get some more cloth. He needs to be changed," Shayla responded casually, before eyeing Merrick's somewhat nervous demeanour. "Have you ever actually touched our son?"
Our son.
"It really is him," Merrick spoke in such a quiet voice as if this was a holy revelation to him. He already knew the truth once he saw Anwell for the first time but hearing Shayla say it suddenly made it so real.
"It is," she agreed softly, smiling at the emotion that was evident on his face.
Finally having gained the confidence he needed, Merrick turned to face Shayla fully and moved a little closer. He reached out hesitantly toward the child to cup his head with one hand. He used the lightest of touches, afraid that even the slightest prod would somehow injure his son.
"I am so proud of you," he blurted out, his voice still quiet as he turned his gaze onto her. She was startled to see moisture pooling in his eyes and reached out to him with her free hand. He buried her head into her curls, allowing himself a moment to compose himself.
"Why are you proud of me? I thought you were angry with me..." Shayla trailed off, confused at his behaviour. He pulled away but she still kept her hand on him.
"For tolerating the atrocities your husband put you through," Merrick answered truthfully. The Princess was taken aback, her eyes watering as she remembered all the suffering she had gone through.
"I did that for you, you know. If you had listened to me, I would have been able to tell you that he found out I was not virtuous and threatened to tell my father," she told him, looking up to blink away her tears. "You and I both know that my father would have figured it out straight away. So my husband used it to his advantage. I... I had to sleep with him that night. He told me he would give me a child. But he did not penetrate inside me; he used my body for his pleasure."
Merrick was overwhelmed by guilt, his nose tingling as more tears tried to make their way out. How could he have been so foolish? Where had he been when all of this was happening? He hadn't had the slightest clue. Shame crept up on him as he realised that he was to blame.
"All this, because of me. You should have told him the truth. I would have endured a death sentence from the King if it meant that you did not have to give up your dignity," he stated, stepping away from her. She gave him a hurt look, thinking he had moved away because he found her repulsive. "I am disgusted at myself. That is why you avoided me before I left for the Mystic War. That was the thing that you could not tell me about."
"Yes, but it is not your fault. I would not have been able to live without you if my father killed you. Besides, I had to consummate my marriage on the same day you left. You would have died for nothing," Shayla informed in dismay. "After that, I thought Anwell was his child. For some strange reason, I bled after the last time we made love; I was absolutely convinced."
"So that is why you did not tell me?" Merrick questioned, feeling even more guilty. How disgusting. How could he even think for one moment that Shayla wouldn't have had a good reason for keeping the truth from him? Shayla nodded. "If you did tell me then, that you were carrying his child, do you know what I would have done?"
"No," she replied, curious as to the answer, glancing down at her now sleeping son.
"I would have accepted the child. Because any child of yours would have a part of you in them," he divulged, surprising himself with his own words. He had always thought that if Shayla had someone else's child, he wouldn't have been able to look at him/her, knowing he/she wasn't his. But no. That wasn't the truth. Anwell still would've been a part of her.
Shayla started sobbing. Not with sorrow but with joy. She held his watery gaze and managed to smile at him. Merrick smiled back.
"Would you like to hold him?" she asked a moment later, wishing to share this gift with him.
Gently she guided Anwell into his father's arms, trying not to laugh at how disjointed Merrick looked. She tried to adjust his grip a bit more to better suit the child but all the jostling woke him up from his brief sleep.
"Anwell," he said, remembering quite well the name that Shayla had always wanted for her firstborn son.
Anwell's lips puckered as a cry rested on the tip of his tongue.
However, his father's soft 'shhh's had him questioning his choice of wailing. Tiredly, Anwell peeped open his eyes enough to squint at the blurry shape before him. He attributed the sound of his father's voice, heard once or twice from his days in the womb, to the manly blur. Content, he drifted back off to sleep.
Shayla chuckled at her son's display. Caught between laughing and crying in joy, she rested her head on Merrick's shoulder, allowing him to shush their babe to sleep.
After Brenna finally returned, the young lovers handed smelly Prince Anwell over to his grandmother.
"Would you ever run away with me?" Shayla asked Merrick as they walked through the training grounds. It was relatively empty as the other warriors were taking some well-deserved rest after their service to the King.
"Where did this come from?" he enquired, a little startled by the question. He wasn't going to deny that it hadn't crossed his mind before, but eloping had never really been an option for them.
"It is not from nowhere, I assure you. Before my marriage was fixed, I always used to wonder what it would be like. And during my marriage, I always regretted that I never tried to elope with you," she confessed. "I have been considering it seriously since your return after the Mystic War."
"I would run away with you," Merrick said in response to her question. Shayla's heart skipped a beat. "But there is one problem."
"What?"
"What would we do about our son?" Shayla shook her head in embarrassment. How could she forget about her own son? Where would he fit in all this? "We can hardly take a wailing baby with us."
"You are right," she admitted begrudgingly. "So many servants would be punished for his disappearance, more so than mine. Not to mention your mother. She would be my father's first target."
"My mother would be on the receiving end no matter what. Even if it was only the two of us. Your father would still blame her and all the servants," Merrick pointed out. Shayla sighed deeply.
"I just... I just do not like hiding our relationship," she muttered irritably. "I do not like having to refer to him as my one and only husband. I cannot even touch your hand in the palace unless we are behind closed doors. And even then, we have to keep our voices down and be discreet, always having to part quickly to avoid suspicion. My father already knows about us and yet we cannot acknowledge it."
"I know," Merrick agreed quietly when Shayla was done ranting. "We have to give this more thought." He raised a hand and patted her on the arm as a friendly gesture. That was the most he could do since there was a guard posted nearby. "But we will find a way."
A/N: What do you think will happen next?