Chapter 36

In the End

Washington headed my warning and didn't come back. Lucky for him.

The baby was growing and I was starting to show. Dr. White made monthly check-ups and I was always relieved to hear that everything was fine.

Connor's POV

I'd never been so excited in all my life. And never so scared. I never really had a father. I had Achilles, but it wasn't the same. Esperanza and I hadn't had parents like most other people. At least Esperanza had her grandfather. She would say that I was 'freaking out'. Whatever that meant.

The baby was expected to be born sometime in May. We'd turned Esperanza's old room into a nursery. Lance made a cradle for us and Big Dave gave us a rattle.

Esperanza was getting bigger and soon the baby was kicking. I smiled when I felt my child kick.

I sat by the river one evening. My mind wandered to my father again.

"Well hello handsome."

I smiled and she sat down on a rock next to me.

"There was good in him, you know. Your father."

I looked at her, but she was looking at the water.

"Your mother was very special to him. I didn't like your father at all, but I believed him when he told me that Ziio was special to him. I could see it in his eyes, and you can never lie with your eyes. There was good in his heart. After all, you're his son. And you're the most amazing man I've ever known. I know Ziio must have seen something in him." She said.

I smiled a bit.

"You're an angel."

She laughed lightly.

"Then where are my wings?"

I chuckled and stood up. The wolves came walking towards us and she knelt down. Alpha gently put his paw on her stomach. She smiled and scratched him behind the ear.

"And it's your job to help protect this kid. What do you say?"

Alpha barked and so did the rest of the pack. I had to smile. I honestly felt better knowing that a wolf pack would defend my child if need be. I started to think about what Esperanza had said. She'd hated my father right until the end. The fact that she could say there was good in him meant something to me.

"I didn't hate your father until the end. In the end, I saw the good in him. It actually all makes sense now."

I looked at her in confusion.

"What makes sense?"

She looked at her hands.

"When I told him I wanted to give him another chance, he had nowhere to go. Any movement and I could kill him. I told him to be a father to you for once. Before I shot him, there was something strange in his eyes. He looked at you the same way before he ran at me. I understand now. He didn't want to kill you, but he wouldn't forsake the Templar order. It was his 'duty', to kill you. So he put himself in a situation where he wouldn't have to carry out said 'duty'. He knew without a doubt that I wouldn't hesitate to kill him. And your father was not a stupid man. He made a choice."

"What choice?"

She looked at me.

"You. As long as he was alive, he would keep trying to kill you. In a way, he gave his life so you could keep living yours. That's what I believe. That, was the good of Haytham Kenway."

I could only stare at her.

Esperanza's POV

The calendar turned to May and I could feel that it was almost time. It was going to suck having a kid without any medication though. I was not looking forward to that. I was painting a lot more. Since I was pregnant, I couldn't exactly 'work'. I missed 'work'. Connor was constantly pampering me, and I loved it.

I woke up in the middle of the night in pain! Terrible pain!

"Connor wake up!"

He jumped up and I got out of bed.

"Dr. White's! NOW!"

He rushed me to White's and I was in for some long, hard, painful labor.