AN: it is almost complete, sad day ;( but enjoy this piece! Sorry for Samuel's assholeness lol, he'll lighten up..later.
Chapter 51
Eve was finally able to sit somewhere in peace to write this treaty that she and Samuel discussed together a couple of weeks ago. She decided to write the treaty for him instead of sitting down together.
She kept staring at the parchment and tapped the feather against her arm, trying to figure out the best way to word this treaty so she wouldn't upset the Scythian king. It was a miracle enough that Samuel convinced Nimrood to a truce, but it wasn't enough. The truce wouldn't last, so Eve took it upon on herself to write a treaty of peace just like her mother did many times throughout her life. She never realized how hard it was to write one of these and was becoming frustrated. Inside, she wanted to get her mother and ask her for help, but she also felt embarrassed to keep asking her mother for help and not do anything by herself.
Luca ran up and saw his mother in the dining room, staring at the table. He bit into an apple and Eve jumped at the loud crunching sound. She peered down and saw her son smiling up at her. "Whatcha doing?" he asked, trying to see what was on the table.
She sighed, "I'm working on something very important," she said and hoped he'd go away but that was unlikely as he began climbing up her leg. "Luca..." he sat on her lap and stared up at her, eating his apple casually. "I'm glad that you are not eating so many treats anymore," she ruffled his hair.
He grinned up at her, "yeah, it's not so bad but baba promised me that I can try helva when we go to Persia," his eyes lit up with excitement.
Eve rubbed her forehead, "alright, but only a little bit. If you eat too much of it you will get sick," she smiled then her eyes widened as she was beginning to sound like her mother. Luca nodded, satisfied enough with that answer as he expected her to get super angry like she did when she found out he liked to eat cookies a lot. "Luca, I'm very busy, can you go play with your sister?"
He shook his head, "Layla is busy with Gabby. She's teaching her how to write with that golden feather thing," he smiled and looked at his mother's work and saw a lot of parchments spread across the table. "Can I help you?"
His mother sighed heavily, feeling exhausted as she had been sitting in this spot for hours now and so far only wrote two pages. It didn't help that she didn't have any documents from Persia with her right now. "I don't think you can help me with this Luca, but thank you for offering," she smiled.
"Can I sit with you then?" he asked and she pursed her lips. "Please? I'll be really quiet," he smiled and she relented, allowing him to stay. He adjusted himself on her lap and watched her as she began reading over the parchment and he kept eating his apple, as quietly as he could, being very patient.
Samuel marched into the dining room and saw Eve working on the treaty with Luca sitting on her lap. "Eve, I need to talk to you," he folded his arms and she frowned, finally able to concentrate and now she was interrupted yet again.
"Samuel, I'm working on the treaty, can't it wait?" she asked.
"No! Your brother is driving me insane!" he threw his hands in the air and Luca stared up at his father with wide eyes. "He keeps telling me that I should continue to go to war with Nimrood!"
Eve covered Luca's ears with her hands and frowned up at him, "Samuel, can we talk about this without our son here?" she whispered.
He folded his arms and stared at his son as he kept eating his apple. "Fine, can he go in the other room?" he asked and Eve lifted an eyebrow at him.
She ran her fingers through Luca's hair, "can you go find your grandmother, I'm sure she would love to teach you some more fighting moves?" she smiled and he sighed, not really wanting to leave.
"You want me to leave?" he asked with sad eyes and she exhaled sharply, seeing his sweet face. "Okay, I will go..." he hopped off his mother's lap and ran off to find Xena so his parents could talk alone.
Eve stood up and folded her arms, staring into her husband's infuriated eyes. "What is the matter with you? You saw Luca was here and you want to talk about war? Right now?!" she groaned.
"This is more important, Eve." He replied.
Her eyes widened, "more important? More important than our son? Samuel, he is a child and I don't want him to hear us talking about war and violence."
He scoffed, "you were surrounded by war when you were a child, Eve! This is not different!"
"No I was not!" she stepped forward and narrowed her eyes, "my mother kept me away from her politics and war. She made sure I had no idea what was going on until I was old enough to understand. I was not involved in war until I was eleven years old and that was by accident." She sighed, feeling more exhausted now as she was draining herself talking to Samuel about this.
"Then..." he groaned, "then tell your brother to stop bringing this up! I'm tired of him belittling me and my decision to pull back." He said and saw her eyes lower. "Actually, this was your idea, not mine, so he should be talking to you not me."
She felt a cramp in her side and rested her hand on her lower back, wincing at the subtle pain. "Samuel, I thought you wanted to come here and see our children, not discuss politics."
He frowned and sighed heavily, "I did come here to see my children and you." She rolled her eyes and cringed as the pain returned, she rubbed her lower back and didn't really want to talk with him anymore.
"Samuel, I don't want to fight with you," her voice was tired and drained. He frowned and walked off in a hurry. She sat down and buried her face in her hands, feeling incredibly stressed out.
Layla came out of her room with Gabrielle and saw her father walking down the hallway. She smiled at him as she held the parchment she wrote on, trying to learn how to write with Gabrielle's help of course. "Baba! You want to see my writing?" she asked and he put his hand up and kept walking.
"Not now, Layla," he said and stormed off.
She frowned sadly and Gabrielle placed her hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure he's very busy, Layla. He will probably look at it later," she smiled and Layla sighed softly.
The girl's eyes lit up and looked to Gabrielle, "can we go show mommy my writing?" she hoped.
"Sure, let's go find her," Gabrielle grabbed Layla's hand and they walked to the dining room to find Eve.
Luca had been wandering around the palace trying to find his grandmother. He finally heard some whistling from outside and ran to the back entrance to see her training a horse. He finished his apple and ran outside to the horse pin.
"Teta, what are you doing?!" he smiled and jumped up on the pin, leaning on the railing. Xena lifted her eyes and saw the boy was watching her.
She smiled and hit the backside of the horse with a whip and the horse reared back, running around her in a circle. "I'm trying to tame this horse," she said and began slowly circling around herself, watching the horse trot slowly. She grabbed a rope and put her hand up to the horse, "I'm not going to hurt you," she smiled and the horse shook his head, scraping his hoof on the ground.
Luca's eyes widened as he watched her slowly come closer to the horse. He knew his sister liked horses and he wasn't too fond of them as they scared him because of their size. Xena inched closer then threw the rope over the horse's neck and he cried out, trying to resist her. Luca gasped and Xena pulled the rope tighter. She clenched her teeth and finally she made the large horse submit to her.
The horse calmed down and Xena climbed on top of the horse. Smiling she brushed the horse's mane and he trotted around the pin. Luca smiled, "wow! How did you do that?" he asked.
"A lot of practice," Xena grinned and rode over to him. She hopped off the horse and grabbed Luca by his waist and set him on top of the brown horse. He instantly felt afraid and she held onto the rope. "Don't be afraid, Luca. Horses are gentle creatures."
He breathed in slowly and clutched onto the horse's mane as Xena held onto the rope, the horse slowly began trotting around the pin. He began humming quietly and Xena smiled, "it's not so bad is it?" she said and he smiled as the horse was trotting around at a fair speed. "I think he likes you."
"Really? You think so?" Luca grinned and Xena stayed close by to make sure nothing happened. "I want a horse!"
"Maybe you will have one someday," Xena chuckled softly seeing the boy really excited. His face reminded her of Eve when she was a little girl. She was so excited to ride on a horse for the first time and soon she became obsessed with horses by the time she was six years old. She had a favorite white horse that she loved a lot until he died when she was fourteen. She'll never forget the look on her face when her best friend died, she was so upset for a long time and even refused to ride another horse until she was sixteen.
Xena pulled on the rope, halting the horse. She picked up Luca and set him on the ground."Aweh, we're finished?" he pouted and she smiled, taking the rope off the horse's neck.
"For now, where's your mother?" she grabbed his hand as they began walking back to the palace.
He sighed, "she's busy writing some stuff."
"Well let's go see if we can convince her to take a break," she suggested and he grinned widely, pulling her along.
Eve sat at the table, sobbing quietly to herself. Gabrielle and Layla came into the dining room without her noticing. Gabrielle frowned as she heard Eve crying. Layla ran up to her mother and tugged on her dress.
"Mommy!" she smiled and Eve wiped her eyes and stared down at her daughter. Layla frowned, "are you crying?"
"No, I'm not," Eve smiled and leaned forward seeing her daughter carrying a large parchment in her hands. "What's that you have there?"
Layla beamed, "Gabby taught me how to write some letters, want to see?!"
Eve nodded and picked up Layla to set her on her lap. She took the parchment and saw her daughter's handwriting was very good, even better than hers when she was her age. "Wow, this is very good, Layla!"
Gabrielle rested her elbow on the chair, overseeing the parchment behind Eve. "She's a very fast learner," she said and Eve nodded her head. Gabrielle frowned, seeing that Eve was obviously upset over something. "Hey, Layla, why don't you show your mother how you write your name?"
Layla jumped off her mother's lap and went to sit in the chair opposite her. "Okay!" she smiled and dipped the quill into the ink, writing super slowly, making sure every stroke was perfect.
Eve smiled watching her and then Gabrielle sat beside her, grabbing her arm. "Are you alright?" she whispered.
Eve shook her head, lowering her head as she began sobbing again. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she scooted closer to her. "Samuel...he –he's being so unlike himself."
Gabrielle sighed, "maybe he's stressed out?" she offered, trying to make the situation lighter, though Eve buried her face in her hands again. "Don't cry! I hate when you do that," she smiled, brushing a few tendrils behind Eve's ear. "You'll make the baby upset," she smirked, rubbing her arm. Eve sighed, wiping her eyes, slowly calming down.
"I don't know why he's acting like this," Eve said, shaking her head. "He doesn't pay attention to his children, all he cares about is this stupid war!" she folded her arms, frowning, fuming at her husband's attitude.
Gabrielle rubbed her forehead, understanding how Eve was feeling right now. "I think you should talk to him," her eyes traveled to the plethora of documents on the table. "And I think you should stop working on this for awhile. You're stressing yourself out."
Eve smiled, "thank you Gabrielle," she stood up, exhaling heavily. "I'm going to talk to him."
Layla jumped up, "mommy look, I finished!" she smiled, bringing the parchment to her.
Eve bent down and grazed her hand over her daughter's cheek. "It looks very nice!" Layla blushed, feeling quite accomplished of herself. "I have to go talk to your father, so could you stay here with Gabrielle?"
"Okay..." Layla said and walked over to Gabrielle, sitting in her mother's chair, writing some more.
Xena walked in with Luca holding onto her hand. She saw Solan and Samuel arguing in the middle of the hallway and frowned. Luca looked up to her, "why are they fighting?"
Xena sighed, "go find your mother, okay?" she said and he ran off down the hall. She walked forward to the two men, observing their childish behavior.
"Samuel, you should not have backed down. We could have won! Allat has many soldiers at the border!" Solan yelled back.
Samuel groaned, "then maybe you should talk to your sister! It was her idea to pull back, not mine!"
Solan's eyes widened, "since when do you listen to her?! You're the king of Persia!" he folded his arms, "I say we should continue to move on Nimrood's kingdom in Ujjain and wipe him out while his army is down."
"You know what Solan? If anyone should kill the Scythian king, it should be me, not you and Allat. Assyrians always lose wars."
Solan laughed mockingly, "Persia never won a war while your father was on the throne." He smirked.
Xena stepped forward in between them, "what is going on?!"
Solan sighed heavily, "mother, Samuel decided to pull back his forces against Scythia. Tell him that his decision is stupid and he should go forward with the plan!"
Samuel folded his arms, "it wasn't me, it was Eve!" he spat back and Xena put her hands up.
"Alright, that's enough," she said and both men stopped bickering, glaring at one another. "If Eve thinks it's a good decision to pull back the army then it must be for a good reason," she stared at the Persian and Samuel groaned softly. "And you aren't the Assyrian king, Solan. If Persia pulls back from attacking Nimrood, then you and Allat must follow what goes," she stared at her son and he averted his eyes elsewhere, not wanting to look at her.
"If I was in charge, I wouldn't let my wife be my vizier," Solan muttered and Samuel frowned at him.
Eve walked in and saw her mother in between her brother and Samuel. She frowned and watched the two glaring at one another.
"She didn't feel important enough in Persia so I gave her something to do!" Samuel spat back and Xena rolled her eyes.
Eve's eyes widened and she stepped forward, "you don't want me to be your advisor?" she asked and both men turned around, shocked to see her standing there, listening to everything they just said.
Samuel's eyes softened as soon as he saw his wife. "Eve, that's not what I meant..." he stepped forward and she took a generous step back. Solan sighed and looked over at his mother who was glaring at him. He nervously smiled at her, anxious to get away.
"You felt bad for me so you gave me a position that you didn't want me to have?" Eve said with a big frown on her face.
The Persian shook his head, "no I think you are a great vizier, Eve. That's why I appointed you!" he smiled and saw that she was not impressed at all. Her eyes filled with imminent tears and walked off to go to her room. "Eve!" he called out and she ignored him. He sighed, burying his face in his hands.
Solan smirked, "way to go, Samuel. Now you've upset my sister," he said and Xena hit his arm. He winced and took a step away from her.
"Solan, this isn't really any of your business," Xena said and he lowered his eyes, then walked off.
Samuel placed his hands on his hips trying to find the best way to fix this situation. "I should go talk to her," he sighed and began walking off until Xena grabbed his arm.
"No, you won't," she frowned, "I will go talk to her. Why don't you go spend time with your children that you have been ignoring?" she suggested and his eyes widened. She walked off to go to Eve's room and he now felt embarrassed and stupid for letting such a silly thing become such a huge problem.
Xena came into Eve's room and closed the door quietly. She stepped further inside and saw Eve sobbing on her bed. She came to sit beside her and Eve cried loudly, her face buried in her hands. Xena sighed, wrapping an arm around her daughter's slim frame. "Evie..." she kissed her head and Eve kept sobbing. "You know Samuel cares about you."
Eve lifted her face out of her hands and her breathing was labored. "Well...he doesn't show it very well!" she wiped her cheeks and Xena smiled, bringing her closer.
"War is stressful," Xena said and Eve remained quiet, fidgeting with her dress quietly. "The first war I had with Octavius was so stressful. It felt like it lasted forever!" she tried to relate to her and Eve lowered her eyes. "I was pregnant with you and I put Gabrielle in charge. Even when I won, it still felt like I had lost because I had so much work to do when we returned to Athens."
Eve sighed heavily then stared up at her mother, "how did you do it?"
Xena smiled, "well, I had help. Gabrielle helped me and Solan did too," she brushed Eve's hair away from her face. "Samuel is your partner and he should help you. You should work together, not against each other."
"But he's being so insensitive!" Eve frowned, already feeling angry again. "He doesn't know how to be a father to the children. He's been away from them too long."
Xena nodded, "I understand and he just needs some help," she pinched Eve's arm and her daughter smirked softly. "You have a baby coming and you two should be spending a lot of time together."
Her daughter shook her head thinking that would be a horrible idea, sticking her in the same room with Samuel. "How are we supposed to spend time together when all we do is fight or talk about this war? Which by the way, isn't happening right now." She groaned.
"Eve, don't stress yourself out. I think everything will work out once you and Samuel take the children back to Persia."
Eve stood up and began pacing around, "I am not going back to Persia!" she folded her arms and Xena rolled her eyes.
"Yes you are. You cannot stay here forever. You belong in Susa with Samuel and your children," she said as she watched her daughter pace mindlessly.
"I want to stay here with you mother. I don't want to go to Persia with him! He's just going to argue with me!" Eve folded her arms and Xena grabbed her arm, pulling her over. She placed her hands on her daughter's hips and stared up at her.
"Eve, I can't save you from everything and you two need to work this out! I will always be here to help you and Gabrielle will too, but you two need to stop arguing." She sighed and Eve crinkled her nose, not really happy to hear that her mother was right and she hated it when she was right.
Eve sat back down beside her and exhaled deeply, "you and Gabrielle never argue."
Xena laughed, "yes we do!" she said and Eve's eyes widened in shock. "We used to argue all the time! Especially during wartime, but we always talked to each other and solved the problem." She said and Eve sighed, laying down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"So what you're saying is...I should talk to him?" Eve sighed and Xena smiled and pat her daughter's arm.
"Yes, you should," Xena lifted her daughter off the bed. "And I think you should eat something," she grabbed her arm pulling her away from the bed.
Eve rolled her eyes, "mother please, I'm not in the mood to eat right now."
"You're too thin Evie," Xena urged her and linked arms with her. Eve sighed heavily as she was being dragged out of her room unwillingly.
Gabrielle took it upon herself to teach Luca how to write his name since Layla enjoyed it so much. All three of them sat in the dining room at the table. Luca slowly wrote his name and concentrated so hard. He grinned, "how did I do Gabby?" he asked. She looked at the writing and it wasn't as good as Layla's but it was fair enough.
"Very good Luca, just keep practicing," she said and he nodded.
Layla stood up on the chair and grinned, "mommy!" she saw Xena and Eve walking together into the room and she jumped off the chair running to both women. She hugged her mother's legs and Xena smirked.
Gabrielle stood up and walked over to Xena, "did you talk to her?" she whispered.
Xena nodded, "yes I did. She is upset about Samuel," she whispered and Gabrielle understood that completely. She went around and Eve was sitting with Layla on her lap. "Eve, I can have the chef make you your favorite food," she said sweetly and Eve sighed.
"Alright mother, fine," she grinned and Layla was playing with Eve's long hair, completely distracted.
Gabrielle smirked, "are you trying to make her fat?" she had a smug smile on her face and Xena frowned.
"No..." she folded her arms, "she's too thin, look at her."
Gabrielle kept staring at Xena and couldn't help but keep that grin on her face. "Uh huh," she teased. "So, does that mean you are going to give her cake too? Her favorite cake...?" she chuckled and Xena groaned inwardly.
"Gabrielle would you just let me mother her for one minute, please?" she begged and Gabrielle saw she was quite serious.
"She's not going anywhere!" Gabrielle smiled and Xena looked at her then her smile disappeared. "She's going back to Persia soon isn't she?" she whispered and Xena nodded. Gabrielle looked over to Eve sitting with her children, speaking to them quietly. "Oh my gods! I don't want her to leave!" she ran up to Eve and hugged her from behind.
Eve jumped and Layla giggled, "Gabrielle..." she smiled.
Gabrielle wouldn't let go of her and Eve sighed as Layla kept laughing. "I love you so much!" Gabrielle said. Eve nodded, patting her hand, hoping she'd get off of her.
"I love you too Gabrielle. Now could you please...get off of me?" she asked nicely. "I can't breathe Gabrielle!"
The blonde let go and smiled sheepishly, "sorry Eve." She knelt down and Eve lifted an eyebrow at her very suspiciously. "Do you want cake?" she smirked.
Luca gasped, "cake?!" he said and Eve groaned.
"No cake for you!" she said and he slumped back into his chair, folding his arms. "And no thanks Gabrielle, I don't want cake. I'm actually not very hungry but mother insists I should eat something," she sighed.
"Xena's right," Gabrielle placed her hands on her hips, "you don't eat anything!"
Eve gasped, "but I do!" she looked to her mother, "mother tell her!"
Xena smirked and walked off and Gabrielle followed behind her. Eve's mouth gaped and Layla kept staring up at her. "Mommy, are you still sad?"
She sighed and smiled down at the brunette child, "no, not anymore."
Layla yawned, "good. I don't want you to be sad," she snuggled against Eve's chest and felt really tired after the long day she had. Eve smiled and Luca was still trying to write on the parchment.
Awhile later Xena came back with Gabrielle after Eve finished eating, per her mother's request ,and saw Layla sleeping on Eve's lap and Luca fell asleep in the chair next to her. Gabrielle nudged Xena and saw Eve was asleep in the chair as well.
"She is exhausted," Gabrielle whispered. "You grab Layla and I'll get Luca," she said and Xena agreed.
Slowly, Xena lifted Layla out of Eve's lap and the girl stirred in her sleep, then rested her head on Xena's shoulder, still sleeping. Gabrielle grabbed Luca and he didn't even wake up as she held him in her arms. "What about Eve?" Gabrielle asked and Xena sighed.
Samuel walked in and saw Eve sleeping in her chair. "I can take her," he said and both women turned to look at him. He smirked nervously at them and Xena's eyes were glaring at him and now he felt even more nervous. Gabrielle grabbed Xena's arm pulling her away reluctantly. He waited for Xena and Gabrielle to leave so he wouldn't have to keep staring at Xena and her piercing eyes.
He touched Eve's arm gently and she didn't wake up. He sighed and lifted her up in his arms then carried her to the bedroom so she could sleep more peacefully hopefully. He decided he was going to stay in the bed with her until she woke up. He felt really bad about how he had been treating her the last couple of weeks since he arrived from Persia. He didn't want to upset her and certainly didn't want to upset Xena either, which he already did, so that was not good on his part.
He laid her down in the bed and brushed her hair away from her cheeks. He sighed and laid down beside her, staring until she would wake up.
Once Xena and Gabrielle put the children in their beds, they decided to go in their room for once. Xena laid down on the bed, gawking at the ceiling, exhaling heavily. "I'm so done for today."
Gabrielle chuckled, "are you actually admitting that you are tired?" she asked.
"I forgot how hard it was to take care of children Gabrielle," she smiled and then Gabrielle took off her shoes, ready to lay down as well. "I hope Eve talks to Samuel."
"She seemed really upset," Gabrielle laid down beside her, both staring at the marble ceiling. "Is she really going to go back to Persia?" she pouted, "I'm going to miss those two little ones!"
Xena smiled and grabbed Gabrielle's hand, "she has to go back some day, Gabrielle but I will miss them too," she sighed.
Gabrielle rolled over onto her stomach and leaned her chin on her hands. "It's going to be so quiet here!" she sighed heavily and stared at Xena. "Are we going to go see Eve before she has the baby?" she hoped, her eyes lighting up.
"Of course we will go see her," Xena smiled and saw Gabrielle was already excited even though Eve hadn't even left yet. "So Gabrielle...we will have the palace to ourselves for the first time in...forever," her eyes widened thinking of all the things she could do. "Let's go to Athens and see how the palace is coming along."
Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, staring down at the empress. "You're already planning aren't you?" she grinned and Xena sat up, grabbing her hands.
"Gabrielle...this will be the first time we will be alone, together, without Eve, without Solan, the children, everybody!" Xena's eyes grew as she started to think of all the free time they would have together. Then realization hit and then realized that everyone would be gone and she'd be alone with Gabrielle. "We're going to be alone..." she said quietly.
Gabrielle scooted closer to her, "I thought you wanted to be alone?" she said and saw Xena's face had not changed since her realization. "We'll see them again when Eve has her baby," she rubbed her arm and Xena relaxed.
"So that's about five months from now, so that should give us plenty of time to do absolutely nothing," Xena grinned and Gabrielle started laughing. "What's so funny?"
"You are not used to doing 'nothing' obviously. I'm sure the Athenian palace will be finished by then! We could move everything there before we go to Persia," she suggested and Xena liked that very much.
Eve woke up and her eyes wandered around to see that she was in her bed in her room. She sat up slowly and rubbed her side, then looked over and saw Samuel sitting in the bed beside her. She frowned at him, "what are you doing?"
He grabbed her hand as she was about to get up and leave, "Eve, I'm really sorry," she sighed and wouldn't look at him. "I love you a lot you know that," he pulled her closer to him and she stared at his soft eyes.
"Samuel, you haven't been very nice to me ever since you got here and you barely pay attention to Luca and Layla," she said and he sighed heavily, gripping her hand tightly.
"I know, I'm sorry, I don't want to be mean to you. If my mother were here she'd probably slap me for my horrible behavior," he chuckled and Eve raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'll do it for her," she teased and he almost thought she was serious and began moving away from her. She smiled grabbing his arm, pulling him close, "Samuel stop, I'm joking."
Samuel kissed her hand gently, "I promise I will pay attention to the children more and you too."
She nodded her head, a bit content with that but not yet satisfied. "And stop arguing with my brother," she added and he groaned. She squeezed his hand, "Samuel!"
"Alright fine I'll stop fighting with Solan," he sighed heavily and finally saw her smile. "I'm sorry about earlier with Luca. I'm a bad father," he rubbed his face.
Eve ran her fingers through his hair, "no you are not, Samuel. You loved them even before they were born," she smiled and he nodded, agreeing with her. "You were so excited to see them, remember? You wanted to be with me the entire time and my mother wouldn't let you," she grinned widely thinking of that and he smiled along with her.
"I promise I will be there for you and this baby too," he said and she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just wish I would have known earlier," he sighed.
"You already left to Scythia before I could tell you, but you know now," she kissed his cheek and he sighed. He placed his hand over her belly and a big smile graced his lips. She put her hand over his and looked up at his eyes and he was obviously fixated.
A knock came to the door and both of them stopped. "Can we come in?" Luca said politely.
Eve chuckled and sat up in the bed, "yes, you may," she answered and Luca opened the door. Both of the children came running in and jumped on the bed. Luca cuddled close to his mother and Layla sat comfortably on Samuel's lap. "Did you two have a nice nap?" she asked and both nodded.
"Did you?" Layla asked and Eve nodded her head. Samuel ran his fingers through Layla's long hair that reminded him of Eve's and couldn't stop smiling. "Are we going back to Persia?" she looked up at her father.
Samuel looked to Eve and she cleared her throat, "yes we are. I think we leave should soon."
Luca cheered, "yay!" he grinned and cuddled close to his mother.
"It's a long journey back to Persia from Rome," Samuel added.
"That's okay," Luca smiled and then looked down at his mother's stomach and placed his hand over it, "is that the baby?" he grinned wider. Eve covered her mouth trying not to laugh at his face. "Your tummy is so small!"
Samuel chuckled, "it will get bigger soon," he said and Luca's eyes widened. "Are you two excited about the baby?" he asked.
Layla nodded her head, "yeah! I can't wait to see it," she smiled and Samuel poked her nose then she giggled softly. "I hope it's a girl."
Luca frowned, "it's a boy, for the last time, Layla!" Eve sighed, rolling her eyes and stared at Samuel, seeing him smiling, enjoying the two bickering for once.
"They're going to do this until the baby arrives you know that right?" Eve said and Samuel nodded, okay with that.
A week later Samuel and Eve got everything ready to leave. Luca and Layla were excited even though Samuel told them it would be awhile before they reached Persia and they'd even have to take a ship to get across the sea. The two didn't seem to mind and were so thrilled to be leaving with both of their parents after such a long time.
The children ran outside the palace and got into the caravan, patiently waiting, talking to one another. They would meet their other grandmother for the first time, which would be interesting.
Xena and Gabrielle stood at the entrance and Eve waited while the Persian men loaded everything from the twin's room, which had been taking a couple of hours, but they were nearly done. Eve felt some knots in her stomach as she watched the men load everything up which meant it was closer to the time to leave Rome.
Xena smiled seeing the nervousness in her daughter's eyes. She grabbed her hands in hers, "Eve, don't worry, everything is going to be fine."
Eve exhaled heavily, staring in her mother's warm eyes. "I know, but this will be the first time I will have the children in Persia again since they were babies. I hope they will like it there."
"They'll love it as long as they're with you!" Gabrielle said trying to make her feel better.
"I will write both of you if something happens," Eve began, "and I want to know the progress of the Athenian palace too," she said and Xena kept bobbing her head, listening to her daughter. "And you will both be there when I have the baby right? You're going to be there, aren't you?" her eyes widened as her heart began to race.
Xena laughed, "Eve! Of course we will be there, please stop worrying so much," she touched her cheek and Eve smiled sheepishly. "We'll even stay for an entire month before, okay?" Eve nodded, feeling a bit better already.
Eve smiled, "thank you for everything you have done for me," she hugged her mother then hugged Gabrielle next. "I'm going to miss you both," she frowned and started sobbing.
Gabrielle's eyes widened, "don't cry!" she wrapped her arms around Eve and Xena sighed. "We're not that far away, you know?"
Eve cried more, "yes you are!" she buried her face in her hands and Xena rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Eve stop crying, we will see each other again in a few months alright?" she kissed her forehead and Eve wiped her cheeks, nodding.
Samuel ran up the stairs from outside and saw Eve crying softly. He frowned and grabbed her hand, "are you crying?" he wiped her tears and she shook her head. "We should leave soon, the children keep asking when we are going," he smiled.
She exhaled heavily, "alright..." she hooked arms with Samuel and walked down the steps together. She turned around and saw her mother and Gabrielle waving at her. She smiled at them both before stepping into the caravan with Luca and Layla both waiting.
Gabrielle kept smiling and she folded her arms, "she cries a lot," she whispered to Xena.
Xena said through a tight smile, "I know..." she sighed, "she'll be fine when she reaches Susa." She wrapped her arm around Gabrielle, "so we are alone...finally."
Gabrielle smirked, "yes we are. What do you want to do first?"
"Go to Athens!" Xena smiled, pulling Gabrielle along back into the palace. "And maybe we can go to Corinth too? And Megara..." she tapped her cheek thinking of all the possibilities.
"Wow you have some ambition!" Gabrielle huffed as she was being dragged by Xena down the hallway.
