Chapters 22 and 23 have been posted. Got more cute Frary and Kennash/Amelia moments.
On the third to last day in Italy, Francis takes Mary to the docks of the ocean during the evening, introducing her to the boat he and his siblings spent many Summers making. He proudly stands back, hands wide as Mary giggles at the multiple crossed-out names on the side of the boat.
"Marie?"
"I changed it last night," he admits, bashful. "It used to be called 'Versailles' because we kept arguing over a name and our parents got sick of it and chose the town we live in."
Mary chuckles, pressing a loving kiss on his lips. "I love it," she tells him before he helps her onto the boat.
"She's a beauty," he tells her. "But no more so than you."
"Francis," Mary says, blushing furiously as he gets on. "You're so sweet..."
As they set off, Francis further admits that they didn't do most of the work, their grandfather helping them as an expert in boats. Their beloved Nonno had recently had a stroke and Mary tells Francis that she'd love to meet him tomorrow before they leave for home.
She closes her eyes as she sits at the tip of the boat, feeling the breeze on her face before Francis wraps his arms around her waist, pressing a soft kiss on her neck. She smiles into his kiss, leaning further as her hands lay over his.
"Want to Titanic the shit out of this?" She asks.
Francis laughs and her eyes snap open, her arms opened wide as she ungraciously starts humming or singing, they don't know, the classic Titanic song. It's mostly 'da da das'.
"It's so beautiful," Mary breathes out, pointing to the sun setting. "I want to stay here forever."
Francis notes the tears in her voice and he rests his forehead against the back of her head. "We could. We could live here in Italy after school. We could do this every day. And whatever I say goes, because-"
"You almost died?" She finishes, laughing.
"Yeah," he says, chuckling. "But it's our choice. Not only mine. You also get a say."
Mary turns to face him. "As long as we're together, I don't care where we are."
"Shit, since you said that..." He trails off, taking his shirt off before kissing her. "Might as well tick off having sex under a sunset off my list."
Mary giggles, being pulled into the boat further, her giggles silenced by his sweet kisses.
...
August doesn't come easy for Kenna or Francis as they nervously finger their exam results. Mary's already opened hers, no one surprised that she got two As and three A*s, nothing less than an A. Their school did five A levels.
"Stop stressing," Bash tells them, Amelia in his arms. "Do you think Mama and Oncle are being silly for stressing out?"
"Bash!" They cry out.
"Have you forgotten I've spent most of the two years in the hospital?"
"Have you forgotten I gave birth to a kid?"
Bash chuckles, sharing a roll of the eyes with Mary. "Alright, I'll shut up. But open the damn letters."
Mary even grabs Francis's, ripping it open. "Let's see..."
"Mary!" Francis cries out, grabbing the letter from her hands. "I feel sick."
"It's just nerves," Mary tells him. "Deep breaths and look at them."
Francis sees three pairs of eyes on him and he scowls before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in before releasing it. His eyes land on the surface where the letter lies down on. A slight smile breaks out on his face.
"One A*, three As and a B. Nothing less," he tells them, showing Bash.
Bash grins, digging into his pocket for his wallet. "Dad told me to give you a hundred pounds for every A you got. if you got an A*, you get one hundred and fifty," he says, searching for some notes. "I'll transfer it later."
Francis gasps. "Yes! Mary, we can save up for our travelling!"
"We can. I'm so proud of you, Francis," she says, kissing his cheek. She turns to Kenna. "Well?"
Kenna opens her envelope slowly, putting it face down as she slips the results out. She can practically guess what she's got. Maths was terrible for her, English was not all that bad, but with Chemistry, Physics and Biology, she struggled greatly. Well, Biology was easier than the other two but still quite difficult.
She knows none of them will get into a prestigious university, these past two years have been difficult and hard and she tells herself to just accept whatever results she has and settle for the next best thing to Oxford and Cambridge material. Perhaps a university closer to home so she can be a more present mother for Amelia and Bash can help, he's really helpful when it comes to her studies...
Mary flips the paper the right side up and eyes Kenna knowingly. "Look at it."
Kenna's eyes land on her English results first. "A*?"
"What?" Francis asks. "Well, then again I hated English so not all that surprised with my A..."
There must be a mistake because I've got nothing less than three As... Two A*s? What the actual fuck? "I-I got two A*s and three As..."
"Congratulations!" Mary cries out happily.
"This is a mistake-"
"Kenna, you did it," Bash breathes out, her eyes meeting his tearfully. "What's wrong?"
She gets up, leaving the room and heading upstairs, sobs escaping her lips as she sinks onto her bed. She can't believe it. She's spent many nights and days revising, struggling with symptoms from pregnancy and post-pregnancy. She's lost sleep and eaten less, she's stuffed her face with food at times with cups of coffee surrounding her and baby sick down her shirt as she reads textbook after textbook. She's been rewarded with sex whenever she gets really good exam practises done.
It's a bloody relief by why does she feel so empty?
She's fulfilled her parents wish for her to achieve nothing but the best although three As isn't considered as her best result according to her parents but at least they didn't expect more from her or anything at all. She gets a choice now, her parents have asked her what she wants to do but she doesn't entirely know.
"Hey..."
She sits up, sniffling as she palms her tears away, meeting Bash through wet lashes. "Hi."
"Wasn't sure if you wanted to be alone," he states, waiting by the door. "Francis and Mary are outside enjoying the paddling pool with Amelia."
Kenna nods, bowing her head. "I felt like I've had a noose around my neck. The second I read the positive tests..."
He comes inside now, taking a seat beside her. "And?"
"I felt like my life was over," she admits quietly. "And it's crazy because the second I saw Amelia, I felt like my life had just begun but there were so many hurdles. Like how I was going to provide for her to grow up. I didn't only want to rely on you, I want to be my own person with a job and bills and be normal. I keep telling myself that I want kids, I only started a little bit earlier than expected. Just so I don't drive myself insane as I study and attempt to get decent enough grades for university but now I can have my pick except Oxford and Cambridge but I never really cared for those like my older brothers did... It's just scary and real."
"It's normal to feel overwhelmed," Bash tells her. "I remember feeling terrible after getting my results. It's as if I mentally wanted to do bad but I couldn't do that so I got really decent results and decided to pass on going to university. But everyone's paths are different. No one needs to have the yellow brick road to skip along if their destination is ahead of them. You could take a long way or the short cut or even take the medium route where you get the joy of going steady with the nice scenic routes... Either way, you're going to end up dying."
Kenna laughs. "Well, thanks for the reminder that we're not immortal."
He chuckles, pressing a kiss on the back of her hand. "We're proud of you. Now, tell your parents the good news and we'll meet you outside for drinks to celebrate."
After she's spoken to her family, she heads downstairs to her other one, giggling when Amelia, now ten-months-old, presses a kiss on her palm her way. She awes, hurrying over to her baby, being caught by Bash in the journey as he spins her around, laughter leaving her lips.
"Are you happy now?" He asks, settling her down and leaning his forehead against hers.
"Very," she breathes out. "I love you."
"I love you too," he says, kissing her softly before releasing her to get their daughter as he flicks water from the pool in Mary and Francis's way who spring apart from making out. "There's a baby here, idiots."
"Idiot!" Mary mutters before laughing with Francis.
...
"Good morning, Princess," Kenna coos two months later, lifting a standing Amelia into her arms. "Happy 1st birthday!"
"Is she awake?"
Kenna turns to Bash nods, seeing him reach over for Amelia. "Couldn't let me have one second with the birthday girl?" She asks lightly, handing Amelia over at the baby's insistence on being carried by 'dada'.
"Dada," Amelia repeats. She still hasn't caught on to calling Kenna 'mama' yet but Kenna doesn't mind. It has been Bash whom Amelia has been spending a lot of time with since Kenna's been working as a receptionist at her father's company for a few months before going travelling with Mary and Francis who are already two countries down into Francis's Bucket List for the countries he wants to visit.
Bash smiles self-deprecatingly. "Dad and Catherine got her something," he says, leading her downstairs. "Delivered straight to our door."
He gestures to the white mini-Mercedes car with a purple bow wrapped on the hood and he shares a wary glance with Kenna. Their daughter is going to be so spoilt with many relatives going all out for her first-ever birthday. They're even flying or driving in to celebrate with a garden party fit for a little princess with hired actors and actresses to play as princes and princesses for the kids.
Amelia starts fussing in his arms and Bash puts her down, her parents watching as she toddles over to the car and squeals happily.
"Well, she likes it," Kenna states with a fond smile growing on her face. "I guess we'll keep it..."
Bash chuckles, helping Amelia into the car which she immediately starts pressing against the horn which plays a French lullaby jingle. He sighs. "I hope we can turn that off otherwise we won't get any rest."
"Is that the birthday girl I hear?"
The couple turns to the stairs where Francis hurries down with a wrapped present in his hand. It's quite big and he slows down, getting on his knees to hug Amelia tightly who is just as happy to hug her favourite, blonde uncle.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart!" He cries out, pressing kisses onto her face and grinning when she giggles. "Guess what I got you?"
He helps her rip the wrapping paper off, revealing a soft, cuddly doll that looks like her and a personalised wooden pushchair in a soft lilac colour. The adults chuckle when Amelia ditches the Mercedes for Francis's gift and it's nowhere close to how she'll react when her parents come out with her gift.
"I'll grab the cake," Kenna says, heading to the closet to grab her coat. "Can you check if everything's sorted outside? The caterers are-"
"I've got it," Bash promises, handing her his keys. "Kiss."
Kenna smiles, pressing a soft kiss on his lips before twirling his keys around her finger as she heads to the garage.
Bash looks back down at Amelia and Francis playing with her new toy and he watches in awe and disbelief. He can't believe his little girl is a year old. She's walking, talking (well, babbling mostly) and she's so clever and smart. He sniffles, wiping his eyes as Francis looks up in amusement.
"Shut up," he mutters. "I-I've got to deal with the setting up. Look after-"
"Go and cry, you big baby," Francis tells him teasingly before laughing with an elated Amelia. "Your daddy is so emotional you're not a baby anymore..."
...
"Bash! We got to get back downstairs," Kenna says, giggling when his lips meet her neck. "We've got to give Lia her present."
"She's a baby, she doesn't understand the concept of time-"
"Our parents do," she tells him pointedly.
He sighs, his hands on her hips as he rests his forehead against hers. "I can't believe she's one already."
Kenna's eyes water. "Same," she whispers. "It feels like it was just yesterday that I was pleading for the tests to say negative but... I can't live without her. Amelia is my baby, I love her so much, she means everything to me."
"Do you regret having her?"
"No," Kenna says firmly. "I see her and I see love, joy and my future. Our future."
Bash sighs in relief. "It might be Amelia's birthday but I, uh, got you something. As a 'thank you' for giving me our daughter."
Kenna's brows raise. "You didn't have to..."
"You carried her, birthed her and well, it's the least I can do for putting you through that."
Kenna chuckles softly and nods slightly. "Okay."
He digs into his pocket, revealing an amethyst promise ring. "I know, it's stupid because we're already married but this ring is promising you that we'll have the big, fancy wedding when we're ready."
Kenna looks at him, stunned as he nervously studies her. "We don't need a big, fancy wedding..."
"I think we do," he says softly, cupping her cheek tenderly. "Well, it doesn't have to be big or fancy but it has to happen because when we got married, we weren't both so... Well, I didn't love you."
It's a harsh reminder but she's accepted it. It's now that matters really as she says, "That doesn't matter, we're still committed to each other under God's eye and through our daughter."
"Yeah, but," Bash starts, swallowing hard. "I want the vows, okay? I know it's too soon to even talk about this but I want... I want a real wedding and I want you to have one too."
"Bash..."
"I want to stand in front of my wife and declare my love for her to all of our friends and families," he continues on, his cheeks reddening. "I want to be sappy and emotional, I want to kiss her so hard, fireworks go off. I want to have a first dance, eat great food, cut the cake, go on a honeymoon... I want all of that with you."
He bows his head and stuffs the ring back into his pocket when she doesn't say anything, mumbling an apology before leaving their bedroom. Kenna furrows her brows in surprise and disbelief before she leaves the room and pulls him back, her hand reaching into his jean pocket, him surprised.
"Where is it?" She demands, finding the ring in his other pocket. She sighs in relief, slipping it on top of his grandmother's ring. She meets his bewildered eyes. "I want that too." She's beaming, biting her lip.
Bash laughs, cupping her cheeks before pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. "God, I thought I'd scared you off."
"Nope, just wanted you to sweat a little," she says teasingly before kissing him. "Grab Lia's present. I'll-"
"Mama!"
They turn in the direction of Catherine trying to unlatch the baby gate with a crying Amelia in her arm.
"She was running after Louis and Hercule and fell, bumping her head," Catherine explains as Kenna hurries to take her daughter off her hands. "I'll grab a flannel with some warm water to help with the swelling. She won't need to go to the hospital, your brothers checked her over."
Kenna sighs in relief, feeling Bash wrap an arm around her waist as his fingers brush over a teary Amelia's bump. "Oh my sweet..." She trails off, eyes wide. "Did you just say-"
"Mama," Amelia whines, digging her face into Kenna's chest.
Bash chuckles. "Well, isn't that a sweet present for Mama?"
Kenna grins, pressing a kiss on their daughter's bump before gratefully accepting the flannel and bowl of warm water from Catherine in one hand before the woman heads back downstairs.
Kenna heads into hers and Bash's bedroom, placing Amelia on their bed before taking a seat beside the baby, Bash on the other side with Amelia's gift on the floor.
"Mama and I got you something, Lia," he says, unwrapping the gift to reveal a custom-made rocking horse. "I made it for you."
Amelia gasps, staring at the white and brown horse with lilac leather stirrups and her name neatly written in silver on the body. She reaches for it but her mother stops her from falling off the bed with a chuckle.
"Later, sweetie," she says, pressing the flannel against Amelia's bump. "Did Daddy do a good job?"
Amelia nods and Bash grins, pressing a kiss on top of the girl's caramel hair.
"Good answer," he says lightly. "Mama and I love you so much, Amelia Diane Francine."
He grabs his phone as Kenna fixes the baby's bow over her bump before they take a sweet family picture.
"This is going on her wall," Bash says proudly. "Here's to many more years with Amelia."
Kenna grins, kissing him. "Many more years," she repeats happily.