The child was sleeping again. I could tell it wouldn't be sleeping for long right now though. It would twitch every now and then. I think I might have found a great home for him. If I could keep him I would. I… love the child despite everything and I will always love the child.
"Sir, there's a group of people heading to the East. If you want you can drop the child with them. They'll be leaving in three weeks."
"Three weeks would be too much time for me." I would find a way to keep him with me… or get more attached than I already am. I heard a cute yawn and the child sat up, rubbing its eyes. It giggled when it noticed what it had been wrapped in while it was sleeping. My cape. I'd not needed it at the moment and had decided to give it to Prussia while he slept. He cuddled it and inhaled it. Strange behavior.
"Yes sir. What would you like me to do?"
"Tell them I'll give them three hundred pieces of gold and fifty pieces of silver if they leave a week earlier."
"Yes sir!" He quickly left and Gilbert's attention was taken away from the cape as he heard the door close. He ran to the door and pulled and pushed and pulled. When nothing he did worked he began to throw things at the door.
"Hey!" I called to him, demanding him to stop. He looked over to me and his attention was changed from the door to me. He ran over and hugged my leg, smiling. He- it loves me. I can't start thinking of it as a 'he' because that's one of the first signs of attachment. I put my hand on his head as I finished reading my papers. It was a warning from the Huns. Maybe Rome and I should go and drive them back to where they came from. I can't have Huns any where near my chi- it. They might contaminate it.
I picked up the child and left the room, grabbing my cape on the way. "Daddy." He said cheerily. I ignored it. I grabbed my sword on the way out of the building and then set it on it's feet.
"Today I'll show you how to pick flowers and how to tell if something is poisonous or not." There, that's not exactly hurting others. It's a florist job. He ran ahead of me. "Hey! Get back here!" It didn't listen. "Gilbert Beilschmidt! Get back here now!" It still ignored me. I sighed. I quickened my pace and I was grateful when his attention was caught by some blue berries. He started picking them and before I could get any where near him he started popping them in his mouth. I hurried when I saw a medium sized bear approach him, sniffing at him. And of course Gilbert had to make it worse when he threw something at it and 'growled' at it. It roared at him and he pounced on it. Screw walking! I ran over, taking my sword out of the sheathe.
He may be playing but wild animals are never playing. Why does it have to be the carnivores he chooses to play with?! I watched in astonishment when the bear didn't do anything to it. It gave a softer roar and Gilbert gave it a hug…
I grabbed Gilbert and dragged him from the bear. The bear ran off and Gilbert began crying. Shit. He waved his arms and legs and screamed and cried. I sat down in the closest flower field and held him to my chest, hugging him back. He continued to fuss for a few more minutes until he realized the position he was in. He wrapped his arms around my neck as much as he could and stopped screaming. And crying. I sighed.
"I love you even if you are a failure." He's not a failure, not at all, but hopefully that will drive him off from any further attachment to me. Not that he probably knew what a failure even was… to get rid of the guilt I had for calling him a failure… "I love you Gilbert." I gave him a tight hug before delivering a kiss to his cheek. He calmed down and he was relaxed now. I sat him down on the ground and picked the best flower and handed it to him, smiling gently at him. He hugged the flower. I could feel my love for him growing and I can't have that… I was already trying to figure out how to keep the child. My son.