Chapter 2: The First Born Son and a Rebirth
Flashback
Brennan Booth, a wealthy landowner that owns most of Misthaven sits in his favorite leather chair reviewing some estate documents that were left pending by the unexpected death of his steward. Suddenly there is an urgent knock on the door.
"Enter," he says, and his wife, Cora, promptly enters.
"You have a visitor," Cora says.
Brennan looks up to see his longtime friend, Archie.
"Brennan, John is dying and he is calling for you."
Brennan scoffs. "What would John need to speak to me about? We are far from friends."
Archie answers, "You have Madeline in common, or have you forgotten about her?"
Brennan looks up to his friend and gets up to respond. "Fine, let's go see what that lowlife wants to see me about."
They leave his house on foot and take to the street, walking at a fast pace, both lost in thought. Brennan remembers Madeline fondly. She was such a beautiful woman, possessed a smile that brightened the darkest days. He would never understand how Madeline Jones ended up married to a wretch like John Long.
"We are here," Archie suddenly says.
They stand in front of a shack that barely seems suitable for housing animals, much less a family. The thought of Madeline withering away in a place like this fills Brennan with guilt. He should have fought for their love, but in the end, they both settled for people who never truly loved them, he was nothing but a coward.
They knock on the door and slowly enter when no one answers.. There is a man lying on a cot, thin and brittle. If Brennan wasn't aware of where they are, he might not have recognized the man before him.
"You sent for me?" Brennan asks curtly. He turns around when the door to the home bursts open, and a boy barely older than his son August enters.
"Who are you?" the boy asks looking between the men.
John's eyes dart from the boy to Brennan. "Killian, get out! I have business with them."
The boy, Killian, walks to the door and before leaving the shack glances back at the men one last time.
John glares at Brennan and goes on. "Must I say the words?"
Brennan looks at him and shakes his head. "What are you talking about? You wanted to see me. Here I am."
"You must be blind if you do not see the resemblance. Killian is your son. The son you sired with my wife. Madeline tried to pass him as mine, but the older the boy got, the more I could see the man that had an affair with my wife. We both saw it, and where she loved Killian for being a part of you. I hate him for it," John says.
"Madeline would never have kept this from me! She would have found a way to let me know of his existence!" Brennan screams at the man.
John only laughs before replying, "What makes you think she didn't try? She hoped to her last breath that you would come to rescue her and that little bastard son of yours. The truth of the matter is, she was not good enough for you. Madeline went to see you and was welcomed to your home by your pregnant high-class wife, the one that was good enough for you to give your name. She was heartbroken once more by your actions and settled for me.
"I never confronted her, so she always wondered why I was so cruel to Killian when I loved Liam so wholeheartedly. When the heartbreak finally was too much to bear for her and she was too weak to care for the boys, we decided to send Liam away to be with my sister. She wanted to send Killian too, but I told her that my sister would not be able to handle both of them. Killian was three years old when Madeline passed. The truth is, Killian did not belong with my sister, or here for that matter. For years I have had to take care of him, and he's not even my blood!"
"He is truly my son?" Brennan asks to no one in particular, standing in disbelief in front of the man that destroyed his lost love. He has a son, another son to be exact. Killian, is his first-born.
A fit of coughs take over John, and the frail man looks to Brennan before taking his final breath, hoping that his last confession will be enough to redeem him.
"What are you going to do? Cora will not welcome Killian," Archie asks.
Brennan knows his friend is right. "I will tell her he is the son of the steward of my estate, who recently died. She doesn't bother getting to know anyone she considers below her class. I will say August is lonely and since she can no longer have any more children, he will be August's playmate."
After discussing what arrangements need to be made for the deceased man, Brennan and Archie head outside to collect Killian. They tell him that John has passed away and has asked for Brennan to take Killian in.
Killian is confused that his father has attempted to make any sort of arrangement because the man has never shown any form of love towards him, but he accepts the story since he has nowhere else to go.
As months pass by, Killian and August bond, they truly act like brothers. Brennan tells Cora he wishes to adopt Killian to give him a better chance, but Cora doesn't like the idea. She tells Brennan that he needs to send Killian away because he is a bad influence on August, but she is unable to deter him, and he adopts Killian.
Why would her husband want to give his last name to a nobody? Cora is not blind, she sees the way Brennan looks at the boy and decides to confront him. "Brennan tell me the truth! Who is Killian to you?" Cora yells.
He looks at her and finally answers. "Killian is my firstborn. He is a Booth, and I want him to be an equal to August in every way, that is why I gave him my last name." He picks up a folder from the desk and holds it up towards his wife. "All there is left for me to do is to update my will and then August and Killian will have equal rights to my fortune."
A sharp boom of thunder rumbles outside, coinciding with Cora as she snaps, livid with her husband's decision. "There is no way in hell that bastard will have the same rights as my son!"
Tucking away the documents in his breast pocket, Brennan ignores his wife and heads to the stables. He mounts his horse and urgently rides away. He pays no mind to the weather, or anything except that he needs to get these documents to his friend and lawyer Archie.
As he rides through the pouring rain, a flash of lightning catches his attention. By the time he glances back to the path in front of him it is too late, a fallen tree blocks his path. Brennan tries to get his horse to jump it, but instead the horse's front hooves catch on the felled trunk and both rider and horse are thrown precariously through the air.
Brennan is found lying unconscious by a good samaritan. Archie who had been on his way out to see the Booth family, curious as to how the adjustment was going with a new son living in the home came across his friend and the man trying to help. Once Archie and the good samaritan get Brennan back home a doctor is summoned, and the samaritan takes his leave. Cora sits by her still unconscious husband's side and discreetly searches for the papers that will secure her future fortune.
The doctor uses smelling salts to revive Brennan and he regains consciousness, but after a quick assessment of the bruising taking over the injured man's body, the doctor knows he will be unable to stop the internal bleeding in time."
"It'd be wise to get your affairs in order," the doctor says gravely.
Brennan frantically calls for August as he realizes this may be his only chance to pass on the truth that Killian is his true son.
Brennan is quickly deteriorating when August rushes to his bedside.
"What is it, Father," August asks, taking his father's hand in his own.
With his last breath, Brennan is able to say, "August, please take care of Killian." The lasts words Brennan Booth says to his youngest son are not the ones he had hoped to utter.
With Brennan Booth's sudden death, Cora, always a clever conniver formulates a quick plan.
"August, please send Mr. Hopper back in, I need to discuss a few things with him. Once you have done that please go to Killian and tell him what's happened."
August complies with his mother's wishes. As Cora sits staring at her husband's lifeless body she decides she must get rid of the only other person that knows of her late husband's illegitimate son.
Archie arrives at the door and knocks quietly. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, this will be quick, no need to get comfortable. You are fired. You can go now." Cora states coldly.
Archie just stands there looking at her as she gets up from her chair and leaves him behind.
By day's end August is the sole heir to the Booth fortune, Killian has been sent away without August's or Archie's knowledge, and Cora is already contemplating her next move upon society.
Rebirth
Time never stays still. Years pass by and Killian grows up out on the streets of the port-town, unloved, and in the company of sailors and pirates. He has so few happy memories. The only time he had felt like his luck had changed for at least a brief moment was during his time with the Booth's. That was the closest he had ever been to having a family after the passing of his mother.
His father had always treated him with hatred, but his father's final moments puzzled him. Why would he ask Mr. Booth to give him a home? He seemed like a different man at the time of his death, his final request did not seem like the man that had raised him without love and guidance, in poverty and neglect and never gave him his last name. Some questions would stay unanswered.
As a young man Killian became part of Edward Teach's crew, a known pirate. He moved up quickly in the ranks. He grew to enjoy drinking, women and especially the rush of being an outlaw. He won Teach's position as Captain of The Jolly Roger at a young age in a duel. The crew of the Jolly Roger rejoiced in the new life their young captain breathed upon them.
The lost boy and fatherless son of Madeline Jones thus became a ruthless, womanizing pirate. His dastardly reputation harbored him an unbound loyalty with his men. Killian renounced the last name Brennan Booth had given him before he too abandoned him. Killian embraced his mother's last name because in reality, she had been the only one that had truly loved him. He was simply Captain Killian Jones from that day on.