Chapter the Third
In which our intrepid Hero attends a Funeral and loses a Job
Eight o'clock in the morning found Damien in Kate's room where Kate, like Damien, was dressed for the Peter's service. As was quickly becoming custom, the new father spent time with his children, sending his love to them. He had considered cutting off contact with Delia and Alexander this morning, it would make looking sad easier, but sensing what he could from Kate, he decided against it; he felt like it would be abandoning his children to her hatred of them. Damien had also dismissed the nurses and then did something that he had not done since the incident at Fountains Abbey: he looked Kate Reynolds in the eyes.
Kate was sedated, as she had been since Taggart had arrived at Oscar, but she was aware enough to know that she was going to her son's funeral, that she was pregnant with twins and whose babies she was carrying. As Damien stood there, he could feel the vitriol that Kate felt for him, though her emotions swung between abject grief over Peter and utter contempt for him and the children she was carrying, and if Kate could have had her way, she would have dropped Damien Thorn dead where he stood. He smiled, lucky for him she wasn't capable of doing that.
That she hated Damien, he couldn't care less, but that she hated the children that were inside of her…he would have liked to institute a more permanent solution to Kate's agitation, but his long term plan included her Kate being able to keep in contact with the few people over here that she knew, so something like a frontal lobotomy to keep her calm wasn't possible. Damien wasn't worried so much now, after all, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even known that she was expecting, it was only Damien speaking to his offspring that had indicated to her that she was pregnant, it was when the babies got bigger and were more aware of what was happening that he worried that they would be able to feel her abhorrence for them. Damien was sure, like with the sedation medication, that Kate not wanting Delia and Alexander wouldn't have any adverse effect on the children themselves, but he didn't want them thinking or feeling that they were unwanted so he was going to have to see if he could use his special talents to get her to change her mind about being pregnant, or at least not care about being pregnant.
Damien had dismissed the nurses because he wasn't sure if he wanted to say something to Kate, or if he wanted to hear anything that she had to say to him, but as he stood there staring down at her, feeling her hatred, he realized that Kate would have little else to say to him that he wasn't already feeling from her. Damien knew that she knew that he had never really loved her, but had used her to carry his children and had used Peter to help him locate the Nazarene. As to whether she truly believed what DeCarlo had told her about him, that Damien was the Antichrist, he didn't care about that either.
And Damien knew that he had nothing to say to her; what would he say? He hadn't done anything particularly gloat-worthy. In the beginning, Kate had been only too happy to let Damien bed her, he had felt her attraction to him the evening when they had first met, so having sex with her hadn't been anything for which he should be particularly proud. There was Peter, but making him one of his and Satan's, disciples; Damien smiled, that was about gloating to their god more than it was to Kate. And most importantly, he wasn't sorry for anything that he had done, for using her, for killing Peter and eventually having to kill her, so why lie by apologizing for any of it? And besides, Kate was smart enough to know that he would be lying, so why bother? They regarded each other, each understanding what the other was thinking and feeling and then Damien turned his back on her and left.
Downstairs, Damien found Thomas preparing breakfast and dressed for the funeral; Anna would stay behind. Thomas served everyone and two of the nurses came down to get food for themselves and Kate, but Damien doubted that she would eat anything.
Thomas was coming to the funeral for two reasons. First, he would play the part of moral support for Damien and Kate, but second, and most importantly, he was there to keep an eye on the new father to make sure that he looked properly grief stricken, but Thomas would take a separate car so that he could drive Kate back to Oscar after the service. Once breakfast was eaten, Damien went upstairs to get Kate, immediately thinking himself into her mind and then once he felt her calm down, they all went to their respective cars and left for the city.
On the way to the service, Damien found that he was able to put away his fatherly contentment easier than he thought; he simply dwelled on the idea that he had come very close to requiring his own pine box and right now his children would have existed without him, which now that he had felt them and had thought about what their existences would be like, could not imagine their tiny lives in the hands of human beings. Choosing to block them out would have been a mistake; being able to feel them simply added fuel to his ability to look as upset as he was starting to feel.
Once at the cemetery, Damien spotted two men, one of whom had to be Michael Jones, the other, Kate's unnamed co-worker whom Michael had said would be accompanying him. Damien had to stop himself from smiling…two men…this was perfect. While these men no doubt cared for Kate, they would also be uncomfortable with her raw emotions concerning the loss of her son and would not not want to stay longer than necessary. Damien would be especially supportive and not give these men any reason to doubt that Kate was in good hands once they left.
The service was short, after all only five people were present. He kept his arm around Kate, making sure that Michael and Benedict saw him comfort her and at one point, he had her sob heavily and her bury her head into his shoulder, and after the service, he brought Kate over to talk to the two men, whom Damien had correctly predicted felt awkward with her. Everyone promised to keep in touch and to let them know if she needed anything. Damien promised, once he arrived back in Chicago, to phone Michael and give an exclusive about his resigning as Ambassador and both men thanked Damien for being there and helping Kate through such a traumatic time and as they left, he knew that unless they were willing to fly to Chicago, it would be the last time either man saw Kate Reynolds alive. Peter would be cremated and his ashes interred at the cemetery, but Kate would not be there as she would be leaving for Chicago tomorrow with Damien.
Thomas took Kate back to Oscar and Damien had the driver take him to the Ambassador's residence and as the car pulled into the driveway, he smiled. The house was gorgeous, crowning the equally stunning property it sat upon and as Damien admired the view, he realized that he'd miss all of it, especially the park and garden, the largest private garden in central London second only to the one at Buckingham Palace.
Inside the house, there was scurrying going on, mostly on the part of people attempting to get things ready for Damien's replacement. However, three people there were from the Thorn Industries London office and were waiting for Damien and once he arrived, he went through the house, followed by the two women and one man who, with pens, paper and clipboards in hand, fervently took note of everything that Damien wanted to take with him, which wasn't going to amount to very much, not surprising since he hadn't been there long enough to have accrued many new possessions. But, all the same they followed him, taking note of whatever Damien said and making sure that if he said that it was his, and he wanted it, the object would find its way across the pond.
In the bedroom, it was mostly clothing that would come back with him. A slight smile passed over his mouth as he looked at the bed...okay, maybe having Kate had been a bit gloat-worthy. He wanted the mattress and box-spring, the frame could stay, but he wanted the bed itself to be brought back to Chicago.
Damien went up the top floor unescorted. He still had the keys to the house, he would hand those over at the Embassy, but as he came around the corner, he found the door to the one-time chapel already open. Thomas had put some of their people to work painting the room and Damien knew that it had been done before he had made it to the top because the stink of the paint had greeted him half way up the stairs. Undoubtedly, the door had been left open to let the room air out. He walked in and examined one of the walls; the now beige surface bore no trace of the black paint that had once covered the inside of the room.
He also noticed that the room was emptier than the last time he had been up here: Thomas and Anna had taken away the effigy of the Nazarene and had had it destroyed. Damien closed his eyes; he could still remember the anger and rage, it had rolled off of him in thick waves...waves that had nearly drowned him in a sea of over-emotion. He still wanted to destroy the Nazarene and the so-called god, but he was nowhere near as angry as he had been. Now, with a clearer head, he realized that they had fuelled the anger and the rage so that the strong emotions would be a factor in preventing Satan from reaching His son but, Damien smiled, it didn't matter, they had failed and he would never let them have that much power again. The house in Chicago bore no such statue: his home would be Nazarene free. He reached out...it was just a room now. He could feel his Father inside, but He was no longer a part of this space; however, his Father would be waiting for both him and his children in the chapel in Chicago. Damien opened his eyes, took a last look around the room and left.
Damien also stopped at the Embassy where he handed over keys and signed papers officially ending his reign as the shortest serving American Ambassador to Great Britain and once he returned to Oscar, he was welcomed back with Thomas in the kitchen working on dinner. "So, how did it go?" Thomas looked at Damien as he picked up a carrot from the counter and bit into it...he was famished. Thomas quickly put together a sandwich for Damien, which he enthusiastically began to devour.
"Everything I want will make its way back to Chicago and I'm officially no longer the Ambassador to Great Britain." Thomas handed Damien a beer to go with his meal.
"Well, you're still the Antichrist so try not to take it as too much of a blow."
Damien laughed. "True, there's not many who can lose a gig like that and still end up with the better job." Thomas had gotten a beer for himself and both of them held up their bottles and then drank. "How did things go with Kate?"
"Fine, I gave her the shot and she was quiet all the way home."
Damien left Thomas in the kitchen and went to check on Kate, who was sleeping and as far as he could feel, his children were fine. He then went into his room and changed into some more casual clothes.
The rest of the day was spent not doing much of anything, which was nice change of pace. At one point, Anna challenged Damien to a game of chess and as the game progressed, he could see the resemblance to her uncle, the same steely-eyed determination and resolve that he had come to know from Paul for all these years and Anna had very nearly beaten him.
Thomas' cooking skills were in top form as the chicken and roasted potatoes were phenomenal. After dinner, Anna left Thomas and Damien alone to talk in private. "So, what happens with these children?"
Damien took a drink of wine. "Pretty much the same as if I would have died, except," he smiled, "There will be three of us. The plan had been, of course, for Delia to run Thorn Industries and have Alexander work somewhere else in the company, and eventually take a run at politics…all of which will still happen."
"What about you?"
"I'm still the Antichrist, until Satan decides that I can go home."
"That can happen?"
Damien nodded. "If Alexander is here to eventually take my place, then yes, but that won't be happening for quite some time."
Thomas smiled and lifted his glass to Damien. "Just remember when you all take over the world, benevolent dictators." Thomas took a drink of wine and Damien laughed.
At ten-thirty, Thomas called it a night and left Damien downstairs. The hardest part was over. Now he had to worry about being a father, a subject which Damien predicted would consume much of his time before Kate gave birth nine months from now. There was little he could do about it at the present, he was just glad the worst of it was over and he would soon be in Chicago and he would have to be patient as the next nine months played themselves out and he would be able to meet his children in person, so to speak.
