A somewhat shorter chapter... I just wanted to get this up before my life gets kinda crazy and I won't know how much time I'll have to write.

Chapter 3: Just like his father

I was standing behind my brother in the blue garden, watching him fight a lone blue. Swinging his shovel high, Ulrich disarmed the blue. As his weapon fell away, I suddenly realized who it was.

"No… stop..!"

Ulrich didn't listen and I was forced to watch as he swung his staff again and smashed it through the hat of the gnome before him. His victim shattered into a million pieces.

I was still yelling as the dust of the blue scattered into the wind. Sounds accompanied my own: a woman screaming and a man howling in rage. I covered my ears to drown them out but that only seemed to make them louder…

The sound of something breaking. Then all was quiet.

I looked around at the suddenly empty scene. Empty except for…

"Kat!" She was there, young and happy. She smiled at me and waved. I ran towards her. I was close enough to take her in my arms…. To hold her close…. But…

Only she wasn't the young Katherine anymore…. her stomach was huge and round with child. There were tear tracts running down her face. She stared at me with a burning hatred in her eyes…

"You…. You murdered him…."

My tongue locked up. All I could do shake my head violently.

Slowly, she raised her trembling finger and pointed at me.

"YOU KILLED THE FATHER OF MY CHILD!"

"NO!"

"Cleon… Cleon wake up!"

I jolted awake, breathing hard. Ophelia's hand felt cool and light on my forehead.

"Cleon?" She was peering down at me fearfully.

"I'm alright." I lied as I sat up; rubbing tears from my eyes before she could see them. "Just a dream… just a dream."

She sat up beside me and put her arm around my shoulder.

"Were they in this dream again?" She asked tentatively. "The blues we… we..?"

I gently kissed her trembling hand. How was I supposed to tell her what had really woke me up? Ophelia had no idea that the guilt we felt over our part in the death of Lord and Lady Bluebell was only half of what haunted me in my dreams. I just nodded in agreement (after all, I had heard them in the dream). She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one having weird dreams… what with the baby and all."

I glanced down at her stomach, where she was just starting to show.

"Maybe you're just anxious…" She said gently, kissing my cheek. "Don't worry, Nell said we have plenty of time before they're here."

I could only nod, feeling numb. Nine weeks might be plenty of time for her, but to me it seemed like tomorrow. We sat in silence for awhile, listening to the sounds of the night.

"Are you still upset about today..?" Ophelia asked quietly.

"No!" She flinched at the volume of my voice. "No." I repeated in a rough whisper.

She stroked my arm. "You don't always have to be so strong Cleon. I'm upset by it too. Try as we might, we can't help feeling some guilt and compassion when gnomes are smashed… especially when it's our fault…"

I knew she wasn't talking about Lord Blueberry anymore.

"I still think about that day all the time…" She continued, her grip on my shoulder tightening slightly. "Their screams haunt me… and that poor girl…"

Katherine… I could feel the tears coming again. "I'm a warrior!" I exploded, angry with myself for feeling this way. "This shouldn't bother me! So why is it that I still hear them screaming? And I still wish I had stopped…" She cut me off with a kiss.

"You have a kind heart Cleon." She told me as we broke apart. She pressed against my side and laid her head on my shoulder again. "And you're a great leader…" She sighed thoughtfully. "Sometimes I wonder how life would be different if we weren't fighting the blues."

I put my arm around her waist, feeling the growing bump of our child under my fingers.

"What happened today wasn't your fault, you know."

I sighed. "I know." It wasn't my fault but I still had an ache in my heart from it.

She looked towards the window, which pointed towards the wall of the garden. "It's dangerous out there." She said quietly, her brilliant eyes shining in the moonlight. She placed her hand on top of my own at her waist. "Our child is going to have to be ready to face it."

Her tone troubled me. "You're not worried, are you?" I asked her.

She was quiet for a few seconds. "No." She finally said. "Not when I know you'll be here for me and our child." She squeezed my hand reassuringly. "And I know you'll keep our child safe and prepare them to face the world."

Softly, we lay back down on the bed. Ophelia snuggled up next to me, laying her head on my chest. I just looked at her for a minute or two, thinking about how lucky I was to have her. She was perfect: caring, beautiful, smart and strong-willed enough to keep me under control but still dependent on me. If only I could forget the first gnome I had felt this way about. Maybe then I'd feel like I deserved Ophelia more.

I hugged her closer to me. "You'll always be here too right?"

She didn't open her eyes. "I'll always be with you, Cleon…" She said sleepily.

I smiled and closed my eyes but sleep did not come. I lay awake for a long time, holding my sleeping wife and trying to forget the sight of Lord Blueberry being smashed by a wave of pots. And his wife; crying broken-hearted over his pieces like she would never be happy again… and her child… growing up without a father…

I shook that thought from my head. I couldn't concern myself with Lady Blueberry's child. The sleeping Ophelia shifted in my arms and I smiled as I looked down at her again. Nine weeks… nine week and then, I would have my own child to worry about. I lay my head against Ophelia's and fell asleep again.

"Pregnancies for gnomes are not quite the same as human ones. After all, we're not humans. Ours typically take between 18-20 weeks. Also, gnomes don't eat, but our bodies still change very dramatically when carrying a child. The ceramics stretch noticeably in places but usually shrink back to normal after the child is born. Rubbing peppermint leaves on the stomach area usually eases the discomfort of stretching."

I took another deep breath. "Do I really need to hear this now?" I asked.

The midwife paused in her recital and gave me a quizzical look. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Another spasm of pain ripped through me and I bit off a scream.

"Because I've already experienced all that!" I shouted once I could speak without screaming.

Her innocent look was driving me crazy. "I've found talking to woman during labor makes it less painful, dearie…"

My whole body was racked by an uncontrollable spasm. "Oh really?" I shouted at her.

She was unfazed by my snapping. "Just relax, I know what I'm doing." She disappeared from view. "Almost there dearie, keep pushing!"

I swear if she calls me 'dearie' one more time I'll…...

All thoughts abandoned my head as another contraction washed over me. I tried to breathe deeply and evenly, my body clenching in ways I didn't even know was possible.

It was horribly ironic, that Petruchio should be smashed the day before his child was born. Tears came to my eyes as I remembered the funeral that had been hastily thrown together for him earlier. We had buried his pieces under the toilet our owner had left in the middle of the yard and then a group of gnomes under my careful direction had dug up the wisteria tree and placed it in the back of the toilet.

I had been in the middle of my eulogy about him (carefully holding back my tears) when the contractions started and I'd been taken away by the midwife.

Now here I was. Giving birth to our child on the night of my husband's death…

Another wave of pain, this one so horrible I couldn't hold back my scream. My back arched. I felt the midwife's hands on my ankles. I knew she was speaking but I couldn't make out the words. The pain was filling my senses with a strange buzzing that blocked out everything…! My whole body clenched one more time and… the wave broke at last.

As the pain finally began to recede and my awareness of my surroundings returned, I heard something. A loud, high-pitched scream, joining my own. That's it… that's them… I fought the pain, struggling to sit up but was immediately pushed back down.

"No my Lady please stay down…" That was my friend Bianca, who herself was pregnant with her first child. She had volunteered to help the midwife but now looked like she was regretting that decision: she looked frightened and pale. Bianca turned to the midwife and gasped. "Oh my… it's so… beautiful." As she stared at my child I sat up slightly.

"Let me see them…" I choked out. The source of the scream came closer and finally I saw them. More accurately, him.

"Congratulations My Lady." The midwife said, tilting the bundle in her arms towards me. "It's a strong, healthy boy!"

I could feel my eyes welling up. "..Give…give him to me…" I said extending my arms towards the bundle. The tiny gnome was placed gently in my trembling arms. Almost as soon as he touched me, his screams faded into quiet gurgles and wails. I held him close, feeling him breathe. "My son… our son…" Petruchio, you got your strong little boy… I looked into the baby's beautiful face: so like his father's, almost an exact, tiny replica. But he has my eyes… I thought as he cuddled against me, staring up at me with his brilliant ice-blue eyes.

Bianca stared down at us, smiling. "What are you going to name him miss?" She asked me.

For one second, I considered naming him after his recently deceased father. But you are not him. I thought, beginning to notice the subtle differences between him and Petruchio. You are unique… and you are special. "Gnomeo." I finally said. I had never heard that name before, yet it seemed perfect. The baby in my arms gurgled in delight at this new sound; his name. "My little Gnomeo…" I held him close, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to display not only my happiness but my fear as well. You are all I have left… Please don't ever leave me all alone…

I tried not to make the birth too graphic. Next chapter: the birth of Juliet perhaps?