A Full Rich Life

Chapter Eight: New Lives

It had been one month since Helen was buried, and her family was starting to move on. While they were not done with their grieving, and there were still many nights of tears and reassurances to remain with each other forever, their hearts were beginning to heal.

Then came wonderful news.

Katarina was sitting at her easel, painting a picture of her husband. "Raise your chin just a tiny bit more, Erik. I want to capture that strong jaw of yours."

Erik obeyed, fixing his wife with a slight frown. "Do I have to sit here much longer? The sight of you in your artist's smock is quite intoxicating to me."

Katarina laughed. "This old and billowy thing? What could possibly be intoxicating about it?"

"The promise of what's underneath it," Erik said, wraggling his eyebrows at her, and Katarina giggled, setting her paints and brush aside and stripping off her smock to reveal her smooth, pale body underneath. Erik stood from his stool and carried her into their bedroom.

After love, he ran his arms up and down her stomach and chest. "You are so beautiful, my dove. I never thought I could love anyone this much. I am quite happy being a husband!"

"And I'm quite happy being your wife. I just…I still miss Helen quite a lot."

Erik kissed her. "I know, my dearest. But she is in a better place now. She's gone beyond our horizons."

Katarina smiled. "I know." She winced, rubbing her forehead, and Erik looked at her in concern. "I've been getting headaches in the afternoon lately. I'd planned on going to Mum and asking her to give me her Headache Cure, but then this lovely diversion occurred. Not that I mind, mind you."

Erik frowned. "You had best go see your Mum now. I don't want my wife of one month being ill! I order you as your Lord and husband." Katarina glared at him, and his gaze softened. "I also ask as one who loves you immensely and thus worries about you more than he possibly should. Go see your Mum."

Katarina dressed and headed for the cottage. When she arrived, Alannah was sitting on the couch, sewing a button on a shirt. "Hello Rina! What brings you here?"

Katarina smiled at her mother. "Did you tear Dad's shirt again? I'm surprised he still has any clothes intact!" Alannah glared at her, and she winced. No matter how old she got, she would never be able to stand up to the implacable glare of her mother. Luckily, her mum rarely used it on her…now. "I actually came by to see if you had a tonic for headaches."

Alannah set aside her sewing and went to her Potions Cupboard. "What sort of headaches?"

"Dull and thumping. I get them in the afternoons."

Alannah shuffled a few bottles aside. "How long has this been going on?"

"About two weeks. I've also had a strange appetite. I wake in the morning and feel ravenous, but then my appetite drops around lunch and I don't eat much."

Alannah's face lit up with a grin as she found the vial she was looking for. She turned to her daughter, a look of affectionate exasperation on her face. "Rina, I'm surprised you had to come to me. Surely you could have figured what is going on without my help? After all, you are the daughter of a Healer." Katarina looked confused, and she sighed. "Go over the symptoms in your mind, that might help."

Katarina thought for a moment, then her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "I…I'm pregnant? !"

Alannah spoke in a dry voice. "There's a distinct possibility."

Katarina ran over to her, hugging and kissing her in joy. "Oh thank you Mum, thank you, thank you, thank you! Err…can I still have the tonic?"

Alannah laughed and handed her the vial. "Here you are. And don't worry; it's perfectly safe for the babe. And congratulations, my lass. You will make a wonderful mother."

"Who will make a wonderful mother?" Ilosovic entered the cottage, grinning at the women. "I heard the last part of the conversation. So who's going to be a mother?"

Alannah giggled. "Well, not me. But it is someone in this room."

Ilosovic gaped at Katarina, who beamed and nodded excitedly. "I…I'm going to be a grandfather?" Katarina nodded again, and he whooped in joy and hugged her. "Oh, this is…it's…magnifrabjous! I'm going to be a grandpa again! How far are you?"

Alannah smiled. "A month, I'd have to guess. Ilosovic, put her down so she can go tell her husband. I'm sure he'll want to hear the news."

Ilosovic blushed and released Katarina. "Of course. Congratulations, sweetheart. Your mum's right, you will do a wonderful job as a mother."

Katarina hugged and kissed her parents and left for her home. Ilosovic looked over at Alannah, a rueful smile on his face. "I feel old all of a sudden. Our daughter is pregnant."

Alannah laughed. "I know, it's amazing." She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. "Although I must take issue with your first statement. You are not old, my Lord. Old people do not have the…energy you do."

Ilosovic swept her up. "This is true. Now, I do believe it is customary for my lady wife and me to spend the day I return from patrol making vigorous love."

Alannah giggled as he carried her into the bedroom, thinking that there were some very nice advantages to having an empty nest.

Erik looked up from the potatoes he was peeling when Katarina came bursting into their cottage, a wide and joyous smile on her face. "You look rather happy for someone who went to go get a tonic for headaches."

She laughed and kissed him. "Oh my silly sailor boy, I am not happy because of that! I am happy because Mum told me why I have been having the headaches and the strange appetite."

Erik grinned. "Well, from your look of joy I can deduce that it is nothing bad."

"No, it is something wonderful. I am carrying your child, my jolly sailor bold."

Erik dropped the peeler to the counter and stared wide eyed at her for several moments. "You…my…my child?" Katarina nodded, and his face nearly split in half with a grin. "YES! I'm going to be a poppa!" He swept her up and spun her around as she laughed in breathless delight. "I'm going to be a poppa; I'm going to be a poppa!"

"Yes, you are! Now please, put me down! I am feeling quite dizzy!"

Erik released her, and she leaned against the counter, laughing. "Well, I'm certainly glad you are taking it so well!"

"Are you jesting? I am beyond delighted! I have always been fond of children. I think that's why Vicki and I got on so well during her first voyage."

Katarina laughed. "That's a possibility! Oh, I must tell Vicki! She's going to be so thrilled!"

At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and Vicki ran in, a grin on her face. "Rina, you'll never guess what I have to tell you! It's the most marvelous news! Josiah's simply over the moon!"

Katarina laughed. "I was just going to come see you to tell you my news! But you tell me yours first!"

Victoria hugged her sister. "You are going to be an Aunt!"

Katarina gawped at her. "What? Why…I…this is truly amazing." She began laughing, and Vicki glared at her.

"What's so bloody amusing?"

"Only that I do not have to tell you my news, as when you told me your news you also told yourself my news!" Vicki went over this statement for a few moments before grasping what her sister was saying.

"Rina, you too?"

"Yes, me too! I just got back from seeing Mum, and she told me! But when did she tell you?"

Vicki blushed. "I…figured it out on my own, actually. I think I'm about a month along."

Katarina laughed harder. "So am I! Our parents have two daughters pregnant at the same time! We must tell them." She grinned wickedly. "I have it. They're coming to dinner tonight, and we'll share the good news with everyone! This is wonderful!"

Erik grinned. "It certainly is. I'm thrilled at the thought of being an Uncle, and I'm sure when you tell your brother I'm sure he'll be thrilled as well."

Katarina and Vicki went off into another gale of laughter. Erik shook his head at them in affection and amusement and resumed peeling the potatoes. After Vicki left, Katarina came into the kitchen and began to prepare the roast. "You're quite the good potato peeler, love."

"I've had many opportunities to practice."

Later that night, after the dinner guests had all arrived and had a fine dinner of roast rath, sweet potatoes, and corn followed by a plum pudding, Katarina and Victoria made their announcement. Their mother and father gaped at them, and it was Alannah that found her voice first. "You are both pregnant?" They grinned and nodded, and she beamed. "Frabjous! Ilosovic, did you ever expect this?"

Ilosovic chuckled. "Well, we already knew about Katarina, but Vicki being pregnant is quite the lovely surprise as well."

Alice frowned at him. "Tarrant and I didn't know! How did you find out?"

He grinned at her. "I came home at the opportune moment. So how do you feel at the knowledge that you're going to be grandparents again?"

Tarrant beamed. "Overjoyed. Josiah, are you ready for fatherhood?"

Josiah nodded his arm around Vicki. "I most certainly am, and Erik and I are also looking forward to sharing Uncle duties with you, Michael."

Michael grinned at his brothers in law. "The feeling is mutual."

Alice sighed. "I…I wish Mum could see this. She'd be so very happy."

Tarrant hugged her close. "She can, love. I would bet you anything that Helen is looking down on us right now and beaming fit to burst."

Alice smiled. "You always know just what to say to ease my grief. I love you so much, my hatter."

Helen was indeed looking down on her family. She smiled, knowing that at long last they were coming to terms with her loss. There would be new life soon, and the circle of life would continue. 'Be happy, my darlings, and know that I am always watching over you."

The women's pregnancies went well, and they were both waited on hand and foot by their attentive husbands, much to their delight and, at times, exasperation. Finally, both Katarina and Victoria informed Erik and Josiah that they were not the first pregnant women, nor would they be the last, and to quit coddling them. Victoria went one better-she threatened to lock Josiah out of their bedroom for the duration of her final month if he did not stop "Treating me like a bloody porcelain doll!" Josiah had wisely backed down, but he pouted for several hours.

Since both of them had been pregnant at the same time, it was only logical that they both went into labor at the exact same time. Luckily, they both managed to keep their heads and made it to the Infirmary with little trouble. As Erik and Josiah sat behind their respective wives, whispering encouragement, Alannah was kept busy running back and forth between them with instructions.

"Vicki, you need to push. Rina, you're not quite ready yet, hold off. Bridget, please bring me a basin of water. Alright Rina, you can start pushing. Just my luck to have two daughters giving birth on the same day! Bridget, go assist Vicki in her birth. Don't look so scared girl, I'm right here. All you'll have to do is catch the babe once she squirts it out."

Vicki blushed crimson. "MUM!" Alannah laughed wickedly, and Victoria glared at her, and then yowled in pain as she bore down. "YEOWWCCHH!" Her cry was matched by Katarina's.

Alannah knelt by her eldest, speaking words of encouragement to them both. "Just a few more pushes, lasses, and you'll meet your children! Come on, loves, you can do it! Oh…oh my goodness, here comes one! Katarina, you're about to become a mum!"

The loud wail of a newborn babe pierced the silence, and Alannah looked up at Katarina, happy tears in her eyes. "Congratulations, love. You've had a fine, healthy…oh! Oh! Let me rephrase that. You have had two fine, healthy sons!" A second wail indicated that the twin had been born.

Katarina gaped at the two babes in her mother's arms. "Twins?" Alannah nodded, and Katarina stretched out her arms. Alannah came forward and placed the babes in her arms, and she took one look at them and burst into tears of happiness. One of her sons had her black hair and pale skin, but the other had Erik's beautiful brown hair and tanned skin. Both babes had the most beautiful blue green eyes. Erik gazed at his sons in joy. "They have the eyes of the sea. They're so very handsome, my love."

Victoria gave a loud wail, and for a third time the Infirmary echoed with the sounds of a healthy newborn. Bridget caught the babe and cleaned it off, grinning at Vicki. "Ye've 'ad a darlin' little girl, Vicki! She's got her da's hair and your eyes."

Vicki took her daughter, gazing into her eyes as tears of joy poured down her and Josiah's faces. Josiah ran his finger gently over the babe's cheek, speaking in a voice filled with wonder. "My inion. She's beautiful, Vicki."

Vicki nodded in speechless wonder, staring at her daughter. The infant had Josiah's blond hair, but deep within the roots she could see bits of black. Her eyes were the same green as Vicki's, but with flecks of her father's hazel peeking through. She stared up in wonder at her parents and yawned. Vicki laughed and looked over at her sister. "I've had a girl!"

Katarina smiled tiredly. "I see that, and she's beautiful. What do you think of my lads?"

"They are the handsomest lads I've ever seen."

Alannah cleaned herself up, and then gave her daughters a hug. "Well done, my loves. I can't wait for everyone to meet them."

Two weeks later, everyone gathered in the Staynes' cottage to meet the babes. Ilosovic had been quite shocked when he found out Katarina had twin boys. "You are going to have your hands full, lass! Have you thought of names yet?"

Katarina nodded. She pointed to the black haired boy. "This is Alexei, and the other one is Ciaran. What about you, Vicki?"

Josiah kissed his daughter's forehead before speaking. "Vicki and I decided to name our daughter after a woman that touched our lives and we loved deeply. May I introduce Helena Hightopp?"

Alice and Margaret smiled. "That's a perfect name, lad," Alice said, her voice choking slightly. Margaret nodded in agreement.

"I hope that these children lead the full and rich life that their great grandmother did."

Katarina smiled at Margaret. "You can count on it."

THE END.