Epilogue
Back in Montréal
Dave's estate
"It's good to be home," Livia said, she and Dave entered the house in Montréal.
"I'm glad you consider this your home because it is," Dave told her smiling at Livia for thinking of this place as her home.
"I've never had anywhere to really put down roots before," Livia told him also smiling. "I've always felt rather rootless, and at least with the motorhome I bought I could move from place to place every few months. Ever since we met though, it's been different I haven't felt rootless like I need to move to some other location just to see something I've never seen before. I've been feeling settled and although I grew up here in Montréal, my life is so totally different now than it was before. I realized that you are my home Dave, as soon as we met."
"That's very good," Dave said pleased at what he was hearing. He wanted Livia to be happy with him that she didn't even think about needing to travel to somewhere else like she had been doing before they'd met.
"You're my destiny, Dave. I realized that shortly after we met. I knew by the frequency that you appeared in my visions, sometimes with me, sometimes without that you would be very important to my future," Livia said. "This little one, I'm carrying now is going to help me feel even more settled."
"That's very good," Dave said pleased all over again, as he drew Livia to him for a hug and the kiss he bestowed on her was of belonging, of home.
"Now I just need to find me a healer to find out how far along I am, though I certainly wasn't pregnant before we went to France, so it happened sometime on our vacation," Livia said grimacing at the thought of needing to see any kind of doctor for any reason, even when it was necessary.
"Well, you're not showing yet, though from what I understand most women don't show at least until the fourth or fifth month depending on musculature. You were very skinny when we met and while you gained some weight after we did, I think you still will show sooner because you have hardly any fat on your body," Dave said.
"You're probably right," Livia decided. "I'll go see Alifair in the next day or two."
"She'll be thrilled with the news that you're pregnant and you know it," Dave told her grinning at the thought of the child to come.
"True, as she's been hinting about a baby ever since you met her," Livia said laughing. "She was rather disappointed when I told her I wasn't pregnant when we originally bonded, though logically, she understood that we weren't ready for a child then."
"That didn't stop her from trying to change your mind," Dave said smiling.
"True, Alifair just really loves children and has never married, so doesn't have any of her own and neither does her sister," Livia agreed shaking her head smiling at her friend's continuous, bringing up of the subject of children every time they chatted, which was fairly often.
"There's nothing wrong with loving children, even if I know it can be annoying to keep being urged to have one," Dave said.
"Alifair knows I wasn't going to change my mind that doesn't mean she can't try to convince me otherwise. I just tune her out she gets on the subject," Livia said. "It goes in one ear and out the other. I then change the subject as soon as it's feasible."
"That's one way to handle it," Dave laughed lightheartedly. "I'll throw the dirty clothes into the laundry hamper."
The two worked in amiable silence until all their chores were completed, and then they headed to the room they used the most to sit down and relax after a very satisfying trip.
Soon Dave and Livia were enjoying some snacks that the cook had left prepared for them, since she knew when the Rossi would return
"It was a great trip," Livia finally said once she had finished eating one of the little quiche that the cook had left for their masters. This was one of those times that having a cook on retainer came in very useful, as this way they wouldn't have to order out or Dave wouldn't have to fix it himself after just returning from a long trip.
"It was only the first of many that we will take over the centuries," Dave said. "We might not be able to go on another in the next year or so because of the baby, but once our son or daughter gets a little older I don't know why we can't travel to different places with them tagging along."
"There's no reason we can't, though we will have to take whatever nanny we hire with us too so that we can have private time," Livia said.
"That's certainly doable," Dave agreed.
"I'm actually hoping we have a son," Livia said.
"Oh why?" Dave inquired, though he suspected he knew the reason that Livia would prefer to produce only sons whenever they had children.
"Because a son most likely won't get my ability to see the future or if they do, it'll be a much weaker version," Livia explained simply. "You did say that being a seer tended to run stronger in females not the males."
"That's true, at least from what I know. All of the seers I've met over the centuries have been female, which just kind of proves that it is almost always the women that get the ability to see the future. I'm sure there are small percentage of men with the ability, but it's likely not as strong as in the female line," Dave agreed. "You do know that we'll have many children over the centuries and we are bound to get some daughters because it goes against the law of averages to only produce males?"
"I know I'm being unrealistic to expect to only get sons whenever we have children. I can't help hope that that's the case though," said Livia.
"You do realize that any child we have will not lose their parents like you lost your mother, and you will be here for many centuries to help guide whatever daughters we have through the use of their ability. Any of our children won't grow up in the foster care system like you did," Dave reminded his mate gently.
"It's still a hard ability to live with, and I'm sure I would've felt the same, even if I grown up with my mother or at least some relative that knew about my ability and had helped guide me," Livia said.
"Or you would've grown up knowing about your ability from the day it started to develop and so wouldn't have face so much uncertainty about whether you were mentally ill. Knowing about your ability long before it started to develop I think you would've had a different perspective on your gift. Also, whatever daughters we have will always have us and their siblings to help them through any rough patches. Whenever they need some support like a word of advice or a hug their family will be there for them," Dave said. "You would've had support if only your mother hadn't died in that car crash and then you likely would've accepted having your mother's gift a lot easier and not think of it as curse."
"Well, there's no point of dwelling on it as what didn't happen. I just don't want any of our girl children to have my gift. For one thing, dragon shifters live a long time, which means any daughters we have will live for centuries and have to deal with their ability to see the future for all that time. Our daughters then will likely eventually find mates of their own and have children, which only continues the cycle of passing my gift onto the next generation and on down the line," Livia said.
"If you think of your gift is a burden instead of what it is, and you'll pass that attitude down to any children we have, who will then also likely think of their gift as a burden," Dave said in a gentle tone of voice full of admonishment.
He didn't bother to point out that any sons would eventually have daughters who would probably get her gift as he knew his mate wasn't exactly thinking straight at the moment. "Do you really want our children to think that seeing the future is a burden instead of a gift? I know you didn't have an easy time of it since you went into foster care from the time you were only a few months old and you do think of your gift as a burden, but you don't need to pass on that attitude to our children of either gender."
"You're right, you're right," Livia said. "At least my gift allowed me a way to earn money to live on, even if I couldn't afford to be extravagant. It allowed me a certain amount of independence, even before I aged out of the foster care system."
"You see, you need to start thinking of your ability in a positive light not a negative one," Dave added encouragingly.
"I'll try," Livia promised kissing Dave's cheek. "I'll try only because I know you're right. I don't want to pass on my negative attitude to this child I'm carrying now, as I know very well, it could be a girl."
"That's all I ask," Dave said, as he hugged his mate close to him.
The two were silent before they started talking about their trip recounting how much fun they'd had scuba diving and water skiing as well as snow skiing. The four seasons resort in the commune had had everything.
They both knew without it being spoken about that they'd go back to Paris and all the other countries they had visited in France sometime in the future.
~~~Dave and Livia~~~
"How was your trip?" Alifair asked Livia as soon as they met after her friend had gotten back from her long trip with her mate.
"Dave and I had a lot of fun and took a ton of pictures," Livia said smiling so brightly it nearly outshone the sun. "We tried both water, snow skiing, scuba diving and also horseback riding as the resort we went to for our last two weeks had everything. Paris, especially was romantic, and we took in a lot of the tourist sites while we were there. We stood on top of the Eiffel Tower for a long time as we gazed down at all the people on the ground. Those people looked like ants from such a height."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Alifair said smiling at her friend's recounting of part of her trip. "You out of everyone deserved to have a great time considering you grow up in the foster care system. I know very well there were no vacations when you grow up in such an environment, not even a weekend at an amusement park.
"Yeah, I've never been to an amusement park," said Livia. "I'm sure I'll have a chance to go once our children are old enough to enjoy themselves in such a place as Dave would never deny them an opportunity to go to Disney World or Disneyland or Universal or any other theme park."
"I'm sure Dave would take you before then if you wanted to go, since you've never had a chance to have that experience," Alifair suggested.
"Dave and I will be sticking around home for the next few months at least," Livia said. "We just got back from a really long trip and we're planning on staying around for awhile."
"Yeah, I can see that, as you guys have been gone for two months," Alifair said. "I know you sent me postcards from your various destinations saying you were enjoying yourself, but there's only so much you can put on the back of a postcard, so you didn't give me any details."
"I'll be happy to give you the details, as I could talk for hours about all we did," Livia said smiling from ear to ear. "First, though, I have some news."
"What's the news?" Alifair immediately asked.
"I'm pregnant," Livia announced and watched Alifair's eyes immediately widened in surprised astonishment, followed immediately by a squeal of joy.
"You are?" Alifair asked just to be sure she had heard correctly.
"I am, as I used a pregnancy test," Livia explained. "I had been feeling mildly queasy on and off for weeks. At first I thought I was just coming down with some kind of bug, so I didn't say anything to Dave, because it wasn't bad enough to worry him. When it didn't go away it finally occurred to me that there might be a reason that I'd been feeling so queasy at odd times of day. I figured it couldn't possibly food poisoning, as we ate at high class places, so the food should not have made me queasy, because it was too greasy or because the meat was spoiled or anything like that. I finally put the puzzle pieces together and realized I might be pregnant, so I bought a pregnancy test when Dave was busy elsewhere and used it just as soon as we got back to our suite. I stood in the bathroom staring at the little plus symbol on one end for a good 15 minutes and the only reason I came back to myself was Dave knocked on the door worried that something was wrong."
"So you haven't actually been throwing up," Alifair said, and Livia shook her head.
"No, I haven't, but then, I've heard every pregnancy is different," Livia said.
"That's true," Alifair conceded. "Have you been to see a healer yet? Do you know how far along you are?"
"Dave and I only got back a few days ago from our trip and we've been recovering from our vacation," Livia said. "I knew I had to tell you the news as soon as possible, because I knew you'd want to know and I also need you to recommend a healer that will come to our home. Dave says a healer is different from a regular doctor and that you probably know someone that will see me, someone you trust."
"I know plenty of healers and also normal doctors," Alifair said.
"That's what Dave and I figured, considering you are a nurse," Livia said. "I would prefer another female, so if you could recommend someone both Dave and I would appreciate it."
"Yeah, I can recommend several female healers," Alifair said.
"Someone you trust now," Livia reminded her friend. "It's going to be hard enough for me to trust any doctor, even if this one will have magic, because of my past experiences, but I do want this baby healthy, so I'll do what I must even though I have such an aversion of going to anyone in the medical profession."
"There's my aunt and yes, I can recommend her, as she's an excellent healer. While she didn't agree on me going to college and get my nursing degree that doesn't mean she's not trustworthy just that she had other ideas for my life."
"And what did your aunt want you to do with your life?" Livia asked.
"She wanted me to become her assistant to deal with things like broken bones," Alifair explained.
"And why did you want to?" Livia asked.
"Because my power is minor as you well know, and while I can heal a broken bone easily enough a lot of witches like my aunt look down on someone like me just because I'm not very powerful. Oh, I love my aunt, don't get me wrong, but she doesn't always watch what she says, and can be rude, condensing and arrogant. While I can handle her without a problem that doesn't mean I want to deal with patients that look down on me because of my lack of power. Like I can help how I was born." Here Alifair snorted in contempt. "Witches in particular, are far to concerned with the power someone has instead of more important things, like if someone is a good person. Humans on the other hand, don't look down on me for that reason since they have no idea that I am a witch and while they can be just as rude or arrogant, it doesn't have as much impact on me as those that are part of the supernatural community. I'll never have to see any of those humans again more than likely and even if I did, they likely wouldn't recognize me as the one that they were so rude to."
"So you didn't feel like being constantly put down, just because you lack power," Livia said.
"I also didn't want to be constantly compared to my aunt or the other healers in my family and told how my aunt could've healed this injury in the blink of an eye, that kind of thing," Alifair explained.
"Yeah, being constantly compared to anyone can be demeaning and people don't realize they're doing it. It's just human nature to compare someone to someone else," Livia said. "They won't understand why you get upset at them if you told them you're feelings."
"I know very well it's natural to compare people to others and that's just as true for paranormals as it is for humans, but that doesn't mean I want to be constantly compared to a member of my family or anybody, but especially my family," said Alifair
"If you'd contact your aunt for me, I would appreciate it," Livia told her friend. "You can give her my number and have her call me when it's convenient and I'll set up an appointment. So what's her name, you never did say."
"I guess I didn't," Alifair admitted. "Her name is Maude Simpson."
"I'll be expecting her call," Livia promised.
"So are you looking forward to finally having a child?" Alifair asked.
"Dave and I would've preferred to wait at least another couple of years to have a child, but I must've forgotten to take at least one of my birth control pills, probably more than one. It does only take one time to get pregnant. Well, either that or the over the counter meds failed to protect me, because Dave and I had sex like crazy monkeys while we were on vacation.
"There is a failure rate, with such meds, even if it's only like 10%, so it's possible I didn't forget to take one at all. Also, it's possible I did because we were so busy doing the ton of activities available that it would've been easy to simply forget. I didn't get pregnant right after we bonded, but Dave and I weren't so lucky this time, so we'll accept what comes," Livia said. "I'm seriously hoping for a boy though."
"Oh why?" Alifair asked.
"You know about my ability and it apparently run stronger in the girls in general than the boys," Livia's explained. "I would hate for any child of mine to get my ability to see the future and considering they'll be dragon shifters just like their father, it means they'll live for hundreds of years. Imagine living with the ability to see the future for so long. The fact that they'll eventually find mates of their own continuing the Hawthorne line into the future brings me no comfort."
"I see what you mean, but you can't think about it like that," Alifair told her friend. "What happened to you won't happen to any of your children so you and Dave will be there to guide them."
"You and Dave seem to think alike on this subject," Livia snorted her tone exasperated. "He said similar things to me. He said, I need to think about my ability in a positive light and although he knows growing up in the foster care, system was hard for me I don't want to pass my negativity onto my daughters."
"He's right," Alifair said her tone approving.
"I'm well aware he's right, but not thinking of my ability in a negative way is going to be hard considering," Livia said.
"Well, you have months to work on your attitude," Alifair told her cheerfully. "I'm really looking forward to your child's birth and I am going to spoil them rotten, so be prepared."
"Between you and Dave, this child is going to be so spoiled," Livia laughed.
"That's what aunts are for and also fathers," Alifair told her friend cheerfully.
~~~Dave and Livia~~~
Seven months later
Livia went into labor with the baby she was carrying and Maude was there to help her give birth safely in her own bed. Alifair had been very right that her Aunt Maude could be abrasive and rude, but she was also a caring individual with her patients. Maude simply told people what she thought, without bothering to be diplomatic, which is why she and her niece didn't get along. She was a very good healer and had admitted that she and Alifair had butted heads more than once over the path that her niece had taken for her life.
Maude had simply wanted her niece to be her assistant and handle the minor cases while she handled the serious injuries. She just hadn't handled her niece right and could understand why her niece didn't want to be compared to the other healers in her family all the time, but thought that being a nurse was beneath her, even though it helped normal humans.
Still, Alifair had chosen her path and Maude had not been able to change her mind. The fact that her parents hadn't disagreed with Alifair's desire to go to college to get her degree in nursing had only encouraged her niece to do what she wanted to do anyway.
Maude's brother had told his sister that she couldn't force Alifair to be her assistant if that was not what she desired.
Dave for his part was pacing outside, as he had been banished from the birthing room. He was anxious, as he didn't want anything to happen to his son or his mate.
Yes, it was the boy that Livia had wanted instead of a daughter this time, which Maude had helped them to discover by doing a magical scan on Livia to discover the sex.
This meant that Dave finally had an heir when he decided to pass on his title to his son, which would be many many centuries in the future as he'd either be very old or dead when that time came.
Suddenly, Dave heard the cry of a baby as Maude helped Livia give birth to their son and it wasn't long before Alifair was opening the door the birthing room and handing Dave a squalling baby boy who was still covered in birthing fluids.
"May I present to you, your son," Alifair, who was helping her aunt told Dave smiling tiredly.
"He's beautiful," Dave said beaming, as he cuddled his son in his arms not caring that he was getting birthing fluids at blood all over his clothes, as he could always throw the clothes out if they wouldn't come clean. "How's Livia?"
"She's fine, just tired," Alifair promised smiling tiredly for a second time. "Livia got her wish for a boy instead of a girl this time."
"Yeah, I know that she doesn't want any girls at all because her gift runs strong in the female line, but that just isn't possible," Dave said. "Maybe it would be possible if we only had one more, that they would be a boy, but since we're going have children over the next few hundred years there's no way they're all going to be male, as that goes against the law of averages. I realize that some families have all boys or all girls, even if they have more children than most people do, but that's just down to luck, since research says that you have a 50-50 chance of having one of the other. It has nothing to do with genetics."
"Livia will get over her fear with our love and support," Alifair said.
"We can't blame her for not one to pass her ability on, because she considers it more of a curse than a gift and who wants to curse a child you love?" Dave asked rhetorically. "Growing up like she did in the system it's no wonder she thinks of her ability as more of a curse."
"Yeah, it's no wonder," Alifair said.
"While I understand that, I am gently working with her to get her to understand and accept that her ability is a gift not the curse she believes it to be," Dave said.
"You have your work cut out for you," Alifair said know how stubborn her friend could be.
Dave nodded, knowing this already.
Livia had gone most of her life, believing that she was delusional, and that her mind was broken, overcoming that conditioning would take a lot of patience and understanding.
"I'm up to the challenge," Dave declared, and Alifair believed him.
"You'll need to be," Alifair said before she took Dave's son back into the birthing room to clean up the baby boy. "You need to name this beautiful boy," Alifair called behind her.
"Livia and I talked about that months ago and decided on Sebastian," Dave called into the birthing room where Alifair had disappeared.
"Sebastian, is a fine name," Maude told Dave coming out of the birthing room. "I'll make sure I fill out a birth certificate with that name. Alifair has just gone to give your son his first bath. You can come in now, see your wife."
"Sounds like a fine idea to me," Dave said, not bothering to tell the healer that he and Livia had never officially tied the knot, because Maude had essentially spoken the truth. He walked quickly into the room where Livia was laying on the bed propped up against a big bunch of pillows.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Dave asked Livia.
"Tired," Livia said. "Like I just want to sleep."
"Your labor was textbook, but it was also long, so you have the right to sleep as long as you like," Maude who had come back into the room quietly told Livia
"Thank you Maude," Livia said, tiredly yawning behind her hand.
"I'll write you a check once we get downstairs," Dave told Maude. "Thank you for all you did for Livia."
"You're welcome and that will be 5,000. While Alifair gets 2,000."
"Where's my baby?" Livia asked Dave, even while yawning widely.
"Here," Alifair said from the bathroom door. She came out holding the baby gently in the crick of her elbow and handed him over to his mother so he could have his first meal. "I was just cleaning him up since he had birthing fluid and blood all over him. Now little Sebastian is all clean and dry and ready to be fed at your breast, mommy."
Alifair held Sebastian to Livia's left breast where he immediately attached himself to his mother's nipple.
"He's a handsome lad," Maude observed with a small tired smile.
"Of course he is. He takes after his father," Livia said smiling tiredly.
"He certainly has the beginnings of both of our black hair," Dave said smiling, as he observed the scene.
"If you need my services again, all you have to do is contact me," Maude told Dave who nodded solemnly.
"There will be other children, but not for awhile, so we will need your service again at some point, but let's get this one out of diapers before we consider having anymore."
"Wise," Maude said before she and Dave headed downstairs so Dave could write her that check.
"Looks like Sebastian is done with his first meal," Alifair said smiling, as the baby had fallen asleep in his mother's arms
"Thank you for everything Alifair," Livia said yawning.
"You're welcome, but why don't you sleep now and I'll look after this little guy for you," Alifair promised, as she cuddled Sebastian in her arms.
"OK," was all Livia said before she was asleep with her head propped up against a whole bunch of pillows
Alifair simply smiled and took Sebastian from his mother and headed for the bedroom door.
"You have no idea how much you will be loved little guy," Alifair told the little boy softly, as she carried him downstairs.
"Thank you for the check," Maude was telling Dave as Alifair got to the bottom of the steps.
"You're quite welcome," Dave said escorting Maude to the front door. "Thank you for everything Healer Simpson."
Once Maude had left, Dave turned back to Alifair, who handed him his son.
"Here you go daddy. I've been fed and I shouldn't wake up for at least a couple hours so long as we keep the noise level down," Alifair said imitating a little boy's voice.
"I'll go put him in his crib, as we have a nursery all prepared," Dave said, smiling hugely as he gazed down at his son. "Before we go though, here is your check before I forget."
Dave handed Alifair a check for 2,500.
"Oh no, this is much too much," Alifair said. "I was happy to help and would have done it for free."
"I know you were, but your aunt said you should get at least 2000 since you assisted your aunt in helping Livia give birth and the extra 500 is a thank you from me for all you've done for me and Livia. You helped Livia understand that she wasn't having delusions when she ended up in the hospital, because she'd taken all those pills and I'll always be grateful that you were there. This is my way to thank you," Dave said. "You can do anything you want with the money, give it to charity, put it in your bank account it doesn't matter."
"It was my pleasure, I promise you," Alifair said finally, smiling as she stuck the check deep in her pocket, so it wouldn't get lost.
"I'll show you out, but you're welcome back at anytime," Dave told Alifair.
"You go put Sebastian in his crib where he can sleep more comfortably and I'll show myself out," Alifair laughed, kissing Dave's cheek affectionately before heading for the front door.
Dave watched Alifair ago smiling before he took his son upstairs to the room that had been prepared for him.
Finally, Dave placed his son in his crib for the first time and thought he was finally having the family he had always wanted, and there would be many more children in the future, which made him very happy at that thought.