Absolution (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"No, in Italy we call it romancing." Vincenzo leaned down to steal a kiss. "Call it whatever you like, cars mia. You deserve all of it."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I don’t deserve any of it.” Kitty said in all honesty. “You’ve already given me so much, Cincenzo. How could I possibly expect more?”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You deserve it because you welcomed me back into your arms after all this time," Vincenzo assured her softly, pulling up a chair beside her and pouring his own glass of wine.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I was worried you wouldn't want me after all this time." Kitty said honestly as Vincenzo sat beside her, pouring his own glass of wine. "I'm about to be a grandmother, after all."

 

[KieranSoares]

"So?" Vincenzo raised an eyebrow at her. "You're... What, thirty-seven or so, if memory serves me? Kitty, darling, I'm forty-three years old. If anyone should feel terribly old and unworthy, it should be me."

 

[heartofcourage]

"36." Kitty said softly, thinking about how much had happened in those years. "Vincenzo, I feel so old most of the time. My body fails more often than not and I'm afraid that I'll pass away far before my time. I've had seven children as well. While I love all of them in their own way, I often ask myself why I allowed myself to do that."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You didn't just 'allow' it for several of them," Vincenzo reminded quietly. He knew that Durban and Selena were perhaps the only two she really willingly had. "And yes, you're not in good shape right now health-wise. But we'll change that. Some scars, mental and physical, will never fully fade, cara mia... but you held out so long for these changes, for some hope to come along... I'm going to make sure you get to experience all of it for a very long time, and watch your children find their places in the world, as well as your grandchildren. I'll get a third generation in if I can."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm happy that you're a dreamer. You counter an old soul like mine." Kitty said as she leaned across the short distance and kissed Vincenzo gently.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm no dreamer, darling," he murmured after their kiss, lifting a hand to her cheek. "I'm realistic. The world is changing for you. You have so many opportunities and options now, you just don't see them. Your son has opened every door that was shut in the past eighteen years, it'll just be a while til it all comes together."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He took away that part of me that believed in the good in changes." Kitty said softly as Vincenzo touched her cheek gently. "Absolutely crushed it. I did and said terrible things trying to convince my babies to hold on to this day."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You did what you could to make sure they had a future," Vincenzo told her firmly. "No one can fault you for that, nor for a stumble or two along the way trying to survive. I firmly believe that as long as your children and your friends love you, you're absolutely worthy of being loved and having a good life from here on out." Vincenzo set his glass down, taking her face in his hands and kissing her slowly as if it'd prove his point. "You deserve better than what you've had, Kitty. And we're all here to see you get what you really deserve. Given time, you're going to be properly healthy again and have all the energy and life you need to look after this growing family and enjoy it to the fullest."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I’ll just have to survive another ten years without you here.” Kitty said softly as he tried to convince her that she was going to be alright and healthy in the end.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Not without me," Vincenzo corrected softly. "It'll be a lot of going back and forth, but I'm not just going to disappear back to Italy for a decade. I have to be responsible about my patients in Venice, make sure they and their children have someone who will keep up a similar code of ethics and effort. And... I don't want to so suddenly stop Valentina's visits to Italy. She still wants to go back and see my mother and Van every so often. And I'll be happy to take you as well. Spending at least part of winter in Italy would do you some good."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't know if I can leave Brogan for that long. He needs my help for a while to get on his own feet." Kitty said as Vincenzo tried his hardest to convince her that she would travel the world and be the healthiest she had ever been. "I think the first place I would like to go is Skye. I think Pa and Ma deserve the chance to meet Valentina and get to know her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'd meant to ask you about that. Maybe this fall, when things settle, we could go there. And then you could decide if you want to come with us to Italy from there. I'll only spend about six weeks in Venice just to be sure everything's alright and sort out mail and whatnot. We'd probably only be gone ten, twelve weeks tops, so maybe the larger part of winter."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Maybe I could send the twins off on their own as well. Kayla could go to Marianne and Ashien could go somewhere else...perhaps England. It's time to let them figure out how their lives will work now that Tamblin is gone." Kitty thought about the two little beings that only knew how to love someone and had even loved their father to the end.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I would see them safely along if you didn't come with us. But I think they'd benefit if you came along to introduce them. And I've heard you were once good friends with King Brian and Queen Marianne. They'd love to see you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I still am friends with them. We communicated as much as we could." Marianne was still as close to her as anyone else. Tamblin had alienated a lot of people, but he had never been truly successful in pushing Marianne and Brian away from the Invernessian royal family. "They are the ones who set Selena up in her new home. I don't suppose I can really leave until she has that baby."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then maybe next year you'll come," Vincenzo offered. "We could really go anytime we wanted. But I do want you to get back to Italy one day. If only for my mother's sake." He smiled gently at that. "But we'll wait on that baby. Your parents will probably appear here before long, honestly."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It would be for the best. Selena would want them to meet their great grandchild and I don't want to pull Valentina too far away until after Ashelin passes. I couldn't bear to break her heart if we went to Skye and Ashelin passed away while we were gone." Kitty said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll make it all work, one choice at a time." Vincenzo kissed her again before settling entirely with his own glass of wine.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Let's hope that it's the right choices." Kitty said as Vincenzo settled easily at her side with a glass of wine and his easy air. "Or else, we'll have to keep trying until we get it right."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We have time, even for mistakes," Vincenzo assured her, taking her hand as they enjoyed the evening together, a simple thing they'd wanted for so long.

Over the next couple months, Kitty's health began to improve drastically. There were still bad days, but they were few and far between. Vincenzo also became Ashelin's main caregiver. Even though he couldn't save her, he had explained to Valentina that he would make absolutely certain that when Ashelin did go, she would be comfortable and it would be like falling asleep rather than expiring in pain and fear. He gently walked Warwick, Valentina, Cole, Ciaran, and anyone else who needed help through what they could do to ease Ashelin's passing for themselves and for her, and what the grief afterward might entail. He warned them it would be very different for all of them, and he was most concerned for Warwick who seemed to be growing slowly depressed, though he hid it from Ashelin herself.

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina clung to Warwick like glue as often as she could. She knew that he wasn't doing well with any of this and she felt it was her duty to take care of him. When he wasn't with Ashelin, he could often be found in front of the fire, rocking Valentina with a vacant and distant look on his features. They rarely talked, but simply used one another for comfort.

"Aunt Kitty wants me to meet her parents when they come to Inverness. I think I'd rather stay here with you and mummy." Valentina said softly, still having a difficult time referring to Kitty as her mother.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You'd be missing out on two wonderful people. Your Ma adores them. And they may come with Kitty's brother who I know you'd adore. He's traveled Europe as extensively as your father, if not more so." Warwick closed his eyes slowly. "I know it's hard to accept you have another mother, Val. But both of them are wonderful women worth loving deeply. I've been with them both through terrible things and years of strife, I know them both to their core. You don't have to be skittish about Kitty. She loves you, even from afar, and she will never stand between you and Ashelin, just like I never stood between you and Vincenzo."