To Capture a Captain's Heart (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"Good. He needs to wander just a little bit. Or else home will never feel like home."

Meanwhile, Brogan had come to Kayla's side, little Kate in his arms. "Hiya, love," he said softly with a smile as Kate slept soundly against him.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla grinned as Brogan came to her side with Kate slumbering in his arms, /She was a little beauty with a riot of red curls. Her brother looked incredibly happy, content with the path that his life had taken.

"She's beautiful, Brogan." Kayla murmured.

 

[KieranSoares]

"She's th'new light o'my life," Brogan said softly. "But she loves t'give me an' Julia all kinds o' trouble an' worry." He let Kayla take little Kate then, and Kate seemed not to mind at all for the while. "She loved th'trip here too. I think I've got a little adventuress on my 'ands."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla smiled as her brother took a seat beside her, Kate cradled securely in her aunts embrace. She gently kissed Kate's forehead, watching as the toddler's face crinkled slightly before she drifted back into peaceful sleep.

"All of my strapping brothers make the tiniest of girls." Kayla murmured as she looked at Brogan, the heartache that she tried to hide so well from everyone evident in her gaze. "Things have been tough. The war has taken more of a toll on me than I ever thought possible."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know, love," Brogan murmured, wrapping an arm around her. "Tha's why i didn' hesitate t'come when Chris' letter arrived. He originally jus' asked fer Ma an' Vincenzo if they could make it, but everyone was glad t'come when I offered th'idea. Especially Ashien."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Because of the spies, the other rules know as well." Kayla said softly as her brother wrapped his thick around around her and held her tightly. "They are using my misfortune as a bargaining chip. It angers Christopher. It makes me..numb."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll leave those worries fer tomorrow, alright?" Brogan said softly. "We're here t'help, no' just t'make y'feel better. Ash an' I want t'help you work through this."

 

[heartofcourage]

"My misfortune is not yours, Brogan." Kayla said softly as Kate's beautiful green eyes opened and looked at her father sleepily.

"Da." She whimpered and held out her hands for the man that she loved so dearly.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan reached out to take Kate, letting her rest against his shoulder. "One Ghis' misfortune is all Ghis' misfortune, lass. We won' take over- this is your country- but we'd like t'help, especially where dealin' with threats is concerned."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla nodded as her brother promised to take up her fights as his own. It was something that they would all do for each other when they weren't strong enough to fight on their own any longer. They had learned that lesson when their Da had been particularly horrible.

Later that afternoon, Kayla sat in her bright office with Vincenzo, watching as he silently filled out a journal after he had examined her. She sipped on a cup of tea, afraid to ask him the questions that she sorely wanted answers to.

"They promised that I would be able to have a healthy child." She said softly. "Papa, I don't know why there has been so much trouble. Everything was perfect. Then I got to Malmo and the baby was gone. It took us so long to even have the chance at a child and then it was ripped away."

 

[KieranSoares]

Vincenzo was quiet for a long moment before he met her gaze. "It looks to me like there are two main problems, love... And I'm sorry I didn't realize them before." He set his journal aside and faced her fully. "You're a small woman, love. Unless you have a baby who is also small, you may not be able to give birth without extra measures that you'll need werefolk healers to help you with. But more than that, stress is extremely tough on you, more so than an average woman. It may be hereditary, in that it may be a weak version of your mother's sickness. I don't see any of the same signs in you as she has, except how badly stress effects you. Something as simple as a rough sea journey could be too much and cause you to lose a child."

 

[heartofcourage]

"So, my only chance is to do nothing for the nine months that I am pregnant? Papa, I don't think that would be possible." Kayla said softly, knowing how hard running the kingdom had already been on her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Not nothing... but no stressful travel, and I suggest you make good use of advisors and stand-ins, and don't be afraid to leave any heated situations. Christopher will have his work cut out for him making sure no one causes trouble around you. I know you want your own... but I urge you to consider adoption too. Losing a child is immensely hard on a person, mentally and physically."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla was quiet for a long moment as he encouraged her to adopt if she had the chance. It was always an option, something that she and Christopher would talk about, but there was something deep inside Kayla that wanted to hold a perfect little boy or girl that looked like her husband. It was one of her greatest wishes, since she was a little girl.

"You're afraid that I might not survive." Kayla said softly as she looked at the man that had been her father since the day that she was born.

 

[KieranSoares]

"If not from sheer physical strain, then from heartbreak," Vincenzo admitted softly. "And I couldn't stand to see that happen. There's nothing any medicine in the world can do for a mother's broken heart, cara mia. I know that all too well from you mother and many others who were not so fortunate as her." Taking her hands, he kissed her cheek. "If you want my advice... I'd be alright with you trying again, maybe even twice more if you feel you can. But after that if you can't deliver a baby, I don't want you pushing it any further."

 

[heartofcourage]

That news made Kayla's heart ache fiercely. She didn't have many chances to try for a family. They needed to count if she did. An entire kingdom depended on her to provide a strong heir to the throne and now the fear was that she might not ever do that.

"Why does fate have to be so cruel?" Kayla asked Vincenzo softly as he held her hands and kissed her cheek gently. "I've done nothing to deserve this."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can't answer that, amore. But maybe one day you'll find out. Maybe the road is so hard because the destination will be so worth it." Vincenzo drew her in close to hold her. He could certainly identify with Kayla's want for children without being able to have any. Until Kitty came into his life, he'd felt the same but because his work was always in the way. He could only imagine how she felt, second youngest of seven and she couldn't even manage a fraction of her own family.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know whatever happens you'll be right there for me." Kayla said softly as he hugged her tightly and gave her hopes that she so sorely needed. "No matter what, you're there for me. You always have been there for me."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Always. And you know when that baby you want so badly does decide to come along, I'll be here to help you." Vincenzo kissed her cheek and let his head rest against hers. "You know... This reminds me of when you were still just a little thing and you all came to be with your mother in Italy. After you broke your arm, I think I carried you around and held you more than not. And then there were the nights you came crawling into my bed after a nightmare. And eventually all your siblings would follow."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You and Ben. I was so sad the day you wrote to tell me that he had passed away of old age. He was the best cat." Kayla said softly as Vincenzo talked about being there for her all through her life. "I know that I'll get through this, Papa. I'll still be the same sunny girl you remember. My heart just hurts from the grief."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You don't have to be anything for me, except be my little girl."

When they returned to the others, Durban and Brogan seemed to have taken up their usual positions as the great lion-like lords looking over their family, Ashien was completely caught up in taking care of Dylandra and their baby even though nothing needed to be done, Boar was just content to sit with Emma, and Selena and Kreston were side by side watching Ruben romp around with Gabriel. Valentina was looking through a notebook with her newly adopted son on her lap and her love Theo by her side.

Kitty came to them as Vincenzo and Kayla stepped back in, taking every opportunity to hug her daughter close.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla hugged her mother tightly as Kitty came to her side. "I can be Aunt Kayla just as easily as I can be a mother." She murmured into her ear, kissing her mother's cheek to let her know that she was alright.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then go be their Aunt Kayla. I think poor Dylandra needs a break from Ashien's worrying," Kitty laughed and sent her along.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kayla smiled at her mother and nodded, making her way to where her twin was fussing over his wife and his daughter. Dylan looked exasperated as he fidgeted with Ashleigh's swaddled blanket, the little girl looking up at her mother as if she were decided to cry or be content.

"I think that the two of you could use some time alone. I'm taking this little angel and spoiling her." Kayla announced as she picked Ashleigh up from her mother's arms and cuddled her close, kissing her smooth little cheek gently.

 

[KieranSoares]

Ashien couldn't help worrying about absolutely everything to do with the little girl. He'd been so excited from her and so in love when he first held her, and it'd only taken a week to suddenly realize he had the responsibility of raising a person, a girl of noble blood who would most likely grow into a woman of the royal court unless she wanted a different path, and the gravity of the next two decades had come crashing down on him one night.

As Kayla took little Ashleigh, Ashien ran his hand back through his thick hair as he realized he'd been fidgeting and worrying incessantly again. "Sorry, love," he murmured to Dylandra with a sheepish half-smile.