A Price Above Rubies

Chapter Thirty One

Paris

Leon catches Yorgo in his arms as the little boy flings his small body at him. "Oh Papa! We've missed you and Mommy so so much!" Leon inhales his son's scent and the oppressive sorrow of the past month eases just a little. 

"Oh my son! Thank God, you're safe! Thank you, God," Veronika sobs in his arms and for a second Leon and his mother just stand there holding each other, grieving Ali Kemal. 

"Mommy! You're going to have a baby!" Acelya exclaims as she eases back from Hilal's embrace after sobbing in her mother's arms for a minute once they were reunited. 

Yorgo whirls around next to Leon for a better look at his mother. "No, Mommy! Please don't have a baby. I don't want you to die like Auntie Clara!" 

Leon's heart falls into his stomach as it occurs to him that she is missing from the family group that have welcomed them in the hotel suite.

Hilal's eyes widen and she looks over at Yildiz whose face suddenly falls in sadness. 

Oh no… first Ali Kemal and now his wife. "The baby?" Hilal asks and Leon prays that they didn't also lose this last piece of his brother. 

"They're fine," Yildiz assures her. 

"They?" Leon asks, confused.

Yakup gives them a small smile. "Twins. A boy and a girl."

Hilal covers her mouth as tears spill from her eyes. Two babies with no parents. Just when she thought life couldn't be more cruel…

"Please send the baby back, Mommy. Please take it out of your tummy and send it back. I don't want you to die!" Yorgo begs. 

"Mommy's not going to die," Hilal assures him, picking their son up and holding him close. 

Leon wants to assure him as well but he doesn't want to dare tempt fate. After everything they have been through, who knows what stress has been put on Hilal's body or the baby. A fresh wave of anger at his wife grips him and Leon sticks his hands in his pockets to hide his clenched fists. How could she have been so careless? 

A small voice in his mind reminds him she likely didn't know she was pregnant when she came after him...not that he believes that would have stopped her. His stomach twists with guilt at the knowledge that she wouldn't be pregnant if he hadn't been stupid enough to think that would have kept her from following him.

Yet another thing to pile onto the mountain of things that were his fault. 

"Acelya, watch your brother while your mother and I talk with your aunt and uncle," Leon says kissing his daughter's cheek after hugging her tightly. 

"What happened?" Hilal asks her sister when they move to Yildiz and Yakup's bedroom. She spots the two babies in their bassinet in the corner and moves towards them. 

"Clara was heartbroken when we told her about Ali Kemal sacrificing himself for us " Yildiz explains and Leon wonders at the guilt that flickers behind her eyes but he doesn't press. It might just be guilt that his brother died for them. It might be more but he doesn't think she'll clarify anything for him. Maybe she'll tell Hilal. 

"I was worried she might do something drastic in her grief," Veronika explains, her own face drawn in sadness. 

She seems older to Leon, as if losing her first born son after only a few years of getting him back has aged her. He moves closer to her and wraps an arm around her. 

She gives a sad weak smile and pats his hand on her shoulder gratefully. "I had the doctor insist she stay in bed for the remainder of her pregnancy. She retreated into herself, didn't speak except for the most essential times, but seemed to obey all of the doctors dictates." 

"Seemed to?" Leon asks. He coughs, unable to hold it back though sometimes he tries because Hilal's eyes always fill with worry when he does as if she doesn't quite believe he's as recovered as both he and the doctor assure her he is. Sometimes his breath is short and he still has a lingering small cough but the doctor assures him that those last symptoms of his pneumonia will eventually disappear. 

She looks at him now with that look and he wants to smile and reassure her but he can't bring himself to. That one moment of weakness in the cabin...He'd needed her so much, not just physically but that connection that always happened when they made love but it hadn't been the same. Leon knows it was his fault. His guilt hovered beneath the surface reminding him that he didn't deserve to touch her because it was his fault Ali Kemal was dead, and now poor Clara too. 

"She stayed in bed, did everything the doctor wanted, and then as soon as the babies were born she…" Veronika closes her eyes and shudders. 

Hilal sways a bit and her eyes close as she grasps something that Leon doesn't yet. 

"Acelya found her," Veronika explains. "That little girl's scream…"

"No…" Hilal moans looking behind her to the doorway that leads back to the living room where the children are.

"She killed herself?" Leon asks, horrified and angry as well that his little girl had to witness something so horrible. God forgive him but he feels a surge of fury that Clara would be so thoughtless as to end her life close to where his children were. 

"She hung herself in her room," Veronika says, her dark eyes filling with tears. 

"Dear God, my poor baby!" Hilal says thinking of their daughter. 

"In her note, she said she couldn't go on without Ali Kemal and can't bear to be a mother to their children without him." 

So Leon guesses Acelya's little sobs when she was hugging her mother weren't simply a matter of having missed her. He didn't want to think I'll of the dead but...he clenches his teeth and once again pushes down the urge to hate Clara for putting his little girl through such a thing. 

Hilal turns to likely talk to Acelya about what happened but Leon stops her. 

"Not yet, darling. Not yet," Leon says. "Try and calm yourself so you can be calm for her. She's probably still in shock over what she saw." He wipes her cheeks and kisses her forehead. "If she sees you upset, it will just make her upset. She needs our strength now more than ever."

Hilal buried her face in his chest and holds on to him tightly while he gradually feels her start to calm down. 

"You're right," she mumbles into his chest. "Of course, you're right."

He exhales a little with relief. In this, at least, he's able to help his wife.