Sanity

25. A Happy Ending

Two years later...

"Will! Come inside, please! You've been out here for hours!"

Jaelyn stood in the doorway of their cottage home, her arms crossed as she watched her husband hammering away on his anvil out toward the roads. He had become quite proficient at making weapons and tools, and they had started to make a nice comfortable living from it, as well. It did help, of course, that when they did run away together out into the small farming town of Neylon, William had brought enough gold with them that it was easy enough to start a business and still support themselves for years even if it failed. Sure, they cheated a little, but they were happy.

"I've still got orders to fill," William called back out to her, not taking a break from the hammering. Jaelyn scowled, blowing an errant hair from her face. He always did this. He would be out here all night and all day if he could. Even though Jaelyn assured him they didn't ever have to worry about money again, he wanted to make sure she would be okay in case anything happened to him. He was still a little nervous about people discovering who he was, or recognising him somehow. There was nothing Jaelyn could say to make him feel better, because she still felt the same way about herself.

"You haven't eaten since this morning," Jaelyn shot back. "And its nearly nightfall. Please, Will. Can you just leave it until morning?"

There must have been something in her voice that got through to him, because he stopped hammering and slowly put his tool down, turning to look at his wife guiltily.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, wiping the sweat from his forehead and walking back over to the house. He stopped in front of her, grabbing her waist and yanking her into him for a quick kiss and a playful hug. "I know I haven't been paying you much attention lately. I just really want to make sure we're happy here, that's all."

She smiled down at him from her step in the doorway, resting her arms around his neck. "I am happy," she said honestly, her eyes glinting as she spoke. "I'm the happiest I've ever been. I have you. That's all I'll ever need. Well..."

He straightened his back immediately. "Well, what?" he demanded. "What else could you need but me?"

She grinned at his defensiveness, and dropped her arms from his neck slowly.

"Well, I do like you a lot," she admitted, her hands lifting innocently to her stomach. "So much that I thought... well, I thought it might be nice to have another."

He hesitated. "Another...?"

"Another of you."

He paused again, then his eyes widened. They shot down to her stomach, where her hands held her belly gently. He looked quickly back up at her, almost as if he were asking if this was real. She laughed, feeling the tears start to prick in her eyes at the look in her husband's eyes.

"Oh, my," he murmured, and he dropped to his knees. His eyes were wide as he gazed at Jaelyn's belly draped in a plain farmer's dress, hesitantly lifting up his hands to hold them over hers. Her belly was still quite flat, but she could feel the life inside of her, the life they had created together, and she was sure that he could feel it too.

"Are you happy?" she asked in a whisper, the glassiness in her eyes beginning to trickle down her cheeks slowly. He looked up at her in a daze, a look of pure amazement and joy plastered on his face.

"I- Jaelyn, I-"

She had rendered him speechless.

"I know," she laughed again, happy sobs racking her body. "I know. If you had told me three years ago where we would be now, I would never have given it another thought. But... looking back at where I was three years ago... there's nowhere I would rather be right now than here with you. With our family."

"I can't believe this," he whispered, pressing his cheek softly against the fabric of her dress. "I can't believe this."

"Neither can I," she smiled back, watching him happily as he spent his time coming to terms with the news. "Should we tell people or should we wait?"

William thought about this for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I think we wait. Noah's still dealing with this peace treaty with Ronile and it's apparently a very messy situation. No one trusts anyone anymore."

"That's fair enough, I suppose," she murmured, biting her lip. "He makes a great King. I hope he gets a break soon, though, or we shall never see him again."

"We can always just go see Maeve and she can distract you," William suggested, straightening up from his position in front of her belly with a grin on his face. "It's only a day's ride."

"I know, I just... I want to have tonight just to us. We can see her tomorrow. Today is for us. And our beautiful new addition," she added, rubbing her belly with a grin of her own.

"I love you," he announced, leaning forward to give her a passionate kiss.

"I love you too," she murmured against his mouth, and in that moment, everything was perfect.