Ranger's Apprentice; An Emotional Tale

III: Names, godparents and more of that stuff

The dishes had all been cleaned and put away. The fire was crackling merrily from the stone fireplace, and there was some wood stacked on the hearth for later. It was again snowing outside, but the doors and windows were all closed, and thanks to the fire, the atmosphere inside was warm and cozy. For once, everything was right.

It didn't happen very often, living the life of a Ranger and a Courier, but sometimes, you can think and think and think, and you can look and look and look, and just not find anything wrong with the world, Will knew. He was inside, and warm, and full of good coffee. He was sitting on a comfortable couch with his wife leaning next to him. There were no tasks that needed doing, no places that needed traveling to, no dangerous battles that needed fighting. Just him and his wife, sitting quietly and enjoying each other's company.

"Will?" Alyss' low-pitched, feminine voice broke the comfortable silence. Will squeezed her hand gently as a sign that he was listening, and she continued, slowly, not rushing any of the words, and giving Will time to think about them. Just like every time she spoke, Will was almost mesmerized by the sound of her voice, which had a unique cadence that reminded him of a stream flowing over smooth stones.

"Do you think we should already discuss some things for the sake of the baby?"

"Maybe we should. I mean, the better it's sorted out, the easier," Will agreed. He hadn't yet thought about it all. If he was honest, he hadn't thought about anything else than that they were going to be parents. Alyss had only told him she was expecting this morning, and one way or another, he hadn't yet quite gotten over the surprise yet. But whether they liked it or not, they did have to keep in mind that the fact that they were expecting didn't mean their jobs were less dangerous. 

"Alright then," Alyss began, a bit more enthusiastic that her husband and father-to-be. "Godparents?" Both of them didn't like thinking about what if one of them - or, in this case, the both of them - would die. Yet Will did have an answer ready. 

"Horace and Cassandra," he optioned immediately and without a doubt. Alyss was slightly less sure about the choice. 

"Do you think that would be a possibility? You know, being the King and Queen and having your own daughter and Queen-to-be to raise?" Alyss doubted. 

"They'd do it. You know they would. They wouldn't care if it was with or against the protocol," Will declared. She nodded in agreement. He was right. Horace and Cassandra would find a place for their kid, just like they would for them. 

"Alright then. We also have to think of someone to take care of the baby when we're both on a mission," Alyss continued. Will thought about it, then answered: "I think the easiest choice would be asking Pauline."

Alyss nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I had thought about her as well. I know she's trying to do less work, and when Halt isn't around she's always eager to take care of something. I think she'd enjoy it more than she'd tell us."

"And Halt will enjoy it too," Will grinned. "He'll never admit it, but he'll enjoy himself. I know for a fact that he's thinking about retiring, so I guess he'll like to have something to keep him busy."

His wife looked at him in surprise. 

"Really? Is Halt thinking about retiring?" Will nodded. 

"Please don't tell him I said that," he warned her, "I don't think he wants people to know. It's just something I assume," he shrugged it off. Alyss smiled warmly. 

"I'd expect so," she said. Both of them felt a strong relationship with the jaded, grim Ranger. To Will, he'd always been a mentor, a father-figure, someone who'd give everything just to help him. To Alyss, he'd become something just like a dad. Through the years, he'd been someone she could trust, someone to ask advice. 

"And how about names?" she asked, and she eyed him curiously. Will coughed, as to mask the fact that he didn't want to think about that at all. 

"Uhm, I don't know..." he admitted, "Can't we just... discuss that later?"

Alyss grinned amusedly and rested her head on his shoulder. She'd expected an answer like that. She knew Will was probably still shocked, and she was just gently teasing him. 

"You know, I think names are useless anyway. They don't reveal anything about a person other than that their parents liked it. Names don't tell us what job they have or where they come from or how old they are, it's just... there. It's just a word given to celebrate the birth and to differentiate from others, but more than one person can have the same name," she said. Will smiled. He knew that she was lying. Every mother-to-be loved it; to choose names for their baby, so so did Alyss. He appreciated the fact that she was willing to wait for him, though. He decided to bring up one of the last matters that had to be discussed.

"So. When are we going to spread the word?"

Alyss laughed softly. "I actually didn't want to tell anyone, you know, see how long it takes them to notice. But Pauline knows I haven't been feeling very well lately, and I think she is getting a bit suspicious. Also, it won't take long before I won't fit into my dresses anymore, so maybe it does is fair to tell them." 

Will grinned. "That's probably the best idea. I mean, they're not stupid."

"Oh, no. They certainly aren't," Alyss agreed smilingly. "So guess we should tell them anytime soon."

"What do you have to tell us?" a familiar voice startled them suddenly. Will jumped and turned around to face a small, yet not less threatening figure at their threshold.

"Gorlog's beard, Halt!" the younger Ranger cursed. "Can't you for once not try to sneak up on us?"

Halt grinned deviously. "Keeping secrets, are we?"

"God, no, well, maybe, but they wouldn't be your business then, would they?" Will ended it. He wasn't ready to discuss any secrets he may or may not have. At another time, another day, he might have been more than willing to have word fight with his former mentor, but right now wasn't the time. Halt shrugged. 

"Alright then," he said, and he stepped into the room to take a seat at the table. He was soon followed by a taller, female figure and Alyss quickly stood up when she saw that her mentor too had come to visit.

While Halt sat down, Alyss quickly hugged Pauline, after which both graceful Diplomates sat down at the table as well. Will was preparing coffee and tea, and after a minute or so he placed four mugs at the table.

"Alright," Halt said, when his former apprentice had sat down as well. "What was this matter you had to tell us?"

>>>---------->

This story does make my decision to first finish, then publish, more apt. I feel so bad for not updating. But, I've got some good and some bad news!

The good news is, that this story will have a lot of updates these days because there are another 6 chapters on their way before the 20th of October. 

The bad news is that I won't have much rest because of that XD

We'll see how it goes. Worst case, I finish too late. But I'll finish. I'm determined on that. And sorry for this boring chapter, I'm not at all happy with it if I'm honest. I'm busy adding action in the next ones!

Oh, and the voting for names has officially opened now!!!

~Rose