Brother Dear (pt 2 of My Dear Captain)

Chapter 2

A few months after your wedding

"George, wait!"

"Come on, (y/n)! You have to run faster than that if you want to beat me!"

A little boy sprinted a few yards in front of a young girl. The young girl ran as fast as her small legs could carry her, her hair flying wildly behind her. Suddenly she tripped, and skinned her knee on the gravel path beneath her! She sat up and held her bleeding leg gingerly, crying lightly. The boy, George walked up and knelt in front of her, gently prying her hands away from the wounded appendage. "Silly (y/n)," he teased lovingly, "You're such a klutz!" (Y/n) looked up at the boy and her eyes widened. "George?" she said, but a woman's voice came instead of a little girl's.

I shot up in my bed, a cold sweat covering my skin. My breath came in shallow huffs as I tried to calm my breathing and get my heart to beat at a normal rate. What an odd dream! I looked outside, noticing that it wasn't very bright in my room. The sun was only just starting to peek above the mountains signifying that I should likely still be asleep. Someone shifted next to me and groggily said my name. "(Y/n)?"

"Just me my dear," I said, laying back down next to my husband.

"What's wrong?" he asked, lazily draping an arm over my waist, "It isn't time to get up yet, is it?"

"No, it's not. I just had an odd dream is all." James hummed in response and I kissed the top of his head, smiling as small snores escaped from his slightly ajar mouth. I nuzzled further into him and began calming down, realizing that it was nearly impossible for me to keep my eyes open much longer. Finally I surrendered and let myself fall asleep in the arms of my husband, no more dreams came to disturb my peaceful sleep.

Morning came sooner than I had hoped, and I found myself very reluctant to get up. There was a vacancy where James should have been, and I wondered where he had gone. Soon, my curiosity got the better of me and I sat up. Sunlight streamed into the room and I realized I likely didn't have much time before I had to get to the estate! A heavenly smell wafted into the room and my stomach growled hungrily. I slid out of bed and slipped on some clothes, looking in the mirror to check that everything was in its place. Content with my appearance, I skipped down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, where the wonderful smell was even stronger. I hummed happily as I walked in, and watched my husband cook, his back towards me. James must not have heard me come in, for when I greeted him he jumped and turned around, laughing when his blue eyes landed on me.

"Good morning my dear," he chuckled, "You startled me!"

"Yes I noticed!" I teased. He smiled and turned back around to focus on his cooking.

"What are you making?" I asked, hugging him from behind. He pulled away and turned back around, a large grin dancing on his face and two plates in his hands. "Waffles!" he cheered, and my eyes lit up.

"That's what smelled so glorious!" I said. He nodded and walked to our table, setting the two plates down and pulling my seat out for me. I thanked him and sat down. James took his place in front of me and said, "Bon appetit!" I smiled and cut the lovely food with my knife. Just as I had suspected, it tasted heavenly!

"James these taste amazing!"

"Thank you my dear!"

We finished our breakfast and left the dishes in the sink, agreeing that it was too late to worry about them now. I kissed his cheek as we said goodbye at the door, and he pecked my forehead as he left. The estate was calmer than usual when I arrived, which wasn't entirely a bad thing! I had been extremely tired the past few weeks, and had random bouts of sickness. They always left as soon as they came, but I knew what was going on. Nearly everyone else did as well, everyone except for James. He had been fretting over my sudden condition, and I always told him it was nothing to worry over. Alfred kept asking me when I was going to tell him what was going on, and I always said soon, but I had no idea when. I knew he had wanted this to happen, but he had only admired the idea. If I told him what was happening, would he react the way I had hoped?

These thoughts rang through my head as I said good morning to everyone and walked to the kitchen. Alfred was standing in the center of the large room, preparing the family's meals. I walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I can take it from here Alfred!" I smiled. He turned around and said good morning, a smiling finding a way onto his face. "No worries my dear, I'll take care of it! You worry about yourself." I placed my hands on my hips and halfheartedly glared at him.

"Alfred just because I may be-"

"I will hear none of it! I'll take of everything today. You just keep Jonathan entertained." I rolled my eyes and walked off, grumbling as I left the kitchen. At least I'd get to spend time with Jonathan! The small boy was up in his room when I found him, playing with three dolls, two were boys and the other was a girl. I stood in his doorway for a few seconds, just watching play with his toys. I smiled as he pretended that one defeated the other, and made the whole scene quite dramatic.

I knocked on his door as he started playing with the girl doll and he looked up, his cheeks bright red. "What are you doing young man?" I smiled. He looked away and said, quietly, "I'm playing pretend."

"What about?"

He mumbled something incoherent, and I knelt beside him. "Speak up darling I can't hear you."

"About you and Captain Nicholls." He hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms, refusing to look at me. I laughed quietly and looked at the girl doll in his hand. I pointed to it, "Is that me?" He nodded.

"Did you paint it yourself?"

"Yes. Mother made the dolls and Captain Nicholls let me borrow some of his paints and helped me paint them."

"Did he now?" I remembered coming home from the estate one day to find James and Jonathan sitting on the floor of our living room, their hands were covered in small spots of paint. James had gotten up to greet me and while I was distracted by him, I had heard Jonathan scrambling about. Now I knew what that was all about! I pointed at the small doll that he and James had painted. "May I see it?" Jonathan handed me the small toy and I studied it curiously. Small pieces of (h/c) yarn were sewn into the toy's head in such a way that it resembled my hair. (E/c) buttons were sewn onto her face, and her clothes were a near exact replica of my favorite outfit! A small golden band was painted on her ring finger and I smiled at it. I looked at the other doll in Jonathan's hand, and realized it was James!

Mistress Elizabeth had sewn him a small military uniform that mirrored the one he had worn when I had first met him, and he too had a small golden band on his finger. Yarn the same color as his hair was sewn into his head as well, and styled to match the tousled look he always had. There were even a few small spots of paint on his face and hands! There were a pair of light blue buttons on his face as well, and a captain's hat adorned his head. It was adorable! The third doll looked mean, black buttons were stitched onto his face, and he had a frown. His hair was made of black yarn and gave him an evil look. This man had a black uniform too, with small red buttons on his coat. "Who is that?" I asked, gesturing to the mean looking doll.

"The man that hurt Captain Nicholls. He's the villain, right?"

I chuckled, "Yes, he is, but I don't know if he looks like that!"

"Well, he looks evil enough."

I laughed and agreed with him. I asked him where he was in his little game, and he said James and I had just defeated the bad guy. He made quite a show of it as he reenacted the scene, and made my doll get in quite a few hits! "Captain Nicholls is hurt! He can't do much, so you have to help him!" Jonathan said as I watched him. I nodded and smiled at his enthusiasm. When he was finished, his eyes looked around his room a bit, looking for another game to play. Two wooden swords stuck out of his toy bin, and he grinned. Jonathan ran over to the trunk and pulled them out, as well as a few other items. "We should play pirates!" he cheered.

"Should we now?"

"Yes! I'll be Peter Pan!"

"Peter Pan wasn't a pirate," I laughed.

"No, but Hook was! We should get Alfred and he can play Captain Hook!"