2.5: Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter 15: Curious child.

Two weeks later at the Manor and Alexander is healing well, his chest still hurts a bit but magical healing can only do so much. He can now dress himself and get up with little pain, so he decides that he wants to go home. Joseph walks past Alexander's door, he shouts to him.
"Pa... I think I am feeling well enough to go home now..."
Joseph stops and instead walks in and sits on the bed next to him and lifts up his shirt. He presses two fingers on Alexander's chest, where the injury is.
He winces a little but it's nothing major.
"Agh... Must you do that?"
Joseph nods.
"I am essentially a doctor... So yes... And it looks and feels better too... It's not causing you as much pain either, you're free to go if you so wish..."

Alexander gets out of the bed with no issues.
"I do so wish... Can you ask someone to bring the bulk of my things back to the cottage later on tonight please?"
Joseph nods.
"I will, I'll probably help your brother to do it. You're still in no state to be carrying heavy items... You might just manage Sera but other than that, I wouldn't advise it."
Alexander puts his socks and shoes on, with a little difficulty.
"I know... I am going out for a walk... I need some fresh air."
Joseph puts on his pontificating hat.
"You're not going anywhere unaccompanied... Take Sera to the park and spend some time with her, she's missed you."
Alexander smiles.
"Of course, I have missed her too... I see her here every day but it is not the same when I cannot play with her... Or do anything with her for that matter... I want to enjoy as much of this time with her as possible, before she starts school."
Joseph gets a little sentimental.
"I understand, she understands that Daddy was hurt and needed rest. She is a smart girl... It's very much like raising Eleanora again... But I digress, she needs school otherwise she'll get bored very quickly..."
Alexander smiles proudly.
"That does not surprise me... She is my little genius... I will go and get her now."

He starts walking almost jauntily down the stairs to look for Sera, Lucille is giving her breakfast along with Genny and Armand. Sera is happy that she gets bacon but Lucille looks forlorn, he thinks he knows why. So, while Sera is busy eating with Armand and Genevieve, he takes Lucille's hand and gently pulls her into the kitchen, out of earshot of the children.
"Are you alright? You look a bit down."
She looks up at him with a tear in her eye.
"A little... When I look after Sera... I am reminded of what I have lost... What we lost... had he survived... He would have been two years old this month, Alexander..."

When he hears that, suddenly everything he is going through is thrown out the window, he pulls her in close for a hug and she sobs into his chest. He strokes her hair to comfort her and he can't help but feel like crying himself, a single tear runs down his cheek. He still has feelings for her but has tried hard to not make them known, even though Seb most likely knows.
"I... Have to admit that I had forgotten about that, Gods I am so sorry... Say he had survived... what would you have named him?"
She thinks on it for a moment. "I... Do not know, Rowan or something like that... I have always loved that name."
He strokes her hair.
"I do as well... You know, I think I need to cherish Sera even more... He is the second child that I have lost... When I was almost twenty, I lost my first girlfriend Olivia and our daughter, they both died because of complications due to a difficult childbirth... She was called Amelie and she would be almost fourteen now..."

She didn't know this and so she feels even worse for lying to him about it all, she starts sobbing again for that reason. She thinks to herself.
'Gods... I am a monster... I am putting him through that all over again... Why can I not just tell him, tell him that he has a son and that he is a healthy, happy little boy... I just cannot do it... He would want him back, I cannot break his heart again... And I cannot do that to Matthew and Lyra...'
"I am so sorry to hear that... I had no idea..."

He keeps trying to comfort her.
"Shh it is alright... I had only told Seb and Eleanora before anyway... It is not exactly something I like to shout out loud..."
She hugs him a little tighter.
"I understand that... I am sorry... for everything you have been through..."
He leans down and kisses her hair again.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, miscarriages happen, if anything, I should still be apologising to you... But I do appreciate it nonetheless."
Still in his arms, she looks up at him, taken in by the raw emotion of the moment. She reaches up grabs his hair and pulls him down and kisses him, he doesn't pull away as that's what he'd been wanting to do but after ten seconds or so, he pulls away and puts his hands on her shoulders to put some distance between them.
"Lucille, what are you doing?"
She catches herself.
"I... Am so sorry... It is just the way you hold me, your beautiful face... I get so lost in your eyes very easily... Gods only know I still love you... I... have to go, please excuse me..."