Chapter 95 - The Bees And Babies

Delaney walked through the woods, her arm linked through her husband's. The carriage ride had caused his injured leg to ache, making his limp worse so they weren't moving as quickly as usual. It never bothered Delaney though and looked at him with the sunlight shining down through the leaves onto his face. He was so handsome.

Just a bit ahead of them, Felicia and Rose walked carrying things that Delaney didn't really recognize. They were laughing together talking about something she and Vincent couldn't hear.

As they walked, Delaney began to hear a strange sound. It started off as a sort of hum but was growing louder and louder the closer they got to the clearing ahead. It wasn't long before she recognized it as the buzzing of bees.

They stepped into a clearing where there were many wooden structures spread around like miniature buildings. All around them bees were flying through the air like tiny grey spots.

"They remind me of the fairies," Delaney whispered to her husband, "When they're only little balls of light."

Vincent smiled and kissed her forehead before looking forward again.

On the ground all around them were wildflowers of all sorts. Delaney had noticed the forest they walked through had seemed thin, not dense like the woods around Edgewood, and growing all throughout it were more flowers too. The air smelled sweet and it was strangely relaxing with the steady buzzing of the bees.

"You can come closer," Felicia smiled, "They won't hurt you if you don't bother them."

"Vincent you have long sleeves already but here Delaney you take this," Rose said holding out something that looked like a man's shirt.

Her husband helped her into it and Delaney's arms were covered by the long sleeves. Then, Rose and Felicia held out something else to them.

"They're hats," Rose smiled, "Put them on like this."

Delaney and Vincent watched as Rose put on a hat and with a wide brim that had a thin layer of netting hanging down from it all the way to her chest, encircling her in an extra layer to keep the bees from getting close. The couple took the extra hats and put them on as well.

Delaney giggled as she looked at her handsome husband wearing such a funny looking thing. He smiled down at her good-naturedly and winked. She took his hand in hers again, the familiar heat comforting as always.

Felicia and Rose walked to the nearest hive, Felicia holding some strange metal thing that Delaney noticed had thin tendrils of smoke coming out of it. She and Vincent stood back as they watched the women take the top off the wooden structure and blow smoke on the bees they'd woken up. Rose pulled out a wooden frame from the box and Delaney gasped when she saw it was dripping with honey.

The frame went into a little metal bucket Felicia had and together the women closed the hive back up. Once they'd finished they walked over to join Delaney and Vincent who were watching them in awe.

"That was amazing!" Delaney gasped, "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Let's go back to the house," Rose smiled, "Then you can taste the honey."

"There's nothing like fresh honey," Felicia added, "If you think watching us get it was impressive, tasting it will amaze you."

The four of them walked together back to the house and around behind it where a little table was set up. Delaney and Vincent removed their hats and watched as the women went to work again. In not too much time, they were handed little a little bowl of liquid gold and a pair of spoons.

"You were right," Delaney grinned, "This is amazing!"

"I'm so glad you like it," Felicia giggled, "It would've been terrible if you'd turned out to be a person that doesn't like honey."

The group laughed and enjoyed the sweet honey surrounded by beautiful flower gardens. Even here, quite a ways from the hives, Delaney could see little bees flying around between the flowers, going about their work.

Once they'd had all the honey they could manage they went inside and returned to the sitting room. Delaney was relieved when Vincent sat next to her again, knowing he needed to rest. They had only been there a few minutes when the door opened and the nannies swept in with the children.

"Oh hello darlings," Felicia smiled lovingly at her children. She and Rose each took one of the babies and May hurried to hide behind her mother's skirt again, peeking out to stare at Vincent. Delaney looked at him and found him sitting uncomfortably, looking away from them all. She tried to think of something to say to him when he suddenly stood.

"I should go and leave you ladies to catch up."

"What?" Felicia looked up in surprise, "Oh no don't leave Vincent we want to talk with you too."

"Perhaps later," he said, "I think it would be best if I go for now."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked in confusion, "Why would that be best?"

Vincent shifted uncomfortably, looking away from them. "I uh... I think I'm scaring the children."

Felicia and Rose looked down at the babies and May who were all staring wide-eyed at Vincent now.

"It's alright," he continued quickly, "I don't want to trouble you. I scare many adults too I can assure you and most of them react much worse than your children. I would just prefer not to cause them any more fear so I'll just..."

"No," Rose cut him off, "Please don't go. The children may be a bit scared of you because of your scars but I promise that's not all of it. They're also rarely around men and the ones they tend to be around are usually old. You're just someone very different and new to them."

"Children also don't have the prejudices of adults," Felicia smiled at her cousin, "They just need differences explained to them."

Vincent and Delaney watched then as Felicia pulled May up onto the couch between she and Rose.

"May dear, this is Mommy's cousin Vincent and he is very special," Felicia spoke to the child, "He did something very important for us. Do you want to know what that was?"

The little girl nodded.

"Big, scary, dragons came a long time ago and wanted to hurt people, even Mommy and Rose. The King told Vincent and do you know what he did? He came and fought the dragon and made sure it couldn't hurt anyone. Those marks on his face are from the dragon but they aren't scary. They are just there so we all know he kept us safe. And do you know what else? As long as cousin Vincent is around he will always keep you safe too. He can beat any monster."

Delaney felt tears stinging in her eyes as she heard Felicia's words and watched the little girl staring at her husband in awe now. Vincent stood rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, looking embarrassed but there was also a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Do you know what else May?" Rose spoke in an exaggerated whisper then, "I think Vincent also looks like he would be an excellent hide-and-seek player. Maybe if you be very sweet and ask him very nicely he'll agree to play with you for a little bit."

With those words, the girl's eyes widen and she quickly scrambled down from the couch and hurried to Vincent. She reached up and grabbed one of his fingers, pulling on it.

"Oh please, will you play?" she pleaded in her sweet little voice.

Vincent looked from May to her mother, to his wife, and back again, "I uh... I suppose I can try. I haven't played hide-and-seek in a very long time."

"You'll be fine," Felicia laughed, "You were always better at finding my brothers than anyone else."

Vincent looked at Delaney who smiled and giggled at him, "You'd better close your eyes and start counting so she can go hide."

May heard that and tore off with an excited squeal. Vincent looked around, unsure how this had happened and what to do. Delaney went to him and kissed him quickly on the lips before smiling and placing her hand over his eyes. Loudly, she began to count to ten, Vincent joining her after a moment.

The little girl's first hiding place was behind the curtains where they could see her toes sticking out beneath. When they'd finished their counting, Vincent moved to search for her, musing out loud if she might be under a couch or perhaps behind the door. With each of his guesses, the curtains would move as May giggled.

Delaney watched her husband as he finally turned to the curtains and pulled them quickly backward. May squealed with laughter and tore off to Rose, scrambling to hide behind her skirt for safety.

They played another round and then another. Felicia asked Delaney if she wanted to hold one of the boys to which Delaney happily agreed. Taking baby Warren in her arms she was surprised by how much he weighed and how different he already was from baby Benjamin. They were at least a year apart in age but it still seemed like a huge amount of change to happen in just a year.

Delaney played with baby Warren and talked to Rose and Felicia while Vincent continued hide-and-seek with May. By the time the nannies returned to take the children for dinner, both Delaney and Vincent were sad to see them go.

Not long after, dinner was announced for the adults as well and they all went to the dining room. They continued talking while they ate and it was as if they were old friends now. Once they'd finished Rose and Felicia asked if they wanted to stay up and continue talking. Delaney glanced at her husband as he got up from his chair, jaw clenched against the pain in his leg, and thanked them for the offer but said she was too tired to stay awake a minute longer.

In their little bedroom later, Delaney crawled into bed next to Vincent who'd taken his place there pretty soon after they'd come in the room. He smiled and pulled her into his arms, kissing her.

"I liked watching you with May today. I think it made me fall even more in love with you."

Vincent chuckled, "She's a sweet girl. I liked seeing you holding and playing with the babies. You'll be a wonderful mother one day."

Delaney kissed him again, deeper now, "You'll be a wonderful father. Our children will be happy and loved."

Vincent held her against his chest until she fell asleep. He laid awake long after, staring at the ceiling. Seeing her today he knew more than ever that she deserved to be a mother. Children would make her happy more than he ever could. If he couldn't give them to her he knew he would have to let her go to try to have them with someone else.

Even if it broke his heart.