Apple Pie 13, Watermelon 19, Green Tea 3
Author: Casey
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Apple Pie 13 (growing old together), Watermelon 19 (when I was your age…), Green Tea 3 (high noon)
Toppings & Extras: Caramel (superCaramel), Milkshake (Carrie)
Word Count: 1,903
Rating: PG
Summary: Renie wants to talk about events from many years before.
Notes: Takes place when Renie is 25 and about five years before she takes over as queen from Ren. For reference, she’s 4 1/2 during Paths. This Green Tea snuck past me. Downfalls of having a backlog!
“It’s hard to believe that Patrick’s already two,” Dean commented as he watched the seven kids play in the backyard.
Renie laughed. “Tell me about it. Ian’s been bugging me for another one.”
Sage grinned. “We’re not the ones to complain about that to,” she said, gesturing at the kids. Dean watched his three girls, Sage’s three and little Patrick Highcastle, the eventual heir to the throne, race around the garden of his childhood house.
His younger cousin smirked, patting her stomach. “I’m not complaining. It’ll make Mom and Dad happy too. And I’ve always wanted at least two for a lot of reasons.”
Carrie brightened, sitting up at Dean’s side. “Renie, are you…?”
“No telling. Ian’s the only other one who knows yet. I’m going to tell Mom and Dad when I get home, but I knew you guys and especially Uncle Sorin would get a kick out of knowing first. I know all about Dad and Sorin’s little competition over life.”
Dean burst out laughing. “So you’re rigging it in Dad’s favor? That doesn’t seem particularly sporting to me.”
“Dad’s the king. He wins on plenty of them.”
“Well, congratulations,” Sage said, patting Renie on her knee. “Can’t wait.”
The four of them lapsed into easy silence, listening to the shrieks and giggles that accompanied small children at play. Then Renie broke it, with possibly the last thing Dean might have expected to come out of her mouth, considering the perfect summer day and easy conversation. “I was about Rachel’s age when we got kidnapped.”
Carrie’s grip around Dean tightened as he whipped his head around to look at her. Sage froze, eyes fastened on the kids.
“Yeah,” he said as neutrally as he could. “It was over twenty years ago.”
Renie met his gaze. “You know, I remember quite a bit.”
Sage let out a breath. “You’ve never said anything.”
“You two never talked about it. No one talks about it, even the rescue party. Sometimes, when I wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, I wonder if I dreamed it with how close-mouthed you all are and, of course, Connor was way too small.”
“Do you…have nightmares often?” Dean asked.
“Not too often, no, but when I do, it freaks Ian out. I guess I get pretty wild in my sleep.”
He opened his mouth and then shut it again as his father, followed by Nate and Ian, trooped out of the house. “Lunch dishes are clean,” Nate announced, flopping down beside Sage and then pausing, smile fading as he saw how tense his wife was. “What’d we miss?” he asked as Ian settled in next to Renie and Sorin sat beside them.
“I brought up being kidnapped,” Renie said matter-of-factly.
Dean glanced at his dad out of the corner of his eye, but Sorin didn’t bat an eye. “Did you? No wonder Dean and Sage look tense,” he said mildly.
Ian leaned around Renie to look at them. “I’d like to know more. Obviously Renie’s recollections don’t tell a full story because of her age and what memory’s dulled over time.”
Dean and Sage exchanged glances and then Carrie nudged Dean in the side. “Dean,” she murmured.
“If you’re worried about me knowing the full truth about what my brother did, you needn’t worry,” Sorin said, resting back on the palms of his hands, even as he held his son’s gaze. “Do you honestly think I would have left that compound without knowing exactly what had happened? I knew I needed to understand what you’d gone through to be able to help you when you needed it, even if you weren’t going to tell me yourself.”
“Oh,” Dean managed.
“Told you so,” Carrie said, managing not to sound too smug.
Sage let out a breath as Nate hugged her with one arm. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin, Ian.”
“I remember a lot of the Rules,” Renie said and then looked uncertain for the first time. That surprised Dean a bit, even given the subject matter, considering his younger cousin rarely looked, or felt, uncertain about anything. “And I remember what Tourn tried to do and that you killed him to protect me, Sage.”
She winced. “You have a damn good memory, Renie.”
“Steel trap, for better or worse,” the princess said with a wry smile.
“Has Sage told you?” Dean now asked Nate.
“You know your cousin, she’s generally sparse on details when she can get away with it, but I’ve been able to piece together a bunch over the years.”
He let out a breath. He’d gotten so much better about talking about his past demons since Kaylee’d been born, through Carrie’s unwavering support. “It’s a long story and not one to tell in detail when the kids might be able to hear, but here are the basics. If I miss anything, feel free to butt in. After Vladimir failed to die during the Battle for Oakbridge, he still lost what little of his sanity he’d retained until then. For six years, he stewed and planned and researched, finding out about me and Dad in the meantime. He gathered a following, a lot of old members of the Three’s posse, but a lot of just nutso newbies too and he created a cult. The entire operation was based around a set of rules Vladimir made up, strictly governing behavior and the repercussions of not following those Rules, which were steep. His plan was, after kidnapping us, to brainwash both Renie and I with the Rules so that even if our parents did eventually catch up, we’d be his.” He paused, gathering his thoughts and pushing aside the old demons. “I can’t speak for Renie, but he came damn close to succeeding with me and it was only through reaching an understanding with Sage” - he aimed a smile at his cousin and touched the scar he still retained on his upper arm, even twenty years on, where she’d stabbed him - “and Jay’s arrival that kept me sane.”
“I was pretty messed up for a while,” Renie said quietly. “I remember after I got home that I’d react according to the Rules and Corey and the others would give me the strangest looks, since they couldn’t possibly understand. It was only because of Corey’s persistence and my parents’ insistence that I didn’t pull away entirely and become even more scarred for life.”
“I explained the bare bones of what had gone down to Ren and Ani after our return home so that they would understand,” Sorin said. “I’d gotten one of Vladimir’s men to write down the Rules and I gave the copy to them.”
She looked surprised. “I never knew.”
“You weren’t supposed to,” Sorin said with a smile. “All of us decided that the best way to help you recover, at least in the short term, was to just make it okay for you to act weirdly sometimes.” He glanced at Sage and then Dean. “In the long term, none of us were quite sure what to do. Neither of you said a word about it and you seemed to adjust to the real world well enough, so finally I decided to let it lie.”
“I never…” Dean laughed slightly. “I guess it was pretty stupid of me to assume you had no idea, huh?”
“Not one of your brighter executive decisions, no,” Sorin agreed, “but…I appreciate it. Obviously I wish my brother had never slipped that far, but he did and what he did to all three of you was unforgivable. I think he realized that in the end.”
Sage let out a breath. “And that’s why he jumped.”
“And that’s why he jumped.”
Ian’s eyes went round. “He committed suicide? You never told me that, Renie.”
His wife shrugged. “Guess it never came up.”
“Dad and Sage confronted him and he stepped out of a window instead of fighting either of them.”
“His last and first really sane moment in a long time,” Sage said, leaning against Nate. “He was too weak to resist Edward, like you and Ani always did,” she said nodding towards Sorin. “We talked sometimes, in the two years, and he seemed sad sometimes that he’d ended up where he did. I think, on occasion, he toed the line, but was too far past it most of the time to make it stick.”
Sorin opened his mouth to speak but was distracted as Rachel, Sage’s four-year-old, raced over and wiggled her way in between her parents, giggling and oblivious to the somber mood of the adults. “Danny an’ Kay-Kay are gonna get me!” she squealed, burrowing further as the others followed. Little Patrick bulldozed headlong into his father, beaming and babbling so quickly he was incomprehensible. Dean had to grin, the little boy reminding him so much of both Ani and Connor. Renie would continue to have her hands full with that one.
The older five stopped at a slightly more reasonable distance. Dean blinked at his oldest. “Kaylee, why in the name of the gods do you have grass in your hair?”
The eight-year-old folded her arms across her chest - all Carrie at that moment - and favored him with a look. “Rachel thought it was funny.”
Bethy and Charlie, the two resident six-year-olds, exchanged glances and then started giggling. “It is kinda funny, Kay,” Bethy said. Nora, at least, was polite enough to cover her smile with her hand.
Kaylee, meanwhile, looked downright murderous and she turned on the younger pair. Bethy squeaked and, as one, the two tore over to Sorin. Bethy scrambled into his lap, still giggling, while Charlie hid behind him, half scaling Sorin’s back, peeking a grinning face out at Kaylee. “Grandpa’ll protect us!” he announced.
All of them had long given up on dissuading Danny, Charlie and now Rachel of referring to Sorin as Grandpa and Dean and Carrie’s girls as cousins. Plus, all of them knew that Sorin silently adored having all six ‘grandchildren’ to dote on.
At that moment, a bunch of things happened. Carrie stood and offered their eldest a hand. “C’mon, Kaylee, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Sorin reached back a hand, snagged Charlie and pulled him around front, where he proceeded to tickle the stuffing out of both kids, ignoring their shrieks and laughter. Within seconds, Patrick had joined the pile and, as soon as Rachel was certain that Kaylee was distracted and feeling fairly safe from her brother, she raced over to attack Sorin as well. Danny, all grown-up at nine, rolled his eyes at the antics of the younger kids and settled himself, nice as can be, in his mom’s lap.
Dean met Renie’s eyes across the chaos. “It doesn’t really matter any more, does it?” she asked him. “Because we have this,” - she waved a hand to encompass the group - “and this,” - she now touched her stomach - “and he’s gone.”
Sage glanced down at her son and ruffled his hair, smiling. “And Edward’s legacy died with him.”
Danny tried to hide a yawn. “Who’s Edward, Mom? And who died?”
Dean’s older cousin tickled him in the side, eliciting a giggle and a protest. “Mom!”
Sage met first Renie’s gaze and then held Dean’s. “You know what, Danny? No one important, because you’ve got the best family in the world.”
The boy grinned. “Of course I do!”
Dean couldn’t have agreed more.
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Apple Pie 13 (growing old together), Watermelon 19 (when I was your age…), Green Tea 3 (high noon)
Toppings & Extras: Caramel (superCaramel), Milkshake (Carrie)
Word Count: 1,903
Rating: PG
Summary: Renie wants to talk about events from many years before.
Notes: Takes place when Renie is 25 and about five years before she takes over as queen from Ren. For reference, she’s 4 1/2 during Paths. This Green Tea snuck past me. Downfalls of having a backlog!
“It’s hard to believe that Patrick’s already two,” Dean commented as he watched the seven kids play in the backyard.
Renie laughed. “Tell me about it. Ian’s been bugging me for another one.”
Sage grinned. “We’re not the ones to complain about that to,” she said, gesturing at the kids. Dean watched his three girls, Sage’s three and little Patrick Highcastle, the eventual heir to the throne, race around the garden of his childhood house.
His younger cousin smirked, patting her stomach. “I’m not complaining. It’ll make Mom and Dad happy too. And I’ve always wanted at least two for a lot of reasons.”
Carrie brightened, sitting up at Dean’s side. “Renie, are you…?”
“No telling. Ian’s the only other one who knows yet. I’m going to tell Mom and Dad when I get home, but I knew you guys and especially Uncle Sorin would get a kick out of knowing first. I know all about Dad and Sorin’s little competition over life.”
Dean burst out laughing. “So you’re rigging it in Dad’s favor? That doesn’t seem particularly sporting to me.”
“Dad’s the king. He wins on plenty of them.”
“Well, congratulations,” Sage said, patting Renie on her knee. “Can’t wait.”
The four of them lapsed into easy silence, listening to the shrieks and giggles that accompanied small children at play. Then Renie broke it, with possibly the last thing Dean might have expected to come out of her mouth, considering the perfect summer day and easy conversation. “I was about Rachel’s age when we got kidnapped.”
Carrie’s grip around Dean tightened as he whipped his head around to look at her. Sage froze, eyes fastened on the kids.
“Yeah,” he said as neutrally as he could. “It was over twenty years ago.”
Renie met his gaze. “You know, I remember quite a bit.”
Sage let out a breath. “You’ve never said anything.”
“You two never talked about it. No one talks about it, even the rescue party. Sometimes, when I wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, I wonder if I dreamed it with how close-mouthed you all are and, of course, Connor was way too small.”
“Do you…have nightmares often?” Dean asked.
“Not too often, no, but when I do, it freaks Ian out. I guess I get pretty wild in my sleep.”
He opened his mouth and then shut it again as his father, followed by Nate and Ian, trooped out of the house. “Lunch dishes are clean,” Nate announced, flopping down beside Sage and then pausing, smile fading as he saw how tense his wife was. “What’d we miss?” he asked as Ian settled in next to Renie and Sorin sat beside them.
“I brought up being kidnapped,” Renie said matter-of-factly.
Dean glanced at his dad out of the corner of his eye, but Sorin didn’t bat an eye. “Did you? No wonder Dean and Sage look tense,” he said mildly.
Ian leaned around Renie to look at them. “I’d like to know more. Obviously Renie’s recollections don’t tell a full story because of her age and what memory’s dulled over time.”
Dean and Sage exchanged glances and then Carrie nudged Dean in the side. “Dean,” she murmured.
“If you’re worried about me knowing the full truth about what my brother did, you needn’t worry,” Sorin said, resting back on the palms of his hands, even as he held his son’s gaze. “Do you honestly think I would have left that compound without knowing exactly what had happened? I knew I needed to understand what you’d gone through to be able to help you when you needed it, even if you weren’t going to tell me yourself.”
“Oh,” Dean managed.
“Told you so,” Carrie said, managing not to sound too smug.
Sage let out a breath as Nate hugged her with one arm. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin, Ian.”
“I remember a lot of the Rules,” Renie said and then looked uncertain for the first time. That surprised Dean a bit, even given the subject matter, considering his younger cousin rarely looked, or felt, uncertain about anything. “And I remember what Tourn tried to do and that you killed him to protect me, Sage.”
She winced. “You have a damn good memory, Renie.”
“Steel trap, for better or worse,” the princess said with a wry smile.
“Has Sage told you?” Dean now asked Nate.
“You know your cousin, she’s generally sparse on details when she can get away with it, but I’ve been able to piece together a bunch over the years.”
He let out a breath. He’d gotten so much better about talking about his past demons since Kaylee’d been born, through Carrie’s unwavering support. “It’s a long story and not one to tell in detail when the kids might be able to hear, but here are the basics. If I miss anything, feel free to butt in. After Vladimir failed to die during the Battle for Oakbridge, he still lost what little of his sanity he’d retained until then. For six years, he stewed and planned and researched, finding out about me and Dad in the meantime. He gathered a following, a lot of old members of the Three’s posse, but a lot of just nutso newbies too and he created a cult. The entire operation was based around a set of rules Vladimir made up, strictly governing behavior and the repercussions of not following those Rules, which were steep. His plan was, after kidnapping us, to brainwash both Renie and I with the Rules so that even if our parents did eventually catch up, we’d be his.” He paused, gathering his thoughts and pushing aside the old demons. “I can’t speak for Renie, but he came damn close to succeeding with me and it was only through reaching an understanding with Sage” - he aimed a smile at his cousin and touched the scar he still retained on his upper arm, even twenty years on, where she’d stabbed him - “and Jay’s arrival that kept me sane.”
“I was pretty messed up for a while,” Renie said quietly. “I remember after I got home that I’d react according to the Rules and Corey and the others would give me the strangest looks, since they couldn’t possibly understand. It was only because of Corey’s persistence and my parents’ insistence that I didn’t pull away entirely and become even more scarred for life.”
“I explained the bare bones of what had gone down to Ren and Ani after our return home so that they would understand,” Sorin said. “I’d gotten one of Vladimir’s men to write down the Rules and I gave the copy to them.”
She looked surprised. “I never knew.”
“You weren’t supposed to,” Sorin said with a smile. “All of us decided that the best way to help you recover, at least in the short term, was to just make it okay for you to act weirdly sometimes.” He glanced at Sage and then Dean. “In the long term, none of us were quite sure what to do. Neither of you said a word about it and you seemed to adjust to the real world well enough, so finally I decided to let it lie.”
“I never…” Dean laughed slightly. “I guess it was pretty stupid of me to assume you had no idea, huh?”
“Not one of your brighter executive decisions, no,” Sorin agreed, “but…I appreciate it. Obviously I wish my brother had never slipped that far, but he did and what he did to all three of you was unforgivable. I think he realized that in the end.”
Sage let out a breath. “And that’s why he jumped.”
“And that’s why he jumped.”
Ian’s eyes went round. “He committed suicide? You never told me that, Renie.”
His wife shrugged. “Guess it never came up.”
“Dad and Sage confronted him and he stepped out of a window instead of fighting either of them.”
“His last and first really sane moment in a long time,” Sage said, leaning against Nate. “He was too weak to resist Edward, like you and Ani always did,” she said nodding towards Sorin. “We talked sometimes, in the two years, and he seemed sad sometimes that he’d ended up where he did. I think, on occasion, he toed the line, but was too far past it most of the time to make it stick.”
Sorin opened his mouth to speak but was distracted as Rachel, Sage’s four-year-old, raced over and wiggled her way in between her parents, giggling and oblivious to the somber mood of the adults. “Danny an’ Kay-Kay are gonna get me!” she squealed, burrowing further as the others followed. Little Patrick bulldozed headlong into his father, beaming and babbling so quickly he was incomprehensible. Dean had to grin, the little boy reminding him so much of both Ani and Connor. Renie would continue to have her hands full with that one.
The older five stopped at a slightly more reasonable distance. Dean blinked at his oldest. “Kaylee, why in the name of the gods do you have grass in your hair?”
The eight-year-old folded her arms across her chest - all Carrie at that moment - and favored him with a look. “Rachel thought it was funny.”
Bethy and Charlie, the two resident six-year-olds, exchanged glances and then started giggling. “It is kinda funny, Kay,” Bethy said. Nora, at least, was polite enough to cover her smile with her hand.
Kaylee, meanwhile, looked downright murderous and she turned on the younger pair. Bethy squeaked and, as one, the two tore over to Sorin. Bethy scrambled into his lap, still giggling, while Charlie hid behind him, half scaling Sorin’s back, peeking a grinning face out at Kaylee. “Grandpa’ll protect us!” he announced.
All of them had long given up on dissuading Danny, Charlie and now Rachel of referring to Sorin as Grandpa and Dean and Carrie’s girls as cousins. Plus, all of them knew that Sorin silently adored having all six ‘grandchildren’ to dote on.
At that moment, a bunch of things happened. Carrie stood and offered their eldest a hand. “C’mon, Kaylee, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Sorin reached back a hand, snagged Charlie and pulled him around front, where he proceeded to tickle the stuffing out of both kids, ignoring their shrieks and laughter. Within seconds, Patrick had joined the pile and, as soon as Rachel was certain that Kaylee was distracted and feeling fairly safe from her brother, she raced over to attack Sorin as well. Danny, all grown-up at nine, rolled his eyes at the antics of the younger kids and settled himself, nice as can be, in his mom’s lap.
Dean met Renie’s eyes across the chaos. “It doesn’t really matter any more, does it?” she asked him. “Because we have this,” - she waved a hand to encompass the group - “and this,” - she now touched her stomach - “and he’s gone.”
Sage glanced down at her son and ruffled his hair, smiling. “And Edward’s legacy died with him.”
Danny tried to hide a yawn. “Who’s Edward, Mom? And who died?”
Dean’s older cousin tickled him in the side, eliciting a giggle and a protest. “Mom!”
Sage met first Renie’s gaze and then held Dean’s. “You know what, Danny? No one important, because you’ve got the best family in the world.”
The boy grinned. “Of course I do!”
Dean couldn’t have agreed more.