Who: Lucien and Maggie Swinton What: Talking about the future Where: Black Park When: 26 August 1888, Afternoon (backdated) Ratings/warnings: Safe for work
The more time she spent at Black Park, the more Maggie fell in love with it and the more it felt like home. Even better was having someone, her mate, to share it with.
She smiled fondly as she entered the library and found her husband’s attention buried in some piece of correspondence or another. He’d sworn he’d just be a moment and she’d left him to it but it was getting late in the afternoon and it was time to take his attention back to the here and now.
“Enough of that my love.” She chided, laughter in her voice as she came around the desk to run her fingers through his hair. “The Fosters are coming for dinner this evening and we’ve the engagement party in the city tomorrow night. And Monday is a bank holiday. You can relax just a bit.”
Lucien looked up at her voice, so immersed in his letter he hadn’t heard her come in, and leaned back against her as she petted at him, looking up at her fondly.
He saw the time, then, and shook his head. “Heavens, my darling, I’d quite lost track, hadn’t I? Thank goodness you’re around, otherwise the Fosters would’ve taken me completely unawares.”
“Ah,” he added, making a bit of a face, “the party, that’s right.” His mouth twisted a little wryly. “I’m certain it’ll be no end of cultured,” he said, “and we most certainly ought to go, seeing as they deigned to give us an invitation.”
He didn’t typically care for parties a great deal -- it seemed terribly snobbish, he knew, but he vastly preferred the more relaxed company of his pack, the sense of knowing one’s place in the world, and not a starched collar in sight.
And Ravensworth… he could be a little much.
Oh, Lucien’d worked with moderate vampires before, and he’d spent a great deal of effort maintaining the peace with them, but Ravensworth seemed determined to play sides, and establish his superiority at every turn, and marrying a Sidhe of the Unseelie Court was, he supposed, the inevitable next step in the man’s scramble up the ladder.
Which was most likely a touch unkind.
Still.
Maggie frowned slightly at his words. She hadn't been a wolf long, barely a few years now, but she understood the mutual dislike between her kind and vampires. Understanding it didn't mean she agreed that all vampires were suspect or bad however.
“Lucien. Whatever you think of him I wouldn't want to give a Sidhe of her age and power insult. They remember that sort of thing.” Maggie had made a point to study as much about the supernatural world as she could once she became part of it.
She worked her hands down to his shoulders, working to knead out spots of tension. “Besides, I hear she's a generous patron of the arts, I'm sure at least some of the culture will be interesting.”
“You’re right, darling,” he said, his head falling forward a little. “I just… I’ll be damned if I can see her reasons for it. I very well know his,” he added, with a touch of a frown. “You’re right, though -- she’s old, and powerful, and deserves our respect, and that means respecting this decision as well.”
“And I must seem rather petty about it,” he added. “I don’t mean to be. I’m certain it’ll be no end of interesting, and they both no doubt know how to put on a good party. Cassius is many things, but among them, he is a man of taste and refinement, and impeccable manners.”
His tone made it patently clear that he’d far rather be at home with his feet on the hearth and his wife in his lap, but it was necessary to circulate, and she did have several fair points -- and parties were most certainly much more enjoyable with Maggie on his arm than they ever had been when he’d been single. She had a way of smoothing over his tendency to stiffness and reticence with her bold, forward, guileless nature.
“We don't have to like it, I doubt either of them would expect you to jump for joy about the marriage. “ Maggie kissed the top of his head and stopped the massage, coming around to his front. “We just have to be polite and respectful, as we expected people to be about our marriage. Whatever her reasons are I'm sure they make perfect sense to her. Well go make our manners, mingle, and you can show you know how to be a good sport about things that don't go the way you want.”
Honestly she'd prefer to stay home at Black Park too, but they didn't always get what they want.
“You are my better half in every way, love,” he replied, laughing a little. “I’ll try to not pull too many faces. Tell me,” he added, taking her hands in his, “how’s Ana? Not too disconcerted with Katherine’s departure, I hope?”
The Fosters had required careful handling of late, but they’d both put in some effort -- Maggie with Ana and Mrs Foster, and Lucien with Ian, Peter, and Mr Foster, offering assurance and support -- Lucien was resolved not to let them fall into the same trap Peter and Katherine had, of building resentment.
He suspected the twins’ frustrations sprung mostly from the fact that they’d known him as their friend first -- that the transition between friend and Alpha had been too difficult, especially when he’d had to prioritize the needs of the pack over their own personal ambitions.
“Ana loves her sister, but I think there’s some relief that everything’s out in the open and Katherine is making her own way. Mrs. Foster would rather see her daughter married off and settled down I think, but above all just wants everyone to be happy.” And what parent wouldn’t want that for their children? Not anyone worthy of the title, she thought.
“They’ve been eager to give advice and I’ve been eager to listen.” If not necessarily take it.
“But the Fosters can wait just a bit, we’ve a little time before we have to get ready for their arrival and dinner.” Which was why she’d roused him now instead of waiting until the last minute.
“Well,” he said with a smile and a tip of his head, tugging her hands a little so she’d come close enough to sit in his lap, “isn’t that remarkably convenient?”
He looked up at her fondly, and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I am the luckiest wolf in the world, you know,” he said. “Penny for your thoughts?” He added, laughing a little.
He’d decided that married life was quite possibly the greatest thing that’d ever happened to him, and infinitely better than all those years he’d spent alone before. It took intentional effort to make space in his life for a partner after decades of taking on everything himself, and he knew he was a work in progress, but she made it all worthwhile
Maggie willingly slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think you're rather lucky too.” She agreed with a laugh. “But you don't need to pay me my love.”
Her lips met his and some time passed before they came up for air. “If it weren't so late in the day and we didn't need to keep rebuilding our relationship to the Fosters I'd say to send our regrets and take me to bed.” Her voice was a trace husky and her face flushed.
She lifted off his lap and perched on the side of his desk. Her expression turned more serious. “I was teasing, but we should probably start thinking about you having heirs of your body, to make sure the pack has the succession secure.”
The selfish part of her wasn't ready to share her life with Luce with anyone else, even a baby. But the prominent ladies of the pack had raised the issue in her last tea with them and she could see their point.
Between the kiss, her expression and tone, and the suggestion, he was more than a little glazed over, and he had to blink and exhale to give her query the proper attention it deserved.
He very nearly burst out with ‘Hang the Fosters’ and swooped her into his arms then and there, but that would’ve been inappropriate on a few different levels.
“You realize,” he said, grinning a little, “that I’ll be insufferably impatient to bundle them out the door after dinner.” He’d found there were numerous benefits to being a married man, and, happily, his wife seemed to find the benefits of being a married woman equally pleasant on that particular count.
He reached for her hand, his expression slipping back into one more thoughtful. “...And we should talk it over, yes.” He looked up at her. “I would… I would like to have pups, very much. Someday.” The thought of it was something he’d wished for for a good long while, and having a partner now, the thought of having a family was certainly more present. “But these are rather tumultuous times, and, God willing, we would have time, should we want to wait a little while.”
The thought of her carrying his child while the pack was under threat made his hackles rise a little -- it was a state of vulnerability to begin with, and ideally, he’d want their child brought into a safe home.
He tipped his head. “I could see it either way,” he said. “I could see waiting for things to settle some, having you to myself a little while longer… and I could also see the value in making our own stability, in establishing our future here and now.” He looked over at her, evenly. “What do you want most, dearest?” He asked.
“I’m not sure it matters what I want.” Maggie replied after a moment, clearly thinking it through and trying to choose her words. “You’re the Alpha, and god willing, your heir will be Alpha after you’re gone centuries from now. But the pack has been without a true heir for decades, which is one of the reasons the older ladies of the pack were so happy that you’d found me.” She raised a hand to his lips to shush the protest she was sure was coming. “Don’t get me wrong my love, I’m integrating well into the pack and they seem to like me for me. But I think they’d have taken any young wolf to their bosoms if it meant you settled down and quit being a solitary bachelor.”
She reached back down and squeezed his hand. “I would like to have you to myself a little longer as well and I think we have a little time, but not a lot. These are unsettled times like you said. The pack needs a proper heir.”
“I don’t particularly like the idea of assassins lurking about,” he said, quietly. “Worrying about you, about your safety, about my own, it becomes distinctly more fraught if you…”
He swallowed a little, and looked up at her. “We’re a hardy sort, to be sure, but I would have you safe more than anything, my dearest.”
There’d been a moment after she’d first been bitten, during those first few awful days after she’d lost Charles where he’d caught the barest edge of her mourning a second loss as well -- she’d been nearly incoherent with grief and her own injuries, and he didn’t want to presume, but he’d suspected she’d been carrying Charles’ child, and had lost it. He wouldn’t want to put her through that again.
Maggie took both his hands in hers, looking into his eyes. Yes she’d lost more than one life that day, but she’d mourned them both and made her peace with it. She’d married the man of her dreams in Luce and the thought of having children with him warmed her heart, but she wasn’t particularly in a hurry to share him with someone yet. But if it were for the good of the pack she’d make that sacrifice.
There was always the risk something could happen to him and she’d be left with nothing but memories. If that happened she could understand why his mother did what she had, but to do that with a child (however old) who needed her as well was criminal in her eyes.
“I’m not afraid to take that risk,” she said finally, raising his hands to hers and kissing them. “It’s worth it if it give us the chance to have a family. And the pack does need an heir. But let’s leave it to chance for now. If it happens it happens, but I won’t do anything to try and increase our odds unless things change.”
Lucien nodded. There were no easy answers here -- difficult times, and the uncertainty of what they faced made him cautious, but she was right -- having an heir would help provide a touch more certainty. “Let’s see what happens, then,” he said.
A small smile flashed across his face, and he gave their linked hands a squeeze. “Although heaven knows, our odds look to be fairly decent as it is, especially if you keep making suggestions like that. Mercy, Mr Foster’d better not want to talk about the latest crop rotation programme for too long, or else I shall have to toss him out by his ear.”
“We haven’t exactly been shy about practicing have we?” She chuckled as she slid off the desk. Married life certainly had its benefits, though they were something Charles hadn’t been particularly eager to experience the short time they’d been married before he died. It was bad from to compare the two men when one was dead, but Luce was definitely the more demonstrative and enthusiastic partner in lovemaking.
“If I’m not pregnant a year from now we’ll see where we’re at and whether we want to do anything different, until then we’ll just trust nature will provide when we need it.” That ought to satisfy the ladies of the pack, for now. She and Luce had barely been married a matter of a few short months anyway, they couldn’t expect her to fall immediately.
“And please don’t toss Mr. Foster,” she teased. “Mrs. Foster would be embarrassed and I’d have to listen to her apologize the entire time when we have tea together next week.”