Antoine and Ciara AND A *BABY* - Mid-evening
Penning five letters to paper should have taken only a moment of time to do, and even less time to think about, yet it had taken Ciara far longer. There had been days upon days of denial as talk turned to the upcoming festival and bonfire. She knew there was no point in symbolically casting Fade onto the pyre when no flame was hot enough to burn that burden away. The gods had seen fit to allow them to be cursed with that poison, and they weren't going to be swayed from that choice even at a Turning. And there was less than no chance of her coming to terms with her situation and finding any peace in it, so all in all the move would have been a waste of her time.
Ciara told herself that Fade was the only real burden in her life, that she wasn't about to lend significance to any petty trivialities. Caden had been the only other real thorn in her side, and he was gone, so problem solved right? Except she had eventually come around to admitting that no, the problem was not solved. The thorn was gone, but the wound he left was still there, catching her unawares in moments she wanted to stay between her and Antoine alone. She was tired of seeing the other bedmate's ghost, but it took until the morning of the Turning for her to acknowledge that she wanted to exorcise him and everything he represented from her life.
Offering up his name to the fire had been liberating, the burden lifting from her shoulders like the bright embers that swirled up into the darkening sky. It remained to be seen whether the feeling would last beyond the charged atmosphere of the festival, but the day held too much significance for her to allow realistic pessimistic thoughts to taint her mood. She walked away from the bonfire a little lighter than when she had approached it, and that lightness naturally translated into dance. When the first strains of Mairi’s Wedding filled the air, Ciara moved to join, but stopped in her tracks by a sight caught from the corner of her eye.
"What do we have here?" She grinned, eyes glowing like the fire at her back as she sauntered up to Antoine, taking care to remain just out of arm's reach. In weeks past she had done similarly, but now the distance was purely in place to prevent him from foisting the baby boy upon her. "I think he likes you," she observed as one of Collin's chubby little fists grabbed at the front of Antoine's shirt.