NOVEL NEXT Chapter 156 – Spending Time with Family
"Not every waking moment needs to be dedicated to doing great things or the planning thereof. Relax. Take your time. Enjoy life. Play with children. There is nothing wrong in taking things easy from time to time as well." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
"To be honest, aunt Aideen, I kinda envy you at times, especially these days," said Maebh while they ate dinner together with her family that evening. Her whole family was present. Besides Maebh herself and Clovis, all four of their children, as well as Hugh's wife and Grainne's husband, and even Edgar's fiancé were present. Her two young grandchildren were also on the table, seated between each of their parents. "At least you don't get aching joints when it gets particularly cold. Growing old sucks."
"I can tell," said Aideen with a chuckle. "Even so, there are things I'm envious of you as well, at times," she added as she looked around at Maebh's four adult children with a hint of melancholy to her voice. Then she looked at Artair who sat beside her, who gave her an encouraging smile in return. "Though I guess I might not have gotten together with him if things were different."
"Oh… sorry" said Maebh in apology as she lowered her head. She had momentarily forgotten that the subject of children was always a bit of a sore spot for Aideen, and Artair as well for that matter. "I had misspoken."
"Don't worry about it," replied Artair kindly from his seat beside Aideen. He then looked towards Maebh's grandchildren, who were both quite active and rather a handful for their parents to deal with. "We have both come to terms with the issue long ago… and besides, seeing yours being so boisterous sometimes makes me glad that we have each other just for ourselves."
"Glad you see it that way," replied Maebh with a relieved chuckle, as she saw Aideen give Artair a warm look. Maebh had to admit that when she first met Artair four years ago, she was a bit uncertain about her aunt - who was nearly eighty by then - getting together with a man barely older than Maebh's own children.
By now, she was far more amenable to the idea, especially when she considered how happy and content her aunt looked these days. As for him being of a different race, Maebh actually paid no heed to it. Grainne's husband was a young elf, and Edgar's fiancé an orcish man, so she saw nothing wrong with it.
Vitalicans in general never paid much heed to a couple of different races or of same genders, as long as the parties involved were fine with it. It was mostly the stark age difference that had surprised Maebh at first, but then again, she reconsidered the fact that her aunt was apparently pretty much immortal, and unless she happened to be attracted to a fellow immortal, situations like these were a given.
The dinner went pretty harmoniously overall. Eventually Maebh's children retired to their rooms - or homes, as only Edgar and Deidre still lived with their parents at the time - and allowed Aideen some more private times with Maebh and Clovis.
Stories of their life in the past few years were traded between the four of them. Artair animatedly told tales of their visit to his homeland last year, while Maebh and Clovis told Aideen of the ongoing events in what used to be Vitalica in the past years.
Most of what Maebh and Clovis had to relate were mundane matters, that of good harvests, and burgeoning trade with their neighboring regions. Their parcel of land had seen peace and prosperity for these past three decades, even with the rebuilding needed, and it showed.
Maebh also told Aideen that she planned to retire together with Clovis before the decade was due. Her age had started to affect her, and besides, by now her successor had proven a deft hand on governance as well.
Originally, Maebh and Clovis had no plans for their children to be involved with running the region, as they hoped their children could just live whatever life they wished for. As luck would have it, though, Grainne proved to be interested - and excelled - at governance, so Maebh had reluctantly appointed her as her successor.
Out of her other children, Hugh married an innkeeper's daughter, and helped with his in-law's business these days. Deidre was still young, but also seemed to favor a normal, peaceful life. Edgar on the other hand inherited some of Maebh's warrior blood and had been made a captain in the local militia - more a police force than an army, with how undead sentries were everywhere in Ptolodecca - rather recently.
Even while they chatted happily, Aideen couldn't help but note how Maebh and Clovis had draped themselves in blankets, and nursed their hot drinks. Age had started to take a toll on the two, as their bodies started to grow weaker.
As both Maebh and Clovis were in their mid to late fifties by now, it should have been no surprise that their age started to catch up to them. Even so, Aideen couldn't help but feel sad at seeing them grow older like that.
Since she was mostly in Tohrmutgent, where she was closest to Mimia and Éirynn, both of whom were half-elves, and the Bone Lord, who had existed since times unknown, the passage of time had slipped her mind, and seeing Maebh's aged visage just brought it back to her attention.
Aideen honestly had no idea how she would feel, when the time inevitably comes for her to separate with Maebh, as she grows older with each passing year. She was even more conflicted when she looked at Artair besides her.
Therians of Artair's breed generally only lived to seventy, maybe eighty years of age at most. Aideen herself was already at that age when she first met Artair all those years ago. She had realized all too well that their time together, no matter how much she cherished it, was limited.
At the moment, all she could do with the knowledge, was to make the best use of that limited time...
