[IC] "When your past catches up to you."

[KingTony]

William was deep into a very pleasant, very erotic dream. He was making passionate, sweaty, loud love to a woman -- presumably Keziah -- who was sitting in his lap, legs wrapped around his waist, hips rocking to and fro, driving them both towards climax. In his subconscious, William felt them explode together. He felt the explosion, he heard the explosion ... and then he came out of his dream to realize that the fantasy explosions of his dream were the real explosions at the Howitzers that he was supposed to have destroyed in the dark of the night now ended. As he’d held Keziah, waiting for the right time to again dress and slip out to sabotage the guns, he’d missed just how tired he was … and fallen into a deep, pleasant slumber.

He leaped out of the bed, a bit disoriented but quickly getting his wits about him. He rushed through the house and out the front door, looking to the north. Far beyond the homes and tall elms and maples, another pair of explosions confirmed William’s fear that the attack on the South Wall was underway.

“What the hell are you wearing?” one of the Guards flanking the door asked. The other Guard laughed, pointed toward William’s groin and the all too obvious, slowly shrinking erection to say, “Looks like the war interrupted sum’p’n.”

William looked down at his 21st century jockeys, then back up to each one of the men before turning and returning back into the house without a word. Once in the house, though, he had one specific word to speak, growling, “Fuck, fuck, fuck … what have I done?”

He rushed to don his uniform and quickly exited the house again, dealing with the buttons and buckles and strings as he hurriedly walked north towards the continuing sound of the boom boom … silence … then boom boom again.

He reached the point on the edge of the little village where he could see the guns just as they are firing yet again. He looked beyond the open pasture land, towards the South Wall, just in time to see the already damage gate being blown open. The Second Regiment’s troops had obviously begun surging forth with the first cannon shots because they were almost to the now open fate already. All along the top of the 200 yard wide South Wall, the air filled with smoke of dozens of Redcoats muskets.

William watched two dozen or more men fall to the hail of deadly balls, yet the attack continued, and soon enough the Militia was surging through the gate. As the fighting moved beyond the wall, to the British controlled side, William realized that history was changing before his eyes. A patriot victory today would most likely alter the future in ways unimaginable to William, and not just for the Patriot and British armies fighting here now or even for the people of Boston. The Siege of Boston was significant to the outcome of the entire war, to the future of the Patriot victory, and to the creation of the United States of America. And, potentially, to William’s own existence.

The sound of those Howitzers, William knew, was potentially the sound of his own demise...

[Sunflower]

The booms had woken him first. Samuel shook his wife awake and ushered her to a safer room in their home. It had been a few days since his sister had come up missing, along with William and the one armed soldier. A neighbor had informed Samuel that the militia had taken Keziah, but how could he believe that Loyalist? They would say anything to discredit the militia. Samuel had looked for days but to no avail and now there was a war outside, closer than he'd ever remembered it being. The booms were loud and even though his home wasn't as close to the wall as Keziah's little house was, he could hear the sound of fighting.

Elizabeth was crying as she crouched behind one of the dressers in the room. Her baby would be here any day and with Keziah gone and a war going on outside of their door she didn't think that she or the baby would make it. Samuel was a doctor but beyond his knowledge of her…he wouldn't know what to do. He was a smart man but there was only so much he knew. Childbirth was still very much a women's job. And seeing a strange woman's intimate bits was…well it wasn't very appropriate.

He held onto his wife tightly as he thought of a way out of this mess. He'd find his sister, or he'd find that blasted man that had likely drug her into this mess in the first place.

Samuel eventually decided to have Elizabeth go out the back door and escape through the garden. Even in the current state she could make it across the garden. He followed after her and prayed to God that they'd be safe.*

---

Hours passed, most of them had been spent tending to the soldiers as they came in with all sorts of wounds, the next worst than the last. Keziah was exhausted but she didn't stop, not until the doctor came over to tell her to get a drink of water. Her hands were bloody as were her clothes and she had a few streaks of his in her hair and on her face. Samuel and Elizabeth weren't among the few civilians that had escaped and ran to the camp. Hopefully they were alright.*

She wondered what her husband was doing right now. How could he have slept through the night when he'd been so concerned about keeping history the way it was. Keziah didn't see the problem honestly. Boston wasn't controlled by the British, or rather in a few more hours or days it wouldn't be. When she was excused so another nurse could take her place, she was escorted back home by a guard. They were silent the entire way there and he left just as she reached the door. The usual guards were in their posts. She ignored them, to tired at the moment to care or say a few kind words.

The nurse heat some water and prepared herself a bath. The blood on her clothes had soaked through and made her skin feel uncomfortable. She scrubbed the blood off of her and out of her hair. For a little while she just sat in the water, thinking over what she'd seen today and how many they had lost despite their best efforts. Keziah finished with her bath and quickly dried herself and changed. Rather than put on a dress, she took some of the clothes that belonged to her husband. Trousers felt a little funny but nothing that she couldn't get used to. Keziah sat in front of the fireplace, knees pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them. She stared into the flames and sighed. She wished that none of this had ever happened.

(* Samuel and Elizabeth are still alive.)

[KingTony]

It's too late ... there's nothing to be done about it...

As he'd watched the Massachusetts Second Regiment -- not just the first rank but nearly every single member of it -- surge through the South Wall, of which they were now in full control, William contemplated any number of ways to correct history, only to again repeat some version of his defeatist statement to himself. He'd considered attacking the gun crews and somehow sabotaging the Howitzers, something that surely would have gotten him killed. He considered finding Colonel Harding and assassinating him, knowing from history that the man had ultimately gone on to be a vital part of the Rebel victory, even if he'd been forgotten by or ignored in most future history books and classes. Eliminating Harding might cause the attack underway to falter, but -- again -- William didn't see him surviving such an attack. And correcting the future didn't seem to be all that important if it simply meant dying here in the present ... or the past, which ever it was.

He ultimately abandoned any hope of changing this new history and joined in helping the injured. For what seemed an eternity, he and others carried litter after litter of casualties from near the South Wall to a staging area nearer to town. Those men who were critical and needed immediate assistance were triaged and send further into the village, where William presumed Keziah was once again hard at work performing her nursing skills. Those men who weren't in danger of bleeding to death remained where they were until they could get patched up, some for a return to and through the gate to the battle that was consistently raging further and further northeast through the Bottleneck into Boston proper.

And, of course, there were those men who had no hope. William found himself occasionally standing over of kneeling by a man in his last moments of life, talking to him, reassuring him, praying with him. It was heart wrenching to see a man's life just fade away, but -- although he didn't want to acknowledge it -- William found it easier to accept as the day went forward. When it was all over and he had a chance to reflect back, he would realize that he'd watched eight men die right before his eyes. Eight men who may have died someday during this war but had died today because the guns he'd allowed to fall into Patriot hands had led to a fight that otherwise wouldn't have occurred for more than a year.

..........

When he stepped into the house that was his and his wife's, William was exhausted. Darkness had fallen, yet the sound of the battle continued. The two Howitzers from the Tyler farm now had company: six additional British guns that had been captured near the north end of the Bottleneck. The Patriots were now pounding British positions far north inside Boston; and the Redcoats were, in turn, pounding the Second Regiment's positions to the south ... near where William feared Samuel and Elizabeth were still hiding, presumably they weren't dead.

"I'm sure they're fine," were his first words to Keziah when she turned and saw him closing the door behind him. "He's a doctor, and she'd pregnant. The British surely would have moved them deeper into the city ... away from the fight."

They chatted a bit about what was happening outside, then -- suddenly, and without any warning at all -- William began sobbing. He didn't know why. Was it the dead Militiamen? Was it the destroyed history? Was it the unlikelihood that he would now ever get home to his own time? Was it Samuel and Elizabeth? Or, was it his fear that Keziah would blame him if anything every happened to what remained of the rest of her family? He didn't know, and he couldn't stop it: he dropped into a rickety dining table chair and hung his head before him, embarrassed and devastated.

[Sunflower]

Seeing him break down that quickly was hard and it made a lump form in her throat. Keziah hadn't seen a man cry like that since her mother had died. Her father had cried harder, sobbing for nearly two days, and Samuel had cried that hard but for a lesser time than her father. However, she hadn't seen any of them cry since then. Keziah wondered if he'd ever seen wounded soldiers before, ones with wounds that you could only hope they would be able to survive. She was shuffling over to him on her knees in no time. Keziah hugged him tightly and carded her fingers through his hair. "It's okay." She said to him, "They are safe with Him now." Keziah had told that to Samuel after their mother had died.

The nurse stayed that for a long time, until he calmed down and she could pull away. Keziah thought of her brother and his wife and she found herself wiping her eyes and cheeks. At the moment she didn't know what she would really feel. She should be angry at him. It had been his plan to sabotage the guns at night but he had failed and now innocent civilians were dead. At the same time though she knew it hadn't been his fault, perhaps this was always how this was meant to end, rather in the way the books in his day spoke about it.
Keziah got up to make supper when she was sure he wasn't going to cry anymore. The booms from the guns outside broken what could have been thought of as a comfortable silence. It was unnerving but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Diner was a simple meal of boiled meat with some hunks of break from the basket that the nurse had brought the other day. She would have used other things like vegetables but she didn't have much of an apatite and she didn't think that he would either. "What are we going to do now?" She asked as she handed him a plate. Keziah didn't even know if her brother and his wife were even still alive and now I was too late to warn them and chances were they were hiding in in the homes of friends, or possibly somewhere else. Keziah had settled in the chair opposite of him and ate quietly. She had no clue if they could go out there and find Samuel and Elizabeth or even how long it would take them to gain control over Boston.

((Forgive the post. I'm extremely tired right now.))

[KingTony]

OOC: No worries about the spelling. I grade on a curve, and you're still getting an A. :)

William was unusually quiet through the evening, not that Keziah was all too talkative herself. The day had been filled with tragedy, and the only good news about which either of them could be happy was the fact that they were both alive.

It was getting late when -- as they both went about some end of day tasks -- they each turned to find themselves face to face with just inches between them. William looked down into the shorter Keziah's eyes for a moment ... then lifted a hand to her cheek and neck, wrapped the other arm around her back, pulled her to him, and pressed his mouth to hers.

[Sunflower]

Keziah was tired, both physically and mentally. Today had been draining and nothing she did seemed to keep her from thinking of her brother and Elizabeth. The possibility that they were unharmed was what she clung to. Until they came to her or -- oh, that's right...Samuel and Elizabeth didn't know where she was. They didn't know that she'd been taken as prisoner along side as stranger she claimed to be her husband. Were they worried? Very likely, but she didn't think they were so worried now that war had reached their door and they had to stay alive.

The nurse didn't know why she hadn't pulled away before the kiss could even happen. She should have. Keziah did kiss back, reaching up and tangling her fingers into the hair on the back of his head. But she as quickly as she had returned the kiss, she was pulling away from him with scarlet cheeks. She didn't meet his eyes, instead she busied herself with tending to the flames of the fireplace. It had been a while since she'd last kissed anyone. Her last suitor hadkissed her, many times, and he even tried getting intimate with her but she had always declined his advances. After a while of silence, she looked over at William. "I want to return to Lexington. To my father." Perhaps if she was there rather than here then things would be better. She didn't want to get drug into this war anymore. Yes she believed in the cause, of an independent country, but she didn't want to see young men dying or to hear their wailing when they woke up and realized they were missing limbs. She was a midwife, she brought little babies into the world, she didn't send their fathers out of it.

"I...I want you to come with me." She turned to look at him once she was done with the fire. Her hands were twisted together and she looked off to the side of the room. "If this battle that took place today wasn't supposed to happen...then..." she didn't think he could go home. To his time, not hers. "But before I go to Lexington...I want to find Samuel and Elizabeth." Keziah needed to know if they were dead or alive. It'd certainly calm her down if she had answers.

[KingTony]

The joy of feeling Keziah's lips engaging his, of her hands pulling their faces together, of her not preventing him from pulling their unfamiliar bodies more firmly together raised William's spirits and hopes as rapidly and amazingly as the lift off of the rockets he'd described to her in his conversation of the future. And then, just as quickly, the rocket exploded on the launch pad. She pulled back and -- without even making eye contact with him -- went back to her end of day tasks as if nothing had happened between them.

William cursed his 21st century self for what most would consider a gross violation of 18th century Keziah's honor. Oh sure, she was no still-pure virgin: she had been married, and she'd been courted by a second man with whom he'd thought there may have been some fire (Over the next few hours, as he replayed the aborted kiss in his mind, William would come to dismiss any thought that Keziah had parted her thighs for the man, though he was unable to dismiss his own fantasies of her doing such for him someday soon.)

"I want to return to Lexington. To my father."

"Of course," William said immediately, without even thinking. Keziah needed to be with family, and her suggestion didn't require any discussion of pros or cons. "I will talk to the Lieutenant ... maybe the Colonel about it. Keziah, I'll make sure this happens. I promise you."

"I...I want you to come with me."

While Keziah's first comment had made so much sense, that one took William by surprise. He contemplated a response, wondering why she would want him -- a stranger, maybe even a madman when you thought about his wild tale of being from the future -- to accompany her to Lexington?

"If this battle that took place today wasn't supposed to happen...then..."

William had, off and on all day long, been doing his own contemplating about how today's apparent and unscheduled Patriot victory might affect his own future ... if such a future even existed. Should he have vanished, like Hollywood liked to present in their movies about time travel? If what he'd done here today had altered his ancestor's arrival in New York next year, if it had changed the circumstances of the man's capture, imprisonment, pardon, and eventual citizenship, if it had prevented his marriage years later to Ella Burn, who would be the first woman in a lone line of ancestors to ultimately lead to the birth of one William Kutcher, shouldn't he have gone poof as soon as those guns began firing their dangerous projectiles at the South Wall?

While his mind had been on this subject all day, trying to make sense of it, at this very moment in time William's entire thinking was set on Keziah's request for him to accompany her to her father's home. He was about to ask her the reason for wanting this when she continued, "But before I go to Lexington...I want to find Samuel and Elizabeth."

Again, and without hesitation or thought, William responded, "Of course, Keziah. I .. I'll go talk to the Sergeant now. See if there is any word about them ... or ... if there is anyway we can go look for them. I'm sure that by now the Second controls your old neighborhood."

A chill rushed up William's spine as he suddenly thought to himself, If that neighborhood even exists anymore. Just as will the oh so many wars that had preceded and would follow it, this war would see a great many neighborhoods, cities, hell even entire countries laid to waist as forces clashed within them. While most of the army to army, head to head fighting had occurred out in the open away from most urbanized areas -- as depicted in the paintings and movies to come -- there had been a few tragic conflagrations during the Revolution that left little but ash and death behind. Some of Boston's neighborhoods had been razed, but as that hadn't been an area of intense study for future-William, he couldn't know whether Keziah and/or Elizabeth's homes still stood today.

"Why don't you get ready for bed--" The words caught in William's throat at he imagined Keziah slipping into a Victoria's Secret negligee and warming up some body oil. He cleared his throat, turned to hide his reddening face, and finished, "I'm going to go talk to the Sergeant. But ... I'll be right back. I promise."

..........

It had taken some major insistence from William -- and a reminded that he was responsible for their great victory -- to get the Sergeant to take him to the Lieutenant. And when the Lieutenant refused to help, the pressure to climb the ladder repeated until William was standing in the Colonel's tent.

"I can't permit you to leave the Regiment," Harding responded to the request. The Colonel winced at the first aid being rendered to the minor wounds he'd received from some shrapnel earlier in the day. When William asked why not, Harding continued, "You are a valuable asset to The Cause, sir. If I were to allow you to simply walk away, I would be hanged, drawn, and quartered ... likely by none other than General George Washington himself."

William tried to argue that he'd done his part and should be allowed to get his wife to safety. He even offered to do so under guard and then, once she was with her father in Lexington, return to the Second to continue his duties here. But the Colonel was having none of it. "I will see to it that your wife is escorted safely to Lexington. The Lieutenant here will send ... what, six men...?"

"Four would be more easily done, sir," the lesser officer responded. "Two would be sufficient, to be honest. I believe that the road between here and Lexington is--"

"In the hands of a Redcoat Captain named Archibald Harrison," William cut in quickly. "A man who, I believe, you aware of yet can't find."

When both officers shot him surprised looks, William knew he'd gotten their attention with information they hadn't expected him to have ... again. Clearing his throat, he began spilling out all of the details of yet another Redcoat squad about which he was more informed than they. Occasionally, either the Lieutenant or the Colonel would give some input that told William they'd known of Harrison's general presence and location, but it was obvious that they hadn't know as much as what William had learned from a PBS documentary he'd watched just two or three months earlier.

"So, here's the deal," William said, possibly overstepping the bounds of military etiquette seeing how he was, essentially, blackmailing them this time around. He asked them some specifics about their control over the Boston Bottleneck and the southern portion of Boston proper, then -- satisfied that where he'd begun this amazing adventure was within that zone -- he told them, "I will tell you exactly where Archibald Harrison is ... how many troops he has with him ... guns, cannons, horses. Oh, by the way, he has a cavalry unit that you are totally unaware of, and he'd going to use it to take one of your bridges, though ... I'm not going to tell you which one unless you give me what I want."

The Lieutenant, by now angered at William's impertinence, got embroiled in a short argument with his superior about what he'd like to do with William. He obviously didn't like spies and traitors, even if those spies and traitors were aiding The Cause. After the less senior officer was softly chastised for his insubordination and went dutiful quiet, the man doing the chastising asked William, "What exactly do you want?"

"I need a squad to escort Ke-- my wife to Lexington," William began with feigned confidence, while deep inside his heart was actually beating with fear of, first, having his request rejected and, second, being tossed into a stockade to wait out the war. When the Colonel gently nodded his approval and gestured William to continue, the latter went on, "Second, I need another squad to escort me past the South Wall to look for my missing brother and his wife."

The Lieutenant began to argue this point, but William pointed out that Samuel was a doctor and that it would be better to have the man aiding Patriot injured rather than Redcoat casualties. William hesitated before he continued, unsure of how this was going to play out. "And ... I want a Pass ... that will give me free, unfettered access to New York."

"A pass...? To New York?" the Colonel asked, confused.

"Signed by General Washington," William added quickly.

The Colonel suddenly straightened, waving away the Doctor who was still fussing with his bandage. "Why by General Washington?"

"Not something you need to know, Colonel..." William responded. Then realizing that he was pushing it a bit, he added, "...with all due respect, sir." The Lieutenant again jumped in, then went silence after a glare from his superior. William continued, "I have business in New York ... unrelated to the war. If I can't conclude this business, there is no reason for me to aid you in your fight against the British." After a moment of hard scrutiny from the Colonel, William stressed, this is non-negotiable. Keziah ... Samuel ... pass. All or none."

As he studied the Colonel, William began to see that the man was about to tell him no so he added quickly, "And I'll tell you what you will have to offer the French to get them to come into the War within six months."

This time the Colonel smiled, then laughed in surprise. It was no secret that the Patriots had been trying for the past few years to get the French -- who they (as British Citizens) had defeating in a War just a decade earlier -- to get into the War on their side. He added, "I can tell you specifically what you have to offer ... and with their Navy providing a blockade of British held ports, this war will be over before you know it."

Of course, William wasn't planning on offering the Colonel -- and in turn the General -- anything that history didn't show had been offered. But he could see that the suggestion had the wheels inside Harding's head spinning fast. After some more back and forth between the two officers, the Colonel agreed to William's terms. He assigned the Lieutenant a new task -- directly supervision of and protection for William and his wife -- and sent the well informed and traitorous Hessian spy away to make his preparations.

..........

"You need to get your things together, Keziah," William said upon his return, forgetting that she didn't really have any things as she was taken away in the night without notice. He told her all about the deal he'd made with the Colonel, explaining that she would be taken south, then west to Lexington; and that he would go up into Boston to search for Samuel and Elizabeth.

[Sunflower]

Being back in Lexington with her father, Edward, wasn't so bad. It was sort of quiet, being back on that isolated little farm. They weren't in Lexington, but rather a few miles away on some lonely little road that led straight to their farm. Just out beyond the pastures were the graves of her mother and stillborn brother, marked with only a stone bearing the names "Margaret Black" and "Baby Black". Keziah went out there a lot, to pray and to talk. Her mother had died just a few years before Keziah had married Charlie, so she missed out on the advice that she would have been given. She missed her mother terribly and had even asked the grave on advice still, knowing that she would always go unanswered. Her father had never remarried. He'd loved her mother so very dearly.

When she wasn't out at the graves, she was tending to the house and ensuring that her father was well fed. She had told him about William, about how he'd been injured and she even kept his story as a Hessian soldier. Of course it more or less had to be altered because she'd never been betrothed to anyone until Charlie had asked to marry her. Keziah had even taken to watching down the road to see if they were coming back. Her father had worried for her, and for his son. Samuel was a good man who'd been so happy to have started his own family.

Edward could remember when he had started his own. Margaret had been so happy but she had been hesitant. He understood that. It was risky having kids, especially since they were so far away from town. Having his daughter come back was a blessing. Edward wasn't as young as he once was and he found that one cold mornings his joints were stiff. His daughter helped around the farm and had even told him a bit of what was happening in Boston. The first few nights she was here, he had held her tightly to his chest as she cried. It reminded him of when she was a little girl and she would have a nightmare.

Their days passed quietly, and even though the silence was comfortable there was a thread of anxiety that laced itself throughout the days. They never spoke of Samuel, of the possibility that he or his wife never made it. Edward hoped that they did.

It was almost two weeks later and still no word. Keziah knew it didn't take that long to get back to Lexington. She wondered briefly if a soldier would come by bearing bad news for William's wife that he didn't make it back. She was out tending to the small patch of flowers when a sound, the sound of footsteps, caught her attention and she looked up. The soldiers were here! In the arms of one there was a little bundle of cloth and she felt her heart pick up its pace. "Papa!" She yelled, knowing that Edward would be able to hear her. He was just in the small barn tending to a few things. A few seconds later he came hobbling out of the barn, ready to fight whatever had frightened his daughter. Instead he caught sight of the militiamen. Keziah had raced towards them and once she found William she slung her arms around his middle. "Thank you!" She pulled away with a smile that slowly fell when she didn't see Samuel or Elizabeth. The soldier with the bundle came forth and showed her what he carried so carefully: a tiny baby girl.
"No…No…" Keziah whimpered. If this baby was here, alone with just the soldiers and William then that meant…No….

Keziah broke down, sobbing and holding the little bundle close to her chest. Her father stooped low next to her, trying not to cry as one of the men delivered news that they had found the family friend that Keziah had told them about. That family friend had told them that the day of the attack, when Samuel and Elizabeth raced to their house for safety, she had gone into labor and had passed from complications. Samuel had stayed for a little while, mourning over his wife's early death, before leaving the baby with his friend and heading outside. He hadn't been seen since but they combed the city for his body and never found it so there was still hope he was alive. Edward took the bundle from his daughter and thanked the soldiers before offering them some food. It was the least he could do to thank them.

When things calmed down and the soldiers had food in their bellies, Keziah had taken the baby into the house and was holding her carefully, marveling at how beautiful the little bindle was. The family friend had also given them a letter for Keziah, and from it she had learned that before he left, Samuel had given the baby a name - Rose Anne.

[KingTony]

It had been a joy and relief like none William had ever felt to have Keziah throw her arms around his middle. He wrapped his around her upper arms, pulling her tightly to him for a long moment. He looked past her to the man emerging from the barn with a pitch fork in both hands and knew it must be her and Samuel's father, Edward. The man's expression was hard to read: a stranger for whom his daughter obviously had feelings was clutching that daughter to him in a way a stranger not wed to her shouldn't. What was there not to understand and be able to read, right?

..........

William had been unusually quiet since arriving at the farm, answering questions directly but without the considerable additional information he had available to him. At one point after they'd had dinner and Edward offered to put William's escort up in the barn, the Hessian who now consistently wore a Massachusetts Militia uniform asked the home owner if he could have a moment alone with the man's daughter. Edward scrutinized William for a moment, then turned without a word and went out to check on the stock animals.

William sat on a stool facing Keziah as she fed the baby goat's milk from a bottle. He told her what she already knew, that the baby was beautiful and lucky to have Keziah, then went quiet for a moment before explaining the two weeks that had just passed ... and the days that were to come.

"The Second Massachusetts was reinforced, and pushed further up into Boston Proper," he began. "The fighting ... it went on for, what, eight ... nine days." He hesitated, letting his gaze fall to the plank floor. "It was ... it was horrific, Keziah. The Redcoats put up a fierce battle ... because they didn't want to lose the city ... and because they really had no where to go."

Commonly taught history had claimed that the British commander William Howe had only withdrawn when he found the British position in Boston as indefensible. But later research -- including a treasure trove of letters found hidden away in the archives of a London library -- would show that Howe had been trying to leave for months; and that it had been a lack of boats and foul weather that had delayed withdrawal to March 17 1776, yet months away from this day.

"They -- the Redcoats -- they were running out of powder and shot," William continued, "and they'd lost most of their cannons. So.." He drew a deep breath, recalling the sight that would never leave his memory. "So ... to keep the Militias at bay ... Keziah, they burned the city." He hesitated again, trying not to frighten her because he knew her thoughts would be on Samuel. "Boston ... it's gone. Oh, I don't think they meant to burn the whole thing down. They'd set some buildings on fire near the front lines ... fed them with anything that would burn and cause choking smoke. But ... a wind ... a wind came up ... and drove the flames south. By the time the weather changed and the rain helped put it down..."

He stopped there, unable to continue explaining that not only had more than 50 percent of Boston's buildings been destroyed, with half of the remaining structures significantly damages; but the civilian population had been seriously damaged, too. In his never ending search for Samuel and Elizabeth, William had found charred bodies all about himself and even more that had simply succumb to the smoke that had laid low in the city due to a temperature inversion. Even the Militia had withdraw toward the Bottleneck, only returning after the fires had abated.

William reached over to take one of Keziah's hands, telling her in a whisper, "I'm sorry, but ... I can't imagine that Samuel survived that. Or ... or he'd be here ... with you, and his child."

He felt his own eyes beginning to well up, tears specifically meant for Keziah. He let her react to the news and to his thoughts about her brother before gripping her hand a bit tighter -- an attention getting embrace -- and looking her directly in the eyes. With a sincere, deep felt tone, William said, "Rose-Anne needs a mother ... not just an aunt. And..."

He hesitated a moment, a chill rushing up his spine as he thought Are you really going to do this, playa'? This isn't you! He smiled, still shocked that he'd been contemplating this on the long walk from Boston to Lexington. "And Rose-Anne needs a father."

He hesitated, waiting for Keziah's brain to begin its own contemplation. He smiled, chuckling short and sharp about how a liberated woman of the 21st century would react to the way he was about to use the word need. Hell, William would likely get punched in the face by such a modern woman, who would then tell him to go find a job that paid as well as her own did. William slid off the stool to one knee, saying, "And you need a husband."

[Sunflower]

Hearing that Boston was pretty much gone crushed her. She sat there dumbly, staring down at the little baby in her arms. This little girl was an orphan and it made her heart heavy. Having lost her own mother, Keziah knew that there would always been questions that Rose Anne would have. What was her father like? Her mother? Had they loved her? Well Keziah could already tell her those answers. Samuel was a good man who always tried to help those he could. Elizabeth was a beautiful woman who had been Keziah's dearest friend…and yes, they had loved Rose Anne even before she had been born.

She tried to picture the baby with Samuel's features. Dark hair like her own, like his, and the gentle dark eyes of her brother. Samuel must have praised God that she took after her mother. They had joked that they already had one mousy little thing (Keziah) and they didn't need another in the family. She took a deep breath and looked up at William when he spoke of Rose Anne needing a father. Well, he was right there. At least in the sense that she needed a father to keep the boys away until she was old enough to marry. Keziah gave him a look that was a cross between a glare and embarrassment.
She didn't need a husband. She could live her life out here, on this old farm as a recluse, that way she didn't need to explain to people how she had a child but no one to support them.

Keziah sighed softly, moving to burp the baby. Even her brother naming the child was unusual. Given that many children died so young meant that names for them didn't come about until the parents were sure they wouldn't die. Even then there was no guarantee that the child would reach adulthood. Samuel must have thought that they were all going to die. That made Keziah tear up. She didn't think that she had any more tears until that moment. She glanced down at the baby as she burped her over her shoulder before glancing back at William.

"I don't know how they do things in your time." She admitted, "You never told me that much about it. What you ask of me is a lot. I have lost my brother, and my dearest friend so soon. I need time to grieve." Keziah knew that some men would find her to be unreasonable for making so many demands. "And surely they want you to fight for them." There was the question of him going back to where he came from. Keziah didn't want to set herself up for disappointment, to build something with him and to have him gone in the blink of an eye.

And she told him this too. She told him about how scared she was that he wasn't going to be there, that he wasn't supposed to be here with her. Sure she fancied the man; he was nice and quite a good story teller and he had fulfilled his promises to her as best to his abilities…but would he always be here with her? When Rose Anne had burped, she cradled the child to her chest as she waited for his response. "If you can stay, here with me. Here with us," She gestured down to Rose Anne, "Then...I would ask that we can court. I still do not know you as much as I would like."

Keziah felt a pit form in her stomach when she realized that perhaps she had presumed too much and he had been talking about one of the soldiers he was with. There was no going back now and she couldn't think of a good apology, so she sat there quietly with red cheeks. If she wouldn't have had Rose Anne cradled in her arms she might have run away.

[KingTony]

Court. At the sound of the word, William's lips had spread just a bit. He knew from his historical research that couples sometimes courted for years before marrying. Hell, some courted for years before kissing for the first time. As she went silent, blushing -- for a reason other than what he thought -- William thought back to his last relationship: he met the woman in a bar, fucked her that night, began courting her three or four times a week, then quietly slipped out of her life when it became obvious that they weren't meant to be with one another long term. That was courting in the 21st century.

"I would be honored to court you, Keziah," William said, squeezing her hand again before releasing it and standing over her. Right now, though ... I have got to bathe."

He looked to the baby in Keziah's arms, marveling at how that vulnerable little thing could still be alive and well when all about her people were dropping of a multitude of causes. "I'll protect the two of you, Keziah. I promise. I'll never leave your side." He chuckled, clarifying, "Well, except for right now. I stink ... and I really need to do something about it."

..........

An hour later, William felt like a new man. Edward must have anticipated -- or simply smelled -- the stranger's need and had filled a large kettle with water and put it over a fire near one of the outbuildings. Though it wasn't hot, it was warm enough; and beyond a sheet strung on a line, William took his own sweet time washing away weeks worth or grime, dust, smoke, ash, and even blood. Keziah's father arrived as he was drying, carrying a fresh pair of worn, work clothes.

"You make these yourself?" he asked, holding up an oversized pair of wanna-be boxer shorts that tightened around the waist with a string that wound back and forth through slits in the haphazardly hemmed waist band. When the Lexington homesteader only nodded, William pointed out the very loose fitting crotch, joking, "So ... kinda roomy."

"Maybe for you," Edward commented. When William laughed in shock at the man's comment, Edward looked to him and smiled a bit at his inappropriate humor. But the smile was short lived. "Are you an honorable man, William?"

Not understanding the question at first -- particularly after the unexpected comment -- a moment passed before William's face lit up with shock. "I didn't touch your daughter, sir. I promise you."

Edward stared the other man down for a long moment, then let his gaze drop for a moment before smiling, and chuckling for William -- caught off guard by the unexpected conversation -- was still standing there in the soft grass naked as could be. Without another word, Edward turned and headed for the barn before finally chuckling for what ever reason or thoughts were going through his mind. William quickly donned the clothes, finding them so much easier than the uniforms he'd been wearing previous to this; and once dressed, with his still wet hair slicked back and a hat enclosing it, made his way back to the house. He stopped at the door, turning to watch the sun dropping behind the distant Appalachians. There were very few places in William's 21st century Massachusetts where this view wasn't obstructed or devalued by buildings, power lines, artificial lights, or cell towers. This place had the true feel of a wilderness area...

...and stepping inside to see Keziah ... and the baby ... and the future that he could have in this amazing place, William suddenly wondered why the hell he was so anxious to find that fucking long gun that had brought him here in the first place.

[Sunflower]

Rose Anne had been laid down in a small woven basket lined with as many blankets as she could find that were soft enough. Keziah was still working through her grief but having the baby was helping her keep focused on what mattered, not what happened. Keziah was in the middle of preparing a simple dinner - rabbit stew with extra potatoes and carrots. It was her father's favorite. She was also cooking up some apples in a bit of sugar and butter. Keziah had taken off her cap, it was slung across the back of a chair, and she hummed softly when the baby started to stir.

Her father had come in a little bit after William had. He was smiling warmly at her and he put a large hand on her head. "So much like your mother when she was your age. Is the little angel giving you any problems?" He asked with a slightly sad smile. He'd lost his son and daughter in law not too long ago but had gained a granddaughter so it was a little bittersweet.
Keziah shook her head. "No papa. She is a wonderful angel." Edward studied his daughter for a long time. She resembled her mother greatly but there were some traits of him in there. It was hard to believe that the woman in front of him was once as small as the baby in the basket.

"Papa?"

The sound of his daughter's voice brought him out of his daydreams and he simply smiled at her before giving William a look from the corner of his eyes. While they may have had a chuckle in the yard, he would be watching him closely around his daughter. Keziah didn't need a fool to promise her everything but fail to deliver. Just because he had done what was asked of him didn't give him a free pass. "I was just thinking. That is all." Edward said, turning back to his daughter. He tugged on the end of her long braid when she turned around to stir the stew.
"We shall have a service for your brother and sister. Samuel was well known here in Lexington." Edward said. His voice was laced with sorrow and his daughter could only nod.

When Rose Anne started to cry and Keziah made a move to get her, Edward shook his head and scooped her up instead. The baby was beautiful and he couldn't help but to wonder if Samuel had felt the same love for his daughter when he held her the first time, as Edward had holding his own daughter for the first time. He considered the Hessian for a moment before moving closer with the baby. Edward would still be hard on him. He was a stranger and yet Keziah seemed taken with him, but if he proved himself then things would be different.

((Excuse the short post again. Dreadfully tired. Anyways feel free to control Edward in any way you see fit, so long as he's shown as a bit traditional. He isn't as strict as most father's were but he's definetly got some ground rules he has to lay down.))

[KingTony]

William was conflicted watching and listening to Edward and Keziah: he knew they'd made the correct decision having her come home to her father; yet at the same time, having Edward with her like this meant that Keziah needed William less. And that was only more of a conflict: he'd actually expected Keziah to jump with joy at his awkward, vague marriage proposal, and when she didn't he was surprisingly devastated; and yet, he should have been thinking about how to get to New York, to his ancestor, to that rifle so that he could get home to the 21st century.

He had turned to stare at the flames dancing in the fireplace to consider his future when he felt movement very near him. Edward was within reach of him, staring into his eyes with Rose Anne in his big, powerful hands. The older man studied him for a moment, then offered out the tiny child.

"Oh, no ... I'm good," William said, laughing. There'd been a reason one of his Militia escorts -- a father of six himself -- had been responsible for Rose Anne's care on the walk to Lexington. "I, um ... I would -- I would probably drop her on her head--"

"Coward," Edward snapped, moving toward a withdrawing William until the man came against the cabin's wall. He nearly showed the child into the wide eyed man. He gave the younger man instructions on how to properly hold an infant, and after William finally had Rose Anne comfortably and securely in his crossed arms, he said almost in a whisper, "If you are going to one day be a father ... you should know more than how to simply make one."

William looked to the man in surprise, which caused Edward to smirk devilishly. The younger man said quietly, "I can't figure you out, Edward. I just can't."

They stood together for a long moment, admiring the baby before she began to get fussy. William tried to unload Rose Anne but instead ended up with a bottle provided by Edward, who again reminded him, "More than just making one, son."

William had avoided looking to Keziah during the exchange with her father, not sure how she would feel about Edward's intrusion into the very odd situation. But, finally, he looked up from the tiny thing to see her auntie...

[Sunflower]

Keziah had found the whole situation quite funny. Her father may have been intimidating to most but she knew him as her protector, a jolly man who told bawdy jokes and laughed at the ones his daughter told him, and he'd been the one to teach her how to slaughter the animals they raised and to skin a rabbit. She may have looked like her mother, but Keziah took after her father's personality. Keziah hid her smirk at her father's teasing. Despite making light of it, he'd been serious. He had given her late husband the same kind of talk, although it had been less funny.

Things passed quietly as William held the baby. After a while her father went to wash up before supper and that gave her time to just watch the man and the baby. Her father would have teased her or been cross with William for taking her attention. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face at the scene before her. Despite him trying to get out of holding her, and looking quite uncomfortable with the small baby in his arms, it was a sweet scene and it made her heart flutter a bit.

If this worked out, whatever was between them, then he could one day be holding a baby with dark hair and green eyes. When he looked up at her, Keziah's cheeks went a bit pink and she wiped her hands on her apron before showing him how to burp the baby. Keziah had never had children with her husband, he had died long before that could even really happen, but she was friends with quite a few women, who thankfully still lived in Lexington, and they had children.

"You're doing great. The little one really likes you." She said softly, watching as Rose Anne was burped. She got up to stir the stew and she sighed softly, thinking back to her brother and his wife.

Outside her father was in a similar state. No doubt he was having a few minutes to cry without anyone else seeing. It was…well it wasn't acceptable for a man to cry, even if his son was dead. He didn't want to be seen as foolish. When he finally stopped crying, he splashed water onto his face and scrubbed his hands in a bucket of water he'd fished up. His thoughts went to his daughter and the man inside. He'd never seen Keziah act that way with anyone. With her husband she had been loud and told bawdy jokes that had even made Edward's ears go red. With the man who had been courting her almost a year before she'd been quiet and withdrawn.

When he returned into the house, still drying his hair with a spare scrap of cloth, he smiled a bit at what he found. Keziah was showing William how to change the baby's diaper. It was a simple little cloth that they tied around her hips. "Come now, it's just a little urine!" Keziah showed him how to hold Rose Anne's legs up. Babies were a whole lot tougher than they looked. They could handle being held up by their ankles to get their butts wiped. Just before her father had come in, Keziah had been teasing William about being afraid of the baby.

[KingTony]

This was not the future William Kutcher had envisioned for himself. At least, not yet. Hell, he was only 27 years old! And -- despite his years of pretending the 18th century in his reenactments, his tours of historic places, even his few acting events -- such as recently playing out the signing of the Declaration of Independence for a group of middle school students -- he certainly had never desired having a life similar to that which people like Edward and Keziah had lived And yet ... here he was.

After almost a month of living the life of a spy and Militiaman, William had spent the past week living the life of a frontier farmer. (Well, semi-frontier for this time anyway: the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys to the east of here were the real frontiers now, and of course that would change when the boundaries of the United States continued to push ever farther and farther west ... then down into the deep oceans ... then high into the sky and space itself.) Edward had been teaching William all of the manly tasks that came with maintaining a farm; and he'd even taken him turkey hunting and shown him how to set a bear trap, something about which William hadn't been enthused to learn yet did anyway. Keziah, meanwhile, had been teaching William the woman's end of life in 18th century Massachusetts, which quickly confirmed in his mind that women of this era had, indeed, been the work horse of the American family. Oh, sure, Edward did the heavy work, the tasks for which little Keziah's body wouldn't have been physically capable. But the woman never stopped! From before sunup to beyond sundown most days, she was moving, moving, moving! No wonder they died young, William had thought to himself often.

And all during this week, William had been careful to keep his growing feelings for the beauty hidden. Each day, he found his yearning for her growing in leaps and bounds, and he found himself getting excited so often that he'd had to take a couple of long hunting walks alone to ... relief some tension that not being able to touch her was causing him. Edward had noticed the way William looked at his daughter, as well as how more frequently and lengthy those looks were getting. But other than occasionally giving William a scrutinizing glance or a slight smirk -- which more often than not caused the younger man to blush fiercely and divert his attention -- the frontier father said nothing to him. Was he talking to his daughter about the relationship with the Hessian immigrant...? William wondered.

The War had moved far off to the north and south after the recapture of Boston by the Continental Army, and William had very nearly forgotten about the fighting entirely. The little farm was far enough off the main road that the occasional passing of Patriot forces were often entirely missed. Occasionally, a Militiaman or a neighbor would come to speak to Edward about the latest news; and occasionally William would try to learn what was what; but -- after William had explained his part in the conquest of Boston to Edward -- the man had suggested that William remain in the shadows and went to great pains to keep news from him. The Militia escorts who had brought William to Lexington had stayed only a day, telling him that they would be back for him eventually. Yet, here it was, more than a week later, and no one had come for him.

As evening fell and Edward -- exhausted from a day of working on a new outbuilding William -- fell asleep in a deep, comfortable chair by the fire, the younger man wandered outside to stand near Keziah as she performed another of her end of day tasks. He said softly to her, "I haven't forgotten our first kiss. Our only kiss."

He gave her a moment to react, not sure whether she would turn to speak to him or keep her face from him as she contemplated a reaction. But before she could say or do anything, William added, "I want you, Keziah. I want to be with you ... be with you ... like a husband and wife would be. I love you."

[Sunflower]

The week that passed had been fun. She was slipping into the role of a mother, even if she hadn't birthed Rose Anne, quite easily and often times she found herself thinking that her little family, including William, was perfect. A few times her father had approached her and teased that the other man kept looking at her backside. Keziah was mortified the first time her father had brought it up but it soon turned into playful teasing and it made Keziah more aware of the lingering eyes.
Aside from that the past week had been good to Rose Anne. She was eating well and Keziah thought she'd put on a little weight. It was quite heartwarming to see her grow. Currently with Keziah outside taking down the last bits of laundry on the line, Rose Anne was sleeping in her little basket bed. Her grandfather was working on a proper bed for her between his duties on their farm.

The fading sun cast an orange glow to everything and for a moment she worried that the blankets were stained. It seemed like there was always something to do around here and she'd never get a break but being kept busy gave her a means of keeping her mind off of things. She was ashamed to admit it but often times she woke in the middle of the night wondering if William would mind if she kissed him again. It was improper, something that she shouldn't have been thinking about. Keziah sighed to herself and began to fold the blanket once it was down from the line. She kept at her task even when footsteps drew near. No doubt it was her father coming to - the voice that spoke wasn't her father's. When he brought up the kiss, her face flushed pink and she resumed folding the blanket, having stopped when she thought it was her father coming to harass her about the Hessian.

When he continued further, even telling her that he loved her, she turned around and looked at him shyly, the blanket clutched tightly in her arms. "I..." Keziah was a bit embarrassed by this. It wasn't so much that she didn't fancy him, it was just unexpectedly bold. "I want you in that way too...but...William. I was married five years ago and..." she blinked away her tears. Charlie wouldn't have wanted her to cry. He would have teased her about it actually. ("Only Keziah would cry when a man said they loved her.")
"I'm scared." She admitted. "My husband died less than two months into our marriage and even to this day I think I was being punished for taking him into my bed before we were man and wife."

It was a silly fear but it was still strong enough to keep her from acting on her impulses. Yes, she'd always been taught that she should only bare herself to her husband but she'd also been taught to shoot a musket (even if they were a bit heavy). Keziah realized that she'd never approached the topic of love. She did like him, and perhaps those feelings ran a little deeper than that, but was she really in love with him? Keziah didn't know.
"Will you..." she looked down at the ground, suddenly afraid that he'd get angry and leave. "Will you wait...please? Just for a little while longer" Five years ago wasn't that long ago, and she certainly didn't want to be punished again for bringing another man into her bed because they hadn't been married. Keziah didn't want to force him into a marriage, even if his awkward offer likely still stood.

[KingTony]

William studied Keziah as she responded to his statements, knowing that she was probably as torn about their relationship as he was. For her, it was inappropriate -- even sinful -- for them to have sex before exchanging vows, even if she wanted; and for William -- who had come from an age when you wanted to know what your future mate was like in the bed before committing to share one with only them -- it seemed incredible, even irresponsible, not to take at least a couple of turns between the sheets. Oh, how life in the Colonies has changed in 240 years.

When she finished, he just smiled, trying to hide his disappointment. Later, he would wonder whether that disappointment had been because she hadn't returned his declaration of being in love with her ... or of her rejection of him laying between her thighs and fulfilling one of his many fantasies about her.

"Just a while longer," he said, feigning a seriously disappointed expression. But his lips spread involuntarily as he finished, "One ... two months ... maybe more, but I promise you, any more than ten..." He pointed off toward the setting sun, "And I'm outta here."

He smiled, crossed to her, and told her one firm word before going softer, "But...! I'm going to kiss you ... now!" He moved closer, finishing, "May I?"

[Sunflower]

She could work with those terms. If he wasn't willing to wait until she was ready then what did that say about him as a man? He might hold different views, being from a different time and all, but he wasn't back in his time, he was in hers and this was how the rules went. Even though he had smiled, at least a little bit, she found herself to be uneasy. Part of her was angry that he was pushing so hard. Her world had been turned upside down and although she didn't outwardly show it, the death of her brother (even though he could technically just be injured and missing somewhere) and her best friend were weighing heavily on her. She had Rose Anne to keep her grounded during the day but for many nights over the past week she would go outside once everyone else was asleep so she could scream and cry without worrying that her father thought of her as a lunatic.

Keziah looked at up him with a challenging look. At first she thought he was going to scold her or something like her last suitor would have. Instead when he asked to kiss her, Keziah gave a small nod. She did like him, but with everything going on lately she didn't dwell too much on her own feelings. "You may." Well she didn't give him much of an opportunity to move first. She pulled him down by the collar of his shirt and kissed him sweetly, tangling her fingers in his hair as she had done before. It wasn't much, considering her father wasn't that far away and he could even be awake now and they wouldn't know it until he was ready to beat William.

She pulled away from him and took one of his hands in hers. "I do want there to be something between us." She admitted. A small frown came to her face, making her look like she was going to cry. "But William…I'm not only afraid because of what happened with my husband. You're not from here…and surely if God brought you here then he can take you back, right?"

[KingTony]

God…

William had heard God and the name of his only son mentioned more in the several weeks that he had been in 18th century than he probably had in the entire year previous to his leaving the 21st. He had known, of course -- from his extensive education in and research of this time -- as well from simple common sense -- that religion had played a much larger part in the lives of the people of this century than in his, but he hadn't truly realize just how deeply religion pervaded every aspect of society until he was actually here.

William himself was what a former Bible thumping girlfriend of his had termed an agnostic deist. He believed in a God -- in a higher power of some sort -- but he also believed that religious belief was a personal thing, that it didn't come from a leather bound book written by Man. He had gone with Keziah and Edward to church this past Sunday and would go again on this upcoming Sunday, but -- just Keziah was afraid that at any moment God might snatch him from her life -- William had his own fear, that his sacrilegious presence under the roof of His house would cause God to snatch him from this time and place and send him to -- wait for it -- God knows where and when.

He wanted to tell Keziah I don't think God has any interest in my whereabouts or when-abouts, but he didn't want to offend her. Instead, he told her, "Perhaps God wanted me to be here with you. And if that's the case I don't think that he would then take me away from you. Do you?"

He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead again, wanting badly to press his mouth to hers but resisting. "You should get some sleep. I'll finish up the rest of the chores. You work too hard. Get some rest."

[Sunflower]

Nearly four months later, things were good. Edward had warmed up to William quite a bit and had taught him more skills that were necessary if he was going to be living on a farm. Rose Anne was getting big and she was holding her head up and giggling, and Keziah had settled well into her role as a mother. Things between her and William were quite good, if a little strained. She had kept him at a distance but the more she got to know him, the more comfortable she felt around him and soon enough she had began confiding in him, and one particularly interesting talk had led to her taking him into her bed. The next day, however, she pushed him away again. It wasn't that she was angry or upset, she had been the one to initiate it, it was just that she felt like a sinner. Today was just like any other day from the past four months, complete with the awkwardness that was now between her and William. She woke early enough to begin breakfast by the time her father woke, William should be waking soon enough. She prepared the simple meal and began to work on the dishes left over from dinner. Rose Anne would be sleeping for a while longer and then it would be bath time for the infant.

She smiled to herself as she thought of Rose Anne. The little girl looked so much like Elizabeth and sometimes it hurt. She had Samuel's dimpled smile. Keziah was puled out of her thoughts by her father coming to sit next to her and taking the large pot from her hands. He sat down next to her on a stool and wordlessly began scrubbing the pot. "Keziah…" He said, getting her attention when she looked awkwardly down at her apron. Edward knew there was something that was brewing between them but in no way was he ready to see his daughter married again.
Even though plenty of widows remarried earlier than five years, he wanted to make sure that this was something that Keziah really wanted and she just wasn't going to use the man to fill the hole in her heart.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Edward looked at his daughter from the corner of his eyes and he sighed, stopping to put the pot aside as he reached for his daughter. Things were still sore in regards to losing Samuel and her sister-in-law, Edward understood that. Losing his wife had been hard but loosing another child…that left a hole that would never be fixed. Keziah looked at her father when he took his face gently in her hands. "I just want to understand if those are genuine feelings or if you just want to be a wife again for the sake of it." He wouldn't judge her, mistaking the awkwardness between them for something other than it really was.

Keziah looked down, taking his hands away from her face. "Papa…I think…I think I might really fancy him." She said quietly. "I like that he helps with Rose Anne, I like that I can talk to him openly…and I like the butterflies I get when I see him." Her father smiled. His daughter was a romantic like him, even though she was quite firm on being married before taking any sort of next step with William. Keziah was in denial. She didn't want to admit how much she really cared for him. She was still afraid that he'd leave or be taken from them. This just wasn't about her anymore, she had Rose Anne to look after and she hated to rumors that the women in Lexington had spread that Rose Anne was some sort of bastard child that would grow up without a family.

"I know those feelings. I was like that with your mother." Edward smiled before going back to his pot. For his little girl he would shed that manly persona. He'd always had a soft spot for Keziah. They finished the dishes in silence and ate breakfast in that manner before going about their daily tasks. Keziah cleaned like always, worked on making new socks and repairing old ones, and giving Rose Anne her bath. The baby cooed at her and she cooed back. A few times she had slipped up and called William Rose Anne's father, both at home and in public. Edward had worked with William, mostly letting the younger man do the work while he barked orders. Around noon Keziah had come out of the house with Rose Anne balanced on her hip. It was warm enough to not need to swaddle the baby and Keziah didn't like using cradleboards all that often.

In the other hand she held a basket of bread and cheese wrapped in cloth to keep the bugs away and several apples. "Here's some food." She said as she walked into the barn where Edward had been grilling William on slaughtering cattle. Edward stopped to kiss both on the forehead before taking the basket aside and excusing himself to use the bathroom. A month ago he'd fallen and required a cane ever since. When he was gone, Keziah smiled at William and switched Rose Anne into her free hand.

"Good afternoon." She said, even though it was a little awkward. Keziah had been thinking a lot lately and she honestly didn't know if this was appropriate, asking this after they'd done something that only a man and wife should do. She'd asked him a lot about his time, well at least before it got messed up. She had asked about everything from medicine to marriage, to education and to what…what was it called? Video…Video somethings…Ah, video games, so she knew that it was common for this to happen in his time…but not in hers and if it did happen then it was usually when people were courting, not…not whatever they'd been doing. In return Keziah had taught him about everything she could about this time. She smoothed out Rose Anne's hair but didn't look at William. "Remember…how you had said that Rose Anne needs a father?" She hoped that this was okay. If her father were here he'd probably be laughing his ass off at her and her inability to look at the tall man.

"I know you've been…trying…and you're so good for her. Um, and I want things to be right. Right for her and…Right in the eyes of the Lord because of what we --" Keziah took a deep breath and began to apologize, losing her courage. "-I-I'm sorry this isn't appropriate…please just forget that I…" She shouldn't even bring this up with her father not so far away. Before coming out here she'd been practicing her question to the walls, to Rose Anne…and now that fiery courage was gone. Even though she was in denial, Keziah had thought of it as a good time to approach this topic. Apparently not if she was this cowardly about asking.

With red cheeks she took a step back and held onto the infant in her arms a little tighter. "William! Keziah!" The voice of her father had caught her off guard and she hurried out of the barn. Standing with her father was the same militiaman who'd handed Rose Anne over to her. Keziah was suddenly very afraid about where this was leading.

The man didn't smile or give any sort of happy greeting. Instead his eyes flickered to the woman and child before looking back at William. Things had gotten busy back in the War and they hadn't had the time to get back to William. Minor skirmishes had been breaking out as the Redcoats tested the Patriots for any weaknesses. The man looked tired, even more so than he did a few months ago. The militiaman sighed. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Clearly he had been crying. Rather than the bad news right off the bat, he moved a little closer to Keziah and the baby. "She's getting big." he said. He knew that the baby didn't belong to either of them but he hoped that they cared for her like she did. He even cracked a small smirk as he looked over Keziah. "I thought your wife would be swollen with child right now. Or ya can't perform right?" He teased. It was better to ease into the bad news rather than spew it all.