forward dated to august 19

[mother_confessor]

Having a baby, it seemed, was long and thankless work. Kahlan hadn't exactly been prepared for the pain of labor but having endured other pain in her life, she endured that with as much grace as she could manage. Besides, in the end, she was rewarded with a beautiful daughter with dark hair and what looked to be big, dark eyes.

Richard had been there the entire time, even though Kahlan was certain she'd said some unspeakable things during the worst part of it, and she was finally feeling well enough to have visitors come in to see both her and the newborn.

"Well, little Cara, are you ready to receive an audience? Everyone's been waiting to see you."

Comments

[mother_confessor]

"Oh, please come in!" Kahlan had hoped Dodger would come to see her and the new baby and she was more than happy to see him there.

"I've missed you and there's someone new to meet besides."

[adealtooartful]

Dodger's face broke into a smile at her welcome, gad that he wasn't intruding. He stepped forward, looking down at the baby.

"Hullo m'lady," Dodger said, voice soft as he addressed the little one. "My name is Jack, but you can call me the Artful Dodger - that's what me friends call me, you see, and we're goin' to be good friends, you 'n I."

He looked up at Kahlan, his forehead pinched with worry. "You're alright, then?" Childbirth was a dangerous thing in Spitalfields.

[mother_confessor]

"I am. It's painful, of course, but everything seems to have come out just fine." Kahlan knew she had to rest for a few days and take it easy but other than that, childbirth seemed to not have any ill effects on her.

"I think she's going to be worth it, of course."

[adealtooartful]

"Cor, I wouldn't send her back just quite yet." Dodger grinned, relieved that she was alright, but he'd be happier when she was up and about again. He'd never liked the clinic much. "What's 'er name?"

[mother_confessor]

"Cara Aphrodite," Kahlan said, beaming and proud of their choice. "Cara for a friend back home and Aphrodite for my friend here. We're going to call her Cara,"

[adealtooartful]

"Very regal-sounding name, that." Dodger said appreciatively, looking down at the little one. He reached out and touched one of her tiny hands with his finger, very gently. "You're the luckiest one of the lot, you are Cara, to 'ave Kahlan for your mother."

[mother_confessor]

Kahlan blushed a bit. "You flatter. I don't even know how to be a mother yet, not really. Unless you know from personal experience?"

That touched her in more ways that she could really articulate.

[adealtooartful]

"Seemed to 'ave 'andled the tricky first bit quite well," Dodger said, since that seemed like the most difficult part of mothering, to him, just bringing a baby into the world at all. He couldn't remember his own mother, and he'd grown up surrounded by other orphans whose mothers had died, been taken away to the poorhouse, or were otherwise unable or too neglectful to care for them. That was his personal experience: not knowing a mother, and wondering what it would've been like to have one.

"You're... soft, and kind, and caring. That's what a mother's supposed to be, ain't it?" It's what he'd always envisioned a real mother to be like, anyhow.

[mother_confessor]

"It is what I imagine mothers are meant to be. It is hard to remember mine since she died so long ago," Kahlan admitted. "But I will endeavor to always be that. And you will have the responsibility of a little sister now, if you want it?"

[adealtooartful]

Dodger nodded, awed by the offer. He gripped the brim of his hat a little tighter, then all of a sudden leaned in, careful not to jostle the baby, and wrapped his arms around Kahlan, very gently, resting his head against her shoulder for a moment.

"Thank you," he said, drawing back, and there was no doubt that he'd take that responsibility very seriously.

[mother_confessor]

"Always," she promised him. "She'll be very lucky to have a brother like you, I think. You're a darling."

Even if he might protest that, Kahlan though that he had a good heart deep down.