LORDS OF THE SEVEN OCEANS
Sidorio was surprised to find his heart racing as he approached Lola’s cabin. He was transported back to the very first time he had boarded
He knocked on one of the gilded doors of Lola’s cabin to signal his presence, then hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to go inside or wait for her call. It was rare for him to feel so diffident, but he was suddenly stricken with nerves. He was entering this room as one thing—a warrior, of course, but also a father to grown kids who had little need of him now, however much he wished that was different. But when he emerged from this room later, it would be as father to two newborns, with whom his relationship would surely prove markedly different. He was excited but, he realized, fearful too. What if, after everything he had accomplished in this world, he was simply not up to this new challenge?
The doors opened and Sidorio was surprised to find that it was neither Holly nor Camille who greeted him, nor Lola herself. Instead, standing on the other side of the threshold, smiling softly in the candlelight, was Olivier.
“Congratulations, sir,” Olivier said, gesturing for Sidorio to step inside. Sidorio felt his anger swiftly rise—as if he needed to be welcomed into his own wife’s cabin by Olivier, of all people!
“What are you doing here?” Sidorio asked curtly as the doors swung shut behind him. “You’re supposed to be off running our field hospital.”
Before Olivier could frame his answer, Lola stepped out from the inner chamber, a swaddled babe in each arm. “Leave Olivier be!” she said. “He has been most helpful to me during the births and after.” Smiling beatifically, she walked slowly toward her husband. The way she moved reminded Sidorio of their wedding day. He felt his anger draining away. Olivier was forgotten entirely as Lola stepped closer, bearing their precious twins.
“You look radiant, my dear,” Sidorio said. It was true. Lola’s exceptional beauty never failed to take his breath away, but she had never appeared more beautiful to him than in this moment. He wanted to capture this image of her now and keep it in his head for eternity.
He stepped forward, beaming down at her and catching his first glimpse of the babes. They both had wide dark eyes, which turned inquisitively toward him.
“This is your father.” Lola spoke softly, her eyes looking lovingly upon first one babe, then the other, before meeting Sidorio’s gaze once more. “Aren’t they the most beautiful creatures you have ever seen?”
Sidorio nodded. He reached a finger toward one of the babies. Instantly, its little mouth opened and clamped itself around Sidorio’s fingertip.
Lola laughed and glanced at the clock on the mantel. “He’s hungry again,” she said. “It must be time for another feed.” She turned and made her way to the chaise. Olivier got there first and began propping up cushions for her. “Thank you,” she said, making herself comfortable. “Sid, darling, don’t just stand there looking uncomfortable. Come and sit with your family!”
Spellbound, Sidorio walked forward and sat down in the chair adjacent to Lola’s chaise. In front of the chaise was an antique table. Sidorio remembered Lola’s telling him that it had once belonged to a queen of England, as if this might make the artifact more special to him. He had smiled at her misunderstanding—the table was only precious to him by virtue of its belonging to Lola herself. On the table now rested one of Lola’s Venetian glasses, full of ruby-red blood. Steadying the babies’ plump little bodies, Lola leaned forward and dipped her right index finger into the glass. As it emerged, slick with blood, both babies became instantly alert. Lola leaned across to the babe on the right and his mouth gratefully clamped around her finger. As he did so, the other babe began to wail.
“Now, don’t cry, little man,” Lola said. “Just be patient and Mummy will fix you up, too.” To help her, Olivier stepped forward and brought the glass nearer. Lola dipped her left index finger into the glass and presented it to the other baby. His crying immediately ceased and soon he too was merrily suckling on her finger, just like his brother.
Sidorio watched, mesmerized. Lola was so natural with the babies. Clearly, it had been her destiny to become a mother in this life as well as her past.
“Here, I’ll take that,” Sidorio told Olivier, extricating the glass from his pale hands. “You may go now.”
Olivier stepped backward. “Will that be all, Captain Lockwood?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you, Olivier,” Lola said, flushed with a rosy glow and wreathed in smiles. “Thank you for all your assistance. You’ve been most kind.”
Olivier bowed his head, returning her smile.
“Her name is Sidorio,” Sidorio reminded him icily. “
“I stand corrected,” Olivier said, bowing before hastening toward the exit.
“Wait!” Sidorio called over his shoulder as Olivier reached for the door. “Give us some time alone, but send word for Johnny and Stukeley to come and see us.”
“Yes,” Lola said. “And Mimma and Holly, too!”
“Yes, Captains,” Olivier said, slipping out into the corridor and closing the gilded doors once more.
“He isn’t growing on me,” Sidorio said grumpily, offering the glass to Lola, who dipped her fingers once more inside.
“That’s plain enough,” Lola said as the babes’ mouths clamped onto her fingers again. “Be that as it may, while you were away gallivanting, Olivier was here helping me through the worst of my labor.”
“I
“Did I?” Lola smiled and shook her head. “Everything before the birth seems foggy to me now. I can barely remember, and, well, it hardly matters now. It feels as though everything began anew for me when these two little birds took flight into the world.”
“Indeed,” Sidorio said, more than happy to let this constitute a fresh start for them both.
“He’s tired now,” Lola said, nodding toward the babe in her left arm. “Look at his long eyelashes. They’re quite as black as mine.”
“Yes, they are,” Sidorio said, leaning closer. As he did so, the other babe let out a cry.
“Now this one,” Lola said, “he’s just like you. His appetite is insatiable. All right, baby! A little patience, please!”
“May I feed him?” Sidorio asked, hoarsely.
Lola paused, her fingers hovering above the glass. Then, smiling, she nodded. “Of course. It will help you to bond.”
Sidorio dipped his own right index finger into the glass, then tentatively extended it toward the baby’s mouth. The tiny lips instantly parted and then closed around his finger. Sidorio beamed with delight.
“Who’s a lucky little man?” Lola said, her eyes upon the baby. “Is Daddy feeding you? Is he? Yes, he is!”
Sidorio beamed broadly. “We should discuss names for our boys,” he said.
“No need,” Lola said. “I’ve already named them.”
“You have?” Sidorio felt somehow wounded. “I thought we’d do that together.”
“This one,” Lola pressed on, indicating the sleeping babe, “is Hunter.”
“Hunter,” Sidorio repeated. As he did so, the boy opened his eyes and seemed to smile at his father.
“You see,” Lola said. “Hunter is
“Evil?” Sidorio repeated in astonishment. “You don’t think that’s just a little extreme?”
Lola shook her head. “No, my darling, I don’t. What do we want most for this dear little lad? To follow in our footsteps and grow up to be evil incarnate. His name will help guide him on the right path.” She smiled. “Besides, it’s an old family name on my father’s side.”
Sidorio took stock. “Hunter and Evil Sidorio,” he said. It didn’t sound bad, though his own first choice had been Julius.