I Met My Love Before I was Born Chapter 2

"We have actually met once before?"

"And we were betrothed?"

Lady Juliana nodded in agreement to both her daughter's and future son-in-law's questions. They were in the dining hall next to the large fireplace mantel. Kayley was sitting across Garrett's lap while he was relaxing into a well-carved armchair that was furnished with a few layers of fur trappings to make the seat more comfortable. Lady Juliana was sitting across from the young couple on another seat, placing the tray she had in her hand on a nearby table.

What had brought this all on was the simple notion that Lady Juliana was bringing some tea from the kitchens and had wanted to talk to Kayley about her upcoming wedding in the spring. She had found her daughter in the dining hall, surprisingly enough with Garrett who had just come in from helping one of the farmhands put up the livestock into the barn. Winter had settled over the coastal farm lands and everybody was working hard to keep their livelihood from freezing over the course of the night. Not wanting to reveal herself just yet, Lady Juliana watched as her daughter greeted the blind man who was trying his best to not visibly shake from the cold and helped him settle by the roaring fire that was going. As they each helped each other remove the young man's cold and wet layered clothing to placed by the fire, Garrett and Kayley began to exchange pleasantries which pretty soon fell into gentle bantering that went back and forth; Kayley wondering why Garrett wasn't used to the cold as he was used to living on his own in the Forbidden Forest and Garrett explaining that the cold air and snow didn't make it past much of the forest's thick exterior but he was used to the temperature drop in the forest whereas here there was virtual nothing shielding them from the cold wind and snow that came with the ocean tides.

This went on for a few minutes until Garrett was left on with a semi-dry tunic, pants and a pair of shivering hands. He had tried to blow heated air onto them but to no avail; that is until Kayley came back with a thick bearskin blanket and pretty much plopped herself, sideways, onto his lap with the blanket on top of them. Lady Juliana couldn't help but a slight chuckle at the young man's stunned expression which turned to puzzlement as Kayley began to heat up his hands with her breath and massaging hands. Pretty soon the couple settled into a comfortable silence that led into more talking as Garrett moved one of his hands to cradle Kayley closer to him as she settled her head onto his shoulder, her hands never actually stopping their exploration of Garrett's while a smile never left his face.

Lady Juliana noticed that Kayley must have said something teasingly because Garrett began to tickle her on her sides with one hand while the other arm that was around her shoulders acted like a vice that held the squealing young lady to his side, forcing Kayley to do nothing but to accept the tickling torture. This had unexpectedly called forth a long forgotten memory that was so buried in Lady Juliana's mind that she almost dropped the tray she was holding. Instead of a grown man cradling his fiancé close to him, she saw a little boy with deep sapphire blue eyes and blond hair holding and tickling a squirming year old baby girl that had the most beautiful shade of mahogany hair and light brown eyes. Along with that memory, Lady Juliana felt a surge of remembrances and old feelings that came with it. Such old feelings that still left their faint but stinging marks on her; the joyous feeling of having her baby girl in her arms, the love she felt between her husband, herself and their daughter as a whole, the slight sadness that came with her husband's, unknowingly to all, final call to King Arthur's court, and the striking blow of sorrow and grief as Camelot's King and Knights brought home her husband's body. It was not as fresh as the first moment, but the marks of that memory were still there. And undoubtedly were going to be there for the rest of her living days. Before she fully let go of the memory, something else sparked within her; an after-thought of that first memory. Something that contained an old agreement that the two 'love-birds' needed to hear.

After calming her emotions and heart, Lady Juliana made her presence known to the young couple. They, in turn, settled down a bit and straighten themselves but made no move to remove themselves from each other, i.e. Kayley didn't want to move from Garrett's lap because she was comfortable and Garrett didn't want Kayley to move because….well….quite frankly he was comfortable with having his fiancé in his lap.

After offering the tea, in good humor about the couple's position, Lady Juliana began to fully explain. "Well, it was not that you were betrothed to each other, but we had wanted you two grow up with each other, have the both of you grow into friends and hopefully, loved ones."

Garrett looked into the general area of where Lady Julianna was. "That's quite a gamble if you ask me. We did not even know each other in the end; that is until Kayley stumbled into the Forbidden Forest." At Kayley's name, Garrett unconsciously tightened the arm that was still around her shoulders, making her shift lightly.

Kayley looked to Garrett before she looked back at her mother. "I'm just grateful that you and father didn't actually agree to the betrothal."

Lady Julianna shook her head. "No. Your father loved you deeply Kayley and while he wanted you to have a safe and secured future, he did not want it at the cost of your happiness."

"Ugh. I can only imagine the grief that would have caused had you told me that I was already betrothed." Kayley raised her hand to soothe the tension that was building in her head.

Garrett looked deep in thought before he voiced, "So when did you recognize that it was me as the boy from a long time ago, Lady Julianna?"

Lady Julianna had to gather her answer before she said, "I believe it was during the knighting ceremony, actually. I remembered thinking that you, Garrett, looked so much like your Grandfather with the way you presented yourself in front of Arthur and his men, which was interesting because Ambrose had always said that you take after your father as a boy."

"But Mother, you had mentioned that you had seen him during the battle with Ruber's men. Wouldn't have that recalled something about him?" Kayley injected.

"Yes, but what with the commotion going on between the knights and the spellbound men, I didn't think otherwise that it could have been Garrett. Remember, my last memory of him was as a young lad with dark blue eyes who had quite a liking to you as a baby, practically making you two inseparable." Lady Julianna mentioned before she took a sip of her tea.

Garrett raised a hand to scratch at the back of his head. "I do vaguely remember my grandfather introducing me to you and Sir Lionel, Lady Julianna and I also remember playing with a little girl with dark red hair, but I didn't think it was Kayley, even after Sir Lionel had taken me under his wing after my grandfather's death and my injury." Out of habit, Garrett ran his hand over his eyes that no longer supported their natural blue hue but a grey misted color.

Lady Julianna continued on. "Yes. Before Lionel had left to Camelot that last time, we had talked about bringing you here to live with us after what had happened to you in that fire and Lionel had planned to talk to King Arthur about it as well after the meeting with the knights, but that was when Ruber had decided to…"She trailed off.

"To try overthrowing King Arthur and Father dying to protect him." Kayley finished somberly.

Garrett nodded, not saying anything but offering silent comfort to her.

"After the burial, I had tried to locate you myself to fulfill Lionel's unfinished request, but Arthur had already informed me that you had disappeared not soon after and no one had any idea where you went." Lady Julianna finished. "We certainly did not count on you living in the Forbidden Forest for ten years."

"I don't think anybody thought of that, Lady Julianna." Garrett replied. "If full grown men who are capable of anything were afraid of merely passing through the Forest, then what was the thought of a blind child actually living in it?" He finished sardonically.

Sensing the growing dark mood, Kayley decided to lighten it. "Mother, you mentioned that we," she motioned between her and Garrett, "were inseparable as little ones. What had caused this?"

This brought a laugh out of Lady Julianna. "Actually, it was a number of things that had brought you two close, but there are two occurrences that I can recall the most out of."

(Memory Lapse)

It had been three days since the arrival of Sir Lionel's family into Camelot and three days since the start of Garrett and Kayley's blossoming friendship. Whenever Garrett wasn't doing chores, he would be found with either Sir Lionel or Lady Juliana(whoever was holding Kayley at the time) doing menial tasks like feeding her, cleaning her, playing with her, little things like so. And whenever it wasn't Lady Juliana or Sir Lionel that was holding her, it was Garrett and you could tell that Kayley absolutely loved it when she was in his arms. She would shriek a bit louder, giggle a bit more, squirm and wiggle a bit more as well as babble more when it was Garrett holding her.

It was almost as if she knew who was holding her, despite her young unfocused mind. It wasn't until the day of the festival that Sir Lionel and Lady Juliana realized how much of an effect they were on each other.

Sir Lionel was gathered along with the other Knights and the young King Arthur as he gave the introduction of the festival start. Lady Juliana was seated at a nearby table with Ambrose, Kayley in her arms and Garrett seated between his Grandfather and Lady Juliana, offering a small hand to the baby before she could make a grab for his hair again.

"I still can't believe that such a young man was able to pull Excalibur out of the stone." Lady Juliana commented as she brought a goblet of water to drink.

"Well, Keep in mind Juliana that stone was enchanted so that sword may not be pulled unless it was by the hand of the rightful king." Ambrose answered before taking a bite out the roast that was sitting on his plate. "The stone itself was blessed by the heavens with the sword so if it was meant to be pulled by Arthur then the Blessed Almighty, the Sisters, whoever is in charge of up there," he indicated towards the night sky, "already has extraordinary plans laid out for his majesty. He has already done a fine job of uniting the kingdom little problems as thus far; I can only imagine what else is in story after a few years of experience."

"You are perceptive as always Ambrose." Juliana reached over to her plate to give Kayley a small chunk of meat for her to nibble on. "Lionel is already speaking about the good graces and progress his majesty has shown with the knights and the people of Camelot."

"That's also probably due to the fact that King Arthur has taken up Lionel as a sort of mentor along with Merlin. From what I've heard about the wizard is that he has been at the boy's side since he was a squire living with his foster father and brother, acting as a sort of teacher and guardian."

Both stopped as the townspeople began to applaud the finishing of the speech and applauded with them.

"Well, for now let's see where our new king will take his kingdom to." Ambrose commented as he felt a small tug on his tunic.

"Grandfather, Can I go play now?" Garrett asked innocently.

"Garrett, Are you not hungry?" Lady Juliana asked motherly.

"Not really. I'm just bored right now." He answered, swinging his legs back and forth on the bench he sat on.

Ambrose let out a short bark of laughter. "Let the boy go, Juliana. Running around will probably build his appetite and he's a good enough lad to not cause trouble for anyone." He bent down to eye-level with Garrett, placing a fatherly hand on the boy's head. "Just stay close where we can see you and don't wander off too far alright?"

Garrett gave an enthusiastic nod for his answer but as he turned around to jump off the bench, he felt a small but sharp tug on his hair again, completely stopping him and making him yelp a little.

Kayley was kicking her tiny legs out as she giggled at the action. Despite her very young and undeveloped mind, it seemed that she was proud that she managed to catch Garrett's attention again. This didn't go unnoticed to the two adults who just share a good-natured chuckle as Kayley let go of Garrett's hair in favor of reaching her arms out to him to hold her.

"It seems that Kayley wants to go with her friend to play." Ambrose chuckled.

It seemed that Lady Juliana had other plans for her daughter though. "Kayley, don't you want to try to eat as well? I can understand Garrett wanting to go play, but my little girl needs to eat." She tried to offer her another small piece of meat to chew.

Kayley took the small piece of meat from her mother's hand, made a sort of scrunched up face at it, and handed it back to her mother before she reached her hands out to Garrett again.

Ambrose jumped in again at the sight. "Ah, Juliana what's the harm in letting her go with the boy? I'm sure he'll look after her like a knight protecting his lady, right Garrett?"

"Yes Lady Juliana, I'll watch her. I promise!" Garrett nodded excitedly. Kayley clapped in agreement with the young boy.

Lady Juliana could only sigh in resign. "Alright then. Just be careful with her." She handed her daughter to the young boy, "I leave her in your care, Sir Garrett." She softly said as she smoothed Kayley's hair.

"I will, Lady Juliana!" Garrett chirped, he's little chest puffed up at the title that was placed on him all the while situating Kayley to where she was sitting on his forearms. It was so exciting for him to have been called a knight, especially by the mother of his new best friend. "Let's go have some fun, Kayley."

Kayley clapped and giggled in response as Garrett began to toddle away from the adults but well in sight of them.

Ambrose watched as the two children walked off, leaning on one of his hands that propped up his chin. "They do look adorable together."

"Yes I have to agree there, Ambrose." Lady Juliana commented as she sipped some more water. "Although I was thought Kayley would be older when she would be carried off by a boy."

Ambrose let out a deep laugh at the comment. "And I pictured Garrett would be carrying off his bride in a white gown, but I cannot complain about their betrothal."

"They are not yet engaged, Ambrose." A new voice spoke out. They both turned to see Sir Lionel in his knight's tunic and wardrobe. He gave a quick kiss to his wife before addressing his friend. "It is good though that they have taken quite a liking to each other."

"That's true but I believe that 'liking' is too far of an understatement for what those two share." Ambrose answered before taking another sip of his barley ale.

"What do you mean by that?" Lady Juliana questioned.

"Well—"Just as he was ready to explain, he stopped in favor of this sound.

"NO!"

Mind you, this was voiced with a lot of sound. A lot of sound for such a usually tiny voice. So loud, in fact, that it almost didn't register in the minds of those around it until it was heard again.

"NOO!"

This time it was more urgent, more demanding. It wasn't until Ambrose spoke again. "Wasn't that Kayley?"

"That can't be. She hasn't even said her first words yet." Lady Juliana spoke with a mixture of confusion and awe at the possibility of her little girl talking.

"But it sounded a lot like her and it came from where Garrett wondered off with Kayley." Ambrose added, grabbing the long staff he had brought with him.

This brought both of the parents out of their daze and sprang into action, both ready to defend their child to the end, with Ambrose to follow.

When the adults finally got to the scene, it literally stopped them in their tracks.

Finally Sir Lionel began to speak...well more like demanded. "What is going on here?" He demanded austerely.

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When Garrett felt that he was far enough away from the adults that he was still somewhat visible to them but was able to have some fun, he placed the Kayley down on a soft patch of grass he found by one of the trees that were kept within the castle walls when the grounds were being made and courtyard was in construction.

"So what can we do for fun?" Garrett questioned as he sat down as well, Indian style while using his knee as support for his hand holding up his chin.

Kayley looked at Garrett for a minute before she moved her arms to mirror him, well, at least the head resting on the hand part.

"I mean, it's not like you can do anything right now. You're only a baby after all." He moved to scratch the back of his head in thought.

This time, Kayley scratched her head too.

"And as much fun as it is for you to copy me, we are going to need something else." Garrett commented as he moved his hands to rest on his knees.

And like the last time, Kayley moved her hands to rest on her knees, save for legs lying straight out in front of her instead of a sitting position.

As Garrett began to think of any other possibilities to have fun for both the little tykes, Kayley noticed a small white butterfly that floated right in front her. As she tried to reach for it, the little butterfly began to fly around her head a couple of times before deciding to take a landing spot on Kayley's nose. This caused her to go cross-eyed for a minute before the butterfly flew off again. As any natural child would do when something has caught their fancy, Kayley tried to go after it. She began to crawl a little ways before she realized that she was going nowhere fast and that little butterfly was flying farther and farther away. With a look of what could be best described as determination, Kayley began to stand on her own two feet.

Despite the very wobbly and shaky start, she managed to, in little time, to stand on her own. After a quick moment of satisfaction, Kayley tried her very first step and succeeded. And tried another. And another. And another.

She was right in the middle of another step when Garrett began to notice the movement. He spoke out in shock. "Kayley, what are you doing?"

The sound startled her to where she missed her step and fell forward on her face. The fall itself wasn't too bad but combining that with the unexpected startle is what caused Kayley to cry.

Almost immediately did Garrett go to Kayley to pick her back up again. "You're okay. You're okay." As he began to brush away whatever grass and dirt that was on her, Kayley pretty much began to cling on to him as her sniffles began to quiet. Garrett placed Kayley back on the ground again on her feet, just as she became completely quiet. "You just moved too soon. I'm sorry for scaring you."

He wiped away whatever tears were left of her small face before coming up with an idea. "Do you want to try to walk again? I'll help this time."

Kayley immediately perked up at the thought and began to giggle and clap in acknowledgement.

Garrett stood back up and walked a few paces in front of Kayley and positioned himself in squatting position with his arms out.

Kayley slowly began her wobbly trek, with one shaky foot after the other. The pure determination look on her face couldn't possible get anymore cuter then it was. Furrowed little eyebrows, pursed lips, and a squared-on look in her eyes. Yes she was a walking cutie.

After a few more shaky steps, Kayley stumbled and fell back on her bum. It didn't hurt as much as the first time, but still brought tears to her eyes.

"It's alright." She looked up to see Garrett still there holding his hands out and small encouraging smile. "You can do this. Grandfather says that to achieve anything, all you have to do is face your fears. I know you can do this."

If possible, this only fueled Kayley's ambition more. Once again with another determined look, she got herself up slowly and steady, waited a few more moments to get ready and started her trek again. Despite a few wobbles and a slight step, she managed to get closer to Garrett. Once she was almost in his arms, Garrett stood back up and began to walk backwards.

Now Kayley didn't like what he was doing so she made a sound that was caught between a pout and yelp. So she picked up her pace to almost running when she tripped, but she never fell. Garrett caught her before she fell and swung her around in the air, praising her. "You did it, Kayley!"

Kayley loved the feeling she had right now. Feeling like she was so high up and flying, especially by her new best friend, she giggled and babbled excitedly. When she came back done, she immediately threw her tiny arms in the air in a repeated motion like she wanted to do it again. Garrett just laughed at the action instead and hugged her.

"Well, isn't that a touching scene?" A new voice spoke out with a sardonic twist from behind the two children.

Garrett turned around almost too fast, moving Kayley closer to him in a protective brace against his shoulder.

There stood a man with hair so red that it was almost tinged orange and a bit of a cruel smile. A man that left very deep impression on the young boy, one out of fear and not the usually case of motivation or joy. A man that almost left a mark on him a couple days ago for merely running into him by accident. Sir Ruber.

Again Sir Ruber spoke. "If I had wanted to have a preview of such sappy moments, I would have stayed closer to the festivities. Instead I find a pair of little fledglings having such heartfelt joy, it almost left me nauseated."

Garrett knew better than to run away from someone, especially while they were talking, but he really hoped that his Grandfather was wondering where he was. "We were doing nothing wrong, Sir Knight. We were just playing."

Kayley was beginning to squirm in his arms, not from being held to close, but from what this strange man was saying. She didn't like him one bit and something about him just exuding a bad aura.

"Playing were you? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were on your way to cause some kind of mischief. That is how all kids naturally are. Just trouble." Sir Ruber snidely commented.

"Well, we are not all kids. Just one boy and one baby girl." Garrett snapped back almost sarcastically.

"Watch your tone, stable boy!" Sir Ruber moved towards them. "Your precious Grandfather is not here to save you, and if you don't want that little squalling baby you are so fond of hurt," he motioned towards Kayley who was giving him a glare that wasn't really doing anything but show cuteness, "You WILL show me some respect. I am a knight!"

"I will show you respect when you do something honorably, but until then you have nothing but your title. And don't you dare bring her into this! She is just a baby!" Garrett moved Kayley so that he was blocking her from Sir Ruber's sight.

This is just added fuel to fire as the malicious smirk on Sir Ruber's face grew. "Boy, you just made me mad."

As he moved to grab Garrett, a small but powerful voice let out, "NO!"

This caused both Garrett and Sir Ruber to pause, except Garrett refocused his attention towards the baby who was staring defiantly at the man in front of him, "Kayley?" He asked in a bit of a stupor.

Again, she cried but slight louder this time. "NOO!" The way she said it, it was almost as if she was trying to protect Garrett. This left him in shock, however it also added to Sir Ruber's growing rage.

"Why you little—?"

"What is going on here?" A stern voice demanded.

Garrett looked to see Sir Lionel, who was standing almost behind him, giving Sir Ruber a stare that would have come off as fury and silence, with Lady Juliana and his Grandfather by his side. As soon as Kayley spotted her mother, she reached up with her tiny hands to hold her and neither Garrett nor Lady Juliana made any hesitant moves as Kayley was lifted from him to her mother's arms.

"Nothing of concern here, Good Sir Lionel." Sir Ruber answered, albeit in a more sarcastic tone with the title thrown in there. "I was merely talking with the boy about his mannerism which clearly needs to be addressed."

"Sir Ruber, he is just boy. He doesn't know any better, and the same goes for my daughter if you thought about laying a hand on her." Sir Lionel sternly voiced.

"Oh, your daughter?" Sir Ruber questioned in almost sickly playful manner. "Why didn't realize she was of your blood, Sir Lionel. I can tell that she will take after her beautiful mother as she grows, isn't that right Lady Juliana?"

Lady Juliana made no comment, but the glare she was sending him spoke volumes as she cradled Kayley closer to her.

"The children have done nothing wrong to warrant your presence, Sir Ruber and I suggest you leave." Ambrose boomed, keeping one hand close with his staff.

"Well, old man, who says I have to leave right now? Or for that matter even listen to you at all?" Sir Ruber defiantly questioned.

"It's not a matter of questioning it. I still remember what you tried to do my grandson early this week. Let me remind that I am more than capable in bringing you down in a fight, Sir Ruber, and I am not part of the knighthood to have repercussions on my head afterwards." Ambrose did a show with his staff by twirling it around for bit before bringing it over his stance in a defense move.

"Tch." Sir Ruber hissed before looking at his odds with the two knights and the growing crowd that was around them. It was better for now to retreat. "As you wish, good knights." And with that, he wondered off away from the crowds and into the darkness again.

"Something about that man makes my skin crawl." Ambrose commented as he eased his staff down.

"You took the words out of my mouth." Lady Juliana sighed as she relaxed her shoulders, keeping a good grip on her daughter still. "I still do not see how that man is part of the knighthood."

"He was one of the strongest warriors in the battlefields and well-known for his battle tactics." Sir Lionel answered. "I had asked His Majesty on the subject of him and he replied that it was better to keep an eye on him. He didn't want Ruber's skills to go to another man that might use him for evil intentions."

"And I still don't like him." Garrett chirped in. "He gives me the creeps." He shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself as to ward off a sudden chill.

Kayley just nodded and huffed in agreement.

"Well, he's gone now so let's not ruin our night with anymore thoughts of him." Ambrose said as he began to herd Garrett back to the crowd, with Sir Lionel and Lady Juliana to follow and Kayley just snuggling into her mother's shoulder. As the small group made their way back to the festivities, Garrett began to tell his little fun with Kayley and what she did…

(End of Memory Lapse)

Lady Juliana smiled as she ended her memory tale and took another sip of her tea, waiting for Kayley and Garrett to fully take in what she had told them. Needless to say, it left them with a new perspective of each other, if not slightly stunned.

"I do have to say, you two were so cute together as children." Lady Juliana commented, setting her tea down.

"So, if we had that deep of connection, why is it that we don't remember any of this, least of all Garrett?" Kayley questioned as she motioned towards Garrett who answered her question.

"You were still a baby so you probably don't remember much to begin with, Kayley. And with my memories, I remember hearing from your father that sometimes during a rough fight or tumble, a man will get hit in the head hard enough to actually forget about certain things."

"He is right Kayley." Lady Juliana jumped in. "I have seen accidents on the farms where the farmer or one of the workers would be working on something and get hit in the head. They would be fine for the most part but sometimes they would forget certain memories, sometimes old memories, sometimes new ones, but they would return in their own time or sometimes not at all."

"And considering the fact I got kicked in the head by horse, I believe you have your answer right there, Kayley." Garrett finished.

"Yes but still," Kayley tried to say as she reached up to smooth some of the tension away that was showing on his forehead.

"But nothing Kayley," He stopped her gently, grabbing the hand that was gently moving on his head to cradled it in his larger hand. "I have already grown used to the fact of never seeing again, but it is not stopping me from living my life and it's not leaving me with any regrets. I can see you for who are, and I have seen you, Kayley, at your greatest times and worst's times. I just wish that I can put a face to your voice whenever I hear you."

"Ohh Garrett." Kayley whispered, deeply touched at his words before reaching her arms around him to hug him. He gladly and warmly reciprocated it.

After some time, they slowly let go of each other. It was Garrett this time who asked a question. "Lady Juliana, you mentioned there were two incidents that drew us close. I'm curious as to what was the second one."

"Ohh, well," Lady Juliana started off, "After the festivities were down and we're ready to come back home, Kayley did not want to leave you. The moment we said our goodbyes, she grabbed onto your tunic sleeve and did not let go. Even Lionel had a hard time of getting her to let go." This brought a small chuckle out of her before continued, "Kayley went as far as forcibly moving your head, Garrett, and giving a kiss on the lips, just so we would stay a little longer."

Ohh, now that left a very peculiar mixture of feelings for the couple. One with Kayley glowing almost a cherry-red color and gaping mouth, while Garrett was feeling a good dose of amusement and peculiarity at that moment but he was doing a very good job at hiding it….slightly.

It was then that Lady Juliana decided to leave the couple alone. "Well, I'll leave you two for now. It's almost time for bed so do not stay up late."

Garrett decided to take an advantage of this, since Kayley was still stunned for the most part. "Uhh, Lady Juliana, would it be alright if I took Kayley to bed?"

Lady Juliana did not turn around to face them but she did stop in her ascent on the stairs. "I have your word that you won't do anything to cause dishonor?"

Garrett made no hesitation on his reply. "Upon my Grandfather's grave and my honor."

Lady Juliana did not answer for a bit before she turned to them with a soft smile. "I know. I just wanted to make sure. You know how a mother worries for her only child." And with that, she made her up the stairs and out of sight.

Garrett made no movement until he heard little stutters coming from his fiancé who was still in his lap. "S-S-So I basically just promised myself as baby to a boy…." She muttered slight dumbfounded.

"Well, look at it this Kayley. You're taking responsibility for your action." Garrett answered, which caused her to snap out of it.

"Responsibility? If anything, you should be the one to take responsibility since you are the one that forget about it and…"she dropped off when she saw that slight smirk and twinkle in his eye. "And you were teasing me, weren't you?" She pouted.

"Of course." He nonchalantly shrugged. "But where was the fun if I had stopped there."

"Ha ha very funny." Kayley sarcastically replied.

He sensed that she was pouting a bit so he dropped off a sweet kiss on her forehead to lighten the mood. "At least now I don't intend of letting go of you either."

Kayley blushed slight at the comment before replying with her own with a smile. "Good because I don't either." And matched him for a full-on kiss.

They stayed in their embrace before Kayley let out a small yawn. She moved to get off of his lap, but he tightened his embrace just a bit so that she stilled and stayed on his lap. "Garrett I have to move at some point. I want to go to bed."

"And you will." He leaned over her body to reach for the end of the thick blanket to tuck it around Kayley, "But I meant what I said by not letting go."

"What do you mean—?" She gasped as Garrett smoothly stood up with her in his arms still, her arms immediately going around his neck. "Garrett?!"

"I know. I know. But I've already gotten permission from your mother to bring you to bed, and I intend to do it." He began walking, already having the layout of the room memorized and the numbers of steps he needed to take.

"Yes, but as nice and wonderful the gesture is, I didn't mean quite like this." Kayley half-shrieked and half-worried. She really didn't want to cause him any problems and surely it was going to be hassle going up to the bedroom. It really doesn't pan out very well in the mind that a blind man was going to take his fiancé to her bed in the upstairs room. It really doesn't.

He made it to the landing of the stairs before he answered. "But I did. And I want to do this for you. Are you really that excited for me to let you go already?"

She should have said yes to yield to the logic side of things, but since when was love logical to begin with? She shook her head and she tightened her arms around his neck a little bit. "Not really."

He chuckled bit in good humor, the vibration of his voice becoming a bit a soothing tone for Kayley to listen to. "I do love you, Kayley. Just remember that I will always." He said soothingly as he nuzzled her hair bit.

"And I you, Garrett. For now and forever." Kayley answered back with love and devotion.

This mood never broke as the young knight took the love of his live, his other half, up to bed that night where the young couple slept and dreamed of the happiness that was sure to come upon this union.

Now and forever

As sure as the snow

As long as the ocean roars

I'll love you in a way that

I'll never begin to outgrow

I'll now and forever be yours

The End