I let Charlotte sleep in while I went off to send my telegram to Jupiter. It was a vastly different telegram than what I thought it would be. Told him where I was. Told him I was staying. Told him that I wasn’t a Hunter anymore. We’d see what the bastard said to that.
The old widow made us breakfast. Charlotte’s cheeks burned in embarrassment at being found out, but hell, she’d screamed enough last night that the whole town of Ringo probably knew what we had done. Fuck it. I didn’t care. I finally was where I needed to be.
After that, Charlotte took me back to her family’s farm. Everyone that left with Charlotte had stayed with her. I couldn’t even express my gratitude at that. They’d taken care of her for me. Mick was the first to greet me when she and I walked up the drive with my arm around her. Mick shook my hand and slapped me on the back.
“Good to see you,” he said thickly.
“Thanks for taking care of her.”
Mick held his hands up. “She took care of me.”
One and Two didn’t say anything, but they smiled at me and each hugged me. Two even lifted me off the ground.
Fern was inside helping Charlotte’s sister Penelope take care of the kids. Including Dolly. Fern came toward me holding my little girl. I put my hands out, but before I could take her, Fern pulled the baby away.
“You back for good?”
“Yeah.”
“You ain’t dying again, are you?”
“Not any time soon.”
Fern’s eyes softened. “I don’t know what took you so long, but welcome home.”
Then she handed me the baby.
I’ve never held a baby. Not in all of my years. But I instinctively took her and cuddled her close. She hummed at me, her eyes blue and bright. Her pudgy hands reached out and grabbed at my nose and mouth.
“She’s fascinated with faces right now,” Charlotte said with a laugh.
I kissed those palms and the baby smiled at me. She had four teeth and she was beautiful.
Charlotte herded me out of the kitchen and I barely noticed. We went upstairs and she led me down a hallway. Quietly, behind me she shut the door and pushed me onto the bed, me still staring at the beautiful creature I’d helped create. She felt around under the bed and finally sat down beside me.
“Bacchus?” she asked.
I stopped making kissy faces at Dolly and smiled at Baby. “Yeah?”
“I found this with the money.”
I sat Dolly on my lap and looked at what Charlotte held in her hand. My staff. The jewels glittered and the gold shimmered. Dolly reached out and took it, jamming it into her mouth.
“Dolly,” Charlotte said instantly.
“No, she can’t hurt it,” I interrupted. “Besides, it’s hers.”
“I don’t…understand how you made it back here,” Charlotte said in a low voice. “I don’t know why you were Arcangelo de Bacchio and now you’re Bacchus. But I need to know if….” she trailed off and pushed Dolly’s hair back from her face. “I need to know if you’re staying.”
I grabbed Charlotte’s hand. “I’ve wandered a long time. A long time, Charlotte. I’ve never had a home. I’ve never found anyone that I wanted to be with. Until you.” I looked down at my staff, the object that always would call for me if I didn’t have it with me. And I realized, after all this time, I couldn’t feel it anymore. Instead, I felt the pain in my legs, the relief of finding Charlotte, the beauty of having a little girl in my arms. Maybe my staff wasn’t what it used to be to me. The staff belonged to a Hunter and I wasn’t a Hunter anymore.
I hooked my hand behind Charlotte’s neck and pulled her close. “Baby, if you’ll have me, I’m yours. My past is just that, the past. I want to grow old with you.”
Her big blue eyes delved into mine. “I don’t know what this means to you,” she said and I knew she was talking about the staff. “But you’re willing to give it up for us?”
I kissed her, putting my whole heart and soul into it. Shit might’ve taken me hundreds of years to figure out, but I’d finally figured it out, and that’s what mattered. I belonged here, with Charlotte and Dolly.
Forever.