Making Amends

Bill knew that he had been neglecting Kiara severely, his mind had been so wrapped up in everything involving the war with Texas and Isabel that he had been neglectful to everyone around him. His duties as Maker to Jessica and Brianna, as a partner to Kiara and a less than pleasant host to his guests.

But he had to keep his mind on the target, he knew how cruel and vindictive Isabel could be and now with the Queen of France and Spain on his side he was slowly pulling away Isabel's royal support and that would begin to weaken her piece by piece. But what would be the point in him winning this was if he had no one left to share his victory with.

Standing outside Kiara's office as he heard muffled voices as he cleared his throat and he prepared himself for a lashing from Kiara he knocked on her office door.

"Kiara.....May I come in?" he called through.

Kiara looked up. She had just checked William's king and sighed as she looked at the screen.

"Apologies your Majesty...it seems Bill would like a word" she said.

William grinned "Perhaps he thinks you broke another rule" he teased.

Kiara rolled her eyes "sad thing is...that probably true. Until tomorrow" she said before ending the video chat.

She made sure she looked semi decent in her shorts and long loose top before walking up to the door and opening it.

"Sure...come in" she said calmly. The office still had the flowers and balloons and 10 out of the 12 cupcakes he'd sent over previously.

Upon entering Kiara's office he quickly scanned around to see that she was alone as put it down to the other voices coming from either her laptop or a phone call that he had interrupted as he could see that she was calm. Something that he was not expecting to see or even hear. He could see his gifts that he had sent were still there, balloons in the corner, flowers on the table and practically untouched cup cakes. He knew that he was in a really bad corner and had a lot to rectify.

"Were my gifts not to your liking?" he asked curiously.

She smiled as she went to sit down on her lounge chair "No they were quite lovely... but the cupcakes had come after I ate dinner so I wasn't as hungry as I should have been" she said calmly. She moved her hand to offer him a seat.

"What can I do for you? I'm surprised you've found time to spare tonight"

"I apologize....I did not know..." he ended.

Walking towards an empty chair by her desk as he unbuttoned his jacket which allowed him to move more freely as he sat down comfortably.

"There has been some new developments I think you should be aware off Kiara. Whilst I have been planning my next move against Isabel it seems that she has also been doing the same....For sometime now Isabel has had Judith captive and has been tortured...She escaped and is now back in her old room for the time being until it is safe for her to be out. She has a great deal of healing to do before she is able to leave" he told her.

Kiara raised an eyebrow. Judith was here. That gave her an idea she'd develop on later.

"Well... I'll make sure we're stocked on blood and donors for Judith then" she said with a gentle tone. Maybe fate was giving her the chance to make things right and she was going to seize that opportunity.

She also knew that Bill's accounts were slowly getting fatter thanks to King William's support. She didn't know if Bill knew but at least this would mean Bill had plenty of funds to do whatever he wanted.

Bill knew that she and Judith did not get along very well and he was not about to expose what happened with her in her room as he did not want to start things back up again like last time when he had been forced to choose.

"Thank you....She has fed from Dexter but he does not deal with....being a donor very well. She shall be staying here for some time until she feels ready to leave and until I am sure that Isabel has not sent anyone after her. I need to keep her safe until she is fully healed" he explained.

She nodded. It wasn't until now that Bill had been in the office for a bit that she picked up another scent stuck to him.

It was different...something like...grapes and wine... not perfume but definitely not his scent, nor anyone elses. With Judith in the mansion though it didn't take her long to put 2 and 2 together. In the past this would have upset her but not today.

"Well... let me know if theres anything I can do to make her stay more comfortable. If she has a preference of donors or blood I will do my best to accommodate"

Bill looked on shocked and in amazement at how Kiara was handling the news that Judith would once again be staying in the mansion. He had expected a little more uproar from her.

"I must say I am surprised sweetheart...The last time you and Judith were in the room together you wanted to tear her head off If i remember correctly? What has changed?" he asked out of curiosity.

Kiara smiled softly. How to explain to Bill all she was feeling...how to convey in words what she had planned without hurting him or he misunderstanding her actions?

So she decided to answer his question with something very close to the truth.

"She is important to you. She holds...and will always hold a special place in your heart and your world. Who am I to begrudge her for that?"

Bill listened to every word that Kiara said as he rested his index finger on his lip as he tried to figure out why Kiara was being so...so calm about the whole situation involving Judith.

"Kiara you have to understand that times were a lot different back then....Judith was created because of my infatuation with her because she resembled my human wife Caroline...Lorena turned her because she felt that having Judith would keep me by her side. I owe it to Judith to be there for her, I am the reason that she is who she is now...I made her that way..And it is my responsibility as her brother and a vampire to make sure that she is safe. She is part of my world as you are. You both mean a lot to me" he assured Kiara.

Kiara chuckled and raised her hands a bit to calm Bill. "Bill....I'm not passing judgement on you or her...I have no problems with her staying in the mansion and you taking care of her"

She leaned back on some pillows, wiggling her toes as she was barefoot. "Really Bill...you need to calm down. I'm fine with whatever you decide is best"

Where was his Kiara? The woman that would have fought with him about Judith even being back here. 

"You have changed your tune. What happened to the woman that would fight me on absolutely everything that I say? That would question everything that I want to do?" he asked her.

He was finding it hard to understand why she was being to calm and collected.

She chuckled. "If you prefer I fight and sour your mood then by all means I can do that. I merely figured you would be more at ease if I didn't fight you" she said, finding his confusion a bit amusing.

She moved over to lay on the lounge chair, bringing a pillow to her chest and tucking her legs neatly to one side.

"really Bill... who am I to fight you over your decisions? Isn't it better if we just agree and you don't become all angry?"

Bill moved from his chair across the room to where Kiara was sat as he sunk to the floor as his elbow rested on the lounge chair as he gazed up at her. It was unusual of him to sit on the floor, it was not something that he was very used to.

"But that is not the woman that I feel in love with...If I wanted someone who refused to argue with me I would have chosen a human. But I didn't. I chose you. I like fighting with you....It's both invigorating and challenging. It's one of the many qualities that I adore about you" he admitted grinning.

She smiled and reached to touch his cheek. She stroked it gently with her thumb as she peered into his eyes.

"Right now Bill....I don't want to fight. I want to treasure our moments together" she said softly.

"Maybe once the war is over....I'll fight you over everything again. Right now...I don't want to distract you over whats important"

Bill could not help but laugh at her words as he nodded his head.

"Perhaps fighting about where to have Sophie once she comes to stay? I think in the room next to ours...The one that Rox- another guest used. Adjoining door and it can be adapted very well if you use the right architect" he smirked.

She chuckled and played with his hair while they spoke. "Take it from someone who lived with Sophie... if she's in the room next to ours...we won't have a moment of privacy" she said with a grin as she recalled the two times Sophie walked in on Glenn and Logan in bed.

"Sophie doesn't need to know what mommy and daddy do whilst in bed"

Bill froze when he heard Kiara call him the name 'Daddy'. It was not a name that he had been called in a very, very long time...Not since Thomas and Sarah. He slid up from the floor to perch himself on the edge of the lounge chair as he ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh.

"It has been quite some time since anyone has ever called me that" he admitted.

She smiled as she sat up and sat somewhat behind him as he looked pensive and a bit nostalgic.

"Well... Sophie has been calling you that for a while...and she doesn't even know who you are yet" she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll spoil her rotten and do right by her"

Bill's hand reached up to rest on Kiara' on his shoulder as he kept his back from her.

"What if I mess things up again? What if I allow her to get hurt?" he admitted.

Bill didn't know anything about raising children, he had failed with his own when he was human by walking away from them to go to war.

She smiled "all children get hurt Bill.... a parent's job is to teach them to get up after falling"

She kissed his cheek. "Let her fall Bill.... but be there to hug her, to tell her that its ok to fall...because the real problem is staying down"

Bill could not help but pick up on a double meaning of her words as he turned to face her as his face fell into a soft expression.

"Are we talking about Sophie? Or are we talking about us?" he asked.

Bill knew that he had been neglecting Kiara severely, but he wanted to make up for it....Somehow he would.

She smiled gently. "About Sophie" she said calmly. She didn't want to antagonize Bill at all. With all the bad feelings she'd been having lately all she wanted was one... maybe two quite nights with him.

"Bill... can I just have one peaceful night with you? No arguments... no... no double meanings... just.. just us? please?"

Bill frowned seriously at Kiara asking for a peaceful night with him as he continued to gaze at her confused.

"Why are you asking to spend some time with me? You never have to ask Kiara...You know this...I know these last few weeks have been hectic for us both and I have not been very forthcoming about everything....But you understand why don't you?" he asked as he turned to face her fully.