Chapter 1
Caitlyn taps her foot impatiently as Vi drives, chewing on her nails while watching the scenery pass her outside the window. But her fidgeting isn't because of stress or anxiety, rather, it was out of excitement. Her and her wife were going to be taking a short weekend beach trip. They were four and a half hours into their harrowing drive out of the city down to a small coastal town.
Most of the year, it was cold and rainy, but during the peak of June, it brightened and warmed. While the water would be cold, it would be beautiful. Marine life was teeming in the waters. Seals, Sea Lions, Sharks, Sturgeon, and about anything else you could imagine. Who would've thought that her life, The Caitlyn Kiramman, the daughter who had only ever disappointed her business-man father Tobias and Piltover counselor Cassandra, the girl who had been shooting an AK 47 ever since her eighth birthday, the girl who had shocked everyone by choosing a woman by her side instead of a man, and a Zaunite at that.
Who would've thought that That Caitlyn Kiramman would lead a remarkable life?
Well, she did, and Vi helped her see that. Now she was happily in partnership, steadily in a Detective's position at the Enforcer Firm, and twelve weeks pregnant with a little purple-haired daughter. Thankfully, her sickness had been minimal, and her work hadn't suffered because of it. And every day she stared at her steadily swelling stomach, she could only grin. She could only flap her hands at how remarkable this domestic life felt.
She remembered when Vi found out that the pregnancy went through. She'd cried, sobbed, and Caitlyn had held her all the way through it. Then she'd profusely apologized for being the one needing comfort, and then cried a little more, and spent the rest of the night peppering Caitlyn's face with kisses and rubbing her still-flat stomach.
That moment had been three months ago, six from their wedding. There was no rush, yes, but in a way, there was. She wanted her life to begin. She wanted this baby, this life, her love, her work. She wanted it now, and she wanted to have it for as long as she could. Now, at twenty-four, she had everything she would ever want. She had a blooming family, a successful career, and the most lovely, lively wife she could ever dream of.
Vi's hand slid onto her thigh, rubbing comfortable circles into the side of her leg. Her hands always ran hot, and the heat could be felt through her shorts. She smiled up at the red-head, and lied her hand over her wife's, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles, and then over the shining sapphire gem, powder-blue clusters around it, imbedded in a gold band. A similar ring adorned her left ring finger as well, though her gem was a fiery burgundy with little opal-clusters around it, and a silver band.
Caitlyn's hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her eyepatch still lie over her healing eye. Even once it was finished healing, she didn't think she'd stop wearing it. She wasn't exactly ashamed, but it was a mark of fighting, of an old life. It was a reminder of a fight that forever changed her. One that dictated her and Vi's relationship, one that ruined and made so many lives.
She didn't take that delicately.
She sometimes went without when she was strolling through the house, or working outside on their property. But otherwise, she never showcased it. It belonged under wraps, unless the occasion called for it. It was a scar, yes, but it was also blood. It was pain. It was trauma, and it was everyone they'd lost in the fight. It was everyone who fought, everyone who one, everyone who failed. It was all the missing and the crying, and the gunshots, all the flesh and all the love. It was no light surface-wound.
While she had been deep in her own head, they'd parked at the hotel. The ocean could be seen from their parking spot, ensuring them a breathtaking view from their room window, a nice survey of the small beach town. It was a spot not many visited, most opting for warm, tropical, exotic locations. But this place was hers. She liked that it was small, and close-knit. She liked it wasn't a tourist stop. She liked that it could just be. Be cold, be gray, be pretty and salty and be gorgeous. It was how she liked things. She wished she could say that for the rest of Piltover.
Caitlyn checked them it at the front desk while Vi carried the luggage up to their room. She would've helped, but her wife too grew restless in the long drive, and enjoyed the movement. The thought made her smile. She was quite the ADD mess, and that's why she loved her. Her long legs were sore and achy from being cramped in the car, but she knew their next destination, so she held her tongue.
The hotel was nice. It had a nice, homey feel. The perfect mix of small-town coastal and spacious, private lodging. Vi loved it, and she did too. She wasn't interested in a big, expensive trip, and really, this was about relaxation. She cared about the color of the walls, the feel of the bed, the view, and the smell of the air. The air was fresh, and a tang salty. The view was just as wonderful as she expected. The walls were a comforting off-white, and the bed was cool and plush. Everything was nice, and fresh, and just what she had been craving.
Vi was babbling on about where to pick for dinner, and what she should wear to the beach, if it'd be cold. Asking if there was a gym around, and where any good bars might be. Caitlyn listened, nodded, laughed at seeing her love so excited. Her hand instinctively rubbed over her slightly-protruding stomach, her other hand holding Vi's chin.
"Everything is perfect, love. There's maps in the nightstand, and we've got the rest of the day to figure it out. Right now, I just want to kiss you, My Violet" She spoke it in such a sure, low tone, her accent prominent.
Vi grinned her little crooked, happy grin, the healed slice on her lip white and curling. She leaned in and tenderly kissed her, fingers curling in her blue ponytail. Caitlyn couldn't help but chuckle into her mouth when it tasted of raspberry mints she'd stolen from Caitlyn's tin and of their lunch of chicken noodle soup, a pregnancy craving of hers that they'd found in a small shop on the road.
"I love you too, Cupcake"
She felt the other woman's hands grip onto her hips after a little bit, kisses sprinkling down her neck, making her face scrunch and a giggle escaped her lips at the sensation, and she swatted Vi away playfully. She rubbed at the side of her neck to rid the tingly feeling, and Vi pretended to pout before Caitlyn began undressing to pull on a swimsuit, and her eyes went wide and dumb and loving, just like the first one.
"Darling, could you do up the back for me? And slightly loosely, I'm feeling pinched"
Caitlyn asks, turning her back to her wife for help tying the back of her swim suit, swim costume she called it, but was mercilessly teased by the immature, crooked-smiling girl for it, so she tried to commit the American mannerism to memory. Vi grinned and rubbed at Caitlyn's knot in her shoulder, massaging her tender skin. It was sweet and unprovoked, and she sighed, letting her head drop back. Her hands wandered, paying some attention to her stomach, and a little more to her breasts, which had ached like hell since the conception.
She groans, half in relief, half in pain. The ministrations didn't stop for several minutes, and soon the pain faded and the sweet actions were nothing but soothing. She silently thanked her with a kiss to her biceps, which sat right behind Caitlyn's shoulder blades, and were easily accessible by a twist of her head. Once the impromptu massage finished, Vi did up her tie on her back, and then got changed into her own swimsuit. Caitlyn's had a blue-and-white striped one piece on, that showed off her baby bump proudly, with a tie around the middle, and a cut out hole behind her shoulders and on the peak of her stomach. Vi had a scantily-cut but cutely patterned bikini top on, adorned with little Suns and Moons in the fabric, and white little swim shorts. She guessed the top was in light of the baby, as was hers.
The environment was completely different here, the UV low and the sun, while shining, wasn't overwhelming. It was in the late seventies, so the heat was pleasant but not scorching. Not bothering with sunscreen, they ventured the five minute walk from the hotel to the shore, Vi with a beach bag slung over her shoulder. It was pleasant, in the mid-afternoon, not crowded much.
The second her toes met the sand, she sighed out, breathing in the thick, musky, salt-strewn beach air. She left Vi with the task of finding a spot and setting up towels, already kicking off her shoes and setting off into a sprint to the waterline. She missed the feeling of running, a slightly larger portion of her job done behind a desk ever since she was 'physically compromised', her wife had described to the agency, when she was being overprotective after she found out about the pregnancy.
The sand went from warm and gray and so fine it could blow away in the breeze, to dark and hard-packed, colder, as she approached the surf. The little puddles of ocean water made her spine go rigid at the cool, but when she stepped into the water, far enough for sea foam and water to lap at her ankles, everything felt better. It all felt real again. And just like that, she was cascading into the swells, skin prickling, and body immediately relaxing. She didn't go in too far, as the current was strong and the waves were rocking. Still, up to her stomach, there were waves licking her shoulders. A few minutes after she slipped into the strong hands of the sea, a voice spoke behind her.
"Cait, you do realize it's like, sixty degree water, right?" She just turns back with a grin and a laugh. She hadn't felt so free and in her element in months. Not that she'd been doing badly. But she had really needed a trip like this.
Vi was only in up to her knees, and it looked like that was about all she was going to get in. Caitlyn swished around in the salty spray, head tipped back, eye shut, a smile gracing her lips. The same thought kept circulating through her over and over, the same feeling filling her chest. Perfect. Everything was perfect. She only exited when her legs grew a strange warm feeling, and then an almost instantaneous burning hot feeling. When she exited the water, the bottoms of her feet felt bruised, and her legs were bright red. But she didn't mind.
"Jesus, Cupcake. You're a damn popsicle" Vi immediately wrapped her in a towel, and she lied against her chest on a different towel back in the sand, at their spot. Vi was warm, and slowly she was thawing. She wasn't used to being the impulsive, brash one, but for once it felt good. This life she had found, it all felt good. Her head on her love's chest felt good. The swell of her pregnant stomach felt good.
Seagulls shrieked overhead and along the sand, and a whole army of seals could be spotted not fifty yards away, sunbathing on some rocks in the surf. Smart, getting in the heat while they still could. Slowly, Caitlyn drifted asleep on her wife's chest, on a sunny day, drenched in cold saltwater. The deep connection she felt, to the water, to the baby, to the remarkable life she was proud to be living, was ten fold in that moment.
This was all remarkable.