Work Text:
Jack sat out on the veranda sipping his coffee and watching the sun rise.
It was strange that just as everything had dissolved into chaos upon Silas' death, Jack grew more at peace. The palace in Carmel was as out of the way as anything could be. Here Silas' grandchildren were protected and his children were out of sight. On his way out on to the porch Jack had passed Michelle's daughter sleeping on one of the couches and his son curled up in a chair next to her. Things were ideal in a way which seemed genuine for once.
It would be all a pleasant memory soon. They would be leaving Carmel for Shiloh at ten in order to arrive for a coronation ceremony in the afternoon. He had not lived in Shiloh since his son's birth. In fit of madness of his dying days Silas had ordered Michelle and her daughter to join Jack in the countryside. Together they had lived slowly for the summer, watching their children grow and listening to reports of Silas' last acts.
The French doors behind him opened and shut quietly, and Jack held out his hand to the new comer.
"You're up early," Michelle said, placing her palm in the middle of his hand and smiling down at him.
He glanced up at her, then back out to the water. "They woke me up early this morning to tell me the news. I thought you would want to sleep until a decent hour, so I instructed them to let you sleep. We've been waiting seven years, what's another two hours in the grand scheme of things?"
"I would have liked to know."
"And what could you have done? You need the rest," Jack interlaced their fingers and squeezed. "We've got a hero to welcome home."