Author's Notes: BEFORE YOU READ--

I just want to address a fairly important matter that SilentHill34 brought up in the last chapter. He questioned what hapened to Morrigan's lost arm.  Remember how it got cut off? I then re-read the last few chapter and made a shocking discovery! I made a huge flop! I  re-wrote parts of the chapter and i guess I deleted the part detailing what happened to her arm before I posted the chapter.

Here is the sentence that I left out, happening just before Morrigan caught Grace when the girl was cut by Gehenna.

"Her lost arm twisted unnaturally on the ground and burst into a dozen crows. They flew towards her, streaks of black light as they hurtled towards her bloodied shoulder and reforming into a perfect, whole arm once again."

So basically what  happened is the arm turned to crow and reformed into her arm before she caught her daughter. So, she now has both arms back. It is not exactly regeneration but pretty close.  So, thank you, SH34, for pointing that out.

I will work this sentence into the proper chapter later.

Also I have to say that during the middle parts of this chapter, as I wrote them, I honestly teared up a bit. I dont know if i did a good job of capturing the emotions or if I did the scene the justice it deserves, but I have a great imagination. And having this scene play out in my mind was brutal.

I imagined it so vividly, so realistically, that it made me cry manly tears and regret making Roland have that reincarnation problem in the first place.

That's it. Remember to rate, review and comment.

Enjoy.

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Roland's mind went blank.

The little girl kept saying "daddy, daddy" as if she couldnt believe it, holding him as if he would turn to smoke if she loosened her grip even a bit.

Roland looked at Morrigan, shocked and a bit dazed.

"This girl--She--But --Daughter?-- I mean, just how in the world, , ,?" He tripped over the words, unable to string together a coherent sentence and merely asked  a question without any clear recipient.

Morrigan answered him." I know you dont remember, but this girl is indeed yours. The culmination of our love." She smiled tenderly.

She continued sadly." The young girl, she always wanted to meet you."

Roland looked at the tiny thing. His clothes were getting soaked in tears.

He raised a hand slowly and awkwardly patted her hair, still not quite believing this was real.

The girl flinched like a scared animal and looked up at him. Redness slowly crept up her face in a strange display of embarrassment and she parted from him to hide behind Morrigan.

She snuck peeks at him from behind her mother as her cheek grew more flushed. She clutched Morrigan's black dress while looking away from him every so often.  

Roland, still in a state of disarray, asked, " What's wrong?" He slightly stammered.

The little girl started tearing up once again and spoke in despair. " My first meeting with daddy and you had to save us from that mean lady. I let mommy get hurt and she would have died if daddy hadn't come. I even showed you such an unsightly appearance right from the start! "She cried out, shame-faced, unable to meet his eyes for fear of seeing disappointment in his gaze.  

"What are you. . .Ah." He realized, The wound she recieved, is that what she meant?

Morrigan stroked the girl's back comfortingly. " Hush, child. You dont have to worry about something like that. I'm sure your father is simply happy to finally meet you. Go on now, say hello." She prompted the girl.

She slowly detached her self from her mother's side and stood in front of him, playing with her fingers nervously.

The girl--No, Grace-- spoke to him. " Hello. . .Daddy." She spoke the word in a small, timid voice.

Roland's head swam.

Daddy, he thought. She called me. . .daddy, didnt she?

He choked out a question to Morrigan, who watched the whole thing with a smile of joy upon her lovely face.

"How. . .How old. . . Is she?"

"Almost twelve. Her birthday is only a month or so away."

He then spoke in a harsh whisper, afraid the child might hear. It was likely not needed as the girl looked at him starry-eyed, lost in her own world.

"That's impossible! Im 19, how can she be 11?! Shouldnt she be far older?! Even before that, how could you become pregnant with a child, and on top of that it even survived?"

A child of a god could have a young appearance for quite some time, it was entirely possible that she was older than she looked. And with her mind's maturity rate being slightly stunted due to the longer period of physical growth, she would still have the mind of a child even so.

So how could she be so young?

When he reincarnates, he is not born in a womb but his body is created through  universal energies and through the power of his own soul. He knows that during the first years of life he could survive without a mother or father, feeding off the energy around him.

Though he could sometimes die due to powerful wild animals or some such things, he understood that most of the time he reincarnates near places where he would be found by others.

So even if he reincarnated as soon as he got Morrigan pregnant in his last lifetime, he would at most be only a year or so older than Grace, right?

And Morrigan was a death goddess, her body was too cold internally to support life, The sheer concentration of death energies her body held would eventually kill any child of her's long before she showed signs of pregnancy. Male death gods had no problem with this. They rarely were able to have children, but they could. Because they were weaker than their female counterparts.

That was why death goddesses rarely even took on lovers, why they most of the time chose to remain aloof and indifferent.

The first bit, the age disparity between him and the girl, just how. . .?

He suddenly thought of something

Unless. . .

Morrigan confirmed his suspicion. " When she was born and you disappeared, I took her to live in my temple within the Higher Planes. Time works differently there sometimes." She told him

He muttered. "So that's it."

Indeed, if he reincarnated in the Lower Planes, the Mortal Planes, then time could flow differently. Faster.

He could have been reincarnated at around the same time as her birth but time would have passed quicker for him.

When he thought of it another way, even if that wasnt the case, souls are not restricted by concepts like time. Or perhaps it could be said they work in different laws of time than physical objects.

She went on with a coy smile touching upon her soft lips. " As for the part of "how". . .Well let's just say your seed is obviously made of stronger stuff than other men."  

Roland frowned slightly at the coquettish look she sent him.

But all these thoughts only briefly occupied his mind.

He looked at the girl who stared at him, unblinking, with those large azure eyes that mirrored his own.

She, like him, was lost in her own thoughts and had seemed to not register their conversation.

Suddenly she once again, slowly, wound her arms around him in a gentle loving embrace.

Roland felt something in his heart melt and found a tender smile unconciously place itself upon his lips.

"Grace, huh. A good name."  He whispered.

The girl mumbled with her face pressed into his stomach. " Mommy said you were the one who picked it out."

Roland's chest warmed. "Did I now? Grace. My little Grace, is it?"

He laughed quietly.

Well, it seemed my past self had good naming sense, at least., he thought.

The very name resonated endearingly with him, almost as if he had heard it a thousand times before.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Grace suddenly held him tighter and spoke in a heartbreaking voice, "Daddy, will you. . .Leave us again? If I let go, will you disappear?" Her small body shook with emotion. " I dont. . .I dont want you to go. . .! Not when I finally met you!"

Roland looked at Morrigan with a lost expression.

His throat felt raw as he questioned the young girl. "Why do you think that I'll leave?"

She sniffled. " Mommy, she once said that daddy doesnt want to be with her anymore. That daddy doesnt love her anymore and that daddy doesnt want to even meet her anymore. But I hate that! If that's true, and daddy doesnt want to see mommy anymore, then I wont see daddy again after this!

And I dont want daddy to leave when we just met! There are still many thing that I want to do with daddy, things that real families do together!

I want daddy and mommy and me to be happy together, to laugh and smile and play together. . .!"

Roland felt his heart fracture into countless pieces at her words, falling down into the pit of his stomach like shards of frozen glass.

He didnt know what to do or say.

He saw Morrigan look sadly at their daughter, her eyes were misting up.

She remember the second time she met with her husband in his current life, how hurt and broken she felt when he pushed her away and told her that he didnt feel the same as she did.

When he left her the same night, slipping from her fingers.

How she, in despair, went back home and cried while  holding her daughter who didnt understand her mother's tears but wiped them away just the same.

During that time, did she let slip a few words unknowingly?

She felt horrible, leaving her daughter with a burden like that.

Roland, too, felt sick and miserable. He felt hatred at himself.

Anger, too. Not only at him, but also at Morrigan.

But he knew that wasnt fair to her.

He almost never gave her a chance to speak of anything of importance.

But if he let her talk, if he had known, then . . .

His eyes emitted a faint light as he came to a decision.

Roland placed a hand around the girl's lithe frame and picked her up gently.

" What's with the tears, little one? You're my daughter, arent you? So dont cry." He told her, using a hand to wipe up the tears that ran down her cheeks.

" I wont leave you. Or Your Mother. I'm here now, understand?" He sighed heavily once before looking her in the eyes deeply.

" I know," He began, " That I dont have any right at this point to want to be involved in your life. I know that I never once acted as a father, as a husband, should. But I wont let you or your mother shed tears because of my own selfishness and idiocy anymore!" He finished fiercly.

He held her then, tightly, a hand on her small head and the other pulling her closer into his arms.

"Daddy. . .!" She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, sobbing nonstop.

Roland  hated himself for being the one to cause such a small, cute girl to cry. His own daughter, how could he let that happen?

He also felt regret, regret for letting that woman go.  She hurt his daughter, wanted to kill her mother.

He promised himself that if she showed up again he would warn her only once more.

And if she still insists on doing harm to either of them then I wont leave even ashes of her remaining to signify that she once existed, He thought darkly.

He moved suddenly, pulling Morrigan into a hug and whispering into her ear as he still held his daughter in his arms. " I dont know if any good will come of this, but I wont push you away anymore. At least for her sake, I'm willing to use whatever time I have left being with you." He promised.

Morrigan was ecstatic. " You mean. . .?"

He smiled. " Well, I dont know if I can be with you in the way you want, but at least for her sake I'm willing to keep you by my side. To devote the time I have left to keep you two safe and happy."

He continued. " I still have things to do here though. Promises to keep and such. But after that. . . What's left of my time is entirely yours"

He understood very well the responsibility he now had. Before, he wanted Morrigan to move on. To find someone that she could have a real relationship with, one where she wouldnt have to shed tears or wait for her lover to return or maybe someday have to share him with others.

She deserved much better than that. She was worth more than that.

But things were vastly different now. He knew that she wasnt simply some old lover of his, she was the mother of his child. Of his daughter. How could he leave her, knowing that?

He decided to leave his future selves a note, letting them know of his decision today.  To tell them to give these two, at least, special treatment.

He knew it wasnt fair to any of his past families. Who knows, he may even have had other children whom he had to leave behind. Who grew up fatherless. Who may have had children of their own, grown old and died.

He would likely never know if that was the case.

He didnt know his own natural lifespan. If not for the reincarnation, given his power he may be as immortal and unchanging as the gods. He doesnt know if any child of his would be long-lived or have a human-like  lifespan.

He didnt even know if he was human, or some other race.

It was also possible they were as long-lived as any god and were still alive today. Who knew?

Certainly not he.

But he did know that Grace would live for a long, long time. At the very least she was a demigoddess due to Morrigan being her mother.

 He was not sure what a child born from a death goddess would be capable of, or what problems they may face. Afterall, never has a death goddess successfully given birth. But he wouldnt mind any of that.

She was a demigoddess despite the circumstances of her existence.

Since that was true, then Roland would be able to see her again even in the future. Which meant he would always have the responsibility of being her father. So he could be involved with them even in other lifetimes.

And he would.

It was his duty as the father.

Had it been Morrigan alone, he would not have done this. But he had a daughter and he would be damned if he let any of his future selves be oblivious of the fact.

They would do their part once they understood that they were not merely a husband, but a father to a girl who would be around for years to come.

Roland, thinking all these things at the back of his mind, held the two in his arms.

Hearing his words, Morrigan let out a laugh. " I'll hold you to that. But know that I dont want to just be by your side. I wont be reduced to simply being the mother of your child. I'll be your wife as well, in every single aspect that position entails." She spoke suggestively.

She pressed her considerable curves onto him, her black dress transmitting the warmth of her skin through the cloth,  so thin and clingy that it might as well have not even been there.

The softenss of her was a stark contrast to his own hard physique.

Morrigan ran a hand  through his silken hair and planted a tender kiss on his lips, too fast for him to dodge.

A sweet fragrance drifted its way into his nose as she turned her ruby eyes up at him in a loving, passionate gaze.

Their snow-white hair glowed with a faint golden sheen in the lighting of the room.

Roland shook his head and let out a wry smile.

He snorted softly. " We'll see about that."

Without another word,  with Grace and Morrigan content in his embrace, he held onto them for a long time and was unwilling to let go.