Change of Heart - A Cahir X Reader story

Chapter 36 - Birthday surprise

We invited Dorian to have dinner with us more often now, Cahir insisted on that since it gave him the opportunity to talk to someone about Vicovaro who really knew their land. "I'm sorry, love." He used to say to me. "You know I love you but you're clueless when it comes to my ancestry." I always shook my head, laughing. I knew how important all this was for him but I just didn't care about where someone was born. I believed that this has no effect on what a person would be like, for me what was more important was how the person acted and what people someone was surrounded by. That was why I found it amusing when Cahir was so stubborn and insisted that he wasn't a Nilfgaardian.

And then the day of Lucie's birthday arrived. We never really celebrated when we were younger, my father used to say that inviting people and having to make food for them and all that was unnecessary and nothing more. Cahir first taught me that having birthday was indeed a special occasion to celebrate together with people you love.

On my first birthday in the fort, we weren't a couple and I didn't have much friends. But he wanted to surprise me nonetheless, so he prepared a feast with Cecilia and her husband as well as some other knights. He gifted me a new book since I always complained about most of the books being old and having missing pages. I never knew that this was what you actually did on your birthday, getting presents and all that was totally new to me. And when it was time for Cahir's birthday then, I decided to return his favor. I had to think about what present to give him for quite some time and that was when I got hit with an idea. He once muttered something about his sword being old and useless so I went to the local blacksmith and asked him to create a new sword for him. I had no money but he was generous enough to do what I demanded if I taught his son how to read and write, so I did and never told Cahir. I remembered his expression when I gave the sword to him. He was surprised and when he took a closer look at it, when he saw that his full name was carved in the handle, I noticed a small smile on his face. When we were alone that night, he thanked me and even hugged me, this was one of the first momenst in which we had actual physical contact. And no day has passed in which he didn't use this sword to fight, he even took it with him in the battle from which I thought that he would never return.

But it was the birthday of my sister Lucie now. She didn't know about actual birthday feasts so Cahir and I decided to organize one for her. We wrote letters to everyone we knew. This included of course Jaskier but we also invited my mother to come and also Dheran, he was Cahir's brother, and his three sisters. We just wanted to have as many people as possible to celebrate, we wanted Lucie's first birthday here to be special. Also we told Dorian of course, but he wasn't allowed to tell her what we had planned. Not everyone that we invited was able to come, Jaskier for example. He was somewhere completely different and he didn't manage to arrive in time.

But I was really thankful that Cahir's siblings, so many other knights and also my mother came. We prepared everything in the great hall, lots of long tables with the finest food, drinks and especially much wine and beer. Cahir never liked to drink much beer but he was always up for a glass of the most expensive red wine. When everything was set, it was time for Dorian to bring Lucie to us. We waited some time until they finally arrived.

She was so surprised by what we did for her that she almost started crying. We all gave her little presents and our mother didn't want to stop hugging her over and over. She talked a lot to Dorian, she was interested in who he was and what he told her. We all had fun, we drank wine, ate and, to my surprise, Cahir wanted me to dance with him quite often. He didn't like dancing unless it was necessary or when we were alone. Also, he wasn't drunk or anything and when I asked him for his reason he just asked me if a man wasn't allowed to dance with his wife. He wasn't even bothered by the teasing and the comments his siblings constantly made about him, he didn't care at all.

Eventually, everyone went to bed one by one, to the point where Lucie and Dorian left as well, I didn't want to know what they were up to. But my mother was still there with Cahir and me. Cahir wanted to give us some time to talk alone so he decided to take care of some completely drunk knights that were lying on the floor, unconscious.

"The boy is nice." My mother said. "Your sister seems to like him." I nodded. "All my daughters seem to be magically attracted to Vicovarians. And especially those who are particularly proud of their origin at that." We both laughed and I looked at Cahir. He was kneeling next to a man who looked like he was about to vomit. He rolled him over to the side so that he wouldn't accidentally choke if he did actually vomit.

"I saw you two dancing." My mother told me. "You look so happy together. He seems to worship you. I'm glad that you're married to someone who loves you from the bottom of his heart." I was happy that she thought that and that she didn't hate Cahir for being a knight and having to do what he is told to. I hugged her and then Cahir came back to us. "We should probably head to bed now, love." He said, taking my hand. My mother looked at our intertwined hands and started to smile. "And what about your men?" She asked and Cahir shrugged. "I took care of them. Not the first time they're drunk and not able to stand on their own. They're still soldiers, they'll be fine. After all, it's their fault when they drink too much." My mother laughed slightly but she didn't quite seem to understand how drunk people were treated here. When my father got drunk, which happened very often, she always had to take care of him so she wasn't used to our way of dealing with them