Merida opened her eyes, feeling very warm. She turned over and found Higgs sleeping beside her, his arm over her waist. When did he get home? And what happened to his shoulder? she thought, seeing where it was wrapped up. Since he was on his stomach, he had been in her bed for a while, which meant that she had been asleep longer than she intended to be. She turned over and blew on his face until he opened his eyes at her.

"Your breathe smells minty."

"I'm glad. Why are ye here?"

"I came to check on you. Edgar said you were sick, but when I got here, you looked so pretty and serene that I didn't want to wake you up... and I was also tired."

"We are not setting a verra good example. We should try to set a bit of boundaries until the wedding."

"But it's so far away..." he pouted.

"That's yer choice, not mine. What happened to yer shoulder?"

"I got shot." He said, turning to her.

"What."

"Don't worry, Edgar chewed me out already. He's quite good at imitating you."

"Cheeky." He winked at her. "What time is it?"

"Lunch, I presume. I hate these night months. I can never get my day straight."

"Aye... Who shot ye?"

"A hunter, obviously."

"Ye're a bad liar."

"I'm not lying. She really was a hunter."

"You got shot by Elizabeth?" she said with a frown.

Higgs frowned too. "Why would you come to that conclusion? It could have been anyone."

"I went to her house, Higgs; I saw her animal trophies. Plus she owns part of Prestwick Forest."

"Prestwick Forest?"

"Aye... that's the name of that big ole pile of trees behind the house."

"It is?"

"Ye own this property and lived here half yer life and ye dinnae even ken the name of the forest ye tromps around in?"

"Well, you lived here for four years and didn't even know I was a baron, so..."

"Fine... but how did ye even end up over there? I dinnae ken ye've ever gone that far down the forest to end up in her territory."

"I got distracted while I was chasing something and followed it all the way to her side I guess."

"I ken it's hard for ye to keep yer wits about ye, but an ye can, try to keep to yer side of the forest. Dinnae ken it's best to encroach on her land."

"Thank you for putting it nicely, but Gretchen pretty adamantly told me not to go back there."

"Gretchen?"

"She was with Elizabeth when they caught me and walked me back home. She was quite focused on me not going back there."

"If Gretchen is warning ye, then dinnae ye ken there's a serious issue? I cannae recall one time where Gretchen and I were on the same page, but an she is, this isnae something to take lightly. Please, Mr. Higgs, try to keep away from there."

"I will do all I can but I can't make any promises. You know that some creatures aren't able to be rationalized with while I'm turned." He got up, stretching. "I'll have someone bring food."

"Higgs." He turned back to her. "I ken ye cannae help yerself at times, but I'm being serious. Be careful."

"I will be."

******************

A week or so passed and things went on as usual. Higgs came and went with not hiccups and Merida got better, almost coming back to work at full strength. She had to lighten her workload by half but Edgar loyally picked up the slack. Luckily, Merida wasn't sick a lot but she grew tired easy. It irked her that she could accomplish what she used to, but Edgar assured her that he would keep up his part. When Higgs took a nap when he came back from being a werewolf instead of full on sleeping, he would try to help out with stuff as well before he changed again. Merida was happy they were willing to help, but she also felt like she wasn't living up to her own potential.

******************

"I'm so excited! We'll be pregnant at the same time!" Fuchsia said, clapping excitedly.

"Oh, congratulations. I didnae ken it or I would have said something sooner."

"Oh, don't be bothered at all. We haven't really told anyone. I haven't been able to tell Mother and Father yet; they went on a small holiday. Apparently, Northumberly women have their own version of the curse: they are exceedingly fertile." She said with a smirk.

"I didnae see yer aunt with children."

"That's because she times things very precisely." Higgs said, scrubbing clothing on the washboard. "At least that's what father said."

"Do our parents even know about you two finally settling?"

"Uh... no..." he said, wringing out the garment.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Boston asked, taking the shirt from Higgs and snapping it to get the excess water off. He clipped it to the clothesline.

"For the same reason that Fuchsia hasn't told them about her being pregnant."

"Oh. By the way, how did Lady Hinkley take your sudden rejection of her?"

"Not weel. She marched over here pretty angry and then accused me of using witchcraft on him." Merida said with a smile.

"Gretchen confirmed that it was more than just anger."

"Why were you talking to Gretchen?" Fuchsia said with a frown.

"We met up at the market." He said, glaring at Merida for her to keep her mouth shut. "She told me that Elizabeth was not going to kind if we ever had contact again."

"Yeesh." Boston said.

"As much as I hated her, she has everra right to be angry. It wasnae the best way to tell her but I was afeart an he tried to do it personally, somehow things wouldnae have worked out."

"I wonder what she meant by 'not being kind'?"

"Who knows. I agree that I didn't handle anything the way I should have, but I don't think we would have been happy. Cutting it off before we got too invested seemed the best way. I am no longer confused though and am happy."

"I'm happy for you too." Fuchsia said, smiling at her brother. "It took you so long to realize you had all you needed right in front of you."

"I was letting the past haunt me instead of learning from it to help me grow. The merman actually helped a lot."

Boston looked at Merida and she winked at him, the secret of the curse's conversation with her were safe with them.

"Well, whenever Mother and Father get back, they will be bombarded with so many surprises. Two grandchildren on the way and another wedding."

"So... are you cured then?" Boston asked, actually curious.

"I'm honestly not sure. I think the strange mix up didn't do any harm, but if something happened for some weird, god awful reason, then I believe it would still have the same consequences as usual. I'm sure the child will still be cursed though because of timing but instead of eleven or twelve it will only be six or seven since some of the creatures are no longer there? I'm not sure how it will work. No one's ever successfully done anything before the merman kicks in so... it'll be interesting."

"Indeed it will be, but it doesnae matter to me. I'll love it to bits, cursed or not. It willnae have time for shame after I'm done with it."

"Although that sounds a little dark, wouldn't that be interesting if that sort of devotion actually cured the child?" Boston said.

"What do you mean?" Higgs asked.

Boston pinned the last piece of clothing up and then turned to them. "Well... the curse is based on true love's kiss because those are the rules, but what if that's only because the mothers of the 'cursed' children were full of doubts and fears? Just like how if the cursed man has doubts or fears but the woman is confident, it still backfires. Considering up until a certain point, a mother's love is a child's first true love, if a mother had no fear of what her children were like or could be like, couldn't that also break the curse?"

"I ken ye're stretching a hope, Boston."

"It would be lovely if that were the case, but from what I heard, the curse doesn't activate at birth, it activates at a young enough age for the child to understand that something isn't right and for parents to explain." Fuchsia said, looking at her brother for confirmation.

"Yes, it starts around three or four. In theory, what you say could work but even those who know what's to come get swept up in the bliss of their child being normal for a few years. It's always an unexpectedly expected thing when the child suddenly turns into something one day. The mother knows it'll happen but when it does, it just reaffirms their fears again and the cycle continues."

"You never know. Someone could be very confident in themselves and very confident on how they would treat their son, never shaken by what they become."

"It's a nice thought but it's never happened for a reason."

"Worth a shot."

"Would ye ken to stay for an early dinner? Mr. Higgs turns at sundown so we have to have it early."

"Of course we will."

************************

After dinner, Higgs lingered in the doorway as Merida went up the stairs.

"Mr. Higgs? Ye got something on yer mind?"

"Do you really think I should wait?"

"Wait for what?"

"To marry you."

"Isnae that what ye want?"

"It's just... Boston made a point about the curse. It obviously accepts you as my true love and since that's the case, kissing me from here on will eradicate the curse altogether. So... is waiting the right thing?"

Merida came down the stairs and touched her hand to his cheek.

"I ken it must be so confusing. This life hasnae been kind but it's the only life ye ken well enough. Leaving it is both verra frighting and exhilarating. I'll follow yer lead and we can go as slow or as fast as ye want."

"Am I crazy to want to wait? After all this time?"

"To quote ye, it's too good to be true. I personally think ye're doing fine. It would be more of a shock to suddenly be without parts of yerself, ye ken? Ye've gone twenty-three years living with this burden. It's shaped yer person, who ye are, and how ye are. Having those bits of ye suddenly stripped away is like being stripped naked with freezing water thrown on ye. It's verra personal and I understand that."

Higgs leaned into her hand, kissing her palm. "You are the most incredible woman. I can't believe I didn't realize how much deeper these things were to me. I just... thought you were like this all the time but... I finally realize that when you say it, it's a new meaning." He winced and backed out of her hand. "The sun's setting; I have to go."

"An I kiss ye now, do ye ken ye could stay?"

"Hardly romantic at the moment."

"To answer yer question, Higgs, I will wait as long or as little as ye need me to. I am yers now and forever; we just need to tell God and country... and yer parents."

"I'll discuss this with my parents when they return and get their opinion on it. Will you wait for me just one last time?"

"I always have and I always will."

He nodded and went out the door, lingering thoughts of Merida slowly erasing from his mind as he felt his body shifting into the werewolf. Was he stupid? Was he so attached to his family's misfortune that he was scared to be normal now? He rolled his eyes. What is with me and fear? Why can't I just do something that I know will definitely benefit me as well as everyone else? He didn't have time to really dwell on it as his mind went blank and the werewolf took over completely.

*************************

When Higgs came back to normal consciousness, he immediately knew something was wrong. The moon as still out, he was in the middle of the forest, and Merida was nowhere around. He was human...

"My, my, how interesting."

Higgs moved his head when he suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his stomach. He looked down, realizing what happened.

"So, you don't necessarily die from silver, you just turn back into a human?"

Higgs looked up and swallowed hard.

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"W-what's going on?"

She got closer to him, looking up at him. "Well, I guess I should give you a tiny rundown of what's about to happen." She put her hand on the spear and looked Higgs in the eye with a wicked smile. "I'm about to fuck up your world."