With the news of General Washington's death, both Edward and his daughter felt dread.  With the man gone who would lead the Army? Who would see that they would become free? They didn't know much about how this war would end, well Keziah had been told by William that the colonists won and that Washington had become their first president…and now none of that would happen. Keziah felt tears roll down her cheeks and she wiped at her eyes, a little ashamed that shed been crying. Rose Anne cooed, reaching her arms out towards William. The babe had started to gain control over her little arms, mastering the art of reaching towards people and things. 

She looked at William and wondered how afraid he was. With Washington gone then he'd never get back to his time. She didn't want him to go back, she wanted him to stay here. During the first and last time they'd been intimate with each other, Keziah had, in the midst of things, babbled about how she wanted him to stay. The Sergeant was speaking, easing towards a topic that made her breath catch in her throat and more tears spill down her cheeks. 
William had to go back. Not to his time of course, it likely no longer existed. But he'd have to go back with the Sergeant. Back to the War. The War had ceased to be just some event for the man, something interesting to learn, this was his life now too and by extension it became hers as well. 

 A hand came to rest on her shoulder and she looked towards her father, who stood there with a grim look on his face. Edward wouldn't admit it but over the months William had grown on him. He'd stopped seeing the man as someone he had to watch around his daughter and instead had started seeing him as someone with whom his daughter could be happy with. He should have been proud that William had been given such a rank but the older man could not be happy. He pulled Keziah in close and hugged her, knowing that this was hard. Edward knew about the night they'd spent together, it wasn't hard to see that [i]something[/i] had happened between them, something that they clearly didn't want him knowing about. Keziah was always a bit traditional, insisting that things be done in the proper way, although she was nowhere near as traditional as her mother or Samuel. 

When things fell silent and their guest had no more to speak of, Edward told the man to head inside, that they were about to have lunch soon anyways. It'd be better if he got a little rest and a bit of food in his belly before taking William away. Edward sighed, scooped up Rose Anne and escorted the Sergeant inside so the other two could talk alone. 

Once alone, all Keziah could do was look at the uniform that had been handed to William. With no baby to occupy her arms, she let them drop to her sides. For a few minutes she didn't know what to say. Her bottom lip trembled and she fisted her hands into the skirt of her dress. Finally when she did speak to him, her voice came out shaky and broken. "You'll come back, right?" She reached towards him and buried her face into his shirt. "Can't leave me a widow again and Rose Anne needs her father."