There of course had been bad times even after they had reached their destination as far to the west as they cared to go. Lots of good times, but also hard times, sad times... Hosea's illness had finally caught up to him and well... he had had about five good years with them at their new place, their home. That still of course didn't make losing him any easier, no, not at all. All of them had taken it hard, it had been as if the world had ended when he took his final breath, his frail hand in Celina's as she and the others said goodbye to the man they had almost all looked up to. For some of them- like Celina, he had been like a father.

Dutch, even with it having been a little over a year ago at the point they were currently at, was still recovering from the tragic loss. Celina could hardly hear about the old man without tearing up and having great sorrow engulf her.

The six and a half years she had been with the gang had been the greatest time of her life. She had no regrets, none. But losing Hosea? Life wasn't and wouldn't ever be the same without him.

John, Abbigail and Jack had broken off from the gang after Hosea's death, Arthur and Celina giving them the official permission to leave when Dutch had spent the following two months being unbearable. Everyone coped with loss differently, but Dutch? Dutch had gotten mean like a part of him had died along with the man. As if his death had triggered something to snap mentally.

It was hard, watching Dutch struggle and John, John just hadn't been making it any better. Everyone saw that and some took Dutch's side knowing that his behavior was caused by unbearable grief. It was weird, Celina thought, to see Dutch so incapable of pushing his emotions back like he usually did, like he probably would have if it had been anyone else's death that they were faced with.

As far as him getting mean, it wasn't that he had hurt anyone, physically... but he had been sharp and careless with his words. For that two months it was as if he had lost intrest in the world and everything in it. He hadn't cared to speak to anyone and when anyone had tried to speak to him, he hardly cared to respond. If he did, it had during that time usually been unkind.

Surprisingly, everyone but John and his family had stuck around in hopes of seeing Dutch break out of his depressed state. It had made her mad, made Celina mad how openly John was against Dutch for the way he coped with the loss of Hosea. Most of the gang was worried about Dutch, having never seen him how he had been before... with the exception of Annabelle's death long, long ago. That said, they did their best to patiently wait for their leader to rise back to his feet.

It was sad, in a way, to see John go off with Abbigail and Jack but really, John didn't want to be with the gang no more. He had made that clear with his sulking around camp and comments about 'Dutch's true colors' and nonsense. When Celina said that she and Arthur had given the Marston family permission to leave, really, she meant they had all but asked them to do so if it's what they wanted.

Turns out, it had been what they wanted, so they had left that night and to that very day, a year later, they still hadn't come back. The joke truly had been on John though because a short few days after his departure, Dutch had suddenly changed his behavior back to that of the Dutch they all knew and loved. That proved to bring light back into their home, seeing their leader finally come back to them with a healing heart. The funk that Dutch had been in for those two months after Hosea's death had applied to everyone except Celina... and, well... their son, James.

James had been born just a few years prior to Hosea's death and with what a father Hosea had been to Celina, it only felt right to refer to Hosea as James' grandpa. Hosea had loved that, having a so-called grandson. Seeing the two of them together was truly something, Hosea telling her whenever he held him that it was like a dream come true to have a grandson.

If Hosea and James were cute, then Dutch and James were absolutely heart-melting. Dutch with his son had to be the cutest thing ever on earth. It was just, the amount it warmed her heart to see the two of them together, was almost unimaginable. The way that Dutch's face lit up when James was around was just... it would have made anyone believe that everything was right in the world and that any hint of worry was miles upon miles away.

They had bought the land that they resided on almost immediately upon finding it six years and two months ago. In tyke first six months, they had pitched together as far as labor (Uncle excluded of course... although he thought otherwise) and turned their sixty acres into a home. A true home right in the middle of nowhere where the law wouldn't think to look for them, where a soul wouldn't bother them.

It may not have been Australia or Tahiti, but it was their home and all of them felt free enough that they were content with the thought that that would be their home for the rest of their lives. It turned out that freedom didn't have to be being able to get up and travel wherever they wanted with no ties to the last place they had been.

No, freedom was what they had at the present time. Freedom was what they had found upon laying their eyes upon their land for the first time. Freedom was knowing that they were going to live out their lives away from the law and in peace with the ones they loved.

Freedom was knowing that they were going to prosper and thrive without one outside helping hand and without the rules and influence of society. Freedom was looking at their home and watching it grow for the better, knowing that it was all theirs from the livestock to the crops, from Pearsons butcher station to their plates. It was all theirs from the houses they had built to the barn. From the ground up, it was all there's and no one could... or would even dare to take it from them. Freedom was the ability to live the life they had created for themselves and to bask in the enjoyment of it.

Freedom was what they had. The fact they had done all they did, lived the lives that they did and still remained alive, living good and uncaptured by the law, that was freedom. Freedom was being able to still steal- lowkey anyway without people having the chance to alert the law mostly because the victims didn't realize what had happened before the gang made their escape. Freedom was what they had right then and there and it was what they had had for the last six plus years. Celina loved it, it made her feel complete in a way that let her know she would never want to live any other way.

Sadie had relented a couple years ago and said yes when Arthur had proposed to her. The engagement hadn't lasted long before Hosea had married the two of them. None of them had known before the point that Hosea had offered that he was even qualified to do such a thing. The old man had been full of interesting life experience until his last breath. How they all missed him so dearly.

There were several houses on their property, there was Dutch, Celina and James's home which they had previously shared with Hosea, there was Arthur and Sadie's... Sean, Lenny, Mary-Beth, Tilly and Karen's. The list could go on about the sleeping arrangements of the gang, but it wasn't necessary. All that mattered was that everyone had a good roof over their heads now, a solid roof that would last years to come.

Celina yawned and rolled over in the bed, snuggling up beside Dutch who lied still asleep and shirtless beside her. He was beginning to grey in his temples and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't loving it. Not only was it incredibly sexy, but it was fun to tease him about as well. She threaded her fingers through his chest hair affectionately, something that she loved to do and he loved to have done.

The sunlight was creeping in through the window of their home and she forced herself to sit up. Dutch? Well, Dutch in his semi-retirement had gotten into the habit of sleeping in. Celina smiled at him fondly as she climbed out of bed and slipped her nightgown off and walked over to the dresser to find herself something to wear for the day.

Dutch opened his eyes slowly, taking in the form of the beautiful twenty-nine year old woman standing across the room in nothing but her undergarments, "Well you're looking fine as ever."

Celina turned back around to him and rolled her eyes playfully, "Perv."

Dutch smiled, "That's what happens when you're getting to be an old man. You become a perv."

Celina laughed again and left the dresser, making her way over to him and climbing on top of him, "As long as you're only a perv to me, we won't have a problem."

Dutch chuckled, "You have absolutely nothing to worry about there."

"Ok," she pointed at him, "I better not."

"Mom?" The bedroom door began to creak open as James pushed at it.

Celina and Dutch's eyes widened at the fact that she was indecent and Celina quickly called out to the four year old boy, "James, don't open that door. Close it and wait there for mommy, ok?"

There was a tiny litttle sigh and a 'yes, mum' before the door clicked shut. Celina exhaled slowly, not having realized before that she had been holding her breath. She shook her head and looked down at Dutch, "You can blame that son of yours for not getting any this morning."

Dutch laughed again as she climbed off of him. Dutch had been laughing a lot lately and it was good. It made Celina feel good to feel like for once, Dutch was well and truly happy. She kissed him on the cheek and went back over to the dresser, quickly slipping on a pair of pants and a shirt. Dutch kept his eyes on her, "You're an amazing mother, you know that?"

Celina shrugged and ran her hands through her hair in attempt to get it to lay right, "I couldn't be an amazing mom if you hadn't made me a mom to start with."

"Well," Dutch drawed and sat up, "Technically, he could be Bill's."

Celina fixed him with a hard look, not exactly knowing if he was teasing her or was on the brink of getting sour all over again due to what had happened about five years ago, "I thought that we agreed to leave that behind us."

Dutch shook his head and climbed out of the bed himself, wearing absolutely nothing. After being with Dutch for several years, the effect of having him naked before get wasn't enough for her to lose focus on the words coming out of his mouth, "I'm just saying." She still couldn't tell what he was feeling at the moment, "It could be possible."

Celina took a deep breath and hesitated at the door, "I don't know if you're already trying to be an ass this early in the morning or not but you better stop before James hears you. And if you're still sour about it, I don't know what to tell you. It was five years ago and what happened was your fault as much as anyone else's."

Dutch just chuckled, "I understand that." He walked over to his dresser and put on pants and a shirt as well, "You and good ol' Bill."

Celina rolled her eyes at him for the second time already that morning. Although Dutch had been doing better about Hosea's passing, sometimes he still reverted to asshole mode for no apparent reason. Although it wasn't typical for him to act like that towards her, he did sometimes. And when he did? It was usually always about her choices with Bill Williamson.

Everyone who had found out about the two of them- she and Bill, their first thought would probably be that she had cheated on Dutch. Well, she hadn't. In fact, Dutch, being the pompous ass he could be had went and found it acceptable after a rather big fight they had, to go and seduce Karen, claiming that things between he and Celina were never going to work out anyway if she thought that she was the one who ran the gang. Not only was it that one fight that caused serious problems between the two of them, but it had been the whole past month. One would say that they had truly hit a rough spot in their relationship where they had constantly been butting heads and fighting over some of the stupidest of things. One may chop it up to the their living arrangements which had been in effect at that time for only about a year. Hosea had actually taken it upon himself to move in with Arthur and Sadie during that point in time.

In fact, they had actually broken up after that argument that prompted him to sleep with Karen so Dutch, well... Dutch hadn't exactly cheated on Celina either. The arguement that had them broken up? It was about leadership of course. Dutch being Dutch had wanted to take the boys south a ways and see what jobs they could find claiming that they had spent a little over a year being real quiet and they could afford a little action, a little extra income than the usual gained by small robberies and selling crops and livestock.

Celina had not seen it that way at all, stating that doing anything to even catch the slightest attention of society was just a bad idea. She had acted like she was the one running the gang like she did every so often and Dutch didn't like that. Not one bit. As one could imagine, the fighting escalated quickly. Dutch's masculinity seeming to have gotten stepped on, causing him to fly off the handle at her.

Celina, in response dared to say something that she never should have said. What had she said that made both of them reach their limit with one another? Well, she had told him that if he led anyone out there, it better not be anyone he liked because he would surely get them killed. Not only that, but that he would lead the law right back to the gang and then it would be nothing but another bloodbath and she seemed certain that an army would come in search of them upon the next whiff they got of the Van Der Linde gang.

That had been a very bad night for Celina and Dutch. Now, five years later? It was of course just a memory, but one that sometimes still hurt. Dutch, upon the break up had for some reason found it appropriate to go and seduce Karen for whatever reason, Celina could hardly understand. It hurt though, to think that he had immediately went to her in such an intimate way. After over a year of having been together at the time, that's what he did when things had gotten rough between them. Broke things off in anger and then went to another woman for comfort.

Celina felt her blood beginning to boil at the present time just at the thought of what had happened. She had been told by Arthur who heard from Sean who saw everything beginning to happen what was going on. Unwilling to believe it, Celina had barged over to Sean's house and discreetly peered into Karen's room through her window to catch she and Dutch in the act. The sight of course had hurt and scarred her more than anything except of course, the death of Thomas.

She had been distraught and Bill... oh Bill. She had thought that the biggest man in the gang had feelings for her in the past. Despite the fact that he had never outright admitted it, she had almost known that they had been there. It did seem though, at that point in time that whatever feelings he had towards her had subsided. It seemed that he had gotten over whatever he felt for her months ago. Her belief that he no longer harbored feelings for her romantically was what kept her from feeling like she was using him in what happened next. She knew what she wanted, what she needed and if Dutch was going to do what he was doing with Karen, why shouldn't she do anything with any of the other guys. Bill... Well, really, she bet that he would be a good time. Plus, considering that she was certain be now only saw her as a friend or maybe a partner in crime, what could it hurt? She would have the fact that Dutch slept with Karen to justify her and so would Bill. Really, she wanted to hurt Dutch just as bad as he had just hurt her. She had felt like only then would he understand.

So, when she walked back away from the house fuming, and Bill stood there, leaning against a tree with a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth and asked her what was going on, she answered honestly.

...

"Dutch is with Karen, fucking her."

Bill's eyes widened at the news, "What? Are you kidding me?" He took the piece of straw out of his mouth, "Ain't the..." he seemed like he was losing his train of thought as he trailed off, "Ain't you together?"

She shook her head, "Nope, not now."

Bill assessed her quietly, he hadn't felt exactly the same towards Dutch ever since he had blown up at him back after they escaped Beaver Hollow over a year ago. Sure he loved Dutch, and of course he was loyal to him. But if Dutch were going to do that... Bill had been doing a real good job blocking out his feelings for Celina Knoll over the last eight months, so much so that no one, not even Dutch nor Karen would suspect that they were there. They were though, they certainly were and if Dutch had messed up that bad... Bill would be a fool to pass up the opportunity that he had standing in front of him... even if he only got to be with her once. To make things better, he had showered that morning. Bill shifted his weight from one foot to the other and assessed her petite body like a wolf sizing up it's prey, "Well..." he started, "Well are you, are you going to do something about it?"

Celina licked her lips, not breaking eye contact with him, "Do you think I should? Do something to make myself feel better?" She laughed and shook her head, hardly believing her own thoughts, "Because right now, I'd really like to have.."

Bill stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish the sentence that she had started. When she didn't as if she had chickened out, he prompted her, "You'd really..." he exhaled dramatically, "You'd rather have what?"

Celina licked her lips and shook her head, having truly chickened out in trying to get what she wanted, "Nothing, Bill. I don't want nothing. I'm just gonna go back to the house and... I don't know. I can't break up with Dutch for this, we're already over." She waved the idea off and began to walk away, "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Bill stood there in silence as he watched her walk away, a bit confused himself as to what was going on. He watched as she entered her house and despite himself, walked up to the door and knocked heavily on it. He barely got the third knock out before the door swung open and Celina caught him by surprise, pulling him into the house.

Ceiina stared up at him for just a second before crashing her lips onto his hungrily, demandingly. Bill was taken aback for a moment but kissed her back before kicking the door shut and pinning her against it, the two of them not being able to get enough of one another.

"Bill," Celina moaned, feeling him hard against her, "I-I want y-you." She could hardly get the words out with how he had her trembling with desire, grinding on her just right, kissing her with such desire. Bill broke their kiss and lifted her legs up onto his hips before carrying her in that fasion over to her couch and climbing on top of her before attatching his mouth to her neck in a way that was sure to leave a mark.

Celina arched against him with a long, drawn out moan of pleasure, "Please, Bill, fuck me."

"I will, I will." He promised, "But not yet." He continued his attack on her neck before progressing down her body, undoing the buttons of her shirt with one hand as the other massaged her left breast and he sucked and licked at the slightly exposed valley between the two of them before removing her shirt entirely.

Celina chucked the article of clothing to the ground before tugging at Bill's shirt demandingly and watching as he quickly discarded it with hers. What she saw did not disappoint. Sure, Bill had a bit of a belly on him, that was obvious but the man's thickness mostly came from muscel, muscel which had been naturally gained over the years. She was rewarded also by finally getting a good look of his big, barrel chest which she had several times been distracted by the hint of how he always left the first few buttons of his shirt undone.

The man attatched his mouth to her right breast and bit down lightly, making her cry out in pleasure before sending a knowing smirk up her way and trailing his lips further south...

...

Celina shook her head and took a deep breath, bringing her thoughts back to present time. After that day, she had never looked at Bill Williamson the same. There had been many times after that that things happened and she had had a conversation with Bill or two about feelings which he had always shut down, stating that he weren't the type of man she was looking for.

It had surprisingly hurt her somewhat and Dutch, well Dutch was livid about the fact that anything had ever happened between the two of them. But... Dutch, as Dutch was good at, had been the one to cause the whole thing and frankly, Celina was sick of it. She was too sick of Dutch's behavior to care and Dutch and Bill... well, they had kept their distance for that period of time which was about a three month period. It had taken another good month or so for Dutch to finally get over himself and forgive Bill and Celina for what had happened.

What happened between Celina and Bill one might ask to end things between the two of them? Surprisingly, feelings. At least from Celina's perspective, that's how it seemed. She, through spending more time with the outlaw had picked up on the fact that it seemed that Bill's feelings for her had not disappeared but he had been managing to hide them. As the feelings behave revealing themselves and Celina tried to talk to him about them, he began to withdraw from her.

Celina knew that a man like Bill Williamson wouldn't be someone to easily talk about how they felt, but she wanted him to. She knew that it made him uncomfortable and the teasing from the gang about their relationship didn't make it any better... but Celina... Celina hadn't minded the jokes, not really.

It had broken her heart the day that he pulled away from her completely, putting his walls up and insisting there was no way she could have the feelings she claimed to have had for him... not when he was such a drunk who so oftenly forgot things the way he did. It broke her heart that he wouldn't allow her to convince him otherwise and it was several months later before she even considered going back to Dutch again.

Things between Celina and Bill took a little longer to get back to normal than she would have liked. Normal being it not being hard to talk to him without feeling a pang of heartache. Normal being for Bill to awknowledge her and not make it his goal to keep his distance unless the attention he gave her was related to the baby she carried. He cared, that was clear, but he was hurt by his own beliefs that no one could convince him he was wrong about.

What had made things worse was the fact that it was a couple weeks after she and Bill had did it for the first time that she had her first sign of pregnancy. Her missed period. The timing of it all was what kept it on her mind continually, it was impossible to run a paternity test in the year it was so it weighed on her that she may never know who the father of her son truly was... Dutch? Or Bill?

Dutch, although it took him a little bit to forgive her about her relationship with Bill, had stepped up upon finding out that she was pregnant to be there for her should she need him. He knew there was a chance of the baby being Bill's and he had made it clear how much he hated that undeniable fact. He was there though, just in case the baby was his, with the hope that it was his child that the woman he had never stopped loving was carrying.

Bill had been good to her throughout the time they were together, and had actually confided his concerns about the baby possibly being his. He was worried for the future of the child that he was it's father and made it clear that he hoped the baby was Dutch's. That was his honest feelings about the baby, that if he was it's father he feared it would grow up to be a drunk and develop the memory issues that he had. Even after Celina and Bill had decided to end their relationship, for the month or so where they hardly talked, Bill would still come and check on Celina, showing concern about the child inside her. He cared, but he was hurt by what had happened between the two of them and he was scared that the kid would turn out his.

Bill's memory throughout the six and a half years she had known him had gotten just a tad bit worse. It was hardly noticeable but it seemed to her that he had been forgetting small things a tad more often as time progressed. It wasn't anything major, he seemed to remember everything just fine ninety percent of the time... but that other ten percent, although it was just brief periods of lapse in memory, it scared him. It scared Celina too to think that he may only get worse.

Celina opened the door to the bedroom, revealing James standing across the hallway and staring up at her, his little hands behind his back in the most adorable way, "I'm hungry mommy."

Celina laughed and took one of his tiny little hands in her own and led him towards the kitchen, "Common bud, let's get you some cereal."

"Is daddy coming?"

Celina nodded, her heart swelling with happiness at the way her life was. It was everything she had ever wanted, James, Dutch... Really, it was Dutch stepping up to the plate and taking on the role of James's dad during Celina's pregnancy that had got Celina to come back to him romantically. Ever since she had taken him back a couple months prior to James' birth, things had been good between the two of them.

Bill was still in the boy's life too of course being a member of the gang. As it was, he really was more of an uncle than anything to James. That was ok though, that's what Bill wanted, to keep his distance from the boy but still watch over him when need be. It was ok like that, not having Bill be any closer to James than any of the other guys. Bill didn't think he'd be any good for the boy and that...

Well, that was almost heartbreaking.

...

A/N: I know this chapter was a lot to process... skipped a little over than six years here and I know... Hosea :/ I really think I had to do it though, guys. Crucial and he got to live a longer and better life than he did in RDR2. A wayyy better death but let's face it, his health wasn't too good in the game and it was bound to catch up with him. Hope I'm not going to lose any readers because of Hosea's death..

As far as John, I know... but before anyone freaks out, he isn't living in his homestead at Beechers Hope, he isn't far away from the gang at all as we'll see in the next chapter.

Dutch and Celina... James, how cute are they?

Celina and Bill?

That's officially the first chapter guys and if you didn't notice, I made a newspaper as something that kinda gives a way a bit of what will be in Celina's future...

Please leave some comments guys and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.