Chapter Text
Christmas Eve 1946
When he arrives home, she’s standing in the entranceway with a smile he learned long ago means trouble.
‘Good evening, husband,’ she says, as he puts his briefcase down and leans forward to press a kiss to her lips.
‘Good evening, wife,’ he replies, smiling down at her as she wraps her arms around his neck. ‘What are you up to?’ he asks after a moment, encircling her waist with his arms, and she blinks innocently at him.
‘Why do you assume I’m up to something?’ she asks, and he smirks at her.
‘I know that look,’ he says, and she starts laughing, burying her face in his chest. ‘I have known that look for a long time now. That look meant trouble for Brigadier General William Melbourne, and it means trouble for me.’ She pulls back, still grinning, and looks up. When he follows her eyes, he sees it, hanging from the light high above them.
Mistletoe.
He chuckles at her, shaking his head, and she giggles again. ‘Now you have no excuse not to kiss me.’
‘Do you think I need an excuse to kiss my wife?’ he asks, narrowing his eyes at her, before leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. ‘Or want one?’ He presses kisses down to her jaw and then one to her neck, and he feels her shiver.
‘Not really,’ she says a little breathlessly, and something possessive rises up in his chest at the sound, and he kisses her neck again.
‘Good,’ he mutters against her skin, and she lets out a huff. ‘I will admit I am surprised to see in our house – what was it – a little sprig of flora, brought by the Americans, that forced awkward intimacy on people who wouldn’t normally touch each other?’ he says, pulling back to look at her, and he chuckles as she pinks.
‘Well,’ she laughs. ‘I am a little attached to it. Look at what it’s brought me,’ she says, and her eyes are so full of emotion, so adoring that he has to look away.
‘Yes,’ he agrees.
‘And it’s about to bring something more,’ she says quietly, and he looks up at her, confused. The way she bites her lip and looks at him almost nervously confuses him until she’s half-smiling at him and a thought pops into his head and oh.
Oh.
He stares at her, his heart suddenly racing, and she nods.
She’s pregnant.
She’s going to have a baby. Their baby.
When he refocuses on her eyes, she’s smiling gently, like she knew this would be big for him, and he lets out a breath.
‘We’re going to have a family,’ he murmurs, and she nods.
‘Yes.’
He pulls her close, resting his forehead on hers. ‘A family.’
‘A family.’
When he kisses her again, he thinks she’ll have to send an apology to that poor American soldier from Vermont.