Work Text:
Sophie woke with a start. She couldn't quite remember what she had been dreaming about but she knew that she felt warm and happier then she had for most of her life and she hated that she had been woken up. She brought her arms above her head and stretched out her legs. A small smile spread across her face as she reached her left hand out across the bed to touch Benedict. Sophie found that even after just one year of marriage the mere touch of her husband still calmed her. And more times then not lit a flame within her that could only be extinguished by his touch. But when her hand reached out she didn't find Benedict at all, all she found were cold sheets.
Her brow furrowed, "Benedict?" Sitting up in bed Sophie realized that he had left the room completely. Getting out of bed she reached for her dressing gown. The emerald green one Benedict had gotten her as one of her many wedding presents.
If Benedict wasn't in bed with her this late at night then there was really only one other place he could be. So, she tied her gown and made her way out of the room and down the hall to his drawing room. She knocked quietly on the door and pushed the heavy oak door open and what she found made her smile. Benedict was laying on the chaise, his feet crossed in front of him. His shirt was nearly all the way unbuttoned, his hair a complete mess and he had smudges from his sketching crayon on his face. Benedict had a few candles lit on the table next to him and somehow in that moment he had never looked more handsome to her.
Taking his eyes away from his sketching pad he smiled at her, "Hello, my love. Did I wake you?"
Sophie shook her head, "No. I was dreaming and then I woke up and you weren't there."
"Good dreams?"
Sophie shrugged, "I can't really remember it."
Benedict hummed and sat up on the chaise. He patted the space next to him and Sophie crawled up next to him willingly, tucking her feet underneath her.
"What are you drawing?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Just the cottage," he began. "Our Cottage."
A small hum escaped her lips, "I like the sound of that."
"Me too."
Sophie placed a gentle kiss to the side of his head and then leaned in so she could get a better look at what he was drawing, "Oh, Ben! It's beautiful."
"Do you think so?" he asked nervously.
"Of course I do. The detail is extraordinary. This would make such a beautiful painting."
"Perhaps I could commission Granville to paint it for you for your birthday. Would you like that? You could hang it in your study."
"I'm sure Henry would do a beautiful job with it.....but you could also paint it."
Benedict turned and look at her, "Sophie, darling. I'm not a painter."
"Have you tried?"
"What?"
"Have you ever tried painting before?" she asked. Her left hand reached out entirely on it's own accord and ran itself through his hair. She always loved the feeling of his hair between her fingers. It calmed her somehow.
Benedict closed his eyes at her touch, "Well.....no."
"Then how do you know if you are any good at it or not?"
"I sketch, Sophie. I don't paint." Sophie nodded and smirked, that little smirk that Benedict adored so much. The one that lit up her eyes.
"You'll never know unless you try."
Benedict was quite for a moment, trying to get the detailing on the front gate right. He could try he supposed. It wouldn't hurt to try to expand his talents. "Do you really think I could be a painter?"
Sophie nodded and kissed him gently on the lips, "I think that you could. I want you to follow your dreams, Benedict. All of your dreams."
Benedict turned slightly and placed his sketching pad on the table next to him before turning back to his wife, "And I want you to follow your dreams as well, my love."
"I have all of my dreams right here," she said softly. She kissed him on the nose gently and then took his right hand and placed it on her little bump. "You and this little one are all the dreams I have ever wanted."
"Oh, Sophie," he whispered. Sophie noticed that there were tears in his eyes and she quickly reached forward and wiped them away. Benedict pulled on Sophie's arm gently until she was lying with her back to his chest. His hands came around her side and rested gently on her bump.
"I can't wait to meet this little one."
She smiled, "Nor can I."
END.