Topic: All We Need

Rufus Bennett · Date: 2013-10-22 09:17 EST

Despite the many distractions - self-made - and one interruption - by Des - Rufus had finally managed to get his personal effects packed up in good time to get back to Miranda's house on Maple Grove. He didn't own much that was just his and not useful in his work, but what he did have was easily unpacked and given a place of its own in various locales around the house. And what was more, he had been left to it on his own - his lovely wife had trusted him to spread his personality around without interference, though he had no doubt things would start moving over the next few days. So long as they didn't disappear entirely, he thought he could handle that. And what he certainly could handle was his own wife, who wound up getting groped affectionately as he slid behind her, pressing a kiss to her neck as his hands cupped and squeezed gently. "Honey, I'm home," he murmured teasingly against her ear.

As it so happened, he happened to catch her while she was in the kitchen cooking - yes, actually cooking - a meal for them both while he was away at "the office". They seemed to be settling into her little house at Maple Grove pretty well, and as for Miranda, she had never felt happier. She was so happy, in fact, that everyone she met couldn't help but comment on how well marriage seemed to suit her. She looked and felt ten years younger, and when she found her husband - she never tired of the word - pressing a kiss to her neck and groping her playfully, she greeted him with a very girlishly charming giggle. "I never would have known." She wiped her hands on an apron and turned to face him, winding her arms around his neck, her fingers toying with the back of his hair. "Welcome home, handsome. I missed you." She reached up onto her tiptoes to give him a proper greeting, her lips meeting his warmly.

He chuckled as she turned to face him, his arms winding about her waist to hold her close as he answered her welcoming kiss with his own. Beth might tease them both something chronic, but the truth was there really was nothing wrong with her parents' attraction to one another. Miranda was still as beautiful to Rufus as she had been at 22, when he'd first seen her legs at close quarters and worked his way up to her face. He grinned as he drew back from the kiss, nibbling at the end of her nose. "And how is my lovely wife this evening?"

"Your lovely wife is trying a new dish," she proclaimed, rather proud of herself, though it was a pretty well-known fact that Miranda's cooking left a lot to be desired. She got points for trying, though! She was really trying to be the perfect little wife, though her skills in that area were decidedly lacking, other than those that had to do with sex. "I'm making lasagne!" she declared happily. "And how is my darling husband this evening?" she countered, as she tweaked his nose in return.

To his credit, Rufus didn't even wince at her happy little declaration. Not a flicker crossed his expression. He loved Miranda deeply, supporting her in all things, but cooking really wasn't her forte. However, he'd sought a little advice on this from one of the other English folk who had married into the Granger family, and Vicki had handed out Jon's secret to teaching her how to cook without hurting her feelings. He smiled proudly at his merry little wife, kissing the tip of her nose affectionately. "Eager and willing to be the perfect husband by learning to help her cook lasagne, so that next time, I can cook for her and make her feel absolutely adored," he told her lovingly, refusing to relinquish his warm hold about her waist as he swayed her affectionately. "Does she agree, or should I ravish her until she gives in and makes me work for my dinner?"

Miranda laughed, completely fooled by her husband's charming response, even if it was mostly a lie. "You already know how to cook," she said, calling his bluff, even if she thought he was being sincere. "I need to do this, Rufus. I want to do this." Though she wasn't sure why. She'd never really done much cooking before, not even when she'd been raising Bethany. She'd hired a cook for that, and a maid to clean the apartment. Why she thought she needed to become all domestic now was anyone's guess, but it more than likely had to do with getting married. "You..." she said, bopping his nose with a manicured finger, "...will just have to wait until after dinner to sow your oats."

He chuckled at her tease, leaning in to kiss her again. Ah, well. If everything went wrong, he was pretty sure he'd be able to save her mood, at least. "Wait, didn't I already sow my oats?" he asked playfully, unable to resist giving her rear end a gentle squeeze while she was trapped. "I seem to recall a harvest that came out so well she's marrying a copper on New Year's Eve."

She giggled again, a very girlish giggle at her husband's remark. "Don't let him hear you call him that. He'll correct you and tell you he's a detective, and if you tell him it's the same thing, he will explain to you why it isn't. He's very touchy on that subject," she said, turning back around to fish the noodles she'd been boiling out of the water, one by one. They looked a little too limp, but she didn't seem to notice.

"He should go to England some time," Rufus muttered, loosening his grasp just enough to let her turn around. Of course, this presented him with the perfect access to her neck, which he lost no time in teasing, drawing the tip of his nose gently along the elegant line before proceeding to drop tender kisses against her skin. "How about a little hanky' I'll be good, no panky until after dinner."

She smiled, unable to stifle the shiver at the touch of his lips to her neck. "Do you want to eat tonight?" she countered, teasing him in return. "If you can give me a few minutes, I'll get this layered up and in the oven and you can have all the hanky panky you want."

He sighed, deliberately letting his breath warm her throat for a long moment before he stepped back, feigning acute disappointment that was only a little bit untrue. "Fine," he conceded, shrugging as he smiled his familiarly wry smile. "I'll go and open the wine, shall I?"

"You shall," she replied agreeably. She had yet to master his accent, but once she did, he could be sure she'd be practicing it on him. "So, how did things go with Desmond?" she asked as she laid the noodles in the pan and poured tomato sauce over the top. "Did he start training with you yet?"

Rufus Bennett · Date: 2013-10-22 09:18 EST

Laughing as he moved away - he was anticipating the British accent with a certain amount of glee - Rufus glanced back at his wife as he selected a bottle of red wine at random, skimming the label to make sure it wasn't a dessert wine. He'd done that a few times in the past, finally learning to at least read the label before opening it up. "And how did you know about that?" he asked her with loving suspicion. "Have you bugged my office already?"

"I don't need to. You forget, darling, that I'm a Granger. We have our ways." She flashed him a grin, not saying what those ways were, but in this case, she had simply been chatting with Piper. "But you didn't answer the question," she reminded him as she spread ricotta over the sauce layer.

Rufus laughed, shaking his head at his mischievous wife. She had an in to so many branches of her family, he didn't really need to know how she'd known what Des was there to ask him earlier that day. "So the pouting was an act, then," he accused her fondly, setting the corkscrew in place to open up the bottle in his hands. "I should have known, you gave in far too easily." With a pop, the cork came out, and he set the bottle on the counter to breathe for a few minutes. "And no, Des didn't start training with me today. He won't actually start training for a good few weeks yet - he isn't physically capable yet. Poor bastard's going to get fit, Slayer style, first."

She arched a slender brow at her husband, wondering what his idea of fit was. In her opinion, Des looked like an almost perfect specimen of man. How much more fit could he possibly be? But she was no expert in this area and had to trust her husband's judgement. "What does that mean exactly' Slayer style" You make it sound painful." She paused in her lasagne layering to wait for his answer, curious what he had in mind for her favorite kinsman.

"Miranda, he's not going up against a human," her husband pointed out to her, resting a hip against the counter as he faced her. "He needs to have an edge that most human men don't have. It won't be enough to have an iron weapon and the skills to use it, he needs to have the mental discipline to be able to withstand whatever is thrown at him. Which is most of what I'll be doing while he thinks I'm raising his fitness level. And he'll need to be able to keep up with me."

"It sounds dangerous," she proclaimed with a worried frown. It was no big secret that she wasn't that thrilled about what Rufus did for a living, though she understood the necessity of it. He was who he was, and there was no changing him. Des was another matter entirely. "Is all this really necessary?" she asked. "Isn't there another way?" She knew enough about the situation to make a guess at what the two men were planning.

"Love, it would be more dangerous if he hadn't come to me," Rufus told her gently, moving to curl an arm about her waist. He knew she worried, but this was one area where he did know what he was talking about. "When it happens, Piper will be in no state to be able to defend herself. That burden will fall on Desmond, and he has accepted that. I offered to help him with the fight, but he needs to do this for himself. So yes, I'm going to push him hard. But only so that he can do what he needs to do when the time comes."

This was one aspect of Rhy'Din she had never liked, but she knew moving back to Earth was no solution. There were dark things that roamed the night even there. Rufus was proof of that, and she was not so naive to think that ignoring the situation would make it go away. "It just scares me, Rufus," she admitted worriedly. Though it was not her problem specifically, she was fond Piper and Desmond and Lyneth and, having introduced them, felt she had a personal interest in their well-being. In simple terms, they were family, and she loved them. "If someone has to train him, I'm glad that someone is you."

He hugged her gently, pressing a kiss to her hair. "You know that I won't waste his time," he promised her, touched by how much heart she put into so much of her life. "Would you like to know why Piper won't be in any state to defend herself, or should I keep that secret to myself until you explode at me?"

She leaned into him, drawing comfort from him and almost forgetting about the lasagne. Curling herself into his embrace, she looked up at him curiously. "Secret?" she echoed, having assumed that Piper wouldn't be in a state to defend herself simply because she was Piper. "What secret?" Now that he'd mentioned it, he was likely not to hear the end of it until he shared it with her.

Rufus grinned, a surprisingly large part of him genuinely delighted to know something that she didn't for once. It wasn't often that he was the one with the secret, and even rarer when that secret involved her family. "Oh, it is remarkably tempting to change my mind and not spill the beans now," he laughed affectionately, resting his chin on top of her head as she hugged him. He looked down at her, feeling ridiculously happy with himself for a moment longer before putting her out of her misery. "This won't happen for a while yet," he promised her quietly, "but Des seems to be fairly sure that it will happen. The reason Piper can't be expected to defend herself is because she will either be pregnant, or have a very newborn babe in arms when the time comes."

"Oh no, you don't! You can't say you have a secret and then not share it with..." But she didn't get very far with her threat as he was already blabbing his supposed secret without much prompting from her. Her mouth fell open with an audible gasp. "Shut your mouth!" she exclaimed. "A baby' Are you serious" Piper and Desmond are going to have a baby"!"

There was a pause as he smirked down at her. "I'm confused, which is it you want me to do?" he asked as she let her excitement overflow. "Shut my mouth, or affirm what I just told you?" Although, to be fair to the not-yet-pregnant-parents, he was probably going to have to confirm it sooner rather than later, before his darling wife bought an entire baby store to stock up for them.

Rufus Bennett · Date: 2013-10-22 09:18 EST

"When" Where" How?" She blurted, waving her hands excitedly. "No, I know the how," she corrected herself. "When?" she asked, remembering he'd said it wouldn't happen for a while yet. "How do you know?" She was already shopping in her mind, whether it be a boy or a girl. Another little Granger to spoil was always cause for celebration, but even more so when that child was being born to a couple as beloved as Piper and Desmond. "Tell me everything!" she demanded.

Leaning back out of the range of those waving hands, Rufus couldn't help laughing at her ridiculous over-excitement as he reached to catch her before she accidentally left her mark on his face with one or most of those manicured nails. "Angel, calm down," he chuckled fondly. "Des told me, how else would I know" Apparently it will happen at some time in the next two years, and how they - and all the rest of us - handle it will be instrumental in whether or not Lyneth stays with them. So when it happens, you have license to fuss over Lyneth just as much as over Piper's baby bump. In fact, more-so. Do you think you can do that?" This was asked with a warm smile - he knew his wife very well, after all."

She just about squealed with delight before barely regaining control of herself, throwing her arms around his neck in excitement, though the event had yet to happen. She apparently held no animosity or jealousy toward others in the family having children. She was perfectly happy to fawn over and spoil other people's children. She already had one of her own that she loved more than life itself. She looked almost insulted at his question regarding Lyneth. "Don't be silly! I would like nothing better than to spoil that little girl rotten, no matter how many other children Des and Piper have." She grinned up at him. "Oh, this is so exciting!"

"Good grief, woman, a virtual child gets you this excited?" Her husband laughed down at her as she released his neck, hands sure and firm against her waist. "We could have plenty of those if you want. I'm sure Beth wouldn't mind it."

She narrowed her eyes up at him, unsure what exactly he meant by that, and then her face changed, her excitement fading as she turned quietly away from him to turn her attention back to the lasagne making. "I suppose Beth hasn't told you." No, of course she hadn't. It was up to Miranda to give him that bit of news, not Beth, and suddenly Miranda felt guilty for not having told him before they'd run off to get married. Miranda had kept few secrets from Rufus, but there was one.

Her sudden dip in mood surprised him, a concerned frown touching his face as his beautiful wife turned away from him. Rufus wasn't sure what he'd said wrong, gently reaching out to clasp her hands and turn her back to face him. "Angel, what?s wrong?" he asked her in his gentlest tone, the tone that was reserved entirely for her. His hand rose to cup her cheek, gazing into brown eyes he loved more than any other. "What is it Beth should have told me?"

A single tear trailed down her cheek but was just as quickly brushed away as he turned her to face him. She shrugged lightly, as if it really didn't matter, though it did. She was, for the most part, happy. She was, in fact, overjoyed to finally be with her Rufus, but there was one small thing she had not yet told him. She shook her head sadly up at him, before the words finally come from her lips. "I can't have any more children, Rufus." It wasn't a huge surprise, considering her age. She wasn't young anymore, but she wasn't old either. She loved Bethany more than anything, and she do anything to make Rufus happy, but the one thing she could no longer give him was another child.

There was no hesitation in her husband's response to that softly tearful confession. Strong arms wrapped around her, drawing her against his chest as he kissed her hair, stroking her back tenderly. "Oh, sweetheart, I didn't marry you to have more children," he told her gently. "I married you because I love you, and I've spent too long away from you. You. And to be honest, the idea of having children terrifies me anyway. Bethany is amazing, because you raised her. But I don't need children to love you the way I do, and if you want more children, we can adopt. And I think I may have contradicted myself there, but I don't want you to feel guilty or upset about this."

"Really?" she asked, looking up at his with tearful, adoring eyes for this strong but gentle man she had loved most of her life. "You aren't angry' I-I meant to tell you, but..." She shrugged her slender shoulders. "It never came up, and....I was afraid to bring it up."

"Oh, my darling, of course I'm not angry," he assured her, his smile every ounce as warm and tender as he could possibly make it as he leaned down, resting his forehead to hers. "Having children is a part of the commercialized marriage dream, yes, but we've already done that. And you raised a wonderful young woman I am so proud to call my daughter. If we had young children in the house, I wouldn't be able to have my wicked way with you anywhere, anytime, and that would be a tragedy."

In all honesty, she didn't really want to have another baby. To have another baby now would mean another twenty years of child-raising and after all the years spent without him, she selfishly wanted Rufus all to herself for a while. She smiled through her tears, relieved that he didn't seem to mind and stepped up on her tiptoes to reward him with a kiss. "I love you, Rufus. You are too good to me." She knew some men needed a son to feed their ego, but Rufus had never complained that they'd only had a daughter, and though Miranda loved children, she was perfectly happy to fawn over her many tiny cousins.

He grinned into the kiss, forbearing to comment on how good it would be if she gave up on the lasagne and just ordered in for the night as his arms wrapped smoothly around her waist once again. "I am hopelessly in love with you, my angel. Why would I want to share you with a tiny bundle of poo and spit up?"

She smacked his chest playfully, laughing at his comment. "Might I remind you that your daughter was once a tiny bundle of poo and spit up" A very cute bundle, I might add." She would just as well have given up on the lasagne, if only it wasn't for her pride and if only he had convinced her to. She was trying to be a good Suzy Homemaker, though it really wasn't her forte. "You really don't mind?" she asked, needing just a little bit of reassurance, despite his insistence.

Rufus Bennett · Date: 2013-10-22 09:20 EST

"I really don't mind," he promised her sincerely, ignoring the smack to his chest. He remembered Bethany on the day she was born - a tiny bundle of poo and spit up he would happily never have let go of, were it not for the danger that he would have brought into their home. He would never have forgiven himself for putting either of his girls in the firing line. "Just think ....if we ever get broody, we can borrow one of your many cousins' many children, and give it back when we get bored. How is that a bad compromise?"

"We should take Lyneth overnight some time. And Emily when she's old enough." And Jack and the twins and whoever else happened to come along. The family was growing by leaps and bounds these days, which Miranda thought was a very good thing. She didn't want to take them all overnight at the same time though, of course. "How long do you think it will be before Beth and Jason have children?" No, they weren't even married yet, but they would be soon! She turned back around, relieved that she'd finally shared that with him, and started sprinkling mozzarella on top the lasagne layers.

"Oh, dear God, woman, you're nowhere near old enough to be a grandmother!" Rufus chuckled, releasing her once again to return to the wine and pour a couple of glasses for them to share while they were waiting for the gourmet masterpiece to be ready for eating. It could take a while, so they were fairly large glasses. "Though I did notice something interesting recently. Have you noticed what the common factor in the three pregnancies in the family and close to the family is?" He smirked a little evilly. "Jon is either radiating fertility and infecting the women he loves, or he's spiking their drinks."

"Jon?" Miranda asked, tilting a slightly confused gaze at him. "What has Jon got to do with it?" Other than the fact that Vicki was pregnant again, she wasn't quite catching his drift as to what the common factor was in the rash of pregnancies, unless it was something in the water at Maple Grove, but what did that have to do with Jon' "I'm not sure I'm following, love." She had at last finished layering her gourmet masterpiece, which was not looking too bad, all things considered. The proof would come in the baking and eating of it. She pushed him aside so she could shove the concoction in the oven to cook.

Taking a sip of his wine, Rufus snorted softly, genuinely surprised that Miranda hadn't taken a look at the fact that babies were proliferating around Jonathan Granger these days. "Darling ....his wife, his cousin, and his best friend will be giving birth within three months of one another. Jon's summer must have been exciting."

Once she had the lasagne in the oven, she turned to face him with oven-mitten-gloved hands on her hips. "Are you insinuating that Jonathan impregnated all three of them' Because that's not only ridiculous, it's....well, ridiculous!"

He laughed, rolling his eyes at her. "Angel, you really need to learn when I'm being facetious," he assured her cheerfully, refusing to take offense at the fact that she was misunderstanding him again. "Come and relax, and tell me what you've been up to today. I miss my wife when we're not together, you know."

She would have smacked him with the oven-mitts, but she didn't want to spill good wine. She did smile, however, at the insinuation that Jon might have had something to do with the sudden rash of pregnancies. "Maybe it's his pheromones. You have to admit, he is pretty hot." Well, maybe Rufus wouldn't admit it, but Jon was a common topic of discussion among the females of the Granger clan, whether he knew it or not.

"Well, after this one, someone needs to tell him to put a knot in it before we're drowning in babies," Rufus chuckled, moving to tug the oven-mitts off her hands and kiss her once again. They had been apart for so long, this honeymoon period could last for years. And despite their own personal commitments, they had plenty of time for each other. Rufus had a feeling he knew what his wife's reaction was going to be the first time she caught him training; it would probably be quite close to the first time he caught her wearing the glasses she wore to work.

"You tell him that," she said, poking him in the chest, almost daring him. "It's nice to see him happy. It's nice to see them all happy." And it was nicest of all that she was finally happy. She sighed suddenly and wound her arms around his waist, curling into him and hugging him close. "I love you, Rufus. I'm so happy we're finally together." Though he already knew that, it didn't hurt to remind him every now and then.

Once again, he enveloped her in his arms, swaying from side to side as they lingered together, his cheek resting against her hair. It had been a long time coming, but finally they'd got their happy ending in time to see another one just about to happen. "I love you back, Miranda. And I love that we'll be together to see our little girl walk down the aisle and marry her soul-mate. Nothing in my life would ever have gone right if I hadn't met you, and I will never stop being grateful for that fact."

Her heart swelled with love at his words, her eyes filling with tears. She was not usually one given to such easy emotions, but the joy she felt at being there with him at long last, at being married to him, at belonging to him was so great she could hardly contain herself. She thought he'd have done just fine without her, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "I only wish we had done this sooner, but I won't cry over the past. What's done is done, and we have our little girl to show for it."

"Never give up, never surrender," he teased, leaning down to catch her lips in a kiss that fully intended to wipe everything from her mind but him and what he'd been promising to make her do since she'd skipped out on him and Des earlier that afternoon. Never let it be said that Rufus Bennett gave up easily.

That kiss erased all thought from her head, all her worries evaporating. Nothing mattered, nothing existed but him. Who cared about lasagne and wine when she could instead savor those kisses" She melted against him, her fingers curling into his shirt as her lips found his, murmuring a sigh of contentment as she slowly drew back and looked up into those beautiful eyes of his. "Dinner will be a while," she murmured, smiling demurely, though there was nothing demure about the look in her eyes.

He smiled down at her. "Good." Gently pulling away, Rufus downed his glass of wine in one gulp, setting the glass firmly on the counter before moving into action. In one smooth motion, he bent and hoisted his wife up onto his shoulder, smacking her rear end with playful firmness as he chuckled. "I don't believe we've finished with the bedroom yet. Hi-ho, Silver!"

She grinned as she watched him down his wine, wondering just what he was thinking, but she didn't have long to wonder, squealing as he hoisted her over his shoulder and hauled her off to christen the bedroom....Again. She giggled again as she gave his rear a squeeze from where she hung over his shoulder, feeling like the girl of twenty-two that had first fallen in love with him all those years ago all over again. Hell with the lasagne. Dinner could wait.

((You'd think they were still in their twenties, wouldn't you? Ubermungus thank yous to Miranda's player!))