As promised, the campfire storytelling didn't go on too late into the night. There were simply too many small children in the group who had to be up for school the next morning for it to go on too long into the night, and Elle was just as glad. While she enjoyed spending time with the other families at Maple Grove - people who had come to be her friends - she also cherished the quiet time spent with Dom and Daisy, and especially those rare moments she had alone with her new husband when Daisy was fast asleep in her own bed. Tonight was one such night, as she had been eager to share some news with him all day, but had not been able to get him alone until all was at last quiet both at Maple Grove and Wisteria Cottage, where she lived with her husband and daughter.

Nervous as she was, she had spent an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and examining her shape in the mirror, all behind a closed door so that Dom could not see what she was doing.

"You know," Dom commented teasingly from where he was already in bed, hands cupped behind his head as he lay beneath the covers, ankles crossed comfortably, "you can scrub all you like, your teeth are not going to suddenly turn into diamonds." He could tell she was nervous, but he wasn't going to push her. He knew his Elle - she'd tell him, eventually.

"If my teeth turned into diamonds, I would be tempted to pull them and sell them for profit or have them made into jewelry," she called back from the bathroom, turning this way and that as she examined her own profile. Whatever it was she was doing in there, it sounded like she was finished brushing her teeth anyway. At last, she flicked off the bathroom light and stepped into the bedroom, wearing a modest but pretty silk black and white nightdress, cut about mid-thigh.

Dom's smile softened as she came into view, the appreciative gleam in his eye all for her. He was, of course, only in his boxers - unless it was below freezing outside, it was rare for Dom to wear anything more in bed. "Everything all right, sweetling?" he asked her gently, a little concerned but not too worried, on the whole.

"Yes, fine," she replied a little too hastily, as she shrugged the robe from her shoulders and dropped it over a chair before climbing under the covers beside him, though it wasn't really cold in the room. She curled up close, resting her head upon his shoulder and a hand upon his heart. "You were quite popular with the younger set earlier," she said, though this wasn't at the heart of what was bothering her.

He raised a brow at her hasty reply, raising his arm easily to wrap it about her shoulders as she settled against him. His lips brushed her forehead with tender affection as she spoke. "A good story can get anyone's attention," he smiled, deflecting the praise adroitly. "And the stories from Yasuo are good stories. I hope it helped, anyway. I may have told Matt a little bit too much about the dojos up there for his mother's peace of mind."

"He's young and hasn't been in Rhy'Din very long. He's eager for adventure, like all young people his age. Wasn't that why you became an anthropologist in the first place?" she asked, looking up at him with absolute adoration in her eyes from where she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Me?" He looked down at her, his own adoration for her evident in his smiling eyes as their gazes met. "I liked stories," he admitted. "We all did, the girls and me, but we all took something different from them. For me, it was always about the people who made the stories. I wanted to know the context, the society that created these myths and legends. I kind of fell into anthropology - I was supposed to be majoring in English Literature, got lost, and ended up in an Anthropology lecture instead. I just switched majors."

"Oh, goodness ....you'd have been bored silly with Literature," she said, turning to face him, resting her arms against his chest as she looked down into his face. "Perhaps I should go back to school, just so I can join one of your lectures and become your pet pupil," she teased.

He chuckled, resting back as she leaned over him, his hands finding their familiarly possessive place at her waist. "Planning on seducing the professor, are you, darling?" he asked her just as teasingly. "I could just as easily give you a private lecture here and now, you know."

"Oh, but I don't want stories and lessons from you, Professor. I want something far more personal," she teased, smiling playfully and batting her lashes coquettishly at him. "Pray tell, what would the lesson be about?" she asked, as she drew lazy circles against his bare chest with a fingernail.

Laughing, Dom caught her hands, rolling to pin her gently beneath himself as his lips teased against her throat. "How about the sexual politics of the Faruinen people of Artrexis Four?" he suggested, quite deliberately waiting until she was relaxed before blowing a loud raspberry right against the hollow of her throat.

She echoed his laughter, her breath catching in her throat as she felt his lips teasing her throat. "Sex and politics should never be mentioned in the same sentence, darling," she said, very nearly seduced by his ministrations until he ruined the mood by blowing that raspberry, and she pulled her hands away to smack his arm. "You ass!" she accused, shoving him off and rolling away with her back toward him, as if she was angry. "Just for that, you can go to sleep without getting laid."

"Ow!" Laughing, Dom let her wriggle away, curling himself close against her back as his arms wrapped about her. "I don't need to get laid to know I'm the luckiest, happiest guy in the world," he murmured against her ear. "Even if the woman I love isn't talking to me, I know she still loves me. And I love her."

She sighed, as he wrapped his arms around her and she covered his hands with her own. "I have never been able to stay angry with you for long," she admitted in a quiet voice. Even when she'd first met him, she'd been charmed by the man she was supposed to be robbing.

"Hence being a very lucky man." He smiled, kissing her shoulder softly as his hand warmed her midriff. "What's wrong, Belle?" he asked her gently. "You've been on edge all day. Can I help?"

She was silent a moment, her hand rubbing his at her waist, wondering if he suspected at all that the reason for her restlessness and worry was just beneath his fingers. "Nothing is wrong, darling. I just have a bit of news, and I'm not sure how you'll take it."

He nuzzled gently against the curve of her neck, drawing her closer into his arms as he breathed her in. He had been alone for a very long time before Elle had burst into his world, bringing with her love and light and a reason to wake up smiling once again. Just knowing that his ring rested on her finger, that she had agreed to be his wife, was more than enough to delight him every time he thought about it. His fingers spread where his palm lay over her womb, lips gently kissing her jaw affectionately. "I'm the one who empties the trash in the bathroom, sweetling," he murmured to her gently, hoping she'd catch the hint.

She drew comfort from his embrace, from his touch, his kisses, even from the timber of his voice, no matter what he was saying. It only took a moment for her to realize what he was telling her, and she turned to face him, eyes bright with tears. "You already knew?" she asked, a questioning look on her face. She wasn't sure why that should surprise her; after all, he'd always been one step ahead of her, even when she'd first met him.

Elle smirked, unable to refrain from commenting on Desmond's parenting skills. "Darling, he doesn't say no enough either, but Piper says he's getting better. Besides, you don't need to take lessons. You already know how to do this. You just have to go with your guts. If you really want to go to the cinema dressed in drag, feel free, but it wouldn't break Daisy's heart if you said no. Besides, there's no reason you couldn't dress up as a pirate or a prince instead, is there?" she added with an affectionate and knowing smile. After all, she knew her daughter best.

"What, you don't think the Cinderella look suited me?" he chuckled, rolling onto his back and taking her with him. "Should I have curled my hair, or worn a wig, too?" His hands smoothed down her back, warm and loving. "I love you, you know. And now I can admit something I've been keeping under my hat." His eyes twinkled as he looked up at her.

"Sweetheart, you are the most dashing man I have ever met, but you looked more like one of Cinderella's ugly step sisters than Cinderella," she teased, brooking no argument as he pulled her close. "Are you sure you don't mean under your shorts" Because I'm pretty sure someone's feeling a little spunky tonight."

"Bit of both," he laughed, patting her rear end. He glanced both ways teasingly, lowering his voice as though there were other ears to hear, and confided, "I find pregnant women very sexy. Shhh, that's a secret."

She blinked at him, having expected something a little more, well, secretive, before echoing his laughter. "I'm not even showing yet," she told him. If he hadn't found the tell-tale pregnancy test or she hadn't told him, he wouldn't have even known. "I'm not so far along that we can't still practice," she added, waggling her brows at him.

"Mm, are you offering to recreate the moment of conception, Mrs. Granger?" he asked teasingly, tempted to flip her onto her back once again but restraining himself for once. "Just to make sure I know how it was done?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know how it was done, but I wouldn't mind recreating the moment of conception, just for, you know, posterity's sake," she told him, grinning down at him. "And please don't treat me with kid gloves just because I'm pregnant. I'm not made of glass, Dom. I won't break if you look at me the wrong way."

"What, not even if I look at you like this?" Wiping his grin from his face, he then proceeded to produce the most gruesome funny face he could possibly muster up, his face so contorted that he couldn't actually see her reaction to it.

She laughed again, touching his face to smooth out the contorted expression. "Okay, maybe if you look at me that way," she admitted. "You know what I mean. I'll be fine, and if I'm not, believe me, you'll be the first one to know."

Chuckling, he let his face relax. "All right, I'll try not to treat you with kid gloves," he promised. "But you need to tell me how you're feeling. I'm more likely to turn into the worrying old man from hell if I don't know what?s going on." At least he had accepted that the next few months were going to be hell on his nerves, and that would affect his behavior. He was just trying to lay the groundwork to help her handle him now.

"It will be hard to hide morning sickness," she told him with a smile, though she was not really looking forward to that part of her pregnancy. Three months of getting nauseous at the smell of cooking meat was a small price to pay for having a baby, she thought. "Right now, I'm feeling fine. I have a doctor's appointment in a few weeks, and we'll know more then. So for now, no worries, okay' Just try to be happy," she said, as she pushed his lips upwards into a smile.

The smile she got was a rictus until he laughed again, batting her hands away to roll her gently over onto her back. "I am happy," he told her once again, punctuating his insistence with kisses that slowly began to travel downward. "Very happy. And you, my darling, are going to learn about all the things this tongue can do."

She laughed as he rolled her onto her back, eager for his attention, whether she was pregnant or not. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I already know what that tongue can do, but you're perfectly welcome to remind me," she said, her breath catching in her throat as he made good on his threat - or was it a promise" Whatever it was Dominic Granger wanted to do with her, she was putty in his hands.

"You'd be amazed," he chuckled teasingly, pausing as he reached her midriff. Gentle hands raised her nightie to let his lips brush a soft kiss over her womb. "And you can shut your eyes and put your fingers in your ears," he told their unborn child. "I want your mom all to myself tonight, okay?"

Elle giggled at the scolding Dom was giving their unborn child. "Darling, I don't think he has fingers yet," she said. Why she'd chosen to use the male pronoun she wasn't quite sure, but she couldn't bear to call their unborn child an "it". Her fingers found their way into his hair, gently combing her fingers through it for the time being.

"Shush, I'm being strict," he teased her fondly, pressing another kiss to her belly before heading south. And that tongue" Well, it could tell a good story, or be disarming honest, but when it came to bedroom antics, it was beginning to become very clear that flexibility and stamina had all sort of applications to benefit the woman he loved.

Elle knew from experience that this was only the warm-up. She was perfectly happy to let Dom take whatever liberties he wanted, but tit for tat, she'd repay his attention with some of her own before long. She had once thought she'd loved Jimmy, but what she'd felt for Daisy's father was nothing compared to how she felt about Dom. She might have warned him that he was in danger of spoiling Daisy, but in truth, he was far more in danger of spoiling Elle.

He was thorough, he was enthusiastic, he was gentle, but above all, he was loving. It wasn't only that he wanted to show Elle how much she meant to him, in every possible way, but that he needed to. He had learned from the mistakes of his past. Elle would never doubt the depth of his feeling for her, and this little display was only a small reminder of the way he showed her his heart every single day.

She had never doubted his love, not for a single instant. How could she when he had made his feelings so clear right from the start and when he kept proving it again and again? Whether he was spending time with Daisy or making love to Elle, there was no doubt in Elle's mind that he loved her. She only hoped she could be worthy of his love and continue to make him happy, not only today, but for the rest of their lives.