There was an old saying: New house, new baby, but as far as James was concerned, one out of two wasn't bad. The house was finally finished, and though they'd moved in a few weeks ago, they were still getting settled. Boxes were still scattered about the house, pictures not yet adorning the walls, but they'd get here eventually. For the moment, the two of them were enjoying a cup of coffee on their new deck and enjoying the view before of the sea that was spread out before them.

"I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again," Ash announced from where she was sprawled, half on her own chair, and half on his. "Our view is very nearly orgasmic. Nearly." She grinned, winking over at him. "It'd be really orgasmic if you had your hand down my pants, but you said no."

"Well, I only have two hands, lass. I can't very well drink my coffee and give you pleasure at the same time, can I" What was it someone said about patience" Patience is a virtue, or something like that," he replied with a grin as he very patiently sipped at his coffee, dark eyes bright with amusement.

She wriggled her bare toes at him, sliding one foot underneath the snug fit of his vest as she sipped her own coffee. "Just how many virtues do you think I have?" she teased him warmly. "Seeing as we started this relationship pleasantly drunk together." Grinning, she looked out over the bay in front of them, admiring the Lady Charlotte where she was at anchor. That yacht had been home for several months while they were waiting for this house to be finished, and she had to admit, she missed it a little. Not enough to give up a king-sized bed, though.

The beauty of it though was that the Lady Charlotte was still there and always would be for when they wanted or needed her. "Shall I make a list?" he teased in return, not daring to tickle those toes of hers for fear she might spill his coffee, but making no move to push her foot away from his vest either. It was an intimate gesture, and one that told him how much she trusted him. "We could get drunk again, if you like," he added with a grin.

"We are not drinking wassail again this year," she informed him laughingly. "That was disgusting, and I got far too drunk too fast on it. I enjoyed Twelfth Night, though. Kinda felt special, something just for us, you know?" She was behaving herself thus far, but she had plans to cover the house in Christmas decorations the second November became December.

"I did warn you, love," he said, that amused grin still in place. He was smiling a lot more these days, since he'd met her, since he'd fallen in love with her, since he'd married her. He felt at peace even, like his life had finally come full circle, and he'd found his true purpose and meaning in life.

"And I didn't listen, of course," she laughed, knowing her own flaws intimately. She sighed contentedly, looking out over the beach and the bay with a strangely mature smile wavering on her lips. "I know we're heading out on a research trip in February," she mused thoughtfully. "And there's another one in the works for May ....I was wondering if you had any plans for July/August I should know about."

He arched a dark brow at her from where he sat, her foot in his lap. "What sort of plans" That's not for another ..." He furrowed his brows at her as he did the math in his head. Nine months. Was there something she was trying to tell him' "Lass, you're not ..." He didn't dare say it for fear he was wrong. He wasn't quite sure what he thought about children. They didn't seem too fond of him in Neverland.

Luckily for him, Ash knew he was going to be a little trepidatious when it came to the idea of having children. No matter how much he wanted a family, he hadn't had the best experience of small people in his lifetime. "Would it be a terrible thing if I was?" she asked curiously.

On the other hand, the little people at Maple Grove didn't seem to mind him too much, though he had yet to get to know them better. "No," he replied, quietly, but uncertainly. There was a time when he'd wanted nothing more than a wife and children, but it seemed so long ago, he could hardly remember what that felt like anymore. "I ....I'm just not sure I'd make a very good father," he replied with a frown.

"Hey." Setting her cup down, she slid her feet from his lap, replacing them with her entire self to wrap her arms around him. "You will be an amazing father," she told him. "Seriously. You've managed to keep me out of trouble since we met. Hell, because of you, I have somehow become both mature and responsible on occasion. You don't think that's because of you?"

"No," he replied, chuckling a little at her statement. "I rather think you have that a little backwards, love." As far as he was concerned, it was her who had saved him, who had helped him come out of the darkness of his own misery, who had helped him cope with his past, and in his own way, grow up. Maybe in his own way, he, too, had been a Lost Boy.

She eyed him in amusement. "I've managed to get you in trouble since we met, and because of me, you've become immature and irresponsible?" she asked teasingly, dipping her head until they were nose to nose. Her grin was contagious; of all her siblings, she was the one who laughed at life the most, and she was beginning to infect James with that habit as well.

"That is not what I mean, and you know it," he told her, tapping a finger against the tip of her nose. "So, are you just testing me, or is there ....how do they put it these days ....a bun in the oven?"

She laughed, kissing the tip of his finger in return. "Pretty sure there is," she told him, her eyes bright with the hope that he would be as pleased about it as she was. She'd never really seen herself as the mother type, but she could definitely see James covered in little girls calling him Papa.

"Then I suppose it's a good thing we built a big house," he replied, an almost teasing smile curling his lips behind the dark scruff of beard on his face. He set his coffee cup aside and pulled her onto his lap. "July or August, you said" I have a few months yet to get used to the idea."

Her grin widened as he smiled, her arms wrapping about him as he pulled her onto his lap. "July," she confirmed for him happily, pressing a kiss to his lips. "And I'm really excited, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Mom that I am, because she's been saying for years that I should be a mom because I'm crazy enough to keep a kid entertained for hours on end and she's desperate for all her kids to have children, and as soon as she finds out that we're expecting, she's going to start pestering Jax to get Izzy up the duff, and this is kind of all about us, and isn't it going to be fun"!"

"Bloody hell, lass. Take a breath," he said, with a laugh once she was finished kissing him and babbling excitedly. "May I?" he asked, lifting a hand which then hovered over her abdomen, though she was not yet showing. It was hard to believe that a child was growing inside there, especially a child that would be in part his own flesh and blood.

She nodded happily, leaning back a little way so he could touch the place where their child had taken root. "I'm breathing," she promised, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. "See" Breathing."

"I would never ask you to give up your work, love. I know how much it means to you. I only ask that you be careful. I know how you love the sea and the creatures that live within it, but they may not always share your affection," he pointed out, though that much was obvious. But he didn't really want to talk about her work or the risks inherent in it. "Are you happy about this ....news?" he asked, waving a hand to indicate her belly.

Her smile flickered into view as she nodded. "I really am," she admitted. "But no telling Mom that I said that. She'll only say 'I told you so'." Her hand caught his, slipping her fingers between his to curl possessively. "Kinda hoping for a girl."

His expression softened into a warm smile as she linked her fingers with his. "A girl. A small version of you, I suppose," he added, dark eyes bright with amusement at his teasing. He hadn't really considered whether the child would be a girl or a boy, and while he knew he should have no preference, he found he was hoping for the same. "And if it's a boy?"

"Then he'll be a happy mini-ex-pirate like his daddy, and we'll give him a little sister to protect like his daddy protects me," she told him confidently, brushing the tip of her nose to his. "Hopefully we'll have finished unpacking the house by the time we absolutely have to pick out a name."

"You make it sound so simple," he told her, that smile still soft on his face, just a hint of worry in his eyes. He was confident she'd be a wonderful mother, but he wasn't so sure about himself as a father. "Do you think children hate me, Ashlyn?" he asked, curiously. It seemed the children of Neverland had, and before he had been forced to wear a hook for a hand.

"No, I don't," she said with absolute confidence. "But kids are mercenary little things. They can sense your fear when you're around them, and you do kind of clam up and put this stern face on when you're around anyone under five feet tall, baby. We should spend more time around the kids at the Grove. They're family, and no one will hold it against you if you make a couple of mistakes. Hell, I dropped Lila into the harbor when she was four, and Brynne never killed me for it."

"You dropped her?" he echoed, brows arching upwards. This was the first he'd heard of that. As far as children were concerned, Lila seemed to be one of the more mature members of the group that called Maple Grove home, despite her youth. "I believe the Boys hated me because I symbolized an authority figure. I wonder what they might have thought had they known my relationship with my father was less than ideal." He fell silent a moment, memories crowding his mind, as he toyed with her fingers. "I do not wish to be that kind of father. I do not wish to be like him."

"James, you're not going to be that kind of father," Ash said softly. "You're not going to hide your smile from your children, or withhold your affection from them. You know how I know" Because you never hide from me. You never punish me when I make mistakes, and you never let me feel unloved. Why would you be any different with our children?" Yes, children. Now they'd started, Ash was determined to have more than one child running around at their feet.

A single brow arched at the plural form of the word, but he supposed if they were going to have one child, more would eventually follow. It wasn't an unpleasant thought, really, not so long as they were theirs. "There was a time, a very long time ago, when I wanted nothing more than to have a wife and a family and a home. Do you know I was studying to be a barrister" Not a seaman."

"I didn't know that," she smiled, speaking softly as she curled against him, letting him talk. It was rare for James to volunteer such information about his life before Neverland without being prompted. "You'd have hated it," she added, playing with his fingers fondly. "Never being able to fall in love with the sea ....you never would have known what was missing."

"It was the sea that changed things," he told her, a little lost in thought. It was a dangerous thing to think on the past too much, too easily lost in it when none of it mattered much any longer. It was what had made him the man he was, however. "I sometimes feel as if I was forced to choose between the love of a woman and the sea. With you, I need not chose," he told her further, touching the back of his hand to her cheek in a gentle caress. With her, he could have both and more - wife, home, family, and the sea. "What will we do with a child when we need go to sea?"

"Take them with us." It didn't even need thinking about, in her mind. They were a unit - James, Ash, their children, and the sea. The thought of abandoning a part of that unit, even for a short time, was inconceivable. "Won't we?" Her cheek tilted into his touch, her eyes hoping he wouldn't argue on this point.

"I suppose we will," he replied. During his time, it would have been inconceivable to take a wife and children with him to sea, but this was a much different world. "I cannot think what else we would do with them. I would not wish to leave them - or you - behind."

"Then that's what we'll do," she promised him fondly. "The sea is so much a part of us, it wouldn't feel right not to make her a part of our children, too. Besides, she adores you. Our kids will be the safest little sproglets in the surf ever."

He smiled at that, hoping she was right. She had never told him her name, but the goddess of the sea had looked kindly on him, had healed him, and had brought him to this world to give him a second chance. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve her favor, but he was glad to have it. "Perhaps we should name our first child for her," he suggested.

"What, something like Stella Maris?" Ash asked with a half-grin. There was no way in hell she would name her daughter that, even if it did mean Star of the Sea. "Or something a little more, you know, pretty."

He laughed at her suggestion, as she likely knew he would. "I think something else. That name is a little too ....pretentious," he said, for lack of a better word. Or just downright silly.

"We can go looking for names," she promised him. "There's a whole eight months before we absolutely have to have a short list." She kissed the tip of his nose tenderly. "But I did say I'd properly unpack the kitchen today, didn't I" It's not gonna happen while I'm wiggling around on your lap."

"The kitchen can wait a while longer," he told her, not appearing to be in much of a hurry to let her up from his lap. "You really think we can do this?" he asked further, as he laid a gentle hand against her belly once again.

Her smile softened as she felt the protective warmth of his palm resting over their unborn foetus. "I really think we can," she nodded. "I think we deserve the chance to prove to ourselves that we can, together."

"Hmm," he murmured thoughtfully to himself, before touching his fingers to her cheek and leaning closer. "You do know that I love you, Professor Radcliffe?" he asked, touching his forehead to hers.

"I should hope so," she murmured in answer, smirking impishly at him. "I'm not in the habit of letting just anyone seduce me, marry me, build me a house, and impregnate me." Her smirk widened to a grin as she drew her fingertip along his jaw. "In other words ....I love you back, Captain Radcliffe."

"Ah, you forgot get you drunk," he pointed out with a grin, though it could be argued that it had led to or been part of seduction. "And here I thought it was you who seduced me," he added, though it had likely been mutual seduction then as now.

"Okay, it might have been me the first time," she conceded. "But it was definitely you the second time. I insist I was seduced, and I loved every second of it." Her familiar grin flickered into view as she kissed him. "And your coffee will be cold by now."

"Blast the coffee. I can get a fresh cup," he replied, letting her know exactly what his priority was and it wasn't his coffee. "Shall we sort the kitchen then, or do you have something else in mind?" he asked, before pressing a second kiss to her lips, this one a little more indulgent than the last.

She laughed fondly into that kiss, curling her arms about his neck. He had so many ways of kissing her, ways that told her what he was thinking and feeling without needing words or even eye contact. This kiss was very familiar, and she wouldn't have had it any other way. "We could always christen the kitchen before we unpack it," she murmured against his lips.

"That is a naughty thought, lass," he cajoled her, playfully tapping a finger against her nose. "I like it," he added with a cheeky grin, and before she could say another word, he was moving to his feet with her in his arms and striding purposefully back toward the house.

All that was left in their wake was the sand and the surf, and two forgotten cups of coffee, cooling in the chilly breeze. What a way to start the day.