It was with no little relief that he straightened up, glad he'd managed to put Ro down without breaking her or waking her up. His arm wrapped automatically around Miranda as she leaned into him, choked for a moment at the realization that this was how it should have been with Bethany. His work had almost destroyed any chance he might have had for happiness with the woman he loved and the daughter they had made together; he would not allow it to destroy Ro the way it had her mother. Squeezing Miranda tenderly, he turned his face against her neck, his eyes dry but his heart aching. "I'm going to have to get Beth to teach me how to make up bottles," he murmured - not that he didn't trust Miranda to teach him how. He was acutely aware that he would have to walk a tightrope between his care for his blood-born daughter and his care for the daughter he never expected to be given.

She squeezed her eyes closed against the threat of more tears, tucking her arms around him and holding him close, not just for him but for her, too. They needed each other now more than ever, and she suddenly knew she'd made the right choice in calling Bethany. She smiled at his statement, understanding his need to invite Beth into his life in such a way that she wouldn't feel threatened or left out by the new daughter in their lives. She also knew Beth well enough to know she'd be more than helpful and understanding - Miranda had raised her, after all, and knew her better than anyone. "I think that's a wonderful idea," she whispered back, lifting her head to look up at him and force him to meet her gaze. "We're going to be all right, Rufus."

He drew in a slow breath, not quite able to see further ahead than a few days just yet. But he had faith in his beloved wife, and if she believed they would be all right, then he believed it, too. He touched a soft kiss to the tip of her nose, stroking her back with an affectionate hand. "What would I do without you, Miri?" he asked in a low whisper.

There was a myriad of ways she could respond to that, both serious and comical, but she thought she'd give him the response that was nearest her heart and perhaps the one he needed to hear most. "What would I do without you, Rufio?" she countered, in a whisper that matched his, touching a caress to his cheek before touching a kiss to his lips.

His arms tightened around her, drawing her closer into an embrace that tried to say everything he could not find words for. To thank her for being patient with him, for taking him back after so many years apart; for loving him, especially now, when he knew he had failed so terribly in the one job he'd had for over a decade; for gathering their family close when he needed them. But most of all, for being herself, the woman he loved and had loved for too many years to count. "I need you, angel."

Her heart swelled to hear him say those words - not love but need, even after all the years spent apart or perhaps because of them. She had let him back into her life without a second thought, doing her best to make up for all the lost years. There had never been any doubt in her mind that he loved her - he'd sacrificed his own happiness to keep her and Bethany safe. But to know that he needed her, that was something she hadn't heard from him before. The truth of the matter was that she needed him, too, more than she had ever dared to admit. "I need you, too, Rufus." She let go of him so that her hands could trail up his chest and around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. "I never stopped loving you. Not for a single instant."

The kiss burned with words unspoken - words that didn't truly need to be spoken. They both felt them, knew them to be true, clinging to one another in this gentler slide of grief that had settled upon them in the wake of the shocking day. "Nor I, you," he promised her fervently. He had never even so much as looked at another woman after leaving her side, giving rise to all sorts of speculation from his colleagues and such. There simply was no one for him but Miranda.

A gentle cough from the doorway warned them they weren't alone. "Am I gonna have to put you guys to bed, too?" Beth drawled softly.

Miranda laughed softly at the sound of her - no, their - daughter's voice at the door. She smiled against his lips, stealing another kiss. She thought she'd never grow tired of kissing him, even when they were far older and grayer than they were now. "I think we can still handle it on our own," she replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief, despite the sadness of the circumstances that had brought them all together.

"Good." Beth grinned at them, wandering into the room to claim the baby monitor. She waved it under Rufus' nose. "This is ours for tonight, one night only," she informed her father, who grimaced and rolled his eyes at her. "You need to sleep, both of you. I will put you straight back to bed if you get up tonight at all." This threat was leveled at both her parents; evidently Beth took looking after them very seriously, indeed.

"Just sleep?" Miranda asked, that playful gleam still in her eyes, tugging Rufus closer. Whether or not she followed through on what she was alluding to was no one's business but their own, and as their daughter, Bethany most likely didn't want to know either way, but she couldn't help but tease her.

Rufus snorted with laughter at the look on their daughter's face at Miranda's tease. "I do solemnly swear to make her bite a pillow if she gets carried away," he assured Beth, who grimaced much as he had and waved her hands at them.

"Shoo, both of you. I'll look after Ro tonight. Just ....no banging so hard you break anything, okay?"

"The only thing I'll break is your father. Promise," Miranda quipped back at her daughter, earning her reputation as being an irrepressible optimist - or maybe she was just being cheerful for Rufus' sake. Either way, she refused to let even this tragedy drag at them too long. She would rather celebrate Lei's life than grieve her death. "Come along, husband," she said, tugging at his shirt. "Before she makes good on her threat and tucks us both in."

Leaving Beth snorting with laughter even as she leaned over the crib to coo at what was, essentially, her new baby sister, Rufus grinned for the first time all day, bending himself to hoist his wife up into his arms, ignoring the last twinge from the mostly healed wounds on his body. That magic ointment Taylor had brought with him had worked wonders. "Come along, wife," he countered, sidling through the door on his way to their own bedroom. "It's about time I tucked you in for once."

"Eep!" Miranda gave a little surprised squeak as her husband hoisted her into his arms, pleasantly surprised to find the sadness of the day hadn't diminished his spirits entirely. "I like the sound of that," she said, waggling her perfectly-plucked eyebrows at them both, as her arms wound their way back around his neck. She was perfectly happy to let him take charge, and actually wished he'd do so more often, but she wasn't going to say that in front of their daughter.

Safely ensconced in their own bedroom and the privacy it afforded them now their home was filled with family for a little while, Rufus drew his wife down onto the bed. Whether she said it aloud or not, he knew she enjoyed it when he took charge, and for some reason, tonight he needed to do that. He needed this reminder that he was alive, that she was alive, and he had every intention of making sure she knew beyond any shadow of any doubt that she was the center of his world. It was just as well Beth had claimed ownership of Ro for the night; Rufus was fully intending to utterly exhaust the woman he loved with nothing but the skill in his hands and lips.

It would be a little while yet before he exhausted her, as she intended to do the same to him. There was more than one way to show him she loved him, and she intended to drive all thought of grief from his mind the only way she knew how, if only for one night. Come morning, they'd face the reality of Lei's death and deal with what needed to be done. She would make sure there was no doubt in his mind or his heart that they would weather this storm, just as they had others, but this time they'd do it together.

((Well, there are a few adjustments to make for this branch of the family now. They can do it!))