"And why, may I ask, have you been conducting this close examination of Ben's goolies?" Dom asked his daughter, heaving her up onto her feet as he rose himself. One hand wandered to his crotch to check the damage. "Thank gods I'm wearing underpants."

"I saw them when Mummy was changing his diaper!" Daisy explained simply, and just a little defensively.

"I will not ask why you wouldn't be, Dominic," Elle remarked regarding whether Dom had gone commando or not, as she went to answer the phone.

Daisy giggled again, leaning conspiratorially toward Dom to whisper, "Mummy's waddling like a duck."

"I heard that!" Elle told her. Apparently, mothers not only had eyes behind their head but superhuman hearing, too.

"Yes, but she's our duck," Dom whispered back to Daisy with a warm smile. "Vicki's waddling, too, and she's much bigger than Mummy will be." He watched Elle for a moment, admiring her with loving eyes, before looking down at Daisy. "Do you think I have clean pants down here somewhere, or am I going to have to go upstairs?"

"Quack, quack," was the first thing whoever was on the other end of the phone heard as Elle picked it up to answer.

Daisy grinned at her father and whispered back, "Just keep your legs together and no one will notice!" But even as she said this, she moved to poke a finger at the hole in his pants, completely innocent and unaware of the danger of such an action, her eyes dancing with mischief, much like her mother's.

"Same to you," the voice on the other end of the phone said in greeting. "Duck Waddler 1 calling Duck Waddler 2."

Dom squawked in the background, lurching away to protect his assets from the little finger poking through the hole in his pants.

"Oh, it's you!" Elle replied, laughing and recognizing the voice on the other end. "Sorry, Daisy was just commenting on how I'm starting to waddle, so I thought I might as well quack, too. What's up?" she asked, easing herself down onto a chair to make herself more comfortable while she chatted with her bestie.

Vicki's smile was audible, though it sounded as though things were a little more hectic over there than they were at Wisteria. "I don't think it's a case of what?s up, so much as the dam being about to burst," she told Elle in amusement. Yes, it was a little early, but she was still safe at 35 weeks. Hell, it might even be an easier birth because of it. "How do you feel about bringing your family over to the big house and staying overnight?"

"Oh, dear," Elle replied quietly. "What do you need us to do?" she asked, but it seemed Vicki was already way ahead of her. She moved to her feet, waving to Dom and Daisy to get their attention. "Are we okay with spending the night at the big house?" she asked them both, not bothering to explain why just yet.

Somehow, in the course of that small conversation, Dom had managed to capture both Daisy's hands in one of his, and was busily stuffing a clean sock in her mouth. He looked up guiltily as Elle waved for his attention. "Um ..." Clearing his throat, he pulled the sock out of Daisy's mouth and pocketed it. "I think that sounds like fun, actually," he said, looking curiously at their daughter. "What do you think?"

"Mummy, Daddy put a sock in my mouth!" Daisy tattled, like any normal child her age would do, but she was just as quick to forget about it as soon as the prospect of a sleepover was presented. She jumped up and down in anticipation. "Oh, yes, canwecanwecanwe?"

Elle laughed, returning her attention to the phone call. "I got a resounding yes. How soon are we talking?" she asked, wondering just how imminent this damn-busting operation was.

"I think we have a couple of hours to play with before I absolutely have to be at the hospital," Vicki told her, the relief in her voice audible. "We've got Lila and Zahan here at the moment, too, but I am reliably informed their parents will be returning for them after dinner. Daisy won't be bored."

"Okay, give us half an hour or so?" Elle asked, relieved it would be a few hours yet, though she knew babies didn't always pay much attention to a time schedule, especially when they were being born.

"Thanks, Elle. See you soon." The noise on the other end of the phone seemed to escalating as Vicki lowered the receiver. Elle only just caught the beginning of what she was about to say before the line went dead. "Will someone please explain why we're making all this -"

Across the room, Dom looked at Elle curiously. "Time?" he asked, making a guess that wasn't entirely uninformed.

"Daisy, go pack an overnight bag, please. We're going to stay at Uncle Humpy's tonight," Elle informed her daughter, who immediately scampered over to do her mother's bidding with a squeal of delight. "She said a few hours at most," Elle explained to her husband once Daisy was out of earshot.

Dom watched Daisy skip away, smiling at her enthusiasm. Then he moved over to Elle, wrapping his arms about her. "She'll be fine," he assured her quietly. "Jon's the one to worry about. Apparently he has a tendency to panic when its time." He was very carefully not going to even think about touching on what he was going to be like when it was time for them to do this particular little dance.

"Only because he loves her, darling," Elle reminded him, stroking his cheek with her fingers. She didn't dare mention what he might be like when the time came, but she had a feeling Dom wouldn't be much better, considering what he had gone through with Gwen. "Are you okay with staying there tonight' She needs someone to keep an eye on the children, and she trusts us."

"Of course I am," he promised her. "Someone needs to be able to chase down those little terrors of theirs, and unfortunately, darling, you don't have the speed right now." He grinned at her, leaning down to brush a soft kiss against her lips. "We should pack a bag. And I need to change my pants."

"No, apparently, I am waddling now," Elle replied with a pout that was quickly kissed away, to be replaced by a smirk. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she told him, regarding the outcome that Twister had had on his pants. "I would prefer your goolies be covered, though. No one gets to see those but me," she said, reaching between them to poke her own finger into the hole in his crotch and wiggle it.

"Are you going to take Mummy to the hospital when time for her to have the baby, too?" Daisy asked, slipping one hand into his as she followed him back to her parents' bedroom. It wasn't so much that that worried her as it was being left behind.

"If Mummy decides she wants to go to the hospital to have the baby, then yes, sweetling, that's what we'll do," Dom told her gently. "But we won't leave you all alone. We'll make a plan in advance, and you can choose who you stay with if it has to be overnight. There's no guarantee that I won't be able to come back home and stay overnight with you."

"Could she have the baby here?" Daisy asked further. She understood that her mother might have to go to the hospital without her, but she was hoping she wouldn't. Mother and daughter were exceptionally close, even more so, considering everything they had gone through together before they'd met the white knight that was Dominic Granger.

"She could, yes," Dom told her gently. "But it depends on her, and what feels right to her. Sometimes women don't feel right unless they're in a hospital to have a baby. It wouldn't be anything personal against you, sweetling."

"But I could visit, right?" she pressed him further, a worried frown on her young face. Daisy and her mother had never really been separated before, except for overnight visits to friends and family and that one time she'd rather forget when the bad guys were trying to hurt them.

"Of course you can, sweetling." He paused, crouching down to her level to meet her eyes. "No one is going to stop you from seeing your mum, especially then. If she chooses the hospital, I will come and get you the second she's allowed visitors, and we will stay for as long as we're allowed to before they throw us out. Deal?"

"Shake on it?" she asked, with hopeful and trusting eyes as she held out her hand to him. There were few she trusted more than her Dom, who had earned her trust when he'd saved her life and that of her mother. That he'd become her father was just icing on the cake.

"Absolutely." He smiled, holding out his hand to the little girl who had become such an intrinsic part of his life. Without her compliance, there was no way in hell Elle would ever have considered even dating him, much less marrying him. In many ways, Daisy was the one who had engineered her parents into marriage in the first place.

Everyone knew a deal wasn't a deal until you shook on it, and so, Daisy slid her fingers around Dom's much larger hand and shook it as hard as she could. She beamed a smile at him, knowing there was no way he was going to back out of his promise now that he'd shaken on it. "I love you, Daddy," she said suddenly, letting go of his hand to fling her arms around his neck.

He chuckled, wrapping her up in his arms as she threw herself at him. "Love you back, sweetling," he promised her, kissing her hair affectionately. "But we should get moving before your mum decides she can get there faster by stealing my bike."

Daisy giggled at the idea of her pregnant mom riding Dom's motorcycle. It was no big secret that Elle hated that thing and had been known more than once to call it a "death trap", though Daisy thought it was pretty cool. In her eyes, it was just a bicycle with an engine, after all. She couldn't wait for the day when she could have her own, but she hadn't yet told her mother that. "Mummy would never do that," Daisy pointed, helpfully. "She doesn't like when you ride it either," she added, skipping ahead of him toward her parents' bedroom. "I'm all packed, Mummy! Can we go now?"

Of course, Elle had never actually told Dom not to take Daisy on his bike, and he'd done it a few times, but now Daisy had shared that little tidbit, he was going to have to remember not to do it again. With the little girl's bag in one hand, he followed her to the bedroom to collect the other bag he was sharing with Elle. "Yes, Mummy, can we go now?" he asked innocently, batting his lashes at Elle with as sweet a smile as he could manage.

"If you two are done dawdling," Elle countered with a grin. "Daisy, can you go clean up the Twister game before we go?" she asked her daughter.

Daisy pouted a little, eager to be on their way, but she knew better than to argue, which would only delay their departure further. "Yes, Mummy," she replied, bouncing once on her parents' bed before skipping back toward the door. "Hurry up before the baby is born!" she warned them both before going to do her mother's bidding.

Elle sighed. "That girl has more energy in her little finger than I have in my entire body."

"She loves you," Dom reminded her fondly, taking both bags into one hand in order to guide her safely down the stairs. "She's worried about not seeing you when it's our turn to do all this, you know."

"I know," Elle replied quietly, knowing all too well where those worries stemmed from. She knew he worried about her, too, but there was no reason to think anything will go wrong. "She's going to need you even more once the baby is born," she told him, though he probably knew this already. She didn't want Daisy to be forgotten in all the excitement that would accompany a new baby.

"We already made a deal," he promised her warmly. "If you decide on the hospital, I'm coming back for her the second you're allowed visitors and she's staying until we get thrown out." He flashed his wife a tender smile. "I won't forget her, darling. Promise."

"Sorry," Elle apologized with a small frown. "I know I worry too much." She didn't bother to explain why, since he knew most of that story already. She didn't say whether she had decided on a home or hospital birth yet, but she was leaning toward a hospital birth, if only to ease his mind. "Shall we go see if Jon is wearing a hole in the carpet?" she asked, smiling up at him.

He kissed her temple gently. "Worry all you like," he told her. "Just don't let it get in the way of what you want and need." Her suggestion that they get going made him chuckle. "Yes, I think we probably should. Vicki might just need a hand getting everyone corralled and ready to go herself."

"All I ever need I have right here," she assured her, meaning not only him, but Daisy and the baby and all their friends and family at Maple Grove. There had been a time when Elle had wanted more than that. She'd wanted an easy life full of glamor and luxury, but she had since learned that money didn't buy happiness; love did. She touched a kiss to his lips, as if to prove her point before letting him lead her downstairs, where Daisy had just finished boxing up the game.

It was only a matter of minutes to sweep his girls into the car and drive down to the big house - not that driving was entirely necessary, but he didn't think making Elle walk across the wet grass was fair. Lila and Zahan were playing on the main staircase; a pile of futon mattresses and cushions were providing the perfect landing area for the little girls as they slid down the banister.

Bright red curls bounced as Emily nodded vigorously, holding out her precious cuddly. "Cos I lub my mummy," she said as firmly as a three-year-old could manage. "And 'cos Ben gotted it for me, so it's is from me an' him."

"All right then. I'm sure Mummy will feel better having something of yours with her. She's going to miss you, too, you know, darling, but I promise we'll take good care of you and Ben, and she'll be home before you know it," Elle said, hoping she wasn't making empty promises. "Will you help me put the rest of these things back in the bag" And then you can go tell Mummy how much you love her."

Satisfied, if not happy with the turn of events, Emily put the monster into the bag, patting it down with a heavy hand to make room for everything else that still had to go in there. "Arn'Elle," she said in a thoughtful tone of voice. "Why won'ted the babies wait?"

Elle had that "Oh, dear" look on her face again at Emily's question, but she'd fielded tougher questions from her own daughter from time to time. "Well, it's hard to explain, but babies are a little like dinner. They take a long time to get ready, but once they are, they can't wait very long to be born or they might get sick, or even make Mummy sick." Elle didn't want to scare the little girl, but she wanted her to know that it was important her mother didn't wait too long.

Emily's mouth fell open in horror. "Mummy!" she yelled suddenly, turning on her heel to run into the kitchen, still yelling at the top of her lungs. "Mummy, you got to go or the babies will make you throw up!"

There was a pause as Vicki laughed. "I beg your pardon?"

Elle couldn't help chuckling as Emily took her literally. Well, what did she expect from a three year old" It certainly made her change her tune, though. She tucked the rest of the items into Vicki's bag, closed it, and zipped it, but left it there for Jon or Dom to fetch to the car before following Emily from the room and shrugging innocently at her friend. "I merely explained how the babies might make you sick if they don't come out on time."

By the time Elle reached the kitchen, Emily was sitting on the table with her legs wrapped around Vicki's bump, cuddling into her mother warmly. Vicki smiled up at Elle. "Well, it's quite true," she agreed, looking at her daughter. "But I will be fine, monster. So long as the babies are out by tomorrow morning, I promise I will not throw up on them. Okay?" Emily nodded, snuggling in a little closer. "Why don't you go and help Uncle Dom and Daddy make Ben feel better?" Vicki suggested to her. "He's going to need his big sister tonight, and you are the best big sister in the world." Preening, Emily wriggled down and scampered out, leaving the two women alone. Vicki met Elle's eyes with weary resignation. "If you had not arrived when you did, I think I might have strangled her."

"We would have been here sooner, but Daisy was taking forever packing," Elle explained, moving closer to offer a gentle hug. "How are you holding up" Do we need to call the midwife?" she asked, obviously concerned for her friend.

Hugging Elle for a little longer than was entirely necessary, Vicki sighed. "No, they're already expecting us," she assured her friend. "To be honest, the sooner we're at the hospital, the better I'll feel. Doing this with two in there is terrifying, but I don't dare let on to Jon. His nerves are mush as it is."

"You've done this twice already. You can do it again," Elle encouraged her friend. "Don't worry about Emily and Ben. They'll be fine. Just worry about yourself and Jon and the twins. Oh, and I promised Emily could call and say goodnight, but we'll worry about that when the time comes. Now, let's go find Jon, shall we?" she asked, smiling as she took her friend's arm to lead her from the room.

"Going by my track record, once we start, it'll be over in about an hour," Vicki predicted, pausing a moment to breathe through a contraction before rising at Elle's urging. "We'll call, no matter what time it is. Wake them up if you have to." With her arm through Elle's, she smiled, touching her head to her friend's shoulder. "Thank you for taking them on. We really weren't expecting this for at least another couple of weeks."

"Don't be silly. That's what friends are for," Elle replied, both of them waddling slowly toward the stairs and stopping at the top. "Dom?" Elle called, unsure if she could get Vicki downstairs without his or Jon's help. And there were the cushions and pillows to navigate around at the bottom, too.

"Coming!" Dom reappeared from the stairwell, looking a little flushed as he glanced back downward. The girls were still playing, but had made room in their game for Emily and Ben, innocently distracting the toddlers from their parents' imminent leave-taking. "Jon! Get up here!"

"Can one of you come and get Vicki's bag?" Elle asked from the top of the stairs, not daring to lead Vicki down the stairs without Dom or Jon's help.

Lo and behold, Jon appeared behind Dom, almost as if from thin air, and upon seeing the two women at the top of the stairs, started up them himself. "Stay right there! I'm coming!" he said, taking two steps at a time as he ascended.

"I'll get the bag," Dom volunteered with a chuckle, stepping around the two women as a loud cheer from below announced that Ben's inaugural slide had been a total success.

Vicki laughed softly, one hand on the rail tightening with white knuckles as she tensed. "I promise, it isn't always so hectic around here."

Elle frowned a little as she watched the children, wondering whether that game was such a safe one for them to be playing, but Lila and Zahan seemed to have things well in hand. "It's not such a bad thing, you know," she told her friend, happy to be surrounded by such hecticness because it meant being with family, at least for a little while.

With Dom fetching the bag, it was up to Jon to escort his wife down the stairs. "Just take it slow," he told her as he wound an arm around her waist. "One step at a time."

"Why can't I just slide down the banister like them?" Vicki complained, nodding toward the children. While it might not have seemed quite such a safe thing for them to be doing, they were not without supervision. The cook was watching them from the main kitchen doorway, not to mention Humphrey's perfect view from his study, and Cosmo standing guard.

There was a grunt from behind them as they headed down the stairs, and a moment later, Dom came sliding past on the banister, arms high as he wailed enthusiastically. He hit the pile of cushions with a loud thump, rolling onto his back with a grin.

"Um, because you're pregnant and about to give birth?" Jon replied, stating the obvious as he led Vicki down the stairs.

Behind him came the sound of a heavy sigh from the woman Dom had slid past without so much as a second glance, and then Elle was clearing her throat, arms crossed, one foot tapping the floor impatiently. "Dominic Granger, are you five?"

"Um ..." Dom had the decency to look guilty as he sat up, though the smile didn't help his cause as he looked up at his wife. "It looked like fun," was his only defense, much to the amusement of the children who were crowding around him in congratulations. At least Elle knew he was on top of keeping the little ones safe in their game now.

"All right, all right," Vicki laughed in answer. "The babies are here - one girl, one boy, in that order, and fast asleep right now. And she looks a lot like you, Emily."

A small sleepy voice spoke up from Dom's lap. "Daddy comin' home?"

"In a few hours," Jon replied on the other end of the phone. "Promise to go right to sleep, and I'll check on you both when I get home. Oh! Would you like to see a picture?" he asked. "Hang on a second, and I'll send you one."

Daisy tugged at her mother's sleeve again as one of her questions wasn't answered yet.

"Daisy wants to know what you named them," Elle informed them.

"Madeline and Christopher," Vicki answered the question finally. "Or Maddy and Chris, which seems to suit them better. What do you think, Daisy' Good enough for the family?"

Dom chuckled; he could feel Ben relaxing on his lap with the promise that Jon would be coming home in a few hours, and Emily was positively beaming with the fulfillment of the promise to call.

"Those are very good names, Aunt Vicki," Daisy replied, offering her approval as she leaned against her mother's arm.

"How are you doing, darling" You sound tired. Did everything go okay?" Elle asked of Vicki, knowing she could only say so much with the children present. She assumed all was well, but she wanted to be sure.

"I'm fine," Vicki promised, stifling a laugh as Jon fumbled to find or take a picture and send it without cutting off the call. "Tired, but happy. I was right - took ages to get going, but once we did, they were both out in about half an hour."

"Did you find my monster, Mummy?" Emily asked hopefully.

"We did! What a lovely surprise it was, thank you! He's sleeping with the babies right now, so every time I look over there, I can see all of you!"

Elle didn't dare tell her friend how worried she'd been, but she was obviously relieved that the birth was finally over and everyone was all right. She still had a million questions, but some of those questions couldn't be asked or answered in front of the children and would have to wait. "I'm so happy for you both!" Elle said, and to her credit, there were actually tears in her eyes. "I can't wait to see them."

"Check your phone, the picture should be there," Vicki laughed wearily.

Dom edged closer, gathering Emily onto his lap with her brother so they could all get a good look at the picture now on the screen.

Elle clicked over so that they could view the photo without hanging up, and there was a photo of two newborn babies, one wrapped in a pink blanket and one wrapped in blue, snuggled close against together, like they were already inseparable. "Oh, they're absolutely adorable!"

"And they was really inside Mummy?" Emily asked, a little blown away by the fact that not only did she have a new baby brother and sister, but that they were already sharing her favorite cuddly, too.

"Yes, they was! Were!" Elle replied, laughing as she looked over at Dom and dashed a few tears from her eyes. In another two months, that was going to be them. The only difference was that they were only having one of them.

"Can we come and see you, Mummy?" Emily asked then, moving quickly on to the most important part.

Vicki's smile was audible. "Of course you can, monster," she promised. "Daddy will bring you in tomorrow, you and Ben, and we can have a proper cuddle. I miss my little monsters, you know!"

Dom's smile softened in the face of Elle's tears, reaching over to stroke her cheek affectionately. This was a rather sweet insight into what things were going to be like at Christmas for them.

Elle smiled over at him, a little embarrassed at her tears and hoping Daisy didn't notice, though there wasn't much her daughter missed. Elle suddenly felt a little like she was eavesdropping on a private moment between her friends and their children. "We're very happy for you both," she told the other couple. "Aren't we?" she said, hugging Daisy to her and looking from her to Dom.

"We're delighted," Dom agreed with a smile. "But five people in this conversation need to get some sleep. Say goodnight to your parents, kiddos."

"N'night," Ben offered up through a yawn, with Emily adding her own goodnight a little more enthusiastically.

"They're very cute, Aunt Vicki!" Daisy chimed in, even as she, too, stifled a yawn and leaned against her mother.

"I guess that means us!" Elle said with a chuckle.

"I'll be home in a few hours," Jon promised again. "Love you both and be good for Aunt Elle and Uncle Dom!"

"Good night, lovelies - sweet dreams!" Vicki added with a low laugh. "Tell Uncle Dom to make you pancakes for breakfast, you've earned them."

Dom laughed, rolling his eyes. "That's my morning sorted, then."

"Good night!" Jon said again before hanging up the phone. He had a few more phone calls to make, but this one was the most important.

"We'll have to tell Humphrey first thing in the morning," Elle mused aloud. She didn't have the heart to wake the old man, no matter how good the news was.

"And we will," Dom promised her, heaving himself up from the couch with both toddlers in his arms. "Come on, sleepy teds, time for bed. Sooner you sleep, sooner you get pancakes and Daddy in the morning." He bent to let the little ones kiss Elle and Daisy goodnight before heading off to their bedrooms, through the archway that had once been a wall between two separate suites.

"Surprisingly, yes, it is," he assured her. "I've spent a few nights on it - too big for one person, but Ed and I shared once." He frowned thoughtfully. "You know, I have no idea why. I'm pretty sure neither of us were drunk. Too lazy to go home, perhaps?"

"Were you and Edward always close?" she asked curiously, as she unzipped her overnight bag to dig her pajamas out. She'd never had any siblings or family of her own, and she envied those who had, even if those families weren't perfect.

"I suppose we were," he mused, bending to begin removing cushions to pull out the bed part of Jon and Vicki's sofa-bed. "We were both the only boys in our respective family groups, so we gravitated toward each other, and as we grew up, we both developed interests in cultures other than our own. We're both better traveled than most of the rest of the family, too."

"I always thought you and Jon were pretty close, but I suppose since Jon lost his memory ..." She trailed off. All of that had happened before she'd arrived on Rhy'Din, and she'd never paid too much attention to the gossip columns back home. She'd had much bigger things to worry about.

"I was always close with Jon, too," Dom smiled at her, heaving the iron framework out. Bless Vicki's preparedness - it was already a made bed. It just needed plumping up a little. "We all hung out together when we were kids, but we did all go our own ways."

"You're lucky to have had that," she remarked. Even if they hadn't always gotten along and had eventually gone their separate ways, he'd had a family to grow up with and to come home to - a family that she was lucky enough to be part of now, too.

"You have it now, too," he pointed out with a wink. "You are stuck with us - all of us - forever!" Letting out the worst evil villain laugh he could muster, he patted her rear end for comedic effect, stepped backward to avoid retaliation, and tripped himself up, landing flat on his back on the sofa-bed. "I meant to do that."

She barked a laugh, clamping a hand against her mouth to stifle her own laughter so that she didn't wake the children. While he'd been pulling out the bed, she'd been changing her clothes, one step ahead of him there. She laid down beside him, fingers sliding beneath his shirt. "Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are?"

"You know, I think my wife has a habit of saying it every so often," he admitted, chuckling as she slid her hand over his skin. "Our daughter just calls me a doofus, but I'm pretty sure it means the same thing." Grinning, he leaned over to kiss her. "Let me do the jammies thing and turn out the lights, and you can torment me to your heart's content, love."

Our daughter. The sound of that on his lips made her smile. Not her daughter, but theirs. Together. It didn't matter a bloody damn if Dominic wasn't Daisy's birth father; he was the only father she'd ever known, the only one she'd ever love - her heart-father. Her Daddy. It brought tears to Elle's eyes to think of it, to know he loved them both so much, and would love the son she bore him, as well. "I don't want to torment you, Dom," she corrected him, touching her fingers to trace his jaw, his lips. "I just want to love you," she told him before touching a tender kiss to his lips.

"With Cosmo due to come in at any moment?" he asked with a grin. "By the way ....how would you feel about a puppy' I hear tell there will be a few going at Willow Manor in a couple of months. And I promise, I will help Daisy with all the dog stuff. As well as helping you with all the baby stuff. My paternity is very generous."

"Mmm," she replied sleepily, but not so sleepily that she wouldn't let him know how much she loved him before he fell asleep. "You don't think a new baby is enough to contend with?" she asked, already knowing she was putty in his hands. There was very little she could ever deny him.

Though Dom still needed to change, he was quite happy to lie there until she dropped off, always content to be her pillow whenever she wanted him to be. "I think we should talk about it," he murmured, knowing just the timbre of his voice was enough to send her to sleep some nights, but glad she had relaxed enough now to let it happen. "And I think you and I are going to visit Vicki tomorrow, so you can see the effect of a healer's magic hands on a woman post-birth."

"As you wish, my prince," she replied, tracing his mouth with a finger again - his very kissable mouth. Who was she to argue if he wanted a puppy' She knew he'd be doing it for Daisy. "I warned you about spoiling us," she said, smiling, but again, she had no reason to argue about it.

"Why shouldn't I spoil my wife?" he pointed out softly. "I love her, you know. And I've been behaving myself with our daughter, so I think I'm due a little spoilage there. I even gave her a time out last week." Admittedly, it had lasted all of two minutes, but he had done it.

She thought that over a moment, though it didn't really need considering. There was something else she'd been wanting to tell him; it might as well be now. "I'm quitting my job," she said, out of the blue. What was the point of working at the jewelry shop when she was needed more here" The job had just been something to keep her busy, but with two months until their son was born, she had plenty to keep her busy right here at Maple Grove.

He blinked, a little surprised to hear her suddenly so sure after weighing it up for a few months. "Are you sure?" he asked gently. "That you want to do that?" But even as he asked, he knew she had made up her mind. It was good to know that she would have Vicki on hand, as well as Piper, and however many other stay at homes there were living on the Grove. But he had to ask.

"I'm sure. I want to be home with you and Daisy and the baby. Is that so unbelievable" I never wanted to be ..." She trailed off, not finishing that thought. She'd been a victim of circumstance, but no more. Dom had given her that.

"Then you quit," he agreed with her, not needing her to finish that sentence to understand what she was saying. They understood one another far better than most people could have predicted they would. "So long as you're happy, Belle. That's all I want."

"I am always happy when I'm with you," she told him, laughing a little at her own words. "Bloody hell. I sound as corny as a Disney movie, don't I?"

He chuckled, pressing a tender kiss to her hair. "You know I'm a sucker for a good Disney love story," he reminded her fondly. A creak from the doorway announced that Cosmo had come looking for his puppies, suggesting that Humphrey was on his way to bed. Dom smiled. "Now the valiant protector has arrived, I should catch Humphrey and tell him the news," he said quietly. "Be back in a few minutes, love."

"Don't be long," she told him, touching a kiss to his lips to remind him what he was missing if he stayed away too long. She didn't argue with him about sharing the news with Humphrey, though she thought Jon might have called done that already. It struck her not for the first or probably last time how very lucky she was, how happy and how safe she and Daisy were here with him and how content her life had become.

"Promise." He kissed her one last time, tucking the covers over her before rising from the bed and slipping from the suite. Cosmo immediately took his place, an opportunist always looking for a warm spot to curl up in. He'd go and check on the children later, but for now, even Cosmo seemed to want hugs.

Elle laughed as Cosmo hopped up on the bed. "Better hurry, love. You have competition!" she called after him as he departed the suite. "Silly dog," she said, ruffling Cosmo's ears. No matter how long it took Dom to share the news with the old man, by the time he came back, he was guaranteed to find her fast asleep, snuggled up with Jon's dog close by.

And in truth, that was what he wanted to find. Dom knew he was responsible for the house tonight, even after Jon made it back, and he took that responsibility very seriously. This was his family - children, dogs, grumpy old men and all. He didn't want to let any of them down. And with any luck, he never would.