"Of course not! What do you feel like, besides me?" she teased, batting her lashes coyly at him as she tilted her head so he had better access to her neck, though with Ro on one shoulder, she could only tip her head so far.

He chuckled at her flirting, lifting his head to touch his temple to hers as the tension of being the only adult in the house eased away for a while. "I was going to ask you what you fancied," he admitted, "though I believe I will have to clarify that and make sure to ask you about food. Since you are a wicked wench when you put your mind to it." Not that he minded, if the gentle pat to her rear end was anything to go by.

"I wouldn't be opposed to a bath later, once we get Ro to bed," she replied, with a sweet smile up at him. She didn't have to tell him that bath would be shared and possibly include a glass of two of something bubbly and alcoholic. Of course, that all depended on Rowan and whether she decided to cooperate.

"Mmm, that sounds rather wonderful," he smiled in agreement, touching a soft kiss to her lips. "All right, let me hunt out the menus and see what catches my eye this evening. I wish you the very best of luck with Mount Snottius there."

She took her time returning his kiss, clucking her tongue at his remark about Ro. "Don't you listen to him, Ro-Ro. He just hasn't learned what to do with a stuffy-nosed baby yet," she told her, as she started back toward the nursery to fetch the baby carrier so she could free up her hands to get her clothes changed while Rufus ordered out.

It was so rare for Rufus to order out that just deciding which menu to peruse gave Miranda plenty of time to play with, and then she was treated to the sound of him calling up to ask her what she wanted from the Chinese. She knew him well enough to know that he was writing it all down neatly on a pad so he would get the order exactly right when he finally called it in.

"The usual!" she called back, which didn't help much, unless he remembered that her favorite Chinese take-out dish was always sesame chicken on a bed of white rice, with eggrolls on the side.

Luckily for her, Rufus remembered every detail when it came to his wife, though not always at appropriate times. His Valentine's Day surprise for her had been slightly ruined by the fact that he had woken himself up a few nights before from a very deep sleep, declaring, "Lilies! That was it!" before promptly falling back to sleep. He didn't remember it at all, but she'd had a lot of fun teasing him about it when the bouquet had arrived. Tonight, however, he was on the ball, and by the time she made it back downstairs, he was already setting the table, a firm believer in a sit down meal complete with candles, even if it was just takeout.

By the time Miranda got downstairs, Rowan was snuggled up in her baby carrier, her favorite stuffed lamb on her lap, bathed, changed, and ready for bed once she had her last feeding. Miranda, too, had changed into something more comfortable - a pair of black yoga pants and a loose-fitting purple sweater, which happened to be her favorite color. The extra care he took to light candles and create a certain ambiance, despite the fact that they were having takeout, was not lost on Miranda, and she smiled to see it, knowing how tired he must be after tending to Rowan all day.

"This is lovely, Rufus. Maybe I should have you order out more often," she teased, though he never seemed to tire of making dinner special each and every night.

"I have failed to cook you something, therefore the setting requires a certain effort on my part," he admitted, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "You seem to have been successful. I maintain that the little witch saves up all her sweetness for you."

"Figuratively speaking, I assume," she said, as she set the baby carrier on the table, curling one leg under the other as she took a seat nearby. "Really, Rufio ....You don't have to cook every night, you know."

"I like to cook," he confessed, producing a bottle of white wine in a cooler to set on the table between the set places. "And I like to spoil you. I spent too much time wondering what I would do with you if I had the opportunity to make you my wife; I fully intend to spoil you rotten, angel."

And she'd spent too much time juggling raising a child on her own and trying to earn a living. The thought of that made her frown, but only briefly. There was no point in crying over spilt milk. They were together now, and that was all that mattered. "We should have done this a long time ago," she murmured, a soft smile on her face as she reached for his hand. "Better late than never, right?"

"For you, love, I will never be late again," he promised her, bending to touch a tender kiss to her knuckles. He was, however, tired enough that the knock on the door made him jump, startling him out of his loving contemplation of Miranda's lovely face to hurry to the door with one hand plunging into his pants pocket to locate his wallet.

Her smile widened as he touched his a kiss to her knuckles, finding him as charming today as she had the day she'd first met him. Charming and just a little bit clumsy. She giggled at his reaction to the knock on the door, watching in amusement before turning to the baby. "You've worn Daddy out today, Ro-Ro. I may have to take the day off tomorrow to let him rest."

The ten-month-old beamed at her around her cuddly lamb, her fussing over for now at the least. There was a lot of Lei in her daughter, in the eyes that looked up at Miranda and Rufus so trustingly. With luck, Ro would grow up to be the young woman her mother should have been allowed to be, with no supernatural calling to mar her growing.

"Dinner is here," Rufus called as the front door shut, only just resisting the urge to take the boxes into the kitchen and put them on a tray in favor of delivering the food straight to the table. "If I had thought about it, I would have made you a dessert of some kind," he frowned thoughtfully, his eyes wandering to the baby girl giggling and blowing bubbles in her own snot. "But someone would have dribbled in it."

Miranda grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the baby's girl's nose, without making much of a fuss over it. "Really, love. It's not a big deal. You don't have to make dessert and fuss over me all the time," she told him, despite how endearing it was. She'd often wondered if he was trying to make up for the time he'd missed, or if he really was this sweet. She knew he was probably feeling a little lost now that he wasn't a watcher anymore, but she was sure he'd find his place in the world again before long. "How is your project going?" she asked, making small talk, like couples did when they sat down to dinner together.

He laughed a little as she referred to his project. He had set himself the monumental task of cataloging as many of Rhy'Din's more dangerous species and their habits and weaknesses as possible, and thus far, had done more reading than writing. "I think it is safe to say that I will be working on it for several years to come," he admitted ruefully, serving her food first before investigating just what he'd ordered for himself. He wasn't that familiar with Chinese food, though he enjoyed it greatly. "I may have to simply plunge straight in and alphabetize the whole thing afterward. It's going to be enormous."

"Well, that wouldn't be so hard, would it' Why don't you just organize it alphabetically to begin with' Then you won't have to go back and fix it later," she suggested, having more experience than him at such things. She took up a fork, rather than chopsticks, choosing to be lazy tonight, skewering a piece of chicken covered in honey-soy sauce and sesame seeds. "At least, it will keep you out of trouble," she said before popping the thing into her mouth.

"The more I research, the more I am learning," he smiled, enthused about the project before him despite his predictions of how long it might take to complete. And besides, it wasn't his priority. Miranda and their daughters - adopted and natural - took that place, as well as Taylor and his wife. "I may end up with a reference book, rather than a compendium, but anything that makes life easier on those who wish to know these things would be remarkable." He examined his plate thoughtfully. Satay king prawn with crispy seaweed and special rice made for an interesting mixture aesthetically; he was getting there when it came to the taste. "What about your own project?" he asked her curiously. "Did I hear right from Dominic" Ashlyn called from The Star and now it's a double wedding?"

She was not the only one frowning. Rufus looked down at his plate, his appetite gone with the painful reminder of all the times she had suffered alone. "I'm sorry, angel," he apologized quietly. "I should not complain, I know. Others have it far worse than I ever shall. I have you." But there was a tension in his voice as he quietly took up his fork again - not anger, but sadness. Sadness over the years he had missed with Miranda and Bethany, and the lingering sadness that came with knowing just why he was taking responsibility for a baby at his age in the first place.

She sensed his sadness and regretted her own words. She had been trying to explain how foolish she'd been during her first attempts at parenting and how much better she got at it with experience, just as he would, but somehow it hadn't come out that way. She wished she could take back her words, her heart aching to know she'd made him sad somehow, but there was nothing that could be done to change the past without risking making things worse. "Rufus, darling, I don't mind if you complain. I was only trying to tell you what a worrywart I was in the beginning. I'm pretty sure I'd have been a worrywart whether you'd been there or not." She reached for his hand to give it a soft, reassuring squeeze.

"You did not make those choices alone. We made them together. We did it for Bethany - to keep her safe - and while I missed you terribly, I know we did the right thing. And we are doing the right thing now, too. I know how much you miss Lei, but we're doing this not only for Lei and for Rowan, but for ourselves. We've been given a second chance, Rufio, and I know you are gonna be the best daddy there ever was." She touched his cheek, a soft smile on her face, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I love you. I have always loved you and I will always love you. I believe in you. You just have to believe in yourself."

His hand turned to take hers in his grasp, gently answering her squeeze with his own as he met her gaze. "I'm sorry, love," he apologized again. "Every time I think I am in control of it, I remember how badly I failed all of you. That, I think, is a sadness I will always carry, but I will endeavor to keep it under control." He rose from his seat, moving to rest on one knee beside her chair as his arms wound about her waist. "I do not know what I would do without you, angel. I truly don't."

"Don't you understand that I carry that same sadness, too?" she asked, turning to face him as he knelt on one knee beside her. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder, savoring the strength and warmth of his embrace as he wound his arms around her. "I cannot promise life will be perfect. There will be times when we are sad and maybe even times when we will argue, but I can promise you that I will always love you. Bethany loves you, too, and Taylor, and one day Rowan will grow to know you and love you as a father, too. You are not and never will be alone. I promise."

"I know, love," he promised her softly, raising his head to meet her eyes. "You are the only person who will ever see me weak, the only person I feel safe with. I love you with every part of my being, Miranda, and I will never feel worthy of you. But I thank whatever deity that took a hand in it for bringing you back into my life. I need you, angel. It's as simple as that."

"I need you, too," she replied, tenderly stroking his cheek, a soft smile on her face, tears glittering brightly in her eyes. "And Rowan needs us both, so no more sadness. I'm going to take a day off tomorrow. You and Ro need me, and the girls can handle the shop on their own for one day."

He touched a tender kiss to her lips, lingering there for a long moment before raising his hand in a Boy Scout salute. "I do solemnly swear not to repeat my panic of this morning, in which I ran halfway to Lilac in my boxers with Ro wrapped up like a blanket sausage before remembering that Taylor was at work."

She giggled at the visual of that and playfully tweaked his nose, but only after she had returned his kiss. "Sweetheart, I would rather have you err on the side of panic and be sure Ro is safe, but I don't think we need to worry too much this time around." And just as she leaned in to touch another kiss to his lips, Rowan reminded them she was there with a sneeze.

Rufus snorted with laughter at the sneeze, rolling his eyes as he lowered his head to Miranda's shoulder briefly. "Perhaps I should just rename her Mount St Helens and have done with it," he grumbled, but he was smiling as he lifted his head, producing a clean tissue from his pocket to gently wipe the dribbly little nose as Ro blinked owlishly up at him. "You look close to sleep, little tree. Are you going to try and bite me again when I clean out your nose this time?"

"Why don't you clean up here while I get Little Miss Snotty ready for bed?" she asked, a soft smile on her face, full of affection for both husband and child. This is what they had missed all those years ago when Bethany had been born, but it wasn't too late - Lei had given them that.

"I think that sounds like a good idea," he agreed warmly. "She's chewed on me so much today, she might actually have been doing it deliberately. I don't think she likes having her nose wiped, even with these balmy tissue things." One gentle finger tweaked the end of said nose, resulting in a cackle of weary laughter from the baby girl.

"I'll put a little something on her nose so that it doesn't get sore," Miranda said, being the resident expert on babies with stuffed noses. "What do you say, little tree?" she asked, echoing his nickname for her. "Shall we have a nightcap and get ready for bed?" she asked, as she leaned over to unhook the baby from the carrier and scoop her up into her arms.

Ro gurgled cheerfully, reaching up to hold onto Miranda as she was lifted free of the carrier and into another of the cuddles she seemed to enjoy so much. Rufus smiled as he watched them, wishing he could have seen his wife with Bethany all those years ago. But, in a way, he was seeing it now, and he saw it in the way Beth was with her own children. He really was a very lucky man. "After you, ladies," he inclined his head to them. "I have tidying to do."

"Don't be long, Rufio," Miranda said, touching a kiss to his cheek. She didn't have to tell him that she wasn't going to put the baby to bed, until he said goodnight. It was part of their nightly routine. If they were lucky, they'd have a few hours to themselves before morning and they started all over again.

"I won't," he promised, pausing to kiss her neck affectionately as his palm warmed her hip in that familiarly intimate way of his. "You promised to put me to bed, too, after all." His lips curved in a grin against her skin briefly before he drew back, his expression innocent once again.

"So I did," she admitted with a grin. Though it was likely they might both fall right to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, there was no doubt they'd be snuggled close together, with Rowan in the nursery not far away. "Come along, then, Miss Rowan. Tomorrow is another day," she said, as she started toward the stairs.

Watching them out of the room, Rufus stifled a yawn before working on tidying up the remains of the meal. "Dear God, please let tomorrow be a nicer day," he muttered, not one for prayer very often. He felt he'd earned a little spiritual moment today, however. But a little over half an hour later, he was making his way up to the nursery to lean in the doorway, watching Miranda soothe Rowan in preparation for her big sleep.