As lovely as Avalon was, there were certain unwritten rules that came with visiting the Summer Isle. One of those had to do with the way you presented yourself, but inside the towerhouse that the Bristols called home, those rules could be suspended. With Ana in bed, Nat had finally given into the urge to get out of her medieval get-up and into some comfortable pajamas, padding barefoot out onto the balcony of the bedroom she shared with Rhys to lean on the stone rail and let the evening air cool her skin.

"Oh, that is such a relief."

Rhys, too, had shed most of his medieval garb, and was clad only in a loose-fitting tunic and trousers, his feet bare. Balcony or no, there might be a mild riot if the Lady's Handmaidens caught sight of him without a shirt on. He followed her out onto the balcony to enjoy the cool evening breeze, sliding his arms around her waist and touching a kiss to the back of her neck. "Missing the a/c already?" he teased.

She laughed, leaning back into him. "A little, da," she admitted to his tease, smoothing her fingers over his arms affectionately. "As beautiful as Avalon is, the heat of summer is a little much sometimes. I have nothing but respect for the women who wear long skirts through it all."

"It has its good and bad points, I guess," Rhys admitted, resting his chin against her shoulder as they looked out on Avalon at dusk. It was like a completely different world here - a world of the past, without all the conveniences of the modern world and without the stress, too.

"True, it does," she agreed softly, sharing the view with him as they lingered together in the coolness of dusk. "There are things here that no one on Earth could possibly imagine. Skills and talents, magics that have forgotten. The simplicity of life, laid out perfectly. For all its conveniences, the modern age could not have given me the news The Lady shared with me today."

He had to agree. As much as he loved modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, cars, television, and fast food, Avalon had a certain charm unlike any other place he'd ever been. "What news?" he asked, expecting her to share something about their new nephew that the Lady might have foreseen, but nothing more than that.

Nat didn't answer him with words. Tilting her head to show him the bright smile on her face, she gently took his hand, sliding his palm down just a little to rest over her womb. Did he really need her to tell him aloud who was growing there"

He lifted his brows as she slid his hand over the place where a child might grow, were she pregnant. Was that what she was trying to tell him' Was that the news the Lady had shared with her earlier that day' "Micah?" he ventured curiously. The name had belonged to her brother, but it was also the name they'd thought about calling their first-born son.

She nodded, her eyes shining with happiness, knowing this was something he had been hoping for, for a long time now. "At the beginning of May," she confirmed softly. "Our first son is already growing inside me, dusha moya. The Lady confirmed it for me, without my even asking."

"Since May?" he echoed, brow arching higher. That meant she was already a few months pregnant. He tried to do the math in his head and failed, too excited to think straight. "Nat that's ..." He broke off, his own eyes tearing up to mirror hers, even though he was smiling. "I don't even know what to say." He would have whooped with joy and shouted loud enough to wake all of Avalon, if he weren't afraid of waking their daughter. "She's sure?"

She laughed softly, turning to cradle his face in her hands. "No, we can expect him at the beginning of May," she told her husband fondly. "I am not yet pregnant enough for it to show at all." She kissed him tenderly, nuzzling close. "The Lady is always sure. She knew the day we conceived Ana. This might even have been easier for her to know."

As happy as the news made him, he was suddenly frowning with worry. "What are we gonna tell Ana?" he asked her. He thought she'd been a little bit jealous of all the attention given to her new baby cousin. How was she going to feel about having a brother of her own"

"We have eight months," she reminded him gently. "And she is very young to be able to make the connection between a growing belly and a new baby arriving. But we will ask Gina, and Bethany, and Aurelia. They must have some idea of how to help our malyutka cope with the news."

"Gina and Aurelia only have one child, and Bethany has twins," he reminded her, unsure if they would have any good advice for them when they'd never been in the same situation. "I don't think we should keep it a secret, Nat. I think she should be as much a part of this as we are. That way she has eight months to get used to the idea of being a big sister, and we have eight months to convince her there's nothing to be jealous of."

"Then we will not keep it a secret," she promised him. "But you need to be ready to remind her, a lot, that she has a little brother coming. She's two, milaya. She doesn't think beyond her next meal, and why should she" But we can make it fun for her. Redecorate her room so it is just hers, and not generic anymore. Let the dogs sleep in her room with her, perhaps" Include her in everything. She will not understand, but perhaps she will take it more easily when the time comes."

"She'll be fine," he assured her with a smile. He wasn't sure why he he was so sure of that, but he was. They just needed to make her as much a part of things as they could, despite her age. "She thinks babies are boring," he reminded her with a chuckle of what their daughter had said of her new cousin.

Nat chuckled along with him, curling into his arms. "She'll learn," she promised him, breathing him in as she leaned against his chest. "We are having another baby, milaya. We managed not to steal your sister's thunder, but we're having our boy."

"I've never really understood that expression. Why would anyone want to steal another person's thunder?" he asked, as his arms went around her again to hold her close and he smiled softly, touching a kiss to the top of her head. He felt a strange mixture of elation and contentment at the news they were to have another child. And then something occurred to him, and that worried expression appeared on his face again. "Are you all right' You haven't been sick, have you? Maybe you should sit down, get some rest."

His sudden concern made her laugh again as she looked up at him. "Rhys, I have been pregnant all day, and for quite some days before today," she reminded him. "I am not suddenly a wilting flower. Though I think my bras no longer will fit when we go home." She winked up at him, dropping a hint like an anvil about his favorite of her pregnancy symptoms.

"One can't be too careful," he insisted with a smirk, pulling away from her so that he could scoop her up in his arms and carry her back inside to tuck her into bed, even if it a bit too early and too warm to sleep yet.

She squeaked as he swept her up, kicking her feet, giggling like their daughter had a tendency to whenever Papa was in a playful mood. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Nat kissed his throat teasingly. "Are you really putting me to bed, milaya?"

"Yes, but not to go to sleep just yet," he said, her kiss only encouraging him further. Whether it was just an excuse to get her into bed with him or not, he wouldn't say, but he seemed eager to be away from the prying eyes of those who might wander past the balcony.

When had he ever needed an excuse to get her into bed" In fact, beds were never essential to the equation - they had been known to make do with chairs, walls, floors, and on one memorable occasion, a broom closet. No matter how hot she was, though, Nat never minded expending a little energy with Rhys, nuzzling close to him as he bore her to the bed. "You're always so manly when you get confirmation that you're virile," she teased him impishly.

"You think that's what this is about?" he asked, chuckling again. He wouldn't deny that it was certainly a turn on knowing your wife was carrying your child, but this wasn't just about that. He laid her gently back on the bed before pausing a moment to tug the tunic off his back and toss it carelessly onto a chair.

Giggling as he laid her down, she raised herself up onto her elbows to watch him as he stripped himself of his tunic. "I think a part of it is," she grinned teasingly. "And, of course, knowing you only have eight months before we have an enforced break to enjoy your conjugal rights as my lord and master." She knew it was more than that, but Rhys had always been fun to tease, and it wasn't likely to stop.

But he had never been afraid to do a little teasing of his own. "There are other ways, my dumpling," he teased, calling her by the pet name he'd thought she was calling him when they'd first fallen in love. Of course, she had been calling him no such thing, but he still couldn't help but tease her about it sometimes. Once his shirt was off, he moved to the foot of the bed and started to kiss his way up her bare legs.

"Dusha moya," she corrected him with a fond giggle, reaching to pull him into her arms. My soul.

She had known from the first what he was to her, and how close they should be, and she was everlastingly grateful to whatever power it was that had arranged it for her so perfectly. Not only was Rhys hers, but they had a daughter, and soon they would have a son to love as well. Their line, blessed by The Lady herself, would continue on in Avalon far beyond the reach of their own lifespan. Just like Rachel and Zach, they had been blessed.