In the earling evening, in the cottage, in the swamp, there was activity.

Tara rubbed her hands off on her apron and looked to her baby in the newly constructed highchair she built for him out of wood. "Dinner will be ready shortly, sweetpea," she said and checked on the goose she was cooking in the oven. It smelled delicious and she hoped it will taste the same; nothing like the first time she tried to cook chicken for Tal. Since being on her own she had learned a lot and Delphine was kind enough to provide instructions on tonight's meal.

Count Talomar Longden had listened to Gaida?s encouragement to visit his wife again, but he was nervous about it. Nervousness was a feeling he was not accustomed to. Perhaps what worried him the most was the possibility of going to the cottage and finding it empty. The thought frightened him, so once he made up his mind to see his wife, he found himself rushing to get there.

He flew through the night and descended through the trees of the swamp. He saw a soft yellow glow come from the windows of the cottage and felt a great relief come upon him. His wife and son were still there. Talomar landed on solid ground and approached the cottage door.

He stopped and tilted his head.

There was the scent of cooking coming from the cottage - good cooking. How could that be? There must be someone else in the cottage with her. He walked up to the door and saw the hole in the bottom panels. Yes, now he was sure she was still here. He knocked on the door and waited.

Marius began to bang the spoons his mother had given him on his tray ? a baby's way of complaining that the dinner was taking far too long in his opinion. She shot him a look and shook her head. "We do not bang on the table or our trays, little man," she said to him.

He wrinkled his nose and she giggled because that was something she did all the time. She heard a knock on the door then and looked up. "Who could that be, I wonder. Stay here, Marius," she said to the baby, who couldn't really go anywhere and went to open what was left of the door the mommy crocodile had beat the ever living crap out of in her pursuit for her little one.

A surprised look came over her as she saw her husband standing there. Then she smiled. "Talomar, what a surprise," she said and stepped back so he could enter. "I'm just making some dinner. I hope you're hungry."

Talomar stood there looking at her with his head lowered. He held a red rose in his hand and smiled as he held it out to her. "Hello, Tara. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He stepped inside. "The food smells good. Who's cooking?"

Her eyes are drawn to the rose in his hands and for a moment her stomach flutters as she remembers how he used to give them to her daily as a token of his love. She took it from his hands gently and tried to look up into his eyes. It wasn't easy with his head lowered. She felt sympathy for him. His emotions were never so unguarded, not even with her it always seemed and now he looked like a wounded animal. "Interrupting? Sweetheart..."
She stepped forward, to kiss him, to ease his fears but something stops her. She blinks at something she senses different about him, something unseen but rather than say anything, she gestures to the side. "I am cooking," she said softly, not sure if she should take offense to his statement or see it as a compliment.

Marius, in the interim, seeing his father, began to bang his spoons all the more faster and louder. "Daddy! Daddy!"

Talomar smiled and was about to kiss her, but when she stopped her approach he tried to brush it off. Why should he expect a kiss? "Well, my dear, it seems like you've become quite an accomplished cook. It smells absolutely wonderful."

Then he heard his son call. "Marius, my young man!" He hurried over to Marius and picked him up out of the high chair and placed kisses upon his face, held him up to the ceiling and brought him back into his arms. "Daddy missed you, Marius. I do believe you've grown in just two weeks." He smiled and looked at Tara. The sight of her brought a lump to his throat. He wanted to hold her, wanted to be close again. "I've missed you also, my angel." He looked at the high chair. "And where did you get that high chair?"
Tara closed the door and walked over to the oven so she could check on the goose while he kept the baby busy. "Thank you for my rose, honeysuckle," she said and just that one word makes her eyes tear up for a moment. She tried not to cry because she had been hoping he'd return but now that he had, there was something different, something she didn't like and she hoped he hasn't come to give her bad news.

The goose is not quite done so she set another place at the table for him and got the wine from the cabinet. "I have also missed you, my love. Highchair?" She poured him a glass of the wine and nodded. "Oh yes, I made that," she said and folded his napkin neatly then placed it by his plate.

"You made the high chair?" He looked at it and raised a brow as he inspected it. "Once again you have impressed me. I didn't know you could build something like that." He knew she was great at destroying furniture, but not at building it. This was a different woman than the one who left him.

"Marius has missed you, haven't you, baby?" She looked over to the baby in his father's arms and smiled.

Talomar smiled at Marius again, "Well, daddy has missed you very much, my young man. I thought of you all the time." That was no exaggeration. His thoughts were always upon Tara and Marius. He moved closer to Tara, just to be close to her. He took the glass of wine. "Thank you, my sweet."

It took a great deal of composure not to throw herself at him. She was so conflicted and it was made worse by the fact that he was now closer to her and she could smell not only his own trademark scent but that other one that was bothering her so much. She held her tongue though because that would lead to a fight and she didn't want to start off the evening on the wrong note.

"Yes, I made the highchair. I've done a lot of things since we've been apart, you know," she said in a defensive tone and turned to take the goose out of the oven - anything to put some space between them. "You're welcome. Now please sit and put our son back in his high chair. He's not been behaving very well in your absence and I want to show a united front here, if you don't mind. And..Marius," she said and looked to the baby, "you will eat your food, including the vegetables with no complaint or you don't get to play." She then looked to her husband to help her out.

He nodded and put Marius back in his high chair. "You haven't been behaving well? Well, my boy, I'm only going to say this once. You are to obey your mother and do what she says. Do I make myself clear?"

Marius hung his head down and nodded. His fingers played with the tray of the high chair.

"Very good. You're a good boy, and I know this time can't be easy for you."

She grinned hearing him speak firmly to their boy who didn't seem to respond to any of her own methods. "You're son has started to eat solid food this week," she informed her husband as she made up a plate of food for both him and the baby. There is goose, fresh carrots, green beans and mashed potatoes -- a dish she was heretofore unfamiliar with.

If it had not been for Delphine, none of this would happened. The old woman had given her all the pots and cooking implements she would need on top off recipes, all of which she refused to take money for no matter how much Tara had persisted in trying to give it to her. And the local boy, whose name she had not gotten, was nice to go to the butcher for her and get the goose because she was now fearful of venturing out with Marius by herself.

There was more that was different about the cottage than the fact that there was a hole in the door and a goose cooking. The meat had covered a scent, but he could swear that it was the scent of a man. He turned to Tara, "You are looking well, my angel."

"I feel well. The baby has been active lately," she said softly and set his plate down before him and then set Marius's down in her setting. Seeing this, the baby made faces but the food was hot and needed to be cooled before it could be fed to him. "How have you been?"

Talomar also stopped eating and looked at his son. He then looked at Tara and just nodded. He looked back at Marius and placed his hand on his back, "No matter what, growling at your mother is not allowed. Now, just eat some of this yummy dinner." Talomar picked up a green bean and said in a falsetto voice, "You can't eat me, you can't me! You ate my brother but you can't eat me!"

At which point Marius laughed and grabbed the green bean out of Tal's hand and put it into his mouth with a giggle. Still in the falsetto voice, "Ahhh...you're eating meeeeeee!!" Talomar winked at Tara.

She had not done anything wrong for her to feel guilty. John had stepped over the line. Yes, she had invited him to dinner but just for that. It was more for company than anything else but that guy had gone too far. He was dead now anyway, so why was Marius bringing it up?

"I'll tell you who John is," she said with a red face and continued eating. She was glad he made light of it and winked back at him as he played with Marius.

He was very curious who this "John" was, but that would have to wait until Marius was in bed. Talomar finished his meal after many compliments and sounds of really enjoying the meal his wife had prepared. "This was absolutely wonderful. You are going to spoil me for sure, my angel." He leaned back and sipped the remainder of his wine.

She was thrilled he was satisfied with the meal and her baby as well. When she looked to Marius's tray she saw that it was empty. "You were very hungry, little one. Do you want your bottle now, too?" He nodded that he did and she went to make it for him. She had fresh milk hanging off a rope in the window. It was submerged in the water to keep it cold. "I am so happy you enjoyed it. The first time I cooked for you wasn't very good," she said with a frown.

After retrieving the milk and pouring it into the bottle, she walked over to the highchair to give it to Marius. "Can you lift him, honey? He's getting too heavy for me now," she said and put her hand on her belly which had also grown since he last saw her. "Oh, and he walks. Kinda."

Talomar stood up and picked Marius up into his arms. "Yes, you have indeed gained in weight, son. You're getting too heavy for mommy to lift because mommy is having another baby." He took Marius in his arms and let him drink his milk while walking him around the little cottage. Soon the milk was finished and Marius was asleep.

"I've talked to him about the baby, Talomar," she said as she started to clean up the dishes. "I sat him down the other day and we had a nice chat but maybe you can talk to him about it more when you have some time. I think he's very upset. He says he wasn't but then again he did bite that man, John. I'm going to tell you about him. Oh," she whispered, seeing him asleep, "would you mind putting him in his crib, please?"

"Not at all, my love." Talomar set him down in the crib, pulled the covers up over him, then gave him a kiss. He then walked away from the crib and came out to Tara. "Let's go sit on the couch," he said. Then he took her hand and brought her to the couch and sat together.

She eased herself down on the couch with him and sighed. She hoped this wouldn't be too stressful. She was hormonal enough as it was. "Do you love her?" She blurted out, his hand still in her own, and her voice was breaking. "This woman that I smell all over you. Do you, Talomar? Please tell me you don't. I couldn't bear it if you said that. I love you," she said between sniffles and looked at him with wide, desperate eyes.

He took her hand between his two hands and looked into her eyes. "There is only one woman in the entire universe whom I love, and that is you, Tara. The woman you're smelling is Gaida Sarin. She was my personal secretary and I hired her as my valet to help take care of business and to help run the household in your absence. I was afraid the staff was going to take too many liberties and that is not a good thing. I have also fed off her twice. I should tell you that it was Gaida who encouraged me to come see you tonight. She had seen me staring at your portrait. She's a valuable employee, but it's you and only you whom I love. Please never doubt that."

She was shaking her head, crying now and pulled her hand from his so she could cover her face. "Your secretary? You've been sleeping with her?! Talomar, why? What have I done that would make you stray? I have been a faithful wife. I know that I frustrate you but I never ever been with another man. In fact that man John that Marius bit, I invited him here, to eat dinner and to be my company and he forced himself on me...he's now dead." She looked up at him, her face puffy and red, tears streaming down her cheeks. "But even if he hadn't I wouldn't have been with him."

"I did not sleep with her. I never slept with her or anyone else since we've been married. Every night she slept in her own room and I slept in ours. She means nothing to me other than the work she performs in her position."

He thought more about what she had said, "You invited a strange man into your home? With Marius here?" He took a breath and managed to control himself. "That could be a bit risky, don't you think?"

"You know what I mean by sleep with her! You fucked her didn't you!" She winced and held her belly. Yelling wasn't something the unborn baby liked and she actually felt pain when he kicked her. "The work she performs in her position? What 'position' would that be, Talomar? On her back or her stomach?" She couldn't believe he would deny it when this woman's smell was all over him. If they weren't screwing, why was it? "I was lonely. Yes, it was risky. I thought I could handle it. Don't look at me like that! He never had a chance to do anything, except touch my breasts but that was only for a moment. I killed him not five minutes after that."

This was not going well. He now fully expected to be leaving the cottage and getting a divorce. But he would not lie. "I fucked her the first time I fed on her. I have not done that since and will not do it again. Should I leave now?"

"Should you leave...wha...Talomar," her voice softened. "I don't want to get a divorce!" She felt her head. There was that headache coming back. Was it that every time they fought now she was going to feel nauseous and sick? She looked him squarely in the face. "I love you very much. I am pregnant with your second child and we have our first laying in the other room right now. Our marriage has been very rocky, at times, but it has also been sweet and loving as well. If you tell me you don't love her and it will never happen again I believe you; but so help me God, Talomar, if I ever find out that woman and you were together, I'll kill her. In front of you, in front of everyone."

"I have told you the sum total of our relationship. It's business." He stopped speaking and looked to the door. "It's not good for us to be apart, Tara. People learn to live apart and I don't want to learn to live without you." He turned back to her. "I don't want to live without you."

"Business," she grumbled and followed his eyes to the door, ignored what he said about being apart. He had just admitted to being unfaithful and she wasn't very happy about it. She did want to go back home with him, desperately so, but if she just acquiesced, knowing him, he'd want to leave straight away. She wanted him to have to wait a bit longer.

"Am I too heavy for you?" Tara asked as she nuzzled him and placed soft little kisses to the spot on his neck that drove him wild. "I am too heavy," she said with a pout thinking of how fat she had become since he had seen her last. It was almost as if she had ballooned overnight. He did not put on any weight. He looked fantastic, smelled divine, and now she worried he may not find her at all desirable if she took off her clothes.

Talomar just smiled at her question. "My angel, ten of you would not be too heavy for me. You are still light and sexy." That wasn't just words. He really thought his wife was the sexiest woman in the universe. No one else stirred feelings in him like she did - not even close. Upon reaching the area next to the bed he set her down on her feet.

His hands stayed around her, holding her to him as he looked down into her eyes. "I love you, Tara. I never stopped . . . and never will."

Was he just saying that so she wouldn't cry or did he really mean it? She couldn't be sure and she was so anxious with each step closer to that bed. She always thought, in the back of her mind, that he would find fault with some part of her each time they were intimate even though he had never given her a reason to think this way.

Now that they had been apart for a few weeks she was even more apprehensive about it and it showed. "I love you too," she said softly and looked down at the floor. "I'll turn down the bed so you can get comfortable, honeysuckle." This would give her something to do to take her mind off the situation but it wouldn't last long. She had to figure out a way to keep avoiding the inevitable. It was better this way.

When she turned to the bed he moved in behind her, pressing his body against her as he slipped his arms around her. "You get more beautiful every day," he whispered against the back of her neck, "You don't have to worry about the bed, my love. I just want you. If you don't mind, I really don't want to leave here tonight" He didn't want to presume anything. She might not want him to stay with her.

Tara froze when he came up behind her because it reminded her of the night he took her up against that heavy chair in their former suite at their former castle that was formerly whole and not blown to bits as it was now. "Thank you and I do worry. Have I ever not seen to your comfort?" She almost winced. She was sure he could pick out a few times and she hoped he didn't bring them up.

"I don't want you to leave. You are MY husband," she said and turned round to frown at him. "Aren't you?" Now he was making her worry about more things. In a way she may have been causing some confusion on his part. It was okay for her to flirt with him back on the couch but now that they were in the bedroom she felt shy and wanted to crawl into a dark place where he couldn't see her naked. It wasn't because she didnt love him, she just couldn't bear the thought of him not liking what he saw. Part of their problem was miscommunication and obviously she hadn't learned that in their time apart.

Talomar began to undo her shirt, and as he looked her body he stared. Seeing her pregnant was so sexy to him. "You look beautiful, my wife. You amaze me. You?re pregnant and still sexier than any other woman." Again, that was not just words. That was what he really thought.

"Talomar, maybe we should...oh would you look at the time!" There was no clock in the cottage but she pretended as if there was. She began to pat her hand against her mouth a few times and force herself to yawn. "I'm all tuckered out! Aren't you? Yes, well, let's get to sleep." She started to inch away from him and his wandering hands.

He smiled and pulled her back into his arms. "I don't think it's too late." He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her hard while working her blouse from her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. If she resisted him, he'd relent and let her go. He wasn't going to force his wife to make love with him.

Tara didn't cover herself when John had opened her shirt and she would not dare do it when the man she loved did the same but she had to let him know how she was feeling. Kissing him gently, like she always did, she spoke against his lips. "This is happening too fast for me, honey. It's making me nervous. We haven't been together in some weeks. Please don't think I don't want you. I do."

That statement stopped him. She was right. He was behaving like an animal. "I'm sorry, my angel. You're right. I am too anxious. We must take this slowly." He picked up her shirt and handed it to her. "I'll just undress and climb into bed."