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Katherine and I were barely out of college when we started our family, and then she was gone.Quint and Wren were so young when she passed that I wondered if either remembered much about their mother, outside of the stories Te-Te and I had told them.
Yes, I was fifty-two, but I didn’t feel too old to have more children.Whenever I thought about George carrying my child, my heart felt fuller, happier.I wanted to experience as much as I could with her—lazy days spent talking and making love, traveling the world, doing everything I’d been too busy to as chief of MI6.
George rested her hand on my chest.“You’re thinkingveryhard, Z.”
I smiled and kissed her forehead.“Is it that obvious?”
“It is.Anything you want to share?”
“Just thinking about life and how easy it is to get caught up in the day-to-day stuff that really doesn’t matter.Then something happens that makes you realize one day has turned into ten, ten into one hundred, and before you know it, years have passed.”
“I’m feeling that too, but, Z, since we can’t go back and change it, why don’t we make as many moments in the future matter?”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
George covered her mouth when she yawned.
“Time for bed, or should I say sleep?”
She smiled.“I’m sorry to say I’ll likely fall asleep as soon as my head rests on the pillow.”
I squeezed her, then stood and held my hand out to help her up.“I love that you’re here with me.”
She smiled.“Good thing since now that I am, you are never getting rid of me.”
I expectedI’d fall asleep as quickly as George had, but instead, I lay awake, thinking about Puck.
I didn’t doubt my decision to stop Pinch from having him arrested.I finally understood that his desperation had driven him to act in the way he had.He was right when he said I would’ve dismissed his claims, and it shamed me.If George disappeared tomorrow, I would use every resource at my disposal and make every deal I had to in order to find her as quickly as she’d found me.Puck had never had that option, and he knew it.The chain of events, starting with Beak’s and Vulcan’s deaths, worked against both him and Seshat.
I vowed nothing would work against them again.I’d do everything within my power to get him the help he needed to find the woman he loved.
George shifted in her sleep so her back was to me.Rather than stare at the ceiling, I turned so her back was to my front and draped an arm around her.“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
It wasdaylight when I woke the next morning.It was unusual for me to sleep this late.However, my life was entirely different than it had been forty-eight hours ago.The most important and significant change was the woman sleeping in bed beside me.The one who I’d woken twice more to make love to last night.
“You’re awake,” George said, rolling to her back and stretching her arms over her head.
“I am.”I leaned forward and kissed her.“How did you sleep?”
“Quite well, thanks.Even though someone kept waking me up.”She shifted and winced.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.I’m a bit sore is all.”
I grimaced.“Apologies.”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.As you are abundantly aware, I enjoyed every minute of making love with you.”
I beamed.“Likewise.”
After showering together,we went downstairs to make breakfast.While I started the kettle, George got two cups out and set them on the counter.
“I hope you don’t mind me making myself at home.”
I crowded her against the counter and leaned in for a kiss.“Mind?It’s my strongest desire.Wait, not mystrongest, but up there.”
