With the unexpected sleepover done with and their guests safely back at the Brambles, the little homestead shared by Marissa and Emrys returned to a semblance of normal. And by normal ...."Yes, yes, all right," Emrys was muttering as he swept the snow out of the pig trough and dumped a bucket of scraps into it for the pair of them. "You're both awful, and if Marissa didn't love you to pieces, I would have eaten you by now."

If Marissa had overheard him even suggest making pork chops out of her pigs, she'd have been mortified, but thankfully, she was too busy cleaning up from breakfast. It wasn't everyday she had a whole houseful of people to feed, and though it was something that might make some people cranky, Marissa seemed as happy as a clam - so much so that she was humming to herself like a veritable Snow White while she did her morning chores.

The pigs were always last on Emrys' round of the animals. In truth, he wasn't that unfond of them, but the demanding squeaking when he was busy got on his nerves a little. Still, they were feeding now, and the chickens, horses, and goats were well and truly fed and settled for the morning, which meant that Emrys got to go back inside to see his mate.

Back inside, Marissa was still humming to herself as she moved about the cabin, straightening up the place from the sleepover. She was smiling to herself, for what seemed like no reason at all, as she gathered up the sleeping bags and rolled them up.

In a corner of the cabin, safely corralled where they couldn't get underfoot or hurt themselves on anything, the twins were comparing notes on toys and toast as Emrys ducked back inside, pausing just long enough to remove his boots and coat before continuing on. He wrapped his arms about Marissa from behind, planting a chilly but affectionate kiss on her neck. "Happy, kitten?"

"Does it show?" Marissa replied, smiling at the kiss he just planted on her neck and settling back into his arms, though the sleeping bags weren't completely secured yet. She'd been in a good mood all morning, and why not' She had everything she'd ever wanted in life and then some.

"Mmm, I'm not quite sure," he teased her fondly, letting his lips brush her temple with every word as he hugged her close. "Could have sworn you were purring all over the place, though."

Marissa giggled, not only at the tickling sensation on her neck, but his insistence she'd been purring. "Darling, hasn't anyone ever told you that tigers don't purr?" she asked, as she turned to face him, green eyes bright with mischief.

"You, kitten, are no ordinary tiger," Emrys reminded her, his eyes crinkling as he grinned down at her. He tipped his head forward, touching his brow to hers. "We should have company more often. It was lovely to see you so bright and bubbly last night."

"Would you love me more if I did?" she asked, a little impishly, knowing he couldn't love her more than he already did. She smiled, snuggling into his arms for no other reason than that she wanted to. "I'm happy. You make me happy, Emrys," she told him with a soft sigh.

He chuckled, nipping the end of her nose affectionately for her impish humor. "If it were possible to love you more, I would," he promised her, swaying with her in his arms. "You make my heart complete, Marissa."

What could she say to that' She'd been in love before - or at least, some aspects of her had - but never like this. "I keep having to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming," she confessed, even after nearly three years.

"I would have thought that childbirth would have cured you of thinking you were dreaming all this," he teased in a low tone, glancing over to where their twins were exchanging all the latest gossip in twin-world.

"A woman has a way of forgetting about childbirth after a while, you know," she informed him. Otherwise, if they didn't, they might never want to get pregnant again. It was almost like a safeguard that was built into a woman's makeup.

"Does she now?" Emrys raised his brow as he smiled, dipping his head to press his face close against her neck and breathe her in deeply. One hand wandered downward to squeeze her rear in the same instant, because Emrys just didn't restrain himself when he wanted his mate.

Marissa giggled again at her husband's playfulness, but she wasn't really surprised nor did she mind. She lifted a hand to touch his hair, her fingers rifling through the dark curls she so adored, as she tipped her head sideways to give him better access to her neck. If they weren't careful, they were going to give the twins an early lesson in mating. "She does," she confirmed. "So much so that she doesn't really mind going through it all over again."

He raised his head, wrapping her a little closer in his arms, nose to nose with her once again. "And does this woman mind going through it all again?" he asked softly, beginning to realize what it was he could smell in her scent that had been nagging at him for a while.

"Not at all, so long as this man doesn't mind having a big family," she countered. She hadn't quite come right out and told him the news, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he figured it out for himself.

"Mmm." He let out a long, low sigh, his eyes sparkling with warm pleasure as he looked down at her. "Then this man has some building to do as soon as spring comes around, doesn't he?"

"He doesn't have to do it all alone," she pointed out. "I'm sure our friends would be willing to help." Especially if they knew why. They had enough land to expand the house either upwards or outwards, and all they really needed was to add a bedroom or two anyway.

"I'm sure they will," he agreed. After all, Duncan had helped him to build the barn when things had first been decided, and surprisingly both Neville and Dorian had come up to help with the addition of the nursery for the twins. "Your cooking could get the dead to rise."

Marissa laughed, lifting a hand to playfully tweak her husband's nose. "I'm not interested in feeding zombies, Em. Just people," she said, only half-joking. It was Rhy'Din after all. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked, needing his reassurance. She hadn't been trying to get pregnant, but she hadn't been doing anything to prevent it either.

"Is this the face of a man who minds that his beautiful mate is carrying another child they have made together?" he countered brightly, bending to kiss her even as he lifted her up off her feet. "How could I mind it at all" I love you. I love our family."

She was half-tempted to wrap her legs around his waist when he picked her up, but that would lead to more than just a kiss, and the twins were likely to interrupt. She was only too happy to indulge in as many kisses as he cared to share with her though. "As I love you," she replied. "I love you and I love our family, and our home and the life we've made together. You make me so very happy, Emrys," she told him, her voice softening with emotion.

Marissa frowned, remorsefully. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just ..." She sighed as she fit their daughter into her snowsuit. "I was alone too long. I don't want to be alone anymore. Ever."

"Marissa." Letting Bevan toddle free for a moment, Emrys reached over to grasp her hand in his tender grip. "You will never be alone again," he swore to her. "Even if, by some terrible tragedy, I am ripped from this plane, you will have the children. You will have Seren and Dorian, and Demeter and Neville, and Duncan and Mara. You are surrounded by people who love you. You need never be alone again."

"Don't say that, Emrys. I don't ever want to be without you," she said, almost with tears in her eyes at just the thought of it. "Promise me you'll never leave me," she whispered, clinging to his hand, while Cerys tried to escape and join her brother.

"Kitten ..." Gently removing her arm from Cerys so the little girl could toddle off with her brother briefly, Emrys knelt beside his mate, wrapping her close into his embrace. "I will never voluntarily leave you," he promised her, as he had promised so many times before. "Don't cry, little love. I'm here."

She sniffled a little, as she burrowed into his arms, refusing to cry outright. She wasn't usually this moody, especially when she'd been so happy just a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry, Em," she murmured against his chest. "It must be the pregnancy making me moody."

He chuckled gently, kissing her hair. "At least it isn't a shocking change this time around," he murmured teasingly. "But you and I will be taking our friends and family up on their offers to take the children for an evening or two before the new one arrives."

"Do you really think it's only one in there?" she asked, uncertainly. There was no way of knowing for sure without having a scan, and she wasn't sure how Emrys felt about that. Demi had gone with her the first time around, but she really wanted Emrys there with her this time.

He met her eyes, his gaze as kind as it was loving. "How do we find out for certain?" he countered gently. "Until we know, this will worry you, and I do not want you to worry."

She frowned worriedly, knowing he wasn't very comfortable with technology and preferred a simpler way of living. She, on the other hand, had always managed to straddle both worlds. "We could have a scan," she suggested, purposely not using a singular pronoun.

"You did that last time, didn't you?" he asked curiously. "When you took Demeter to the ....the Star Send place. Is that the only place such a scan can happen?"

She sniffled again, slowly regaining control of her hormonal emotional rollercoaster. "No, there are some places in the city. At the hospitals mostly. The Spaceport just has more sophisticated technology than the city," she explained, not bothering to correct his pronunciation.

"Then ..." Emrys hesitated. His discomfort with technology wasn't a secret, but he was prepared to face it head on for Marissa. "Then we should go and get one of these scans for you."

"I would like that," she said, smiling, her face brightening at the prospect of Emrys going with her. "We don't have to go to the Spaceport. We'll go to the city. You'll see it's not as bad as you think," she told him, encouragingly.

"I've been to the city before," he said defensively, though he was smiling as he spoke. He kissed her brow. "We'll go together," he promised. "But today, we are going to let our children tire themselves out in the snow, so ..." He rose, catching both twins by the back of their snowsuits with ease of practice. "Here's yours."

He might have been to the city, but she was pretty sure he'd never been to a radiology lab where he could witness what was going on inside her womb. She couldn't help but smirk at the thought of that. "I'm gonna hold you to that," she warned as he wrangled the kids.

"What, tiring the children out in the snow?" He grinned back at her, apparently entirely unfazed by Bevan trying to pull out of his grip as he put boots on his son's feet. The little boy never won, but he did try and fight on occasion.

"You know what I mean," she replied, moving over to help Cerys on with her boots, since she was waiting so very patiently, despite her obvious desire to be let loose in the snow.

"I know." Emrys grinned, heaving Bevan up and over his knee to get the other boot in place, ignoring the boy's protests. Others might have been uncomfortable with this particular parenting style, but it worked. "I enjoyed seeing the pictures of them in the womb."

"We won't just be seeing pictures, Em. We'll be able to see the baby moving around in there, too." Or babies, whichever it happened to be. It was far too soon to tell which of their parents they'd take after, as far as shifting was concerned, and it would still be many years before they had to worry about it.

"Truly?" Excitement flickered in his expression, a shy sort of wonder rising at the thought of seeing the baby or babies actually moving around inside her.

"Mmhm," she murmured in reply as she eased Cerys onto her lap and pulled the little girl's boots on. This, she thought, was a good way to introduce Emrys to the wonders of technology, even if it wasn't as sophisticated as the kind that was commonly found at the spaceport. If ever he found out she knew how to fly, his brain might combust.

"That sounds marvelous," Emrys murmured, awed by just the idea of it. He heaved Bevan up onto the little boy's feet and looked him in the eye. "Are you done?" he asked his son pointedly. Red-faced from being upside down, and pouting because his tantrum had been ignored, Bevan sighed and nodded, grinning when Emrys kissed his forehead. "Good lad. What first, hat, scarf, or gloves?"

Marissa smiled over at Emrys and their son, wondering, not for the first time, what he'd been like when he was a boy. "Are you sure you haven't been a father before?" she teased, as she finished with the little girl's boots and started on her gloves. "You've taken to it so well."

Emrys chuckled, helping Bevan wriggle his fingers into the gloves. "Seren and I were the only ones who could constantly care for the younglings before they learned to shift," he said, a faint shadow on his face for the years spent looking after cousins and siblings who had looked down on him for being an aberration. "I picked up a few tricks."

She noticed the brief hint of sadness in his voice, even without looking at his face. "I wonder sometimes about my siblings," she murmured, at the reminder of family. Not the ones she'd grown up with, but the ones she hadn't seen since she was a young child. The ones who'd been sent away to live with her mother's family after her parents had died.

"Would this be a nap as in ....naughty adult playtime?" Emrys asked teasingly, following along with easy steps, happy to let her take the lead. He adored his mate; her wish was his command. It was probably just as well she didn't wish for more than they already had, though.

Little did he know that she could have had anything she wanted, where material things were concerned. She could have had any life that she chose, but she'd chosen this - she'd chosen him. She had known so many other lives before this one, but this was the one that had given her the greatest sense of happiness and fulfillment - this simple life with him. "It doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be," she replied, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

Drawing the door to, but not closed, behind him, Emrys turned back to his mate with a bright chuckle. "I would rather that than nasty aloe poop time," he informed her impishly.

"You really know how to romance a girl," she teased in return, tugging him along to their own bedroom, which adjoined the nursery. Though the cabin was big enough for them now, if their family kept growing the way it was, they were going to have to expand sooner rather than later.

"Words have never been my strong suit," he admitted, crowding against her back to pepper her neck with kisses as she drew him along.

"Then maybe you should stop talking," she told him, giggling again as he kissed the back of her neck. Turning to face him, she pulled him closer. "Actions speak louder than words, my love," she said, walking her fingers up his chest.

"Mmm, just how active were you hoping I would be?" He grinned against her lips, backing her toward the bed with slow, steady steps before proceeding to whip her off her feet and back into the pillows. A moment later he was crawling over her, eyes sparkling with wickedly affectionate intent.

It was probably a good thing he'd taken charge; otherwise, she might have been tempted to tackle him onto the bed. As it was, she seemed pleased with the results of her teasing. "As active as you want to be," she replied, hands moving beneath his shirt to run her palms against his skin.

She must have felt his grin against her neck, felt the rumble of his low growl in answer to her touch. "Somehow I don't think you'd be happy if I just decided to go to sleep right here," he murmured, skimming his fingers up along her thigh, fitting his hips to hers with teasing warmth.

"I'm pretty sure I could manage to keep you awake," she countered, with equally wicked intent sparkling in her eyes. She grazed his back with her nails, only hard enough to tantalize, not hard enough to hurt him.

Through several layers of clothing, he thrust against her in answer, nipping at her lower lip with a feral grin. "Playing with fire, kitten," he warned. He always warned her, and she often disregarded the warning, but for some reason, Emrys felt the need to keep her aware that he did not always have control of his desire for his beautiful mate.

But she wasn't wholly human, and if there was one thing she wasn't afraid of, it was Emrys' passion. In fact, she reveled in the fact that she could instill such passion in him that he often came close to losing control. "I won't break, love," she assured him, digging her nails in just a little harder, but still not hard enough to really hurt, only entice.

"I might," he laughed, pressing his lips to hers with a slow kiss that seemed to want to suck the breath from her lungs and return it, filling her with him until she couldn't perceive anything but her mate.

She gave into that kiss, hungry as they both were for each other. He was her whole world, not only in the moment but always. Always she wanted to know only this feeling - that nothing else mattered so long as he was near. She drew a deep breath when their lips finally parted, but only for a moment before she was diving in again, hungry for his kisses, hungry for him.

He gave her everything she asked for and more, clever hands swift to find their way to her skin, to all the sensitive places that made his kitten purr. Though neither of them had been experienced before they had known one another, they had learned together, matching each other in their knowledge of what made everything so good at times like these.

Was this why she had so many siblings" Had her mother loved her father half as much as she loved Emrys. She didn't think it was possible for anyone to love someone as much as she loved him. She loved him, adored him, and with all her heart and mind and body, wanted him. Him and only him - no one else would ever do. She made all this known to him without words, only actions, matching all his ministrations with those of her own, until he, too, was as spent as she was and thoroughly sated.

And still the kisses did not end, softer, gentler, less a tease and more a thank you as he skimmed her hair from her face and smiled down at her, braced on one arm to keep his weight from crushing her. "The day you decided not to eat me for trespassing was the day my life began," he murmured tenderly.

She appreciated the compliment, knowing what he meant by it, but couldn't help laughing at the way he phrased it. "I wouldn't have eaten you, in any case, Em," she said, one finger tracing idle circles against his chest as he leaned over her. "Wolf doesn't agree with my stomach," she added, with a teasing smirk up at him. There was more to it than that, but that was all he really needed to know.

He laughed lazily, dipping his brow to hers as his hand slid down to cover her belly and the promise they had planted there together. "I beg to differ, kitten," he reminded her with wicked humor.

"You don't get pregnant by swallowing, Em," she told him, her eyes dancing with playful mischief. Let him make of that comment what he wanted. She raised a hand to slide her fingers through those dark curls of his that she loved so much, and lifted her head to press a kiss to his lips, warm and affectionate and promising an encore of their lovemaking, if he wanted it.

"Sure about that?" he countered, just as mischievous as she was before smothering his laughter in her kisses, rolling to bring her over him as he settled on his back. They didn't have too much longer before the twins would be up and ready to fill their afternoon with unpredictable fun, but this was fun all on its own.

Homesteading was hard work, but it was afternoons like these that made it all worthwhile. Their time was theirs, to use as they wished. No boss standing over them, no time clock to punch, no worry about not having enough hours in a day to finish their work. There were those who thought money bought happiness, but they were wrong. This was what happiness was really all about. This was freedom. Free to do as they wanted, when they wanted, together.

It was a simple life, but it was theirs. And that, in the end, was all that mattered.