It was late when Zacharias finally arrived home. He smiled seeing the still-warm plate on the work top. What was it tonight? he wondered. He poked the shredded chicken over noodles with a fork and tried a bite. "Mmm." He ate another couple of forkfuls despite having already had some curry takeaway at the office. Five years later, and he would always rather eat at home. Between Megan's cooking and peas flying across the table and the milk almost always spilling, he preferred home around the scrubbed wooden table that he hoped would grow with his family. He felt safe at home. He drew his wand from its sheath to direct the cooling charm on what he left on the plate. He put the plate in their fridge and drank the tea also waiting for him. He glanced over the file folder he'd brought home and then sealed it in his case. The last time he'd forgotten that little step of sealing it away, Neville had covered the photographs with peanut butter. He set the case next to the table for the morning and finished his tea, never sitting down despite his exhaustion.

He left all the dishes on the work top while he hung his bright green robes behind the door of the front-hall closet and ran his wand over them for cleaning. They would be fresh by the morning, but there was something that Megan did to them that he couldn't quite figure out that made them perfect. He took a deep breath, blinking the sleep from his eyes. His nightly ritual was almost complete as he unsealed the wand holster from his forearm, hanging it beside his robes before he flicked his wand in the direction of the kitchen, extinguishing the lights and setting the protection spells in place for the night.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs gazing first at the sofa a little too longingly and then back at the tall staircase once more. There was a soft glow coming from the top of the stairs. Neville had just started using the big loo, and little fairy lights lined the hallway from his room to the toilet. Zach thought he might like to stay down here instead of climbing those many stairs. He hadn't been this tired since the Auror Academy and this was his fourth late night in a week and wouldn't be his last. It seemed impossible that any Death Eaters remained at large, but the Auror department was insanely busy; the case load growing in fact. They were close to this next one, and it was Zach's turn to go home for a couple of extra hours. He thought only a moment more and then climbed the stairs. He smiled at the thought of what awaited him in his bed, stopping only long enough to first check on his two boys.

Neville and Wayne were both sound asleep; their little boy snores echoing in the little room. He tapped his wand against the glass of the windows and lowered the blinds. Zacharias stopped now to look at them. Neville was exactly him when he was that age, but Wayne…Wayne was the spitting image of Megan. He kissed them both on their cheeks and brushed the hair from their closed eyes, covering them up, giving them one last look before closing the door with a soft click, the magic shimmering around the door frame.

He tiptoed into his own bedroom, placing his wand in the drawer of his bedside table. It hadn't been that long ago that he slept with it under his pillow. He silently removed his clothes, thankful that it seemed over the top to do that now, but things were brewing. He could feel it and he wasn't the only one. There was something in the air lately, especially across the Sea. Fortunately, that wasn't his jurisdiction. There was a low cough from the bed that drew his attention there. He frowned. Megan had been feeling ill the last week or so, and he had been asking her to see the Healers at St. Mungo's. She kept insisting that the boys left her not time. Zacharias shook his head. Hopefully, his owl to her mum requesting a babysitter had convinced her. Hestia was usually on his side in this familiar disagreement. He watched her back until her breathing evened out again and then he approached the bed.

He slid under the covers, fully intending to go to sleep, but he put his hand on Megan's hip – just to let her know he was home, and her body felt warm under his cool hands. So warm. He inched closer until he had molded himself around her, resting one hand on her thigh and the other stroking her hair. It was shorter than he liked, but with the two little ones, she liked it in an easy style that was quick in the mornings and one that Wayne didn't tug on too much.

Zach was beginning to warm up against her body and he began to nibble her neck, tracing circles with his tongue until finally she could pretend to be asleep no longer and groaned in response, adding, "It's a good thing my husband's not home."

"Mmm, good thing," he answered raising her nightshirt to feel the warmth of her bare thigh. "Oh, baby, I've missed you." He lifted himself and tried to kiss her, to take her mouth with his, but she pulled away. "No, don't tease me; not tonight," he whinged, scooting along with her to her side of the bed.

"Speaking of babies," she started, rolling towards him.

He opened his eyes. "You're not?"

Megan licked her lips with a smile. "I am."

Zacharias laughed, pulling her close, scattering her face with kisses. "I want a girl this time; a princess who looks exactly like her beautiful Mum."

"I'll see what I can do." She answered him with her own sweet kisses, adding in a soft questioning voice, "Are you sure, Zach?"

"A beautiful princess like her Mum. I'm sure."

"No." She pat his chest playfully, but let her hand linger. "I mean a big family like this. We'll have three under five."

"I want three under –. Do you want to stop with this one?"

She hesitated. "No. I want more."

Zach smiled. "Me, too. One by one, Meggie, I want to fill this house with laughter and beautiful children who look like you."

Zach laughed in surprise as Megan pushed him away, then climbed to sit on top of him, rubbing against him. She pressed her body down against his hips and he let out another deep breath, watching his wife. He touched her exposed skin when she raised the nightshirt, pulling it over her head, letting it fall to the side of the bed. She sat there, naked, biting her lower lip and let him look at her. Sometimes, like now, he was so turned on, he couldn't wait to touch her, but he did wait, knowing she liked it when he looked. His breathing sped up and when his eyes met hers, he knew how lucky he was. Every day he was grateful that she had taken him back; forgiven him. He couldn't contain his desire for her any longer, letting his hands roam, following her curves with his palms, turning them over and kneading her with his knuckles. He sat up as best he could with her atop him and met her mouth with his own, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her down on top of him. He would die a happy man if her laugh rang in his ears the way it just had and he quickly rolled her, pinning her on her back with deeper kisses; longer kisses for his wife; the mother of his children.

One at a time; one by one; they would have that large family that neither of them had, but longed for. He glanced at the moon filled window, the frame shimmering with his protection spells. It would be a safe world for his children. He would see to that.