A/N: This has been floating around in my head and I'm glad to finally get it out!

Reviews are love :-)

The first time she sees him, he's so tall that she half-smiles. He's like some stoic giant, an ancient warrior. In an ill-fitted button-up.

She wonders if his children will be tall.

The first time she speaks to him, it's to ask him about something that she didn't understand in class (it's only Art History; is she cut out for this, really?)

He tells her she's not stupid, not at all, and explains the history of frescoes.

She wonders if his children will be smart.

The first time they study together, he spills her coffee, and he apologizes a dozen times until his ears turn pink and she bites back a smile.

She wonders if his children will be polite.

The first time they go on a date, his goodbye kiss isn't on her lips. Instead, he lifts her hand and kisses it, like out of the movies.

She wonders if their (his! Oh goodness, how embarrassing-) his children will be romantic.

The first time they kiss, she knows she loves him.

She knows their children will be loved.

The first time she asks him about his family, he looks away, and she feels shut out. But when nobody calls him for his birthday, she starts to understand.

She knows their children will always be welcomed back home.

The first time he comes to her family's home, her mother fusses over him for an hour and tries to teach him knitting. He doesn't even tell her, afterward, that she owes him—even though she knows she does.

She hopes their children will gladly suffer for each other.

The first time he tells her about his family, she wants to hate them—hate his father and his brother. But he won't let her. Especially not his brother.

She hopes their children will forgive.

When his brother comes, she wishes she could see past the façade and like him, but she can't. Sam does, though, and that's what matters. He leaves, tells her he'll be back.

She hopes their children will be generous, even though she isn't, always.

When pain takes the place of terror, and Sam wakes up, she tries to tell him she's sorry, tries to tell him it's not his fault, tries to tell him she loves him. (Good thing he already knows that).

She's glad she won't have to know what it's like to watch her children's hearts be torn and broken.

Fire takes the place of pain.

She's sorry she won't ever know them at all.