AN: As a special thank you to KH-Scribes, I'd like to dedicate this story to them...I've been going through some severe health issues lately and their reviews have been a special pick-me-up when I'm feeling crappy. One of the chapters in this story is going to get a little dark, but I'll post a warning at the top so you can avoid it if it's going to trigger you. Also, I've written the smut part that precedes this chapter and if you'd like to read that one, please let me know and I'll post it! Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews!


When Emily limped into the kitchen, Ian glanced up at her from his task of attempting to feed Gemma applesauce, grinning entirely too smugly upon noticing her obvious soreness.

"Eventful night?" he asked pleasantly, eyes glinting mischievously as he watched her lean over to kiss the top of Gemma's head, fingerprint bruises on her hips peeking out as her shirt rode up.

Emily bit her lip to keep her lascivious grin from breaking free, feeling his eyes on her. "Little ears are everywhere..." she reminded him.

He wrapped an arm around her hips, pulling her into his lap. "That didn't stop you last night..." he husked by her ear. "I made you scream my name over and over and over."

"You say that like you didn't enjoy every second of it," she retorted with a breathy laugh, then pulled him in for a kiss.

"Careful, Love, you'll get yourself in trouble if you keep kissing me like that..."

"Keep your hands to yourself, mister," she scolded, "I can barely walk right now..."

He drew her in for another kiss, chuckling against her lips.

They were interrupted by a sound from the doorway and they broke apart to find Charlotte glaring at them.

"Morning, Lottie," Emily greeted her daughter pleasantly, in spite of the girl's frown. She stood quickly, crossing the room to ruffle the girl's bedhead in greeting.

Ian too bent down to give her a hug and kiss, but the child shrugged out of his embrace. "What's wrong, mo storín?" he asked, looking questioningly at Emily who just shrugged, as confused as he was. Ian was usually the favourite parent, so this was particularly unusual behaviour.

"I saw you..." Charlotte said accusingly, staring him down, entirely too like her mother for Ian's liking.

"What did you see, Lottie?" Emily asked, kneeling down to her level.

Charlotte broke down in tears, flinging herself into Emily's arms, wailing. "H-he w-was hur-hur-hurting youuuuu," she cried.

Emily met Ian's eyes, bewildered.

"I would never hurt your Ma," he insisted, attempting again to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"I saw," she insisted, sobbing pitifully, once again rebuffing his affection.

Emily lifted Charlotte into her arms, rubbing her back soothingly as she sniffled into her shoulder. Once her tears faded into quiet hiccups, she settled Charlotte on her lap and asked again, "What happened?"

"I came into your room, even though I'm not s'posta after bedtime, but you were screaming and I saw Daddy on top of you and he was hurting you!"

Emily could see Charlotte's bottom lip wobbling again and attempted to head off the oncoming tears. "Daddy wasn't hurting me," she insisted with a weary sigh – she'd been hoping to have a few more years before having this conversation...but Charlotte had always been rather precocious.

Charlotte looked at her suspiciously. "He wasn't?"

"No," she promised, "Mommy wanted him to do that."

Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "But you were screaming..."

"It was a...happy scream," she said awkwardly, not quite ready to explain to her five year old that she liked rough sex.

"But why?" she pressed.

Emily looked beseechingly at Ian, silently begging for help, but he just shrugged helplessly, steadfastly avoiding Charlotte's gaze. "Sometimes when two grown ups love each other very much, they have a special hug called sex..." she explained, hoping her face wasn't as bright red as it felt.

"Sounds yucky," Charlotte declared.

"You don't even know what it is," Emily pointed out. She just shrugged, resolute in her decision. "Anyway," Emily continued, shaking her head, "The point is that what you saw last night was Mommy and Daddy showing we love each other. He wasn't hurting me, so it's okay."

"But why?" Charlotte asked, head cocked quizzically.

"Why what?"

"Why do you do sex?" she asked.

"Well," Emily said slowly, chewing her lip. "It's how babies are made."

"Nooooo!" Charlotte wailed.

Ian groaned, looking like he might have an aneurysm if the conversation continued. "What's wrong now, Charlotte?"

"I don't want another baby!" she moaned.

"It doesn't mean there's going to be a baby," Emily insisted, a little desperately – she was praying Declan would stay asleep and she wouldn't have to figure out an age appropriate way to explain to him as well... "That's just a sometimes thing..."

"How?"

"How what?" she said, sounding defeated.

"How do you know not this time?"

"I just know," she promised, also not about to tell her five year old that it was hard to make a baby when Ian had been doing her in the ass...

"But..." Charlotte pressed, curious and full of questions as ever.

"I think that's enough questions for one morning," Ian declared firmly, lifting Charlotte off Emily's lap. "Quit pestering your Ma." What he meant was, Please stop asking embarrassing questions and stay my innocent little girl forever.

"But I wanna know," she said with a pout.

"When you're older," he murmured, kissing the top of her head.

"Promise there's no baby?" she pressed.

"I promise," he said with a mischievous wink at Emily, causing her cheeks to pink. "Now, it's time for breakfast."

"Lucky Charms!" she demanded, dictator in princess pyjamas.

"Nice try," Emily scoffed. "Like you need more sugar." She filled a bowl with Cheerios instead.

"Well, that was fun," Ian whispered as Charlotte shovelled cereal into her mouth.

Emily glared at him. "You could've been more helpful."

"Hey, you were the one screaming like a banshee last night," he teased, hand wandering along her hip and onto her ass.

"You were the one slamming the headboard against the wall," she retorted, swatting his hand away.

"You were the one who wanted it in the ass," he replied, smirking.

"Well, you didn't protest very hard..." He just laughed. "You're incorrigible," she said, shaking her head, but she was grinning as she leaned in for a kiss.

"Remind me to install a lock on the bedroom door," he added as he pulled away. "I don't fancy having to have a repeat of this conversation with Declan..."

"Coward," she muttered teasingly.