This is a five-part story, basically a collection of scenes describing Nate and Sophie's road towards parenthood.
Let me know what you think!
"So what would you steal ?" Nate asks her suddenly.
Strolling through the gardens of Versailles on the arm of her husband of three weeks, Sophie Devereaux looks up at the man and smiles.
"Please, darling. I'm an honest woman now."
"Where have I heard that before ?"
Nate gives her a knowing look and she laughs. The chilly, Parisian winter weather makes her breath puff out in a cloud.
"Well, I would enjoy having an entire hall of mirrors," Sophie concedes.
"Why ? So that you could flirt with yourself ?" Nate teases.
She giggles and lightly hits his arm. She leans into him, her hip knocking into him and his step wavers sideways. Suddenly, a weight knocks into him from behind. Nate stops walking and turns around to see a young girl looking up at him from behind her bangs.
"Pardon," the girl apologizes. She huffs and Nate smiles.
"Ça va," Nate replies, wincing at his weak attempt at speaking french.
" Tu ne t'es pas fait mal?" Sophie asks the girl. Nate turns his head to look at his wife, smiling at her flawless accent.
The little girl shakes her head no at whatever Sophie said. "Léa!" someone calls suddenly and the girl turns away.
"Au revoir!" she yells over her shoulder as she runs away towards her parents. Her father holds out a hand that his daughter immediately grabs. She starts skipping next to him while the man wraps his arm around the shoulders of the woman next to him.
Sophie settles back against Nate, her head against his shoulder. She hums lightly in contentment.
"You know, you get even sexier when you speak french," Nate compliments her, his voice low and deep.
She tilts her head, raises a shoulder and throws him a heated look. But as they start walking again, she quickly goes back to watching the family ahead of them.
"We've never really had that conversation you and I," Nate says after a while.
"What conversation?"
His step falters a bit and she feels him getting tense against her.
"Nate?"
"Have you ever wanted to be a mother?" he asks suddenly.
Her mouth opens and she stops walking. Nate frowns and turns towards her. She looks away and swallows down the knot in her throat. He steps close to her and runs his hand along her arm.
"What's wrong, Soph'?"
"Nothing," she assures. "Nothing, you just caught me off-guard."
"It's ok, we don't have to talk about this," Nate replies softly.
Sophie frowns at how disappointed he sounds. When he takes her hand in his, she follows. They walk side by side in silence for a minute.
"I didn't think about it for a long time," Sophie says after a while. Nate squeezes her hand and she leans further against him, wrapping her free hand around his bicep. "I was never really the girl who dreamt of husband and kids. I dreamt of Vermeer and Van Gogh and Degas..." she trails off, smiling.
"Stop daydreaming about robbing the Louvre," Nate interrupts. She laughs, thankful for the brief reprieve. She's serious again the next second.
"Remember that con in London a couple of years ago, back when we were chasing Moreau?"
"Of course, Duchess."
"Remember that scandal Keller mentioned?" Nate nods and Sophie stays quiet for moment. "I got pregnant." Her voice is almost a whisper. "I had an abortion and I ran away."
She hears Nate swallow and it's her turn to squeeze his hand.
"But I really wanted it all for a second. I did love William. And he loved Charlotte." Nate presses a kiss to her head and she closes her eyes. "But I wasn't Charlotte, so I left it all behind."
She quiets down and looks up at Nate with eyes brimming with tears but a soft smile on her lips.
"I've always wondered why Sophie was different," Nate says, his voice hoarse. "Why is Sophie different from your other aliases?"
"Because Sophie's who I choose to be. She's not a con, she's a choice. She's real."
Nate stops walking and turns to her. His hands move to cup her face and he smiles.
"Well I'm glad she is because I happen to be very much in love with her," Nate whispers against her lips.
She wraps her arms around him when he kisses her. She sighs softly into his mouth as the kiss gets heated and she feels his tongue against hers. Soon, too soon but they are in public, Nate pulls away from her. She follows him to a nearby bench where they sit down, his arm around her shoulders and her back half against his chest. She lets her head fall back against his shoulder and closes her eyes.
"Have you ever regretted it?" he asks and she knows what he's talking about but she takes a moment to answer anyway.
"No, not really. I mean... occasionally I see a child and I'll wonder what mine would have been like. But I know it was the right decision."
Nate nods and keeps silent. But she knows he's not quite done with the subject yet.
"Nate..." Sophie sighs. "I can feel you thinking."
He chuckles and she feels the vibration of it traveling down her spine.
"You come across as very maternal, that's all."
"Well we do have three children already, in a way," she quips.
"And that's enough for you?"
"Look, Nate," she sighs again, "I'm fine, ok. You and I, we're good." She starts speaking with her hands as she gets agitated. "You've already had a family, you've already been a father and I get that you wouldn't want to do it again. I understand that you don't want to replace Sam."
"Ok, hold on. Stop there," Nate interrupts.
He wraps his hands around her shoulders to push her away slightly. He makes her turn towards him and leaves his hands against her upper arms.
"No one is ever going to replace Sam. That's not even a possibility and it's absolutely not what I was getting at. I wasn't trying to make sure you were ok with not having children. I wanted to see if maybe you wanted one."
"Oh," Sophie breathes out and her heart starts beating quicker. She stares at her husband, seeing the same vulnerability he always shows when he opens himself up. "You'd actually like to be a father again?"
"As long as you were the mother, I would, yes."
Her mouth hangs open and when he closes it for her, his fingers linger against the underside of her jaw. He smiles.
"It's ok if you don't want to though, Sophie."
"No, I... I don't just daydream about the Louvre you know. I have thought about it, occasionally, especially since we got together. I just never thought..."
He interrupts her again, with a kiss this time, shorter, lighter but no less tender. He watches her and when she bites her lip, his eyes follow. She nods, then. She imagines her smile is as bright as his.
I'll probably post the next chapter tomorrow or the day after. You won't have long to wait. ;) And the Leverage family will pop up!
Also, this story is unbeta-ed and english isn't my first language, so... please forgive my mistakes!
One last thing: yes, the title is a quote from Winnie the Pooh. :)
