Disclaimer: don't own, not mine, blah blah blah

A/N: Ok, you know you've been waiting for it so here it is, oozing with romance. Please don't hate yourself in the morning…

Chapter Two

She fixed a pot of tea, carried it into the parlor and settled on a chair near the window where she could see clear up the street to the next block. The sun was setting and the people moving about were turning into shadow figures against the houses and sky, but she could tell which her husband was. She knew his walk. It wasn't time yet, but she watched anyway.

She was still thinking about miracles. They were spontaneous, inexplicable, God's intervention in the hearts and lives of mankind. She had to admit to herself that she couldn't remember praying to love Hiram better. Perhaps he was the one who prayed. He was a man of science more than faith, not that she could recall him ever doubting the existence of miracles.

What did it matter? The fact was that changes weren't only happening physically, but in her heart. She once feared that she would never be a proper wife for him but the fear transformed into a leap of faith… a miracle.

Eva remembered waking up from another nightmare. Like all the others, she struggled to catch her breath and calm her racing heart.

The first time it happened after they were married, Hiram tried to comfort her, but the feeling of being held made it worse. She screamed and struck out at him in her sleep. When she woke up, nothing she could say would make him forgive himself. He offered to sleep in another room to make her feel safer, but she assured him that she never considered him a threat. Hiram finally settled on a solution: he would remove himself when a nightmare started and sleep in a chair in the corner of the room. Many mornings Eva woke to find him slumped in the chair looking terribly uncomfortable. He never complained about it.

This time, however, she woke up and reached for him. He wasn't there, but she desperately wished that he was. She sat up and looked at him sleeping in the chair. He shifted around in his fitful slumber, his tall frame unable to find a comfortable position. She thought it would be nice to have his arms around her and to hear his voice whispering soothing words of assurance in her ear. It's alright, Eva, he would say. You're safe, I'm here.

She quietly got up and grabbed the top quilt from the bed. Sleeping in the chair was not only uncomfortable, it was cold. Hiram never bothered to take a blanket or drag the chair closerto the dying embers in the fireplace. She covered him with the quilt, and then gave the fire a poke. A small flame leaped to life, its light bouncing off the walls around the room.

She started to walk quietly back to the bed, but stopped a few feet away. It looked so big and empty without him there. She didn't want to crawl back under the covers alone. Instead, she went back to her husband, lifted a corner of the quilt and lowered herself onto his lap. She carefully slid her arm around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. After a few moments, he shifted to pull the quilt tighter around her and cradle her in his arms like she was a child.

She lifted her head and watched the low light of the fire flicker on his face. Suddenly she saw him very differently. He was peaceful. He was content. He was never far when she needed him. She knew she couldn't say the same about herself. His eyes opened and he met her stare. He smiled as he pulled her closer into his arms.

"You're shaking, Eva," he said in a sleepy voice. "Do you feel alright?"

"I love you, Hiram." It was simple yet seemed inadequate for everything she was feeling in her heart at that moment. Maybe he was content with the little she offered him, but she was no longer satisfied. She reached out her hand and brought his face to hers. She kissed him, not once, but over and over. She moved her hand from his face to his shoulder and then back and forth across his chest, feeling the buttons of his night shirt as she did. She loosened a few and slowly slid her hand inside and rested her palm over his heart.

"I can feel your heart beating," she said quietly. "Like it's going to jump out of your chest at me."

"I can't seem to help it," he smiled. She put her head back on his shoulder and buried her face in his neck, nuzzling him along his jaw line until she reached his ear. "That… is not helping."

She didn't care. All she wanted to do was tell him everything she was feeling but it was tangled up with so many emotions and stuck in her throat. She did love him. She wanted to be everything he wanted. She wanted him to need her like she needed him.

She took his hand and pressed it close over her heart inside her gown. She looked into his eyes before he leaned into her neck with his lips. The heat of his breath on her throat and the coolness of his fingers on her skin made the whole room start to spin.

"Now I can barely breathe," she moaned as he kissed her. He suddenly stopped, slipped his arm under her knees and stood up, scooping her into the air. When he reached the bed, she lowered her legs until her feet touched the bare floor. He touched her face, tracing little circles with his thumb.

"If you tell me to stop, I will," he said into her eyes. It was a promise. She didn't say anything. Instead she unbuttoned her gown and let it fall off her shoulders and then to the floor. He pulled his shirt over his head, lifted her again and laid her on the bed.

She heard him choke back emotions as he told her she was beautiful. She reached for him, pulling his face to hers until their lips met. They took their time being close to each other, holding each other. Their kisses were more intense than they had ever been. She kept waiting for her senses to return and scream at her to stop him, to run away before it was too late, but it never happened. Where there had been fear, now there was deep longing.

Finally, he moved over her. She could read his mind… he didn't want to hurt her. He wanted her to be sure. She pulled his body to hers.

He was gentle.

She responded to every move he made.

She felt the tears roll down her face. She didn't think she could ever love him more than she did after that night, but every day just proved that she did have more love to give him. Her only regret was that it had taken so long in both their lives to discover these feelings for each other, for she was convinced it was always there long before the events of the recent past.

She saw him cross the broad street and head toward home. She could feel her heart start to race. She moved quickly to the door and opened it when he reached the top step.

"What is it, darling, what's wrong?" He asked, startled to see her standing there, her face wet from crying.

"Nothing is wrong," she blurted as she ran to his arms. "It's just that… I love you and missed you all day." His face was still chilled from the walk home and his coat smelled like fresh air. "And I'm happy… very, very happy."

He kissed her as the door closed behind him.