A/N: Sorry about the mix up folks. The two documents are labeled so they sit right next to each other on my computer and I forgot to check when I uploaded this one. I promise to be more careful from here on out.


Helen sat in her rocking chair watching her two year old play beside her on the floor. Little Ashley had grown so much it was hard to believe it some days. The blonde girl was currently enjoying the miniature tea set that her grandfather gave her for her birthday. There were some days that Helen believed really couldn't be any better. This would be one of them if John ever managed to make it back home.

"Mummy," Ashley called from the floor.

"What is it my darling?" she asked distractedly.

"Daddy home soon?"

Helen smiled. Though she was only two years old, Ashley was very close to her father. And of course, John was wrapped around the girl's little finger. "Hopefully," Helen told her. "He should be home very soon."

"I stay up til he's here?" the girl wondered.

"If you can say it properly," Helen stipulated. "Say Can I stay up until he's here."

Ashley scrunched her face in concentration as she practiced under her breath. Then she turned to her mother with a blinding smile. "Can I stay up until he's here," she repeated, a little slowly.

"Very good," her mother praised. "Yes you may stay up." At that moment Ashley's governess came to the door. "Thank you Miss Abernathy but Ashley will be staying up with me this night. She wants to see her father before she goes to sleep. I shall put her to bed once John has returned."

"Yes ma'am," the woman said with a nod.

Helen turned back to the sheaf of papers in her lap. These medical records were truly fascinating. She was nearly about to send Ashley to bed anyway when she heard the door open. Ashley looked up at her with a grin. "Daddy home," she proclaimed.

"Yes he is," Helen agreed softly. She was about to gather up Ashley and go to meet him when he swept in the door.

"There are my girls," John greeted. Ashley scrambled to her feet and hurried over to be swept into his arms. John held her tight for a moment. "My little angel," he smiled.

"Daddy, I learned a new word today," she told him.

"Do tell me what it is," he encouraged.

"I learned the word courtship," Ashley said proudly.

"Did you?" John asked surprised. "And just where did you learn a word like that?" His question was to Ashley but he looked to Helen over her head. His wife just smiled and nodded to their daughter.

"Miss Abernathy told me what it meant cuz I heard it being yelled outside when the window was open," Ashley explained. "There were other words but she and mummy won't explain them to me."

John could only imagine what those words were. "And a good thing they didn't," he agreed. "I doubt they were the sort of words a young lady should hear." Ashley let out a huff and John kissed her head. "Come now my darling, tell daddy why you are still up at this hour? Is it not past your bed time?"

"Mummy said I could wait up for you," Ashley told him. Then she hugged him tight again. John looked over at Helen.

"She was quite insistent about it," Helen said. "I couldn't say no to such a request. Besides, one night can't hurt." She got up and moved over to them. "I'll take her up to bed now."

John adjusted his grip on the little girl. "I can take care of it," he assured her. "Much quicker than you, I might add."

Helen couldn't argue that point. Even if she wanted to Ashley spoke up that. "I want a ride from Daddy," she said excitedly. "Please, please, please."

"Well, I certainly can't refuse that," Helen chuckled. "Very well, go on." Father and daughter smiled as they disappeared. Helen set about cleaning up Ashley's tea set and putting away her medical files while she waited for John to return. A flash of light was the only signal she received before a warm pair of arms encircled her waist. John brushed a kiss to her cheek. "How was work darling?" she asked softly.

"A long day," John sighed, "but a rewarding one, none the less. And yours my dearest?"

"Incredible as always," she smiled. "I think I've found a new species. Or well, new to me at least." She turned around in his arms. John pulled her closer and she looped her own arms around his neck. "I'll show it to you if you'd like?"

John gave her a gentle kiss. "In a little bit," he agreed. "Right now I just want to feel you in my arms. I've missed you this day, Helen."

Helen settled into his arms. "I missed you too," she murmured. She rested her head in the junction of his neck and shoulder. She took a deep breath to inhale the scent of the man she loved. John began to sway her back and forth. Helen smiled as she matched his movements. Oftentimes when John came home they would somehow end up waltzing to their wedding dance. For Helen it was like reliving the moment all over again. The man she loved, holding her for the first time as her husband. They moved around the room in perfect time to music no one else could hear. John let her spin out and when she came back to his arms she stopped him.

John leaned down for a slow, warm kiss. "My sweet Helen," he sighed. "A man was never luckier to belong to such a woman."

"I have a surprise for you," she told him with a softer version of her usual grin.

"A surprise?" he asked. "What sort of surprise?" In response Helen took his hand and guided it to her abdomen. John looked from there to her face several times as comprehension dawned. "Helen, do you mean? Are you…?"

Helen grinned. "I am pregnant," she agreed. "Not more than three months along. I had suspected for a while but James confirmed it today."

John let out a surprised laugh. "This is wonderful," he said. "I don't suppose there is any way to tell the child's gender?"

"Not really," Helen shook her head. "Not scientifically at least. But I have a feeling this one will be that son you've longed for. I'm as certain as I was when I carried Ashley."

John kissed her brow. "Any child of ours," he said, "no matter what the gender, I will love with my whole heart. As I love you and Ashley right now."

"Oh, dearest I do understand that," Helen promised him. "But look me in the eye and tell me you don't want a boy to carry on your family name."

"Tis a pity he won't become a Magnus," John opined. "That is far more worthy family name than mine."

Helen reached for his cheek. She knew he was thinking of his mother and sister with their madness. "He will be a Magnus," she promised him, "And a Druitt. And he shall make us both so proud. Just as his sister will when she grows up. They will have every chance we didn't. And all of our children will do great things. You'll see."

"All of our children?" John chuckled. "And just how large of a family did you plan on us having?"

Helen pretended to look like she was considering it. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "I was thinking perhaps… six?"

John raised an eyebrow. "Six?" he repeated. "My dear you don't do anything by half measures, do you?"

"I remember what it was like growing up as an only child," Helen told him. "I loved my father but it was a rather lonely existence. I don't want that for our children."

"And so you want a very large family," John finished.

Helen gave him a coy smile. "Is there some reason why we can't have six children?" she asked.

"Why my darling Helen," John responded. "Are you trying to imply something about my ability to perform, as it were?"

"Perhaps it would be your unwillingness to think about my request that implies far more than I ever could," Helen teased.

"Six children," John murmured, pulling her close again. "We should start on that straight away." Helen laughed for a moment before John's mouth covered hers again.