NOTE: This chapter is RATED ADULT for some sexual content.

(See first part for disclaimer, notes, spoilers, etc.)

Chapter 7: "Amaranthine"

The bedroom door creaked open slowly, cautious feet padding across the floor to the bed. Gregory rolled over, opening his eye a crack. Bright sunshine streamed in through the windows, more than he was accustomed to seeing when he usually woke up.

Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself up and the footsteps stopped abruptly. He looked up and smiled tiredly, beckoning his small guest closer. He sat back against the intricately carved wooden headboard as Caitlin giggled and jumped onto the bed.

She cuddled against his chest and placed a loud kiss on his cheek. "You were sleeping forever!" she exclaimed.

"I was," he agreed, a hint of exhaustion in his voice, "until a little mouse named Caitlin crept into my bedroom and-"

"But I was real quiet Daddy!"

Gregory kissed her forehead and hugged her a bit closer. "Yes, you were." Her tousled blond head settled on his shoulder and he glanced to his left. Olivia's side of the bed was empty, the mattress cool to his touch. He frowned and tapped his fingers thoughtfully against his daughter's back. "Is Mommy downstairs?"

Caitlin sat up, her shoulders rising as her head shook quickly from side-to-side. "Elsa is…and she made breakfast!"

"Did she?" he asked distractedly as he stood up, kicking away the silk sheets. He carried her in his arms, nestling her small body against his side.

Her head bobbed eagerly as her fists latched onto the collar of his pajamas. "Uh huh. Huge, giant pancakes!"

He eyed the barely open bathroom door for a moment before smiling back down at Caitlin. "Your favorite. Why don't you go downstairs so you can pick out the biggest one?" She looked doubtful, content to stay in his arms until he added, "And you can tell Elsa I said it was alright to give you chocolate milk."

The deal was sealed. Caitlin's legs flailed as she struggled to be let down. "Okay!" she shouted excitedly as she ran from the bedroom.

As her footsteps receded down the hall, Gregory walked over to the bathroom and pushed the door open fully. Olivia stood in front of the full-length mirror, eyeing her reflection critically. He watched in an amused silence as she turned to the side, pulling her nightgown tight over her abdomen with one hand. The skin between her eyebrows furrowed as she frowned, her other hand skimming across the flesh of her stomach.

He folded his arms against his chest and leaned against the doorjamb, breaking into a grin as she pinched her lower stomach. How many times had she done that they found out she was pregnant with Caitlin? A good luck charm, she explained. Then later, as the pregnancy progressed, she pinched her stomach to bemoan her expanding waistline.

How could he not see the changes before? They were so clear, so obvious. The slight thickening of her waist, the fullness of her breasts, and how tired she had seemed the past few weeks. Changes that he reveled in the first two times, he had been oblivious to now. He shook his head, turning his attention back to her. Her hand was following a slow circular path around her stomach.

Her head rose slowly and her hand froze when she noticed him behind her. With a sheepish smile and a blush coloring her cheeks, she asked softly, "How long have you been standing there?"

Pushing off the wall, he took a step closer to her. "Not long," he admitted. Walking closer until his chest pressed against her back, he clasped her hips and placed the softest of kisses on the back of her neck.

As his hands snaked around to her stomach, she leaned back against him and confessed, "I still can't believe it. Four months pregnant." She smiled at him in the reflection, relaxing against the way his thumbs intimately stroked her stomach through the nightgown.

"Oh, I think you're allowed a few days for it to really sink in." She shrugged half-heartedly and he added, "It hasn't even been a full twenty four hours that we've known."

"Yes, but darling," she insisted, "I'm barely showing. Look." She ran her hand across her still somewhat flat stomach, smoothing out the silk of her nightgown. "It doesn't look like I'm pregnant; it just looks like I've gained weight."

He swallowed a chuckle as she frowned at her reflection, her hand still rubbing her stomach. Resting his hands on her shoulders at the curve of her neck, he asked, "So you won't feel pregnant until then?"

"It seems rather silly when you put it like that."

"No, it's rather…endearing."

She laughed softly, turning with his arms still around her to face him. "That doesn't make me feel much better."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, wondering if she could hear the way his heart thundered against his ribcage. "I'm so sorry."

Olivia paused, amused confusion rippling across her face. "For what?"

"For," he began slowly, "everything." Her face fell, pearly white teeth capturing the corner of her lip nervously as she realized what he was referring to. "For not being the kind of husband you needed, the kind you deserved." Her eyes turned down and she bit the corner of her lip as he continued, "For failing you."

She sighed, shaking her slightly. "Gregory-," she began, a condonation forming on her lips.

"Don't let me off the hook so easily," he interrupted as he grasped her shoulders. Softening his voice, he cupped her face gently and whispered, "I nearly forgot…"

"Forgot what?" She watched as softness glazed over the brown of his eyes, a near match to the way his fingers caressed her chin.

"You," he admitted, the pad of his thumb trailing the underside of her bottom lip. "This. How special your love is." He paused, his voice wavering slightly as he continued, "What a gift it is to be loved by you."

Her eyes melted as he grasped her hands, holding them to his lips for a long moment. "How tortured I am without it. Without you," he whispered into her flesh. "Without you, I don't live."

A beam of sunlight feel in through the skylight, causing the tears captured in her eyelashes to glisten. Her chin trembled and her breathing fell from her lips as a raspy sigh. His lips grazed her knuckles before he pressed their entwined hands to his chest.

She blinked, a hot tear falling silently and landing on her cheek. His heart was strong, thumping rhythmically as she squeezed his hand gently. Strong and determined, as the return squeeze attested.

"You've always been entirely too hard on yourself," she insisted softly as he released her hands, only to capture her face again.

She gazed up at him, her eyes wide and glazed over with unshed tears. Volumes of love on a mass scale shined through the blue, blooming warmth in his chest that had not resided there in sometime. But it was trust that shocked him. Complete and utter trust in him echoed behind the love in her eyes, in the way that she curled into his touch. It was something he hadn't known until he met her.

He wrapped his arms around her back, hugging her close and taking comfort in the warmth of her body. They still fit together perfectly, her head resting against his shoulder as his hands slid down the curve of her spine to hold court at the small of her back. Until he met her, there was no light in his world, no promise of color. The life that she introduced him to seemed like a dream, filled with love, happiness, and trust. All of which she still held in high regard.

He didn't know her capacity for faith. Her faith in life, herself…in him. How after all of the silence and anger of the past two years, she could still trust him. Still love him. Be able to forgive him.

As he took in the lingering scents of her honeysuckle shampoo, she pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck and whispered, "It's because I love you."

Gregory glanced down in surprise as she turned her eyes up bashfully. A knowing smile spread across her face as she reached up to push an unruly lock of his hair back in place. Her fingers combed through his dark hair, the tips of her fingers trailing across his scalp.

His hands molded to her hips, the nightgown rippling in bunches as he caressed her through the silk. He lowered his lips to hers, pressing softly against hers and feeling the way she sucked in her breath. Something's didn't change.

Backing her into the marble counter, he cupped her bottom and squeezed gently, quietly taking pride in the way she tensed against him. Her fingers curled around the lapel of his charcoal gray pajamas, drawing him closer. Promise lingered on their lips, a gentle rediscovery of each other.

His lips kissed their way over her chin and followed the curve of her neck, down to the base of her throat as her head fell back. They lingered in the soft hollow for a long moment, alternately nibbling and kissing.

She gasped slightly as his teeth grazed her flesh, her tongue running hungrily across her top lip. "Gregory," she sighed, as her hips involuntarily ground against his.

An eyebrow arched as he turned his eyes up to her, his lips never straying from their concentration on her throat. She forced her eyes open in time to see him smirk at her before lowering his head again. Her arms locked at her sides as she braced her hands on the countertop.

The cool marble warmed instantly beneath her palms as pulses of heat shot out through her skin. His mouth was teasing her breast slowly, ignoring the silk that rested between his tongue and her. The fine material darkened in color as he feasted on her, color flushing in her neck and face as she again rasped his name.

Dropping to his knee, he looked up her. Her chest heaved, her eyes shone with desire- and he realized he'd never wanted her more. His palms rubbed against her hips as he nuzzled her stomach with his face, wanting desperately to have her back in every way. His hands followed the curve of her hips to her inner thigh and her loud gasp echoed around the bathroom.

She squeezed his shoulder as he urged her down to him, her arms settling around his neck as her knees touched the floor. Unable to tear himself away from her eyes, he simply gazed. Her tears from earlier were gone, smoldering with passion as she pulled his pajama top apart.

As half a dozen buttons bounced and scattered across the floor, she whispered, "The door's open."

"She's downstairs," was his distracted response as he slid the thin straps off her shoulders.

Nodding slightly, she pushed the shirt from his shoulders as her nightgown pooled around her knees. As he wriggled his arms out of his sleeves, her lips played with his neck, feather kisses that trailed down to his chest. Her body tingled in a thousand and one places as he gripped her arms and forced her to look up. The intensity of his stare gave her pause and he pulled her closer, their lips meeting hungrily.

As he near devoured her lips, his fingers stroking the sensitive triangle of flesh between her legs, her muffled moan sliced through the silence. The silence of the last two years evaporated as they pressed closer to one and other, flesh rubbing against flesh. He hissed as her teeth sank into his bottom lip, rocking back on his heels as she leaned against him.

He barely registered the thump of his back connecting with the floor or the chill that swept across his bare flesh. He cupped her face and drew her flush against him, their lips locked together.

Breakfast could wait, work could wait, and the entire world could wait as far as Gregory was concerned. What mattered now, the only thought consuming his consciousness was Olivia. Olivia his life. Olivia his present.

Everyone and everything else was secondary.

Olivia his future.


Nancy looked up as the unusual sound of someone whistling in the hallway grew increasingly louder. It was easy to get used to the quiet of the executive floor. The partners often spent their days shut up behind closed door, buried behind briefs and on conference calls with clients. Quiet for concentration ensured victories in the courtroom.

With a sigh of completion, she placed the last file in the cardboard carton and pushed the box aside as the door to the office suite opened. "Mr. Richards!" she exclaimed. "I was just going to send a courier to your home with the files you requested." She was taken aback by his nonchalant wave and the disinterested glance he tossed at the carton. "I didn't think you'd be coming in at all today," she called out as he strode into his office, a casual whistle rolling off his lips.

"There is one thing I need to see to personally," he said, the locks on his leather briefcase snapping open. He glanced up at her as he rifled through a stack of phone messages, sorting the important ones into briefcase. "Since I'll be working from home for the next week or so, you can feel free to use some of your vacation days. There's no need for you to be here if I'm not."

She blinked in surprise and managed to nod when she realized several moments had gone by and he was waiting for her response. "Yes sir. Thank you," she stammered. She glanced off to the side as he continued placing loose documents in his briefcase. "Is Mrs. Richards doing alright?" she asked cautiously.

He glanced up sharply and she took a nervous step back. Working as Gregory's secretary for nearly three years had earned her his professional trust, but rarely ever did he mention his personal life to her. Expecting a stern condemnation for overstepping a boundary, she was surprised when he grinned and closed his briefcase firmly.

"She's doing just fine, Nancy. Thank you for asking." He tucked his briefcase under his arm and continued, not even bothering to conceal his excitement, "We found out last night that we're expecting another child."

"Oh, Mr. Richards," she sighed as she followed him back to the outer office. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," he said, setting his briefcase atop the carton. "We're both thrilled with the news."

"I can imagine. And I'm sure Caitlin must be looking forward to having a new sibling."

He looked up, chuckling as he leaned against her desk. "We actually haven't told her yet. She fell asleep so early and Olivia was so exhausted last night that we let it go. We're telling her tonight."

"Well," she smiled, "don't worry about anything here. I cleared your schedule, pushing back most of your appointments to next week. The updated calendar is in the box with your files."

"Thank you. I do appreciate everything you managed to do on such short notice." He glanced at the carton and briefcase stacked on her desk. "If you can have these stored in my car, there's a loose end I need to tie up."


Ruth Runyon looked up as Gregory strode into the office. She swallowed nervously and stood up, weakly explaining, "Mr. Richards, Ms. Russell is on a call and-"

"This will just take a minute," he called out over his shoulder as he twisted the knob on the closed office door.

Cashlin's feet were propped on the corner of her desk, one silk encased leg crossed over the other. She looked up quickly when the door banged open, Gregory standing in the open doorway. Frowning in confusion, she waved him in and said into the phone, "An important matter just fell into my lap. I'll get back to you within the hour."

Uncrossing her legs as she hung up the phone, she stood up and smoothed a crease out of her skirt as she walked over to him. She backed into the door, pushing it closed as she said, "I didn't think you were here today."

"I'm not."

She eyed him carefully as she froze in place and grasped his arm. "You look pretty here to me."

He frowned and pulled his arm away from her touch. "I'm going to make this short." Her spine stiffened and she crossed her arms over her chest as he continued, "Our relationship has come to an end."

She moved away from the door, causing it to creak open slightly. "May I ask why?" she hissed.

He shrugged, a sure mark of disinterest if ever there was one. "There's no longer anything I need from it."

Her full lips pursed defiantly and anger flashed briefly in her gray eyes. A smirk spread across her lips and she mocked, "Olivia must have done a real number on you with her fainting spell. I never realized you were so henpecked."

Clouded danger simmered in his eyes and he took a deliberate step closer to her, his hand flying out to latch around her arm. Gripping tightly caused her to whimper and push away. He stared at her for a long moment, silently daring her to continue.

She wrenched away from him, rubbing her arm as she whispered angrily, "You'll be back." She backed away from him quickly as she continued, "You'll get tired of her again and you'll come crawling back."

He scoffed, clucking his tongue as he took hold of the doorknob. "Cashlin, Cashlin," he sighed. "You should know that I never crawl to anyone." He pulled open the door, causing Ruth to jerk away from where she stood eavesdropping and flee back to the safety of her desk.

Gregory barely paid her a glance though as he delivered his final blow to Cashlin. "Least of all to a person like you." And with a smugness that eluded most people, he left.

Cashlin rushed to the doorway in time to see him leave the outer office. She held the doorjamb for support, her knuckles turning ice white as her grip tightened. She could still feel his hand wrapped around her arm and vaguely realized that she'd have to wear long sleeved blouses, lest any nosy questions arise.

She glanced pointedly at Ruth, knowing that she must have heard some, if not all, of the conversation. "So help me God," she growled at her secretary, who shrank lower in her seat, "if I you breathe a word of this to anyone, you'll be scouring the employment ads quicker than you can think up a denial."

With a final glare, she backed into her office, the door slamming on the wood frame with a loud crack that reverberated throughout the room.