"Hello sleepyhead" Peter whispered, seeing his wife stir beside him. After a short nap, he had been awake a while; this time taking a respectable gentlemanly visit to the toilet rather than a tree, and collected them supper from the café on the way back.

He had only brought them toast and tea; his eaten as his efforts at forcing her to wake up were duly dealt with by a sleepy shove away. Mind you, Chummy always liked cold toast so it never mattered. It had been a long, but joyful day and a rather hearty late lunch had been had, as well as an extremely pleasant cream tea, so neither were that hungry.

"It is still raining?" she asked, taking a bite. It had been tipping down for most of the day and she doubted much had changed from their day spend running between the car, shops and cafes, trying not to get a soaking in the process, feeling the air become heavy waiting for a thunderstorm.

"On and off" Peter shrugged. "The sky is black though".

"That's a shame" Chummy considered, pulling a face.

"Why?"

"Well was our last proper day today isn't?" she replied, brushing a crumb or three off her skirt. "I would have liked to have spent the evening sitting out…."

"Well I suppose you'll just have to do with the tent and me for company" Peter replied, crawling over to the tent flap to see if it was still indeed raining as is certainly sounded as thought it was getting worse. "Maybe it will go off" he concluded, not thinking there was a word of truth in his statement.

"Will believe that when I see it" she replied as he lay back down again on his back, taking the almost eaten toast out of her hand as he did. He had brought plenty back so there was some spare.

"Erm…" she replied, looking at her now empty fingers. "Do you mind?!"

"Not really" Peter smiled in response, eating the small corner.

"The things one has to put up with…" Chummy sighed, hearing the more earnest drip from the rain down the side of the tent now and quite glad she was under cover after all.

"You'll cope" he smiled, closing his eyes. The rain, and he might say, cold had woken him up at dawn see her sealed up in her sleeping bag at this sudden schizophrenic change of weather. Not even he was enough to keep her warm last night, nursing a slightly sore head but not so bad to think he couldn't raise himself from horizontal. Sleep had been interrupted last night for good and bad reasons and to be frank, he could do with a few more hours after the miles they had covered today.

A few more hours sleep they certainly got as as soon as she finished her toast, Chummy lay down next to him, arm slung over his waist and promptly fell asleep on his shoulder pulling her sleeping bag with her.

Peter woke again, a good while later, wonder if it that was thunder he just heard? The noise grumbled away in the distance, sounding as though it was a fair few miles away. It was thunder though. A moment later it rumbled again and he pulled her tighter to him. As long as she was here it was fine. Really, it was fine.

"Are you alright?" he heard from his shoulder. Whether he had woken her up or it was the sound of thunder that had dragged her from slumber, he didn't know.

"Yes" Peter replied, cautiously, scowling at the tent roof again as he tried to convince himself.

"I know you don't like it" Chummy responded, wishing she could just take it all away.

Peter sighed. He should be able to get over that now. It's been far too long after all and it is only thunder this time, you know it is. He saw her sit up slightly, propping her chin on his chest so she could see is face properly.

"Look forward, not back" he replied, although she could see that whilst he may have said it, his eyes told her a different story. She reached up to kiss him in support and consolation. It had taken a while for her to realise that she could be his anchor too the amount of time she would spend thinking she might be burden if she thought this way or that and he might get bored or irritated by her, but as odd as it had been, he needed her too. Someone needed her just as she was.

"Do you know I'm now quite glad it's raining at least" she said, thinking perhaps she could find herself a way of diverting the subject away from his worries.

"How did you work that one out?" he asked, affectionately casting his fingers down her hairline.

"Because it means that we can just stay here and talk in peace".

Peter smiled, taking up her hand and winding her fingers into his. "Do you know this reminds me of the old days?"

"Old days?" Chummy replied, wondering how 'old' he meant. She didn't want to see him tense or upset anymore and waited patiently to hear.

"When you used to sneak up to Empson Street to visit. We'd just lie there next to the fire and not even speak". Those days were heaven, just to know she was there and, after their blip as he had now chosen to call it, she would not be going away any time soon, spending more and more time up there. Even the girls had teased that she was practically living in sin with him already; even to the point of her looking for clothes in her wardrobe and realising 'oh, yes, one left that cardigan at Empson Street'. If only the girls knew. His landlady must have done though. "That wasn't even two years ago" she noted, settling back on his shoulder.

"That's true" he sighed, but it really did feel like so much more time had passed. Good time though, time that had been treasured and time that had dissolved so perfectly slowly to now find them almost a year married.

"So are you glad we came?" Peter asked. He personally had thoroughly enjoyed these last few days, shutting out Poplar and London.

"Yes" she smiled, thinking back. "Even with you burning yourself and me falling over!" Her ankle was by and large alright now and the 'burn' had exposed itself to be a rapidly fading pink mark.

Peter laughed quickly. "I am look forward to going home though. We have things to be looking forward to".

"Oh yes" she replied, unable to keep the smile from her face, even though she had her misgivings still. Not so much about his child, because his child would look like him but there would be her own precious little creature who might just love her too. "One day", she said, voice quiet.

He didn't really push her, hearing the hesitance in her voice. Peter wasn't really in the mood to have that discussion this second as he yawned again although Chummy would admit that since their conversation when she found the empty diaphragm case, she had started to wonder properly.

"If you want to have another nap, I don't mind" she offered.

"No, no" Peter replied, drawing his hand up and down her arm. "If I sleep now, I won't sleep later". The touch of his fingers up and down her arm was really quite soothing in every wrong way possible her eyes were closing with each stroke.

"Peter, stop it".

"Oh" he responded, sounding really rather put out and she felt the loss of his touch far too much. "Alright".

"I didn't mean it like that" she replied quickly sitting up so she could look him in the eye properly without twisting her neck. She took up his hand; the one that had been around her shoulder, wrapping it in hers. "I didn't mean to sound snippy. You know I don't mind you touching me, but you do that and I'm asleep too and then one is no good to anyone".

He smiled and sat up. "I won't then" he said, tipping her chin to kiss her, ever so gently pulling at her lips as he heard her sigh. It made him smile and could almost take that every single time as permission.

"Why does one always get oneself in these positions?" she said, rolling her eyes at herself, feeling his hand go to the back of her head so she wouldn't knock herself out as she was gently pushed back down on the ground sheet.

"Do you want me to answer that?" It was muffled but she heard the question perfectly well as his weight landed on her.

"Not really" Chummy replied as she wrapped her arms tighter around his back. She knew she would only get a facetious answer so it was more a case of just indulge and did they really need all of this small talk now?

"Now this does remind me of the old days..." Peter began as he felt her relax, pulling her knee over his hip, mind flooded with just how wonderful it felt to just nestle close to her, even on those days they both knew that those intimate moments could not take that step forward. Until she decided to change their minds for them and those days too were vivid as though they were yesterday.

To her though, those days seemed long ago or even of a different person, remembering all the discoveries she was making about herself and she didn't just mean the times she would spend under the covers with him. Chummy felt him flinch; palm momentarily tightening on her side on its way to her hip as there was a definite flash of lightening above them.

"Should we really be under a tree next to a large body of water if it's going to do that?" she inquired, not wanting to alter the mood but as much this could be leading to fireworks of an intimate kind, she did not want to find them fried either. But his weight on her? It made her feel so safe; wondering how anyone could feel any different as she was buried underneath him and she really, really did not want to move.

"It'll be fine" Peter replied, finding her neck again, needing to be distracted by far more worthy pursuits than worrying about a million to one chance they could get hit by lightening and perhaps more importantly what memories were stabbing him in the chest. She received a kiss again; him just happy it seemed to kiss her. That had been well practised in the 'old days' too; even quick kisses on the cheek she relished, swiftly done hoping that a Nun wouldn't see or those deep languid ones that seemed to be saved for his lodgings when the door was shut.

Her hand wound into his hair, casting pads of her fingers over his skin; the other forcing its way between them to the neck of shirt. Another clap of thunder and yet again, she felt him tense, wanting to pay attention to her but what was nagging in the back of his mind was breaking his concentration. Thunder and that empty case sitting in his bag.

"Do you know what I think?" She said suddenly.

"Pray tell" he replied, his shirt falling from her grip as he moved shifting down to plant open mouthed kisses on her collarbone.

"When we go back" she replied. "I think we forget about our agreement".

He snapped his head up. "What agreement?"

Chummy tried to think how to phrase it. "That….well when I get home the first thing one is going to do is go up to the bathroom and the you-know-what will get put in its case and stay there".

He raised both eyebrows, having harboured some thoughts that, with all that went on, she might just want to put it off more. "Really, Camilla?"

"Really" she replied. "So hurry up! You were here…" she smiled, tapping her collarbone, seeing him laugh and shake his head.

Camping with her had been fun but going home would be even better.

FIN