Rose entered the library, and a smile spread across her face at the sight before her. Cian was lying on a long couch, glasses precariously perched on his nose, snoring softly. The book he had been reading was spread like an accordion where it had fallen. On his chest lay their one-year-old son, who was currently making a rather impressive puddle of drool.

How far they had come. They were married the week of their reunion, much to her mother's chagrin. No one would ever accuse Cian of being a paragon of patience- but Rose had been just as eager, if she were honest. Since the war negated any sort of elaborate honeymoon, he sent the Stewarts on a small trip to Ireland, and they had the castle to themselves.

Not content that he should let his medical expertise go to waste, Rose coaxed Cian into opening up the castle to create a hospital for the war wounded. At first, Cian was involved as little as possible, but she delightedly watched as he gradually became more immersed and eventually ran the entire operation. The way he would light up every time he was able to help someone made her love him all the more.

After the war ended, he began to take her all over the world, showing her all the places she had admitted to dreaming about while sitting on that floor in his med room. They walked along the Great Wall and swam in the Great Barrier Reef. She wiggled her toes in the sands of Utah, watching the sunrise over Lake Powell. There was also the little incident in Madagascar involving a cheeky lemur and a banana Cian had sticking out of his back pocket- that she was sworn upon pain of death to never tell anyone.

They had been planning a short jaunt to Cardiff- It's where they make those little edible ball bearings, Rose!- when Rose had realized she was pregnant. Through the war and in the aftermath, they had been happily running together, not really taking much consideration for the future. Now she was afraid to tell him, afraid that it would rehash his past. He had become much more open as the years passed, but there were rare dark days when his melancholy would return. She decided that it was best to just rip off the plaster quickly and get it all over with.

Rose found Cian sitting in his study, Cardiff brochures spread around. "Rose! I've also found a little shop that we can visit after we go to the factory, it will be brilliant! I can't believe that I've never been there before, and it's in our proverbial back yard! You know, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with jelly babies-"

"I'm pregnant."

He rattled on, "but you can only have so many of those before you make yourself- Wait, what did you say?" He was on his feet in a second, standing right in front of her.

Squeezing her eyes closed, Rose whispered, "I'm going to have a baby."

She heard a soft thud, and opened her eyes to find that he had fallen to his knees in front of her. He tentatively reached a hand forward and splayed it on her stomach. After a breathless moment, he looked up at her, beaming, with tears shining in his eyes. He wordlessly pulled her forward and leaned his cheek against her stomach, encircling her with his arms. Rose blinked back her own tears as she combed her fingers through his hair.

Jamie brought Rose back into the present, as he started snuffling and shifting like he was going to wake up. Rose sat down on the edge of the couch and gently lifted him from Cian's chest. She tried to rock him back to sleep. Having a baby was the most exhausting, infuriating, taxing, yet rewarding thing she had ever undertaken. The quiet moments like this were few and far between, and Rose cherished them.

Cian's arm that had been securing Jamie twitched and landed in the drool on his shirt, causing him to start awake. He looked around, endearingly confused, until his eyes landed on Rose.

"I must have drifted off. Oh, lovely," he said, wiping the drool on his hand on his trousers.

Rose smirked. "Now you know what I feel like in the mornings."

"Oi! I do not drool!"

"Your pillowcase suggests otherwise."

He huffed, but smiled back at Rose. She transferred Jamie to her other side and took Cian's hand. "C'mon. Dinner's ready."

He leaned forward and kissed her. "Allons-y."