Dinner was a quiet affair as Abraham had left early that morning to attend a meeting the next town over, stating he would be gone for a few days.

The only conversation during the entire meal was that of Thomas and Cassie both complaining over their envy of William's pistol. For his part, William only smiled proudly as he clung to Katrina, hiding his face in her hair at all the attention being bestowed upon him. Throughout, Katrina never once met his eyes. Instead, she focused her full attention on calming Cassie and speaking softly with William. It was still amazing to him to see her so motherly. The way she attended her children's every need was beyond beautiful to him.

After dinner, Thomas quickly excused himself, saying there was a pretty lady just waiting to be courted in town to which Ichabod had rolled his eyes. He only hoped the poor lady in question was ready for the whirlwind that was Thomas West.

"Time for bed."

Cassie instantly groaned in protest at her mother's words. "But Thomas isn't going to bed."

Katrina gave her daughter a teasing smile. "Thomas isn't a little girl in much need of sleep."

Cassie only frowned at Katrina's words as she crossed her arms and slumped in her chair. "It's not fair."

Sighing, Katrina stood and pointed to the stairs. "Now, Cassie. You too, William, up to bed."

In quite a bit of frustration, Cassie abandoned her chair and began dragging her feet toward the door. William, however, calmly stood and made his way around the table to stand in front of him. The boy looked him over for a moment in quiet contemplation before grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the stairs behind his sister. Ichabod glanced back at Katrina in confusion, but found her looking quite shocked as well.

"Where are we going, William?" he asked, curiously.

Cassie turned on the bottom step to look at her brother. "He wants you to tuck us in and tell us a story. Will you?"

At his daughter's hopeful expression, Ichabod found he could only nod in confirmation. With a last glance at what seemed to be a speechless Katrina, he allowed William and Cassie to mutually tug him up the staircase.

He was slightly surprised that the two shared a room, but from his observations of how much they clung to each other, he supposed he shouldn't have been. After the two had donned their bed clothes, Cassie had immediately jumped into the large bed and bounded her way under the covers. William, on the other hand, had reached up to him, silently requesting to be lifted up. Doing so, Ichabod set his son upon the bed, gently helping him slide beneath the covers next to his sister. Once they were properly tucked into the bed, he sat upon the edge next to William.

"Now then, what sort of story would you like to hear?"

Cassie sat up quickly, her blue eyes wide with excitement. "An adventure!"

Ichabod chuckled at his daughter's exuberance. "An adventure? Well, I've had quite a few of those." He raised an eyebrow. "If you lay back down, I'll tell you about an adventure I had with a little red headed girl that liked to get me in loads of trouble when I was a small boy."

His daughter fell back immediately, burying herself in her pillow before asking, "Red hair? Like me?"

With a smile, Ichabod ran his fingers through his little girl's red locks. "Exactly like yours."

Throughout the entire wild tale, their gaze remained fixed on him as he dramatically gestured about. However, it didn't take long for their matching blue eyes to steadily fall shut in sleep. Moving to pull the covers further up and over them, he leaned down to gently place a kiss on each of their heads before standing to stare at both of them. They were beyond precious. The idea that such beautiful creatures had come from him and Katrina was nearly unfathomable.

When he'd had his fill of their small faces, he turned and came up short as he found Katrina in the doorway watching him, her expression indecipherable. Quite nervous at the knowledge that she'd been watching him, he moved toward the door. For a moment, she simply stood there staring at him.

"Is everything alright?"

In answer, her eyes fell from him before she released a heavy breath and reached for his hand. He found himself at a complete loss as she began leading him down the hall into his room. As she closed the door, she turned to him.

The room was lit only by a few candles upon the dresser, but it was quite enough to send his heart racing as she started unlacing the front of her dress, never once taking her eyes from his.

"Katrina..."

He felt the need to protest. What with the look in her eyes and the steady movement of her hand further down her dress, he had no doubt as to where she intended this to go. To say he wanted what she obviously had in mind to happen would be quite the understatement, but his conscience was weighing heavily on him. Here he was in Abraham's home, having accepted his friend's generous offer of housing him, watching his wife undress herself for him.

As she slid her dress from her shoulders, she stepped from it and began removing the rest of her garments, the sight of her ever appearing skin setting his body aflame with a need that had not been met in quite some time.

"We can't. This is wrong."

As her hands deftly pulled at her laces, she answered, "And what's wrong with it? I just watched the man I love put our children to bed and now I'm standing here undressing before him fully intent upon feeling his love consume me."

The last of her garments fell away, leaving her completely bare before him, the sight of which stole his very breath. His eyes travelled down her body, taking in her full breasts and slightly swollen belly. She'd never been more beautiful to him. He didn't recall stepping toward her, but somehow he was suddenly in front of her, his hands laid over their unborn child. Bringing his eyes back to hers, he felt himself suck in a breath at the love he saw shining there.

"Katrina...I want to, but..."

Her hands rested at his waist, fingering the hem of his shirt. "But what?"

"Abraham-"

"Is no doubt accepting the sexual favors of some whore in the back of a tavern at this very moment," she finished quite heatedly.

Eyes falling closed, he whispered, "He's still your husband. You made a vow."

"I made a vow to always love you," she countered, gripping at his shirt. "And that is a vow that I have kept all these years."

The desire to give in was beginning to take hold. "I don't want our love to become a dirty thing, Katrina."

Her hand came to his face, her gentle strokes bringing his eyes to hers. "That is not a possibility."

Dropping his hands and clenching them at his sides in an attempt to keep from touching her, he answered, "We don't belong to each other."

A small smile crept into her features. "There are no two people in this world who belong to each other more than we, Ichabod Crane."

"So you would reduce us to the same as Abraham?"

She stepped even closer to him, her soft breasts now against his chest. "Ichabod, what Abraham is doing is disgusting and perverted. That man is..." Her gaze fell from him for a moment, before she sighed and brought her eyes back to him. "We are nothing like him. I vowed in my heart to be yours for eternity, even if in my heart was the only place that could be."

He was unsure how to respond. "I..."

With another sigh, she stepped away from him, a pained expression on her face. "If you don't want to do this, then I understand, and I'll leave to never speak of it again. I would never want you to be with me for any other reason than that you truly wanted me." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "But if you're refusing me out of some misguided notion that Abraham deserves our respect and my fidelity, then that's something I refuse to understand. He doesn't love me. He's never even pretended to. The only time he and I ever share a bed is when he stumbles to mine, drunk, in the middle of the night, demanding that I..." She took a deep breath. "We are not like him, Ichabod."

The ability to speak, or even move, was lost to him. However, when her eyes fell from him in obvious defeat and she began to bend to gather her clothing, he found his resolve and not a moment later, his hands were on her warm skin.

Her lips felt just as he remembered. Soft and gentle. Her scent intoxicating. Feeling his body come alive at her touch, it wasn't long before he was hovering above her worshipping every inch of her body as he never had before. He so relished in making her come undone again and again, until they were both spent.

The light rain tapped against the window in a soothing rhythm as he finally collapsed beside her, his breathing erratic to match her own, his body feeling wonderfully sated. Burying his head in her neck, he wrapped his arms around her as far as he could, cuddling into her warm skin, his eyes drawn to her heaving breasts as she tried to catch her breath. Her sudden laugh, however, caught him off guard. Raising his head up to look into her eyes, her short breaths hit his face.

"What?"

She shook her head. "I just now know where William acquired his need to constantly cocoon himself into me from."

With a smile, he wiped her damp hair from her face. "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is so," she answered with a laugh. "I can't tell you how many nights he's climbed into bed with me and snuggled into the same position."

"Well, he is my son," he said rather matter of factly.

A small smile crept to her face as her fingers stroked along his cheek. "He is."

Allowing his eyes to travel down her, he rested his hand against her belly. "I wonder what this one will be."

Her hand covered his. "I'm not sure, but as long as it's not twins again, I'll be perfectly content. Their birth was not my best day."

Releasing a chuckle, Ichabod moved down the bed to place a gentle kiss to their child's resting place. As he rested his cheek to her belly, her hand slid into his hair prompting him to look up at her.

"I wish I could be there with you."

She laughed. "The midwives would never allow it."

"I'd like to see them try to stop me," he answered with a chuckle of his own.

Her laughter filled him with more joy than he could express.

"Find a way for me to be there," he almost begged.

Her eyes softened as her fingers ceased their stroking of his hair. "I'm not sure that's possible, my love." She sighed, "But as soon as the baby comes, we can find a way for you to see him or her."

"No," he whispered defiantly. "I want to be with you when our baby draws its first breath. I want to be with you." Drawing her hand from his head, he threaded their fingers together. "They may never even know me as their father, Katrina. I'll never have the chance to be a father and I understand why, I do. You have to protect yourself and them from your coven. But is it really so much for me to ask to simply be there when our child is born?"

Gaze leaving his, her eyes fell closed. "No, it's not. You deserve to be there."

"Then, let me, my love. I'll do anything you ask of me."

Eyes opening, they found his. "We'll find a way."

Heart in his throat, he whispered, "You promise?"

A small smile lit her face. "I promise."

Relief filled him. "I love you, Katrina."

"Not nearly as much as I love you, Ichabod Crane."

Kissing his way back up to her lips, he hovered a breath away, his gaze on her beautiful green eyes. "Then maybe I should try a little harder to show you."

Her breath hitched as she grinned. "You're more than welcome to try."