I was awake when Norman came into the suite after shooting. How could I have fallen asleep after seeing the disappointment and God knew what else that had flashed across his face when I'd basically shot down the mere mention of starting a family with him? While he'd been working, I'd been considering how fast my mind and mouth went to "nope".

Once upon a time, not all that fucking long ago, I'd wanted another kiddo. I loved being a mom. Even if my son hadn't been planned, even if my first marriage and my ex-husband hadn't shown one tiny iota of interest in helping me raise him, I LOVED it. Aside from the terror when I first learned I was pregnant (a minor freak out where I may have mentioned not being able to potty train a puppy, therefore how the fuck was I supposed to rear a child) and a hiccup toward the end of my pregnancy where things nearly went asshole over teacups healthwise (seriously NOT built for bedrest, people), pregnancy and motherhood wasn't all that horrible. The teen years left a bit to be desired, but all in all, it was more than worth it.

By the time that Norman came in, I was more inclined to lean toward a "maybe" than a "oh hell no, mister".

"Hey," I offered, quiet and unsure. Norman wasn't usually very forceful, he was quiet and a tad awkward to most people, but that outward image was deceptive. Still waters run deep and all. "How'd filming go?"

"Not bad," he smiled, pulling me onto his lap as he collapsed next to me on the sofa. His face buried into my shoulder. "You smell amazing," I smiled, relaxing into his touch. His lips brushed against my pulse and I bit my lip as we both felt it quicken. He hummed and his lips curled into a smile. "Feels like you might wanna practice-"

I chuckled. "About that-"

He sighed, pulling away. "Yeah, about that-" his forehead wrinkled with worry. "That damn costume, Jessa, it musta made my brain go stupid."

Cupping his face between my hands I shook my head. "It didn't, Norman. You're never stupid, ever." I kissed him lightly and was smiling when I pulled away. "Knee jerk reaction was 'shit we're old'." His eyebrow raised at that and I scrunched up my nose. "What? My kid is old enough to buy booze." Forcing him to laugh was the goal and I won that one. "But-" he bit his lip to get himself under control. "While you were filming, I had a little time to think about it-" His hands grew a little tighter on my hips. "I don't think I'm as opposed to the idea as I thought I was."

"Are you saying-" He swallowed hard. "Jessa-"

"I'm saying," I leaned closer, letting my forehead touch his. "That IF it happens, Norman, NATURALLY, then I'm not going to be upset or mad about it. I just don't want us to work hard to MAKE it happen."
I watched as he thought about it. "So-" A couple beats. "We're going to just take things as they go, no extra help."

"We can add practice sessions-" I barely had the words out before he had me over his shoulder and was stalking toward the bedroom. "Couldn't we have dinner first, Mr. Reedus?" I was laughing as he growled. "Damn it, man, even babies need food."

I woke up wrapped up in Norman's arms, his lips still curled in the smile they fell asleep in while I felt certain I woke up in RBF (it's a curse that I live with and will die with, oh well). He did manage to feed me, eventually, and we talked about Sean's letter.

"He told me about it," I wasn't surprised. Sean and Norman were like brothers and had known one another for far longer than I'd known either of them. He let out a long breath and took a bite of food so he could take the time to chew and consider his thoughts. "Ultimately it's your decision on how to deal with it, Jessa. Cutting him off doesn't work, clearly, but neither does whatever the hell this is." No shit. Fuck.

"I don't want to screw us up or the two of you up either," shaking my head I wondered briefly how hard it was to strangle myself with the noodles I was eating. "I'm going to have to sit down with him and hash it out, but I can't do it alone." I didn't trust myself. Honestly, truly, I didn't. Sean was Sean. And I think I had to be honest about how fucking potent he was to me. "Do you want to be the mediator for us, my darling wonderful potential baby dada?"

He snorted, and nearly inhaled a noodle to test my hypothetical question. "Guess I will, since you put it in such a glowing request." He winked and I shook my head. "I'll be right there with you, and I'll remind Sean to play fair, cause God knows that he likes to cheat when he has to."

And then, after sustenance, he'd taken me back to bed and given me a few more rounds of practice, trying like hell to convince me to stay after my final scenes were filmed.

"Morning," he mumbled, his voice rough and quiet like it always was early in the morning. I had to smile, knowing that I was poised to hear it every morning from here on out. "Think the gears in your head woke me up, they were grinding so damn loud."

Propping my chin on his chest, my eyes met his. "Is that so?" His fingers came up to brush the hair out of my face. "You were smiling in your sleep." I leaned into his hand, his thumb brushing under my eye.

"Musta been dreaming of you." I would have rolled my eyes, but I swear to hell he said it with such sincerity that I would have felt like a bitch. "I love you."

"I love you." I moved up to kiss him, sighing into his lips, smiling as his hands moved to my lower back, and moaning when he rolled me onto my back for another round of practice.