A/N - I'm sorry, I temporarily forgot my alphabet and uploaded Aloof before Alacrity in my excitement.


Alacrity, n

We had spoken about having a child a few weeks before, and with your announcement this morning, I suppose tonight was the night that we began.

You stood by the window, bare skin bathed in moonlight from the opened windows and undrawn curtains, looking wonderfully ethereal. You were chastising me for being so slow in undressing, not wanting to waste any time not trying to conceive, as if any second that passes takes the opportunity with it. It wasn't that you were overtly broody or baby-mad that you were acting with haste (which might be something that anyone else in this moment may have thought about you), but because it was me. It wasn't long ago that you had deemed me to be The One that we had joked about that first date, and since then I think that you had decided that you wanted a piece of both of us that would showcase our love for each other. A baby.

I moved slowly, not because having a child was something that I was against, or because I was put off by your brusqueness of the whole situation, but because it was so surreal of a thing to be happening that I had to remember it. I had to remember every part of it.

"Tonight," I promised, carrying you to the bed. "It will happen tonight." It was a stupid promise to make.

You laughed, peppering kisses across my face. You only ever did that when you were excited. "Tonight," you confirmed.

It did happen that night, as luck would have it, but it didn't last long.