Arriving home in Locksley, Marian was pleased that the village surrounded Robin with obvious joy at his return. They flocked around her as well, but she knew it was really Robin they truly wanted to see and speak with, and she was glad of their obvious affection.

She remembered Much once telling her that Robin wanted to be loved, and she regretted him losing the king's regard and the hurt it had caused him. She thought about how he had lost his loving mother when he was six, his stern but loving father at ten, and she realized what a lonely child he must have been, though he hadn't shown it. He had bravely taken on the responsibilities for his village and done his best for his people, and they in turn had taken him into their hearts and did more than respect him...they had loved him. And with all his care and kindnesses to them, continued even while he was outlawed, they loved him still.

Marian's realization of Robin's need for love only increased her love for him. He tried to hide any sign of vulnerability, but it drew them even closer whenever she recognized it. It was part of her character to sympathize with people in need. She had even softened toward Guy in the past, recognizing that he had been deprived of love. No wonder Robin had scorned her admission then, having been deprived of love himself, though to a much lesser extent. She reflected now on the realization that she had been, on the eve of her marriage to Guy, depriving Robin of her love, the love he longed for and needed most of all. She had hurt him as much as he had hurt her, by choosing war. But he hadn't chosen war this time. For that, she was more than grateful.

All those hurts they had inadvertently inflicted on one another were in the past. Now, they had each other's mutual love as well as the love of their children, and Robin had his people's love as well. If the king no longer loved him because he followed his conscience, then his love wasn't worth having.

Marian watched as her husband joyfully yet humbly listened to his people's words of welcome, while she pretended to earnestly listen to Kate's complaints of their absence. She felt Robin was being extremely patient, knowing he was longing as she was to find their little girls and greet them. And while Kate whined on an on about them having been gone, she thought about her own need, not to be loved, but to be needed.

She was by nature independent, and having been showered with her father's love growing up, she was stronger in that regard than her husband. But being born a girl, she had been told from an early age that her thoughts, opinions, and actions did not matter, and she needed them to. She realized now that she would have admitted her feelings for Robin much sooner after he returned from war, if only he'd not been so stubborn, insisting he could "look after himself."

"I don't need you," is the way she had translated his words and his actions, and they had wounded her. But when he'd appeared under her window, seeking her advice whether or not to try to rescue Allan's brother and his friends, the three she had fought outside her home, much of the ice around her heart had melted, and she had been close to letting Robin kiss her.

"Next time you go away," Kate continued whining, "you should take me with you."

Marian was jolted back to the present. "Why, Kate?" she asked.

Kate had no answer other than to stare at her with cold, unblinking eyes.

"If you'll excuse us," Marian heard Robin say, "my wife and I would like to be reunited with our daughters."

Holding hands, Lord and Lady Locksley walked into their manor house, only to receive more affectionate greetings from Thornton and the other servants.

"Their small ladyships are out back," Thornton told them, smiling.

Quickly, Robin and Marian went into their back garden. There they found Little John, crawling on all fours and growling like a bear, with Grace and Ellen riding on his back. The girls' nurse was sitting on a bench, mending Ellen's stockings, a look of mild disapproval on her face.

Ellen and Grace saw their parents at the same time. Ellen slid down off Little John's back and raced toward them, her face beaming. Robin caught her up and swung her high over his head before holding her against his side. Ellen, radiant with happiness, looked back and forth between each of her parents. Grace, however, did not fare as well.

Grace's short little legs did not enable her to slide off John's back. In her haste to reach her parents, she tumbled and fell, bumping her head on the ground. She began to cry, but her wails turned to sniffles when she found herself being held and comforted by her "Mama."

"How are you, John?" Robin asked, as Little John eased himself to his feet and brushed off his knees.

"Tired," Little John responded. "Her," he said, placing a hand on Ellen's head, "was good as gold." His face changed as he looked at Grace. "Her," he began, in an exasperated tone...

"Don't say it, John," Robin warned, but Little John would not be silent.

"Her," he continued, "is a wailer."

"Grace missed you, my lady," the nurse explained, having risen to her feet when she saw her master and mistress. "Especially at naptime."

Marian partly regretted having been gone. She rubbed noses with Grace, who bubbled with laughter. "My mama. My daddy," Grace said.

The little girls were set upon their feet. Marian held each one by the hand and walked ahead of Robin and Little John into the manor for supper.

"Any trouble while I was away?" Robin asked Little John, referring cryptically to Isabella.

"Ask Will," John instructed, and Robin was first concerned, then delighted to find Will, Djaq, and their children inside his house.

Robin had barely had time to greet them before Allan sauntered in. "Heard you were back," he said, grinning.

Marian, although pleased to see him, looked surprised. "How could you hear, in Nottingham?" she asked. "We only just arrived."

Allan owned and operated The Trip To Jerusalem Inn, a gift from Robin for having risked his life to save Marian when Sheriff Vasey had tried to hang the Night Watchman.

"He was not in Nottingham," Djaq explained. "He was visiting us."

Robin clasped Allan's hand. "Everything going well, at the Trip?" he asked.

"Never better."

"Please," Marian invited, smiling because Robin seemed so happy with his dearest and most loyal friends close, "can you stay for supper?"

"So long as Much's not cooking," Allan joked.

As if on cue, Much came striding into the manor with his wife Eve. "Very funny!" he proclaimed, then happily greeted Robin with a quick, brotherly embrace. "Did anyone say 'supper?' " he asked, sitting down at the table.

Eve was uncomfortable, being as suspicious of Robin as he was of her. Marian, cordial but cold, invited her to sit beside Much, as distrustful of Eve as Robin was, wrongly suspecting her of marrying Much because of his title. She could never forget that Eve had been Vasey's spy for money, and knew her to be so much shrewder and more worldly than kind, simple, innocent Much.

"You know," Much said during supper, his mouth full of roast chicken, "Robin called Locksley 'Eden,' but I ask all of you, where's the true Eden? Think about it. Bonchurch is where Eve lives!"

Much was clearly proud of himself, and proud of his wife. Eve gave him a smile, her eyes shining with her love for him.

"If any place's Eden," Allan joked, "it's the Trip. Not bein' funny, but half the time, the girls there dress like the first Eve did!"

Will threw him a look of warning. "My children are here, Allan," he reminded him.

"What? I didn't say anything!"

Daniel and Saffia, Will and Djaq's beautiful, well behaved twins, were too busy enjoying their dinner to pay attention to Allan's quips.

With so many seated around his table, Robin balanced Ellen and Grace on his lap, and somehow managed to eat and pay attention to his guests, while making sure his girls ate their supper. Delighting in having his family and his "gang" around him, Robin forgot the king's displeasure and truly thought of his home as paradise.

But he couldn't forget Little John's words, to "ask Will."

Directly after supper, with the children out of earshot, he intended to do just that.