Chapter 8 (at the end of 12.01 Murdoch Mystery Mansion)
"Finally, alone!" She spun into the house, arms outstretched.
It was their fifth night in their new home, and the first without an unexpected gathering, or intrusive reporters, or a murder case to occupy their minds. And they had just waved off George, their first dinner guest, together at their doorstep. Thus, Julia dropped all the propriety expected of her in society, and skipped giggling through the hallway.
For his part, William merely smiled at his wife's unabashed joy. "What would you like to do with our new-found privacy?"
"I have one or two ideas…" she smiled coquettishly, stopping her skipping and instead slinking up to him, wrapping her hand around his tie and tugging him further into the house.
Cuddling languidly together atop the pop-out sofa, she raised herself to look seriously into his face. "Are you sure you like the house, William?"
"I'll admit, I wasn't sure, but I'm warming to it. This sofa is certainly a pleasant surprise." He gestured to the contraption upon which they lay. He glanced around the open-plan living area. "There is certainly ample space to work on my inventions. And I must say the potato-cooking room worked rather well, despite its tragic beginning." His voice had warmed as he spoke.
"Really?" she asked, somewhat tentatively, for his initial reaction had been far from what she'd hoped.
He nodded resolutely. "I would say the house is unique, like us."
"Hmm," she agreed. "The inspector in particular has often seemed baffled by our relationship."
"Indeed. I believe he once referred to us as two peas in a pod."
"Like two peas in a bloody pod, actually," she mimicked, complete with her best gruff Yorkshire accent.
"Julia!" he exclaimed, scandalised at her language.
She grinned mischievously. "Well, how many other couples find love over corpses?"
"Julia!" he exclaimed again, and she giggled. "I would have said our shared interest in science and technology…."
"They're not the only things we share an enjoyment of." She trailed a finger down his chest and smiled coyly.
He groaned, grabbing her hand. "I fear I don't have enough energy to do what you're insinuating."
"Well, that depends, doesn't it? What is it you think I mean?"
Without giving him chance to reply, she kissed him deeply, keeping him occupied while reaching up to the shelf behind his head and selecting the item she wanted. She pulled back, replacing her body with the book that she pressed against his chest.
"Read to me?" she asked sweetly.
How could he refuse when she looked at him with such sparkle in her eyes? Not that he for one moment even contemplated disappointing her.
He rose to a sitting position, and she curled around him, relishing the feeling of his arm around her, resting heavily against her waist. William, too, enjoyed the easy contact between them, her head heavy on his shoulder, curls brushing his chin, the dip of her waist beneath his forearm, and her fingers playing against his chest.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Erm, I'm not sure." Her voice became muffled as she suddenly left his embrace, leaning over him to rummage inside of an unpacked box beside the sofa. He gazed down at the long line of her back, visually tracing each bump of her vertebrae as she continued. "Perhaps something to commemorate our first proper home as a married couple?"
He didn't respond, too focused on her lithe form. There were a few more moments of Julia huffing and squirming, before she pushed herself back up, dragging a soft, woollen blanket with her.
"Well, William?" she prompted as she tucked the blanket around them and settled once more against him. "What do you think would befit this occasion? Perhaps something romantic?"
He hummed his assent, flicking to the contents page and perusing the lists of Shakespeare's works. "Romeo and Juliet would be the obvious choice, but we have already read that one."
"It's also tragic, William. It would not bode well for our new life in our new home."
He cocked an eyebrow at her; superstition from scientifically-minded Julia was unexpected. "You believe that reading a tragedy would what? Curse us?"
"Of course not!" she defended. "But we're supposed to be celebrating." She returned her attention to the book, spotting a title halfway down the page. "What about Love's Labour's Lost? That contains romance, does it not?"
"Of a sort…"
"A group of people bending their principles to be with whom they love. Doesn't that sound like a couple you know?" She grinned at him, and he couldn't help but concede, remembering the many times they had defied social expectations to end up where they were now: together, in an unconventional marriage in their unconventional home.
"Very well." He tucked her more comfortably against him, one hand holding the book open, and the other caressing the skin of her waist beneath the blanket. He began reading, smiling when he both heard and felt her pleased sigh, and feeling more than a little contented himself.
Eventually, he drew his attention from the page and down to his wife. He realised that there had been little noise or movement from her in some time. Pushing the hair from her face showed him that she was comfortably asleep. He glanced around him. He could reach up behind him and turn off the lights, plunging them into darkness, following which all he would need to do would be to settle down and join Julia in sleep. Or he could rouse her, waking her from her slumber, and have to encourage her groggy form across the house to their bed.
Before Julia Ogden, he would have abhorred the thought of not doing things properly, and spending the night away from his bed. Since marriage, however… He looked tenderly down at the woman in question. The soft puffs of her breath against his chest, her lightly closed lids, her warmth against his side… He could not bear the thought of losing the connection with her.
So, he reached behind him, and turned the dimmer switch down until no more light emitted from the lamps. Yes, he decided, as he enveloped his wife in his arms, and settled down to sleep, this house was indeed unique, just like them. And he wouldn't change any of it.
A/N: Many thanks for reading! I thought I'd post this short, light-hearted chapter as I've been rather mean to Julia and William in recent chapters.
This is for ChibiDawn23 who, over a year ago (I'm a very slow writer), prompted me to write a chapter based on their first in their new home. I just slightly altered this story to make it their fifth night.
