Noin had finally gotten their daughter to sleep, when the phone rang. Lucretia answered it quickly, so that it would not wake Valkyrie. Already, like her father, the baby was cranky when awoken.

"Hello?" Noin answered.

"Hi Miss Noin," Relena greeted her, "Or should I say, Mrs. Soon-to-be-Marquise?"

"Yes," Noin laughed, grinning, "So Relena, how can I help you?"

"Well, I need to speak with my brother. It's quite urgent," Relena told Noin. Lucretia acknowledged and gave to phone to Zechs.

"Zechs?" Relena asked.

"Relena?" he joked back. He let out a small grunt as he lifted the roast beef out of the oven. He set it on the counter and continued preparing dinner for himself and Noin.

"Zechs, I was reading a file on Heero's laptop today," Relena said, but got interrupted.

"You said you'd stop going through Heero's belongings." Zechs scolded his sister.

"This was different. He was acting odd. I wanted to see what was causing it." Relena explained. Zechs made a noise of acknowledgement as he poured the pot of lumpy brown gravy into the gravy boat.

"So, what did you learn from your snooping?" Zechs asked.

"Heero holds," Relena was unsure how to tell her brother, "Zechs, Heero loves you."

Zechs' ice blue eyes widened. This wasn't just out of the blue. This was down right heart attack level surprising.

"But... Doesn't he know about..." Zechs stammered, "What about Lucretia and Valkyrie?"

"I don't know. I thought it was overwhelmingly obvious that you loved Miss Noin." Relena found herself consoling her brother.

"I'm sorry you found out from me, dear brother," Relena said sweetly, "And I'm sorry Zechs, but I have to go."

"Alright, Relena," Zechs said, his voice confused, " Thank you for telling me. Have a good night."

Zechs hung up the phone. He set the phone down on the counter, and picked up the roast beef and carried it into the eating area. He was pleasantly surprised that Noin had set the table. He smiled to himself.

"Dinner's ready," Zechs softly called to her. Noin was watching television over in the "living room". She shut off the television and sat down at the dinner table. Zechs brought out the rest of the food. He sat down across from Noin.

"This smells wonderful, honey," Noin said, putting some food on her plate. She smiled at him and reached across the table to put her hand on his. He smiled back. He almost forgot the disturbing news that Relena had just told him. He romantically watched as Noin drowned a piece of beef in ketchup and put it to her mouth. He took his own piece of meat and pushed it into his mashed potatoes and gravy, then eating it. They finished their meal peacefully, smiling as if they were stuck in perpetual puppy love. Afterwards, they cleared the table together, and Noin washed the dishes as Zechs cared for Valkyrie, who had woken up while they were cleaning up.

"How'd I get such a loud little girl?" Zechs cooed, cradling the baby. Valkyrie giggled, grasping at her father's long platinum blonde hair. Zechs smiled. This was a genuine smile. He was genuinely happy.

Noin came out of the kitchen, smiling. She tucked a loose lock of platinum black hair behind her ear as she walked up to her lover.

"As I recall you saying two and half months ago, 'Lu! I'm not ready to be a dad! The baby can't be born now!' Does that sound familiar?" Noin teased. They exchanged playful glares as Noin collapsed on the soft couch. Zechs slowly sat down next to her.

"I take it all back," He said. Noin put her head against his broad shoulder. Lucretia played with Valkyrie's soft fine hair.

"How was your day?" Noin asked absently.

"Good. And yours?" Zechs replied.

"Boring. What did Relena want to tell you?" Noin asked, looking up into Zechs' blue eyes.

"Well, Lu..." Zechs said, his voice gaining a serious edge, "It turns out that Heero is in love with me."

Noin was quiet for quite a few minutes. Some unnamed emotion reflected in her deep violet eyes.

"What are you going to do?" She asked Zechs.

"I am going tell him, once he reveals his feelings for me, that I respect him, but I do not return the emotion." Zechs said soberly.

"Good. But why wait until he brings it up?" Noin asked, confused.

"He doesn't know that we know. I suppose he's still coming to terms with those emotions. I don't want him to think anything is up." Zechs explained. Noin nodded, then yawned. Her yawn, while small with the quiets noise coming from her mouth, caused Zechs to yawn himself. Zechs' yawn in comparison to Noin's was similar to likening the roar of a lion to the mew of a kitten.

Zechs leaned back and thought to himself. So this was his life now? A beautiful daughter. A wonderful soon-to-be wife. A nice apartment. This was his life? Good. No more death. No more OZ. No more mobile suits. War was replaced by a family. As it should have been a long time ago. And he was happy.