Smashing Expectations

by Rakusa

They always seemed to miss each other by minutes but one email changed all of that.

15. Chapter 15: 28 – 29

Chapter 15: 28 – 29

–

Endymion didn't even bother knocking on the front door and dealing with her parents. He now knew what they had against him but he had to tell Serenity first and see where she stood on the issue before tackling her parents. He called Mikhail directly and as he walked around the back of the house he saw Jax wandering the grounds too. "Hey." He greeted and Jax went up to the back door and held it open for him even as Mikhail answered his phone. "Where's Sere?"

"Come on up to her room." Endymion didn't know if he'd ever been up there other than helping her move in and out. He said that he would be there soon and he hung up and put his phone in his pocket and looked to Jax who still stood there. He hadn't needed to hold the door open and he knew Jax wanted to say something.

"She's in the bathroom again." Jax commented and Endymion sighed, she'd likely be in there a lot. He wished he knew a way to make this easier on her.

"Thanks." Jax nodded back and they went different directions. He climbed the stairs easily and found Mikhail outside her door. "Did you go in to check on her?"

"The last time I did that, I was chewed out. I was just going to go in with some things for her but you showed up first." Mikhail smiled and opened the door for him too. Mikhail couldn't keep the smile off his face today, he was excited to have a baby around to help protect. He was amused by what would happen to Serenity too, he was almost as excited to see her far into her pregnancy too. Endymion laughed inside knowing she wouldn't be pleased to hear it from either of them. She'd be really annoyed to be told that she couldn't do all the sports she liked either anymore.

So he decided not to tell her that until she decided to do them. He walked into the bathroom but she was just finishing up after brushing her teeth. "Are you doing ok?" He held out his hands and she came forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and he felt her nod against his chest. "Are you hungry at all? I had a late tea with my parents but I don't know if you've had anything."

She pulled back but didn't let go of his waist. "I'm fine right now. I don't know what eating would do to my stomach so I think it's better to wait a bit."

There was a knock on the bedroom door. Mikhail came in with bread and water and Endymion leaned his head out of the bathroom to look. Mikhail held up the plate and glass and set it on Serenity's bedside table and then backed out of the room and Endymion nodded his acknowledgment and thanks. "What do you want to do now?"

"Can we go lay in bed for a bit. I'm feeling pretty tired, that took a lot out of me." She admitted freely and if she did that, then there had to be something pretty wrong. He swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed and laid her down carefully and wrapped her blanket around her before he got in behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her for a minute before propping himself up on an elbow and used his other hand to wipe the hair from her face.

"Is there anything I can get you?" He asked gently but she shook her head no.

"I just want you here with me, holding me. I missed you even though it's only been about an hour or so." He nodded, he felt the same way. She frowned but it was almost a pout. "I think my parents exhausted me more than throwing up again did."

He slid his arm under her again and pulled her up against his chest and laid his head down next to hers so he could still see her face as they spoke. He was just fine with this position for this conversation. He hesitated in bringing it up now while she was so tired but also knew that it would make things easier for her going forward if she was armed with all the reasons her parents had against him. He knew it was time to tell her everything, no matter what he personally preferred. "Did they tell you anything?"

"Just that there's something your parents and you have kept from me but apparently even your brothers don't know it." She turned so she was facing him and they were practically forehead to forehead. She lifted a hand up and out of her blanket so she could run her fingers along his cheekbone. "Is it something really bad? They said that you didn't do it but they wouldn't say more."

Endymion turned his head and kissed her fingers and then turned back to look at her even as her fingers slid up and looped around his ear before coming back and settling on his chest. "It's something I never thought I would share with anyone. It's a secret that I've hated since I've learned it." The best way to say it was just to say it. "My father is not my biological father."

Serenity frowned in confusion. "He's not? Did he know before he married your mother?"

"It happened after they married." Endymion looked away for a second. "It wasn't an affair. I know you know that it wasn't a love match between them but because of that they were incredibly honest with each other about what they expected from the other one. I didn't come into this world until their second year of marriage."

"It wasn't an affair..." Serenity must have been feeling pretty terrible because she just couldn't seem to grasp what he was telling her. She narrowed her eyes trying to think and her face scrunched up adorably and he told himself not to be distracted by that. "Was it a one-night stand? Was she drunk and he took advantage of her?" He shook his head and she gasped as she realized what he was not saying. "Oh no."

He tightened his hold on her and he swallowed down all the emotions he had felt when he learned what kind of person his biological father was. He forced his hand to straighten out again and rest lightly on her hip, he didn't want to hurt her. She reached for that hand and brought it between them and she held it tightly against her chest and didn't say anything, wanting him to come to his words on his own. "It was pretty brutal, I found her medical records one day by accident and I saw the report. I didn't want to believe it was true and I felt terrible for her but then I looked at the dates and it lined up perfectly with my conception. I found another file that used my blood to prove he was the culprit..." He couldn't go on.

She released one of her hands from around his but the other still held on tightly and she placed her free hand against his face. "That is beyond anything I can imagine and I can't say I know how either of you feel but I can try to put myself in your shoes. I'm so terribly sorry for the both of you, it's a horrible thing to learn. You must have felt so rudderless and powerless; I know I would have."

"The ground fell out from beneath me and I spiraled. They found me looking at it and tried to talk to me about it but I couldn't. I couldn't talk to them about it at all until today. I distanced myself from them as much as I could while still living here and then once I went to school, I cut off all ties with my past, or at least all of the ones I could. It wasn't until I saw you at that party that I started to see shore in the distance."

"How old were you when you found out?"

"16."

She shook her head in pain for him. "Any age is hard but I can't imagine learning something so devastating at such a tender age like that. There's already so many questions and decisions and it's hard to be sure of anything at that age but then to learn something like that... How did you do it?"

"I don't know. It was a time of my life where I spent a lot of time studying to avoid looking inward and I barely remember the events, just the general feeling that never seemed to go away." He squeezed her hand back. "You've always been my light and I followed you out of my pit of despair. I just wished I had found you earlier, maybe then I could have talked to them about it and all these years of self-loathing would have lessened." She had unfortunately spent a lot of time in London that year with her cousin and her family as he'd been studying abroad there. So Endymion and Serenity hadn't seen each other more than in passing before he left for school. He either didn't remember or didn't register her cousin's living situation because of how his own news affected him. She might not have gotten the chance to tell him just as he hadn't told her his secret. She'd sent him letters though and he had just set them all down into a basket by his desk without reading any of them.

She jerked in surprise. She had felt for him when he told her about what happened to his mother and his own devastation at learning about his birth father but this was what surprised her and threw her for a loop. "Self-loathing? Why? What have you ever done to deserve that?"

His face tightened in pain. "I am the son of a brutal monster. I have his blood flowing in mine and I could easily go down his path if I don't keep myself in line. Even just earlier today I lost control and my blood won out and I hit Helios without realizing I was moving. It can happen again, it can come up and take me over without warning and I fear that I might hurt you next time."

She scoffed and snuggled in closer to him. "No way. You're the gentlest and most conscientious and concerned man I have ever met. Did you know that every time we've had sex you've asked for my permission? I thought it was sweet for awhile and now I understand why you did it. You didn't want to follow in that man's footsteps at all. You don't need to worry about that,.You don't even need to ask because if a girl ever said no to you, you wouldn't hesitate to listen and you would put as much distance between you and her as she wanted. He might be part of you but you're not him. You also have your mother in you and her parents and so on. Even if you ignore that half of you and focus just on what he passed onto you, it doesn't matter, you're your own person. You've made your own decisions and your personality has always been different. I knew you before you knew about your past and I liked you then, you were kind and sweet and a bit snarky but it was in a good way. You had gotten more controlled over the years since you learned that. I couldn't understand why you were hiding and pulling away then but then you started opening up again and I wouldn't change anything about you. Or at least I wouldn't change anything about you that you don't want to change. I can't think of anything that you would change but if you want to, then that's fine too because this is never going to change." She placed her hand over his heart. "And this is what's the most important, everything else is just trimming."

She breathed in after her little speech, it was very sweet and he knew she wanted to be as supportive as she could and needed to say all of that and he was touched by it too.

He lifted her hand from his chest and kissed her palm and then her finger pads. "I don't know how I got so lucky to have you in my life. I have a ways to go to believe I deserve you. I was selfish when I made you my wife. I couldn't let you go and to know that you don't ever want anyone else but me, makes my heart hurt with how full and large it's become from the love it has for you and the love it's received from you."

She smiled gently and tilted her head to kiss him on the lips but it was a soft press, a sweet kiss. "I know exactly how you feel there. My heart feels like it's going to burst out of my chest because it's so full with love." She slid her legs up against his and pulled the blanket over him too so she could intertwine her legs with his, trying to get as close as possible while still fully dressed. He pulled her up against him so they were chest to chest and he closed his mouth over hers. They didn't do anything but kiss for the next few minutes but eventually he pulled away and kissed her forehead.

"You're exhausted." He laid her head against his chest and tilted his so it was touching hers. "Take a small nap, I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled and snuggled in as close as she could. "I'm glad. Are you ok?"

"I've never been better." The honesty rung clear in his words. She really was glad, she hoped that today would go a long way towards healing that hole in his heart. It would never be the way it was before he found out the truth. That hole was always going to be ripped open, there was no way to undo the injury but hopefully it would scab over now and mend and leave a barely noticeable scar. It's the best anyone could hope for.

–

Serenity woke to a warm embrace and kisses raining down over her face and she smiled and reached up to grab the back of his head and sunk her fingers into his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. He chuckled and tugged her hips towards his and she could feel how awake he was. For a minute she forgot that she was in her childhood home but as she woke up more to meet him where he was, she realized it and gave a small screech and pulled away in surprise. She almost fell out of the bed but he caught her and brought her back to safety.

"What's wrong?" He asked concerned, wondering if her sleep allowed her to process what he told her. That she decided that she couldn't stay with someone like him with that monster's blood in his veins afterall.

"We're in my parents' home! We can't do that here!" She was bright red and he chuckled, glad that was all it was. "Do they even know that you're in this house? I can't imagine that they do, not with the way they were warning me to stay away from you or be disowned earlier." She caught herself up short as she realized what she said and then groaned and buried her head in his chest. "I shouldn't have said that."

He was very still. "Oh yes, you should have." He was annoyed by her parents. "They shouldn't be making any threats and it's just giving you more stress, no matter how toothless that threat was." He pulled away from her. "No wonder your stomach was upset again so soon with no food in it." He reached across her and pulled the plate of bread towards her. "Don't move but do eat." He placed it by her face and she laughed at his instructions, thinking they were a bit impossible to do both.

She ate the bread, she was hungry actually, it had been several hours since she last ate and anything she'd eaten hadn't gone the right way through her. She ate far more often now that she wasn't working and had 4 men constantly putting food in front of her, trying to plump her up but she wasn't always hungry and often sent the food away. He smiled as he watched her eat. It was what he liked to see and he reached across her again for the water glass. After she finished a piece of bread, he handed her the glass and she drank from it, thankful for that too. "Mikhail brought them in earlier." He gave credit where credit was due.

"That was nice of him." She murmured and her eyes were starting to close again.

"Come on Sere, your parents are going to be concerned about you if you sleep all weekend." He ran his fingers through her hair and her temperature was a bit higher than earlier. Her immune system was so weak still. She'd been surrounded only by family today but she had been in the clinic yesterday and other places near the public and he wondered if she picked a bug up from somewhere. It could even be from one of their family members. He suspected Helios was carrying some germs on him after partying all night and then getting into bed with Serenity. If the bug came from one of the family members. He pulled away from her as she slipped back asleep and he called her doctor to ask what was the best thing for him to do.

The doctor just recommended a low potency Tylenol and some vitamin C. He walked to the door where Mikhail was still standing guard. He laughed at how the man was protecting Serenity from her parents. He supposed she didn't want them to know about the pregnancy yet and so Mikhail did have to protect that secret. "Do you think you could scrounge up some vitamin C and Tylenol?"

"I'll get someone onto it." He lifted his phone to text one of his helpers. One of the help from the kitchen arrived shortly after and he brought it in for Serenity.

Endymion roused Serenity enough to get her to take the pills and she smiled her thanks at Mikhail and fell back asleep, feverish. Mikhail frowned, now understanding Endymion's concern. "She's gotten worse since I asked you for those. Hopefully it will help break her fever." Mikhail nodded and brought his hand against her forehead, it was a mild temperature still at least.

"Let me go get some ice packs and it will help cool her down." He could see that she was shivering, he hated fevers, they were always so hot that they were cold and their bodies got mixed signals from their brains. "We might have to take her in if it persists." It wasn't even a few hours yet but between the pregnancy and the weakened immune system, they might not be able to wait the typical 24 hours for it to break if it was only a 24 hour bug.

Between the Tylenol, vitamin C, rest and diligence of Endymion and Mikhail's care, she did get better. She woke up in the middle of the night when both had fallen asleep while taking turns taking care of her. She was wide awake and feeling great. She was a little disorientated because she had lost an entire afternoon and evening but otherwise she was almost restless.

She slipped out of her bed and practically tiptoed to the door so she could go get something to eat, she was ravenous. She was alone in the kitchen as she made herself a sandwich and it was the best tasting sandwich in the world. It's where her father found her after two bites into it.

"Did you make one for me?" He asked and she pulled the other plate from the fridge and slid it over to him. He laughed and took a seat at the bar. "I thought you were sick, or was that just a ruse to get out of talking to your mother and me?"

She came around and perched on the seat next to his. "I was sick daddy, honestly. I just woke up though after sleeping practically the whole day and I was hungry!" This was something they did often when she was home. It harkened back to her youth when she and he used to do this at least once a week, especially after she and her mother had a row about something. Often about her lack of lady-like qualities and she was always mad her mum just couldn't let her be herself.

He often settled her feathers then with some sage wisdom, but only after most of the staff was asleep along with her mother. The first time he pulled her out of bed so they could talk, just the two of them without being overheard. Sometimes he took her mother's side and sometimes he took Serenity's but he had a way of making her see the way forward.

"Who's side are you going to be on tonight?" She asked fairly mellow despite everything she could have said or done, either way it didn't change things for her.

"I'm on both of your sides." He placed his hand on her knee. "There's something important you need to know about Endymion and it will change how you view him."

"It hasn't." Serenity shook her head. "I talked to him after we spoke and he told me everything about what happened to his mom. They've been the victims since it happened. We shouldn't judge them for anything, it wasn't either of their faults."

Her father gave a small nod. "That's true enough. I'm glad he finally told you. You do realize though that his father's wealth and property won't be passed onto him, correct? He retains his mother's title because she's the one that has passed it on to him but it's not exactly properly handled in the eyes of the court. She should have disclosed that he is a bastard."

"Daddy!" She pushed to her feet in shock and was absolutely appalled by his words. "I've already told you I don't care about titles or money from his family or my own. I have plenty of wealth from my own career that I don't need to rely on anyone. Even if I didn't make the money I spend without thinking about, it would be fine. I have seen how the poorest of the poor live and making $5 a day would be preferable to shunning a person because of what happened to them. He's not a bastard, his mother was attacked and Lucas decided to raise Endymion as his own. That's the end of the story, in all but blood Endymion is Lucas' son and the rest of the world can go stick their nose up another cow's behind for all I care."

Kenneth nodded. "Ok."

"Ok?" Serenity glared at him. "What does that mean?"

"Ok, I won't say another word against him and I will speak to your mother before we dine tomorrow for breakfast."

Serenity was confused by what changed his stance or if he always had this stance but was playing her like a fiddle. She paused before leaving the room; she had something more to say. "Endymion will be joining us for breakfast, otherwise we'll be having breakfast in my room." She wasn't sure if she should clarify who the 'we' was.

Kenneth's mouth compressed. "He's in your room?"

"Sleeping somewhat soundly since I was able to leave without waking him up. He's always telling me to sleep when I think he stays awake watching over me. He needs it as much if not more than I do." Serenity laughed. "Mikhail too, probably."

"I don't like to think that a man is sleeping in my daughter's bed with her in it, especially in my house."

"Well... he can't do anything else to prove he's not going to leave me high and dry when the day comes, he's already married me. It's nothing improper." She was a bit cheeky again and he waved her out, not pleased but not trying to stop it. She giggled and left him to finish his sandwich and practically skipped upstairs and back to bed. She slid in and he wrapped his arms around her automatically without once waking up; but Mikhail was awake and watching her. She motioned that she'd explain later and shaped her hands into a representation of a heart and angled it towards him and he shook his head with a smile. He mouthed 'minx' back and he was satisfied that she was healthy again and so he left her room. He posted Jax on her door so he could get some proper sleep.

–

The next morning Endymion followed Serenity into the breakfast room. She had been feeling good that morning, she hadn't even had morning sickness. Jax wanted to ask her if she really was pregnant or if the doctors were only seeing the flu and assuming it was the same. But as he watched the two couples try to converse with each other in a polite manner, and struggled to come up with conversation topics; Serenity suddenly stood up and fled the room.

Jax watched her go into a bathroom he hadn't seen before and shook his head, this house had so many little nooks and crannies for someone to easily hide in and wait. He would have to talk to Mikhail about that. He would have personally preferred it if Serenity hadn't become pregnant at all but it was done and now everyone had to live with the fallout.

Jax shut the door but he now stood outside the kitchen with clear sight lines to the bathroom. He left the door open a crack so he could listen in to their conversation while Serenity wasn't present.

"Are you sure there's not more going on than what you've told us?" Kenneth asked.

"There's nothing I can say at this time." Jax rolled his eyes at that smooth 'not lie' from Endymion.

"Well you've lied to us constantly over the last 10 years about Serenity and she has too. I wouldn't put it passed you to be lying now. It wouldn't even surprise me to learn that you aren't actually married but are using that as a rouse to get our blessing in the one we'll be planning." Irene was deeply suspicious.

"I assure you, we are married, quite legally but are happy to include you guys in another one. I'm glad you've come around." Side-stepping was a good move, Jax acknowledged and breathed a sigh of relief that it didn't take Serenity long to come out of the bathroom. She would not be pleased to hear her parents were berating Endymion in her absence.

"I don't know if we've come around but we aren't going to miss out on Serenity's special day – Serenity! Have you thought about what kind of flowers you'd like?"

She changed her tune when Serenity came walking back in and sat back down next to Endymion who rubbed her back in a comforting gesture. "I haven't really but I'm sure you've got lots of ideas and I would love to hear them." She'd had the wedding she always wanted, she just didn't have all of her friends and family around to see it. She got half then and she'll have half now and it will equal out to be beyond perfect. Just marrying Endymion was enough for her but he'd gotten the beach ceremony arranged through the hotel and told them to go heavy on the tropical theme. Which had been absolutely breathtaking in it's vibrancy of color. She'd had on a slip of a white dress and her hair done in intricate braids with flowers throughout, a lot like the princess in 'Tangled'. Endymion knew she liked color and so had supplied it in spades. They even lit paper lanterns and lifted them up into the air. There was a video and pictures of that wedding and their favorite picture was blown up and framed and hung in their bedroom.

This one would be her mother's vision, no matter what she said or how she fought, even if she hadn't already gotten married. It definitely wouldn't be her style at all. The one thing she would make a stand on though would be her dress and maybe Endymion's tux if she thought there was something wrong with the one her mother picked out. She never thought about it before, but perhaps Endymion's mother wanted to be involved as well in the wedding? She looked to Endymion and was about to ask him when her father spoke.

"I thought you were cleared of the disease you contracted while working abroad." The way he said it, she could have been in Paris and he'd have thought poorly of the city.

"I have been, it's gone, but it did leave my immune system weakened and I must have caught the flu from someone somewhere." It was early March and it had been a blustery winter in New York and a completely different environment to where she was normally stationed. She couldn't recall one deployment that had a winter season while she was there. Although she knew Argentina was on the list and several places in Eastern Europe; she just hadn't been sent there yet in that season.

"You should stay inside while you're here and drink plenty of hot tea with honey and Schnapps."

"I don't have a cold, mum." She tried to protest but her mother had hot tea brought to her with honey but Endymion cut off the staff member from pouring in the Schnapps. "Maybe lemon instead?" She asked, distracting everyone.

"Put in the Schnapps." Her mother waved and Endymion shook his head, no.

"You want her immune system to recover, don't you? Alcohol is not going to help." He had a point and she nodded. Although had she not been pregnant she would have argued that alcohol was great at killing germs too, in moderation.

"This is fine." She raised the cup to her lips and drank a sip. "Yummy." She did not want hot tea after throwing up but she swallowed it down to at least satisfy their curiosity. She didn't really want the orange juice either that was sitting on the table. "Do we have any milk?"

"For your tea?" Her mother asked in surprise but Serenity shook her head no.

"I want it to drink, in a separate glass."

"Uh, sure..." Her mother waved for it to be brought over but it was strange for Serenity to request it. She liked milk well enough but often she didn't drink it at breakfast because it was too heavy so early in the morning; she wasn't a huge fan of breakfast foods either. Serenity usually ate some fruit and drank some water or orange juice. She circled back around for lunch with a heavier meal and sometimes ate breakfast food for dinner but never earlier.

Serenity picked through all the options on the table and put pancakes on her plate and put syrup on top of it and her parents watched her in surprise. "It just sounded good." She said innocently and Endymion chuckled softly.

"I suppose living in countries where you have to eat what they give you because they have nothing else will change your eating habits." She 'mmh-hmmed' in agreement but didn't say anything as she dug into her food with relish.

Her dad laughed too and went back to eating but her mom was more reluctant. Eventually she had to because it was getting cold but she definitely suspected something. They knew they might have to spill this secret soon too. They just wanted to get through the wedding first but knew it might not keep that long.

Endymion rested his hand on her knee as he ate and shared a few lowered-lid glances with Serenity. She smiled slightly as she ate and her hand slid under the table to cross her body and rest on his hand. He turned it so they could link fingers and they held each other's hand throughout the meal. They missed her parents looking at each other and having an entire conversation in a few seconds of locking eyes. Their daughter was well and truly smitten and their new son-in-law was just as much of a goner.

–

That afternoon, it was a joint meal with the Pikas and the Telluses out in the back garden. It was strangely, fittingly, by the old apple tree that divided their lands. They both paid for the food and supplies that joined these 8 people together for the meal and conversation that day. It was a lunch through dinner affair.

There were space heaters that doubled as lanterns when the sun set. An extremely large tent which had the table they ate and talked at as well as room for them to wander around in it. Plenty of room for the staff to set up and take down the food and drinks they'd be serving and to serve it in without running into the homeowners wandering about.

Serenity thought it was overkill and she mentioned it to Endymion who'd only shrugged. They could have easily held it in one of the ballrooms or dining rooms or gathering rooms in one of their extremely large mansions but then it would have given preference to one family.

He wrapped one of the blankets sitting in a pile around Serenity's shoulders as they spoke privately sometime between lunch and dinner. "I just wish it wasn't outside. Couldn't we have gone to the hall in town? At least there the walls are a bit more sturdy." He tightened the blanket around her and pinned it shut so she'd stay warmer. She thought that that was overkill too. She was fairly warm without the blanket but now that she had it around her, it was comfortably warm. She didn't argue against him taking extra good care of her.

"Lunch was amicable." She commented, surprised how light and noncontroversial all of the topics of conversation had been. Neither politics nor their marriage were mentioned once, nor any other taboo subject. "I never thought the two of us would become a taboo conversational topic though."

He laughed and tugged her closer to him and his warmth was her favorite type of warming tool. It was frankly just the best kind of warmth, period. "I'm thinking they've exhausted everything else and we'll be discussing us before dinner even starts."

He wasn't wrong. She was able to free her hands from the blanket and tugged back, pulling him down to her height some more so she could go up onto her tiptoes and kiss him. She heard Helios making gagging sounds quite loudly and rudely but she ignored him. She knew he was happy they were together but he wouldn't be Helios if he didn't give them a hard time.

Endymion groaned and rested his forehead against Serenity's as he heard it too. "I forgot to tell you... Samuel fancies himself in love with you and thought you felt the same way. He thought that the two of you would get married some day."

"But-... what?" Now that was mind boggling. "How did he come to that idea?"

"Because, you've been supporting him financially and intellectually all these years. He akined that to emotionally too."

Serenity bit her lip as she realized he had found out about her financial contributions then too after he told her to stop. "Are you mad?"

"Annoyed but not mad." He kissed her to prove it. "I don't think you should be spending your money on my brother when I already give him enough to do what he needs to."

"You finance one project at a time, I give him the room to work on several at once." She countered.

"We're not going to argue about this today. You already have enough to deal with and I'm not mad and I won't say anything more about it. You're an adult who earns her own wage and can do whatever she wants with her money because we're not dependent on it ourselves. I know you spend it where you see fit and it might not be what I think is important but I've only known you to be wise." He tapped her on her nose. "I've given a fair amount to what I personally call the 'Serenity Charities or Business Ventures' and I have not once been disappointed."

She smiled at him, pleased he saw it her way and wouldn't give her a hard time about it. He never usually did but his brother had always been the only one he commented on and tried to persuade her against. It wasn't even her that made him speak up. He didn't want anyone giving his brother money because he didn't value what his brother was doing or at least didn't see him clearly since he was his little brother. This just meant that he stopped trying to get in his brother's way, he just had a bit further to go in that relationship but he was getting there. Hopefully some day he'd see his brother as a man and not just a child playing with toys.

"Serenity, Endymion, come over, we're going to discuss the wedding now."

"See?" Endymion teased as they walked back to the table. There were 8 comfy chairs around a coffee table on the other side. For now they'd sit at the table so they could look through the giant book of stuff her mother had already organized but there were things that needed to be confirmed.

"I was going to ask, Joyce, did you have anything you really wanted to see at the wedding?" Serenity asked as Endymion helped her sit and once she had, he covered her legs with another blanket. She didn't recall him grabbing one on the way over; where had he gotten it from? Then she saw Mikhail walking away and knew that her bodyguard had a hand in it.

Joyce was excited to be asked and was teeming with ideas that her mother put a foot down on almost instantly. "We'll have to see if they fit into my overall theme. Let's look at everything I have first and then if anything goes with or compliments, then we can talk about it. It might be too much though and we want to keep it classy. Some of those ideas will have to be spread out over all 3 of your children. You don't want any of them to feel neglected or second best or to just have a repeat of their oldest brother's wedding. They'll want it to be their own and different. Children are like that."

"I'm sure you know, considering you have just the one." Joyce responded back dryly, having 3 children should have made her the expert in that comment.

"Exactly, I have just the one child, a daughter and I cannot wait for my next child to do many of the things that are necessary in a wedding."

Serenity's hand was very tight around Endymion's as she tried to keep her words and feelings at bay against her mother's tyranny. She'd grown up with this and had learned to navigate these seas very carefully to get a compromised vision of what she wanted. She had forgotten that no one else had quite that skill or preparation for it and she felt bad for Joyce. She wouldn't have said anything about her ideas at all if Serenity hadn't invited her in. She'd won points in her mother-in-law's eyes but her mother had lost some in everyone else's.

"I don't think we should have the wedding in a month." Her mother continued. "That's far too soon. 6 months, minimum, for a somewhat decent ceremony, and that's the shortest amount of time to get a dress. It'll be a rushed job as well, which means more money."

"Mum, 1 month, that's all." Serenity cut in, she would ruin all of her mother's wedding plans even if she agreed to every single thing if they waited 6 months. Her mother would absolutely melt down if Serenity was showing at all or there being any physical indicator at the wedding. If she waited 6 months, then there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that she was pregnant.

"That means in a month you'll be going back with Endymion to wherever it is he's living now or going back abroad to another country for work. I want 6 months with you or longer. You were near death and didn't even call me!"

Her mother's guilt trip usually worked for a little while and while it did now too, she knew that she would feel guiltier in 6 months. "We can't." Serenity was suddenly near tears and it must have been the hormones that caused this upswell of emotion because she generally didn't cry about much.

"6 months is not a life sentence! He can run his business from London and you can work in a hospital there or here for that time. It's not an issue."

"No." Serenity denied and her father looked at her in concern and she knew he swung the wrong way with his thoughts. He was worried she was truly terminally ill and they had made up the disease that brought her to the hospital to hide a much greater illness and that's why she still wasn't fully recovered. She shook her head at him, trying to reassure him but he wasn't.

"Why not?" Her mother was insistent.

"Because, I'm pregnant." She said far more forcefully than she would have intended had she meant to say it at all.

Her father leapt across the table and tackled Endymion to the ground. Serenity might have gone with them had Mikhail not been moving closer throughout the whole argument. He had been close enough to pull her out of the way from the two male bodies colliding.

"You son of a-" Her father's blow didn't land as he tried to put his fist into Endymion's face from above because Endymion turned them quickly. Most of his angry energy was wasted trying to get the advantage once more but Endymion was too good to allow him or anyone to hit him, no matter how just.

"Pregnant?" Her mother meanwhile screeched and Endymion's parents looked on in shock. "You guys said you didn't get married because of that!"

"We didn't!" She turned to her mother, content to let the men sort that out. "I was well and truly married to Endymion before I got pregnant!" She scratched the back of her head as she tried to remember the dates her doctors had given her about everything. "The doctor said I didn't likely get pregnant until 2 weeks after our wedding."

She wasn't able to consummate their marriage for about that time either, but she didn't think that was wise to mention to her mother. Endymion had wanted to wed her as soon as he could. Since she was bound to recuperate in a warm climate anyway, he put the two together but it was only at the end of their stay had she been green-lighted for anything that strenuous.

Even then he had done most of the work... she didn't mention that to her mother either. It was an interesting and enjoyable experience and she didn't just lie there as he did everything. She was definitely involved, just not as much as she typically was. He didn't want her to overexert herself but he wanted her participation. He'd been incredibly gentle and made sure she was as comfortable as possible.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Helios asked and his parents tried to quiet him but she answered anyway.

"It's still pretty early on in the pregnancy and something could go wrong, it's more likely to during the first trimester. If it did, then it did and nobody had to know about it. Besides, we knew we were giving everyone a big enough shock as it was, that we didn't want to add this to your plates. We were going to tell you after the first trimester but then as we were here with you and knew it would be hard to hide, we decided to tell you sometime this month. We weren't planning on letting it slip today."

Joyce spoke despite her original plan to remain silent since she knew a wrong step these days could result in a shut out by Endymion. He always kept everything pressed to his vest and if he felt judged he might just put them away for awhile and his family would lose him for that time too. Maybe not completely but wouldn't know anything; just like he'd kept Serenity and his feelings about his biological father away from them. He was opening up again but that was due to Serenity, and if she got angry then it would be more likely for him to withdraw from his family. "When did you find out about the pregnancy yourself, dear?"

"Two days ago." The room went silent but Joyce nodded.

"I had a feeling it was recent, you don't seem quite connected to the idea of a child growing inside you yet. It takes time to really understand that. Although it seems the men around you have a clearer image in their heads." She didn't mean it the way it came out and she opened her mouth to rectify the situation and just made it worse. "I mean if you had, then you would realize that it didn't matter how long you were pregnant. You'd want to share once you got that announcement and wouldn't be so blasé about a miscarriage in the first trimester because you'd realize it would be a loss of life. Not just something going wrong that can be fixed." She winced as that settled in too and knew that hadn't been said right either. "I mean-"

"Mother, stop." Endymion ordered from his now superior position over Kenneth who was panting and exhausted from their tussle. He had his father-in-law's arms pinned above his head. "Mikhail, take Serenity back to the house."

"No." Serenity refused to budge. "I think I understand what she means and it's true. I haven't quite wrapped my mind around what it means to be pregnant. I know I think about it constantly and I know it's already doing strange things to my body and emotions but no, I don't think of it as a human life yet. I'm working up to that; but I'm also a doctor and I do think rationally about life and death and I've seen lots of people die and I was close to several of them. It can be hard and I usually deal with it in a way that's surprisingly healthy and I process loss well. I do know though that I haven't actually lost a person who was a close friend first and then got sick nor a family member. I guess I haven't associated my baby with being my family yet. This isn't my area and I was never dreaming of being a mother when I grew up. I still want to protect the child and do everything in my power to ensure it is healthy while within me and happy when it starts to feel those kind of feelings."

Endymion pushed himself up off the ground and walked away from his father-in-law and stood by Serenity. "I've done a lot of research since I found out about it 2 days ago. I read that it's important not to get your hopes up during the first trimester because miscarriages are quite high statistically during that stage. With Serenity being sick during the conception and very early part of the pregnancy and then sick again last night with another illness, we don't know what that can do to her chances of a full term pregnancy for this pregnancy; or really any others in the future."

She hadn't realized he'd done so much research and found his hand so she could hold it, neither really surprised because it was so Endymion but was pleased by it nonetheless. Her doctor had told her to be weary of letting herself get too carried away with the news. He too had been concerned about how her illness would affect the chances of the baby getting past the first trimester much less full term. He warned her a miscarriage might be in the works but he had currently no reason to be concerned due to the typical reasons a miscarriage took place. It was really early on and they'd know more during the first ultrasound in about a month's time. She was personally concerned about any illnesses or diseases that might be passed onto the baby that they hadn't thought of yet or didn't know how it would effect it yet.

"So you're saying that until you knew if you really were going to remain pregnant you didn't want to tell us, just in case it was a false alarm?" Irene asked.

"It's not a false alarm nor would we have called it that had it been one, but there's a very real possibility that we could lose it." Endymion explained.

"That's dumb." Irene snapped. "This is why I'm mad at you! Serenity, I didn't raise you to be like this. You know you can and should tell me everything that's going on in your life, even if it's unlikely to last. I want to be there with you and for you for all the big life moments. That's what a mother wants and you'll know it and understand it and feel very, very bad about keeping this stuff from me when your child grows up and starts keeping things from you."

Serenity acknowledged that as a fair point. "I'm sorry, I don't know how many times I can apologize for my behavior. I can only say it's because I was so focused on myself that I didn't think about anyone else. I did something similar to Endymion too and I'm working on it, I don't want to be self-centered and I'm taking steps to combating that. Thank you for calling me out about it and I promise to try to tell you about whatever is going on with me in the future, good and bad."

"Is there anything else that you should tell us about the past or what's going on between the two of you?" Kenneth asked, standing up as well and brushing himself off. His anger was spent and now that he'd calmed down he realized that his daughter and Endymion had told the truth when they said that he hadn't knocked her up and pushed her into marriage, neither had trapped the other. He still didn't exactly like Endymion but it had been both of their actions that led them here. He nodded a thanks to Mikhail for pulling his daughter out of possible harms' way and for doing a good job in his job.

Serenity looked to Mikhail this time who shook his head no and she shrugged. "You knew about Shawn... so no, nothing else."

"Shawn?" Endymion asked with a flare of jealousy behind that 'pure' curiosity look.

"Serenity was serious about him for awhile." Irene needled. "I thought she would tell us that they were going to get married. He was a traveling English teacher and they ended up in a few locales together. I really liked him."

"I never brought him home. They Skyped a few times, it wasn't that serious, mother."

Endymion knew that she and Mikhail were hiding another secret from all of them and he questioned whether or not to press. He decided that if he were to press, it wouldn't be in front of everyone here. It might be slipping back into that pattern but there were somethings that were purely between husband and wife. None of the married couples here could argue with that, they all had secrets from everyone else.

"So, not as hot and heavy as it was with Mara, then?" Helios asked innocently and this time his mother did smack him upside the head again.

"It was never hot and heavy." Endymion denied fiercely and his father nodded.

"It was luke-warm at best. They were intellectual and mature and had a probably decent physical relationship but never was it a passionate love. That would have been a marriage of convenience and business, nothing much more."

"Meaning that my marriage to Serenity is an inconvenience?"

"A great inconvenience, I'd say." Lucas rejoinder jovially. "Greatly inconvenient, or so I would hope. A passionate love should be inconvenient as you have to follow her to the ends of the Earth and doesn't make life so simple and easy that it's boring. Even being in her vicinity for any length of time should make you uncomfortable to be around others, inconvenient."

Endymion turned slightly pink at his father's explanation and he spied Serenity staring at him with questions of her own but he didn't see a flare of jealousy in her eyes. She looked like a cat that had gotten a lavish treat and then got to curl up next to the fireplace and be near it's human at the same time; in a word, content. He poked her in the side for that look. She was too assured of his love for her. She wasn't jealous of past lovers now that she had him literally around her finger as their hands were still joined and figuratively as the metal bands and diamond symbolized on both their ring fingers.

He knew she loved him unconditionally and wholly and that was never going to change. That her love was as deep and as wide as his was for her but he was still jealous of a man that she had chosen to spend her time romantically linked with. He didn't even know if they were intimate. That thought had him burning, especially now that he knew the name. It was silly because they'd talked about talking about the lovers they'd had in their lives and he'd shut it down to protect her opinion of him. He hadn't really toyed with the idea that she'd had lovers herself. It was archaic and mostly unlike him but he was possessive and he couldn't help it. No matter what his brain told him to feel or think, his body reacted strongly; opposed to the idea of another man touching her or that she could share her body and heart with another, even temporarily. He was hypocritical and that was why he'd never press for details and he would force himself to get over it. He still didn't want her to know his number or names, even though the number was under double digits.

"Shall we get back to planning?" Joyce asked, hoping there would be no more blow ups or interruptions; and for the most part there weren't. Although Serenity did have to excuse herself to go to the bathroom a few times but thankfully only once was to throw up. The other times were for the same reasons everyone else wandered out of the tent and then came back shortly after.

–

One month later, Serenity was standing outside the doors of the chapel that would open up and she'd see her husband at the other end of it. Then she would be walking towards him to marry him once again; and Serenity had been right about everything that this wedding had become. She had managed to put in a few of Joyce's ideas that her mother had thrown out. Most of them were during the reception anyway so Irene wouldn't be focusing on them quite yet but she'd managed to make both happy and that was a difficult feat but one she'd had been born and raised to handle.

The doors opened and all she saw was Endymion standing there and all he saw was her, standing in the entrance and the rest of the world bled away and very traditional music played. She'd seen the decorations the day before and so knew that it was very sedate in coloring but over the top in grandeur and size. White flowers were strung up the sides of the pews leading to the alter and silver ribbon held it altogether. Along the walls were gigantic white flowers in gigantic silver flower pots. Lavender was the other color allowed in the bridal party and her bridesmaid dresses and the groomsmen's ties sported it. Endymion stood at the end in his white-tie dress and she was in a very traditional white dress that hugged her figure. No full skirt here either since she was so short and her mother didn't want gossip about the pregnancy to abound, yet. So her dress left no room for the imagination to go there. Her stomach was still flat and was the envy of many women. Her being sick had only kept it that way since exercise was greatly restricted for the last several months. She had long sleeves of lace. The back was a keyhole and open and where it gathered again at her neck and lower waist had a multitude of little buttons running the length of her skirt but ended at her knees and the train flared out and brushed against the pews. Only when she reached the alter and Endymion's side, was the end of it visual, it just cleared the doors as they shut behind her.

One would think she was the princess getting married with how stately her mother made her appear, above reproach. They even had journalists and photojournalists inside the chapel and outside of it. It was all captured and documented, not only for themselves but for the public as well. The chapel had all the nobles who didn't have prior commitments. All of Endymion's friends and family and all of her friends and her parents' friends and family and she thought maybe Joyce and Lucas had a few friends there as well.

They had announced the wedding to the press that Monday after their eventful weekend back home. The press had been mostly kind; there had been a few leading comments and questions about Endymion but not for his parentage but for his own behavior in the past. How he was taking Britain's Darling off the market to the disappointment of many suitors and fans alike. They hoped she'd continue being herself though and not get too wrapped up with her change in status. Still though, despite all the crap they were giving Endymion for his past, he hadn't really done much of anything to deserve it. The press only knew of so many and she believed him when he said that there weren't many more. Maybe it was because they were neighbors and they thought that was odd or cliché or perhaps it was because she had such a pristine record in comparison when it came to men. She was glad that it hadn't been ripped to shreds by Bose. They didn't even know about Shawn or if they did, they didn't mention it. None of the DWB staff had mentioned Bose either once her name got into the papers with a high profile match. She didn't know why she worried so much about it this time around. Her name had been in the papers quite a bit over the years since the incident and no one sold the story to the press, despite knowing very little indeed.

Even Molly was here and she was pleased by her presence. She really liked that woman and she vowed that she'd spend some time with her during the reception. Molly and Harva, who had been lucky enough to have been on leave at the time. Harva though couldn't stay for the whole party, she had to leave after dinner.

Serenity and Endymion repeated the vows they'd said in their private ceremony with maybe a few minor edits to fit the crowd gathered now. There were no objections and they said their 'I do's without hesitation. Then he delighted the crowd with his kiss and she was greatly amused and pleased as well by it although her mother complained for the next week. He had enjoyed repeating that kiss or at least giving her a kiss that could compete whenever someone hit the tines of their forks against a glass. It just caused a flush to go up her mother's neck but Serenity joined in on the fun by throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss to remember when he was unprepared for her to do so. She even got Mikhail to tip him backwards so she could reverse the roles but knew she would never be able to hold him steady much less pull him back to his feet on her own.

The crowd roared with delight when she worked with Mikhail on that one. Dinner passed quickly and the night dwindled down into day as they all partied and danced and chatted in exuberance. She had missed all of her old friends, she hadn't seen many of them for far, far too long. Even Lita was able to come, fully healed and ready to work again but not having a job confirmed at the moment. Serena danced with each and every person that was there and sometimes it had to be three or four in a group to fit them all in but she didn't mind.

Then Endymion spun her into his arms and held her close, not letting anyone else break in for one song. "Maybe you should take a break after this?" His mouth was by her ear so no one else could hear but she heard him just fine.

She shook her head. "I'm doing great! I'm loving every moment of the reception." She slid her hands up his chest and linked them behind his head. "Aren't you?"

He was having a lot of fun. He knew a vast majority of the people there as well and had been dancing with as many as he could also but his eyes kept seeking her out, wanting to be close and worried too. Although she had been doing much better over the mont, she still had morning sickness at times other than the morning but she wasn't as pale or tired.. She looked the prettiest he'd ever seen her and that was a hard feat to accomplish. "I'm having a blast." He reassured her.

He chided himself for even saying something to her. He never used to be this protective of her, he had always let her be her independent self and still remained there for her if she needed him while doing his own thing too. Perhaps it was almost losing her a few times that had really altered his personality and the way he handled her.

She had fallen in love with him before he became this clucking hen and he didn't want her feelings to change because he had .He needed to work on finding something in the middle but every time he wanted to loosen the reigns over his worry and protective caring. He would be hit again by how he felt when he heard that she was sick, when he learned that she was in the line of fire in Africa and could have very easily been hit with a bullet. Two of her friends had and a gun had been locked onto her and it had only been sheer timing and coincidence that she wasn't a goner then and there. Now she was pregnant and that had it's own risks and he didn't want to even let it get close to 3rd time unlucky. The Americans had a phrase that he had taken a while to learn but now that he understood it's origin, he actually kind of liked it. Even if he didn't like what it meant in this situation; but 'three strikes and you're out'. He hated that there was another expression that closely mimicked it, 'things come in 3s'.

Maybe... and this was what allowed him to start breathing again more regularly; maybe the other two times only counted towards a third if she went back overseas for DWB. That this pregnancy was a reset or it's own thing because it happened with him being present, helping it happen of course. Now that she was in the US/UK, then it wouldn't count as the 3rd risky situation but the 1st in this location... He would try to think of it that way and would allow her bodyguards to do their job. She had never been in danger in the UK or at least that he knew about. The pregnancy might not even be a risk in the end, might just go smoothly.

It had taken nearly 3 months for him to come to a place where he felt he had come to terms with everything that had happened. It seemed poignant that it happened on his wedding day, his second one sure, but the first one with all of their friends and family around to witness it.

Internally he snorted as he realized that Serenity had never seemed affected by it. She had only been annoyed that it kept her from doing the things she wanted to do; in both occasions. She was annoyed that she had to sit out a rotation and get therapy. Then she was annoyed that she had to sit out a rotation and get healthy again and couldn't even do the things she liked to do while off from rotation. Now that she was pregnant, he wondered if she was annoyed at their unborn baby too because it kept her from rotations yet again? Or other activities that she enjoyed?

Seeing how happy she was with all of her friends, he almost, almost suggested staying here permanently or semi-permanently. Then he remembered why he really hadn't brought her back before a month previous, she would go back to her grueling rotations at the hospital and he didn't want her to over do it and knew she would. She just didn't have the wherewithal to know she was overdoing it. She thought she was invincible and maybe she was right before but now she could get sick like the rest of them. She really didn't have portion control when she was working and he wanted to make sure there were stopgaps put in to whatever she did to pass the time when they got back to the US.

Her hands moved from his neck to the corners of his eyes and she pushed them gently backwards and he looked to her in surprise. "You're thinking too hard. It's a party, have fun."

Endymion took her advice and turned that part of his brain off and spun her around the dance floor some more. The rest of the night spun by in laughter and fun. They both danced with many different people and there was nothing that upset the wedding in any way.

They even went out with everyone around their age once the reception hall shut its doors on them and they partied in the streets of Linton well into the night, or early dawn. Somehow no one noticed her handing off her alcoholic beverages to him when they ordered rounds. He tried to be the one to order them even if he didn't pay for them; making sure hers looked liked the rest of theirs but wasn't alcoholic. He even dumped some of his alcoholic drinks into Andrew's, Lita's, Amy's or Rae's or his brothers'. Those six knew about Serenity's condition and tried to make sure they were the ones ordering if Endymion or Mikhail couldn't. Towards the very end of the night people started splitting off and going home. By then people stopped ordering drinks altogether or couldn't pay attention to what others were doing and so Endymion got by with water and made sure Serenity kept drinking water too.

When things wheedled down to just the core group, they headed to get some food and the conversation was more intimate. Samuel had partied out and so had left and Helios had chased after Molly, surprisingly, as she wasn't his usual type. She'd gone home and he offered to walk her to her door. Serenity didn't know for sure, of course, but she doubted Molly would let him come in. It was just Serenity and Endymion with her cousin, Andrew, and Lita, Mikhail, Rae and Amy. Rae's and his bodyguards were outside the small cafe but they pretty much took it over with their little group, that's how small of an establishment it was. They probably could have fit a few more but it was nice the way it was.

They ordered a big breakfast and chatted before it came and continued chatting as they ate. Endymion's arm laid along the back of Serenity's portion of the booth and she snuggled into his side as they ate. It had been a very, very nice wedding and both the bride and groom were utterly too content and weren't willing to leave yet. However their friends and family were drooping and after awhile of sitting, Serenity and Endymion weren't fairing much better. All of their energy seemed to be zapped the moment they finished eating.

Mikhail called Jax for a lift and would have called another car for Amy but Rae had her own lined up and offered Amy a lift to their hotel. They were all in their vehicles and heading back to their prearranged locations far too soon but it was time to sleep. Andrew, Lita and Mikhail were all staying at Serenity's parents' house while Endymion and Serenity stayed the night at his parents'. They'd go back to London on Monday morning. On Sunday they were going to open wedding gifts with the bridal party so they had a day to revert to a normal schedule and recover from the long night.

Serenity was sound asleep before they arrived, it had been only a ten minute journey but she was out. Endymion's head was bobbing too and almost smacked Serenity's as it drooped towards hers but he'd pulled it back up sharply before it started drooping again. Mikhail carried Serenity up to bed while Jax helped Endymion, he had had a fair amount to drink after all. Andrew headed over to his aunt's to make sure all the beds were prepared. Lita reluctantly trailed behind Andrew although she felt that her place was helping Serenity but she was surplus to needs at the moment. So she went to go check in with Serenity's parents' bodyguards. Jax was going to spend the night at Endymion's so Serenity would have one of her bodyguards on site in case of an emergency. They just didn't really have the room for everyone to be in one house, so they split it between the two.

Although, technically, since they were both mansions, they probably could have figured something out in a pinch. Serenity would have had everyone camping out in her mansion if she could but her mom was utterly against that idea. Endymion wasn't a huge fan of tripping over people either but would have given in to Serenity's wishes. It would have been Mikhail who would have convinced her that it wasn't a smart idea. Although she probably would have been able to get him to compromise with half of those 100 people she wanted to stay.

Endymion kicked the bodyguards out of his room once they laid Serenity on the bed, he could handle the rest. He probably hadn't needed them at all but they liked to help and they would have been offended had he refused them. He left Serenity in her dress, he just undid the buttons at her neck, they'd have fun undoing the rest, together.

Sometime later, she woke up and they had that fun as he undid each button agonizingly slow and laid a kiss on her bare back where the button had been.

–

Serenity and Endymion didn't come out of his room until well after noon that Saturday. They hadn't made any plans with anyone, family included until dinner time and they still had a few hours to kick around before that.

Serenity had been sick earlier in the day but had just crawled back in bed and slept for another few hours. Now she was feeling great and decided to head outside. Endymion kissed the back of her hand and vowed to join her shortly, he had something he wanted to attend to first. Jax materialized beside her as she walked around the grounds. She had never really explored his property before, always respecting that invisible line that separated the two.

"Did you have a good night?" She asked her bodyguard and friend as they walked.

"It was a treat to watch you get married again." He teased her. "But unfortunately someone had to be on duty and so I could not party with you, which was a shame."

She grinned at him. "Oh, you'll have plenty of opportunities to get to know my friends before we head back to the US." She had seen his eyes lock onto Rae and had a hard time looking away. Had taken many glances in her direction throughout the wedding recital and grooms' dinner as well as at the ceremony itself and reception. "There will be a certain lavender eyed beauty at almost every opportunity."

Surprisingly his mouth hardened at that notion and she wondered why he was displeased. "Is something wrong with that?"

"I'm sure she's a very lovely girl." He responded a bit coolly. "Just please don't push it."

"I thought for sure you were interested." She turned to face him a might too quickly and almost fell had he not caught her.

"What happened to your amazing grace?" He asked as he carefully set her back onto her feet again. "That's not the first time since leaving South America that something like that has happened."

"I... don't know." He had effectively distracted her but she was now a bit worried about it too. "Maybe the Legionnaire's Disease affected my balance too and I'm still working on regaining it. I don't think I can blame this on my pregnancy too."

"Maybe." He started walking again and she kept in step, he wasn't walking terribly fast, had he been, her shorter legs wouldn't have been able to keep up unless she started running. He had angled them back towards the house and Endymion was standing out there with his phone against his ear but the call never came through to Jax's because he spotted them before the first ring and he hung up and joined them.

"I've organized some tea for the three of us." He wrapped an arm casually around Serenity's waist and turned towards Jax to talk to him. "You will join us, won't you?"

Jax snickered. "I didn't realize you'd become so British when you returned home. Even in London you're not so stereotypically British."

Endymion rolled his eyes. "We still have high tea even in the US we just don't call it that. It's more of a snack there."

"Even the way you speak though changes." Jax shook his head. "I will definitely join you, if only to make fun of you whenever you do something out of the norm for the Endymion I know."

They sat around a small circular table outside and Endymion dropped a blanket onto Serenity's lap but he didn't fuss like he might have before Jax said that. Serenity leaned forward and rested her arms against the table as she looked intently onto Jax's face. "And me, have I become entirely too British for you? Have I changed from the Serenity you have known all this time?"

"In so many ways you're always very British but no, you've remained practically the same." Jax put a finger to her forehead and pushed her back and off the table. "You've never really had time for the traditional British things while abroad."

"Just Endymion then..." She mused to herself and sat back against the back of her chair. "I wonder why that is."

Endymion shook his head and blamed Jax. "Now look what you've done."

"She'd have noticed eventually. Or perhaps she's so used to you in all your forms that she wouldn't or didn't care."

"I think it would be closer to not caring." She held Endymion's hand without even thinking about it. "I've known him most of my life, so I've seen it all."

"I figured as much." Jax eyed her with a hint of humour in his gaze as his eyes landed on her belly. "Or I hoped so."

Serenity laughed while Endymion just shook his head at her bodyguard. Jax was definitely a character and he was so glad that Jax had never set his sights on Serenity as he might have had some competition from the man. Jax always managed to make Serenity laugh and while it wasn't a particularly hard task, he did it with such regularity and at times when she was upset. That over time she'd begin to appreciate it more and more and maybe start to like him more and more and in different ways.

Endymion cleared his throat. "Biscuit?"

"I don't mind if I do." Jax said very properly and held out his plate for the cookie and lifted his tea cup with a pinky in the air and Serenity snickered into her cup as she drank. Endymion couldn't help but smile himself. Jax was well-built and had some scars that weren't entirely noticeable right away. The only thing missing were tattoos and then it would be a compounded cliché about someone who worked his lifestyle and knew the ins and outs of all the criminal activity so he could ferry people safely across those lands to get them where they needed to be. Even his personality lent itself to that life, someone who knew when to be serious but also knew how to defuse the situation with a well-placed joke and never getting ruffled.

If Endymion was prone to getting man-crushes on guys, he'd have a few to choose from but thankfully he was comfortable in his own skin and had never really wanted to be like anyone else. He had people he didn't want to be like but he knew what he thought was the right path and Serenity had always approved and so that's all that he had needed. It just made him realize that Serenity had surrounded herself by strong men and women in a vast number of fields. It was nice to see and he sort of wished that he had met some of them first so he could claim them as his friends and they'd then be equal in that too.

He had good friends and bodyguards but they just weren't as impressive in general. He could only think of a handful of people that he knew and met on his own that he would put in the same caliber as most of hers.

Their tea, surprisingly, wasn't interrupted and they were able to finish it in peace. Endymion cleaned up the dishes and brought everything back into the house which left Jax and Serenity alone outside once more. They walked slowly up to the house. "What is it?" Jax asked when she looked at him from the corner of her eye, again.

"Don't think I've forgotten." She warned him. "What's wrong with Rae?"

"Nothing is wrong with Rae, that I know of," Jax clarified slyly.

"Then what was with the reaction when I mentioned her? Please don't tell me it was just because I was trying to match you up with her. I know it wasn't that alone, besides I wouldn't have, not really," Serenity trailed off, because that was exactly what had gone through her head.

"She wouldn't date a bodyguard, even if it wasn't hers," Jax responded dryly. "However, no, you're right, that's not it," Jax sighed and scratched at his chin that was cleanly shaven. "I have met her parents in the past."

"So?" Serenity knew Rae wasn't exactly open about her parents but she had mentioned some things to Serenity over the years.

Jax looked away from Serenity while he spoke and she wondered what the true story was. "Let's just say that I wasn't entirely impressed."

"Is that why you want nothing to do with her? Why you practically glared at her?" Serenity shook her head. "Come on Jax, I know you better than that."

"Let's talk about you for a minute, you haven't been entirely honest with Endymion," Jax countered out of the blue and Serenity gasped.

"Are you talking about Bose?"

Jax's eyes sliced right through her. "No." And she breathed a bit easier with that vehement denial. "What I'm talking about is your inability to stay in one place. You're like me, you're going to get bored of the suburban lifestyle very soon."

Serenity sighed and drew her long blond hair over her shoulder and stroked it's soft length. "I know."

"Endymion's talking children while you're dreaming of your old lifestyle," Jax made another very good point.

"My life is different now," she pointed out the obvious but he wasn't seeing how it was really affecting her. "Even though I loved my life as a DWB, a child and a husband will change things. I won't be able to do it again, at least not any time soon. I don't know if I really want to either. I am going to miss helping the people who need it the most and teaching others how to maintain a health industry they can do with or without our help. I'm not going to be cleared for that kind of duty any time soon. Once I am, I'll have a child as well and I don't know if I will be able to leave him or her for any length of time like that."

Jax nodded, he'd known as much the moment they heard the news. "Will you be able to leave that life behind?"

"I'm not sure," Serenity answered honestly. "I've already missed a rotation this time around because of my illness. It'll be a whole year by the time I can go back," she breathed deeply as she looked him in the eye, knowing what would be next. "Are you going to leave me to go back to what you were doing?"

"I don't want to. You pay me more and it's been a lot of fun being with you guys and protecting you, but I can't do the tame domestic first world country protection. You've been house bound for several months and it's going to happen again fairly soon with your pregnancy. I'm going to climb up a wall with boredom, no matter how much I love you, Mikhail and Lita. You don't need me either, especially if you quit DWB, Lita will be able to come on full time and I'll just be a 5th wheel to the two couples."

Serenity looked down at her feet, "When will you leave?"

Jax hugged her unexpectedly and she looked him in the eyes when he set her back down again. "After the baby is born, of course," he reassured her firmly. "Pregnancy comes with a lot of risk and I want to be around when my niece or nephew comes into this world."

Serenity raised a brow, "Niece or nephew? You're not even related to me by blood or marriage."

Jax laughed and tapped her on the nose, "We're more sibling than blood relations."

She would have to give him that, she didn't have any siblings anyway and they had been through a lot together without him being employed by her personally. She was lucky to have him in her life. "So you're not just going to abandon us without looking back once after he or she comes into this world? That you'll be back periodically to see us?"

"Of course I will!" Jax reassured, "It hasn't been terribly long but over the time that I've known you, you've become my family and I am very close to my family and try to get to all of the big events if I can."

"Then how come I haven't seen you leave to go see you family in all this time?" Serenity questioned suspiciously.

"Because I don't have much in way of blood relatives anymore and fewer still that I can actually consider my family. I have left to attend one of my friends' weddings since joining your detail and another's baby shower and one very important birthday year. The reason you haven't noticed my absence is because you're very self-centered and only care about your patients without realizing it's been several days since you'd last seen me."

Serenity rolled her eyes, "It was not like that."

"It was. You'd work, go back to your tent, write Endymion an email and then sleep until you had to get up and shower and eat breakfast before working again for the rest of the day. It would continue until one of your supervisors told Mikhail that you needed a break. Then he'd pull you off your rotation to go into whatever town was nearby so you'd properly eat. Often times Mikhail and I would do it anyway but you wouldn't always listen to just us."

Frowning, she tried to recall what he was talking about but couldn't see it. "I didn't work that hard."

"If that was you taking it easy, then I now see why the doctor had confined you to bed rest. If he hadn't, he'd have to commit you to the looney bin and restrain you with shackles."

"Very funny,," Serenity grumbled at him as they stepped inside. "That's just an exaggeration and you know it too."

"Ask Mikhail if you don't believe me. Even Endymion and Lita could tell you the same thing."

"Ask me what?" Endymion asked coming out of the kitchen, he must have been putting the food away himself.

"If Serenity is insane to think her previous schedule was light," Jax clarified for him before Serenity could say a single word.

"For Serenity? She probably thought it was but it would have killed an average person. I agree though that she should probably cut back a little and then she can call it an easy or light schedule," Endymion was pretty diplomatic with his words right there. Serenity rolled her eyes and slid her arm around Jax's and one of Endymion's brows rose in curiosity. He knew she was close with all of her bodyguards and it didn't generally bother him. Perhaps being considered her husband now by anyone who knew them or saw them in a paper, was getting to his head and old-school traits were trying to work their way into his system which previously had very few.

He didn't say anything although they knew he saw the action and all involved acknowledged it. Serenity continued her original path and intention. "The two of you are just two peas in a pod. Who would have thought that Mikhail was the easiest going of the three?" They all laughed at that statement and Serenity slipped away from Jax and slid her arm around Endymion's waist and he slid his arm around her as well. "I'm going to go rest in the sitting room for awhile." Endymion and Jax both turned to look at her closer, surprised by her words. She had seemed fine, better than most of the days since he gotten that email. "What? Oh, I'm just tired from staying out all night with you. We didn't really get much sleep in the interim either." She lifted a blond brow right back at him and he chuckled and didn't try to hold her back as she slipped from his side to go into another room.

Jax chuckled when it was just him and Endymion left in the hall. "You know that she's just going in there because she knows that some of her friends are in there, right?"

"And you were concerned yourself," Endymion teased him right back.

"As soon as I realized she was feeling fine for the most part, I knew exactly what she was intending. Plus," he tapped his ear and Endymion shook his head in amusement, Jax had been informed that there were people waiting in the room for her.

A door opened down the hall and he could hear squeals of excitement.

Jax looked at Endymion in surprise, "Is she sharing another piece of news?"

"She probably is, it's likely to be just Ami and Rae in there. Maybe Lita too." Lita was most likely in there, considering her position as 'friend' in this country but she could fulfill her role as bodyguard too. "Do you have time to play a round of couchette?"

Jax checked his watch and then said something into his microphone and then he looked at Endymion and nodded. "That shouldn't be an issue."

The rest of their wedding weekend was fairly quiet and tame but still a lot of fun. Serenity seemed back to her full steam and she was wandering around the halls of their old homes or zooming off with her friends on the grounds. Endymion spent time with her cousin, his new cousin-in-law and some of his old friends from the time that he lived here. He spent a lot of time with the bodyguards too, even though they were Serena's hired protection, they had become his friends.

Serenity's parents were the most concerned out of everyone, perhaps her mum was worried that she'd still let it out that she was pregnant when she got married but Endymion liked to believe that the woman was truly concerned about Serenity's health.

Her father certainly was and had a hard time backing off from that parent role. The weekend unfortunately wound down to a close and they had to make a decision about what they were going to do next. They'd been in town for practically a month.

Endymion had surprised her parents by setting up shop in their little town and allowing his people to handle most of the situations. He still had to swing into London for a few meetings and Serenity often went with him, but they honored their promise and stayed close to Irene.

Irene had even attended one of Serenity's ultrasounds and checkups. Now, they had another week they were going to stay in town and then they would head back to the United States. Irene wasn't happy about it and while Kenneth didn't say anything, they all knew he was devestated too. Irene was just the dramatically vocal one.

Serenity vowed to let Irene know if something was going wrong with the pregnancy and invited her to stay the last few weeks and the first few after the baby was born. Endymion didn't say anything, knowing how important it was to her to have her mother around at that time and how much help a new family needed once there was a baby to care for. Serenity would still be doing most of the work though, unfortunately. He wished he could take some of that burden from her but he knew he couldn't.

Goodbyes were an event this time around and while they wouldn't be going straight from their families' homes to the US, they wouldn't be seeing them for awhile. They had a week in London in their London apartment, having been thoughoughly disinfected by a selected company that was good at that sort of thing. It was a mini-honeymoon since they pretty much already had one.