The first thing she noticed was the smell. The way the soft scent of clean sheets gave way to the spicier scent of cologne. Gregory trailed his hand lazily down her shoulder, coaxing her out of her dream.

"It's snowing." He whispered close enough to her ear to tickle the sensitive skin.

Sighing as she rolled towards him, Olivia felt him curl into bed next to her.

"Come outside with me." Gregory begged as she slowly let her eyes open. "Remind me what it feels like."

"Cold." Olivia replied curtly as she closed her eyes again. "Snow's cold darling."

He nuzzled her neck on the way up to her chin before he kissed her stubbornly awake. "Please. I'm missing so much-" Gregory watched her smile fade sadly. "I know we used to walk through the snow together."

"At night, when my father was sleeping." Olivia sat up slowly and dredged up her memories of young love. "You loved the way it caught in my hair."

Gregory left the bed for the borrowed dresser and started to pull out some of his clothes. "Did you bring anything for the weather?"

Giggling slightly as she yawned and crawled out of the warmth of the blankets, Olivia nodded as she pulled heavy wollen pants on over her pajamas. "I lived here once. Remember?"

The playful jibe was meant to make him smile but Gregory stopped buttoning his shirt and stared at her with haunted eyes. "Maybe someday."

Olivia reached out across the corner of the bed to take his hand. "I am sorry darling. For everything, I just-"

"You weren't wrong to be angry." He found his comfort in the coolness of her skin. "You're carrying our baby, and all the weight in this marriage I don't even know who I-"

She circled the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "I know who you are." Their silence dance was peace for them both. "Maybe I've been too hard on you."

Gregory chuckled as he buttoned a heavy shirt across his chest. "At least you've been telling the truth. I am the one who didn't see fit to tell you about the holes in my mind."

Olivia's lips pouted sympathetically as she reached around him. The roundness of her belly brushed against him and Gregory found his hands drawn to it. The smile that edged out her concern was far more flattering.

"He's been actively lately, but slightly more considerate of my ribs." Olivia leaned into his hands, feeling the warmth of his touch on the taunt skin of her belly. "Was that your doing?"

"I talked some sense into him." Gregory teased as he pulled her closer.

Tilting her head up to kiss his chin, Olivia closed her eyes and gave in. The midnight stubble tickled her lips. "I knew there was something I liked about you."

Gregory's sincerity melted the chill in her fingers. "I think I love everything about you." His hands chasing up towards her chest made it nearly impossible to concentrate on what he wanted her to do. "Come on. I want you to see the snow."

"I've seen snow before." Olivia tongue darted out across her lips.

"Not this snow." Gregory's eyebrows danced above his smile. "It's new. Just started a few hours ago." His heart soared when she laughed. He could still make her laugh.

"I have a memory of Christmas." He lead her down the narrow back staircase into the kitchen. "Big fat flakes of snow in your hair, trees laden with snow all around us. It was here- I think." His proud smile softened.

"I can't say when it was." Gentle fingers brushed her chin as he paused at the foot of the stairs. "I don't think you were in your current condition."

Olivia's hands circled her belly protectively for a moment before drifting to her back. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't." She clarified, "Only when my back hurts." Inhaling softly, she shared his smile. "I'm fine darling. Tell me what you remember."

"Mostly these." His thumb traced her lips thoughtfully, he suddenly looked away. "You were so beautiful. I couldn't believe you were real. That I could possibly be here, with you."

"You told me," Olivia tied her scarf around her neck. "I didn't believe in magic Liv, not until now. Right now, here." She stopped with her hand on the door knob. "It was the sweetest thing-"

His feet crunched on the walk. "You fell for that?"

Olivia's breath hung in a cloud in front of her as she laughed. "It was the way you said it. Your eyes glittered like a little boy's on Christmas morning. No one had ever looked at me like that. I'd never felt quite-"

His hands slipped around her and stopped them on the crest of a hill. Shivering deliciously, Olivia leaned back into his chest. "Like that." She finished as she closed her eyes. "You can hear the snow."

Gregory followed suit, feeling the rushing of his blood match the hurried snow. Maybe it was wrong to be so close to her. He couldn't think. His body remembered enough to make his mind unimportant. Did it matter what parts made up love as long as it was hot and real in his chest?

The curling edge of her hair snuck out from beneath her hat. He buried his nose in it. Filling his nostrils with the warm smell of her instead of the cold of winter.

"I hear you."

Laughter blended with the hush around them. "You didn't need to drag me out here to hear that. You could have heard me in bed."

He dug his chin into her shoulder. "Maybe I'm hoping I still can."

Olivia patted his hands, drawing them tighter around her. "Oh really?"

He could hear her eyebrows go up. Gregory circled her, wanting to watch the snow fall between them. "I've been a good boy all year."

The way he managed to say it with a straight face set her off. Tears came to her eyes as Olivia struggled to get her breath back. "According to whom?"

He shrugged and caught a fat flake of snow with his tongue. "Just what I remember."

"Oh." Olivia caught his shoulders for balance and pulled up to kiss him. "I think you're wonderful."

Gregory had been prepared for her to tease him but the softness in her eyes stung. "Not nearly enough."

"You're afraid?" His honesty made her breath catch in her throat.

"Every moment." Tilting his head back to the dark sky, Gregory sighed patiently.

Her hands hung at her sides. "Afraid of what? You're never-"

"Maybe I never was." Correcting her felt familiar. He knew the tone in his throat. "Maybe I never had reason to be before, but, God, I am now. I wake up in the morning and wonder if this is it. If I'll never remember the rest of my life." He favored her with a thoughtful smile. "And when you were-"

Olivia opened her mouth, but he hushed her with a shake of his head. Reaching down to bring up a handful of soft snow, Gregory stared down at it against his black gloves. "You spend your whole life accumulating memories. All of them unique and beautiful-" He blew the snow off his hands with a single swift breath. "And then they're just gone."

She kissed the tip of his nose. "I doubt it was a poof like that."

"Kind of felt like it." His hands stayed on her shoulders. The words he couldn't think of would have been strangled in his throat anyway.

"I love you." Olivia had all the answers. Her gloved fingers teased across his early morning stubble. "And that's something special at this time of the morning."

"I'll make you hot chocolate." He pretend for a moment to have forgotten his obligation. His right to announce his own affections. Throwing open his arms to the heavens, he shouted into the night. "I love you!"

Startled, Olivia lost her balance, falling back into the deep drift of snow.

Gregory threw himself down beside her, as giddy as a child. His fingertips caressed her cheek as if it were a fragile icicle. "I love you."

Forgetting the pain in her back and the chill of snow melting down the back of her neck, Olivia's heart warmed her entire body. Gregory pulled himself up to help her to her feet. With her in his arms he was steady, even solid.

Without her he would have run crazily around the house. Danced in the snow, drifted on the wind. The purest feeling of joy for life had been gone so long that it was a revolution. Seriousness, rational thought, control- all of them overthrown in the twinkle of her smiling eyes.

They tumbled laughing back into the house. He knelt to remove her boots and found the hidden beauty of her ankles. Giggling as she fled his grasp, Olivia's trail of winter clothing lead him to the parlor. Beyond the darkness of the kitchen, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

The tree exploded in a thousand tiny pinpricks of light when Olivia flicked the switch to on. Glistening like the trees outside, it showered light down over the pile of wrapped packages. Gregory nudged one with his stockinged foot. "Have you been good this year?"

Sinking into the heavy brocade sofa, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment. "On who's terms? I think you're a little biased."

He watched her hide a yawn behind her hand. Gregory choose the floor at her feet. He rested his chin on her knee and smiled up at her. "Time for me to take you back to bed?"

Olivia dug her fingers into his hair. "Only if you're coming with me."

Jumping to his feet, Gregory reached down to her shoulders. "What are we waiting for?" His face split into a smile as she started to laugh.

"If that's all you wanted, we could have stayed in bed." Olivia let him pull her to her feet.

He wrapped his hands around hers and shared in her innuendo. "I wanted-" Her cheek was incredibly soft. "I needed time with you."

Her forehead narrowed in confusion. "We didn't say anything important."

Gregory stared through her eyes, cutting down to her soul. "We didn't need too." His fingertips raced down her back. "You feel it, don't you?"

"Yes." Her whisper seemed to come out of his dreams and he let her lead the way back to bed.