Briseis woke to a blinding light in her eyes coming from a porthole in the side of the ship. She rolled over to face Achilles, only to find that he wasn't there. Alarmed, she sat straight up in their bed. A gentle face greeted her from the corner.

"Did I wake you?" Achilles asked softly.

"No, the light from outside did. Why are you all the way over there?" she asked in reply as she smiled at him.

"I was watching you sleep," he said as he got up to cross the room.

"Oh, I didn't think it was that interesting watching me sleep," she replied laughing.

"But it is though," he said as he reached the bed and kissed her gently.

"How long is it until we reach your home?" she asked.

"Phtia is only six more days sail away. Are you anxious to get there?" he asked smiling at her.

"Well, it is going to be my new home. I'm anxious to be home," she said, pulling him closer to her for another kiss.

Briseis was looking forward to a new home. Though, she did feel a wrench in her heart for her beloved Troy, those feelings quickly dissolved as she realized that her new life would be better than the old one in so many ways. First of all and most importantly, she had Achilles, the man she loved with all of her heart. Secondly, no one treated her second hand as they did in Troy. Thirdly, her new life offered possibilities that her old one denied her such as love and a chance for a family of her own. Achilles was the man she chose to love.

The next six days past by quickly as Briseis was kept busy by Achilles and his constant stream of kisses and more. Each day she wanted him more and more. She could hardly believe that she was once a virginal priestess for the god Apollo by the way she was acting. However, she realized that she was a new woman. Once they arrived in Phtia, Achilles wasted no time in making Briseis his wife. A few days after the wedding, he took her to meet his mother, Thetis.

"Mother," he said, "I would like you to meet my wife, Briseis. Briseis, this is my mother Thetis."

"I'm delighted to finally meet you. Achilles talks of you so often and with so much affection," Briseis said.

"So you are the woman who finally won over my son?" Thetis replied laughing as she pulled her new daughter-in-law close and embraced her.

Achilles was pleased that his wife and mother were getting along wonderfully. In the back of his mind he had no doubts his mother would love Briseis, but he just wanted to be sure.

"So, tell me my dear, where are you from?" Thetis asked.

"Troy," Briseis replied.

Thetis simply smiled and said to her son, "I knew it would be a good thing for you to go to Troy."

"Yes," Achilles said as he looked at his wife, "it was a good thing."

"Achilles saved me from being harmed by some of the Greeks," Briseis said as she lovingly rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I didn't want you to be harmed by those men. They were vile and despicable men who were only looking to please themselves," replied Achilles.

Briseis raised up from his shoulder and gently slapped his arm and asked in retort to his comment, "And you weren't?"

Achilles laughed for a moment before replying, "No, I was concerned for you. I thought you had courage and strength. That is what attracted me to you in the first place when I met you in the temple. You were so set in your mind on your principles. What happened after I rescued you was coincidence."

"I'm sure it was," Briseis said laughing along with him.

Thetis noticed the seashell necklace around Briseis's neck. She reached out and touched it with great tenderness.

"Isn't this the necklace I made for Patroclus?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. I though that she should have it because it meant so much to me after Patroclus died and she meant the world to me as well. I gave it to her when I thought she was going back to Troy for good," Achilles replied to his mother.

"Ah, you must really be special for him to part with something so precious as this. Patroclus was practically his younger brother. I raised them as brothers after Patroclus's parents died when he was a boy," Thetis said to Briseis.

"It means so much to me as well because it has such sentimental value to Achilles," Briseis said as she touched the necklace around her neck.

The three of them smiled at the memory of the fallen Patroclus. After which, Achilles decided that it was time for he and Briseis to leave for their home. Thetis said goodbye to her son and new daughter-in-law, but not before saying something.

"I'd take it easy if I were you, Briseis. I wouldn't want any harm coming to a grandchild of mine," Thetis said smiling as she went back into her own home.

Achilles and Briseis looked at one another with confusion.

Later that night, in their room Achilles was lying back on his pillow as Briseis propped herself onto his chest. Gently, he ran his fingers through her thick, brown curls. She loved moments like this, when it was just the two of them together in the privacy of their own room. Lovingly, he pulled her up to his face to kiss her lips. A few moments later, she pulled away with a look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong?" Achilles asked.

"Nothing, just something your mother said earlier," Briseis replied.

"What concerns you?" he asked.

"She said, 'I'd take it easy if I were you. I wouldn't want any harm coming to a grandchild of mine.' How would she know if I were with child before I did?" she asked in reply.

"My mother knows everything. Even if it is so, things will be fine," Achilles said reassuringly.

"You wouldn't mind having a child this early into our marriage?" Briseis asked cautiously.

"Of course I wouldn't. You having our child would be a gift. Nothing would ever make me not want to have a child with you, whether it was early in our marriage or not. Don't fret about it, things will turn out exactly the way that they are supposed to," he replied.

"I love it when you do that," she said.

"Do what?" Achilles asked.

"Make me feel better about anything in the world. The worst things are nothing when you comfort me," she answered.

"Now, where were we?" he asked shamelessly as he pulled her close for another kiss.

"I'd say about right here," she replied as she kissed his lips.

Briseis felt at ease now with her new life. Adjusting to being a wife was easy for her as Achilles showered her with love unconditionally. Life, it seemed, had a way of regenerating after so much tragedy. Though she and Achilles had both lost a cousin, they had gained each other. Still, the thought of being with child and not knowing it plagued her mind. For now, she stuffed it into her heart and spent the night in the arms of the man she loved.

A/N: Here is another chapter. I hope that you like it. For now, I will be finishing some other stories before I come back to this one. So, be patient with me and don't throw rocks. :) I appreciate reviews greatly!