"Mama," the little girl cried.

Nancy, sticky with exhaustion and sweat, took a seat next to the boarding gate at the Madrid airport. The girl was wearing a red sweater embroidered with smiling gold bells. Passengers waiting for later flights were rushing by with bags full of brightly-wrapped presents.

Nancy plugged her earphones into her ears and let it all wash past her. A heavily pregnant woman took a seat across from Nancy and gave her a tired smile, her palm resting over her rounded stomach.

Nancy smiled back and let her own palm rest on her belly.

The flight seemed to last forever. Nancy rolled her head to the side and stared out the window on the opposite side of the plane. Her ears ached from the airplane headphones. With a sigh she swept them off to rest around her neck. The same little girl was coming down the aisle, her hand secure in her mother's.

Nancy smiled at them both.

Ned would be waiting.

"Four more hours," the pilot announced, and Nancy rolled her eyes. Four hours and customs and the baggage return and then, and then she would be in his arms for the first time in months. Nancy pulled the fleece lap blanket up over her abdomen and nestled against her tiny pillow.

--

"Nancy!"

Once she saw his eyes, she could see nothing else. She climbed off the escalator and was immediately swept up into his arms. "Ned," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight.

"Hey babe," he said, his eyes gleaming.

"Hey," she replied, closing her eyes as he leaned in close to her. He kissed her softly and she melted against him.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great," she said. "Now."

Once they pulled up at her house, Ned just sat and stared at her. She saw his expression, flashed him a grin, and reached over to give him a kiss.

"What is it?"

"You," he said, touching her cheek. "Just you."

"Is everything...?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Everything's fine," he said. "We're set up for the beginning of next week. You just need to sign something, and show up. And, that's about it, really." He smiled.

"I'm proud of you," she said, kissing his cheek. "I thought people with Y chromosomes were incapable of planning."

Ned chuckled. "What can I say. Hannah helped a lot."

Hannah was waiting inside. She answered the door and grabbed Nancy for a hard hug. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Nancy laughed. She put her bags down as Hannah pulled her inside.

"Come on in," Hannah called to Ned.

"No, really, I have to get home," he called back, apologetic. "Tomorrow?"

Nancy glanced back over her shoulder. At the expression on his face, she had to fight the urge to run back out to him. "Tomorrow," she told him. "I'll call you."

After she hugged Iris and her father, Nancy was rushed up to Hannah's old sewing room. "We only have a week," Hannah exasperated, bustling up the stairs.

"But we can do it, Hannah," Nancy said, holding onto the rail with a death grip. "I have faith in you."

The dress was almost finished. Ivory silk. Scoop neck and cap sleeves, empress waist with a champagne-pink sash, slightly flared ankle-length skirt ending in a short train.

"It's beautiful, Hannah," Nancy breathed.

Hannah blushed pink but gestured impatiently for Nancy to undress. Nancy hesitated for a second before she slipped out of her sweater and loose cotton pants. The round of her belly was pronounced now. She caught Hannah's gaze on her, and blushed herself. But then, Hannah had known since a month ago, when she had flown over and taken Nancy's measurements for the dress.

Nancy stepped into the gown carefully and then up onto the stool so Hannah could circle her, gaze intent, mouthful of pins. The edge of the hem was just above her toes. Hannah took a roll of lace and folded the skirt up an inch, held the lace up to it.

"I thought you were just going to leave the hem alone," Nancy asked.

The two of them heard a knock at the door, and Iris poked her head inside. "Oh, Nancy, it looks beautiful," Iris said. She stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind her. "I know your grandmother is bringing a veil for you, I was wondering if maybe I could put some lace on the hem. Just to, you know." Iris shrugged.

Nancy smiled. "That's a great idea," she assured her stepmother.

"How high are your heels going to be?" Hannah asked.

"Not that high," Nancy laughed. "I'll go tomorrow and find some, I promise."

Hannah nodded, distracted. "All right, all right. Go ahead and take it off, I don't have to make that many changes."

Without thinking Nancy slipped the dress down her arms and into Hannah's, leaving her in her underwear.

Iris's shocked gaze went from Nancy's swelled belly to her face.

Nancy sighed. "Give me a minute," she said, putting her shirt back on.

--

She was the only one drinking decaf coffee, after dinner. She did everything she could think of. Loaded it with artificial sweetener, creamer, blew on it to cool it, stirred it until her wrist ached and her heart rate had climbed another ten beats per minute.

"Ned and I are going to have a baby," she said, still staring at her coffee cup.

She had pulled on a baggy sweater, but she was sure it showed in the curve of her face. She heard her father draw in a breath, and lifted her eyes to meet his.

"You're sure?"

Nancy nodded. "Four months," she said quietly.

Carson nodded. "Okay," he said.

"We're keeping it," she said. "We didn't mean for this to happen."

"Is this what you want?" Carson asked steadily.

Nancy sighed, then smiled to herself. "Yeah," she said. "This is what I want."

"As long as you're happy," Carson said.

"We are," Nancy said.

--

"How did it go?" Ned asked.

Nancy took a long pull off her milkshake before answering. "As well as I thought," she said. "Dad didn't freak or have a heart attack."

"Yeah, my parents..." Ned shrugged. "They didn't throw me out of the house."

"You think they're gonna be happy for us?"

"Once the scariness wears off, maybe," Ned said, putting his arm over her shoulders. "When's your curfew?"

Nancy laughed up at him. "I don't want to go home yet," she said.

"I don't want to go home either," Ned said. "Do you want to go see the house?"

"House?"

Ned nodded. "The house where we're going to live on the weekends," he said, and dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. "Our first place."

"Okay," Nancy agreed, softly.

It was low brick, with soft overgrown bushes and a stone walk up to the wrought-iron rail and porch. Ned unlocked the door and flipped on the lights, and Nancy stepped inside, her hands shoved deep in her pockets.

The house smelled as though it had been shut up for a while. Ned linked his arm through hers. "Living room," he announced.

The living room was just a square of beige carpet, ending in a fireplace. Nancy smiled. "Right," she said.

Kitchen and dining room, laundry room, bath and bedroom. Upstairs was the master bedroom with the master bath, another guest bedroom. All unfurnished.

"I know it's small," he said apologetically. "But it's close to campus. And it's only on the weekends."

"It's perfect," she told him.

"I mean, we already have that other house--"

"I already said it's perfect," she told him, reaching up to give him a kiss. "So we need to find some furniture and get everything ready and then in January..."

"In January it'll be ours," he said. He leaned down and kissed her.

--

They were all standing in the church. Hannah had narrowed down the decorations to either lilies or roses. Iris had suggestions for candelabras and altar decorations and had already picked out the invitations and the programs. Bess and George were coming over later for their own final fittings. Nancy stood in the center of the aisle, her thumbnail in her mouth, listening to the bustle of voices around her.

The front door of the church opened and her father and fiancé walked in. Ned had his hands in his pockets and looked distracted. Her father gave her a smile and an arm over her shoulders. "How's it going here?"

"Good," Nancy said, glancing from her father to her fiancé. "I think we're about finished here. If you both agree that white roses are the way to go."

Carson nodded. Nancy had to call Ned's name twice before he looked up and met her eyes. Concerned, Nancy walked over and linked her arm through his.

"What's wrong?"

Ned shook his head quickly. "Nothing," he murmured. "I'm fine. White roses."

Nancy nodded. "White roses. When are we meeting your parents for dinner?"

"Six," Ned replied.

Nancy studied his face. "You look like your best friend just died."

Despite himself, he cracked the hint of a smile. "I'm fine. Dad and Mom are pretty much decided on where they want the reception to be. And I..." He shook his head.

Nancy leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Let's go out after dinner."

He finally looked at her, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. He studied her eyes for a long moment, then leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. "Sure," he whispered against her lips.

Bess was trying on her dress when Nancy went upstairs. Hannah was pinning up the hem on her deep red satin dress. "Looks great," Nancy told her.

Bess smiled. "Thanks," she said. "Good choice, this color looks fantastic on me."

Nancy smiled. "Come see me when you're finished," she said. "I'm going to go lay down for a while."

George was the one who knocked hesitantly on Nancy's bedroom door and poked her head inside. Nancy smiled and propped herself up on the pillows.

"You doing okay?"

"I'm doing fine," Nancy said. "I think it's just all the planning. I have an entire morning to pick out furniture for the house we're going to have at Wilder, and that's it. Everything else is already earmarked for wedding things."

"As long as you left time for your bachelorette party."

Nancy laughed. "It'll have to be pretty tame."

"Not necessarily," George laughed.

Bess peeked in. "Hannah's ready for you," she told George. "How does it look?"

Nancy and George looked at Hannah's nearly finished product. "Looks great," Nancy said. "I almost wish I was wearing that instead."

"My turn," George said, and once she walked out Bess went over to the bed and perched at Nancy's feet.

"You guys are actually planning on giving me a bachelorette party, even with...?" Nancy gestured to her rounding belly.

"Just because you got knocked up doesn't mean you can't have a little bit of fun," Bess told her. "Granted, sober, smoke-free fun that probably doesn't involve waking up in some guy's limo."

"You just want me there because I'm the guaranteed DD," Nancy accused, smiling.

--

Ned's parents.

Nancy was dreading seeing them. She had chosen a black cashmere sweater, black pants with a thin pinstripe, low sensible heels, Ned's ring on her finger. She nervously twisted it, staring down.

"Nan, it's fine."

Nancy took a long breath and sighed it out. She dusted her palms over her thighs. "Yeah." Then she glanced over at him. "How did you say they took the news?"

Ned reached over and took her into his arms, and she closed her eyes. "Calm down," he said. "They aren't mad at you. They aren't mad at either of us."

"Still," Nancy whispered, into his shoulder. "I love you."

Ned reached out and opened the door. "They do too."

The only hint they gave that they knew, was in the eyes. Their conversation was the same. The same smiles. They chatted about the wedding but not the reason for its hastened occurrence.

"Spain was nice?"

"Spain was great," Nancy said, passing the bowl of mashed potatoes to her fiancé. "Did Ned tell you about our trip up to Scotland?"

"How could I not tell my parents about your charming grandmother," Ned protested, smiling.

"And the veil," Edith said, without a trace of sarcasm or irony in her voice. "It sounds lovely."

After dinner and dessert and decaffeinated coffee, the only reference to Nancy's condition, Nancy and Ned begged off, saying they desperately needed some time off from wedding plans.

Nancy blushed when the porch light went off behind them. "So they're not waiting up, then," Nancy murmured under her breath.

"I'm a big boy," Ned said, puffing his chest with false pride, and Nancy had to laugh. "Where did you want to go?"

"Hannah's been staying at my parents'," Nancy replied. "All her sewing things are there, and she's been working on the dresses... So our house is free. Well, the house that will be ours in a week."

"So, let's do that," Ned said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Rent a movie, make out..."

Nancy lightly smacked his arm. "Right. Drugrunners and terrorists, here we come."

She let him pick the movie, and it did feature explosions and a predictable plot. Before he cued it up, Nancy went into the kitchen and dug an oversized bowl out of the cabinets, then microwaved some popcorn.

Ned walked up behind her and looped his arms around her waist. "You okay?"

"Are you?" she asked, turning to see his face. She rested her palm against his cheek.

He closed his eyes. "Yeah," he murmured. "I'm all right. Now."

"Was it something my dad said?"

His eyes still closed, Ned leaned forward, until his forehead was resting against her temple. "What makes you say that," he whispered, his breath warm against her skin.

Nancy drew in a slow breath. "You seemed distracted when you were at the church earlier."

Ned's face tightened for a moment, but then he opened his eyes and smiled at her. He drew his fingertips down her cheek. "Your father is very, very protective," Ned said. "And he wants to make sure that his little girl is going to be taken care of."

Nancy paled. "What...?"

Ned tilted his head and kissed her softly. "He loves you," Ned whispered. "I love you too."

Nancy couldn't keep her mind on the movie. She slumped against the arm of the couch, Ned's head in her lap, dipping into the popcorn bowl occasionally. When the credits were rolling, Nancy smoothed Ned's hair back from his temple, then planted a kiss there. He turned lazily, until he was looking up into her face, and smiled. Then he slipped his palm under the hem of her sweater, pushed it up gently, and planted a kiss just above her belly button.

"Little one's been moving today," Nancy told him, her eyes sparkling.

Ned's eyes went round with wonder. "Now?"

Nancy shook her head. "Maybe if you play nice..."

They went to bed on crisp clean sheets in their blue bedroom, with nervous fingertips clasped over her belly. Despite her nightshirt, Ned's fingers were curved beneath, over her bare skin. She could feel his heart beating against her back.

"Do you love me?"

Ned shifted and Nancy fell onto her back, looking up at him. "Of course I do," he said.

"It's not 'of course,'" she said, then looked away. "I can just see my dad telling you he'll kill you if we don't go through with this."

"I can neither confirm nor deny..." Ned began, then smiled. "All I want is to make you happy. I want you to have this baby and then the three of us will live together..."

"And then what?" Nancy's fingers moved in a restless curve over the sheet. "I'll still have another year of school."

Ned nodded. "Maybe we should ask Hannah to move in with us," he said. "Be our housekeeper. Take care of the little one."

"So it's that simple?"

Ned kissed her again. "What makes you think it isn't?"

Nancy shrugged, then laughed despite herself. "Maybe after next week I won't feel like everyone's staring at me. Like everyone knows and they're all..."

"What they will know is that we love each other," Ned said. "That we have a life, and a child, together, and that's all that matters."

Nancy picked up Ned's hand and led it to her stomach. "Feel that," she said. "Right there."

"Nancy," Ned breathed, as their child moved between them for the first time.

--

Two nights before their wedding, Ned stopped by Nancy's before his friends took him out for his bachelor party.

"You behave yourself," she said to him. Black silk shirt. She reached up and slipped her fingertips down the collar. His cheek gleamed smooth. His hair shone. New gold watch around his left wrist. She wanted very badly to break the vow they had made to each other, the vow to resist going to bed with him again until they were married.

"Only if you do," he returned. Nancy was wearing a soft rose-pink shirt, black miniskirt and opaque tights, ankle boots. Her generous cleavage was covered in a web of silver chains. Her hair fell in wavy red-gold curls down the back of her neck.

"Yeah, but you can drink," she said. "I can't."

"And I won't," he said. He folded his hands around hers. "I promise."

Her lip curved up in a half-smile. "Have one," she said. "I don't want you complaining about how controlling I am before we're even married."

"One," he replied. "One beer. But that's it."

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, and he leaned into it, his fingertips curving against the back of her neck.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

At least twenty girls were already at the restaurant when Nancy arrived, already in various stages of intoxication. Bess was in an electric blue minidress which matched her eyes. George was ravishing in a plunging black number. Most of the girls didn't know about Nancy's condition, so she sipped ginger ale and water, ordered virgin strawberry daiquiris.

Ned was probably on the other side of Chicago, in a strip club.

The club was smoky and dense with people, most of them dressed in red and green. One particularly drunk guy was slumped in the corner, wearing a santa hat. Nancy felt in her pocket for her phone.

Miss u, Ned had texted her.

Nancy's heart lifted. She took a long sip of her drink and propped her chin on her folded hands.

"Nancy, you'd better get out here and shake it," Bess called, glowing, beaming.

Nancy did all the stupid things on the bachelorette party list, cajoled by the slurred urgings of the other girls. The guys she approached for drinks all snapped their fingers and expressed their dismay that she was taken, and every one of them bought her a drink, which she dutifully passed on to other girls. She bit a button off a guy's shirt, talked three guys into giving up their phone numbers, collected five business cards and a glow-in-the-dark condom before the girls were drunk enough to leave her alone. When she was texting Ned a reply, during a break from the dancing, the baby kicked again.

With every guy she danced with, Nancy felt each day since that last night she had shared with Ned in Scotland all the more acutely.

--

The rehearsal dinner was long. Nancy gave her attendants gold necklaces with delicate star charms. They had champagne toasts and Nancy kept glancing over at her father, who was chatting and laughing with Ned's parents.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Ned took her chin in his hand. "How late I came home this morning."

"How late were you out?" Nancy smiled.

"Well, the bar closed at two and we were still going strong," Ned admitted. "You?"

"I think we hit a pancake house at five a.m., but I could be wrong," she replied. "After my fifth ginger ale, everything is a blur."

"Tell me about it," Ned said with mock gravity. He leaned close to her, put his mouth next to her ear. "I've missed you."

"We promised," Nancy said, but her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parted softly. "We just have to wait one more night."

"Hardly seems worth it, it's not like I don't know how it would feel..." He pressed his lips to her collarbone, then pulled back. Nancy was flushed, the color high in her cheeks, her breath audible.

"You have to stop that," Nancy murmured, just loud enough for him to hear, and then her sapphire blue eyes opened, and then Ned lost his own breath, the expression on her face, the glowing beauty in the curve of her cheek. "You have no idea how much I just want to go away with you right now."

Ned shook his head. "I think I do," he said. He traced the backs of his fingers over her cheek.

--

The next morning she woke, alone for the last time, in the same bedroom she had occupied since childhood. She wasn't even fully unpacked from Spain. Another thirty minutes before her alarm, but her pulse was already high with nervousness, at the thought of the ceremony. Hannah had pressed the gowns one last time; they were standing in the sewing room. Nancy dragged a quilt off her bed, wrapped it around her, and walked down the hall.

Her dress was beautiful. Straight finished seams and yards of tulle. She traced her fingertip down the curve of the neckline. Satin sandals. Bess and George would be coming over for their dresses, flame-red, full flowing skirts.

Twenty-four hours from now, he will be mine.

Nancy's left fist closed the ring tight to her finger.

She had never seen so much of Ned's parents in so short a time. They met for breakfast, both their sets of parents, the attendants, the family members who had come from out of town, even Nancy's grandmother. The veil fit the dress perfectly. Nancy forced down a slice of toast and a scrambled egg, her uneasy stomach due to nervousness, not their child.

"Excited?"

Nancy had grown tired of hearing that question, but she smiled dutifully and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin. "Sure am," she said. "Are you?"

"I love a good wedding," Ned's aunt said, and beamed. "You two make such a beautiful couple, too."

Nancy smiled. "Thanks." She looked over at her fiancé, who smiled at her.

--

Ned had his head down.

He was standing at the front of the quietly buzzing church, at the white-swathed altar, in a shaft of dying winter sunlight, his brown hair gleaming gold, his dark eyelashes thick on his cheek. He wore a red vest under his black tuxedo jacket, a white rose at his breast.

Nancy gathered the thick folds of her skirt between her fingers and shook it softly, silently, peering into the church. Bess waited until George had taken two steps, in time with the swelling organ music, then started behind her, a silver chain gleaming around her right ankle, her lips flame-red and curved up in a smile, her creamy shoulders smooth under her flawless hair.

Nancy took a deep breath.

"Everything's going to be fine," Carson said, offering his daughter his arm.

Nancy pressed her pink lips together, then met her father's eyes. "Daddy, are you still proud of me? Even after...?"

Carson smiled. "You know I am," he said. "Ned's a good man. I wouldn't let you do this if I didn't think that."

Nancy finally allowed herself a small smile. "Okay."

"This is what you want?"

Nancy pressed the door open the slightest inch with her trembling fingertips, and the shock of Ned's gaze meeting hers was electric. She drew in a long breath, then nodded. "This is what I want."

Ned took her hand when she finally reached the altar. His fingers twined around hers. "Who gives this woman?" the pastor asked.

"I do," Carson replied.

"We are gathered here, in the sight of God and these witnesses, to celebrate the union of this man and this woman," the pastor began, and Nancy was acutely aware of her breath and her pulse and Ned breathing next to her. The slight sweat where their skin joined.

"Do you promise to love this woman, to honor and cherish her, through good times and bad, sickness and health, riches and poverty, happiness and sadness, until death shall you part?"

"I do," Ned said, and Nancy released a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding.

"Do you promise to love this man, to honor and cherish him, through good times and bad, sickness and health, riches and poverty, happiness and sadness, until death shall you part?"

"I do," Nancy said, her lips trembling, and she released an involuntary giggle at the end. "I do."

Mike and Bess handed over their rings. "With this ring, I thee wed," Ned repeated after the pastor, sliding the ring he had worn next to his skin for those months onto her finger, his gaze flicking up to hers at the end, and the tears Nancy had sworn she wouldn't shed rose at the expression in his eyes.

"With this ring," Nancy began, sliding the ring over his knuckle, and the first tear streaked down her cheek. "With this ring, I thee wed," she finished, and he took her hand, held it firmly.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the pastor said, and smiled. "You may kiss the bride."

Nancy's veil was already pushed back, over her red-gold hair. Ned put his arm around her waist, pulled her to him, kissed her gently. She could feel the smile on his lips. When he released her, she laughed, gazing up into his eyes.

"We did it," Ned whispered to her.

The recessional began and she floated on his arm through the sea of beaming faces, to the doors of the church. Once they stepped out they were in an extended wash of flash bulbs, shouting reporters. Ned made no comment but to smile.

The reception was packed with people. The ceremony had been quiet, but here was a good deal of Ned's frat house, the Emerson sports teams, his fellow professional football players, his entire family, Nancy's entire family, Nancy's friends from Wilder, their high school graduating classes. And, Nancy was surprised to see, some of the powerful people her father knew. Judges, fellow attorneys, politicians.

After they cut the first slice of cake and fed it to each other, Ned kissing the bit of icing off her cheek, Nancy had a champagne cocktail and then switched to sparkling white grape juice. Ned's parents had rented an enormous banquet hall. White-suited attendants were carving meat, serving punch, restocking trays. After the full meal, of which she managed to eat but little, she and Ned went to the floor for their first dance.

"You look beautiful," he breathed, gazing down into her glowing face, his arms around her waist, her arms up over his shoulders.

Nancy laughed. "You don't look half bad yourself, Nickerson."

"I was worried about whether the black satin lapels were the way to go," he said, smiling. Then he leaned down and kissed her, long and lingering. "I can't believe we're actually married."

"I can't believe how many people are here," Nancy said, looking around. "Did we invite all of Chicago, or did they just hear about the open bar?"

"Both."

The sun was well below the horizon when Nancy set out looking for Bess and George, who were unmistakable in their dresses. The bouquet had been thrown and the garter tossed. At her request Bess went to the car and retrieved Nancy's bag, and then the cousins followed her to a back room, so she could change.

"So you're ready to go?"

Nancy nodded, unbuckling one of her satin shoes. "Ned won't tell me where we're going."

"You haven't packed for the honeymoon yet?" Bess asked.

"We're not leaving until after Christmas," Nancy replied. "The day after. So if you guys want to hang out..."

George laughed. "I think we'll wait until you get back from wherever you go, if you don't mind."

"It's up to you." Nancy stood. She was wearing an ice-blue camisole and matching cardigan, a long charcoal-grey skirt, and thick-soled boots. "How do I look?"

"Great," Bess said, and George nodded in agreement. The two of them hugged her. "Now go knock his socks off."

A silver limousine took them toward Chicago. Ned was in black, and looked devastatingly handsome. As soon as they were alone Ned took her face in his hands and kissed her, slow and soft. When they pulled apart, Nancy's eyes fluttered open, and she stared into his face.

"I love you," she told him.

"Love you too," he whispered, then kissed her again.

The hotel was gorgeous, all gilt and polished wood and parquet floors. They bypassed the front desk and made out in the gleaming brass elevator. After they found their room, they waited for a tour group of giggling schoolchildren to leave, and then Ned lifted her into his arms.

"Is this it?" Nancy asked softly, looping her arm around his neck.

"This is it," he nodded, and pushed their door open. "It has been so very long."

A carpet of red rose petals led to the bed, to the candlelit wood and brass. He put her down there and kissed her again, and she pulled him down to her, feeling her heart beating overfast in her chest. His fingertips slid down her fresh-scrubbed cheek.

Nancy gasped in a breath when he pulled back. "Let me get out of this," she breathed.

Ned kicked his shoes off. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

Nancy's bag was already in the room. She had packed a red slip and she put that on, making a face as her hair refused to obey her command to stay down. The baby moved and Nancy put her palm on her stomach, resting until they were both relaxed. The doctor she and Ned had visited earlier in the week had shown them how small the child was, the minute limbs fluttering beneath her skin. Despite her denial, the baby showed every sign of being healthy.

Nancy cupped her hands just beneath her abdomen, cradling it, and dropped her chin to her breastbone. "I know you need your exercise," she said softly, smiling, "but I do too, so please, just for tonight, go to sleep, because I think I'll cry if you're awake while we're having sex."

Nancy opened the door and switched out the light. Ned had lit the candles standing around the room, and was standing at the bedside, dressed only in black boxers. He looked up. Nancy's eyes traced the lines of his muscles, more defined than ever, up to his square firm jaw, the warm honeyed flesh, the golden ring on his left hand. His dark brown eyes, waiting to meet hers.

She slid forward on bare soles over the plush carpet, merlot silk over the curve of her upper thighs, perfect rounded toenails polished gleaming silver. She pushed an errant strand of hair behind her left ear and watched the candlelight flicker over his skin, her engagement ring glowing next to her french-tipped manicure.

Afterward she ran her hand through her tangled hair. "Come here," she whispered to him, and he dragged the covers up with him as he rolled back to her and wrapped her in his arms. She nestled her face against his chest, and they were quiet, rising and falling with the expand of breath. He closed his eyes, his heart slowing, comforted by the feel of her naked and slow against him. The thick gold band on his finger and his child, their unborn child, between them.

"Hey," he whispered, pressing his lips against the crown of her head. "You okay?"

She nodded, her eyelashes fluttering against his chest. Then he felt her smile. "Way, way better than okay."

He slipped his palm up against her cheek, tilted her face back, and she met his eyes in the flickering darkness. He kissed her slowly. When he pulled back Nancy reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "I love you," she told him, searching his eyes. Then she leaned forward and pressed her mouth against his ear, and he closed his eyes and shivered at the feel of her breath. "I missed you so much."

"I love you," he murmured against her skin.