Waking up in a bed that was not her own was a strange experience for Mina. The feeling that she was not alone was also strange. Mina lay very still, staring at the celling in silence. As happy as she was that things had taken a better turn, now she was stuck in the awkward moment when she wasn't sure what was going to happen. She felt movement on the bed next to her and quickly shut her eyes. Hoping to avoid the awkward conversation, she pretended to be asleep.

Luckily for Mina, her husband hadn't noticed she was awake. He left the bed to get ready for the day, leaving her to her supposed slumber. Mina's eyes flew open again and she returned to staring at the ceiling. She was suddenly aware of the fact that she had left her pack near the front door. She sat up and wrapped the spare blanket around herself, sliding out the bed and padding over to the door. Sure that her husband was in the bathroom, Mina opened the door and slipped out of the room. As she crept quietly away from the door, she kept her eyes focused on her pack on the floor. Not looking around the room, she crossed the space quickly.

"Nice outfit," a voice said from the kitchen.

Mina let out a shriek and nearly dropped the blanket she had wrapped around her. She spun in the direction of the voice and saw her husband looking at her with an amused expression. Mina clambered to make sure she was truly covered. Kolya chuckled at her efforts.

"I'm afraid it's a little too late for modesty."

Mina glowered at him as she snatched her pack from the floor and quickly retreated to the bathroom. Slamming the door shut behind her, she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. Apparently he didn't feel any awkwardness, which made it even worse. She was alone in this. She got ready for the day slowly, prolonging the inevitable. She emerged from the bathroom, dropping her pack and the blanket in a heap between the bedroom doors. She would deal with them later. Peering around the corner, she couldn't see her husband in the kitchen anymore. Feeling that she was safe to come out, Mina walked into the kitchen to get herself some breakfast.

"Morning."

Mina shrieked again and prepared to throw the spoon in her hand at the owner of the voice, Kolya chuckled at her reaction and moved forward to take the spoon from her.

"Again with threatening me with a spoon. I'm going to hide them if you keep doing that."

Mina held the spoon out of her husband's reach and returned to making herself some breakfast.

"You think you're funny, but you shouldn't sneak up on someone in a room with knives. You might get hurt."

Kolya moved to stand behind Mina, wrapping his arms around her, stopping her movements.

"Considering you keep attacking me with spoons rather than knives, I think I'm safe."

Mina felt her cheeks flush at his sudden closeness, but most of her initial embarrassment had disappeared. She turned around in his arms and held up the utensil in question.

"So far you have been lucky."

Kolya smiled down at her and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on her lips. Mina forgot about the spoon and wrapped her arms around his midsection, returning his kiss. He pulled away and placed another kiss on her forehead.

"Good morning," he said again.

"Good morning Acastus. Now if you are done sneaking up on me, I would like to eat my breakfast in peace."

Kolya took a step back, releasing Mina from the close embrace. He left Mina to her breakfast, returning to the bedroom to finish getting ready. When he returned, Mina was finished with her food and was nearly ready herself. The two of them gathered their things and left home together. Reaching the compound, they both turned to go their separate ways, but Mina stopped Kolya by grabbing his hand. He turned to look at her and she stepped closer, going on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek. She then released his hand and continued on her way to the infirmary.

When she arrived at the infirmary, Mina almost had a skip in her step. She walked over to her desk, calling out a cheerful greeting to Corric. He raised an eyebrow at her happy entrance, having gotten used to her usual quiet demeanor.

"What's gotten into you this morning?" he asked.

Mina simply smiled at him and shrugged.

"It's just a good day, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Corric replied.

Mina ignored his response and started looking over the things he had placed on her desk. He always had work for her to do. Like he had told her, Corric planned to make full use of her organizational skills. His records were a mess, and Mina had been reorganizing them bit by bit. She knew the medical history of many people within the Genii that she had never met. As she worked through the never ending pile on her desk, Mina came across three files that she felt needed to be brought to Corric's attention.

"Corric? Are you aware that there are three women that are all expecting babies relatively soon?"

Corric emerged from his office and walked over to her desk. He took the files from her and glanced over them. Mina watched his face scrunch up in confusion.

"No I did not know that. I mean, I know all of these women and know what their health has been like, but I never made the connection that they would all be due around the same time. That could very easily become a problem."

Mina wasn't sure why he was so concerned.

"How so?"

Corric gestured at the empty infirmary. The only other staff members he had were off working other places. The position he had originally planned to give Mina had been reassigned when he realized her organizational skills. He promised it was temporary, but so far, she had spent most of her time at this desk. Most of the time, it was only the two of them to care for any patients that came in.

"I am one person. If all three of these women were to go into labor around the same time, that could spell disaster. I don't suppose you have any training in child birth?"

Mina shook her head.

"Sorry Corric. My only experience was the birth of my sister, and I was 11 when that happened."

Corric returned the files to Mina and walked over to a bookshelf against the wall. He pulled a rather thick book off the shelf and carried it back to Mina's desk, handing it to her.

"It's not the same as hand's on training, but it will have to do in a pinch. I want you to study this very thoroughly. I need you to be prepared to help me if the situation arises."

Mina thumbed through the book, her eyes widening at the large amount of information she could need to learn in a short time.

"I'll do my best."

Corric gave her a grateful look before returning to his office. Mina placed the book on the corner of her desk. She would have to tackle that project later. She still had a lot of work to do when it came to organizing Corric's records. It was probably best she got that done as soon as possible in case any more serious things popped up that he wasn't aware of.

Once the day had blurred past her, Mina was ready to go home. She had worked extra hard to make sure she could get as much done as possible. Several paper cuts and some sore eyes later, Corric sent her home. She grabbed her book from her desk and started her trek home. She was glad that the house was empty when she reached it. She needed some alone time to get started on her heavy reading load.

Walking over to one of the chairs in her living room, Mina sunk down into it. Her eyes skimmed over the sight of her pack sitting on the floor where she had left it there that morning. Her mind was pulled away from the task of reading to think about what she was supposed to do with her clothes. Was she supposed to put them back in her old dresser? Was she supposed to move into her husband's room? It hadn't been discussed. Nothing had been. Things had just escalated and no serious discussion had taken place. Mina decided that she would put that problem off for later and delved into the large volume on her lap.

When Kolya returned later in the evening, he found her still in the chair, deeply engrossed in her book. He peered under her hand at the title and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Doing a bit of light reading?"

Mina looked up from her book and smiled at him. Slipping a small piece of paper in to mark her spot, she closed the book and placed it on the end table.

"It seems that the Genii will be gaining three new members in quick succession soon and Corric is not prepared to handle their entrance by himself. He wants me to be prepared in case he needs my help."

Kolya nodded in understanding and started walking in the direction of the bedroom. He stopped short at the sight of her pack sitting on the floor. He looked back at her and pointed at the bag.

"Aren't you going to unpack?"

Mina's smile faded and she avoided his gaze. He noticed her hesitation and crossed the room again to where she was sitting. He crouched down in front of her, taking her hand to encourage her to look at him. Mina bit her lip and refused to meet his eyes.

"Mina what's wrong?"

"I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Things changed so quickly and we never talked about anything."

Kolya seemed to grasp what she meant. He took her chin in his hand in an another attempt to get her to look at him. This time she cooperated and met his gaze.

"When I said I wanted you by my side, I meant it. We are husband and wife. What's mine is yours. That includes the bed. The arrangement we've had up until now was for your own comfort. How we proceed is entirely up to you."

Mina was touched that he felt that way. When he had pointed out the pack, she had been worried that he would think she wasn't going to stay.

"I would have unpacked earlier, but I didn't want to make any assumptions. But by me not unpacking, I don't want you to think that I'm prepared to bolt at any minute."

Kolya stood from his crouched position and pulled Mina to her feet as well. He took her entire face in his hands, and like that morning, placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I never intend on chasing you away again. I would like nothing better than for you to stay."

Mina smiled and wrapped her arms around him, her head resting against his chest.

"Good because I'm not going anywhere."

They stood together in silence for a few moments before Mina pulled away from the embrace. She reached down to grab her book off the end table. As soon as she had it in her hand however, her husband removed it.

"I think you've done enough reading for tonight. It's getting late."

Mina turned and looked at the clock. He was right. It was late. He had returned later than usual so she hadn't realized how much time had passed. Now that she thought about it, she was exhausted. Right on cue, her mouth stretched in a yawn. Kolya returned the book to its previous position on the table and grabbed Mina's hand. He pulled her in the direction of the bedroom, grabbing her pack as he passed it. When they entered the room, he placed it on the bed and released Mina's hand.

"I'll leave you to unpack your things. I'm sure you didn't get any dinner since you were buried in that book. I'll be back shortly."

He left the room and Mina was alone. She opened her pack and began pulling her belongings out. She felt like she was experiencing her first night in this house all over again. Opening a drawer in the dresser, she discovered space and began to put away her clothing. Once all of her stuff was put away, she changed into her sleeping clothes and placed her empty pack on the floor beneath next to the dresser.

Right on time, her husband returned with a bowl of soup for her that he had warmed up. She took it gratefully and sat on the edge of the bed to eat. While she was occupied with her dinner, Kolya disappeared again. When he returned, he had showered and returned in his sleeping clothes. Mina placed her empty bowl on top of the dresser. She could deal with it in the morning. She turned her attention to the bed.

Kolya pulled back the covers and climbed in. He patted the space beside him, indicating that she should do the same. Mina hesitated. She hadn't had any trouble last night, but this time it was different. She mirrored her husband's actions and pulled the covers aside, climbing in beside him. She remained upright however. He gave her a questioning look.

"Sorry. Other than last night, I haven't shared a bed with another person since Thali was ten. It's a bit different for me."

Kolya resituated himself and patted the pillow behind her. Mina followed his nonverbal instructions and laid down. Once she was horizontal, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him. Once they were situated, Mina found herself resting her head on his shoulder with her hand on his chest.

"You'll get used to it, I promise," he uttered softly.

He placed a kiss on top of her head and tightened his arm around her. Mina felt secure with his arm around her and she could feel her eyes start to droop.

"Goodnight Acastus," she whispered sleepily.

"Goodnight Mina."

A/N: Awww domesticity at last. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!