It took Mina less than a week to get used to sleeping in the same bed as another person. Each night she would fall asleep in her husband's arms, feeling more secure than she ever had before. Along with the comfort of his embrace came her inability to sleep without it. She had been sleeping alone for so long but in such a short time, she had become dependent on his presence. She learned this when he was late coming home one night.

Mina had returned late herself, tired from a busy day at the infirmary. She wasn't surprised to find her house empty. Her husband had come home late before, usually because he had some business to attend to. She imagined that Cowen was making him work hard to pay for his mistakes. She waited for a little while before climbing into bed, settling into her usual position. It felt completely different without him beside her. Mina shifted positions several times, turning from one side to another. She flipped onto her back and sighed in exasperation.

"What's wrong?" a voice asked from the doorway.

Mina sat up quickly and turned to see her husband standing in the doorway. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an accusatory glare.

"Where have you been?"

Kolya smirked at her tone and walked over to the bed, bending down to give her a kiss. When he pulled away, Mina's angry expression had faded.

"You know you can't always do that."

Kolya shrugged.

"Do what?" he asked innocently.

"Upset me and fix things by kissing me."

"Why not? It seems to work."

Mina glowered at him and flopped back down on her back. She turned away from him and closed her eyes. He chuckled at her response and climbed into the bed after changing into his sleeping clothes. Mina was finally granted what she had been waiting for when he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"You want to tell me what I did that upset you?"

Mina ran her fingers along his arm and pulled it closer to her.

"You were late. I need you here to sleep."

Kolya didn't say anything, but Mina could sense that he was pleased by her revelation. He tightened his hold around her waist and Mina felt her exhaustion take hold, pulling her into a restful sleep.

The next few days were full of excitement. One of the women that had been on Corric's list went into labor, forcing Mina to test out what she had been learning from her reading. Corric wanted her help to give her some practice. When it was all over, Mina felt exhilarated. Mom and baby were both healthy and Mina had learned more than she had from the book. The act of bringing a child into the world was not a glamorous one but it was beautiful. As she got the new mom settled into a bed, she smiled at the little bundle in the woman's arms. She congratulated the mother and left her to rest.

Mina walked over to Corric's office door, looking in to see him filling out the necessary files to document the birth. He looked worn out, not from the birth, but from something else. Mina glanced around his office and noticed a pile of clothing in the corner along with a blanket on his small couch. She cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up from his work and gave Mina a questioning look.

"Yes Mina?"

"Traya is settled in. If you don't need me for anything else, I'll be going home for the night."

Corric gestured to the paperwork he had been filling out.

"As soon as I finish this, you can file it and head home."

Mina nodded and gave his office another glance.

"Corric, have you been sleeping here?"

Corric looked over at the pile of clothing she had noticed and gave her a guilty look.

"Yes I have. For the past few nights at least. I wanted to be here in case something happened, like Traya or one of the other women going into labor."

Mina narrowed her eyes at him. She could tell he wasn't being entirely truthful. There hadn't been any appearances of the mystery woman for a while, so obviously something had happened there.

"Is that all? You aren't avoiding someone?"

Mina could tell she hit a nerve when Corric winced slightly at her question.

"Not avoiding per say. Just want to keep things quiet for a while. I'm tired of fighting. It gets us nowhere."

Mina nodded in understanding.

"I understand that. Who is she?"

"Dahlia Radim."

Mina was surprised by the last name.

"Radim? Ladon's sister I'm assuming?"

"Yes. But things don't always work out the way we want them to. She's almost as busy working as Ladon. Cowen works her almost as hard, if not harder. It's not good for her health, but she won't listen to what I have to say. She wants to do all she can to serve the Genii, even if it slowly kills her."

Mina understood why Corric would be worried about that. Her own husband's desire to serve the Genii had gotten him shot. Cowen was a demanding leader.

"I'm sorry Corric. Hopefully some progress will be made on whatever they are working on. If things slow down, maybe the two of you will have a chance."

Corric gave her a grateful look before turning back to his work.

"I hope you're right."

When Mina left the infirmary a short time later, she wasn't expecting to run into her brother. He was headed to the place she had just left. He had a bruise over his eye and a split lip.

"Caleb! What happened?" Mina asked.

"I was training and may have slipped up a bit. Took a nasty blow to the head."

Mina gestured behind her to the infirmary doors.

"Head on in. Corric will check to make sure you don't have a concussion or anything."

Caleb patted his sister on the shoulder before walking into the infirmary. Mina watched him go and was surprised when another hand touched her shoulder.

"I'm afraid I may have hit him too hard."

Mina turned to the sound of the voice and saw her husband standing beside her. She should have known he was the perpetrator. She let out a quiet laugh.

"Isn't the brother supposed to beat up his sister's partner, not the other way around?"

Kolya laughed at her comment and reached down to take her hand.

"I guess that's how it usually goes, but not in this situation. You heading home?"

Mina nodded and squeezed his hand, smiling up at him.

"I'm going to stop by and see Thali, but then I'll be going home."

"Ok. I'll be late again tonight, so don't wait up for me."

Mina gave him a disappointed frown, which made him laugh again. He leaned down and gave her a light kiss.

"Don't pout. I'm sure you'll be fine."

He kissed her again and released her hand before walking away. Mina watched him disappear around a corner before walking toward the exit to the surface. She reached her sibling's house before long. Thali was glad to see her.

"Mina, how are you?"

"I'm fine. Or I should say, I'm better than fine."

Thali could see that her sister was in a much better mood than the last time she had seen her.

"I take it things have been going well?"

Mina smiled as she thought about her husband. To say she was smitten with him would be all too true. Now that the unspoken attraction had come to light, she spent most days like she was floating. Thali waved her hand in front of her sister's face.

"Hello? Mina, are you in there?"

Mina blinked and refocused on her sister.

"Yes did you say something?

"I asked if things were going well. I guess I got my answer. Are you happy?"

"Yes I am," Mina said with a dreamy smile.

Thali laughed at her sister, shaking her head.

"You look like you are up in the clouds. I don't think I've ever seen you so happy."

The two sisters sat and talked for a while, covering a variety of topics, including Calbe being injured in training.

"Isn't Caleb supposed to be the one being a tough guy? He's the older brother."

"That's what I said! I guess when your sister's husband is one of the main trainers for the entire Genii military, it's a different story."

Mina and Thali laughed at their brother's expense. Caleb had always put up a tough front, even had some backing behind him. He was a good fighter, having been trained by their father from an early age. Mina had suffered many bruises from being his sparring partner growing up. Their father had wanted them to be prepared, hoping they would follow in his footsteps. Mina smiled sadly at the thought of her father. Thali gave her sister a questioning look.

"Hey. Where did your mind go? You look sad."

"Just thinking about dad. He was an excellent fighter. I imagine he could give Acastus a good fight if he was still around."

Thali laughed at that thought.

"I'm sure dad would have scared off any men that came sniffing around either of us. Even the commander, as tough as he is. But I'm sure he'll strike fear into your daughter's boyfriend's hearts someday."

Mina's smile faded at Thali's mention of a daughter. In her happiness fog of the past week and a half, the thought of her previous wishes had been covered up. The subject of children hadn't been discussed. The only time they had talked about it was when he told her she was free to have a family with someone else.

"You disappeared again Mina. What's going on now?"

"It's nothing. I just don't know if there will be a daughter to for him to embarrass."

Thali rolled her eyes at her sister.

"You still haven't had that conversation? I think it's time you do."

"It's too soon. We've only been 'together' for just over a week. I can't spring children on him so soon."

"Mina, you've been married for almost six months now. I don't think it's too soon to talk about it."

Mina shook her head. She didn't know if her husband even wanted children. Her concern before had been on if he even wanted her. Now that she knew that, she had another obstacle in her way.

"We have time. I don't want to scare him off. I'm only 28, we still have plenty of chances to have children, if that is what we decide to do."

Thali pursed her lips in concern.

"You know that isn't quite true. There's a reason our people get married and have children so young. It's not safe when you get older. Look at mom. She was 37 when I was born."

Mina knew Thali was right. Most of the women she knew had children before they were 30 to avoid any complications. That wasn't the only thing that worried her. She also had the problem of having an older husband. Having lost her own father at 16, she knew it was hard.

"When the time is right, we'll talk about it. We just aren't ready."

When Mina returned home from her visit with her sister, her spirits had fallen a bit from their conversation. As she walked past the spare bedroom that used to be hers, she glanced in. She could very easily picture a nursery. She could almost hear the sound of little feet running across the wood floors of her home. She could even picture the small faces of the beings she could bring into the world. A little boy with curly brown hair with brown eyes to match. A girl with bright red hair and blue eyes like her sister.

Mina felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and she looked up to see her husband standing behind her. He looked down at her with a curious expression.

"What are you still doing up? And why are you standing here, staring at nothing?"

Mina looked at the clock and noticed it was late. How long had she been standing there imagining a possible future? She turned around and embraced her husband.

"I didn't realize the time. I was simply lost in thought."

The two of them walked away from the empty bedroom into their own. Mina's previous thoughts were buried when she was distracted by her husband kissing her. It seemed that he could fix things, at least temporarily, by kissing away her problems.

A/N: Sorry that I didn't update last week. I hope to update a couple times in the next few days to make up for it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!