Replies to reviews:

Guest (1) [chapter 43]: I am ;)

Guest (2) [chapter 43]: Yeah, Mary will be focusing on making her man feel better now. They really are! And thanks so much! Here's another chapter :)

Guest (3) [chapter 43]: It won't be a permanent thing haha! Just needed some teasing between brothers.

Guest (4) [chapter 43]: You're welcome! :D Same, I've read all and thanks so much for saying that, you're making me cry, haha. When I first started, I never imagined it being this popular. Here's the next chapter. And ooh, can't let you in on anything but I can confirm there will be a special ;) And the special will definitely include Frary and kids moments! I missed you too! For the Christmas special, I guess I will let you all on one thing. Anne and Catherine showdown. ;) But no more!

Guest (5) [chapter 43]: Here's the next update! :)

Guest (6) [chapter 43]: Here's the next chapter! :)

"Papa?" Rose called him quietly as she laid her head on his lap.

"Yes, Rosie?"

Rose smiles. "What did you get me for my birthday?"

"Now, that's a secret," he whispered into her ear before tickling her.

She giggled, squirming in his grip before admitting defeat. "I surrender, Papa! I surrender!"

"That was quick."

"I don't want to be tickled!" She replied, giggling. "When can we ride our ponies?"

"Not now," Mary replied, looking up from the book she was reading the boys. "Right now, there is a terrible sickness that is going around and we do not want to catch it."

Anne sighed heavily. "Why can't we just put the sick people somewhere else?"

"It doesn't work that way, my love," Francis told her. "The plague... It's hard to explain now but when you are older, you will understand."

"John Phillip said he was born in the last plague," Anne told them. "Is that true?"

"It is," Francis mumbled.

"Then he wasn't sick. Why-"

"The plague can kill people, Anne," Francis said. "You do not only get sick but you die."

Anne gasped and turned to Rose who was just as shocked. "What? Do they go to Heaven?"

"Or hell," Mary muttered lowly. "Look, why don't you both join your brothers and me in some light reading?"

"We have to save everyone!" Rose said. "They can't die. Uncle Bash is out there!"

Francis brought the girls into his arms. "Your uncle is what you call 'immune' to the plague. He can't get sick and that is why he is helping save people. I am not immune, nor your mother or your brothers so we have to stay protected and sheltered away so we don't catch it."

Rose nodded sadly. "Can you sing us a song?"

"My voice isn't as good as your mother's. Are you sure?" Francis asked, laughing a little.

"Yes," Anne said, nodding excitedly.

Francis playfully rolled his eyes. "Oh, go on then."

...

Come night, Francis stood by the window and stared at the sky. He hadn't done so in a while, the beauty of the stars above taking his breath away. He would rest soon, but now he wanted to remain in the moment.

"Papa?"

"Rose, why aren't you sleeping?" Francis asked her, lifting her up onto his hip.

Rose shrugged. "I can't sleep."

"I think Auntie Kenna ruined your bedtime," he replied. "Don't worry, you can watch the stars with me."

They turned to the window and looked up. A few moments later, Rose gasped and pointed at something flashing from the sky. She grinned, turning to look at Francis.

"Papa, what was that?"

Francis's heart sank, but he smiled anyway. "A falling star."

"Look, there are more!" Rose gasped happily.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Francis asked softly, knowing the meaning of the fallen stars. He turned to her again. "When we have a falling star, we need to make a wish. That wish could come true."

Rose looked at him and nodded. "I wish that you and Mama got back together so we can be a happy family again," she whispered, placing her small hands on his cheeks.

Francis's eyes watered and he brought her head to his lips, placing a long kiss on it. "Rosie, no matter what, we will always be a happy family. You, your sister and your brothers are so important to your mother and me. Your happiness is all that counts. If we're together or not, you and your siblings will still be happy."

Rose looked up to stare into his eyes. "Promise?"

"I promise you," he whispered, hugging her. "My darling daughter..."

Her eyes closed and soon he heard soft snores coming from her. His eyes returned to the sky and he sighed heavily, knowing that the plague had started. Just like the last time it happened.

Sending a silent prayer above, he turned away from the window and carried his daughter back to her bed.

...

Kenna sipped her drink, her eyes scanning the words of the romance novel she was reading. Robin and Anastasia were asleep for the night and the candle was giving her a warm, relaxing aura which meant she could finally get around to reading the books she put off ready.

She laughed at herself. She never used to be like this. Times like tonight, she would be still partying until dawn or making love to Bash all night long, not caring whoever heard them. She certainly had grown up, now a mother of two, almost three.

Frowning, she heard a scuffle by the door and she struggled to get up from her seat. When she was standing, she walked over and used the wall to help her get low to collect the letter that had been shoved underneath the door.

She turned it over and saw her name written in Bash's handwriting. Blushing, she returned to her seat with a sigh of relief, the mere exercise taking a lot out of her, but her husband probably did that purposefully, knowing she couldn't command their son to fetch things for her.

Opening up the letter, she read its contents.

'Kenna,

Remember the first time we saw the stars fall together? I love you.

Bash'

Kenna turned to the window and tears sprung to her eyes when she realised that the stars were falling. The plague. Her heart clenched the first time she found out the meaning, right after she and Bash confessed their love for each other the first time ever.

Her husband was a hero, she was proud of him. And moments like this, with the letter in her hand and that simple sentence, made her very certain that she loved him and him only. She was happy to be his wife, the wife of France's undisputed hero who used to be the most hated man. Not anymore, she told herself. Her husband was Sebastian de Poitiers, the second most important man in France and someone who would fight for everyone.

"I love you more, Bash," she whispered into the air, her eyes never leaving the sky as tears slid down her cheeks. "Be safe and come home to us..." Or she would kill him herself.

...

"Mary?" Francis whispered, shaking his wife awake.

Mary opened her eyes slowly, feeling Anne's body behind her back and James's by her chest. "Francis?" She asked groggily.

"Let's go back to James's bedchamber," Francis told her. "I've made a makeshift bed from the chaises. It's surprisingly comfortable."

"Well, you do need the rest," Mary mumbled, gently coaxing herself out of her children's grips. "Where's Rose?"

"Behind Anne," Francis whispered, helping his wife.

Her feet touched the ground and they tiptoed out of Anne's bedchamber, making their way towards James's. When they entered, they closed the door quietly behind them and went to the chaises, collecting spare pillows and blankets as they went.

"I just wanted to sleep beside you," Francis told her once they were settled on their new bed.

Mary smiled tiredly, cupping his cheek. "I've missed sleeping beside you. I had nightmares when we weren't and... I drank to get rid of them."

"Go easy on the wine," Francis whispered. "Too much can make you sick."

"I know," she said, kissing him deeply. "After the plague... Can I return to our bed?"

Francis nodded, brushing her hair from her eyes. "Of course. I want nothing more than to have you in our bed, in my arms."

She smiled in relief and kissed him again, leaning her forehead against his after. "You are my start, my middle and my end."

"I love you, Mary."

"I love you too, Francis," she replied, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing him.

The kiss became fervent and he rolled onto his back, his arms around her waist as she now laid on his chest. He sighed breathlessly as her lips left his lips and began making their way down his face, neck and chest.

"Mary..."

"Shh," she whispered, running her hand down his chest as she pressed kissed on his stomach. "We have a lot to make up for."

Francis chuckled softly. "Is child number six on the horizon?"

"Dear God, no. Let my body rest for now," she replied, laughing. "We had the girls close together and now the boys..."

"Another five or six years then," Francis said.

Mary lifted her head. "I will think about it," she said, smirking before nipping at the skin under his belly button. "I'd have dreams of this..."

"I read your diary," Francis confessed.

"I know," she replied, coming back up to hover over him. "Well?"

Francis didn't say anything and Mary swallowed nervously. He continued to stare into her eyes as his hand made its way over to her thigh, lifting her nightdress up and sliding around to her front.

Mary blinked in surprise. "Is that your way of following through?"

"You missed my gentle kisses. My love and affection. My touch and sweet words... I want to make love to you and stay," he said quietly.

Tears sprung to her eyes and she smiled. "And not leave me straight after?"

"I don't want to leave you ever."

"The last time we... Was that you using me?" Mary asked softly. "You said it didn't mean anything. That you missed the things people took for granted."

Francis looked away. "I was hurting. I'm sorry. I... shouldn't have said that. It meant something, of course, it did!" He looked at her hurt eyes. "Sex with Olivia was never exciting. It was just something to get over you. Sex with Lola... Now that didn't mean anything."

"Yet you produced a male child."

"I did," he replied. "And I will forever be making it up to you for doing that to you."

Mary nodded. "And every other woman?"

"You are the only one that makes me feel alive when we make love or have sex," Francis breathed out, reaching up to cup her cheek. "I don't know any other woman but you."

He pulled her down and flipped them over to that he was now on top. His mouth pressed against hers and he bit softly at her bottom lip before pushing his tongue into her mouth to mould against hers. Her hands went to his shoulders as his hands cupped her cheeks to secure her face in place.

"Don't," Mary started. "Don't be gentle tonight. I want... I want it to be desperate but loving. Rough but safe." She blushed. "Do you... understand that?"

Francis chuckled softly. "I do." He gripped the ends of her nightdress and pulled it over her head, his lips attacking her exposed breasts. "Aren't I lucky that you are nursing?"

She laughed, pressing kisses on the top of his head before closing her eyes and sighing happily. "Oh, God..."

...

When the sun shone through the curtains, Mary's eyes opened and she felt her husband dig his face into her back. She giggled, pulling the blanket up to protect their modesty.

"You're not a morning person anymore?" She asked, turning to face him.

Francis scowled. "I want to stay here all day with you," he said, brushing his finger over her cheek. "My wife."

"My husband," she replied in kind before kissing him deeply.

She shifted so she was on top of him and continued to kiss him, one of his arms winding around her hip and the other below it as his hand found her right bum cheek and squeezed.

"Francis!" She squealed.

"Exactly the reaction I wanted," he said, kissing her. "I forgot how beautiful you looked in the morning sunlight."

Mary blushed, her hair falling over her eyes. "Be quiet."

"It's true," he told her. "There is nothing more attractive than natural beauty. You put all the other queens to shame."

Mary chuckled and rested her head on the crook of his neck. "No, I do not."

"You do."

"I do not."

"You do."

"I do not."

"You do not."

"I do," she whispered before narrowing her eyes. "You tricked me!"

Francis laughed. "You are too gullible!"

She smacked him and got off him, her back on the chaise once more. "Until the plague is over, our days will be spent making love and taking care of our children."

"It will," he agreed. "But for now, the making love part sounds much favourable."

Mary seductively bit her lip, giving him a wink. "Come and get it then."

"You are not tired?"

"I am," she said. "But I'm not too tired to make endless love with you."

Just as he was about to kiss her, she yawned and he snorted, shaking his head. "So, I'm boring you now?"

Mary grinned. "Hurry up before I change my mind. Oh, and before the children wake up."