"What's it like? Being a mother?"

Mary turns to Kenna in surprise before she smiles warmly and turns back to Anne and James playing in the park treehouse. "Thinking about trying?"

Kenna pulls a face. "No, just... curious."

"It's the best thing ever," Mary finally admits, getting emotional. "I remember how heartbroken Francis and I were after we had that miscarriage and then to be told a year later on that day that we were expecting Annie? God, everything's great. She and James bring this light into our lives. We always felt incomplete until they came along."

Kenna smiles widely, reaching over for Mary's hand. "Amazing."

"Don't you want to be parents?" Mary asks of Kenna and Bash's decision they made when they first got married. "Surely, you could reconsider? My kids want some cousins from you both." It's light and teasing but Kenna knows the severity in Mary's tone. Someone must be pressing her to bring it up - Bash's father and stepmother. "There are benefits to having children. One of them is they'll look after you in your old age and not cart you off to a care home if you raise them well."

Kenna laughs wryly. "Bash for sure will do anything to raise our children up well," she says, both of them falling silent at the reminder of what put her beloved husband in his father's care at six years old. "But actually, nine months ago, we... we had a miscarriage."

"Oh, shit," Mary curses, squeezing her hand. "We didn't know..."

"No one did," Kenna admits. "We didn't think it was needed to be said. We didn't mourn it... We brushed it under the carpet." Her throat clogs up and tears spring to her eyes.

Mary sighs softly. "I'm so sorry..." Then her arms are around Kenna's neck and she lets her cry into her shoulder, Anne looking over in concern. "Tante Kenna's just crying because of how cute you and Jamie look!"

Anne grins, running over with James hot on her tails, screaming at her to wait up for him. "Tante Kenna, don't cry!"

Kenna laughs, sniffling as she palms her tears away and brings James into her arms. "So cute," she mutters, kissing the top of James's brunette locks as she runs her fingers through Anne's golden blonde ones. "Look just like Francis."

Mary chuckles. "She's stealing hearts already much to his heartbreak. Anne's got seven boyfriends now!"

"Annie-Bun, really?" Kenna gasps as Anne giggles shyly. "How does your father take it?"

"You remember the guns our dads used to keep for shooting games?" Mary asks as Kenna nods. "Yeah, Francis called my brother to see if he still had them."

Kenna laughs at her brother-in-law's antics, shaking her head. "Your father's hilarious, sweeties." Then she cups Anne's chin. "Don't let yourself get played. You'll be able to get any boy to do what you want."

"I got Ivan to give me five sweets the other day!" Anne informs her.

Kenna smirks. "That's my girl."

...

"When will you and Kenna become parents?" Henry asks out of curiosity one day as Francis looks up in anticipation.

Bash stops scrolling through the figures on his tablet and he blinks in surprise. "Uh... We don't want children?"

"Why do you sound so unsure?" Francis asks.

Great, now they're both ganging up against me, Bash thinks as he says, "We've suffered a miscarriage recently and uh, a few chemical pregnancies? Whatever those are..."

His father's eyes light up. "So you are actively trying?"

Not as much now. "We're not ready for children, Papa," he mutters. "Right now, we're not at that stage to reconsider our decision about children."

"But she's had miscarriages-"

"Doesn't mean we want kids," Bash cuts his father off. "They were... unexpected, I guess."

"So if the baby had become a thing, you wouldn't want them?" Francis asks, slightly alarmed.

Bash sighs, running his hands down his face. "Yes, of course, we wouldn't mind being parents, Francis. We're not going to hate a child because it's unexpected. It's just that... we were... relieved she lost it." Because bringing a baby into a broken marriage won't fix anything but ruin their lives. "If you both must know, Kenna and I are having problems."

"Oh," Henry breathes out knowingly and then the subject of work is dropped completely as Henry leans forward in his seat. "Are you going to therapy?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Good," Henry says. "I'm not sure if you boys remember but Catherine and I have had our own spells of storms. You were little, we never wanted you to know that we weren't happy. We worked through all of those times, Bash. It will get better but I guess it's not right to bring a child into the equation if you're at each other's throats."

Bash swallows hard. "How long did it take?"

"Is this your first dry spell?"

"I guess," Bash mumbles in slight confusion. "W-We have been struggling for two years now."

"Oh," Henry breathes out and that worries Bash. "I see."

"What?"

Henry shrugs a little. "Ours never lasted for a more than a couple of months. Our longest was half a year."

Bash covers his face. "My marriage is over, isn't it?"

"No!" Francis cries out, rubbing Bash's back. "Maybe therapy will help. Not everything is a quick fix within a day or so. It's a marathon, not a sprint."

"Last night was the first night in ages that we went to bed in each other's arms and woke up in the same position. So, that's something, right?" Bash asks fearfully. "And sure, we have horrible arguments and avoid talking things through but we love each other."

"She stayed with us for a month," Francis reminds him, making their father raise his brows in shock. "Sometimes love isn't enough, Bash."

Bash frowns. "D-Don't say that."

"I have every faith that you'll fix it," Francis assures him. "You're taking the best steps possible to ensure that."

"Okay," Bash says quietly. "A marathon, not a sprint."

"Yes," Henry pipes up. "A day at a time."

...

"When whatever this is passes," Bash starts as Kenna tiredly yawns on his chest in their bed. "Can we start trying properly? For a baby?"

Kenna turns to him with a small smile. "I'd like that."

"And w-we should probably talk about the miscarriage..."

She nods, sitting up with him as he takes her hand to his lap. "I was thinking the same," she confesses.

"I don't want you to hurt when I tell you that losing that baby was a relief," he says, seeing her eyes sting with hurt anyway. "Because we weren't in a good place and I didn't want to bring a baby into that. Not after my mother..."

Then her gaze softens as she says, "I agree." She cups his cheek, turning his face so their eyes meet and she smiles. "I felt the same way. I was scared you didn't want kids with me."

"I don't mind," he says. "My opinion of them changed after Jamie came along and we babysat for Francis and Mary."

"They are amazing kids."

"They truly are," he agrees. "And maybe one day, ours will be too."

Kenna nods and then frowns. "But we've not had sex in... in a long time."

Bash's lips meet her neck and he brings her to straddle his hips as his fingers work to undo the buttons of her pyjama shirt. She moans when he sucks at her pulse point, he relieved that he can still get her to react certain ways for him. It drives him crazy and then trails kisses down her collarbone.

He stops to ask, "Are you sure?"

Kenna nods, tears springing to her eyes. "I want to make love with my husband, Bash." It's been too long since we've been loved like that, she thinks as he stares into her eyes in disbelief. "What?"

"I can't believe I'm married to the most beautiful woman in the world," he breathes out.

She laughs. "You've never said stuff like that since we got married..."

"It's time I did," he whispers, kissing her lips. "Because it's the truth." Then he stops. "Protection or...?"

Kenna shrugs. "If it happens, it happens," she mutters, biting her lip fearfully.

Then he smiles and she relaxes. "But again, we're still navigating through this," he reminds her. "But if you do get pregnant..."

"We don't mind," she breathes out.

"We don't mind," he confirms, flipping her so her back lands on the bed.