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Chapter 61: Life and Death

After grabbing ammo and gun oil for his wife at the gun store, Arthur went looking around for Micah and Dutch with Brian and James. He walked by some mining houses and suddenly was ambushed by Micah. Brian and James growled and went to pounce but Arthur held his hand up to them.

"Was you followed?" Micah demanded to know in a harsh voice as he pushed him against a house.

"No!" Arthur growled

"Was you followed?" Micah asked again.

"I said," Arthur pushed Micah off him, "no!" Arthur started wheezing and coughing.

Micah abruptly giggled. "Okay."

"What is your problem?" Arthur snapped, his eyes narrowed heavily.

Micah cocked his head and squinted his eyes. "What is your problem, partner?" Arthur started wheezing again. "You don't, uh, you don't look so good," Micah observed, shaking his head.

"What is wrong with you?" Arthur asked calmly but with a low, aggressive undertone.

"Nothin' wrong with me," Micah said cheerfully. "I'm fit as a fiddle," Micah spoke in an attempt to sound like Arthur.

"Not inside, you ain't," Arthur remarked with a swirling motion in the air.

Micah put his hands up. "I'm just a realist, friend."

Dutch approached them both and put one foot up on a stair step. Both the men looked at him, as did the boys. "So, you boys ready?"

"Ready for what?" Arthur asked.

"To make a simple social call," Dutch replied. Both him and Micah laughed a little too evily for Arthur's tastes.

"To who?" Arthur asked in confusion.

"Leviticus Cornwall."

Arthur smirked. "Hell yeah, let's do it."

Dutch pat Arthur's shoulder. "That's my boy. I told you, we are gonna get some answers."

The three men and the two wolves walked across the street. "So, how are we gonna do this?"

"We're gonna cut a deal, Arthur," said Micah with his hands going up.

Arthur caught up them. "What are you talkin' about?!"

"We want out, and Cornwall wants us to stop robbin' him, and we all know his money is what's keeping the Pinkertons on our tail. He's America, Arthur. And I want out. And he...he won't let us go," Dutch explained passionately.

"This ain't makin' a lot of sense, Dutch," Arthur said with doubt in his voice. "I thought we were here for Lilly?"

"We are, son."

"We're here for her and some money," Micah added.

"It will make sense, Arthur. A deal...some noise...and then we're gone." By the time the conversation was done, they were on the docks. "Cornwall's boat is due in soon. Let's get down here behind these crates."

Arthur and the rest went to a roofed area and got behind some boxes. Despite the wolves' large size, they hid pretty well. And so they waited. They didn't have to wait long until a boat called the "Malvina" showed up. Some men put a planked walk down between the boat and the dock.

"I wanna thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Cornwall," they heard someone say. Arthur realized it was Agent Milton and he was walking with Agent Ross.

"This was a business meeting, Mr. Milton," Cornwall said. "We are not friends. I have spent a comsiderable fortune with your agency and still, nothing. This Van der Linde robs me, and laughs at me. My niece is gone, and he laughs at me. I asked for the best. I paid for the best."

"We are very close, Mr. Cornwall. I know you've heard this before..."

"Janson. Send a telegram to Goldberg in New York, tell him I won't borrow at more than three point two percent. Sorry, no. I have heard it before." Cornwall turned back to the boat. "And get that army man to pay for his portage charge!"

"We are doing all we can within the confines of the law."

"The law? I think we both know what you can do with your laws. Find me Dutch van der Linde! Find me my niece! Bring them here and leave the laws to them as need them! Good day, sir!"

Mr. Milton and Mr. Ross walked away off the dock. "Come along, Mr. Ross. We have work to do."

"Mr. Pierce!" Janson yelled down the stairs. "Bring up Brutus!"

Mr. Pierce soon appeared into view with Brutus in chains. Arthur wondered if it had anything to do with what happened to Lilly. "Brutus, what you did to my niece was unforgiveable. Do you have anything to say about it?"

"She bit my ear off! The bitch got what she deserved!" Brutus growled.

Leviticus backhanded Brutus in the face. "I don't care about what she did! I care about what you did!"

Dutch stood up and walked into view. "Mr. Cornwall! What exactly did this man do to my daughter?" Dutch said with a sneer.

Arthur stood up and walked out with Dutch, as did the boys whose hackles were raised and teeth were bared. Mr. Cornwall saw the wolves and took a step forward. "Mr. Van der Linde."

"Yes?"

"This man here...he raped Lilly."

"He did what?!" Arthur shouted. Dutch's grin faded to a scowl and Arthur took a few steps forward before Dutch grabbed him. Arthur felt his blood boiling and his breathing became ragged. The boys took steps forward but Dutch motioned for them to stay back, and they stopped. Hesitantly. "How the fuck could you let that happen?! She's your niece, god damn you!" Arthur demanded of Leviticus.

Leviticus looked taken aback. "Me? I had no idea what he was doing until Mr. Pierce and I walked in on it happening, and I can tell you right now that Brutus will pay for it."

Arthur growled. "Let us take him! I got more than a few things planned for him!"

The boys snapped their jaws at Brutus and the man gulped. Arthur was still being held back by Dutch. Mr. Cornwall stepped off the boat. "How is she?" he asked.

Dutch sighed. "She had a nightmare this morning. A real bad one."

Levi covered his mouth and dragged his gloved hand sideways. "Good Lord. She still gets those?"

"Not so often anymore, but she had them a lot as a child. She broke a lot of shit in the process."

Levi sighed. "You know what? You can have Brutus. I have a feeling you'll do better justice than the law will."

Mr. Pierce shoved Brutus towards Arthur and Arthur grabbed him by the collar. "Oh, we most certainly will, Mr. Cornwall," Arthur said through his teeth."

"I believe we can fight another day, Arthur," Dutch whispered. "Let's bring this sack of shit to Lilly."

Arthur looked at his sleeping wife and frowned. His wife deserved so much better than everything that happened to her, and once again, he had failed to protect her. He was a bad guardian and a bad husband. Perhaps this would help make up for it. Arthur sat down on the bed and gently shook Lilly awake.

Lilly was woken up by Arthur who had the gravest of expressions on his face. "Lilly, come on. We need you in the cave."

Lilly sat up and wiped her eyes. "What? Why?"

Arthur caressed her face and kissed her. "Think of it as a surprise, darlin'."

Lilly looked into his eyes and saw hurt and sadness. "Arthur? What did you do?"

Arthur helped her out of bed. "Just come on."

Lilly and Arthur walked towards the cave. She felt eyes on her and she suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Arthur, what is this about?" He didn't answer her so she turned him around. "Arthur!"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Trust me?" he asked her.

"Always," she answered without hesitation. He held her hand and walked with her into the cave. As they trekked deeper, Lilly couldn't help but feel some inner turmoil. What the hell was going on? They turned the corner and when Lilly saw Brutus chained to a chair and badly beaten, her feet stopped. "What is he doin' here?!" Lilly asked furiously.

Dutch, Hosea, Micah, Brian and James were also there. "You get to decide what to do with him," Dutch said.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Hosea said doubtfully.

Lilly was moved but she was also frightened out of her mind. She took a step back but Arthur held firm to her. "We know what he did, Lillian," Arthur said in her ear. "Leviticus told us what happened."

Lilly began to tremble, her throat made a lump, and she glared at Arthur. "Why are you doin' this?"

"Because we thought you wanted this."

Lilly glared at him. "This is what you went into town for?! To bring him here?!"

"We wanted answers, Lilly," Dutch said with confidence in his tone. "For chrissakes, you had a night terror!"

Lilly scowled at all of them. "It was not your god damn business!"

Brutus started laughing. "Oh, is the little lady scared of me?"

Lilly scowled at the man. "Shut the feck up!"

Brutus chuckled maliciously. "Aww, don't be like that. You know you loved it."

Arthur marched over to Brutus and punched him in the face. "She said shut the fuck up!"

Brutus leaned over and spit blood. "Heh heh heh, looks like she's lost her nerve for vengeance, mate."

Arthur punched him in the nose and Lilly jolted when she heard bone crunch. Brutus let out a loud groan but then he laughed once more. "You shut up or I'll sick the wolves on you, startin' with your feet! Arthur shouted in Brutus' face.

The wolves snapped their teeth and Brutus said nothing else. Hosea walked to Lilly. "Sweetheart, you don't have to do anythin'. We can take him out of here."

Dutch scoffed. "We can't let him leave here alive. He'll tell someone where we are."

Lilly realized this was why he was brought to camp, so that she would seal his fate. "I didn't ask ya tah do this!"

"We know, but...Lilly, why don't you want to kill him? Torture him for what he's done!" Micah barked.

Lilly walked up to Brutus. She could let her vision come true and let Brian and James eat him alive, but the thought of it made her stomach churn. She punched him in the balls and he wheezed out from his lungs. "Oh ho ho," was all he said. Lilly made a decision. She pulled out her gun and shot him in the head. The sound rang out and echoed through the cave. He was dead. She holstered her gun and walked away.

"I no longer have the stomach for torture," was the only thing Lilly said as she left.

Arthur's jaw dropped as he watched his wife leave. He looked at the other men and they also looked shocked. "Well, that was anticlimactic," said Micah. "I was really hopin' she'd feed him to the wolves."

"Me too," Dutch said. "That bastard deserved it."

Hosea frowned. "I think Lilly made the right call."

Dutch scoffed at Hosea. "How can you say that? He tortured and raped our daughter!"

"Don't you think she's had enough of revenge for one lifetime?!"

Dutch, Micah, and Arthur looked at Hosea with surprised expressions. "What are you talkin' about? You talkin' about Bronte?"

"No. I'm talkin' about somethin' else! I'm talkin' about what happened in Saint Denis after her brother died!"

Arthur cocked his head. "You...how do you know about that?"

"Because she told me. She told me what Catherine Braithwaite said to her the day we went to bring the moonshine to Braithwaite Manor."

Arthur took a step back. "You knew and she willingly told you?"

"Yes."

Dutch and Micah both looked confused. "What am I missin'?" Dutch said.

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "It's not our place to say, Dutch. You're gonna have to ask her."

Dutch gave him a nod. "Fair enough."

Lilly sat on the bed and stared at the ground. She felt numb; empty. What was happening to her? Why did she not take her revenge? It was an important thing to her...once upon a time. So why was it no longer important?

"Lilly," she heard Arthur say as he walked in.

"Arthur," she said back. Lilly wasn't exactly mad at him, but she sure as shit wasn't happy with him either.

He sat down next to her. "So..."

"So?"

"Why didn't you tell me, darlin'?"

"About me being raped?" she asked bitterly.

"Yeah."

Lilly kept her eyes to the ground. "I thought you'd blame me, hate me, and leave me if you knew."

Arthur lifted her head and turned it to face him but she refused to look him in the eye. "Look at me, mo bhean chéile." Lilly hesitated but she locked eyes with him. "Is fear céile agus bean chéile muid. Chun níos fearr nó níos measa." [We are husband and wife. For better or worse.]

Lilly's eyes started to water. "You sure about that?"

Arthur nodded with a smile. "We made several oaths to one another. I don't blame you, I don't hate you, and I will never leave you."

Lilly sniffled. "Thank you for understanding," she whimpered.

Arthur pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. "You wanna go do somethin' to take your mind off things? I think I have just the thing in mind to cheer you up."

"Sure."

Lilly stared at the building and laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

Arthur beamed at her. "Nope."

It was storming out and Arthur had taken her to a place called Doverhill. He'd convinced her by saying a man by the name of Marko Dragic had some science project related to electricity. And that he was a foreigner and he had no idea where the guy was from. So they walked up to the back of the building and walked in. Lilly laughed when she saw the lab.

"My God...it's like Frankenstein's lab in here," she commented.

"Yeah, no kiddin'," Arthur agreed.

Lilly nodded and made an impressed face. "I like it."

"Hello?" Arthur said. "Is anybody here?" Arthur and Lilly walked around a bit looking for the scientist. "Hello?"

They heard a weird sound. It sounded like it was coming from above them. "If you are here to rob me, I wish to make clear that I have weapons that could," Arthur and Lilly started walking around the cage, "liquefy each of your internal organs in turn and leave you just a puddle on the floor."

Arthur and Lilly got to some sort of machine that the voice was coming out of. "Professor, I ain't here to rob you. It's me. I'm..." Arthur walked around to a room. "I helped you at the pond?"

"You did?" Arthur knocked on the chain link door and Lilly saw a man in a white lab coat stand up. "Oh, you did," he chuckled. "The buffoon. Hello!" he said excitedly.

Lilly narrowed her eyes, finally able to place the accent. He was Croatian. "Ispričajte me! Nemojte vrijeđati mog muža!" she barked out. [Excuse me! Don't insult my husband!]

The professor jumped and looked at Lilly through the fence. She had her arms crossed, her hip pivoted, and her eyes narrowed. The professor walked out of the room. "You speak Croatian?!"

"Da." [Yes.]

"O moj Bože! Who is this woman?" The professor asked Arthur. [Oh my God!]

"Jesus, woman!" Arthur laughed. "She's my wife," Arthur said with a cough and a wheeze. "I uh, I hope we're not disturbin' you."

The professor sighed and started walking around. "Of course you are disturbing me, buddy. I almost solved biggest problem and you mess it up!"

"I did?"

"No, but I did!" He walked around the cage and the couple went after him. "I can't get the bloody conductor straight." He stopped. "Uh, well, well, well," he walked into the room again, "well, it is the geometry of life, the grand theory of power." He walked back out with long metal poles and Lilly gaped at him. "The grand theory of theories." He walked towards another machine. "There is just one more, big problem, and maybe I solve it, but I can't get it right."

"I don't understand," Arthur said.

"Of course you don't," Marko said with condescension in his voice. "Help me adjust these things and I will show you what I mean. Here, take these," he said, handing Arthur the poles.

"Whoa, well I...I'm not much of a scientist."

"Yeah, well, you are an American, heh. Science is far beyond you, but you make a fine buff..." Professor Drako looked at the still cross Lilly. "I mean assistant."

Lilly gave him a fake smile as she began to walk to the door. "Well, I suppose I better go help."

The scientist stopped her. "Wait, wait, you are with child. You shouldn't do a man's job."

Arthur barked into laughter. "Yes, that is a sure way to win Lilly over," Arthur said to the professor. "Please don't make my wife mad. She has a really bad temper."

Lilly scowled at her husband. "Oh just go and do the job, ya silly man!"

"Love you!" Arthur said as he walked out the door.

Lilly chuckled and shook her head. The professor and her looked at each other before he went to a machine and started speaking into some sort if attachment. "You have the detector in your hands," the professor said in slow intervals. "The filament flashes when it points at the locations for conductors. Follow flashes up in hills and plant conductor rod where filament glows solid. When all three conductors in place, lightning strikes the rods, and we harness power of nature to make life."

He looked at another piece of machinery and Lilly took a gander at it. "What does that do?" she asked Marko.

"It tells me when conductor rod is in place."

"Oh."

The machine made a "ding" sound and the professor continued. "Okay! Now find the position for the second conductor. You're doing a bang up job. Remember, this is for good of all mankind. You're better than my last assistant. I hope you live longer, too!"

Lilly gasped. "Wait, what?!"

"Ah! It's glowing!" The professor looked at Lilly. "He will be fine." He started talking into the piece of equipment again as another "ding" sound occurred. "Two down, and one to go...and you're not dead...yet."

Lilly grabbed the equipment. "Arthur, please be careful out there!"

The professor pulled it back. "Now now, no need for that. Ahem, life and death," he said into the intercom, "the master equation that unlocks everything. You're so close now, can you feel it? Uh oh."

"Uh oh?!" Lilly barked.

"That wasn't you, was it? Good, good."

Lilly was starting to get mad. "Are you endangerin' me husband?!"

The professor sighed. "Please, Mrs. Morgan, I am trying to concentrate." He was silent for a few moments. "That's it! Marvelous! Fantastical! Return to the lab."

Lilly could hear wolves howling in the distance. "Shit." Lilly ran to the door and opened it, going outside and looking for Arthur. "Arthur!" she yelled.

"History is ours," she heard the professor say through the machine's speakers. "A momentous, momentous occasion. The mysteries of nature and life. Glorious day!"

Lilly saw Arthur running down the hill and let out a big sigh of relief. "I heard wolves out here. You okay?"

Arthur was soaked with rain but nodded with a smile. "Sure."

They both went back inside. "Wonderful!" the professor said.

"I wish I ever went to school so I had a clue what was goin' on," Arthur said as he handed the filament back to Marko.

"I think I know what he's doin'," Lilly said. "He's usin' electricity to power somethin' up."

Marko looked at her with a grin. "Excellent observation, Mrs. Morgan."

"What now?" Arthur asked the professor.

"Now," the professor went to a machine with several levers on it and pulled some down "I become the second creature," he walked to another machine and pulled another two levers, "after God himself to bring life to this earth." He put his hand on one more lever. "Like this!" He pulled the lever down.

Nothing happened. Marko tapped on the machine. "Am I missin' somethin'?" Arthur asked.

Lilly sighed and rubbed her forehead. "He forgot somethin'."

"Ah! The switches!" The professor dragged Arthur. "The bloody switches! Eh, climb up," he opened the back door and pointed, "there and adjust them for me. Go, quick please."

Arthur walked out and Dragic shut the door, then he went and reset the levers. Lilly scoffed. "He better not get hit by lightning, buddy."

"He won't. Less danger this time." He went to the intercom. "The switches are on a circuit. Flick one switch on the array and another might go off. You want the three illuminations so flick the switches 'til that is the outcome."

"Just tell me what god damn one of these things to pull!" she heard Arthur yell.

She snorted into giggles. "Oh, my poor husband."

"I am an invisible wave engineer, not an electrical technician, okay?" Dragic said into his equipment.

"You better hope I ain't fried up here!" Arthur shouted. "Or my missus might have your head!"

Lilly chuckled. "He's not wrong, you know."

The professor waved her off. After a few moments, Lilly heard some crackling noises. "It's working. It's working, haha! Come down here, quick!" After a few moments the door opened and Arthur walked in. Dragic ran to him. "Are you ready?"

"Sure. Second time lucky, eh?" Arthur said as the professor pulled the previous switches down again.

"Second time? Ha! More like," the professor scurried about and opened the cage that was in the middle of the circular room, "seven thousandth. This is my life's work." He walked into the cage. "And it is incredible."

He removed a sheet from the object on the cage to reveal a metallic...thing that Lilly could not describe. It had a head, a body, arms, hands, legs, and feet, but... "What is that?" Lilly asked the professor.

"As I said, my life's work." He ran out of the cage and pulled a switch. "Watch!" He pulled another, then the last one and purple electricity came flying out of an orb above the metal man. The professor started giggling. The eyes on the object lit up and an arm lifted.

Lilly's eyes went wide. This was just like Frankenstein's Monster, only with a metal man and not random body parts stitched together to make a real man. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Lilly blurted out.

"He lives! My son lives!" Dragic threw up his arms and started laughing maniacally.

"Yeah, this is definitely Frankenstein," Lilly murmured to Arthur.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"It is life itself!" Dragic explained as the head turned to the side. "Those morons who doubted me, it is me and you, heh heh heh." The metal man started moving around more. "Look at him. Isn't he wonderful?"

The metal man walked forward a few steps before falling flat on its face. Lilly looked down at it and blinked a few times. "Well, that was interestin'."

The professor laughed. "Is that it?" Arthur asked softly.

"For now," Marko replied. "I am so happy!" The man reset the switches with a gleeful laugh and walked over to the fallen metallic being. "You just saw Creation's second birth," the professor said, giggling to himself.

"I just saw a machine waddle a few steps."

Lilly frowned. "I can't believe you're not impressed by this."

"I have a son...I am the luckiest man alive! I...those morons! They doubted me," the professor exclaimed.

Arthur walked away. "I'll see you later."

Lilly followed him. "Hey! Arthur! That was a beautiful thing we just saw!"

"Yes, yes, goodbye, ha ha ha..." the professor said.

Lilly and Arthur walked outside. "I can't believe you! You really are a buffoon!" she snapped. "You don't even know what you saw!"

"You're right, I don't. I liked his toy boat a lot better," Arthur said as he mounted up.

Lilly got on her horse Doc and she sighed in frustration. "That was amazin' and you don't even...oh, nevermind!"

Arthur laughed. "Well, at least you got somethin' out of it." They clicked their tongues and headed out of the area.

"I did. Thank you for bringin' me."

"You're welcome."

They both go back late and Lilly fell asleep almost immediately, but Arthur did not. He thought about that whole day and it was keeping him awake. He looked over at his wife and kissed her cheek. He needed to attend to something that had been bugging him. He got up, dressed in a dark green button shirt, brown pants, and brown riding boots, then he walked out and saw Dutch and Micah talking to each other by the main campfire. Arthur ambled over to them both when Dutch called him over and he sat on a log. "Gentlemen," he said.

"Arthur," Dutch and Micah replied.

"How is Lilly doin'?" Dutch asked.

"She's better. She's asleep. Hopefully she won't have another night terror, though I doubt she will."

"You sure?" Dutch said. "Because we've been talkin' and we want to take another shot at Cornwall."

Arthur chuckled. "For revenge or for money?"

"Of course it's for money. And the deal we want to make," Micah spat.

"And what makes you think he'll take this deal?" Arthur asked with a wave of his hand. "Cornwall, them Pinkertons, they've got us pinned in here, and ain't none of them stoppin'. We been on the run since you two fools went crazy in Blackwater. We barely escaped with our lives in Saint Denis, and you still wanna make a deal with Cornwall?" Arthur got up, shook his head, and started pacing back and forth. "We've gotten sloppier than the town drunk, and they know who we are, and where we are, and what we're doin'! And you two fools ain't helpin' things, you're makin' things worse!"

Dutch looked at Arthur with a confused expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Arthur pointed at Micah. "You convinced Dutch to play both the Grays and the Braithwaites and Sean almost got killed and Jack got kidnapped! And you, Dutch," Arthur pointed at Dutch, "you killed an innocent woman on that ferry. You killed an innocent woman in Guarma. What is goin' on with you? You taught us never to kill in cold blood and yet you have done it twice!"

Micah stood up. "That girl in Blackwater...she was in our way."

Arthur threw up a hand. "Oh horseshit! She was an innocent!"

Dutch, for a moment, had a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But Micah cleared his throat and leaned down to Dutch's ear. "Let's change the subject. Way I see it, best thing we can do is let the weak go, move on, get our money, and start over,' he said with a pat on Dutch's shoulder.

Dutch turned to Micah. "That ain't happenin'."

Arthur squinted his eyes at Micah. Sean was possibly on to something about Micah's behavior. "Thing is, Dutch, we got a rat. We got a rat and Molly was not the rat."

"And where's the evidence in that?" Micah asked Arthur.

"Lilly's visions." Arthur approached Dutch. "She foresaw Molly's death and she was supposed to save her. Now why would Lilly want to save a rat?"

"That ain't enough proof. You really want to rely on the delusions of a witch?" Micah snapped.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "What the hell did you just say?"

"You heard me, Black Lung."

Arthur clenched his fists. "My wife is not a witch and she is not delusional."

"Oh, I think she is. And now she's gonna be even worse because she got tortured and raped! She's weak!"

Arthur was about to beat Micah's face in but Dutch got between them. "Micah, that is my daughter you are talkin' about," Dutch said sternly, holding a hand up to him, then he pointed at Micah. "Watch your god damn mouth."

Micah sighed and backed off. "I'm sorry, Dutch. I guess I got a little carried away."

Arthur scoffed, then coughed and wheezed. "Yeah, keep listenin' to this fool, Dutch. See where it gets us."

Dutch looked at Arthur with another glimmer of doubt. "I...well...look, we got off track here. We are goin' after Cornwall at first light so I suggest you both get some rest."

Arthur nodded. "Fine." Arthur walked back to the tent to see a light on inside. "Shit." He walked in and saw Lilly sitting up in bed. "Did we wake you?"

Lilly nodded with a frown. "Thanks for standin' up for me, mo chuisle."

Arthur started undressing. "You're welcome, mo stór."

Arthur caught a glimpse of lust in his wife's sapphire eyes as he took his shirt off. He smiled at her, left his pants on and crawled towards her on the bed. "Mmmm, does somebody like me without a shirt on?" he asked, kissing her neck.

Lilly chuckled. "I do."

He got behind her and wrapped his arms around her to unbutton her shirt. He kept kissing her neck and then he reached in and massaged her breasts. Lilly's head went back and Arthur sucked on her earlobe. Lilly quickly took her shirt off, turned and pushed her husband on his back. She climbed on top of him and put his hands on her breasts.

"Tease me, Arthur." Arthur grasped her breasts and pinched both nipples. Lilly moaned out and threw her head back. "Yeah, just like that," she chuckled.

Arthur cupped her breasts and when Lilly looked down at him, her eyes went wide and she jumped off him, going to a corner of their tent. Arthur sat up and stared at her. "What's wrong?"

Lilly covered her chest and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I...I had a moment."

Arthur got up and walked to her. "You okay?"

"Yes, I am...I think."

Arthur put a hand to her cheek. "We don't have to, you know. Not tonight."

Lilly looked at him sadly. "I don't want to disappoint you."

He rubbed his thumb on her lower lip. "If you can't do it, I-"

Lilly kissed him softly and he mirrored the kiss. "Thank you."

Arthur wrapped an arm around her and they went to bed. Arthur put out the light, snuggled behind her, and rested a hand on her belly. A few minutes later, he felt one of the babies kick and he chuckled when Lilly made her usual "oof" sound.

"Babies are on the move," he said.