Author's Note: I KNOW I've been gone for so long! But I'm back with a greater and more tender chapter :) just so you know, and aren't completely broadsided, this one switches back and forth from present to past to future. Each section is from a different time, so nothing is fluid in this one.

Sonnet 2

When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,

And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,

He sighed heavily as she rested her small head on his stomach, watching the stars above them. She stretched luxuriously, letting out a little sigh.

"Is something wrong, my lady?" He lifted his head. He pulled one of his arms from beneath his head and reached down to prod her side gently, listening to her giggle.

"Nothing's wrong, don't worry about me Kevin." She smiled over at him.

"I always worry about you, my lady." He looked a little surprised when her small fingers wrapped around his hand and pulled his arm over her. She snuggled up next to him, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. He chuckled. "Making yourself comfortable?"

Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,

Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held:

"I am in fact." She pressed her face into his neck. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, turning to hold her against his chest. She closed her eyes tightly as he let out a heavy sigh. "You know when I was a little girl, I used to come in and snuggle with you in your room."

"I was thinking about that too." He smiled softly. "You were so tiny." Their lips met tenderly as his hands coasted over her waist.

Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies,

Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,

"I don't like thunderstorms." Her little voice said from the edge of the bed. He had watched the door open and close, heard the little pattering of feet across the floor, and chuckled when she spoke.

"I know you don't my lady, I don't know why you don't just stay in here when you know it's going to storm." He lifted the blankets so she could snuggle up with him.

"Because I… I want you to be proud of me. Because I love you." She giggled.

"I'm… I'm very proud of you… I'll always be proud of you milady." He stroked her hair gently, then frowned as she trembled when the thunder roared overhead. "The thunder won't hurt you, I'm here, and I will always protect you from anything."

To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes,

Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.

His hands smoothed the silk of her nightgown down over the swell of her belly, he laid a path of cool wet kisses over her shoulders. He closed his eye, sliding the silk up over her thighs and tugging it over the round of her navel. She shifted her body until she was lying on her back and sighed as he flattened both of his palms against the stretched skin, sitting up on the bed.

"Hello little baby…" he purred, kissing her skin. "Hello~" He let his hands glide over the swell. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm sure he can." She laughed, watching his face light up as he felt the baby run its little fingers against its mother's womb. "He'll know your voice before he's even born."

"If only… he didn't have to know me like this." He pressed his lips to her stomach. "When you and I know…"

"You always have to ruin it, don't you?" She dropped her head back on the pillow. "I go through all this, get put on bed rest, pampered, tenderized… and you have to go and mention…"

"Don't be mad at me. I'm just worried about you."

How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use,

If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine

He felt like his life was flashing before his eyes. "Oh my god Shalon."

"Grandmother knows." She looked off to the side. "She knew as soon as she saw me the last time." What had he done? He couldn't have… but that would have meant…

"The first time." His voice broke.

"The first time you made love to me… is the night it happened." She nodded. He buried his face in her neck, his hand gripping her hip to hold her against him.

He was having a baby.

Something he created.

He smiled, thinking of all the things they could do.

Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,'

Proving his beauty by succession thine!

He had stood by her, holding her hand in his. He had hated every minute of it, perhaps more than even she had hated it. He had hated kneeling next to her, one hand tangled in hers, the other feverishly stroking her sweat soaked hair back from her face. He had hated the idea of the pain, the terrible pain he was putting her through… and yet all he could do was talk to her, tell her that everything would be alright, that he loved her, and that he was right beside her… and that he was sorry… but every time, she shook her head… she shook her head and replied that she had wanted it…

Now… maybe he couldn't see her, maybe he couldn't see what had happened… but he heard her gentle breathing, he heard her sound asleep… and felt the movement of the tiny creature in his arms. She was asleep with her head in his lap. He pulled the soft blanket back from its face as he settled in his sleep… and let his finger trace the child's cheek. It was so soft, like its mother.

"Hey there…" he choked on the knot in his throat. He had never thought that he would hold this tiny thing in his arms, had never believed that he would be alive… A single tear dripped down his cheek, the knot becoming painful. He opened the blanket the baby was wrapped in, cradling it in one arm. He rested his palm against the chubby full belly of the baby boy. "Your mother made sure you were well fed, huh?" He leaned down and kissed the stomach of his child, feeling the baby's toes and soft fat feet, before bundling him back up again. "I love you, so much…" he choked once more, tears finally winning as he curled up with the little creature in his arms.

This were to be new made when thou art old,

And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.

Then sadness took over.

He would most likely never see the birth of his own child.

He would never see their smile, hear their laugh… he would leave it and its mother behind, alone, with no one to care for them.

She would be unmarriageable with an illegitimate child.

The negatives outweighed the positives.

He could feel devastation take its toll on his heart as he stroked her hair… apparently she was thinking the same thing he was, because her body shook as she let out a sob, wrapping her arms around his neck as she began to cry, holding him to her.

He thought he had nothing to live for after the end of this.

He was trying to leave nothing behind so he had no regrets.

Now he had something to live for… but no time to live for it.

All he could do, to ease her pain, was to hold her in his arms, to stroke her hair, her back, kiss her face and hope to whatever was out there that he would have more time with her.

That he would have more time with her.