§ § § -- October 3, 2004

Christian's hallucinations had receded into strange dreams, and his only other lingering symptom was a slightly unsteady gait; so Leslie held his arm for good measure as they crossed the porch and entered the main house. Roarke looked up from his desk and smiled broadly. "Welcome back, Christian!" he said, standing up and coming around to meet him. "It's extremely gratifying to see you as good as new."

"Well, nearly so," Christian remarked with a faintly rueful grin. "We were crossing the lane to come in here, and some passing native made a remark about what a shame it is that some people get drunk at such an early hour. Leslie gave him a quick tongue-lashing, and that settled his objections." They all laughed.

"Yeah," Leslie said with a grin, "I suggested he look into learning the fine art of tact. Anyway, we thought if you don't mind, Christian can stay here for the day and recuperate, and have the triplets for company, while you and I go on with the weekend's business."

"Of course," Roarke said. "As you can guess, Christian, it's been fairly busy, so I am afraid Leslie will have to check on one of the fantasies and then make rounds once she has made you comfortable. But I suspect she will be able to concentrate better on her job, now that she no longer has to worry over you."

Christian smiled and said teasingly, "Far be it from me to be the cause of Leslie's poor job performance. Frankly, I look forward to playing with the babies. Well, my darling, if you'll help me up the stairs…"

In Leslie's old room Christian braced himself on one of the posts holding up the canopy on the bed, then reached down and gently caressed the head of each sleeping triplet in turn. Leslie watched a little pensively, and her earlier question came back to her. "Are we always going to have to deal with these kinds of things?"

Christian looked up and regarded her curiously. "Are you asking if this is a permanent side effect of our royal status and the attention it's brought us?"

"I guess so," she murmured.

"Ah, my Rose," he said gently, "remember what Magga said—we can't live our lives being afraid of every stranger we see. I might remind you, too, that our attackers weren't strangers at all. I know you're not comfortable with the endless spotlight, but whatever we may wish, it's an inescapable part of our lives." He took in her expression and offered, "For what it's worth, you might keep in mind that this island is a sort of retreat. You told me once that you've always thought of it as your sanctuary. Now you can consider it so in another, additional way. If you're intimidated by the attention we'll be subjected to whenever we visit Lilla Jordsö, then you can take comfort in knowing that we'll soon be back here, where we can go on with our own lives, out of the limelight."

"You make a terrific point," Leslie said, mulling it over and smiling. "I'll remember that, my love." Christian smiled back, gathered her close and kissed her.


Next: Word of a marriage proposal brings two friends to the island—each with her own fantasy. What will the future bring?

The 1981 "eruption of Mount Tutumoa" mentioned earlier in the story goes back to the November 21, 1981, episode "The Perfect Husband / Volcano", second story arc, with George Maharis and Misty Rowe.