New Orleans

Stef stared for a few minutes. She was home. She was physically in Phobos's room. But, it had become home. Her home, with him. She had not noticed just how much she had embraced her life here. With him until they were home.

Slowly, her lips slid up into a smile, then she finally broke down into all out laughter. She was free. Free of Kol. Free of her mother. Free of the whole cult. Free from Hel! Mostly, she was finally free to be herself, with Phobos. To get married and have a baby with her incredible and wonderful god of fear.

Stef grabbed at his hip to pull him close and he winced. "Oh God. You are hurt baby. Come to the bathroom where we can get you cleaned up."

Phobos melted as she bathed him gently. Then he watched with awe as Stef concentrated and conjured gauze pads and wraps with her new powers, and set to work cleaning and dressing his wounds like a full fledged doctor. She was a natural. At the medical side as well as her demigod gifts. He knew that she could not give up either half of herself. So, he was determined to help her find a way to do both.

After she showered Phobos, Stef dressed his wounds and led him to the bed. He had so many injuries from saving her. Yet he seemed to barely notice any of them. She took off her clothes and laid down with him, curled against the mostly uninjured side. The past week was such an intense, emotional roller coaster. She hadn't really had a chance to get her feet under her. And now, with Skoll gone, her career on the mend, her powers unlocked. Things were finally starting to come together. And Phobos had been the only thing that kept her sane. Now she was engaged and pregnant. Yet, being with Phobos felt like the most natural thing in the world.

They cuddled together quietly as they both contemplated their future together. Her life had changed so much in the past week. That the things she thought were important no longer really mattered.

"You know, I have been thinking. I am really happy that the investigation is complete. I can have my name, my reputation, and my Midwife licensing back. But, medical school no longer seems important to me. I am far happier as a midwife than as a doctor. Besides, I am almost to the point of starting internships and they would take up too much of my time. I don't want to be away from you that much or do the internships while I am pregnant."

"So, you decided on being a midwife then?"

"If the Oneroi will let me be both. One of the nice things of being a midwife is that I can set my pace and schedule, except for the deliveries. Carson already asked if he could have me on call. Samia wants to hire me. Essie and I were talking and as much as she is happy to help the preternatural community, she is not ready to be the only midwife everyone turns to. And, as a demigod, I could travel to help other places if people want. Do you think that Madoc and Delphine will let me?"

Phobos smiled at her, and she melted. She couldn't believe that she was saying all of that. It is so contrary to everything she thought, everything that she had fought so hard for. She worked hard to build a career as an independent woman. And here she was, walking away from being a doctor, to be with a man. That was not true. She is walking away from being a doctor to be true to herself, as a midwife, as an Oneroi, and as an expectant mother. And, doing so with all of the strength and support of an amazing man right by her side. It was so much more than she had ever dreamed possible.

"I really hope so. You know, with your healing touch and interest in medicine, you might do best to work with the Dark Hunters. There are some Oneroi who are assigned to help the Dark Hunters heal during their dreams."

Then she thought of something. "Wait, do the Oneroi pay? I have student loans to pay back and that stupid lawyer that I hired for all of two weeks and charged me a crap load for it."

Phobos rolled toward her and brushed the now black curls out of Stef's face. "You won't ever have to worry about money again. There are perks to being a god, or demigod in your case. I will take care of your debts." Stef giggled and hugged him tight. That made him tense around the injuries.

Then there was a light knock on the door. "Are you there? Hell, are you decent?" Deimos's voice called from behind the door.

Phobos quickly covered himself with pajama pants and Stef in a dress. "Yeah, come in."

"Ash said he dropped you off here. Are you both OK?" Deimos asked. He was obviously concerned as he looked at his brothers wrapped injuries.

Phobos smirked. "It could have been worse if Stef hadn't neutered Skoll."

That definitely got Deimos's attention. "I am happy to know my brother has someone looking out for him." He said to Stef. "And about this wedding that you two keep mentioning in passing but don't bother to announce. Congratulations. And welcome to the family."

"Like you are one to talk. You married Jenna in a dream the very night that I met her. No announcements or anything."

Deimos shrugged. "Well, I was kind of imprisoned at the time."

Then Phobos took a breath. "But, I do want you to be the first to know, brother. Stef is pregnant."

Deimos broke out into all out laughter. "The man that was more terrified of babies and a baby store than I was. Now you are having one? Damn, this is going to be epic entertainment." Phobos growled at his twin.

Deimos held his hands up. "OK, OK. I will lay off of the teasing for a bit. In addition to wanting to check on you both, I also wanted to tell you that Stef has gotten her approval to join the Oneroi and officially start training on the Vanishing Isle. So, you can take her back to your room there and heal properly. And Jenna wants Stef to keep whatever she wants here. This will officially be your room together for any time either of you want to pop on down for a while. I already reset the filters to include you Stef. I will let Phobos explain the rules to it all around the house. Other than that, if you need anything, just let us know."

Stef stood up and gave Deimos a tight hug. "You still scare me. But, not as much as before." He chuckled. "But, thank you. For everything. For helping to save me. And for your support of this."

Deimos brushed Stef's hair back and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Anyone that can push all of my brothers buttons and still look at him with the love you show in your eyes, is special. You are special. Besides, for as much as Phobos has protected and taken care of Jenna when I was locked away, I seriously owe him. I am just happy to have a sister that I actually like." He grinned widely. Then he left Stef and Phobos a lone.

Stef turned to Phobos with her hands on her hips. "Just how many siblings do you have? You and Deimos make such a big deal out of Jenna and I being your sisters, but you mentioned that Alekto had other kids."

Phobos pressed his lips. "We have a few half siblings. You might meet them eventually. But, they tend to be assholes. And the fact that Deimos and I are the leaders of the Dolophoni tends to make family relationships a bit awkward. But, you already met one of our brothers."

"Seriously? Who?"

"Eros. Remember, our father is Ares." Phobos said.

Stef crawled back into bed with Phobos. "I actually kind of liked him for the brief moment that we met. But, I am in no rush to met your father. Just so you know. I don't know if I could keep my mouth shut about the horrible way he raised you."

Phobos chuckled. "So, why the sudden interest in my family?"

"Well, I need to know who to invite to our wedding. I don't have any family of my own to invite. Just Essie and Zeth, and now your family here. And I don't want to insult a bunch of gods by not inviting them."

A smirk pulled up on the right side of Phobos's lips. "On Olympus, a wedding is a rather private thing, just vows spoken between two people. Nothing more. So, don't feel pressured to turn this into something you don't want. It could be as big or as small as you want, you won't offend anyone in my family if they are not invited. Hell, you can invite all of the Vanishing Isle if that is your choice. I just want you to be happy and comfortable."

Stef kissed her fabulously wonderful god. What did she ever do to deserve him?

Phobos then flashed Stef to his room on the Vanishing Isle. He healed a lot faster once he was there. It did not take long before he stripped off all of their clothes and they spent the rest of the night reveling in each others bodies and love. The Oneroi could wait a little longer.

One week later, Stef was nervously fidgeting with her hair. She really couldn't decide what color to keep it. She had become so used to coloring her hair after she got off of the streets, it was an attempt to hide from who she had been, change who she saw herself as. And then, knowing that Kol liked her black hair made it even more disturbing for her. But, on the Vanishing Isle, she felt so uncomfortable with her burgundy hair.

Phobos liked them both, but was a little partial to the burgandy. So, screw it. Stef was only getting married once. So, she was going to feel comfortable and look pretty for her man. Burgundy it is.

Then, she changed her hair color back to the dark red color. Having powers made things so much more fun.

Zeth walked up behind her as she finished with her hair. "You look beautiful honey."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. I am sorry that my mother was not the woman you thought she was. She wasn't worth your suffering."

Zeth looked down at his daughter. "Don't ever apologize for your mother. If it wasn't for her, I would have become a father. And you are definitely worth whatever pain I faced back then. I am proud of you."

True to her word, Stef opted for a strapless black lace cocktail dress. Anything but a traditional white gown. She wore 3 inch stiletto heeled peep-toe shoes. And her hair was pulled back into a low messy bun with soft tendrils left to fall at the edges of her face.

Stef took Zeth's arm as he walked her down the stairs and out to the back courtyard of Jenna's house. The courtyard had been decorated with tons of red and white roses and swags of red and white tulling hung along the tops of the walls. It was like something out of a magazine.

But, the most breath taking sight was Phobos, standing in the center. He wore a tux. A real, Armani tuxedo! Damn did he clean up well. His hair was solid brown, and trimmed. His face freshly shaven. But, the look in his eyes melted Stef's heart as he watched her through the glass windows.

She decided to keep things small. The only guests were Essie, Zeth, Delphine, Jericho, Madoc, Eros, Psyche, Deimos and Jenna. Stef had to draw a line. Because as much as she appreciated everyone's help in protecting her and she was looking forward to continuing to get to know them all as family, she just couldn't invite some and not all. And then it would just be too much. So, the Oneroi were there as her family. With Eros, Deimos and their spouses to represent Phobos's family. And Essie was completely non-negotiable.

Phobos couldn't take his eyes off of Stef as she walked toward the courtyard and out to stand in front of him. She was absolutely radiant. He heard that it was normal to be nervous. Yet, he knew that deep down, he was already married to Stephanie. He committed himself to her the moment he realized that she trusted him enough to unlock her powers just to save him. She no longer feared him. She loved him. There was no better feeling in the world.

He looked down into her pale blue eyes and played gently with one of the escaped curls that hung close to her neck. Her heart raced and her skin twitched as the feel of his fingers sent a shiver through her. Damn, the way she reacts to him was intoxicating. Phobos was so inthralled that he had forgotten that people were there or that they were supposed to say anything. At least until Deimos elbowed him in the back.

"Stephanie, I don't actually know what to say. I don't know how to put my thoughts and feelings into words at this moment. You…" Phobos took a breath. "You have managed to get under my skin in ways that I never thought were possible. You challenge me, and push me. You sooth me and frustrate me. And, I love every minute of it. I just hope that I am as good of a husband to you as you have become a wife to me. I love you with every drop of my soul. I promise to honor you, protect you, and try to prove my love to you every day. Though, I still plan to push your buttons, every chance that I get."

Stef laughed at him. Her eyes were bright. "That is OK my love. Because someone…" She nudged her head toward his brothers. "...gave me a set of handcuffs made by Hephaestus, just incase I need a few minutes to dish out some tender revenge." Phobos grinned wickedly.

Then Stef reached up to cup his face as she continued. "You have shown me the difference between being desired and being used. You have shown me that a man can really desire a woman for her mind, her heart, and her body all at the same time. You have made me feel like I am beautiful and valued. You opened my eyes to a life that I had never dreamed existed. Yet you were always by my side, my rock, to make sure that I did not fall apart. You gave me the strength to face a past that threatened to utterly destroy me and a reason to fight back. Then you fought with me. You fought for me. I can never express just how much you mean to me. I promise to try to show you how much I love you, every day. I promise to honor you and trust you. Always."

Phobos lowered his head to capture her lips and everyone clapped with their words of congratulations. Then music started to play around them. It was Frank Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin." Absolutely perfect.

Phobos pulled Stef into his arms and started to dance with her around the courtyard while he sang the words to the song. Other couples joined in with the dancing as well. Even Madoc asked Essie if she would like to dance.

"Boy, I look old enough to be your mother." She replied.

"Well, it is a good thing that it's just family here who know that I am really over a hundred times older than you." Madoc offered his hand and Essie took him up on the dance.

Stef chuckled at them, then pulled in closer to Phobos. He was an amazing dancer and his voice sent shivers down her spine. After the song, more music played. But, Phobos had other ideas as he scooped Stef up into his arms and flashed her straight into bed without any clothing. Shields up to contain their sounds.

"That has to be one of my favorite tricks." Stef giggled.

Phobos's eyes looked feral. "Well you know the wedding is not complete without the consummation."