Author's Note: If I keep worrying about this, this story will never proceed…so I'm posting. This is where I drift from reality, so please be gentle. I thought Santa Monica would be more developed. I think I had the Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman show in mind when I pictured this adventure, but that was a good 50 years ahead of Zorro. Thanks to Marla for the beta, even though I did make a few changes so all mistakes are mine. She still gives great ideas. Thanks to the Zorro community for being so great.

Victoria also starts taking some control back, though she's still floundering. Remember this is the day after Diego proposes.

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Victoria glanced at the sunlight on the beach and wondered what time it was. Was it even a full day since she'd gone looking for Diego at The Guardian? She remembered feeling sad he wasn't in his office, so she knew she had feelings for him before yesterday. She tried to determine if her feelings were changing. He'd changed. She'd told herself he would never change, accepted that when she accepted his proposal, but he had. He said she brought out the best in him. Maybe she'd given him some confidence he'd lacked when faced with competition he thought he couldn't beat.

How much time had she wasted on Zorro? And she was still wasting it, because he kept popping into her head. She needed to be more careful-Rebecca said Diego was sensitive. He must have thought she was thinking of Zorro earlier, and he'd shaved his mustache in jealous anger. She touched her fingertips to her lips, nerves making her jump when Diego walked up behind her and took her arm.

She smiled at him, determined not to let him see. He shouldn't be bothered with her troubles. He'd taken her troubles away when he'd married her. She deserved his anger if she kept making him doubt her. If she paid more attention, he'd be the gentle and sensitive Diego she knew. She wrapped her other hand around his arm as they started walking down the street.

Not that he'd hurt her. His kiss had been punishing, angry…a battle instead of the delicate dance he'd shown her last night. She'd been thinking of Diego, not Zorro. She'd only been confused. According to Rebecca, she should have told him what she was feeling. How did one speak about such things, though? Husband, may I touch your chest? But don't touch me, please. That wasn't fair. He said she didn't have to be afraid of him, but he was her husband. He had been patient. He slept on the couch last night, and not because he'd been drinking. She'd gotten quite close to him…he didn't smell of liquor at all. He was the best man she knew, but she was still pushing him away.

When she pushed him away, she didn't like his kiss as much.

She clutched his arm tighter, determined to be better today. She was allowed one mistake. Victoria wouldn't make another. It wasn't so bad. He was tall and strong walking beside her, nodding politely to the few people they passed. There were a great many people here. Her fingers pressed into his arm, and she smiled at him when he covered her hand with his. She didn't know anyone here. In Los Angeles, she knew everyone. Neighbors helped each other. Maybe she didn't want to see the world.

She glanced in a window and saw a baby doll, dressed in a beautiful red gown. Diego stopped when she hesitated, and her eyes widened as she looked at all the toys. He tugged at her arm, and nudged her inside the store. He kept hold of her hand as her eyes took in more games and toys than a child could ever play with. Her children wouldn't have to work, they could play and study. Diego smiled as he picked up a small block of wood and set it down, and she wondered what he was thinking. He noticed her staring and grinned sheepishly.

Diego looked over her shoulder and pulled her into the corner with half a dozen dolls, the huge one in the window still catching her eye. They both stared dumbly at it for several moments, then Victoria jumped as a short woman put her hand on her shoulder. "She is beautiful, isn't she?"

Victoria blushed, but didn't know why when she met her husband's eyes. The old shopkeeper bent to pick up the doll and held it as she would a real baby. Victoria nodded, then found herself holding a cloth baby doll. She'd had a doll when she was a child, but not so big, not so soft. And not dressed in such finery. The woman adjusted Victoria's hold so she was holding the doll properly.

"I call her Sophia, she's been here a long time," the old woman said. "Your daughter could name her whatever she liked."

Victoria glanced at Diego before shaking her head at the woman. "I don't have a daughter."

She turned to Diego when he tried to speak but had to clear his throat first. "We will." Diego reached a hand out and fingered the doll's golden hair, then stretched up to tug at Victoria's. "She wouldn't have blonde hair, though. Her hair would be black as night, softer than silk." He touched the ribbon Victoria had put in her hair. "You could put ribbons in her hair, and name her whatever you liked."

Victoria felt her face heat up, and she glanced back at the doll in her arms. "Marion." She handed the toy back to the shopkeeper and forced her eyes back to her husband's. "I hoped to name my daughter Marion."

Diego smiled, and felt warmth bloom in his chest when she took his hand and let him wrap his arms around her. "So let's buy our first toy for little Marion."

Victoria turned wide eyes up to Diego after the shopkeeper eagerly left them alone to wrap their purchase. "Diego, she must cost a fortune. I don't even have a baby yet."

Diego hugged her to him, his fingers rubbing up and down her back. "We will."

Victoria fingered his tie as she stared at his chest. "Diego, did you…"

Diego squeezed her waist and encouraged her to continue. Victoria glanced around at the toys before returning to her examination of his shirt. "Did you go away to school? Before university I mean?"

Diego shrugged one shoulder. "For a while, yes."

Victoria nodded, then wrapped her arms around his waist. Diego felt the mood shift, though he wasn't sure how. He pushed her away and took her shoulders, worried at her frown. "What made you ask that?"

Victoria shrugged, and Diego put a finger under her chin to lift her gaze. He stepped forward again, preferring to hold her, but didn't let her hide this time. "Victoria, look at me." She took a fortifying breath before meeting his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Victoria shrugged her shoulder again. "I didn't think before. It makes sense that a parent would want to send their child to the best school."

"You don't want to send our child to boarding school, do you?"

Victoria's eyes widened. "I thought…"

"No." Diego's fingers clenched at her waist and he pulled her closer. "And they'll be your children, too. We'll raise them together. They'll be like us. Beautiful like you. Maybe tall like me. Rosy cheeks and a short temper…" Diego smiled as he stroked her cheek and neck. "Maybe I'll have to lock our daughter away. If she's like you, she'll be able to tempt a saint."

Victoria smiled and put a hand to his smooth cheek, ran a finger over his smooth lip. Maybe he would listen if she talked to him. That hadn't been so hard, had it? And Diego cared what she thought, what she wanted for his children. Their children.

He kissed her thumb when it came near, and her toes tingled. How odd was that? He made her feel beautiful. Was this what it was like to feel loved? Maybe she loved him? His fingers ghosted over her neck as he pushed her hair off her shoulder and she shivered.

Vulnerable? She didn't look at Diego's disappointment as she took his hand and stepped out of his arms. She watched as he pulled out some coins in trade for the doll.

She folded her arms across her chest, feeling out of place again. Diego made her feel like a queen, but she had to be her own person, didn't she? She couldn't rely on others. She'd had to make her own way in the world, carve out her own space, and fight for what she wanted. Just as her parents had. This morning she hadn't even eaten her breakfast by herself, much less cooked it. She was about to wear pants because he wanted her to. She'd married him and left her home because he wanted her to.

She followed him out into the street, and felt her stomach sink because his face had been so happy a second ago. Her fingers clenched on her arms because she wanted to reach out and comfort him. She glanced down at her white fingertips, at the gold which adorned her finger. She released her grip on her arms, disgusted with herself.

She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist because she wanted to. She liked that he cooked breakfast with her. It was romantic how they'd fed each other this morning. He wanted her to wear pants because he said a skirt would be difficult for her. He wasn't trying to change her, he was giving her new opportunities. Instead of giving her child an old doll which had been mended many times, Victoria could give her a new one.

Her heart did a little flip now when his arm came up to wrap around her back as they walked. She had to stop worrying. Alicia and Rebecca both told her to talk to her husband. She only made things worse when she let her fears get the better of her. She'd never been the type to be afraid of a challenge, why was she letting her fears run her life now?

The old woman from the shop put a hand on Victoria's shoulder to stop her in the street. The woman pressed a tiny white hat into Victoria's hand and kissed her cheek before returning to the store. Victoria glanced up at Diego in confusion.

"The doll already has a bonnet."

Diego smiled. "I think she meant it for our real baby, when we have one." He wrapped his arm back around her and continued down the street. "And she's happy she made a sale. I'm sure you bewitched her as you did me."

"It really was too expensive. We didn't need a doll." But she'd have to get used to her husband spending money on her. Diego wasn't a wasteful person. He often got upset with his father, who liked to gamble. Diego wanted her to keep his books, but she wouldn't be earning any money. How would she know what to buy? How much to spend?

She sighed. More worries. She hugged him tighter, trying to let his solid presence soothe her fears. She had made the tavern a success. She knew about business, was confident in running her tavern. Keeping up with the books for Diego's household couldn't be harder. She'd be fine.

She felt Diego shrug, since she was still tucked against him. "The doll has probably been there for a long time. We helped her. You can't stay in business if you never sell anything."

Victoria glanced up at her husband, feeling lighter. "So you bought it for her, not me?"

Diego chuckled. "I wouldn't say that."

She looked down at the package he carried and stopped, turning back to look at the store. He said they were partners. That she could buy whatever she wanted. Would he really let her spend his money?

She took a few steps backwards toward the store, smiling nervously at him until he followed. She took his hand, and now Victoria led Diego into the store. He wrapped his arm around her stomach when she stopped, and she moved slowly so they could move as one. It was nice being this close to him. She'd been alone for a long time, but this wasn't so bad. She glanced at the more functional items for sale in the store and smiled at the old woman, who watched her with a friendly grin. Today wasn't a day for normal shopping, though, and she turned back to the toys.

She glanced at the blocks Diego had toyed with, but that wasn't smart enough. She found a little hunter, his gun aimed above an empty canister. This might be a boy's toy…but what was the point of it? She glanced up at Diego in confusion. He held her still when she tried to move on.

She watched him fiddle with it, then smiled as she saw little paper birds start to fly. That was nice. She jumped and clutched his hand when a crack sounded as the muzzle fired and the birds fell limp. It was a real gun! She backed away, but Diego still caged her in.

"It's fun!" Diego grinned behind her. "It's electricity."

"It's horrible."

Diego wrapped his other arm around her waist and frowned. "Why?" Diego had two. He'd have to remember to hide them.

"He killed the birds."

Diego leaned to the side so he could see if she was serious.

"Yes, I kill birds," Victoria protested, "for food. But I wanted a toy for a little boy."

Diego grinned. "Really?" Diego kissed her below her ear and she shivered.

Victoria hoped she stopped blushing one day soon.

He kissed her cheek and shuffled her to the side a bit. "How about this?"

Victoria could see the spark of electricity in the house this time, and didn't jump at the small pop. It was much better than making a gun appear to fire. "These are toys? I've never seen anything like them."

"Luis and I made them."

Victoria leaned to the side to look up at him as he did his thing to make it spark again. "Luis knows about electricity, too?"

Diego shrugged and shook his head. "Not so much. But he can make anything. He can be quite inventive."

"So you want to buy something you and Luis made and sold to begin with?"

Diego stood and glanced around the store. "Not really." He glanced at the blocks again. "A baby is just a baby."

Victoria noticed his attention drawn to the blocks again, so she walked over to them. "Maybe," Victoria stacked two blocks together with a blush before she continued, "he'll like building things like his father."

Diego grinned, his eyes lighting up as his hands found their way to her waist again. He gently pressed his lips to her forehead and played with her hair. Now why did that give her shivers?

"I haven't thought much about being a father. I didn't want to get married when I left Spain. Then I met you. I still didn't think I'd be getting married for a long time. To imagine children… I love you. We'll make mistakes, we might even fight. But…"

Victoria stood up on her toes to press her lips to his, and didn't pull away as Diego's hand came up to cradle her cheek as he deepened the kiss. Victoria knew she was flushed, but Diego didn't seem to mind. "But we'll be happy," she finished for him. And she'd be happy, with her best friend.

Her eyes caught on more bright colors, this time hanging on the wall above Diego's shoulder. "What's that?"

Diego turned and reached up to pull the kite off the wall and gave it to her. "It's a kite. It flies."

Victoria raised an eyebrow, but she believed him. "Let me guess, you can make one of these, too?"

Diego shrugged. "Maybe."

Victoria shook her head with a smile. "Will you show me how it works?"

"Of course."

"Then we can show our son. Maybe he'll be smarter than you, and he'll fly away."

Diego chuckled. "Actually Luis has been working on that for years." Diego paid for the kite and took her hand as they left the store once again. "So we have toys for our future children. Now let's get something to wear so we can go play." Victoria giggled as she was dragged away.

Zzz

Author's Note 2++++: oh such a long author's note lol

I thought it'd be sweet if they made their first purchases as a couple for their future children. They probably didn't use boarding schools back then, and Victoria probably knew what a kite was. Dolls back then were still not the dolls we know, but I didn't know that at the time and couldn't let go of this idea. I hope you liked it anyway. Google electrostatic hunter and you can find the hunter and probably the house. I think those toys are fascinating, but I'm not quite sure how you would set them off back then. I did try to figure it out. It's not like they teach us fun stuff in physics class. If you know, tell me cause there's more science in Monterey. I'd like to try some of the things I learned about electrostatic electricity.

If you haven't heard, Amazon has bought a few worlds to publish Fanfiction. Thankfully, not Zorro. Hopefully never Zorro! I'm not sold on the idea of profiting from fanfiction, but I would purchase an audio book read by the cast (if I had money). It is an interesting concept, and it is exciting to think of one of my fics eventually being published with official Zorro artwork on the cover. Also profit and interest in Zorro might encourage ZPI to do more.

We have someone from the show in our group now, and he is trying to work with ZPI to get something published, possibly with a cast recording. I'm new to the scene, but I wish everyone the best. Some authors have been writing for over ten years, and deserve to see their name in print or on an audiobook. It would reach into libraries and pull more interest for Zorro, which is always great‼ Hope everyone had a fun holiday weekend in the US, and everyone across the world is having a great day today.

As always, let me know what you think of the chapter in a review or message.