Faith didn't know what else to say. She had told her whole story that should have repulsed him and yet he didn't leave or berate her. He embraced her and their child. That was the first time she had been able to think of it as their child. She had thought it hers and when she thought more she often considered it his but never had it entered her mind that it was theirs. It seemed strange that the first thing they truly shared would be a child but if that's how things were to be, she knew what a precious gift it was to bring a life into the world.

Not only did he embrace her, he called her amazing. She hadn't thought a thing about that really. She had only wanted to get her—no, their—baby away from Aaron before he could harm it. Nothing else mattered to her but now that she thought about it, she had been pretty amazing. Jimmy had returned his head to resting on her belly and the baby was making small moves with its arms within her. It was perfect. She knew of course that things being perfect only meant something terrible was bound to happen but she would take the perfection for the time being. She was vaguely aware that Jimmy was speaking again.

"What did you say?"

"I said," he repeated without a hint of annoyance, "I have no idea what I'm doing. You might need to coach me on this baby stuff. I feel like I should do something but I don't know what except hold onto you and keep the two of you safe."

Faith smiled and ran her hand through his long hair.

"That's enough," she said, "It's really all I can ask. Maybe you should talk to one of your friends. You said Buck and his wife were expecting and doesn't your friend Kid have a couple little ones?"

"Yeah," he answered with a smile, "They're pretty great kids too. I didn't even get to tell you, they named the boy after me. James. They call him Jamie though. And little Mary got over being scared of me and sometimes I can even rock her to get her down for her nap."

"Sounds like you actually have a running start on the whole fatherhood business."

"I never gave kids much thought before," he said, "Never even met my nephew, Celinda's son, I mean. Jamie calls me Uncle Jimmy. Still don't think I even considered being a father to anyone until yesterday. It's a little scary, I have to say."

"I think you'll do just fine," she said smiling, then something occurred to her and she was in just a brave enough place to say it out loud. "Do you know what you haven't done since I have been here?"

"What is that?"

"Kiss me," she replied simply, "I mean you've kissed my head and my belly and there was that little peck when I got up this morning but you haven't given me one real kiss this whole time. I know I probably made it difficult at first but no-"

Her words were cut off by his lips on hers and he immediately took advantage of the fact that having interrupted her talking, her mouth was open allowing his tongue access. His hands held her face in a gentle caress and she sighed a half-whimpering noise.

A need for air caused them to finally part and Jimmy just sat smiling at her.

"If I ever forget to do that again you be sure to remind me, okay?" she nodded still breathless, "Forget the territory, Faith, those must be the sweetest lips in the whole country."

Faith giggled and then covered her mouth as if embarrassed. Jimmy took her hand and pulled it away.

"Smile, Faith," he said, "Laugh too. I don't guess you've had much cause in quite a while and if I can make you want to again then maybe I'll know I'm doing something right."

She smiled wider and then leaned to him and kissed him pulling back after a few seconds as if shocked with herself.

"Don't be shy about doing that either," he told her stroking her face, "You can do that pretty much any time you want. Do I need to tell you you're beautiful again? It's been a few hours. Maybe I need to tell you too that you're the most incredible woman I have ever met. I think I haven't said that near enough. Maybe I should tell you I think you're going to be the best mother that there ever was. Wait, scratch that, I know you are. I don't think I had mentioned that at all before now."

"Jimmy, you don't have to say these things."

"I do, actually," he pointed out, "You don't see 'em anymore for yourself so someone has to tell you these things and I just don't think I can trust anyone else with the job."

Faith considered his words. She wasn't sure if she'd ever stop waiting for the other shoe to drop but for now she felt good and safe with him. Perhaps coming here was really the right thing after all. She smiled at him and then stifled a yawn.

"You need some more rest," Jimmy said and internally cursed himself for pointing out something so obvious. "Let's get you back to bed and maybe while you rest I can run into town for a few things."

Faith's eyes got wide. As much as she feared that he had the same potential to turn on her as Aaron had, he was still all she had to protect her.

"No, please," she whispered, "Don't leave me alone."

"You're safe here," he assured her, "Unless there's something you're not telling me."

"He warned if I ever left that he'd hunt me down," she told him, "He'll do it too. He's crazy."

The fear he saw in Faith's eyes seized Jimmy as well. He now understood why she looked like a rabbit running from a wolf. He could not leave her or his child vulnerable to this man.

"I'll stay," he said, "There's nothing I need in town that urgent anyway, nothing that can't wait a day or two until you feel up to coming with me. I guess I'll just get started cleaning out the other bedroom for now. Little one might not need it at first but eventually he or she will and I might's well get working on it. Been meaning to anyway and I guess now I have a reason."

Faith's grateful smile melted into tears, "I'm sorry. I'm such a bother."

Jimmy pulled her to him and just held her swaying back and forth until her tears subsided. He was starting to become amazed at how many tears one person could cry. Of course she had been dealt some very harsh things and probably had held the tears in for months. He didn't mind as much though. Sure he wished she could just come to him and be happy but if she had to cry, if she needed that, then he'd hold her and let her cry forever as long as it was his arms she was seeking for comfort. They stood there like that for a while until Jimmy felt something shift against his stomach and looked down at the bump and then back up at Faith amused. She just started to laugh.

"You weren't giving someone enough attention," she said still giggling a little.

"I guess Little One is just going to have to get used to sharing me with its beautiful mama."

Faith just rested her head against his chest. It felt so good right there and she never wanted to leave but soon she found Jimmy ushering her to the bedroom so she could take a nap. He tucked her in and leaned to kiss her forehead but thought better of it and pressed his lips to hers. Then he smiled at her.

"I don't think you're going to be able to get me to stop kissing you now," he said.

She looped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him back to her.

"I don't want you to stop," she replied, "Kiss me again."

He did, more deeply this time and he could feel her fingers working into his hair as he became aware that he was not kissing her so much as she was kissing him. He could scarcely comprehend the things he was feeling right then. She felt so good in his arms and her mouth tasted so good and sweet. He was still trying to hold back. He knew that she had been made to do things against her will and that Aaron used things that had been sacred to them as weapons against her to gain power. He didn't want her to think he was going to be like that. But she was pulling him tighter to her and moaning into his mouth and just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, she pulled back. A sad smile crossed her face as her fingers lightly traced around his eyes and down his cheeks. After travelling along his jaw, they moved to his lips and he kissed them.

"You are such a handsome man," she said softly, reverently, "I think I had forgotten how good looking you are."

She kissed him lightly and then looked at him once more. It was making Jimmy a little uncomfortable but then her touch was so tender.

"You look so very tired," she told him, "You couldn't have gotten much sleep. Please get some rest with me. That room can wait."

Jimmy wasn't sure how much rest he'd get. She had dropped her blouse and skirt before climbing into bed so she would be more comfortable for sleeping and he was already developing a problem that needed his attention just from their kisses and laying next to her in her underpinnings wasn't going to help that problem go away. Especially if she had anymore kissing planned. But she was right, he was horribly tired. He had been awake so much of the night worrying for her and his body was crying for rest as much if not more than it was crying out for her.

He started to crawl into the bed but she stopped him.

"You'll be more comfortable if you undress," she said and she started undoing his belt. He stayed her hands and tried to look away.

"I've seen that before, Jimmy," she told him, "I never thought you'd be ashamed of it. It's the last thing you should be embarrassed about."

"But, he-"

"He became someone else and he doesn't have what God graced you with."

"Faith!" he said shocked at her words.

"Get undressed and come to bed," she instructed. He did as he was told. Perhaps once she was asleep he could sneak out and take care of his problem and then come back for some sleep himself.

He laid himself down next to her and she curled herself around him resting her head on his shoulder. Her breath was hot on his neck which did nothing to help his predicament. Then she started speaking.

"Tell me you love me," she said in a voice that was pleading and desperate.

"Faith, you know I do."

"I need you to say it."

"I love you Faith. I love you like I've never loved anyone," he told her honestly, "I love you and I know I always will love you."

"Tell me you want me."

"What?" he asked unsure of how this was happening.

"Tell me you want me," she said again reaching inside his long johns and grabbing a hold of the only proof she really needed. "I know you do but I want to hear it."

"I want you," he panted as her hand stroked him. He wondered if this was some sort of test and if it was if he was passing or failing but he couldn't lie in the situation he was in. He was worried that she would be frightened of his desire. But it wasn't like he could hide what he was feeling or that he wanted her, wanted to make love to her. After what she'd been through he wasn't sure when or if she would ever be alright to do that again and then with the baby, he was even more concerned but the truth was all he had. "I want you so bad."

Faith saw the fear in him and understood. She knew at least in that moment he would be gentle with her. It made her next move easier. Her hand left his erection and found his hand. She brought it between her legs. Jimmy could feel the wetness there.

"This is what you do to me," she whispered to him, "This is what you've always done to me. I need you to touch me."

He wanted to keep touching her. She felt so good and soft beneath his fingers and he ached for her all the more when she moaned and pressed against him.

"Don't you remember how we loved?" she asked him, "It was so tender. Tell me what you want right now."

Jimmy threw doubts aside and slid a finger inside her before growling softly, "I want to kiss every inch of your body. I want to make you feel so good you cry out my name and then I want to be inside you. I want your soft heat around me."

"God yes," she said hurrying as much as she could to rid herself of her undergarments which was a task Jimmy was more than willing to help her with. Once she was unclothed, he kissed her deeply allowing his hands to roam her body, gently over her breasts and following the soft curves of her hips. Her hands busied themselves with getting his underclothes off.

"Please," she said when his kisses moved to her neck, "I need to feel your skin on mine."

He shrugged out of everything that had kept their bodies from coming together and she sighed at the relief. Aaron never held her, never kissed her. He used her for his needs and as far as he was concerned she had no needs of her own. He would press her face to a wall or bend her over a table or have her on her hands and knees. He said he could not look at her face. The only time he wanted her to face him was when he wanted her mouth on him and that was almost a more violent affair than any other way he had her. Now she could feel appreciative and tender hands caressing her body and Jimmy's warm mouth working his way slowly to her breasts. She could feel his need and want pressing into her side but it was clear he was going to make sure he devoted plenty of time to her before he indulged that need.

Jimmy thought of every need he'd stifled or worked out on his own over the past six months and could not believe that now he had her back in his bed, next to him. He could trace her body which was different but then it only meant he had something new to learn. Running his hands over her breasts and hearing her moan beneath him nearly put him over the edge especially as her hip rocked against his hardening erection. He found he had to pull his own hips away from her. Then she stopped his hands with hers.

"Lie back," she said and he did and then felt her hand wrap lightly around him stroking gently.

"Faith, I can hold out," he said but she whispered in his ear.

"You never had any trouble going twice before," she reminded him, "It's been a long time and we'll both enjoy this more if you let me do this."

He had no more argument. Although he had kept his hand pretty busy, he had not been with a woman since he left Faith. She slid down his body and before Jimmy could register fully what was going on, her lips were around the base of his manhood which was encased in the heat of her mouth. She bobbed her head and it was not long at all before he came. It felt like an explosion to him. He looked down his body to see her smiling at him. Then she climbed back to where she had been laying and looked at him.

"Now where were we?"

"I think I was right about here," Jimmy grinned as he lowered his mouth to one of her breasts.

Faith was about to warn him how sensitive and sore they had been of late but his mouth was so tender upon her and it felt so good she found she didn't need to say a word. His lips and tongue continued their journey over her body finally settling between her legs. There had been times over those long months when she was alone long enough to touch herself but there had been no real pleasure for her in all this time. The anticipation was nearly enough to drive her mad.

His hand was on her before his mouth, spreading her folds and rubbing lightly against the center of her own need. Her hips bucked upward as she let out an animalistic groan. She could hear Jimmy chuckle softly, felt his breath hot on her wetness and then felt his tongue circling the hardened nub, drawing it into his mouth and then releasing it to flick it again with his tongue. His fingers found her opening and slid inside. Faith's eyes rolled back in her head as her back arched.

Jimmy could feel her thighs start to quiver at either side of his head. His fingers worked in and out of her while his mouth kept working on those nerves that would take her over the edge. He felt her stiffen against him and then cry out his name. He pulled his head away and kissed the inside of her thigh. He could see her shuddering and that her legs were shaking. Seeing her pleasure made him harden again but this was where he was at a loss. He straightened up on his knees and looked at her as she came back to earth.

"Faith, I want to be in you so badly and I think you want that too, though you know if you don't, I won't but I don't, I mean, I don't want to hurt you or the baby and I, uh," he stammered.

She rolled and got onto her hands and knees, spreading her legs as much as she could.

"I won't, uh, poke the baby, will I?" he asked.

"No, you will not poke the baby," she said but her annoyance was drowned out by how touched she was that he even cared.

Jimmy positioned himself and slowly entered her. It was softer and warmer than he remembered. He could feel her press back against him and he began a slow but steady rhythm in and out of her. At first he still worried that somehow he was going to hurt the baby but then the sensation of being inside her took over and he sped up his thrusts. One of his hands that had been resting on her hip slid around to reach the place she needed to be touched. When he found it, she started a rhythm of her own meeting his every thrust until she cried out his name once more. That was all it took for him to find his second release.

Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her over to rest in the contours of his body as he landed on his side. He was too out of breath to say anything and so was she. So he smoothed her hair and kissed her behind her ear before pulling the blankets back over them and falling asleep holding tight to her. As he slept, his hand rubbed over her belly lovingly and soon Faith was asleep too with a smile on her face and knowing she was safe and loved for the first time in what seemed like forever.

I was a little unsure of this chapter because in all my fanfic reading I don't think I have ever read third trimester pregnant sex...but it happens in the world and these two needed a little loving if two people ever did.

On another note, I have seen some new readers and reviewers out there, not only to this story but also to the other stories and I just want to say how exciting it is to see new names here and it really is the more the merrier. Hurray! Welcome and please don't be shy!-J