Thunderstorms

by Romantic Nerd

Thunderstorms come sweeping though one's life from time to time. William and Julia must cope with a series of crises that threaten everything. They will need to solve multiple crimes and save their own necks under highly stressful situations. Fortunately they are incredibly strong when they work together.

17. Chapter 17

Thunderstorms – Continued

Chapter 16: Sunday, August 17, 1913

The Toronto Gazette placed the story above the fold, right next to the major one for the day, which was ominously titled, "Balkan Wars Intensify, Threatening World War." The headline read, "Toronto's Favorite Couple Leads Plan to Thwart Prison Escape." The accompanying photo was the only one on the front page. It showed her employers, Detective Murdoch and Dr. Ogden, next to a ripped and battered hot-air balloon. Eloise smiled at the picture, seeing the love they had for each other in their eyes, feeling her heart warm knowing they were finally well, that the whirlwind of their lives had finally calmed down. Most Sunday mornings she did not work, but today she wanted to be there, to see the family happy and together again. It was early; she wanted to have breakfast ready before the detective headed off to Church. She planned to surprise him, like she had done when his wife had been abducted, and she was being accused of having an abortion, thus facing the gallows if she was found. That was just a few days ago, but, now, she wanted to surprise him with a mood of celebration rather than consolation. To welcome the doctor home, she was planning on making her mistress' favorite breakfast – French toast. Oh, how she looked forward to having the little ones around again. She was truly surprised at how much she had come to think of them all as family, and she surely had missed them.

Having slept through the night, like logs, William and Julia each were far off in dreamland when the soft, golden dawn kissed the room. A light breeze fluttered the curtains. A gigantic smile covered William's face as he enjoyed his dream. It centered, of course, on Julia, starting more as a memory, but then morphing, as dreams will do.

They sat at the kitchen table, talking about being kicked out of the Club. He had expressed his concern about, as Isabel Webster would say, "ruining" her life. When she stood and prepared to sit on his lap, suddenly she was wearing the ripped and torn, blue dress that she had worn while they hid in the trees and threw rocks at their stalkers. The dress was even skimpier than it had been in real-life. There was a tear over one of her shoulders, allowing for some of her soft, tender skin to be exposed. Her legs were naked under the short skirt, enticingly long, and luscious. She paused before taking her seat, enjoying his reaction to the sight of her. "Do you like it husband?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and wiggling them at him. William found he was so aroused it was hard to speak; he just nodded and swallowed, prompting her to giggle. "Good," she said. "Now, about the Club …"

All of a sudden, they were in the coat room at the Club. The chatter of people dining in the restaurant, with the clinks of silverware and glasses, filtered into the little room, somewhat muffled by the abundant, puffy coats. Julia had backed him, through a rack of hanging coats, into a wall. Aggressively, she worked to remove his clothing. She seemed to be in a rush. His mind swam around and around, and he was struggling to breathe, striving to gain some control over the situation. "This is a public place," he thought, "Anyone could come to collect their coat – at any moment!" His mind pushed for him to tell her to stop, but, OH, his body felt hurled and flung towards grabbing ahold of her with all his might and having his way with her.

She had advanced quite far in undressing him; his tie was – who knows where, his vest and shirt were completely unbuttoned, she was now tugging at the shirt tails, toiling to untuck them and free the shirt from his trousers. "Julia," he said, finally mastering his voice enough to make a sound, "We can't."

"Oh, but detective," she whispered seductively in his ear, "What better way to ruin me than to make wild, passionate love to me in the very place that evicted us for my transgressions." He couldn't think, his head spun so. He felt weak – helpless, as she slid his shirt, vest, and suspenders over his shoulders, and his naked skin felt the air. She took his neck in her mouth, sucking hard against his salty skin, marking him as taken, as he heard his clothing reach the floor. Her fingers grabbed and kneaded the muscles across his chest. He let go a moan. "Shh, detective," she released his neck to warn. "Oh my God," he thought as his knees grew weak. Julia stepped back a little, leaving enough space between them to demandingly stroke and scratch his chest. "You will need to do the ruining quietly, hmm?" she asked with a whisper, her lips taking his in a kiss, denying him the chance to answer. So quickly and fervently, her velvety tongue breached his lips, dove deeply into him, as she twisted and pressed into him firmly, squashing and dragging his lips and the tip of his nose along as she moved.

Pushed to the edge, he did not think it possible to tolerate anymore, but then he felt her fingers pinch at the top button on his trousers … He began to spiral out of control. Hot, lustful air surged out of his nostrils, announcing his desire for her. His hands gave in to the urge to explore, moved from their rigid post on her hips, to hurriedly conquer every curve of her body. Oh, how his world swirled and melted when she moaned in response. As she worked to undo the third button on his trousers, her knuckles bumped against his burgeoning lust, teasing him deliciously at the focus of his passion, through the cloth. Urgently, his hands dropped to capture her buttocks. Her torn skirt was so short that, as he slid his hands across her rounded flesh, the tips of his fingers encountered bare skin. Defenseless and unguarded, Julia wore absolutely nothing under her skirt. He dropped deeper towards the abyss, and lost his breath with the discovery. "She's right there!" he thought.

He broke off the kiss, found her ear. "Julia," his husky, hungry voice seeped into the hushed air.

"Please ruin me William," she whispered, "Hurry, before someone comes."

His self-control exploded. His dizzying mind was lost. Roughly seizing her in his arms; he spun to switch their positions. Rapidly, he pounded her against the wall, evoking a gasp along with the "thud." She lifted a leg up, wrapping it around him; he could feel her sensuous, firm calf muscle press into his haunches, pull him closer. He reached down, each hand traveling across the delicious skin of her backside, one hand taking a demanding hold of a cheek, the other slipping his fingers between her folds. "You are so delicious," he whispered upon feeling his fingers glide deeper into her warm, slippery, tight resistance. "Oh my God she feels good," the thought raced and swirled away in his brain.

"Take me now William. Ruin me, deep and hard … ruin me thoroughly, completely…" her weak voice pleaded as he felt her hot and humid breath flood into his ear and drip down over his neck.

"Shh," he whispered.

Just outside the opened door of the coatroom, they heard a woman speaking to her husband as they passed by. William pushed in deeper between the coats. The air was muggy, hot. Their breath and rapidly beating hearts palpable between the soundproofing of their hiding place. William kissed her, deep and strong – needing to silence her, lest they get caught. Once the couple had passed, he reached down and slid his pants down over his alert, ready body. He moaned, hearing Julia's breath rumble over his cheek, and cascade into his ear, as she recognized the impending rupturing of her boundary. "William," she whispered.

Forcefully, fiercely, he drove into her. Oh, she couldn't help but moan, as he felt her fall, devastated by the pleasure of it. He thrust into her with everything he had. He had to get deeper. He had to accelerate. Hard, he surged, each subsequent pound more forceful, each shove prizing another urgent moan from her. He was so close, she was right there. "Yes, right there," he thought, touching the spot that would ignite ecstasy. He felt it begin, nothing could stop it now. Elation flooded over him, through him. "Oh this woman is magnificent," he thought as he pumped with all his might, intensifying the glorious surge.

Gradually, William became aware – aware that he was lying in their bed, aware that he was dreaming that he was thrusting deep inside of his wife, aware of the heavenly feeling of his eruption. "Oh, that feels good," he thought as he felt the heat of his breath gush outward and rebound off of the mattress back into his face. Not since Julia was away in prison had he felt the sticky, damp intrusion in his pajama bottoms. He would need to put them in the laundry basket. Remembering that his plan was to go to early mass, and gauging by the amount of daylight dancing amongst the shadows in their bedroom, he decided it was time to rise.

Quietly, William hurried through his morning routine in the bathroom and then got dressed. He tucked the dirtied pajamas in the laundry basket in the closet, and then turned back to watch Julia sleeping for just a moment. Happiness, contentment, and gratitude filled him, the deep breath he took serving to magnify the feelings. She was truly beautiful; my, he loved her with all his heart.

As soon as he rounded the corner half-way down the stairs, he realized that Eloise was there. The smell of bacon and cinnamon permeated the air, and light clanking sounds occasionally attested to her work. He chuckled to himself, feeling his stomach growl in response. "Eloise," he declared as he entered the kitchen, "How wonderful of you to come so early and make me such a marvelous breakfast."

"Glad to do it, detective," Eloise answered. "And under such better circumstances than the last time I surprised you with a meal," she warmly added, gracing him with a friendly smile.

"That they are," William replied, remembering for just a moment how disheartened he had felt when she had knocked on his office door only four days ago. William saw the newspaper Eloise had placed on the table at his seat and said, "Oh, and you got the paper. Thank you Eloise."

It was a tradition that she would give him a quick assessment of the day's news. Eloise shook her head and said, "The world is in a bad way …" Then her demeanor brightened, "But the story about you and Dr. Ogden is quite nice."

Intrigued, he quickly sat down and buried his nose in the paper. A sadness tweaked in his chest, causing him brief pause, but it passed so quickly that he paid it no mind. He skimmed both front page stories. He told Eloise that they had decided to pay for the balloon, even though Mr. Poundset had said not to bother. "There goes the refund money from the Club," he thought. Eloise suggested that they invest a bit more, and repair the balloon. Then they could either use it for their own pleasure, as Dr. Ogden was clearly quite an accomplished balloonist, or they could sell it and make back much of their money. William flipped through the pages of the newspaper to find where the story continued, thanking her for her great idea.

Dressed in her robe, and carrying the laundry basket of dirty clothes, Julia joined them in the kitchen. "Good morning Eloise, what a splendid surprise," she happily said, embracing the woman with her free arm, comfortable in revealing her care for, and connection with, the woman she had known for so many years – from back even before she had married William. Smiling broadly she declared, "French toast!"

"Just for you, doctor," Eloise replied.

Julia turned to look at William, "Good morning detective," she said with a spicy, teasing tone. William laid the paper down and stood from the table. He kept his eyes down. Something about the way he looked propelled concern through her. He would not look at her. He said nothing in reply. As he prepared to walk by where she was standing, near Eloise and the stove, he glanced up at her briefly, preparing to step around her. She could see that he was crying. "William, what is it?" her tender voice asked.

He reached up and quickly brushed a tear from his cheek. As he passed her by, he said, "It's nothing."

Julia followed and took his arm, turning him towards her, "Obviously it's not nothing William. You're crying," she nearly whispered, with her eyes dilating wide as she attempted to figure out what was going on.

He looked away – towards the doorway he needed, needed so desperately, to get out of the kitchen, and said, "Please Julia." Then he walked past her again. Behind him, still carrying the laundry basket, she followed him to the foyer. William put on his new hat, never looking back at her. "I'll be late for the mass," he said.

Utterly confused, she answered, sounding defeated, "Yes." Before the front door had closed, she hurried to ask, "Are you mad at me?"

William paused. He turned back towards her and, with his chin still down, he mumbled, "No … It's nothing like that… Really, it's nothing, Julia. Please don't worry yourself." William stepped out of the door and closed it softly behind him.

Her ears were ringing; she fought with all her might not to let fear rule her. Mouth agape, somewhat stunned and helpless, she stood staring at the closed door. "What could possibly have happened?" she wondered. "Could he be that upset about killing the man with the stone yesterday," she thought. She shook her head at herself, she really didn't think so.

Blinking a few times in an effort to clear her head, Julia turned back to the kitchen. She glanced at Eloise's back as the woman stood, cooking a second round of breakfast, at the stove. She headed into the little back room where they had William's laundry cupboard and opened the machine. As she lifted William's pajamas a disturbing thought crossed her mind, "He soiled these pajamas when he had an … erotic …dream. Maybe the dream was not about her. Perhaps Jane – or someone else… And he has reacted with quite a bit of regret and guilt when such a thing happened in the past…"

Julia's thoughts were interrupted as Eloise spoke to her from outside the little room, "Please doctor, I will wash the clothes."

"It's no bother Eloise. I have something here I wanted to be sure to get washed today," Julia replied, finding the torn, blue dress William had found so wild and exciting yesterday, and plopping it into the laundry cupboard with the other clothes. A smile slid on her face as she remembered seeing William pout when she said she would throw it out. She had decided to keep it, realizing that it would fit easily into her purse after she removed the stones she had stuffed in there.

Eloise avoided her eyes after she returned to the kitchen. "She feels uncomfortable," Julia thought. Needing to know, she swallowed to ensure her voice wasn't raspy, "William was … upset. Did he say anything to you?" she tried to ask nonchalantly.

Clearing her throat before she responded, Eloise said, "No mam." Possible explanations hurried through her head, "It didn't seem like they had quarreled," she thought, "…And there was no evidence the detective slept on the couch." Eloise removed some completed pieces of French toast from the pan and then began placing new ones in, giving her a little bit more time. "I am puzzled actually, everything seemed fine," she continued.

Noticing the newspaper at William's seat at the table, Julia walked over and took a seat in his chair. She lifted the paper as Eloise talked.

Taking her eyes off of the stove briefly to look at the doctor, Eloise said, "We discussed the balloon you flew and crashed… he explained that you would be paying for it and I suggested repairing it … then you could either use it yourselves or sell it. He thought it was a good idea. He seemed fine," she concluded with a shrug. She went back to cooking.

Julia decided to study the paper for potential clues. William had left it folded to page 6. For the most part, that page consisted of the second half of the two major front page stories, one about war in the Balkans and the other about them. She reminded herself to stay focused on looking for something that might have made William cry, as incredulous as that seemed, rather than getting distracted reading the stories. She honestly had to say that nothing in either of those stories seemed like it could realistically have gotten such a reaction from William. She was about to put the paper down, figuring that it must have been something else, when she noticed that there were also multiple advertisements on the page. Some were placed there by big companies, like O'Keefe's beer, she noticed. She considered the situation with O'Keefe for a moment, deciding it was not a likely source of upset for him. But there was also a section containing personal ads. She quickly perused through them, an automobile, a house, some furniture, a puppy, a room for rent…

It took her by surprise, the memory that bubbled up from so long ago. They were still living in the hotel. They had been arguing because he had suggested she doubted her abilities to be a good mother to the children they might adopt because she had had an abortion. It had infuriated her. When they had made up, her convincing him that he couldn't compare her situation now with how things were back when she had made the decision …that's the first time she remembered it happening – he had said he wanted a dog. He had also brought up getting a dog multiple times before William Jr. had been born, even every few years after that. She didn't know why, but she thought, "That's it – it was this add about the puppy needing a good home, I'm sure of it." She was reading it through more thoroughly when she heard the children barreling down the stairs. They sounded upset.

"Mommy?!" Katie called out, quickly followed by William Jr.'s stressed voice, "Mom … Dad?"

Julia answered immediately, "I'm in here." She rushed to meet them – they shared hugs. Having seen their parents' empty bed, the children had become worried that they might have lost their mother and father again. "I'm so sorry," Julia declared over and over. "No, everything is just fine. Daddy got up early and went to Church, and I'm right here," she rushed to explain. She felt awful, Chelsea had been so scared she was actually crying. She picked her littlest daughter up and gave her a hug. The child was clinging to her stuffed bear that Julia had "treated" last night. Her mother changed the subject, distracting the child from her upset. "How is Berry Bear? Does his arm feel better?" she asked.

Chelsea nodded, wiping her tears.

"Good," Julia said. "Now, I'll bet, that even though it's Sunday, and you would normally have to suffer with my breakfast, you and Berry Bear are going to be so happy to hear that Eloise is cooking breakfast for us today!" she exclaimed, bouncing her little daughter in her arms.

"Yay!" all the children screamed out, prompting Julia to pretend to have her feelings hurt. Katie rushed to care for her mother's feelings, "Don't feel bad Mommy, we love your cooking too." She took her mother's hand as they all walked together to the kitchen, Katie picking up a cheery skip.

William Jr. just couldn't resist the chance to make a joke, though, adding, "Well, except for your toast." He ducked to avoid his Mom's playful slap and then ran ahead into the kitchen. Julia put Chelsea down to join her brother and sister in their stampede to the kitchen. "I do believe my son has inherited my sense of humor," she giggled to herself as she hurried to catch up.

By the time Julia entered the kitchen, the children had practically buried Eloise in hugs and kisses, much to the woman's delight. "Oh I missed you so much!" she cried. "And you had so many adventures. You will have to tell me all about them," she added.

Each child took their customary seat, but Julia returned to sitting in William's chair, puzzling her children. "Why are you sitting in Daddy's seat Mommy?" Katie asked.

"I wanted to see what things look like from your Daddy's point of view," she answered. "For instance, now I see that Daddy gets to sit right across from a beautiful little girl – no wonder he's always so happy in the morning," she explained further. However, her mind flashed an image of the two of them upstairs in their bed making love, which, of course they do nearly every morning, providing another possible source for her husband's typical morning glee – the thought brought warmth into her heart and a tiny tug at her womb as well.

The newspaper pushed to the side for now, sometimes pulling at her attention, Julia engaged lovingly with her children while they ate. After her trauma of seeing the butchering of the dead deer, Chelsea had become concerned about the sources of her food, asking whether this or that thing came from an animal. Learning that the bacon was a form of meat, and that all meat came from animals, Chelsea decided that she didn't want any bacon. Her mother respected her decision, but silently hoped she would soon be swayed to accept meat in her diet. The eggs, as part of the batter for the French toast, were a little less clear. But Chelsea accepted the reasoning that the eggs had never been fertilized by the male chicken's – the rooster's, sperm, so it wasn't really killing an animal, and she smiled and bounced contently as she ate her French toast. "An unexpected benefit of having explained sex to the children," Julia thought.

As Eloise picked up dirty dishes from the table, she noticed the newspaper and remembered some of the exciting stories she had read during the recent turmoils the family had experienced. She asked, "So, I bet you girls were excited to see that the newspapers called your mother, "Toronto's Cinderella," hmm?"

Both Katie and Chelsea gasped and shared a look, then darted their wide eyes to their mother. "Really Mommy," Katie exclaimed. "Did Daddy find your slipper, like Prince Charming!?" she rushed to ask.

"Well, yes he did, I suppose," she responded. Looking to Eloise she asked, "Did the papers really report the story that way?"

Having the floor, Eloise glowed with excitement, "Well, the Toronto Gazette sure did," she declared.

William Jr. asked, "Did Dad use your shoe as a clue to find you?"

All eyes, including Eloise's turned to Julia. She rested her chin in her hand and contemplated about it for a moment before she answered. "Your father had found my shoe on the ground where the man had taken me captive – I intentionally slid it off for your Daddy to find … and he had located and arrested the man," she started. "And, my other shoe was found in the man's buckboard wagon …" she continued. "So your Daddy was getting close to finding me – But really, I saved myself and went back to your Daddy before he actually had to save me… at least this time," she added.

"Wow!" Chelsea declared, "Mommy and Daddy are famous like fairytales."

"Um-hmm," her sister agreed; her mouth now full of her last bite of French toast.

After Julia and the children got dressed for the day, she asked them to play for a while outside. She had to make some phone calls. She called the number for the puppy needing a good home. A man answered. He explained that no one else had called and he was desperate. The puppy was wonderful- already nearly housebroken at four months, sits and stays, is great with children and other pets. His wife and children had already left for Europe and he was to leave very soon himself, on Tuesday. He begged her to take the dog. She was tempted, but she also was certain that it had to be William's decision – she wasn't even sure the puppy was what he had been upset about. Maybe William didn't want a dog. She arranged with the man that she would call back by this evening, one way or another, and the man agreed to call her if anyone else expressed interest in the puppy.

She also called Mrs. O'Keefe to confirm their dinner invitation on Friday and left a message with the maid. Before she joined the children, she took the clean, dry clothes out of the laundry cupboard and put them away. Tucking the "wild" blue dress under the clothes in her underwear drawer, she wondered if she would put it on for William tonight. Hearing herself sigh, she knew things were up in the air. "We'll see," she thought.

Before William even opened the door, he could tell his family was having a great time. The Victrola played a waltz, and it sounded like one child or another was playing the piano along with the music by repeating the same three piano keys in a rhythmical sequence. Once he was inside, he could hear energetic voices – there seemed to be dancing going on. No one heard him come in with all of their own commotion going on. He placed his gifts, an impressive bouquet of three dozen roses, arranged by color to create a rainbow, having borrowed some blue salvias for the blue and some ferns for the green, a large box of chocolates, and a tin of biscotti, down on the high shelf in the foyer. A new pocketknife to replace Julia's, now-dull, one was waiting in his pocket. He placed his new hat on the rack, pausing for a moment to miss his old one.

He only got to soak in the beautiful scene for a few moments before he was spotted standing in the entryway to the parlor. The furniture had been pushed to the sides to create a large dance floor. He was impressed that it was their five-year old daughter, Chelsea, playing the piano. His son was dancing a waltz with his wife, and doing so well enough that William could recognize the steps, and he had not tripped or stepped on his, much taller, mother's toes either. Katie was thoroughly enjoying waltzing with a pillow. He wished he would be able to remember the sight forever.

Katie spotted him first. "Daddy's home!" she alerted. She dropped the pillow like a hot potato and ran to him full speed. William squatted down to prepare for her leap, and she jumped into his arms to be lifted up and spun around, evoking such magnificent laughter. He quickly put her down, knowing there would be more incoming children right behind her, receiving Chelsea first, to be joined with a big hug from William Jr.

Julia stood still, near the center of the room, temporarily abandoned, but thoroughly pleased to take her turn having her spirits soared by watching such a wonderful scene. Briefly, she remembered he had left the house in tears – he seemed fine now. She anticipated the moment … the moment when his eyes would meet hers. She listened intently while William told William Jr., "You certainly did much better learning to waltz than I did – the first time your mother and I ever danced together was when we were taking dancing lessons, and I tripped …"

That's when it happened, he looked at her, mid-sentence, melting her. The power of their connection stunned him sufficiently that he paused before he finished his sentence, needing a second to remember what he had been saying. "I um … I," his eyes dropped back down to William Jr.'s, then he chuckled before he said, "I tripped and ended up grabbing your Mommy's rear-end, while everybody in the dance studio was watching." William Jr.'s eyes grew big at the disclosure, and the image as it played in his mind.

Walking towards them, targeting her husband, Julia added, "Thank goodness, he's a much better dancer now." Taking her turn, she placed her hand to William's cheek and leaned in towards him to be taken into a hug. She stayed there, close to him, aware of his scent, lifting her eyes to his – their children watching the show, and said, "Dance with me William."

Finding her irresistible, he quickly granted her wish. As their father "assumed the position," with his right arm out to the side and his left one ready to hold his partner right under her underarm, he asked for the record to be re-set at the beginning. Julia took his hand in hers and found his strong shoulder for her other hand, and they pushed off, gliding along like experts.

Katie Oohed. Chelsea stared, mouth opened wide. Even William Jr. was touched by the sight, whispering slowly, "Wow!"

Knowing the end of the record was approaching, William slowed the dance and kissed her, ending standing still with the music, lips locked together. Their hearts were racing from the exercise and from the effect each had on the other... And there was also that delicious swimming in their brains, with the accompanying tightening in their lower areas. It only lasted a moment; then they remembered where they were, that their children were watching. They broke off the kiss, William giving her a quick peck on the cheek before they stepped apart.

"That was beautiful, Mommy," Katie said.

"Yes it was," she said with a nod to her husband, prompting a shy smile from him.

Katie was thinking, there had to be a way she could dance with them. "Do you think I could dance with you this time, maybe I could ride on Daddy's back? She asked.

"Hey Dad," William Jr. said excitedly. "I could ride on your back and Katie could ride on Mom's," he suggested.

As William thought about the mechanics, imagining the physics of the proposal, Chelsea complained, "What about me?"

Her brother answered, "You can play the piano."

Chelsea stepped to her mother's side, preparing to cry and make a scene. Her voice wrinkling into tears and she whined, "I don't want to play the piano – I want to dance too!"

Julia looked down at her, disappointed at the child's dramatic approach, but agreeing she should not be left out of the fun. "Chelsea, I promise, you will get to dance with your Daddy and me … It just may not be at the …"

William leaned down and picked Chelsea up in his arms, his eyes connecting with his wife's. "Actually, I do believe we can have a complete Murdoch family dance."

The glint in her husband's eye both excited, and worried her. William tended to take more physical risks with the children than Julia liked. Although she was pulled by his eagerness, her motherly instincts won out, and her face took on fret. "Without having to take a trip down to the hospital?" she warned.

William put Chelsea down and quickly described his plan. They could put William Jr. on his back, Katie on hers, and Chelsea holding on in front of him, between them, while they danced. Yes, they would need to go a little slower, and yes, it would be challenging, but he wanted to try it.

A few toes had to suffer a crunch or two, but overall the smiles, screeches of glee, and laughter – along with the magnanimous overall FUN, made it all worth it. Fairly soon into the family waltz, the adults caught a rhythm and their dance took on its customary flying feel. Clearly though, the plan demanded a bit more effort from the Mommy and the Daddy than was calculated, and Julia gave her husband an exhausted look before the record finished. He danced the family over to the side of the room where the couches were waiting, turning Julia so she would be able to sit down, holding her hand as she sat on the couch. Katie still behind her, both of them gently landed on the cushions. He alerted William Jr. that they were going to sit next. Once William turned his back to the couch, the young boy extended his legs and let go to end up standing on the couch before his father sat with little Chelsea in his arms.

Katie jumped up and began hopping on the couch, "Let's do it again! Let's do it again!" she urged.

William Jr. bolted towards the Victrola – at this point the music had ended. "I'll re-set the record," he declared.

William and Julia shared a look; they were both clearly too winded to have another round, at least right now. Julia insisted, "No, no. Your parents are completely tired out. We'll dance again later…"

"We can leave the furniture, so we will still have the 'dance floor' ready," William added. He turned to look at his wife, now sitting next to him. A big smile illuminated his face.

She returned an invigorated smile of her own and said, "That was absolutely lovely, William," grabbing his arm and locking hers into it with a squeeze.

Remembering that he had bought her flowers and chocolates, he said, "Oh, but there's even more my love," with a slight bow. He lifted Chelsea off of his lap and stood, offering Julia a hand. He escorted her to the foyer as children zigzagged around them excitedly, expecting they would likely be getting part of the goodies too.

William Jr. spotted the gifts up on the high shelf. "I see flowers!" he called out, pointing, unable to reach.

William brought down the big, colorful bouquet, lowering it for the children to see before he handed it to Julia. "It's a rainbow Mommy!" Katie declared, "It's so beautiful!"

Gasping, Julia's mind replayed the awe-filled moment when William turned her around to see the spectacular rainbow across the gray sky. She was touched, sufficiently so to become choked-up with happiness. "Oh William," she said.

He leaned in towards her over the flowers, taking her face in both hands. A light, tender kiss reinforced the touch.

"Can I see them, Mommy?" Katie asked. Julia stepped back from William and handed the bouquet down to her wide-eyed daughter. Chelsea crowded in next to her sister to share in the smell and the sight of the vivid spectrum of flowers.

Knowing his children well, William was concerned they would soon begin to argue over who would get to hold the flowers. "Look at what else I got for Mommy," he interjected. All eyes turned to the shelf to try to see the other gifts. He reached up and brought into view a gigantic box of chocolates…

"Wow! Chocolates!" Chelsea exclaimed, holding her hands up for her father to give her the box.

William looked to Julia and asked, "They are for your Mommy, but I'm pretty sure…"

Julia nodded, and he placed the box in her hands, finishing, "… she would want to share them with you."

Spotting a metal box, William Jr. called out, "What's that? What's in that box!?"Checking with Julia first, William brought the box down for his son, explaining that it contained a treat called "biscotti" which was delicious, much like a cookie. "Can we all have one?" he asked as he removed the lid and took in the delectable smell.

"Mm-hmm," their father answered as he reached up to what appeared to be an empty shelf for one more thing. He figured, particularly his wife, would be excited about this one, although doubt pulsed through him as he revealed to her what it was.

"William," she exclaimed, "You wrote me a love-note?" as she took the envelope from his fingers, keeping her blue eyes transfixed on his warm brown ones.

He nodded and added, "Even better…"

But before he could finish, she surprised him, throwing her arms around his neck and backing him into the wall. "You are so romantic husband," she declared, bringing her lips enticingly close to his.

Clearing his throat, and taking her in his arms, he said, "Some of the words rhyme, so … I think you could call it a poem."

Not wanting to debate with him about whether or not a poem had to rhyme, she said, "So, you wrote your wife, of over ten years, a love-poem then?"

"Mm-hmm," he answered.

"William Henry Murdoch, you astound me sometimes," she said, barely above a whisper, before she tilted her head and slowly brought her lips to his, her brain and her insides melting and swirling in luscious delight as she felt the softness of the man's lips. Their kiss quickly deepened and the children shared surprised and happy looks with each other – at least before they remembered their game of complaining about their parents' kissing. Just as William Jr. was about to roll his eyes and harp about it…

The doorbell rang. William Jr. opened the door before the couple had a chance to break off their kiss. The Brackenreid's quickly took in the scene – the children, the gifts, their parents, all somehow standing in the foyer together, and the doctor seeming to be having her way with the detective.

They heard the Inspector's voice before they stopped kissing, startling them into jumping apart as if they were two unruly schoolchildren who had been caught by the Principal. Margaret's mouth dropped in shock and she turned to share her appalled look with her husband. William immediately turned red.

"Well now, doctor," the Inspector started, "Still taking advantage of chances for kinoodeling, I see," he teased, barely able to hold back his laughter.

The Murdoch children were very happy to learn that the Brackenreid's would be living in their house, even if it was just for a little while. They would be in the apartment above Claire-Marie's until their house was finished being re-constructed.

While the children showed the Brackenreid's the various gifts their father had bought their mother, William went to get the keys to their new apartment. Margaret found the biscotti to be irresistible, asking to take one for herself and one for her husband.

Katie excitedly asked, "Mrs. Brackenreid, did you hear that our Mommy and Daddy are like Cinderella and Prince Charming?"

It took her a moment to make the connection between what the child was saying and the newspaper articles, but as she remembered her face lit up and she replied, "Yes of course, "Toronto's Cinderella," as she looked to Julia. "Just like the fairytale, he found only your shoe."

Julia nodded. She felt uncomfortable with the topic, as if, somehow, she was worried that Margaret would be jealous, so she changed the subject. "Margaret, I never got a chance to thank you for caring for our girls – taking them out to see a play and to lunch. It was very generous and kind of you," she said.

Margaret looked back down at the girls and answered, "We did have such a fun time, didn't we girls?"

Both Katie and Chelsea replied, "Yes!" And then Katie added, "Thank you Mrs. Brackenreid."

William returned with the keys and they stood in the foyer for a moment talking. It was decided that William would go with them to show them around. They would need to be shown the laundry and dishwashing cupboards and a few other things. Julia would prepare the Murdoch family lunch – a picnic in the backyard. The Inspector began to talk about the case, telling Murdoch that they had found the dirigible on a big boat out on Lake Ontario, as Murdoch had speculated. Margaret became annoyed, and insisted that they not talk shop. Disappointed, both men knew they'd best do as she asked. The three of them, and the two off-duty constables helping the Inspector move, headed around the side of the house to the private entrance.

Out in the backyard, the Murdoch's sat spread out on two blankets in the grass. Julia had also brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses, hoping William would join her, which, to her delight, he did. Chelsea had worried that peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches might be made from an animal, but was reassured that they were not. Julia had had to whisper to William about Chelsea's new found discomfort with eating meat – likely a result of seeing the deer being butchered.

Taking in a deep breath, smelling the grass and the peanut-butter, Julia found herself drifting back to the memory of when she and William had had a similar picnic so many, many years ago. A big smile curled on her lips when William brought up the exact same thing.

"The first time I ever kissed your mother we were having a picnic just like this," he said. "We were on a picnic blanket on the grass on a beautiful day… and our main course was peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches," he added.

Julia giggled and leaned over towards him, lightly knocking into his shoulder. "Really William, I do believe it was I who kissed you. I believe… you said you were disappointed about something, and I would have none of that, so," she paused to give him a kiss on the cheek, "I kissed you."

Katie called out, "Did you fall in love right then and there, Mommy?"

Julia sighed and sat up a straighter. She spoke to Katie, but her eyes held William's as she explained, "I was already in love with your father before we kissed… But, oh my, after we kissed that night, well after that, I was head-over-heels in love with him."

"How about you Dad?" William Jr. asked.

William cleared his throat and broke eye contact with Julia to turn and look at William Jr. "You children have been told these stories countless times… But, yes, I was already in love with your mother before we kissed – I had fallen in love with her the moment I saw her. I thought that she was the one for me from that moment on," he explained. Having finished his sandwich, William took a sip of wine and then reached over to the edge of the blanket, placing the wine glass down on the tray and picking up a small notebook. He began drawing. "Now," he said, "I have been thinking about that treehouse we were planning on building… Excitedly the children started sharing their hopes – that the treehouse would have some windows that could open and close and a glass ceiling so they could see the starts at night, and multiple others. Julia played with William's hair lovingly while he drew-up the plans, looking on as he worked.

Meanwhile, the Brackenreid's had finished bringing up their first load and sent the constables to have lunch, with plans to meet them later to pick up another load. Margaret looked out the second-story window at the Murdoch's in the backyard. "They look very happy," she thought. Memories of her own family, when their two boys were younger, ran through her mind. Watching the Murdoch's enjoy their lunch, she remembered she was hungry and thoughts of cooking for herself and Thomas took center stage of her attention.

Back in the yard, William ushered the children to come in closer as he showed them his drawings. The treehouse should be high enough, but not too high up in the tree, about one third of the way up a thick-trunked tree. The tree should have at least three big, horizontal, branches – that travel straight out for at least five feet, he pointed to the picture he had drawn, in order to hold up the floor and walls. And, it would be best if there was about six feet of open space above these horizontal branches, so they can have a ceiling that is high enough for them to stand up inside the treehouse. He handed the papers over to William Jr. and sent them on their way to find the perfect tree.

The children hopped up with enthusiasm and headed across the grass towards the woods. Taking advantage of being alone with her husband, Julia brought her nose into the crook of William's neck and inhaled his scent, then giving him a few kisses. He pulled away abruptly, placing his hand to her cheek, asking her to wait a moment, and yelled out, "Oh."

The children halted in their tracks and turned back to face their father, much like regimented soldiers.

"Stay on our side of the stone wall," William instructed.

"O.K. Daddy," Katie answered first, and they turned and hurried off on their important assignment once more.

Julia pulled William down with her as she lay down. He brought his face close to hers and she pulled him down further into a kiss, and then tilted her head, another kiss, then a change of angle and another. Oh, how she loved the sound their lips made as each kiss broke off before another began.

Annoyingly, her husband's mind seemed to be stuck on his "To do" list, as he broke off a kiss and pulled back to say, "I need to fix that wall, like I did at lake-house. The stones have spread out and it has lost its height."

Julia took a deep breath as two thoughts swirled and competed in her mind. She strove for patience, but then she also remembered looking out the lake-house window and seeing him, bare-chested. "Mm, he did look quite …enticing," she thought. Deciding she wanted his tie off, and she wanted it off now, she began working on it with her fingers as she said, "No shirt – yum."

William caught her eye with a scowl, making her giggle. He couldn't hold the expression for long, though, for Julia's fingers loosening his tie, her magnetic blue eyes, and the way his stomach flipped over when she laughed – these things started to produce a rise in him. He cleared his throat and tried to push away the feeling, to get back to his planning. "And I need to fix the secret passageway door up in the girls' room – so it won't…"

Julia aggressively took him in a kiss. His head began to swim, and yet, wanting to tease her, as soon as she released his lips and began to nibble on his ear, he continued, "So it won't scratch the floor."

Impatiently, she kissed him again, now taking handfuls of his hair and demandingly pulling him down into a deeper kiss. Oh, the lusciousness of it, and he yielded, pressing strongly against her, driving deeper into her mouth, allowing the surge of his breath through his nostrils to announce his desire to be inside of her.

Julia's womb wrenched and twisted. A moan betrayed her state of weakness. Her heart raced so quickly, and she felt challenged to get sufficient air. Turning her head to the side, stopping the intensity from flaming higher, she whispered, struggling to catch her breath, "Oh my God William… How do you do this to me? One kiss and I'm putty in your hands." He chuckled and kissed her again.

Margaret still watched intently from the window upstairs, her eyes glued on the couple. Thomas stepped behind her, focusing to determine what so captivated her attention. He knew her to be quite a nosy neighbor, and intended to tell her to behave, but seeing the detective and the doctor so … engaged… caught him by surprise.

"The girls tell me they kiss all the time… It seems they were not exaggerating," she explained.

Down on the picnic blanket, William's fingers began to explore Julia's body, wreaking havoc inside of her. "William – we have to talk about where this is going," she pleaded.

Knowing they could not make love out here in the middle of the day, when their children could return at any moment, William suggested in her ear, the intoxicating scratchiness in his voice sending a tightening jolt to her womb, "Let's go upstairs," before his lips once again covered hers and he pushed deeply down into her.

Somewhere in her spinning head, she chased a thought of how frightened the children had been upon seeing their bed empty this morning… She broke off the kiss, begrudgingly, for it felt very, very good, and said, "We can't William. The children will get scared if they see the empty blanket."

In between kisses and nips along her jaw, he replied, "They are quite smart Julia; they will figure it out."

"No William, no. You don't understand," she tried to explain, lifting her head and making a feeble attempt at pushing him away. Failing, she dropped her head back down on the blanket and explained, while William nibbled on her ear, "This morning … Our empty bed frightened them. They have been through a lot…" She could not finish her point, he had seized her lips again. She so wanted to yield to him. To feel him push into her, melt her and spin her into ecstasy like only he could. Ultimately, she knew she had to stop him, even though she wanted nothing more than for him to continue. Turning her head away, the kiss was broken, and William pulled back enough for her to speak. "We will have other chances … later tonight," she said, "But for now, saner heads must prevail."

Accepting his fate, for he knew she was right, William disappointedly whispered, before softly continuing to kiss her neck, "Not till tonight."

Gradually their hearts slowed, their breathing rates began to recover, their heads steadied. Julia took a deep breath and pushed against him, prompting him to roll over onto his back, then she slid her hand across his chest as she propped her elbow into the blanket and rested her head in her hand. A bit more distance between them now, her thoughts began to return to normal. "About this morning William…"

His jaw tightened instantly. He did not want to talk about this. He sat up, trying to avoid the discussion, at least physically. His sigh filled the air between them.

Julia sat up and slid her body down to line up next to his on the picnic blanket. "William, I think we need to talk about this."

His eyes glanced at hers before dropping away. There was the slightest shake of his head.

Julia tilted her head and leaned down, making an effort to catch his eye. She asked him, "Are we going to fight about this William?"

Both Brackenreid's observed the younger couple through their window. Each felt lustful stirrings, stimulated by what they saw. But now Murdoch and his wife seemed to be arguing, and Thomas felt uncomfortable sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. Hearing him sigh, Margaret made sure to speak before he had a chance to complain. "The girls also said that it is not uncommon for the detective and the doctor to have disagreements; that the detective has spent plenty a night sleeping on the couch." She placed her hands on her hips and turned to face her husband, "You certainly know what that is like," she claimed.

"Now Margaret, the couch here is too small for me to sleep on," he argued.

She leaned closer to him, lowering her voice, but holding a cautionary tone, "All the more reason for you to be very good, Thomas." She stood on her toes to bring her lips closer to his ear and whispered, "And it certainly wouldn't hurt to make me want to have you in my bed." Her hands slid up along his upper arms and his broad shoulders, then clasping around his neck. She leaned in and gave him a kiss.

His body responded and he deepened the kiss. After breaking it off, he said, "Margaret! In the middle of the day?"

"We need to christen our new – at least for a little while, home," she responded, pressing closer to him and kissing him again.

Taking her firmly in his arms, he agreed, "Every home does need to be christened. He looked at the bed and added, "Every bed too."

"Oh Thomas," she declared.

After Julia had pushed him to tell her what had upset him this morning, William struggled. Truth be told, he was embarrassed by his reaction to something so miniscule, and he really didn't want to share his over-reaction with her. He felt like a spoiled little kid who had cried because he didn't get what he had wanted. It didn't make sense, and he just wished they could forget it. "Julia, it was nothing. I just over-reacted is all," he said – again.

With a look of disappointment on her face, she argued, "William, it's not like you to cry at the drop of hat…" Her face brightened as she added, "Well … maybe there was one hat…"

Their eyes met after she leaned in to playfully bump against him, her joke eliciting a smile from him. "I loved that hat," he agreed. She giggled.

She took a deep breath and decided to try to help him feel more comfortable about his "over-reaction." She reached over and took his hand and said, "William, we have all been through quite a lot – you have been through quite a lot. Our children were missing, after almost being killed. You thought I was dead, and you thought I might go to the gallows. You have been shot at - twice, and nearly drowned. When Brogan almost shot you with the rifle, you even thought for a moment that you were dead." She paused, another thought taking center stage in her mind. She let go of his hand and reached up to hold his face, turning him to her, "William, all of this after I was in prison, for what could have been two years, and then you had to invent a hazmat suit for me to survive my encounter with a deadly poison – and to top it all off, our son being eight-years old, like you were when your mother died… And, if I'm right, you found your mother's body in the water in the summertime…" She waited, and he nodded. "It's an anniversary William," she explained.

He looked puzzled, "An anniversary?" he asked.

"Yes William. Anniversaries are not only markers in time for good things, like being born or being married," she gave him a little squeeze and continued, "They also can mark painful things – like the death of your mother…" She saw him thinking, turning something over in his beautiful mind. "What is it William?" she asked.

Taking a deep breath, and feeling the emotions even more strongly, as he began to speak, and the air slid over his burning heart, he told her, "When I first picked up the paper this morning – I just looked at the date … and I felt this intense sadness, um, for a moment…"

"When, exactly, did your mother die, William?" she posed.

He dropped his chin, but held her eye, making his brown eyes even lovelier as they peered up at her through his dark, thick lashes, and he exhaled sharply. She could tell he was feeling pain. He wrinkled his face, as he often did to admit something, and said, "She died on August 16th – we buried her on the 17th – the same date as today."

Reassuringly she suggested, "So that would explain why certain things would get …exaggerated, for you around this time, hmm?"

"Yes," he replied. He took another deep breath and added, "Good."

Julia's face showed her concern as she thought, "Oh, he thinks we're done." He held eye contact, waiting for her to figure out how to say whatever was worrying her. "Um, William… you still haven't told me why you were crying…"

His stomach felt sick as dread seeped in. He so didn't want to do this. His eyes dropped away. "Julia, I uh …" he started, finishing by shaking his head.

"Was it about the dog, William?" she asked. His eyes leaped up and connected with hers, revealing his surprise – and awe. She knew she had it right. He knew that she knew. He looked away. Still quiet. "How did she do that? How did she possibly know?" he wondered. Unexpectedly, he felt relieved that she knew, less alone, more understood. It felt good. "She really is such an amazing woman," he reminded himself.

Julia took his hand again and said, "I called. The family is relocating to Europe and they can't take the dog with them. The man begged me to take him for you William..."

He placed his other hand over hers. After a big sigh, he laid her back down on the blanket and nudged an elbow into the blanket so he could rest his chin in his hand. He lie next to her, his other arm resting on his side. He told her about his father giving away his dog, Duke, when he was a young boy. He explained, "I was still so in shock about everything, the death of my mother, finding her still and motionless body floating face-down in the water, blaming him for causing her death, and then, after the funeral, he told us that Susanna and I would have to go live with an Aunt we barely knew… Everything changed so much, so quickly. And then to lose Duke…" William became choked up but continued, "That dog was so dedicated to me. It was just more than I could take." Sparkling tears filled his eyes, held at bay only by his long, thick lashes. He blinked, and they flooded out.

She wiped away a tear, and said, "And all of this happened when you were eight years old, like your son is now. You were so young, and you lost so much, hmm?" asking him to see how hard it had been for him. Julia propped herself up on an elbow, aligning her eyes with his and leaned over to kiss his cheek, tasting the salt of his tears. Her heart ached. "William, I remember when we first got married, and we were living in the hotel …" she said. He nodded, he was with her. She went on, "And we were thinking of adopting, and then eventually I got pregnant and we debated about whether or not to try to have the child, despite the risks to my life…" she paused.

"Mm, I remember," he said, as he nodded and smiled at the memory, and his gratefulness that she had talked him into trying so that they now had William Jr.

"One of the things you said all the time back then was that you wanted a dog. And we never got one… Even after that, it seemed like every once in a while, you brought up the idea again… And yet, we never got one. We agreed it would be too difficult to find the time to walk it, or whatever other reasons stopped us…" she explained, and then took a deep breath. Placing a hand to his face, Julia said, "The timing is perfect to adopt this dog – to finally have something in this sad story move towards healing, hmm? … Come on, let's call," she encouraged.

"Are you sure?" he asked, unable to hide the excitement on his face.

Back inside, William hung up the phone. Julia's smile was almost as big as his. They hugged and she gave him a kiss. He left to go get the dog. Julia went back to the backyard and began cleaning up after their picnic. "Knowing William," she thought, "He'll come up with some way to help with walking the dog. Perhaps he can find a way to let the dog out without damaging the part of the yard we use so much – I can see it now, some kind of an imaginary fence or something – maybe even with a small amount of electricity and some special gadget on the collar."

Her mind drifted back to Jim Dermott, and having had to work with him, when she wore William's Hazmat suit and solved the problem of the poisoning of Stationhouse#5's coroner. She stopped to probe herself, "Why would I possibly be thinking about that now, after all of the emotions I just went through with William about the dog?" And then she remembered, a couple of years ago, when she and William had had a huge fight about his taking too big of risks with the children, and she had behaved shamefully, flirting with Dermott in front of William in order to gain power over him…"Oh my God," she marveled, "this is so messy and mixed together!" The case they had been working on involved a murderer whose father had forced him to drown a dog that had followed him home from school when he was a small boy. William had been very upset about that story. And then, the man's own father had ended up killing him to stop him from killing more people. Julia shook her head in disbelief as she thought, "And then William began to have doubts about his ability to be a good father, because he had been raised by Harry." She sighed, "I wonder if William's remembering all of this will make it harder for him to trust Harry now?" she thought.

Arriving back from their hunt for the perfect tree, and seeing the picnic cleaned up and their parents nowhere outside, the children came rushing into the kitchen, and pulled Julia out of her thoughts. Fortunately they were not the least bit worried when they didn't see her or William right away.

It turned out that Chelsea had told her brother and sister about seeing a hunter butcher a deer in woods up near the lake-house. Julia gave herself a little smile, "She doesn't need it to be Berry Bear anymore," she thought. She picked her littlest daughter up and pulled her into her lap for a big hug. After Julia told the children that their father had gone to get a puppy, they could barely control themselves. They were very excited.

When William returned, he not only had the puppy, he had a large crate, and a bag-full of dog toys, and some "Spratt's Patent Limited" dog food as well. The puppy was adorable, although clearly a mutt. He was brindle in color, and his hair was somewhat wiry, particularly around his face, making him appear to have a beard. He was playful, but relatively quiet, even when he was placed in this brand new home with all these brand new people. Julia knew enough about dogs, having had some herself as a child, to know that this dog was going to be big – he had very big feet for his body, and he would grow into them.

William was focused on setting the ground-rules and expectations, for both the puppy and the children, right away. The children needed to act calmly and confidently when dealing with the puppy. She watched as William asked each child, one at a time, to give the puppy a toy, or one of the "biscuits" and then that same child would take the item away from the dog. William explained that this would teach the dog where he fit in the pecking order – at the bottom. Julia made a face at him when he asked her to do the same thing, but she quickly acquiesced, wanting to please William, and wanting to establish the tradition that William was in charge of whatever happened with this dog.

In the end, William did have a plan to avoid having to walk the dog. He would build a fence around the side yard, and make a door at the back of the room off of the kitchen where they had the laundry cupboard. It would be a large outdoor space, some of it even in the woods, for the dog to enjoy.

Eventually everybody settled down and Julia asked, "So William, what about a name? I think he's going to be pretty big. Maybe a big strong name, like Mack, perhaps?"

Many potential puppy names were suggested, Katie thought of Prince, like Prince Charming, Chelsea liked Bear. The family all agreed on a name William Jr. thought up – Moose.

Suddenly, at one point, William jumped up and lifted Moose into the air. He hurried out the front door, making it to the grass just in time for the dog to urinate. When William came back in, he explained that there is a certain way the dog sniffs around that is a clue he needs to go out. They would need to teach Moose to tell them though, maybe with a bark or a scratch at the door. William looked at Julia with his "I'm sorry" face and said, "There may be a few mistakes until we all get it worked out."

Julia stood up and walked over to her husband. She put her arms around his neck and looked into his gorgeous brown eyes and said, "William Henry Murdoch, I love you. And fairly soon, I think I'm going to love Moose too." She leaned in close, placing her lips at his ear and said softly, "And I promise to be patient."

William wrapped his arms around her and said, "Good," and then gave her a quick kiss.

"Oh," she remembered she wanted to say, "No couch – And no beds." William agreed, and they made sure the children knew to take Moose off of the couch or the bed if they saw him up on them.

"Oh yes, also, Moose will need a bath every two weeks – or if he gets particularly dirty before that," she insisted. William nodded, but William Jr. jumped up to volunteer to give the baths. His mother warned him that part of the chore was washing the tub afterwards too. They boy frowned, and everyone laughed.

Eloise came in with the groceries for their Sunday dinner. All gave out a sigh of relief when they saw her put the bag of groceries down and rush over excitedly to see the new puppy. Fortunately, she loved dogs. Now all they had left to worry about was Claire-Marie.

A while later, with the house pumped full of enticing smells emanating from the kitchen, the family returned the furniture to its correct positions and sat together catching their breath after much rambunctious play, William Jr. on the floor with Moose, Katie in Julia's lap, and Chelsea in William's. Eloise was making William's favorite dish, Beef stroganoff, and for desert there was pie. William suggested that they take Moose out for a quick walk and then feed him before they sat down to dinner. Everyone wanted to go along.

It was not long after the family returned from walking their new puppy that the doorbell rang. Having not yet sat down to eat, everyone went to the door to see who it was.

Lo and behold, standing before them, adorned with crutches and a bouquet of flower, was Harry Murdoch. Pulling the wrinkled-up note he had removed from the pigeon's foot out of his shirt pocket, he said, "I uh, had an invite for Sunday dinner." William was so surprised by the unexpected visit that Moose nearly got away with barreling past him and out the door before William pushed his leg against the pup, pinning him against the doorframe and then reaching down to take him by the collar.

In William's mind there was a battle of thoughts, each attached to an emotion that was swirling away creating agita in his gut – in his heart. Words would not come

"So ya got yourself a pup!" Harry declared. "He's gonna be a big one too!" he added.

Clearing his throat, William finally spoke, "Yes … Yes."

Julia stepped forward to stand behind William and open the door wider. "I'm surprised you got back to Toronto so quickly, um, with such a severe injury, Harry. How does it feel?" she asked.

The children sensed the awkwardness felt by the adults. They remembered the last time their grandfather had been here – how upset their father had gotten and the big fight their mother and father had had. They were still, silent, waiting for a clue. The mood had a walking-on-eggshells feel to it.

Julia's question, her presence behind him, helped ground him. The ringing and spinning in William's head slowed to a halt, and he took a deep breath. "Children," he asked for their attention… All held their breath. "I don't think you know that your grandfather saved your mother's and my lives yesterday. He's quite a hero," he explained, with a bit of a forced smile. William leaned down to pick up Moose and handed him to William Jr. "Now can you three see to it that Moose gets comfortably tucked into his crate while we help your grandfather in?" he asked.

Like popcorn popping, they hopped into action. "Yes Daddy" Katie said first. Their enthusiastic chatter revealed their excitement as they headed for the parlor with the dog.

"Here Harry, let me take those lovely flowers," Julia said reaching out for the bouquet. He handed them over and tucked the invitation back into his pocket. William offered a hand to his elbow as he hopped up the last step to finally cross the threshold into the house.

As the three of them crossed through the kitchen to get to the dining room, Harry praised Eloise on her cooking. And then, being quite the flirt, he complimented her beauty as well.

Eloise, too, remembered the last time Mr. Murdoch had visited, and she was thrown by his current flirtations, though there had been subtle similar, comments last time as well. She stared at the man slightly dumbfounded before Julia drew everyone's attention, saying Harry would probably really love tonight's dinner, informing him that it was Beef stroganoff. They all settled in at the dinner table, working for the first few moments to "ignore," according to William's instructions, Moose's whining. Fortunately it did not take long for the puppy to settle down. Julia noticed right away that Eloise had served her a glass of wine. She hoped no one noticed that she got up and took it into the kitchen, but, not surprisingly, her detective husband caught her eye as she went by.

Whispering to Eloise, she said, "Eloise, I would like to have no alcohol served whenever William's father is here." She placed the glass down on the counter and added, "But, I must say, I did so want some wine. Thank you for the thought. It would have been delightful." After she left, Eloise decided to drink the glass herself – not wanting it to go to waste.

The mood lightened considerably over dinner. Harry told them that he had sold his pigeon carrier business. He explained that it would only work if there was a war right here in Canada, because the pigeons only travel back-and-forth between places they are trained to return to. Describing the people who bought him out he said, "Well, it was a woman who contacted me. She's some big-shot from Russia. A duchess or somethin…"

William and Julia shared a look. Quickly, Julia swallowed and asked, "Harry, was she a countess?"

"Oh yeah," he declared, "That's it. Countess Foster I think it was."

Nodding her head, Julia looked back to William and said, "Countess Fausta." He nodded as well. "What would she want with a pigeon couriers?" Julia asked.

William swallowed and replied, "Perhaps she was more involved in this whole weapons situation than we thought… The pigeons are most useful when trying to avoid having your messages detected, like correspondences about battle plans…" William looked to Harry and asked, "Did she say anything about what she intended to use the pigeons for?"

"They was in a big rush to get the whole kit-and-caboodle loaded up on some ship to Russia. There was some men with her. Tell ya the truth, she didn't seem to be in charge. There was another man. He seemed to be the boss," Harry explained.

"What time was this? Was it today or yesterday?" William asked, seeming quite excited.

"Well, she was waitin for me when I got home Saturday night, and they came to take everything near six o'clock this mornin. They paid me cash too. All done quick," he answered.

William left the table in a hurry. He called the stationhouse and sent some constables to the docks to see if there was a ship loading up cargo at Brogan's factory. Then he went around to the side of the house to see if the Inspector was in, and informed him of the possibility that there may be a deal going down with Russia for whatever weapons remained at the factory after the fire. The inspector said he would take care of it and headed down to the stationhouse. William went back to join his family, just in time for dessert.

Julia asked Harry, "So what do you intend do with the money?"

Harry leaned back in his chair, finished with pie and happy. "Well, I paid up all my rent – clear through for the next six months," he said. He took a deep breath and added, "But now I needs to come up with some more money for my plan…I got an idea that's sure to make a whole lotta money." William rolled his eyes at Julia. She took a deep breath and sent him a look requesting for him to be patient, and at least be willing to hear the man out. "Well," Harry started, leaning forward and darting his eyes from person to person to be sure to draw everyone in, "You know how easy it is to burn your toast…"

The whole Murdoch family turned their eyes to gaze upon Julia. Insulted, mouth agape with shock, she demanded, "What!? Why are you all looking at me?"

William Jr. was the first to call her out. "Mom – You always burn the toast!" he declared.

"I do not," she replied.

William chuckled and all eyes turned to him. Julia's look offered a warning, prompting him to laugh even harder. "Julia…" he said. She tucked her chin down and glared up at him. He shook his head and through laughter said, "Just yesterday…Don't you remember?"

She couldn't really deny it. "So what's your idea Harry – for making better toast?" she asked, hoping to drop the whole subject, but failing, as the rest of the family fell into giggles. She tossed her napkin at William, prompting him to throw his hands up in the air and duck in self-defense, but still taking the blow. Such play warmed their hearts so – neither could hold back their smile.

Harry waited for the laughing to die down and then explained, "Well, it will be run on electricity. It's a box, with slots for the toast, but under the slots is a floor and it has springs under it. You push a lever to lower the bread and inside the electricity causes a metal grid around the slots to get hot – toasting the bread. There's a certain amount of time goes by till the floor pops up, bringing the toast back up to where you can pick it up, and turning off the heat – No burned toast, even if you walk away. I'm gonna call it a "pop-up toaster."

William nodded, now finished with his pie as well, and said, "That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. You know you should patent it," he said looking to Julia to see if she remembered, "There are people out there – like Thomas Edison, who take other people's ideas and patent them, so the original creator can't even make their own inventions."

Harry appeared to be considering the advice. "Well, I gotta get the money first, for machines and stuff," he thought out loud.

William and Julia decided to call a family meeting to decide whether or not to give Harry the money that had been refunded from their Club membership. The parents warned their children the consequences, it may mean no swimming lessons for a while, and not as much horseback riding… Katie said she would rather become bicyclist anyway (probably thinking of the O'Keefe boys and hoping to cycle with them). Chelsea, predictably, as she always wanted to do whatever her older sister wanted to do, said she wanted to be a bicyclist too.

Julia pulled her littlest daughter into her lap and said, "When you are a little older, my little one, you will find something you love, not just because it is something Katie loves. You'll see."

"So, we are all in agreement then … We give the money to Grandpa?" William said. In response, joyful, insistent, head-nodding followed. William looked at Julia and said, "It's worth it I think – to …" unable to hold back his smirk he finished, his voice pushing through his laughter, "save the toast." Julia feigned insult, and William sat down next to her on the couch and said close to her ear, "I'm sorry, I love your toast. I love anything you make for me… anything," and then he took her chin in his hand and kissed her cheek. Turning her to face to him, he kissed her lips and then repeated, "Anything." Her smile announced that she had forgiven his relentless teasing.

They called Harry into the parlor to give him the good news. He sat with them in parlor for a while talking and sharing stories. After a time, William took Moose out for a quick walk and when he returned, Harry was on his way out. They stood on the porch and talked. Without saying it directly, Harry thanked his son for giving him a second chance. He made promises – promises that William refused to let himself wholeheartedly believe. He would never drink if the children were around, and he had every intention to make good on the money and pay it back.

William realized that he had to choose whether or not to let Harry into their lives, as he was – rather than as William had always wished he would be. He had accepted the fact that his father was not, and never would, be the father he'd wished for as a young boy. He only hoped that now – now that he was a father himself – that he could be the father he had always wished his father had been. He helped his father get down the steps and re-set on his crutches, and said goodnight. The last thing Harry said to him was that he had always regretted giving Duke away – he was glad to see that his son finally had himself a dog again. William surprised himself, having to work to hold back tears.

It was getting dark, and as William walked back up the steps to go back into the house, the warm glow from the parlor lights offered to embrace him. He paused to kneel down next to Moose and whispered to the dog, "Welcome home boy." Once inside, he released the leash and the dog charged into the room to smother each and every family member with greeting kisses.

Tonight their bedtime stories were family stories instead of Dr. Fu Manchu. Julia pulled Katie on to her lap and said, "You know, when I first came to work in the morgue at stationhouse #4, your Daddy had a reputation… People called him "the bicycle detective. I think you may follow in his footsteps and be a great bicyclist."

"Daddy, did Mommy have a repetition before you met her?" Chelsea asked, as she climbed up into his lap, figuring she wanted some parental attention too.

William Jr. corrected her pronunciation of "reputation," the boy seeming quite content to let his sisters enjoy their parents' laps while he sat with Moose. But, he was also quite interested in the traditional love stories that their parents sometimes shared, and asked his father, "Did people tell you about Mom before you met her?"

William explained that all he had been told was that their mother was a doctor, and that she was a woman. But he figured that she had to be an outstanding woman to have accomplished such a thing as to have become a doctor – she had to be very smart, and she had to be very strong, and brave, and she probably was really stubborn, and confident too. He shared, "Somewhere from deep inside of me, I heard a voice I hadn't heard for a very long time whisper, 'Perhaps she's the one.' But I wouldn't let myself really think it – so I wouldn't be disappointed."

"Did you know she was the one when you met her Dad?" William Jr. asked.

William's eyes twinkled and he smiled. If Julia wasn't already head-over-heels in love with the man, she would have fallen into his gravitational field right then. "I did," he answered, looking at her, melting her with his chocolate eyes. William adjusted his position and tucked some of Chelsea's hair behind her ear and added, "Although, I hadn't really recognized that she was from an upper-class upbringing at first, and when I realized she was, well… I struggled with thoughts of not being acceptable to her or worthy of her." He looked at Julia and wrinkled a corner of his face, admitting his doubt, at least at the time.

Katie asked, "Were you poor Daddy?"

Julia answered, "No, your Daddy wasn't poor honey – but I believe his family had been when he was a young boy. By the time I met your Daddy he had a good job, as a detective…And he had a pension… he just wasn't wealthy, like I was, and like my family was."

"So Aunt Ruby is rich too?" Chelsea asked.

"Mm-hmm," William answered.

"How about Uncle Jasper?" William Jr. asked.

"Not rich," William answered as he stood up, lifting Chelsea with him. "Now, I do believe it's time for bed." As expected there were multiple complaints lodged, but relatively soon the children were tucked into bed.

William and Julia headed back downstairs together. She wanted her glass of wine. Remembering he had had a glass of wine with her earlier in the day, during their picnic in the backyard, she asked him if he wanted a glass too. He declined. He sat on the couch waiting for her, replaying what Harry had said about regretting giving away his dog so many years ago. Julia came and sat next to him on the couch and he shared his thoughts with her. "Well, at least that's something," she said. She remembered that she had Rebecca's record about being like a motherless child – the one she had wanted to share with William. She put it on the Victrola. After Julia sat back down on the couch, she brought William's head down to lie in her lap and she stroked and played with his hair while they listened to the song. A Negro spiritualist song, the man's deep, mourning voice slowly sang the heartbreaking words:

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home
A long ways from home …

Julia entertained her thoughts as she cared for William. Listening to the sad song, she found the grief of it seeped into her soul as well, for she too, had lost her mother as a child. Although she was older than William was, the pain still seemed to have been nearly more than she could bear at the time. Her father stayed with her, and with his being a doctor, he was of more assistance to her at stressful times, like when she began menstruating, than another man likely would have been. And yet, Julia knew the absence of her mother as she entered the world of womanhood had had important consequences in her life. She sighed, thinking of Katie and Chelsea, being orphaned when they were only four and two years old. They knew the pain the man sang about in this song. Even William Jr. had felt it, or at least something similar to it, when she had gone away to prison for what he believed would likely be two years. "Interesting," she thought, "That he was the one to fall apart in her arms when she returned home that night, wholly devastated by his loss of her."

When the record finished, she asked if he wanted to hear it again. He nodded, sitting up to let her get up from the couch. He leaned his head down against the back of the couch and caught her eyes. He looked so sorrowful, and yet, he also seemed peaceful. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Her heart tugged, she loved him so. When she returned, he rested his head in her lap again, seeking her soothing, empathic touch once more. This time, when the record was finished, he thanked her. He got up and put the record away. He handed her the medical journal she had last been reading and took his science journal to his chair. They read together for a little while.

At one point Julia noticed out of the corner of her eye, that William was not reading, but rather, he was watching Moose slumbering on the floor next to his chair.

Joy circled in his heart; he marveled at the fantastic feeling of it as he felt it glowing with love for the puppy. He was so very happy. He looked up to notice Julia watching him. With a huge smile on his face, he bounced in his seat and said to her gleefully, "I have a dog!"

"Yes," she replied calmly, but inside her heart was on fire. She couldn't be more pleased.

Soon after, they took Moose out for his last walk that night, and then tucked him into his crate. His whining had stopped by the time they had turned off all of the lights and gotten up the stairs. He was probably a very tired puppy after such an exciting day.

Once the bedroom door closed, William whispered, "Finally, I have been waiting for this moment all day. I want to make love to my beautiful wife," as he took her in his arms.

Julia responded, "Well, that is convenient, because all day I have wanted my handsome husband to make love to me." She started to loosen his tie.

William was trying to slow himself down, to think a bit more like Ishinpō. He needed to turn her around to unbutton her dress, "Take your time, William," he coached himself.

Julia felt herself becoming quite aroused. She thought about telling him about the tattered and torn blue dress. "William," she started, "I, um…" She looked up into his eyes, "Oh how I love those eyes …" she thought, as she felt pulled into them. "You know, William, in all of my days on Earth, I have never seen anything as beautiful as your eyes." She could see it immediately, his blushing, endearing her to him even more.

Complaining about her tendency to embarrass him so, he said, "Julia…"

She cut him off, "Really, it's true… And …I'm so glad that William Jr. inherited those beautiful, warm, chocolaty eyes of yours."

William sighed and changed the subject, "What were you going to say?" he asked. He twirled one of her stray curls between his fingers admiringly.

Julia looked down at her hands on his tie, re-orienting herself. "Oh yes … I…Well, it is pretty spicy…" She coyly tilted her head and glanced up at him. She returned her attention to undressing him, now unbuttoning the top button on his shirt, and said, "I was thinking that I could change into that dress, the, "wild," blue one, that was torn up so badly at the lake-house. I didn't throw it out after all…Um, it seemed…" She looked up into his eyes once more, feeling her womb tighten and flip with desire for him, and finished, "It seemed like you quite liked it."

William had to clear his throat, he was feeling lustful urges remembering the way she looked in the ragged dress, and said with a dry, sultry voice, "I quite like spicy."

Answering, more to herself than to him, she replied, "Who would have thought."

Their eyes met and the magnetic pull caught them. Weak knees and lost breath abound in the magically reversed centrifugal force the spiraled around them and between them and through them. Julia broke off the intoxicating look first, her eyes dropping down to his shirt buttons once more. She noticed that her need for him throbbed even more strongly than usual. "Perhaps because we didn't make love this morning," she thought.

"William," she said, "I was uh, I was disappointed when I woke up this morning and you were gone." His shirt was nearly completely unbuttoned and his bare skin tempted her so. She laid her hands on him. His soft skin, his bulky muscles, felt magnificent. His nipples hardened as her fingers rustled over them.

William's head surged into a dizzying spin with her touch. "Oh the deliciousness of it," he thought, finding the words spun away before he could use their memory to connect to another thought.

"I was so … hungry for you. I very much wanted to, um," she said, looking up to his face.

With a slight blush quickly covering his skin, William strained to find his voice, to find words to explain. "I uh, well this morning I um, I would not have been able … Um, What I mean is it would have taken me a little time until…I could"

"Oh, yes! Of course," Julia realized, "He needed to put his pajamas in the laundry basket. He had a dream and …" A devilish smile grew on Julia's face and she said, "I see. Your dirty pajamas…" Inside she giggled and melted with love for him as he seemed to both squirm with discomfort, knowing she had figured out what happened, and, exhale, feeling so relieved knowing he wouldn't have to explain it. Julia cleared her throat and added, "I washed them … with the ripped dress."

William smiled and gave her a small bow. "It was the dress that caused the pajamas," he confided. Her satisfactory giggle kindled his heart and roused his groin. He loved her so.

He leaned into her, his hot breath announcing his impatience. Julia reacted, growing weak. The tempo surged –Ishinpō flying out the window, and he forcefully pulled her close and captured her lips in a demanding kiss. Breaking off the kiss, he turned her around and hurriedly tore at the buttons on the back of her dress. He wanted her – now. Julia pulled her bloomers down, dragging her stockings with them, and stepped out of the pile of clothing at her feet. Enough buttons unfastened, he lifted the dress up over her head and threw it to the floor. His fingers demandingly pulled at the strings on her corset, creating a rhythmically whooshing sound with the rushed beat.

She lifted her arms up over head, reaching back to find his face as he worked. She slid her fingers behind his head and pulled his mouth down into her neck, being devastated by the nibbles and insistent hold he took of her. "William," his name swam around and around in her head.

The corset hit the floor and William enclosed her in his arms from behind. She felt his severe want for her against her buttocks through his trousers. It weakened her, and she dropped downwards, relying on his strong arms to hold her weight. An agonizingly demanding moan escaped her throat as he cupped her breasts through her satiny undergarment and pushed his pelvis more tightly against her. She felt his mouth, his teeth, his tongue, drink in her earlobe, then her neck again. William's wedding ring caught on her swollen nipple, drawing a gasp from her. He chuckled into her neck, having intentionally brought about the sensation. Then, his breath rumbled over her ear as his hand pressed in against her, hard and rough, and slid down her body, stalling when his fingers encountered and tangled in her hair.

"Julia," his hot voice whispered in her ear.

She was completely defenseless against him. His fingers slid inside of her. "Oh my God," she thought, feeling as she might faint away. Her desire flamed. "William, please," she begged. Suddenly gravity soared. He spun her around and she flung her arms around his neck to try to steady her world as she ended up facing him again. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips, to be carried over to the vanity. Hurriedly he placed her buttocks down on the firm, cold surface. Stepping back to unbutton his trousers, his eyes held hers. His jaw was tight and his eyes pierced into her soul. Helpless, her breath burst out of her, heaving her chest, tempting his minimal resolve. "He's going to take me… Right here…Right now," her mind raced. She waited defenseless, unguarded, for him to breach her.

As he stepped into her, she leaned backwards, and reached up to him with her legs, encapsulating him with them, pulling his hips closer to her. His pants hit the floor. And he knocked, while his hands took a demanding, fierce hold of her hips. She gasped. Locked in, unable to move in his overpowering grasp, he ruptured her. Sliding in deeper, becoming surrounded by her yielding, lusciousness, William moaned, driving Julia wild. Her moan caught up to his in the air, their echoes swirling and smoldering around them. Tears flowed down her cheeks. The force, the need, the power, was so overwhelming. "William," he heard her at his ear, "William, William, William," she whispered breathily.

"Oh my God this woman is delicious," he thought as he thrust into her with all he had. "Absolutely delicious," his raspy voice steamed into her ear, was sucked into her brain. He felt her start to go; her breath caught; her head dropped back as she gave way to him. His surge nearly floored her. A grunt pierced the air, the final moment before ecstasy took him. "Julia," he beckoned as his eruption swept her away to fall over the edge with him.

Finished, his body grew heavier against her, and she heard his breath, felt it cover her, to be followed by his kisses. "I love you Julia," his winded voice said. His heart pounded against her chest.

"Yes," she replied and swallowed, just moments before she collapsed into spent, exhausted, grateful, joyful tears.

He lifted her up off of the vanity, her arms and legs still wrapped around him, and carried her to the bed. "Shh," he whispered in her ear, followed by a gentle kiss. Tenderly he brought them down together on the mattress. He kissed her face, her neck, tasting her tears, feeling them glide across his tongue. He held her tightly, waiting for her to push against him, knowing that, then, he would roll them over for her to rest her head on his chest – all in good time.

Soon, pillow talk came. "You never gave me a chance to put on the dress," she complained, receiving a chuckle from him as he recognized the whirlwind that had overcome him.

"Sorry," he replied.

"Well, we'll have it for another time then," she answered.

"I look forward to that," he declared.

"Now … about this dream…" she teased as she wiggled against him in an effort to burrow closer.

William's mind began to race, for he knew his wife – and she would be relentless about finding out the contents of his dream, and worse, she would then try to recreate it as much as possible in real-life. His only saving grace was that they had been kicked out of the Club, so she couldn't corral him into making love to her in the coatroom there. But, knowing Julia, any old coatroom would do…

"You said I was wearing the torn dress…" she pushed.

He decided he would tell her some of the details and hope she didn't sense there was more. "It was notably shorter in the dream than it had been in real-life." He paused to see if she had a comment.

"And…" she asked.

William swallowed and pressed on, "And, shall we say, the dress was all you had on." William swallowed again, remembering the devastating thrill he experienced in the dream when he felt the bare skin of her buttocks during his explorations. Still not recovered from having just made love to her, he was surprised to feel the flip and twitch in his groin as he thought of the memory of finding her wet, warm folds, unguarded, completely available to him.

"Oh, I see … Quite spicy indeed, detective. It sounds wonderful," she said as she slid her leg over him to lie on top of him. She then pulled her legs up and sat, straddling him like a horse. "I think I may need to take a scissors to the dress then," she added. "Perhaps tomorrow night?" she asked, "Shall we make it a date?"

Not wanting to appear to be too excited, William just nodded and said, "Good," the dryness in his voice betraying the truth of his state.

Satisfied, Julia kissed him. She climbed off of him and they prepared for bed.

Lights out, they lie facing each other in the dark, sharing William's pillow. Julia reminded him of their discussions many years ago, when he teased her that he wanted many, many children – a really big family, and she finally asked him how many children he really wanted, and he replied…

William interrupted, remembering the same conversation, "One more than you agreed to."

"Hmm," she replied, finding his cheek in the dark, sliding her nails through his hair. "And, if I remember correctly William, I agreed to us having two children… Isn't it interesting, that here we are today, with one more child than two, hmm?"

"Mm," he answered, sleep rocking him temptingly.

"Do you remember what you said after that?" she asked.

He did, but he was falling asleep. He decided to wait for her to answer, and yet, a smile still slid on his face, unseen in the darkness, but felt as her fingers continued to trace and love his face.

Julia's voice floated in the air, "You added yet another demand – 'and a dog,' you said, all proud of yourself for pushing for even more…" He felt her kiss his cheek and then say, "But I got the last word, at least I thought so. 'And if I want a cat,' I had said," Julia added with a little giggle.

William pushed himself to stay awake, remembering his last words to her back then – his joke. Sleepily his voice crawled out of the space between them, "I hoped that the dog would get along with the cat." He was too tired to laugh, but the last thing he heard before he surrendered to sleep was the music of her giggle.

"Don't worry William, I never really wanted a cat," she whispered. Knowing he was asleep, freed from the burden of having to reply, she sent a message to chase after him, down into the soft swinging of the black tunnel of sleep, "My God, I love you William Henry Murdoch, with all of my heart, and all of my soul, and every cell, and every atom in my body. I am yours, completely, my Prince Charming, my Greek God. You are the one, always were the one, always will be the one, for me, forever and ever." She kissed the ear she whispered into and slid down to rest her face against his skin between the soft fabric of his pajama collars, moaning in her mind with the reassurance of his scent. She slid her thigh up over his hips and tucked her arm in between his arm and his torso, and with his breath rocking her, she drifted away as well.

William and Julia had been through tumultuous storms, teeming rain. And sometimes, although it is rare, it rains cats and dogs, as it just had done for them over the past few weeks. Such storms never last for long. Afterwards, the world cleansed, it brightens and grows with the kiss of sunlight once more. Love blossoms stronger, more vivid, and more resilient – often even better than it had been before.

(One more chapter – stay tuned)