Locksley-6 months earlier
The entire village surrounding Locksley Manor seemed asleep, when Robin returned home from a two week absence at King John's Court, currently stationed at Oxford.
He hadn't intended to arrive in the dead of night, but with home drawing nearer and nearer, and his stallion showing little signs of tiring, Robin pushed himself and his horse eagerly homeward.
"Here you go," he said soothingly to his mount, giving him an extra bucket of oats after rubbing him down and watering him. "You've earned it."
Silently entering his house, Robin took the stairs two at a time and pushed open the door to the nursery. The old nurse Mattie snored softly in her bed, but Robin ignored her. He'd come to see Ellen.
His little girl slept soundly on her back, arms bent upward so that her tiny fists framed her face. Robin grinned adoringly at her, then tiptoed to her bedside to plant a kiss on the top of her head, inhaling her hair's sweet fragrance. He felt he could stand here watching her sleep all night long, if his yearning for someone else in his house didn't draw him away. But knowing that Marian lay in bed only a few rooms away was enough to cut this nocturnal reunion short.
Moonlight bathed his wife's sleeping face, tinting her flawless, creamy skin a soft silver.
Hurredly undressing, Robin climbed into bed beside her and snuggled up close, breathing out a long, deep sigh of contentment.
Marian stirred and awakened, at first believing she was dreaming. When she knew it was no dream, she rolled over, threw her arms around her husband's neck, and kissed him heartily.
"You're back!" she cried happily, and then, in surprise, "What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, unable to stop smiling or rubbing his hands up and down and over her, at last resting one on the small bulge beginning to grow on her belly.
"I can understand you shaving your beard, but your head? Robin!"
Remembering, he drew one hand over the top of his head, feeling the bald spot at its crown. Grinning wickedly, he teased, "Never thought you'd be in bed with a priest, did you, my love?"
"Don't be blasphemous. Tell me what happened."
After several more kisses, they both knew his story would have to wait. Robin vaguely realized he hadn't bolted the door, but nothing would propel him to leave the bed now, not even if it caught fire, which seemed a highly likely possibility.
"I didn't mean to wake you," he panted, staring awestruck at her lovely form after she pulled her nightdress over her head and flung it away.
"I'm glad you did."
Afterward, lying blissfully in his arms amid the tangled sheets, Marian asked again. "Now, Locksley," she murmured, between soft pecks on his face, neck, and chest, "tell me why you returned from Oxford, looking like a priest."
His eyes lit up wickedly, like no priest's ever should. "Because, my love," he said, hiding a yawn, "I decided to take holy orders."
Leaning up on one elbow, Marian slapped at his hand that was fondling her breast, effectively stopping that action.
Robin chuckled.
"Oh, how I missed you, Marian!"
"Are you going to tell me the story?" she demanded impatiently.
Pulling her on top of him, he kissed her fully on her mouth, slowly, tenderly, with none of the urgency of a few moments before.
After the kiss, she layed her cheek on his chest, over his heart, listening to it slow to its regular rhythms, and sighed, her impatience temporarily quelled.
"I still want to know," she told him.
"Can it wait?" he asked, blinking back sleep. "It's a good story. I want to do it justice."
Disappointed, she felt she had little choice but to agree. "Alright, Handsome. But you're going to have to wear a hat, you know, until your hair grows back."
"I already thought of that," he said, not even trying to cover his yawn this time. "Do you know whether we still have any hoods around here?"