Chapter 57

That night when he came out of the bathroom Spencer found Laura huddled up in bed with her chin on her knees. "What's wrong?" He asked, dropping to the bed beside her.

"I'm scared about tomorrow." She admitted. "I'm scared about what the doctor will say."

"Why?"

"Right now we're assuming we can try again. What if we can't for some reason?"

Which was the fear that had been curling around in the back of his mind ever since Maggie was born. Now her question dragged it into the light. "I don't know. What do you think?"

She was quiet a long moment. "You're my family, no matter what."

"I agree." He ran a hand along her shoulders and pulled her into his arms. They were a family now, a family of two here and one gone on and even if it never went beyond that that was enough. "You will marry me, right?" Not that it was needed, but maybe he needed his own reassurances.

"In a heartbeat."

"Good."

The next morning dawned bright and cold. Spencer and Laura bundled up and headed for their appointment despite the temperature. No more waiting.

Spencer fully expected the long, detailed interview he underwent with the midwife. After all, he had been the only one at the birth, the only attendant throughout the pregnancy. Thankfully he was able to remember every last detail and was able to give a report so exact that said midwife could almost have been there.

He had not expected to be invited in for the exam, or for Laura to insist that he accompany her. "What am I supposed to do?" He asked when she stepped behind the screen to change.

"Hold my hand when I ask you. Answer any questions." She replied. A few moments later she came out in the traditional exam gown and settled on the table, pulling the warm blanket left there over her waist and around her hips.

"All right."

He looked away when the midwife pulled down Laura's gown to spend an exorbitant amount of time palpating her breasts. He understood that this was to check for any infections, cysts, tumors, but it still bothered him. He wanted Laura to have her body back somehow, this was not helping.

Then it was time for the main event. "What do I do?" He asked.

"Sit here." The midwife said, indicating a small stool. "Put your back to me and face your partner."

Once he was in position Laura took his hand firmly. "Sensitive cervix," she said. "I hate this part."

"Sorry." Spencer had an intellectual knowledge of what was going on, but he was quite happy to not actually have to look under that sheet. Instead he let Laura grip his hand as hard as she liked and watched her face as she winced and tried not to squirm. "It should be over quickly."

"Indeed it is." The midwife said. "All done; let's get you up." He helped Laura up to a sitting position, the nurse moving to tuck the sheet around her lower half. "Well, you look to be in perfect health. A few minor tears but they've healed nicely. If I didn't know better I'd say you delivered here, you must have had a good midwife." She smiled at Spencer.

Laura smiled at him as well. "I think he was the best. So does that mean I can resume…"

"Any and all daily activities, including intercourse, yes."

"And we can have more children?"

"If you want to you could theoretically start at any time. But I would give yourself the full six months to regain the bone mass. In the meantime since you plan to start within the year I'd recommend condoms for birth control and a daily prenatal vitamin."

"All right. Thank you." Laura smiled and went to go get dressed.

On the way out he took her hand to walk down the icy sidewalk. "Relieved?"

"Yes." She said with a happy sigh. "You?"

More than he could say. "Absolutely." He raised her fingers to his lips before letting her into the car.

That afternoon they had therapy appointments. On the way home Spencer received a call. "We're heading into the field on a case." Dave said. "Keep an eye on the dogs."

"Of course," Spencer said. "If you need any help send Anderson over with the file."

"You sure?"

"I'm honestly not ready to leave Laura alone, but if I can help from here I'm up for it."

"Fair enough. What did the doctor say?"

"She received a clean bill of health. The next milestone will be my getting this cast off on Friday."

"Good to know. We were all a little concerned. Oh, and Spencer?"

"Yeah?"

"For the record, I don't care what my guests do in my guest room."

Oh

That night they went home with take out. With nothing planned for Wednesday they decided to go to the grocery store the next day and stock Dave's spare fridge with stuff for Laura to cook, start re-collecting cookbooks, and generally take the day for them. As had become their tradition they watched TV for an hour and then played cards and talked before bed.

The next morning Spencer carefully brought up coffee, scones and the paper they bought the day before. They curled up together, reading and discussing, and discussing, and discussing some more. And somewhere between Laura's second point of debate and her third Spencer found himself compelled to lean over and kiss her.

"Eep." Laura said as she smiled through the kiss. "What are you doing?"

"You're beautiful." He said. She was sitting there in the rumpled bed in plaid flannel pants and a t-shirt that read "property of the FBI", her hair rumpled from sleep, her mind sprinting along, easily keeping up with him. In that moment she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He leaned over and teased her lips apart with his once again, tasting coffee and cinnamon and walnuts on her lips.

She pushed him away long enough to set her coffee on the nightstand, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him back in. "This is not me conceding the discussion." She murmured against his lips as she pulled him down on top of her.

"That's all right."