"Oh my god Auggie." Annie panted as she collapsed on top of her husband.

She tried to roll away from him long enough to get some air and cool off a little, her body slick with sweat from their tropical little bungalow, but this bed always dipped in the middle and try as she might she rolled back to Auggie's side, his arm wrapping around her snuggly.

"Yeah, that was good," he nodded in agreement.

"I'm impressed," she murmured as she trailed a finger nail along his abs and watched the muscles twitch in response.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, some men when faced with the idea of no birth control safety net can't, you know, follow through as well as you have been," Annie giggled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, the stress of being responsible for procreation inhibits them somehow."

"Where'd you read that?" he asked wondering if there would ever be a day he could not make love to Annie.

"I saw it on a TV show actually," she shrugged.

"Ah, very reliable source material Walker," Auggie yawned.

"And while I did stop taking my pills I am not saying I have to be pregnant on any kind of schedule, there is no pressure here. I just thought we might want to start now and see what happens," Annie said logically.

"We've had more sex in the past week than the previous month combined," Auggie commented.

"That might not necessarily help."

"Um Annie, you do know where babies come from right?" he teased as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

"I do, but frequency does not guarantee success, in fact it kind of dilutes your sperm count," she said with no real concern in her voice.

"And where did you learn that?"

"Episode of Friends," she admitted.

"When do you have time to watch TV?" he said with a laugh.

"I spend a lot of time on planes," she explained.

"I've never tried to make a baby," Auggie said shyly.

"Me either and in fact have been trying very hard to not do that exact thing for a while now," she turned and looked him in the eye.

She saw love and mischief and joy there, so much had changed in the year since they got married. Work had evened out, with Wilcox in jail and the agency back to some sort of normalcy. There was still danger and stress, but with the personal attacks of Henry Wilcox over, the work was just work. Annie spent plenty of nights abroad, but the time she spent in DC was approaching normal. They had bought a condo, nice, big enough for a baby, in a pretty neighborhood. They had neighbors and a local coffee shop, to a stranger they looked like the typical urban professional couple.

"We're going to be so normal," Annie lamented as she pictured them out with a baby stroller the size of a small car.

"I think you will find Annie, that we will never be anything but exceptional," Auggie assured as he rolled her under him and kissed her soundly.

***555***

"I have a present for you," Annie announced after dinner on their last night in Niue.

"You do?"

"I know we said the vacation was our gift to one another, but, well, you'll understand, I think," she rambled as she handed over a box.

Auggie lifted the top off the box and ran his fingers over the softest material he had ever felt. His first thought was it was for the mythical baby-to-be but as he lifted it from the box he realized it was much too large for a baby.

"Is it a sweater?" he asked slightly confused.

"It is," Annie nodded.

"It feels amazing Annie, but it is kind of an odd anniversary gift, no?" he smiled at her.

"I made it," she illuminated.

"You knit this sweater?" realization struck him.

"Yes, all by myself. It is my first sweater, I have been working on it for months."

"It is so soft," he commented again.

"It is cashmere, so be careful with it, it costs more than I care to admit," Annie remembered the sticker shock of cashmere yarn.

"What color is it?" he asked with awe in his voice.

"It's the color of your eyes, dark and rich and deep," she listed as she walked around the table and took the sweater from him, folding it back into its box and climbing onto his lap.

"Yeah?" he said his voice rough.

"Yeah," she confirmed as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his temple.

"I love it."

"I love you," she replied.

"I don't have anything for you," he said sadly, his hands toying with the hem of her dress, ridden up to her waist from her position.

"There is nothing in the world I want more than this," she said as she kissed him.

***555***

Annie and Auggie dragged each other through the front door after 2 days of travel, Annie instantly on alert, her arm across Auggie's chest.

"What?"

"Somebody's been here?" she whispered.

"I know," he whispered back.

"What?" Annie kept her eyes trained on the living room, dining room and kitchen of the large open plan first floor.

"I asked Barber to come by today and drop off the mail and some groceries, figured we'd be too beat to go out until we have to work Monday," Auggie shrugged.

"That was very sweet of you," she went from shielding his body to running her hand appreciatively down his arm.

"I was really thinking about how hungry I was going to be, and well, I am. I am torn between food and showering," he wrinkled his nose at his travel weary body.

"Food first," Annie decided for them and relieved him of his messenger bag.

"I gave Barber a list, but it is possible that our kitchen is now full of frozen pizzas and deli meat. Oh wait, you can't have deli meat," he looked concerned as he moved towards the refrigerator.

"I don't usually eat it any way, but yeah, I think when I am pregnant that will be a no no. In fact, while I was in Lisbon I ate my weight in Sushi ever y day just thinking about what I would have to give up for nine months. I think Sushi is on the list, I remember that from an episode of General Hospital"

"We might want to buy a book, written by a doctor or something. Either way, we will do it together. I will give up everything except tequila," he grinned, "and beer."

"You are a saint," she chuffed.

"How about eggs and toast for ….what meal is this? What time is it?" Auggie asked truly confused.

"It is 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday," she reported.

"Eggs and toast it is!" he declared and set about finding a bowl.

Annie's phone rang, an old Tori Amos song the ring tone for her sister.

"Hey," Annie answered with a smile putting the call on speaker.

"Hey Danielle," Auggie added.

"Hi there, you home yet or still traveling?"

"Just walked through the door actually, good timing," Annie sat at the kitchen counter and watched Auggie make their supper.

"Did you have a great time?" Danielle asked excited.

"We did, we spent most of the time trying to make a baby," Annie announced leading Auggie to smash an egg when he missed the bowl.

He turned and gave her the 'is nothing sacred' look.

"Wait, what? On purpose?" Danielle was recovering on her end as well.

"You heard me, I can't repeat it or Auggie might ruin our dinner."

"Oh my God, really?" Danielle was trying to make sense of her world class spy sister being a mommy.

"Really. We talked about it a couple months ago, listed all the pros and cons, talked about timing and work and everything and I stopped taking my birth control pills a few weeks ago."

"We made all the big decisions, we're going to buy a book and this kid is going to be a Cubs fan," Auggie added.

"What we said was the baby would be a Cubs fan until he or she is old enough to understand baseball. Then he or she can attend and watch a variety of teams before selecting their team," Annie clarified.

"As long as you discussed the important things. Wow! Auggie you're going to be such a good dad," Danielle sighed.

"Wait, what about me?" Annie asked indignantly.

"Oh Annie, you'll excel at motherhood like you have excelled at every single thing you have ever tried," Danielle promised.

TBC…