Things continued as they were for a while. Sam still stayed out of Sector Center but tolerated more of Mercedes's friends coming to the house. It was hard for him but the more that knew of his presence, the less he worried about others thinking his wife was free for the taking. Unfortunately, this Joe character was also well spoken of among her friends. He knew he was being irrational but he couldn't help it. The final straw came when Mercedes came home clutching a book. She was stood in the kitchen, stirring a pot of rice and flicking through the chapters when he asked her what she was reading.

Excitedly she handed it to him to see the title and the picture of the author on the back. "It's written by a writer from my Sector. Joe kindly lent it to me..." As soon as she said the name her smile faded. He knew why. He couldn't help the flash of emotion that had crossed his face and found it impossible to bite his tongue.

"So he's giving you things now?"

"Sam! Don't overreact. He just decided to lend me a book, that's all!"

"That's how these things start!"

He expected her to be defensive, but her hand slipped to her hip and her stance strengthened. One thing he loved about Mercedes was the way that she was unafraid to stand up to him and call him out if she thought he needed to be told. Unfortunately for him he could feel that this was going to be one of those times. "How what things Sam?"

"Things to distract you. Things to make you see that he's a better option than me!"

"Don't be crazy Sam. Joe's not like that. He's respectful. He's a serious and deeply religious man. He grows his hair like a Nazarite, walks around in sandals and only wears natural fibers."

"So he's not attractive then!"

There was no way she could be fast enough to hide the flicker of a smile that crossed her face at the thought of him. Clearly the man was attractive but she was too polite to say it. Noticing her faux pas she stroked his chest and hopefully his ego. "He's not nearly as gorgeous as you Sam. You're my handsome husband. You have nothing to worry about."

Her reply didn't make him feel any better and he could feel his frustration rising. "It's not just about looks. That's subjective. You may love me for my body, but that's all I've got. He's a good man. He's educated, shares your love of books and your reliance on faith. He's precisely the kind of man a woman like you should be with, not a heathen like me-"

"Sam! Stop-"

"But I need you to know that I will fight for you Mercedes. I'll fight for you until there is no breath left in my body."

"Sam you don't need-"

"And I won't stop until I know that you're mine and mine alone! I love you and I trust you. It's other men that I don't trust. Men who see what I have and want it. You're beautiful, you're sexy, you're intelligent, you're kind. You're a million amazing things all wrapped into one and any man would be crazy to pass up an opportunity to be with you if they thought they could be. But the thing I need you to remember is this…" As he spoke and stepped towards her and she stepped back away from him until he had her backed up against the kitchen table. "You chose me. You didn't have to agree to marry me but you did. And whatever any other man may offer you, and there are things they can offer you that may tempt you because I can't give you them, like meals out in beautiful restaurants, proper dates, the option of travelling freely and in complete safety. They might even lure you with the thought of having a baby, because that's your heart's desire right now, but they can't make you feel the way that I do." He buried his face in her neck and lifted her by the ass to sit on the edge of the table while he stood between her legs. "If Joe touches you it won't make you moan like I do." He ran his hand up between her open legs and pushed her panties aside. "He doesn't know how to play your body like a finely tuned guitar, or a harp which requires different movements for different sounds…"

She sighed at his touched and ran her tongue along the shell of his ear. "Jealousy makes you hot!"

"Does it?"

"Mmmmmm…" He tortured her clit, making her temporarily speechless before stopping his movement. "Wha- why did you stop?"

"I think my point has been made."

She looked up at him with dilated pupils and a face that screamed at him to make love to her but he wasn't going to give in that easily. Unfortunately his wife had the upper hand. She bit her lip, pretending to be shy as she slowly unbuttoned the her shirt to reveal her purple bra clad breasts, not breaking eye contact with him as she squeezed and caressed them with her hands, her words slow and sensual. "I'm sorry to hear that Sam. But I'm sure that Joe would never leave me hanging like this! I'm sure he'd push hard to make me deeply satisfied-"

Game, set and match to Mercedes.

Sam didn't even recall reaching for his zipper. He next thing he knew he was plunging inside her before she could even finish her sentence. He had her, ass hanging over the edge of the table, screaming his name and only his name as he pounded relentlessly into her wet welcoming heat before coming hard, deep inside her, quivering as he following her into the oblivion of ecstasy, the forgotten pot of rice left to burn at the bottom.

Later that night, as they lay together in the dark, she snuggled up against him. "How much do you love me Sam?"

He raised himself up on one elbow and stared down at her face, partially lit by the moonlight, wondering where that question had suddenly come from. "I love you more than it's physically possible to comprehend." He kissed her forehead and reached underneath the covers for her hand, clutching it in his. "What's going through your mind Cedes?"

She sighed but said nothing. So he waited.

Eventually she let out another sigh. "I'm twenty-seven and I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Scared that one day you've going to regret all this time and effort you spend on me. All the time that you worry I might find someone else, I worry about you too. I know that you don't like to leave our hill, but what happens if this life doesn't continue to be the way we imagine it? I always envisioned us as a family, filling this home with love but it's not happening."

"It will-"

"But what if it doesn't? You always think I'm the one to get fed up of this but I worry it's the other way round. You're stuck with someone who isn't a complete woman. I want nothing more than to give you a baby but I can't. Family is important to me Sam. It's the foundation unit of my Sector. The whole point of marriage is to procreate. I'm failing you and I love you too much to let this go!"

Tears flowed from the corner of her eyes and Sam kissed the salty liquid. "You're not a failure Mercedes. Nothing about you is a failure and I can see I'm going to have to correct you on a few things. First of all, marriage isn't just about procreation. Yes that's a benefit, but first and foremost it's about love and companionship and we have that by the bucketload. I didn't ask you to marry me simply to breed, I asked you because I wanted us to be together forever. Me and you. That hasn't changed and it never will. Second, you haven't failed me. I've loved every second of being with you. I told you right from the start that I want to go to sleep and wake up in your arms and that hasn't changed. Or maybe that isn't true. It has changed because the more time I spend with you, the more I learn about you, because yes even after all these years I'm still learning, the more I find things about you to fall in love with all over again. Even when we're mad at each other I love you."

"I love you too. But is love enough?"

"You're the one that quotes the bible at me saying that love never fails. Because it doesn't. You're the woman I'm going to grow old with. When we travelled through the Outside it was just me and you for months and that was enough. You are enough. You mean the world to me Mercedes and everything else is a bonus."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Do you mean that?"

He stared back into her eyes. "Completely. Yes I would love us to have children of our own, but first and foremost I want you. And the version of you that I want is one that is happy and healthy and I'll do everything in my power to keep things that way. I said my vows to you and I meant them." He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. "Don't ever think that you're letting me down. For all we know it could be me. But that's not important right now. What's important is that you know and understand that you are the center of my universe. You are the light in my day and the air that I breathe. Whatever happens, you're it for me. You are enough."

She sobbed at those words, but he knew her well enough to know that they were happy sobs. "And you're enough for me Sam. We both have our days when we're low for various reasons but we pick each other up and keep fighting. That's real love. And that's what we have!"

Flinging her arms around him she pulled him into a passionate kiss that turned into the slow lingering lovemaking of two people with no reason to rush things.

Four weeks later Mercedes was sick. She didn't usually get sick and Sam was immediately concerned but she dismissed it as something she'd eaten. After being off her food and sick nearly every night for a week he begged her to see a doctor but she told him she was improving all on her own. And she did seem to be. The sickness calmed, or at least she got better at hiding it. But he also knew her regular cycle. It was a long one, roughly six weeks, but just when he expected her to start experiencing her cramps she didn't. One day late became two then three and she got really quiet. Day four he walked into the bedroom to see her standing naked in front of the mirror staring at hard at herself and examining her breasts. They had changed, he could have told her that. They were definitely more sensitive and the nipples and areolas seemed darker too. He watched silently as she stood to the side and ran her hand over her belly, oblivious to his presence and completely lost in thought.

"Mercedes?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and he felt bad for alarming her. But she turned to him with a smile. "It's happened Sam! I'm finally with child!" She held up a plastic strip with a pink line in the middle and he yelped with joy.

Running over he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed where they lay, holding each other, laughing and crying for what felt like hours, too joyful even for words.

Pregnancy suited Mercedes. After the initial weeks of morning sickness passed she took on a literal glow. Sam thought she never looked sexier than she did when she was sporting the bump. Her travels into the Sector became less and less until they eventually stopped and they did everything online and via courier.

As time passed, Sam was beyond excited but also felt a little stupid. He couldn't wait to see to see the baby. He still didn't quite have an idea of what their child was going to look like. He'd never seen a mixed Sector baby from such extreme of colors before and his dreams were filled with the endless possibilities of combinations that their child could look like. He'd known a few Non Sector people in the past but each had been so unique it was impossible to make a comparison.

Mercedes' scans posed a challenge that he was initially unsure how to deal with. He wanted to be with her for them but he also still 'supposedly' had agoraphobia. He was willing to break his rule and go into the Sector for them but it wasn't necessary. Thankfully her doctor was understanding and did home visits with a special machine that allowed him to see the baby and hear the fetal heartbeat.

Sam loved watching her belly swell. That she was beautiful was a given, but now Mercedes had taken on a whole new look which suited her so well. The mood swings and weird food cravings were less easy to deal with but he knew how to handle her and when to just steer clear. Yet despite this, some of the happiest times of his life were spent simply lying next to her with his hands on her belly or his head resting gently against her, feeling the baby kicking inside. It seemed to respond to her singing and he liked to think that it responded to his voice too.

They spoke at length before deciding that they didn't want to know the sex of the baby. They didn't care when all they wanted was simply to bring a healthy child into the world.

Throughout the pregnancy he'd assumed that he would eventually have to make the trip to the hospital for the birth and had mentally geared himself up for it, so he was surprised when five weeks before her due date when he tried to open the conversation about how they would travel down to the hospital once her labor started she simply shook her head.

"I'm not going to the hospital."

"What!"

"I said I'm not going. We're having this baby right here!"

No. That couldn't be right. That WOULDN'T be right! "You can't do that! You need doctors and machines and pain relief and-"

She simply smiled and shook her head. "I don't need any of that Sam. I just need you with me. You'll help me do this."

He felt all the blood drain from his face. "Me! You wantme to deliver our baby!"

She took his expression of complete panic in her stride and smiled at him. "My mom was a midwife Sam. I've been going to births with her since I was ten years old. I've seen plenty. I know what to do and will train you and help you to do what's needed."

It was a step too far. "Mercedes, I can't-"

"Yes you can. Home births are the norm in my Sector and are preferred. Women have been giving birth long before hospitals came into existence. It's a natural process and nothing to be afraid of."

"I know but-"

"I'm not arguing with you Sam. This is going to happen here!"

One look at the expression on her face told her that it was, in fact, going to happen here, because to argue with her while she was pregnant was more dangerous than the facing the most ruthless of the underworld. Just because he loved her didn't mean he couldn't be scared of her at times.

And she did talk him through it. She answered all his questions and even pre-empted things that he hadn't thought to ask. Mercedes smashed all the myths and horror stories he'd been reading about on the SectorNet in the name of research. She made sure that all the necessary supplies were ready and did trial runs just in case the baby came early which she assured him was unlikely for a first birth. They would often sit in the freshly decorated baby's room and talk about how their lives were going to change. Because they'd intentionally decided not to know the sex of the baby, Sam painted the room a neutral soft yellow.

From the moment her estimated due date arrived, Sam was her shadow to the point that she had to yell at him not to follow her into the bathroom. Unluckily for Mercedes it took another seven days before she sneezed in the kitchen while she was making herself breakfast and felt her water's break. From then another nine hours of gradually increasing contractions and bone crushing grips on his hand and forearm before the baby started to crown.

After that it was just a couple of pushes before there was a sticky wrinkled screaming being in his arms needing to be cleaned and have the cord cut.

A baby girl.

A beautiful baby girl with five fingers, five toes and a head of extremely fine soft hair who decided she didn't want to open her eyes until she was latched firmly onto her mother's breast.

And Sam fell in love all over again.