"Dec, do you want to go to the zoo tomorrow?" Emily asked, voice strangely devoid of emotion. She watched as he wolfed down his dinner like he hadn't seen food in a month, lips curved in something like a smile but without the usual sparkle in her eyes.

"Yeah!" he cheered around a mouthful of food, spewing crumbs everywhere (no matter how many times they'd scolded him not to talk with his mouth full). "I want to see the gorillas!"

Ian raised a brow – he'd been watching her all evening, obviously suspecting something was off with her. "Don't you have work tomorrow, Love?" he asked pointedly.

Emily refused to meet his gaze, knowing he saw through her like glass...he always had. "I...umm... I quit," she said softly, almost hesitantly.

"You quit?" he repeated, brows leaping up his forehead. He paused for several moments as if anticipating a punchline. "Why on Earth would you do that? I thought you were happy?" Her job was the whole reason they'd settled in DC with its traffic and urban sprawl and too many law enforcement officers for Ian's liking – he'd made peace with all of that because he wanted her to be happy.

"I am," she insisted, "Well, I was. But then, things got political." Her face darkened like a storm cloud passing in front of the sun.

"Are you saying you were forced to quit?" He had that look on his face like someone needed to pay and much as she loved how fiercely he committed to protecting their family, in this instance, it was her own fault. Mostly.

"Not exactly," she said slowly, placatingly. "I chose to, rather than be a pawn. It's a long story...I don't really want to get into it." She nodded in Declan's direction, though he obviously wasn't listening, preoccupied with planning their day at the zoo and helping himself to seconds.

Ian sighed wearily. "Well, what are you going to do now?"

"Go to the zoo, apparently." That was all she'd say on the matter.

"How was your day at the zoo?" Ian called from the bedroom as Emily brushed her teeth in the en-suite the next evening.

Emily said nothing. She'd returned home looking like she'd been hit by a truck (and he could relate...he spent most of his days with his son and as much as he loved Declan, the kid was like a small natural disaster most days) and she'd barely spoken about the events of the day, though it would've been a challenge getting a word in around Declan anyway.

"Declan wouldn't stop talking about how much fun he had," Ian continued. "You'd think he'd never been to a zoo before the way he went on about it."

"It was great," she said eventually, garbled around her toothbrush.

"Really?" he asked skeptically. "Then why do you say it like you're chewing glass?"

"It was great," she repeated, more emphatically, more enthusiastically. "I love spending time with Declan."

"No one is debating whether you love Declan," he assured her. If there was one thing he knew to be true in his life, it was that Emily loved Declan more than life itself. "You'd have to, to take him to the zoo...that's torture," he added under his breath (and it was really saying something as he'd been tortured...). Then, louder, "It's okay, Love, you can tell me the truth: you miss your job."

She spit, sighed, rested her hands on the counter, staring into her reflection as if searching for some deep-seated truth. "It's a stupid political bullshit mess and I don't want to miss it," she said. "But I do..." she added, softer. She shook her head, angry with herself.

"Em?" he prompted.

His only reply was the sound of water running, conversation apparently over. Then, seemingly thinking of a better final say on the matter, she poked her head around the corner, eyes intense. "I'm not about to play their game, so don't even try to convince me," she said, gesturing at him with a towel.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he vowed, holding his hands up in surrender. "Why don't you call Easter and have him..." he stopped dead, seeing her glare even harder. "Nevermind."

"I'll take the State Exams," she answered his next question preemptively. "I'll land in the State Department. It won't be the same, but it's a paycheck." She shrugged like the matter were out of her hands.

"I could always find something to do," he offered readily. "Like the mines... I doubt they'd look too hard at my ID."

The lines in her face softened, her expression saying more than words could because sometimes she forgot just how much he'd given up for her. "Maybe tomorrow," she said eventually, meaning she was too tired to rehash why it was safer this way. "Now, join me in the bathtub." It was an order, not a request.

He raised a brow.

"Please?" she added petulantly because they both know he had no intention of denying her, he just liked to make her beg. Without waiting for his reply, she slipped her robe over her shoulders and let it fall to the floor in open invitation.

Once they were both settled in the warm soapy water, her back against his chest (and his growing hard on pressed against her ass), he pressed a kiss to her neck and asked, "How was your day really?"

She groaned. "A nightmare... God, I miss when he was four and still sweet." She sighed wistfully. "Now that he's six, he's a tornado of energy with no manners and the worst sense of humour."

"No idea where he got that from," Ian replied and she could hear his shit-eating grin because they both knew Declan took after him.

Ian's hand was creeping along her thigh because he could seemingly never resist her naked body. She briefly considered batting it away because she was exhausted, but decided to let it continue to its destination, knowing he never failed to make her feel good.

"I'm not kidding," she persisted. She rolled her eyes. "The gorilla scratched its ass, then smelled its fingers and fell over... Declan wouldn't shut up about it."

Ian tried hard not to laugh, but she could feel the rumble of it in his chest. "Come now, Love, that's funny."

"Boys," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Best hope the next one's a girl..." And before she could protest 'the next one', his fingers found their goal and she gasped sharply.